#speedwrite

They're sitting in the living room, and for once they're all together.

Together, except not, because each of them is off in their own bubble and it feels like when they were kids. When they could just be around each other without reason or need to talk or have a purpose to be there for.

Ian and Mickey are beside each other on the couch, watching something from Ian's phone. Debbie absentmindedly braids Franny's hair as she watches some documentary which is playing. Carl is playing a seemingly very intense game of draughts with Lip across the living room table. Liam pours over his homework on the other end. Tami is messaging one of her coworkers in the armchair.

The only one missing is Fiona, and the loss is acute but bearable.

Lip cheers as he manoeuvres his piece to take three of Carl's at once. Carl huffs and rolls his eyes, clearly losing but choosing to continue playing anyway.

It's then that Liam closes his maths book and opens up his backpack, placing the completed homework inside and pulling out a coloured cube.

"Lip." Liam states, tiredly.

"Mhm." He's focussed on the board, trying to absolutely annihilate his brother.

"Can you solve this?" He asks, holding up the Rubik's cube in one hand, staring at it like an enemy.

Lip turns and looks at it, frowning. "No. Why?"

Liam sighs. "If I can bring it in solved my teacher said she'd give me extra credit. We all got one."

"Just move the stickers around." Lip advises.

"I already thought of that. It doesn't have stickers, the colours are just on each piece. It's a fancy one."

"Liam, your teacher's scamming you. Those things are impossible. The only people who can solve them are magicians or just really lucky." Lip tells him.

"They're not impossible." Mickey snarks, rolling his eyes. "Give it here." He makes a gesture at Liam.

"Why?" The boy asks skeptically.

"I can solve it." He explains, like it's obvious.

"Really, Mick?" Lip says with a voice full of doubt.

"Yes, asshole. Now hand it over."

Lip raises his eyebrows but Liam tosses it to Mickey.

"You can solve a Rubik's cube?" Ian questions.

"Yes." Mickey replies as he starts shifting the sides and the middles, turning it around in his palms to figure out the patterns. His tongue pokes out of his cheek as he focusses. "It's been a while, I'm rusty. So it might take a minute."

Lip snorts. "Just admit it's impossible."

"Shut the fuck up, dick."

The rest of the room goes back to their own devices, momentarily entertained by the conversation but ultimately disinterested. Only Ian continues to watch as Mickey plays around with the colours, slowly building the cube to completion. Even Liam turns away, choosing to start on his English homework instead of watching something he doesn't think will yield results.

It's clear no one thinks he'll actually be able to do it.

Ten minutes of clicking pieces ensue, and Ian returns to his phone.

After another ten minutes, the cube is slammed onto the table, six perfectly neat and completed sides displayed clearly.

Ian glances up to see it, and has to double take. Lip looks stunned, and Liam looks at the cube like it's his greatest enemy.

"Woah." Carl states.

"How did you do that?" The youngest Gallagher rages. "I've been trying all day!"

"I learnt ages ago. Found one of 'em in the back of a car we stole. Got bored and used YouTube to learn it. I could probably do it in less time now that I've figured it out again." Mickey shrugs, and Ian looks fucking awed.

"There's no fucking way you just solved that. You didn't mix it right, Liam. I'll make it really messed up, then I bet he can't." Lip challenges, messing up the solved puzzle again.

Mickey shrugs again. "It ain't about how 'hard' you make it, Phillip. It's a system."

Lip ignores him, then presents him with a thoroughly scrambled product a few moments later.

"Solve that." He says, smugly.

"Easy, bitch." Mickey smirks, then starts again.

Ian watches with extreme interest, this time and the rest of the Gallaghers are just as transfixed.

He completes the white side first, slowly building the red, green, blue and orange, then working on the yellow. At a point, it looks almost done, only the yellow corners are out of place. Then, Mickey messes it all up.

"Don't do that!" Ian shouts. "You're messing it up again."

Mickey's attention never leaves the coloured squares. "Fuck off, I know what I'm doing." And he keeps turning the faces until suddenly it all comes together again. "See, Lip. Doesn't fucking matter."

Lip looks horrified. "There's no way."

"That's cool, Mickey." Debbie chirps, grinning at Lip's reaction.

"That's so cool." Carl's eyes are sparkling. "Even Lip isn't smart enough to do that."

"Shut up, Carl." Lip rolls his eyes, kicking at his brother playfully. "It's a kids game."

"Yeah, a kids game you can't do." And then the two are tussling light heartedly.

But Ian's attention is completely on Mickey, who seems absolutely calm about the whole thing.

Later on, they're lying in bed together and Ian won't stop staring at him.

"I can feel you looking at me, man. What's up with you?" Mickey asks, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Solve it again." Ian orders without explaining, extracting Liam's (again messed up) cube from the nightstand to his husband.

"Why? You don't believe I can do it?" Mickey counters, prepared to prove him wrong.

"No, I think you can. But-" Ian leans in to whisper into his ear, "-I wanna see you do it again."

Mickey raises his eyebrows. "Coloured squares turn you on, Gallagher?"

"Mmm. Hot husbands who know how to solve the coloured squares turn me on." Ian grins down at him salaciously.

Mickey laughs and Ian shoves at his hands where they're clutched around the cube.

"I'll suck you off while you do it." Ian tells him, moving down his body.

"I like the sound of that." Mickey drawls and starts moving the pieces hurriedly.

Ian smiles.

Okay, I don't know what happened to this, it wasn't meant to get smutty but my brain went to kink and I obey my brain.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed.

Mickey is okay.

He's asleep on Ian's floor in a room with too many people, in a house with the wrong kind of noise.  Snores where there should be shouting, quiet steps where there should be stomps.  Ian's hand hangs down off the edge of a well-worn mattress, just inches from his own and somehow miles away.  He rolls away from it, onto his side, and listens to the little boy in the bunkbed mumble in his sleep.

prompt: okay so willex coffee shop one shot where the new trainee thinks that theyre dating and so does like everyone else who comes in and the boys have a gay brain moment and officially start dating like a week after.

changed the new trainee to a customer because this took me ages and i ran away with the prompt as usual. :))

•☆•☆•☆•

“One caramel latte with whipped cream!” Willie called over his shoulder as he took the cash from the customer then counted out the change. 

“Got it!” replied Alex as he grabbed a cup and began preparing the drink. He was so busy focusing on not overflowing the cup with hot espresso and milk, he didn’t see the way Willie smiled at him as they broke eye contact.

When the drink was done, he passed it up to Willie to give to the customer and then cleaned off the steam wand. He looked up to see that the lunch rush had ended, so he wandered over to the front counter to take a peek at the tip jar. 

“Dude!” He beamed at Willie and took down the overflowing jar. “We made bank today!”

Willie laughed as he counted down the drawer. “Yeah, we did! Our system is totally down. Way to handle that last order, though, with the six different lattes.” He grimaced. “Don’t get in between a pack of church women and their coffees, I guess.”   

“You did a great job of calming them down when they thought I didn’t give them enough espresso,” Alex said with a smile as he leaned a hip against the counter. “You’re quite the charmer.”

Willie smirked as he stepped back and bent over to let his hair fall forward. He gathered up the dark locks in his hands and straightened up as he twisted it all into a bun.

He was so busy making sure he didn’t let any stray pieces loose, he missed the dumbstruck look on Alex’s face as he messed with his hair. By the time he was pushing it back, Alex had fixed his expression and was pretending to check to make sure the coffee machines were running for the next wave of customers.

They had known each other about a year now. They had gone to the same high school, but Willie was a year older and had graduated to go to a nearby community college. Alex was a senior, and they had met in the theater group that he had been in briefly before focusing just on performing with Sunset Curve, the band he and his best friends had formed.

Alex never told Willie, but he had been nursing a bit of a crush on him since they met. Willie never really expressed interest, and Alex had only been out a few months. 

His parents weren't supportive, but his bandmates had been happy for him and even threw him a little party with rainbow cupcakes. The cupcakes had been Reggie's idea, but Luke insisted on extra frosting. His motivations were made clear when he grabbed one and smoothed it against Alex's face. The resulting frosting war had left them all multicolored and sticky but laughing. They were Alex's real family. 

Luke had tried to get Alex to ask Willie out, but he had been too shy to make that jump. Willie was a little older, cool, calm, and easygoing. And Alex was inexperienced, anxious, and overthought everything. To say he was intimidated was an understatement. 

So, he pined from afar and enjoyed his time with Willie when they worked the same shift, which was at least three times a week after Alex had school and on Saturdays. They worked well together and kept things running smoothly, which was why the manager often put them on the same schedule.

More than once, Alex caught himself staring at Willie while he was laughing or messing with his hair. He was pretty sure the other boy didn't notice, but he never brought it up if he had.

When the last person left, Willie hopped the counter with a rag and cleaner while Alex zipped ahead to clear off the trash. 

Once the tables were clear of wrappers, Alex grabbed a broom and dust pan. His movements reminded Willie of a dancer as he twirled in between tables and around the perimeter of the dining area, sweeping as he went.

Willie smiled then turned up the radio in the corner. "Shut Up and Dance With Me" blared through the speaker as it had so many times since the song came out. Willie lost track of how many times he had changed the station in favor of something else, but Alex immediately began moving to the beat and finishing his sweeping.

When the trash was tossed out, Alex came back in and paused when Willie bowed before offering his hand. "Shall I have this dance?" he asked in a goofy formal voice.

Alex felt his face get warm. "Uh… s-sure." He took Willie's hand before he could think too hard and they danced around the little Cafe for several minutes. 

When the alarm dinged on the machines, the boys stopped and breathed heavily as they looked into each other's eyes. Willie was smiling, his eyes crinkling adorably in the corners, while Alex was pretty sure his mouth was half hanging open and his face felt hot.

Willie chuckled. "Come on, hotdog. We have work to do."

Alex spluttered at the silly nickname. "I get food poisoning one time, and you mock me for it!" he complained.

Willie giggled. "You were so proud you managed to grab food during our super short break, and it turned out it was bad meat. It's kinda funny."

"Not for me," the blonde boy grumbled as he joined his co-worker behind the counter.

Willie just smiled, and Alex was suddenly able to forgive him for the stupid nickname.

•☆•☆•☆•

When things were dying down, one last customer walked in looking tired and as if the only thing that could revive them was caffeine.

Willie smiled and greeted them, and the customer smiled back weakly. They ordered something with maybe a few shots of espresso more than what was healthy, but they looked like they needed it.

After Alex handed her the drink, the customer took a pull and groaned with relief. "Thank you!" she chirped as light returned to her eyes. They turned around then paused when they caught sight of the look Willie was giving the boy who had just handed her the drink.

"You guys are so sweet… and make a cute couple." she smiled. "Have a good night." They skipped out as the espresso kicked in. 

Willie had flushed cheeks, and Alex looked like he had been hit in the face with a dumbell.  

"Uh… so…." Willie pushed some loose pieces of hair out of his face. 

"Yep." Alex slunk away to go clean the machines out, his face feeling as if he had inhaled jalapeño peppers by the handful. 

They didn't speak the entire time they closed down for the day, and the atmosphere was suddenly awkward. 

Every time Willie meant to meet Alex's eyes, the other boy would duck his head and slink away to busy himself with another task.

The silence stretched and got more agonizing by the minute. Willie felt like the comment had been made to be innocent, but it was as if their easy little friendship now had an awkward stake through it.

When he couldn't take it anymore, Willie turned to Alex as he put the deposit in the safe. "Hey, man, look-"

"Hey, I wanted to ask-"

Both boys froze. They had been so caught up in their own thoughts, they had decided to speak at the same time.

"You go first," Alex blurted out, his eyes wide and his face pink again.

"No, you," Willie smiled even though he felt like he was going to explode from the tension. He turned off the lights and grabbed his keys.

Alex took his, too, and followed Willie outside. He fumbled with his words then watched as Willie locked up for the night. 

As he watched Willie's hands work the keys into the lock, adorned by some heavy rings, his heart sped up. He swallowed then finally decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Do you wanna go out… with me…?" Alex blurted, his voice squeaking a little at the end as his nerve failed him.

Willie nearly dropped his keys and looked at Alex with widened eyes. "You… you wanna go out?" he asked in a slightly shaky voice. Damn him and his calmer demeanor. 

Alex, his mouth dry behind forming words, just nodded. He felt like a tall, awkward, tongue-tied statue.

Willie grinned, and some feeling returned to Alex's limbs. "Sure! Are you free on Friday?"

Alex felt a rush of relief and smiled. "Yeah. Dinner and a movie?" he added shyly, pushing his blonde hair out of his face.

The smile on Willie's face was going to carry Alex over until the end of the summer. "I'll pick ya up at six."

"Awesome!" Alex did his best to not look like he was overly excited, but his crush had agreed to go on a date! He cleared his throat. "Uh, I'll see ya then."

Willie chuckled and nudged him. "Alright. Goodnight… hot dog."

https://www.yastaghr.com/post/speed-paints-and-writing-videos

(So, I did a little rewrite of what should have happened in Reverser instead, with a little extra, because I wanted to.)

  Marc sits at the fountain, nervously fiddling with his hands, as he waits for Nathaniel. It's actually really nice outside today. The hoodie isn't necessary, but it makes him feel a little more secure.

  "Ladybug?"

  Marc frowns at that, taking off his hood and looking back at Nathaniel, who's standing there with his book, "It's me, Marc. Didn't Marinette tell you?"

  "Marinette?" Nathaniel looks across the street, where it looks like Marinette's set up on her balcony. He turns back to Marc and holds up his book, his face scrunched up in anger, "Oh, so this was some kind of prank? You two trying to mess with my feelings for a laugh?"

  "No, no. I just, I just wanted to make a comic book with you." Marc shrinks back from the other boy, rubbing his arm worriedly.

  "A comic book? After you messed with me like that? No way would I make a comic book with you! Take your stupid book back." Nathaniel throws the notebook on the ground in front of him, then spins on his heel and runs out of the park.

  Marc watches him run off, tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes. Logically, he knows there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere, but the thought only passes through, before making way for thoughts of Nathaniel hating him. It's not his fault Nathaniel thought he was someone else!

  Tears fall onto the notebook, as Marc reaches down to pick it up, his memory cutting out there.

fanfiction.net | A birthday giftfic for @chiseplushie, set in the February 15th universe.

Lazy sunlight drifted through the kitchen windows, shining on the tea in Harry’s cup, turning dark amber into liquid gold. He could see the crystals of sugar at the bottom that hadn’t quite melted yet. One more stir of his spoon and they disappeared.

“Did you hear me?”

Draco’s voice snapped Harry out of his blank stare into his breakfast. The sunlight flashed on his glasses and blinded him when he looked up, leaving little stars in his vision as he looked over the table at his boyfriend.

The sweater Hermione knitted for him last Christmas was bunched up unevenly over his collarbone, the bright white shirt beneath the mossy green wool almost too bright to look at with the light through the curtains. Harry blinked away the sleep edging his eyes and the dots still dancing over his vision. He could see the little lines around Draco’s mouth that meant he was concerned and trying to be patient.

“Uh...no, I’m sorry. What were you saying?” Harry picked up his tea and sipped, immediately pulling it away, his tongue burnt.

prompt came to me thanks to some dorky rp accounts. love them. ♡

Reggie is sick and is stuck in bed. with his parents constantly working he's left to fend for himself. luckily for him, his doting boyfriend is there to watch over him.

•☆•☆•☆•

Splat.

Another used tissue joined the large hill forming in the trash can beside Reggie's bed.

The occupant sniffled and hugged his pillow to his chest. He felt like crap: his chest hurt from coughing, his belly ached like someone had punched him, and his nose was like a leaky faucet that never stopped.

He was miserable and had been for about two days. Having missed school on Thursday and Friday, he was dreading the schoolwork waiting for him on Monday. But he couldn't help it. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck and then backed over again with his pounding head and aching belly.

His mom had checked on him. She took his temperature and declared he just had a cold, so it was fluids and box after box of tissues until the symptoms subsided.

What sucked the most was not being able to see his friends. They had been over to see him but after hearing him cough and seeing just how gross he was, they had kept their distance. Alex had promised to take notes for him in class to save him some catch up time on work, but other than that, he had been alone and napping on and off while riding out the symptoms. He felt a little better, but he was still lonely and felt too weak to play his guitar. 

It was Saturday morning when there came a soft knock at his door.

He rolled over to see none other than Luke standing there with a pile of books in one arm and his guitar case slung on the other. They had been secretly dating the last few months, and Reggie could honestly say they were the best of his life.

But his happiness was a secret to everyone but the band. His parents had no idea, and he wanted to keep it that way. They would demand he end their relationship, so Luke was still just a childhood friend in their eyes. 

"Hey, babe," Luke greeted him cheerfully as he walked in and kicked the door shut. "How's the nose?"

Reggie glared at him as he blew his nose pointedly, sounding like a stuffy trumpet. Normally when Luke used pet names, Reggie melted, but his tone was condensing. 

That jerk had the nerve to snicker and put the books on the nightstand. "Alex got your homework together and notes from the last two days."

Reggie softened his expression as he sat up, a trickle of relief forming as he thanked his lucky stars Alex was such a good friend. "Is he with you?"

Luke shook his head. "He and Bobby wanted to rehearse some to get their minds off of this week." He grimaced. "Family stuff."

Reggie grimaced at that. He knew what that meant and understood the need to lose himself in music for a while and not think of what awaited at home. 

"Why are you here then? Don't you wanna practice, too?" he asked, wondering why it looked like Luke planned to stay for a while. 

After he nervously cleared his throat, Luke sat on the edge of Reggie's bed with his guitar case. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I just felt bad you were by yourself. I can practice here if that's okay."

Reggie nodded eagerly then grimaced at his own head movements. 

Quicker than he expected, Luke leaned over and felt Reggie's forehead like a concerned mama bear which had Reggie blushing to the roots of his hair. He pulled back with raised eyebrows, trying not to sound as tongue tied as he felt.

"It's fine. I just need to rest." He laid down against his pillows, but Luke wasn't hearing it. 

"Hang on. Lemme get you ice packs. You're burning up, Reg."

Reggie pouted, but Luke ignored him and left for a few minutes. He was so protective of his friends. Reggie remembered Luke protecting him from bullies and always asking him what was wrong if he was too quiet at school. He wasn't always understanding why people were feeling bad, but he did his best to cheer them up and help. Luke had become particularly good at reading Reggie's body language and knowing when he needed comfort. 

He came back with the ice packs and had a stubborn look about him as he said. "Here. Put this on your forehead and this one under you."

Reggie held one to his forehead and sighed in relief as the coolness seeped into his skin. Luke felt under him which had Reggie nearly rocketing out of bed and into the ceiling. 

"Your hands are cold!" he yelped, looking at Luke with something like betrayal. 

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm putting it under your back to help you cool down. Your neck works, too," he added, his eyes gleamed wickedly.

Reggie scowled as he fought the redness in his face. "Just put it under me," he mumbled. The ice pack rested at the small of his back, and he felt instant relief. His belly hurt from coughing so much, but if he felt warm to Luke he was going to let him nurse him. Plus, he had to admit, it was nice being doted on.

His mom brought him juice when she was home, but she worked a lot. He had had to retrieve most of his fluids and bland foods to keep his stomach from rejecting what he took in.

Luke frowned when Reggie coughed and stroked his sweaty hair back in a comforting way. The bassist felt gross after lying in bed for two days, only taking a brief shower the day before because he had mostly been in there for the steam and not really to bathe. Luke didn't seem to mind. 

Reggie blew his nose then turned over, his body aching all over.

"I'll just nap," he mumbled. "You play."

Luke strummed his guitar and the sound helped soothe Reggie as he closed his eyes to rest. He coughed and sniffled then slowly relaxed as he listened to Luke play and mutter to himself as he scribbled in his worn journal. 

Reggie stretched out his legs and hummed a little as he listened to his boyfriend play. 

Everything was fine until his lungs acted up. He tensed up, feeling like a bug had crawled inside of him, its little spiky feet trailing over his battered lungs and driving him crazy.

He hacked and choked until tears formed in his eyes. God, he hated this so much! He couldn't even talk to ask for water. Reggie just had to ride out the fit until he could form coherent words. In the meantime, his throat and chest ached like he had taken to drinking hot sauce.

Suddenly, a warm hand cradled the back of his neck and coaxed the rim of a glass to his lips. Instinctively, Reggie started to sip as the cool water touched his tongue, and relief washed through him as his coughs subsided. He swallowed the liquid then laid down slowly. His throat felt raw still, but it wasn't as bad as before. 

He rubbed at his watery eyes and blinked up at Luke who had the gentlest look on his face as he put down the water and used tissue to clean Reggie's face of tears and (ugh) spit and snot probably.

The bassist opened his mouth to protest, but Luke held up a hand, stopping the words that had barely formed. "It's okay. Really. I don't mind."

Reggie set his jaw, looking like he wanted to argue, but Luke shushed him before he could speak again and murmured, "Let me take care of you."

Tears welled up in his boyfriend's eyes, but he nodded and laid back down, the urge to deny any care apparently gone now. Thank goodness. 

Luke pulled the sheet over Reggie, trying to rub his back, but the darker haired boy turned over and his hand touched his belly instead. He made to move it, but Reggie grabbed his hand and shook his head with his eyes closed.

"Keep it there. Warm." He mumbled sleepily.  He was exhausted after being up all night coughing. 

Luke snorted. "You told me a minute ago my hands were cold. Now they're warm?"

"Yes," Reggie huffed.

No arguing there. Luke laid on his side and rubbed Reggie's stomach. It was awkward at first, but the warmth and the light massage felt good on his aching abdomen. There wasn't a heating pad in the house that either were aware of, so they settled with Luke's natural warmth. 

And muscle. Even in his tired state, Reggie peeked open an eye to appreciate the view of Luke's arms, especially the one that was flexing to ease the annoying ache that had come about from his coughing and sneezing.

When the pain was bearable, Reggie had him let up, and Luke left for a few minutes to retrieve some juice for him. When he came back and took in some more fluid, Reggie was feeling good enough to cuddle. Once Luke was sitting back on the bed and resting against the headboard, Reggie scooted over to him immediately. 

"So much for practicing," Luke murmured, amused, as Reggie rested across his lap and snuggled close. Luke put a pillow under his sleepy boyfriend's head then stroked his hair off of his face.

He was sweating less and seemed more at ease now that he wasn't coughing up a lung. Luke kept the sheets over him and stroked his hair until Reggie fell asleep.

Normally, Reggie just breathed deeply in his sleep, but with a stuffy nose, he snored.

Luke had to stuff his knuckles in his mouth to keep from snickering. It was sort of cute but mostly disconcerting. 

"Dork," he murmured affectionately. He loved Reggie even if maybe they didn't use that word too often. Their relationship was a secret after all apart from Alex and Bobby knowing. They had to be careful if they were too open.

Reggie snuffed in his sleep, and Luke rubbed in between his shoulders in slow circles.

As the sky grew darker outside, Luke began to tire. He knew his neck and back would hate him in the morning, but he couldn't bring himself to get up and risk pulling Reggie from a hard earned sleep. Instead, he leaned back and closed his eyes, one arm behind his head and the other slung protectively over his sleeping boyfriend's shoulders. 

He fell asleep, only shifting positions when Reggie woke up in the middle of the night and asked to cuddle better. Smiling, Luke laid down and hugged Reggie from behind so he didn't breathe on him so much. Luke knew he would most likely end up with a cold eventually, but it didn't matter. 

As long as Reggie needed him, he would be there.

Luke made the silent promise to his boyfriend then slid his hand into his own as he drifted off.