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midnightswithdearkatytspb · 1 year

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MidnightsWithDearKatyTSPB’s Recommendation List: March PT. 2

Welcome to part 2 of March’s recommendation list. Down below, you can find the link to take you back to part 1 featuring Peaky Blinders, Frankie Morales from Triple Frontier, Frank Castle, and the works that I posted. I still have some specialists that I’m traveling to go see, so there might not be 32 links this time around, but we’ll have to wait and see. The goal for March is to write another chapter In This Heart and rewrite The Spark. If you are interested in having your writing challenges featured here, or your stories, or even just your blog, please feel free to tag me in your works, message me, or use the hashtag MidnightWithDearKatyTSPB. I hope you are having an amazing March and you didn’t have such a hard time springing ahead.

☘️ March '23 Pt. 1

April '23 Pt. 1 🌸

Masterlist

37 of 44 Years (Moodboard) ... Dedication to my parents.

All For You My Daisy (Moodboard) >> Garret Hedlund, Pedro Pascal, and Tommy Shelby

Begin Again (Moodboard) >> Ted Lasso x OFC!Penny Fletcher | Moodboard made for @teds-mustache-wrangler story Begin Again.

Innocence and Sadness (Moodboard) >> Arthur Shelby ... dedicated to @cillmequick

Peaky x Lana Challenge (Moodboard) >> Alfie Solomons x Reader x Tommy Shelby | “I’ve got a black limousine and two gentlemen who escort me through these halls.”

Two Broken Souls (Moodboard) >> Tommy Shelby x OFC!Estella Holland | “Come, Josephine in my flying machine. Going up, she goes, up she goes.”

Update//Calm Down by All Time Low (Moodboard) >> Garrett Hedlund, Luke Grimes, and Pedro Pascal

ONE-SHOTS:

As His Daughter by @sneakyblinders >> Dad!Tommy Shelby x Reader ft. Daughter!Kate Shelby - Summery: As Kate Shelby becomes an older sister yet again, she realizes she doesn't really know her father. Her mother is on a mission to change that. | You'll go through the emotions with this one, I promise. For those who need the warning, there are mentions of childbirth!

Loving Girl by @valentine-in-my-quinjet >> Tommy Shelby x Reader - Summary: You've always known you would be a better partner for Tommy. After Grace died, you had to reassess your motivations for being close to Tommy because he needed a friend more than ever before. | You will need a tissue with this one. TW: Suicide Mentioned

Make Your Heart My Home by @look-at-the-soul >> Tommy Shelby x Reader - Summery: Y/N hasn't had the best life. In fact, she's physically running from it into the physical arms of one Tommy Shelby, who saves her. | Read this, get a little emotional, but fall in love with its ending.

Mr. Girraffe by @teenwolf-theoriginals >> Dad!Tommy Shelby x Reader - Summary: Florence's giraffe gets lost in Johnny Dogs camp. | The family dynamic in this is quite adorable, and I love how sweet Tommy is as well.

The Perfect Team by @runnning-outof-time >> Arthur Shelby x Reader - Summary: Arthur's ability to reason with (Y/N)'s child has them realizing that they work rather well together. | This is absolutely adorable and light-hearted, definitely recommend reading it.

'Teach You a Lesson by @celticmelody >> Tommy Shelby x Reader - Summary: you’re soon to marry Thomas Shelby, the infamous horseman amongst the gangsters in Birmingham. however, when he finds out you’ve never ridden before, he makes it a task to teach you… amongst other lessons that unravel afterwards. | If all riding lessons with Tommy were to end this way, I would take them every day as well. 🥵

When One Heart Breaks The Other, Follows by @little-diable >> Tommy Shelby x Reader | Summary: Tommy has been at war for months, and the only thing the reader can cling to is the letters he kept writing. Until the day when he no longer writes to her, when she no longer knows if he's alive or not. All until one last letter finds its way to her. | I've been emotional lately, okay? So did I need tissues when I read this? Yes! But was I smiling by the end? YES!

SERIES:

*A Different Sort of Man Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 by @evita-shelby >> Tommy Shelby x OFC!Eva, Canon!Tommy x Grace Burgess - Summary: Or where Eva plays around with magic, and Tommy wakes up in a universe where Grace is his wife. While in that universe, Tommy discovers just how different his life would have been if he had pursued the pretty witch in 71 Watery Lane. | My mother always warned me growing up to never fiddle with magic, but this just makes me want to... Only two chapters in, and it's so good. The switching of points of view is everything I could have asked for.

The Photographer // Part 13 by @midnightmagpiemama >> Modern!Tommy Shelby x Photographer!Reader - Summary: Hired to take pictures of your boyfriend's cousin's wedding, you are excited to spend the night in the presence of your boyfriend doing what you love. The night, however, doesn't go as according to plans. Or, the one where Gina and Micheal get married, Gina sits Lizzy at Tommy's table. And people have opinions on your relationship with Tommy. | Erin is such a fantastic writer, and I truly love this series. In this chapter, she just captures Tommy and Polly so beautifully.

A Royal Wedding of Small Heath Part 1 // Part 2 by @sneakyblinders >> Tommy Shelby x Reader - Summary: Tommy is getting married in what the newspaper is calling The Royal Wedding of Small Heath with the announcement of their engagement. It's fitting, as his wife is his Queen. | If I had to picture my wedding to Tommy, this is exactly how I would want it to go. I love how some parts came straight from the TV show. It was just perfect.

Welcome to Downtown, Mr. Shelby by @notyour-valentine >> Tommy Shelby x Crawley!OC - Summary: He was born on a boat, with neither of his parents sure of the date after the fact, unregistered and unlisted until he went to fight for his country. Her birth had been celebrated with the ringing of church bells, champagne toasts, and announcements in newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. Their worlds could not have been more different, and perhaps that was why, when Thomas Shelby looked at Lady Charlotte Crawley, he saw more than her title, more than her looks- he saw an opportunity. | Enjoyed reading this and emerging myself into this little world, and look forward to what is to come for Charlotte and Tommy.

SERIES:

*Push & Pull // Chapter 4: Coming Of Age by @milkymoon2483 >> Frank Castle X Plus Size Jewish OC Hannah Friedman - Summary: You’re going back to your small town for your father’s funeral and Shiva. You know you’re about to face family drama, but what worries you the most is that you’re going to see HIM, your dad’s long-time friend and probably the most attractive man you have ever met. When Frank finally sees you and realizes that you're all grown up, he struggles with accepting his budding feelings for you. | This chapter had me feeling so many emotions. You start with a stomach drop, then you feel so sad, and then you end it on a great high, needing a tall glass of water to cool down. Anna knows how to make you feel every emotion that the main character is going through at every moment of the chapter. That is a true talent.

Triple Frontier:

🍑 Appeteaser Benny Miller + Shower Sex by @dameronscopilo >> Benny Miller x Reader - Summary: Benny comes home after a long day and enjoys some time with his girl. | Let me just say this is really hot, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here With Me by @pasukiyo >> Frankie Morales x f!reader - Summary: When your husband promises it will only be one week, your gut tells you it won't, you beg him to stay if not just for you, but for your family. (Horrible summary by me) | This starts off so sad and emotional, and it ends on a spicy note. It's perfect.

A Proposition by @dameronscopilot >> Santiago "Pope" Garcia x f!reader x Benjamin "Benny" Miller - Summary: Benny returns to Florida after six months of backpacking his way across Australia, and the surf and sun have treated him well. Very well. You can't help but notice. ...Santiago thinks that maybe it's time for the two of you to change things up in the bedroom. Because if he's going to share you with anyone, it's most certainly going to be Benjamin Miller | Is it just me, or is it really HOT in here right now? 🥵 I think I better go open the window after reading this one.

Untitled Sick!fic with Benny by @dameronscopilot >> Benny Miller x Reader - Summary: benny knows exactly what you need when you're sick—in more ways than one. | If Benny ever wants to come to take care of me like this when I'm sick, or now even, he's more than welcome.

"Wear whatever you want, I can fight." by @plaguedoctorsmistress >> Benny Miller x Reader - Summary: When your boyfriend can’t seem to do anything but whine about your outfit, Benny’s jealousy finally gets the best of him, and he takes matters into his own hand. | Benny can defend my honor any day and call me princess all he wants.

*The Wedding Party by @goodwithcheese >> Frankie Morales x f!reader - Summary: Series Summary: A combined bachelorette/bachelor party introduces you to a brown-eyed pilot. | I loved this series so much that I read it in one night on AO3 when I came across it. I'm so glad it came up on my dashboard so I could share it with you guys here. It's both fluffy and sexy!

You Again?! by @theunbearableweightofpedropascal >> Benny Miller x Reader - Summary: You keep running into the guy you had sex with in an airport bathroom. | If you looking for some good spiciness and a mixture of giggles, this one is for you.

CILLIAN MURPHY:

Chances Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4 by @creativepawsworld >> Cillian Murphy x OFC!Paige - Summary: A single mother meets an unlikely lover after a concert. Putting herself out of her comfort zone. Can she find herself a mate for life? | The story has everything in it, fluff, a little bit of angst, and some spiciness.

Quicky by @peakyscillian >> Cillian Murphy x Fem!Reader - Summary: Cillian just can't wait. | If you are looking for something romantic, hot, and with a dash of laughter, this is it.

GERALT OF RIVIA:

Late Bloomer by @cherienymphe >> Alpha!Geralt x Omega!Reader - Summary: Geralt of Rivia saves you from more than just a werewolf attack. | Sometimes, a one-shot is so good you share it twice with your followers. I'm pretty sure I shared it when I first started doing recommendations, and I'm sharing it again.

PEDRO PASCAL CHARACTERS:

Chokehold by @psychedelic-ink >> Joel Miller x Reader x Ezra - Summary: Joel’s frustrations run deep; to him, you were a twisted source of purity; touching you forced him to think, forced him to feel. But not Ezra. With him, he could do anything. A scary yet also exhilarating feeling. Or alternatively: You wake up to Joel and Ezra having sex. | The emotions you feel while reading this are just too good for me not to share.

I Forgot About Time and Space by @psychedelic-ink >> Ezra x Fem!Reader - Summary: You cook for Ezra's guests, and seeing the sight of you being so domestic awakens something in him. | The smut in this *chef's kiss* and the plot in general. Please read this when you are alone. You'll thank me later.

*The Infinity Cube by @littlemisspascal >> Marcus Pike x Reader ft. Various Pedro Characters - Summary: When you play with a strange cube, you’re transported out of your current reality with your boyfriend Marcus into brand new ones starring alternate versions of your boyfriend who look and act entirely different every time. With each encounter, you start to wonder if you’ll ever make it back to your real universe? | Such a good use of the Multiverse and it introduced me to characters that Pedro played that I haven't yet watched. Rae does an amazing job keeping you at the edge of your seat and passing off such deep emotions. It's a must read for Pedro Pascal fans.

*Meet The Millers by @musings-of-a-rose >> Joel Miller x Benny Miller x Will Miller x f!reader - Summary: Moving into the Boston Quarantine Zone after nearly 20 years on the outside takes some adjusting. A misdirection one night guides you to the 3 men who will change the course of your life. | This series has a little bit of everything from drama to love and spiciness. There isn't much more you could ask for out of this series other than wishing for more.

When You're Reading Me by @psychedelic-ink >> Joel Miller x Reader - Summary: If you had to make a list of things Joel Miller might buy you as a gift— nipple clamps would not be a part of it. | *Internally screams* This was really hot, and I think I'll go grab a cold shower now.

STRANGER THINGS:

The Grief of Losing Eddie Munson by @eufezco >> Steve Harrington x Reader - Summary: Best friends with Eddie Munson, the reader goes through the stages of grief of losing her best friend with her family at her side. | Someone pass me the box of tissues. This was so good. I cried through almost the whole thing.

MOODBOARDS:

My Luck by @forgottenpeakywriter >> Tommy Shelby x Reader

My Sun, My Moon and All My Stars by @zablife >> Tommy Shelby x OFC!Aurora Sabini | Lee puts together a breathtakingly beautiful moodboard for a what-if scenario in the Peaky Blinders universe. It leaves you wanting to read more and more for the couple.

Your Bread by @forgottenpeakywriter >> Alfie Solomons x Reader

Your Eyes by @forgottenpeakywriter >> Tommy Shelby x Reader

You Like That by @dearshelby >> Tommy Shelby x Reader | Tall glass of cold water to cool down, please!

@psychedelic-ink - SIL, is such an amazing writer, writing most recently for Pedro Pascal's characters and sharing her amazing works with us here. Her masterlist includes more than just Pedro's characters, having written for the MCU and Oscar Isaac, to name a couple. I love the emotions you feel through every piece of writing she puts out, and I have yet to find a piece I don't like. I think you'll find you like or perhaps love her writing just as much as I do.

@shelbydelrey - Isa is a Peaky Blinder writer whose work I enjoy reading and love seeing the moodboards she puts out as well. I would definitely give Isa a follow because she brings positivity to your dashboard with her reviews and welcoming spirit.

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pagesofkenna · 11 months

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@uchuuryokou said: "whats your hockey team"

(answering publicly so I can make everyone else see lmao)

we're the Coachella Valley Firebirds!!

we were put together in this last year as an American Hockey League (AHL, 2nd tier professional league) affiliate team of the Seattle Krakens (NHL) because someone thought it would be fun to build a world-class state-of-the-art ice hockey arena in the middle of the desert!

things I want to say bc I can't even organize my thoughts around this:

this is out first pro sports team in our area for ANY sport. previously if you wanted to support a local team/go to professional games, you had to drive two hours up to Los Angelos. something about having a team IN my hometown* (and the arena a five minute drive away from me!) has made me FULLY understand the sports home team pride. I bought over 100 bucks worth of merch just on a whim lol

*my hometown technically! they're not the Palm Springs Firebirds or the Coachella Firebirds or the Indio Firebirds, they're repping the WHOLE Coachella Valley!! one of their taglines is 'One Valley. One Team. Rising Together' and it's so cheesy but I'm so into it this is our team lets gooooo

BIRD MASCOT

whenever two teams are competing but I don't officially support either side, my order of operations for picking a team to root for are 1) loved one's team, 2) bird mascot, 3) cat mascot, 4) green logo, 5) how do I feel about the state/city playing. the Firebirds hit BOTH of my first two categories in one!

FIREBIRD MASCOT it's such a good marrying of the hot desert climate with the ice hockey sport (given the Firebird comes from Slavic folklore)! they do a lot of 'fire and ice' imagery in promo material, and the team we're competing with this week ALSO have fire in their imagery/official colors, so when we play them we wear 'ice blue' and there's blue flames on the scoreboard. our branding team is so good

(I recently started working for a company that's based in Rochester, New York, and their AHL team is the Rochester Americans. you can see how bad team names/mascots can be in this league lmao)

our team is actually good! we got a lot of investment money so we managed to get lots of players with NHL experience, some really good coaches I think, and we're second overall in our division! I don't know enough about how hockey works to know WHY we're doing so well but I'm proud of our boys!! 😭

the only two games I've been to have been against the first overall in our division, the Calgary Wranglers, who are ALSO a new team this year and they're ALSO very good (clearly). the thing that really stands out to me from both those games is how clean and precise the Wranglers play. they're so coordinated! i hate them! compared to them, we're so sloppy, all over the place, fumbling passes and leaving our goalie to do all the work protecting the goal

(our goalie is very good obv we love him, but he shouldn't have to be doing so much work! our boys need to pull it together!)

generally I feel like our boys don't coordinate well (and they're also not as fast) so I joke that they all think they're the main character in the inspirational sports movie that is our first season. but also. could they please stop fumbling passes i swear

on Monday night we played our third game in this series against the Wranglers and it went into triple overtime, they played until midnight, before we finally landed another goal and won the game 3:2!

Wednesday, the game I went to, the Wranglers landed a goal halfway through second period, and we lost 0:1. it was so close!! we defended well but also so did our opponents!

that ties this series of games at 2 wins for the Firebirds, 2 wins for the Wranglers, with the final tiebreaker game TONIGHT. if we win, we go on to represent our entire division up against another division to play for the Calder Cup. if we lose, our season is over and the Wranglers move up. obviously we've got to win; it's a home game and everything! i'm SO stressed about this!

#cv firebirds #coachella valley firebirds #hockey

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shadowthief78 · 11 months

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Haikyuu characters are all so dramatic. Hinata and him wanting to be the ace and yelling at everyone about it, breaking into training camp, and trying to photobomb Kita's interview. Kageyama's whole "I'm setter because setter is te playmaker who touches the ball the most and controls the team." Tsukishima's "just a club" until it isn't and he becomes so impassioned he practocally begs to get put back in uring the Shiratorizawamatch even with an injury, literally the whole Akiteru situation, "Sorry I took your extra special job" to Hinata during the Inarizaki game. Yamaguchi yelling at Tsukki, "What more do you need than pride?" and running to get an AED when Hinata stops breatjing after being reminded of final exams.

Ennoshita's "if I can't get this ball I don't belong on the court" and him being unofficial wrangler of the problem children. Nishinoya in general but 1) "I'm not playing unless I have my (*coughs* boyfriend *coughs*) ace by my side, 2) pouncing on anyone who mentions his height, 3) the whole "guardian deity" thing ("ROLLING THUNDER!!!!") and the joy he takes in being called senpai, 4) Kiyoko (need I say more?) or any other girl giving him the time of day, 5) him deciding to come to Karasuno specifically because of the uniform's cool looks... (I could continue for ages here). Tanaka in general: ripping hia shirt off, screaming every time he hits, shaving his head to show his dedication to the club, the whole Amane "I LOVE ANOTHER!" situation, etc etc etc.

Asahi "I lost one game so I quit volleyball completely and got into such a huge argument over my (*coughs again* boyfriend *cough cough*) libero that he got suspended for a week and we broke a fucking broom handle clean in two. Suga getting scolded for screaming at them for missing two recieves at their first game at Nationals, I think it was, naming every attack, and putting together an inpromptu cheer squad for Yamaguchi during their first Aoba Josai game. Daichi dying, 'nuff said, but also him not-so-subtly threatening to beat the snot out of anyone who misbehaves (dad behavior indeed).

Takeda saying that groveling is one of his talents and offering to pay out ofnpocket for travel expenses 👌. Ukai not wanting to come back as coach to preserve his high school memories of Karasuno and ends up as their coach anyways. Kiyoko saying the only time she'd be caught dead wearing the shirt the club made for her is if her only other choice was to go naked. Yachi getting so worked up about everything she ends up spouting nonsense or about to pass out. Saeko and her insane driving, the tenko drum squad, her arriving late becase she was out drinking til 5am.

Inousuke communicating with Hinata in gibberish. Lev and his ace big talk. Shibayama getting so excited after syncing up with Lev because he was worried about not living up to Yaku's presence. Kenma cursing out gravity when he's tired. Tora and him getting into multiple catfights because of their different personalities and philosophies. Fukunaga splashing them with water multiple times to break up said fights.

Kuroo being a closet dork, him and Yaku insulting each other with science names, the whole "blood, heart, brain" speech. Yaku parenting Lev and literally kicking his ass. Kai being the calm one but only in comparison to them and enabling Fukunaga's water-throwing antics.

Akane leading the cheer squad. Alisa jumping to thinking about being sister-in-laws with her after Lev does something tall. Coach Nekoma and the Battle of the Trash Heap yhat's been in the works since he, a grandpa, was in high school.

Kindaichi telling Kageyama not to apologize becaise he'll win their next match. Kunimi glaring because everything's a chore. Kyoutani and his dramatic entrance and playstyle. Yahaba dropping the nice guy act and doing the kabedon. Oikawa's everything: picture posing, hair styling, Mr. "At least I get to see one of them lose," the nicknames, that one scene where he "hmph!"s in public and tries to cover it up as humming (unsuccessfully). Iwaizumi chucking volleyballs anytime Oikawa gets a big head and being the only one Mad Dog will listen to because he won an arm wrestling competition.

Aone not talking unless to correct someone about Hinata and their super serious bows. Konegawa falling for every taunt that gets thrown his way. Fukutachi and his habit of antagonizing everyone, ever to exist.

Bokuto literally wilting if he doesn't get enough attention, getting excited at the most unusual things, his ace shirt. Akaashi plannihg his entire high school around playing with his husb- I mean, his star. Yukie eating everything in sight.

Ushijima intending on doing literally nothing but who "invites all challengers." Tendou SA-TO-RI and his "Oooooooops!!" Shibaru studying his ass off to go to Shiratorizawa and play "power volleyball" with Ushijima. Goshiki competing over every. Single. Thing. Washijou, the crotchety old geezer, shouting "Superglue! Bird lime!"

Kita seeing everything as not really a big deal but crying when he got named team captain. Osamu and his huge fight because he and Atsume disagreed about whose future was better so they made a deal to compare their lives on their deathbeds and whoever was happiest wins. Atsumu declaring he'd toss to Hinata one day after Inarizaki loses to Karasuno, his soul leaving his body after he messes up post timeskip, and him being a menace and little shit in general. Suna filming all of the twin's fights instead of getting a teacher or trying to deescalate somehow. Aran being forced to play straight man and mediate all the time.

Terushima trying to emulate the sync attack and whiffing the ball. Hana scolding her team's asses and getting them back into shape.

Sakusa grilling Kageyama about every scrap of information about Hinata, carring a lint roller around, bevoming friends with Ushijima because he dried his hands with a handkerchief correctly. Komori being basically his handler because he hates crowds.

Hoshiumi getting upset when Kageyama wasn't in awe of him then getting more upset when he got called a "good reference." Hirugami not realizing that people wouldn't die if he played badly.

They're all drama queens and I love it. Go read Haikyuu!!

#puffin says stuff #haikyuu!!#some might be exaggerated or simplified bc its been a while ok #cut for length and im being 100% serious here

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holygroundgone · 1 month

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imagining them playing tf2 together chu wanning mains engie of course and will frequently switch between gunslinger and regular turrets (depending on what state the battle is in), always using the wrangler and frequently making bold plays whereas mo-zongshi plays almost exclusively as his pocket pyro (he even got cwn the pocket pyro cosmetic) constantly spychecking around him at every moment (he uses degreaser because cwn told him to and naturally homewrecker for max pocket pyro) and triumphantly guarding him against any pushes. he'll also aggressively keyboard warrior his precious discord kitten and even go on voice chat to white knight for wanning when other players accuse him of hax (he's just really good at it)

taxian-jun, naturally, plays as spy exclusively (all unusuals extremely gaudily painted dead ringer for complete bastard repeated die-then-come-back strats and the ambassador which he CAN nail the aiming on) to torment and bother chu wanning, repeatedly sap his buildings, backstab and headshot him (and if he gets frustrated he WILL cheat). both mo rans get in trouble with their teams for focusing exclusively on 'that one fucking engie' and they would probably be really good at the game if they weren't doing that but they mostly play because cwn does

their team yells at mo-zongshi Can You Get On The Point? and when he stays right there cwn also tells him Get On The Point to which he says 🥺 but laoshi what if a spy gets you while i'm away.... i need to protect my baobei 🥺 and cwn (embarrassed, face heating) snaps and tells him to go already, he'll just keep an eye out and the second mzs leaves cwn turns around to restock his dispenser he instantly gets backstabbed by txj

#and when mzs sees it in the kills he's like 😔 baobeiiiiiiiiiiiiii #truescholar.txt #🤔 i wonder if i should actually start properly tagging my posts #i just don't want to bother people with my weird posts or WORSE see my own posts in the tag #adding extra tags later i think xue meng would play scout; shi mei would be a toxic medic; and ye wangxi would incredibly competent demo

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ciarawinters · 3 months

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Ciara at a glance

“Be a badass with a good ass"

NAME: Ciara Aliyah Winters ALIASES: CiCi to the rare few AGE: 29 [Born February 1st] OCCUPATION: Stage Manager at Sammie's place, in the real world she was a TV camerawoman and tech specialist for Art's paranormal show. Also self-titled Dumb Fuck Wrangler ARRIVED: Early November 2023 GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Female, She/Her SEXUALITY: Lesbian; men that hit on her may get throat punched QUIRKS: Loud, bossy, and not a single fuck given. Ciara is rather unapologetic about the way she is - it gets results and she knows what the fuck she's talking about. Youngest sibling energy and she's fully aware of it. If you ask her about her camera or any of the equipment they used on the show she will show her truest colors and go into full nerd mode. Aside from tech she kept her pulse on pop culture and trends to help keep both Art and the show relevant. Has been in town for only a few months and is already bored out of her mind.

BIOGRAPHY

Ciara doesn't have a lot of memories of her early childhood, though the deadbeat prison father and the scar on Chris' face certainly let her put a few pieces together as she got older. She never knew that side of the 'Winters' family, only knowing loving siblings and mom. As the youngest, Ciara was certainly the Mama's girl, often siding with her mom when tensions rose between her and her other siblings. Still, she loved them all. They were a part of her, of her life. So when Chris up and vanished 12 years ago it cut like a knife. He ghosted them, finally tired of his family if what Charlie said was to be believed. He never made it to her high school graduation. Or her college graduation. Or their mom's funeral.

His disappearance left a hole in her heart, one that she hid behind a wall of sass and grit. She was tough, she didn't need him. And so Ciara focused her life on her passion: film. Or more specifically, film production. To see something in front of her be transformed through the lens of a camera was absolute magic. While Ciara would always swear it was her hard work and dedication that landed her the internship with The Company, in her heart she knows it was pure fucking luck. It was the stepping stone she needed to push off her career, to claw her way up to head camera operator and techie. Ciara knew the exact angles, the exact timing, the exact lighting to pull off the perfect performance. If only Art would cooperate.

Despite her frustrations with the man, she quickly became attached. With his clumsy charm he filled in that hole Chris had left so many years before. And so Ciara insisted no one else was allowed to work with Art, no one else could make the show as successful as it was. Hell, she'd even been nominated a few times for her work. Had yet to win, but she swore it was only a matter of time until her talents were recognized by the monkeys in charge of the award ceremonies.

Though Chris had left her life, Ciara continued to stay in touch with her sisters. The only family she had left. When Charlie said enough was enough, she was going to look for Chris, Ciara encouraged her sister. But when Charlie stopped answering her texts...well...it was too much. There had to be something about Huntsville, WV that was making her lose her family. With a great deal of push Ciara convinced Art's production team that the small town in bumfuck nowhere was their next hit location. She would get answers, one way or another. Months later, guilt still secretly eats away at Ciara that she dragged Art into this Silent Hill ripoff. It's her fault he's here, that he's in danger. She'll find a way to make it up to him, somehow.

#huntsvilleintro #child abuse warning #if you squint #intro #bio

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blogger360ncislarules · 7 months

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MGM+‘s Billy the Kid returns for more Wild West shenanigans beginning October 15th, and much of the action can be attributed to the show’s head horse wrangler. Learn more about his role, below, and how Season 2’s scenes came together.

Who

John Scott

What He Does

As head wrangler on the Western outlaw drama, Scott — whose 50-plus-year career includes The Revenant — leads a team of about 15, many former rodeo riders. They’re responsible for the care and handling of the mostly quarter horses who do everything from carry actors to pull wagons. His Scott Ranch in Alberta, Canada, at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, is home to several shooting locations.

(Credit: VICTORIA MCFADYEN)

In Season 2…

“We’ve got more actors, more action with the gunfights,” Scott says, as when Billy and boss John Tunstall (Tom Blyth and Linus Roache, above, center and right) battle rivals for control of New Mexico Territory in the Lincoln County War. To select mounts for those sequences, Scott worked closely with stunt coordinator Brent Woolsey. “We call them bombproof horses. They put up with gunfire, crowds, other horses,” Scott says. “We did a scene where the horse has to run straight with a guy dragging behind. You need safety wranglers at Point A and Point B.”

Behind the Scenes

Creator Michael Hirst specified that Billy’s horse be gray—and Steel is the series’ only gray or white mount (well, except for equine doubles Spider and Jess). “Your eye goes to the lighter-colored horse. That helps Billy stand out and doesn’t make him look like the bad guy. On this show, Billy’s a gunfighter but he doesn’t go looking for [trouble]; it’s always coming for him.”

Gotta Love It!

On rough terrain, the horses, which can number 60 on set, get a version of cowboy boots! Says Scott: “We put leather pads on under their feet so they don’t bruise their soles.”

#billy the kid #mgm +

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gretacheesefleet · 3 years

Text

Yellowstone (S.F.K)

Sam Kiszka x female reader

Warnings: tw, blood, death, alcohol, smoking

7.5k words

Everything about this place is so beautiful. It's something a person could never get used to. The wildlife, the mountains, the views. The people though are enough to make you want to scream. The sheer amount of aggravation visitors can cause a Yellowstone park ranger is astronomical. How hard can it be to stay 100 yards from the occasional grizzly or black bear? Is the concept of "Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints" that hard?

"Y/n! Earth to y/n! Is there anyone in that giant head of yours?" Your inner rant was interrupted by your partner Sam Kiszka approaching. "There was a moose spotted near highway 191 just north of Shoshone Lake. As per usual gung-ho tourist decided to approach it-"

"Any injuries?" You ask as you head to the patrol car.

"Yeah just one man. All I know is a cow and her calf was involved," Sam climbs into the drivers seat.

This was your first full summer in Yellowstone as a permanent park ranger and you were becoming exhausted. You loved your job, the wildlife. You vowed to protect the whole park but it's become a toll on your mental health. Starting out as a seasonal ranger last summer you fell in love with the rugged mountains. But the more rescue missions you did the more tired you became. Never would you give up this job but maybe a less popular park would be better. Where you could interact with the park more and not have to worry about as many incompetent visitors. Glacier in Montana was the dream. It had been since you were a child.

Sam started at the same time and you were trained together. You worked as a team so well it was obvious to the supervisors to partner the two of you up. You only ever saw each other on the job. It's not that the two of you didn't get along it's just that you both had different friend groups.

Sam was the most beautiful human to hit Yellowstone. Everyone thought so. When you were at the visitor center tourist would bypass you to ask Sam all the questions. Never even giving you a second glance. Not that you blamed them. Sam Kiszka was every outdoor girls dream, he could climb the tallest spires, raft down treacherous whitewater's, and sweet talk any bear.

It was obvious when you got to the moose. Traffic was bottlenecked and there was people everywhere. "I think we found the moose," you observed as you both got out the vehicle.

Sam starts encouraging people to get back into there vehicles as you talked to the head ranger at the scene.

"Some dipshit decided he wanted to try and get a picture with the calf that was grazing in the field. By the time he was within five feet of the calf he didn't realize the cow was on the tree line watching. Safe to say he has a few broken bones and one damaged ego." Ranger Shaffer explained.

"Sounds like he deserved it."

"He did but the park is going to take a serious hit from this. It never looks good when a tourist is injured by an animal no matter the circumstances." You nodded and went back to the road to direct traffic.

Once you were done you met back up with Sam at the car. "Well Y/n it looks like we're done for the day. Any big plans?"

"Yeah I actually have a date in a few hours."

Sam looked down slightly at that. "With who?"

"One of the horse wranglers, Javier."

Sam scoffs, "that guy? He's a douchebag. He's totally played every seasonal women worker in the park."

"Yeah I know that but I've already had to cancel two of our other dates." You liked Javier. You don't know why. Maybe it's because you're turning 24 in a few months and you haven't had a serious relationship since college. You were becoming hopeless at the thought of finding love. There was no way Sam was going to make a move.

The ride back to employee housing was tense. Normally this time was spent having small conversations or about the past. Sam would talk about the wild college parties he would go to and you would tell stories about you and your friends crazy adventures. You could tell something was bothering Sam. His jaw was clenched and his grip on the steering wheel was so strong you could see his veins popping out.

"Sam are you ok?"

"Yeah just really tired. Late night last night."

"Are you and Roman having problems?" Roman was Sam’s roommate. They never got along. Roman had the problem of never cleaning up after himself. He was also the most condescending prick you ever had the pleasure of meeting. He and Sam would have screaming matches late at night, so loud you could hear them a few houses down. It has gotten to the point that rangers on duty have had to go calm them down.

Sam nodded. "My request to move him was finally accepted. I gave him the papers and his new housing assignment last night and he flew into a riot. I stayed calm this time and just sat quietly till he finished. After we had a nice conversation about everything that had happened. He packed his shit and left quietly. His new house is on the other side of the neighborhood."

"That's good. Are you getting a new roommate?"

Sam just shrugs and you take that as cue to shut up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had just finished putting on the finishing touches of your makeup when there was a knock on your door. A giddy feeling creeps up as you head to the entrance. It was ten minutes till five which is when your date with Javier was scheduled for. As soon as you open the door the smile fades off your face.

"I'm so sorry but we have an emergency Y/n. A teenager was carried over the Upper falls. We have to hurry we only have less then four hours till pumpkin time." Sam had the same cool look on his face like every time you both worked a rescue. Pumpkin time is when right before sunset when all helicopters must be on the ground. It's too unsafe to be flying at night especially for rescues.

"Ok let me just grab a change of clothes." You rush to your room and grab the usual forest green uniform and your Smokey bear hat. You ran back out to Sam and sprint to the car. He peels onto the road as you start to change.

"That must've been a fancy date you were going on. I don't think I've ever seen you in anything other forest green and khaki," Sam looks at you out of the corner of his eye. You smile and look down. The deep green of your off the shoulder top did complement your toned core nicely and the calf length black skirt made your legs look longer then ever.

"Yeah well don't get used to it because I'm sure Javier is done with me after the third cancellation in a row," you huff as you shimmy out of the skirt and pull up the pants. Heat creeps to your cheeks as you peel off the shirt you had on. Sam looks over at you and when he notices you only have a bra on he quickly looks away.

"Oh my! Shit Y/n I'm sorry I thought you were already changed!" His explanation only made your cheeks flush even more.

"Don't apologize Sam. It's not like you've never seen a pair of tits before." You jest playfully, but your cheeks are still glowing.

You're both situated in the helicopter and off to the Upper falls within 20 minutes of Sam knocking on your door. The teenager was jumping from rock to rock across the Yellowstone river, showing off to his friends when he slipped on a rock and fell into the rushing cold water. The river was high in July due to the snow melt it was raging and before his friends could react he was swept over the waterfall and was met with an over 100 foot descent.

The helicopter dropped you downstream of the falls and you both joined the rest of the rescue team. There had been no sign of the teenage boy. Searching was always one of the worst thing. Nobody had a clue what they would find. Would there be any chance of survival for the missing? Would they even be found before the river receded?

You searched the bushes while Sam surveyed the river. A barefoot stuck out underneath a Rocky Mountain Maple bush. You ran to it and uncover a pale teenage boy. The breath catches in your throat. He looked so much like your own brother. They looked about the same age, the same build, the same patchy sad facial hair.

"Sam!! Sam I found him!!" He comes rushing over as you check for a pulse. It was faint but at least there was one. The boy is freezing and you knew it could be an onset of hypothermia. The river temperatures can reach well below freezing with the snow melt. Sam runs to find a medic while you survey for injuries. There's a massive hole in the back of the boys head from, assuming, a rock. His hair is matted with blood and you start to shake. Your brothers face won't leave your mind.

Sam returns with a medic and they try to help the boy. Trying to get a injured person stabilized is a crucial part of a rescue. If not stabilized the ride back to the nearest hospital could sent them into shock and they could die. The medic yells at you for something but your too in shock yourself. Your heart is racing and everything is sounds like it's underwater. The medic is cursing and waving his hands around but your stuck in a trance. You've never froze like this. Many rescues have been worse then this, much bloodier, much more sensitive. But the thought of your brother paralyzes you.

Sam looks at you and notices the state your in so he grabs the stuff for the medic. It feels like forever when the medic hangs his head and pulls the blanket over the boy.

All of your body feels hollow and empty the whole way back to the helicopter hanger. "How are you holding up Y/n?" Sam looks at you with sad eyes as you climb into the car.

"Can I stay at your house for a few hours? Marissa is gonna bug me for details and I don't think I can handle that right now." Sam nods. Marissa is your roommate you get along great but she's overly hyper and loud, which normally doesn't bother you but tonight you just want silence.

Sam’s house looks like just the rest of the employee housing. As soon as you enter there's the kitchen and behind that is the living room. Off to the left is a small hallway with an even smaller laundry room and bathroom. On both sides of the hallway are doors that lead into the bedrooms.

You sit at his kitchen table and place your head in your hands. Blinking away the tears you try to hold yourself together. You sense Sam ease into the chair across from you. You both sit in silence for what feels like eternity.

"Y/n, what happened out there? I've never seen you freeze before. You're always the most steady handed, level headed person on rescues," you look up at Sam and place your hands flat on the table.

"I don't know... that boy he-" you paused hesitating. Sam reached over the table and encloses your hands in his, encouraging you to continue. "He reminded me of my brother. They're the about same age a-and I don't know same it just scared me. I know I shouldn't have froze like that. I don't know I ju-"

"Y/n you don't have to explain yourself. Even the most seasoned rangers freeze on occasions. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Just the thought of my brother being in that situation was terrifying. He's always doing stupid shit with his friends." Sam squeezes your hands reassuringly. He gets up and walks to his cupboards. You take a deep breath to calm your nerves.

"Also Javier is pissed I canceled again,"

"He shouldn't get mad at you for doing your job though"

"I know but he thinks I'm just blowing him off so he said he was done,"

"Tequila?" Sam lifts a bottle out of the freezer.

"Yes please. I should probably be more upset about him but I'm not. I knew all he wanted was to get into my pants," you confess as Sam places two shot glasses on the table. He returns to the fridge to fetch some limes and starts cutting them.

"We'll I think you're better off without him Y/n. I've heard some horror stories about him from some of the other rangers he's dated. He's kind of an asshole and he doesn't treat his girlfriends right."

There seemed to be a tad of anger in his voice as he chops through the limes.

"You act like those same girls that also go out with you don't talk shit about you after they date you," he throws you a dirty looks as he sets down the limes on the table between you.

"For your information Y/n I haven't dated any of the women who work in the park. In fact you are the only one of the girls here that I am consistently around. I have not went on a single date since I arrived."

You eye him suspiciously as he grabs his salt shaker.

“You Sam Kiszka, have not dated a single girl since you got here?”

He shook his head as he poured you both a shot of tequila. “I’ve been more focused on my job. Besides no one has really caught my eye yet,” he smiles at you and hands you the shot glass and a lime.

You hold up the glass. “Wells cheers to us lonely fuckers.”

“To us lonely fuckers,” he taps his glass against yours.

The shot stings as it hits the back of your throat. Grabbing the lime you quickly shove it in your mouth. Sam laughs at your grimaced face.

“Can’t handle your shots Y/n?”

“Give me a break I haven’t shot tequila in a long time,” you hand your glass back signaling for another one. Sam raises his eyebrow at you.

“You sure you want another one?”

“Yes I’m sure. Trust me Kiszka I can outdrink you any day.”

“Oh I highly doubt that,” he smirks pouring you another shot.

After the third shot you had both started crying.

“I just don’t know what to do Y/n. This job takes such a toll. I hate it so much because I love this place so much.” Sam sobs across from you.

“Oh Sammy…” seeing him like this breaks your heart. “I know how you’re feeling though. I never thought having my dream job would be a nightmare.”

“I can’t close my eyes without seeing the people we’ve tried to rescue. Their dead eyes staring at me. I wake up in a cold sweat almost every night.”

A few shots later any hint of sadness that was there is long gone. Sam had you rolling on the floor laughing like a maniac. He collapses on the ground next to you with cigarette in hand. He lifts it to his mouth and lights it up. After a taking a drag he looks over at you.

“Wanna puff?” You take it from him.

A comfortable silence surrounds you. The alcohol is still buzzing all over your body. Sam’s hand finds yours again and you both just lie there. After you finish the first cigarette he lights another one.

“I miss my family so much,” he blows a chain of smoke out. “Jake and Josh, Ronnie, my parents, and of course can’t forget the ole pal Danny. I haven’t seen them in over a year.”

“Where are you from Sam?”

“I’m from Frankenmuth Michigan. It’s a small town not much there. But it’s home,” he takes another drag of the cigarette and then hands it over.

“I’m from a small town down south. Literally grew up on the countryside secluded from everyone.”

“I thought I heard a slight southern accent,” Sam laughs.

“Really I thought it all disappeared after college.”

“Nope it still comes out sometimes. Like during a rescue or if someone has pissed you off, then the twang really comes out.”

Shaking your head you hand back the cigarette and go back to the silence. Sam still has a firm grip on your hand and you can’t tell if it the alcohol causing the twist of your stomach or if it’s butterflies.

After a while Sam jumps back up eager to take more shots. You follow him back to the table. Four tequila shots later you remember nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sunlight streaming through the curtains are murderous on your eyes. Realizing your not in your own bed you shoot straight up. A groan emits from the body shaped lump under the blankets next to you.

“Sam?” Poking at the lump another groan escapes the blanket. Knowing your not gonna get anywhere like this you crawl out of his bed. As soon as you stand up the world spins and you have to sit back down on the edge of the bed. You haven’t experienced a hangover this bad in years.

While you sit there with your head in your hands Sam finally uncovers his face. “What time is it?” his voice is still thick with sleep.

“10 am. What happened last night?” All you can remember is taking that last shot and the blacking out.

“Well after you chugged the last bit of the tequila you decided your uniform was too hot. So you started stripping in my living room,” you feel your face start flowing with embarrassment.

“Don’t worry I didn’t see anything,” Sam reassures you. “I was just as drunk as you but I still managed to grab some of my clothes for you.”

Looking down you see that you are in fact wearing his clothes. His boxers hang on your hips and an old shirt that smells like cigarettes and cedar engulfs your frame.

“You started dozing off at the table so somehow we both got to bed. We were both trying to help each other but we were stumbling and falling everywhere. Eventually you crawled into my bed. I was gonna go sleep in the extra room but I couldn’t make it out the door. After you got done laughing at me for falling you asked me to sleep with you.”

“Oh Sam I’m sorry! I don’t remember any of that. I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries,” Sam just laughs.

“Y/n nothing happened. Trust me we were way to drunk to do anything. When I got up here you snuggled into my side and then started snoring. I was surprised you handled the tequila that well. I’ve drank with a lot of people and not a lot can match me shot for shot like you did and not throw their guts ups.”

The amount of embarrassment you feel is paramount. You acted like a complete idiot in front of Sam. It doesn’t seem like he even cares how you acted, if anything he found it endearing.

Finally you stand up and turn to look at Sam. He’s laying on his back with one arm behind his head. He’s not wearing a shirt so his toned chest is bare, the blankets sitting at his waist. You gulp and look away.

You make your way out of Sam’s room and into the kitchen. It’s a mess. There’s cigarettes butts everywhere, it reeks of of tequila and your stomach churns.

“Don’t worry about cleaning it up,” you jump not realizing Sam had followed you.

“I feel bad just leaving you with this mess. I caused part of it. I’m not gonna leave until it’s clean.”

“If you insist. I’m not gonna force you to leave. I’ll make us some breakfast too,” before he heads to the kitchen he puts on a record. The soft rock of The Eagles fill the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next few weeks yours and Sam's friendship blooms. He’s at your house or vice versa at least every other day. More inside jokes are born and you can’t help but feel like it might turn into something more between the two of you.

Simple touches of the hand are more lingering now. Neither one of you have made a move. Other then the fact that you still sleep in the same bed when you get drunk together. No soft kisses or simple hugs. Just constant stolen glances and sweet smiles.

The summer months were coming to a close when the supervisor ranger Milano called you into his office.

“Good morning Y/n, I have some exciting news for you,” he smiles leaning back in his chair with his hands crossed over his stomach.

“You do?” Confusion is clearly spread across your face.

“There was a position open for a full time ranger at Glacier national park and I recommended you for it.”

“Y-you did?”

“Yes and I am happy to say you got it. Not that I’m surprised. You’re one of my best rangers Y/n. You have a lot of potential and I think you’ll do amazing things at a less crowded park.”

You’re a stuttering mess trying to ask him when you leave.

“You have two weeks before the position is open for you to go.”

“Thank you so much sir. You don’t know how much this means to me. This a dream come true,” you stand up and shake his hand vigorously.

Leaving his office you know you should be ecstatic about this opportunity but you can’t help feel sad about leaving Sam. You know you can’t stay in Yellowstone, Glacier has been your dream since you were a child. Breaking the news to Sam is going to be heartbreaking. The two of you have already made plans for the upcoming months. Sam will be happy for you, you know he will be.

Cleaning the rescue cache is never fun yet with Sam he can make even the most mundane tasks enjoyable. The whole time you’re trying to come up with a way to bring up your transfer.

“What’s wrong Y/n? You seem upset,” Sam asks after he only got a slight laugh after one of his jokes.

“Oh it’s nothing. Just missing home a little extra today,” you know it’s a lie but you don’t know what else to tell him.

“I get that but I have something that might cheer you up,” he wiggles his eyebrows at you.

“What?”

“You have to guess.” You roll your eyes. Before you can even try to guess Sam blurts it out. He has never been good at keeping secrets.

“My brothers and Danny are coming to visit for a few days!” Sam is jumping up and down like a little puppy.

“Oh Sam that’s great! When are they getting here?”

“Tonight! They wanna meet you. I figured since we have the weekend off you wouldn’t mind to hang out with us. I told them you’d be there. I hope that’s ok.”

“Of course it is Sam. I really want to meet them, since I’ve heard so much about them.” You’re putting away the broom you just got done using when you’re engulfed into a hug. This is the first time Sam has ever hugged you. Wrapping your arms around his torso you take in his scent. Cigarettes and cedar with a hint of sweat fill your nose.

The embrace is longer then the normal hug between two friends. Once Sam pulls away he tells you to come to his house around 7.

When you get to Sam’s house the door swings open before you can even knock. You’re greeted by a tall man with long, curly, dark hair. He is very attractive with a slight hooked nose. He reminds you of an mysterious elf.

“You must be Y/n! I’m Danny! Sam has told us all about you!” Before you can react he pulls you into a tight hug.

“Guys! Y/ns here!” A chorus of yells come from the kitchen as Danny leads you into the house.

Yet again before you can even open your mouth you’re caught in a group hug. Everyone is talking at once. The shortest of the boys has curly hair and a cute little mustache and his mouth is moving a mile a minute. The second looks like an almost carbon copy of the short one only with longer hair. You look at Sam a little overwhelmed. He laughs and starts yelling over them.

“Guys! Give her a break let her breathe!” They all quite down a little bit.

“Hi I’m Josh! It’s so nice to finally meet you,” the short one introduces himself and pulls you in for another hug. “Sammy never shuts up about you.”

You look over at Sam and his face is as red as you imagine yours is. Does he really talk about you to his family so much?

“I’m Jake the most attractive brother obviously,” Jake waves. You laugh at his statement.

“It’s so nice to finally meet all of you. Sam has told me a lot of stories about y’all. I promise all of it good. I can definitely tell good looks run through the family.” They all laugh and again they’re all talking at once. You slowly make your way to Sam’s side. He hands you a beer and you take it thankful to have it.

The boys are amazing, a little loud, but nothing you can’t handle. You can see why Sam loves them so much. They can barely let someone talk without one of them interrupting. They are all so sweet to you. You laugh at all their jokes and the embarrassing stories they tell about Sam.

“So Y/n where are you from? I’m guessing somewhere from the south with that accent. Do you have any siblings? Do you play instruments? Do yo-”

“Jesus Josh calm down and let her answer one at a time,” Sam laughs at how eager his older brother is. Everyone is looking at you waiting for the answers.

“Well you are right Josh. I am from the south, born and raised. I have a younger brother who’s 18. I sadly can’t play any instruments. I’m not very musically inclined. Do you guys play anything?”

“I play the guitar and almost anything with strings. Same with Sam plus the piano. Danny plays the drums and the guitar. And Josh well Josh doesn’t play anything.” Jake explains.

“I play the vocals!” Josh defends himself.

“That’s not an instrument Josh,” Sam points out taking a sip of his beer.

“I play the vocals Sam!” Josh throws a pillow at him. You laugh as the pillow hits Sam’s can spilling beer on his pants. He throws it back at Josh but he dodges it and it hits Danny right in the face. Everyone is laughing as Sam apologizes to Danny.

“Wow I didn’t realize you guys were so talented. You should start a band.” More laughter erupts before they explain how they wanted to but they all had bigger dreams. Josh is in theater, Jake is writing music for other artists, Danny opened his own music store, and Sam of course wanted to work in a park.

The night is going great when you step outside for a some fresh air and a cigarette. You’re sitting on the steps out back when someone sits down beside you. It’s Danny and you hand him the cigarette. He takes it and you both sit there in silence for a moment.

“You and Sammy really like each other huh?” You look at him bewildered.

“Come on Y/n it’s obvious by the way you’ve been looking at him. And I mean you are ALL he talks about. I’ve known Sam my entire life and I have never heard him talk about one person so much.”

“Oh I don’t know about that Danny,” you shake your head in disbelief. Could there be a chance Sam shares the same feelings as you? If that’s so leaving is going to be that much harder.

“Trust me he looks at you like you two are the only people in the room,” Danny smiles at you.

“I mean I know I have feelings for him-”

“Knew it,” Danny laughs.

“But you can’t tell Sam.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m leaving in two weeks and I don’t want to make it any harder then it has to be,” you look over at Danny and he just looks at you with a sad look on his face.

“Where to?”

“Glacier in Montana.”

“I won’t tell him but you definitely should. He deserves to know how you feel.”

“I will I promise,” you assure him.

You sit there in silence before Sam comes out there.

“There you guys are! Come on we’re gonna sing karaoke!” He grabs your arm and pulls you inside.

Josh is already singing Toxic by Brittany Spears when you get to the living room. When he’s done Sam jumps up from the couch.

“Sing with me Y/n?”

“Oh I don’t know Sam,” hesitant to embarrass yourself in front of everyone. The boys start chanting your name giving you no choice but to get up and sing.

You stand up with Sam and Josh hands you both microphones. The beginning of Shallow by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga starts playing. You and Sam purposely butcher it but your eyes never leave his the entire song. When the song is over the two of you are so close your noses are almost touching. It’s quiet except for your breathing. You stay like that until someone coughs. Looking away embarrassed you hand the mic off to Danny and sit back down on the couch. Sam hands his to Jake and takes a seat next to you. Sitting a little closer then normal.

The remainder of the night is spend in a slightly drunk stupor. You absolutely love and adore all of the boys. Danny is a wholesome sweetheart, the two of you become inseparable. You gang up on the boys together. Jake reminds you of one of your college friends, always laughing and adding quick remarks that leaves everyone laughing. Josh keeps you all laughing till you can’t breathe. Sam stays next to you all night unless he’s grabbing beers. You wish the night would never end.

You wake up the next morning cuddled up next to Sam on the couch. Looking around you see the rest of the boys scattered around the living room. Josh is curled up in the chair that’s tucked in a corner. Jake and Danny are sharing a blanket in the floor.

As you move Sam wiggles next to you.

“Don’t go baby,” he groans. You look at him shocked but you see he’s still mostly asleep. Not nearly coherent enough to realize what he said. You smile and gently shake him to wake up.

“Sammy wake up. It’s morning time,” you whisper to him. He doesn’t wake up he just groans.

Knowing trying to wake him up gently isn’t going to work. You quietly make your way to the kitchen and fill two cups with cold water. Sneaking back into the living room you nudge Josh awake. But before he can open his loud mouth you shush him, gesturing to the cups of water. His face lights up as he takes one of the glasses from you.

You stand over Sam as Josh is positioned over Jake and Danny. Counting down from three with your fingers, once it gets to one you and Josh toss the cold water on the sleeping boys.

A chorus of shrieks and yells fill the room. You and Josh are cackling at the looks on the boys face. Sam’s eyes go dark as he looks at you. “You’re dead meat Y/n,” he scrambles up from the couches. It’s your turn to shriek as he chases you across the house. Turning into Sam’s room you trip on a pile of clothes and fall to the floor. Sam pins you down with your hands over your head, knees on both sides of your hips. You’re breathing heavy, just staring at each other. Pieces of his hair is sticking to his face from the water.

Neither one of you says a word for what feels like forever. “Sam…” his face is slowly getting closer and his eyes dart to your lips. He’s less then an inch from your face when someone clears their throat. You and Sam quickly look to the door to find Jake standing there with a smirk on his face.

“We thought it got a little to quiet back here. Thought I’d make sure you two didn’t hurt each other,” Jake laughs as you crawl out from under Sam.

Both of your faces are glowing bright red as you follow Jake back into the living room. Josh is doing an amazing reenactment of the boys getting water thrown on them. When him and Danny see the two of you they start clapping and whistling.

“Oh shut it you two. Nothing happened,” Sam tells them his face still red. This only makes everyone laugh more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boys end up staying the rest of the week. Exploring the wilderness and what few towns surround Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. You spent every moment of free time with them. The feelings between you and Sam grow stronger. There are more stolen glances and lingering touches. The two of you haven’t had a moment alone in the past week. You still haven’t been able to tell Sam the news of your transfer, not wanting to bring down the mood.

Sadly the day has come for Jake, Josh, and Danny to leave. The bright and clear Sunday morning would be a perfect day if not for the fact of all of them crying. One thing you have noticed about the four of them is that they have no problem showing their emotions. A few tears slip out your eyes when Danny hugs you close for goodbye.

“You have less then a week now Y/n. You have to tell him,” Danny whispers in your ear. You nod in agreement.

“I promise I will.”

“Keep an eye on this crazy man for us ok Y/n?” Jake pulls you in for a tight hug.

“I’ll do my best,” you laugh.

Josh has the most tears streaming down his face when he comes to say goodbye.

“It’s been so nice meeting you Y/n. We’ll definitely come visit you guys soon. Take care of yourself,” he hugs you and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Group hug!” Sam yells and you get caught in the middle. Laughing everyone is yelling “I’ll miss you’s” and “take cares” as Jake, Josh, and Danny head to their car. You and Sam wave at them until the car is out of sight. Looking over at Sam you still see a few tears streaming down his cheeks. You reach over and grab his hand for comfort, not just for him but for both of you. He wipes his tears off with the back of his hand and turns to you.

“Wanna go watch the sunset with me?” You nod.

“I’d love to Sam.”

The whole drive you know you have to tell him about you leaving. You just don’t know how to approach it. Sam parks at this secluded overlook. You both get out and sit on the hood of his car.

“I’m really glad you and the boys got along. I know they can be a bit much and you are more on the shy quiet side.”

“They were absolute sweethearts Sam. I adore all of them. They really made me miss my friends. I can tell there is never a dull moment with them around,” you laugh.

“That’s no joke. It’s nice to be out here but not having them around really does put a damper on things. But at least I have you,” Sam adds the last part softly. You look at him and the two of you just stare at each other. He slowly starts to close the gap between you.

“Sam,” you breath softly.

Finally the moment you had been waiting for. Sam’s lips meet yours in a sweet kiss. The sparks fly instantly behind your eyes. His hand is on the back of your neck as you softly touch his cheek. Sam doesn’t miss on the opportunity to deepen the kiss. You had been dreaming of this since you met Samuel Kizska and now it is finally happening.

When Sam pulls away a goofy smile is plastered on his face. “I have been wanting to do that since I first met you,” he confesses.

“Really? Why didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t sure you felt the same way. It wasn’t until the boys came and Danny told me you did. He said the way we looked at each other that it was, and I quote, ‘totally fucking obvious and you need to get your head out of your ass and make a move’. I was going to sooner but they never gave us a second alone,” he laughs and wraps an arm around your waist pulling you closer to him.

“Well I’m glad you finally did. I’ve been waiting forever Sam,” running your fingers through his hair pulling him to you again. Kissing him feels like it solves all of your problems in the world. You can feel him smile against your lips.

Pulling away you both just take in each other. You lay your head on Sam’s shoulder and he kisses your forehead. You never want this moment to end as the sunsets. It feels like something straight out of a movie.

Once the sun is fully behind the mountains Sam drives you back home. The drive back you know it’s time to tell him, You’re running out of time since you leave in less then a week.

Sam walks you up to your front door. “Well I guess I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for work.” He turns to leave but you stop him.

“Sam wait...”

“Oh yeah how could I forget,” he kisses you one last time for the night.

You can’t help but feel a tug of sadness at the thought of leaving. A single tear leaves your eye. Sam pulls away when he feels the moisture on your cheek.

“What’s wrong Y/n? Did I upset you?” Sam looks at you eyes full of worry. You shake your head.

“No Sam it’s not you. You didn’t do anything. It’s just...” you pause unsure what to say.

“It’s just what Y/n?”

“I’m transferring to Glacier next Saturday.” Sam doesn’t say anything. He just sits there and stares at you in disbelief.

“When did you find out?”

“Last week. Honestly I didn’t put it in. Milano did. He said I could do better things in a less populated park,” you start rambling.

“When were you gonna tell me? Were you just gonna leave and leave me hangin?” his voice is starting to rise.

“No Sam I’ve been wanting to tell you I just didn’t know how. I was going to tell you sooner but then your brothers and Danny were here and I didn’t want to dampen the mood. Danny told me to just tell you anyway-” he takes a step back from you.

“You told Danny before you told me!” Sam’s face is starting to get red from anger.

“Sam I get your upset, but believe me I am too,” you try to grab his hand be steps out of reach.

“You know what Y/n? Don’t even worry about it,” with that Sam turns on his heel and leaves you standing on your front steps with tears streaming freely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a few days Sam completely avoids you. He won’t even look in your direction. Knowing he feels betrayed by you, you don’t push anything. Space is what he needs and you understand that. But you can’t help but miss his familiar and calming presence. Finally when he stops avoiding you he’s cold towards you. When trying to make small talk with him, he is snippy with his answers and won’t even look you in the eye.

Finally Saturday arrives and you plan on leaving around noon. You had texted Sam when you woke up asking if you could come say goodbye but he never answered you.

The house you’ve spent the past year and a half in is becoming void of all traces of you. Marissa has been helping you pack all of your belongings into boxes and suitcases.

“I can’t believe you’re actually leaving Y/n. I mean I’m so happy for you but I am gonna miss you. You were a great roommate,” by this point you’ve tuned Marissa out. She is known to ramble for long periods of time.

You hear her mention Sam. “What’d you say?”

“I said since you and Sam obviously aren’t anything romantic, do you mind if I swoop in and try my hand at him?” Marissa is smiling at you sweetly while she finishes taping up the last cardboard box. You can’t help but feel your blood boil at her comment. There’s no right for you to be so upset. You and Sam had never confirmed a relationship or anything. Just a handful of kisses one day. You never had the chance to solidify a relationship.

“I don’t care what you do when I’m gone,” there’s more venom dripping from your voice then you mean there to be. Before she gets the chance to say anything you take the last few boxes out to your Jeep.

Looking at your phone you see the time is 11:45. A wave of sadness rushes over your entire body. You leave in fifteen minutes and Sam hasn’t come to see you. Leaning against the spare tire you take a deep breath to keep from breaking down in the middle of the driveway. You close your eyes and lean your head back. The cool wind blows across your face while you stand there signaling that fall is approaching.

The moment is interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Not in the mood to talk to anyone you turn your head slowly to look at whoever disturbed you. You’re shocked to Sam Kiszka standing before you.

“Sam!” you gasp and throw your arms around his neck. He holds you tight, one hand cradling your head the other on the small of your back.

“Y/n I am so sorry for how I’ve treated you this week. I was just so upset that you were gonna leave me,” Sam confesses.

“You don’t have to apologize Sam. I’m the one that’s sorry. I should have told you way sooner then I did.”

He pulls away from you and there’s tears streaming down his face and bags under his eyes, evidence he hasn’t been sleeping much either.

“Y/n if I didn’t know that working in Glacier has been your dream since you were a child I would ask you to stay-”

“Sam...”

“I know Y/n and I’m not asking you stay. I want you to go. Live your dream. I’m so happy for you. I truly am. I just wanted to tell you that...” he pauses and takes a deep breath. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you Y/n. I know it’s crazy but I realized I loved you that first night we got drunk. I always had feelings for you. Ever since I met you. But that night I realized it was more then that.”

You stand there in shock for a moment.

“Please say something Y/n,” Sam pleads. Not being able to talk you just crash your lips to his. It’s the most passionate love filled kiss either of you have ever experienced.

“I love you too Sam,” you confess once you pull away.

“Oh thank god,” he breathes out. You laugh a bit at his statement.

The sun is directly above you signaling that it’s time for you to leave. There’s no way to stop the tears from falling.

“I have to go now Sam.” he nods sadly.

“I’m gonna miss you so fucking much Y/n.”

“I know I’m gonna miss you too.”

You stand in silence for a moment before he pulls you in for one last hug.

“Can I have one more kiss?” Sam whispers in your ear. Pulling away more tears fall because you know what you have to do. He’s holding your hands tightly as he looks pleadingly at you.

“Samuel Kizska if I kiss you again I’m gonna abandon everything and stay here with you.” He drops his head in defeat but nods understanding. You slowly remove your hands from his and climb into the drivers seat.

Rolling down the window you take Sam in one last time. His gorgeous features will never leave your mind. You have never loved someone this strongly before.

“Don’t you dare forget about me Y/n Y/l/n,” his voice breaks not even caring about the amount of tears flowing down his face.

“I could never forget you Sam.”

With that you start the engine and drive away. Knowing that if you waited even a second longer you wouldn’t be able to go. Looking back in your rearview mirror you can barely make out Sam’s figure through the dust and your tears.

#sam kiskza #greta van fleet #sam gvf #sammy gvf #sam kiszka x reader #gretavanfleet #greta van fleet imagine #greta van fic #joshua kiszka #sam kiszka imagine #daniel wagner #jake gvf #jake kiszka #strange horizons #gvf #danny gvf #josh gvf

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daily-hanamura · 4 months

Note

Love your analysis of Yosuke’s character, it’s so detailed and fun to read! I’m kinda curious, what are your thoughts on his characterization in the fighting and dancing games?

Waaah thank you so much!! I'm glad you enjoyed them 💖

Oooh I actually LOVE his characterisation in p4d and p4au, probably because I think it brought out all my favourite parts of Yosuke and it really felt like Yosuke had matured a lot compared to his first appearance.

In P4A/U for example we see a lot of thoughts from other characters, and I really love that it's revealed how the others - not just Yu, but also Yukiko and Chie - rely on Yosuke a lot for emotional support, as the morale booster of the team, for direction when they don't know what to do, as the glue that keeps the group together, and it's so fantastic because it's so unlike how Yosuke sees himself. A lot of Yosuke's POV also reveals how much overthinking he does and how, despite his empathy in noticing when others are frustrated or worried, he feels like he doesn't do a very good job at cheering them up, even though when we look at their POVs we see that he did!! Both Yukiko and Chie call him up when they were worried about their friends going missing BECAUSE they feel better from talking to him!! Sorry but this particular factoid, this specific gap, sits in my head like a spitroast being rotated all the time because I cannot get over it. But he's trying though - we can see his motivations for the things that he says and how he tries to lighten the mood and yeah. It's great. I went into P4AU thinking it was going to be whatever but let me just say that was the game that triggered my single-minded obsession about Yosuke and the reason why this blog exists LOL like I was very much souyo and yosuke-brained aftert P4G but oh boy. P4AU tipped me over from obsessed to building this damn shrine for him :'D

He always laughs deprecatingly at himself even in the post p4g games, like in P4D - when he dances well he has a line that's like, "not such a disappointment after all" and it, again, really shows how he has such a poor perception of himself that he doesn't see his own good points, like the fact that he held out the second longest during their dance training, losing only to Rise, as pointed out by Yu. He's naturally talented and keeps up well with everyone elses dance style, but he doesn't really notice that either? Also a side thing I find hilarious/cute/endearing in P4D is also how Kanji exposes Yosuke's idol-loving-hours and Yosuke gets extremely embarrassed about it, because at his heart Yosuke does still like that kind of (somewhat) superficial thing, but he doesn't want people to know! It's a stark contrast to how he was earlier in P4G where he's more open about checking out girls (again, the whole "is this overcompensation" vs "is this a product of bro culture from his childhood friends" is a conversation that we can have) but it's a reflection of how that kind of talk tapers out a lot as the game progresses, and P4D was really consistent with the kind of growth that P4G gave Yosuke, instead of reducing him into that best-bro-friend stereotype, and for a game that was actually so short in narrative substance compared to P4AU, it was great. (I'm also convinced that P4D was trying to tell us Yosuke and Yu were dating but I'm not going to start on that again LOL)

And I think ultimately the reason why I feel like P4AU and P4D showcased a lot of growth for Yosuke is in his relationships with other people, because as much as Yosuke worries about how he's remained static, I think the fact that the others treat him with such respect (like when the first years and Teddie acknowledge that Yosuke is basically the team wrangler, and the difference between Yosuke at the start of P4G/in Magician compared to P4AU/D was someone who had become a lot more receptive about forming genuine relationships with other people instead of just protecting himself by surrounding himself with superficial relationships and yeah. yeah.

#asks #cosmic-stelar #is this anything coherent LMAO i feel a lot of thoughts #he's good with his queue

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maddiwrites · 3 years

Text

The Hybrid (I)

Pairing: JJ x Reader

Summary: The Pogues rekindle their friendship with their old childhood best friend and JJ’s first crush, Y/N. Old feelings resurface for JJ and Y/N, possibly leading to a summer neither one of them could ever forget. Due to past trauma, Y/N is reluctant to let anyone into her heart, but JJ never backs down from a challenge, even if he knows it will come back to haunt him in the end.

Note: Thank you for being patient with me as I slowly write this series. I had this idea a long time ago and I’m not finding motivation to write it but the inspiration comes and go. I smile with every comment that is left on my fics and I’m so grateful for this community. Thank you for letting me pursue my creative writing without judgement. Love you guys! (Also, yes. If you didn’t see my last note, I based YN’s family off of the Gilmore Girls characters. That’s who I picture as them.)

Word Count: 8k

Masterlist Prologue

You wake up to someone falling on your bed next to you with a dramatic sigh. Knowing exactly who it is, you choose to ignore her and try getting back to the dreamless sleep you were peacefully having before you woke up.

That is, until she sighs again.

You flip onto your back and stare up at your ceiling fan that’s quickly spinning above you. “What, Rory?”

“How did it go with Andre and that boy?”

You look at her with one brow raised. “You woke me up to hear about Andre’s love life? That hardly sounds like you. You don’t care about high school drama or hookups.”

“You’re right,” Rory says. “But I thought I would ease you into what I actually need to tell you.”

You turn on right side and look at your sister confused. “What?”

She sighs. “The cafe’s basement flooded last night. Mom needs us there to help her clean up and take inventory on what’s salvageable.”

You turn back on you backside and close your eyes, exhaling a deep sigh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Unfortunately not,” Rory says and pats you twice on your covered thigh as she sits up. “Come on. I made you pre-cafe coffee. It’s sitting in the kitchen.”

You throw your sheets off of you and trudge to the bathroom to brush your teeth and clean your face. It’s about 8 a.m. At least you were able to get about six hours of sleep.

Last night, it was hard to let your brain rest to fall asleep. You kept tossing and turning, thinking about the blonde Pogue who walked you home. You missed how easy it was to talk to someone who you felt truly knew you. Your banter rolled off your tongue easily and you never had to worry about offending him because you knew him like the back of your hand. You knew what he could take and what he couldn't.

Talking to him brought back childhood memories you had hidden deep in your mind. How JJ would constantly poke you until you ripped into a smile on days that were grey. How you used to steal John B’s bandanas until he was chasing you around his house to get them back. How you would draw a mustache and a unibrow on Pope’s face when he fell asleep by the water.

Those days felt like they were decades ago. So far away, you didn’t know if you’d be able to reach for them again. If it was even possible to get back.

You thought about texting him. Thanks for walking me back. We should all get together soon! You had written out. But then you deleted the whole message, telling yourself it was because you didn’t know if he even had the same number. But deep down, you were just afraid of the rejection.

Its been about three years since the four of you had been together in one place. You don’t know what they’ve been through or if they’ve changed. They for sure as hell don’t know what you’ve been through. You don’t know if they're dynamic has changed. Clearly you and JJ can still joke with each other but what about John B and Pope? You heard about John B’s father disappearing at sea, most people believing he’s dead, but John B holding onto hope that’s he’s alive. You always thought about calling him to reach out and offer your condolences. But for the same reason you didn’t text JJ, you never called. It didn’t feel like your place. They had Kie for that now. A little part of you felt jealous of her, like she had replaced you and any memory of you. She seemed nice, but she wasn’t you.

“Ready?” Rory pops her head in to your room as you slip on a cropped plain white zip up jacket over your cropped black tank.

“As I’ll ever be,” You say and snag the car keys out of her hands. “Don’t even think about it. I’m driving.”

Rory rolls her eyes. “I want to get there safely.”

“And I want to get there quickly.”

“Fine. But we’re taking my car. It actually has doors.”

For your sixteenth birthday, your grandparents gifted both you and Rory your own individual cars and even let you pick them out. Rory chose a black 2020 Honda Civic for it’s safety features and reputation for longevity as if she was planning on handing it down to her future kids. And you picked out a white 2020 Jeep Wrangler with a hard top that pops off along with the doors for a very open and thrilling ride. Everyone but you called it a death trap, but you found it to be the perfect summer car.

You park Rory’s boring Honda Civic in the back of the cafe in a lot used specifically for employees. The cafe is already booming with teens and families, waiting for their morning coffees and fresh pastries. Kids your age are running around behind the counter with sweat dripping down their brow bone to get everyone’s orders out in a timely manner.

In the back of the store, your mom walks up the steps from the basement with two large trash bags and immediately notices the two of you. “Oh good. You’re here. Rory, help the girls behind the counter. The dishwasher’s broken and poor Hailey is hand washing everything. Y/N, come with me downstairs.”

“Why does Rory get the fun job?” You grumble and follow your mom back downstairs after she tosses the two trash bags.

“Because she’s actually nice to the customers.”

“Treat others how you would like to be treated. Isn’t that what everyone always says?” You smirk. You never agreed with the phrase ‘the customer is always right.’ It’s complete bullshit and being the employee shouldn’t mean letting yourself getting verbally abused by a ‘Karen’ on the other side of the counter.

The basement is used for the cafe’s storage, lined with wooden shelves Steve put together that hold to go cups, back up espresso machines, boxes of coffee and food and ingredients, etc. Now all the boxes are dark and sopping, creating puddles on the concrete floor.

“Oh my god. Mom. How did this happen?”

“Jenky water pipe busted in the middle of the night,” Steve walks down the stairs and passes your mom a knowing look. It didn’t surprise you that he was here. He’s the jack of all trades. Owns his own automotive shop, builds a lot of his own furniture, actually cooks a decent meal, and has the same outlook on customer service as you do. He was probably your mom’s first call. “Talked to the plumber. They can’t get here until at least noon.”

“Noon? We’ll be underwater by noon. I might as well turn all my employees into a swim team,” Your mom says.

Steve shakes his head. “I was able to hold the leak until he gets here. You should be fine.”

Steve was the first person that actually helped your mother out when's she moved to the Cut. Six months pregnant, she pushed her car into his automotive shop after it broke down on the side of the road. Their banter was similar to the one you and JJ have. He helped save your mom money by building yours and Rory’s cribs, changing table, and dressers. And ever since, the two of them had been connected by the hip, although they both refuse to admit it. You think the pair are just trying to deny the love they clearly share for each other. And you think the main reason for that is because of the incident four years ago with your mom’s ex boyfriend. No thanks to you.

“Look at you constantly building your resume,” You smirk at him.

Steve scoffs. “It’s more than what you’re doing.”

You roll your eyes. Steve is the closest thing you have to a father. He practically helped raise you with your mom. He’s the one you turn to whenever a fight with your mom goes too far, which isn't too often but it happens. He usually lets you stay at his house for the night to let you cool off. But he’ll never sugar coat his advice when it comes time for him to give it. Even if you don’t ask for it. He knows growing up with Rory has been challenging. She was clearly your mom’s favorite, or at least that’s what you thought. She has a 4.0 GPA with a realistic dream to get into Brown University and study journalism. She played by every rule, never got into trouble, and spent most of her free nights getting ahead of her school work or staying late at the cafe with an open book from the library across the street. She was an absolute angel to everyone else, making you look like her evil twin.

You glare at him before turning to your mom with crossed arms. “What do you want me to do, Mom?”

“Actually honey. Can you go to Heywards and grab more coffee filters and napkins. The water soaked right through the plastic wrapping on our last box.”

You nod, leaving your mom and Steve to clean up the basement themselves. Before heading out, you sneak behind the counter and make yourself a quick coffee to go.

“Where you going?” Rory asks as she reaches behind you to grab a banana for her customer at the register.

“Heywards to grab a couple things for Mom.”

“Oh. Make sure to grab toilet paper while you’re out. I think we’re almost out of it.”

“Got it.”

Heywards is only a short drive from your mom’s cafe. It’s the closest convenient store that isn’t crazy pricey. It’s where your mom gets all her supplies whenever she runs out of things before shipment gets there.

You use to always come here when you were younger with the boys, each of you, even Pope, stealing a small bag of chips or a candy bar here and there. Little did any of you know, Mr. Heyward caught your thieving hands every time but never said anything.

The bell above the door chimes when you walk into the store. You know this place as well as you know the cafe, finding the toilet paper and coffee filter immediately.

When Mr. Heyward looks up from the counter, his smile grows. He can pick you out of a crowd anywhere, but he hasn’t seen you in a long time. Last time he saw you, you had braces and overgrown bushy brows. Now you had bushed hair and shaved legs.

“Hi. Mr. Heyward,” You grin shyly at him. You don’t know how he’s going to react to see you, unsure of what Pope might have told him about you.

“Little Miss Y/L/N? Is that you?” Heyward smiles widely, pulling your own lips into a wider smile. “I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy with school and my mom’s cafe...” Both of those things were a lie. You just avoid the Cut to avoid the Pogues.

“How’s the fam?”

“They’re good,” You say as Heyward hands you your bags. “Mom says hello by the way. I’m actually taking these to her store now.”

“Well, don’t be a stranger. We miss your smiling face around her. Anette, too.” Heyward says, mentioning his wife.

“Tell her I said hi.”

“Of course, darling.”

Heyward and Anette always had a special place in their heart for you and Rory. They’re not one for gossip, but they knew a little bit about what your mom’s been through and have heard plenty of stories about your grandparents. They always thought, despite your mom’s background, that you and your sister were raised impressively. Anette always hoped that one day Pope and Rory would get together. Everyone always wanted their child to be with Rory.

As your about to leave the store, the bell chimes again with another customer. Only it’s not another customer. It’s Pope and John B. They don’t see you at first, and you wonder if maybe you can sneak out without them seeing you. But something about that felt wrong. Especially because Heyward would more than likely mention to them that you were here.

Pope sees you first and stops in his tracks. “Y/N?”

“Hey, guys. Long time no see,” You smile at both of them. You bite down on your lip awkwardly when you meet John B’s stare. You don’t know if you should mention anything about his dad’s disappearance. But what would you say? Sorry? What good would that do?

“How’ve you been?” Pope gives you a small side hug, then John B.

You shrug. “You know, living the dream.”

“How’s life as a Hybrid?” John B smirks.

You roll your eyes playfully and groan. “Oh god. Never call me that again.”

You may be considered a Hybrid by everyone else, but you would never put yourself into that category. You grew up a Pogue, the same way everyone else did around you. The only thing tying you to the Kooks are your grandparents.

“Why?” John B smirks. “I wish I was a Hybrid.”

You smirk back. “Maybe you will be one day. I hear you have a Kook of your own for arm candy.”

You saw a faint hint of blush on John B’s cheek at the mention of his girlfriend but you don’t mention it. “Sarah, yeah. She’s not like the other Kooks.”

“I would hope not. Her brother’s a dick.”

“Yeah,” They laugh.

“We miss you, you know.” John B says. Pope looks at you, trying to read your expression. John B’s not wrong. They do all miss you, especially Pope. He felt like you were the only one who really understood him. Of course his other friends are great, but you actually took the time to try and understand his passions. Like forensic science.

“I miss you guys too. It’s been a while.”

“Well, hey. We’re actually all getting together tonight at my place. Nothing big. Just a bonfire and a couple beers. You should stop by,” John B says.

“Yeah,” Pope says, immediately getting hopeful that you’ll show up.

Your smile falters. The invite makes your heart swell and your lungs contract. It’s an invite you’ve been wanting for three years. And now that you have it, you don’t know what to say. It’d be different if it was just the four of you like old times. But now there’s Kie and Sarah and although you have nothing against them, you’re afraid they won’t accept you. The thought of your boys picking them over you terrifies you.

“Okay. Yeah, sure. I’ll try to swing by later.”

Pope smiles wide and looks at his friend to see his reaction. John B grins and nods, almost impressed that you had agreed. But he saw the twitch in your lips when the question was asked.

“Great. I guess we’ll see you later then.”

You nod. “Okay. Bye guys.”

You suck in a deep breath when the fresh air outside of Heyward’s store brushes over you. Your heart thumps wildly with both excitement and nerves when you’re finally able to collect your thoughts. You don’t know what you’ll do tonight, but the possibilities can change your entire summer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You spent the rest of the day mopping up the cafe’s basement and rearranging the shelves. You smelled of sweat and coffee grounds by the time you were done and dreamt of the shower you would be taking when you got home.

Rory drove you home after the two of you closed up the cafe for the day. Neither of you said much. Rory was exhausted from running around behind the counter and you were too busy thinking about whether you’d go back to the place you used to call your second home.

You took a longer shower than usual, still pondering what your night would be like. Your head was telling you to stay home but your heart pulled you in the direction of the Cut. You yearned to hear about what the future held for Pope, and listen to John B retell stories of when you were kids, and be able to stare into JJ’s bright blue eyes without him noticing.

You changed into a pair of jean shorts and a plain red cropped tank. Rory walks into your room as your brushing out your hair and looks at you as if you lost your mind.

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t wear that,” She says.

You brows scrunch together in confusion. “What are you talking about? I wear shit like this all the time.”

“Not to the Country Club, you don’t.” That’s when it hits you. Today’s been so hectic, you forgot what day it was. “It’s Sunday.”

Sunday dinner at the Country Club is now a weekly commitment forced upon you by your grandparents. Each week, your mom, sister, and you are forced to spend one dinner with your grandma and grandpa. This is basically your mom’s payment back for sending you and Rory to Kook Academy. Only they actually pay for the dinner. It’s usually the longest two hours of your entire week. It’s hard to listen to your grandfather rant about Real Estate and your grandma slyly critique your mother in almost every aspect of her life.

“Shit. I completely forgot,” You say.

“Well, you better change. We’re leaving in about five minutes,” Rory says then plucks a gold necklace from your dresser. “Oh and can I wear this tonight?”

You sigh. “Sure.”

You change into a baby blue wrap around dress and pin your wet hair into a half up half down due. It’s gonna have to work for the limited time you have to get ready. After applying a thin layer of makeup to look the least bit presentable, you meet your mom and sister by the front door.

“Finally,” Your mom says when she sees you.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize it was Sunday.”

“It’s okay, honey. I just don’t think I can handle another late remark from Mom today.” She looks you up and down and grins. “You look great.”

Despite the many fiery fights you and your mom can have, she is also your best friend. It’s kind of like a love hate relationship. Steve says it’s because you’re exactly like your mom - almost like a sixteen year old version of her.

You really hope that isn’t true. You’re not ready to have a kid in two years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Your grandparents are already sitting at a round table in the corner of the country club by the two tall windows that reach up to the ceiling with a view looking out into the golf course. The best seat in the house for the richest a holes on the island.

“Lorelai,” Your grandmother grins, but you can instantly tell it’s sarcastic. “Did you have to walk here?”

You speak up before your mom could. “Sorry Grandma. It’s my fault we’re late.”

Your grandparents are hard on your mom but easier on you and Rory, especially Rory.

“Well, you’re here now,” Your grandpa says. He’s usually the mediator between your mom and grandma. Although he’s usually sucks at it. “Sit. Sit.”

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, JJ shuffles through his many coworkers with his apron in one hand and a piece of fried calamari from Miss Carol’s appetizer in the other.

“JJ -” She scolds and slaps his hand away from going in for a second piece.

“Good evening Miss Carol,” JJ smirks and makes his way to the area between the kitchen and dining room where most of the servers and bust boys hang out. Some of the boys slap him on the back or shove him by the shoulder, chuckling to themselves. “What’s going on boys? Busy crowd?”

“What are you doing here? You never work Sundays,” His friend, Mitch, says.

Luke Maybank was behind on several bills - worse than it’s ever been. They already shut off their electricity and JJ wanted to make sure the water wouldn’t be next.

But JJ shrugs nonchalantly. “Little extra dough can't hurt.”

“Well, you picked a good day,” Raymond walks up to the blonde, rolling his sleeves. “You got Kook Royalty and their Hybrid offsprings in your section.”

“What?” JJ looks through the small square Plexiglas on the swinging door. He knows exactly where to look and immediately sees you sitting with King and Queen Kook, looking absolutely miserable, pushing around your food with your fork.

“Damn, Maybank. Almost broke your neck - you turned so fast.”

“Shut up, Easterling. I was just seeing how crowded we were,” JJ lied. He really just wanted to see if you were here. And now that he sees you are, he’s a little nervous to do his own damn job.

Raymond Easterling chuckles. “Yeah, I know what you were looking at. But don’t get your hopes up. There’s a reason Kooks call that girl the Heart Sucker. Not even the high and powerful JJ Maybank could get a piece of that.”

The guys around JJ and Raymond chuckle and nod in agreement, hearing the stories of how you’d reject every single guy that’s ever asked you out. Sometimes you’d go on a few dates, trying to push yourself out of your comfort zone, but then things would quickly become too much, and you’d get overwhelmed.

JJ didn’t like the way Raymond talked about you or how the others laughed at your expense. His hands clenched into fists, tempted to throw a punch in Ray’s cocky face. The guy’s just being a jerk because he’s one of the guys that got rejected by you, he thought.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” JJ shakes his head and ties his apron around his waist to distract his hands.

“No?” Raymond challenges him. “You think I’m wrong? You think you could pull the infamous Hybrid over there?”

JJ glances back through the window. You’re looking at your grandma with a clearly forced grin. You’re twirling your hair between your fingers, a habit you picked up when you were little to do when you’re bored. JJ would find you doing that in school all the time.

You’re gorgeous, he thought. It’s no wonder that almost every guy on this island has tried to make a pass on you, including JJ himself, but his remarks always come off as playful, afraid of actually telling you how he feels about you. His fantasies about you went further than just getting you between the sheets. He could picture getting married, having children, and growing old together. Years ago, the two of you would talk about your future. Neither one of you cared about money or fancy jobs. All you wanted was to be free - of this island, of each other’s families, of responsibilities placed on you from birth. You hold the same values as JJ, and he’s never met another person like you.

But JJ has a hard exterior. No one other than his best friends know his true heart, and he wasn’t going to let someone like Raymond Easterling find out about his soft spot for you. He would never hear the end of it.

JJ looks at you one last time. You’re talking to Rory, your face in his direction. This time you’re smiling, probably discussing something other than your grandparent’s expectations of you. He’d kill to see that smile every single day.

What’s the worst that could happen? You reject him? Yeah, that might kill JJ inside, but maybe you’d still be his friend, or continue to be acquaintances like you are now. As long as he gets to see you, he’d be okay. There was always the future. But who knows? Maybe you’d say yes? He’ll never know unless he tries. Right?

JJ fakes the same cocky grin that Raymond wears. “I haven’t failed yet.”

The guys around him whistle and shake their heads with smiles.

“All right, Maybank. Let’s make a bet. I’ll give you one hundred dollars to get Y/N Y/L/N in the sack by the fourth of July.”

JJ scoffs. “You like giving away free money?” He ignored his racing heart at the thought of being that intimate with you.

Raymond nods. “Okay. Let’s put your money where your mouth is. Get her to say ‘I love you’ by the end of the season and I’ll raise you an extra hundred and cover all your dishwasher shifts in September.”

JJ raises his brows with surprise. No one offers to take the dishwashing shift. Sometimes the boys are pulled back there when the kitchen is short staffed and it’s easily one of the worst jobs at the Club.

This bet was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up. “Deal.” JJ says.

The boys shake hands on it and the other guys whisper to each other about how intrigued they are to see this play out.

JJ wipes his sweaty palms against his apron and pushes the door open to approach your table, hoping he can hear you over his thudding heart.

“Good evening folks. May I take those empty plates out of your way?”

You look up at the voice you know so well and a smile raises on your lips. JJ meets your eyes and he winks at you, splattering your heart in flutters.

“Please.” Your grandmother pushes her plate away from her, stuffed with filet and red wine.

“JJ,” Your mom grins up at him. Growing up, your mom always had a soft spot for the blonde Pogue. She’s heard the stories about his father, mostly from Steve, who actually grew up with Luke Maybank, his cousin. As a child, he was sent to live with Luke Maybank and his single father. Lets just say, he’s not surprised by the way Luke turned out. “Look at you. You’re all grown up now. Last time I saw you, Y/N was still pushing your head in the sand for stealing her popsicle.”

“Yeah. I quickly learned no one should mess with Y/N and her food,” JJ says.

“Never stopped you though,” You smirk at him.

“Lorelai. Who is this?” Your grandma asks, disregarding the boy himself.

“Mom,” Lorelai gives her mom a warning look. “This is JJ Maybank. He went to school with Y/N and Rory.” Lorelai knew to play it safe with her wording. She didn’t know where you and JJ stood. It’s been so long since you’ve seen him and she knew better than to ask.

“Nice to meet you,” JJ says politely. “I’d shake your hand but mine are kinda full.” He motions to the plates in his hand.

“That’s quite all right.” Your grandma’s smile is so forced, it makes you uncomfortable.

“I won’t hold you up. Has your server been around with the dessert menu?” JJ looks at you. “We have chocolate cake tonight.”

Heat rushes up your neck. Not because of the cake itself but because JJ remembered your favorite dessert. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. It was safe to save you were a choco-holic. The boys use to make it for you every year for your birthday. It usually came out burnt, none of them ever remembering how to properly make it. But it was all you needed to feel like a very special girl.

“Your favorite,” Rory elbows you.

Your grandma cringes. “Sounds like diabetes on a plate.”

“Mom,” Lorelai scolds.

“What?” She asks, not understanding the concept of a filter.

Now heat rushes to your cheeks for an entire different reason. “He did. We’re not doing dessert tonight. Thank you, though.”

JJ nods but feels disappointed by the way your face flinched at your grandmother’s comment.

“My pleasure,” He says like he was taught to do and excuses himself to drop the plates off in the back before he can say anything else that would probably get him fired.

Your mom looks at your with raised brows. “He’s cute, honey.”

“Lorelai, please. He’s the busboy,” Your grandma says.

“He’s a good kid, Mom.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” You stand up. “I have to use the restroom.”

Rory gives you a knowing grin as you walk away from the table. When you walk into the hallway between the dining area and the front lobby, you immediately feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Sometimes just the presence of your grandparents and their pompous judgements can be suffocating. You do your best to bite your tongue around them, excusing yourself when you feel yourself getting heated.

JJ catches a glimpse of your light blue dress out of the corner of his eye when he rounds the corner to collect the plates off a different table. He looks over his shoulder at Raymond, who’s staring at the blonde watching you, and winks.

“Hey, Y/N,” JJ says, walking up to you.

You look up from your phone and immediately smile. “Hey. I was actually hoping I’d catch you out here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” You nervously tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. “I’m sorry about my grandmother. She can be...”

JJ shakes his head. “Hey. It’s okay. I work for Kooks almost every single day. I’m use to it.”

You sigh. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Don’t apologize for something you can’t control,” JJ says. “Besides, that’s probably the nicest she’s ever been to me.”

You hide your face in your hands. “Stop. You’re making it worse.”

JJ laughs and takes your wrists in his hands, slowly pulling them away from your face. Your eyes shoot up to his, immediately feeling a tingling feeling run through your skin, straight to your heart.

“It’s okay. I promise,” He says softly. His voice is so sincere that you have no other option but to believe him. It almost makes your feel guiltier, wondering how much bullshit he’s been through with ungrateful Kooks that it’s so easy for him to forgive and forget.

“Okay,” Your voice is a whisper, taken off guard by how close he is to you and how he still hasn't let go of your hands.

In that same moment, JJ realizes he’s still holding you and gently removes his hands. He coughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck, where sweat begins to bubble. Why is he so nervous?

“So um...” You say, suddenly feeling nervous too. “You going to John B’s tonight?”

JJ’s eyes shoot up in surprise. How did you know that? “Yeah. I’m heading over there after work.”

“I saw him and Pope at Heywards earlier today and they invited me over. I wasn’t sure if I should come or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

Because it’s different now, you wanted to say. But you didn’t because you feel like the elephant in the room would only grow. And you didn’t want to admit you were nervous to meet Kie and Sarah outside of school.

You shrug. “I don’t know.”

“You should definitely come. The boys miss you.”

You pretend like a little piece of your heart didn’t just break when JJ didn’t say ‘we.’

“What time do you get off of work?”

“Around 9ish.”

You nod. “I can pick you up if you’d like and we could go together?”

Your heart races after you suggest it. What if he says no? Why were you feeling this way? This is the same kid you use to make fun of for pouring milk into his bowl before his cereal.

“Yeah. That’d be perfect.”

“Great!” Your phone pings with a text from Rory, telling you that your grandparents are wondering where you are. “Shit. I have to get back. I’ll see you at nine?”

“See you then,” JJ nods and turns back to the kitchen. When his eyes meet Raymond’s, he’s reminded of what he agreed to. Almost surprised how quickly he forgot about it. You were able to take his mind off of anything without even trying. He clears his throat to get rid of the giddy grin he was wearing after talking to you, wanting to look tough and casual in front of his coworker. “Easy.” He says to him. But that felt anything but easy. He could vomit with nerves.

“There’s still plenty of time for you to screw up, Maybank.”

JJ huffs. He’s not wrong.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You drive up to the front of the country club and park in front of the main entrance. It’s 8:57. You’re early and will look eager. So you wait until 9:06 to text him that you’re here.

You changed into a pair of dark washed denim shorts, a yellow cropped tube top, a grey flannel, and navy converse. You changed your outfit about four times before deciding on your first one, not wanting to look too casual or too dressed up.

For the last three years, you wondered when the four of you would get back together as a group. You wondered if it would ever happen. And now that two Kooks are involved, you feel more nervous than excited.

You jump when the passenger seat door opens, lost in the depth of your own head. JJ smiles, not seeing your reaction.”Cool ride,” he says and looks around the interior.

“Thanks,” you say, pulling out into the road.

“I got you something,” JJ says.

You glance at him with furrowed brows. What could he have possibly gotten you since you saw him last? A book mark from the Country Club’s gift shop?

JJ reaches into his backpack and pulls out a plate with clear wrap around it. Your mouth drops when you see the chocolate cake on a plate in his hands, the smell immediately hitting your nose with pure delight.

“You saved me a piece?” You jump in your seat excitedly.

“Had to hide it good too or else Miss Carol would have had my ass handed to me,” JJ jokes and even pulls out two forks. He undoes the wrapping and cuts off a piece. He waits until you hit a stop sign and says, “Open up.”

You look at him and immediately open your mouth. He gently places the fork between your lips and you take the piece of cake off with your teeth. Like a baby.

Your eyes close with pure pleasure. “Oh my god. That’s amazing.”

“Miss Carol does know how to bake a mean cake,” JJ says and takes a bite of his own.

“Another one,” You say, glancing at the cake again. Like you said, choco-holic. “Please.” You say when JJ teases you by holding the fork away from you.

JJ laughs. “I like hearing you beg.”

You slap him in the arm with the back of your hand. “In your dreams, Maybank.”

“You got that right, Y/L/N.”

The two of you finish the cake with only a few bites each. Small but rich in chocolate that leaves you craving more. You were gonna have to meet this Miss Carol woman.

After he puts the plate back in his bag, JJ reaches for the aux cord, but you quickly slap his hand away. “Hey. What do you think you’re doing?”

“You’re seriously gonna make me listen to this the entire way to John B’s?”

You scoff. “I’ll have you know Blink-182 is one of my favorite bands.”

“It’s also soccer moms’ favorite band,” JJ laughs at you.

You turn up the volume, blasting ‘All the Small Things’ and point to your ear. “Sorry. Can’t hear you!”

JJ rolls his eyes but laughs along with you, even bopping his head to the beat. You drive with the windows down, dancing and singing along to a bunch of throwback songs with JJ as if the two of you have been doing this forever.

You pull up to John B’s and park behind his dad’s old van, better known as The Twinkie. When you turn down the music, JJ looks at you with a shake in his head. “Next time, I’m driving.”

“What was wrong with my driving?”

“We’re in the Outer Banks, Sparky, not NASCAR.”

You scoff and follow behind JJ who’s leading the way up John B’s driveway. As you get closer, you smell the smoky scent of a bonfire nearby and eventually hear John B’s laugh mixed in with a female’s. Your smile falters as nerves gather in the pit of your stomach.

“What’s wrong?” JJ asks.

“Nothing,” You say, but JJ easily catches your lie and gives you a knowing look. “What if they don’t like me?”

“Who? Pope and John B? I’m pretty sure they like you more than me even after three years -”

“Not them, you idiot,” You shove him playfully by the shoulder as you two let yourselves inside. “Sarah and Kie.”

“Don’t you go to school with them?”

“Yeah, but we don’t talk,” You say quietly, not wanting them to hear you.

“Hm.”

“What?” JJ shrugs. “Nothing. I just didn’t think you cared about what other people thought.”

“I don’t,” You say quickly. “But they're your best friends. It’s different.”

“You don’t need their approval. You technically were here first.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been replaced,” You try to say it as a joke and even throw a smirk in there.

But JJ stops in his track and looks at you seriously. “No one can replace you. Not even if they tried.”

You open your mouth to respond, but you’re at a loss for words. It’s not a common occurrence that JJ gets all serious on you. Warmth covers you like a blanket and the longer he holds your stare, the weaker your knees become.

“JJ! Is that you?” John B calls out from the backyard.

“Yeah,” JJ yells back. He opens the fridge in John B’s kitchen. “Want a beer?” He offers to you.

You shake your head. “No thanks.”

For the first time, you take in John B’s home. It looks the same as it did three years ago, only a lot messier. The pull out couch looks like its been used recently with blankets and sheets tossed about on it. Empty beer cans and cigarette butts are thrown messily on the coffee tables and the air smells faintly of old marijuana.

JJ leads you out to the back where four people are gathered around a fire. Three out of the four immediately smile when the two of you approach them, but Kie’s eyes narrow and her head tilts with confusion.

Shit, you think.

“You came!” Pope laughs and hops up from his beach chair and embraces you in a hug.

You laugh, not expecting the embrace, but welcoming it all the same. John B’s next, giving you a quick hug and shaking his head.

“I gotta say, I didn’t think you were going to come,” John B says.

“You can thank me for that later,” JJ says jokingly.

“Actually when I heard JJ was coming, I almost changed my mind and stayed home,” You joke and smirk JJ’s way.

“Just like old times,” Pope says, looking between you and the blonde. The banter felt like the yall never separated in the first place.

“Hey, you know Sarah and Kie, right?” John B points to the girls. Sarah stands up to say hi, and eventually Kie follows her, not wanting to look rude, but stays off to the side, keeping her distance.

“Yeah,” You wave awkwardly.

“Hey!” Sarah says sweetly. “I didn’t realize you guys use to all hang out.”

“Y/N grew up down the street,” JJ explains and sips at his beer.

“You want a drink or something?” Pope asks you, not knowing JJ already did.

“No thank you,” You say again.

“You don’t drink?” Kie asks. It was the first thing she’s said to you.

“Not usually,” You say and hold her stare. You try to get a read on her, but she’s had to get a tell on. You can’t tell if she just doesn’t like you or just doesn’t know you. Either way, it makes you uneasy.

“Here, I’ll go grab you a chair,” Pope says and walks to the side of the house to grab another beat up beach chair.

As the night goes on, you feel the tension in your shoulders loosen and your body feel lighter. Most of the night was spent retelling childhood stories the four of you shared. Sarah would laugh at most of them, occasionally rolling her eyes at her boyfriend from the stupid shit he would do, although it sounds like he’s no different to you now.

You talked about the time you and JJ stole a golf cart for a joy ride on Figure Eight, or when you and John B pranked Pope by putting a dead fish in his locker, or how you and John B learned how to play guitar from youtube tutorials.

Midnight came around quickly and exhaustion was slowly taking over your body. It’s been a long day between the cafe flooding, dinner with your grandparents, and now this.

JJ was the first to notice you slowly fading.

“You okay?” He asks you quietly as everyone else is caught up in conversation.

“Yeah,” You say, lazily grinning at him.

“We can leave if you want,” He says.

“You’re not staying?” You ask. It sounded like everyone was planning to spend the night here. And as much as you wanted to, you just didn’t feel comfortable enough yet.

JJ shrugs. “My dad’s out of town tonight. It’ll be nice to have the house to myself.” Before you can say anything, he stands and brushes his hands against his pants. “All right, losers. We’re out of here.”

“Aw, you’re leaving?” Sarah pouts.

“Yeah, I’m beat and Y/N’s my ride home,” JJ says.

You were glad he didn’t call you out for being tired. You didn’t want to look lame in front of everybody, especially Kie.

“Thanks for having me,” You say to everyone. It might have been John B’s house, but it was everyone’s night you intruded on.

John B stands up to hug you. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

You nod. “I won’t. I promise.”

Pope hugs you next. “Text me when you get back safe.”

“I will.”

“Bye!” Sarah waves and Kie exhales a ring of smoke from her blunt.

You wave at them before following JJ back to your car.

“Nuh-uh-uh,” JJ says. You didn’t realize you both walked to the driver’s side.

“What? No.”

JJ nods and holds his hands out for your keys. “I’m not dying tonight.”

“You’ve been drinking and smoking all night,” You say. You didn’t think JJ was drunk or even that high, but you were not going to let a teenager with an ounce of alcohol in his system get behind the wheel. “Next time. For now, hold on to the cupholder.”

JJ sighs dramatically and goes to the other side of the car and hops in the passenger seat.

This time you keep the music quiet, listening to the hum of the radio instead of your phone.

“Take a left,” JJ says.

“JJ, I know where you live. And it’s not left.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

You snicker. “Not in the slightest.”

JJ rolls his eyes. “Just take the left.”

You hold your hands up in surrender and take the left turn. He directs you for a couple more miles until he has you park in front of a 24 hour diner.

“What are we doing here?” You ask.

“I’m in the mood for a milkshake.”

“We just had cake!” You say.

“Come on, Sparky. Show me what that mouth can do,” JJ smirks.

You go to hit him again but he takes off running to the front entrance and pulls the door open. You chase after him, almost running into his back at the front host stand where JJ safely smirks at you in triumph.

“Two please,” He says to the hostess.

The old cranky woman leads you to a booth off to the side next to a window without a word.

A couple minutes later, a waitress walks by and asks if you’re ready to order.

“Yes. One chocolate milkshake and one black and white milkshake,” JJ orders for both of you, already knowing what flavor you’d want.

“And fries, please.” You say. The waitress nods, takes your menus, and walks off. JJ raises his brow at the extra order. “What?” You shrug. “Just showing you what my mouth can do.”

JJ scoffs. “What a tease.”

You playfully kick his shin under the table.

“Did you have fun tonight?” JJ asks.

“Yeah,” You answer. “Felt like old times. The girls are nice too.”

You were about to only mention Sarah, but you didn’t want to cause any issues with Kie. Not yet at least. Maybe she just needed time to warm up to you.

“See? I told you they wouldn’t bite.”

A couple minutes later, the waitress comes back with your milkshakes and fries.

“How’s John B doing? You know, with the whole Big John thing?” You ask delicately, unsure of how JJ would react to you pestering about John B’s business. “I didn’t want to ask and bring the mood down,” You explain yourself although you don’t need to.

JJ shrugs. “He’s in denial I think. Won’t sign a death certificate until he sees a body. He could be worse, though.”

“Yeah,” You say softly. You don’t know what you would do if you were in that situation. In a way you felt lucky that you never knew your dad at all. It would be harder to lose him, knowing who he was.

You take a fry and dip it into your milkshake before taking a bite. This makes JJ freeze and look at you like you have two heads.

“What?” You say with your mouth full.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” You say and give him a look to do it.

JJ reluctantly picks up the fry and dunks it into his milkshake. He looks at the fry questioningly before popping it into his mouth. Somehow the sweetness of the milkshake and the saltiness of the french fry complement each other beautifully and his widen in pleasant surprise.

“Oh wow,” JJ says.

“Told you,” You smirk.

You spend the next hour catching up, trying to fit the last three years into an hour. JJ does most of the talking because you want to know more about what John B, Pope, and JJ have been up to. Your life was so boring and depressing, you didn’t want to bore JJ with the details.

You drive JJ home and talk for a few minutes more when you park. He seems to be procrastinating getting out of the car, but you don’t mind. You could talk to him all night, suddenly not feeling tired anymore.

“All right. I’ll let you get home before the sun rises,” He says and opens the door. He pauses when his feet hit the ground and he looks back at you. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I have to work at the shop, why?”

“Well, there’s a storm coming in. John B and I might go out to surf the surge before it hits. You still surf?”

You scoff. “Do I still surf?”

JJ holds his hands up in surrender. “Just checking. You think you can handle the surge?”

“Let’s not forget who the better surfer is, JJ.”

“I didn’t. It’s still me.”

“You wish.”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Now you have a point to prove. You have to show JJ that you’re still the better surfer.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” You agree.

“Great, it’s a date.” He winks and shuts the door before you can tell him otherwise.

You giggle to yourself as JJ walks up the front yard and stay there until he you see he gets in safely.

You pull out of the driveway, wishing he had asked you out on a real date. One that didn’t involve John B.

Tag list: @super-funky-bisexual @sunsetswithjj @moniamaybank @throwawayfish @poguestyle17 @5am-cigarette @jjpouggues @fly-away-from-here @buckys2thicc

#JJ Imagine #jj fic #jj maybank imagines #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #jj obx #jj fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #outer banks imagine #outer banks imagines #outer banks fic #jj maybank one shot

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nightingaelic · 3 years

Note

Companions react to the Courier doing the Infinite Money Glitch in casinos.

I had to look this up, OP, and then I had to conceptualize how this would even work in a storytelling context and write it, anyway I hope you're pleased with yourself because my brain feels like a stack of used sandpaper sheets

The courier had been saving up caps for a while, stashing them in odd places around the Lucky 38. Everywhere you looked there were bottle caps: Dresser drawers in the Presidential Suite, empty ice buckets in the cocktail lounge, in jars on every shelf in the penthouse. Saving up caps for big purchases was pretty common behavior in the Mojave wasteland for anyone, so no one batted an eye when the courier assembled all of the stashes on the carpeted floor of the casino and started counting them out, checking six times before stringing them together in batches of 50 and writing down the final total: 32,768.

No, no one so much as blinked when they lugged all 656 strings of caps out the door of the Lucky 38. No one, that is, except the lucky soul who went with them, saw them exchange all the caps for chips at The Tops Casino, then drop the chips in the back of The Aces theater during Bruce Isaac's set and return to the cashier to collect triple the amount of money they walked in with.

Arcade Gannon: Arcade cringed as the courier struggled to drag the haul of caps out the door of The Tops. The jingle of the cap strings was attracting the attention of just about everyone on the Strip, and someone across the street yelled "High roller!"

"This can't be legal," Arcade said.

"Since when..." the courier huffed and puffed, throwing cap strings over their shoulder carelessly, "... do you give a mole rat's ass about legality?"

"What is this?!?" Arcade hissed incredulously, gesturing to the jingling pile. "Is that cashier paying you off? Are those chips the currency for some wasteland tribe I've never heard of, but somehow have a better exchange rate than the NCR does? Did I just witness a payout for a hit on someone?"

The courier sighed and paused to pat the scientist on the shoulder. "Just don't think about it too hard, okay? Now help me out with this, we're going to Doctor Usanagi's to get me tricked out with as many implants as she has on hand."

Craig Boone: While the courier jingled their way across the Strip asphalt, Boone couldn't help noticing the number of eyes turning their way to stare at the enormous payout they were openly carrying. New Vegas was already a town that kept on trucking if its very creator was killed, that was certain: It wouldn't even pause if its latest mastermind was gunned down over a fortune in steel and aluminum crowns. Boone clutched his rifle close and met as many of the curious and envious stares as he could, his own eyes burning protectively behind his sunglasses.

They managed to get all the way back to the Lucky 38 before the courier stopped and spoke to him. "Nothing? Not even a guess about what this is from?"

Boone shrugged. "None of my business. Just don't carry it all at once again. Ever."

Lily Bowen: "Did you win, dearie?" Lily asked, confused. As far as she had noticed, the courier hadn't approached any of the blackjack tables, roulette wheels or slot machines.

"Yeah, Lily." The courier grinned and started handing her strings of caps to carry. "What do you want to spend your winnings on?"

"My winnings?" Lily shook her head. "Now now, pumpkin. You won fair and square, so you get to choose what you buy."

"My treat," the courier insisted. "Anything at all. We could go to the Gourmand for dinner, we could donate to the Followers in Freeside, we could get singing and dancing lessons from the King... what do you want?"

Lily thought for a moment, wracking her brains. "Brahmin for Jacobstown."

The courier looked at her quizzically. "Brahmin? Not bighorners?"

"Brahmin," Lily confirmed, shouldering the strings upon strings of caps. "Bighorners at Jacobstown will make more bighorners, but they have no brahmin. Brahmin are sweet, easier to handle. But no one will sell brahmin to nightkin."

"Okay." The courier nodded. "Then we have to go to the Gourmand for dinner anyway. I know a guy at the Ultra-Luxe who might help."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: "Dios mío," Raul muttered under his breath. "Who did you kill for the Chairmen? They finally paying you back for getting rid of Benny?"

"Pfft." The courier waved him off, dropping a few strings of caps as they did. "Whoops. Help me out here, and I'll buy you a drink."

"A drink?" Raul laughed. "Not the whole bar? You could probably convince the Garret twins to retire if you gave them half of this haul."

"And why the hell would I want to take over the Atomic Wrangler?" The courier shook their head as they loaded the old ghoul up with caps. "I already have one casino I'm incapable of running. The only customers I get are you and the other Mojave misfits."

Raul grinned. "Hey, you invited us in, amigo. We're just the only ones loco enough to ignore the robots and take you up on it."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Oh, sweet squirrel stew." Cass' eyes were as big as the dinner plates in the casino's restaurant. "That's enough change to buy the Van Graffs out of business. That's enough change to tell Alice McLafferty to stick it where the sun don't shine, then back it up with enough muscle to scare her out of the Mojave."

The courier nodded and started handing her strings of caps. "It is also enough change to start funding her competitors and drive her out of New Vegas."

"Now you're talkin'." Cass smirked and accepted the extra weight. "So who're we gonna back? Far Go? The Water Merchants? Gun Runners?"

"Actually..." the courier smiled. "A little birdie told me that the Mojave Express is looking to expand its horizons. Start offering goods in addition to services. And you know me, I like to root for the home team when I can."

Cass laughed. "Well that's a surprise. You plannin' on playin' courier again? Get yourself shot in the head a second time?"

"Not if I can help it."

Veronica Santangelo: "Uhhhh, Six?" Veronica crossed her arms. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to stir up trouble for a bit after the adventure at the dam. This screams 'trouble' to me."

"Aw, lighten up Veronica." The courier winked at her and handed her a string of caps, like a consolation prize. "We're in a casino. The odds aren't in your favor, but at least you can have fun for a bit."

Veronica turned the offering down. "Math may not have been my strongest subject when I was in school, but I do know that 30,000 minus 30,000 does not equal 90,000, under any normal odds. What are you getting yourself- and more importantly, me- into?"

The courier sighed. "It's nothing. Just a little loophole I discovered when I was poking around after Benny's disappearance. I promise, we're not going to get knifed, unless we get waylaid in the street on the way home because I'm too weighed down to move."

Veronica narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I don't trust this," she said after a few beats, "But I'm also not keen to see you try to fight off a mugger while buried under all those caps. Give me some of that."

ED-E: The eyebot beeped, confused, when the courier stopped it from picking up the chips again. Its beeps increased in volume and frequency as they loaded the little bot up with caps at the cashier's counter, until it was hanging low in the air and having trouble turning around from the increased weight. The courier patted its metal dome reassuringly and loaded up the rest of the haul on themselves, until each step they took sounded like a cascade of sleigh bells.

"Back to the Lucky 38," the courier said, pointing toward the casino door. "I've got a bet I need to settle with Raul."

Rex: Rex whined as the courier hung strings of caps off his back. He sniffed each new addition but stood tall on his metal legs, taking the extra weight admirably until he was virtually buried by the wasteland currency.

"Can you still walk, boy?" the courier asked, when they had lightened their own load.

Rex barked. Satisfied, the courier led the way to the exit, opening the casino door with a jingle and ignoring the strange looks they were getting. The two waddled their way to the Strip's main gate and down the main street of Freeside until they staggered into the King's School of Impersonation.

The King, who had been lounging inside the stage room, jumped up when he saw the pair. "Well ain't that some money, honey," he said, clearly delighted. "You actually went and did it."

"Yep." The courier dropped some strings of caps on the nearest table and leaned over it to rest. "There it is. Now, where do we get started on fixing up Freeside?"

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thecarrieonokay · 3 years

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Macgyver 5x13 Thoughts

Once again guys, I warn you that there is no discernible structure to this rant. These are just the things that stood out to me. Do I even need to warn you about my language at this point?!

Overall feeling of this one was like a tasty, cozy three course Italian meal. Then espresso for afters. Kudos to the creative team for the way they were genuinely able to make Georgia feel like the Italian countryside.

“I have thick hair.” Yes Mac. We know. Everyone has noticed. Your hair is, frankly, luscious. EVEN when it’s slicked back with oil.

The airbags- Desi: “That’s not gonna work.” [*it works*] ”Never mind! Super cool!” --- Sweetie, you gotta know this shit USUALLY works. It’s sort of Mac’s thing.

OF COURSE Mac knows his Bond. That makes me SUPREMELY happy. Listen, I am SUCH a Bond nerd that I got the Goldfinger reference immediately (did a little sqeeeee! I literally have a vintage Bond poster in my house) and it REALLY irrationally pissed me off that Desi didn’t get it. I mean… the DB5? CU’MON GURL!!

“Now you see me, now you don’t.” RUSS. This cracked me up. Seriously. He’s doing what all of them would be doing if they could and he’s only doing it because he can get away with it because HE’S THE BOSS! SUCH a child. But he’s also a child with power and money. Case in point: his conversation with Riley regarding her past. A lot of people have gone into this already so I’ll just say that Russ has a lesson to learn here and Riley’s gonna fucking TEACH. YOU EAT THAT FORMAGGIO GURL. WE’RE WITH YOU!

MAC and his hands. That moment he couldn’t release the oil (“There’s another corner. This is our LAST CHANCE!”: way to up the tension, writers!). The beautiful post oil-slick vignette shot. The lingering shot where he’s holding his hand behind his back in front of Desi. Asking Bozer to look into his Dad’s cancer symptoms--- THAT is confessing his worst fear. OOF. That hurts. He knows they rely on him. He KNOWS if he admits what’s going on everyone will freak out… and “so many people have died to save (him)”. And what’s more, he and Riley SHARE this fear. Their hands are how they “help people”. They’re scared for themselves AND for each other.

1994 hunter green JEEP WRANGLER? Of course. He’s MACGYVER!!

Also. The CIA’s top neurologist is a woman of colour and not an old white guy and I can’t tell you how happy that casting makes me!!

MAC & DESI moving in? Keeping medical issues secret? Dumbing down Macsplaining lingo? DUAL character voiceovers (fuckin’ love the twist there!! Character development and progress!!)?! This has also been talked about but I’ll just add that the physical comedy between the two of them was funny as fuck throughout the whole episode. Also, the story is progressing nicely showing that though they may be incompatible as a couple, they have forged a love that will see them through as friends and professional partners in future. (FYI, I think this may be the first ep where one of them referred to the other as a “partner”?)

RILEY & MAC are always in sync with each other. Especially obvious in contrast to the way Desi couldn’t stop herself from asking ‘why’ every time Mac told her to do something when she was first getting used to ‘being his hands’. I don’t think Riley had ever asked ‘why’. She’s always just done it.

DR. DOUBLE-0-BOZE! MVP as usual. Legend. And his ‘subjects’ really are cute. But do we need to talk about the NO ANIMAL TESTING RULE?! Ok, ok. Exceptional circumstances. I get it. Kind of.

MATTY. “She can pop in like that whenever she wants”. She’s calling out dirty Italian cops OVER THE PHONE. She knows ALL about Riley and her team of former felon hackers. She was in full-on protective mamma mode. She feels responsible. She would “never let her emotions dictate Phoenix strategy”... until she does. And she broke my heart at the end- I don’t think we’ve ever seen her look so helpless as she watched the broker being murdered.

AND her team are disobeying her. Guys. The team is slightly fractured here. And as we all know, the team only work well together if they’re a solid, TRUSTING unit. This is a big plot point.

Still no scene between Riley and Desi. I’m waiting patiently guys!

This Monica Macer era is shaping up exactly how I hoped it would. I’m trying REALLY hard not to be devastated by it. Whatever happens, I’m confident the next two episodes will be exceptional. <3

ALSO SHOUTOUT TO THE FANDOM IN GENERAL!! You guys are AWESOME! So much love. Trending. Cast sharing the love. Petition is growing FAST! Paperclips flying everywhere!! It makes me happy to see. Just know if I could be doing it live with you, I would be. <3 <3 <3

Now I’m off to meditate so I can concentrate on writing and not the Macgyver cancellation for a bit...

#macgyver #macgyver 5x13 #episode thoughts #savemacgyver #carrie's thoughts #all hail the macgyver fandom!!

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dreamescapeswriting · 3 years

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Snowed In ~ JJK [Day Six: Advent Calendar]

WORD COUNT: 4.1K

GENRE: Non-idol au, college au, enemies to lovers, prompt, Christmas prompt

PAIRING: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

It was the final day before winter break which meant you were sitting in a classroom full of people who didn't care about what the teacher was drowning on about but you were, you had a test to pass and yet everyone around you seemed to be more excited about going away than anything else. Normally you'd be excited about going home for the holidays as well but this year you weren't going home, you were heading out to Seokjin's snow lodge in the mountains which would have been fun and made you ecstatic but there was one problem with it. Jeon Jungkook was going and you'd never seemed to get along with one another. Scratch that, he'd never gotten along with you. For some reason from the moment you met one another, it had been nothing but hate for each other. The reason you hated being around him was because of how he acted and treated the people around him, and the way he spoke about you behind your back.

"Bell rang, we can leave." Trina - your best friend in College and roommate - told you as she came up behind you and rubbed your shoulders. She'd been the one to tell you what Jungkook had been saying behind your back, she didn't want you to find out through the rumour train on the college campus and be blindsided by it.

"Do I have to go?" You questioned as you noticed Jin waiting by the door of the classroom for her, he was driving you both back to your dorms so you could get everything you needed for the night trip to the snow lodge. He wanted to get a head start before the snowstorm that was coming in,

"Yes, I'm not being left alone in that giant house with seven boys, you don't have a choice," She reminded you again and again that you'd made her go alone last year and that this year it was her Christmas present from you that you would go with them.

"But I hate snowboarding-"

"No you don't, you love it. You're the most adventurous person I know beside Jungkook," At the mention of his name you wanted the world to swallow you up,

"Hi, pookey," Trina cooed as she wrapped her arms around Jin's neck and began making out with him as if they hadn't seen one another for months when in reality, it had been less than 45 minutes.

"If this is what the week is going to be like, count me out. I'll quit," You groaned not wanting to see them make out so close to your face, Jin rolled his eyes at you before putting you in a headlock.

"You should let me set you up with someone, you'll be great with Taehyung." You scoffed at him, pushing the 5'10 jock off your body and straightening your hair out.

"No thank you, Jocks might be Trina's forte but they are not mine," Jin wrapped his arm around Trina as you all began the silent walk to his jeep wrangler that was waiting for him, you'd heard him and Trina talking about it all week. How it was perfect for the snow up in the mountains, fewer slips in the ice and a bunch of other car talk you didn't really care about. As long as it got you to the snow lodge in one piece it was all you needed to know about.

"We'll be riding with Jungkook and Yoongi, Yoongi will take the middle seat since he's the shortest," Jin told you as you reached the jeep, luckily you weren't picking them up until after you'd been to your dorms so you had more time to either convince Trina to let you out of this or take a sleeping pill to get out of the painfully silent car ride up the mountains.

"I don't get the problem?" You questioned as Trina began removing all of the books you'd been packing into your suitcase, she held up four of them in her hands.

"Four books? Give me one good reason why you need four books." You rolled your eyes at her, snatching them away as you placed them back into the suitcase.

"One to read, the second one in case I finish the first one, a third in case I don't like the second and a fourth as a backup," She just blinked at you not being able to come up with some kind of clap back for why you were doing this.

"Jungkook won't bother you if that's what you're worried about." Your back was turned away from her so she couldn't see the look on your face, you were shocked she'd even bring him up since it was her idea not to bring him up in front of one another unless necessary.

"It's not him-"

"Puh-lease- You can't get that past me. I saw the way your eyes widened when we got to Jin's jeep," She licked her teeth watching the way you tensed up just thinking about being with Jungkook,

"I'll make sure everything is smooth sailing, he won't even know you're there," She whispered, coming up behind you to rub your shoulders and reassure you that everything was going to be fine. That there was nothing you needed to worry about, except for which book was going to keep you company at night.

"Jin's waiting, come on," She playfully slapped your ass before leaving out of your dorm room, you slipped some earplugs into your bag -- you'd been living with Trina long enough. You knew how loud she and Jin could be when they wanted to be so you weren't going to take any chances on it.

"Don't scowl like that too long, your face will freeze like that." It was supposed to be a playful dig coming from Jin but right now you were far too sensitive to play along with it so you shoved earphones into your ears and stared out of the window you were sitting next to. Yoongi tapped your leg and held the bag of sweets out for you,

"Thanks," You whispered taking one into your mouth when he pulled your earbud out,

"You won't have to worry about Guk, he didn't sleep last night so-" He didn't finish what he was saying, he just pointed at Jungkook who was passed out asleep in the back seat of the car.

"He's nice when he's quiet," You laughed looking at Jin who was already staring at you in the review mirror to make sure everything was okay, he had no idea why you and Jungkook seemed to hate one another so much.

"Everybody ready? Let's go!" The car started up and the radio filled the air, not playing too loudly since no one wanted an angry and tired Jungkook on their hands.

Trina looked at Yoongi as he got out of the back of the car,

"They're sleeping, just leave them to it," She whispered as they began walking towards the service station. They weren't that far away from the snow lodge but they were all getting hungry from the four-hour drive, Yoongi had been dying for a wee for the last hour and Jin said if he didn't get some leg room he was going to go insane.

"I'm telling you, I think they'd be good together." Jin laughed as they walked through the huge service station building, stopping off at the bathrooms so that Yoongi could go to the bathroom before they went for food,

"Why do they hate each other so much?" Jin questioned as he looked down at Trina,

"I don't know, Y/n's always talking about how much she likes him...Maybe this weekend we can set them up?" Trina asked with wide eyes, Yoongi came out from the bathrooms right as he heard the end of the conversation.

"If she likes him she's got a funny way of showing it...I mean, they're always bickering with one another or glaring from across the room." Yoongi mumbled not seeing it the way that Trina did, if you did like Jungkook why would you go to so much effort to hate him?

"Yoongi, trust me, she never stops talking about him. It's a girl thing...We have to have partners anyway right, like for the firewood and stuff?" That was how the plan began to hatch, you and Jungkook were going to be forced to be together all week long with the tasks she was setting for you both.

"I don't want to wake her up," Yoong whined as he came into the car to see you snuggled up against Jungkook, your head on his shoulder while his head rested on top of yours.

"Don't, let them sleep. They obviously need it," Jin told him as he checked the time, it was getting late and dark out and they had another couple of hours to go yet.

"We should go, come on," Jin mumbled to Trina who got into the front seat and snapped a photo of you and Jungkook sitting peacefully together for once in your lives.

When everyone got to the snow lodge Jin though it would be best to wake you up,

"We're here lovebirds, get up." You groaned as someone began shaking your arm roughly to make you move, you turned and snuggled against who you thought was Yoongi when you heard Yoongi's laugh but didn't feel him move,

"What-" You stopped yourself from talking as you turned to see Jungkook staring down at you confused as to why you were holding onto him the way you were.

"Why the fuck?!" You groaned getting out of the car and going to stand next to Trina who raised her eyebrows at you,

"Yoongi wanted to sit next to the window, he felt sick. You both moved on your own," She lied going over to Jin who was about to give the tour of the snow lodge to you all, Jungkook smirked as he came up behind you.

"Snuggle buddy," He winked as he headed inside with the rest of the guys, you mumbled something under your breath as you got your suitcase from the back of the jeep.

"He does it to get a rise out of you, don't let it get to you," Jimin said as he locked Jin's car behind you, you rolled your eyes. It was all anyone ever said to you about Jungkook to just ignore him and the problem would go away but it never worked.

"Thanks, Jimin," You whispered as you walked into the lodge, the living room was huge. The second floor could be seen from the living room like a loft apartment only the loft part leads into more bedrooms.

"We'll need a buddy system!" Jin called out as he stood in front of the huge stone fireplace, it had brown armchairs around it and a huge sofa in front of it as well. It was where you could picture most of your time while the others were out doing whatever it was they were going to do while they were there.

"We'll need to use it because the snow is dangerous, I already came up with teams. Don't like it? I don't care, it's for a five or ten-minute walk that is all." You stared at Jin who was going into explaining why the buddy system was in place,

"It's mostly for the firewood which is kept out in a separate lodge, it's a five or ten-minute walk depending on how quickly you walk. Teams are as follows: Me and Trina," They hugged sweetly and Jin began listing off the names of who were together.

"Jungkook and Y/n." Your eyes locked with Jin who just smiled innocently at you, he knew you didn't get along with Jungkook but not the ins and outs of everything so he probably didn't think much of it.

"I'm going to shower and sleep! Babe! Let's go!" Jin lifted Trina from the floor leaving you girl-less with six other men,

"Hot tub is calling me!" Jimin yelled out along with Namjoon and Taehyung as they began racing towards the back door where the hot tubs were outside. Hoseok came up behind you and nudged you playfully,

"You're in the room next to mine, it's a joint room." You and Hoseok got along perfectly, in fact, you got along with all of them which was why you couldn't believe you'd been placed with Jungkook of all people for the buddy system.

"By the end of the week I doubt you'll even bother one another, it's not like you have to talk to go and get wood," Yoongi said, it was as if he could read your mind about what you were worrying about. You didn't want to have to put up with Jungkook all week long.

"I'll doubt you'll even see one another," Hoseok added as you began climbing the stairs towards your bedrooms for the night.

It was true though, the whole time you'd only had to go and get wood for the fire once but you ended up going with Hoseok since Jungkook was out skiing with everyone else. It was the final night in the place tonight and they all decided they wanted to have a night around the fire together. Sitting and roasting marshmallows while you told stories to one another. This whole week you'd managed to avoid Jungkook like he was the plague, which was great. Every time he was around the lodge you made sure you were out of it, except for now when he came in and knocked the book you were reading into your lip.

"Fuck sake Jungkook," You grumbled as you began rubbing your lip, the hardback cover hurt as it collided with your lip.

"Sorry Miss "I'm so boring I just had to bring books with me," we need to go and get logs." You rolled your eyes at him as you looked around the room trying to find someone else for him to go with but they all had their own things to be doing tonight.

"Come on, I want to go before I freeze." He snapped at you, watching you as you pushed your feet into your snow boots and wrapped a coat around yourself without saying a word to him. He wanted to know why you'd been avoiding him all week but he kept silent trying to concentrate on not falling over in the snow.

"Shit," You yelped out as the wind began to pick up and the snow fall got heavier, you slipped a little on an ice patch and Jungkook craddled you in his arms as he rushed you to the small hut where the fire wood was.

"Holy fuck," He yelled as he shut the door, the snow was starting to come down extremley heavily as you looked from the small windows,

"Start a-" He was going to tell you to start a small fire but you'd already started one in the small fireplace inside of the hut, it wasn't much inside of here. The lights didn't even work so you were relying on firelight and a couple of candles to help you see since it was pitch black outside,

"I'm sure it will let up," You whispered, you didn't know if you were tyring to convince him or yourself at this point but you stared through the window. You couldn't even see the huge lodge anymore, it was just white snowflakes filling the air as they fell down.

"I think there's some blankets in the back," Jungkook mumbled as he watched you pull the coat you were wearing around you tightly. Taking the candle from the side you followed him through to a small cupboard, inside were more candles and plenty of blankets of pillows.

"Hey, if you get so sick of me there's an axe in here," He tried to make a light hearted joke but you walked out with some of the blankets and began laying them down in front of the fireplace.

"Get some of the pillows and more blankets, we might be here a while if the storm doesn't let up," Jungkook said as he came out with four more blankets to pad the wooden flooring, he was going to make it comfortable for you both.

"You don't think it'll let up?" As the question left your mouth the wind began to pick up and the shutters on the windows shook dramatically,

"I don't, but it's alright. It'll be gone by morning and we'll be alright," He could already tell how worried you were about this and so you began working together to try and keep warm and make the place look okay.

After two hours of painful silence with Jungkook the storm finally calmed down,

"Thank god," You groaned going over to the door to open it, you would rather freeze to death walking back to the lodge than be in a dead silent hut with Jungkook for another hour. Neither of you had your phones with you, not that there was much reception up in the mountains anyway for you to do anything with and you'd left your books in the lodge. Jungkook got up and walked behind you when he watched you push the door open but the door wouldn't move,

"What the fuck?" You groaned shoving it a little with your shoulder but it was as if something was blocking it from the outside,

"It's jammed-"

"Let me try," He rolled up his sleeves and you stepped out of the way and watched in ammusment as he tried - and failed - at opening the door to get out of the hut.

"If I couldn't do it what made you think you could? Do I look like I need big strong, Jock Jeon Jungkook to come and save me?" You were so glad you didn't mess up on the Jock Jeon Jungkook sentence, it was kind of like a tongue twister with how quickly you'd snapped at him,

"Will you back off? I'm just trying to fucking help!" You rolled your eyes going back over to the fire to try and get warm when he came back over to you.

"Why do you always do that?" He questioned casually as he sat in front of the fire, laying a blanket over his shoulders as he shivered.

"Do what?" You mumbled reaching out to throw another log onto the fire that was slowly starting to die out on you.

"Snap at me whenever I try to do something, or help you?" His voice came out shakey and sad and you almost felt bad for everything but then you remembered who you were talking to, you shook your head.

"Why do you do what you do?" The question took a minute to process in Jungkook's brain before he frowned and questioned what you meant by it,

"I mean...You spread those rumours about me and the whole football team..." Another log was thrown onto the fire by you as you tried to do something to distract yourself from feeling bad about snapping at him.

"What rumours? If anyone should be upset about rumours it should be me!" His voice raised a little bit and he watched you flinch, he instantly felt bad and shook his head.

"What rumours?" He was geniuenly concerned about what you'd heard.

"You told people at college I slept with all of you on the team, that I'd gone around with all of you at one point." The feeling of disgust came back to you as you remembered Trina coming up to tell you what she'd heard from Jungkook one morning,

"What are you talking about? No one- No one has ever heard that, I haven't even heard that before-"

"Trina told me," He scoffed at her name and rolled his eyes,

"Trina was the one that told me you'd been spreading things about me, that I had STD's and stuff," Your mouth fell open as you stared at Jungkook.

"I didn't- I woulnd't...How would I even know if you did?" He looked at the fire and threw more firewood onto it,

"Why would Trina-" You went to ask but he cut you off,

"To stop us from talking?" He suggested while looking back at you, you frowned. Why would Trina do anything like that to you?

"Why though? I mean...She's happy with Jin so why would she want me to be miserable whenever I'm around you all?" Jungkook shrugged his shoulders and went to speak when there was a loud knocking on one of the windows, Jin was standing there with Trina.

"I called someone, they're going to try and remove the snow in the morning it's too big for us...Here," He passed a basket of food and water through, along with paper.

"For the fire and to eat, can we have some of the logs?" You nodded going to grab some while Jungkook confronted Trina about what she'd been doing.

"I'll come to the back window," Jin yelled as he left Trina and Jungkook alone,

"So why did you do it?" He questioned as he stared at Trina, a frown covered her face as she wondered what he was talking about.

"Why did I do what?"

"Don't act dumb, me and Y/n have been talking...Why all of the nasty rumours?" Her eyes widened as she looked at Jungkook, it had been something she'd done back in the first year when she had a huge crush on Jungkook. Before she'd even fallen for Jin and she'd regretted it ever since,

"I was an idiot-"

"Why though?" The window in the back shut and you came back over to the window to talk to Trina when you caught the end of the conversation.

"I was a teenager in college, you were a cute guy and I thought if Y/n spoke to you, that-"

"I'd go to her instead of you? True...But you're with Jin, you could have told us," You looked down at the floor as you heard him say that he would have gone for you. Although you'd spent the last three years hating him there was no denying that you liked him a littel, despite the rumours that were now fake.

"We should go," The window slammed as Trina walked with Jin back to the lodge, you wondered if she would tell Jin this was her fault you and Jungkook hated one another.

"You'd go for me?" You teased him opening the basket and taking out some of the scrap paper and throwing it into the fireplace.

"You wouldn't go for me?" He sat closer to you on the floor and you smiled at the closeness of being next to him, it wasn't just because it was cold in there. It was geunienly nice to be close to him and not want to rip his head from his shoulders.

"I didn't say that," He chuckled at your answer and wrapped the blanket around your body so you were under the same one now,

"Is it too early to make a joke about not knowing what STD's you have," You winked at him and he groaned rolling his head forward as he thought about it,

"What will you do about Trina?" He questioned, he was watching you fiddle with your hands so he took them into his and locked his fingers with yours.

"Talk to her about it, she'll be sorry about it. She's not a bad person Jungkook depsite what she did, I promise," He nodded his head at you and then looked at the snow that was starting to pick up again outside,

"You know...We could find another way to stay warm." He began wiggling his eyebrows and you groaned at him shoving him away playfully,

"Gross, do you always think with your dick? Is this what I've gotten myself into?" You laughed looking at your interlocked hands, he raised his eyebrows at you,

"I didn't know I'd asked you out on a date yet," He teased, you began stumbling over your words trying to think of something to say to him and he laughed,

"I'm teasing, I'll take you out if we ever get out of here." He winked pulling you closer as you laid your head on his shoulder, shivering a little.

"Here, you need to relax," He whispered, forcing you to look at him but you continued to shiver and not relax so he kissed you. Your eyes widened at the contact but as soon as you got into it, your arms wrapped around the back of his neck and he laid you down on the blankets. Smiling against your lips a syou stopped shivering,

"See, I told you to relax." He whispered while leaving his lips to hover above yours,

"Kiss me," You whined out, he went to make a joke about it but you grabbed onto the back of his head and forced him to kiss you again while he chuckled about how needy you were for his attention now.

Tagline: @lyoongx @fan-ati--c @mitzwinchester @rjsmochii @callingmyangel @kneel-begyourpardon @taestannie @innersooya @sw33tnight @sweeneyblue1 @missmxqn @bisexualmess007 @oosnapitskat

154 notes · View notes

softkuna · 3 years

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𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃-𝙰-𝙱𝙾𝚈𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳 | meian shugo

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃-𝙰-𝙱𝙾𝚈𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙽𝙳! 𝙴𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑... 𝙼𝙴𝙸𝙰𝙽 𝚂𝙷𝚄𝙶𝙾

Meian settled into a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that he rented from some fancy schmancy place. His date would be waiting for him not too far from that point. From her profile photos, she was cute. Small from what it seemed, but when you’re 6’5” most people were small. The profile was very obviously not written by herself seeing as most the answers included “my friend likes…”

He pulled up the map and sent an ETA through the app. He rolled the window down, letting an arm fold out while his hand remained on the wheel. Driving was his serenity and it was a damn shame he couldn’t drive as often as he wanted to. He was a humble man, not one to brag about his garage of cars. Not one to talk about how he liked to fix’em up.

It took all of 15 minutes to reach the meet up point. He saw you, but your head was down in your phone, hand along your neck and fingers tapping at the skin. He was supposed to be your boyfriend for the day. He had a date or two already to which he was tipped generously for his time. It was a natural thing for him. He was a relationship type of guy. He was always more on the natural air of things, confidence coming with age. With a face like his and a career like his, it could only grow with each person who approached him.

But for some reason, seeing you look so nervous while waiting for him made him want to not lay it on so heavy. Others he laid it thick with the ‘doll face,’ ‘pup’, ‘sugar’. (One date he didn’t even need to leave his room. It was a zoom call where he had his camera off. She had told him ‘I want you to piss my parents off.’ )

You looked up to see your date for the evening, Meian Shugo. He was in a black Jeep, high off the ground. His smile was broad, confident, gleaming. All the confidence you had built up from Shoyo had suddenly vanished. You thought you’d do so well this time but the butterflies swarmed in your stomach so violently you feared their wings would cut through your stomach.

There was a moment of silence, both of you staring at each other until he barked a laugh and hopped out of the car. Oh lord he was huge. Massive. You resisted every fiber of your being that wanted to ask him about the weather.

Meian placed a hand gently between your shoulder blades, guiding you to the opened passenger side door, “I don’t bite… much.” With a wink, he closed your door and sat on his own side.

“I-is this your car?” Your stammering was adorable.

“Nah,” he waved a large hand, “Rented it. I do own one like it back home.” He gestured a thumb behind him, pointing to a figurative ‘home.’ You nodded once and fluttered fingers to your cheeks, covering the blush when you felt his eyes on you.

He blinked at your non-winter-weather outfit; light wash and high waisted denim shorts with a thick belt. They looked big, but he figured that was the style now’a days. You had on some cream colored spaghetti strap tank top that cropped just above the belt. And a dusty pink cardigan made of…

“Ey, hon, what’s this fabric? Mind if I-?” He pinched a little between his fingers, rubbing the material. It was soft. Really soft. Nothing like he’s seen before.

“Polyester? I think??” You pulled it off and looked at the tag, “Yep! It’s not mine though. It’s my friend’s. They likes to dress me up.”

“Aren’t ya cold?”

“A little, but we’re in a car so it’s no big deal.”

His arm hung out the window, pulling back in to shift gears here and there. You stared out to the horizon, stiff as a board. You weren’t the easiest to talk to at first, often muttering single worded responses.

You couldn’t help it. He was handsome as hell. Shoyo had a boyish charm to him, especially with how energetic he was, but Meian. He was a man. A sharp edge to him that definitely couldn’t be read as anything other than comfortable masculinity.

Snapping out of your daze, you perked. You were going across a bridge. A beautiful one at that. You could see the sun just above the ocean. Probably an hour or two before sunset. Both of your hands gripped the car window, “Meian,” you called with a slight pitch in your voice, “this is gorgeous!” You beamed at him a tad over-excitedly.

His lazy smile broadened, “Figured you’d like it.” It did say in your profile that it was one of your favorite spots to be at.

Within another set of minutes, awkward silence melted into comfort. The car stopped in an empty parking lot. It wasn’t like there were many people at the beach around 4 PM on a winter weekday. Your eyes were glued on the man as you watched his hand shift the gear to park and suddenly you remembered his proposition.

You were learning how to drive a stick shift.

“Alright pup, gonna teach ya a new trick,” He reached underneath the seat, craning it back as far as it could go. Not like it was far considering how long those legs were. Nervously you unbuckled, leaning on the console to peer at the petals.

Your heart stopped and your lips pursed slightly. Meian took one look at your expression and bit back his laugh. You looked up to him with a crease in your brow, “Why are there three petals?”

Soon enough, you were in the driver’s seat and he was in the passenger side. You searched for the lever to pull the seat up and blushed when Meian reached under to show you. At this point, it wasn’t even that he was uncomfortable to be with. It was quite the opposite. He was relaxed and maybe a little teasing. If people were colors, he’d be a serene seafoam. No, what made you nervous was how attractive you found him and how he so perfectly acted out the role of boyfriend.

“Let’s start in first, ‘kay?”

You nodded, swallowing down your anxiety. Push out of your comfort zone. More like shove you out the comfort window.

“Remember which one’s the break?” Meian peered to your legs, foot hesitantly over what you thought was the break, “Good! Now what?”

“Emergency break?” Now it was your hand’s turn to hover.

“Atta girl!” He was impressed at your memory. Most people would’ve forgotten that step if they only drove automatic. When his eyes met yours he could swear to god he saw the sparks light up in them. So you’re a praise learner, huh?

You glanced down, moving your left foot to the clutch and pressed it down. While still on break, your hand slid onto the gear shift. You waited. Picking up on the subtle clue, the captain nodded, “Yep, go to first.” His right hand hooked to the handle by the window casually.

You shifted into first. Feeling his eyes on you, you wanted to show him that you remembered his mini lesson and peered at the dash to the RPM, watching it move up before slowly letting go of the clutch. Just like that, the car began rolling.

Meian’s palm smacked the roof of the car as he hollered, lop-sided lips tugging up. You bounced excitedly, eyes switching between the gear shift, the petals, and the RPM.

You switched gears successfully not once, but twice. Each time, Meian showered you in praise. Your heart fluttered and it made you want to do more. When you turned the wheel, he encouraged you to go to the road. Anxiety crept up in you and you felt your palms sweat on the leather. He leaned the seat back, “Nothin’ta worry about. You’re a natural. Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and you’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Your voice wavered with giddiness and uncertainty. Should he really be trusting your novice driving skills like this? You seriously questioned his judgment calls.

He peered at you from the corner of his eye, taking in the laser focus you had on the road. Hell, you even stopped gnawing your lip like it was the last food to grace the earth. He crossed his arms and tilted his head back, deciding to close his eyes, “Sure as I can be, pup. Gotta question for ya.” You hummed, leaning forward slightly to view the empty road better. He continued, “How’d ya get so good at multitasking?”

You took a moment to answer, making sure to shift appropriately as you picked up speed, “I do a lot of art – pottery and all. Professionally.” You really couldn’t multitask as well as he thought you could, but you wanted to impress him, “It’s kind of like a pottery wheel with petal and speed and hand things. That’s the closest I can get, though. There isn’t a lot of multitasking in the other art things I do, really. Not like this.”

The Jackal’s captain fully looked at you in that moment, a small ‘huh’ leaving his lips. He took in the bit of clay that lodged itself under your bitten nails and the small stripe of white paint on your thighs from propping up a canvas before the edges dried. Meian never dated an artist before, but he wanted to now.

Comfort came after driving a few circles. Eventually you found yourself on a strip of road that extended far out. Meian remained laid back, eyes closed. He never fell asleep and instead listened to you sing along to songs that played on the radio (which was turned on after the third circle seeing as you were deemed ‘good ’nuff’ for the minor distraction).

You occasionally chit chatted about this and that. You learned that he was an athlete – like your last date. He learned that you’re supporting yourself alone. Your parents didn’t exactly vibe with you being an artist and skipping university all together. You didn’t tell him you had a date with Shoyo, though. Just like he didn’t tell you that he was part of a professional team with Shoyo.

He felt comfortable. You felt comfortable. That’s when three things happened.

1. You passed a 15 mph speed limit sign.

2. You saw that you were going 65 mph.

3. You felt Meian rest a warm palm on your thigh.

Now, in quite literally any other context, that would be a pleasant boyfriend-like thing to do. He was simply acting his part’. Surely, he did the same thing with other clients. However. That combined with the other two made your heart, lungs, and soul try to jump out of your corporeal form and into the next dimension.

First gear. First gear! First gear!

Whipping it into first, the car decided you were the bourgeoisie and it was the working class. It straight revolted, a loud clattering was accompanied by you scrambling around in a panic. Meian sprang up, but his torso was snapped back by the seatbelt’s safety. He unbuckled (like a moron) and kicked your foot out of the way from its spot to press and pull both available breaks.

You sat in silence, hands over your mouth and eyes wide. A choir of ‘oh shit’ sang in your mind, commemorating your funeral with their harmony.

It took some shuffling, but Meian went back to driver’s side. You stood next to the car by the shoulder of the road. A burning smell tickled your nose. Your date came out, hands on his hips and lips pursed to the side. Coming to you, he sighed, “Transmission or clutch went awol. Damn thing won’t start back up. Nothin’s leakin’.”

You sucked your lips in and resisted the urge to scream. Throwing up was one thing. Breaking a rental car was an entirely different one. You bowed, “Meian, I am so so sorry. I should’ve been paying attention and I-I-“

“Woah, woah, girlie, calm yourself. Don’t need’ta do any of this shit,” He bent at the waist, peering at your squinting eyes. His hand rested at the curve of your shoulder into your neck, thumb stroking calmly at the spots you had tapped at before he picked you up. The effort brought near immediate relief, but anxiety made you wonder if he was masking his anger for the sake of his job. When he smiled, you knew it was genuine, “I’m damn near 30. This isn’t even the most expensive car I’ve had this happen to. Don’t worry about a thing, pups. ‘Sides, I shoulda been watching you closer. Blame the teacher, not the student.”

The words were like warm lavender winds brushing away your damp and dead leaves. You offered to pay for the expenses, not daring to mention how it would clear out your savings. Meian waved a hand, “Nah. I got it. I make more than enough to cover this plus some.”

“Then why are you a rental boy-“

“-Help me push it, will ya?” He interrupted, not wanting to admit that it was because of a bet with his troublesome teammate.

You tried to put the car into neutral as per his instructions the best you could, jogging to the back to join him in pushing. You had to admit, the view of his arms working and him pushing a vehicle was a sight to behold.

All the two of you did was push it to the side of the road, so no cars could hit it. You leaned on the rail protecting traffic from tipping off into the waters below while Meian called the company to explain what happened.

When he hung up, he went to put the phone in his pocket, but the sight of you stopped him. You sat on the rail, facing the ocean at sunset. The cardigan you wore slid just below your shoulders and the cool breeze tousled locks so gracefully. A ghosting feeling went through his fingers as they yearned to be the wind. He snapped a photo in landscape mode.

You turned, brushing hair back around your ear and smiled to him. He snapped another photo and you gestured to him to the spot next to you. He did, leaning his forearms on the cold metal, “Hope ya don’t mind.”

“That you took photos? I mean… I thought it was against the rules. Just ahh…. Hm. Send them to me through the app? Can you do that?”

“Think so, yeah. You looked good. Cold, but good,” The words were said as the photos were sent. You saved them with a bashful thanks.

“Since the date’s almost up, my friend’s coming to get me. Will you be okay?” You glanced down to him, leaning forward as you added pressure to the bar at your toes, keeping you from falling.

“I’ll be just fine. Gotta wait for a tow,” He paused and moved to wrap his arms around your waist and pull you to lean into him, “Makin’ me anxious leanin’ like that.” His husky laugh was whisked with ocean breeze. You followed, reveling in the warmth. He liked that you were comfortable enough to accept the gesture. It’s what boyfriends did, right? Even if they weren’t real. Even if reality settled wrong in his stomach.

“The ocean’s so pretty,” You’ve always admired how the waves soaked up the sun’s colors. Oil paintings you’ve made throughout your life a testament to that love.

Meian glanced at you, then the horizon, “Yeah, but I’ve seen better.”

“If I rent you again, take me to ‘better’,” You giggled, missing the look in his eyes and the meaning of his words. Your phone rang, “Oh! That’s my friend, they’re here now - across the street!” Head tilted back, you looked up to him, “Thank you for teaching me how to drive and I really am sorry about the car. I wish I knew how to help.”

“Not a problem, pups. Rate me good. That’s help enough.”

His arms felt empty when you left them.

He checked his phone and saw that once the time struck, the contact was erased automatically. Meian sighed, scrolling through the next few clients he had lined up - his last few dates, he decided. With good tips, he still had a good shot at the win, anyway.

“How’d this one go hot stuff? No throwing up?” There was nonchalant concern in the question.

You sat back heavily, “No throwing up. I learned how to drive stick shift, though. Then broke the car..”

“You didn’t have to pay for that, right? Those cars are outrageously expensive, ‘specially from those rental places.”

“No, he said he made enough to cover it, weirdly enough.”

“Huh. Well that’s nice of him.,” You friend commented, “Wonder what he does.”

“Me too,” You thought about Shoyo and the up-scale restaurants he took you to, “Me too.”

“Wait, didn’t he offer you a jacket? That was the whole purpose of the shorts! What a dick!”

Tag List: @flattykawadoorusmilkbread

#meian shugo #meian x you #meian x reader #msby meian #hq #hq!!#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x you #haikyuu x reader #hq x you #hq x reader #🍯.vday2021 #🍯.hq #🦕.meian #🦕.fic #i've never driven stick before so thanks youtube

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