A/N: Sorry for the long wait <333
Warning: Religious Homophobia
As much as you tried to forget – and as much as your friends kept you busy after you had ditched them before – Thursday came around in the blink of an eye.
Thursday. Which meant meeting Ant’s mom. Officially, as his girlfriend. His very religious, no-nonsense, honestly sort-of-scary mom. Every free second you had was spent thinking about what to do, like you were preparing yourself for a role that could win you an Oscar, or a star on the walk of fame. Which direction should you go in, sweet church girl? Nerdy straight-A student? Wallflower?
Perhaps the only thing you’d get an award for is your overthinking.
“Worst Overthinker in all of Australia” it would say, and underneath it your name. An embarrassing slideshow playing in the background with every thought publicly displayed. You pictured the whole school sitting in the audience, laughing at you while you stood red-faced with a comically large award in your arms, not able to leave the stage.
Why did this suddenly turn into a ‘I’m suddenly naked in front of everyone’ dream? Only thing missing was them throwing tomatoes at you, or pointing fingers I guess.
You grimaced and shook your head as the image of Ant in the audience popped up in your head and banished your little daydream far, far away.
Standing in front of your mirror, you smoothed down your most modest dress, and realized by the unpleasant feeling of the fabric against the palms of your hands, just how sweaty they were. Pouting you shook your hands in an effort to air dry the sweat.
You were wearing the, probably, only pair of tights that weren’t ripped in some way you owned and applied just mascara, glossy lip balm and blush - imagining a stern church woman calling you a slut if you wore too much and shaking her head disapprovingly if you wore nothing “like a boy”.
In the background, behind you in the mirror, drifting past all the discarded clothes strewn across the room, your eyes found the clock and with a jolt you realized you didn’t like were its hands were at. Cursing under your breath you turned around, almost falling over a couple of bags on the floor you had picked out earlier before jumping towards your desk in an effort to regain your balance. You picked up the flowers and the bag you had decided on, before rushing out with only a quick pit stop at the door for shoes. You could not be late. Bad impression. Shit, shit, shit. You thought to yourself as you found the perfect speed somewhere between running and walking very fast, hoping this wouldn’t immediately make your hands – and everything else – sweaty again.
Checking your phone for the time every other second, you eventually slowed down when you were close. A small success, you found yourself standing on sidewalk in front of the Vaughn house at 18.57. You hoped Mrs. Vaughn wasn’t a “on time is late” type of person who’d secretly expected you to be there 15 minutes early. The only thing that got your feet to step forward, step after step, towards the door, was the thought that if someone saw you looking out of their window, just standing there and staring at the house, they would think you were either weird or a criminal.
Right now, with every step, all your decisions of the past weeks hit you at once. Regret kicked in and your hands felt clammy again as you gripped the flowers more tightly. Seriously, what had possessed you when you offered Anthony Vaughn to fake-date? In what world was that a normal thing to do? Especially for someone you had never spoken to before. And now you had all these feelings, most of all a nervousness that made you want to throw up right on the doorstep of his house.
A final sigh, before you pressed the doorbell, took a step back and mustered all the composure you could.
It wasn’t that much composure, you realized, when your shoulders immediately slumped with relief upon seeing Ant opening the door. Your genuine smile didn’t seem to hide the nervousness because Ant hugged you just a little longer and tighter when greeting you, and even gave you an encouraging thumbs up before ushering you inside.
The table was decked with, what you presumed to be the ‘fine china’. Bordering between overflowing with too much decoration and elegance. Kept classy, christly in white and gold.
Their home, from what you’ve seen so far, kept the same theme, except with a few more colors and a lot more religious elements.
Mrs. Vaughn was bringing in a dish from the kitchen, hands in oven mitts holding it securely before setting it down on an empty space on the table. She took off the oven mitts and wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing, as she came over to you and Ant, reaching out a hand for you to shake.
“Hello, dear, I’m Anthony’s mother.” She introduced herself, polite smile.
You quickly shifted the flowers from one hand to another so you could take her hand and shake it, “Hi, I’m y/n. Ant’s- Anthony’s girlfriend... It’s nice to meet you!”
You held out the flowers, “These are for you.” Mrs. Vaugh, upon taking the flowers, immediately busied herself with getting them ready in a vase, leaving you and Ant awkwardly standing in the dining room.
“Uh, my dad is working late, so he won’t be joining us.” Ant explained in the pocket of quiet.
“Oh, okay.” You nodded, unsure whether to feel relief over this. It was widely known that Mrs. Vaughn was… well, she was something alright. But you knew almost nothing about Ant’s father, whether he was just as intense as Mrs. Vaughn, or perhaps a calmer, understanding figure that might offset some of her strictness. If it would have been nice to have him there, or worse. Ant rarely talked about him.
“Sit down, sit down.” Mrs. Vaughn came into the room again, without oven mitts or apron on this time, and a vase full of flowers that she somehow managed to prop onto the table in a spot that hadn’t seemed empty before she put it there, but evidently was as the vase now stood securely between napkins and salt and pepper shakers.
You sat down and made an effort to unclench your jaws and drop your tensed shoulders. Checked if you were smiling politely instead of your resting bitch face. Prepared to be the best fake-girlfriend/daughter-in-law anyone could ever ask for. That was the deal after all. Or something along those lines at least.
“Let’s start with saying Grace, yes?” Mrs. Vaughn asked into the round, though it was much less a question and more a statement. “y/n, dear, do you want to do the honours?”
You did your best not to let your eyes widen, not to stutter over your words. Your hands fidgeted underneath the table. “Um, to be honest Mrs. Vaughn, we don’t really say Grace in my family. I would be scared to do something wrong.” It was both a way to redirect, assure and test her. If you were too perfect she would be suspicious immediately, you felt she had a nose for deception. But you also needed to see just how far you could go, what were the lines to cross and which lines should you not even go near. In any case, you definitely did not feel ready to have her first impression of you to be saying something incorrectly during Grace.
You were confident you could fake being religious, but only to an extent, and this, you noticed, was the embarrassing extent.
“Oh, are you not religious?” Her face and voice sounded disappointed, worried even. You almost gaslit yourself into imagining the sting that hid beneath. Judgement.
“Oh, no, I am.” You assured her, “But my family is not. So, a lot of my… connection with Him, comes from a more personal and less institutional angle.”
You cringed inwardly, hoping she didn’t mind you’d called the church institutional. It could be something she could be offended by maybe? Did it sound like criticism? It sounded really cold didn’t it?
“My, is that so?” Her hand clutched her chest. She seemed… to buy it?
“How did you find the Lord, if not through your family? You do visit church though, do you not? And read the bible?” Oh okay. She was intrigued. Impressed maybe? If it was not too strong of a word.
Ant, your hero, answered for you, “Mom, weren’t we going to say Grace? The food is going to get cold.” His hands were already stretched out so you and his mom could take them.
“Yes, right. There’s always time to talk after.” She said, taking his hand and reaching out for yours.
You took both of their hands.
“Listen closely, and maybe you can lead your family in saying Grace in the future, y/n.” Mrs. Vaughn said, before saying Grace, thanking God for the food, and family, and “leading Ant onto the right path”. You were happy her eyes were closed because your face soured as you understood the implications behind her last comment.
Ant gave your hand a squeeze, peeking at you with one eye open.
You squeezed back, schooling your face to a more neutral expression.
Mrs. Vaughn went right back to questioning you and your faith, sprinkling a few questions about plans for the future and school in as well. She seemed pleased when you told her about your plans for university, and that your grades were (generally) all right. You couldn’t really appreciate her praise though, as it came backhanded with comments about Ant, and that he should pay more attention, and why couldn’t he take an example by you.
At least carpenting didn’t require a degree, and if it was good enough for Jesus, it was good enough for Ant, so that’s what he was going to do after school, if his grades didn’t improve.
He looked miserable as she went on and on about her plans for him, belittling his interests and dreams.
“What is it you do for work, Mrs. Vaughn?” You tried steering her to a different topic, picking at the food on your plate.
“Ah well, for the longest time I was a stay-at-home wife, supporting my husband and raising Ant, but now that he’s almost all grown up, I’ve taken up working at an office again. But I’m sure you’re not all that interested in the specifics. Say, do you plan on being a stay-at-home mom? I know your generation is a bit more… free-spirited when it comes to female working opportunities, but I’d hate for any children to be raised by the daycare rather than their parent.”
You almost choked, as she asked you about KIDS and what your plans were. That seemed like a conversation that could be held in 10 years, not now. Did she assume you were going to have kids with Ant? Also the fact that she didn’t even ask if you wanted them, but just assumed you would? Did Ant want kids?
“Well,” You stuttered, “I hadn’t given it much thought. I don’t plan on-“ you coughed awkwardly, the way to save this seemed obvious, yet embarrassing to talk about, “I’m saving myself for marriage at least.”
This was one of the points you’d thought important for her to “know” about you. Just in case her problem with Ant having gotten a wristy from Darren, wasn’t in fact that Darren was nonbinary, but that it was premarital sexual activity.
It was a lie, but your cheeks were heating up regardless. “That’s, um, actually something me and Ant- Anthony agree on.” You added, quietly, trying to win him some good graces with his mom. Trying to fix the situation like you initially had wanted, before everything seemed to have gotten unnecessarily and completely overcomplicated.
“Really?” Her voice was almost theatrically doubtful.
Time to sell it.
“Yes. I can only speak for me, of course, but as I mentioned earlier, my relationship with God is very personal to me. I don’t believe He would restrict me in what I want to do, but rather guide me. So, excuse me when I say it like this but, I don’t do it because the church thinks it is the right thing, but because I myself think so. I fully believe and support other people for whom it might be different, but personally, it seems like such a vulnerable thing to do, I couldn’t imagine doing it with someone I don’t fully, wholeheartedly love. And I want to know they love me too.”
Maybe you should go into theater. Improv. The way this flew out of your mouth, with fullest conviction, as if it is something you had promised yourself years ago, instead of trying your hardest to appeal to a religious bigot while being believably ‘young’ and ‘cool’ about it.
“Huh.” She seemed surprised. “And you think that too?” She turned to Ant who just nodded vigorously. “Then what about…?” She trailed off, skeptically. It irked you she couldn’t even say it.
“Oh,” you played dumb, “Is this about that ‘map’?”
Mrs. Vaughn turned to look at you, “were you on it?”
“I don’t know, actually, but if I was, it would be a lie.” You tried your best to sound believable, because of course everyone would say that. “From what I do know, a lot of what was written was based on rumors, and I am sure you know how those can get out of hand. Or be used by particularly mean girls to hurt someone.” You pouted.
“Right.” She answered, glass of wine swirling in her hand. “So you’re saying that’s what happened?”
“Yes ma’am.”
She popped her tongue, focusing her attention on her son once more, “Is that true, Anthony?”
His eyes searched nervously for yours, and you tried your best to give him a reassuring smile that said, just go along with it and everything will be okay. I’ll handle it.
“Yes ma’am.” He copied your answer from before, though with a lot less confidence.
It seemed to satisfy her regardless, the strict persona giving room for a more warm, caring mother underneath: “Why didn’t you say so, baby?”
“I didn’t think you’d believe me…” He said, and you were unsure if he was sad about lying to his mom, or that he was convinced she’d never believe him or both.
But you couldn’t just let her homophobia stand. Even though you were here to help Ant out, and she might hate you afterwards, you had to defend Darren and her obvious dislike of them and anything queer.
“Darren is my friend,” You said with a smile, “And trust me when I say Ant isn’t their type.”
Under other circumstances you’d probably enjoy the twitch of her eyebrow a lot more.
“But more than that, they would never betray our friendship by doing something with the boy I like. The boy I am dating.”
You imagined that her face right now, looked a lot like yours had earlier during Grace. Soured. Though with the elegance of a woman who’d learned to hold back at least a little in front of company. You hadn’t bothered to learn that part.
“Well, that is… a relief, I guess.” She muttered, displeased despite her words.
It was good you were skilled at playing dumb,
“Are you okay?” You asked innocently, hoping you weren’t overshooting. The thought that, perhaps she would forbid Ant from seeing you, because she disliked you, was scarier than you expected.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” She held onto her forehead as if she had an incoming migraine, “I just don’t understand how you can… support that. It goes against God!”
The opportunity you had long waited for. Time to debate a homophobe hiding behind religion into loving gays.
Ant looked nervous, upon seeing the fire lit in your eyes. He knew his mother better than anyone, he did not want you to get in her line of fire. He was about to speak up, defuse the situation, like he had learnt to do many years ago. But he was too late, you were already speaking.
“Is that so?” You asked her to clarify, more rhetorically than genuinely.
“Because, doesn’t the bible say to love your neighbour?”
“Well, yes, but also that man should never lie with man! And don’t get me started on all that gender stuff! God made Adam and Eve. Not Adam and Eve and a third or even fourth option.”
Looks like you’d gotten her started then. Ant shrunk into his chair, and you felt sorry for him. But also this wasn’t going to get any better if no one ever challenged Mrs. Vaughn.
“Actually, that is a mistranslation. But even so, it is not up to us to judge, is it? And isn’t the beautiful thing about us as God’s creation that we are so diverse? Are you saying he made so many mistakes? There are and have been so many people, who love who they love, who feel themselves truly as they are, that cannot all be mistakes can it?” You challenged.
“See, this is why you need to go to church.” Mrs. Vaughn sighed, not even bothering to argue.
“Mrs. Vaughn, respectfully, I do not believe you can be a true Christian, if you do not love God’s creations in all its glory. I am sure any priest or pastor would agree with me on that.”
She tsked. “You are still a child. You don’t understand how dangerous, how idealistic this way of thinking is.”
“Mrs. Vaughn-“
“Enough.” The way her brows furrowed, you were pretty sure you had talked her into a migraine.
“Mrs. Vaughn.” You attempted again. “I don’t mean to disrespect you or your beliefs. I am just trying to share my view. It would not make me happy to live my life hating people who have done nothing wrong. I’m sure you disagree, I’m sure you think their whole existence is wrong, but what about the people that have said those same things about people with different skin-colors? Disabilities? Even some women, who have been burned at the stake. Do you truly believe that you are grander, your wisdom more infinite, than God’s, to make such claims as to who is wrong and who is right?”
The room was silent.
Ant couldn’t hide the grimace on his face, somewhere between worry, pride and anticipation. You too, waited with bated breath, on Mrs. Vaughns reaction.
Eventually, after what felt like decades, she took a slow sip of her wine, before an amused, exhausted huff escaped her mouth.
“For someone who claims to be respectful towards me, you sure insult me.”
Oh shit. You fucked up.
“I am not grander than the Lord, but neither are you.” She continued. “So your beliefs hold just as much weight as my own.”
Okay? Stalemate? Maybe you didn’t fuck up as bad as you thought.
“It’s good, to have a cause to stand for. And I understand it’s especially personal when… you’re friends with someone it affects. But you have to understand I just want my only son to be happy.”
“Unless he was gay.” You didn’t mean for it to slip out. She was trying to meet you somewhere, though not convinced yet, she was trying to make an effort to show you she had listened to what you said. And now you’d probably thrown it all out the window because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.
“But he isn’t! Clearly.” She gestured towards you and him. So at least she didn’t doubt the sincerity of your relationship. Didn’t mean she wasn’t going to force Ant to break up with you over today though.
“So why is this such an issue for you?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to slip out.” You said meekly. “I think it’s just because I know how much shit some of my friends have faced for their identities. Even people who claimed they loved them turning on them, for something they have no control over. For who they are, for love and selflove. I guess I don’t understand how you can say you love someone and then have that love vanish the second they are not who you want them to be.”
You almost jumped as Mrs. Vaughn put her hand on top of yours. Not expecting this gesture at all.
“I do understand that it is hard to see the people you love suffer.”
She removed her hand again, “Why don’t I bring out dessert, and we change topics to something more… pleasant?” She didn’t wait for a response as she stood up and made her way to the kitchen.
Ant waited until she was out of earshot before he whispered out a “holy shit!” followed by a whistle.
You cringed, “that bad?”
“No! She loves you.” He said, grinning.
Your face fell completely, confused as hell, “What?”
“Oh yeah! I think she even respects you.” He said, as if that was an achievement, only very little people had earned. Probably was.
“Really?” You were baffled.
He nodded, proud grin still on his face.
“You’ll probably change her mind by Christmas. Get her to hang up rainbow flags all around the house or something.” He laughed at the idea. You laughed at the absurdity. Was he living in a completely different dimension? In what world did that conversation just seem like it even went ‘okay’?
He seemed to be at least partly right, as the rest of the evening went by… amicably.
You still didn’t really like her all that much though.
“Next time I’ll get out the picture albums.” Mrs. Vaughn winked at you, as Ant shooed her away.
“Get home safe.” She called out as she disappeared into the house, Ant closing the door behind her leaving only you and him on the front step, illuminated by a single dim light next to the door.
He caught you in a sudden, bone-crushing hug. “Thank you.” He whispered, holding onto you.
You hugged back, not quite as tightly, but by no means weakly.
A little part of your heart broke, as you realized just how much you liked this feeling. Holding him, being held by him. His smell on you, your head resting against his shoulder. His heartbeat almost masking yours. Having him right here at the tips of your fingers, but not truly having him.
Because this was all it was. You were friends, at most. Useful, more like it.
Partners in crime, trying to get his mom to stop her tantrum over the map.
A transactional relationship.
Summary: soulmate au where you can hear each others thoughts >w<
Warnings: dunno, use of y/n, and this is the master we're talking about, reader is v selfdeprecating?
A/N: pt 2, here is the link for part 1
You slept even less the next two five, than you had since the noise in your head had started. If you weren’t in the library, going over every book the doctor had on soulmates – or anything even partly related to it, you were tossing and turning in your bed, thoughts and questions filling your mind and leaving you unable to leave wakefulness behind.
Surely, the others must have noticed. You rarely saw them, denied every request for an outing, and on the odd occasion you did meet one in the kitchen or the hallway, you were pretty sure they mistook you for a ghost at first. Who had time to brush their hair and change their clothes, when they had to unearth the greatest mystery of their life? Oh yeah, and those dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep probably didn’t help either.
Groaning, you realized you had fallen asleep over a book in the library. With the neck pain to thank you for it, and a thudding in your head that seemed impossibly louder. As you tried stretching out your neck and limbs, you realized, thanks to the insistent whirring of the tardis around you, that it was her who had woken you up. Another groan left your mouth as you reluctantly got up and trotted down the hallway with heavy steps. She had shortened the way for you, you realized a second later than it normally would have taken you, because suddenly you were in the bridge, face to face with a cross-armed doctor. She was leaning onto the console.
“You called?” You tried – and failed – to suppress a yawn. Your arms wrapped around you, half to comfort yourself, half mirroring the doctors stance. Who was seriously starting to freak you out with her stern expression and silence.
“You’re different.” An accusation. A forceful poke, but not a question in itself. Perhaps you’d have preferred she stayed silent. “What is going on?” Ah. There it was.
She was different too. Before, she would have let you be. That’s what you had liked. All the travel, none the poking-into-matters like ‘soulmates’ and ‘what you’re really feeling inside’.
She pushed herself off of the console, agitatedly walking back and forth. You weren’t saying anything, not because you didn’t know what to say but because your mind was processing at the speed of, well, what’s slower than slow?
And hers was running at the usual lightyears a mile. “Why are you acting so…” She tried finding the right words as her arms wildly swung around. “obsessed?”
“You know it’s a miracle you even eat, that once in a while. When’s the last time you slept? The last time you took care of yourself? Talked to somebody?” She probably listed a dozen more things, but your mind had stuck unto the sleep question, and as you realized she had been staring at you, quiet, for probably longer than you’d realized, you blurted out an accusing, “Well, if somebody hadn’t sent off to fetch me I probably would still be sleeping right now.”
She did not look impressed.
“And why are you acting so weird, anyway?” You pouted, “Since when do you do….” One of your hands made weird, vague motions in front of you. “This?”
“the fam is worried, and honestly so am I.” ah. So it was her companions influence.
Where were they even?
“They’re home right now, it’s just you and me. I thought you’d be more comfortable that way. You haven’t really known them all that long. I know that.” She didn’t sound like the Doctor, she sounded like a copy of, her companions perhaps. “Is that what’s wrong? You don’t like them?”
You exhaled forcibly. “That’s what you’re all worried about?” Your hands ran through your face, first down, then up and pushing strands of hair away.
“I care about you.” It was probably the first time she’d voiced it aloud, with those exact words, in all the time you’d travelled together. It never needed to be said, you knew she did. As did she, that you did for her.
“I know. I’m sorry.” You pulled the semblances of yourself together. “It’s nothing like that, okay? The fam is fine, you’re fine.”
“You’ve been reading about soulmates.” Again, a statement. That, this time, reached you so forcefully it almost knocked you off your feet.
The “What?” that left your mouth was all fallen expression and no voice.
“Is that… Are you…” She started her sentence, and again, but both times never seemed to know where to go with it, or how to pull through. Not that it mattered because the words hadn’t left her lips for long when her eyes fell to where your hand rested on your arm, half hugging yourself, half crossed arms, in a weird display of the mixed emotions that swirled around inside you.
“What are you doing?” Rarely had you seen the doctors whole demeanor shift like that. In the blink of an eye, with a darkness in her voice and eyes that had never been directed at you before. Anger bubbling and sizzling beneath the surface, like a volcano about to erupt.
You took an involuntary step back. “What do you-?” Your eyes followed hers, and on your arm, your fingers were tapping the rhythm that had been present inside of you merciless and unrelenting, for the past many days. You had caught yourself doing it, here and there, in the library while reading, or while waiting for your toast to be done, but this must be the first time it had happened, unbeknownst to you, in front of the doctor. You stopped immediately.
“What do you mean? It’s a nervous tic.” You tried explaining.
Sometimes, the doctor was hard to read. Right now, she swung wildly between unreadable and obvious, just like her expression which clearly held disbelief in her eyes, but also loosened up in its ferocity.
“You’ve never done it before. Where’d you pick it up?” Feigned behind cold curiosity, her voice was back to accusing you, daring you to lie, only to be able to catch you.
“What the hell is going on with you?” You exclaimed exasperated, hands gripping your arms more tightly, both to stop another subconscious tapping and as a way to ground yourself.
She muttered something to herself you couldn’t understand and pulled out her screwdriver, running it over you several times. It’s whirring and lights starting to drive you crazy after the fifth pass past your eyes and ears. Whatever reading it gave her, disappointed and relieved her at the same time. Her eyes were still narrowed suspiciously, but her tone was a lot less accusing when she explained, “That’s the master’s rhythm.”
Well it wasn’t much of an explanation. She’d told you about the master before, it wasn’t that part you were stuck on, “What do you mean it’s “his” rhythm?”
She sighed and rubbed her wrists, “He once explained to me, a few faces ago, that this beat, the drums of four, where what he’d heard ever since his initiation where he looked into the untempered schism. It’s what drove him crazy.”
Your face fell. Hopefully she’d consider it a grimace of pity and not the slow, stinging realization of who your soulmate was.
“That’s…Awful.” You managed to get out. A quiet settled over the two of you, before you broke it again, “but what exactly did you think was happening? That I was him? You know me doctor.”
“He brainwashed people before, it’s a real possibility.” She sighed. “That, or disguise. Very well possible with the way you’ve been acting.” She added, “So unlike you.”
Her brows furrowed. Her face contorted and you realized it as her expression, right before she figured something out. When only one puzzle piece remained to be clicked into place. You hurried to speak up, hide the piece from her. “Well, your scans confirmed that I am me, right? No brainwash?”
It was a desperate attempt, one you weren’t sure if was too late.
“Yes, yes,” she muttered. “You are you, but-“ She looked up at you, and you knew it had been to late. “You have a soulmate now.”
Earlier you had been flight, when it came to danger responses. Now you had no energy left but to freeze. Less like a deer in headlights and more like a mouse in a trap. No escape. Death sentence.
You had barely had time to process your realization, caught up in this conversation with the doctor and now you were thrust into the deep end, needing not only to figure out what this meant for yourself, but also add onto it everything this meant for the Doctor.
“Stars.” the doctor breathed out as she ran her hand over her face, “Oh he probably loves and hates it at the same time. Taking my own companion away from me.”
You were unsure of what to do as she stood there, talking half to you half to herself. Probably talking a bit to an imaginary master as well. Gnawing on your lips, you just continued watching her.
She had compiled herself rather quickly, considering the situation that is. Given you a small shot of what she’d called “trovian sleep nectar” and told you that “regardless, you need to sleep.”
So you took it, no questions, and slept for 14 hours straight.
The looming threat of another talk with the doctor, made you stay in your room longer than you’d liked. It was a useless worry, you’d learned, when you went out to the bridge, only to find it deserted.
The tardis was parked, and not currently drifting in either space or the vortex, so you took a peek out the door. There was some distance between the ground and the tardis, and as you craned your head to look around the corner you saw some suspiciously doctor-looking legs poking out from beneath.
“Doctor?” You called out questioningly, over the noises of clanking and tinkering.
The noise stopped and a head appeared, under the entrance of the tardis.
“Oh, hey! Didn’t see you there. Sleep well?” She seemed back to her chipper self, which you found both unsettling and were grateful for. Maybe it meant you could forget about all of what happened before. Ignore it away. Her hands were stained, and a couple drops of sweat littered the edges of her face. You didn’t get to respond though, as a black car pulled up and you and the doctor watched several men in suits get out to stand in front of it.
You were acutely aware of the drums in your head, as you waited for them to reveal themselves and their purpose. The Doctor though didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, throwing a quip their way, as she rolled out from underneath the tardis completely.
And then, after a rather … troublesome car ride that had also reunited you with the fam, you’d somehow found yourselves in the office of the MI6.
If you’d had a moment to think, you would’ve been grateful for all the distractions.
But that only lasted until you arrived in the outback, together with the doctor and Graham. The second you stepped out the tardis doors, it’s like your mind had opened up impossibly more. Flooding it with not just the drums but a million thoughts going up and down and cross. Half-thought and half-thrown away thoughts, impressions of a cave, a barely pulsating rage beneath the surface, giddying excitement cracking through the layers. Above all, one clear thought, fully directed at you the second your eyes fell upon the man that stood meters away from you,
*Hello, Darling. Nice to finally meet you*.
You buffered like an internet explorer tab in the early 2000s. Stumbling over your feet as you watched him act like nothing had happened, greeting the Doctor almost simultaneously to greeting you.
Last to leave the tardis, the Doctor and Graham did not catch your reaction and instead walked briskly up to the man. You had to hurry to catch up to them, arriving just as the Doctor introduced Graham, “Hello, this is my friend Graham.”
She then pointed over her other shoulder where you’d stumbled in, “and this is y/n.”
He’d shook Graham’s hand and introduced himself as “O”, but you opted for a quick wave, dismissing the hand he’d held out for you as he explained to the Doctor and Graham where he had gotten his name from. Mock disappointment at your refusal to shake his hand filled your head, while he was not for a second breaking character in front of everyone. The overstimulation made you dizzy, like trying to catch what a friend is saying while people were talking loudly all around you and music was playing and kids kept bumping into you. Your head, that used to just be home to your thoughts and observations, suddenly had to house not just that but also the never-ceasing drums, the Masters thoughts and his polar-opposite actions. Happening all at the same time.
Summary: You go all your life without hearing his voice, but he doesn’t have to go a day without hearing yours <3
Soulmate AU where you can hear the others thoughts
Warning: Time is wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, sometimes y/n is used, strong language
A/N: This was supposed to be a cute little oneshot but i fear i have to admit to myself this has outgrown that, so new series alert I guess LMAO
I should've known by the time I had written 7 pages and they hadn't even met yet OH WELL
You had gone all your life without that other voice inside your head. It happened. Some people just didn’t have it, have one. There were different explanations but some were as simple as “you don’t have a soulmate.” You suppose you were lucky enough to be born in a time where the discrimination against those without soulmates had died down to a minimum.
You didn’t need everyone else telling you that you truly must be an unlovable piece of shit if you didn’t have a soulmate, you could do that just fine on your own. Well-meaning friends would tell you that “you never know, maybe it will pop up one day” or “maybe your soulmate is mute” throughout school and for the first few years after. Reasonable explanations. Reasonable enough when you are young, at least.
The emptiness inside of you, the hollow abyss carved where another should be, was always there to tell you how wrong they were though. And at some point you had to learn to live with it, though skirting around the wish of death and another life for most of it.
You’d met the doctor by pure chance. All big words and bigger steps, grabbing your hand and sweeping you off your feet and into space. It was an on again off again friendship, both carrying your own hurt and more comfortable with a certain emotional distance that meant never sharing too much. You liked that. Not once did the topic of soulmates come up. Though you had your questions, for someone who had seen so much, it was a line you couldn’t cross and a line the doctor didn’t even seem to think all that much about to begin with.
Your little trips helped you though, even if just a little. Seeing all that universe and time had to offer, how ordinary and little problems seemed in comparison. You’d drifted along the lines of satisfaction and amazement when with the Doctor. Most days at least. No matter how much you thought you could stuff all your issues into a little box deep inside the darkest, dustiest corner of yourself and forget about them, there were days where a pang of heartbreak made itself known as your mind wandered and wondered, how it would be to have a soulmate to enjoy this with. What would they think about this planet? This view? Would they perhaps be someone you met while traveling? And then the realization that, despite the unique opportunity to go everywhere and anytime, having more opportunities than most, you were still. Alone. There truly was no one out there, in the vastness of literally everything, that could love you.
The morning you awoke with a pounding in your head, that you at first thought to be an insensitive neighbour at ass o’clock in the morning, it had been a while since you’d seen the doctor. Not unusual in itself, but your body had picked up on a sixth sense while with them. And after the realization that, one, the pounding was inside your head, two, it did not go away even after you chucked two pills of painrelief, and three, the pounding was rhythmic, your mind wandered towards the doctor. When your mind wandered to the doctor unprompted, it was almost a surefire sign you’d meet them again soon. Hopefully before you were driven completely insane by the never-ending sound inside your head.
Sure enough, about three days after, she stood on your doorstep. Or, more accurately, on the tardis doorstep inside your living room. She had companions around this time, three of them even. Growing restless with the dull pounding that had made itself home in your head you jumped at the opportunity to get away. To hopefully get so caught up in running and exploring and views, you could forget about it.
Well, it had the opposite effect. As soon as the tardis dematerialized from your living room, it got worse. A billion times worse. And it’s not like it was painful necessarily, but the frustration nearly drove you to tears. It must have taken no more than 10 minutes for you to crack and excuse yourself to the med bay, complaining of a headache. Pitying smiles from the Doctor and the woman you had learned was called Yaz. A comment from the older guy, Graham, and a get well from his grandson, Ryan.
You laid down on the firm hospital bed and asked the tardis to run a scan, to determine the source of that relentless noise. No results.
You ran the scan about three or four more times, each time the same message blinking up on the screen. No results.
No results.
No results.
No results.
Nothing wrong with you.
Except everything, you thought bitterly to yourself.
You got up with a sigh, swinging your legs over the bed and trudging out the door back to the bridge, where the doctor animatedly explained something to three wide-eyed companions. You guessed, you’d just have to add that noise to the list of things you stuffed into that box deep down.
“Where are we off to, Doc?” Your grin wasn’t all fake, but it did take some effort to put up. The calming buzz of the tardis slowly settling into your bones and signaling to your nervous system to brace for excitement and wonder.
“Arcateen V!” She exclaimed gleefully as she turned around to face you. “As I’ve been explaining to Yaz, Graham and Ryan, it’s the home-planet of the most creative Arcateenians. Poets and artists, who travel the stars to spread their talent with others.”
You raised your eyebrows, impressed. “Exciting.”
It could be difficult to wrap your mind around the fact, that, despite the many trips you had been on with the doctor, there was always another time, another place, that existed out there, for you to encounter for the first time. Apart from earth, you rarely visited the same place twice. The Doctor seemed to want to get the most out of her time together with her companions before they inevitably left her.
Well, she had neglected to mention that the arcateenians preferred method of communication was telepathic. Uncomfortable at the thought of having your mind prodded and poked at, you held yourself to the edge of the group, letting the doctor do most of the conversing, listening to the ‘ooh’s’ and ‘aah’s’ of the others.
A wobbly, slender hand softly touches your elbow and almost makes you yelp in shock. Your head whips to look at the arcateenian who had approached you, as a gentle sensation, eerily similar to knocking on a door echoed inside your head. Hesitantly you opened your mind to her, as her hand resumed its position next to her body.
“Oh.” She immediately seems taken aback, and you felt her presence leave almost as soon as it had entered. Furrowed brows, you looked at her questioningly. She seemed unnerved but softly took your hand in hers anyway, drawing letter for letter on the palm of it.
H-E--D-O-E-S--N-O-T--W-A-N-T--M-E--T-H-E-R-E. You struggled to understand at first, the letters mashing together slightly, even with her little pauses between each word. And even after you had deciphered the words itself, you did not understand what she meant.
“Who?” You asked, voice quiet, so as not to disturb the others, though they were standing further away from you now you noticed, engaging in excited conversation with another arcateenian it seemed. She seemed puzzled at your confusion.
H-E. She wrote again, more firmly as if to exaggerate her word. After a short pause, her hand moved again as her finger filled out the palm of your hand with more letters.
Y-O-U-R—S-O-U-L-M-A- ,you fought against the urge to rip your hand from hers as you realized the letters she was drawing, T-E. She finished.
You shook your head vigorously. “I don’t have one.” You explained. Taken-aback by her assumption and behavior. Her fingers were stopped short of moving again as the Doctors voice called out to you, “Hey, y/n, come listen to this song!”
Your head swiveled around to look towards where her voice came from but your feet seemed planted to the ground. The arcanteenian hand slowly lowered yours, as she released it from her grip with a pat to the back of it, forcing you to look back to her. She gave you a small smile before she turned to walk away.
“W-wait-“ You wanted to call out but your voice got lost somewhere between your vocal chords and your tongue, leaving you to watch her disappear.
Steps behind you alerted you to the Doctor before she could speak up, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t disturb did I?” She was close to rambling, eyes lit up like they did when she was excited beyond her normal range of excitement.
“I-“ You stumbled over your words. “No. Sorry.”
Ryan and Graham were still standing by the Arcanteenian, performing their song again, but Yaz had followed a few steps behind the Doctor, unsure of whether to join her completely or not, she lingered halfway between the two groups.
The thought of having to open your mind again, or stay for a minute longer on this planet filled you with something awfully close to dread, so you opted for a white lie. Or a half-lie.
“Um, I’m sorry, but I actually think I’m going to head back to the tardis. Headache’s acting up again.” You smiled politely at Yaz, before turning to leave.
“Oh, weird.” The Doctor said, stopping you in your tracks. You should have known she wouldn’t make it that easy to escape. Pulling out her sonic screwdriver she ran it over your head as she mumbled, more to herself than you, “I thought you had gotten it fixed up in the med-bay?”
She looked at the results on her screwdriver, “Huh.”
Her mouth pouted in a way you definitely did not like. Somewhere between confusion and dissatisfaction.
“I, uh, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” You reassured her, hastily, itching to get back before she could question anymore, before she could make a thing out of this.
“Enjoy Arcanteen V, you can always bring me back another day.” You winked at her and left her standing with her sonic in her hand as you hurried back to the tardis.
You’d found yourself in the med-bay again. Running the scan, again and again. Barely paying attention as you ruminated.
Arcanteenians were not malicious, generally. This one certainly didn’t seem to be playing a mean prank on you. Your fingers absentmindedly tapped a rhythm onto the steel edges of the bed.
“Again.” You ordered, as you half-registered the same blaring words on the screen you had seen again and again for the past half hour.
“Wait, tardis. Do you-“, you fumbled to find the words. “Can you scan for soulmates? Like.. Do you know if someone has one? Is there a way to scan for that?”
A beeping-sound you categorized as reassuring followed a change in screen.
Loading. Loading. Loading.
And then: SOULMATE CONFIRMED
“What?” You exclaimed. And as if she did not understand your question as an expression of shock, rather than a genuine question, the words ‘soulmate’ and ‘confirmed’, blinked up again.
A million questions ran through your head, but before you could even start to try and get ahold of yourself, footsteps echoed down the hallway. Instinct pushed you to turn off the screen before pushing it away, just in time. The doors opened to a worried looking doctor, whose worried expression only deepened upon seeing the bewilderment on your face.
“Just wanted to check in.” She said almost cautiously. More words lingering just beneath the surface. She took a seat across from where you were sitting on the hospital bed. “We brought you back some food, I think Yaz took it to the kitchen.” She beat around the bush in typical doctor-fashion.
“Thank you.” A beat of silence. “That’s very nice of you.”
The steel edges of the bed turned warm under your firm grip. Ready to hoist yourself up at any second. When it came to fight or freeze, you were flight.
“Whaddya think of them?” The doctor asked, curiously. She was referring to her new set of companions.
“They’re… nice.” You nodded. “sort of, homely?” It was probably Ryan and Grahams relationship that extended to the way the rest of the group interacted.
“Like a family?” She asked, seemingly on-board with the idea, leaning back in her seat.
“Sure.” You were confused with the way this conversation went.
“Hmmh,” the doctor mused, “anyway, I missed ya.” She jumped up suddenly. “Good to have you on board again.” She all but shouted as she went out the door with a wave thrown over her shoulder.
You released your grip on the bed, an annoyingly sticky feeling of the warmed steel combined with the sweat of your palms. You wiped your hands on your pants with a grimace.
Summary: Barty and reader were in (unconfessed) love when they were young, and now he’s back from the dead.
Warning: Swearing and canon-compliant descriptions of violence, possibly ooc barty but i tried, Barty uses 'flower' as a petname for reader but i think reader is gn if I didn't miss anything
A/N: I can’t be bothered to fact check anything so I apologize if some things technically don’t make sense within canon lol
@teenageartists
The past few weeks you had been plagued with coworker troubles on top of all the challenges your students presented normally. Moody, the new Defense teacher, seemed just… kind of off.
Little comments here, lingering stares there – he had you on edge. Not enough to say anything, but enough that you tried to limit any time spent with him.
With tournament preparations you didn’t even have the energy to eye him suspiciously from far away. It didn’t even cross your mind to look into it, if you were honest.
You were setting up your classroom for today’s classes, when a voice from behind had you spinning around immediately. “Working hard, l/n?”
There he was, standing between the rows of tables and chairs, his creepy fake-eye rolling around in its socket. “Today is actually one of the more manageable days.” Your smile was cordial, and fully fake. “Did you need anything?” You inquired, eager to get rid of him as soon as possible. You had managed to avoid being completely alone with him so far, and silently scolded yourself for letting down your guard. His head was cocked to the side, working eye seemingly looking at you curiously, and clicked his tongue. “You weren’t always this cold, were you, flower?”
Shivers went down your arms as your smile dropped immediately. Your wand was in your hand before you knew it, and a spell hit the man in front of you square in his chest.
He stumbled backwards and slumped into a chair you had moved behind him. You cast a binding spell for good measure, as you squinted your eyes and stepped closer. He grinned maniacally, an expression that you hadn’t seen on this face before. A tongue flicking out for a brief second at the corner of his mouth.
You circled the chair a couple of times, his face trying to follow you as good as it could in its restricted position. You ended up standing before him and sighed before lifting your wand to cast another spell. The man before you, the one you had assumed was Auror Alastor Moody, turned Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastor Moody, slowly dripped and oozed away, revealing beneath him another.
“Aw, c’mon, ya know how hard it is to keep a good Polyjuice stocked?” His pout didn’t hold for very long before it broke out into a grin again. “Good to see you again, flower.”
“How are you alive?” Seeing his face again, Barty’s face, after so many years, after you had thought him dead, left you breathless. “I thought you were dead!” You didn’t know whether to hug him or curse him. Instead you paced the corridor of tables.
“My mother.” He said soberly. As if that would explain it.
Except, it did, because after he died – after you thought he did - you had excessively looked into every little detail of his life pre-death, trying to make sense of why all these horrible things had to happen.
“You-! Merlin.” Your hand ran through your face before you felt gathered enough to continue. “And after that? That was years ago.” You looked at him wide-eyed. Honestly, it was probably a little bit of a crazy sight, you were all frazzled. Barty didn’t seem to think so, his face could more accurately be described as ‘staring at you adoringly’. You couldn’t stand it and turned around to pace again.
“My.. father.. kept me imperiussed and hidden.” His attempt at nonchalance failed, bitterness and fury seeping through the cracks. You turned around, to stare at him. “Fucking hell Barty, that is-“
“worse than Azkaban” he finished, tongue flicking out for a second. It was quiet for a moment, he didn’t meet your eyes.
When he heard the screech and scrape of a chair being pulled over the floor, his eyes snapped up, meeting yours as you sat in front of him.
“And now? What are you doing here? Dressed up as an auror, teaching kids, why?” The questions tumbled out of your mouth. A glint appeared in his eyes, one you didn’t like very much, as he shrugged. Something heavy settled in your gut. “Barty…” Disappointment filled your voice as your head tilted slightly. He had the decency to look a little more solemn at your shift.
“What are you… – they... – you! planning?” Your hand tightened around the wand, that otherwise had gone unnoticed in your grip for the past few minutes. He remained silent yet again – quite the feat for him. A little too late, your mind still reeling from the whole ‘Barty is alive and in your classroom and he still looks so damn good’ situation, you remembered who was currently enrolled in Hogwarts, and of what importance he was to Death Eaters.
“What do you want with him? Fuck, Barty. I-“ Electricity was cursing through your veins in a really, quite unpleasant way, giving you clammy hands and a spinning head. Itching to do something you pushed the chair back to stand again. “Fucking say something!” You shouted with furrowed brows.
He did seem genuinely upset, with how much you were upset, but he was not remorseful.
“You know I serve the Dark Lord.”
It’s the first time you openly heard him say it – the first time you openly talked about it. And it pissed you off. The way he said it, so serious. The fact that he seemed genuinely proud, unapologetically loyal.
“HE KILLS PEOPLE!” Your arms thrown up in defeat. “He tortures them!”
“He would kill me in a heartbeat, just for who I am.” You looked at Barty, stared at him, intently. “Would you kill me? If he told you to.”
Only after the question had escaped your mouth, did you realize it was one you were too afraid to hear the answer to.
“Flower…” His shoulders drooped and his hand twitched as if to reach out to you, but the still-remaining binding spell kept him in place.
“He would not kill you.” You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at how convinced he sounded.
“He promised me.” Tongue-flick.
A beat of silence.
“What?” Your brows furrowed, trying to understand.
Barty sighed. “He promised me, nothing would happen to you.”
Disbelieving laughter bubbled out of your throat, he had finally done it. Barty Crouch Jr had driven you insane. “You absolute MORON!” You shouted as your whole body itched to tackle something – or someone – and claw its eyes out. Back to pacing you went – steps now furious, big and loud on the stone tiles. “Do you not get what you did?” The question was rhetorical, not that it mattered because you didn’t give him time to respond. “You tied our lives to each other. Fuck.” Standing at the furthest point away from him, back toward him, your hand hit the wood of a desk in the front row.
“You do one thing wrong, and who do you think he’s gonna kill? Huh?” You turned around. “ME!” The finger of your non-wand hand poked at your chest vigorously. “You gave the biggest psychopath in wizarding history your weakness and expect him not to hold me hostage if anything ever goes wrong? You think he’s not going to kill me if I stood in front of him, ready to avada him? Or one of his army of rabid dogs? Do you think they would hold back if I fought them?” You took a breath. “You involved me, Barty. You put me on his radar. I exist to him. Fuck.”
The balls of your hands rubbed your eyes.
“Flower, shh, calm down.” Barty struggled against his restraints. “He gave me his word, okay? He won’t do anything. I trust him. You don’t need to worry, okay? It’s fine.”
“God, how brainwashed are you, Junior?” You fell into your chair again, exhausted.
“Hey! I owe him everything, okay!” He called out angrily. “You know how my father was – how he is. Voldemort took me in; he made me something. He sees me! We’re alike! I will forever be loyal to him, and be his most faithful servant.”
“You can’t mean that.” You were horrified, shaking your head in disbelief. “Shit, Barty, you don’t see me killing and torturing people – children! just because my father was a dick.”
“You think it’s okay what happened to the Longbottoms? The Potters?”
He looked at you with the defiance of a child.
“Do you?” You asked again, begging to be wrong.
The defiance crumbled slightly. “It is not up to me to question Him.” It was a weak attempt at some sort of diplomacy. A non-answer that still answered so much.
“Did-“ You took a shaky breath. “Were you involved…” You couldn’t get the rest out. His face told you that he understood what you were asking.
“No. I was not present at the torturing of the Longbottoms.”
“You knew of it?”
Silence.
You looked at each other for what seemed like a long time. You tried desperately to find something in his face, a semblance of the boy he used to be, a sign that he was capable of redemption, a way to free him from the grip of Voldemort.
He cleared his throat.
You came to the realization that, intentionally or not, he was going to make you choose between your heart and your soul.
“Why did you tell me?” A short pause. “If your plan hinged on staying undercover, as Moody, why did you go out of your way to tell me it was you?” Your voice was quiet, you had lost all but a spark of your fight. You hoped the spark was enough to break through.
“It just slipped out, accident.” He knew as well as you did that that was a lie. You rolled your eyes, “you need to try a little better than that, junior. You know damn well I’m not stupid. Neither are you.”
He licked his lips, eyes darting around not meeting yours.
“I missed you.”
You almost missed his words, spoken so quietly it couldn’t even be called a whisper. You swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. It took you a few seconds to gather yourself, too many words and half-sentences swirling around in your head to choose from. Seconds passed in silence. Leg shaking anxiously.
What the hell did he expect from this? Why would he put you through this? You missed him too. Why now? Did he not consider you could turn him in? Hurt him? What should you say?
Your head was so full it seemed empty.
Whether he took pity on you or simply couldn’t hold it in any longer, he continued:
“It was torture! Seeing you. Seeing you and having you avoid me. It’s one thing to think about you every bloody second I was stuck in an imperius beneath that damn invisibility cloak, but seeing you? Being close enough to touch you? Watching you smile and blush and frown and pout and furrow your brows when there is something you don’t understand. Seeing that you still shake your legs and fiddle with your fingers and twirl your wand when you’re nervous, that you still visit Hagrid and help him with all the creatures he has. I miss you, for fuck’s sake! I miss you, flower!”
If your head was full before, it was empty now. Your vision was kind of blurry, you realized as you blinked, and your throat hurt deep down.
Heart, or soul.
Heart. Or soul.
Heart….. or-
You lifted your wand-arm as you stood up, releasing the binding-spell.
“Barty…” you whispered as he stood up, standing impossibly close to you.
Your arms wrapped around his neck, unable to keep away from him any longer. He was warm, and his arms wrapped around your body tight. But you weren’t able to enjoy this for long, your conscience nagging, your fears whispering. Pulling away just the slightest bit, just to be able to look him in the face, with your hands still resting somewhere between neck and shoulder, aware of his hands still holding onto you firmly. “Let’s run away.”
For the first time in a lifetime, you didn’t think. Instead of logic speaking, you let your emotions flow out from your tongue. “Just. Let’s just leave all of this behind. Go to Tokyo or Finland or California, I don’t know, somewhere far away from here. I don’t want this anymore, I-“ you swallowed, because your mind caught up to your feelings, and the next few words were instantly marked as ‘dangerous’ and ‘should under no circumstances be said out loud’. But then you caught sight of his face, of the way his eyes looked down into yours, and you felt his hair under your fingertips and you mourned. You mourned all the time you had lost, all the feelings you had buried so long ago. The fact that you were never brave enough to speak your feelings before, the fact that he was taken from you too soon.
“I just want you.”
“I just want you, Barty. Please.”
Something akin to pride glimmered in Barty’s eyes. One of his hands came up to your cheek, cupping it gently as you leaned into it. You had chosen him. He had hoped you would. It took you long enough.
He pressed a soft kiss to your forehead.
You closed your eyes as your forehead rested against his lips. Your hands came to grip the fabric of his clothes on his chest. “Please don’t go back to Him.” You plead in a whisper. It would break you if he did. He swallowed.
A soft nudge made you open your eyes and look at him. He untangled his hands, one coming up to remove yours gripping onto him, while the other was held between your faces, pinky extended.
“Pinky promise.” There was mischief in his eyes but his voice was serious. Sincere.
A breathy laugh escaped your mouth as you removed your free hand from him. Without hesitation, your pinky intertwined with his and as soon as it did, without hesitation, he pulled you into a kiss.
“Amerie, I should’ve told you.” Quinni said as you entered the classroom. She was sitting on a table while Amerie and Darren were lying under a different table. You looked at Quinni questioningly, missing some context, but she just gestured to the table while going on. “Scooch” You said while crouching down next to Amerie, dropping your bag and crawling under the table with her and Darren. “Ahhh.” You nodded, “that thing.” Your face twinged up in sympathy as you looked over to Amerie. “Are you okay? I saw you storming out but uhhh that dude, Malakai, was following you so I thought you’d be fine? He seems nice right?” You pondered for a second. “Or did he do something? Do I need to beat him up?” It wasn’t a serious offer, but it also wasn’t not. “No, no, he’s fine.” She sighed.
“Who do you think is doing this?” Quinni asked, before coming over and wedging herself between Darren and Amerie. Making the space under the table even more cramped. She had a marker with her and excitedly scribbled on “Quinni + Sasha” with a heart around it. “OMG no way!” You exclaimed, while Darren urged Quinni to spill details. All of you, except for Amerie, were giggling excitedly, really happy for Quinni. “Oh!” She turned to you, extending the marker to you. “Here! You and Ant aren’t on here yet.” You probably couldn’t have resembled a deer in headlights more. With burning cheeks you took the marker and removed the cap, looking for a relatively empty space. Your mind was running a million miles an hour – what exactly were you supposed to write? Pressing your lips against each other you ended up copying Quinni, “y/n + Ant” with a heart around, and a few smaller ones around it for good measure. Amerie groaned before getting out from under the table, declaring she was never going to end up on the map again and that romance was dead.
Eventually, she and Quinni came up with some stupid plan to not make Amerie think about anything sex-y for however long she needs it. You and Darren were not convinced.
“hey um, where were you guys on Friday?” You asked them after the two girls had gone to look at the board with clubs and activities in the quad. They were probably nursing a hangover and Saturday at least, so the groupchat had been kinda dead, until Sunday evening and by then everything had moved on. The only reply you got were thumbs up and Quinni saying how sorry she was for not seeing you at the party. “Oh, we were at the party, where were you?” Darren looked at you questioningly. “I was at the party! I tried finding you guys but you were nowhere to be found, well I saw Amerie just once when she stormed out, but other than that nothing.” You explained, pouting. Darren explained, “Quinni wasn’t feeling well after her date with Sasha so we bunked out in the bathroom for a while, but actually, Quinni went and confronted Sasha afterwards.”
“ooooh, good for her!” You interjected. “Yeah and then they just started making out.” Darren raised their eyebrows, snorting. “Good for her! Damn, I wish I could’ve been there to witness that.” You exhaled, somewhere between a sigh and a groan. “Busy with Ant?” Darren wiggled their eyebrows suggestively. You just rolled your eyes, grinning.
You didn’t see much of the others, until SLUTS rolled around, Amerie was busy trying all sorts of clubs and you were eating lunch in the library, trying to not fall too far behind on classes.
You were the first of your group to arrive, and struggled for a second to find a place to sit, most tables already decently filled. Ant and Spider were already there, and so was Dusty, leaving only one open seat at their table. You really, really did not want to sit at the same table as Spider, but I guess sacrifices had to be made. You grit your teeth while walking over. “Hey babe.” You mumbled out, loud enough for the others at the table to hear, and leaned down to give Ant a kiss on his cheek, before rounding the table and sitting down opposite him and Spider.
“Wow! The famous y/n, gracing our table with her presence, whatever did we do to deserve that honor? I think that was the first time I ever heard you say something.” Spider theatrically exclaimed. Being a dick as usual. “Well for whatever reason my boyfriend seems to like you, so lets make me trying to be a good girlfriend not too hard, yea?” You gave him the best ‘done with his shit’ stare you could muster, before turning to Ant and smiling at him, “How was basket?”
Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Spider rolling his eyes before turning to Dusty and whispering something to him. Ant seemed not to mind your little conflict, bragging about how many hoops he scored. “You should totally come watch practice sometime! You don’t have anything else to do, do you?” He asked. “Not usually no, I’d like to come and watch.”
“Yeah I bet you would.” Spider smirked. You ignored him and continued. “Maybe on one of the days where Spencer is skipping school.” The grimace on his face at the mention of his real name was totally worth it.
Miss Obah started the lesson, thankfully after not too many more comments from Spider. She was going on about consent and how to like, talk about what you want.
Giving an example, “Show me where you want me to touch you.” But before she could continue Ant called out. “Here!” He pointed between his legs, giving you a wink before turning to Miss Obah. Your eyes widened, your face reddened, and right now you wished the earth would swallow you. “oh jesus.” You mumbled, hiding your face in your hands. Thankfully Miss Obah quickly went on to split you up into your usual groups to work on some exercises.
At least you were sitting outside. Quinni had told you on the way outside how Sasha had asked to move outside as accommodation for her, grabbing your arms and smiling ear to ear about how she was so considerate, before adding how she didn’t really feel it was necessary, but it was the thought that counts, right? You just nodded.
By the time the bell rang, none of you were doing what you were supposed to. Cash had just up and disappeared not even five minutes into it, and after Darren threw shade at Harper the mood was kinda weird anyway. You were scrolling on your phone, in no hurry to leave, since you were going to meet up at Darrens’ diner later anyway. Someone slid onto the bench next to you.
“Hey.” Ant grinned at you. “Hey!” It was sort of embarrassing how much your face lit upon seeing him. You put down your phone to give him your undivided attention. “So, my mom wants to meet you.” Oh right. That was a thing. That was the thing. The reason you were even ‘dating’. An “Ah” escaped your mouth, before he continued. “She invited you to dinner on Thursday. Is that good?” You blinked, trying to think of your schedule for the week. “Uh, no it should be fine. What time?” Your stomach was bubbling with nervous energy. Ant seemed to notice and smiled at you reassuringly, throwing an arm around your shoulders. “Seven. Hey, are you free today?” Intrigued, you turned to sit facing him, crossing your legs. “What did you have in mind?”
Relief flooded his face at your positive response. “Maybe we could watch some more movies? That was pretty chill.” He tried his best at nonchalance. His brown eyes were locked onto yours. Gnawing at your lip you contemplated whether or not to cancel on your friends for this. Your hesitation seemed to make him fidget nervously, so you opted to explain your predicament. “well, I was supposed to meet Darren at their job, together with Quinn’ and Amerie, but I’d rather watch movies with you to be honest.” You were surprised at the confession that seemed to tumble out of your mout. Openly saying you’d rather spend time with him instead of your friends, felt like it put you in a scarily vulnerable position. “Oh, well, if you alr-“ Ant started saying. “No, no, you know what, I’m gonna cancel.” You were already moving to get up, throwing your things in your backpack. “Let’s go watch some movies.” You grabbed your phone and put it in the back pocket of your jeans before extending your hand to help Ant up.
The smile that broke out on his face made your heart feel weirdly light. He grabbed your hand and got up, not letting go once he stood.
You were booed in the groupchat when you told them that you were ditching them for a guy. Even if it was ‘your guy’. But you knew they’d get over it, so you didn’t worry, putting your phone on your nightstand as you settled into your bed with Ant already sitting comfortably next to you, pillow on his lap and a bowl of chips between you. Fluttery feelings of nervousness and excitement rested somewhere between your stomach and your heart. Your arms were close enough to feel each others presence without touching and it almost drove you crazy, being stuck in this in-between of contact and not. Movie after movie titlecard flickered across the screen of your tv as you scrolled through all the available genres and streaming services, before you gave up with a sigh and handed the remote to Ant, “you choose… Just no horror!” He raised an eyebrow, “well now I really want to choose horror”. You squinted your eyes in mock-challenge, “you can do that if you want me to leave.” He only grinned, before he turned towards the tv, clicking a few buttons until he settled on a romcom.
“Hm, actually, you do seem like the romcom type.”, you contemplated aloud, “I’m not surprised.”.
“Is that a compliment, orrr?” Ant asked confused. “Yeah, I think it is haha.” You grinned.
If you had timed yourself, you would have found out that it took you 13 minutes and 19 seconds of self-restraint before you tentatively moved closer and put your head on Ants shoulder. Thirteen very excruciating minutes, and 19 even more excruciating seconds in which you tried to hype yourself up. “Is this okay?” You asked so softly you were worried Ant wouldn’t hear you over the movie and moved your head back a bit to be able to look at him, only to find he was already looking at you. His face bearing an expression you have never seen him make before, inexplicably soft and a little bit aching doubt.
He didn’t move to look away, but he didn’t respond either, and you felt yourself stuck like this.
You opened your mouth to say something but no words came to mind, it was like your brain had turned off and the only thing you could do was stay like this. And close your mouth. Becoming acutely aware of how close you were, the fact that you could feel his breath on your cheek, and it would only take so little to have your lips touch. He seemed to notice the same thing, judging by the way his eyes flickered down to your lips. You couldn’t help but follow suit, noticing the way his lips were ever so slightly parted, as if it was him about to say something but missing the words.
A loud noise from the movie startled the both of you out of your trance and resulted in you moving out of your positions to look at the tv. Ant cleared his throat, and you shuffled to put your back against the headboard instead of leaning on him. Your mind was racing, you hadn’t been able to focus on the movie before, but you certainly couldn’t now. A soft sigh escaped your mouth as you tilted your head back, looking up at the ceiling. You felt Ants eyes on you, barely making out the movement of his head turning from the corner of your eye. Debating whether or not to act as if you didn’t notice, you caught yourself returning his gaze before you had reached a conclusion.
You both started talking at the same time, a mixture of noise - “Sorry” “I’m sorry”.
Your nose crinkled in amusement, and he seemed to visibly relax as the tension broke.
Clearing his throat before he spoke, Ant fidgeted with the strings on his sweatpants, “I, uh, you can put your head back. Sorry for making it weird.”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I don’t have to put my head on your shoulder, it’s fine!” You quickly exclaimed. He rolled his eyes playfully and nudged your head towards his shoulder. “’s fine, y/n.” Biting your lip, you eventually gave in with a quiet “okay.” and continued resting your head on his shoulder. It was comfortable and his smell strangely soothing, and with you not having caught most of the movie anyway you felt your mind drifting and eyes getting heavier. A yawn broke out here and there, and you caught your head falling forward several times, before Ant intervened and positioned you into a more comfortable sleeping position.
When you woke up you were cold, and with a startle you realized you had fallen asleep while having Ant over. Your eyes opened and searched the room but he was nowhere to be found. A crinkle next to your hand caught your attention. A note.
“sorry I had to go, or my mom would have killed me for staying out too late. See you at school, xx Ant”
You rubbed your eyes and sighed before falling back into your bed.
I will be posting part 4 of totally fake sometime during the weekend and then I really want to write a Kai Parker oneshot so if you have any ideas for that one don't hesitate to give them to me <3
So, it's been more than a year. SORRY LMAO
I don't even have a good excuse rip
But I said I would post more so, here is more, if people are still interested haha
I can't believe season 3 is going to be the last :(((((
You were walking up to Dusty’s house with Ant, trying your best not to gape at the size and luxury of it all. The bouncer in front of the door was the cherry on top. “Holy shit, Dusty’s like rich-rich!” You cling to Ant’s arm to get closer to him so he could hear you whispering, and he puts one of his arms around you. “Just wait ‘till you see the inside.” He grins down at you before both of you reach the bouncer. Lifting your arms, buff bouncer dude sees your slap bands and nods you inside. Inside it smelled like sweat, beer and weed. The only reason you didn’t just turn around and walk out again is because of Ant’s arm around you, but then he leaned down and shouted into your ear about how he was going to find his friends and some alcohol, and if you wanted some. You just shook your head and watched him go, weaving through the groups of people. Well, this sucks. You couldn’t just leave so you tried finding some place to do something other than just stand awkwardly in the middle of the hallway.
Eventually you found an empty spot against the wall, on which you put your weight and pulled out your phone to check text messages. Well, more so to look busy and not like a total loser without any friends. You probably weren’t very convincing. This is why you hated parties. Checking the groupchat you gnawed on your lips nervously. When you had looked around the room earlier you couldn’t see Darren or Quinni, but maybe they were just somewhere else.
The last messages were Darren saying they were on their way and Amerie replying with “gonna sneak in, trust😝✌🏽”. Both of those messages were from a while ago, so you looked up and scanned the room again. Still no luck. You tried typing quickly, but messed up words several times, some of the typos you bothered to correct, others were still coherent enough. “where ar eyiu guys?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? I’m torally dtuck here completely alone!!!! HELP😭😭😭” Jeez, you grimaced at the typos. And you weren’t even drunk.
Without warning, loud sounds were coming from loudspeakers all around the house, and as you looked up from where you were standing you saw the guys getting ready, Spider yelling into the microphone and crashing a can on his head. No wonder he was stupid.
You looked around but still couldn’t spot Darren, Quinni or even Amerie – if she had even succeeded in sneaking in. After a second and third pass of the room you spotted Ant, standing together with the new guy though. Which was around the same time Dusty announced a special someone. And then Harper. Ouch. You really hoped Amerie hadn’t managed to sneak in. You pushed off the wall, maybe it would be easier to spot your friends from where Ant was, and then you also wouldn’t have to stand creepily in the corner pretending to be busy.
Right as you were making your way over however, you noticed new guy storming off, and following the direction in which he left you saw him chasing after… Amerie? Maybe?
“Yo, what the hell was that all about?” You asked loudly over the music as you arrived next to Ant. You were conflicted on whether to follow Amerie or not, but maybe new guy was handling it. He just shrugged, kinda clumsily, and grinned. “Dude, you already tipsy?” You laughed as you asked him, giving him a light slap on his arm. “Nahhh, nahh, I would never, my beautiful y/n” he slurred, still grinning. Your cheeks heated up. “you’re not very good at lying.” You mumbled, rolling your eyes playfully, as you turned to watch the performance, worried that if you looked at him even a second longer you would spontaneously combust and leave behind only a pile of ash. He didn’t seem to notice, though, busy cheering on his friends on the stage.
“Come on y/n!! Dance with me!” Oh, he wasn’t cheering anymore. Tugging at your arms he tried to pull your hands free from where you had them crossed over your chest. “What??” You were completely bewildered. “Dance!!” He repeated, excitedly as he managed to free your hands and take them in his. “I don’t dance!” You yelled back at him, stumbling as he dragged you to the middle of the room. “What do you mean you don’t dance? Everyone dances!” Now it was his turn to look at you bewildered. “Not in front of people!” His hands were still holding mine, while we just stood and argued. “Come on, everyone here is drunk or high or both, they won’t remember if you dance weird.” He tugged you along a bit further, closer to the stage where the music was loudest.
“Gee, way to hype a girl up.” You grimaced.
He let one of your hands go, only to spin you around. You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped your mouth as you landed with your back against his chest. “See? That wasn’t half-bad. You’re basically a pro”, Ant exclaimed into your ear, and your neck formed goosebumps at the close contact.
He twirled you away from him again, only to lift your connected hands up over his head and turn, just as you had moments earlier. He stumbled towards the end, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to spin while drunk, but he didn’t seem to mind and only laughed as he caught himself. Your other hand reaching out to steady him. “Okay, no more spins for you pretty boy.” You laugh out. Instead he pulled you closer and rocked from side to side, pushing you away at times only to pull you closer again.
“Is this even dancing?” You asked after a while and scrunched your nose. “What, you wanna twerk?” He asked before dropping your hands and turning around, trying a very bad execution of a twerk. “No, no – Okay stop! I got it!” You laughed, hitting him to get him to stop and turn around again. “Perhaps you were thinking more in the direction of waltz?” His voice has taken on a mocking sophisticated tone, as he grabbed your hands and, one set of arms extended, marched you across the room. “Dude this isn’t even a waltz!” You laughed, barely keeping it together. “I see, I see. The lady is impossible to please.” His fake sophisticated tone was accentuated by an upturned nose this time, playing the offended gentleman. Smiling playfully, you shook your head, “come on, let’s get something to drink.” You pulled Ant along to the kitchen.
In the end, you stayed at the party way longer than you thought you would. Even kind of forgetting about your friends, which you definitely felt bad about once on your way home and checking your texts. “I hope you all got home safe xx” You typed as you tried taking off your shoes, which is definitely a two hands kind of job, you decided after almost falling flat on your nose. And even though you had been awake for hours now, the sky almost turning light again, you had trouble falling asleep. Excitement still made your limbs tingle, and your mind went back to Ant no matter how hard you tried to think of something boring. The way you had danced, the way he had held you close at times, his smile, his hands on you – okay stop. You physically shook your head to clear the thoughts away and turned around clumsily to reach for your phone. The bright screen temporarily blinded you, before you could turn it down, but you ended up choosing a random playlist and hoped it would occupy your mind enough to fall asleep.
I‘m checking your tumblr everyday for a new chapter of Totally Fake, because I‘m dying to know what‘s going to happen - no pressure, just letting you know I appreciate that we get multiple chapters x
Aww thank you so much!! That means a lot to me!
Don‘t worry, and this is for everyone else too, I am still working on it! But I have exams coming up, so I‘m a little bit more busy at the moment.
Totally Fake | Ant Vaughn x reader (Heartbreak High) ||
This is officially a series haha, trying to make it slowburn-ish but let's see if i can hold myself back
Fake dating, fem!reader
@foxxyhun
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Thankfully you had managed to get Ant’s number by Friday, not so thankfully you spent all day chatting with him about stupid, irrelevant stuff and Not about what your gameplan was going to be. And if, IF, you were actually going to the party later this evening, he’d probably be too wasted to talk about it anyway. Which means SLUTS was the last chance you had with him still sober and not hungover. Except you had no idea how to go about it, especially without drawing the attention of your friends who had been watching you like hawks all week. You were the first one in the classroom, anxiously ripping your notebook paper into tiny shreds while thinking about all the logistics. You didn’t get very far when you sensed someone sitting down next to you. “What did the poor paper do to deserve that?” Ant asked amusedly. “Wrong place, wrong time.” You grimaced and shrugged, immediately stopping and throwing all the paper shreds into your pencil case. “Oh no, don’t stop because of me, I’m sure it deserved it.” He joked before settling in his seat. “You don’t wanna sit next to your friends?” You asked, with a nod to the table they usually sat at. “Nah, I’d rather sit with my girlfriend.” He said casually. You didn’t feel very casual as you choked on your spit. God how embarrassing. It took you a minute to calm down, Ant worriedly asking if you were okay, and offering you some of his water, which you declined with a hand gesture as you were starting to calm down. “Sorry, sorry, I’m fine.” You coughed out. “Actually, that’s what I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.” He looked at you, almost disappointed, “You’re backing out?” He assumed. “What? No!” You hurried to say. “I wanted to talk about lining up our stories and everything, ground rules and stuff, you know?” Relief flooded his face, “Ah, okay gotcha!” He seemed much happier. The class was slowly filling up and you were dreading the moment your friends would enter. “Well I already told pretty much everyone that you’re my girlfriend.” He added, catching you completely offguard as you watched the doorway waiting for the inevitable arrival of your friends. “Oh.” Surprised you turned your head to look at him. “Okay.” You added after a second. “What about your mom?”
“Nah, not her yet. But like, Spider and Dusty.” He clarified. Your face felt warm. “Did you tell them it was fake too?” You leaned in closer to whisper it, now that the class was almost full. “No.” He grinned at you conspiringly. You grinned back at him, his answer, and the way he looked at you, making your whole body tingle. “Oh. My. God.” Darrens dramatic voice came from opposite the table. “You two totally ARE together.” Amerie beside them looked satisfied with herself, while Quinni stimmed excitedly, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. They sat down at your table while Ant put an arm around your shoulder, “Yeah, so what?” He asked. Your face was burning, as was the parts where his arm touched you. Darrens mouth wide agape, while Quinni looked just as excited as before. “Oh my god, y/n, that’s so cute!! Congrats!” She said, happily, but after a second she looked a little less happy and a little more confused. Disappointed, even. “But why didn’t you tell us?” She asked. “Thrill of a secret relationship I bet.” Amerie added, feeling much cooler than she actually was. “But really, him?” Darren pointed at Ant. Wow rude. Your brows furrowed and you leaned into the boy next to you a little more without noticing. “What do you mean? You don’t think he's cute?” Trying to paddle back Darren stuttered out something a long the lines of, “No, that’s not what I mean, I just, I didn’t think he was your type is all.”
“well, to be fair, we never knew what her type was.” Quinni added. “She never told us who she was crushing on, or what she liked in a guy, or girl.” You nodded, she was telling the truth, you usually kept things like that to yourself. “Well, I for one, am happy for you two, though I totally didn’t get any vibes when I was asking for a slap band earlier this week.” Amerie said, crossing her arms. She sounded accusing, like she was about to interrogate the two of you, when thankfully Miss Obah asked everyone to pay attention and started class. Ant didn’t take his arm off your shoulder the whole time.
When he finally did, after class ended, you couldn’t suppress your pout. Logically, you understood it was so both of you could pack your things, but this whole thing didn’t feel very logical, no matter how hard you tried. So instead, once both of you had finished, you grabbed his hand and threaded your fingers with his. Still slightly pouting. He looked down at you and laughed, “What now?”
“I think she’s upset you took your arm off of her.” Darren, eagle-eyed gossip lover they are, supplied. “Oh, really?” Ant seemed surprised and looked at you for confirmation. “Yeah, kinda.” You mumbled embarrassed, avoiding his gaze. He chuckled before leaning in close and whispering in your ear. “I’ll touch you all you want at the party later.” Your face was beet red. “Ant!” You whisper shouted, scandalized and wide-eyed. He just tugged you along with him, towards the school exit. “They’re so cute together.” You overheard Quinni say to Amerie and Darren behind you. “Something’s fishy.” Both of them replied in unison. You ignored it, keeping going with Ant. “What now?” You asked once outside the school gate, still holding his hand. Refusing to be the one to let go, actually. “Well, I have some time before the party starts, which, you totally are going to right?” He asked in such a way that you felt a no would break his heart, so you just nodded. How come you are immune to peer-pressure when it was your friends but not when it was the guy you’ve been fake-dating for less than a week. “Great! Well, wanna hang out until then?” You smiled. “Sure!! Oh, we can talk about the logistics of it all, like when did we even start dating and what church do I go to? Or is that even something that’s important to your mother?” You dragged him along, totally rambling at this point about all the different things you had to decide on for the story to be foolproof. When you turned to look at him, waiting for him to say something, you noticed the way he was smiling at you. “Oh, what? Am I overthinking?” You questioned out loud. “No, no, it’s fine. I just don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk that much.” He still looked at you in a way you had trouble deciphering. “Oh. Well, I guess I don’t talk a lot. Usually. But also we haven’t really spoken before this week so…” You trailed off. “Hmmh, yeah, but we’ve been in the same year for a while now.” He said, before turning back to look at the way ahead. “You usually only talk when spoken to.” Oh. He had noticed that? He had noticed you? Before you ever talked to him? “Oh, um. I guess that’s right.” You squeezed his hand subconsciously. “I like hearing you talk.” He squeezed your hand back. “Plus, you’re so smart, I wouldn’t have thought about half of the things you mentioned. Maybe we should write it all down.” You nodded. “Yeah, good idea.”
“Woah, your room is awesome.” Ant was currently walking through your room looking at all the little trinkets that were… everywhere frankly. Picking them up and putting them down again. “Haha, thanks.” You sat on the edge of your bed, not knowing what to do with yourself as you watched him. “Woah, you like Marvel?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “Uh yeah, I love it.” You laughed. He put the action figure down and turned around, very serious all of a sudden. “This calls for a movie night.” He explained. You grinned. “Sure, I’m always up for a movie.. But let’s talk business first.” You scooched to the side and patted the spot next to you. He groaned dramatically and walked over before sitting down. “Why does this feel like homework all of a sudden.” Your face scrunched up at that. “Sorry. But this is just so our story doesn’t fall apart.” He turned to look at you, head hanging to the side. “You really think it’s necessary?”
“Well. Yeah.” You reply. “What if your mom asks us how we met, our what our first date was, and we say different things. Better to be prepared.” He pouts playfully, “Well, fine I guess.”
In the end you agree on simple things, you met at school, duh, and worked a project together, after which you became friends, before Ant asked you on a date to the diner, and then a second date to the movies, before asking you to be his girlfriend. Easy enough. He said it was okay not to go to church as long as you were still acting Christian enough in front of his mom. Whatever that means. The reason he was only introducing you now was because you could disprove what was written on the map. You were scared of meeting his parents, so it had taken you a while to gather the courage, and he wanted to be sure before bringing a girlfriend home. Easy. Plausible. Good story. Boring, but believable. In the end you wrote it all down, twice, one copy for you and one for him, just in case you needed it. “Can we finally watch a movie?” He whined as you gave him his paper. “I don’t know, the party is soon, and I don’t know about you, but I definitely have to get ready. You think we can manage to squeeze a movie in?” He nodded, completely convinced. “How long can it take to get ready.” Not believing this was an issue. “Oh buddy…If only you knew.” You patted his shoulder before getting your remote and turning on the tv. It was difficult, at first, to concentrate on the movie, when he was so close and warm, shoulder against shoulder, and legs touching. Your body felt on fire. After a while he wrapped his arm around you too, pulling you ever so slightly closer, if that was even possible.
“Oh! I love this part.” He pointed towards the screen with the hand not resting on your hip. “What? No way, that’s my favorite part.” You looked up at him excitedly. “No way!” He turned to look at you too. You nodded emphatically. “You’re so cool.” He gave you a squeeze. He turned back towards the screen, and you did too, after staring at him for a little while longer. In the end, he ended up staying, watching you get ready, since there was no time for him to go home before Dusty’s band performed. “Whoa, wait, what is that?” You were about to put on your fake lashes, putting glue on the strip when Ant’s head popped up next to you, dangerously close to poking your lash with his finger. “My fake lashes.” You explained. “Your lashes are fake?” He turned to you, staring intensely into your eyes, inspecting your lashes. “No, well yes, sometimes. I have real lashes. The one you’re looking at right now.” You laughed. “But sometimes I put on fake lashes, which looks kinda-“ You leaned towards the mirror to put your lashes on. “like this.” You said, leaning back to show him. “Oh my god that’s crazy.” He breathed out, totally stunned, which made you laugh even harder. After that he stayed next to you, watching you apply your makeup closely. “Hmmm..” You pursed your lips as you put the last thing in place. “I think that’s it.” You concluded. Before you could even turn to the side to face him, his voice piped up as he asked: “Can you put some on me?” The request came unexpectedly, but you happily obliged. You opted for some chrome glimmery dark blue green ish, you didn’t really know how to describe it, glitter shadow to put on top of his eyelids. Dabbing it in softly, he leaned in closely and you could feel his breath on your skin. “Okay, try opening your eyes.” You requested softly, holding his chin in your hand and looking at him intensely, assessing your work. He opened his eyes hesitantly. Chewing on your lip you came to the conclusion that this look needed some black liner, so you added a line underneath his eyes on his waterline, dragging it out into a straight “wing”. A difficult job, with this being a sensitive area and Ant not used to having stuff put this close to his eyes. He kept squirming and blinking, but eventually you got the job done to your satisfaction. “This looks sick.” You say as you remove your hands from his face and lean back. Giving him time to admire himself in your mirror, you put away your brushes and powders and liners. “You want to do something to your hair too?” He turned to look at you at that. “Kinda.” You look on your phone to check the time, before grimacing. “Sorry, I don’t think we have time. Actually we really need to go if we wanna make it in time.” You stand up and hold your hand out to him, pulling him up from where he was sitting. Your friends were definitely going to give you shit about barely reaching out to them later.
Fake dating, fem!reader
A/N: it’s been a while since I watched s1 so forgive me if the timeline is a little wonky.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
You had no idea how you got yourself in this… situation. In this mess, honestly. Thanks to Amerie, the whole school life had imploded. Thanks a lot, Map Bitch. Now here you were, standing next to her trying to get a ticket for the party as Ant told her about how his mom reacted to the whole Darren wristy thing. Your face twinged up in sympathy. Somehow Quinni and Darren had adopted Amerie into your friendgroup after the whole thing, so here you were, supporting your new friend. Well, it was more like she dragged you along. Moral support or something. Ant ended up telling Ams to go ask Spider and she trudged away disappointed, but you stayed, hesitating. “Um, I’m sorry about your mom.” You offered. What a stupid thing to say, you cursed yourself. Boys made you nervous. “Yeah, it really sucks. I love Jesus and all but going to church 3 more times a week is reaaaaally boring.” He groaned. You began walking to your next class together. “Um.” You started talking before you could think. You were a fixer, it was a whole thing. A pathological need to fix things, which is why you couldn’t really be against Quinni and Darren taking Amerie in, you wanted to help fix this. But sometimes in your need to fix things you went a little overboard. You realized that that was what you were doing after you had already started talking, and now you didn’t know what to say. But being quiet now was also embarrassing. “What’s up?” Ant stopped and leaned against the doorway of your classroom. Looking at you expectantly. Fuck it. “Maybe I could help.” You looked at him. “With your mom I mean.” He looked confused, his brows furrowing as he tried to figure out what you were proposing. “How?” Taking a deep breath in, you began rambling the plan that had formed in your head in the span of maybe 10 seconds. Which in hindsight, perhaps was a sign that this was a really dumb idea. “Well. I’m assuming your moms problem is that Darren is not a girl. Because you’re Christian and all. Which, I don’t know, not very Christian, ya know? Loving your neighbour and all. But anyway. If her problem is in fact that, I am a very good liar, I know enough about like the bible and stuff, and I happen to be a girl…” You trail off. He looked as confused as he did before you started talking, which, honestly, you figured this would not be enough to get him to understand. It was just too embarrassing to finish. You felt cold all of a sudden. Nervous. Rubbing your arms for warmth, or perhaps in an attempt to rub the nervousness away. “I’m saying I could be your fake girlfriend until she calms down.” You finally huffed out. “Ohhhhhhh” You swore you could almost see the lightbulb that went off above his head. “Gotcha.” He nodded contemplatively. “You’re really smart, y/n, I’m impressed.” Still nodding. You were a little surprised he knew your name. People tended to not know it because you mostly kept to yourself outside of your friendship with Darren and Quinni. And you hadn’t talked to Ant before, like literally ever. Yeah you shared a lot of classes, but he didn’t really seem to pay attention and so far you had never been paired with him for any group work. “Let’s do it.” He grinned, excitedly. “Wait what?” Your eyes widened in surprise. “For real?” You didn’t know what you expected his answer to be, but for some reason you hadn’t prepared yourself for a yes.
“Yeah! I’m in! I only see positives honestly. I get to pretend to date the coolest girl I know and get my mom off my back.” Wait, what did he say? The coolest girl he knows? Huh? You blinked in confusion as he left you standing in front of the open door to go to his seat. Autopilot activated you went to your seat, in between Darren and Quinni. Completely zoned out your eyes trained on Ant who was sitting a couple rows ahead and to your right. “Earth to y/n, repeat Earth to y/n.” A hand was waving in front of your face and you blinked as you turned to Darren. “huh?”. “What’s wrong with you today, space girl?” They asked. “What?” Your brain hadn’t completely caught up yet. “Why were you talking to Ant?” Quinni asked excitedly. Why was she excited? “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you talk to him before.” She mused. Uh. What were you supposed to tell them? Both of them looked at you expectantly. Completely frozen, your brain refused to cooperate. “I.. uh. Amerie. Party. Slapband. You know?” The words were more stuttered out than said, and they did in fact not know what you meant. Your saviour came in the form of a very out-of-breath Amerie, who was almost late to class, but just almost. She fell into her seat next to Quinni and immediately started babbling about whatever it was she was up to after she had left you and Ant, taking all attention off of you. And if they saw you staring at Ant the whole class, they didn’t say anything. Yet.
By the end of the school day you had bounced back, the whole Ant thing still nagging at a corner of your brain but not at the front anymore. Until you were walking out the school gate with Darren, Quinni and Amerie, that is. “Hey, y/n, Wait up!.” This caught the attention of your more than nosy friends. You stopped and turned around to see Ant jogging up with a stupidly cute grin on his face. “Um, hi, what’s up?” Your face felt unusually flushed. Your friends looked at you like they were vultures and you, and the ensuing gossip that would come from this, their prey. You didn’t need to look at them to know that. “Here.” He held out a slapband. “You don’t have one yet, do you?”
“No, I don’t, actually.” You were about to tell him that you were not interested. Partys? Not your thing. But the way he looked at you, and the fact that he got you one and went out of his way to give it to you, rendered you incapable of rejecting it. He was waiting for you to take it, or do something to accept it, so you lifted your arm and held it out in front of him. He slapped it on your arm and you mumbled out a thank you. “No worries, babe.” He leaned in and gave you quick peck on the cheek before he proceeded to wink at you and then leave with a wave and a “See you later!”.
You almost dropped to your knees. What the hell just happened. Wide-eyed you looked after him, hand lifting to touch the cheek he had just kissed, legs still awfully wobbly. “BABE?!?!?!” A chorus of awestruck half-yells ripped you out of your moment, seconds before your friends came into view in front of you and crowded you. This was… too much. You gave up trying to keep your legs steady and dropped down to the ground, sitting on your knees, before shifting to sit criss-cross applesauce.
“Whoa, shit girl, you okay?” Amerie dropped down next to you. Not trusting your voice you simply nodded yes. “Oh my god, you and Anthony Vaughn?” Darren crouched down next, almost scandalized by what they had just witnessed. “Oh, are we sitting now?” Quinni, bless her, sat down next to you. “Yeah…” You just said, to no one in particular, nodding. “Oh my god, you’re like, a total goner.” Amerie laughed. “I am?” You turned to look at her with puppy-dog eyes.
Before this day started, you had never talked to Anthony Vaughn before, and now, before it ended, you were apparently head over heels for him. You blamed it on hormones, or some kind of chemical inbalance in your brain. Because… there was no way, right?
This would make the fake-dating significantly harder, you concluded, after you had time to mull it over. You and your friends had continued sitting on the ground for a good 10 minutes, before you felt stable enough to attempt standing and walking again. Of course they all had a million questions, yelling simultaneously, trying to understand what they had just witnessed. You had no idea what to tell them. “I will tell you once I know.” You end up saying, which leads to more questions. “Seriously guys, not right now.” You couldn’t tell them anything before you lined up stories with Ant. Well, technically you could tell them it was all fake, but they were all huge blabbermouths, and you wanted to check in with Ant first, before doing anything. You hadn’t expected him to just… go and do that. Like, at least you had expected talking to him once, or maybe twice, about what being in a fake relationship entailed, you know, lining up stories, where, what, who, when…. What kind of person his mother was, how far to go, how much to do to make it believable. But now everything had kind of blown up and it had to wait. You didn’t even have his number, you realized, after you were finally alone. The gang had tried to peer-pressure you into making this a whole goss-sesh at the diner, but you managed to worm your way out of it. Now they would probably just do it anyway, but without you to defend yourself. Not that there was anything you could say right now. Frustrated you blew a piece of hair out of your face. This was gonna be one hell of a week.
Hi, I know it’s super cliche but I was wondering if I could get a one bed friends to lovers story with Jaime Reyes?
This request made me so happy lmao. I wrote so much for it. Sorry it's late!
How could I not? | Jaime Reyes x reader (Blue Beetle 2023)
Summary: we love one bed. We love a sprinkle of accidental confession.
Warning: tired Jaime is clingy. Canon.
A/N: I LOVE this lmao tysm
You and Jaime hadn’t been friends for very long when all of the Kord stuff happened, but you didn’t hesitate to offer letting him and his family stay at your apartment while their house was getting fixed. They didn’t end up taking you up on that, since Jenny also offered them their own apartment and they’d rather take that then inconvenience you, but it was a little cramped in that apartment (not that it wouldn’t have been at yours). Jaime complained about it all the time. Especially about how Milagro had been relentlessly teasing and annoying him about stuff. He didn’t specify what. Anyway, that’s how you found yourself on a Sunday evening opening the door to a kinda disheveled looking Jaime.
“Oh. Jaime. What’s up?” You moved to the side, letting him enter your apartment.
“Ugh.” He groaned. “I haven’t slept properly in ages. Between renovations, hero stuff and my family seemingly being more overbearing than usual, especially in a space so small I can’t escape them, it just. I can’t fucking sleep.” He ranted and then ran a hand over his face and hair. You just chuckled as you closed the door and walked further into your apartment. “So you came here to escape?” You sat down on the couch and looked up at him, standing before you, hesitating for a second whether to sit down or what to do before deciding to do so. “Yeah” He breathed out. “I guess.”
You hummed, understandingly. “Well, my doors are always open for you.” Turning towards the tv, you grabbed the remote from your coffee table. “Wanna watch spiderman with me?”
Jaime sighed and then grinned, “sure.”
He didn’t last 5 minutes.
You glanced over at him and noticed his closed eyes and deep relaxed breaths. Hesitant, you gave him a nudge, trying to wake him up. The couch, and the way he was sitting right now especially, would give him a sore back and neck if he continued sleeping like this. “Jaime.” You whisper-shouted. Another nudge, “Jaime!”. Groggily he murmured and tried to move out of the way so he could continue his sleep in peace. “Come on Jaime, go to bed.” You tried pulling on his arm to get him to stand up, but he barely moved. Instead he pulled you down, so you landed half on top of him and he buried his head in your neck, while his arms closed around your waist holding you close. You froze and your brain simultaneously short-circuited and erupted into chaos. His breath was warm and even on your skin and his hands so soft on the little bit of exposed skin between your top and pants. He didn’t seem bothered by the position you two found yourselves in, hell, he probably didn’t even notice. You were pretty sure he was immediately and fully asleep again. Meanwhile your heart was still beating as if to escape your chest.
“Jaime.” You tried again after you’ve had a while to compose yourself. “Come on, let’s get you to bed, it’ll be more comfortable.” No success. “Khaji-Da?” Last resort. You heard groaning, and felt Jaime moving ever so slightly. “Come on now, let’s get you to bed. I promise you can continue sleeping in just a second.” Carefully, you tried slipping out of his arms, standing up and holding your hands out in front of you to help him up. With a pout on his lips he looked at you through half-lidded eyes before taking your hands with an overly dramatic movement and you pulled him up rolling your eyes, laughing. You didn’t notice the way he smiled at that. One of his hands still in yours, you led him to your bedroom. “Go. Sleep.” You lightly patted him on his back in a shoving way to get him to go to your bed. Standing in the doorway with your arms crossed you were observing if he was doing what you’re telling him to. He was well on his way when he stopped, as if a sudden thought occurred. “What about you?” He turned around. His voice was raspy, still half-asleep. Your heart was racing again, and your face felt very hot suddenly. “W…” you cleared your throat. “What about me?”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“Oh. I’ll just sleep on the couch it’s fine. Plus, we didn’t really get that far with the movie, so I can just finish it.”
He didn’t seem to like that answer, by the way his brows furrowed and his pout came back. “I’m not stealing your bed and leaving you to sleep on your couch. Especially in your own apartment.”
“You need sleep more than I do. It’s fine. Really.” You tried convincing him. A feeling of an old western stare down crept up on you. Like whoever blinked first, lost. “Come on Jaime, just go back to sleep.” You plead, head slightly tilted and puppy-dog-eyes. His eyes narrowed. He was going to strike a deal. Or a compromise. “I’ll only go to sleep if you go. And I’ll only sleep in your bed if you do. Wait that came out wrong.”
“Pffff.” You burst out laughing. Ignoring how flustered his proposal made you. This man was gonna be the death of you some day. “You sure?” you asked jokingly. “Fine, go to bed. I’ll turn off the tv.” You sighed playfully defeated and turned around. Your heart was doing the racy thing again at the thought of sleeping in the same bed as Jaime. You groaned annoyed as you turned off the tv and lights and went back to the bedroom. For a second, you had considered staying in the living room and hoping he’d fallen back asleep, but he was stubborn and you knew that. There was no escape. And as predicted, he was sitting in your bed waiting, watching the door for you to come back. You noticed he was only wearing a t-shirt now, his sweater and pants on the floor next to him and it reminded you that you still had to change into your pajamas.
Being around Jaime really saved you a lot of money on blush.
You could tell he was watching you as you made your way over to your closet. If you wanted to, you could just go to the living room to change, or the bathroom. The question is, did you want to? Not really. You felt comfortable around Jaime, and you trusted him. And it’s not like you were about to get completely naked. And honestly, he probably might just look away anyway. So you took of your pants first, to put on some shorts, and then your top, to put on a flowy shirt. All the while your back was turned to your bed. You might have heard a “shut up Khaj” from behind you but you weren’t sure.
Okay, maybe in hindsight it did make you feel a bit embarrassed and flustered to change in front of him. When you turned around, Jaime was staring at the wall in front of him very intently, and with a very red face. Pressing your lips together to contain your facial expression you made your way over to the other side of the bed. “Happy now?” You asked as you sat down next to him, pulling the blanket on top of you. “uhuh.. hmm. Yeah” He was still looking straight ahead and avoiding your eyes. “Jaime.” You called out softly. This made his head turn. “Go to sleep.” You grinned. He only rolled his eyes in response and shook his head in mock-exasperation. But for some reason you couldn’t move your eyes, or stop your lips from smiling, and you kept looking at him. At his pretty, pretty face, with his soft, soft hair. His lips, that had been breathing into your neck just minutes earlier. His beautiful brown eyes that you found staring back at yours. In just a second, a tension had built up and the energy in the room completely changed. You licked your lips nervously. What now?
Neither of you dared to move. You weren’t even sure if you were breathing at this point. You felt the urge to say something, but you didn’t know what. Your mind was wiped completely empty. Jaime’s eyes were the first to flicker down to your lips.
And then his phone made a sound. You almost jumped apart, and he dizzily looked you up and down before turning around to grab his phone. His attention elsewhere and his eyes no longer on you, you remembered to breathe. Turning to face away from him, instead facing the wall he had been looking at so meticulously earlier you glid down so you were no longer sitting and let your covers almost swallow you whole. As if they could protect you from the fire you felt inside. You heard him setting his phone down again, and the rustling of the duvet when he laid down as well. You felt him looking at you. Did you dare look at him?
No.
“Good night, y/n.”
Only then you glanced over at him.
“Good night Jaime.” You whispered, before looking back up at the ceiling.
By the sound of his breathing, he fell asleep soon after. Something you were, so very far away from at this moment. Your whole body was tense and your mind was going a mile a minute. You were acutely aware of his presence, his face just a couple inches to your side. There was no way you could calm down enough to fall asleep with him in your bed, next to you. You turned to face away from him, hoping it’d give you some sense of distance between you two.
After some brainstorming you figured your best bet was to sneak out on to the couch once you were sure it wouldn’t wake him up. Well, that’s what you would’ve done, if you weren’t suddenly wrapped in Jaime’s arms literal seconds before you would have tried sneaking out. “Stay.” He murmured sleepily, face buried in your back. “Wh..” slipped out of your mouth as you tensed up, caught off-guard. “Khaj.” He answered your unspoken question, his hands around your waist. You had two choices. Give in, or not.
You gave in.
Surprising how fast you can fall asleep when you’re in the arms of someone you l-
When you’re in the arms of someone. Period.
You woke up still in his arms, and it made you feel all warm inside. Though, face-to-face now, with your face buried in his neck for a change. “Morning.” His voice was hoarse, though it sounded liked he had been for a while already. You didn’t feel like talking yet, so you just wrapped your arms around him tighter and buried your face in his shoulders more. Suddenly shy. One of his hands moved from your back to stroke your hair. This, you thought, is a moment you wished you could stay in forever.
“You want some breakfast?” Jaime asked. “mmhm” you declined. “I only want to stay in bed with you.” He chuckled at that and started playing with your hair, wrapping strands around his fingers. “And to think just a few hours ago you tried to sneak out.” He teased. Your face scrunched up. “hmmh” you mumbled, “well, I changed my mind. Now you have to come over every night so I can fall asleep.” You weren’t completely serious when you said it, but Jaime just replied with a “Deal.”
There was a content silence after this. He continued playing with your hair and you continued holding him.
“Do you think trees get sad when their leaves fall off?” This came completely unprompted and so sudden it made you laugh. “Jaime what the fuck.” You pulled away to look at him, amused. He looked at you so full of love your brain stuttered. “I…” You trailed off. “No. If they’re capable of enough thought to be sad about it, I think they know the leaves will come back.”
“But they won’t be the same leaves.” His fingers that were weaving through your hair before now began tracing invisible patterns on your skin. “Do you get sad when you get a haircut? I imagine it’s the same way.” You replied sincerely. He seemed to think about it before his face scrunched up. “I’d be sad if I got a buzzcut yeah.” You burst out laughing. After you calmed down you started running one of your hands through his hair. “I’d be sad if you got a buzzcut, too.” But I’d still love you.
“But I’d still love you.”
You didn’t even notice you said it out loud, the thought itself stunned you and made your hand stop playing with his hair for a second before you managed to get it moving again. You completely forgot about your face, so the shock was still seared into it. Eyes wide, looking at your hand in his hair, focusing on it, as if combing through his hair was the most difficult thing to do, just so you didn’t have to look into his eyes.
“You love me?”
Your hands halted and your eyes met his.
“What?”
“You… love me?” he repeated in the same soft and unbelieving voice, barely above a whisper.
“What?” you felt like a broken record.
“You said you would still love me.”
“Oh.”
Oh.
In a way this situation was like the one yesterday, before his phone went off. Both of you staring at each other, not saying a word. But the energy was so different.
He was waiting for you to say something, it seemed, to confirm or deny, but you didn’t know what to say. There are two wolves inside of you. So you stayed completely frozen instead.
There was no phone ‘ding’ to save you this time.
It was getting uncomfortable, neither of you saying anything.
Your fight or flight instinct was begging for you to run.
Instead, almost out of your control, your mouth opened, as if to say something. But then you remembered you had no idea what to say.
“yes.”
Oh. I guess we’re going with that.
This seemed to break you out of your spell, you turned around, out of his arms, out of the bed, you got up. “Sorry.”
“What? Why are you apologizing?” Jaime asked. Your back turned towards him you heard him move.
Flight was kicking in, and you were well on your way out the bedroom when he managed to grab your arm and keep you from moving further away. “I love you!”
You stood still. Then you turned around. “I love you too.” Jaime said again, this time adding the ‘too’. “So you don’t have to apologize.”
It was a little funny, if you were honest. The way he was half kneeling on your bed half standing on the floor, holding your wrist and telling you he loved you in just his shirt and underwear.
“You do?”
“Yeah. Of course. Of course I do, how could I not?” He said it so earnestly, it made you want to laugh because he was still in that weird position.
“You do.” No longer a question. You stepped closer with a smile. “You love me.” Grinning now.
“You love me.” He just repeated. Spiderman pointing meme. You nod. And then you kiss him.
whoever left me the 2 jaime requests I am forever grateful. So excited to write them!! They're right up my alley and some of my all-time favorite tropes!!!! Aaaaaa I cannot wait!!! Seriously, thank you!!
Hey May i have a scenario of OPLA Sanji encouraging a female reader who's introverted and lacks confidence into following their dreams
yes, you may! Here you go~
Dreams | Sanji x reader (OPLA)
[Request]
Summary: Sanji encouraging you to follow your dreams
A/N: he's such a sweetheart. It's a bit short sorry!
It started when the strawhats declared their dreams. Everyone, one after one declared their big dreams and ambitions, but when it was your turn, you weren’t sure. It felt stupid to say, but you felt compelled to tell them something, anything, to alleviate the feeling of stares and uncomfortable silence. “um. I guess. I guess my dream is to find my dream?” You fumbled with the hem of your shirt and avoided their eyes. Already then you felt the burning of Sanjis eyes on you. “Don’t worry about it darling, we’ll surely figure something out.” He said with his signature drawl. “Yeah!” Luffy chimed in enthusiastically, pumping up his fist. You just nodded slightly, wanting this to be over and done with.
Ever since that day, Sanji has been, well, pestering you. You expected this from Luffy, who was so unbelievably passionate about personal dreams, but in the end it was Sanji who disturbed you every single time without fail while you were trying to read or do some mindless tasks to keep you occupied on the ship. Like right now for instance. Even on the crow’s nest where you’d tried to escape and find peace from him for once, he’d found you, nose buried in your journal. He grinned at you, arms folded over the edge of the reeling and his head atop them. He’d been chipping away at you bit by bit and that smug little bastard knew it. “Hello Darling.” He purred. “Found you.” Ignoring the way your stomach fluttered you put down your book and scrunched up your face. “Hi Sanji…” He just smirked at your less than enthusiastic tone. Effortlessly he got up and swung first one of his legs and then the other to join you inside the small, enclosed space. Slowly you lowered the journal and closed it, leaving it to rest in your lap. “Why you hiding, gorgeous?” Sanji asked after he settled in next to you, legs crossed. It still made you very flustered whenever he called you a pet name, but he did it so often, that you slowly got used to it. And he did it with other girls too, so that made you calm down more as well. It was just a thing he did, you told yourself. “You know why.” He rolled his eyes, grinning. “Aw come on sugar.” You refused to meet his eyes and instead kept them trained on your lap where you were playing with the pen in your hands. “You still have no idea what it is you want in life?” His voice was gentler this time, trying to coax a reply out of you. “No… I kinda do.” You admitted finally. It just seemed so unattainable you didn’t even know why you should bother, so you kept quiet once you figured it out. “Then what’s the problem?” He was being so sweet, it made it hard to resist doing whatever he wanted you to. But you really didn’t want to tell him and have him get your hopes up. “Nothing, just forget about it.” You sat in silence for a few moments, when he reached out to put a finger under your chin, guiding your face towards his, to make you look at him. “Come on, tell me.” He said softly, removing his finger slowly when you didn’t turn to look away again. “It’s…” you started, hesitant. “I mean. It’s not like I can accomplish it anyway. So it doesn’t matter, y’know?” Even though you didn’t turn to look away again, your eyes had trouble staying on his as you confessed your lack of confidence to him and they flitted from place to place to avoid eyecontact. “What are you talking about?” He almost seemed offended. “You don’t think you can do it? Darling, you’re extraordinary! Why are you doubting yourself?” Your cheeks burned and you bit your lips in a nervous habit, still avoiding looking directly into his eyes. “no no no, this won’t do. Come on.” Sanji stood up and held out his hand for you. You took it hesitantly and gentleman he was, he helped you stand up. “You, sweetheart, can do anything. Especially something as important as following your dreams. And if you can’t believe in yourself I will believe in you twice as hard.” His hand was still holding yours and he gave it a squeeze. “If you don’t think you can do it alone, I will help you, hell, the whole team will. We have your back.” He was saying it so emphatically, like he believed every single word. “From the bottom of my heart, I truly think you can achieve anything you set your mind to.” It made it hard not to believe him too, even if just a little bit, for now. Feeling yourself get emotional you tried to lighten the situation and rolled your eyes playfully while you pulled your hand out of his. “Man, you’re a really good cheerleader aren’t you.” Mock-annoyance in your voice as you sniffled, trying to get rid of the tears that were almost on their way. “Only for you.” He winked with a grin. “I mean it though.” You knew he did.
He was still by your side every day after that, cheering you on and helping you to believe in yourself.
I love cliche tropes (like sharing a bed, being stuck in a room together, soulmate aus etc) so PLEASE request stuff like that if you want too hehe
I will not write: nsfw (this includes pedophilia, incest, yandere/abusive relationships (unless it’s reader coming from an abusive relationship as background) and anything super sexual)
I probably forgot some or will add them later but here you go for now <3
as I said earlier you can also just try your luck and request a character you think I might know! I'm in a lot of fandoms <3
snowghoul
tangentwithtanner
vaporwave
titsay
izzy806
pixelskylines
andulkaphoto