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𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗞

CHAPTER NINETEEN
there's glitter on the floor after
the party

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tagged tinakitten

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tagged lunahayes

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tagged foolish_gamers

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tagged brookeab, meenapatels, qtcinderella

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tagged ellum

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tagged blaustoise, quackity, ellum, foolish_gamers

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tagged ellum, blaustoise, lunahayes

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liked by valkyrae, lunahayes, and 648,107 others

maryjanebrooks tinacon: a collection 💌

view all 5,265 comments

username you being adopted into the roomies means a lot to me it's so heartwarming

username HAPPY TINACON EVERYONE
— username HAPPY TINACON <3

tinakitten mj! my love for you is unprecedented! I'm so glad you stayed :D
— username okay I'm crying???
— username tina 🥺
— maryjanebrooks oh tina, how I adore you :') I'm so glad I stayed as well!
— username UGH MY FAVORITES

username the pic of you by the alcohol is so iconic honestly

lunahayes I look . . . interesting! also foolish_gamers you good dude what's going on
— username you were just feeling the tinacon vibes fr
— username making that my new pfp brb
— foolish_gamers it was a long tiring day of loving my girlfriend
— username YEO
— lunahayes okay bro
— username yeah sure man
— maryjanebrooks can you two stop flirting in my comments please
— lunahayes *in ellum's voice* SORRYYYYY
— username wait that's so real the way he says sorry is engrained in my mind

username what is ellum DOING
— username what is he doing ever
— maryjanebrooks I wish I knew
— username he's just a little silly

brookeab the prettiest ever 🥹
— username BROOKE 💞
— maryjanebrooks you're the best ever brooke :')
— username ugh the girls how I love them

username I want these pictures tattooed on my back

meenapatels marry me?
— username this duo emerging has been my favorite
— maryjanebrooks send me the date, time, and location queen I'll be there
— username WAIT CAN I COME
— blaustoise wtf
— maryjanebrooks get wrecked blau
— username LMAO 🫵🏻😂

username mj were you perhaps drunk in the sunnies picture
— maryjanebrooks no . . . definitely not . . . what makes you say that
— username oh . . . just a hunch . . .

sadiebrooks well didn't you just have a grand old time
— username oh hey sadie
— username SADIEEEEEE
— maryjanebrooks I did actually :)
— sadiebrooks you deserve it! now did you do something drastic yet or what
— username ?
— maryjanebrooks blocked. reported.
— username well what's all this about

username the alcohol one LMAO mj you keep it so real

qtcinderella do a baking stream with me OR ELSE
— username WAIT YES PLEASE
— username I'd give up my soul for this
— maryjanebrooks okay yes ma'am
— username YES YES YES

username the last picture is indeed tina coded

ellum tinacon was a MOVIEEEEEEEE
— username oh love that for you
— maryjanebrooks so true
— username 🤪
— ellum especially for you
— username so what does that mean
— maryjanebrooks oh ENOUGH
— ellum SORRYYYYYYYY

username I'm still getting a vibe from ellum and mj and I feel like something has shifted . . .
— username wait omg you're right
— username maybe tinacon WAS a movie . . . hm

＊*•♥̩͙•̩̩͙*˚˚*•♥̩͙•̩̩͙*˚＊＊*•̩̩͙♥̩͙•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙♥•̩̩͙*˚＊

REAL LIFE

MARY JANE FELT like she was floating.

It had been a long time since she had felt like this — walking around with a school girl crush at the ripe age of twenty-five, giggling at the thought of kissing the boy she liked. Sure, maybe the first half of the night hadn't gone so well (all her fault, she knows), but the second half went great. After singing Happy Birthday to Tina, Mary Jane hung out with everyone else . . . well, mostly Ellum, like she promised. The party had raged on until about six in the morning, ending with Noah coming up with ways they were going to die as that sat around the fireplace. Classic, really.

And it made all the difference that before Mary Jane went back downstairs to Tina's room, Ellum had taken her face in his hands and kissed her goodnight like it was a natural thing to do. Well, Mary Jane supposed it was now. Nevertheless, she had practically fucking sauntered down the stairs and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Now, it was the next morning. Mary Jane, as quietly as possible since Tina was getting her much deserved rest, got ready for the day. Despite only getting about four or five hours of sleep, that didn't stop her from feeling extremely awake. She could practically feel adrenaline running through her veins, and she had an inkling that it had something to do with a certain British boy. The thought of seeing him this morning after the events of last night was making her heart flutter.

invisible string played through her headphones as she climbed up the stairs, moving some of her hair off of her shoulder. Her plan, hoping to help since she was extending her time in LA, was to clean up the house. Truth be told, since they were up practically all night, they didn't make any effort to clean up the house whatsoever. That meant there were still cups and plates and whatnot scattered around. Mary Jane entered the kitchen, only to stop in her tracks. None other than Ellum, the very same person Mary Jane had wanted to seek out, and Shoto, one of their other streamer friends who was a VTuber, were already down there cleaning.

"Oh," Mary Jane let out, announcing her presence. "Hi."

Shoto looked up. "Hey, MJ. Good morning."

"Morning. I didn't really expect anybody else to be awake."

Like a way of the fates, Mary Jane caught Ellum's eyes. He seemed to already be looking at her, a fond look on his face. Once they did, he sent her a small smirk, as if he fucking knew how much he was affecting her. Mary Jane's cheeks flushed a bright shade of red, and she averted her gaze right back at Shoto, doing her best to ignore that she could still feel him looking at her. Shoto, who was in the middle of picking up another cup to throw away, seemed to miss that interaction.

"Need any help?" Mary Jane offered.

"If you want," Shoto replied. "We haven't started to clean up the outside at all. If you want to do that, me and Ellum can finish up in here."

She nodded. "Sounds good."

Mary Jane then walked past them, doing her best to not look at Ellum again, because she knew that she would get completely distracted and forget what she was doing, or even her own name probably. All she did was open up the sliding door and go outside, putting her other headphone in her ear. See, when Mary Jane had her headphones in and really focused on a task, she could get a lot done. The outside wasn't as bad as the inside of the house, really. There were just some spare cups and other random items on the ground and the outside furniture. Mary Jane smiled softly at all the drawings people left in chalk on the basketball court for Tina before moving onto what she said she would do. She collected everything and threw it away, which was pretty much it.

After a while, the outside looked just as how they left it earlier before the party. Mary Jane, deeming it a job well done, went back inside, closing the door behind her. The boys had moved on from the kitchen, obviously migrating to another room somewhere to clean. Mary Jane moved further into the kitchen and pushed herself up to sit on the counter, looking down at her phone for a moment. The only thing that was new was a text from Sadie, asking her how her night had went and a bunch asking if she had actually done something drastic. Which, she had, yet it turned out somethin to be so beautiful in the end.

Just as Mary Jane went to reply to her sister, a new figure suddenly appeared in front of her — a figure that was so familiar to her, and one that made her heart feel like it was about to jump out of her chest. Just as the opening chords of Everywhere, Everything (the version with Luna, of course) started to play through her headphones, Mary Jane looked up to see Ellum standing in front of her, smiling gently. She grinned back at him before taking out one of her headphones and placing her phone on her lap, giving her undivided attention to him for the first time that morning. Even though she was sitting on the counter, he still managed to be taller than her. It was enough to make her head spin, really, but they were more face-to-face now.

"Well, well, well," Ellum began, placing his hands on the counter on either side of her, so she was practically trapped in. "Look who's slacking off on her cleaning task."

Mary Jane raised her eyebrows. "I finished, actually. You, on the other hand, have seemed to have completely ditched Shoto. So, who's really slacking?"

He paused for a second. "You caught me there." Ellum laughed for a second before looking at her softly, tilting his head slightly. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. Only for a couple of hours, but I feel . . . awake." She nodded to him. "You?"

"Fine. I was just up for a little bit . . . thinking."

Mary Jane tilted her head back at him, her stomach fluttering. "About what?"

His cheeks splashed a light shade of pink. "I think you know."

"Maybe, but I'd like to hear you say it."

Ellum let out a deep breath. "Fine. You. I was thinking about you." He scoffed, straightening up slightly. "You're going to tell me you weren't thinking about me? I distinctly remembering you saying that I was all you could think about."

Mary Jane's jaw dropped slightly. "Okay, don't use that against me. Low move, Josh." She shook her head. "Nothing but hate in my heart for you now."

"Nope." He poked the side of her stomach, making her giggle slightly. "Yesterday says otherwise."

She sighed dramatically. "I suppose you're right." Mary Jane looked back at him, scrunching her nose slightly as her voice quieted. "I think I like you, but don't let that get to your head."

"Too bad, it already has," Ellum responded, then looked into her eyes with a serious look. "I like you too, by the way."

Mary Jane could practically feel the grin on her face, along with the pounding of her heart. She had already guessed that from last night, but it was nice to hear out loud. Maybe it was too early, but right here, in this kitchen, Mary Jane could feel something beautiful start. Or maybe that could just be her crush-filled brain talking. Whatever it was, she had jumped in the deep end.

She snapped herself out of her trance. "We should probably go help Sho. I feel bad for letting him just clean by himself."

"We could," Ellum agreed. "Or . . ."

Mary Jane felt all of her breath leave her. "Or?"

He moved a bit closer to her. "You see, you did this thing last night . . . something I'd like to do again."

Her heart stuttered in her chest, and against her own will, her hands reached up to rest on either side of her face. "Is that so?"

"It is." Ellum's hands slid in a bit more on the counter, resting on her hips. "Shoto will be just fine on his own."

Mary Jane pulled his face closer to hers. "You're very distracting, you know."

"You gonna kiss me, or not?"

"Shut up."

They met in the middle, their lips pressing together for the first time that morning. Just like last night, Mary Jane could practically feel sunlight radiate from them, seeping into her skin and turning her world golden. It was a much sweeter, much gentler kiss than the ones they had shared previously, and Mary Jane felt tingles throughout her entire body. Not only from that, but from the way Ellum was running his thumbs back and forth on her hips.

God, this man was going to absolutely kill her.

"OH MY GOD!" a new voice then screamed.

Mary Jane instantly pulled back, her eyes wide as her head whipped over her shoulder. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen in utter shock, pointing at them completely speechless, was Leslie. Leslie was glancing in between them, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find any words to say. Mary Jane's face instantly burned a bright shade of red.

"You," Leslie let out, pointing at Mary Jane. She then pointed to Ellum. "You?"

Ellum raised his hand in greeting. "Ello, Leslie. Nothing to see here."

She blinked rapidly. "Nothing? There's . . . there's a lot to see here!"

"Leslie—" Mary Jane began.

"OH MY GOD!" Leslie yelled again before turning around, running out of the room.

Mary Jane cleared her throat, turning back around to see Ellum with a pleased look on his face. "She's going to tell everyone she sees, isn't she?"

"She'll probably wake everyone up, honestly," Ellum answered. "But if you're not cool with that, I can run after her and tell her not to."

"No, it's fine," Mary Jane told him, and genuinely meant it. "This thing—" don't come after her for saying thing, they didn't have a label, if they even needed one at this point "—between us is really new, but I think it's okay." She gave him a gentle smile. "A wise woman once said I don't want to keep secrets just to keep you. If you're cool with it, I'm cool with it."

"Wait . . . MJane, isn't that from a Taylor Swift song?"

"Yeah. Wise woman."

"Hey, you two," Shoto announced, and Mary Jane looked to see him walking back into the kitchen. "Leslie just told me you were making out in here instead of helping me?"

"It's not my fault he's distracting," Mary Jane argued lightly, her face feeling warm again as she slid off of the counter. "Coming, Sho."

"I'm kidding." Shoto gave them a grin. "Happy for you two."

Mary Jane watched as he left, her heart warming. Ellum then draped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side as he dropped his head down and planted a kiss to the top of her head. Mary Jane smiled softly to herself, nestling into his side and resting her head against him. Yeah, she could definitely get used to this.

-ˏˋ ✩✩✩ ˊˎ-

don't look at how the pictures are different sizes bc I can't be bothered look at him instead

he's so AHHHHHHH I can't handle it