hey! so, i've been a huge fan of your writing for a while now. you always offer me so much inspiration within your stories, i absolutely love your ability bring life to all the characters and settings you write about. and idk if you're still accepting requests for your otp mix n' match challenge, nor if you'd even consider doing this request haha, but- could i perhaps request 15 & 11? i am super interested in potentially seeing what your take on my personal otp would be! much love either way
Hi, this has been in my drafts for like.... forever. Since April or May, I think? Oh boy. My apologies, I completely forgot about it until I stumbled across it today. But hey, better now than never, I suppose. Also thank you for your kinds words! I truly appreciate it! :D
“Louis and Mitch pretend to date to make others jealous but you know what happens.”
Read on AO3
This is a joke.
This is a joke and he’s the butt of it.
How did the fuck did he end up here?
Mitch knows this has to be a joke because Louis did not go through this much effort for it to not be a joke.
The remaining fries on the plate have gone cold, mushy beneath the squirt of bright cheddar cheese. Walter’s Diner has the best fries in this hellhole of a town, and usually, they’re the first thing he chows down before finishing his burger or even touching his shake.
Fuck. Fucking hell.
It’s hard to concentrate on and enjoy his food with Louis’ arm behind his neck, hand casually resting over Mitch’s shoulder as he and Violet argue whether they should order a basket of donut holes or four slices of peach pie for dessert.
“They’re stuffed,” Violet says, pointing at the menu, reading, “‘Our bite-sized delights are baked to perfection, stuffed with our delicious cream cheese filling, and tossed in a heavenly mixture of cinnamon and sugar.’ And you’re telling me that doesn’t sound good?”
“And you’re telling me that a slice of Walter’s famous peach pie doesn’t make your mouth water?” Louis sighs. “I’m salivating just thinking about it.”
Violet wrinkles her nose.
“Peach pie sucks.”
“You suck.”
“You suck.”
“C’mon guys,” Aasim butts in, eyes rolling in that exasperated way he gets whenever Louis and Violet do this. “Donuts suck, pie sucks, and you both suck. Let’s order ice cream.”
With a hand pressed against his chest, Louis lets out his fakest, most dramatic gasp. Next comes the obnoxious- and probably offensive- British accent.
“Why, my dear Mitch, Violet, did you hear what this lickspittle just said to us?”
Violet’s last tater tot goes flying as a response, bouncing off Aasim’s nose.
“Are you serious?” Aasim snatches the tater tot back up, throwing it at Louis.
“Hey! Rude!” Louis laughs, his arm slipping out from behind Mitch to try and catch the tot. “What did I do?”
Without a thought, Mitch grabs the offending tot and tosses it back at Aasim, who catches it and lets it drop onto his plate.
“Knock it off, guys,” he says. “It shouldn’t take this long to decide on a dessert. I vote pie.”
That makes Louis smile.
“Ah, a man after my own heart,” he sighs, shifting closer against Mitch’s side- Jesus Christ almighty- and pressing quick kiss against his cheek.
Fuck everything. Fuck, fuck-
This causes Mitch to suck in a breath, only to cover it up by coughing into his sleeve. God, his face is going to melt off, especially if Louis keeps looking at him like that.
“That’s not a surprise,” Violet rolls her eyes, ignoring the kiss and Mitch’s coughing fit. “He sucks, too.”
“Can’t we just agree that we all suck?” Louis says.
“Can’t you ever shut your pie hole?”
“Can’t we all just order different desserts?” Aasim pleads, finger jabbing at the menu on the table to emphasize his point.
Louis and Violet look at one another, puzzled as if that idea never occurred to them. At this point, Mitch didn’t even care about dessert, didn’t really even want any.
Louis shifts and there’s the warm, distracting press of his knee against his and Mitch has never been so tense in his entire life.
He's too fucking close. Too close. Too close. And he kissed him. On the cheek, sure, but fucking hell-
Never has he felt such tension in his body, even when something obnoxiously embarrassing passes his father’s mouth, or when Willy’s fingers slip from the branches of whatever tree he’s climbing and he almost plummets to the ground.
He doesn’t know what’s worse: the fact that Aasim won’t stop gawking at them every time they do anything, or that Louis is fucking comfortable doing the things that make Aasim gawk in the first place.
This whole thing is nothing but a cruel joke that Mitch was stupid enough to take the bait for.
And for what? A promise of Louis buying him lunch every day for a month? Was a free meal every day worth this level of anxiety and... gross feelings?
“Fine,” says Violet. “I’ll eat a whole basket myself, but don’t any of you dare eyeball them. You had your chance.”
“I won’t eyeball your donuts if you don’t eyeball my pie.”
“I won’t because pie sucks.”
“You suck!”
“Oh my god,” Aasim abruptly twists around, desperately tapping on the shoulder of a now startled waitress. “Two slices of peach pie, a basket of donuts holes, and an ice cream cone to go. Please. I want to go home.”
The waitress stares at him, baffled, before nodding and getting away from their table as quickly as possible.
Louis chuckles, arm slipping back behind Mitch as he says, “I think she likes you.”
“Shut up!” Aasim frowns. “I swear to god...”
Louis continues to laugh, but he steals a glance at Mitch. Something softens and it’s... Mitch doesn’t know what the fuck it is. Ever since they started this, sometimes Louis will look at him like that.
From what he can tell, Louis doesn’t even look at the girl like that, and she’s the entire reason they’re doing this.
That girl- what the fuck’s her name? He couldn’t have possibly tuned Louis out every time he mentions her- the redhead from his art class or whatever. She’s the one who started this bullshit.
About a month ago, Louis wrote him a note detailing, “I need your help. Meet me by the school entrance during lunch? It’s important,” while they’re in the middle of a pop quiz. As if Mitch didn’t have enough to worry about with all the damn fractions scattering the quiz, but then he was left worry about what the hell Louis needed his help with.
Also, he did this without Mr. Garcia noticing. How the fuck that’s possible is beyond him. If they were caught, both of their quizzes would’ve been ripped to shreds. Mitch didn’t need that shit right now.
Then, the entrance was barely in sight by the time Louis snuck up on him, grabbed his arm, and proceeded to drag him outside and across the parking lot so they could hop into the safety of Mitch’s hand-me-down truck despite Mitch’s protests. He hadn’t cleaned his truck of its fast-food wrappers or loose sheets of forgotten homework in weeks, and that left him worried that the air freshener didn’t work.
Finally, Louis managed to explain this so-called plan of his to Mitch with a straight face, not cracking once. He actually sounds serious enough that Mitch might’ve believed him if this bullshit wasn’t so... so bullshit.
“I really like her,” Louis had said, “and Violet said this kind of thing could get her attention.”
Of course, Mitch didn’t agree so easily because the plan was- nd still is- stupid.
“You think pretending to date me is gonna get her attention?” he scoffed. “I’m not fucking doing this. Ask Vi.”
“I can’t ask Vi. She doesn’t date dudes and I’m pretty sure Brody would, like, break me in half or something.”
“Fine, Aasim then.”
“C’mon, you know Aasim would never.”
“Well,” Mitch threw his hands up. “I would never! Find someone else because I’m not gonna be your fake boyfriend so that you can make what’s-her-nut jealous!”
Jokes on him- Mitch’s been Louis’ fake boyfriend for weeks now because he hasn’t wooed what’s-her-nut yet. Which wasn’t that the whole point? They just pretend while she’s around? Not when they’re alone or when hanging out with Violet and Aasim?
Louis said it was to make it as real as possible, just in case what’s-her-nut found out. That doesn’t explain why Louis is the way he is when it’s just the two of them. Doesn’t explain the kiss on the cheek.
Mitch eats a cold fry, cringing at the taste. He can feel Violet looking at him while Louis goes on about something that happened in choir. When Mitch meets her eye, she smirks, raising a knowing brow. Mitch gives her a light kick under the table.
When the waitress finally brings them their dessert in separate bags, she doesn’t stick around long and avoids eye contact with Aasim.
“Hey, Vi,” Louis leans over her shoulder as they’re leaving the diner, “Can I have a donut hole?”
“I will stab you, your boyfriend, and your pie.”
“Hey, not my pie!” Louis grabs Mitch’s hand, knocking his shoulder into his. “Or my Mitch!”
Fucking hell.
Mitch doesn’t know how much longer he can handle this.
Louis never pegged himself as a gardener. The mere thought of getting his hands dirty used to be repulsive. But now… It was oddly therapeutic.
His initial reaction had been confusion, when Ruby dragged him out of his room at first light, exhausted and blurry eyed, only to lead him to the greenhouse, and gesture at a small, fresh soil bed on the outskirts. His new plot.
“Violet’s idea. Thought you could do with a hobby.” Ruby explained. She then placed her hand on his back, and ushered him closer. “I’ve put some seeds out for you. Why don’t you pick something and I’ll help you get started?”
Louis opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat. He was too tired to protest. His mahogany brown eyes floated across each packet, none of the labels able to spark any interest. Eventually, his gaze settled on a cartoonish sunflower, which had expressive eyes and pearly white teeth - its mouth stretched and frozen in a large grin.
“I guess I could try growing some sunflowers.” He mumbled, waving feebly in the seed packet’s general direction.
“Oh, those can be a little tricky, especially at this time of year. But it’s a good goal to work towards!”
Louis sighed, and pocketed his first choice. “I don’t know, then… Potatoes?”
Ruby was overjoyed, and immediately fetched him a trowel. He remembered how that silver tool glistened in the morning sun.
Step One: Planting.
Dig a reasonably sized, shallow hole, place the seed inside and cover it with soil.
Ruby’s instructions managed to cut through the fog which clouded his mind, allowing him to complete this task with relative ease. Although he did grimace when he got dirt under his fingernails. He would have to scrub for weeks to get his hands clean again.
Step Two: Watering
Sprinkle the seeds with water until the soil is damp, but not waterlogged. Repeat this process every day.
This was relatively easy too, although the watering can was quite heavy and he drenched his trousers in the process of carrying it. Afterwards, Ruby dusted off her hands and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, before busying herself with other duties. Louis knelt in the dirt, staring at his work for what felt like hours.
Many weeks later, Ruby’s carefully selected soil yielded delicious potatoes, which Omar added to their stew. The school praised Louis for his first successful batch of homegrown vegetables, and he politely accepted these kind words, even though he didn’t believe he deserved it.
He saw Violet smiling at him from across the table that moonlit night.
Winter was fast approaching, causing frost to settle and his soil to harden, so Ruby offered him a plot inside the greenhouse. There, she let him loose with the reins, but still kept a watchful eye. He tried his luck with tomatoes, though they were less successful. Most withered before they even reached maturity, which unbelievably frustrated the boy. He was prepared to give up then and there, when Ruby offered him a small nugget of information.
“Try talking to them, plants love that. Free oxygen! And the best part is, you can say whatever you want, and they won’t tell a single soul.”
So he started over, allowing himself to bake in the humid air for days on end, vented to those plants about his suffering, until finally, he produced two dozen tomatoes. A worthy inclusion to Omar’s stew.
The praise he got that night made him feel lighter than air.
Winter bled into spring, and that warm, calming breeze melted the ice and snow. He ventured outside once more, basked in the fresh air, before getting to work on his next project. Lavender. They carried an aroma so powerful, the scent lingered on his body and transferred to whatever surface he touched.
He presented the flowers he grew to Violet, as a thank you. They both wept, their emotions an odd hodgepodge of relief and anguish.
Summer arrived, bringing forth blistering heat. Louis ditched his trench coat and spent hours sweating under the fiery, intense sun - constantly mopping his brow, smearing dirt across his face, and slaving away on the sunflowers that he had been hoping to grow for so long.
Day after day, he crouched on his hands and knees, and whispered softly to his surrogate children. His words often contained traces of hope, but also deep seated grief.
Perhaps too much grief. Part of him was convinced that his sadness had caused them to dry and wither.
He wasn’t sure why he cried over them.
Either way, he still returned the next day, to dig up the remains and start over.
Eventually, his persistence paid off, and four radiant sunflowers bloomed. They didn’t have smiley faces like on the packaging, but the pride that overwhelmed his features made up for that. Louis smiled, and laughed, but his laughter morphed into heart wrenching sobs.
After he stitched himself back together and got up off the floor, he plucked the sunflowers from their tall stems. He carried them to the graveyard, and placed them gently on a mound of earth, where blades of grass had already sprouted.
He stared at the name carved into the wooden cross.
Clementine.
“There you go, my darling. Sunflowers, just for you.”
(TWDG Mix n’ Match Challenge by @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale)
Another cool challenge to draw my favorite game? heck yea, I'm excited.
I got 3(Brody) and 27(discovers something about themself). So, I thought... what if she loved party planning? She resourceful, excited for new locations, and always enjoys parties that are themed and silly. Plus, I kinda headcanon her as a party enthusiast.
Challeneged made by (@stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale !!) 🎉
The blond scowled at the kid across from her. "And how the shit do you think we're pulling that off in the apocalypse?"
"Well, you see, Vi, there are these thinks called flowers," Louis responded happily, smile brightening the room a bit more.
She scoffed. "I'm going to get Clem to knock you over the head."
"How dare you say something like that? I'm hurt."
She smirked at his dramatics. "Fine. But you're going to be the one getting it all set up."
"How harsh," Louis said with a hand to his chest.
"You're not the one being dared to dye your hair, Lou."
He took a moment before nodding, "Alright, that's fair."
A few hours later, much to Violet's dismay, Louis returned with a seemingly usable bit of hair dye. It was a pretty ugly looking green and she was already regretting saying yes.
However, she went through with it, her stubborn ass not letting her give in to the back of her mind that was telling her to give up. It took hours of trying to decipher the instructions on the box, but they eventually got it done.
When her hair finally dried, she was stuck staring at the olive green hair that was stuck to her head now. At first, it was mostly awe that she did it, but then it turned to disgust, and finally regret.
Of course, it eventually was normal to see her with such an odd color, but as soon as it started to grow out, she started cutting off big parts of the green. She didn't like it enough to try and make it look nice.
But Louis was the victim of many unnaturally cruel pranks for the rest of the summer.
@stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale Louis and Vi being pals
“T-There’s no way you can be serious r-right now..” Sophie tried and failed to contain her chuckles.
The culprit of her giggle symphony was her boyfriend, Louis Alexandre Troy, and the object of the crime was a little black cat, kinda lost about the events that were just happening right now.
-Except I am, Mylady. Louis smiled brightly at the love of his life, the Irish-American ginger that went by the name of Sophie Marie Evergreen.
“I 100% want to adopt this little ball of fur and adorableness.” He said as he held the cat to her.
Sophie took a look at the cat, feeling her heart warming from the cuteness of the animal...
Then she shook her head, looking at the ground and sounding unsure -I...I’m sorry, but.. I-I can’t.
Louis’ smile dropped as his heart did the same. He had that special ‘connection’ with Sophie, when one of them was happy, the other was, but the contrary was true too, when one felt down, the other felt bad too.
-Sophie...What’s wrong ? He asked as he put the cat on the ground.
Sophie stiffened, not looking at him -N-Nothing...It’s just...Jesus Christ, I’m so stupid--
-Hey.
Sophie suddenly felt both Louis’ hands on her shoulders, and turned to meet his gaze. His chocolate browns eyes were marked of worry, genuine care for her.
“Soph, I know hundreds, thousands of adjective that could describe you : Charming, sweet, amazing, caring, beautiful, talented, brave...”
-That’s only 7 adjectives, If i counted right. Sophie smirked, giggling at her favorite dork.
Louis playfully rose an eyebrow, smirking too -I have more, I might just need a entire day to recite them entirely, but would you really want that ?
Sophie scratched her cheek, pretending to think -Let me think...All things considered, nope ! She chuckled.
-Aw, too bad... Louis playfully frowned, not without cracking a little chuckle too.
“What I want to say is...’Stupid’ is an adjective that I’d never use, nor think to use about you. Ever.” Louis said, observing the expression in Sophie’s entrancing blue sky eyes changing. She looked at him with care, worship, love.
“So whatever problems you have with black cats, I won’t blame you, nor be angry at you for it. I understand cats aren’t in everyone’s Top 10 of prefered animals, even if they are adorable...” He continued as he looked at his adopted cat, sleeping on a quite worn seat.
-It’s not my case... Sophie shyly looked away.
-What do you mean ? Louis asked.
-Well... Sophie scratched her neck, uneased “Remember when I told you about how religious my family was ?”
-Yes, but what is the link with-- Louis eyes’ widen as he understood, he thought ?.. “Wait, are you, like...” He started to say,
-Superstitious ? Yes, I am... Sophie finished. “Black Cat is a symbol of misfortune, disaster, and we definitely DON’T need more sh-” She cut herself from swearing “--Mess to happen right now, don’t you think ?”
Louis frowned, before he answered : -Of course I don’t. But...
-But what ?
-I never critiziced your faith, Soph. You can believe in whoever and whatever you want, I don’t mind. But...
Louis pointed the little black cat “I know, that the beautiful, witted, reasonable believer that you are, finds ridiculous thinking that a little cat might cause us more harm than the walkers outside.”
Sophie paused, thinking. Louis had a point...
She sighed, and looked at him again -You’re sure it’s not...risky ? What if it bites me ?
Louis looked at her, with his caring look she grew to love... -It’s a matter of...Can we say faith ? I suppose. It’s a matter of trust, or faith. If you’re not scared, and if you’re gentle, there’s no reason it’ll attack you. I promise.
He took her hand, and walked to the cat, who was still laying on the seat, looking at them with curiosity.
-Hi, kitty. Louis softly said. “You don’t mind us petting you, do you ?”
Sophie playfully rolled her eyes, as Louis guided her hand to the animal’s fur. She started to pet the cat, and after few seconds, he purred and went by himself to her touch.
-Aww... Sophie smiled. Then she asked : “We adopt him, right ?”
Louis nodded, with a brigth grin -Yup.
-So...How do we name him ? She asked him. And before he could answer, she smirked and added “Katy, or Cathy doesn’t count.”
-Aw man, seriously ? Why ? Louis whined, like a child who has just been refused to have an ice cream.
-Because I know my ‘Happy goofy jokester’ can found a better name. She couldn’t help but to laugh at his ridiculously funny nickname.
-Fine... He playfully rolled his eyes, imitating Violet.
Sophie, in her thoughts, blessed God for the day he put Louis in her life.
( @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale, here’s some new Louphie fluff for you :3)
Goodbye, Fare Thee Well- a TWDG Mix Challenge Prompt
#20 + #13 = Marlon… in a pirate AU
Words: 1,420 (no I'm not kidding)
@stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale made this challenge and you have anon to thank for giving me the prompt! Also since this is a fair bit longer I'm not gonna torture my mobile friends with a long scroll and instead I'm gonna put a bit of the beginning here and link to the fic on AO3 if you'd like to finish reading!!
"Oh, way up on that t'gallant yard, that's where you're bound ta' go," The captain's voice rang clearly over the crashing waves on either side of the boat. Marlon rose his voice with the rest of his crewmates in response.
"For I'm a young sailor boy and where am I to go?"
Marlon pushed the soapy mop over the deck, feeling an ache in his shoulders. He knew he couldn't stop now, he was only halfway through. Still, he wished his captain would give him a break soon. Omar was cooking, and whatever it was smelled delicious.
"What do we say to another one, lads?" Louis called out from the wheel's deck, having situated himself next to Captain Clementine, and on her other side was Violet.
"Aye, another!" Junior's little voice quipped from where he was standing beside Louis.
"Don't ya' think we should keep our voices down?" Brody called, finishing the knot she was tying onto the sails. "In case someone comes by, and they're a lot less merry than the lot of us."
"We are on a nice trail," Aasim called, fixing the collar of his coat as he peeked out from the cartographer's cabin. "I'd like to stay on it without the Navy stayin' on us." He focused up to Clementine "Stay east Captain, we should find a cluster of islands. From there we head north."
"Aye," Clementine nodded in understanding, making but a small adjustment to the wheel. Then, she looked to her small crewmate beside her. "Sorry Junior, but they're right. The music is merry, but so is keeping our hides clean. We can sing plenty once we find this treasure." She ruffled his puffy hair as he looked down dejectedly.
"Assuming someone else hasn't found it yet," Violet said, crossed arms resting on the railing.
"There goes the sourthinker," Marlon called with a teasing smile.
Violet squint-glared at him. "Don't ya' have a deck to swab?"
Marlon chuckled at her, pushing the mop along the hardwood floors. He focused on his work, side-stepping Omar at his cauldron, and the ship's trusty pup Rosemary, surely waiting for a scrap of food.
It was a few movements of the sun before a show-offish redhead swung down from the crow's nest using several of the sail's ropes. "Captain! We saw the islands Aasim spoke of!"
"Wonderful eye, Sophie," Clementine praised, beaming at her crewmate. Then, she spoke out. "Alright, lads; prepare to hit shore! We'll take a peek around before setting sail again."
