the lioness °❀࿔*

                    " stop making eyes at me from across the table. you aren't subtle. if i can see you, so can she. "

" what are you talking about ? i am barely even looking at you. " taylor replied with a confused expression, that disappeared quickly after. " unless you're interested "

image “You look like shit,” she spoke when he finally stepped through the doors.

" you should've seen the other guy " probably a bit cliche, but it was the wittiest thing dominic could come up with on the spot. his face was just slightly bruised, but the highlight of it all was his expression of pure disappointment. it had taken him a lot to put his pride aside and call her, especially when dottie was the only person she could think of. " sorry for making you come pick me up this late. " a couple sarcastic comments crossed his mind, but kept them to himself, trying to be genuinely grateful. " i'm glad you came. i didn't think you would. "

THE NON-ACTOR (2025) ― starring Maya Hawke & Victoria Pedretti

〝   you,   uh,   you   got   back   with   him?   no,   i'm   happy   for   you,   really   ––  you   guys   got   to   talk   things   through   and   now   you're   better   than   ever,   i   guess.   〞

" yeah, he was very sweet about the whole thing. promised to give me the moon and everything. " she explained, completely oblivious of everything else. " i don't think it will last, though. am i a bad person for thinking that ? "

〝    i    didn't    tell    you    because    it    wasn't    important.    what    was    i    supposed    to    say,    oh    by    the    way    my    ex    boyfriend    is    my    co    worker?    bringing    it    up    randomly    would    seem    weird    and    suspicious.    〞

" what the fuck. i - " gia wasn't sure how to process that. on one hand, she wanted to trust her, build something healthy with her. on the other hand . . . she was jealous as hell, and she was surely awful at hiding that. " do i need to worry ? i mean, hiding it is also weird and suspicious. "

" that is more than obvious at this point, jesse " taylor wasn't sure what she wanted to hear anymore. having to face the fact that her best friend had feelings for her was more than enough, especially when those feelings were reciprocated. however, the whole act he had pulled that night was something that she wasn't willing to endure, not now. " you can't be throwing tantrums any time someone tries to flirt with me, you know ? " she scoffed, then rolled her eyes, before allowing herself to be vulnerable, to share her deepest secret. " i've had to keep it to myself every time i see you with all those girls. "

muse a and muse b have been together for ages, and on paper, they're happy - but in reality, they've been gradually shrinking themselves to keep the relationship alive. a lack of passion, honesty, fighting. the story starts when one of them realizes they can no longer remember who they were before they started making themselves smaller for the sake of being loved.

"I need you to settle a debate right now. Who is hotter: Optimus Prime or Megatron? Because its obviously Megatron."

" optimus prime, obviously. what kind of sick monster are you ? "

he knows he could've said something at some point , but mac lead with his feelings and he didn't ever want her to feel pressured to feel something she didn't. so , instead , he sat for years in silent yearning , fine with the idea of just being best friends for the rest of the time she'd have him as such. but then . . . this , and now he'd faced with an entirely different scenario than the one he assumed he'd be walking into. " i am a coward , but i'm a coward who was protecting my most precious friendship. you're a coward for not telling me before. " he teases back , a grin matching hers spreading across his face. " oh , really ? " eyes darken slightly , and he's realizing that they're in this now. it was scary , but he welcomed it. " you could tell me about them later. when we're not at a girls night that i clearly crashed. " a pause , arms gently and carefully settling around her waist. " and i can tell you about how much i have thought about this and how i shoved it all away because i didn't want to be the one to ruin the friendship. " he smiles them , a gentle thumb stroking her side. " you wanna get out of here , or you wanna get back to your girls ? "

" oh shit " ginny blurted out without even thinking, a gut reaction to everything that was going on, that happened in just a few seconds. she had to admit that she had also been a coward for not speaking about her feelings, but the way he grabbed ginny by the waist pretty much erased any other thought from her mind. she was aching for more. " are you straight up asking me to have sex right now ? " she questioned, a smile filled with disbelief curling across her lips. she granted a couple seconds of absolutely silence, setting a dramatic effect. " i mean, lindsay definitely set us up. they're probably long gone by now " she finally answered in a sarcastic voice, before pulling him closer. it was just a preview for what was to come, as she began walking towards one of the rooms of the apartment. " why don't you tell me, mac ? tell me what you've been imagining. "

all he does is let out a soft hum at her words , his expression calm and cool. despite the idea of them never crossing his mind prior , it wasn't hard for him to realize that he's happy to cross this bridge with her. " i'm not playing with you , gin. you know me , you should know i wouldn't sit here and lie to you. " he loved romance , pouring his heart out for people who didn't deserve it. but ginny ? she deserved it. he smiles softly then , looking at her carefully , making sure she can see that he's serious. " i do have real feelings for you. you're my best fucking friend. " a pause. " i just didn't ever think you'd want to cross that line. didn't want to overstep , you know. " another pause. " didn't realize you'd be gossiping about sleeping with me to your friends. you think about that a lot ? " it's teased gently , a hand moving to push her hair behind her ear.

ginny knew that he was right. of all the years she'd known him, mac was the most emotionally responsible person she had ever met. however, this still all felt like a prank, a dream she was going to wake up from soon enough. " you're such a coward for not telling me that before " she replied sarcastically. her grin widened, way more confidently than before, her cheeks were still burning red, almost as warm as the touch that brushed the side of her face, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. " i might have dreamt about it one or two times. " she confessed, something that she wouldn't have usually said, but she blamed the couple cocktails she'd had before. " what about you ? do you think about me like that, too ? " she paused, taking a deep breath. " is it . . . often? " she asked, as her hands finally reached for him, resting on his chest subtly.

" no , no. it's fine , really. what's it matter anyway ? she left the room and now it's just me and you. " he's not sure what the reasoning was behind all of this , but the whole reason he agreed to come at all was because he knew ginny would be there , and that was enough for him. his eyes are locked back on her's , not daring to break. " a couple years. " he says it back softly , in awe that she's had feelings this whole time and never said a word to him. " i want to. " he responds quickly because he does , but he's trying to wrap his head around what to say. " don't assume my feelings , ginny. this is just , you know , a lot for me to suddenly take in. " he smiles then , taking a soft step closer to her. " nothing will be weird , alright ? it's not your fault i overheard that and i . . . " he pauses then , he tilting slightly to the side. " i guess i've just been avoiding thinking about it. about us. i thought this whole time you just wanted to be friends and i was trying to respect that. " and now that he realizes otherwise , that idea goes happily out the window.

just me and you. those words echoed in her mind, making her lose any train of thought. even when she had managed to not freak out, the way mac was behaving was making her lose her mind already. " wait, are you saying . . . ? " she didn't want to say it out loud, just the thought of blurting those words out terrified ginny, as she had never expected her feelings to be reciprocated. " don't play with me, mac. " her voice was low, almost a whisper, practically begging. she looked up at him once again, nibbling on her lower lip to hide how nervous she was feeling by the distance of their bodies. " do you like me ? " she finally asked once she gathered the courage. " do you have real feelings for me ? "

"didn't mean to startle ya. just wanted to introduce myself, seeing as i might be around more often. i'm father darragh byrne."

" oh my god " maya's heart skipped a beat, completely startled and surprised by his presence. " sorry. " she added almost instantly, before shaking her head, probably making a really bad first impression. " it's so good to meet you, father. i'm maya, i guess we'll meet around here very often, huh ? "

consider mackenzie shocked. dumbfounded , even ! sure , he knows he's likable , desirable even , but ginny was the last one he would assume would want him. " honestly , it's fully my bad for just walking into your conversation. " he did find it odd that one of her friends invited him to this party , but he loved a good outing so he couldn't resists. he realizes now that maybe it was done of purpose ? regardless , mac's demeanor is unbothered. " i should've told you i was coming. your one friend , lindsey ? she told me to come. " he's avoiding the real problem here , because he doesn't know what to say. " how long have you felt that way about me , gin ? " his voice lowers then , head tilting to the side. " didn't get to hear the rest of your sentence. "

" of course she did. i'm going to murder lindsey, i swear to god " ginny knew that had probably been well intended, but it had backfired entirely. her cheeks were completely tinted red, and yet her green hues didn't dare to move away from mackenzie. of course he was attractive, but what she was most attracted to, was the way he loved to listen. he didn't mock her or tease her, instead he just asked questions. it was easy to tell how much she was swooning over him already. " a couple years. " she replied shyly. " we don't need to talk about this if you don't want to. i don't want to make this more awkward. plus, you probably don't feel the same way and that's okay, mac. i just don't want things to get weird between us. "

" i'm pretty sure i wasn't supposed to hear that. " there's a deadpan expression on his face , head tilting slightly to the side. " don't worry , i'm literally not even here. forget you ever saw me. "

" of course i'd sleep with him, i've been in love with mac for at least - " ginny's heart skipped a beat, and her brain short circuited. he wasn't supposed to be there, let alone hear that. her green eyes witnessed her friends giggling and leaving her in shock, completely alone with him. " i'm sorry. i didn't mean that. well, i did mean it. but like . . . shit. am i dreaming ? please pinch me so i know this is just a nightmare "