#FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HE'S LITERALLY NAMED AFTER A FLOWER

[faoismao]

Now that it's confirmed that the N Clowns are getting seasonal IDs, it's basically all but guaranteed that Heathcliff "tall and handsome" "bastard of noble family" "kind heart obscured by learned assholery" "self-destructive revenge in the name of a dead sibling" Wuthering Heights is getting the Jia Huan ID, so I'm just sitting here hoping that he'll still get Daiyu.

[targaryenluvs]

DELICATE

pairings: dark!coriolanus snow x innocent!wife!reader

warnings: erm we’re back at it with another dark corio! possessiveness, literal murder, threats, vulgarity, nc touching -dumbification/babying, emotional manipulation and vulnerability, sexual undertones and thoughts, ownership?? NOT PROOFREAD

summary: coriolanus had to marry. lucky for him one of the most eligible girls of the capitol was up for grabs. only problem? he hoped his cold exterior would keep her away but nothing broke her sweet spirit. what happens when he finds himself being drawn to her light? and how far was he willing to go to keep it untainted and all to himself?

word count: 2.09k words

a/n: i swear i can only think of dark ideas for him because he is practically crayz - i loved this concept tho so enjoyyyy - annoyed i can’t find any post-lucy gifs snd i’ve already used the other one help me plz

taglist: @sleepydang @aspieundercover @darktrashsoulbear @3lliesrifle @rafeysbafey @zejjef @themorriganisamonster @cryfordemie @winterblu2 @earthangel-111 @taylarxse @alexameliamg @katastrophic04 @jjggdfvvy @joshwifeyslaymamaballs @10ava01 @kis9na @princessdaella @princessloveweird @prettybiching @justacaliforniandreamer @bxtchopolis @witchafterz @har-rison-s

PART TWO

coriolanus wanted nothing more than a relaxing night. he’d been at a campaign meeting for about four hours and he’d gotten absolutely nothing out of it.

he was in the right mind to fire them all and work it himself but he knew he couldn’t. all he wanted was to go home, have a bath drawn for him, eat dinner with you and go to sleep.

coriolanus had seen a number of weird things in his life but nothing was weirder than seeing you, hanging up the laundry to dry. you’d stopped him in his tracks but hadn’t yet noticed his presence as you hummed to yourself and went about your business. after staring in confusion for a few minutes he cleared his throat, “y/n. what are you doing?” you turned towards him with a smile, “it’s christmas! so i sent the staff home for the rest of the day so they could be with their families. don’t worry i had them prepare your bath, dinner and everything else. there were some things left to do so i thought, why not do them myself? i cleaned my room and yours, ironed the previous batch of laundry and placed them away, dusted the library and i was hanging up the laundry until you showed!” you beamed as you continued to hang the clothing.

coriolanus took a seat on one of the lawn chairs as you continued. he decided to watch you, to make sure you were okay. because who on earth wants to do laundry? that was the very reason you had so many servants. but here you were.

“you can head inside corio, no need to wait for me!” you said sweetly. coriolanus was a strong man, always rational. but god when you spoke so sweetly to him- no. “there’s no need, i’ll wait till you’re done.”

the sun was hanging low as the last rays illuminated the dining room. you’d set out candles, flowers and other pieces on the table. back home you loved setting the table, until your father would reprimand you for doing something you didn’t need to. what will people say if my daughter is acting as a servant?

but right now you felt at ease.

you had a good life. good friends which were rare to find in the capitol. good family and a good husband. he was proper, took care of you in every way, even if he didn’t love you, you were grateful to be married to someone you liked. admired. you’d heard whispers of corio’s childhood, his depleted resources and poor upbringing. but you couldn’t care less. he was more of a man than anyone you knew. and he was extremely pretty, your parents would’ve probably married you off to whomever they thought would help with social standings so this match? a lifeline.

coriolanus kept himself in check. he was up for presidency, his name and wealth restored and he was respected and feared. you were a diamond in the rough. whilst all the other girls in the capitol were, special, to say the least, you weren’t like them. first of all, he could tolerate you. like you even. you were exceptionally smart, well-read and spoken, respectful of those worthy but even those beneath you. you were kind, not the fake kind of the capitol. kind to everyone, helping everyone however you could.

and to him it was more than perfect. someone kind would be easy to have, easy to be married to. he knew from the second he saw you as marriage material that you’d never endanger those around you. you cared, enough to put your happiness to the back of the line. you’d be easy to control. after the wedding he expected you to be clingy, desperate for his love and affection. as any girl would from their husband, but you kept your distance. you didn’t push yourself on him, you did your duty. you did what was required and more. but you always listened, listened to him.

so he assumed you’d be easy to be married to, but he was always in awe of you. your sweet smiles every time you passed eachother in the halls, in the morning at breakfast and at night for dinner. always catering to him.

“what should i wear?” “you can choose.” “you tell me.” “it’s your choice.” and god did it inflate his ego. you were always asking about him, how his day was, what he did, who he saw etc. but it wasn’t just small talk, you were always listening. absorbing his words like a sponge, wide eyes, head nodding along dumbly. he loved it. and over the year he found himself, caring, on the inside at least.

every time you’d go out there were hungry eyes consuming you. your face, body everything. and he wanted to personally pluck out each eyeball and feed it to their families. so again, overtime, he’d shield you, protect you. his sweet wife who knew nothing of what the others wanted to do to her. a hand on your back, an arm around your waist, a peck on your forehead and his large red coat around you. all for show right?

he wanted to puke.

the smell of cabbage wafted to his nose and he was oh so close to putting this fist through the wall. who on earth-

you were humming, again. “corio!” your voice was music to his ears, corio, no one said it to him anymore. not even tigris. but he only liked, only wanted it to come from you. “dinner is served, some of your favourites are here. i asked tigris what you use to eat as a kid. ooh, you never told me you liked cabbage, me too! guess that’s another thing we have in common.” you beamed as you walked over with a bottle of wine, “tell me when to stop.”

he eyed you up the entire time. trying to catch a fleck of disgust whilst you ate, andddd, nothing. you weren’t lying, you actually liked it. he swallowed his own fear and began to eat.

“mm, i was wondering what you wanted me to wear tonight? i’d like to match corio, if that’s okay with you.” corio smiled slightly, “i would like to match. i have something i would like you to wear tonight sweetheart.” your eyes darted forwards as the word fell, sweetheart.

you couldn’t help the smile that came to your face, he only used terms like that in public. and based on his reaction afterwards, of which there was none, it meant that he probably didn’t even realise. or he did, you could never read him.

the red dress did things to coriolanus. the idea of you in it has his head spinning, but to actually see you in it? he wanted to throw you onto his bed and never let you out.

but to you it looked as if he was studying the dress rather than looking at you in it. “you look good.” you grinned, “thank you corio! i love your suit, you look very handsome.” you straightened his suit as he looked over your shoulder, your back was bare. “do you have a throw?” you quickly nodded and picked it up from the dresser. “good.” you already got a million stares in ordinary clothing, tonight was going to test his patience and anger.

the gala was gorgeous. for once there wasn’t ugly statues and weird color matches. a clean and pristine white hall, chandeliers, gold accents.

your heels clicked on the floor as coriolanus held his arm for you. “your hand please.” corio stared, waiting for your further explanation. “when we link arms your arm is too high for me. i end up with my arm at my neck.” you laughed as he lent his hand, which you gladly took.

stares and compliments at every corner of the room, everyone was looking at you two. the future president and first lady of panem. a match made in the capitol. you and coriolanus made the rounds, talking to present sponsors, potential sponsors and other candidates, much to coriolanus’s distaste. after a while you realised you were sort of just standing there, so you excused yourself for a drink and a closer view of the band.

“you look, ravishing.” charles operman. a sight which no one wanted to see, but to you he was just an ex-peer of the academy. “charles! thank you, corio picked it out for me.” you’d missed the way his jaw clenched at the mention of your husband, but you were to engrossed by the angelic singer and band. “you know, i always thought we’d end up together.”

the abruptness of his sentence had you choking on your drink, “excuse me, i’m married charles. i’m sorry if you thought that we would be together, i see you as a friend. i’d hate to lose a friend.” you smiled as he got uncomfortably closer and leaned into your ear, hand on your bare back.

coriolanus’s grip on his cup was tightening as he listened to lucky drone on and on. he wanted to see the life leave charles’s eyes, maybe his head would make as a nice present for you. “excuse me.” he nodded his head as he placed his cup on a passing waiters tray. you were helpless, and he was here to help you.

his breath was hot in your ear and you could smell the liquor on him as he was grabbed from you. “coriolanus, sir.” charles mocked salute as coriolanus stared at him, maybe he thought if he stared long enough hed burn into the floor. coriolanus rarely smiled, but this one was unsettling to say the least.

“if you ever put your hands on my wife, look at her, speak to her. it will be the last time you do so. i might just call in a favor with dr gaul, i hear your fond of snakes?” charles’s eyes widened, he hated snakes. he couldn’t even watch the 10th hunger games, the second he saw the snakes he ran to the bathroom and hurled.

“when i become president, you better keep yourself in line. it’d be horrible to see your family in the games no?” charles took a step back, “you can’t do that, i’m capitol.” coriolanus drew back,

“you won’t be for long.”

you couldn’t believe your eyes, of course he’d protect you but, threatening? he’d never do it right? the shutters of cameras had you reaching for corio, “can we leave my love?” coriolanus turned to you, “of course sweetheart.”

he’d stayed up for a long time. a smile came to his face when he remembered the sound of charles’s neck snapping. the door creaking open revealed a disheveled you, “corio? are you awake?” he sat up as you released a breath.

“what is it y/n?” you took a shy step forward, “i uhm, i can’t stop thinking about charles. he scared me, i didn’t know what to do corio. i-” you couldn’t stop the tears from falling as coriolanus swiftly got out of bed, helping you into his bed. “i- can i sleep here tonight? please?”

this was definitely not how he first expected to have you in his bed, but how could he say no to you? your hair in its braid, messy and lose, puffy eyes and tear stained face. he wished he’d first seen you cry underneath him but he’d take what he could get. what he didn’t expect was for him to like this, the scene of you crying, needing him. he was the one who could help you, console you, coddle you.

coriolanus nodded as he moved back to the bed, tucking himself and you in softy, caressing your hair and kissing your forehead. god he’d held out for so long, denied himself and his feelings but having you in his arms was all he could ever want, but the idea of being in you flooded his head.

would you cry like this? would you shout and scream? did you like it soft and sweet? he couldn’t be soft and sweet, he’d savour the moment but he loved the idea of unravelling you, he’d be the only one to see you like this, him being the only one to make it happen.

you curled into his chest, like a baby. your soft cries and whimpers went straight to his crotch and soon enough you were asleep.

his sweetheart, his delicate little wife.

corios hand slipped downwards and into your pants, he promised himself he just wanted to feel but god you made it difficult. he saved you tonight, didn’t he deserve a reward? didn’t matter if you detested he had you where he liked. so he slowly rolled over and placed you on the bed.

your eyes fluttered at the change of placement but he couldn’t care less. he was done waiting.

you squirmed underneath him in your sleep but his worries faded away.

[sanjisprincesswifey]

pros and cons list

summary: the good, the bad, the ugly, perfectly curated into a pros and cons list

black leg sanji

pros:

constantly wants to color coordinate your outfits together

let’s you pick meals at minimum once a week

very good kisser (he practiced with his pillow a lot before your first date)

he wants you to walk him like a dog

sanji never lets you forget how much you mean to him

always remembers important dates, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. 

remembers the little things and notices your absence (will often go to try and find you)

adapts to whatever love language you respond to 

cons:

the nicotine smell embeds into your sheets and clothes and is a pain in the ass to get out

yells for any minor inconvenience

occasionally too handsy

always finishes before you

major jealousy issues

is constantly horny

says he’s fine but he’s dying inside

doesn’t understand the concept of alone time and takes it personally if you ask to be by yourself

roronoa zoro

pros: 

the best napping partner

protective

is a softie but only with you

very emotionally intelligent 

gym trainer boyfriend

let’s you take the relationship at your own pace because he can’t be bothered 

loves to mark you and give you hickies

always makes sure you finish first 

cons: 

stinky (bro smells like sweat and steel)

does not have a single romantic bone in his body; you’ll literally have to teach him how to be a boyfriend

is extremely blunt 

snores super loud 

might fall asleep while you’re talking

you can no longer be friends with sanji 

doesn’t ask you to date him, just assumes you are together

gets upset when you can’t keep up with his drinking

monkey d luffy

pros: 

the best hugger 

extremely loyal to you

hides midnight snacks for both of you

lets you sit on the ship’s figurehead with him

king of silly sentimental gifts (hand-picked flower, cool rock, pretty seashell, that sort of thing)

always makes sure you’re included in conversations

shares his favorite foods with you

can always make you feel better

cons:

doesn’t know how to be quiet or whisper

never lets you win arguments

throws himself at you with no regard to his strength

no concept of personal space

rubs his boogers on you

accidentally makes fun of the noises you make during sex

will steal blankets from you while you’re asleep  

points out your pimples or zits 

usopp

pros: 

always finds a way to make you laugh

grows flowers for you

comforts you if you’re insecure

handmade gifts!!!!!!

brags about you to everyone

loves to show you off and tell stories about your adventures together

names special attacks after you

always lets you in on the pranks he pulls 

cons: 

is insecure

would sacrifice you to an enemy to protect himself

shows you bugs even if you’re afraid of them

incredibly awkward with all your firsts 

clammy hands

make jokes during arguments (it makes you madder and the cycle continues)

never tops

sometimes pranks you too 

nami

pros:

lets you take a few of her tangerines

immune to her reprimanding when something bad happens (most times)

extremely thoughtful gift giver

shares her money with you

cares deeply about you (don’t point it out though because then she’ll stop)

is always telling you how pretty you are

very good in bed

is more lenient with your allowance

cons:

pawns gifts you get her

bad communicator

critiques everything about you

can and will distance herself from you

charges you if you piss her off

talks about vivi way too much for having a whole other girlfriend

doesn’t apologize after fights even if she caused them

bullies you (with love)

nico robin

pros:

leaves you notes in books to find later

the voice of reason in your relationship

notices and compliments you on every little change you make (haircuts, style change, etc.)

extremely good listener

literally a human search engine; so smart you can ask her almost any question and she knows the answer

passionate lover; treats you like a god in bed

soft lips

spoils you in every way that she can

cons:

can make you feel dumb with her endless knowledge

will never say ‘i love you’ first

always tops (a possible pro depending on your preferences tbh)

has nightmares almost every night ):

closed off in the beginning of your relationship

franky hits on her (and you) all the time

rather be reading than with you

takes your relationship extremely slow

portgas d ace

pros:

can heat food up for you at any time day or night

loves pda

plans fun dates

probably says ‘i love you’ a million times a day

into body worship (both ways)

kills bugs for you

walk him like a dog, sis !

never says no to you

cons:

sweaty and greasy in the summer

farts and gives you a dutch oven

doesn’t take anything seriously

adhd moments

mommy AND daddy issues

likes to lay on top of you even though he’s huge and basically crushes you

talks with his mouth full

is loud in bed (because he enjoys it so much) and everyone can hear when you two have sex

sabo

pros:

another body worshipper

dragon claw fist. need i say more?

the best secret keeper

praises you

would actually bow down to you

very respectful, asked you to kiss on your first date

awkward but sensual lover

a loyal puppy

cons:

loves being right

sore winner & loser

cocky ass mf

talks about luffy and ace 24/7

never on time

bad temper

might catch on fire if he’s mad

loves to tease you (again, could be a pro depending on your preferences)

shanks

pros:

buys you anything you could ever want

good kisser

always showing you off

treats you like a queen

calls you his wife

very affectionate in public

another worshipper; does that thing where his kisses lead up from your hand to your shoulder

when he gets drunk and you try to kiss him, he pushes you away and says “get off me, i have a wife”

cons:

gets you riled up during the day

teases you all the time

can be unreliable

bad at flirting

drunk all the time

still makes jokes about his arm even though it’s been YEARS

lingering alcohol smell

pervert

trafalgar law

pros:

rarely cooks but always does for you when you’re sick

smells amazing all of the time

lets you do this eyeliner in the morning (based off this fanart)

is a victim of the ‘she fell first, he fell harder’ trope

gives you sound solutions to your problems

literally becomes addicted to you and can’t live without you

flusters easily, very shy

would shave his facial hair if you asked him to (please tell him to shave off that godforsaken beard)

cons:

very blunt

never talks about his feelings

grammar police

a virgin; he doesn’t know what to do but fakes confidence like he does (it makes your first time a bit awkward but just talk him through it, babe)

humbles you without meaning to

over explains if you broach a subject he likes

sassy

just stares at you when you try to flirt with him

eustass kid

pros:

scary boyfriend privilege

an absolute beast in bed

insanely good kisser

raspy morning voice

you get to use his boobies as a pillow

is very smart but kinda dumb

eats pussy like a starved man

will always save you some food (it’s how he shows he cares)

cons:

dramatic

hangs out with killer more than you

will put the milk carton back in the fridge even if it’s empty

you can never be mad at him or make him mad because he’s the biggest asshole ever

ignores you if you’re fighting

zones out while you’re talking

if you send him a long, thoughtful text, he’ll respond back with ‘k’

what’s his is his and what’s yours is his

likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated (✿◠‿◠)

[aurorasdaybreak]

can we stay together? | caleb xia (m)

summary: ever since you and caleb xia had been paired together for flight simulations, the two of you realized you made the perfect team - your calm, no-nonsense focus on your objectives balancing out his playful, sometimes aggressive captaining and piloting of whatever vessel he's put in. a drunken kiss shared in a bar puts strain on your friendship, with you squashing your ever-burgeoning feelings for him because you know his heart belongs to someone else - and he’ll never be yours. an invitation changes everything, but it’s not just any invitation…no, caleb’s received an invitation to his best friend’s (who’s basically his little sister) wedding. blindsided by the suddenness, caleb comes to you, the only one who he sees capable of helping him with his crazy ideas, with one that may ruin you completely: go back to his hometown and be his date to the wedding. what could possibly go wrong? info: daa fighter pilot!caleb x daa operations officer!afab!reader | daa pilots au | non-mc reader | unrequited requited love (they fall in love by the end i promise) | fluff, angst, some comedy, smut | 27k words (i am so sorry-) warnings: set in a alternate canon compliantish universe but if caleb was only in the DAA + him and mc grew apart + the events leading up to the farspace fleet never happened, non-mc mc, caleb’s childhood friend’s name is meilin chu (do we get the joke?? meilin chu?? mc??? okay-), gideon + patrick + josephine + xavier + hunters association characters make an appearance, gideon and patrick take the term wingman literally and figuratively, meilin is a girl’s girl and mc has a hard time confronting herself and her feelings bc of this, howl’s moving castle mention but vaguely, they yearn for each other, caleb says they’re going to pretend to be normal and almost like a couple haha so funny (narrator voice, they’re not pretending btw), fluff, a gratuitous basketball game scene, meilin and reader bonding, a dress/corset tying scene [her dress is referencing a longer version of caleb mc’s spring and flowers dress!!], tension, wedding scenes [meilin’s dress is referencing xavier mc’s wedding dress!], angst, crying, making up, love confessions, smut, dom(ish) caleb x sub!afab!reader, messy kissing, kind of? manhandling, clothed grinding, mc pulls caleb down by his necklace mhm, m!receiving! hair pulling, f!receiving! fingering, f!receiving! oral sex, g-spot stimulation, clit stimulation, f!receiving! multiple orgasms, squirting, unclothed grinding, unprotected sex, the necklace dangles in front of her face during sexxxy time and tbh we need that in game, m!receiving! scratching, crying during sex, creampie, oh boy- author's note: writer's block might be strong but I'M STRONGER BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my god i hope you guys enjoy (;-;) if you liked this pls send me an ask!! i rlly appreciate you for reading this monster of a fic, she's my new baby ♡ disclaimer: if you are a minor and you're seeing this, i ask that you turn away and do not read. this is an 18+ story and minors are not welcome. if you are uncomfortable with any of the topics listed in the warning, please do not read this story! header made by me! thank you to: @starlightkwan for beta reading and being the best ading and cheerleader (;-;) you mean so much to me!! i love you long time <33 *ੈ✩‧₊˚ playlist linked here!

How do you come back from a kiss you’ve dreamed of for years now?

You don’t know, especially since it just…happened.

One second you were at the bar top, shooting the shit with your squadron after a regularly scheduled fighting simulation. You would have stopped after your usual one cocktail before chugging a water and eating bar nuts so that you could drive your drunk teammates back to the DAA’s housing, but something felt different.

And with Gideon promising to stay sober to give you a break from being the mom of the group, why not do something unusual?

One drink turned to three, three drinks turned into hyping up the crowd in the middle of the bar’s dance floor by the antique record player, and dancing turned into…this.

A calm space in the middle of the sweaty, passionate bodies - his hands on your waist while you wrap your arms around his neck so that you can peer into his amethyst eyes that are creased in the corners because of the soft smile on his lips.

“Captain Xia, don’t you know it’s in bad taste to be dancing with your operations officer like this?” There’s no bite in your tone, only heated desire as you tease him gently. He’s nonplussed though, simply grabbing at one of your hands grasping at his shoulder so that he can twirl you around gently.

“Not when I’ve wanted to do this since I first met you in training.” Caleb emphasizes the words by dipping you in his arms, making a breathless laugh leave your lips as he pulls you back into his embrace. His hands settle on your hips before he lifts you in the middle of the dance floor, spinning you around in the hot air and making you feel weightless with a dizzy, giddy feeling.

The spin comes to a stop with you falling back safely into his embrace, him wrapping you in his arms so that all you can smell is the standard soap given to all personnel in the DAA and his sweat that makes him smell so fucking good. The moment freezes when you realize just how close the two of you are to each other - chests pressed together, noses brushing, eyes wide with the realization of what might happen. Is this really about to happen? Are you two really about to-

“____, my north star,” comes a soft murmur from beside your ear, before hesitant lips brush against yours lightly.

The effect is instantaneous - your fingers reaching up to grab at his short hair while you pull him closer to deepen your kiss. A groan escapes his mouth as he moves his lips with more fervor, mixing with the quiet whimper you unknowingly let out and making your head turn even more fuzzy than it already is.

His feet move almost unwittingly, and you gasp as you fall into a shadowy alcove of the bar. Caleb’s quick to press you into the wall, pulling your legs up so he can wrap them around his slender waist and push the beginnings of his bulge into your needy core. A moan slips out of your mouth at the contact and your fingers twine through his hair, pulling lightly as your kisses turn desperate. He answers with a whispered expletive before swiping his tongue against your bottom lip, making your mouth fall open and giving him access to your taste.

This is everything you’ve ever dreamed about - everything you’ve been afraid to do because you’re squadron mates and a system operations officer does not kiss her pilot and captain.

The kiss slowly comes to a stop, the alcohol that’s still burning in your veins mixing with the heady desire that pools in your stomach. Your skin feels electric - like any more of his touches will light you on fire and burn the both of you in your endless need for him.

You don’t want this, him, to stop.

But when his eyes slowly open, you feel your heart sink in your chest.

Even with his eyes dilated, you can see the shock on his face - jaw slowly going slack, cheeks rapidly pinking, and his hands flexing at your sides. Hesitation blooms on his face, and he shifts away just enough for the dim lighting of the bar to catch the silvery words on the dog tags he never takes off.

When U Come Back.

It’s like water’s been poured all over you, leaving you shivering and wet with the realization of what just happened.

Of what cannot happen again.

You force yourself to laugh as you unwrap your legs from his waist, taking a quick moment to steady yourself before pushing him away so he can’t reject you first and the ever simmering longing you’ve felt for him since you first met in training all those years ago. Your hands burn from the effort and you shake them out, shaking your head and moving your body away from him.

“It’s fine, Xia.” Your words are bitter even with the influence of lethargic softness from the alcohol, and you avert your eyes from his as you cross your arms in front of your chest as a sort of protective layer. “We can forget this ever happened.”

You turn on your heels and walk away from his limp arms and slack jaw, forcing yourself to swallow his unspoken rejection because at the end of the day, you’re still squadron mates - you’re his operations officer, after all. You have a job to do, a base to attend to, aircraft to manage and ensure fly safely.

But when you sink into your bunk after taking a shower and washing your sins off of your body, you let yourself cry for a single second.

Gideon is onto you.

Which is awful, because Gideon is the least attentive man in your squadron - so you don’t know how the fuck you’ve managed to let yourself slip like this.

“This is Gideon, requesting approach and descent information from ____.”

“You’re supposed to use your callsign, you know,” you sigh - half in jest, but mostly serious as your fingers fly across your keyboard to type the time of approach and check the aircraft he’s piloting. “The logs will get too long if you constantly use your name and I’m going to be the one that has to fix it-”

“-I refuse to be called Trip after a stupid incident from our academy days, ____.”

“My professional callsign is Dizzy, just like your professional callsign is Trip, Trip.” Your voice is clipped, although a small smile graces your lips as you relay the following information to him. “I suggest you remember it because our superiors will drill it into our heads.”

A crackle comes in through the system, and the next sentence you hear has you nearly banging your head against your desk. “This is Patrick, requesting approach and descent information from ____.”

“Oh my days, not you too.” You rub your hand across your face, frustration building up at their relentless teasing as you relay the vital information, even in your annoyance. “For the last time, my callsign is Dizzy and I swear on the gods if no one uses proper protocol, I will be reporting the three of you to the higher-ups-”

“This is Caleb, callsign Apple, requesting approach and descent information from ____.”

Your mouth shuts.

You can vaguely hear them ribbing into Caleb, but you tune them out when you feel the hair on your arm stand at his soft, slightly rough voice. The way he turns your name in his mouth with such care and reverence, how his voice dropped the softest octave - making the inflections of your name sound even more intimate because of how it enters your head from your comms system.

How your breath catches when you think about it too hard. The last time he said your name like that in a dingy bar with his mouth by your ear before he kissed the daylights out of you.

“Ooo, ____’s silent! Caleb’s in trouble,” Patrick’s laugh is static-y over your comms system, but you can’t even deny him or blame nonexistent lag because it’s true. Still, you’re grateful for the reality check.

You sigh, forcing yourself to be clipped as you relay only the basic information needed before you finish with, “Apple, you’re good for landing. Dizzy out.”

Outside of your office from your floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the jets from the mission zipping by the building and doing their customary loop to slow down before landing and rolling into the hangar adjacent to your building. It gives you approximately five minutes to calm down before they land and you walk out to the hangar for the post-mission debrief.

Five minutes to calm the tremors of your hands and quiet the feelings that have been threatening to spill over into your daily life since a shared kiss from…two months ago.

On the outside, you and Caleb have gone through the motions - pretending as if nothing happened as you let yourself indulge in the friendly and innocent touches the two of you have always done - even back in your academy days.

An intentional brush of the back of your hands as you walk into the office for a mission assignment, his hand settling on your shoulder as he steadies himself to pull up the legs of his g-suit, your fingers lingering on his as you give him his helmet, the way his lips moved against yours in that dingy bar-

-snap out of it, ____!

You give up on trying to calm your nerves as you stand up abruptly from your desk, smoothing the small crinkles of your uniform’s slacks before grabbing your laptop and the printed log of today’s mission. You scowl when you see your name pop up multiple times near the very end of the log, deciding to just correct it with correctional fluid and a pen before submitting all of the files to your higher-ups.

Your walk is brisk, shoes barely squeaking on the linoleum as you stride over to the hangar adjacent to the flight offices. You’re opening the doors just as Gideon and Patrick are disembarking, laughing about something unknown while they tie the sleeves of their g-suits around their waist to cool off a little bit.

“____!” Patrick calls sweetly, and you can’t hide your smile even when you roll your eyes as you approach them. “Our mission was a success, no?”

You nod quickly, although it turns into a scowl when he puts you in a sweaty headlock and ruffles your head in an affectionate, big-brother sort of way. And he’s exactly that for your squad of four - dependable, calm, and the cornerstone of your group.

“Get off of me!” It’s halfhearted as you push him off of you, smoothing the flyaways of your bun as much as you can while you frown at your watch. “Where’s Captain Xia?”

One of Gideon’s eyebrows quirks at your statement, mouth in a thin line as he assesses the way you ignore him while Patrick answers your question. “He needed to pilot his aircraft into another hangar for maintenance - he encountered turbulence as we were exiting the Deepspace Tunnel and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. Why? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, fingers mindlessly tapping against the folder in your arms as you carefully choose your next words. “Just wanted to make sure he’s okay, I guess.”

“He’s good, ____, promise.” Patrick’s eyes soften at your supposed worry over Caleb, brushing a comforting hand over your arm as he plucks the files from your arms. “In fact, I can be the one to take these over to him and submit them, okay? Get some rest.”

He leaves no room for argument, simply turning on his heel and walking away with a wave of his hand.

“You guys really are like my big brothers,” you grumble, although you feel blissful relief at the idea of delaying seeing him until tomorrow. Your hand slips into your pocket, pulling out your phone so that you can begin to clock out. “I’ll see you around, okay Gideon?”

“____.”

Gideon’s voice stops you in your tracks, and you try your absolute hardest to straighten the grimace on your face as you turn to him slowly. “Yeah?”

“Are you and Caleb okay?”

You stop in your tracks.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” There’s a crack in wouldn’t, one that makes you wince because it’s so obvious - even to the most oblivious man. You hope that Gideon just lets it be so that you can go to your quarters for the evening and maybe read a book, but the universe decides you’re not lucky enough for today.

No, not when you see Gideon’s eyebrow quirk up at your supposed calm.

“That.” There’s an emphasis in the word that lets you know he’s caught you, and you sigh as you prepare for your pseudo-interrogation. “____, you and Caleb seem different these days. Did something happen between the two of you?”

“Everything’s chill, Gideon.” It sounds more stable the second time around, although you still fiddle with the hem of your shirt as your eyes dart to everywhere from his own. “Things have been fine since we went out at the bar a couple of months ago-”

“I never mentioned the bar, ____.”

Shit.

You laugh nervously, fingers tapping against the back of your phone as you try to think of your escape. “Oh, right! It’s just that it was the last time we all went out as a squadron, and-”

“-and does that not include the hotpot meal we went to literally last week, where you also decided to kind of ignore Caleb?”

Gideon knows he has you cornered by the way you freeze slightly, hands falling limply at being caught. Your breath escapes you in a heavy sigh and he takes it as an opportunity to approach you. He pats your head gently and asks, “Did something happen at the bar, ____?”

“We kissed and it’s been messing with my head.”

It spills out of your mouth before you can even register what you're saying, and you feel your spine stiffen at the fact you’ve just spilled your deepest secret and fantasy to someone who’s basically your older brother. Your head tilts up, scared of how he might react-

-but you can only see the relief on Gideon’s face, even when his jaw is set in a straight line as he folds his arms across his chest.

“Knew it was you.”

“W-what?” It’s a stutter, one that makes Gideon smile as you flounder for words. “Me? What do you even mean?”

“Caleb was groaning on and on how he kissed someone and it was the best kiss of his life after we got home from the bar. And his eyes have been lingering on your longer than usual, ____.” Gideon stops patting your head, simply moving his hand to your shoulder so he can give you a comforting squeeze. “He’s been thinking about you too, you know.”

“Doubt it,” you scoff. “He’s blissfully oblivious to the fact that I've felt like this because…”

Because of his childhood friend.

The taste in your mouth turns sour as you imagine her visage - Meilin Chu with her long, silky hair and genuinely kind eyes as she wraps her arms around your neck and thanks you for taking care of her silly best friend during your DAA graduation and the way Caleb’s eyes soften when she’s around, smile a little wider, stance a little more relaxed.

Something you’ve never seen for yourself…for you.

Gideon senses your discomfort, and the grip he has on your shoulder tightens. “Have you asked him that?”

“I don’t need to.” You shrug his shoulder off and return your eyes back to your phone screen so you can attempt to ignore Gideon’s burning stare. “I just know. He floundered after we kissed and he hesitated. Nothing else to it.”

“God, you two are impossible.” Gideon’s hum is amused, and you look up just in time to see him shrug as a sly smile spreads across his face. “Just talk to him, ____.”

“Nope. Bye, Gideon!”

You turn to walk away, finally submitting your clock out report as you think of all of the ways you can now avoid Caleb and Gideon. Surely Patrick will help you out, right? He’s always been like your big brother and maybe he’ll tell them to leave you alone!

“You’re avoiding the inevitable, ____.”

You freeze when you hear his statement but you simply shrug, deciding to keep cool and continuing to walk away even when you hear him click his tongue at your avoidance. “You guys could skip to kissing if you just talked to him!”

“Not a chance in hell of that happening! Bye, Captain Trip!”

With all of your bravado as you walk away from his shaking head, you certainly don’t feel it. No, you feel a quiet churning in the pit of your stomach as you submit your clock out time to the DAA’s system and let your feet wander to the mess hall so that you can eat before locking yourself in your dorm.

Safe from seeing Caleb physically, sure.

But not safe from the feelings that threaten to choke you with your affection for him.

You’ve never been this engrossed by a movie in your life until now.

Your face is awash in the bright scenery as you sit in your comfiest pajama set, enraptured by the scenes playing out in front of you on your computer screen. The way that the blond love interest spins the main character around in the air as they traipse through the sky before calling her his girl and leaving? The banter and the found family aspect of the movie?

The accompanying musical score? The romance???

Needless to say, you’re obsessed.

It’s almost enough to distract you from your own woes and Gideon’s words bouncing around in your brain.

Action word here being almost.

You reach over and rewind the movie to your favorite part (the scene right before they’re soaring across the sky to escape the henchmen) but you barely register what’s happening on your screen as you mull over what Gideon said to you.

Knew it was you.

He’s been thinking about you too, you know.

Just talk to him, ____.

They swirl in your head until your stomach roils with unease, making you flop back onto your bed as you think back to the past couple of months. You and Caleb have been pretty good at avoiding what happened in the bar - almost back to normal, if a little strained. You never look at him for too long because it feels hard to breathe or even think professionally if you stare at him for too long, but you’re okay with living like this if it means he’s still somewhat in your life.

But do you want to settle for this, ____?

A small voice filled with hope and romance in the back of your head betrays you and you scowl at its insistence. “I’m fine.”

But what if he actually wants you, too?

“Oh, this is impossible,” you grumble to yourself as you sit back up. You pause the movie (they’re beginning to float in the air right now) and walk towards the door, barely registering that you’re only in a thin camisole and a matching pair of sleep shorts. It’s not like anyone’s going to be awake at this hour, anyways. You’re just going to the mess hall to get some ice cream-

“Xia?”

He’s standing at your door, covered in a sheen thin of sweat and panting heavily while his fist still remains raised, about to knock on your wide-open door. He looks like he’s seen a ghost with how pale his face is, pupils blown wide as his shoulders shake slightly.

He looks utterly wrecked.

You sigh heavily, grabbing the first sweater you see off of your desk and pulling it on top of your thin camisole so he can’t see you in your state of basically undress as you beckon for him to come inside. He bursts through the door and barely perches himself on your bed as you close the door, making your way to your mattress and settling yourself a little bit away from his trembling body.

“Sorry, ____, I just needed to be here-” He’s breathing shallowly, hands pushing his sweaty hair back as you realize he’s in his workout clothes, his tank top drenched with sweat and grey shorts barely hiding the thick muscles of his thighs. But you can’t find it in yourself to feel desire - no, you only feel worry when you see the absolute devastation on his face as his shoulders shake.

“Is everything okay, Caleb?” 

Mentally you slap yourself for the redundant question. Of course he’s not okay. But it offers an avenue for him to tell you the issue, and it comes in the form of him holding out a slightly wrinkled stack of papers.

You take the papers from his hand, careful not to brush against his fingers as you feel the weight of the luxurious material in your palms. The cardstock is a thick, soft cream color with intentional texture and a wax seal that’s been cracked open. You lift the flap delicately, and the first couple of words your eyes scan over makes your breath catch in your throat.

You have cordially been invited to the wedding of Meilin Chu and Xavier Shen.

“Caleb-”

“She didn’t tell me until just now.”

It’s a bleeding confession and you’re quick to grab Caleb’s arm, dragging him deeper in your bed so that he can lay down on it heavily. You sit next to him and despite the unspoken tension between the two of you, you allow him to settle his head on your lap as you run your fingers through his slightly damp hair.

“I knew she was dating someone from the Hunters Association and that it had been going on for a while, but I didn’t know they were getting married.” It’s not angry at all, you can only describe his voice as shocked and hurt by the news he’s just received. “And they’re getting married so soon? ____, I just…I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“I’m sorry, Caleb,” you murmur softly. Your hand settles on top of his head and you take to patting him softly as you mull over your next words. “Did you talk to her about it?”

“No,” he scoffs slightly. Caleb shifts his body so he’s laying on his back, head tilted back as he closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We haven’t talked since I went home a couple of months ago for our scheduled break. Everything seemed normal, you know? I even hung out with Xavier and some of their Association friends because Mei insisted. Everything is…it was normal, ____.”

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, fingers gentle through his hair as he groans and rubs at his eyes.

“I just thought pips would tell me, you know, ____? We’re family.” His voice catches at the last word and you sigh heavily, resuming patting his head because what are you supposed to do in this situation?

Your eyes flash over to the dog tags resting on his chest, the soft glint of When U Come Back accompanied by the little apple charm flashing at you like a knife. You know where his official dog tags are - they’re with Meilin, a sign of his dedication and loyalty to her and only her.

Your chest aches, thinking of your own dog tags gathering dust in the little box somewhere in your desk drawers. The dog tags are something you’ve never been able to give to someone because you didn’t have anyone who gives a damn about you back home in Chansia City. It’s always just been you.

You can never be mad at the relationship he has with Meilin. No, you just ache because you wish someone would put yourself above all else, like he does for her.

You want to matter, too.

You’re drawn out of your stupor when you hear your name fall from his lips, and you look down at him in confusion. “What was that?”

“Come with me to the wedding.”

Everything stills and you look down at him, blinking in shock.

“Excuse me?” It’s a breathless heave of your chest as he pushes himself up off of your lap, looking at you with a pleading that nearly has you melting on the spot. But you hold out, instead crossing your arms because there’s no way you’re going to allow yourself to go through this without support.

Not when you’re still reeling from a fucking kiss.

“Please, ____,” Caleb says. His eyes turn down and you move your vision up to your cracked ceiling, wishing for something from the Deepspace Tunnel to smite you down so that you don’t have to see him turn golden retriever on you. “Gideon and Patrick already got invites from Mei and she said she wants you there, too. We called in our leave and we can just relax and I just need you there, star. Please.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Xia.” It’s a sure statement, and you see the way his face falls slightly. Still, you continue because there’s no way this wedding trip won’t end in disaster. “I didn’t even get a proper invitation anyways. Wouldn’t I be intruding on it? If the three of you got invited, it should be you three to go.”

His dejection smooths out slightly, and he looks at you in muted surprise as he directs you to look at the envelope once again. “Did you not see the back, ____?”

Your eyes wander to the envelope in your hands, seeing the “Captain Caleb Xia + One Additional Guest” printed in a neat script on the back.

Shit, your plan is falling apart and it didn’t even fully come to fruition yet.

“I don’t think our officers will say yes to all of us leaving at the same time-”

“They already approved the time off, ____.” Caleb’s face goes from dejected to slightly amused when he sees the way your eyes widen, words suddenly floundering as you register that he’s about to get you hook line and sinker into his insane plan.

“W-what?! They would never-”

“Already did. If that was what you were worried about, I already took care of it for you.” By now he’s smiling, slight indents on the side of his cheeks as you roll your eyes at him. He reaches over tentatively and your breath catches when you allow him to tilt your chin to look up at him. You’re cursing him in your head though - damn Caleb Xia and his beautiful amethyst eyes you would do almost anything for.

But then you think about the kiss, how you’re still reeling from his mouth on yours in the dim light of a bar you’re sure you can’t physically enter anymore. The memory entrances and haunts you all of the same, and you find yourself slipping as you say, “The kiss?”

Caleb stills.

Your eyes avoid him as you play with your sweatshirt, not wanting to see him and his sudden rejection of you going to this wedding. It’s for the best, you think somberly as he mulls over his options.

It’ll be no good for the two of you if you agree to go to this godforsaken wedding.

“I promise I won’t touch you, ____.”

Your eyes look up in bewilderment, suddenly shocked as you look at his rapidly pinkening face. He sheepishly scratches at the back of his head at your surprise. “We can put the kiss behind us, too. We don’t have to speak about it.”

“Oh.”

The thing is, you don’t want to forget your kiss with Caleb Xia. You don’t want to forget the way his breath washed over your face as you kissed him with increasing fervor, how the planes of his abdomen felt against the softness of your breasts, and how intoxicated he looked off of the taste of you.

You don’t want to forget how enamored he was by you, even if it was only for a moment.

But then you think about this impossible situation. You think about how you're about to be stuck with Caleb, your basically big brothers in the form of Gideon and Patrick, and Caleb’s extended family for a wedding you didn’t even know was happening until just now, in Linkon City of all places. You think of how things could easily fall apart between the two of you while you’re there, and is this really worth it? Is always being there for Caleb worth it?

Is any of this worth it, ____?

“Please, ____.”

There’s your breaking point.

“Yes,” you reply - practically signing the release to your ruin.

It’s almost worth it, though, when you see the way his smile overtakes his face.

The trip to Linkon City is…blissfully uneventful.

At least, it starts that way.

You and the three pilots you’re responsible for arrive at the airport bright and early to beat security lines and potentially get a light breakfast to eat. For three men who navigate the skies with general ease, they have a hard time navigating their way to a food court and your plane’s gate, so it’s up to you to split the four of you into groups of two - one to get food, one to find the boarding gate.

And since you’re responsible for team management…

“All right, Gideon can go with Caleb to find food while Patrick and I find our gate. Once you have food, we’ll come find you and take you to the waiting area.” Your voice is clipped and concise, and the three of them don’t have any arguments since they’re too sleepy to fight back. Gideon punches Caleb’s shoulder and nods his head to the direction of the food court as you flick your gaze to Patrick, pointing to where the numbered gates are.

It’s a peaceful silence as you and Patrick scan the numbers, and you sigh in relief when you see your gate and your flight’s designated number. You sink into the stiff cushions of the gate, ready to scroll through your Moments page for any fun event updates happening during Linkon City-

“-when did you start having a thing for Caleb?”

Well, that’s certainly one way to break your stupor.

“I don’t know what you mean, Patrick.” You’re as cool as a cucumber while you continue to scroll through your Moments page, having vowed to keep you shit together to ensure that this trip goes as smoothly as possible. But your hands betray your nerves - slightly shaky, finger tapping against the back of your phone erratically as you fight to keep your gaze on your screen.

Your eyes flick up to Patrick’s face, and he has his signature knowing smile that has you groaning.

Of course Patrick susses you out even with your cool facade. Out of the three of them, he’s always the one to analyze and bide his time, gathering intel before striking.

You just so happen to be the next target he wants to crack.

“Gideon slipped up telling me some things,” he discloses quietly, and you make a mental note to strangle Gideon the next time you see him as Patrick continues his musings. “But you and Caleb have always had an unspoken bond…when did that start?”

You look at Patrick’s face, trying to gauge him and his thoughts as you decide how much you want to disclose to him. He’s still looking at you with that infuriatingly patient look of his, simply waiting for you to go at your pace.

“We were both barely legal enough when we joined the Academy.”

“I know that much, ____-”

“No, Patrick,” you say forcefully. “We were barely eighteen, diving headfirst into the Academy so we could build ourselves up to be better. You above all people know that the program is ruthless, and after we got paired for flight sims with him as the pilot and me as his systems operations one-on-one, we just…stuck together.”

“So why not tell him that? Why not tell him the feelings you have for him?”

You hesitate at his words, hands floundering as you try to put into words why you can’t tell Caleb everything you feel for Patrick to understand. If you had been able to do it, you would have a long time ago. 

But then you see it - the way he gets protective when he mentions Meilin, swearing how he’ll always put her and his Gran first so that they could be comfortable - even before him and his own wants and desires.

How he’ll never look at another for as long as he’s supporting them.

You don’t feel any sort of bitterness and anger, just…quiet resolve. Maybe a little bit of appreciation. Caleb Xia’s many things, and a dedicated man to those he cares for the most is at the top of that list. And that’s something you could never hate about him-

-it’s the thing you love the most about him, his undying devotion.

It’s just that you know it will never be directed towards you.

“Because he has people at home and he can realistically pick any girl he wants. I’m just…me. I don’t really speak to my family right now and I’ve never been anyone’s first choice. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would choose me.”

“And how do you know that, ____?” Patrick’s voice is gentle, devoid of condescension as he bumps your shoulder with his. “I think you should talk to Caleb, ____. You might be surprised with what he has to say.”

“No.” It’s a little too forceful coming from your throat, and you straighten your spine when you see Caleb and Gideon walk towards the two of you with a brown paper bag. You avert your eyes and duck your head down, murmuring, “I’m here to support Caleb and to witness a wedding. I’ll do what I need to do and bury my feelings into the ground.”

With your final vow you stand, moving your carry-on so that you can settle next to an outlet and ignore the three of them. You miss the way Caleb’s eyes lingers on you as you scroll through Moments, and the way Gideon and Patrick share an unspoken look at Caleb’s intense gaze on you.

But they (very thankfully) do not bother you until it's time to board, the only interruption to your doom-scrolling being your favorite croissant sandwich Caleb settles beside you with an unspoken word. And you’re thankful, because you don’t think you can properly look at him and the devastating slope of his nose in the rising sun’s golden glow.

As you settle next to Gideon on the plane, you give him a halfhearted chop to the throat. He lets out an unholy squawk at your muted violence, clutching his neck as he looks at you in a scandalized manner. 

“What the fuck was that for, ____?!”

All you need to do is glare at him and he shrinks back into his seat, avoiding the heat of your stare as he suddenly fiddles with the seat in front of him in rapt fascination.

You sigh.

You’re barely on the plane, and you’ve already experienced developments to this situation that’s turning this trip into a train wreck of a romantic comedy at this point. You turn your head up to the vague direction of the Deepspace Tunnel as the plane begins to taxi and you think to yourself:

Please give me a mission so I can get out of this stupid romcom I put myself into.

“Caaaaaaleb!!!”

There’s a loud squeal when you and your squad finally make it out to the arrivals area and you see a head of long and glossy hair run up to your group, jumping up and hugging Caleb tightly. Caleb’s quick to catch Meilin, chuckling as he spins her around and whispers something frantically in her ear.

Behind Meilin is a silver-y blond man with bright blue irises, halfheartedly holding a sign that says Skyhaven Squad Pickup. You see his eyes flash with something possessive when Caleb pats Meilin’s back gently, but his posture quickly relaxes when Meilin lets go and runs to you instead.

Ah, that must be Xavier, you think to yourself, before a quiet oof escapes your mouth from the velocity in which Meilin runs into you.

“It’s! So! Nice! To! See! You! Again!” Each word is punctuated with an aggressive sway of your body as she rocks you back and forth in her hug. You remind yourself that Meilin doesn’t know about your feelings and that she’s done no wrong, and it makes it easier for you to relax as you wrap your arms around and reciprocate her warmth. 

Besides, her enthusiasm’s infectious.

The hugs she shares with Gideon and Patrick have the same energy, and they also laugh and tousle her hair as they hug her back. It’s a chaotic shuffle to get to the van Meilin and Xavier rented to pick the four of you up, but Caleb’s quick to take the key from Meilin while shuffling into the front seat. Gideon and Patrick’s eyes sparkle at you as they get into the back, leaving Meilin and Xavier in the middle row and you standing awkwardly by the passenger door.

“Get in, ____!” You shoot Patrick a death glare at his cheeky wink, yanking the door open and sliding yourself into the seat. You ignore Caleb’s heated stare on the side of your face as you buckle yourself in, going onto the navigation app and turning your head back to the four people in the back of the car.

“What are the plans today? Where are we going?” Your pragmatic self comes back out, drowning out your anxiety as you input routes and search the nearest restaurants so that you can all eat together. 

“We’re heading to the Bloomshore District! Caleb should know the way-”

“Got it,” Caleb says smoothly. He’s quick to pull out of the parking spot, easily transitioning into the busy traffic of Linkon City. The silence never abates, though - Meilin, Patrick, and Gideon talk animatedly about the wedding as Xavier hums along in response while you and Caleb continue to not look at each other as you wordlessly hold your phone out to help him navigate.

“Gran got reservations at a really nice hotpot restaurant before we take you to your accommodation!” Meilin’s rambling as she fills you in on all of the plans, her chatter a nice companion to the soft music from the playlist you put on before the drive started. “Actually, do you guys have clothes for the wedding? We allocated a budget for that too-”

“We have tuxes already, Mei,” Patrick says. But his eyes turn mischievous as he points at you, shaking his head. “Miss Serious over there doesn’t have a dress though-”

“Shut up, Patrick-” You seethe, but you hastily put on a smile as you shake your head and hold your hands out to stop Meilin’s train of thought. “It’s okay Mei! I’ll find something suitable in our time off! I saved for it too-”

“Nonsense, ____!” Meilin sounds offended at the remote thought of you refusing her and her ability to pay for your dress to her wedding. “We’ll go shopping together, after some of the wedding events! We also have gift bags and jerseys for the basketball game that’s happening next weekend-”

“Mei, there’s a basketball game? Seriously?”

The car comes to an abrupt stop, half from the sudden yellow and half from Caleb’s shock. He turns back briefly to look at her in disbelief, shaking his head. “There’s no way you organized a wedding basketball game, Mei.”

“Yes I did, Caleb! You’ll be competing, by the way!” Meilin’s tone is sing-song as she continues on with the subject. “We need an opposing team! Xav, his best man, and one of our friends from the Association will be competing on one team, and you, Gideon, and Patrick can be on the other-”

“You didn’t even tell us, pips!” Caleb’s voice is hot as his fingers clench the steering wheel while he starts the car once more, merging onto the road that leads to the Bloomshore District. “I would have appreciated a little heads up so we could train-”

“We don’t need to train for a basketball game, Caleb,” Gideon says. “We can easily beat the Association team’s ass, right ____?”

“Umm-”

“I still would have appreciated some sort of warning,” Caleb unceremoniously cuts you off, making you roll your eyes as you sit back and listen to the bickering happening. “Springing this on us all of a sudden is a little bit much, pipsqueak. And you’re wanting to do this too, Xavier?”

Xavier shrugs, but his eyes flash with a challenge as he regards him with a small smirk on his face. “Why not? And why are you so apprehensive about it? You scared you’ll lose, Xia?”

Caleb prickles in his seat, jaw ticking dangerously as he processes Xavier’s unspoken challenge. You shake your head at the chaos around you and, despite the lingering awkwardness from your avoidance earlier in the morning, run a soothing hand over his arm, pressing your fingers against his wrist to help him calm down. You feel Caleb relax under your touch, and he sighs heavily to himself before letting his right hand grab your fingers and squeezing them tightly, returning your hand back to your lap gently and refocusing onto the road in front of him. 

The action is quick, but you miss the way Xavier’s lips curl up in a quick smirk as Meilin’s eyes sparkle at the unspoken movement.

“Pipsqueak, no way.” Caleb’s protest isn’t as heated, but his fingers still clench the steering wheel as he drives into a parking lot. “I told you I’m retired-”

“And I’m bringing you out of retirement since I need a representative!” Meilin pouts at him, and you very well see his resignation and acceptance on his face as he pulls into a parking spot. “I’ll be rooting for Xav but Caleb, we really need an opposing team!”

The car rolls to a stop in front of a restaurant, and Caleb kills the engine before turning his body and staring back at Gideon and Patrick with an unspoken intensity you assume only the three of them know. “You two were in on this, huh?”

Patrick only shoots him a cheeky wink. “It’s been a while since we’ve played basketball, Captain Xia. It’ll be fun! Think of the glory!”

You see the exact moment Caleb cracks: the mention of winning. You’ve seen his extreme competitiveness first hand, and from the way Meilin talks about him playing basketball back in the day, he surely must have been even more so back then? Caleb looks at you pleadingly but you simply smile as you open the door.

“I think you’ll be good at it, Caleb.” Your voice is soft as you hop out of the car, stretching slightly. “Why not?”

You walk a couple of paces in front of you so you can get rid of the kinks in your body, trying to relax the tension you feel. But you hear the resounding cheer behind you in the car and you shake your head slightly with a light laugh, knowing he’s agreed to the basketball game.

One by one they get out of the car, eagerly filing into the restaurant where Meilin and Caleb’s gran is waiting for your group. Caleb pauses when he sees you moving back to the car, about to walk to you. Meilin stops him though, pulling him down and whispering something in his ear before he sighs and nods. As you lean against the car and breathe in deeply, you see Meilin and Xavier talking quietly to each other before Xavier nods, quickly jogging back and standing next to you as Meilin smiles in your direction before going into the restaurant.

There’s a companionable silence as Xavier waits for you to get ready, the two of your similar dispositions allowing for quiet to be comfortable instead of awkward. You simply nod to Xavier and you both walk to the restaurant. The smell of hotpot is so close you can taste it-

“Have you always had a thing for Caleb, ____?” Xavier’s voice is soft yet probing as he walks beside you. You turn to look at him in disbelief but he simply smiles, pointing at his eyes and then your hand as if that answers your question. “Saw what you did in the car.”

“Oh, come on.” You groan, shaking your head as the two of you approach the front doors. “I don’t need your interrogation too, Xavier. We barely just met, can you ignore whatever you saw? Caleb doesn’t need to know-”

“So you do have feelings for him.” There’s a subtle smirk on his mouth as he gestures for you to enter the hot pot restaurant, and you bristle at having slipped once again.

“I’m going to eat!” Your frustration gets the best of you and you march through the door in front of you so that you can finally eat after this hellscape of a morning. All the while, you hear Xavier’s soft laughter behind you, making you tempted to hold your middle finger up for him to see. You decide against it, though, on account that he’s the fucking groom of the wedding you’re about to attend. 

God, you’re not going to make it.

You successfully barricade yourself in your room under the pretense of work for three whole days before Patrick finally manages to drag you out of your self-imposed prison.

“Getting our higher ups to agree to our squad getting a three week break at the same time was near impossible, ____.” His voice has the edge of a disappointed father and you sheepishly duck your head as you pack your bag to go out. “Knowing you, you’ve completed everything flawlessly so I’m dragging you out and you cannot stop me.”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” you grumble softly, but you still give him an appreciative nod as you make your way out of the room. “What does Mei have planned for us tonight?”

There’s an air of hesitation as the two of you walk to the first floor of your accommodation, Patrick tight lipped as you pick up the shoes you’re going to wear. You turn your head when Patrick doesn’t respond, quirking an eyebrow at him in confusion.

“Just get in the car, ____.”

“Fine,” you mutter back, quickly sliding on your shoes and smoothing out the skirt and sweater you decided to wear before walking out, letting him lock the door behind you.

You scan the driveway, looking for Meilin’s personal car as you approach the rental vehicle sitting by the street. Usually everyone would be in their unassigned assigned seat by now, but you feel surprise brewing in the pit of your stomach when you realize that you don’t see Meilin and Xavier in the car - it’s just Caleb waiting by the middle seat as Gideon drums his fingers against the steering wheel.

“Are Meilin and Xavier not joining us?” You’re curious as Patrick slides himself into the passenger seat, sidestepping Caleb’s waiting hand and pulling yourself into the middle seat. “Or are they going to meet us wherever we’re going?”

Gideon looks back at you with a mysterious smile on his face. “Just wait, ____.”

Your focus is solely on the flashing lights that pass by as you drive through traffic and different parts of Linkon City, entranced by the different types of architecture and neighborhoods that flash by. After spending most of your years in Skyhaven, you’ve gotten comfortable with the scenery. Everything feels new here, and you almost feel bad for cooping yourself up in your room for the past couple of days.

But then you look back and barely catch the way Caleb’s eyes linger on you before he turns his head to his own window, and you sigh minutely to yourself as you twiddle your thumbs and avoid scrolling on Moments like a disinterested teenage daughter.

“We’re here!”

Gideon’s voice is cheerful, oblivious to the awkwardness you and Caleb share as he kills the engine and opens his door. You’re quick to open your own door and slide out, rolling your ankles slightly before looking at your surroundings.

A little bit of a ways away, you can see lanterns strung in the air, swaying gently in the cool summer air above the numerous stalls on the street. There’s an aroma of grilled meat and candied sweetness that blends together nicely as you turn back to them, eyes sparkling at the realization. “A night market?”

“Mhm.” Patrick practically looks like a proud father as he takes your arm, pulling you in the direction of the bustle with little resistance as Gideon and Caleb follow behind you. “Found one while searching through Moments so we figured why not?”

Your awe continues as your group dives into the chaos, Gideon already ordering skewers as Patrick gets his hands on some pan fried baos. The air is comfortable amongst the four of you as you split the food and taste everything the market has to offer, and you feel yourself loosening up with every laugh and elbow jostled.

It’s enough to get you to look at Caleb fully since this trip’s started.

The four of you continue on, trying anything and everything that looks remotely delicious or fascinating. The best thing about having three pilots is that they have large appetites, so none of the food goes to waste as they continuously tuck in.

Soon though, you unanimously decide to wander around the stalls laden with various goods and trinkets. You’re so engrossed in some dresses that you don’t register Gideon and Patrick walking away with a knowing look in Caleb’s direction, leaving Caleb with his hands in his pockets as he waits for your realization to hit you.

But when you turn to look at him, you simply smile as you beckon to another direction. “Wanna keep walking? There must be way more over there!”

“I- yeah,” he concedes. Your eyes narrow at his hesitation but you decide to brush past it, simply grabbing his arm and pulling him along the rows of stalls.

In these situations, your different personalities really shine. Caleb wants to dart back and forth to different stalls but you take your time, going up to a stall if something catches your eye and picking up items to feel their weight before continuing on. Caleb never rushes you, though - he watches and waits, holding anything in your hands if you want to feel something before taking your arm and gently guiding you through the throng of people to stalls he knows you’ll like.

The shared energy is amiable, silence comfortable as you let your eyes wander over Caleb’s frame. You’d be an idiot to not acknowledge how good he looks in the hazy lights provided by the lanterns, the gentle glow making him look softer as he scopes out your next location. The sleeveless shirt shows off the way his arms ripple as he reaches for you, helping you through a fast moving crowd and guiding you towards an assuming corner. If you gave in, you could almost imagine this as a date between the two of you, but the taste in your mouth turns sour because it most definitely is not.

“How’s your Gran?”

It slips off of your tongue as the two of you finally make it into a less busy part of the market, the stalls lining this street dedicated to craftsmanship. You stop in front of a live artist painting little chibis of people, and you examine their work as Caleb mulls over the question.

“She’s good.” His tone is softly tinged with tiredness as he moves to stand next to you, examining the drawing you’re currently focused on. “Her, Mei, and I went out to lunch and they took me to a fitting for a tux since they wanted me to walk with them down the aisle. I also went to a suit fitting before the tea ceremony tomorrow for Mei and Xavier.” Caleb turns his gaze to you, and you still slightly as he scans your visage. “Will you be coming?”

“Tea ceremonies are usually for immediate families and close friends.” It’s firm as you move down to another booth, this time with jade carvings. “I have their gift prepared for them, though. You’ll give it to them, right?”

“____.” Caleb tries to get your attention by grabbing at your arm, but you simply shrug him off as you peer closer at the intricate jade pieces in front of you. “You’re my guest, you should come-”

“I have DAA work to complete.” You decide that jade is not your favorite as you move to the next stall, your interest piquing when you see charms of all shapes and sizes in little wooden boxes. You lift one in the shape of a chubby star into your palm, tracing the smooth metal and the little yellow gem inlaid in the center.

A finger plucks the charm from your hand and your scowl rivals Caleb’s frown as he gently places it back into the box, eyes lingering on the little star before returning his attention to you. His hand grabs at yours and he pulls you into a shadowy corner, crossing his arms and blocking your path to escape. “Are you good, ____?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” You can feel the tension between the two of you, simmering since you boarded the plane a couple of days ago. You realize now you must be like a petulant child, avoiding not just Caleb but Gideon and Patrick and you soften, deciding to maintain the peace for their sake. “This trip is about Meilin and Xavier, ____. I wasn’t even formally invited so I’m just…making sure the trip is enjoyable for you.”

“What would make this trip more enjoyable is if I had my friend going out as well, star.” It’s a quiet confession, and he reaches up as if he wants to touch your face before shaking his head and letting his hand fall. “I want you to have fun too, ____.”

“I am!” You try to insist on it, but even you find your words falling flat as you think of something. “Hotpot was great, and then…”

“And then you locked yourself in your room for three days to avoid me.” Caleb’s voice is deadpan, but you can still see a flare of hurt at the words he utters. “____, I told you I would make sure you were comfortable. Are you not?”

“I am,” you try to insist on it, but it falls flat. Frustration begins to eat at your mind and you feel a small corner of your brain panic at the situation beginning to spin out of control. This is the last thing you wanted - for an argument to break out. Your hands reach up, rubbing all over your tired face as you think of the facts right now.

The thing is, you’re having fun right now. The three of them dragging you out has done wonders for you, and you’ve already so much of what you’ve wanted the past few hours. You want to go to all of the little events Meilin has planned, scream as much as you want at the upcoming basketball game coming up.

But your feelings are stopping you. The crippling fear of accidentally spilling your love for him is making your head spin, and it’s mixed with the desire of wanting to spend time with him so much that you can’t find an out in this situation. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place and you don’t know what to do which terrifies you because you’re always supposed to know what to do.

Hands cup your face, thumbs rubbing the temples of your head as you allow yourself to sink closer to Caleb’s comforting space. “Hey, ____…”

“I want to have fun, trust me Xia.” It’s raw, even with no tears as you try to stop the spinning of your head. “I just don’t want to get in between you and Meilin spending time together, you know? She’s your best friend and you guys still have a lot to talk about and why she didn’t tell you she was getting married in the first place-”

“-it’s fine, ____. I’ll talk to her soon, I just want you to enjoy yourself too.”

Silence descends between the two of you as you slow your breathing, letting the cool air bring you back to the present. You try to untangle yourself from his arms but he stops you, simply pressing his palms into your face as he guides you to look up at him.

“What if we just pretend, star?” 

“What?”

It’s a shocked whisper as your eyes widen, lip quivering as you look at his steadfast expression. There’s no hesitation on his face, only assurance as he moves his arms to wrap you in his embrace.

“Let’s just pretend nothing happened between us, okay? We’re just Caleb and ____, on vacation with our friends. We’re going to have a good time and it’s just you and I, okay?”

You slowly step back, eyes wild as you scan his face for any sort of hesitation on end. There’s nothing, though - only determination to make things somewhat more comfortable for you so that you can enjoy yourself too.

“Is that a good idea, Caleb?”

Your voice trembles because you don’t think you can pretend, not when your feelings are threatening to spill out of your mouth every couple of seconds. If you thought you wouldn’t make it out when the trip started, there’s almost no guarantee you’ll make it out of the trip unscathed if he’s asking you to pretend with him.

“I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, like I said.” It’s a promise on his end that you know he’ll keep, but it’s practically useless because that’s not the issue at all - the issue is that you’re so deeply in love with him that you’re beginning to think that this is your only option. “Can we try, ____?”

“What does pretending even entail, Xia?” There’s a bite in your tone as you cross your arms, looking up at his confidence. “How are we going to go about this pretending that you’re so sure of?”

Caleb senses your apprehension, and his eyes soften as he regards your face with nothing but sincerity. “Nothing happened between us, ____. No kiss, no anything. We’re just two friends who are on vacation, spending time together.”

“And this will work because-”

“-because it will remove the pressure and tension from you.” Caleb finishes your musings with a soft smile, and you almost feel yourself getting ready to go along with it because he sounds so sure about this going okay. “We’re just two…friends, star. We’re enjoying a vacation.”

“And you don’t see this ending in disaster, Xia?” You have to admit, it sounds pretty viable coming out of his mouth. There’s a little part of you that’s still hesitant, but you’re mostly curious to see what pretending means to him.

“Not at all, ____.” His tone is smooth, but his eyes are sincere as he reaches up to gently pinch at your cheek. You scowl and bat his hand away, but you can’t stop the small grin forming on your face at his teasing. “Not when I get to spend time with you.”

“Okay.”

The word slips out of your mouth before you’re even sure of what you said, but Caleb hears it all the same as a smile spreads across his face - making him look even more devastatingly handsome under the gentle glow of the lanterns above the two of you.

Oh, ____- you’re so screwed.

The day of the basketball game arrives with nerves.

Sure, you’re excited for the game to start, but it’s harder to feel that when you’re nervous about how the day will go. Not even if Caleb, Gideon, and Patrick lose - no, you’re scared because how are you going to continue pretending?

“What’s got you so nervous, ____?” Meilin’s sitting next to you, wearing a headband that has little heart cutouts of Xavier’s face that’s paired with her jersey that has his last name on the back. She looks down at the simple romper you pulled on, lips jutting out in a pout as she looks up at you with sad eyes. “And why didn’t you wear the extra jersey Caleb had?”

You eye Meilin, suspicion in your veins as you try to gauge how truthful she’s being. “I didn’t see an extra jersey, and Caleb was already wearing it when he went downstairs.”

“Damn,” she mumbles softly to herself, and you look at her in confusion before her slightly frustrated expression smooths out. Her smile peeks back out, and she elbows you friendly as you tentatively smile at her back. “How’re you liking Linkon City? Did you do anything fun?”

You nod as you focus back on the teams on the basketball court, Xavier and Caleb approaching the half court line to decide who has the ball first. After a lot of back and forth Caleb concedes the ball to Xavier, turning back with practiced ease as Xavier bristles slightly. The whistle sounds and the game begins with Meilin snorting beside you at the competition brewing.

“I knew they would be like this,” she says to you softly over the cheer of the wedding crowd. Xavier sinks a shot and points to Meilin, blowing her a kiss in her direction before tripping over his feet. You watch as Meilin’s cheeks bulge the tiniest bit, holding in her laughter even when she blows a kiss back.

“Oh God don’t laugh Mei,” she chants to herself but you elbow her, making a quick giggle escape from her lips.

“Stop, ____,” she hisses, but you merely smile devilishly sweet at her as you clap when Patrick makes a good throw into the basket.

For how competitive he is, Caleb is completely relaxed as he dribbles the ball before passing it to Gideon. You try not to focus on the way his sweat makes his body shine or how good he looks in his basketball jersey - a purple that matches his eyes with his last name emblazoned on his back. You swear he must feel your stare, though, because his eyes catch yours when he has the ball.

He dribbles the ball casually as he approaches the hoop, and Meilin elbows you back as she preens like a peacock. “Oh my God, ____, he’s about to show off-”

Your body flushes when he points directly at you, giving a small wink and smirk in your direction before focusing back on the hoop. The ball sails towards its goal-

-only to miss entirely. 

You burst into laughter when you see Caleb’s sheepish expression, hysterical to the point of tears at his cheesy attempt gone wrong. Meilin laughs alongside you, and you both have to clutch at each other as you both attempt to stifle your giggles while the game continues.

“Oh my God he looked so stupid-” you gasp, tears streaming down your face as another peal of laughter bubbles from your lips. “I don’t claim any of that by the way, Meilin.”

“At least Caleb can sometimes shoot properly!” Meilin’s catching her breath, eyes bright as you both shake your heads. “Xav nearly tripped over his own two feet a couple of attempts back and I felt something die in my chest-”

“Oh God,” you gasp, before the two of you burst out into peals of laughter once more.

For how much the two of you laugh at Caleb and Xavier, you have to admit that this game is surprisingly close. You’ve always known Caleb to be a powerhouse in whatever he does - physically adept and capable in anything he does with his competitive edge powering him to the end. But Xavier is more lithe, biding his time and waiting for an open before jumping up and sinking in neat three-pointers that has Caleb, Gideon, and Patrick gritting their teeth in frustration. You and Meilin feel the competitive spirit rising and you participate, goading and cheering them on as they trade shots back and forth.

Soon enough, it’s the last couple of seconds in a tied game. Caleb has the ball and his eyes are ultra-focused on his goal in front of him as he neatly maneuvers around Jeremiah and jumps up, aiming the ball towards the hoop with a flick of his wrist. Time seems to slow as the clock approaches zero…

Swoosh.

The basketball lands neatly in the hoop as the buzzer strikes, and the crowd cheers as Caleb pumps his fist in the air. The crowd of wedding-goers break out in enthusiastic chaos - snacks thrown all around as everyone shouts for Caleb’s winning shot. You can’t help but cheer alongside everyone else when you see Gideon and Patrick roar while lifting him up over their heads, jostling him up and down to parade him around the courtside so everyone can cheer him on. From the corner of your eye you see Meilin run up to Xavier before beaming up at him even when he pouts at his defeat, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek as he wraps her in his arms. Your eyes dart back to Caleb, wondering how he’s going to react to this scene-

-but his bright eyes and the massive smile spreading across his face are solely on you.

He hops off of Gideon and Patrick’s shoulders, running to where you stand on the courtside. His hands twitch with adrenaline and restlessness, going from swiping at the sweat on his forehead to the hem of his jersey before finally cradling your face in his palms and plopping a wet kiss onto your forehead. 

“Gross, Xia!” You’re laughing, though, a giddy feeling blossoming and spreading throughout your entire body as Caleb picks you up and spins you around. Your arms wrap around his neck, head buried against his throat as you screech and mark this memory down for you and you only.

Once he plops you back down you sway a little bit, waiting for your head to settle from the dizziness as he looks down at you with a quirk in the corner of his mouth. He lifts the hem of his jersey and uses the thin fabric to wipe at the sweat on his face with deliberate movements, and you fight to keep your mouth shut at the sight of his glistening abs above his low lying shorts, accompanied with the band of his boxer briefs peeking above the waistband.

He’s trying to kill you, you’re sure of it.

The happiness gives way to a heat burning you alive when he flashes you a wink, lifting his arms and pulling his jersey over his head by the back collar. He rubs his face against the fabric and your mouth dries at the sight of his chest heaving slightly with his breathlessness, biceps tensing and flexing as he moves the jersey to the back of his ruffled hair-

You need to leave, like right now.

You make a move to turn around but Caleb’s even quicker, hooking his pointer figure around the strap of your romper as he pulls you into his chest. You squeak at the sudden contact, his sweaty body pressed up against your shaking frame as you fight the moan that threatens to slip from your mouth at his easy dominance.

Fuck, everything about this is so hot - you shouldn’t be thinking like this.

“Everyone’s looking.”

His lips brush by your neck. “I don’t care.”

You gasp and feel Caleb’s responding smile by your neck as he settles his hands on your waist, spinning you around so you’re back to facing him in his sweaty, Adonis-like glory. His eyes dart from the jersey still in his hand to your face, expression flickering with mischief and something more before he makes up his mind, unfurling his jersey from his hands and positioning the opening above your head.

“Caleb-”

“Wear it, star.” His smirk softens into something smaller as he pulls his crumpled jersey over your head, surrounding you with the addictive scent of his sweat and a faint trace of the apple cologne he always wears. “It looks better on you, anyways.”

He grabs your hand and does a little twirl, making you miss the way his eyes darken when he sees XIA across your back - his name on you. But when you turn back around, his easy smile is on his face once more as he brushes a kiss against your knuckles before elbowing you playfully.

“You being courtside helped me win, by the way.”

You roll your eyes, elbowing him back even when his words make you glow like the sun. “I highly doubt that, Xia.”

“It’s true, ____.” He’s insistent, eyes softening when he hears your scoff. “You’re my northern star guiding me home-”

“-my callsign still isn’t Star-”

“Yeah, well,” he cuts you off, and he wraps his arms around your waist to pull you in, forcing you to look up at him as your hands land on his slightly sweaty chest. “You’re still my star. And more than that, you’re my lucky charm.” 

“And why is that, Captain Apple?” Your voice takes on a note of teasing, one that has his chest rumbling as he laughs against you. His chin rests on the top of your head as he contemplates his answer, fingers following the X I A across your back and making you weak in the knees all over again.

“Because when I’m with you, I always feel like I’m on top of the world. I’m able to push farther, explore more, achieve more because of you and your voice supporting me and being there for me.”

His words render you speechless and you look up at him incredulously, trying to gauge if he truly means it or if it’s just him continuing on with his playing pretend. But all you see is the same look of awe and yearning on his face.

The same look he’s had since he saw you after his game-winning shot.

“Caleb, are you pretending right now?”

It’s a complete juxtaposition from the celebratory mood, and you see the way his eyes dims as he processes your words. His mouth opens and he begins, “____-”

“____!”

Your eyes widen at the sound of Meilin’s voice, all but pushing her childhood best friend away from you as you move to smooth the goosebumps down from your arms. Your hands go to the hem of the jersey still on you, about to pull it off but a hand on the fabric stops you. You follow the arm, up past a gleaming silver necklace resting on an unevenly rising chest before landing on Caleb’s eyes once more.

His stormy, turbulent eyes.

“Keep it on. Please.”

And with the way his voice breaks on the last word you can’t help but loosen your hold on his jersey, instead smoothing the wrinkles on the fabric away as you turn to look at Meilin - who’s looking at you with a sparkle of knowing in her eyes.

Oh, you’re about to be in so much trouble-

“You’re so brave for having stinky Caleb’s sweaty jersey on, ____!” It's a playful chirp and you relax only slightly as she reaches towards you and links her arm around yours, sure that she’s not upset with you. “But enough of Caleb, I’m not taking no for an answer! I’m helping you find a dress for the wedding!”

“Wh-what?” You try to pull away, but Meilin isn’t having any of your protests as she drags you to where the rest of her bridesmaids sit. One of them (you believe her name is Tara) cheers when she sees you approaching, prompting the rest of the bridesmaids to cheer alongside her as they see your visage.

“You’ve been taking care of Caleb when we haven’t been able to, treating him with exceptional warmth.” Meilin’s voice is a soft whisper and she reaches down to squeeze your hand reassuringly as you process her words. “Gran and I agreed that it’s the least we can do for you.”

“Meilin, that’s too much-”

“No buts!” She declares as you finally stand in front of her bridesmaids. “Ladies! I'm going shopping with this hottie next week!”

You feel your body warm with shyness as they begin their gushing over you, but you can’t help but laugh at their antics while you let Meilin and her bridesmaids drag you away. You tilt your head back to look at him as they begin discussing the colors that would work best for your dress and your complexion, your heels and backup shoes, your purse-

Caleb watches as the jersey emblazoned with XIA disappears in the sea of people, feeling a twinge of…something light when he sees the way your eyes sparkle as you tilt your head back to laugh even harder. The evening sun bathes your body in an angelic glow, making the words unspoken thrum in his heart as he feels himself melt at the sight of you so happy.

He wants to keep you like that.

He wants to be the reason you’re always happy.

Caleb feels a body bump into him, and he turns around to see Gideon and Patrick wiggling their eyebrows in thinly veiled suggestion as Patrick tosses him a baggy black shirt.

“What are you thinking about, Caleb?” Gideon’s teasing him, he knows, but he can’t be bothered to be annoyed as he pulls his shirt over his head.

“Nothing much,” he says back jovially. He picks up his bag easily, swinging the straps over his shoulders as he beckons to his two best friends. “Wanna get street food before going back to the accommodation?”

They nod and rush ahead of him but Caleb lingers, steps easy as he mulls the words he wanted to say to you. Words that he will say to you, in one way or another.

You’re the reason why I come back.

You’re what guides me home.

There’s a pleasant sleepiness overtaking your body as the clock strikes ten.

You’re changing into your comfiest sweats and an oversized shirt following an impromptu dinner with Meilin and her bridesmaids, gleeful exchanges of social media and numbers shared over grilled bar food and cocktails. There’s still a light hum from the alcohol in your veins, but it’s nothing too intense. It’s a steady thrum of warmth that makes you feel just a little bit looser and more open, but you know with a glass of water it will go away easily.

You eye your laptop, debating on whether or not you want to watch a movie to help you drift off to sleep. You think back to the movie you’re still enthralled with: of curses the female lead couldn’t speak about and flower fields and a romance you find yourself yearning for, especially now. You decide that it’s the best course of action for yourself, so you settle yourself into your bed with your laptop and pull the movie up.

You’re about to press start when there’s a knock on your door, interrupting your cozy time. A sigh escapes your lips at how you’ll have to retuck yourself into bed but you’re still pushing yourself out of your blanket fort, padding over softly to the door and pulling it open to see Caleb standing by the threshold with a sheepish expression on his face.

“Hi, ____.”

“You’re being really thorough with this pretending thing.” It’s deadpan but you still step aside just enough for Caleb to come inside, and you turn and lock the door behind him as he settles himself on the edge of the bed. He eyes the screen of your laptop as you wiggle yourself underneath your covers before spreading the comforter flat and patting the newly formed space next to you.

“Come on,” you murmur softly. “I know you want to watch the movie, too.”

You can’t quite hold back your smile when he settles himself comfortably and looks at the movie with thinly veiled interest.

“I saw this on your screen when I invited you to the wedding,” Caleb muses as you tap on your spacebar. The score sounds tinny coming out of your laptop’s small stereo system, but the two of you still settle back and watch with rapt interest. “Why this one?”

“You’ll see, now shush.”

His mouth falls silent at your insistence, but he still smiles to himself as he relents.

The silence is broken with the occasional comment or bit of laughter - mainly in the beginning, when Caleb scoffs at how the two main characters float through the air as the iconic score plays behind them. He turns to you, and you feel your breath catch at how…handsome he looks in this light. The colors wash over his face, bathing him in the splashes of color thanks to the animated scenes before you. You can see the intrigue he tries to hide by setting his mouth straight but his expressive eyes betray him: warm and with a sparkle as he examines the scenes playing out in front of him.

“This is the movie you’re obsessed with?” He’s trying to put on all of his bravado for show, but his breath catches when he sees the way they float majestically through the air.

“Yup,” you murmur back, resting your head on his shoulder.

He freezes for a second, processing the fact you’re resting on him - so warm and akin to a cat with the way you unconsciously rub your head against his shoulder. You return your attention to the movie, barely hiding your shiver when he plops his arm behind you so that you can burrow further into his body.

Somehow throughout the course of the movie, Caleb finds his way underneath the covers and tangles his legs in between yours, settling your laptop on his thighs so that you can curl up next to him comfortably. Your head is fully on his chest now, hands gripping his shirt lightly while he idly traces something on the back of your shirt. His overwhelming warmth and the pleasant sensation of him running his fingers lightly up and down your body has you slowly nodding off, and he takes notice of it as the movie comes to an end.

“Star, you okay?”

“‘m sleepy,” you mumble back, and you feel his chuckle rock your head as he pauses your laptop and closes it shut. He moves the device onto the floor and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you close while you hum in sleepy contentment.

“Did you like the movie?” It comes out as a yawn from you, and you can feel your eyes water as they slowly begin to drift shut.

“I did, actually.” He brushes his fingers against your forehead, slowly pushing away your baby hairs as you subtly push your nose into his neck. “Reminded me why I do what I do at the DAA.”

That catches your attention, but you still keep your eyes shut as you mull over your next words. “What do you mean by that?”

“It reminds me that I do what I do for my family.”

“Hmm.” It’s a sleepy hum as silence befalls the two of you once more, but you’re more awake as you mull over Caleb’s words. His heart thrums erratically under your ear, and you swear it beats a little bit faster when your fingers brush against his chest as you move your hand closer to you.

“You really love them, huh?”

There’s no bitterness on your tone, only soft curiosity as Caleb stills underneath you. His hands stop their tracks, resting on your waist as he chooses his next words.

“I do.”

Caleb’s voice is raw with honesty, and he only waits a beat before he continues on. “I felt a lot of pressure making sure to provide for Meilin and Gran. You know Meilin and I were taken care of by Josephine when we were young, and she made me promise to always look after her. Sure, I was happy when I saw the invitation because I just want Meilin to be happy, and Xavier does. God, he does and I’m so happy about it. But…but a part of me will always feel the need to take care of them, if that makes sense. It’s been instilled with me for so long I don’t know what to do myself without it.”

“Caleb,” your voice is soft yet firm, gripping his shirt tighter as you fight the sleep that’s washing over your common sense. “Meilin and Josephine are already happy and cared for because of you and all of your hard work from the past couple of years. You deserve to have happiness of your own, too.”

You feel it then, even when you’re about to slip into sleep. The way his body stills, a shaky breath washing over the top of your head as he lets your words sink in.

It stays that way up until you finally succumb to sleep, too tired to process or even register that he hasn’t left - that’s he’s still cradling you to his chest as he mulls over your words and the moments the two of you have shared and avoided these past couple of months- years, even. But when you finally drift off to sleep, you swear you feel the soft brush of lips ghost lightly against your forehead, accompanied with a soft, “Good night, my star.”

You’re lighter, happier the days leading up to the wedding.

The days blur past you in an enthusiastic chaos, mornings spent exploring every nook and cranny of Linkon City interspersed with wedding party dinners you and Caleb are invited to until you reach the day of your dress fitting with Meilin.

She’s a chatty, effervescent bubble filled to the brim with fabric ideas paired with potential colors that suit your complexion while you sit on the chaise lounge by the dressing rooms, eyeing the glasses of champagne that seem too far out of reach for you to grab without seeming rude in her eyes.

So you sit, twisting your fingers against your skirt as you nod minutely.

“Do you have any ideas of what you want to wear, ____?”

You whip your head up to her, shaking your head profusely. “I- uh, as long as it’s not too expensive, I guess.”

She tuts at this, sitting down next to you while gesturing towards the dress racks. “Nonsense! Gran and I don’t have a budget. Here, we’ll look through all of the dresses and you can try them on for me one by one, okay?”

She doesn’t wait for your response, simply picking up a glass of champagne you had been eyeing earlier and handing it to you before clinking her own glass against it.

“To dresses and friendship!”

You barely get a sip before she’s pulling you off of the couch with her Hunter’s strength and guiding you through the boutique.

One by one you and Meilin collect dresses, handing them to attendants stationed around the room. Your mind is nowhere near focused on the frills and lace, though - no, you’re thinking about her relationship with a certain purple-eyed fighter pilot and Captain of the DAA.

“Meilin,” you begin tentatively, unsure of how to start. She simply hums as she pulls a hot pink tulle ball gown from the rack before wincing and shoving it back in. “What are your feelings towards Caleb?”

You expect her to go rigid but she laughs instead, the sound airy and full of good-natured humor as she turns to you with a soft smile on her face. “Best friend, older brother figure who I know I can always rely on. Also my personal chef and a little stinky but overall? He’s someone reliable and all around just a good person.” She fishes out a navy blue silk number and she looks at you with a critical eye before nodding once and leaving the dress with an attendant.

You try to go along casually but something still prickles at your skin. Why is Caleb still so protective over her after all of this time? And does Meilin see it? Your stare must have been a little too intense because she turns to look back at you before reaching out and lacing her fingers through your own.

“Caleb and I talked for a little while after you guys got home. He asked me why I didn’t tell him about the wedding and…I’m going to be honest, ____, I told him I knew he would flip out on me. He’s always been someone who protects me but I don’t need that anymore, I just want my best friend- you know?”

She releases her hand and the two of you continue to rifle through dresses. But you feel a little more confident, so it spills out of you:

“Did you and Caleb ever have feelings for each other?”

Meilin fake-gags at this, and you feel a sheepish look grow on your face at your possible question. Her expression smooths out, though and she shakes her head empathetically at you.

“I maaay have had a teensy little thing for Caleb when I was younger.” Meilin’s voice is soft as she brushes her fingers across a floor-length dress. She pulls it off of the rack and you still as you let her peer at you - allowing for her to visualize the color and embroidered flowers against your skin while she mulls over her next words.

Hey eyes snap up all of a sudden, and you feel goosebumps prickle at your skin at the sudden wisdom flickering in her eyes.

“But that’s all in the past, ____. I love Xavier with every fiber of my being. He’s my guiding force, the one I want to see at the end of my days. Caleb will always be my best friend and someone I want in my life forever, but Xavier…”

She sighs dreamily, handing you the hanger. Her fingers brush past yours, squeezing softly as she gives you a steadfast smile. “Xavier is the reason for my being.”

You squeeze her fingers back, letting the motion and melancholic look on your face speak the words that you don’t trust yourself to utter in the face of her genuine kindness. She tuts at your expression and squeezes your hand tighter, saying words that render you speechless:

“I think Caleb’s on track to picking someone close to his orbit…someone intelligent, dependable, and extremely beautiful. And I’ll be pushing for him to make a move soon, because quite frankly I’m getting tired of him waiting around.”

Her words shock you to your core, and you surprise the two of you when you let out a watery chuckle at her sweet statement. Meilin is gracious to turn around as the two of you begin to walk back to the dressing rooms, and you let yourself sniffle and process the fact that Meilin knows.

Not only that she knows, but that she wants the two of you to be together - that she thinks it’s the best thing.

So you let yourself feel a little bit lighter, allow yourself to feel hope blossom in your body as she drags you back to your dressing room with your numerous dresses in tow. The heavy feeling is gone and in its stead are two girls just having a fashion show in a mirrorless dressing room - Meilin squealing about your beauty with every dress you walk out of your dressing room, no matter how much it clashes with your complexion. You do feel pretty, but none of the dresses feel like you.

You sigh as you near the end of the pile, none of the dresses speaking to you. Meilin’s nonplussed though, simply pointing to the last dress she had placed in the pile. “I think that one might be the one, ____.”

You eye the numerous ties on the back of the dress as you take in the soft tulle and the little embroidered flowers scattered across the sweetheart neckline of the top. Your eyes flicker from Meilin’s hopeful face to the ties before sighing once more, nodding your head towards the small dressing room. “Can you help me tie the back?”

You can’t suppress your smile when she cheers at your relenting.

As you slip on the dress, you marvel at the way it hugs your body and emphasises you in a delicate way you’ve never seen before. The thin lace straps resting on your shoulders have little white and pink flowers stitched onto the delicate material, continuing a sweet trail down across the sweetheart neckline and onto the bodice. The fabric shimmers and shifts with every bit movement - flashes of soft yellow fading to a muted pear green depending on the lighting of the room while the pearls stitched throughout the fabric add to your glittering illusion. Paired with the layered ruffles at the end of the dress barely brushing the floor and the silk green ribbon that Meilin ties around your neck, you can’t help but know that this is your dress - even if you can’t see yourself in the mirror just yet. 

“Oh, ____,” she gasps as she zips up the back, fingers beginning to tighten the corset. “I think this dress might be it.”

A buzzing breaks your star-struck wonder, and you tilt your head back slightly to look at Meilin in confusion. “Is that yours?”

“Oh!” She steps away quickly and darts out of the dressing room, leaving you to run your fingers along the diaphanous fabric as she takes her call. You swear you hear a muted whisper of “Got it, Trip,” behind you but you elect to ignore it, simply imagining you out in the town in this dress and dancing in the arms of a faceless figure with sparkling sunset eyes.

Look at you. You’ve practically grown foolishly soft with love.

But you can’t help but smile to yourself. You want this.

 “____!” Meilin calls. You turn your neck so that you can look at her panic, eyes darting back and forth as she looks at you. “I’m so sorry but my boss is having a meltdown over at the Association. I’ll send an attendant to tighten your dress so that you can see the full effect and help you take it off, okay?” 

“No worries, Meilin,” you say with an easy smile. You above all know how quick things can change at work, so you wave her off. “Thank you, by the way.”

She beams at you, about to turn back around before she stops and whips her head back at you. “Don’t you dare try to pay for that stunning beauty of a dress! I already put it in the wedding budget!”

You laugh at her cheeky wink before she dashes away, leaving you alone. Your fingers play idly with the ribbon in the back, wondering if you can pull the strings yourself. Surely it’ll work out if you just do it yourself.

You hear a rustle, though, stopping you in your tracks. You peek out of the dressing room, about to let the attendant in-

-only for your eyes to widen when you see Caleb standing before you, the shock you feel in your chest reflected on his face.

“I-”

“____?” He asks. “What are you doing here?”

You flounder for an answer, pulling the curtain closer to your body as if it can help you disappear. “I was trying on dresses with Mei but she left. But forget about me, what the hell are you doing in a dress shop?!”

Caleb’s eyes widen in disbelief before he points at the sign on the window. You swing your head to view it, groaning when you see Bloomshore Dress and Tux Shop in neat script.

Shit, ____, your observation skills are down the drain.

“Gideon and Patrick asked me to meet up for a tux fitting?” It ends in a question, almost as if he’s unsure of the situation he’s just been thrust into. “But, uh, the people said they didn’t have my tux quite ready yet sooo they told me to sit here for now.” 

“Dammit,” you sigh, running a hand over the top of your head to ease your nerves at this situation devolving to being just you and him. “I was supposed to get the back of this dress corseted up and then I was gonna take a picture for Meilin before taking it off-”

“You’re wearing a dress?”

It comes out as a dazed whisper from Caleb and you feel prickles erupt on your skin when you see his cheeks flush lightly. He swallows heavily, Adam’s apple bobbing thickly before he manages to get out, “Can I see?”

You hesitate for a second, and for a split second you wonder if this entire thing will end up crashing all around you. What’s going to happen when the two of you go back to the DAA base and you have missions to execute? Will you ever be able to get back to the way the two of you were before this- fuck, since before the kiss you shared all those months ago?

You scan his face slowly, looking for any sort of hesitation from him. There’s nothing, though. It’s just Caleb, looking devastatingly handsome like he always does as he stares at you like you’ve hung all of the stars in the sky.

Your fingers twitch before they loosen, letting go of the curtain with a soft swish.

And you see the exact moment Caleb’s composure slips: eyes widening, jaw clenching before his tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip. His eyes follow a dangerous curve down your face to examine the way the dress flows around your body, and you swear you can feel the trail of sparks his gaze leaves tingling on your skin.

He frowns slightly, though, when he sees the way your hands clutch at the back of your dress.

“Come here.”

It’s soft, slightly hoarse as you tentatively approach him. He positions you in front of him so that you’re looking at the mirror while he stands behind you, and you loose a sigh at the vision of you in the mirror as you let your hands fall from your back for him to examine the ties.

Meilin’s right.

This is the one.

And by the way his breath is uneven against the nape of your neck, you know Caleb agrees.

“So I just…” His voice has dropped an octave, quiet as he pulls you slightly closer so that he can pull lightly at one of the ties experimentally. The corset squeezes you ever so slightly and you gasp, making him look up at you in panic as he settles his hands on your waist almost unknowingly.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” His fingers flex at your sides and you reach out and slide your fingers in between his, giving him a soft squeeze.

“I’m okay,” you breathe out unsteadily. “Just uh…just a warning, okay?”

“R-right,” he stutters out, and when he moves his hands back to your corset, you duck your head so he can’t see your smile in the mirror.

You can feel yourself shiver when Caleb’s breath washes over your bare shoulders, though. His fingers barely brushing your spine as he threads his fingers along your corset ties. “Is this okay, star?”

“Yes,” you breathe.

You see him nod in the mirror, amethyst eyes flashing with something unknown before he begins.

For how calloused and big his hands are, Caleb’s exceptionally gentle as he tightens your corset. You hum when it feels too tight or too loose but for the most part he’s able to gauge your comfort just from how you breathe, loosening a loop if he hears your catch for even a second. Soon enough, he’s knotting the ties in a pretty bow as you look in the mirror, trying to reconcile the fact that this is you.

“All done,” he says softly. His hands move from your back, hovering slightly over your body before he lets them hang by his sides. You don’t have to look at them to know he’s shaking - you can feel the tremble of his chest behind you, brushing up against your back.

“Thank you,” you murmur, giving him a soft grin in the mirror.

Your eyes wander over your visage, turning so that you can see the shifts between pale yellow and pear green in real time. You feel a smile wash over your face as you turn, allowing for the dress to twirl around your ankles as you spin on your bare tiptoes. The feeling is so thrilling and you can’t help but laugh, tilting your head back at the pure happiness that envelopes your body as you miss the way Caleb’s jaw goes slack at your unbridled joy. It bathes you in an indescribable light, illuminating you from the inside out as he feels his stomach do flips.

You’re beautiful.

Every inch of you, overwhelmingly so.

You finally stop, your soft laughter fading as you finally see the way he looks at you. Eyes soft at the corners, the set of his jaw gentle as he gazes at you - everything about him defenseless. His hand trembles as he reaches up towards your face, but you still just enough for him to see the nod you give him before he allows himself to cup your face in his palms. He holds you reverently, thumbs brushing against every inch of skin he can reach and you reach up to circle his wrists with your fingers, pulling him closer so that your chests brush and he looms over you.

“You’re stunning.”

He says it like it’s a well known fact, just like the laws of gravity that dictate your universe and everything around you. But it steals your breath away from you all of the same, eyes flickering as you look at him in shock.

“Caleb,” you whisper, stepping back slightly. His feet follow you and before you know it you’re pressed up against the mirror as he lets his hands drift from your face to your waist, letting you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him closer - noses brushing, chests rising and moving with the same breath.

“You’ve robbed this room of all of the oxygen in it,” he says rawly, and with how shallowly he says it as he steals your own oxygen from your lungs you almost believe him. “Do you know what you do to me? It’s hard for me to compose myself or even breathe properly around you because you take my breath away, ____.” 

“Cheesy.” You try to sound brave, but your voice wavers just enough for him to know that you feel it too.

“Only for my star.” Unlike before, it’s steady with his conviction. His head begins to duck down and your lips almost brush, eyes never leaving each other as you each examine the other’s face. You’re floored by the sheer honesty and longing on his face, his eyes tracing the delicate curve of your cheek as your own gaze begins to flutter shut.

There’s a silent whisper though, a promise to make sure that things stayed normal between you reverberating through your brain with a vengeance. You return your eyes to his and you whisper:

“Are we still pretending, Caleb?”

His eyes turn soft, and his hand reaches up to cradle your cheek as he looks at you like you’re his universe. His mouth opens, and-

“-Mr. Xia, your tu- oh!”

If the air in the room had gone thin previously, it suddenly comes rushing back and fills the two of you with crushing clarity. Caleb pushes him off with quick precision, subtly adjusting the front of his baggy shirt to hang loosely above the front of his pants as you cough, brushing the creases of your dress away.

“I’m uh, I’ll just-” The attendant tries to begin, but you hold your hands out to placate them a little bit.

“It’s okay!” You exclaim, although frustration bubbles in your chest at being interrupted once again. You step forward towards them, willing for your hands to stop shaking. “I’m done with this dress if you’ll help me take it off. Only if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course!” The attendant chirps, practically sprinting to a dressing room and pulling open the curtain for you. “Right this way, Ms. ____! Once this dress is off I’ll package it and send it home with you!”

“Thank you,” you reply softly. You pick up the delicate fabric and walk towards the dressing room, although you can feel the way Caleb’s eyes bore into your back.

“____.”

You turn back around and cock your head, confusion on your face. “Yes?”

Caleb’s eyes trace your figure softly once more before he drags them back up to his face - his eyes honing into the plush of your lips as he swallows thickly. You hold back on biting your lip, wrapping your arms around your waist to wait for what he wants to say.

“I’ll see you at the wedding?”

“Yes,” you murmur with a small smile on your lips. You give him a nod before turning around, walking away with the frenzy of butterflies in your stomach being nearly enough to have you float away.

You feel like you’re floating on cloud nine and you never want to come down.

There’s an undercurrent of excitement when you step into the ceremony space with Gideon and Patrick.

There’s tasteful bits of greenery all throughout the room, lilies and moon-shaped designs incorporated throughout the space. Above your heads are curtains of the same greenery draped tastefully, lanterns illuminating the space and casting everything with a warm, romantic glow. Everyone’s dressed in their best finery, and you sigh blissfully to yourself as you, Patrick, and Gideon settle in your designated seats. Your eyes never stop wandering, though, going from greenery to lilies to Xavier, who looks like he’s about to burst into tears as Jeremiah pats him on the back while waiting for the processional to start.

“You think Caleb’s going to cry?” Gideon’s tone is gleeful as he elbows you and Patrick, and you roll your eyes as you brush a piece of lint off of his suit.

“Patrick has a better chance of crying, honestly,” you shrug as you smooth out the nonexistent creases on your dress. You cross your legs, smiling as you see the shift from yellow to green underneath the romantic light. “And then you, and then me.”

“You’re lying,” he scoffs. “You’re much more of a softie than Patrick and I, ____.”

“I’m not going to cry,” you steadily declare. The lights slowly dim and you quickly sit up, casting them a glance as music begins to swell. “I’m going to keep it together.”

The music picks up and you watch as the procession starts, feeling your breath slowly grow uneven as tears begin to prick at your eyes. You blink rapidly as the bridesmaids begin to walk gracefully down the aisle, scolding yourself in your head because really, ____? Meilin isn’t even down the aisle yet-

Oh.

The entire venue stands as the music swells, Meilin standing arm in arm with Caleb and their Gran in front of the grand doors. She’s a vision as she walks down the aisle to the love of her life, the gentle tulle flowers on the long train of her dress giving the impression of her leaving petals in her wake. Your eyes flick up to Xavier and your heart warms at the sight of tears streaming down his face as he looks at her with all of the love in the world, nearly moving you to your own tears as she finally reaches the end of the aisle.

Meilin leans down to give Josephine a kiss on her cheek before she walks away, leaving her and Caleb standing at the end of the aisle as Xavier walks towards them. Meilin pulls Caleb down for a hug and he holds her tightly, a whispered word on his end making a tear slide down her cheek as she pulls back. Caleb and Xavier look at each other before Caleb holds his hand out, shaking Xavier’s hand firmly and finally pushing Meilin towards him before moving to stand beside the rest of the bridal party.

As the ceremony starts, you find your eyes wandering over Caleb’s form. The tuxedo he wears fits him like a glove, hair slicked back just enough to show off his forehead as he pays attention to the beginning. You vaguely register being instructed to sit down, and as you settle back to your seat you see Caleb’s eyes finally begin to scan the room around him.

You watch Caleb’s gaze scan the rows as he bounces subtly on his heels, perhaps looking for your group? His eyes widen when he sees Gideon and Patrick and he gives them a smile and a cheeky wink before moving his stare to you.

And the entire world stills, leaving just you and him.

Caleb's jaw goes slack when he sees your face, carefully done so that your natural beauty is still at the forefront. Everything in you stops as he carefully traces the delicately styled curls framing your face and the little flower and pearl pins holding your hair up before moving down, looking at the dress you’ve both grown to love so much.

All of a sudden, his eyes snap back up to yours and your breath catches in your throat. His gaze is full of longing and awe as his mouth forms a shape, and you realize belatedly he’s mouthing something to you as the ceremony continues. You flick your eyebrow up delicately, and you see him release a little amused puff of air before he mouths it again.

Beautiful.

Your body heats as you wait for Caleb to throw a wink in your way, maybe joking subtly to lighten the mood as you vaguely hear Xavier begin his vows. But he does none of it - he just looks at you with that same quiet intensity, eyes full of an unspoken feeling and yearning that the two of you share.

“____? Are you all right?”

You turn your head to the side when you hear Gideon’s whisper, and you bring your fingers up to your face when you suddenly register tears streaming down your cheeks. You delicately wipe them away before releasing a shaky breath, nodding and feeling yourself genuinely smile.

“I’m perfect.”

You direct your gaze back to Caleb, who’s face has a soft tinge of concern at your supposed pain. But you feel none of those negative emotions, only bubbling happiness that shoots up and down your spine as you finally, finally smile at him. His eyes widen and an emotion fills his eyes, soft and matching what you feel as Meilin and Xavier finish their vows, sealing themselves as a newly married couple.

Even when the ceremony space breaks out in cheers as Xavier dips Meilin down for a kiss, your eyes never leave each other, and you can’t help but giggle wetly to yourself as you wipe at the tears in the corners of your eyes continuously.

Oh, how you love Caleb Xia.

And oh, how you love the hope you’re allowing yourself to feel - the hope that he may love you, too.

That floating feeling doesn’t stop, even hours into the reception.

The space Meilin and Xavier rented out for the party is even more stunning than the ceremony hall, tables set up in neat rows on one side to accommodate the giant dance floor and buffet on the other side. The same greenery and moon bunny motifs are carried in here but it just feels more relaxed, leading to you chatting with some other guests before the wedding party showed up.

Meilin and Xavier enter the hall to cheers, smiles never leaving their faces as Xavier spins Meilin around to show off her silky reception dress before pulling her back in and dipping her down for a romantic kiss. You, Gideon, and Patrick cheer alongside the people at your table, and you can’t help but laugh when you see the dazed look in Meilin’s eyes after Xavier took her breath away.

While dinner was underway, Jeremiah gave a speech that had Xavier burning red while Meilin laughed at him, only for Caleb to turn the tables on her and make her sob with a sweet speech that left no eyes dry, Gideon’s and Patrick’s especially. You were quick to console them, but you were also dabbing away your own tears - especially when he looked at you during a tender moment.

Now, though? The tenderness has given way to a rager, and you laugh as Gideon executes a perfect worm with one of Meilin’s coworkers on the dance floor. You stand on the side of the dance floor, cheering when Patrick hops in at the perfect moment next to Gideon and they begin to execute their increasingly intricate dance routine to the enthusiasm of Hunter’s Association.

“____!”

Meilin somehow ends up beside you and she smiles widely at you, pulling you towards the middle of the dance floor. You laugh when you see her headband that has THE MOST LOVED MRS. SHEN in fluorescent letters above her head, and you let her drag you to the center as you both begin to dance.

“I! Love! This! Song!” She’s screaming above the music, moving her arms to the beat as you attempt to match her energy. You just end up laughing even harder, though, happiness overtaking your entire body as you pull her into your arms and give her a hug.

“I’m happy for you!” It’s soft, whispered in her ear as Meilin sniffles at your sweet sentiment. She hugs you back tightly and the two of you still, even as movement continues all around you. You’re happy that she’s your friend and that your apprehension on this trip has gone away, leaving you just warm and so fulfilled.

At one point, Meilin’s bridesmaids join in on the fray and they jump around you, screaming the lyrics to a cheesy pop song that has all of you giggling once more. Everything in this moment is electric and you can’t think of how it could possibly get better-

The music slows, and the crowd groans in good nature as a slower song comes on. There’s a tap on your shoulder, and you turn to smile at Xavier as he winks at you before pointing to Meilin behind you.

“Can I get a dance with my beloved wife, ____?”

“Of course.” You smile and tuck a stray curl behind your ear, letting Xavier scoop Meilin up in his arms. You turn around with a wink, marking your leave with a small kiss in Meilin’s direction as Xavier begins to sway her around.

You make your way to a small alcove by the refreshments stand, getting yourself a glass of water and drinking greedily to quench your thirst. You watch as the couple on the dance floor sway to the gentle song, lighting gone low to contribute to the romantic mood. 

“____.”

You don’t need to turn to hear who it is, but you still tilt your head to the side as Caleb approaches you. He’s long taken off his tux jacket, sleeves pushed up to his elbow and tie loosened as he pushes his hair up off of his forehead. There’s an easy charm to him that has your stomach flipping, and you place your glass on the table behind you as he settles himself next to you.

“You look like you’ve had fun.” There’s subtle teasing on your voice and it makes Caleb chuckle quietly as he shuffles a little closer to you, making your fingers brush lightly. Sparks run up and down your arm at the subtle contact, and you feel your eyes grow wide at the intense stare on his own face.

“You look like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the opportunity to see.”

He punctuates his statement by sweeping you into his arms, making you gasp and settle your hands on his chest. He slowly begins to sway you around to the song in the background, and you fist his shirt in your hands slightly while tilting your head up to look at him. There’s a breathlessness on Caleb’s face, awe and deeper emotions mixing in his eyes that causes your own breath to escape your lips unsteadily.

“Are we done pretending, Caleb Xia?”

The answer to the question that’s evaded you time and time again is finally said, but there’s no grief in it. It’s just a quiet murmur, a whisper to your desires that has his eyes softening as he reaches up to cup your cheek.

“Yes, ____.” 

He says it with absolute certainty, and he dips his head down to leave a tender kiss on your forehead pulling away slightly. He turns you in a slow circle and the lights shift around the two of you, bathing him with a hazy glow that has your heart beating just a little more erratically as you move to stand on your tiptoes.

“Good.” It’s steady leaving your mouth as you let your nose brush against his. “I’m tired of pretending, Captain Apple.”

“Yeah, star?” He dips down a little lower, his lips almost brushing yours as your eyes slowly begin to slip shut. “I-”

“Caleb!”

Meilin’s voice breaks the two of you from your stupor, and you feel yourself flush slightly as you put a little distance between the two of you before smoothing the creases from your dress. Caleb, however, looks like he wants to murder the teasing smile from Mei’s face as he steps away from you slightly.

“This better be good, Meilin. I was busy-” he begins hotly, but resignation blooms on his face as she grabs his arm and begins to drag him towards the floor, to his chagrin and your quiet laughter.

“I already danced with Gran!” She’s laughing, and you can’t help but smile at the infectious happiness as Caleb looks back at you in exasperation. “I need to do the cheesy slow dance with someone who’s basically my older brother! C’mon-”

Caleb, all the while, gazes back at you with a longing in his eyes that lets you know he doesn’t want to go. You simply shake your head and smile, nodding in the direction of the dance floor encouragingly. 

“Wait for me,” he says.

“I will,” you whisper back, more to yourself than to him. Still, he sees your relenting and finally eases, letting Meilin fully drag him to the dance floor with no complaints.

Serenity settles itself in your soul as you see the two of them dancing, Caleb and Meilin laughing as he spins her around in dizzying circles. You don’t feel any jealousy, though, only happiness that the two of them worked out the awkwardness and that they’re back to being childhood best friends who always stood side by side.

Your eyes wander the room before landing on an ajar door to your left, and you make your way out so that you can feel some cool air on your skin. You hum to yourself when you find yourself in a garden, and you’re careful to pick up your skirt as you look over the moonlit majesty of the shrubs and flowers lining the sidewalk you’re standing on. You can still hear the party from the scattered open doors, but it’s peaceful enough that you can soak in your happiness as you amble slowly.

The wind chills slowly as the moon rises higher in the sky, stars twinkling as you feel goosebumps prickle at your skin. You look down at your dress and sigh, electing to go back to the hall so that you can pick up a glass of champagne and get the thin scarf that came with your dress. You’re about to step inside-

“Caleb, you need to be honest with ____.”

Patrick sounds severe, cutting through the tranquility of the garden as you freeze. Somewhere in the fray you hear Gideon nodding in agreement and Caleb sighing in frustration, and you decide then and there to listen in on them.

This is pertaining to you.

Their words are muffled as you duck behind a column by an open door, the music blaring from the dance floor making it a safe place for you to duck inside quickly before stepping back outside, crouching by another column and straining your ears so you can hear the heated discussion happening right outside. There’s a lull in the words so you peek out just a little bit more, gripping the column as you fight to hear what they’re arguing about-

“-she’s not Meilin, not at all.”

Your heart stops.

Caleb’s voice continues hotly, and you feel your hands begin to tremble as he spills his emotions for you to finally hear. “I can’t keep pretending with ____. I just can’t.”

The honesty is painful but you’re thankful because it pulls you out of the bullshit fantasy you were living in. You fight to steady your breathing as you listen to him break your heart, unaware that you’re even here. You’re grateful, though, because you finally know how he truly feels about you - that his pretending was just a means to an end to him.

That you should just stop.

That you’ll never be enough for him.

“She’s never going to be someone like Meilin. Meilin is bright, bubbly- commands the room with every smile she throws around like confetti. She’s welcoming and talkative and…and ____ will never be that, you know?”

You can practically feel the uncomfortable silence that the three of them descend into before Gideon’s low voice cuts through the tension. “So why don’t you tell her that, Caleb?”

You’ve heard enough. More than enough.

You don’t need to hear what Caleb thinks about you. He’s been playing you this entire time.

You force yourself to push your trembling body through the door, and you see Gideon’s and Patrick’s faces light up in panic as they register that it’s you - you in this beautiful dress that suddenly feels too heavy and too light all at once - the numerous ties holding the dress closed strangling the air from out of your lungs while leaving you and your emotions naked for the two of them to see.

“____,” Patrick breathes, making Caleb’s head whip around in a frenzy as he sees you standing there.

His eyes widen but you shake your head once, twice, three times before turning around and running as fast as you can.

You step on the front of the dress heavily as you run back into the main ballroom, making you hitch up the slippery fabric so that you can run just a little bit faster. You can hear a frantic shout of your name but you ignore it, locating the front exit right by the dance floor where the party continues to dance late into the night.

You don’t think. You plunge into the crowd, effortlessly weaving and bobbing through the enthusiastic throng of people as you attempt to lose Caleb in the dancing bodies. Your vision blurs with tears but you blink them away, focused on your objective of getting as far away as you can-

-only to bump into a body draped in white silk surrounded by the telltale pale blue dresses of the bridesmaids, Meilin holding onto your elbows as she looks at you with worry.

“____, are you okay?” Her kindness makes your heart twinge and you know you should respond, put on a brave face at this unending warmth you do not deserve but you can only think about his words, of how you’ll never be her and how you will never be enough for Caleb-

“I need to go,” you gasp, and you all but rip yourself from her body when you hear the panicked yells scarily close to where the two of you stand in the middle of the dance floor. Meilin’s eyes widen at the sound but you don’t wait for her realization to hit her, instead electing to run as fast as your heels allow you to go.

“Caleb Xia, what the fuck did you do-”

Meilin’s voice is shrill - loud enough for you to hear even when you finally escape from the throng of people. There’s a small part of you that’s thankful for Meilin and her support but it’s swiftly drowned out by your brain screaming at you to keep going so that you don’t have to face the fallout. Your feet ache as you continue to run, toes pinched tight by the beautiful silk heels that you’re thankful have ties because you would have absolutely broken your ankle by now if it weren’t for them. Ahead of you lies the curb and the street where taxis would be, where your escape is. Your exit is so close - all you need to do now is get to the curb and wave for a taxi to take you away from this mess.

You’re almost there-

Gravity stops you in your tracks, making your heels stiffen as you try to move forward. You see the flashes of blue and orange traveling across your body before it lifts you up with a gentleness, spinning you around and guiding you back to the Evol user’s vision. You’re stunned into silence as you see Caleb’s plush lips pressed in a thin line, finger beckoning you closer before settling you gently onto the pavement. 

“That’s foul play, Xia.” Your voice is cold, hands clenched in fists as you try to maintain your icy composure. Caleb’s eyes widen at your facade and he goes to step closer to you but you hold your hand up, turning your head slightly so you don’t have to look at the supposed devastation across his face.

“____-”

“I know I’ll never be Meilin.” The words are acrid as you all but spit them out and you can’t help but laugh shortly at his audacity to look hurt. “But having us pretend? Did you decide that being honest wasn’t enough? You wanted to give me a consolation prize?”

“That’s not at all what I meant.” His voice wavers as he steps closer to you, but you simply turn your body and try to keep your body from shaking. “____, everything came out wrong and I need you to know that I didn’t mean it like that.”

“So what did you mean, Captain Xia?” Caleb’s face flashes with hurt at your usage of his title, but you can’t find it in yourself to care in the face of your breaking heart. “What did you mean when you said that I will never be Meilin, your perfect best friend?”

“____, please look at me.” You lift your head slightly to see his panic, never letting yourself fully gaze into those amethyst eyes as he steps closer to you, arms brushing as he tries to mend what he’s shattered. “You’re my north star, the one guiding me home-”

“-but I’ll never be enough to be the one you choose at the end of the day.”

It’s a lethal slice of words, silence enveloping the two of you once more as you finally turn your body to face him. He looks utterly forlorn, eyes darting back and forth across your face as he tries to say something to make it up to you, but you can only laugh as you fill the silence for the both of you instead.

“I get it, Xia, I do.” Your voice is a bitter whisper, wrapping your arms around your body as you shake from the cold and what you’re about to say. “Mei’s your childhood best friend and someone who’s going to be there for you forever. She’s perfect and bubbly and warm and so beloved by all while I’m just…me. Someone easy to pretend with.”

“No, you don’t get it, ____.” He’s desperate and your eyes widen as he staggers down in front of you, grabbing your hands so that he can press his face into your cold palms. “Everything I said about Meilin is true but ____, my star, you are the North that guides me home. You are the earth beneath my feet that keeps me stable and the air in my lungs whenever everything suddenly feels too overwhelming. You’re in my dreams and in the stars in the sky, in sunsets and in clouds and in flowers. I see your smile and I know I’m fucked because that’s the smile I would fight and bleed to death for, because all I want is for you to keep those smiles and laughs and breaths for myself. But it’s also the smile that makes me fly safer, the smile I keep in my mind when I go in and out of the Deepspace Tunnel and fuck, ____, I need you to believe me.”

Your heart sinks as his face searches yours, eyes wild for some sort of way to have you understand him, that he truly means every word he says-

“Where was this in the bar the first time you kissed me?” Your voice has softened at his start of a confession, but the words are still veiled with cynicism as you search his face for any sort of truth. “Why didn’t you tell me this the first time around? Or at the night market? Why did you hesitate to tell me these things until you thought it might have been too late? Why did you have us pretend in the first place when it’s never been pretend for me, Xia?”

Your vision wavers and a tear falls from the corner of your eye, slowly rolling down your cheek before splashing on his nose. The amethyst eyes you love so much widen at your pain, fingers reaching up to try and brush the droplets betraying your true hurt off of your face but you shake your head, quick to circle your fingers around his wrist to stop him.

“I love you.” It’s a quiet and teary whisper, yet it’s steady with conviction as you see the way his face crumples. “But I don’t think it’s enough for the both of us…is it?”

“I love-”

“No, Caleb Xia.” You push his shoulders away from body, sobs making your entire body tremble like a leaf as you point at him accusatorily. “You don’t get to say that. Not until you get me to believe that I’m not your consolation prize.”

You step away from his kneeling and rattled form, pressing your hand against your mouth so that you can try to stop the ugly sobs escaping your lips. Your vision is stilted and the words spill out of your mouth almost unwittingly, but they’re the only words that make sense in your head as you leave your bleeding heart crushed in between his calloused fingers.

“I'll get the last train to Skyhaven. Don’t bother following me.”

And you turn on your heels, leaving pieces of you on the sidewalk in front of him because there’s no way anyone will ever be able to help you patch yourself up again.

Not when you’ve been utterly shattered to your core.

You lied.

You didn’t end up going back to Skyhaven.

You ended up going to a hotel you booked at the last minute after furiously packing all of your belongings and leaving the dress and shoes you can no longer bear to look at on the bed. You hadn't let yourself shatter until you were safe in the hotel room, curling up on the bed and sobbing your eyes out as the hair you had so carefully pinned with the precious pins slowly came undone.

You’ve been here since, ignoring how your phone buzzes every five minutes as people try to contact you. Patrick in particular had blown up your phone after you had turned off your location, but you had simply texted him that you were safe and that you would be back at the DAA after you finished the rest of your allotted vacation leave.

Which gave you about five more days of quiet to pick up your heart before you returned to your harsh reality.

You’ve gone back to finishing up reports and scanning flight logs for upcoming missions, not giving yourself time to think about your disaster of a love life. Your phone buzzes once again and you allow yourself to pick it up just to see who it is, swiftly closing it and placing it back by your side when you see his name flash on the screen once more.

✉ [12:57] DO NOT RESPOND: please, ____. i need to see you and set things right, please.

Your heart aches even at your brave face, scanning your application for transfer. You don’t quite know if a person breaking your heart is grounds for a transfer to a different unit, but surely they’ll let you do it…right?

There’s a knock on your door and you freeze, wondering if you’ve been caught. You’re quiet on your feet as you approach the door, looking through the peephole and feeling your mouth drop open in shock. You open the door almost immediately, and their names fall out of your mouth in shock.

“Meilin? Xavier?” 

Xavier looks sad for you as Meilin’s eyes swell with tears, and you realize belatedly that Xavier’s carrying two bags. He catches you staring at them before he says softly, “Noodles since we thought you’d be hungry. And Mei wanted to return it to you.”

You have no idea what the it is they’ve mentioned, but it’s enough for Meilin to burst into tears as she pulls into a hug. You bite your lip as you hug her back tightly, staring up at the ceiling to quell your tears away. All the while, Xavier maneuvers himself into the room and places both bags on your bed before gently pushing the two of you inside, giving you a pleading look before closing the door behind him.

Leaving the two of you alone.

“I’m so sorry,” Meilin sobs as you both awkwardly maneuver into the room together, the both of you finally sitting on the couch by the window as you finally allow yourself to cry too. Twin sobs shake both of your bodies as you both cling to each other, but Meilin’s sobs stop quick enough for you to fully collapse into her as she hugs you tightly, stroking your back as you weep from the ache in your heart.

“I’m sorry about how I left your wedding, Mei.” You don’t know why that’s the first thing that pops into your head, but it makes your cries echo louder across the room as Meilin shushes you. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me and I leave like that-”

“Are you kidding me, ___?!” She pulls you away from her slightly, making you sniffle when you see the serious expression on her face. “You’ve been nothing but an angel and I’m so happy that we’re friends, I’m so sorry for what happened to you honey.”

“It’s okay,” you mumble. “I should have known he didn’t feel the same way about me. I was just a fool, Mei.”

“You are not a fool, ____.” Meilin’s voice is sharp as she stands up from the couch, pulling the curtains open and letting sunlight stream into the space. A sprawling view of Linkon City appears before you as she goes to your bed, grabbing the takeout bag and pulling out cartons of zhe jiang mian. She holds one out to you with the sternness of a mother duck and you comply, cracking open the lid and letting yourself soak in the smell of the savory aroma.

“I was a fool for thinking he’d love me too, Mei.”

Her hand freezes at your statement, chopsticks halfway to you. You feel a fresh wave of tears well up in your eyes but you blink them away, plucking the chopsticks from her hand and scootching over to give her some space on the couch.

“Caleb is so stupid.” Meilin grumbles it with vehemence as she settles down next to you, opening her container a little too forcefully. Her annoyance makes you crack for a single second, a small quirk of your lip that quickly vanishes with the searing hurt in your chest. “After I basically drilled into his thick skull to go after you? To tell you how he really feels about you? What a stupid idiot.”

“At least I know what he truly thinks of me now.” It’s resigned as you poke at a noodle. “Now I know how he really feels so I can squash whatever feelings I have.”

“____, no-”

Meilin grabs at the container in your hands and quickly stands, placing it on the dresser before sitting back down and pulling your head so that it rests on her shoulder. You don’t sob this time, but the tears still stream down your face in steady rivulets as you bring your hand up to clutch at your chest.

“I’m never going to be you.” It’s a trembling exhalation, words painted with hurt as you force them out for her to hear. “I just wish that I was enough for him, too.”

“God, he really messed this up, did he?” You can’t even find the energy to laugh, simply trying to keep your breathing even as she reaches down and grips your hand tightly. “____, he doesn’t need someone like me. We bicker and annoy each other all of the time. ____, he needs someone like you.”

“Mei, that’s not true-”

“Someone who can challenge him." She cuts you off, too engrossed in her ramblings to hear your protests as she continues on. “Someone who brings him happiness, who makes him laugh and is also someone who guides him down the right path. Someone he puts first because he wants to, ____, not because of the circumstances the two of us were forced into as kids.

“He really wants to, ____.” Her emotions are clear as day on her face as she looks down at you, eyes shimmering with honesty. “God, ____, Caleb wants you and only you and I support the hell out of him for that because you’re so wonderful inside and out.”

You duck your head as you feel tears gathering once more, making you annoyed as you mull over the words she’s said to you. Why can’t you stop crying?

“It hurts, Meilin.”

Her face crumples at your vulnerability and she pulls you in quickly as you begin to sob once more . “I’m so sorry, ____.”

Your tears never stop as you cling to her like a lifeline, trying your hardest to stem the flow but it never stops. No, it keeps going as you go through your stages of grief, processing every emotion until you’re ready to go on to the next one. All the while, she clings to you and brushes your baby hairs back from your face, not minding the tears staining her shirt.

“You know, ____, he asked for his dog tags back.”

It comes as a quiet confession after your sobs have mostly subsided, breath hiccuping in your throat as Meilin reaches into her pocket, pulling out the thin silver When U Come Back plate. It dangles on its chain, although you notice that the apple charm is conspicuously missing from the set.

“What happened to the apple charm?” You ask softly. Meilin’s eyes sparkle with nostalgia, but it’s not bad - it’s as if she’s reliving her shared childhood with the man the two of you love. Still, her smile is soft as she looks at you with a muted sadness.

“He said I was always going to be someone he views as his little sister and best friend, but that he needed his official dog tags back for someone important. He gave this back to me pretty easily. Said something about updating it to fit the current time, too.”

“Mei-” you begin, but she cuts you off with a tighter hug that you immediately reciprocate.

“Caleb- Caleb is rash and abrasive and he doesn’t think sometimes, ____. But I swear to you that he feels for you, so much more than you even know. I’m sorry for anything I’ve caused between the two of you, I- ____, he’ll always be someone I grew up with but I told him it’s time for him to put himself first instead of me and Gran, you know? He deserves to be happy too, and he’s happiest when he’s with you.”

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you realize you’re crying again. They stream steadily down your cheeks, but they don’t hurt anymore.

No, they don’t hurt at all. Not when you’re so numb now.

Meilin looks up, and her eyes are similarly red-rimmed as you let her hug you tightly once more before pulling away, looking at you pleadingly. “I mean it, ____. Caleb’s a good person, but he’s so much more when he’s around you. I’ve never seen him that happy before- you bring it out of him.”

“I love him, Meilin.” Her eyes soften at your statement, and she reaches up delicately to wipe some tears from your face. “I love him so much.”

“Wait for him, ____, my friend.” Your face crumples at her sweet sentiment, but the flick she directs at your forehead makes the moment feel less heavy as you instead reach up to brush away the numerous tear tracks on your cheeks. “He’ll go to you soon, I promise.”

You let your head settle on her shoulder as you finally, finally let yourself breathe slowly from the suffocating emotions you’ve felt since you’ve gone to Linkon. But in its wake leaves a steady reassurance that no matter what happens, you have support - a new family waiting for you at the end of the line.

All the while, Meilin pats your back as she soothes you. Her eyes are directed outside of the window to the floating speck in the distance: Skyhaven, where Caleb’s waiting for you.

“Don’t mess this up, idiot.” She grumbles lowly to herself.

She knows he won’t, though.

Not when he loves you.

Something in you feels a little less heavy when you finish organizing your stuff in your quarters.

It’s a metaphorical closing chapter to the trip as you methodically organize clothes you need to wash, your laptop back at its proper place as music blares softly from the speakers. You hum along to the beat, grabbing the last box Meilin had given to you when she and Xavier visited you and opening it.

Your dress is folded neatly inside, your shoes carefully packaged so that no dirt gets on the delicate material. You pull it up by the straps and let the garment unfurl to the floor so you can give it a shake before hanging it up in your closet. You frown when you see another purple bundle fall out from in between the folds, however, and you settle the dress back in its box gently before picking up the crumpled ball and letting it unfold for you to see what it is.

XIA.

Your heart skips a beat when you see the basketball jersey, slightly wrinkled and still faintly smelling of his apple perfume. Your eyes between your already overflowing laundry basket and the crumpled garment before you sigh, tossing it in with the rest of the load and picking the basket up.

You’ll just fold it back up and leave it at his door and then you can go back to avoiding him again. You approach your door and swing it wide open, ready to spend hours at the laundry room-

“Oh.”

Caleb stands in front of you, clad in sweatpants and a baggy white tee as his fist hangs to where your door used to be. Despite how comfy he looks, though, he looks utterly wrecked - heavy bags under his eyes hinting at his lack of sleep.

He still looks devastatingly handsome though, and his eyes shimmer slightly when he sees your face by your open door.

“Can I come in?”

It’s hoarse, full of pleading as he looks at you like you’re the air he’s been deprived of for a long time. You don’t speak, simply turning back around and making enough room for him to step inside and close the door behind him as you plop the basket back by the end of your bed.

It’s awkward as you eye the dress and its box on your bed, and you decide that the best course of action is to continue moving so he doesn’t see the way your frame trembles under his scrutiny. After grabbing a hanger from your closet you make your way to your bed, arranging the straps neatly in the notches and making sure that the fabric is smooth before going back to your closet and making a space for it amongst your uniforms.

“You were beautiful during the wedding.”

“This dress was a big part of it.” It’s a soft mumble as you give one more push to your uniforms, finally making enough space so that it doesn’t get lost in the clothes of your closet. You slot it in neatly and continue to avoid his eyes as you pick up the shoes, pulling them from the bag and settling them on your shoe rack. 

“Let me correct myself,” he says as the two of you approach your bed simultaneously. His hands beat you to the box, and he sets it on your desk as you finally allow yourself to look up.

And what a mistake that is.

His vulnerability is on show for you, nothing clouding his expression as he looks at you with a deep longing. You can feel yourself shake under the intensity of his gaze, so you fold your arms as you fight to stay neutral.

“You were correcting yourself?”

It’s bland, not giving away how your heart pounds in your chest as Caleb’s eyes light up at your quiet allowance. His hands slowly move out towards your arms and when you don’t shy back, he rests his fingers on your arms as he begins to untangle them.

“You’re always beautiful.”

It’s raw, almost unwitting as he finally untangles your arms. There’s no hesitation on his face as he pulls you closer, just enough so that you’re looking up at him as your chests brush with your breaths.

“Are you sure you’re not pretending, Xia?”

It’s resigned from your mouth, no bitterness or anger as your eyes dip down to avoid his face. But you find yourself captured by something, and something in you stills when you see silver tags resting on his chest.

He sees you go still when you catch sight of them, and he releases a puff of air as his hands move up to lift his chain for your eyes to see. “No, ____, I was never pretending.”

Caleb steps closer to you, fingers barely shaking as he holds out his chain for you to see. You can see the little apple charm on the chain, a subtle nod to his family and the childhood best friend he’s always going to protect. But there’s a new plate and a new charm, and Caleb delicately lifts and moves his standard dog tag off of the second plate.

There’s a small, old style compass etched onto the metal. You frown when you see something smaller at the direct north of the compass and you unconsciously move closer, making your bodies brush together slightly while you squint to see what the smaller letters are. 

Your heart stops when you see it.

Your initials, in your own handwriting.

Caleb’s shaky breath washes over your face but his hands are ever steady, lifting the second charm up so you can see it. It’s the same small star charm from the night market, but the gem matches the color of your dress from Meilin’s wedding.

“You were never second place, ____.” His hand reaches up to tilt your chin up, and you see every bit of truth in his eyes mixing something more as he settles his other hand on your waist, pulling you in so that you’re in his embrace. Your hands reach up to fist his shirt, pulling him closer as you let yourself breathe deeply so that you can continue to hear what he says.

“I wanted to support Meilin and Gran but you’re the reason why I keep going. You’re what I see at the end of the day- hell, ____, I see you and I feel you everywhere I am. You’re why I am. You’re my purpose, ____.”

“It was never pretend, Caleb?” It’s a quiet whisper as your eyes dip down, settling on his lips instead of his intense stare. “You were honest this entire time?”

“Yes, my star.”

“So why did you have us pretend then? Why couldn’t you have told me the truth from the start?”

“I was afraid,” he admits quietly. “I’ve been so accustomed to putting Mei and Gran first that when I saw the proof of their permission to let me live my life I was fucking terrified. I’ve never thought of myself and what I’ve wanted before, ____. I’ve always put them at the forefront. And being given that scared me but it also made me realize everything I wanted.”

“And that is?” You know the answer, feeling it bubble in your chest as the hope you thought was extinguished returns as a steady flame. Caleb’s hands tilt your chin up so you can look at him fully, and your breath catches in your throat when you see his expression.

Love. So much love for you and only you.

“You. All of you. Your happiness. Your steadfastness. Everything about you, star. I want you and only you, in this lifetime and the ones after that, ____.”

“Caleb,” it’s a gasp as he finally wraps you in a hug, almost lifting you up into the air as he holds you close to his chest. You bury your head into his neck as the moment swallows the both of you whole, never wanting to let go because it’s real.

“I’m sorry for everything I said.” It’s a whisper by your ears, and a tear slips from your eye as he kisses your temple. “I meant none of it and I will do everything in my power to earn your forgiveness if you decide I deserve it. I will work and get on my knees and beg for as long as I need to if it means I get to keep your smile in my life, my star, my ____.”

You pull your head from his neck and you look up at his shining eyes as he waits for your response. All of the hope in the world is displayed on his face, and you can’t help the smile that blooms across your face.

“That’s quite dramatic, Caleb.”

“I mean it,” he replies with all seriousness. “I will do it for the one I love, ____.”

Love. 

Caleb’s eyes widen at his slip but you angle your head up, letting your lips brush against his in a chaste kiss so he can feel your smile against his mouth. “I love you too, Caleb Xia.”

The world stops as he processes your words, realizing that you love him, too. A moment barely passes before he leans down and kisses you, stealing your breath away and making your eyes close.

“I love you, ____, my star.” It’s a heavy groan against your lips as he wraps your legs around his waist, walking to your bed and settling you down onto your mattress. Your hands are quick to grab at his body, pulling him down once more and pressing your lips against his fervently as his hands map the contours of your body - committing everything into memory so he can keep you in his thoughts for all eternity.

“Caleb,” you gasp as his lips move from your mouth to the rest of your face, pressing kisses into every surface of skin he can touch as his hands slowly caress every part of your body. Your fingers are no better, going from the baggy material of his shirt before your arms wind around his neck once more, sliding into his thick hair and tangling into his messy locks.

“God, I love you,” he groans before capturing your lips once again, stealing your breath from your body once more and making your head spin at the giddy pleasure coursing through your veins. Your hands travel from the back of his head to his shoulders, fingers twisting the loose fabric around his shoulders before you tug at the material insistently.

“Off, please- Caleb-” you gasp against his mouth when he bites down on your bottom lip. You feel a small smirk against your lips as he pulls away only slightly, reaching behind to pull his shirt off of his body from the back collar. You can feel yourself flush further at the sight of his abs as he tosses the shirt behind him, and before you can stop yourself your fingers trace a dangerous line along his pecs.

“Shit, star-” he hisses. Caleb’s hands find your waist and his fingers tighten against your side, flopping onto his back and pulling you up so that you straddle his hips. Your core presses against the growing bulge in his pants and you gasp, pulling on the chain around his neck so that you can kiss him once more as your hips begin to move on their own accord.

Caleb’s tongue slips out his mouth, swiping against your bottom lip to ask for permission in. Your mouth falls open in response, and he’s quick to dart in and tangle his tongue against your own as his hands continue to guide the pace of your lips. Your skin feels too hot as your actions continue, little whimpers and moans filling the air and matching his whispered expletives. His hands move from your hips to your waist, making a dangerous path up your abdomen before lightly pressing against your chest.

“Can I-” he tries, but your hands press against the back of his hands, letting his palms massage your breasts as you whimper with want.

“Touch me, Caleb Xia.”

His tongue quickly darts out to wet his lips, his pupils dilating as you continue to grind against his rapidly hardening cock. His hands move down to your side, long and calloused fingers sliding underneath your tank top before pushing the pesky fabric up and over your head. All you’re left in now is your pretty lace bralette and sweatpants, making Caleb's blood rush down south as he flips you back over once again.

“So beautiful,” he groans. His hands make quick work of both of your sweatpants, sliding the baggy fabric down your legs before the two of you are left in only your underwear.

“My star,” Caleb whispers reverently. His body slowly inches down until he’s kneeling at the foot of your bed, gently pulling at your thighs until they rest on his shoulders. His pointer finger slides against the front of your underwear, and you gasp as his fingers press harder against the wetness that soaks the lace.

“You’re so wet, ____.” There’s a teasing edge as he pulls the fabric to the side, groaning when he sees the way your pussy glistens under the light of the moon from your window. “Who made you this wet, hmm?”

“Caleb-” you gasp, half in answer and half pleading as he lets his fingers press just a little bit harder against your sopping slit. The tips of his fingers dip into your hole slightly, making your back arch as you gasp.

“Mmm…”

It’s the only hum you hear before he buries his head between your thighs, a finger pushing into your soaking hole as his mouth wraps around your clit and sucks just the tiniest bit. A wanton moan escapes your body, thighs about to close but he simply holds you open as he begins to feast on you.

“Caleb-” Your voice catches in a whimper as your hands travel down, pulling on his hair in a bid to get him closer. “P-please, more-”

He simply hums against your pussy, slowly retracting his thick fingers before moving his tongue to your weeping entrance. His tongue slides in and you cry out as his nose bumps against your clit over and over again while he eats you like a man deprived. Your head thrashes back and forth, the needy feeling filling your body until you’re hot all over - a single touch enough to hurtle you off to your end.

Even with your wanton pleasure, Caleb’s movements never cease. His tongue moves back up to your clit, and he presses two fingers gently into your cunt. The stretch makes you cry out, your sweaty hands grabbing at your sheets as he gently crooks his thick digits so that he can press against that spot in you.

“My beautiful star.” He pulls away just enough for you to hear it, the warm air hitting your clit and making you jolt in sensitivity. “Who’s making you feel this good, hm?”

“C-caleb-” You sob. You’re lost in the haze of pleasure, the only thing you can manage being whimpers of his name as he drives you closer to your precipice. All the while he continues to move his fingers inside of you in gentle movements, consistently pressing against your g-spot and making you gasp. The knot in your stomach unravels and you gasp. “Caleb, I’m-”

His mouth slots back against your pussy, tongue flicking against your clit in silent permission to surrender to your end.

And you do.

You cum with a silent moan, tears streaking against your face as the pleasure washes over you in overwhelming waves. His hands never stop, though - he’s still crooking his fingers against your g-spot as he kitten licks at your swollen pearl, making you almost scream as you feel pressure build in your lower abdomen.

All of a sudden you gush all over his hand and he moans, moving his tongue so he gets your taste straight from the source. Your hips move up and down as you gasp, little whimpers the only thing you can manage before you flop back onto your bed bonelessly.

Caleb’s careful to pull his fingers from your pulsing walls, and you gasp as you feel yourself tense around nothing. He moves back up so that he’s hovering above you, pressing a kiss to your forehead and rubbing his nose against your own. “You okay, star?”

“Please.” It’s a sleepy plea as you slowly push yourself up on your bed, settling your weight on your elbows as you look at him with a small smile on your face. Caleb looks utterly wrecked: pupils blown wide open and mouth shining with your slick as he breathes heavily, the silver chain against his neck rising up and down with every movement of his chest. Your eyes travel lower, past his pecs and his abs and down the feathery trail of hair leading into his boxers, where his cock strains heavily against the tight fabric.

Your fingers make quick work of your bralette, pulling it over your head and throwing it at him teasingly. He catches it with one hand, even though he’s distracted by the way your breasts sway slightly with your unsteady breaths.

“Fuck,” he groans. He’s quick to drop the flimsy lace onto the floor before making his way back onto your bed, hovering above you slightly as he kisses you once more. You whimper when you taste yourself on his lips, and he’s quick to pull your underwear down your legs as you push his boxers off of his hips impatiently.

“Is this okay, ____?” The tip of his cock slides through your silken folds, and he groans heavily against your mouth as you gasp. His hand grips his length, slapping his cockhead against your clit and making you jolt against his body.

“Please, Caleb-” It cuts off into a long-drawn out moan when his tip lightly catches against your hole, and you wiggle your hips in an attempt to pull him in closer. He’s quick to stop you, though, hand on your hip as he slowly guides himself into your heat.

“Patience, star.” His voice is low and gritty as he pushes himself in slowly, making your eyes roll back at the slow stretch. Your walls flutter around his length, slowly pulling him in until he’s fully sheathed in your soaking cunt - leaving you gasping at how utterly full you feel of him.

“-ngh.” It’s an incoherent noise from your mouth, and Caleb’s quick to check on you as he kisses the tip of your nose.

“You okay, beautiful?” There’s an edge of humor as he shifts slightly, making you gasp as he jostles slightly inside you. His hips still but you’re quick to wrap your legs around his waist, pulling him closer and making a moan escape his lips.

“Please move-” you all but beg. His eyes darken at your wanton neediness but he’s quick to comply, slowly shifting his hips until he settles a shallow rhythm; slowly rocking in and out in and leaving you begging for more.

“My star, my ____,” he murmurs reverently, capturing your lips in a heated and messy kiss as his hips begin to move in longer strokes. Your teeth clack together as his tongue fights yours for dominance, and you finally relent and let him win as your mouth falls open. His cock bullies your g-spot over and over as you whine, fingers raking down his biceps at the onslaught of pleasure he’s leaving all over your body. He pulls away slightly, and you feel your head spin at the string of saliva connecting your lips and the way his dog tags bounce on his sweaty skin at the thrusts of his movements.

“Look at you,” he groans. The obscene plap plap plap of his hips hitting his mark consistently fills the air, pairing with your whimpers and gasps of his name. “So beautiful and all mine-”

“-Caleb!” You’re sobbing at this point, arms wrapping around his neck so that you can pull him down towards you. His necklace dangles in the little space between the two of you, swaying above your face as your nails leave red marks down his back.

“Are you close, my star?” Your eyes cross when he angles his hips juuust right, consistently hitting your g-spot as his pelvis bumps against your clit over and over again. “Are you going to cum for me, ____?”

“Yes-” you gasp, head thrashing back and forth as your tears slide down your cheeks and soak into the pillow below you. “‘M gonna cum, Caleb-”

“Yeah?” His hips speed up even more, and you sob as you feel yourself begin to fall off your edge. “Cum for me, my star-”

“-ah!” It’s a little scream as the knot in your stomach finally snaps, and your final orgasm washes over your entire body as he continues to move inside of you. His rhythm grows stilted as he feels your walls pulse all around him, making him moan as his head falls to your neck.

“I love you Caleb-” you sob, nails digging into his shoulders as his hips stutter at your slurred words. “‘m so in love with you, Caleb Xia-”

“Fuck,” he swears, and his teeth sink into your skin as he cums in your warmth. You whine when you feel him filling you up, leaving you full and content as his hips slowly come to a stop - letting him relish in the feeling of your warm cunt soaking him as your walls pulse around him weakly.

There’s a comfortable quiet as the two of you catch your breath, your fingers tracing random shapes up and down his spine. Caleb slowly lifts his head, and you laugh softly when you see the dazed look in his eyes as he catches your gaze.

“Can’t believe you came when I said I love you.” You mean for it to be teasing, but you gasp when you feel his cock twitch in your sensitive walls. You look up at him in bewilderment, and he has the grace to look a little bit sheepish as his hips shallowly thrust almost absentmindedly.

“You’re incredibly beautiful and hearing you say that you love me in that tone of voice was incredibly hot, star.” This time you do laugh, rolling your eyes even when you feel yourself growing needy for him again.

“I love you, Caleb.”

It’s a sweet whisper, and you both ignore the way your pussy clenches around his cock as he leans down to kiss you.

“I love you too, my star, my ____.” He whispers.

Gideon and Patrick stand outside of your door, ears pressed to the thick wood so they can hear Caleb’s muffled confession. Alongside on Gideon’s phone are Meilin and Xavier, the line silent as they wait impatiently for any sort of update from them.

“Well?!” The pixelation and shit wifi of the DAA base hide little of Meilin’s impatience, making Gideon wince and lower the volume of his phone as Patrick continues to listen in for anything.

“It’s really quiet.” It’s a hushed whisper, and both Gideon and Patrick look at each other in resignation as Meilin sighs sadly.

“It’s over,” she weeps softly. “My ship is sinking…”

“Aren’t we supposed to be your top ship, my love Mei?” Xavier’s teasing cuts through the tension only a little bit as Meilin scoffs.

“Caleb and ____ are my top ship!” 

“Wait,” Gideon says all of a sudden. He presses his ear against the door and hears it:

I love you too, Caleb.

“Co-conspirators of Project Dizzy Apple, we have achieved our goal.”

Meilin squeals happily on the phone as Gideon and Patrick fist bump each other, relieved that the two of you are no longer tiptoeing around each other. Patrick shakes his head with a smile as he presses his ear on the door once more-

-only for his face to blanch as he grabs Gideon’s arm and begins to drag him away.

“We need to move, now.”

“What, why?” Meilin’s voice crackles on the line as Patrick tries to drag Gideon away from the door. “I want to hear more of their love confession! I need the romance!”

Patrick shakes his head vigorously, eyes wide. “They’re not-”

“Please- Caleb-!”

“Shit shit shit,” Gideon swears over and over when he realizes what he's hearing and he clumsily stands up with Patrick as Meilin fake-gags on the phone.

“Ew ew ew ew ew gross!” Gideon would usually reprimand Meilin for how loud she’s being but right now he’s inclined to agree, trying desperately to scrub the sounds of your shared sin from his mind as the two of them tumble into Patrick’s room.

“Why are we worried about it?” Xavier sounds confused. “You say much worse when I make love to you, Mei. You sound deliciously sinful, too.”

“Not the time,” Patrick grumbles, and Gideon winces once more as Meilin shrieks at Xavier.

Ah well, your friends may have gotten the two of you together but it cost them a little bit.

They don’t mind though.

Not when you and Caleb finally make yourselves known with wide smiles and held hands, slotting together naturally like the sunset over the horizon. 

a/n #2: if you made it this far i am giving you a bouquet i'm being so fr thank you for reading i truly appreciate it :')

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ taglist: @plzdonutpercieveme , @mantalray , @risagichi , @rjreins

[evansbuckle]

Domestic Bucky Headcanons

Thinking about domestic Bucky who naturally wakes up really early and then lies in bed (because he sleeps in a bed now) for the next three hours, just watching you sleep and listening to the way you breathe, because this is hands down the best moment of his day.

Domestic Bucky who damn near had a physical battle with the new machine you guys got just so he could bring you coffee, so you could lay in bed for a few minutes more.

Domestic Bucky who oddly enjoys cleaning, specifically wiping down surfaces because the motion soothes him. He also loves mopping for this same reason. Not that you’re complaining.

Domestic Bucky who replaces the flowers on the kitchen island every Monday, because they ‘decide the vibe for the week’ not that he really knows what that means, he just enjoys your smile when you see them.

Domestic Bucky who never fails to touch you - wether it’s a hand on your knee when you’re sitting on the couch together, his hand in your back pocket when you’re on a walk, his arms around your waist while you’re standing doing whatever you’re doing - honourable mention: he likes to carry you as much as he can, just because he knows you like it, even if its from kitchen to living room, or couch to bed.

Domestic Bucky who’s shoulders physically sag in relief every time he comes home from literally wherever because he can smell your presence and hear your heartbeat and he knows he’s safe.

Domestic Bucky who prides himself in knowing how to cook. After his totally great, not traumatic at all past it took him a while to find joy in food, but once he did? oh man, he’s like a magician with a decked out spice rack. It’s his favourite pastime. Not to mention the reward he gets from the way you physically moan at the taste of whatever he’s cooked.

On a similar note, he for some reason really struggles to bake. Bucky doesn’t know what the problem is because he swears he uses the scales and follows the recipe and the oven works just fine, but it always ends up just tasting slightly … off. On an unrelated note, Domestic Bucky has made best friends with everyone who works in the bakery a couple blocks away. They all greet him by name.

Domestic Bucky who adores movies, fantasy is preferred but he wouldn’t turn down a rom-com (sometimes you think he secretly prefers them). You could honestly swear that every time there's a cute date in a romcom he makes a mental note of it, and takes you on the same date a few days later, blushing when you point out the similarities between date and movie.

Domestic Bucky who draws you baths, and lights you candles, and brings wine & chocolates to you while you’re in said bath when you have a bad day because you’re not staying sad, not on his watch. Honourable mention for the fact he’ll get in with you, but only if you ask.

Domestic Bucky who is happy, who (after who knows how many years of guilt) accepts that he can have peace, who looks over at you every single morning when he wakes up, and every single night before he falls asleep, and thanks God that he didn’t end everything when it got too loud.

likes & reblogs are always appreciated! <3

[pwettybbybunny]

Sweetness Overload!! (HSR Men and Cute Stuff they do!)

Argenti has the most exquisite house (spaceship) garden, making you the prettiest flowers weekly, and jotting on a note, what each flowers symbolizes. He also often likes making you flower crowns or random flower art, and will tear up if you do the same.

Aventurine before you start dating liked making a whole show of constantly calling you wrong names every time making your frustrated with him, except when he tucks his coat around shoulders after he find you slumped in front of your computer during overtime, dead asleep, whispering a good night, and sweet affirmations, checking your breath and finally uttering an 'i love you' once he confirms you are asleep. I think after 173 total posts this is the first time i wrote aventurine not being depressed or traumatizing him more lol.

Blade makes sure everyone knows you are his. You two out in public? He will be all over you, arm around you shoulder or simply clutching you from behind, as you two walk, he likes holding you whenever. You are rarely seen out alone, in public, if ever. He likes being with you as much as he can. Good things barely exist in his life, so he's gonna hoard you all to himself.

Boothill remember everything you say or do, your likes and dislikes? Can list all in his sleep. Each and every order you place in your favorite restaurants? Saved in his cloud storage. Every single important date? Your birthday, your first kiss, the first time he met you, the first time you hold hands, your anniversary, everything.

Dan Heng is an amazing listener. Every trouble you got, just tell him all about it and let him kiss them away. He's an empath and will help you mentally deal with your struggles. After everything he has faced in and even before the shackling prison, the last thing want is for his lover to face anything remotely as same, so very protective too. Also, he loves your voice, love hearing you speaks, loves to fall asleep to it, and to wake to your pretty voice. His fav place to kiss you is your throat,

Dan Feng liked to doll up and gift shiny stuff to his little mate. Anytime he sees any pretty accessory or clothes, he will bring them home, almost a hoarding problem. Loved to see you in the stuff in brought you, or enjoy any of his gifts. The high elder's mate was very popular for the way they were dressed like a god/goddess head to toe with jewelers and the best garments in all the Xianzhou ships.

Dr Ratio other than the hundreds of your statues he made, he likes to learn about all your interests. Any subject you like, any conspiracy theory, any fictional book you are reading, any game/tv show lore, he wants to know it. There is knowledge in everything, and by knowing about your interests more, he would learn about more, and he desperately wants that.

Gallagher names all of his drinks after you. Something sweet? It's name after something he likes about you. Spicy? Something that makes you feisty. Bitter? Something you hate. The entire bar staff, especially Siobhan likes to tease you for it.

Gepard likes to draw for you, like a little child, 2 stick figures holding hand. Little picture of his dear family of 4 (you him and his sister), and stuff like that. Will cry if you put those drawings on the refrigerator or frame it, that's literally make his inner child so happy after the abuse he suffered in his childhood.

Jiaoqiu likes talking about you. Anyone and everyone who knows him or get to talk to him for more than 5 minutes, will know how amazing you are and how much he loves you.

Jing Yuan loves holding you. Just sit in his lap play your games on your phone and let him nap, his head resting on your shoulders, he can spend an eternity like this. He is his happiest when you're in physical contact with him, too much tome away from you and gets antsy and pouty like a kid, though he don't show that exteriorly, for the sake of his reputation, but for Yanqing it's quite obvious.

Luocha loves to take care of you. Feed you, help you groom, help you with any tasks, everything, nor is he the type to shy away from complimenting you, he is a merchant, he words are beautiful and filled with flattery almost like those anime butlers. You are his little prince/princess and he makes sure you know that with how special he makes you feel.

Moze will give the chocolate end of his ice cream cone. This man is very self sacrificing for his love. You are his top priority, and in his his you are worth more than him himself. His happiness in entirely based on yours.

Sampo like to make chocolates for you. Very random, I know, but each valentines day, he with the help of the moles, makes you homemade chocolate, even go as far as to craft the box for you. They are not the best nor the prettiest, but it comes from the bottom of his heart, also he surprisingly buys all the ingredients too rather than stealing them, so you better apprecite it.

Sunday loves to either sing or you to sleep, he would yap and yap, his voice so melodious, the lullaby he sings so calming and nostalgoc, taking you in his arms, and gently petting you. Other than his sister when she was a child, you are the only one blesses enough to hear this bird chirp.

Welt trying to use gen z or gen alpha slangs and failing (definitely tried using 'skibidi ' or 'rizz' unironically), trying to imitate the express trio's speach pattern, so he can be cool, and match up with you, despite his withering bones. Kiss the grandpa and appreciate his efforts.

I will write nasty Dottore smut to cleanse my sins of writing fluff soon! The next post will should be very big, so I hope I can complete before falling asleep.

[iqxatlantic]

heyyyy love your fics <333

can you do sugar daddy Kaiser who's always been rude and rough with reader but one day when he realises he's falling in love with them he's really gentle, asking how they feel and praising them? if possible can you do fluff along with nsfw???

ahh hii anon!! thank uu i appreciate ur words <33 anywayss i love the plot ohh gosh ygs r so creative omg

"And all I wanna do is stay with HER"

ft. michael kaiser . sugar daddy! kaiser . ooc! kaiser lol... . ness is in the story omg! . is ness ooc! too... . yes ness is ooc asw . character development.? . eventual smut . sex gulp... . piv ! . afab! reader . mistreated! reader ... . fluff asw . unreliable narrator

wc: 1.0k

"she's annoying." kaiser grumbled, taking a sip of wine. ness looked at him, "[name] cares about you that's why." the magician tried to lighten the mood. clearly, it didn't work.

"she just wants fucking money." he retorted. ness frowned, "can't you look at it in a positive way.? at least she's trying. take a look at all the others you've had."

that sentence had kaiser reflecting for a bit. "huh. i suppose you have a point for once, ness." the prodigy felt himself get a little flushed. "you're treating her so rough, how often does she even ask for money.?" ness continued. "don't be so harsh man! she's trying..."

the emperor tsked. "if she's so 'perfect' you take her then." he grumbled. jeez this guy is really helpless man... ness looked at kaiser disgusted for the first time.

"keep acting like that and she's bound to become who you think she really is." ness thought as he picked himself up and left kaiser to his thoughts.

later within the night, kaiser found himself scrolling through your photos after sending you some money (oh need that.) it hit him you were gorgeous. pretty face with a kind heart.. he was going to go insane.

the more he scrolled the more he admired your beauty. you radiated an aura that he just couldn't place his finger on. perfection was a word too vague to describe it.

shaking his head, he set his phone down. hands on his head, he was wondering. what the literal hell was he doing.? all he's ever done was treat you like shit because he had such horrendous experiences with others.

i mean, you were like the others. you were just there for the money... and attention i guess. but there was something more to it. he was just to blind to see it. (tf r ur glasses for mihya bro.)

it was late — hella late. 2:32 A.M.? there's no way you'd come over right? so what the heck were you doing at his door in a matter of moments?

kaiser opened his door, surprised. "you — you actually came?" he asked, somewhat in disbelief. "i'm right here aren't i, dumbass.. plus you called." you shrugged.

the satin on the bed somewhat wrinkled as the both of you sat down. "um, so why'd you want me to come ove-" you were quickly interrupted by an apology. "[name], liebling. i'm sorry. i'm sorry for my behaviour, how i treated you. scheiße, i'm so fuckin' sorry."

he held your visibly smaller and softer hands. his hands feeling quite the opposite. you were kinda a dumbass, "wha — michael huh...?" you shook your head giggling, "what are you apologizing for?"

his gorgeous blue eyes stared into yours. "don't act coy with me, [name]. you don't need to forgive me. i'll do whatever for your forgiveness. please. do you want more money? gifts.? flowers..? wha.. god. what do you want?!" kaiser asked desperately.

you looked at him with a deadpan expression. god, has this man ever been treated alright.? "mihya, i don't really want anything. yea i mean i love money i mean — who doesn't love money. but i'm not here solely because of money." you sighed.

"yes, you have money is definitely a positive trait but, you have more to it. money isn't the only thing that makes you lovable." you continued to ramble. his hands released yours. you were caught in his embrace.

"mihya.?" you whispered. kaiser knew how scary it was to love someone. the amount of devotion you must give. the time and effort. one wrong move? it could all crumble.

his embrace got tighter, you were tensing a little bit up. was he gonna beat you like what the heck is goin' on?! he knew you were always running away from love, 'cause your daddy never gave you enough :((

hey, same for him as well, no? "meine liebe." kaiser breathed, "let's try again together. i'm done with the 'you deserve better' bullshit. i have the choice to be better and i'm taking it."

he loosened his embrace on you, hands on your shoulders. you met his gaze. all it could scream was blue of desperation. not going to even lie, most dedication you've seen in your whole life.

you were still skeptical — hell, i can't blame you! you've been mistreated all the time by partners, getting taken advantage of... what change is this rich and attractive man going to do? he has the money, the women ugh... thinking about it made your head hurt.

"what do you say, liebling. let me show you.?" he leaned in, mumbling into your ear. hah! as if you'd believe what he said and give him a chance.

kaiser would be lying if he said he didn't regret making up with you earlier. he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss you. hell! every bit of fiber within him missed you! his lips on yours, oh gosh. he's going crazy. :c

a little while after what was supposed to be a sweet make out, he found himself aligning his tip to your slit. you had glossy eyes as you stared back up at him. he had you pinned onto the bed...

"are you sure?" he asked stroking your stomach, his hands then tracing your curves. "fuu-uck. you're perfect." he mumbled. you nodded in response.

as he buried his length into your warmth he swore he got sent to heaven. "sh-shit.. scheißescheißescheiße...! please you're made for me..." he continued, his lips once more pressed onto yours.

nah, at this point his cock was stretching your opening... it hurt. kaiser broke off the kiss as he groaned, "you take me so damn well.. i'm sorry for being so horrid to you."

you were practically crying, was it cause the sex was good? cause of kaiser? you didn't know! "m-hya.." you sobbed out so sweetly. it was kaiser's last straw.

your walls were sucking his member in man..! how could he not..? your noises could kill him oh gosh! one last thrust and his length was kissing your womb :c "i'm sorry meine liebe, i-" the emperor didn't even get to finish his sentence as he finished in you <3

he pulled out just to push his fingers back in. admiring your form and expression. maaaan, kaiser couldn't ask for a better girl >< dawn came, so did kaiser, 'cept he n you came multiple times :3 kaiser could make it better. all he needed was just one more day with ya.

— ©iqxatlantic / isaisliterallyhim, 2025

tags !! : @twijaxx ♡, @kyvkc

a/n: hey guys.. hey anon.. guess who's finally back heh... my writers block actually fried me so bad its diabolical man.. yes i lost motivation half way along w the plot tbf i had this in my drafts for 2 weeks or smth... i'm so sorry if this wasn't what y'all wanted ill cook for the future ones ;-; not proofread btw good GAWDDDD if kaiser was my sugar daddy man.. money and hes hot YES PLSS (no im nawt shallow but tuition fees are booty bro yall cant blame me.) yes this is all yap ALL MY NOTES ARE YAP OK </3 but um.. yay ilygs a lot mwa mwa <3

[miaoua3]

(pairing: scoups x f!reader)

trying to slowly gain my motivation back to write because I literally feel like crying every time i attempt to finish the fic that i started three weeks ago lmao

your steps have a little skip in them as you walk down the road, happily swinging your and cheol’s intertwined hands as you do so.

to be completely honest, you aren’t really sure why you are so happy, you just…are.

the day hasn’t been anything too special-you decided to use the rare free day that cheol had and got up early to have a breakfast at your favourite bakery. the old lady who is the owner of the shop smiled as she took your orders, although she could’ve already guessed what the two of you were going to order, being that you two come at least once every two weeks in there.

your boyfriend looked very handsome, with his black hair slicked back and white tshirt, a light green cardigan that matched your dress thrown over it. the smile that decorated his handsome face the entire time made him all the more beautiful.

you two chatted about anything and everything, briefly revisiting the old drama from that ex coworker of yours, cheol being just as invested as you as you showed him her most recent instagram update of hers.

after you have finished with the breakfast, you decided to just…walk around.

you dragged your poor boyfriend around one too many stores, making him try all sorts of clothes before you showed him mercy and he paid for the things you picked out for the two of you.

after you left your bags in the car, he gently took your hand and suggested that a walk through a nearby park could be nice.

you close your eyes as you take a deep breath of the fresh spring air, the soft smell of flowers that surround you lingering inside your nose.

with a sigh, you look at cheol with a smile on your face “i couldn’t be happier to finally have spring back. i haven’t felt sun on my face in months.”

you briefly drop his hand in the name of spreading your arms wide and running a few metres in front of him, before you turn around to look at him.

and cheol?

cheol feels his breath get stuck inside his throat at the sight in front of him.

the soft green dress that perfectly hugs your body, the way the soft wind plays with your hair, the way your eyes look even brighter in the sun.

and that smile.

god, the things seungcheol would do to have that smile permanently tattooed on your face.

suddenly, you run back to him, giggling as you do, before stopping just a hair short of his body.

the fond smile that grazes the corners of his lips makes you fall that much deeper in love with him.

quickly, you lean in and peck his lips before pulling away to reveal a mixture of a happy and mischievous smile on your own lips.

cheol just squints his eyes suspiciously at you before grabbing your cheeks all too quickly and pulling you back in for another kiss, one much deeper and much softer than the one you laid on him.

your hand find their place around his waist, hugging him close to yourself as you thoroughly enjoy the little make out session that cheol is “making” you participate in.

pulling slowly away, he opens his eyes to see that blinding smile of yours.

a matching one graces his features as he softly asks you “what’s got you so smiley today, my little fairy-looking goddess?”

you giggle at the silly nickname before you lean back in to place another soft but quick kiss on his cherry coloured lips.

lowly, almost like it’s a secret, you respond “you. you always make me feel so happy. life with you feels much better and brighter in general.”

cheol looks at your soft eyes for a second, briefly stunned by your answer, before he loops his arms around your neck and kisses you once more, fierceness and power being the driving force behind it.

after a few seconds, he pulls away, looking at your gorgeous face yet again, before he lowly says something that will get you feeling as flustered as your first date with the man in front of you did.

“im gonna marry you one day, you silly and crazy woman. be ready.”

the only thought that roams around your head for the rest of the day as you think about his words is

bring it on, baby.

[pellucid-constellations]

On Standby

Pairing: Warren (oc) x Reader

Summary: The day after his fiancee left him, Warren is still to be married—just not to her. To a woman he has never met.

Word count: ~800

Warnings: Arranged marriage

a/n: I literally have no idea what's going on but please enjoy whatever I'm on right now. I don't even know what to tag this lol?? Love you thanks for the inspo everyone <3

Read the original Azriel x reader fic here

~~

Warren pulled at his collar. The material of his jacket was itchy and stiff along his neck, but honestly, he was just nervous. The hall was packed with eyes trained on his nerves and he knew only half of them. 

The other half was your family, who had somehow all been prepared for a grand wedding on such short notice. Long dresses and tailored suits sat in the seats before him, expecting something from him, and he didn’t even know what you looked like.  

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. He knew very little about his previous fiancee, but she was nothing if not kind and pretty and devoted. Not devoted to him, but he supposed it was a good quality to have. 

He regretted, for the fourth time since last night—he’d been counting—not making more of an effort to win her over before she left. Maybe if he’d tried harder he wouldn’t be meeting someone new today. Maybe if she had felt something for him before she left… 

No, that wouldn’t have worked either. 

As much as Warren liked her, he had seen the longing and pain in her eyes at the rehearsal dinner last night. He would have lost her to whoever she loved in the Night Court regardless of previous efforts. Still, he wished it was her. 

His mother was speaking to him, her smile just as bright as the night before. She had known a wedding would take place today and had cared little about the bride. That was fine, he supposed, but this suit was choking him and he felt a headache blooming. 

“Have you decided on the honeymoon?” his mother prompted in his ear, elation buzzing in her tone. 

“No, mother. I told you I want my wife to decide.” 

“How silly. What if she wants to go somewhere terrible?” 

“I suppose that would be my plight in life,” Warren sighed through a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Please remind me of—” 

“Her name?” 

He almost scoffed. “Gods, no. I remember her name. Remind me of the flowers she chose.”

His mother shot him an odd look—one that had become increasingly commonplace with his impending marriage. His mother found it strange that he had wanted to know so much about his previous fiancee, allowing her to take liberties husbands apparently should not. She questioned his desire to be attuned to her, to have a proper partnership when it was all arranged. Warren’s mother had obviously assumed his pairing would be lucrative for the family at best. 

And it would be lucrative, even with you now as his mother’s second choice. But Warren wanted to be in love. He wanted to take care of someone and feel the warmth of reciprocation. He hadn’t seen much love in his life with so many arranged marriages and carefully planned relationships, but that did little to impact his view. 

Warren wanted to feel the way his fiancee—former fiancee—had looked last night. 

“Daffodils,” his mother shared. 

With such short notice, you had only been able to request a few things for your participation in the wedding. Your wedding, Warren regrettably thought, and you could only pick a bouquet. 

He’d have daffodils sent to whichever house you chose for the honeymoon. 

Warren nodded to his mother, and then notes were plucked from the harp across the room and he was left alone at the altar.

His palms were sweating. He couldn’t hold your hand for the first time with sweaty palms. He discreetly positioned his hands behind his back and attempted to remedy the issue. 

This would be fine. 

Maybe you were even lovelier than his last fiancee. Maybe you would enjoy all of the same things he did and would be interested in his idiotic sailing hobby. Maybe you would want to fall in love. 

The double doors swung open at the end of the aisle. 

For some reason, Warren’s eyes fluttered shut—only for a moment, but long enough for a strange form of fear to grip him. 

What if you weren’t interested in the kind of relationship he so desperately wanted? What if you saw this as a joining of families and nothing else? What if you were mean, ill-hearted—what if you hated him for what this marriage meant? 

Warren did not have time to contemplate any longer. He looked up from his turmoil and found daffodils in his eyeline. And then he found you, and suddenly, Warren wasn’t so concerned about anything anymore. 

A soft veil trailed down from the softness of your hair, gathering on the floor until it was lost in your dress. His examination stopped there. Warren was aware that there were several other beautiful things he could have noticed about you, but his world was shifting. Warren stepped back to support himself. 

He had found his mate.

[cranberry-writes]

Dating Headcannons for The Boys characters!

Please send requests, i need motivation

Characters listed; Hughie, Butcher, M.M, Frenchie, Kimiko

Warnings; Mentioned drinking and cannon typical violence/language. Also i’m barely on season 2 please bear with me

Hughie;

- He’s so so sweet about your relationship

- He gets you flowers for no reason other than he saw them and thought you’d like them

- He has thousands of reminders so he won’t forget anything, from a drink you liked to your anniversary he will have it written down.

- Later on in the series he gets protective and cautious about the relationship, scared someone (homelander) will mess it up by hurting you

- He’ll probably push you away a bit to try and protect you but after you knock some sense into him he’ll be back to normal

- Loves park/library dates, going on a picnic during the summer and to the library when it’s to cold out.

- He will do so much for you (flowers, gifts, dates etc) and insist it’s nothing but will cry (happy tears) if you do the same

- Don’t get me wrong tho, he’s still a bad ass (sometimes). He just dosnt want you to think differently of him because of it, he’s hurt people, killed people, and he honestly isn’t too keen on focusing on it. Even if you two are in the same line of work.

- And if you two don’t work together he tries to keep his ‘work’ life and dating life separate, very separate.

“You’ve never told me what you do for work, maybe i could stop by and meet your co-workers.”

“Uh, actually, i don’t think that’ll work.”

“Why not? is everything ok there or something?”

“I-, uhm, work alone, so i don’t even have coworkers for you to meet really, it’s really boring infact you’d probably fall asleep just from me talking about it hahaha.”

- You find out like two days later

Butcher;

- Little shit

- I mean that affectionately

- His pet names will range anywhere from “Darlin’” to “Fucker” and i WILL stand by it

- He’ll probably introduce you to his work before he does his dog

- But his dog is the big ticket, you meeting Terror is essentially his way of proposing before proposing

- He’s protective but not in the “i’ll watch your every move” more in the “im teaching you how to use every weapon to ever exist” way

- Honestly work would probably come before you for a while before he sucks it up and actually makes an effort

- Dates will be at the most shity bar imaginable, unless he’s apologizing for something then he’ll take you to the nicest place he can and put on a suit. (it’s the Cheese Cake factory and he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his jacket but he’s trying)

- Unlike Hughie he will introduce you to his work at some point, granted it would still be a while before he did but he would at some point.

- He’s sweet in his own way

“Darlin’, look what i got ya.” And it’s a Garfield shirt a size to big but you still wear it anyways

MM;

- Definition of husband material

- remembers anything and everything after being told one time

- makes you baths with rose petals and candles and all that stuff if you mention you’ve been tired lately

- Takes you out to the movies and a nice restaurant at least twice a month

- Good gods he’s sweet to you

- He knows how to cook/bake and will make stuff for you all the time

- My guy will make a meal from your culture and practice making it almost daily just to give you a taste of home.

- He really loves back massages and cuddling after a long day

- Put on some crappy reality show for background noise and nap together

- He wants you as far away as humanly possible from his work, will literally say shit like “everyone at work has the plague you can’t visit” as a joke to try and change the subject

- Chances are you won’t find out

- His favorite flowers are tulips and nothing will change my mind about it

“Baby what are these?”

“Tulips, I bought them from a street market on 11th today. They’re your favorite, right?”

“Gods, sweetheart you’re perfect.”

Frenchie;

- When you two meet you both think it’s just going to be a one night stand

-…then it’s two nights, then three, then a week, then you start spending more time at his place than your own. One day you guys just realize you’re moved in and dating

“Are we dating?”

“…Was there anything else we could be mon cœur?”

- honestly i don’t think you two would get together if you weren’t working together, or at least you were also into some shady shit

- But overall you guys have a strong relationship, one gets hurt the other kills someone, someone is hungry the other is already cooking, stuff like that

- He also cooks but it’s only french food, it’s like a super power. He can cook any french food effortlessly but literally anything else he messes up

- If you are french he’ll be super happy someone else will appreciate the same stuff in a similar way

- If not then he’ll be happy to share stuff with you, teach you some french words and tell you about stuff he grew up with

- Honestly he’s just happy someone (other than Kimiko) will listen and take an interest

Kimiko

-I have a confession to make, Kimiko is my favorite and i have a very blatant bias towards her

- Kill anyone you want bby i don’t care ill always like you

- Anyways, It probably takes you a while to get close enough to her that she’ll consider dating you

- Once y’all get to that point i don’t think you could break it tho

- I think she would like constant minimal physical contact, like hand holding or leaning on each other

- I think she’d be pretty protective over you, like someone looks at you wrong and she wants to maul them

- Learn sign language with/for her she will love it

- Draw with her, get her supplies, like those alcohol markers i’m sure she’ll love them

- Honestly i don’t think she’d be big on pet names, she wouldn’t object to it but i don’t think she’d give you one first

- Cook for her, i just think it would be sweet and she deserves it

“I got you some of those markers you’ve been looking at for a while.”

Thank you, this is nice

- Please she’s perfect i love her

[voie-lacte3]

—the one where we see what makes the other melt

| fluff?

| taglist! anon list!

| the rest of his masterlist!

• things he does that make YOUR heart do backflips •

♡ the way he says your name. sometimes its soft and sleepy, sometimes teasing, sometimes low and serious. you know what mood he’s in just by the way your name sounds coming out of his mouth.

♡ when he leans in really close to hear you in a loud room, like it’s second nature, hand lightly on your back, head tilted, that little furrow of focus on his face because what you're saying matters. and you'll be like, “i literally just said the pizza’s mid,” and he’s out here making it feel like poetry.

♡ he always, always, always saves you your favorite candy. like if you like red starburst, he'll leave you all red startbursts, and he doesn't even say anything, just goes up to you and hands it to you in a tiny pile, "dont say i dont love you"

♡ his hoodie sleeves are always a little too long, allowing him to fidget with them as he listens to you talk. you'll be rambling about something unhinged and he’ll be looking at you like you're the most fascinating thing in the world, thumbs pulling at his sleeves.

♡ he texts you every time you go somewhere. "be safe" "you got there okay?" "you back home yet?" "lock your door when you get back home."

♡ in the rare occasion you're drinking water, he always opens the water bottles for you. no matter how full his hands are or what he’s doing, if you're struggling even slightly, mason's already taking it from you like, "here, n/n, lemme— there ya go.” and he gives it back with a dumb little half-smile like it's nothing.

♡ the other 99% of times you dont drink water, he doesn't even remind you— he simply justs brings water bottles up to your mouth and tells you to "open up"

♡ he immediately notices when you're overwhelmed in a crowd, like his body just knows,and he squeezes your hand once in an, "i got you" type of way.

♡ he'll randomly tuck your hair behind your ear without realizing it, and then blushes after because he didn’t mean to

♡ he's got a mental archive of you. like, he never forgets the small things, "you like that weird strawberry milk from the corner store, right?"

♡ he gets all shy when you compliment him, he’ll hide his face in your shoulder and be like "stoppppp, you’re gonna make me blush,” even though he’s already bright red and grinning like an idiot.

♡ he makes you playlists, like actual playlists. no random shuffle energy, these have themes. titles like "for when you can’t sleep" or "for when you miss me"

♡ the way he looks at you when you're not paying attention. especially when you're talking to someone else, laughing too loud, gesturing with your hands. he just stares. soft smile. eyes full of love and admiration.

♡ if you dont have your nails done, or just wanna switch it up, he'll paint your nails. he’s so serious about it too, brows furrowed, tongue sticking out, concentrating like it’s surgery.

♡ he texts you a little "good luck :)" before any test or presentation you have. sometimes with a funny little meme. sometimes with a goofy selfie.

♡ he carries your bag. no questions. "give me that, it looks heavy. " "it’s literally a tote bag with lip gloss and mascara." "God forbid i wanna be a baddie too." and he slings it over his shoulder proudly.

♡ he keeps weird souvenirs from your dates. movie tickets. receipts. a flower you gave him. the to go box from your first date. he doesn’t talk about it— but it’s all in a little box under his bed labeled "n/n" with cute, lob sided hearts around it.

♡ he compliments you in the weirdest ways, "you’re so cute it makes me wanna scream into a pillow." "i wanna frame your laugh."

♡ he puts his arm out when you stop at crosswalks. like a human seatbelt. "you know a car’s not coming, right?" "don’t care. safety first, love."

♡ he literally doesn’t look at other girls. ever. his friends and cast mates have tried to point it out— "bro did you see—" "no. n/n’s prettier." meanwhile you're at home in sweats and a greasy bun.

♡ we've talked about this, but, he always walks on the outside of the sidewalk. even if you're just walking in a quiet neighborhood, with no cars. he does the little shoulder-nudge to switch sides and goes, "just in case, y’know."

♡ he lets you warm your hands inside his hoodie or sweatpants' pockets. "c’mere, jack frost." and you stick your hands in his hoodie like it's the most normal thing in the world.

♡ you're the first person he calls whenever something happens. whether he just booked another role, stubbed his toe, got rained on, or saw a dog in a sweater, you're his first call. always. "bro! you’re not gonna believe what just happened—”

♡ he fixes your necklaces. like if the clasp is crooked or the charm's off center— he just reaches over, gently fixes it, and keeps talking like he didn’t just give you internal butterflies.

♡ he makes dumb voice impressions when you're sad. if you're overwhelmed or low-energy, he’ll do Kermit or Mickey or literally any ridiculous voice just to get you to laugh.

♡ when you're ranting about something dumb, he acts like it’s breaking news. "WHAT?! she said that?? do i need to fight her? gimme a wig."

♡ he likes when you wear his rings. even if you're hands are smaller than his, he’ll slip them onto your fingers mid-convo like "here. they look better on you."

♡ he randomly plays with your hands. you'll be sitting on the couch or in the car and he’ll be holding your hand, fiddling with your rings, tracing your knuckles, or just caress your nails.

♡ he stands behind you when you're looking in the mirror. he wraps his arms around your waist, rests his chin on your shoulder, and just stays there. "you’re so pretty, n/n."

♡ he always compliments you when you least expect it. you're in a hoodie, messy bun, half-asleep? "you look so good right now i'd literally hit," or when you're screaming the lyrics to your favorite song, "you’re so cool, i hope you know that."

• things you do that make HIS heart do backflips •

♡ when you laugh mid-sentence because you just crack yourself up. he just watches you. grinning like an idiot. he doesn’t even hear the end of your story, too busy mentally saving the way you smile when you're laughing.

♡ when you get really animated while telling a story. like, your eyes go wide, your hands fly everywhere, and your voice goes up a full octave. mason’s just like: 😍😍😍

♡ when you fake glare at him. arms crossed, lips all pouty, eyebrows scrunched.

♡ when you wear his clothes. especially when you dont mention it, and just show up in his hoodie.

♡ when you're together and you get all sleepy and clingy and make grabby hands. you just stretch your arms out toward him like 🧍‍♀️🤲 and he melts.

♡ when you give him your full attention. im talking, you turn your phone over, tuck your legs under you, and just listen. he starts fumbling his words because he’s like "wait. why are you so pretty."

♡ when you send him videos instead of texts, especially when you're doing something normal like skincare or eating a snack and you're just chatting like, "anywayyy i look ugly right now but guess what just happened." he replays it like ten times.

♡ when you talk to animals in baby voice, like you see a dog or a squirrel and immediately hit that, "hi sweetieeee, look at youuuuuu!!" makes him want to marry you right then and there.

♡ when you sing along to songs you like. off-key. dramatic. and a couple wrong lyrics, but he doesn’t care. he’s watching you with one hand on the wheel and the biggest smile in the known universe.

♡ when you subconsciously lean into him. you could be standing in line, or watching something, and you just rest your head on his shoulder without thinking.

♡ when you say his full name. something about it just itches his brain into mush.

♡ when you call him pretty boy. "pass the chips, pretty boy.” he chokes. visibly and audibly. he tries to play it cool but turns the color of a strawberry slushie.

♡ when you reach out and fix his hair, "wait, your curls are being rebellious again,” and just fluff them back in place gently.

♡ when you kiss his cheek and you're wearing lipstick. he likes the mark. a lot.

♡ when you randomly grab his face to look at him properly. like maybe he’s just talking and you reach out, cupping his cheeks to make him look at you.

♡ when you hype him up in the most you way possible: "your smile is so cute, i hate you" "your voice sounds really good in this part." "you looked unfairly handsome today." every time you say something like that, he pretends it’s no big deal but immediately looks down and bites his lip to stop grinning like a doofus.

♡ when you smell like him. like maybe after a long cuddle session or a whole day of hanging out, he has to literally bite the inside of his cheek to stay normal about it.

♡ when you're cuddling and you just randomly touch his face. you grab his nose, trace over his eyes, slick down his eyebrows down, squish his lips together. just random touches because you can.

♡ your good night voice messages, "goodnight my handsome boyyyy, dont let the sleep demons get you"

♡ when you introduce him as your lover. "—and this is my lover, mason", because yes, he's the one you love.

♡ when you mumble "c'mere" and pull him into a hug. no warning, no hesitation. he wraps his arms around you instantly and blushes, smiling all giddy.

a/n: tbh this is more of an apology for not posting yesterday, i was out w friends allll day 🥱

tags: @bluebvrriee @v4mpire-bit3s @neroloops @m-e-m06 @icollectrubberduckies @tuttifrutt1 @unsaidjaelinrose @sorry-for-party-rocking-rah @courta13 @thegr8estpuff @90zl1ps @user168537 @katie-the-bookworm @cecedelove @ktaerssoi @celestiiql @hyukabean @slutforchrissturniolo2 @greekgirldream @superlegend216 @charleymaymay

[inkedtension]

Love? whats that?

Inosuke x reader. enjoyy!

Wisteria blooms haunt your dreams. Their scent still clings to your fingers no matter how many times you scrub. At the chemical plant, you were a ghost among fumes and formulas, extracting poison from sacred trees with surgical precision. That life was stripped away when demons razed your town to ash.

You didn't scream. You survived.

Shinobu Kocho found you barely breathing beneath broken beams, your blood soaked into the soil. You had a pulse, and worse—a brain worth salvaging.

"Come to the Butterfly Mansion," she said. "You're wasted on factories."

So now you spend your days grinding flowers into death. Crafting demon-specific toxins. Staring at pestles and powders, comforted by the order of chemical reactions.

Until he crashes into your life.

Literally.

"YAAAAH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

The door slams open and a whirlwind of limbs and animal hide crashes into your table, scattering glass and ash.

You stare at him, blinking.

"You absolute baboon."

The boar-masked boy cocks his head. "Did you call me a bamboo?"

warning, without reason, always with some absurd question:

"Can I eat this?"

"Will this make me stronger if I drink it?"

"What happens if I bathe in this goo?"

He picks up things with his mouth. Tries to fight jars. One time he tried to bite a vial of wolfsbane.

His name is Inosuke Hashibira. You learn it after Shinobu yells at him for traumatizing you and tells you to “be kind; he was raised by boars.” You think it’s a metaphor. It’s not.

He is feral. Loud. Constantly shirtless. Bursts through doors. Doesn’t understand “personal belongings” or “locks.”

“I LIKE THIS ROOM!” he shouts a week later, arms flung open, standing in your doorway. “IT SMELLS LIKE SPICE AND BURNY STUFF!”

“That’s arsenic, and if you inhale too much, your lungs will liquefy.”

“COOL.”

From then on, he visits you every day.

Sometimes barges in to watch you mix things.

Sometimes tosses mushrooms onto your table and goes “THESE KILLED A FOX. WANNA USE ‘EM?”

Sometimes tries to spar with the mannequins you test bandages on.

You hate it.

And, somehow, you don’t.

It starts with a stick.

He slams it onto your table during lunch one day, triumphant. “STRAIGHT!”

You blink. “What?”

“This stick. I found it. It’s super straight. Look!” He holds it up beside a ladle. “STRAIGHT! I found it and thought of you.”

“…Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“I saw a crow give another crow a stick once. And then they sat on a tree together and didn’t fly away! They just stayed there and squawked and bumped beaks! So I got you a better stick.”

You stare at him.

He stares at you.

You take the stick.

“Thanks,” you say, quietly. “It’s…very straight.”

He beams.

The next week, it’s a rock.

Perfectly round. Flat on one side, smooth like it was polished by the gods.

He smacks it down in front of you with childish glee. “It’s like your forehead!”

“…Thanks?”

“I licked a bunch of them to find this one. It tastes different. That means it’s rare!”

“You—” You drop your pen. “You licked rocks?!”

Zenitsu walks in at that exact moment and screams. “Inosuke! You’re courting her like a cave goblin! Girls don’t like pebbles!”

“I DO WHAT THE CROWS DO,” Inosuke roars, arms flailing. “AND SHE DIDN’T THROW THE STICK BACK!”

Tanjiro leans in from the hallway, concerned. “That…does kind of mean something in bird language.”

Zenitsu is having a meltdown. “That is NOT how you treat a lady!”

for some reason… you don’t hate it.

Tanjiro finds you in the hallway, trying to pry Inosuke off you.

"He JUMPED on me," you huff.

"It was an ambush!" Inosuke yells, arms still latched around your waist.

"Inosuke," Tanjiro says gently, peeling him off. "That's not how we show affection."

"WHY NOT? IT WORKED ON HER, DIDN'T IT?!"

Your face burns.

Zenitsu nearly combusts.

You try to ignore the way your face burns when he brings you things now. When he growls at anyone who walks too close to you. When he takes down demons twice his size just to drop a bloodied claw at your feet like a housecat begging for praise.

You can’t ignore it when he gets injured. You always patch him up yourself, knuckles brushing bare skin, jaw tight as he pretends not to notice how you linger. He always stares, wide-eyed, cheeks flushed.

“You like me,” you murmur once, testing.

He snaps upright, eyes wild. “NO I DON’T—!”

“Mmhm.”

“I—YOU—STOP MAKING MY CHEST STUPID!!”

Tanjiro looks at you gently one afternoon as Inosuke charges into the room shirtless, holding up a smooth shell like a trophy.

“He’s… trying really hard,” Tanjiro says, smiling softly. “You’re the first person he’s ever liked like this.”

Zenitsu groans from the corner, covering his eyes. “I can’t watch this anymore—he’s gonna hump her leg one day and call it a proposal—”

You hum, turning the shell over in your palm.

“He’s sweet,” you admit. “In his own barbaric way.”

They gape at you.

You set the shell down beside the round pebble. Your collection grows.

Sometimes, at night, you hear scratching at your door. He never knocks—he claws.

And sometimes…you let him in.

He doesn’t speak much then. He lays beside your futon, back to back, breath heavy with exhaustion and unspoken want. You don’t touch—but the air is thick with promise.

You can feel the warmth of his body, the pulse under skin. The soft grunt he gives when you murmur, “You did well today.”

Eventually, the grunts become softer. He starts saying your name instead. Not loud. Just under his breath, like a prayer he doesn’t know the meaning of yet.

*

You’re used to being needed.

You always thought that’s what you were made for—being useful, efficient, quiet in the right ways, explosive in the ones that counted. You weren’t trained for nurturing. But somehow, the Butterfly Mansion turned you into a tree.

A big, broad-shouldered one with sarcastic eyes and hands always stained purple from grinding nightshade.

And now? You have branches.

Or rather—children. Miniature war gremlins.

Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho treat you like a sacred beast. You lift them up on your shoulders so they can “spy from above.” You braid their hair in thick, quick weaves. You make disgusting teas when they’re sick, and they whine about it while drinking every drop. You once stitched Sumi’s scraped knee during a thunderstorm, and she burst into tears—not from pain, but from the “honor of being operated on by Papa Y/N.”

(That nickname has stuck.)

They run into your quarters without knocking. They tattle to you about Zenitsu crying in the laundry bin. They bite Inosuke when he’s annoying you.

You adore them.

Inosuke stomps into the hallway one afternoon, tracking muddy bootprints and screaming your name.

"Y/N! I FOUND A FANG-SHAPED ROCK! IT'S THE ULTIMATE GIFT! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME FOR IT—THEN I’LL GIVE IT TO YOU—"

He’s met with a flying sandal to the face.

“SHE’S BUSY!” Kiyo shrieks, standing on a table with a spoon like a sword.

“YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO TREAT A LADY!” Naho joins her, charging Inosuke at full speed and ramming into his shin.

Sumi climbs him like a mountain goat and yanks his ear.

“WE’VE READ THE RULES! STEP ONE: KNOCK FIRST!”

“WHAT THE HELL—” he bellows, flailing with all three clinging to him like angry barnacles. “GET OFF, YOU VIOLENT FAIRIES—!”

They scream in protest. You arrive just in time to see Kiyo dangling from his boar pelt by her teeth.

"Inosuke," you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. "Did you bring another dead bird?"

"NO. IT'S A ROCK. FANG ROCK. FOR YOU."

He thrusts it toward you like a prize. It does kind of resemble a canine tooth. You hold it like a delicate diamond.

“You’re being mauled by toddlers,” you murmur. “Is that part of the presentation?”

They’re at war now.

The girls demand he apologize with a haiku. Inosuke tries to respond with a headbutt. Zenitsu drags him off by the ankles. Tanjiro—ever the patient peacemaker—tries to explain why jumping on women isn’t appropriate unless you’re being chased by a demon or on fire.

"She doesn’t even hate it!" Inosuke protests, lips pouty. "She lets me stay sometimes!"

“You... sneak into her room without permission!” Zenitsu screams.

The next time the gremlins see him, he’s sitting very politely on the engawa steps.

You’re inside, brewing a very complex demon paralysis poison that requires total silence.

The kids peer at him through the hallway.

“…What’s he doing?” Kiyo whispers.

“Waiting,” Naho says suspiciously.

Sumi squints. “Planning?”

They tiptoe in. One of them pokes his leg. Another throws a tiny leaf at his face.

Inosuke twitches—but doesn’t move.

“I’m...being good,” he growls. “She said she needed silence.”

They freeze. Sumi tugs his sleeve. “You’re... learning?”

He glares. “Shut up.”

Kiyo nods approvingly. “Acceptable.”

Naho hands him a leaf. “Peace offering.”

Sumi jumps on his shoulder again. He doesn’t even flinch this time.

“Wanna help us scare Zenitsu?”

“…HELL YES.”

*

Inosuke’s idea of being subtle is announcing at full volume:

“HEY, DON’T LOOK AT HER!! SHE’S MINE!”

The first time he yelled it, it was because a male crow sat too long on your windowsill.

The second time, it was Giyuu. The poor man was just complimenting your new antidote formula.

And suddenly, Inosuke flew out of nowhere, snarling, limbs flailing mid-air.

“BACK OFF, FISH MAN! SHE’S GOT A SMELL ONLY I GET TO SMELL.”

“...I don’t even know what that means,” Giyuu muttered, dodging out of instinct.

You stared blankly. “Inosuke.”

He looked up from where he’d landed in a crouch. “WHAT.”

“Go outside and count to ten.”

“...TEN IS WEAK.”

“Then count to whatever number you think is the strongest.”

He brightened. “A HUNDRED THOUSAND.”

And stomped away, chest puffed.

But it only got worse when people started noticing.

“You look so happy these days,” Aoi commented one morning. “Did something good happen?”

Before you could answer, the wall behind you exploded—Inosuke had kicked straight through the paper screen.

“YEAH SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENED—ME!! SHE’S WITH ME!! LOOK!!”

He shoved his face between you and Aoi’s and grinned like a wild dog who found a bone.

“DON’T BE JEALOUS, LADY,” he added dramatically, “NOT EVERYONE GETS A WOMAN THIS STRONG AND PRETTY.”

Aoi blinked. “…I was just asking if she got more sleep.”

You shoved a rice ball into his mouth before he could start describing your 'shiny eyeballs' again.

You were feeding Nezuko a peach. She was sitting in your lap, legs dangling, chirping like a happy sparrow. Tanjiro was smiling peacefully nearby, trimming flowers. Zenitsu, naturally, was swooning in the grass.

“She’s… so beautiful,” he whispered. “Like an angel…”

Inosuke, overhead in a tree, perked up.

“Who?”

“Nezuko-chan, obviously,” Zenitsu sighed, starry-eyed. “She’s the most beautiful—”

“WRONG.”

A thunderous voice shook the trees. Inosuke leapt from above, did a backflip, landed next to you, and pointed both fingers at you like you were a god.

“MY WOMAN IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEING TO EVER EXIST. MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE SUN. THAN FIRE. THAN... THAN THE STRONGEST MUSHROOM.”

Zenitsu jumped up. “Excuse me!? Nezuko-chan is the literal embodiment of moonlight!”

Inosuke roared, “MY LADY GLOWS IN THE DARK TOO!!! I CHECKED!!!”

Tanjiro choked.

You calmly handed Nezuko the rest of your peach and stood up. “I’m going to get more tea.”

Zenitsu slapped the ground. “Her smile could bring demons to their knees!”

Inosuke pounded his chest. “HER SCOWL MAKES MY HEART EXPLODE!!”

Zenitsu shrieked. “She smells like plums! What does your girl smell like!?”

“ACID. AND GLORY.”

They almost fist-fought right there.

Later that evening, after Nezuko had curled into your side for a nap and the Little gremlins had finished tying Inosuke’s shoelaces together in protest for “unruly yelling”, he sulked by your door.

You opened it to find him crouched, arms full of wildflowers, half of which were crushed.

“...They’re dead,” you said.

“SO WHAT! THEY WERE PRETTY. LIKE YOU.”

You stared. He stared harder. His cheeks were red under the mask.

“Are you mad?” he asked suddenly, voice lower than usual.

You sighed, crouched down, and pulled him close by the collar of his haori. “I’m not mad.”

He blinked fast. “You’re not?”

“I’m flattered.”

He beamed. You swore the stars above tilted.

Zenitsu: “Nezuko’s eyelashes shimmer like snowflakes!”

Inosuke: “Y/N’s arms are so nice I wanna BITE THEM!!”

Tanjiro: “Can we all agree they’re both very pretty—?”

Nezuko: MMPPHHHHHH!!!

*

It starts with him leaning against a porch post beside Tanjiro, under the silver moonlight. Tanjiro's sipping some warm herbal tea. Zenitsu, bored, twitchy, and always in need of drama, glances around and says—

“Y/N’s pretty, sure,” he said, “but not that pretty.”

Tanjiro’s teacup froze midair. “Zenitsu.”

There’s a rustle behind the pillar.

A growl. Then a war cry.

“I HEARD THAT, SPARKY!!!”

Out lunges Inosuke, shirtless, barefoot, and feral. Eyes wide, a log still tied to one arm like he’d rolled out of sleep mid-dream and landed in a rage. He looks murderous.

“YOU DARE SAY THINGS ABOUT MY WOMAN??” He lunges. Zenitsu shrieks.

“AAHHHH I WAS JOKING!!”

“TOO LATE FOR JOKES, YELLOW LANTERN!!” He pounces.

His mask was off. His rage was not.

“UGLY?! YOU THINK SHE’S UGLY?!”

Zenitsu shot back with both hands in surrender. “I never said—!”

Inosuke pointed a finger so dramatically, it nearly bent reality.

“HER EYES COULD MELT ARMOR.”

“W-what—?”

“HER HAIR SHINES LIKE A DEADLY VINE IN SUNLIGHT!!”

“...That’s not even—”

“AND HER FACE—HER FACE IS A GIFT FROM THE MOUNTAIN GODS THEMSELVES! UGLY?!”

Zenitsu tried to hide behind Tanjiro, but Tanjiro was frozen in place, tea still midair, like his soul had left his body.

Inosuke stormed forward, each stomp loud enough to rattle the wood.

“HER SCOWL IS DIVINE! HER SILENCE? ART! HER HANDS COULD CRUSH YOUR HEAD AND MAKE TEA AT THE SAME TIME!”

Zenitsu wailed. “I WAS JUST MESSING WITH YOU!!”

“WELL SHE’S MY WOMAN AND I WON’T STAND FOR SLANDER—”

Tanjiro finally moved. “Inosuke!! Stop!! You’re waking everyone—!”

“I WANT TO WAKE EVERYONE!! LET THE WHOLE MANSION KNOW!! SHE’S BEAUTIFUL!!”

“Inosuke please—”

“I’LL BITE THE WORD ‘UGLY’ OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!!!”

In your room –

You’re half-covered in your blanket, pillow pressed to your face.

You were awake the second Inosuke screamed.

And now you’re full-body giggling, face flushed, breath wheezing, while Nezuko looks at you like you’ve lost your mind. Again.

“...He’s insane,” you whisper between laughter.

Nezuko tilts her head, then gently pats your shoulder like there, there.

Then a window crashes open somewhere and you hear:

“IF SHE'S UGLY THEN THE MOON IS UGLY TOO—YOU WANNA INSULT THE MOON, HUH?!”

You fall back into your futon, cackling silently, kicking your feet like a girl in love.

Outside, Zenitsu is still screaming.

Tanjiro’s holding him in a headlock.

Inosuke is standing shirtless on a bucket, pointing to the sky like he’s making a historical declaration.

“SHE’S SO BEAUTIFUL, I CAN’T EVEN LOOK AT HER TOO LONG OR I FORGET WHERE MY HANDS ARE.”

Zenitsu wheezes. “THAT’S NOT—THAT’S NOT EVEN A COMPLIMENT!!”

“YES IT IS!!”

....

a/n: did you know that crow boyfriends really be out there like “hey babe, I brought you a stick.” And the crow girlfriends go, “omg 🥹 you shouldn’t have.”

[dragon-ascent]

YOU are a gacha character, and Zhongli is a gacha player who mains you.

Zhongli had been interested in you ever since learning tidbits about your lore scattered throughout the virtual world that has immersed him so. Being a lore player, reading every text and interaction comes second nature to him. So he gathered every bit of information on you he could find, and eagerly held onto the hope that you would be playable.

Months passed, new areas were added, and he collected more crumbs on you—and finally, leakers suggested you had a playable model. Ah, his patience has been rewarded! He diligently set about collecting enough wishes for you, and even prefarmed some materials you seemed likely to use.

When you were finally drip-marketed, your design was perfect. Just what he’d been waiting for. Your banner could not come any sooner…but Zhongli was a patient man. He waited calmly until the day the patch update dropped and then went to town with his saved wishes.

Ten-pull after ten-pull after excruciating ten-pull, and you were at C4R1. Two more constellations until you were maxed out, but Zhongli’s primogem reservoir…was drained dry. Well, he had spent some pulls on your supports, too.

Ah, well. Hu Tao probably didn’t mind when he swiped her card and put it down as a business expense.

Zhongli was your #1 main, literally—on Akasha he had the top build for you, and on the mains subreddit everyone turned to him for advice on how to play you. Figures, considering all the artifact grinding he’d done to make sure you had nothing but immaculate, god-tier substats without a single roll wasted. Boundless patience pays off, after all.

Ah, but he wasn’t just a meta player: he maxed out your companionship points within a day and listened to all your voice lines keenly, smiling at your sweet ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight’ messages. Your lines about other characters were silly and endearing, too. 

Zhongli prepared a nice, cushy place for you in his teapot, too! Complete with the prettiest flower arrangements, crystalflies and even limited furniture from buying the premium Battle Pass. A castle and its enchanted garden with a flower swing in the center! There were also unique floating tricks he employed to make some of the lanterns float. 

Every time he logged in, he made it a point to visit you in his teapot creation to greet you. You definitely loved his arrangement, right?

No matter what, though, he avoided social media like the plague. The game’s fandom could be…passionately vocal at times. He knew he’d find the worst opinions on you ever, and he was a self-care king. Never engaged in any discourse. Quietly enjoyed playing with you, deaf to anything other players might say about it.

And today, he’s the proud owner of official shiki, figurines, keychains, and plushies of you. It bleeds into every aspect of his daily life; when he reads a book, he uses the metallic bookmark of you he got from a museum collab. For work, he uses your official themed keyboard. To bed, he wears your official fluffy jammies!

[A little known fact about him: he is a bit of a yumeshipper. He’s commissioned tons of art of you and him, nothing too crazy. Maybe even written a self insert fanfic here and there, but honestly, his writing is fine literature. He ought to change the names and publish his work as an actual book.]

Life is great. Maining you is fantastic. The cherry on top is the con coming up next weekend where he gets to meet your VA! (Surely Hu Tao won’t mind if he puts down the signed merch as another business expense if he forgets to bring enough of his own cash. It’s for the greater good, after all.)

[itsmarsss]

Maybe. [Miguel Diaz x fem!Reader] (Cobra Kai)

(~from the vault~)

Miguel Diaz is annoying. That you are convinced of. Sure, you've never really talked to him, but still, you live a very happy life that way. But then one day he gets wasted at a party and you end up with the unfortunate job of driving him home. Sounds like just your luck.

Warnings: making out, little jokes about sex, some sexual tension there. enemies to lovers except the enemies part is completely one-sided

Word count: 9,567

[...]

Miguel Diaz wasn’t the kind of guy to have a lot of enemies.

He had, in fact, become fairly popular after he started doing karate and won a fight against West Valley’s biggest bully, surpassing the loser label that had immediately been slapped onto him when he’d moved into the neighborhood.

He was the typical nice guy who pretty much everyone seemed to like. Good at school, the type who wouldn’t hesitate to help you with schoolwork if you asked him to. Always nice to everyone, greeting and smiling at random people he’d never talked to before in the hallways as if they were one of his friends.

But, to you, Miguel Diaz was just irritating.

Everything about him somehow made you mad. He was just so apparently perfect and all of a sudden people couldn’t seem to shut up about him and that was sure to make you nothing short of annoyed. Yeah, you supposed he did seem nice, but you were positive it was impossible that all that sudden praising hadn’t gotten to his head.

You were convinced he was a huge asshole deep down, just a loser who got lucky enough. And though you had no real evidence to back that up, yet to see this facade of his that you convinced yourself of, you still couldn’t get yourself to like him.

Whatever. You could survive a life without him in it.

It didn’t help, though, that your best friend was friends with him. Did karate with him, too. Aisha absolutely loved Miguel, and seemed to make sure to mention it to you all the time.

They were genuinely good friends, and so you supposed you did feel a little bad when you dragged her to sit with you and away from her Cobra Kai friends during lunch, but you were positive that if you tried to sit with them you’d end up saying some not very nice things, and you weren’t up for drama at the moment.

But she kept bugging you about it, insistently so, and god, could Aisha be persistent when she wanted to. So one day, to shut her up about it mostly, you agreed to go with her and her friends to a party at the canyon.

You told her you’d try to be nice, but made a promise to yourself to keep distance from a certain someone specifically. Maybe then you’d be able to enjoy the night and- hey- maybe even the others’ company.

Maybe.

[. . .]

“Don’t just stand there!” Aisha laughed.

“Since when are you a party person?”

“Since I realized I could throw them!”

Wait, what? “Wait, this is your party?”

“Well it’s a Cobra Kai party…”

Alright, so you didn’t want to give it to them. Cobra Kai as a whole annoyed you to no end, as it seemed to be a breeding factory for nerds turned into stuck-up assholes, but you couldn’t deny you were grateful for how much it helped Aisha. The Aisha you knew a few months prior would have never had the guts to throw a party, let alone assume people would attend it.

So, fair enough. “Cool!” “Hey Aisha come watch me do a keg stand!” Some guy you’d seen walking around with the Cobra Kai guys before yelled from the other side of the place.

Aisha glanced back at you, seemingly a bit torn about leaving you. “Do you wanna come?”

“No it’s fine. I think I’m gonna grab something to drink. Now go!” You assured her, smiling. You wanted her to enjoy having other friends.

You barely had time to pick yourself up a drink before you weren’t alone anymore.

“Y/N!” A guy wearing a graphic t-shirt that quite literally read ‘📍your mom’ under a flower pattern button-up called your name, walking towards you. You furrowed your eyebrows, confused, as you were completely sure you’d never talked to him before.

You didn’t know how to feel about not being so invisible anymore, all by association with Aisha. It definitely felt a little weird. “Um. Have we- have we met? Sorry.”

“Not really. But Aisha talks about you a lot. I’m Demetri, by the way,” he held out his hand, and you shook it. What teenager shakes hands these days?

“Well, Y/N.”

“Yeah, I know,” he laughed. “So, you want me to show you everyone?”

“Uh. Okay. Sure. Yeah. That'd be cool."

“So, that’s Eli-” He pointed at the guy who sported a blue-dyed mohawk, and was currently rather busy making out with someone you actually knew- Moon. You didn’t exactly like Moon, but you supposed she did seem to be more of an out-of-touch person than a mean one, compared to her friends. “Uh yeah, who’s apparently making out with Moon. Somehow. He likes to be called Hawk now but I think that’s pretty ridiculous.”

“It is.”

“Yeah well he used to uh- some people used to call him Lip. ‘Cause he has a scar.”

“That’s him?” Said boy pulled away from Moon, and you took a good look at him. It was him. You always thought he looked cute, but you had to admit now he looked kind of hot.

You had to give Cobra Kai some credit in that area too.

“Yeah.” Demetri turned you around. “Those two walking down are Robby and Samantha and-” He seemed to realize something, suddenly looking worried.

“Something wrong?”

“No uh. I don’t really talk to them. That,” he spun you around one last time, “Is Miguel. But you must know him already.”

“Yeah I’ve heard of him.” He was downing a beer bottle at rapid speed. “He’s really getting shitfaced,” you pointed out.

Demetri still looked worried, nervous. “Yeah uh, Sam’s his girlfriend.”

“The one walking down the hill?”

“Yeah.”

“So?”

“He thinks she’s cheating on him. With Robby.”

You looked at the two again, laughing, their fingers intertwined. You could be taking it wrong, of course, but it did look like they were together in some way. It wasn’t that far of a stretch to feel a little jealous of a scene like that at least. “Oh that sucks.”

You weren’t heartless, okay? Just because you didn’t like the guy didn’t mean you wanted him to get cheated on. If that’s what was even happening.

“We should go-” Demetri grabbed you by the wrist, pulling you with him on Miguel’s direction.

“What? No-” You weren’t heartless, but you weren’t his friend either. What were you going to do, comfort him? Let him cry on your shoulder? Come on now.

But you didn’t even have the time to protest. You were already there, and it seemed that so were the Samantha girl and the Robby guy , and Miguel didn’t look pleased.

Well, he was laughing, but it was definitely not a good kind of laugh.

“So I don’t have to worry, right? Well that’s funny.”

Miguel was wasted.

He tried to pick up a fight, and ended up hitting his own girlfriend on accident, which had, expectedly, resulted in her breaking up with him on the spot. Now you were sitting beside him, and you didn’t know what to do.

Wouldn’t it be best if you just left? Clearly you shouldn’t be here, his actual friends should be dealing with this. But then again it would be too shitty to leave Aisha on her own. You had agreed to be her designated driver after all.

Everyone was quiet, apparently not knowing what to say. God, someone really should bring the guy home.

Hawk spoke up, finally, voicing those same thoughts. “Um, dude, you should go home.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re really drunk, man, just go home.”

“I walked here.”

“Shit. Right. Do any of you have a car?” Demetri asked no one in particular.

“Oh Aisha does. Well it’s her dad’s,” you pointed out, not really thinking it through.

Aisha’s look shot up. “But-” You could see she was conflicted. You could understand. Finally people wanted her around, and she wanted to stay a little longer for that.

You could not believe you were about to do this.

“I’m such a good friend,” you muttered, standing up, and Aisha looked at you, puzzled. You held your hand out. "Gimme the keys."

"What-"

"Do it before I change my mind."

She did as you said, placing it on your hand. You took another look at Miguel, then at Hawk. "Can you help him?"

Hawk immediately stood up to do so, and you made your way to Aisha's car, leaving both Aisha and Demetri behind with a promise you'd come back later to drive them all home too.

"Do you know where he lives?"

Hawk was done shoving a now barely conscious Miguel into the passenger's seat, buckling the seatbelt for him, which you took notice of. He seemed to care a lot about Miguel. "Yeah I'll- can you give me your number? I'll forward it."

"Sure."

[. . .]

"Where are we going?" At some point along the way Miguel seemed to have gained a little consciousness back, his eyes widening as he took bearing of his surroundings. You could understand why. He was in a random car going who-knows-where with a kind of random person who hated him. Well he didn’t really know about that last part, but still.

"I'm taking you home."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, my mom can't see me like this."

"What?"

"I can't go home like this you don't get it-"

"But where-"

"She's been so proud of me lately, I-" Was he… crying? So he was an emotional drunk. Miguel Diaz, a crier. Who would've thought.

"Well where the fuck am I supposed to take you?"

"I- sensei- no he lives next door you can't-"

"Diaz I'm gonna take you home. I don't care."

"Fuck."

You actually took a good look at him when you had to stop at a red light. He looked a mess. He was sweating, hair sticking to his forehead, legs shaking in anxiety.

You couldn't be this soft, right?

You sighed in annoyance, but you were doing this to yourself, really. "I'll take you to my place. But you better sober up cause you're gonna have to get in through the window."

He seemed surprised. "You'll do that?"

"Yeah don't get used to it. I'm kicking you out as soon as I wake up."

He stayed silent the whole ride, until you turned the engine off.

"Thanks," he muttered under his breath, before you opened the door to get out. You didn't reply.

You helped him out, holding him by his wrists until he got his balance back, and you both climbed through your bedroom window, which you were now thankful you'd left open.

"G’mme your phone."

“Why?”

“I’m gonna text your mom.” He unlocked it, getting the password wrong a few times before handing it to you. The texts you sent were simple.

hey mom im really tired gonna stay at demetri’s call you in the morning!

You didn’t know if trusting Miguel to be alone with his phone, in that state, especially after what had gone down at the canyon, was the smartest choice, so you took it with you, stuffing it in your back pocket.

“Okay look I still gotta get Aisha and the guys, so I'm trusting you to keep quiet." This was a bad idea. "Can you do that?" This was a terrible idea.

He nodded before plopping down on your bed. This was a horrible idea.

He was asleep in a second, and there was nothing else you could do but hope he'd stay that way as you climbed your way back out.

. . .

"Okay any of you that wanna get home get in the fucking car please," you said, not really up to stay and wait even more for them. After all, every second you were there was one more second in which a completely wasted Miguel Diaz was alone in your room, with your mom right there in hers.

All three got inside pretty quickly, and you dropped them off as fast as you could. Demetri first, then Hawk, Aisha last.

You actually got in through the door this time, so your mom would know you'd gotten home without having to go check your room. You prayed she hadn't done that already.

"Mom? You awake?"

"Yes! The party done?"

"Yeah. Had to drop some friends off, sorry I took too long."

"It's fine. Didn't Aisha pick you up though?"

"Oh yeah she left the car with me, got to be the driver for today. I’ll just pick her up tomorrow.”

"Oh okay honey!”

"Well I'm really tired. Gonna go to sleep.”

"Yeah, me too. Goodnight!"

“‘Night, Love you!”

With that, you quickly took off to your room to check on Miguel, who, surprisingly, was still asleep on your bed.

Your relief quickly washed away when you registered the fact that he was asleep… on your bed. You know, where you were supposed to sleep. Fucking great.

You considered waking him up and making him sleep on the floor. For… reasons that had everything to do with not being an asshole, and nothing to do with anything else at all, you didn’t.

You grabbed some blankets and placed them on the floor beside your bed, snatching one of your pillows from under his head. This was going to absolutely kill your spine.

You took one last look at him, and couldn’t contain a laugh at how ridiculous he looked, draped over the bed, hair disheveled, literally drooling. You’d have to change your pillowcase tomorrow.

‘Good-fucking-night, I guess.'

[. . .]

Your alarm went off at 7, as it always did on school mornings, and you jumped awake when you remembered how gross you probably were after the previous night. Miguel was still in deep sleep when you left to take a shower, but was sitting up on the bed, looking confused, when you came back. He’d apparently already taken the advil you left for him on your nightstand, as it was nowhere to be found.

“Are you- what am I doing here?”

“Drank too much. Cried like a baby when I tried to drive you home,” you shrugged. “Now hurry up, dude, or we’re gonna be late.”

“What?”

“Look we’ll talk in the car, I can’t be late for chemistry again or Mr. Henderson is gonna be up my ass about it.”

He still looked completely out of the loop, barely awake yet, but nodded, standing up and following you to the car.

“Why’d you bring me here?” He finally spoke up after a couple minutes in silence. It seemed that he was finally becoming fully aware of what was going on.

“I was actually gonna bring you home, but you started crying ‘cause you didn’t want your mom to see you drunk or whatever. So. Next best thing.”

“Thank you.” He paused. “So, uh. you’re friends with Aisha, right? She talks a lot about you-”

You cut him short. “Look, just because I let you stay over and sleep in my bed doesn’t mean we’re friends, alright? You don’t have to be friendly just ‘cause you think you owe me something.”

“Um, I was just trying to be nice-”

“I’m not an asshole, I wasn’t gonna do you like that. I’m very nice, you’re very welcome, whatever.”

“Are you- are you... mad at me?” He looked surprised- no, dumbfounded was a more fitting word to describe it.

You scoffed. In truth, you still had no idea what about him got you so irritated. It’s not like he wasn’t being nice.

Still, you couldn’t help it. “What, can you not believe there’s one person out there who doesn’t worship the ground you walk on?” Okay, so you were exaggerating. So what? Not like it was gonna make much of a difference for him.

“I don’t think anyone worships the ground I walk on.”

"Whatever, Diaz. I’m only doing this ‘cause you’re Aisha’s friend.”

“Okay.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry, by the way.”

“About what?”

“Your girlfriend, or whatever.”

He hesitated. “Yeah, it’s fine. I was an asshole last night. Should’ve expected it. I’ll get over it.”

“Yeah. Oh Hawk’s bringing you a hoodie, by the way. So you don’t smell like alcohol at school.”

“Thank you.”

Nope. “His idea.”

He nodded. “Right.”

It wasn’t long until you pulled up into Aisha’s driveway, making your way out and around the car and opening the passenger's door to find Miguel staring at you, silently asking what you wanted.

"Move. I take shotgun when Aisha drives."

"Does that really-" He didn't bother finishing his sentence, letting out a sigh before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out.

"Thank you," you said, making sure it didn't actually sound like you were thankful at all, before hopping in. Miguel did the same, getting in the backseat.

You quickly separated as soon as you got to school, with Miguel following Hawk to change into the hoodie he brought him, and you and Aisha getting on your way to Chemistry with Mr. Henderson.

Aisha shot you a weird look. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?"

"You're being a total bitch to him! What happened to the person that took him home last night? Let him stay over?"

"For your information I do have empathy, you know? He was crying!”

"You still could've just taken him home," she shrugged, a smug look on her face. Jerk.

"Hey this is all on you! He left my bed reeking of beer, you owe me a big one."

"He slept in your bed?"

"And I slept on the floor, dumbass! He was passed out drunk!"

"Yeah sorry I don’t think I remember a lot of it. But you slept on the floor? That must've hurt."

"It did. So he should be very thankful."

"I... think he is. You're just not letting him thank you."

"Hey I let him thank me! But that doesn't mean we have to be friends. I'm doing pretty well without him in my life."

"Just admit he's not as bad as you thought and move on!"

"Oh fuck off. What do you want me to do next, marry him or something?"

"Hey you’re the one who’s bringing it up,” she put her hands up in surrender, as if defending herself.

"Shut up. Pay attention, Ms. Robinson!" You mocked her, turning to the projector in front of you.

[. . .]

"Yeah right like Demetri could win a fight against Hawk."

"I think he could! If he got some training." Aisha protested, laughing.”

"Oh come on have you seen the guy? I don't know what your sensei's been feeding him but he's like jacked now."

"Oh so you've been paying attention?" She raised an eyebrow in an exaggeratedly suggestive manner.

"Like I'd want something to do with a guy from Cobra Kai."

"Hey!"

"You're an exception! You are on thin ice though."

"Well I think you should give them a chance."

Of course you could see right through her. "If by them you mean Miguel's included then you can forget it."

"What is it with you and him anyway? What did he ever even do to you?

"Nothing? I don't know, he just makes me mad. You can't be that perfect and not be an asshole."

"Did you just call him perfect?"

"I was being mean about it!"

"You totally d-" She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed you weren't paying attention, your eyes focused on something right behind her. She turned around to face…

Well, speak of the devil.

"What?" You asked him dryly. What could he possibly have to talk to Aisha about right now that required interrupting your lunch?

But he was actually talking to you. "I uh- I think I left my phone at your place? I can't find it anywhere."

You mentally cursed yourself for it, remembering you'd taken it with you the night before. "Shit yeah. I was scared you'd call someone or it would ring and my mom would hear or something. I guess… You can come over to get it after school if you want."

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks." He was about to turn around and walk back to the table he was sitting at with his friends before he stopped. "Do you guys wanna like. Sit with us?"

Aisha looked at you expectantly.

"No, we're good," you replied, and he nodded, making his way back.

"Dude! Let's just go!"

"What I already have to see him after school and now you want me to spend lunch with him? No thank you."

"You're so stupid."

You stuck your middle finger out at her before going back to eating.

[. . .]

You had already told Aisha goodbye, and were about to leave when he came up to you again. “Hey! Y/n! Wait-”

You turned around to face him. He was out of breath, clearly having run all the way up to you. You quirked an eyebrow, demanding him to tell you what he wanted. This was like a 400% increase on your Miguel Diaz interaction scale and you were right about done.

“My phone.”

Oh, right. He was coming over, like, right away. That was great.

“Yeah right. I’m walking home though.”

“Yeah I’ll- I’ll walk with you.”

And what an awkward fucking walk.

“Well here it is,” you handed him the phone, and he took it, stuffing it in his back pocket.

“Alright, thanks.”

“Sure.”

“See you at school?”

Hopefully not. “I guess.”

[. . .]

“Oh I’ll- be right back!” You heard Miguel’s voice behind you as you walked through the hallway alone, on your way to bio, and made sure not to look his way, hoping he wouldn’t see you.

You had no luck with that.

“Y/n!”

You let out a defeated sigh before turning around. He was wearing a deep-red hoodie, which was something you took notice off, for some reason.

“Yes?”

“Hey I know you don’t want anything to do with me-” you nodded, agreeing, and he pursed his lips together before continuing. “-but I think uh- I think I left my socks at your place too?”

He had to be kidding, right? “What?”

“My uh- my socks.”

“You think you left your socks in my room. And you wanna go get them.”

“Well yeah.”

“Can you not survive without one pair of socks?”

“Well-”

“You know what, fine. Whatever. I’m leaving a little late today though so you’ll have to stick around.”

“Yeah sure.”

You wordlessly turned around and walked to class. It seemed that interacting with Miguel was now a daily experience. That was just such fun, huh?

. . .

You found him waiting for you by the bike racks, right by the front steps, as you exited the building. You kind of didn’t actually expect him to wait for you. I mean, he could just ask you to look for the stupid socks and bring them to him the next day. That’s certainly what you would do if you were in his shoes, as to avoid the interaction.

You had to remind yourself, though, that the hate you felt for him isn’t mutual, which only angered you further. Couldn’t he just hate you back? Be a little rude? Maybe then you wouldn’t look like a bitch for being like that towards him.

“You didn’t take that long,” he pointed out.

“Yeah. Turns out they wanna move the project up for one more week or something.”

“That’s cool.” He pulled his bike out of the rack, grabbing the handles and starting to walk with it by his side, and you followed along. You were both quiet for a couple minutes before, of course, he couldn’t help himself from talking. Did he think everyone wanted to hear him talk all the time?

A tiny part of you told you he was just trying to be nice. Okay, fine. Maybe you were being too harsh.

“What’s your deal with me?”

Yeah, no, he can perrish actually. “What do you mean?”

“I mean why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“It… definitely looks like it.”

“Well I don’t.” Well...

“Then why do you act like you do?”

“What, are you trying to psychoanalyze me?”

“I just wanna know what I did!”

“You didn’t do anything! You never seem to do anything wrong, do you?”

“What?”

“What, don’t play dumb. I don’t know what it is, okay? You just annoy me. You’re so nice to everyone and everyone just likes you so much and you don’t even have to do anything!”

“You don’t like me… because I’m nice to people. And so they like me.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s how it sounded.”

“Whatever. We’re here,” you pointed out, and you made your way into your place. Not without taking notice of the sky, which was a dark grey color now, a storm forming. “Come on you can leave the bike here, looks like it’s gonna rain.”

“Yeah, I think…”

[. . .]

… So you were stuck at home with him.

This had to be a nightmare.

The clouds were quick to cover the sky right after you got inside, and you could barely see any hint of sunlight despite it still over four in the afternoon. Rain started pouring heavily quickly after, a storm suddenly forming in no time.

And so there you were. In your kitchen. Alone. Stormed in with Miguel Diaz.

This was just fantastic. Great, amazing, wonderful even!

And your annoyance was apparently visible. “Look if you’re so mad about it I can go-”

You stared at him for a couple seconds, unamused. “You wanna bike? In the middle of the storm?”

He just shrugged.

“I don’t hate you that much, you know? You can stay ‘till it’s over.” God, did you hope it would be over soon.

“See you told me you didn’t hate me at all.”

“Okay yeah you can go.”

He laughed. “Fine. I won’t push. Do you wanna do something?”

“I mean I don’t think there’s a lot to do. I guess we could watch something.”

“Yeah! That’s cool!”

“Well what do you-” you were interrupted by the sound of your phone ringing, and you took it out of your pocket, only to see it was your mom calling. Miguel sat back down by the counter as you picked it up.

“Honey are you okay? Are you home yet?”

“Yeah we got here just in time. Are you alright?”

“Yes, but the rain’s really bad here- wait, we? Is Aisha over?”

You took a glance at Miguel. Now how to explain that?

“Uh, actually it’s another friend.”

“Is it? Who?”

“Um his name’s Miguel? We were gonna do a- a physics project. But he rides a bike, so.”

There was a pause. “Right. Are you two gonna be okay?”

“Yeah don’t worry! We’ll just do what we need to do ‘till he can go.”

“Fine. Call me if you need anything! I’ll head home as soon as the storm clears.”

“Right. Love you!”

[. . .]

“Um does she not mind?” You were both sitting on the couch now, about 20 minutes into Thor: Ragnarok, when he said something.

You looked away from the screen. “What?”

“Y- your mom? That I’m here, I mean.”

“Oh she did sound a little- I dunno. But it’s not like she’s gonna make you go out in this weather.”

“Cool. Oh- we didn’t- I didn’t get my socks.”

You laughed at the thought of him thinking about his stupid socks the entire time you’d been watching the film. “Do those socks really matter that much to you? Oh are they too embarrassing? Do they have like little spongebobs on them or something?”

“No, I just-” he seemed to be fighting it, but was now laughing too. “No they don’t have little spongebobs on them. Just remembered it.”

“We can get it after the movie’s done.”

“Right.” He brought his attention back to the TV, but you decided to grab your phone and text Aisha.

y/n

dude youre not gonna fucking believe my luck

She replied almost instantly.

aisha

????? what happened

y/n

well miguel came over to get his socks or whatever

aisha

and???? ;))))))

y/n

this isnt a ;) situation!!! were stuck inside!!!

aisha

omg are you serious its just rain

y/n

yeah but pretty boy here rides a bike

aisha

dude you walk

y/n

irrelevant!!!!!

aisha

well what are you doing rn?

y/n

were watching thor trying not to kill him

aisha

oh shut up

y/n

he’s annoying!!!

aisha

just watch the movie and wait for the rain to stop its not that hard

y/n i've watched this like 7 times already he was just really excited to watch it

aisha

awww you're all soft for him

y/n

im going over your house to kill you

aisha

you cant bc you're stuck with miguel!! WAIT

y/n

what?

aisha

you're home alone with a cute boy and youre complaining??

y/n

hes not a cute boy!!! hes miguel!!!

aisha

whos a cute boy

y/n

you dont even like guys

aisha

im not blind??

y/n

shut up

aisha

get some!!!!

y/n

die

aisha

:))))))

You put your phone down looking at Miguel once again. He was really concentrated on whatever was going on in the movie, so you decided it was safe to stare for a little bit. He didn’t look as messy like he did that day at the party. He even-

“That hoodie looks good on you.”

Where the fuck did that come from?

You really hadn’t meant to say it out loud. You couldn’t quite figure out his expression. God, he was gonna make fun of you-

“Thanks,” was all he said in return. He was staring at you now, as if trying to figure you out. You supposed you had to give it to him- you were just as shocked at yourself to blurt that out as he seemed to be. The movie seemed to be long forgotten.

You expected some snarky remark, a cocky grin. But nothing. Was that it? He was probably controlling himself as to not laugh at your face about it, you just knew it.

You couldn’t take the embarrassment. Why did you have to make things weird? You suddenly stood up in a quick motion. “I’m gonna find us something to eat.”

Aisha’s texts must have just gotten to your head, because why else would you even say something like that? You didn’t think he looked in that hoodie. Wait, no, that’s not what you said. You said you thought the hoodie looked good on him. Whatever, you had to focus.

And then he did the worst possible thing he could have done, which was offer to go with you.

Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off! “Sure.” You tried to act normal. There was nothing normal about the weird tension you’d managed to create between the two of you.

It’s safe to say things were awkward. You occupied yourself with opening and looking through every single cabinet in the kitchen, even the ones where you knew there would be no food, trying desperately to find excuses to delay looking at him.

“Um are you okay?”

“Yes.” You were not. “Why?”

“You’ve been looking for something for a while. I’m not that hungry you know, you don’t have to.”

“Well I am.” You grabbed the first thing you could find, which was a chocolate bar, thankfully. At least one good thing to come out of this never-ending disastrous afternoon. “Found it.” You held it up for him to see, but made sure to avoid eye contact before making your way to the living room.

You both sat down to resume watching the movie, but there was still this weird energy around the room, one which, again, you’d gracefully created on your own, and you felt antsy. “Do you wanna go get your socks?”

“Uh, okay?”

You nodded back, turning around and making your way towards your room, knowing he’d follow you. You quickly sat down on your bed and waited for him to walk through the door.

“Hey.”

“Um I didn’t see any socks anywhere so. Feel free to look around.” You finally worked up the guts to look at him for a split second. He nodded.

[. . .]

An hour had gone by since, and the storm didn’t look like it was getting any better. You’d even passed the point of being embarrassed about what you’d said earlier- okay, maybe not completely, but still- and were just staring at the ceiling, laying on your bed, waiting for the time to pass. Miguel was sitting right beside you, and you didn’t remember the last time one of you had said a word until he broke the silence again. God this kid loves to talk doesn’t he?

“You don’t actually hate me, right?”

“Are we still on about that?”

“There’s not really anything to talk about. I don’t know anything about you.”

“My name’s Y/N Y/L/N. I go to West Valley High. I'm stuck inside my house right now."

“Wow now I know everything there is to know, thank you,” he returned with sarcasm.

“What do you wanna know?” It had to be the peak of boredom, engaging in small talk with Miguel Diaz of all people. What was this, 21 questions?

“Well what kind of music do you like?”

“Little bit of everything I guess. Rock, pop, whatever.”

“You like 80’s rock?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. My sensei showed it to me and it’s been my favorite.”

You didn’t mean to laugh.

“What?”

“Just weird. Sensei.”

“Well that’s the word.”

“Yeah I know.”

“Have you ever thought about it?”

“Thought about what?”

“Joining Cobra Kai.”

This time you made sure to laugh loudly. “Yeah. Would be a dream come true.”

“What’s so wrong with Cobra Kai?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Diaz, Cobra Kai has helped Aisha a lot. But honestly it just seems like it recruits nerds and turns them into self-conceited jerks.”

“Um would I be one of those self-conceited jerks?”

“Sure.”

“Have I done anything to you? I don’t-”

“You haven’t. But just- everyone keeps praising you for everything. And you didn’t let it get to your head? I don’t buy it.”

“People don’t praise me for everything. I've gotten beaten up a fair amount."

“Whatever.”

“Well what’s your favorite color?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

“It’s a valid question.”

“What’s yours?”

“Orange.”

“That’s lame.”

“What's yours then?”

“Y/F/C.”

“That’s lamer.”

“Very funny.” You mocked him, but realized you were actually smiling.

He opened a smile of his own. “See? I’m not that bad.”

“You’re bearable.”

“That’s progress.” There was a pause. “Well you should come to practice some day.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To see that you’re wrong! We’re like family. I’ve never had anything like that before Cobra Kai.”

“Yeah I don’t think that’ll happen. But I’ll keep it in mind.”

[. . .]

“Yes mom I know. Yes he’s still here. Of course I’m not gonna let him go out in this weather. No, are you sure? But where will you- fine. But please talk to me. Right, love you.”

“So?”

“She's gonna have to stay there until things get better.”

“What? Is it still that bad?”

“Apparently. There were like a bunch of car accidents around the buildings.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

[. . .]

“This is so fucking boring.”

“Do you have any games on your phone or something?”

“You sound like a little kid.”

“Shut up.” He totally did.

“What is it?’

“What?”

“Stop staring at me.”

“I’m not staring at you.”

“You were! Weirdo.”

There was a pause. “Did you mean it?”

“What?”

“That you think my hoodie looks good on me.”

“No?" You tried.

“Then why why’d you say it?”

“Can we not talk about that?”

“You know if you actually gave me a chance I think we could be good friends.”

“Yeah in your dreams, Diaz. I’d probably kill you.”

He actually had the nerve to laugh at you. “Yeah I don’t think you could.”

“I think I could!” You tried defending yourself, but you knew it was complete bullshit. I mean, have you seen his arms?

Not that you’d been looking!

Obviously not.

“Did you forget I literally do karate almost every single day?”

You shrugged in fake disdain. “Still think I could take you.”

He let out an incredulous laugh. “Okay.” He stood up, holding his hand out to you. You shot him a confused look. “What, prove it then!”

“No I’m not doing that.”

“So you’re admitting you can’t take me.”

You knew you couldn’t, but you also doubted he’d go too hard on you. Plus this was a matter of pride now, you couldn’t just let him have that. He knew exactly how to push your buttons to get you to do this. You immediately took his hand, standing up as well. “I said I could.”

“Alright. Come on," he challenged you, getting in a fighting stance, and you tried your best to mimic him, holding your hands in fists in front of your body. He laughed at that, reaching to change the position of your hands. “Okay this,” he said as he moved them just a little bit, “could break your thumbs.”

“Fine. That good enough, sensei?” You mocked, and the boy made a funny expression at that, but quickly snapped out of it.

“Okay, so I’m gonna try to sweep your leg, like this,” he pretended to do the motion, “and what you’re gonna do is block my leg with your right arm, like this,” he did the same with the new movement.

“This isn’t a karate lesson, just fight me!”

“Alright, whatever you say. You ready?”

You were not. “Yup.”

Okay, terrible idea.

In no time he’d done as he said, and your back was immediately pressed to the floor, with no time to even process it happening.

Still, you weren’t gonna just not get a little fun out of it. “You got lucky."

He dared to laugh at you again, before sticking out his hand for you to take. You couldn’t contain a grin as you pulled him to the floor beside you, laughing at his surprise when you were successful.

“Oh I see how it is!” He exclaimed, laughing. You were already starting to stand up, but he tackled you to the floor again, hovering over you.

“Jerk!” You punched him on the chest, playfully, but you were both laughing, despite both being extremely out of breath. You tried to catch him by surprise again, and went to flip your positions, but he was quicker, pinning you to the floor by both your wrists. It was no use then, when he was clearly stronger than you.

But then something really, really weird happened. After your laughter calmed down, it was impossible not to take notice of how the two of you looked right now.

It’s like you had to think about it a second time for the situation to actually click: he was on top of you, having you quite literally pinned under him by your wrists, practically straddling you at that point, with his knees on the floor on either side of your hips.

You looked up at him, and he was staring at your face. Intently so.

For some reason you couldn’t get yourself to look away. It lasted a ridiculously long time, the eye contact, or at least that’s what it felt like, and you were still out of breath from the play fighting, your brain trying to catch on to the situation you were in.

You could swear you saw him glance down at your lips, fueling the tension that was already inherently thick in the air between you. You immediately tried to rid yourself of the thought, as it was probably ridiculous- but then he did the last thing you’d expect him to do.

He actually leaned in.

And you did something even weirder than that: you actually let him do it.

In a second his lips were on yours, and he almost lost his balance as you got your wrists free of his grip, instinctively reaching for the back of his head, intertwining your fingers to his hair.

The adrenaline of it all was thrilling, and it was like your brain had stopped stopped working altogether. After all if you had been functioning normally you would not find yourself in this situation.

No matter. At that moment all you were really worried about was kissing him. You kissed him back, and then you did it again, and again, and again, until you had to pull away to breathe, your chest heaving up and down, as did his, and your breaths being the only sound heard around the entire house, much louder than the now muffled sound of the rain and thunder outside.

And then you made eye contact again and it seemed as what just happened downed on you, all at once.

You had just kissed Miguel Diaz.

No, much worse: you had just made out with Miguel Diaz. On your bedroom floor.

Ooooooooh, no.

Your eyes went wide and you were quick to push him away, standing up.

“Are you-”

You cut him off immediately. “I’ll be right back."

“But-”

“I’ll be right back!” You repeated yourself. “You can go uh- looking for your socks or whatever if you want.”

“Are you serious-” you made your way out of the bedroom, straight into the first room you took sight off- the bathroom. You made sure to lock the door before you sat on the floor, back pressed to the wall.

Okay, so that just happened. You just kissed Miguel Diaz. No, actually, you just kissed Miguel Diaz back. He kissed you. But then again you kissed back. But he kissed you first, which means he was attracted to you? Did that mean you were attracted to him? No, you- okay, maybe.

Shit, shit, shit.

You pulled out your phone, scrambling to find Aisha’s contact. You hesitated before sending anything, knowing she'd tease you about this until the end of time , but Miguel was right outside and you had no idea how to face him after this. Holding your breath, you pressed send.

y/n

i did something

She took a minute to reply, and you jumped when you heard the sound of the notification.

aisha

okay should i be worried

y/n

um depends

aisha

okay im definitely worried did you actually kill him

y/n

no

aisha

then what did you do did you kick him out?

y/n

also no

aisha

girl just fucking say it!!!! i dont have time for this

y/n

okay but you cant say i told you so

aisha

youre definitely worrying me

y/n

he migthve kissed me

aisha

IM SORRY WHAT WHAT THE FUCK WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE KISSED YOU WHAT WHAT DID YOU DO????

y/n

i,,, might have kissed him back

and we mightve made out like a little bit

aisha

YOU DID NOT ARE YOU JOKING? ILL LITERALLY MURDER YOU IF YOU ARE

y/n

why would i joke about that?????????? you think i wanted this to happen???

aisha

well clearly you did????

y/n

no!!!!!

aisha

why would you have kissed back then?????

y/n

i dont know!!!!!! reflex?????

aisha

yeah right

was it reflex to KEEP kissing him back????

im gonna call you

y/n

no hes still here!!!!!!

Your phone rang, and you were quick to decline.

y/n

hes still here! hes gonna hear us!!!

aisha

omfg what are you gonna do

y/n

die maybe?

aisha

i knew you were into him

y/n

i am not!!!! into him!!!!!! HE kissed ME!!!

aisha

and you kissed back!!!!

y/n

that doesn’t mean anything!!!!

aisha

yes it does???????

“Y/n?”

Fuck. He was right outside the bathroom door.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m great Diaz. Go look for your socks.”

“Yeah um- I found them.”

“Cool.”

“Hey it’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it, I shouldn’t have-”

“Yeah, you shouldn't have.”

“I mean you… kind of did kiss back.”

Silence. What could you reply to that?

“Can we not? Talk about it.”

“Uh. Fine?"

“Okay. I’m coming out then. And we can finish the movie.”

“Sure. The sky’s clearing up too so.”

“Okay.”

You unlocked the door, inhaling deeply before opening it.

[. . .]

“Why did I let you do this? This is weird!” You whispered to Aisha, making sure the others didn't hear you. You'd let her convince you to sit with her friends from Cobra Kai during lunch, claiming it was the best way for you to seem ‘chill’ about what had happened. You were immediately regretting it.

You’d agreed not to talk about what happened at your place the night before, but things were still pretty awkward with Miguel, and it was really, really visible. Hawk had been stealing small glances at you, then immediately averting his eyes to Miguel, and so you were sure Miguel had told him all about it. Sure, you'd told Aisha too, but whatever.

He was probably bragging about it or something, in typical fuckboy fashion. Or something.

“It’s literally fine! You’re seeing things.”

“I’m not seeing things! It’s literally so awkward!”

“You can't avoid him forever!”

“I don't have to sit with him at lunch either!”

[. . .]

You’d almost considered yourself lucky for not having had to see Miguel in any other instance during the rest of the day, even congratulating yourself on managing to avoid him when he, of course, approached you at the exit.

“Y/n!”

You stopped, sighing in defeat. “Yes?”

“Are we cool?”

“Sorry?”

“I mean it seems like you’re acting weird, I don't know.”

“Does it really matter to you? We're not friends, so.”

“Okay. But we- was it that bad?”

“What?”

“That I kissed you, are you that mad about it?”

Your eyes widened and you looked around, trying to see if anyone around you heard him. “I told you I didn’t wanna talk about that!”

“Well let’s just solve it so we don’t have to! I thought you wanted it too. I mean it- it seemed like you did at the moment but now I don’t know and I’m really sorry if-“

“Look I don’t know what happened okay? You don’t have to feel bad about it or anything, you didn’t read it wrong. But it was a one time thing. It I’m trying to be more friendly with you guys because of Aisha, but there’s nothing more to it. It was just a heat of the moment thing.” You turned around, already starting to walk before he had the chance to talk more.

Of course he still yelled after you. “You should go see us today!”

Okay, big change of subject. “What?”

“At the dojo. We have practice at five.”

You were the one to not get the time to say anything back this time, him hopping on his bike and getting on his way.

Well, should you?

[. . .]

“This is stupid.”

“You’re just watching!” Aisha said, trying to cheer you up. “I can’t believe I couldn’t get you to come see me but Miguel could.”

“That’s not what’s going on.”

“Right.”

“It’s not! Did I not sit with your friends at lunch today? I’m making an effort. For you.”

“And only for me.” She didn't sound like she believed it at all.

“Only for you.”

She let out a laugh, and you elbowed her arm. You got to the place, entering the door, which made a bell sound out. You couldn't help but notice the ridiculous amount of snake drawings, which was apparently the dojo’s logo, that were scattered on the walls. Despite that, the place looked decent.

You caught sight of writing on one of the walls.

“That like your mantra?”

Strike first. Strike Hard. No mercy. Very inviting.

“Something like that.”

“Not violent at all,” you pointed out.

“What's the point of karate if it’s not violent?”

“Isn't that LaRusso's whole thing? Non- violent karate?”

“Well he’s stupid, so that fits.”

“Okay, well I’m gonna-”

“QUIET!” A man you hadn’t seen walk in shouted, startling you and all the students.

“Ms. Robinson, who are we missing?”

Aisha looked around. “Hawk and Miguel, sensei.”

“Okay. They have three minutes.” He seemed to finally take notice of you. “New student?”

“Y/N’s my friend, sensei-” did they have to refer to him as sensei in every single sentence?

“Yeah I'm just here to watch-”

“What are you, a pussy?”

“Sensei!”

“I’m sorry?” You asked, dumbfounded. Okay, what was happening?

“Don’t think you can handle one class?”

“I don’t-”

“If you’re staying in my dojo, you’re participating.”

You looked at Aisha. “I mean it can’t hurt,” was all she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Are you kidding me-” At that very moment you heard the bell again, turning around to see who it was. Of course the timing was immaculate. Hawk and Miguel entered the dojo, taking their shoes off and stepping into the mat. You turned back around to face Aisha. “Do I have to take my shoes off?”

“Yeah.”

You did it quickly, before getting back to your place. Were you really about to do this? And what for? Because you couldn’t say no to a scary old man?

Because you couldn’t say no to…

Nevermind.

“Alright quiet! Fighting positions!”

Everything was happening way too fast, and you tried to keep up, trying to remember the stance Miguel had helped you with the night before. Sensei walked through the rows of kids, all dressed in those weird clothes except for you, which naturally drove his attention to you, to which he laughed. “Yeah do that and you'll leave a fight with two broken thumbs.” Right.

Just to prove your luck, Sensei Lawrence had a fantastic idea. “Diaz, you’re in charge of teaching her the first moves. I’m teaching these nerds here how to headbutt. Again.”

“Yes, sensei!”

You were accepting it, the Universe had to be having the time of its infinite life at your expense. Miguel walked up to you, sporting a smirk. “You came.”

“Because Aisha asked me to.”

“Right. Of course.” You both walked off to the side of the mat, as to not disturb the rest of the class. “Alright, fighting stance.”

You made sure to make a face before you did as he said, remembering to leave your thumbs out of your fists this time. You were not giving him the satisfaction of correcting you about that again.

“Okay, that’s good. But you gotta-” he pushed your feet further behind with his own. “Okay. Now the most simple punches you’re gonna do are the jab and the cross. You’re gonna do the jab like this-” he showed it, punching the air with his left hand, “and the cross is gonna go like this,” he did the same, with his right hand this time. “But you’re gonna punch this,” he motioned to the punching bag in front of you.

“Oh, I kinda hoped I'd get to punch you!”

He smiled. “You’ll have plenty of time for that.” He positioned himself behind the punching bag, holding it in place.

"Do I have to do the weird grunt noises too?" You messed with him.

“Just go.”

You tried you best, not really having any idea what to do.

“Okay stop.”

“What?”

He came up beside you. “Okay pay attention.” He did the movements, slowly this time. “You’re letting your hand punch down. It’s supposed to stay just in your eyesight.”

“So like this?” You tried it.

“Yeah but don’t bend your elbow. You could sprain it that way.”

“What? I don’t-”

“And you really thought you could take me?”

“Shut up. I could report you to your sensei, you know.”

“I’m the sensei right now.”

“In your dreams.”

“Come on, you can do it.” He took you by surprise as he placed a hand on your waist, pressuring it down so your legs would stay steady, and grabbed your right hand with the other one. You tried not to think too hard about it. It was a little hard focusing on what he wanted to teach you when you knew what it was like to- no. No wandering there.

He curled your fingers into a fist. “Okay so your hand will already be in a fist, right here, and then what you’re gonna do is hold it out in a straight line, you can’t let it fall down-”

[. . .]

“You can admit it, you know?”

“Admit what?”

“You liked it.”

“What?”

“Karate.” Oh. Right. Karate.

“I would never.”

“You totally did!”

“Okay. Fine. A little. But I think it definitely would have been better if I had a better teacher.”

“A better sensei, you mean,” he pressed you about it, earning an eye-roll from you.

“Whatever.”

“Are you gonna keep doing it?”

“What?”

“Are you like enrolling?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

“Cool.”

“Why, do you wanna see me that bad?”

He let out a laugh. “Yeah, whatever you say."

[. . .]

A couple weeks had gone by, and you had agreed to go to the movies with Aisha and her friends- well, you guessed now they were your friends too. The two of you were the first to get there, and were standing in line to get popcorn when Hawk and Miguel walked up to you. “I didn’t know you were coming,” Miguel pointed out.

“Do you not have other friends you can talk to?”

“You act like you were forced to be here.”

“I could have been!”

“I don’t think you were.”

You didn’t have a snarky reply to that.

“So sensei was talking to me about putting you in for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah cause you missed on tuesday?”

“Oh right! Stupid project.”

“Yeah. Well apparently he has stuff to do so he asked if I could help you out.”

You laughed in an exaggerated manner. “Oh there’s no way.”

“It was sensei’s idea!” Miguel defended himself.

“And it’s a bad one! No way.”

Aisha turned to you, handing you a huge popcorn for you to hold. She then handed Miguel two cups, and all of you went on your way.

“Look the dojo’s empty at three. You should be there then.” He walked past you and sat down next to Hawk.

[. . .]

“You showed up!”

“Yeah whatever.” You put your backpack down on the floor and took your shoes off, walking into the mat.

“You’re not wearing your gi,” he pointed out just to mess with you.

“You’re not wearing yours.”

“But I’m the sensei today.”

“Yeah you don’t look very sensei-like to me.”

“What would look sensei-like to you?” He got himself in fighting position as he talked, and you made sure to do the same.

“I don’t know. A little buffer, less of a pussy,” you teased him.

“Hey watch your words! We’re serious people in this dojo!” He laughed. “Alright left front kick, right round kick, jab, cross and hook, all of them three times. You ready?”

You tried to make sure you remembered the order correctly. “Is the hook before of after the cross?”

“After.”

“Right, so left front kick, right round kick, jab, cross, hook.”

“Yeah. Now go.” You did it. “Okay good! Is someone… enjoying karate?”

“Shut up.”

He smiled. “Alright I’m gonna block you this time.”

You repeated the sequence. Left front kick, right round kick, jab, cross, hook. Left front kick, right round kick, jab, cross, hook.

Left front kick, right round kick, jab, mat.

Mat?

“That’s not fair you were just gonna block!” You exclaimed after processing the fact that he’d just tackled you to the floor.

“You forgot to keep your guard up.”

“Whatever.” You began standing up.

“What, can’t take it?”

“Is little Miguel Diaz being mean to someone?”

“I’m just pointing out your weaknesses so you can work on them.”

“Because you’re just perfect, aren't you?”

“Do me then.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I-” he closed his eyes shut and pursed his lips together at the poor choice of words. “Do the same thing to me.”

“I don’t know, I’m starting to think you’re like into pain or something.”

“Yeah whatever you say. Come on.”

He did the sequence this time, and you blocked the movements, waiting for the chance to catch him by surprise. You did it while he was going for it the second time around, grabbing him by the wrist and attempting to pull it down, but he was quicker.

Best fighter in the Valley, after all.

In no time you were on the ground again. Fucker.

“I told you! It’s good practice though.” He was laughing at you, and held out his hand for you to take when he noticed you weren’t standing up.

You grinned. “Do you never learn?” You did the same as you'd done that one day at your house, pulling him to the floor next to you.

“Okay that was rude!”

“You practically asked for it!” You laughed like crazy as you stood up. “I can’t believe you fell for that twice!”

“Okay, fine.” He held his hand up again. “You not gonna help me?”

“Nope. I, for one, am not dumb.”

He got up. “Oh you’re gonna regret that.”

[. . .]

"Hey are you- are you doing something right now?" Miguel questioned you as he finshed turning the lights off.

"Not really. Why?"

"Do you... want to?"

"Like right now?"

"I mean I think we could both use a shower first but- later?"

"Why?"

"I'm just bored. You don't have to."

You pondered it. Aisha did have to bail on you to go to dinner with her dad. "Fine."

"What- okay."

You laughed as he finished locking the door of the dojo. "What?"

"Didn’t think you’d say yes."

"I can still change my mind."

"Yeah right. You like hanging out with me!"

"Hey don’t get too confident, I just don’t have anything else to do."

"And I don't believe you. Golf ‘n’ Stuf. In like an hour?"

"I don’t know. I might not show up," you teased.

"Yeah I'll see you there!" He yelled, content, already ahead of you on his bike.

[. . .]

“I knew it.”

You turned around where you stood, only to see Miguel behind you, a grin on his face. “You’re annoying. I’ve told you that before, right?”

“Yeah. Many times.”

“Just checking.”

“So?” Miguel held up his arm for you to lace your own with. As if. You scoffed, walking past him, leaving him to jog after you into the park.

“Okay what first?”

“Oh you’re letting me pick?” He asked you. Okay, you had to give it to him, he wasn’t as insufferable when he matched your sarcastic attitude a little bit. Or maybe he was more insufferable and you just liked to see him not be as nice.

“Yes I’m very polite.”

“Well then we’re doing mini golf.”

“Are you forty-five?”

“This place literally has golf in the name, what did you expect?” He grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you along.

[. . .]

“Okay I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many tickets in my entire life,” Miguel exclaimed, holding up what looked like at least 80 tickets, all bunched up. You studied the excitement on his face. Fine, so maybe you had a little fun. Just a little. And maybe you thought he looked stupidly cute right now.

Maybe.

You walked up to the counter. He looked at your prize options. “So what do you want? We can get like 53 rings or like 72 plastic… babies? Why would anyone want 72 plastic babies?”

You let out a laugh. “I don’t know, I-” you saw it by the corner, almost hidden. It was perfect. “Ohmygod definitely that guy!” You pointed at it, and the woman behind the counter handed it to Miguel.

He held up the plush bumblebee. “He’s cute! What should we name him?”

“Um… Phillip?”

“What no! That’s so not a bee name.”

“What the hell would a bee name be?”

“Zoe?”

“Okay first off that’s so cliche. Second off, he’s a boy!”

“How would you know that?” You’d been walking for a while, and finally got outside, sitting down on a bench.

“I decided it!”

“Okay. What can we name him then?”

“Oh my God, Lucas!”

“Okay, I think I can accept Lucas.”

“You don’t have a say on my son’s name!”

“Hey he’s our son!”

“I don’t know, we’d have to take a DNA test.”

“Shit have you been cheating on me?”

“Yeah I’m sorry…” you tried to match his playfulness.

There was silence for a moment.

“You know this was actually pretty fun.”

“Yeah I was surprised.” You were teasing, but it wasn’t a lie, either.

“So you liked it? Who knew.”

“Oh shut it. It was okay.”

“You totally did!”

“Okay, whatever. Now we need to discuss Lucas’ custody situation. I’m getting dibs on weekends!” You tried to joke, but Miguel’s mind seemed to be wandering off. “Miguel? Hello?” You waved your hand in front of his face.

“Sorry.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just- can I tell you something?”

“Okay.”

“I have a theory. You can say I’m wrong. But you can’t get mad at me about it.”

“Okay I’m getting worried.”

“Promise?”

“Sure.”

“Well I’ve thought about it, and I might be being a little hopeful. But I’m pretty sure you might have a crush on me.”

You laughed in disbelief. Did he really just say that to you? “I’m sorry?”

“It’s just a theory! I want you to! I’m- am I wrong?”

You didn’t reply. Because you didn’t know the answer. Did you- wait. “You want me to?”

“I- mean I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything, but. It would be nice. And I know you still don’t like to talk about that one time we kissed and all but things have been pretty confusing.”

“Because you have a thing for me.”

“Okay, I get it, it's fine if you don’t-”

Maybe it was not exactly the brightest idea to do something so important so suddenly, without sparing a thought before you did. But, when you knew it, your lips were on his.

It was calmer, softer than the first time you’d done it. Miguel was the one to pull away, smiling into the kiss. He stared at you, and you were nervous. You wanted to tell yourself you didn’t know where that came from, like you’d told yourself had happened that day at your place before attempting to bottle it up. But you knew.

You didn’t realize it, but in those weeks you hung out, you got to actually know him. And at some point you must have started liking him. A few weeks was definitely enough to change your perspective on some things.

You assumed he felt the same, considering the things he said.

… but maybe you read him wrong?

“What?” You asked, insecure, when he didn’t say anything.

He grinned. “You totally have a crush on me!”

You let out a breath in relief.

Okay, yeah, maybe Miguel Diaz wasn’t that bad after all. And maybe you could get yourself used to the thought of going out with him.

Maybe.

[. . .]

A/N: edited the fuck outta this one before posting, my ideas were good but my writing was pretty shit at the time. I think I was like 16/17 when I wrote this one. shits crazy. luv yall

[shosweet]

i feel like akaashi keiji has a genuine, unshakable, unironic love for tangled.

𐙚 he’s most likely dressed up as flynn for halloween and if he wants to switch it up, he’ll be rapunzel!

“why do you look better in that dress than i do?” you ask, smoothing down your navy blue vest.

“i dunno, maybe it’s a sign that it’s who i’m meant to be,” he sighs, looking out the window with longing, wind favoring his pretty black strands. he takes a deep breath, feeling familiar guitar strings play in his head.

“wrap it up, keiji, you’ll never be her.”

“GOD FORBID A GUY HAS A DREAM?!”

𐙚 he’s probably tried to convince you to get a pet chameleon.

he won’t tell you straight up, he’d just softly hint at you — primacy effect!

when you go to the bathroom, he’d sneak on your phone, search up pictures of chameleons, and leave it like that for you to come back to. when you do, he’ll just wait with patient eyes.

when you go to the pet store or just walk by it, he’d linger on a chameleon’s display window, whispering sweet promises to it.

“you’ll come home with me soon,” he giggles, tapping the window gently as he admires the little reptile.

finally caving in, you take him to the store once more and grant his wishes.

“you really want one, kei?” you smile.

he looks at you with wide eyes, literally sparkling as he nods so fast he might become a fan.

now at home, he’s cuddling with his new favorite friend.

“i think i’ll name youuu…. pashcal. you can’t beat the original, but you’re my special little boy,” he whispers to it, stroking its head lovingly with his fingertip.

𐙚 he’s most definitely sang “flower gleam and glow” when brushing your hair.

he has a gentle hold on your strands, weaving the brush through them softly. it’s his favorite pastime with you, especially if he needs to unwind after a long day. sometimes, he’d whisper (what he considers) sweet nothings.

“i promise i won’t cut off your hair and sell it,” he says with a genuine smile. you tense up a bit, fighting the urge to call the police, but you can’t interrupt this man’s happy time. thus, he keeps going, rubbing his toes together in his fuzzy socks happily.

on days when he’s exhausted, he’ll lay his head in his lap, silently asking for you to do the same to him. you give a small peck to his forehead before running your fingers through his hair, scratching and massaging his scalp the way he likes.

sometimes, he’ll look up at you with wide, sleepy eyes, signaling you to do something. getting the hint, you smile and sing his precious little song. after you do, he smiles and closes his eyes, melting into your touch.

𐙚 he love love loveees lanterns!!

for your one year anniversary, you took him to the park at night, candles and a small meal prepared on a soft blanket. there’s fairy lights on the trees surrounding you, illuminating your little spot. grabbing something from your bag, you tell him to close his eyes.

“no peeking, kei!” you giggle.

“i’m not, i’m not,” he chuckles.

“okay, open!”

his eyes see two paper lanterns in your hands, still unlit, but he noticed intricate patterns on the paper. his breath hitches, feeling his heart swell and eyes sting.

“you didn’t…”

“happy anniversary, kei,” you bashfully say, twisting your body left and right out of excitement. he takes one lantern into his hand, cheeks warm with tears. with your free hand, you cup his cheek and wipe them away.

“awh, don’t cry, baby,” you coo. he only feels more tears coming, dipping his head into your shoulder.

“i love you so much,” he sniffles. you smile and rub his back, kissing the side of his head.

“i love you, too.”

after a bit, you light up your lanterns and send them into the sky, hands intertwined. each anniversary, no matter which one it is or where you spend it, you’ll always end off the night with a pair of lanterns.

in bed, as the world grows quiet, you’re cuddled close to him, breathing in his faint, sweet vanilla as he kisses your head. every night, he whispers the same thing with more love in his heart than the day before.

“you’re my dream come true.”

[callikari]

  𝒾'll 𝒾magine ──── 𝓌e fall inlove .☘︎ ݁˖

。 would you mind if i took your hand tonight? know that you're all that i want this life !

... 양정원 x fem!reader 🎐 friends to lovers fluff angst if you squint 1050 wc ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻) reader being a hopeless romantic soft slowburn moments jungwon being the literal standard !!

【 more like this ᰔᩚ 】

you never really cared about having someone by your side.

not because you didn’t want it—god, you did. you dreamed of it.

the kind of love that made your chest feel full. the kind that made your heart beat in a way that felt like music.

you were a hopeless romantic with no one to love. you watched love unfold in movies, in songs, in passing glances between strangers on the subway. but never for you. never to you.

you used to think maybe you were just meant to be alone.

you told yourself it was fine. you got used to drinking your coffee alone, walking home alone, falling asleep to the sound of silence instead of someone’s voice.

until jungwon. 

he came into your life so quietly you didn’t even notice at first.

like the way he’d call after long days—not just text, call. 

he’d say, “hey. just wanted to hear your voice,” 

and he meant it. he never rushed the conversations. he’d let you ramble. let you talk about random dreams or what song was stuck in your head.

he’d stay on the line until you fell asleep, sometimes, breathing softly on the other end.

he listened like it mattered. like you mattered.

one night you told him, offhandedly, “i hate when people interrupt me. it makes me feel like what i’m saying isn’t worth hearing.”

and from then on, he never interrupted you again.

he’d wait, even when you paused mid-sentence to gather your thoughts. he never rushed you.

“take your time,” he’d say. “i’m listening.” 

and god, he really was.

he remembered everything too. like how you hated cucumbers in your kimbap, or how you always carried a book in your bag “just in case the world gets too loud.”

he remembered the name of your childhood cat, the specific way you liked your coffee (hazelnut, no sugar, oat milk), and that you cried during animated movies even when you tried to hide it.

you once joked that your favorite flowers were the ones no one ever brought—baby’s breath, tiny and often overlooked.

the next week, he showed up at your door with a small bouquet of just that. “i thought you’d like these,” he said with a shy smile.

and then there were the walks.

he always made sure to walk on the outer side of the sidewalk.

the first time you noticed, you asked, “you know you don’t have to do that, right?”

he just shrugged. “i know. but i want to.”

he didn’t make a big deal out of it. but he did it every single time.

as if protecting you was second nature. and you started realizing—he didn’t just show up. he stayed.

he stayed when your texts got distant, when you retreated into yourself. he stayed when you were quiet, when you were unsure, when you were scared to believe someone like him could care for someone like you.

but he did.

and one night, under the soft hum of streetlights and a sky scattered with stars, he turned to you and said,

“i want to take you out. like, on a real date. just you and me. if you’ll let me.”

you blinked, breath catching in your throat. “a date?” you echoed, voice small.

“yeah,” he said, his eyes soft and full of something deeper than just affection.

“because you’re the only person i want to do everything with. and i think i’ve been falling for you for a while now.”

you smiled, heart racing in a way it never had before. “then let’s go on that date.”

because jungwon wasn’t just someone who cared. he was the one who saw you fully. quietly. patiently. the one who made you feel like being loved wasn’t something you had to earn.

and maybe… just maybe… 

you weren’t meant to be alone after all.

enhypen taglist :: @ash-engen @chrrific @cheruphic @jungwonbropls @ijustreallylike2read

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