Hey there! For the friends to lovers prompts, number 8 for the Reggie ship of your choice?
8. Helping your friend move to another place, coming across the teddy bear you gave them ages ago
“How about this?” Reggie asked, holding up what looked to be some sort of macaroni art that Julie must have made when she was in kindergarten. The whole box was filled with such projects.
“Trash,” Julie said without hesitation. “Honestly? You can probably toss that whole box.”
“Really? You don’t think you’ll ever want to look back someday and look at the projects you made when you were little?”
“Do you?” Julie shot back at him. “Because I can honestly tell you that I have never thought about anything in that box since I made it. The only reason I still have it is because Dad is nostalgic about that sort of thing. But he doesn’t want to store it anymore, and I definitely don’t want to store it, so I’m making the executive decision to throw it away.”
“That’s fair,” Reggie conceded. He put the box aside in the pile of things that Julie was getting rid of, which was much larger than the stuff she was keeping. Reggie didn’t blame her. The less she kept, the easier it would be to move out of her dad’s house and into her first apartment.
He moved on to a box filled with child-sized t-shirts. “How about these? They look like they’re from summer camps you went to when you were younger.”
“Trash.”
“Damn, Julie, you are cold blooded. Not even the commemorative t-shirts make the cut?”
“They don’t fit me anymore. If I really want to keep them as mementos, I can take a picture of the ones that mean the most to me and get rid of the physical shirts that take up space.”
“Okay. Well, why don’t we donate them instead of putting them in the trash? Most of them look like they’re in pretty good shape.”
“Fair enough.”
While Reggie looked around the disaster that was Julie’s room for the next box to look through (his eye caught a box of stuffed animals that was already in the donate pile), the music they were listening to changed to an upbeat pop song.
Julie’s face lit up. “Oh! I love this song!” She stood up. “Reggie, dance with me!”
Reggie couldn’t help but smile at her in return. “What happened to ‘I want to get through as much of my room as possible today?’”
“We can afford to take a dance break. C’mon! It’s good for you!”
Reggie shook his head, still smiling. As if he could ever say no to Julie when she was enthusiastic about something. He got to his feet and started bouncing to the beat.
And as he bounced, he just watched Julie dance.
She was mesmerizing, with her natural curls cascading over her shoulders, and her deep brown eyes filled with mirth, and her smile that showed the adorable gap between her teeth.
Reggie had been a goner for years. But by the time he had realized his crush on her, she was head over heels for his friend Luke. The two of them dated for a while, and Reggie had dutifully stayed out of the way because he wanted both of them to be happy. Even after they broke up—deciding they were better off as friends—the timing had never seemed right for Reggie to make a move. It hurt sometimes, keeping his feelings hidden, but he was happy just to be her friend, just to bask in the light that Julie brought to every room. She made him happy just by existing. What more could he ask for?
When the song drew to a close, both of them were a little out of breath, but they were smiling at each other in a way that made Reggie question if Julie knew about his feelings for her and if she might have some of her own in return.
The moment didn’t last, thought, and Julie plopped back down onto the ground to resume sorting through one of the boxes and deciding what to keep. “Alright, back to business.”
“Back to business,” Reggie parroted. He looked around for the next box to help Julie sort through.
---
Julie handed Reggie a box. “Okay, I think most of this stuff is going on those shelves. Can you start unpacking it?”
“You don’t want to do that yourself?” Reggie asked.
Julie smiled warmly at him. “I trust you.”
Reggie was sure she could see his blush. “Okay.” He took the box and headed toward the shelves Julie had pointed out.
“Oh, and Reggie?”
Reggie turned back to her. “Yeah?”
“Thanks again for helping me move.”
The sincerity with which Julie said it caused Reggie’s face to feel even warmer for some reason. “It’s no problem. I’m just sorry everyone else bailed before we could finish unloading the truck.”
Julie shrugged. “We got all the big stuff. It’s just some boxes at this point.”
“You sure you don’t want me to help you get another load from the truck?” He checked.
“You helped Luke with a lot of the furniture. You seem like you could use a break from lifting things. And getting started unpacking will actually help this place start to feel like home, you know?”
Reggie sighed with relief. He didn’t realize just how tired he really was until Julie pointed it out. How was it that she sometimes knew him better than he knew himself? “Thanks, Jules.”
Julie gave him a smile before leaving to get another load of boxes.
Reggie set the box down in front of the bookshelf and opened it. A quick scan of the contents revealed that it was filled with the few knick-knacks Julie had decided to keep along with some framed photos that had been carefully wrapped. Reggie couldn’t help but smile as he unpacked the pictures, getting a peak at these representations of Julie’s most treasured memories. Of course, they featured her family and friends, and Reggie would expect nothing different from her. He knew that the people in her life meant everything to her. Along with the pictures, there were some figurines that Reggie knew were from her mom. He remembered Julie telling him about them and how much they meant to her. Despite how Reggie had accused Julie of being cold blooded about getting rid of things, it was obvious that she had her own type of sentimentality when it came to what she decided to keep. Like how she would never part with anything given to her by her mom.
But when he saw what was at the bottom of the box, his breath caught in his chest.
It was a small stuffed bear, a deep shade of purple that he knew Julie loved.
And, of course, the reason that he knew that was because he was the one who had given it to her.
He pulled the bear out of the box carefully, reverently. He hadn’t thought about this bear in years. He recalled the box of stuffed animals from Julie’s childhood that she had donated. It hadn’t even occurred to him that this bear would be in that box, but now that he thought about it, that was exactly where he would’ve guessed it would’ve ended up.
But instead, it was here, among Julie’s most treasured memories.
Why would Julie keep it? Julie, who didn’t feel the need to hang on to anything from her childhood or adolescence unless it was from her mom?
“Do you remember when you gave that to me?”
Reggie startled at the sound of Julie’s voice. He hadn’t realized she’d returned.
She set down the stack of boxes she’d brought from the truck and came over to crouch next to where Reggie was sitting on the ground, still holding the bear.
Reggie recovered quickly. “Of course. Of course I remember. But, Julie,” he said, “why do you still have it? You got rid of so much. Why didn’t you get rid of this, too?”
Julie set a hand on Reggie’s knee. “Don’t you know? It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given me.”
Reggie was sure confusion was written all over his face. “What are you talking about? It’s just some stupid little bear I got from the grocery store. We barely even knew each other when I gave it to you.”
“Exactly.”
Reggie stared at her, begging with his eyes for her to elaborate, so she did.
“My senior year of high school was awful until I met you guys. Meeting you helped me in ways you don’t even know. I didn’t expect anything from you guys for my birthday that year because we had just met. How would you even know what I’d like? But you somehow knew exactly what to get me. Something small, something comforting, in my favorite color. I was touched just from that. But then Luke told me about how you bought it with your own money, how you busked at the pier for hours to be able to buy it for me.” Her eyes were shining with unshed tears.
Reggie noticed, and he felt his face heat up again. “He told you that?”
Julie nodded. “Reggie, no one had ever done anything like that for me before. It was so thoughtful, and you put so much effort into it, even though you didn’t have to. Of course it’s my favorite gift. Of course I would keep it.” Her hand tightened on his knee. “And you know what makes it even more special?”
“What?”
She peered into his eyes, a soft smile on her face. “It’s from you.”
Reggie shook his head. “Why would that make it more special?”
Julie chuckled awkwardly. “Oh, you know, only because I had a massive crush on you.”
At first, Reggie wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. He replayed her words over and over in his head, just to make sure she’s actually said them and that he hadn’t made it up. “On me?”
Julie nodded. “And you know what else?”
“What else?” Reggie barely dared to ask.
“I still do,” Julie whispered.
Reggie was floored. He had no idea, and it contradicted everything he thought he knew about his dynamic with Julie, about their friendship and the dynamic of their friend group. “But—you and Luke—?”
“Well, you didn’t seem to be interested, and Luke clearly was. And I thought I liked him the same way he liked me. But it turns out we were both wrong. We really are better off as friends.” She moved her hand from his knee to his hand where he was still holding the bear. “And, Reggie, I love our friendship. Really, I do. But I’ve been getting these signals lately that maybe you like me too? And if I’m reading them wrong, that’s totally okay. That’s on me. But I had to try.” Julie nodded resolutely. “I knew I would regret it if I didn’t try.”
“No, you’re definitely right. About the signals, I mean. I like you to! And I have for a while. Years, even.” Reggie could feel a smile growing. “But, you’re not worried that you’re making the same mistake twice? Dating someone when you’re better off as friends?”
“I know how I feel about you,” Julie said confidently, “and I’ve felt that way for a long time. This is different than what happened with Luke, I’m sure of it.”
Reggie couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Me, too.”
“Then, will you finally be my boyfriend?”
Reggie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!”
Julie surged forward and captured him in a hug, and Reggie caught her.
That was how Julie’s favorite gift she had ever received became the Reggie’s favorite gift he had ever given.
thank you so much for the prompt! i hope you like it...it sure is chaotic lmao
29. Sorry isn’t going to bring back the last slice of cheesecake.
(from these chaotic prompts. anyone feel free to send some in!)
tw: swearing & minor injuries
--------------
“Don’t come crying to me when you guys burn yourselves,” Julie tosses back over her shoulder as she shoves all the leavings from dinner back into the picnic basket. “Because I’m just gonna say I told you so.”
“That’s not being a team player,” Luke says distractedly, punctuating it with a whoop of excitement when his stick finally catches aflame, a quick burst of light that illuminates the manic smile spread across his face. “Everyone has to pitch in, Jules. It’s a band rule.”
Julie rolls her eyes, as much at the comment as the reckless way Luke yanks his makeshift torch out of the campfire and starts waving it around. “Where was that band rule when you guys left me to clean up by myself?” Then, her eyes widening in panic, “Wait, watch out for—!”
But luckily Reggie spins out of the way at the last second, his flaming stick knocking against Luke’s with a muffled crack and a spray of orange sparks. He laughs out loud in delight, lunging toward Luke to do it again. “Did you see that, Julie? They’re like lightsabers!”
Sighing to herself, Julie sinks down onto the bench of the picnic table with the cheesecake pan in her lap, because if she’s going to be expected to clean up their campsite and babysit a bunch of former ghosts while they play with literal fire, then she deserves the last remaining piece, thank you very much.
And maybe a raise. Yeah, definitely a raise, too.
Still, she has to begrudgingly admit that their excitement is endearing, their prancing shadows falling on the trees as they twirl and duck and dodge around each other. It wasn’t too long ago that they were lying on her garage floor, faces streaked with tears and bodies flickering closer and closer to translucent, so to hear their happy giggles float away with the smoke is definitely an improvement.
So she shakes her head in amusement, calling back, “Yeah, I saw it. Just don’t cut any hands off.”
“Don’t encourage him,” Alex says even as he pulls his own weapon from the fire. There are still a few dried leaves clinging to the branch that crackle and rain to the ground as smoldering ashes. He stomps them out immediately, but it does nothing for Julie’s blood pressure. God, she’s never going to be able to relax.
And that’s how she spends the next ten minutes, refereeing the world’s stupidest Star Wars LARP while her hard-won dessert melts in her lap.
It probably would’ve been even longer than ten minutes if Luke didn’t dodge one of Alex’s attacks by running straight into Reggie, the glowing red embers of his stick colliding with Reggie’s palm when he throws his hands up to protect his face. The resulting sizzle of burning skin might be a figment of Julie’s imagination, but Reggie’s howl of pain is very much real, sending a few sluggish birds exploding from the trees and into the night.
“Luke!” Alex cries, finally giving up the game and tossing his stick back into the fire. “Did you just fucking burn him?”
“I didn’t mean to!” Luke practically screeches even as Reggie clutches his injured hand to his chest and rushes toward Julie, whimpering.
“I told you not to—” is as far as Julie gets before Reggie flings his arm forward and smushes his palm down right onto Julie’s cheesecake. She gapes down at the pan for a few seconds, absolutely dumbstruck. That is, until she remembers how to yell.
“Seriously, Reg? The cooler is right there and it’s full of ice!” She gestures not even three feet to her right where the drinks have been all night. “See? I told you this was gonna happen, but you guys didn’t listen!”
“I’m sorry, I—I panicked and it was the closest cold thing I could find,” Reggie whines, audaciously taking the pan with him as he scrambles to throw open the cooler. His body goes limp with relief when his arm is submerged in the frigid water at last, little bits of cake – Julie’s cake – floating to the top. Reggie grimaces. “I really am sorry, Jules.”
“Sorry isn’t going to bring back the last slice of cheesecake,” Julie grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.
“And I told you so isn’t going to make my hand stop hurting,” Reggie points out, looking up at her with big, pleading eyes like the adorable asshole he is. Despite herself, Julie can’t help but soften. Knowing she’s being played doesn’t make it any easier not to lose.
“You’re an idiot,” she tells him, fondly ruffling his hair into his eyes, anything to make him stop looking at her like that. He preens beneath her touch, triumphant. “Next time you guys wanna play lightsabers, let’s get you those plastic ones from the toy store, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Hey, uh, Reg?” Alex says, suddenly appearing next to them and peering down into the cooler. “Your hand is purple.”
“Oh fuck!” Reggie yelps, yanking his arm from the ice water like he’d forgotten it was in there and frantically shaking his hand out. “It’s—I can’t feel it!”
“I don’t know anything about frostbite,” Luke says seriously, “but you should probably warm that up.” Then he breaks into a grin, like a lightbulb went off in his brain. “Try the fire!”
Reggie takes off like a rocket and Julie groans, dropping her face into her hands. “We’re never going camping ever again, you hear me?” she says to anyone that might be listening. Which is no one, of course, so Julie sighs and races after her bandmates with a desperate shout of “Don’t touch it, you guys!”
Yeah, she’s definitely putting in for that raise. And maybe an entire cheesecake with her name on it.
K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?
perhaps whatever the shit is going on with reggie in the spidey-reg au. a good portion of that is just him being Anxious, but i think ch13 is a real specific shift in the angst bc the entirety of the previous chapters focus on reggie and how he's doing, but then ch13 focuses on his partners and homies and there's just. none of them know what's truly going on, and the reader doesn't know exactly what's going on either but they know enough to be like "oh honey he's not at home and it doesn't sound like he's coming back" and it's just. they're all Going Through It and they're about to Go Through It even more.
L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?
it really depends on how long a section of the fic/chapter has existed. like if i write it and then jump to another part or do something not-writing and eventually come back to it, and i might end up rereading it like a million times bc it exists and i'm trying to find inspiration to write more or i'm just too lazy to write more lol. and so anything that connects scenes or ends a section, those are probably proofread/revised once or twice bc i'm like "i need something to end this and i can't think about it properly bc i've been trying to end it for a while, so we're just gonna go with it and not be upset if it kinda sucks in comparison to the rest of stuff"
M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?
boggie mafia+arranged marriage au. the henry hoover and roomba nonsense from the rarepair server. carrie/flynn/julie softness. continuing the sunset curve-as-btr au and the road trip au bc i accidentally made an entire universe for that thank you rarepair fic fest.
caramel macchiato— do you sleep with stuffed animals? if so, do you have a favorite?
oh you know it! lol I can't have too many in bed since I share with my husband (and my cat lmao) but I usually have squishmallows with me. Right now I have my Wendy the frog spring squishmallow:
I woke up after a very relaxing sleep. had some breakfast and tumbled and then had a shower. more tumblr. looked at art supplies online and then had some lunch. applied for a job at a cinema so i filled in the online form. its been a really chilled day. I also sat in the sun read my book with a wee cuppa tea. tried to not miss my gf too much. Went shopping with my mum. Came home and went to see my gran. then chatted to my gf’s mother for a bit on fb. :)
Share ten facts about yourself, then send this to your ten favourite followers (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*
aaaa thank you!!!! sorry its taken me so long to respond ive been real low on energy lately but right now im listening to TAZ and im fuckin PUMPED
1- I LOVE THE ADVENTURE ZONE SO MUCH
2- I collect enamel pins
3- I own 2 cats currently, Tasha (crazy but gracious old long haired black cat) and Midnight Marx (chubby darling with the thickest softest short black fur you will ever feel)
taz update: im crying over the killian and carey also magnus and carey just kill me griffin
4- All my clothes are black/grey/red except my pjs and like sleep stuff is all pastel purple/pink/mint/blue and i love it
5- I love love stuffed animals and own many of them, including the first one i ever owned (a pink stuffed bear with a rattle inside)
i had to stop again till the end of the ep cause holy shit???? griffin????????? is the best storyteller and also im dead now?????
6- I write for my school newspaper and write pretty much only opinion articles though this year i broke the pattern to write a review of the MBMBaM tv show
7- I love food, just like all food? its amazing and tastes good and gives me those good feels and has such great cultural importance and i love making it and eating it. Food is my passion.
8- Ive got an uncle whos only 6 months older than me who was supposedly conceived cause my mom made my gma a turtle bracelet and when we were babies he thought he was my protector in all things and theres lots of cute pics of him hugging me or trying to feed me from our side-by-side high chairs and me just basking in the pampering
9- i was born in Utah, moved to Nevada when i was like 4 or something, my little bro was born over there, then we moved back to Utah just in time for my to start first grade.
10- i love routines and need them. my favorite thing is when teachers have that day schedule up on the board. I like making plans and them keeping them. If a plan suddenly changes it is no good. i dont really do spontaneity. ive got a whole routine for every day and i like following them and i dont think they ever get boring or anything, idk why i just like knowing for suresies whats gonna happen next like all the time. predictability is easy to plan around
anyways so yeah~! thanks for sending this to me, you are also one of my favorite followers but i dont wanna like, resend this to you so just know that i think youre awesome~ <3
These are from Family Dinners (because of course they are).
Last (the most recent sentence I have written):
Good mood ruined after his fight with Alex, Reggie went to his room without another word.
Before the beginning (Listen. I know it was just supposed to be three sentences, but it got away from me):
Their conversation was interrupted by Reggie's phone ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket, stomach dropping as he read the caller ID. "It's my dad," he announced to the room at large, and he saw matching expressions of trepidation on the guys' faces.
"Give it here," Luke demanded, silencing the ringer for Reggie after he handed his phone over. Reggie was used to Bobby and Alex doing that, but Luke usually answered, giving Reggie's dad a piece of his mind. Today, however, it seemed that Luke wasn't in the mood to deal with it, and with Julie in the room, Reggie understood.
Julie glanced between them, likely confused about why Reggie didn't ignore the call himself, and Reggie knew that he would have to come clean about parts of his past he'd been keeping from her. But she was more than just "Luke's girlfriend" to him now; they were friends, and she deserved to know, so Reggie took a deep breath and began to explain.
Heyo!! For the spotify wrapped fics, 27 and/or 83?
Thank you for the ask!
Number 27 is The Other Side of Hollywood from JATP. I have no idea how I would turn a song from canon into fanfic unless I was writing the canon scene from one of the character's POV's. I can imagine writing Alex's thoughts as he experiences Caleb performing for the first time, especially the part where Willie gets up and starts dancing.
Number 83 is a song called "Courage" by Nostriahgtanswer and CircusP. To me, it's a song about facing something scary when you don't feel brave enough to do so and rising to the challenge anyway. This could apply to any of the JATP characters, but as I was listening to it, it gave me the vibes of Julie facing Caleb in a JATP season two fic. One of the lyrics is, "Give me something I don't know if I can fight, and you'll see me in a new light." If that's not Julie, then I don't know what is.
