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rynwrites4fun · 1 day ago

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Love You Anyway (3) | Andrew Cody x Brother's Best Friend ! Reader

Andrew Cody x F ! Brother’s Best Friend ! Reader

Summary: You get your college acceptance letter and go to the Cody house to tell Deran—but he’s not there. Instead, you spend the afternoon with Andrew. It’s easy and unexpected… until you return to the house and realize things aren’t as normal as they seemed.

Word Count: 8480

Warnings: Nine-year age gap (late teens / late 20s) — Andrew Cody x reader are NOT together in the “Then” timeline

Author’s Notes: omg sorry guys. i had major writers block and then got busy. but part 3 is here. unfortunately my summer is coming to an end and i have to start up my job again BOOOOO. (crying i dont wnat to go back) so i'll prob be updating whenever I can, sorry. oh i finally made it to season 3 of animal kingdom yuhhhh, but last half of season 2 was so good i was on the edge of my seat. Anyway, here's part 3!!! Enjoy! - Ryn

THEN: ACCEPTANCE LETTER 2008

You biked as fast as you could to the Cody house, the midday sun beating down on your back. You gripped the letter in your hand as you grip the handle bars of your bike.

You didn’t want to wait.

Not until dinner. Not even another hour.

You just wanted to tell someone—wanted to see Deran’s face when you said it out loud.

You roll into the driveway, pressing the handle bar breaks to slow down your speed and hop off your bike. You roll your bike towards the open garage, noticing Andrew working out on the workout equipment.

Andrew was shirtless, wearing jeans that hung low on his hips, his back sweaty. He was focused, jaw tight, arms flexing as he pulled down on the cable machine with steady rhythm.

“Hey,” you called, still a little breathless as you leaned your bike against the garage wall.

Andrew glanced over his shoulder. His eyes landed on you briefly before he turned back to the machine.

You’d been around more since the day at the beach—seen Andrew a handful of times since then—but things between you hadn’t changed. He kept his distance. Every interaction was brief or clipped. You only spoke to each other when you had to; otherwise, you stayed out of each other’s way.

Baz and Deran, on the other hand, had been more welcoming. They talked to you, included you in whatever they were doing when you came around to hang out with Deran. But Andrew still held back, like there was an invisible line you weren’t supposed to cross—and he wasn’t about to let you forget it.

“He’s not here,” he said, voice low but clear—already knowing who you were here for.

“Oh…” You pushed your hair back, trying to catch your breath. “Do you know where he went or when he’ll be back?”

He didn’t pause. Just pulled again, the weights clanking softly. “Nope.”

You stood there, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. The excitement that had propelled you here was starting to fade, caught in the silence between his reps.

“Okay… is anybody else home that could tell me where he is?”

Nothing.

“I’ll take that as a no, then…”

You glanced down at the envelope in your hand. Its edges were crumpled from how tightly you’d been holding it.

“I got my letter back. From one of the colleges I applied to.”

Andrew's rhythm of his reps slowed. A subtle adjustment, like he’d finally stopped pretending not to listen. He remembers you mentioning how you applied for different colleges.

You looked up at him again, searching for some reaction. Still nothing. Just the steady rise and fall of his shoulders as he continued to pull the handles down.

The envelope suddenly feels heavier in your hands.

“I don’t know why I came here,” you said with a quiet laugh, mostly to yourself. “I guess I just wanted to share it with someone… with Deran.”

Andrew didn’t say anything, but the pause between his reps stretched a little longer this time.

You thumb the edge of the envelope. “He’s the one who kept telling me to go for it. Said I’d get in, no problem.”

Your voice wavered just a little. Not enough to crack—just enough to reveal the truth beneath it.

You had been nervous about applying. Nervous about even wanting something that far away. A school that meant starting over, leaving behind everything familiar.

But Deran hadn’t laughed, hadn’t shrugged it off like you half-expected him to. He’d just looked at you and said, “Why not you?” Like it was obvious.

That stuck.

So you’d done it. And now the letter was here, trembling just slightly in your grip, and the one person who told you to take the leap… wasn’t.

“It’s the college I really want to go to,” you added, trying to fill the silence.

Andrew huffed, not quite a scoff but close, still not facing you. “You don’t want to open this at home? With your family?”

“My parents are busy with work,” you muttered, voice low. “I didn’t even tell them I applied… to a university outside of California.” Your eyes are still on the letter.

“I was gonna tell Deran in person,” you added after a beat. “But since he’s not here…”

You stepped forward, lifting the envelope slightly. “I guess you’ll do.”

You hesitated, suddenly unsure if this was something you should be sharing with Andrew. Deran was the one who encouraged you, who believed in you when you were too afraid to believe in yourself. Maybe you should’ve waited—waited to open it with him.

But the anticipation was gnawing at you, tightening your chest. You couldn’t wait any longer.

Your fingers tore the seal open before you could second-guess yourself. You pulled out the paper, unfolding it with shaky hands, eyes scanning for one word. Just one.

Then you saw it.

Congratulation

You gasped. A laugh broke from your chest.

“Oh my god,” you whispered, your hand flying to your mouth. “I got in—I got in!”

You shrieked, joy bursting out of you like a firecracker. You jumped up and down, spinning in place as you waved the letter in the air, barely able to hold onto it.

Andrew paused, his hands still gripping the handlebars of the exercise machine. His shoulders rose and fell with quiet, controlled breaths as he turned to look over his shoulder at you. He let go slowly—arms dropping to his sides

You hadn’t realized he was watching.

He watched your reaction—your spinning, your laughter—and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. A quiet chuckle slipped out before he could stop it.

“Good for you,” he said.

You heard that much. By the time you calmed yourself, his smile was gone. You didn’t catch how his smile lingered, genuine and quiet, drawn out by your happiness and the excitement you couldn’t contain.

You pressed the letter to your chest, breathing hard, cheeks flushed.

Andrew stepped away from the machine, grabbing a water bottle from their outside refrigerator. His expression had already settled into something more neutral, but there was still a softness in his eyes if you looked closely enough.

“Where to?” he asked, taking a sip.

You tell him the name of the school. “It’s on the east coast”

He lowered the bottle, recapping it slowly. “Far.”

Good, he thought. You’ll be away from all their bullshit.

“I know,” you said, practically bouncing with a mix of nerves and excitement. “But it’s exciting!”

Your heart raced at the thought of taking the leap — scared, but ready.

He went back to the machine grabbing his towel that was draped over the bars on the workout machine.

“You can stay… wait for Deran, I mean,” he said, wiping his face, then tossing the towel over his shoulder.

He didn’t know why he said that. It came out before he could stop it—quieter than usual, not gruff or sharp. He wasn’t even looking at you when he said it, eyes fixed somewhere near the floor, like offering that kind of invitation cost him something.

You were surprised. Of all the things you expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them.

You nodded quickly, hopeful but trying not to seem like it. “Yeah. I’ll wait. If that’s okay.”

Andrew gave a short jerk of his head toward the house—a wordless cue: go on in.

You hesitated just long enough, thinking he might say more. When he didn’t, you took the side door and headed toward their house.

He stood there a moment longer than necessary, watching you disappear, towel still resting on his shoulder. Then he tossed the towel aside, turned back toward the machine, and started working out again.

—

You moved into the living room and sat on the couch, the envelope still in your hands. You sank into the couch, left alone with the silence. For a moment, you thought Andrew might follow you inside—but he didn’t.

After a few minutes, you pull out your flip phone. The screen was smudged, the battery half-dead. You flipped it open and hit Deran’s number.

It rang a couple of times before going to voicemail.

“Hey! I’m at your place—sorry, I should’ve called first to check if you were home. Andrew said you were out, but I got my acceptance letter in the mail! I wanted to tell you in person. Sorry… I opened it. It couldn’t wait, but I got in! I’m going to the East Coast! Call me when you get this”

You hung up, leaving the voicemail, then snapped the phone shut with a soft click.

Now you wait.

Time dragged. Twenty minutes. Then thirty.

Andrew came back out, freshly showered and dressed. He was in a clean T-shirt and jeans, towel still in hand as he ran it through his damp curls. He stopped in the space of the living room

“No word?” he asked.

You toyed with a loose string on the throw pillow clutched to your chest. You shook your head, “He’s probably busy.”

You stood from the couch, smoothing your hands down your legs just to give them something to do. “I should get going.”

Then added you, “If you see him… can you tell him to call me?”

Andrew didn’t say anything. Neither did you. There was no goodbye.

You stepped past him and made your way back outside the house. You grabbed your bike from where you’d left it against the garage wall and started rolling it up the driveway toward the street.

Andrew came out a moment later, keys in hand, heading toward his truck parked just a few feet away. He didn’t say anything, just walked in silence, unlocking the doors with the fob.

You were halfway up the drive when he said,

“C’mon.”

You stopped in your tracks, caught off guard.

“What?” you asked, turning to look at him.

“Let’s go.”

“But—”

“Leave your bike and get in the car,” he said, climbing into his truck. You knew with Andrew, he never asks—he tells.

You weren’t sure what was happening, or why he wanted you in his truck, or where you two were going, but you did what he said. You rolled your bike and left it leaning against the outside of the garage, then climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. The engine was already running, the car humming softly.

“Seat belt,” he said.

“Right” You mumbled as you reached for it, pulling it across your chest and clicking it into place just as he shifted the truck into reverse.

He backed out of the driveway in one clean motion, then turned onto the street. The gate closed behind you with a mechanical hum, triggered by the clicker in his hand.

You glanced at him once, but he didn’t say anything. Just kept his eyes on the road.

You stared out the window as the truck moved down the street, houses blurring past. Every few seconds, you felt the urge to say something—ask where you were going,

The silence wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t easy either.

“So…” you said finally, the word slipping out quieter than you meant it to.

Andrew didn’t look at you, but you saw his fingers tighten slightly on the steering wheel.

You waited, but when he didn’t follow up, you added, “Where are we going or better yet… where are you taking me?”

You shifted in your seat, not sure if you were annoyed or just anxious. Maybe both.

Nothing.

“Andrew,” you said, a little firmer this time, trying to keep your voice steady despite the frustration bubbling under the surface.

He shrugged nonchalantly, eyes fixed on the road ahead. “Relax.”

“Relax?” You blinked, incredulous. “How am I supposed to relax when you’re basically kidnapping me?”

He furrows his eyebrows, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face, but he doesn’t look over. “Kidnapping? You got in the car willingly.”

You crossed your arms, leaning back against the seat. “Only because you practically ordered me to. You didn’t exactly give me much of a choice.”

He finally glanced your way, expression unreadable. “I didn’t force you. You have free will. You could’ve just said no.”

You let out a breath, part exasperated, part amused. “Yeah, well, when someone’s voice sounds like a command, saying no doesn’t exactly feel like an option.”

“You don’t have anything better to do,” he said flatly.

You raised a brow. “How do you know? Maybe I had plans.”

He gave you a look, dry and pointed. “Did you?”

You hesitated, then muttered, “That’s not the point.”

“It kind of is.”

You rolled your eyes and looked out the window. “God, you’re infuriating.”

He drummed his fingers once against the steering wheel. “And yet you got in the car.”

You turned your head, shooting him a glare. “Because you made it sound like it wasn’t up for discussion.”

You turned to look out the window, watching the blur of palm trees and strip malls pass by.

Then, quietly, “Would it help if I said I didn’t want you sitting around by yourself?”

Andrew didn’t want you to be alone. Your parents weren’t home, and neither was Deran. There was no one around to celebrate with you. Sure, you could celebrate later—but it wouldn’t be the same. Nothing compared to sharing the moment while it was still alive, still buzzing in your chest.

That caught you off guard. Your head turned slowly back toward him.

He wasn’t looking at you—his jaw tight, eyes ahead—but the tension in his shoulders had softened, just barely.

You blinked. “So this is… what? You playing chauffeur out of pity?”

“No,” he said quickly. Too quickly. “Not pity.”

You waited, but he said nothing else. Just kept driving, hands steady on the wheel.

“I’m hungry.”

You blinked. “Okay?”

“I thought you might be too.”

You stared at him for a second, trying to make sense of it. Was… was he taking you out to eat? That couldn’t be right. Not Andrew. Your best friend’s older brother. The one who always kept his distance, who made it painfully clear he didn’t want anything to do with you—or have you hanging around. That Andrew was now driving you somewhere for food?

It didn’t make sense.

“You’re taking me to get food?” you asked slowly, raising your eyebrows in disbelief, trying to figure out if there was some sort of ulterior motive.

His jaw tightened just slightly, like he was already regretting saying anything. Then he muttered, “Seemed like a decent way to mark the occasion.”

You paused.

That’s when it clicked.

This wasn’t just about food. Andrew was taking you out—it wasn’t random. It was intentional. A quiet, awkward way of showing he cared, even if he couldn’t put it into words. He wasn’t going to say “congratulations,” No grand gestures, no speeches—just this simple act that said more than he ever would aloud. This was his version of showing up.

And even if he couldn’t say it out loud, you could feel it.

You didn’t know what to say. It was… sweet. Simple. Thoughtful, even—that he’d go out of his way to do this for you.

His truck pulled into a small parking lot, easing into a stall right out front. High Tide Diner was painted across the large front window in a faded retro font, the kind that hadn’t been updated in decades but somehow still felt timeless.

You climbed out of the truck, the door creaking slightly as it shut behind you. Andrew didn’t say anything, just nodded toward the entrance, and the two of you headed inside.

A bell above the door jingled as you stepped in. The place smelled like coffee, salt, and something fried. Vinyl booths lined the walls, cracked in places, and the floor tiles were uneven from years of foot traffic. It wasn’t fancy, but it was warm. Familiar.

It wasn’t crowded—just a handful of people and families scattered here and there throughout the diner, low conversations humming beneath the clatter of dishes.

Andrew stepped past you and slid into an empty booth tucked away near the back, far from everyone else. Typical. Always picking the quietest corner like he needed distance to breathe.

You followed and slid into the seat across from him, the vinyl sticking slightly to your legs as you settled in.

“This place is good. We don’t have to eat here. We could go somewhere else—”

“No, no, this is fine. Really,” you said quickly, cutting him off before he could protest. “I like it”

You reached for the menu and scanned the beat-up plastic laminate in front of you. The corners were worn, peeling a little from years of use. The food options were exactly what you expected—greasy, oily, unapologetically comforting. Burgers stacked high, loaded fries, grilled cheese, milkshakes thick enough to bend a straw. No frills, no health section. Just pure, deep-fried Americana.

“This place has personality,” you said, more to yourself than to him.

Across the table, Andrew shrugged, like that was the point. “The food's good. That’s all that matters.”

You looked up at him, watching the way he leaned back against the booth like he’d been here a hundred times. Like he fit.

“Do you come here a lot?”

He shrugged again, eyes still on the menu he hadn’t even picked up. “Used a lot when I was a teenager. With… Julia sometimes. But I come around every so often”

“Julia…” you repeated softly, the name unfamiliar on your tongue.

He glanced up, just briefly. “My twin sister.”

You blinked, surprised. “You have a twin?”

Deran hadn’t mentioned he had an older sister. In fact, no one in the family had ever mentioned her—not once.

“Been a while since we’ve seen her,” he said, almost too casually—but there was a tightness in his voice that said more than the words did. He didn’t elaborate.

You hesitated, unsure if you should say something else, asking what happened. But the way he was staring past you now, like he was seeing a memory and not the diner, made you pause.

Instead, you just nodded. Quiet. Respectful.

“There’s so much on this menu,” you said, your voice lighter, pulling things gently back to the present. “I might need, like… a solid twenty minutes.”

Andrew didn’t smile, exactly, but his mouth twitched like he almost could have. “Pick something greasy. It’s what they do best.”

An older woman came over with two glasses of water balanced in one hand and a notepad in the other. Her name tag said Deb, and she gave you both a polite nod.

“Hi there! Are you two ready, or need a few minutes?”

“Double Cheeseburger. Everything on it. Extra pickles. Fries. Chocolate shake.”

Deb jotted it down and turned to you.

You hesitated for a second, then said, “I’ll have the same thing he’s having… but strawberry shake.”

Andrew looked over at you, one brow lifting.

Deb gave a smile. She took the menus. “Alright, I’ll get that in.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen, the order slip already in her hand.

You glanced back at Andrew as he stared at you. “What? Your order sounded good…”

Andrew’s brow twitched slightly, amusement flickering behind his eyes. “Didn’t peg you for the copy-my-order type.”

You shook your head. “It’s not copying—my order is different from yours”

He scoffed. “Just swapping the shake doesn’t make it different.”

You glanced at him with a smirk. “Didn’t peg you for someone so territorial about food. Are you always this dramatic over an order?”

Andrew shook his head and rolled his eyes, then muttered, “Should’ve stuck with chocolate.”

“Strawberry’s better.”

Andrew gave you a sideways glance. “Better, huh? That’s… questionable.”

Silence falls between the two of you.

Andrew rested his arms on the table, fingers tapping against the table top as he stared out the window.

You noticed his knuckles were almost healed. The scrapes had faded into thin, reddish scabs—the kind that stuck around after the worst was over. You remembered how bad they’d looked at the beach, when he came back to Baz’s truck. Bloody, raw.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” you said quietly, the words spilling out.

Andrew glanced at you, his brows knitting together. “Do what?”

“The surfer. At the beach.”

His eyes narrowed, like he might deny it, might brush it off with some half-answer—but you cut him off before he could.

“I’m not stupid, Andrew.” You sighed “I know what you did.”

His tapping stopped as he caught you staring at his hands. He didn’t say anything—just slowly moved his hand from the table to his lap.

For a long second, he didn’t say anything. Just stared past you, jaw tight, like he was weighing the cost of answering.

Then finally, he said, “He was out of line.”

“That’s it?” you asked, not bothering to hide your frustration. “He was out of line, so you beat the shit out of him?”

His eyes met yours. Steady. Unapologetic. “Yeah.”

There were a dozen things you wanted to say—about how messed up it was, about how you weren’t his problem, about how that’s not how normal people handled things.

You opened your mouth, then closed it again.

Because part of you wanted to yell at him.

But the other part—annoyingly louder—just felt that same strange twist in your chest. That not-quite-fear, not-quite-comfort thing.

So instead, all that came out was, “You didn’t have to.”

“He dropped in on you, didn’t he? When you were surfing?” he asked.

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“And he hit you.”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” you said. “It was an accident.”

“That guy could’ve seriously hurt you, out in the water and Then he ran off like a coward after he hit you”

You swallowed. “And you took it personally?”

His gaze didn’t waver. “You got hurt. I don’t care who started it or what excuses anyone gives. That shouldn’t have happened.”

You blinked.

“And that justifies everything?”

“Maybe not,” he said finally. “I wasn’t thinking about right or wrong. But I’d do it again.”

It knocked the breath out of you—not because it was shocking, but because of how easily he said it. Like it was obvious. Like it wasn’t even a question in his mind.

That shut you up.

Because he meant it. Completely and without regret.

You stared at him, trying to make sense of it. Of him.

And maybe that should’ve scared you.

But somehow… it didn’t.

“Well…Thanks,” you said—quiet, measured. Nothing more, nothing less.

You left it there, even if you didn’t agree with how he handled it.

You didn’t say it was okay. You didn’t pretend it made sense.

But you also didn’t take it back.

He didn’t move. Didn’t smile. Just studied you for a moment, like he was trying to decide whether to say what he was thinking or keep it buried like usual.

“Here we are—two cheeseburgers with everything on ’em, extra pickles, fries, one chocolate shake, and one strawberry,” Deb announced as she approached, balancing the tray like it was second nature.

She set it down in the center of the table with practiced ease.

You both murmured a “Thanks,” nearly in unison.

Deb gave a nod and a quick smile. “Holler if you need anything else,” she said before turning and disappearing back toward the kitchen.

You dug in, taking a big bite of the burger and let out a muffled groan. Your eyes flutter shut for a second. “This is so good,” you mumbled around a mouthful, barely pausing between bites.

Across the table, Andrew watched you with a mix of amusement and disbelief. A quiet chuckle slipped out as he took in the way you were devouring your burger like you hadn’t eaten in days.

“You gonna breathe at some point?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “You know—maybe in between bites?”

You held up a finger, chewing furiously, and pointed at the burger. “Too good,” you said, barely intelligible. “Not my fault.”

Andrew took a big bite of his burger, enjoying the juicy flavors. As he chewed, a bit of ketchup slid from the bun and landed right on his nose. He didn’t notice.

You caught it instantly and snorted, covering your mouth with your hand to keep from laughing mid-chew.

“What?” he asked, mouth half-full, tone flat.

“You’ve got—” You broke into another giggle, motioning vaguely toward your own face. “Ketchup. On your nose.”

He frowned and tried to see it, his eyes crossing slightly, which only made it worse. You practically wheezed only made you laugh harder.

“I got it, I got it,” you said, still laughing as you reached for a stack of napkins from the dispenser.

You leaned across the table. “Hold still.”

He didn’t move. Just sat there watching you with that calm, unreadable expression.

You were suddenly aware of how close you were—close enough to catch the faintest trace of his aftershave and the subtle heat of his gaze on you. You dabbed at the smear of ketchup on his nose, biting back a smile as he let you do it, silent and still, his expression flat but clearly unamused.

Your hand lingered a second longer than it needed to before you finally pulled back.

“There,” you said softly.

“For that,” you added, reaching over without hesitation, “I deserve a fries.”

You snatched a couple off his plate and popped one into your mouth before he could protest.

“Hey,” he said, half-amused, half-indignant. “You’ve got your own.”

“I saved your nose,” you shot back. “If it weren’t for me, you’d still be looking like Rudolph.”

He shakes his head. “One smear of ketchup and suddenly you're a hero.”

You grinned, already reaching for your milkshake “Damn right I am.”

—

After finishing up at the diner, the two of you ended up driving aimlessly with no real destination in mind.

There was no rush. No plan. Just the road stretching out ahead and the quiet comfort of his presence beside you.

He drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting lazily on the gearshift. You leaned your head against the window, watching the world blur past—quiet neighborhoods, aging gas stations, wide-open lots bathed in the soft gold of the setting sun.

At a red light, he glanced over at you. “You good?”

You nodded. “Yeah. This is nice.”

He gave a small smile—one of those rare ones that didn’t quite reach his eyes but meant something all the same. “Yeah. It is.”

As he drove, the two of you did nothing but talk. And it was different—unexpectedly so. Easy in a way that caught you off guard. You’d been talking—really talking—and somewhere along the way, Andrew’s walls, usually built so high, had lowered without ceremony. Without either of you even noticing when it happened.

For the first time, it felt like you were beginning to truly know him—not just the version everyone else saw. And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to know you too. There were still parts of him kept carefully out of reach, tucked away behind familiar silences, but that didn’t bother you.

And, strangely, he didn’t seem to mind you seeing him like this. Not tonight.

Eventually, you found yourselves at the beach near the pier, the truck rumbling to a stop just as the sun began to dip low on the horizon. The sky was brushed in soft shades of orange, pink, and fading lavender, the last light of the day stretching long across the sand. The breeze off the ocean carried the scent of salt and something faintly sweet—maybe kettle corn from the boardwalk nearby.

Shoes in hand, you wandered the shoreline together, the sand cool beneath your feet. The tide rolled in gentle and steady, lapping at your ankles. Andrew kept to the drier sand away from the water, watching you with that same quiet expression—as if he was memorizing the moment, even if he didn’t know why.

“You think you’re gonna get homesick when you’re on the East Coast?”

“Maybe,” you admitted with a shrug. “But I guess that’s part of the point—learning how to deal with it.”

“I can’t wait to get out of here—away from my parents, on my own. All I’ve ever known is California, Oceanside. I’m just excited to experience something new, though it is daunting.”

He stood standing, eyes fixed on the shoreline where you walked splashing in the water.

He was envious—of your freedom, your clean break. The way you had the opportunity to leave and actually go. He could do his own thing in theory, but in practice… he couldn’t. Not really.

Even as an adult, hardened by everything he’d been through, Andrew was still tethered to Smurf. No matter how far he tried to pull away, that invisible thread always snapped him back. She had a way of pulling him in, of making sure he never drifted too far. He was loyal to a fault.

Watching you—so full of hope and momentum—was a stark contrast to his world. You, who grew up in a stable, middle-class home. Two loving parents. Consistency. Safety. Unconditional Love. Things he never had. Things he didn’t even know how to trust.

In his world, nothing was handed over willingly. Everything had to be taken—stolen, hustled, fought for. They didn’t work to earn in the traditional sense. They planned, schemed, and survived. And when they got what they wanted, they didn’t celebrate—they braced for whatever came next.

You were everything he wasn’t. Everything he’d never be in this lifetime.

It was better that you were leaving—going off to college, to the East Coast, to anything that wasn’t this. Better you got out before you had the chance to really see what he and his brothers were. What they did.

He glanced over at you then, eyes catching yours for just a second before flicking away again.

“You’ll be good out there,” he said quietly. “You’ll figure it out.”

You moved slowly along the shoreline, letting the waves chase your toes. Every now and then, you’d glance back at him, and he’d give you that faint, unreadable smile of his.

“You gonna get your feet wet or what?” you called over your shoulder, teasing.

He smirked, but didn’t budge. “I’m good right here.”

You turned back to the ocean, the breeze tugging gently at your clothes. A particularly strong wave rolled in and soaked your calves, making you gasp and laugh as you jumped back. You heard him chuckle behind you,

“Come on” You kick some water at him

“Hey stop that!”

You giggle as you continue splashing through the water, coming to flick some back at him just to get a rise out of it.

“Angel, quit it—” he says, voice low but amused.

You freeze for a second, the nickname catching you off guard.

They all called you that—Angel. Baz had started it that day at the beach, half a joke, half a dig. After that, they hardly used your real name at all. But Andrew?

He never used it. Not once.

Until now.

And it felt different coming from him. Not careless or mocking. Not something he said just because the others did. His version was quieter. Almost gentle.

You didn’t know why it made your chest feel tight, or why you wanted to hear it again—just not with the usual teasing behind it.

“Boo, you’re boring!”

“Oh, yeah?” he said, an eyebrow lifting, just before he stepped forward and scooped you up like it was nothing.

“Andrew—wait! No, no, no—”

But it was already too late. He was already walking straight into the ocean, steady and unbothered, even as you squirmed in his arms.

“Andrew—!” you kicked your feet in protest, laughter bubbling up despite yourself.

He didn’t slow down. Just kept moving forward, water lapping higher—first at his knees, then his thighs. You instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck tighter, clinging to him as tightly as you could.

“Andrew, don’t you dare—”

He smirked. And then he leaned.

“Oh, don’t you dar—!”

Too late.

With one swift movement, he dunked you both under.

You shrieked as the cold water swallowed you whole, salt stinging your nose, your laughter muffled in the splash. You surfaced with a gasp, hair plastered to your face, eyes wide, and already laughing so hard it made your chest ache.

Andrew came up behind you, shaking the water from his curls, completely soaked. His clothes clung to him, heavy and dark with seawater, and he ran a hand through his hair, flicking droplets everywhere.

Andrew just grinned, smug and unapologetic. “Totally worth it.”

You swiped your soaked hair out of your face, still laughing. “Says the one who wanted to stay dry!”

“And then you started kicking water at me like it was gonna do anything.”

You scoffed. “I barely got you wet!”

He gave you a look, eyes narrowing like he couldn’t believe you were still pretending. “My jeans were damp. That was a violation.”

You grinned. “Oh, poor you.”

“I had to restore balance,” he said solemnly. “Full submersion was the only way.”

You splashed him again. “You’re such an asshole. Where’s the logic in that, by the way? You didn’t want to get wet, so you decided to throw yourself into the ocean—with me?”

He shrugged, completely unfazed. “I didn’t say it was good logic.”

—

Andrew’s truck pulled into the driveway. He stepped out, door slamming shut behind him as he headed over into the garage.

The brothers were mid-count—money spread out across the workbench in uneven stacks, jewelry glinting under the garage lights. A gun sat openly beside a half-zipped duffel. They were too hyped to care.

Craig glanced up first.

“Dude, where the hell have you been?! We’ve been calling you—” Craig’s voice was loud, half-laughing, charged with adrenaline and whatever trouble they’d stirred up all day.

“You guys did a job?” Andrew’s voice cut through the room, sharp and disbelieving. They’d gone out and done something—without him. Without even telling him.

If he’d known, he never would’ve brought you back to the house—not with the heat still fresh, with evidence still laid out in plain sight. At the very least, he would’ve warned them, told them to clean up, to stash the bags and play it cool. But now? It was too late for any of that.

Andrew’s stomach dropped. He was pissed, sure. They’d cut him out, made a move without him. That stung, and he’d deal with it later. But right now? None of that mattered. All he could think about was you.

“Dude, why are you all wet?” Baz asked, staring at Andrew with a raised brow as he stepped up from the beach.

Andrew didn’t answer right away. His eyes flicked over his shoulder—to the car, to the door he knew was about to swing open.

“Get rid of it,” he said sharply.

“What?” Baz blinked, thrown.

“Get rid of it. Now.” he tells his brother

And then you stepped out of Andrews truck.

Still damp from the ocean, sand clinging to your legs, hair a tangled, wind-blown mess. You were brushing sand off, not even aware of the storm you’d just walked into.

Four sets of eyes locked on you, and just like that, the air in the garage turned sharp, still, and heavy.

Craig’s grin evaporated as he stared, blinking like he wasn’t sure if he was seeing you or some kind of mirage.

Deran froze halfway through shoving bills into a bag. “Wait—Angel?”

Even Baz, usually the smoothest at holding his expression, faltered for a beat. His gaze landed on you, then flicked to Andrew. His jaw clenched, subtle but visible.

Then they moved.

Fast.

They quickly managed to stuff everything away. The jewelry was swept off the table in hurried, careless motions. Bundles of cash were stuffed back into the duffels with practiced, frantic efficiency. Craig cursed under his breath as he knocked something over—a watch clattered to the concrete floor, its face cracking sharply. Without missing a beat, he kicked it out of sight.

By the time you came into the garage, there was no evidence left—no sign of what had just been there.

“Hey guys!” You beam. Your voice was cheerful, easy—completely unaware of what they just did. The room looked almost normal, but the tension hanging in the air told you otherwise.

Craig froze mid-zip, then straightened with a crooked grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Angel! What’s up?”

Baz was already standing in front of the table like he’d just happened to be leaning there all along. “Didn’t expect to see you around,” he said, tone smooth but eyes still calculating.

Deran tilted his head, eyeing you with a mix of confusion and something else you couldn’t quite place. “Uh… what are you doing here?”

His voice had that weird edge to it—trying to sound casual, but it didn’t quite land.

You smiled, trying to keep it light. “Nice to see you too. I stopped by earlier—you didn’t get my voicemail?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn't see anything.”

“Well, I came to open my acceptance letter.”

Deran’s eyes widened. “Wait—the one from the college on the East Coast?”

You nodded, grinning now. “Yeah. I got in.”

“Angel, that’s awesome!” His whole face lit up. He stepped forward and pulled you into a hug, lifting you slightly off the ground even though your clothes were still soaked.

“Congratulations!” Deran says as he sets you back down.

Baz brows raised. “No shit? That’s big. Congrats, Angel.” His voice was casual, but there was a flicker of genuine pride behind it, the kind he didn’t hand out often.

Craig grinned from where he was crouched by a bag, wiping his hands on his jeans before getting up. “Hell yeah! That’s huge! You better throw a party before you leave. Better yet, we’ll throw you one” He pulled you into a one-armed hug, not caring about the wet clothes.

“Thanks, guys,” you said, a little overwhelmed by their rare, unfiltered support.

You glanced toward Andrew. “Yeah, Andrew and I hung out today—”

Craig cut in before you could finish. “Wait, you and Andrew hung out?”

That stopped everything.

Baz’s gaze flicked from you to Andrew, then back again. Deran raised an eyebrow.

The three of them stood there, silent now, their attention sharper—focused in a way it hadn’t been before.

Craig’s smirk had faded into something more curious. Baz didn’t bother hiding the suspicion in his eyes.

You gave a nervous laugh, trying to brush it off. “I came by to hang out with you,” you said, nudging Deran lightly in the chest. “But you weren’t home.”

You shrugged. “Andrew was around. So we hung out. No big deal.”

But it felt like a big deal now—with the way they were all looking at you.

“Why are you guys wet?” Baz asked, eyebrows raised, voice careful now.

“Beach,” you and Andrew answered at the same time.

Your voices overlapped, perfectly matched—flat, casual, a little too in sync.

Craig snorted, more amused than anything. “Cute.”

Baz leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “Didn’t know you two were going on beach dates now.”

“It wasn’t a date,” you and Andrew said in unison.

You knew they were teasing, but seriously—you and Andrew? No way. That wasn’t what this was. He was Deran’s older brother. It would’ve been weird. Messy. Off-limits for so many reasons.

You scrunched your nose and made a dramatic face like you were physically repulsed by the idea. “Ew. No. Gross.” You waved your hands as if to push the thought far, far away. “He’s like…ancient”

Andrew glanced at you clearly unimpressed. “Wow. Thanks.”

“I’m just saying,” you said, mock-defensive. “You’re basically halfway to forty.”

Craig burst out laughing. Baz smirked. Deran didn’t laugh at all.

It wasn’t a date—at least not by any definition either of you would use.

But it was something.

You weren’t sure what Andrew had expected when he told you to get in the truck. But today felt... different. Not romantic, not even close to it—but it was rare. Easy. The kind of connection that didn’t need to be explained.

Craig, sensing the shift but not knowing what to do with it, let out a breath and offered a weak grin. “Well, sounds like you two had fun,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “That’s... cool.”

You are taking in the scene. The guys look worn—sweaty, out of breath, exchanging looks that say more than words. Your gaze shifts toward the workbench. One of the duffel bags is sitting there, the zipper slightly open.

You tilted your head. “So… what’s with the duffels?”

The question hung in the air.

Craig’s head snapped toward you, eyes wide for a beat. Baz didn’t move, but his jaw tightened. Deran’s fingers twitched like he was seconds away from grabbing the bags and chucking it out of sight.

Deran says “Nothing important.”

You arched a brow. “Looks important. That one’s practically bursting at the seams.”

You took a step forward, curious.

Baz moved fast—subtle but firm—as he casually shifted into your path, blocking your view with that practiced, easygoing grin. “It’s not,” he said smoothly. “Just moving some stuff out of storage.”

“Yeah,” Craig added, nodding way too hard. “Cleaning house. You know how it is.”

Baz says “Just old crap we’ve been meaning to toss. You know how Smurf is—keeps everything.”

Your eyes narrowed a little, suspicion stirring—but not enough to press.

Behind you, Andrew shot them a look. Cold. Sharp. A silent warning not to screw this up.

You lingered for a second, gaze drifting toward the duffles again. Something didn’t sit right—your gut told you there was more to it than “old crap,” but you couldn’t put your finger on why. The way they all moved. The way they watched you. It was too… controlled.

Still, you let it go. For now.

“Right.” You dragged the word out, still not convinced. “Well, Andrew said I could use the shower, so…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Craig said quickly, waving you off like everything was totally normal. “You do that.”

“You can borrow my clothes—help yourself,” Deran said as you passed him.

“Thanks,” barefoot and still damp as you padded around them towards the side door of the garage.

You glanced back at Andrew. “Oh… and thanks for today.”

His eyes lingered on you, unreadable.

You gave him a quiet smile before turning away and heading inside, leaving the boys where they stood.

None of them said another word until you were out of earshot.

Deran scoffed, disbelief flashing across his face. “Are you serious right now? What the hell are you doing with Angel? So what now—you’re just hanging around my best friend?”

He shot back, voice sharp. “Don’t act like this is all out of the kindness of your heart. You’ve been weird about her for months—saying to keep her away. And now? You’re all buddy-buddy with her?”

Andrew didn’t flinch. “This isn’t about being buddy-buddy. I’m here because someone has to look out for her. And if that means being around her, so be it.”

Andrew stepped forward, voice colder now. “You’re the one pulling her into it without even thinking. You bring her around like this shit isn’t dangerous—like she’s immune to it, but she’s not, Deran. None of us are.”

Deran scoffed. “You’re such a goddamn hypocrite.”

Andrew turned, eyes narrowing. “What?”

“You’re always telling me to keep her out of this,” Deran says. “To keep her safe. You act like you’re above it—but look! She almost saw us going through our shit!”

Andrew’s voice cut back, defensive. “How was I supposed to know you guys did a job? None of you told me.”

Craig threw up his hands. “We tried calling!”

“I didn’t answer one time and you all went off without me?”

Deran’s voice dropped, cold. “Don’t turn this around like we’re the problem. You’re the one who brought my best friend home—with duffels wide open and a gun sitting out.”

Andrew’s jaw tightened. “You wanna talk about me bringing her around? Fine. Let’s talk about how many times you almost dragged her into shit then”

Deran’s expression twisted. “Don’t put this on me—”

Andrew snapped “But you let her crash here with stolen merchandise in the guest room and a duffel full of guns in the hall closet. She almost found both—just looking for a blanket. You think about that?”

Baz’s jaw tightened. He remembered.

Andrew kept going. “She borrowed your truck—the glovebox wasn’t cleared. She was two seconds away from opening it. Loaded piece inside, cash under the seat.”

Deran opened his mouth to speak, but Andrew cut him off and didn’t stop.

“You leave your burner lying around. She almost answered it once—could’ve ended up on the phone with someone who wouldn’t blink before pulling the trigger.”

Craig shifted but stayed silent.

“You’ve had her this close to shit she never signed up for,” Andrew shouts “And you’ve got the nerve to look at me sideways?”

Deran’s jaw clenched.

Andrew didn’t back down and got in Dearn’s face “You don’t get to lecture me. You’ve had more close calls with her than I ever have. I’m not the one leaving doors open.”

Craig hovered nearby, watching the two of them like they might come to blows. “Alright, can we not do this right now?” he muttered, half to himself, half to keep the peace.

“She’s not just some girl, Pope,” Deran said, voice rough. “She’s mine. My best friend.”

He shook his head, the anger in his eyes cracking into something raw. “She’s the only person who doesn’t see me as a screwup. She thinks I’m smart—like I could actually be more. More than what everyone expects me to be. She believes in me. And that means something.”

Andrew’s voice cut in, low and sharp. “And if she saw you now—how we really are—what then? Do you honestly believe she’s gonna think that when she finally catches on—when it’s not just some close call, but the real fallout? Then what? You think she’ll still believe the good guy story you’ve been telling yourself? Because right now, all I see is someone who’s setting her up to get hurt.”

The silence that followed was thick and heavy.

Baz finally stepped in, arms crossed. “Okay. Everyone shut up. She’s inside. She hears this, it’s over.”

No one said anything.

Andrew just turned, jaw tight, and walked off toward the house.

Deran didn’t follow. He stayed where he was, chest rising and falling, the line between protectiveness and guilt blurring fast.

—

You were in Deran’s room, fresh out of the shower and already changed, towel still in hand when you saw it—and froze.

The duffel bag.

The same kind the guys had in the garage earlier. Scuffed black canvas, worn straps, the zipper just slightly askew. Now it was here, half-hidden under the bed, the corner barely tucked in.

It hadn’t been there when you came in earlier to grab clothes. You were sure of it.

A slow chill crept down your spine as you stepped closer, towel slipping from your fingers and landing on the bed in a damp heap.

They’d said they were cleaning. Getting rid of old stuff.

So why move one of the bags into this room?

You knew you probably shouldn’t look. But your gut twisted. Your fingers moved before your brain could stop them.

You dropped to your knees and pulled the zipper back.

The first thing you saw was the gun—matte black and heavy-looking, nestled against rolls of cash, thick and uneven, banded in rubber and duct tape.

Then something else caught the light.

Jewelry.

Not just one piece—several. Tangled chains, a gold bracelet, a small velvet pouch half-open with what looked like diamond earrings spilling out.

Your breath caught.

You stared down into the bag, heart thudding so hard it almost drowned out the quiet hum of the house around you. The room felt colder now, heavier.

You zipped it shut fast—too fast—but carefully, like if you messed up even one detail, someone would know you’d seen it.

Your hands were shaking.

You stood slowly, knees stiff, mind spinning. You didn’t know what this meant—not exactly—but you knew it wasn’t nothing.

You’d seen it.

The gun. The cash. The jewelry.

And you couldn’t unsee any of it.

The sound of the door clicking shut made you jump. You picked up your towel and moved like you were drying your hair.

Deran looked at you “You good?”

You nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just got out.”

Your voice didn’t sound right. You knew it. He probably did too.

Deran lingered in the doorway a moment longer than necessary, his gaze drifting—briefly—to the spot under the bed.

For a split second, his eyes flicked to the duffel bag, half-hidden and poorly tucked away. He realized he hadn’t done a good job hiding it, but said nothing. Figured you probably didn’t notice.

You held your breath.

Instead, he walked in slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey… sorry I wasn’t here earlier when you came by with your acceptance letter.” He trailed off, not quite meeting your eyes. “Sorry I didn’t answer your call. If I had checked my voicemail, I would’ve called you back.”

You nodded, unsure what to say.

“But I’m proud of you,” he added after a beat, softer now. “College on the East Coast? That’s huge. You deserve it. We should celebrate—I’ll take you out sometime this week.”

Your throat tightened. “Thanks.”

He offered a small smile—genuine, but tired. “Your bike’s in my car, by the way. I figured I’d drop you off. Whenever you’re ready.”

You swallowed hard, that bag still sitting beneath the bed like a ticking clock.

“Okay,” you said, managing a small smile. “Yeah. That’s cool.”

Deran looked at you a second longer, like he wanted to say more. Like he was trying to read something on your face.

Then he nodded, grabbed a clean shirt from the dresser, and headed for the hallway.

“You sure you’re good?” he asked again, pausing in the doorway.

You hesitated, just for a breath. “Yeah. Just tired.”

He nodded slowly, eyes narrowing a fraction like he didn’t quite believe you—but he let it go.

Then he disappeared down the hall.

As soon as he was gone, you let out a shaky breath. Your chest felt tight, your thoughts racing.

You didn’t know what scared you more—the weight of the secrets hidden in that duffel bag, or the sinking feeling that maybe you didn’t really know your best friend and his family at all.

You tried to gaslight yourself, telling yourself it was nothing. Just stuff. Nothing to worry about.

But your instincts screamed otherwise—there was more here than met the eye. Something buried deep and dangerous, just waiting to surface.

LYA Tag: @obfuscateyummy @princesssunderworld @jumpingjackalope @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @alexandrathegreat3 @cozyfanficnook @livingavilaloca @oldmanbunnylover @trustme3-13 @qardasngan @im-nowhere-but-also-somewhere @child-of-the-amis @cheekeym8s @aj3684 @sunfairyy @ravenouswild @feverxxdream @naxxsstuff

Love You Anyway | Then (1) (2) (3)

#love you anyway #andrew pope cody #andrew cody #pope cody #andrew pope cody x reader #andrew cody x reader #pope cody x reader #animal fanfiction #animal kingdom fanfic #animal kingdom #shawn hatosy

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angelsafa · 2 days ago

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non dualism simplified

hihi sweet angels,

How are you all doing? living your best lives? being pure limitless beings and having fun with that? i knoww.

today i'll be explaining non dualism and the void (probably in other post) like you are all ipad kids with attention spam. maybe this is the only way people understand things nowdays

(also i am writing this at 3 am and i'm half asleep but i love to write in this state soo forgive my grammar mistakes or if there are any incoherent sentences)

"Safa wth is non dualism??"

Ok so picture this:

You're playing GTA. you just ran over a grandma (lmaoo sorryy). That character on screen, Franklin Clinton? That’s not you. That’s just pixels moving because YOU (the player) are behind the screen eating doritos.

That’s life. You’re not the little Sim called "Jessica, 17, anxious, hates her nose ." You’re the awareness PLAYING Jessica.

now since you know that you're not neither Michael de Santa or Jessica, YOU DON'T STRESS TF ABT THEIR LIVES/ CIRCUMSTANCES/ TRAUMA/ DOUBTS/ FEARS, etc.

Read that again.

YOU DON'T. bcs it's NOT your life sweetheart. it's actually not anyone else's. you drop it. stop identifying with it.

You’re not in the dream. YOU’RE DREAMING IT.

"But wdym Safa?? I feel real!! 😡"

well, not to be rude or anything but... congrats. so do dreams (and you don't exactly take them seriously).

you feel real bcs you're still identifying with the character. You're like "omg my life sucks" but my angel…

WHOSE life??? Jessica's??? You are not Jessica 😭 you’re literally the projector. The whole cinema. The Netflix login. everything!!

You’re not a person living in a body. You’re awareness pretending to be someone with a body.

It’s cosplay. You’re in a full-on method acting breakdown like an actress playing some scene, but for what???

"Ok Safa but now that I know all of this... what do I do?"

ABSOLUTELY. FUCKING. NOTHING.

literally just stop identifying with the character.

don’t affirm. don’t visualize. don’t try to become your best self. you already ARE it, if you stop cosplaying as the one who isn’t.

It's not about "fixing" the story. It's about realizing you're the author AND the reader AND the paper. You accepted this ugly ass plotline and then got offended??? BE SERIOUS 💀

"But seriously Safa, how do I change my life then tho?? I still want to be a hot rockstar and marry my sp!!"

1. Realize it’s not your life.

2. Drop the ID of the one who has it.

3. Reality: “bet.”

4. Do whatever the hell you want.

Once you stop claiming to be Tiffany from District 9 who can’t afford Starbucks and has mommy issues, BOOM—you’re free. so now you can be ANYTHING.

"So Safa I'm not real?? Like literally??" Yeah. sorry angel. you're the dream. but you're also the dreamer. You're both.

“Will I lose myself if I stop identifying?” You’ll lose the mess. The trauma. The ick. You’ll still have humor, vibes, taste in music. Just no self-hate. Sounds like a win to me.

“Safa but I like my personality :((” Cool. Keep it. But now you wear it just like clothes, temporal, changable, not like your skin.

“So Safa I can literally just choose to stop being broke?” Yes. frr. If you drop the story of being broke, there's no one left to “have” that lack. and what doesn’t exist in awareness… doesn’t exist at all. Not symbolically. Literally.

So my love, you’re not real. nothing is real. and that’s the best. damn. news.

Because now you get to stop suffering over a storyline you never wrote. you're not fixing the script. you're closing the damn Netflix tab and opening a new show.

Life isn’t about “finding yourself.” It’s about realizing there’s no one to find.

So stop looking. Stop fixing. Stop affirming from ego. Drop it. And what remains? YOU. The silent power. The void. The awareness. The baddest of them all.

I hope this post helped my angels! I will post the void one soon, since I can't stop getting, sorry in advance, stupid asks. well actuallu not stupid, but like repetitive.

anyways that's it. as i mentioned before i'm writing this at 3 am and i'm already more asleep than awake rn. i will edit this tomorrow when i wake up sorry.)

Lots lots lots of love,

Safa

#im half asleep hlp #non dualism #non duality #nonduality #nondualism #pure conciousness #pure consciousness #loass #loablr #loa blog #loa tumblr

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cherrywriterrr · 2 days ago

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closure r.c

warnings: best friends to nothing to…? ghosting, angst angst ANGSTT, a lot of descriptions, coke mentions, pls tell me if i missed something

words: 6k??i have no idea once again.

you knew how bad your friendship with rafe became. you always thought you needed to save him…but who was gonna save you?

you’re begging whatever god that exists that he’s going to forgive you one day for what you did. for slipping away, for not remembering his laugh and smile; the way his nose crunches when you were teasing him. how he used to open up for hours and hours to you, pouring his heart out like it was liquid and you were the glass catching it.

it wasn’t you though, it was the way it made you feel alive but crazy. the way you felt like the soil was falling over your head; how you needed him more than you loved him sometimes, how he knew it was over but he still clung…so so crazy.

“and if you’re sooo clever and funny, why are you on your own tonight?” you asked him that one night at the country club, the first time you two ever really talked, first time you actually saw rafe. not the cameron, just rafe. only rafe.

he was so entertaining, so very looking… but he was sleeping alone—every night. all nights. not just sleeping, everything really. from eating to chilling. he’s allll alone.

it takes strength to be gentle and kind when people crush you, mind and soul. but if that’s really true, you are the strongest of them all. because being rafe’s only belief meant watching him suddenly become mean and angry, cold and aggressive…destroying himself and dragging you along…and you let him. god, you let him. you let him ruin you with those hands, the same ones that used to hold your wrists like bruised fruit, like if he squeezed too hard he’d break you open and spill whatever was left inside. and maybe that’s what he wanted, because maybe he knew you were rotting from the inside out, too.

but what neither of you said—not back then, not when he stopped answering your calls, not when you stopped showing up—was that you were both already broken before you found each other. you just fit your cracks together like puzzle pieces, thinking it was healing. thinking it was love.

you remember the last night you saw him clearly, like it’s stitched into your memory in blood. he was sitting on the hood of his truck outside your house, hoodie over his head, knuckles already bruised from a fight you didn’t ask about. you didn’t need to.

you didn’t say anything when you sat beside him. just let the silence fill your lungs like smoke.

and he looked at you, really looked at you, the way he used to, and said, “you’re already fucking gone, aren’t you?”

you didn’t answer. maybe because you were. maybe you already had one foot out the door, your heart left in his hands weeks before. maybe you were just too tired to keep bleeding for someone who never stopped cutting.

you told yourself you were doing the right thing. you told yourself that leaving was mercy. but the truth is you couldn’t carry both your pain and his anymore.

so you walked away.

and now..now you’re standing in front of the mirror, smearing on mascara that won’t last the night, trying not to look like you’ve been crying. sarah’s birthday party starts in an hour.

sarah, whose name still tastes like family. whose party rafe will be at.

you almost didn’t go. you almost said screw it and stayed in bed with the guilt gnawing at your ribs like a starved animal.

but sarah texted you this morning. “i need you there. please.”

so you’re going. because it’s her. because you owe her that much. because, maybe—maybe—you want to see him.

you tell yourself you just want closure. but really, you want to see if he still looks at you like he used to. like you were a lifeline he didn’t ask for but clung to anyway.

you want to know if you still matter.

your diary is still at his house. you forgot. but rafe didn’t. it’s under the pillow on the side of his bed that was once yours, still dented in like your body made a permanent shape there. like the mattress itself is grieving.

and he reads it every night. not like he’s snooping, not like he’s prying—more like he’s trying to keep you alive. like if he stops reading, the last version of you that loved him will disappear for good.

he doesn’t touch the newer pages. can’t bring himself to. he only reads the old ones—the ones where you still wrote his name like it was your safety, like you believed in him. where your words didn’t tremble. where you wrote about his laugh, how it cracked open something buried in you. how you used to count the freckles under his eyes when he was asleep. he memorized every line. he could quote them like scripture.

you never knew how much you meant to him. he never told you the right way. never said how your voice was the only one that could talk him down, that some nights, when everything got too loud, all he wanted was to lay in your lap and forget who he was. forget what he did. forget everything but you.

but you left. and he let you.

and now he reads your diary with shaking hands and a cigarette burning a hole in the nightstand. he swears he can still hear your laugh sometimes. in the quiet. in the cracks.

he keeps your hair tie around his wrist like it’s some kind of lifeline. he never wears it in public—just at night, just when he’s alone, like it’s a secret between the two of you. like you’re still his. like he didn’t break you. like you didn’t break him.

you’re going to be at sarah’s party tonight. he knows. he heard her talking about it, saw the texts.

and suddenly he’s seventeen again, nervous and stupid and in love with a girl who never made him feel like he was too much.

he’s going to see you. and he doesn’t know what he’ll do if you look happy. if you don’t look at him at all. he wants you to hate him. wants you to scream. cry. shove him. see him. anything but nothing. because if you walk past him like he never mattered—that might just kill him.

you never knew how in love rafe was with you. you were stuck on the best friend title—said it like it was sacred, like it was enough. like calling him anything else would shatter the fragile thing you two had built between the long nights and shared secrets, the bruised hearts and half-meant jokes.

but it wasn’t enough for him. it never was. he never said it, not out loud, but he showed you. in all the ways he knew how.

like how he always walked on the side of the road closest to traffic. how he memorized your coffee order and kept napkins in the glove compartment because you always spilled. how he let you crash in his bed after fights with your mom, even if it meant sleeping on the floor and staring at the ceiling all night just to be near you. how he kept extra tampons in his backpack because you’d forget, every month, without fail.

he showed you. he tried.

but you didn’t see it for what it was. because it didn’t look like love the way you’d been taught. and it didn’t sound like it either—not when rafe’s version of love came from a house where yelling was more common than hugging, where his father taught him that softness was weakness and that needing someone made you small.

so rafe loved you the way he understood. quietly. protectively. with a desperation he didn’t know how to name. he brought you candy after your tests, let you cry into his chest, kissed your forehead every day—but never crossed the line. not until you were already slipping away.

and by then, it was too late. you were chasing some other version of love, some safe and structured thing that made sense in your head.

and rafe didn’t make sense. rafe felt like chaos. like stormwater and shattered glass. like a need so deep it scared you. so you ignored it. you called him your best friend and left it at that. but it gutted him every time you said it.

every time you turned to him with those soft, oblivious eyes, thanking him for being there—for being the one constant—and he had to smile through the ache in his ribs. because he was constant. he would’ve left the island, his friends and family if you even hinted that you wanted that. and you never even knew. now all he’s got is your diary and an ache that won’t quit. and all those things he never said rot behind his teeth like poison.

and tonight, when you show up to sarah’s party, you’ll hug her, and laugh, and you’ll probably look like the kind of girl who’s doing just fine. and rafe will be standing in the corner with a glass of whiskey and a fake smile, pretending he’s not watching your every move. pretending he didn’t love you so hard it hollowed him out. pretending he doesn’t still dream about the life he never got to have—because you never saw him that way.

but god, he saw you. and he loved you. more than anyone else ever would.

hell is loving you in his sleep and waking up alone. waking up to a cold pillow where your cheek used to rest. to silence where your laugh used to be. to nothing. no warmth. no you.

and the worst part? sometimes, in his dreams, you still love him back. sometimes, you’re still sixteen and you’re in his truck, legs on the dash, music low, and you’re humming along to a song he hated just because you liked it.

and he looks over at you—god, he loved looking at you—and you say his name so simple, so you. just rafe. not cameron. not fuck up. not project. just his name, soft and sure.

he wakes up gasping. every time. and he used to turn to coke when that happened. used to tear through drawers and lock bathroom doors and sink into whatever high would blur your face in his head for five minutes.

because you were his escape before all that. you were his first one. you were the one who sat on the floor with him after his dad screamed at him for hours. the one who didn’t flinch when he broke down, when his breath stuttered and his shoulders shook and his pride dissolved in your hoodie.

he cried on your shoulder. you never told anyone.

and when you cried on his? when your mom slammed the door or your boyfriend didn’t text back or you just felt too much all at once—he held you like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

you’d bury your face into his chest and whisper “don’t let go, okay?” and he never did. he never would have.

but you let go of him and now he’s stuck with a thousand memories and no one to tell them to. a thousand versions of your voice in his head and none of them real.

rafe never learned how to love gently—but with you, he tried. and for a while, it was enough. but now, the space where you used to be is louder than any fight. darker than any high. meaner than any voice in his head.

and hell? hell is still dreaming about holding you and waking up with nothing but the echo of your name in his throat.

sarah nearly screams when she sees you. “oh my god—no. no way.” her bare feet slap against the grass as she runs full speed, throwing her arms around you so hard it knocks you back a step. “you actually came. you’re here.”

you barely get a word out before she’s talking again, practically vibrating with excitement.

“this is seriously the best gift ever. ever,” she says, eyes wide, clutching your hands like you might disappear. “like screw the party, screw the cake. you showing up? best present. i win.”

you laugh, already tearing up as she hugs you again. she smells like vanilla and bonfire smoke.

“you look so good,” she gushes, pulling back to take you in. “like—seriously? i missed you so much. it’s not even funny. you’re like..my older sister.”

your chest tightens at that. you’re not her sister. not by blood, not anymore by title. but the way she’s looking at you? it’s like nothing ever changed.

“i’m not gonna cry,” sarah says, fanning her face. “wait, yes i am. i don’t care. you don’t get it. you being here means everything. mom asked me what i wanted for my birthday and i didn’t say anything but all i was thinking was ‘i wish she would come.’ and now you did.”

you smile, heart aching in the best and worst way. “i missed you too,” you whisper.

“i thought you weren’t gonna come,” she says, eyes soft. “i thought… i thought things were just gonna stay the way they were. like, forever.”

you shake your head. “i could never miss your eighteenth, sar. never.”

she beams, wrapping her arms around your waist like she’s six again. like she doesn’t care who’s watching. “you’re stuck with me again,” she says. “whether you like it or not.”

you liked hearing that, because no matter what happened between you and rafe, you were always her girl.

you reach into your bag, fingers brushing velvet, heart already full from the way she’s looking at you—like you hung the stars just to show up tonight. “i got you something,” you say, pulling out the little pink box tied with thin gold ribbon. “it’s not much, but…”

“shut up,” sarah gasps, clutching her chest like she’s about to faint. “you brought a gift too? are you trying to kill me? emotional murder on my birthday?”

you laugh, pressing the box into her hands. “open it.”

she rips the ribbon with a squeal, tearing the paper so fast you can’t even warn her to be careful. her hands go still when she lifts the lid and sees what’s inside.

a thin gold necklace, delicate and simple. heart shaped locket, tiny etched stars around the edge. sarah blinks, jaw slightly open, like her brain is short circuiting. “no way.”

she opens the locket with shaking fingers. inside is the photo—you and her on the beach, sunburnt and tangled up in each other, cheeks pressed together, smiling like the world had never touched you.

“no way!” she yells again, louder this time. people glance over, but she doesn’t care. “this is—i’m gonna—i am crying, oh my god.”

you can’t help but grin, watching her blink rapidly, trying to stop tears from ruining her makeup “do you remember that day?” you ask, softly. “that was the night we dared top to jump in the ocean fully clothed.”

“he did it!” sarah bursts out laughing, clutching the necklace to her chest. “and then blamed you when he lost his phone. that was the best day of my life, i swear.”

she throws her arms around you again, necklace still in one hand. “i’m never taking this off,” she mumbles into your shoulder. “like, ever. you could pry it off my cold, dead body.”

“morbid, but i love the energy.”

she pulls back just enough to hold the locket up to the light, grinning through watery lashes. “you’re my person,” she says suddenly, with that wild honesty only sarah can pull off. “you always were. i don’t care what happened. you’ll always be my sister.”

your throat tightens. your eyes sting. you smile, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand before the tears can fall. “yeah,” you say softly, voice catching. “you too, sarah. always.”

her smile gets impossibly bigger, cheeks glowing under the string lights. she slips the necklace on right then and there, fumbling with the clasp until you help her fasten it, fingers brushing the back of her neck like it’s still familiar. when it’s on, she holds the locket in her palm like it’s something holy.

you look around for a second, eyes scanning the yard, and then glance back at her. “hey, where’s wheezie? figured she’d be here causing chaos by now.”

sarah snorts. “she was here for five minutes, stole three cupcakes, called top a loser, and left.”

you laugh. “iconic.”

“seriously. she said ‘happy birthday, sarah’ like she was being forced at gunpoint and then vanished. she’s thriving.”

“tell her i asked about her.”

“she’ll pretend she doesn’t care, but she will,” sarah says with a little smirk. “she still uses that tote bag you gave her, by the way. the one with the little frogs on it.”

“that thing was cute,” you say, smiling softly. “figured it’d be her vibe.”

sarah links her arm through yours like she’s never letting go again. “you coming to hang out inside?” she asks, already tugging you toward the porch.“everyone’s gonna lose their minds when they see you.”

you hesitate for half a second—but then you nod. “yeah,” you whisper. “let’s go.”

rafe sees you the moment you step inside. and his breath..it just stops. like his lungs forgot how to work, like his body doesn’t know how to be around you anymore, only how to ache.

you’re standing in the doorway beside sarah, laughing at something she says, wearing that cute little dress in a color he’s sure he’s seen on you before but somehow it looks brand new now. your platform sandals click softly on the floor, and there’s a necklace around your throat with a tiny cherry charm that catches the light every time you move.

he doesn’t mean to stare. but he does. he always did. it’s like his mind slows everything down just to take you in—every movement, every blink, every second he’s not allowed to have back.

and then he watches his dad move toward you. ward. followed by rose, then lily—his and sarah’s mom. you don’t even look surprised. just a little breathless, maybe, when they reach you. when lily wraps you up in the kind of hug rafe hasn’t felt in years. when rose touches your arm, soft and careful like she’s worried you’ll vanish. when ward’s hand rests on your shoulder and he says something that makes you press your lips together like you’re trying not to cry.

and they’re all looking at you like you’re still family. like you never left. like you never broke someone in this house clean in half.

rafe’s standing across the room with a drink in his hand he can’t taste, locked in place, watching you shine in the middle of a world that used to be his.

and all he can think is god, she’s even more beautiful now. god, he’s never wanted anything more.

not a world that used to be his—scratch that. you were his world.

and standing there now, with the lights casting that soft gold halo around you, that cherry charm resting right where his fingers used to, that easy laugh slipping from your mouth like it still belonged in his memory…

he realizes nothing ever replaced you. not the parties. not the noise. not the girls. not the drugs. nothing even came close.

because it was never just about missing you. it was missing himself with you. the version of him that only existed in your presence—the one who knew how to smile for real. the one who wasn’t always angry. the one who didn’t wake up aching.

he watches lily tuck your hair behind your ear like you’re hers again. watches ward nod with that proud little smile he rarely gives anyone. watches rose whisper something that makes you laugh, that kind of laugh he used to earn when he got it right.

and all he can think is, that should’ve been our life. not a scene in passing. not something he watches like a stranger.

it should’ve been him beside you. hand on your back. mouth against your ear. your cherry necklace tangled in his fingers while he told you how beautiful you looked—just for him.

instead, he stands frozen, surrounded by people, and still entirely alone.

you hadn’t expected this. you’d prepared for awkward hellos, stiff smiles, maybe a few polite nods across the room. but the moment you stepped inside, it was like the air shifted. like everything cracked open just a little.

ward’s hand was the first to find your shoulder. warm. welcoming “look at you,” he said softly, eyes almost… proud. “it’s been too long.”

and when rose came next, arms gentle, perfume the same as always, you nearly forgot how to speak. she brushed your cheek with her thumb and whispered, “you look so grown. like the world never touched you.”

but it did. it touched you. broke you in places no one here can see.

still, when lily pulled you into her chest and didn’t let go right away, when she called you baby like she used to—like you never left—you let your eyes fall closed.

because it felt like home. because part of you was still aching for this.

you’re laughing at something ward says, something about that one summer sarah made him take you and her tubing and you nearly flew into a tree, when the sound of feet slapping hardwood pulls your attention.

“you’re here!” wheezie.

she comes flying from around the corner, all arms and messy hair, and throws herself at you like she’s still ten. you catch her just in time, arms wrapping around her without hesitation. “oh my god,” you breathe, holding her tight. “hi, baby girl.”

“you didn’t tell me you were coming,” she says, muffled into your shoulder.

you smile, hand cradling the back of her head. “wanted to surprise you.”

she pulls back, eyes wide, brimming with something soft and unsaid. “this is the best surprise ever.” then, without missing a beat, “you smell the same.”

“like what?”

“like summer and sleepovers,” she says with a grin, already tugging you toward the couch. “come sit with me before sarah steals you forever.”

you glance back over your shoulder, catching lily’s misty eyes and ward’s small nod. rose touches your arm again, just once.

you feel… overwhelmed. but not in a bad way. you feel wanted.

wheezie tugs you through the crowd, weaving between bodies and laughter and spilled drinks like it’s second nature, like she hasn’t missed a beat since the last time you were here.

she leads you to the far corner of the room—round table, half full, plastic cups and crumpled napkins scattered across it—and your chest tightens a little when you realize where you’re standing.

“the kids’ table,” you say, half laughing as you pull out a chair. “huh. just like the old days.”

wheezie plops down beside you, crossing her arms on the table like she owns it. “yeah,” she says, raising an eyebrow, “except i’m sixteen now and you’re, what, twenty?”

you smirk, leaning back. “twenty and ancient. i know.”

“basically. you have taxes now. and probably back pain.”

“rude,” you say, nudging her knee under the table. “i do stretch, thank you very much.”

she grins, pleased with herself, and you feel it again—that warmth in your chest, that easy comfort that only comes from people who knew you before you knew yourself.

wheezie leans in, voice low but teasing. “so… did you see rafe yet?”

you freeze for a second, heart skipping like it remembers a song it thought it forgot.

you glance over toward the other side of the room. there he is..his eyes locked on you sharp, impossible to look away from.

and just like that, the world tilts, slows down, then stops. everything crashes back all at once, the way you left him behind, the silences that grew between you, the nights you told yourself it was better this way.

you moved on with your life, or at least tried to. but right now, looking into his gaze, it feels like none of that ever mattered.

you swallow hard, cheeks burning, and try to tell yourself it’s just a party. that you’re okay. but your hands won’t stop trembling. can’t stop shaking.

“hellooo,” wheezie says, waving her hand in front of your face. “earth to emotionally spiraling twenty year old.”

you blink, breath catching, tearing your eyes away from him like it actually hurts.

she raises an eyebrow, smirking like she knows exactly what just happened. “i see there’s still tension,” she says, drawing out the word with a little grin. “y’know… you could talk to him. it wouldn’t kill you.”

you laugh under your breath, but there’s no rea joy in it. just ache. “it wouldn’t be fair to him,” you say quietly, fingers tracing the rim of your plastic cup. “after everything, you know...”

wheezie tilts her head. “he might not see it that way.”

“doesn’t matter,” you whisper, mostly to yourself. “i left. i chose to let go. even if part of me never really did.”

she watches you for a second, all of her usual sass gone“you didn’t ruin him, y’know.”

you don’t answer. you just keep staring at your cup, trying not to look back at the boy who’s still staring at you like you never left at all.

wheezie notices before you do. her eyes flicking to someone behind you, mouth twitching like she knows something’s coming. “i’ll give you two a minute,” she says, standing up with a dramatic stretch. “try not to emotionally combust while i’m gone.”

you look up just as she slips away, and there’s lily. soft smile, calm presence, eyes that always saw too much.

“hi, sweetheart,” she says, gently, sliding into the seat next to you like she’s been waiting for the right moment. “you look beautiful.”

“thank you,” you murmur, heart already in your throat. “so do you.”

she pauses, resting her hand lightly on the table between you. “i saw the way you looked at each other.”

you freeze, eyes locked on hers.

“you and rafe,” she says, not unkindly. “i always thought there’d be more.”

you open your mouth, then close it again.

“i’m not saying that to make you uncomfortable,” she adds, gently. “but you loved each other. you did. and maybe you still do, i don’t know. but what i saw just now… it looked like two people who never got their ending.”

you inhale slowly, shoulders tight. “i couldn’t be what he needed,” you say, barely above a whisper.

lily reaches out, brushing a piece of hair from your face like she used to when you were younger, when you still belonged here.

“none of us knew how to be what he needed,” she says softly. “but you came the closest.”

you swallow hard, blinking down at your hands as your fingers twist around the rim of the cup. “we were destroying each other more than we were building something,” you say quietly, voice more steady than you expect. “it felt like love, maybe it was love, but it hurt more than it healed.”

lily’s eyes soften, her hand still resting gently near yours.

“and besides,” you add, forcing a small, breathless laugh, “we were just best friends.”

but the words taste wrong the second they leave your mouth. thin. empty. like a lie you’ve told yourself so many times it stopped sounding like one.

lily doesn’t press. she just looks at you, really looks at you, the way only someone who’s watched everything from the edge of the room can. “i don’t think he ever saw it that way,” she says softly. “and i don’t think you did either.”

you force a laugh, light and sharp, trying to shake the weight off your chest. “well,” you say, leaning back in your chair, “doesn’t matter now, does it?”

your fingers tap against your cup like it’ll distract you, but it doesn’t. not when the words keep pushing up your throat like smoke.

“i mean—” you add, looking away, “isn’t he with that girl from the country club? the brunette.”

lily’s expression doesn’t change, but her voice softens. “sofia?” she says, almost like she’s double checking. “honey, i barely see her. haven’t heard her name in weeks.”

you blink. your heart stumbles. you don’t know why it matters. but it does.

lily watches you for a moment longer, eyes kind, knowing, too full of things she doesn’t say out loud. and you sit there, suddenly aware of the way rafe hasn’t stopped watching you from across the room.

lily sighs, eyes drifting for a moment, like she’s seeing a different version of the past one that still aches, one she never fully let go of. “y’know,” she says quietly, “before the divorce with ward… before rose… hell, even before rafe—”

you look up at her, brows slightly raised.

“ward and i were just best friends too,” she says, lips tugging into something that’s not quite a smile. “we swore that’s all it was. and maybe it was, at first. until it wasn’t.”

she shifts in her seat, gaze heavy but gentle. “we fucked it when rose came into the picture. we let pride and fear speak louder than anything else. but maybe—” she pauses, eyes meeting yours—“maybe we could’ve saved it if we weren’t just as stubborn as you and rafe are right now.”

your breath catches, throat tight.

“maybe then,” she adds, voice quieter now, “rafe wouldn’t have a stepmom and a mother he barely sees. maybe he’d have a home that still felt like one.”

and when you glance over your shoulder again, rafe’s still watching you. like he never stopped. like he never will.

your voice drops to a hush, almost like you’re not sure you’re allowed to say it “i always felt bad about that, lily…”

she looks at you, waiting. you glance down at your hands, thumbs twisting in your lap “ward cheating with rose, i mean.”

the words sit heavy between you, truth laced in guilt, the kind that never really went away. “i was there all the time back then. i saw it. not them, but… the shift. i knew something was wrong and i never said anything. i didn’t know how.”

lily’s eyes soften, a sad sort of knowing behind them. “you were just a kid,” she says gently. “that wasn’t your burden to carry.”

you nod, but it doesn’t lift the weight.

“still,” you murmur, “i always felt like i should’ve done something. like maybe it wouldn’t have happened. or at least not the way it did.”

lily’s quiet for a moment, then reaches over, her hand covering yours. “ward made his choices. so did rose. and so did i.” she squeezes gently. “you were never the one to blame.”

lily watches you for a moment, eyes lingering, voice dipping just low enough that no one else could hear “but,” she says softly, “you are the one to blame ten years from now… if you’re still thinking about rafe.”

your breath stills.

“if you’re lying awake at night wondering what would’ve happened if you’d just said something. if you’d stayed. if you’d let yourself love him the way you wanted to—if you keep living your life pretending you don’t.”

you look at her, throat tightening, chest aching in that place only he ever touched.

“he’s a lot,” she whispers, almost smiling. “but so were you. and somehow… you made each other lighter.”

you don’t say anything. because what could you possibly say to that?

she gives your hand one last squeeze before standing, brushing invisible lint from her dress, eyes soft.

“think about it,” she says, turning toward the crowd. “before ten years turns into forever.”

and then she’s gone, leaving you in a chair, heart loud, hands shaking. your mind starts spiraling before you even stand.

this is sarah’s birthday. her eighteenth. you came here for her. not for him. not to have your heart dragged out and picked apart in front of chandeliers and champagne flutes.

not to remember every kiss that almost happened. not to relive every night you cried on his chest or the mornings he made you laugh like the world hadn’t already broken you in half.

you didn’t come here to see the boy who ruined you. you didn’t come to apologize—especially not for something that wasn’t even your fault.

you had to leave. you had to survive. you couldn’t keep loving someone who only bled on you. who said he didn’t need saving, but still reached for you every time he drowned.

you remind yourself…he wasn’t ready. you weren’t enough. he let you go. but still… he’s here now.

you get up too fast, heart pounding too loud, body moving just to move. just to get away from thoughts that are swallowing you whole. your phone’s in your hand before you even realize it, thumb scrolling aimlessly, anything to distract yourself, to pretend none of this is unraveling inside your chest.

you’re walking toward the drink table, eyes glued to your screen, heat rising in your cheeks, teeth digging into your lip and then

crash.

your body collides into something—someone—and your glass tips forward, half your drink sloshing down the front of a button down shirt.

“shit,” you gasp, stumbling back a step, eyes wide.

and then you look up. and it’s him. of course it’s rafe. and the whole world stops like it knows.

just like it did the first time you heard him laugh. just like it did the night he held you in the back of his truck, whispered that he needed you more than anything he’d ever had.

he blinks at you, his expression unreadable, lips parted, chest rising and falling slow like he’s afraid to speak—afraid you’ll disappear if he does.

your breath catches in your throat. the music fades into a hum, something that sounds like a frank ocean song bleeding through the speakers. low and tragic, all velvet and yearning.

you look at the mess on his shirt, dark liquid soaking through linen, and then up at his face again.

he’s older now. more tired in the eyes. more beautiful in a way that hurts.

your voice comes out soft, like a ghost of you “i’m… i didn’t see you.”

“i know,” he says, and god..his voice. raspy, familiar, a knife made of silk.

you stare at each other, frozen, and for a second it feels like all those nights come rushing back. your head on his shoulder, his fingers tracing shapes into your skin, his quiet promises in the dark. your heart is screaming. your body aches to run.

but neither of you move. and maybe that’s what love is. standing in a room full of people, pretending you didn’t already lose each other but still loving each other so much you just can’t go.

he leans in, just barely, like it hurts to get too close. like your gravity is still the same and he’s trying not to fall again. his breath grazes your cheek when he speaks, low and wrecked. “you always look at me like that.”

you freeze. like what? like you loved him too long? like you still do?

but your voice doesn’t work fast enough. instead, your eyes flick down to the mess on his shirt, the wet fabric clinging to his chest, and you fumble for an escape, something to fill the silence, something safe. “i—i will, i…” you stammer, blinking quick. “i’m gonna get some napkins. for your shirt. i didn’t mean to—”

but his hand wraps gently around your wrist. not tight. not possessive. just enough to stop you. just enough to say don’t go.

his fingers are warm. too familiar. your skin still knows him “don’t,” he says, and his voice cracks on it. “just… don’t.”

your heart caves a little, something fragile cracking behind your ribs, and suddenly all you can hear is the song playing in the background.

something slow, aching, like it was written for the two of you before you even met.

his eyes are glassy now. you think if he blinked, the whole party might flood. “stay,” he whispers. like he’s saying it for the first time. like he’s saying it for every time you didn’t.

he holds your wrist a little tighter, like he’s afraid you’ll disappear again if he lets go. his voice drops lower, heavier with a weight you didn’t expect “i have your diary, you know. had it since you left.”

your breath hitches, heart suddenly exposed bare like a wound you thought was healed.

you look away first, swallowing thickly. “i know,” you whisper, voice trembling like a secret. “never had the guts to ask for it back.”

he lets out a slow, humorless laugh, like something cracked inside him and never really glued back together. “it was under my pillow. the side of the bed that used to be yours.”

the words hit you harder than any punch. the bed. the room. the space you once filled, now just a ghost. you swallow again, eyes heavy, voice barely steady. “why did you keep it?”

he looks at you then something raw and vulnerable shining behind his guarded stare. “because,” he says, voice breaking like a fragile thing, “it was the only way i could keep you close.”

you pull your wrist gently free, blinking hard to steady yourself“you can throw it away, you know. it’s nothing important to me.”

his eyes don’t flicker, don’t waver. instead, he steps closer, voice low but certain. “it’s important to me.” there’s a weight behind the words that presses into your chest, heavy and impossible to ignore. “you should’ve known that”

you blink up at him, voice barely a whisper“did you… read it?”

he swallows hard, eyes flickering away for just a second before meeting yours again,“yeah… i—i did.”

you laugh then, breathless, shaking your head like it’s the funniest, most heartbreaking thing you’ve heard all night. “you did, huh?”

his smile is small, almost sad, “yeah.”

you set your drink down on the table, voice soft but firm, “you should clean that shirt, yknow?”

he nods, a slow smile tugging at his lips, “yeah, you’re right.”

before you can say anything else, he takes your hand—warm, steady—and leads you through the crowd, “we need to talk anyway.”

upstairs, away from the noise, just the two of you. finally talking, finally alone.

taglist part 2 maybe???

tags 🏷️ @rafesbabygirlx @rafesteddy @httpsdrewstarkey @qversazex @iconiccolo @devoutedlover @viqtoria @sc05 @alphabetically-deranged @k4yr14 @t0x1cfaerie @purplerose291 @mrspuffdriving @silkylovey @rafescloudie @babygoddam @meetmeintheemeraldpool @mayanqueenxx @glitterylightkingdom @lolasangelz @my-diary1 @addyleigh

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g3rdens0fb3byl0n · 1 day ago

Text

Johnny Splash x Singer

SYNOPSIS: Johnny is in absolute jealousy and denial everytime homeowner sings in the shower, their voice could guide anyone into tears of joy. Johnny's heart twists at their voice, the two sides of his brain quarrelling, trying to decide if he hates or loves their siren song.

EXTRA DETAILS: Can be read as x reader or x oc, i wrote with an oc in mind but i didn't describe them. Homeowner is written as gender neutral and can be read as any gender, but my oc is female so it may be female (or atleast feminine) leaning. This is so ass I'm sorry princesses (gender neutral).

AUTHORS NOTE(S): sorry this took a while to write and post, i get anxious posting my writing and i went back and forth a lot.

All dividers by @cursed-carmine

Word count: 826 (drabble?)

It was this every morning.

Every morning, they stepped into him, and perfect notes escaped from their throat, echoing throughout the tiles of the bathroom.

It was infuriating.

What do they think they're doing, anyway? Flexing their perfect, angelic voice. Him and Jean-Loo were pushed aside, everyone marvelling at their voice instead. He ranted to Jean-Loo about this regularly, about them stealing the show.

Not that the (c)rapper cared. Maybe that was his issue, nobody else cared. Nobody cared about his or Jean-Loo's musical talent, not even Keyes or Rainey, it was always a hesitant nod or a polite smile everytime he tried to show off, but this human sings acapella at the top of their lungs and suddenly their siren song is luring everybody in. The water from his head cascades down their body, and they lure people in for their feast.

Huh. That's quite a good description. He'll use that for a song. He made a mental note to tell lyric to write that down.

The siren song was soon cut short when Johnny bribed river into going cold on the humans body, much to their displeasure as they yelped out of their song and stopped the water fall.

"Please, mama"

"No! I happen to like their voice."

"..I won't do my practices so loud that i disturb you in the pipes"

"..."

When they got out, they wrapped a towel around themselves, quietly thanking Tyrell.

Lucky bastard.

Johnny, as per usual on a night, was at the breaker box, his voice carrying throughout the bar. He thought he was doing quite well, though if he actually opened his eyes and payed attention he'd see the grimace on just about everyones face. He thanked whatevers above that Cam was too distracted the empty bottles Eddie had provided him to insult the performance.

And he did open his eyes, eventually. He would have hit the next note, he swears, that was until he saw the human's smiling face talking to Volt, and he swears the air left his lungs. Gosh darn it - sorry for the language, momma.

Volt approaches the stage.

"Johnny, my friend. Live wire has gotten a certain spark of motivation to get on the stage..I'm sure a.." he takes a long, impolite pause "..preformer like you can understand. Perhaps you can give them the stage?"

"But-"

"Please?"

With a dramatic sigh and slouch of his shoulders, Johnny ends the performance early, at Volt's not so subtle encouragement, and the human makes their way to centre stage. This may have been the worst day of his life.

Apparently, he unknowingly said that aloud because Cam whispers back to him, unlovingly as ever:

"If a talented person taking the stage is the worst day of your life, maybe you should take a look at your own performances"

Argumentative responses conjured in his head, before he got distracted as Volt kissed the humans hands as he departed from the stage, and his stomach twisted. An ugly feeling in his guts - was that.. no, he was not jealous, no less at someone who has the misfortune at being affectionate towards this human. He pities the man, honestly.

Phonicia plays some instrumental from her speakers, and the human starts. They're as good as ever, much to Johnny's displeasure.

He recognised it as rock - grunge rock, 90s probably, something about a heart shaped box. He considered himself much to classy to listen to that. If theres any rock he'll listen to, it will be smooth 60s, thank you very much.

It wasn't a very ambitious song, he inwardly scoffed, with a voice like the humans, you could sing a much better song than this, he had heard it first hand, yet they didn't. Of course, his voice was just as good...

Eddie and Volt leant on the bar, little smiles on their faces as they listened to them. Infact, when he looked around, everyone seemed quite pleased by their voice. A horrible, ugly feeling rose to his chest again, as his eyes settled back on the human.

He slouched as he watched them, their angelic voice that could inspire any musician, their face that could inspire any poet, the small smile on their face as they did what they loved, what they were best at, the smile that reached Johnnys face as he watched them.

Oh.

Perhaps..perhaps it wasn't just envy settling in his chest, making his heart and voice rattle so - oh, darn, pardon his language.

Perhaps his jealousy was towards Volt, not the human. Towards everyone in this house that got to touch them so gently, got to hear their beautiful voice and laugh. Got to occupy your brain and heart, because you had occupied all of his brain and heart since you had gotten into his house. Since he heard your voice you had so graciously given him.

Oh baby, oh mama, how smitten he was.

Time to make it everyone else's ears problem.

Hope you enjoyed! I tried to make his switch between hatred and loving pretty quick because he's just a dramatic, hopelessly romantic loser. Isn't he sweet? I mean, i tried to, anyway, this is ooc at points methinks.

@fangirlanxiety74

#date everything #johnny splash x oc #johnny splash date everything #johnny splash x reader #johnny splash #date everything x reader #date everything x oc #eddie and volt #trash cam #Spotify

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supernovafics · 1 day ago

Text

𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐔 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

PART ONE | PART TWO

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 15.4k words

summary: in which the last time you spoke to steve harrington was five years ago, and it was a conversation that ended terribly, to say the least. now, five years later, you two abruptly run into each other, and although so much has changed in all of the time that has passed, it also feels like absolutely nothing is different. the past doesn’t seem like it’s entirely in the past, but maybe a completely honest conversation can change that

warnings: explicit language, some parent drama, mentions of divorce, fluff, mentions of sex, lots and lots of angst

author’s note: i’ve been working on this on and off for the last year and it lowkey feels weird that it's finally done now lol. there initially wasn’t a second part planned but once i finished writing this i felt like it needed a second part and i somehow managed to write that in just a few weeks lmao so that is coming next week! this is very inspired by the song malibu 1992 by coin. enjoy<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

“Steve Harrington’s here.”

Those weren’t the first words you expected to hear from your cousin when you showed up to his graduation party.

“Oh, okay,” Was what you ultimately responded to his statement with. Inwardly, you were saying, “Shit,” but outwardly you wanted to seem as unfazed as possible. You took a quick look around the packed backyard, which you hadn’t even fully walked into yet; there were some family members that you recognized, but you didn’t immediately see Steve, which in your eyes was a great thing.

“I’m sorry,” Levi said, which made your eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“What? Why are you sorry?”

“Because I know you two used to… y’know, 'hang out' or whatever. And I know it ended badly, so yeah, I’m sorry that he’s here right now.”

“We didn’t— We never…” You trailed off with a sigh and decided to simply just tell the truth. “How did you know?”

“I may have only been thirteen, but I wasn’t that stupid,” He told you, cracking a smile. “Anyway, my mom invited him last second, and he actually showed up, so I just wanted to give you a heads up about it.”

“Thanks,” You said, taking another brief look around but still not seeing Steve. “But, it’s really not that big of a deal. Everything with me and him happened years ago. It really doesn’t even matter anymore.”

You wondered who you were trying to convince more with your words; Levi or yourself.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1992

“Please tell me that you’ll at least try to give it a chance,” You said, breaking the silence that had been prevailing since you parked in the gravelly parking lot barely five minutes ago. You turned the radio down a bit. “I’m the one who convinced your parents on this, and I’m pretty sure they’ll hate me if they think they wasted two hundred bucks.”

Levi looked over at you for a second and then back at the basketball court that was straight ahead. “What if I’m the worst person out there?”

You shook your head immediately at his words. “That won’t happen. You’re really good. You beat me all the time when we play in the backyard.”

He laughed a little. “That’s only because you’re really bad.”

“Ouch, that hurt. Truly. You’ve wounded me,” You said, dramatically placing a hand over your heart. “Come on, though, I’ll stay the whole time, and if you ever feel weird or nervous, just look over at me and I’ll give you the most encouraging thumbs up.”

“The other kids will probably think I’m such a loser.”

“Who cares. Fuck them,” You said automatically with a shrug and then realized that cursing in front of your thirteen year old cousin probably wasn’t what a good influence would do. “Um, what I meant to say was—“

“It’s okay. I’ve heard cursing before,” Levi interrupted you with a quick upturn of his shoulders. “My parents are the ones who accidentally taught me most of them.”

It saddened you knowing what he meant by his words, and you immediately wanted to take the last few minutes back and redo this entire conversation that was initially meant to be a pep talk.

“I’m sorry,” You said softly. You wanted to keep going and tell him that it wasn’t fair what he’d been through the last couple of years; being subjected to hearing the never-ending screaming matches your aunt and uncle would get into, and then the divorce announcement being the stinky cherry on top of the worst cake ever. But he had only rolled his eyes at you when you first showed up at the house a week ago and attempted to get him to talk to you about how he was feeling about everything, and you knew that the same thing would probably happen in this moment, too.

That night was when you realized that he probably wouldn’t want to talk to you about everything anytime soon; if you were in his shoes, you knew that you would’ve been the same way. But you didn’t want him to feel lonely this entire summer, since his dad would be in San Francisco and his mom had business trips planned every other week. So you found out about this six-week basketball camp in the park close by and hoped that it could be a good thing for him, something fun for him to do to take his mind off of everything else going on in his life.

“It’s fine,” He mumbled now and then unbuckled his seatbelt. “We should go, it starts in five minutes. Don’t wanna waste two hundred bucks, right?”

You let him change the subject and simply nodded as you followed suit and stepped out of the orange pickup truck that your uncle told you that you could use for the summer; you’d honestly be surprised if the old thing managed to make it through the next two months.

“Remember, I’m gonna be here the whole time,” You told Levi as he walked away from you and headed over to join the other kids already on the court.

He turned around for a second and gave you a small smile. “Thanks.”

You found a bench that was far enough from the action but not too far that Levi wouldn’t be able to spot you if he needed to. You had a book in your lap— some self-help thing that your mom recommended to you, and you were only a few pages in— but you weren’t reading it right then. Instead, you not-so-subtly focused your attention on the basketball court. You probably felt just as nervous as Levi was out there, if not more so. If this went badly for him, it would be entirely your fault, and you’d feel terrible for convincing him to do this.

You were already making a mental list of the things you’d try to do to cheer him up, just in case. Offer up his favorite pizza place for dinner, take him to the arcade that your aunt told you that he loved, you’d even suck it up and go to the beach with him, even though you hated the ocean.

You noticed two people walking out onto the court and gathering the kids. An older guy— who you recognized as the guy that you talked to and paid the camp fee to yesterday at a rec center that was only a few minutes from here— and someone younger, maybe around your age, standing next to him, who you definitely had not seen yesterday.

He was cute, you could clearly see that even from where you were sitting, but a part of you wished you were closer so that you could’ve made out more of his face. However, the basketball shorts and Nikes and white t-shirt that had some wording on it that you couldn’t fully read were enough to tell you that he was cute.

You were actually glad that you couldn’t see him that well because it forced you to remind yourself of what you were supposed to be doing this summer— focusing on yourself, figuring out what you wanted to do now that you graduated college less than a month ago. You couldn’t let this random guy deter you from that.

Therefore, you looked away and focused on the book in your hand and hoped that the next two hours would go well for Levi.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

You didn’t talk to Steve. You hadn’t even seen him yet.

And maybe that was because you had been practically camping out in the kitchen since your conversation with Levi, and you hadn’t once stepped into the backyard where the actual party was happening.

You honestly didn’t mind hiding away in the kitchen and being with your mom and aunt. Your mom was focused on frosting the cake that she had made for Levi, and your aunt was transferring a tray of mini hot dogs that had just come out of the oven onto a big plate that had a graduation hat design on it.

You lasted ten minutes in the kitchen, quietly sitting at the table and listening to the random family drama they were gossiping about, before your mom gave you a skeptical look. “Who are you trying to avoid right now? Carrie and her crying baby?”

Your aunt immediately shook her head in annoyance. “God, I still don’t understand why she brought him. He was born yesterday.”

“Six months ago, actually,” Your mom corrected her.

“Still.”

You thought that the attention was off of you and you wouldn’t have to answer your mom’s initial question, but then she was looking at you again and you were shrugging your shoulders, suddenly feeling like a teenager again. “I’m not avoiding anyone. I can’t just wanna hang out with you guys?”

“Ugh, I wish Levi was still like you,” Your aunt said before heading outside with the plate full of food in hand.

The silence lasted only for a second before your mom was speaking again. “Where’s Tom?”

“He’s coming a little later,” You answered as you got up from the table and joined her at the counter. “His interview went a little longer than expected.”

“Are you two really gonna move down here?” She asked, taking a quick look at you.

If she could, you knew that she’d keep you in San Francisco forever. When you went to college, even though it was only to one an hour away, she made the biggest deal about it. And then, when you graduated five years ago and decided to come here for the summer, it took way too many conversations to get her to feel okay about the idea. In fact, it took you crying to her on the phone for an hour from your soon-to-be ex-college apartment about how confused and lost you felt about everything happening in your life and where it was going for her to finally be understanding of your decision.

“I don’t know, Mom. It’s still up in the air,” You told her now, and then quietly said the words that you knew she didn’t want to hear. “But, probably, yeah.”

She gave you the saddest look ever, and you immediately had to look away from her.

“Go outside.”

You looked at her again, and she was back to being focused on finishing the cake. “You’re not serious.”

“Yes, I am. If I look at you any longer, I’ll cry,” She said, and you were about to tell her how dramatic she was being, but she continued speaking before you could. “Out! Out!”

Reluctantly, you listened to her and left the kitchen with a quiet sigh. Once you closed the sliding door behind you, you took a look around the backyard, hoping to find some family members that you’d feel comfortable enough to join in on their conversation. The person your eyes caught, though, was Steve.

Of course it was.

Your immediate reaction was to look away from him and the conversation he was having with your aunt by the food table, and then you promptly hoped to god and the universe and whatever else was out there that he didn’t notice you.

You spotted your cousin Carrie and went over to her and let her talk your ear off about her baby, who was in fact currently crying in her arms, just like your aunt had annoyedly commented on five minutes earlier. You didn’t mind at all, though, because enduring this felt much better than even just the thought of having to endure any sort of conversation with Steve Harrington.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1992

It wasn’t really necessary for you to stay at the basketball camp every day anymore. Two weeks had passed, and it was pretty safe to say that Levi was entirely comfortable— he was even excited to go every day— but you still parked in the gravelly parking lot and headed to the bench that felt like it was designated as yours at this point, and spent the two hours there. It was for just in case purposes; just in case he needed that encouraging thumbs that you were always ready to provide. Plus, you really liked watching him play basketball and have fun with the new friends he was making at the camp.

In this moment, on a Friday that weirdly felt more like a Wednesday, you were reading and had no idea that the time hit twelve until Levi was walking up to you.

“Hey,” You said, closing the book in your lap and looking up at him. “How was it today?”

“Good,” He answered. “We’re gonna get broken up into teams soon and start playing actual games, instead of just doing drills.”

You nodded as you stood up from the bench. “That’s cool.”

“Oh, and Steve told me to give you these,” Levi said as he handed over the Gatorade and small bag of chips that all the kids got at the end of the day.

You hadn’t had any sort of conversation with Steve Harrington yet, and everything that you knew about him came via Levi, and even that information was pretty sparse. All you knew was that he apparently didn’t like being called Coach Harrington or Coach Steve because it felt too formal so he had all of the kids simply call him Steve instead, and also according to Levi, he was very cool and funny and a lot less intimidating than Coach Johnson; who only liked being called that and wouldn’t answer to anything else. You had practically heard the collective sigh of relief in the air when the first week of camp ended and it was announced that only Steve would be running it for the rest of the summer.

All of that to say, you only knew of Steve— you didn’t actually know anything about him, and he didn’t know you— so this chip and Gatorade gesture confused you.

“Why?”

“Since you’re here all the time, you’ve become an honorary student.”

You couldn’t help but smile a little. “He said that?”

“Pretty much word for word,” Levi nodded. “Anyway, Oscar’s parents want to take a bunch of us to get lunch and then to the new amusement park that just opened up like fifteen minutes away. Can I go?”

“Yeah, sure,” You told him. “I’ll let your mom know about it when I go home.”

He smiled. “Thanks. See you later.”

He immediately headed off toward his group of friends, who were already bounding into what you assumed was Oscar’s parents’ gray minivan.

You headed in the opposite direction, successfully balancing the Gatorade and chips on top of your book and then placing it all next to you once you were inside your car.

It was a small gesture, but it still warmed your heart a little and made your stomach do a weird thing. You were also realizing that it meant that Steve noticed you, which made you feel equal parts happy and dumb because you were elated about something so simple. No words had been said between the two of you yet, but here you were feeling stupidly giddy about chips and Gatorade hand-delivered by a thirteen-year-old.

You should’ve driven away then and headed back to your aunt and uncle’s house; it was the small guesthouse in their backyard that you were staying in and calling home for the time being, and still trying to make it feel that way.

However, you weren’t leaving; you hadn’t even started the truck yet. Instead, you were watching Steve clean up the court, gathering up the basketballs and putting them in a bag, and grabbing the cones that had been set up for a drill.

You were stepping out of your car and walking over to him before your mind could convince you not to.

“Hey, want some help?” You asked, but were already reaching down to grab the small orange cones that were littered on the court.

If Steve was suddenly startled by your presence, he didn’t show it; he instead gave you a small smile. “Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem. I just got ditched by a thirteen-year-old, so I have nothing else to do right now,” You told him as you looked away and continued grabbing cones. “Also, I feel like I owe you for the chips and Gatorade because I didn’t pay the two-hundred-dollar fee like everyone else.”

“I honestly think that price is highway robbery.”

You laughed a little. “Are you allowed to say that? I feel like you just ruined the illusion about how 'great and inspiring' this camp is supposed to be.”

Those were the exact words on the flyer, and you honestly thought it sounded way too good to be completely true, but it still grabbed your attention when you saw it pinned up at a coffee shop.

“Sorry for contradicting the flyer,” He said. You were still looking away from him, so you didn’t see the smile on his face.

You handed over the cones that you had stacked up in your hand. This was the first time that you were actually this close to him, and it was hard not to inwardly recognize the obvious fact. Damn, he really was cute.

You quickly pushed that thought away. “Honestly, the money’s worth it. Levi likes coming to this every day.”

“He’s really good. He should definitely try out for his school’s team next year,” Steve told you, turning away for a second to put the cones on a bench.

“Thank you for validating my thoughts,” You said, meeting Steve’s gaze again. “Before this whole thing started, I kept trying to tell him that he’s really good, but he didn’t believe me. He said that since I’m really bad when we play, of course, I’d think that he’s good.”

“Are you actually bad?”

“Oh yeah, I suck,” You answered with zero hesitation. “I don’t even think your coaching skills would be able to save me.”

Steve grabbed one of the basketballs that he had already packed away and tossed it over to you. “Shoot it.”

“I’d rather not embarrass myself right now.” In front of you was what you wanted to add, but you didn’t.

He gave you a smile. “Don’t worry. This is a judgment-free zone.”

You tilted your head at him. “Promise?”

“Promise,” He told you with a nod.

“Fine,” You said, looking away from him and his smile and focusing on the hoop a few feet in front of you instead.

You lifted the ball and shot it, mainly aiming for the backboard because you hoped it would be able to save you, but it didn’t. Instead, the basketball bounced harshly off the white backboard and proceeded to hit the ground and then roll into the grass.

“Wow, you weren’t lying,” Steve said as he went to grab the ball.

You gave him a mock-offended look. “Hey, what happened to the judgment-free zone?”

“I’m not judging, just stating a fact,” He responded, and before you could rebut his words, he moved closer to you and handed over the basketball again. “Put your elbows down and try not to throw it so hard this time.”

You listened to his tips and shot the ball again. It still did not go in, but it at least hit the rim that time.

“A lot better,” Steve said as he went to grab the basketball again before it rolled too far away. “You’ll be a pro in no time.”

“I can’t wait for that,” You said jokingly, watching him put the ball back in the bag that he pulled it out from. “How long have you been doing this coaching thing?”

“It’s my first time. I’m just doing it to help a friend of my mom’s who owns the rec center,” He told you. “I’m not from California.”

“Where are you from?”

“Small town in Indiana.”

“Oh, okay,” You responded. “I almost said that I’m also not from California, but that would be a lie, I’m just not from Southern California; I’m from San Francisco. I’m staying with my aunt and Levi for the summer.”

“I’m just gonna be here for the summer too,” He told you, and you nodded at that.

It felt as if things had come to their natural end, but you didn’t want the conversation to stop there, so you were blurting out something to keep it going.

“Oh, uh, there’s this drive-in movie theater in town that my aunt told me about. Do you maybe wanna go to it sometime?”

As soon as the words left your lips, you knew that it was probably a terrible idea. You were supposed to be focusing solely on yourself this summer, and seeing a movie with Steve was definitely the opposite of being by yourself.

But, then you thought, what would be so wrong about having a friend?

“I meant that in a completely friendly way, by the way,” You quickly continued, not even giving him a chance to answer your initial question. “Just something for us to do as two people who are not from here and are trying to learn about the area. You know what I mean? I only know Levi and my aunt here, and you probably only know the people from the rec center, so it would be nice to have each other as a friend here, right?” Inwardly, you were sighing at yourself and your abrupt rambling. “Okay, I’m gonna stop talking now.”

The silence that prevailed felt as if it lasted an eternity, but in reality, it was just a few moments as Steve processed everything that you just said, which you could admit was kind of a lot.

Ultimately, he nodded at you. “You’re right, it would be nice being friends with someone who isn’t middle-aged and friends with my mom. Do you know what they’re playing tonight at the drive-in?”

You were the one who had practically thrown yourself into the friend zone with him, but still hearing him confirm it made you want to scream at yourself for everything that you had just said.

You shook your head. “I’m not sure, but the mystery kinda makes it more interesting.”

He laughed a little. “I agree, actually.”

“So tonight?”

He nodded, and then there was that smile again. “Yeah. If you’re free.”

“I’m free,” You told him, trying to make yourself immune to that cute look on his face because you two were friends now, or going to be, and you needed to force yourself to be perfectly okay with that.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

“So, do you think you want kids?”

Carrie’s question made sense given the current circumstances— you holding her baby, who was now actually quiet and hopefully about to fall asleep— but it still shocked you a bit.

You shrugged, slightly shifting Brandon in your arms; he was sucking on his pacifier and his eyes looked tired. “Oh, um, I don’t know. Maybe, yeah, I guess.”

“You’re so great with Brandon, so I figure I’d ask,” Carrie said, and you simply nodded at that. “You and Tom never—”

Before she could finish wherever she was going with her question, Brandon abruptly started crying again. You moved him a little, which was probably the worst mistake ever, because then he was throwing up all over the front of your shirt.

For the briefest second, neither you nor Carrie said anything, even Brandon was now quiet.

“Oh my god,” Carrie blurted out as she reached into the bag that hung off her shoulder to pull out some napkins for you. She handed them over, and you let her take Brandon from your arms. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” You said automatically, even though what happened was pretty much the opposite of fine, but it felt weird to be mad at a baby. You looked down at the mess on your shirt and immediately had to look away; the napkins weren’t doing that much to help. “I’m gonna go fix this.”

You heard another “Sorry” as you walked away and headed back into the kitchen. You half-expected your mom to just kick you out again, but when she saw you and noticed your shirt, she grimaced.

“The baby threw up on you?” She asked, and you only nodded in response. “Now I feel bad about kicking you out of here.”

“Thanks, you should,” You told her, only slightly joking with your words. “Is the bathroom free?”

“Someone just went into the one down here, but upstairs should be empty.”

“Okay,” You said as you headed toward the stairs.

It had been a while since you’d been here, but you still knew the house like it was your own, which in some ways it kind of had been. Whenever the AC failed to work in the guesthouse and the heat became too unbearable, you’d always find yourself in the guest room on the second floor.

You headed to the bathroom that was down the hall, right past that old guest bedroom, and the door was being pulled open as you reached for the knob. The abrupt action startled you and made you jump back, and then you looked up at the person who had just opened the door. You were ready to say a quick, “Oops, sorry,” but the words immediately died on your tongue.

Your eyes met Steve’s, and his met yours; and he looked just as surprised as you felt at this moment.

“Oh,” You didn’t even want to say anything, but the word— that was more like a non-word, a sound— was coming out, anyway. “Oh, hi.”

“Hi,” He responded and then looked down at your shirt. “What happened to you?”

“My cousin’s baby threw up on me.”

It felt almost comical to you that those were the first real words you were saying to Steve Harrington in five years.

“Oh, shit. That sucks,” He said, stepping out of the way so you could go into the bathroom.

You gave him the smallest forced smile you could muster in the moment as you slipped past him and then closed the bathroom door behind you. You knew that it probably would’ve made sense to process that abrupt interaction that you just had with the one person you thought you’d never talk to again, but you immediately decided against thinking about it. Instead, you wanted to focus on anything else.

You looked in the mirror and at how bad your shirt was for a brief second before pulling a hand towel off the rack and running it under the water. You carefully pulled off your shirt, which left you in just your bra and jeans, and the throw up came off as you wiped at the white fabric and rinsed a part of it under the faucet. You knew there was no point in putting the shirt on again because the wet spot that was now left on it was obviously noticeable. Your aunt probably had something you could borrow, or you wouldn’t have even minded stealing a t-shirt from Levi, as you tossed your shirt in the dryer downstairs.

You left it at the sink for the time being, but before you pulled open the door, you stopped yourself. For some reason, you felt as if Steve was still lingering out in the hallway.

“Are you out there?” You asked, making your voice loud enough so he’d hear you through the door.

“Yeah,” Was all he responded with at first. “I, um, I don’t really know why. It just feels wrong to have the last words I said to you be, ‘Oh, shit. That sucks’.”

You couldn’t help it; you laughed a little. “That’s a lot better than my first ones to you being about baby throw up.”

You heard his laugh through the door, and you immediately pushed away the abrupt nostalgic feelings hearing that sound resurfaced.

You knew that you couldn’t go out there in your bra now, and you wondered if Steve had something you could use for a little, but your initial interaction with him had happened so fast that you couldn’t picture anything except his surprised face. “Hey, are you wearing a jacket by any chance?”

“Yeah, kinda, it’s just a button-up over my t-shirt.”

“Can I borrow it for a bit? Just until my shirt dries.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” He said, and you pulled open the door a little, and he handed you the navy blue shirt through the crack.

“Thanks,” You told him as you closed the door back and proceeded to put on the shirt. It smelled just like him, of course it did, but the fact that you could still recognize that sweet but also woodsy scent and identify it so easily as Steve, threw you for a second. “So, um, I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Yeah, I ran into Levi’s mom at the grocery store yesterday, and she told me about how he’s going to UCLA and got a basketball scholarship. And she talked about how he probably wouldn’t have wanted to play basketball in high school if he didn’t go to the camp, and then she invited me to the graduation party,” He explained, and you found yourself nodding even though he couldn’t see you. “It felt nice to know I actually did something good that summer.”

“Yeah…” You trailed off for a second. You understood exactly what he meant by his words, but you didn’t want to go down that path, so you didn’t. “Yeah, he really loved that camp. The flyer turned out to be true.”

You were done buttoning the shirt, and you probably should’ve gone to toss yours in the dryer sooner rather than later, but it somehow felt easier having a conversation with Steve when you didn’t have to look right at him.

“I work at the rec center full time now,” He abruptly told you, and that surprised you a lot more than it probably should have. Because when you really thought about it, it actually made a ton of sense.

“You live here?” The answer to your question was obvious, but you still needed to hear him say it.

“Yeah,” He said, and you could practically hear his nod. “Do you live here?”

“No, I’m still in the Bay. But, I might be moving down here soon. It’s kind of up in the air right now,” You answered, and then, instinctively, your hand went to touch the ring that sat on that specific finger. “And, um, I’m engaged.”

Silence lingered for a few beats too many, and you wondered if maybe you’d said the words too quietly, but then Steve was responding.

“Oh, that’s— That’s great. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” The simple one-word came out a lot softer than you expected, and you had no idea if Steve had heard you or not.

You didn’t know what else to say, and apparently neither did Steve, so you finally grabbed your wet shirt off the sink and pulled the door open because you felt like things would only become more awkward and weird if you didn’t.

“I’m gonna,” You held up the shirt in your hand. “Go toss this in the dryer for a bit.”

He nodded, and then his gaze dropped from yours and drifted downward a little. You being in his shirt didn’t feel so intimate until he was now looking at you in it. You became so abruptly reminded of similar moments five years ago, where your nights together almost always consisted of you wearing a random t-shirt or hoodie of his. He’d always give you the fondest look any time you lazily slipped either of those things on; it showed how comfortable you were with him, and he loved that.

You should’ve taken the shirt off in this moment, though— that would’ve been the right thing to do, and it was what the logical part of your brain was suddenly screaming at you to do. However, you kind of had no other clothing options right then, so you couldn’t. And then you were also realizing that you actually didn’t want to take it off, and that said a lot more than you wanted to admit right then.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1992

“Would it be bad to say that this is the first Audrey Hepburn movie I’ve ever seen?”

You shook your head at Steve’s question. “That’s actually the best thing to say right now because same here.”

You continued driving into the spacious field where the drive-in movie theater was and parked in a spot that you figured would give you two a good enough view of the big projector screen once you were sitting in the back of your truck. It wasn’t that crowded, which felt a little surprising for a Friday night, but maybe it was because you two were thirty minutes early to this nine o’clock showing.

“I’ll grab some popcorn and candy. Do you have any favorites?” Steve asked as he started stepping out of the car.

You shook your head. “I’m good with anything.”

He nodded and then headed to the concession stand that wasn’t that far away, and you grabbed the two blankets that you brought from home and got out of the truck too.

You took a brief look around the field that was starting to become more and more filled with cars, and it was hard not to notice the couples stepping out of their cars and heading to the concession stand hand in hand or popping open their trunk so that they could comfortably sit together in it. Maybe seeing a movie with someone was actually not the most friendly thing to do; maybe it was inherently one of the most romantic things ever.

You tried your hardest not to think too much about that.

Steve returned barely ten minutes later, and you were already sitting in the bed of the truck. He handed over the bucket of popcorn and candy and then settled in next to you. You couldn’t help but take note of the fact that he left barely any space between you two.

“Solid choices,” You said, pretending as if you were completely unfazed by the close proximity and simply looked at the candy he decided on— Skittles, M&Ms, and Sour Patch Kids.

“Okay, I’m glad you approve. After I got everything, I was worried that maybe you were a licorice kind of person.”

“I feel slightly offended that you’d think so little of me,” You joked with a dramatic shake of your head.

“Sorry,” Steve said and gave you a smile that felt impossible not to feel a little giddy about. “Oh, I’m just now realizing that I forgot to get drinks.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I’ll go grab them. I’m the one who asked you to come to this, so I feel like I should do more than just get the tickets,” You said, and then maneuvered out of the truck and headed off before he could potentially protest your words.

You weren’t sure where your sudden nervousness was coming from— perhaps it was because you were realizing how stupid this was and just how much of a date this all suddenly felt like— but by the time you returned with two sodas, you realized that you were simply overthinking things.

Maybe this wasn’t the most “friendly environment ever,” but you could force it to be that way, and as far as you knew, Steve was thinking the same thing; he wanted this to be friendly too.

“This is kind of the perfect car for this kinda thing,” Steve said, pulling you out of your scattered thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, that’s true,” You nodded. “My uncle, Levi’s dad, is letting me borrow it for the summer because he’s gonna be in San Francisco.” You thought about what else you’d been using the truck for. “It’s also perfect for furniture hunting.”

“Furniture hunting?” Steve asked, and you smiled at how confused he looked.

“Sorry for saying that like it’s a universal term,” You told him, shaking your head at yourself. “You know when you’re driving around and there’s stuff on the curb that people are getting rid of because it’s either old or broken?” When he nodded, you continued. “I like to take those things and try to do something with them. Fix them up somehow.”

“Oh, okay. That’s really cool,” He responded. “How long have you been doing that?”

“Not too long, actually. Just since the beginning of the year. I kinda felt really lost during my last semester of college, so I forced myself to try out a bunch of different hobbies, and this was the one that really stuck,” You explained and took a quick sip from the soda in your hand. “Some honorable mentions are a book club, and also this thing where I’d rent a bunch of movies from a video store and try to watch one new movie a day.”

“I used to work at one of those.”

“Oh, so you’re a movie guy?”

“Not at all,” He laughed a little. “I still don’t really know how I got it.”

You liked this, getting to know him, slowly piecing the puzzle together about who this guy was and what his life was like.

“So, you just graduated?” Steve asked, and at first, you simply nodded.

“Yeah, like a month ago,” You answered, and before things could go down a path of him asking you your major and that leading you to having to go deeper and explain how confusing the last few years of your life had been, you gave the question back to him. “What about you, though? Did you go to college or whatever?”

Steve shook his head. “No, school was never really my thing.”

“I don’t think it was ever mine either,” You told him, surprising yourself with how honest you were being. You had never admitted that out loud before, and you could easily imagine the gasp your mom would let out if she heard you say that. “College just felt like the thing I had to do after high school.”

“Makes sense,” He nodded. “I didn’t get in anywhere, so I got stuck working at an ice cream shop right after I graduated.”

“So an ice cream shop and a video store, and now a summer camp basketball coach. Your life sounds very interesting, Steve.”

“It’s really boring, actually,” He told you with a smile, and you laughed because there was something about that statement that didn’t seem entirely true. “Except for right now.”

Maybe that was clearly a line, a little subtle flirting, but you forced yourself not to see it that way.

“I’m glad I’m not boring you by talking about furniture and college,” You joked, and he only smiled wider at you.

When the movie started, that should’ve marked the end of your and Steve’s conversation, but neither of you stopped. Instead, you kept your voices low as you continued asking each other random things.

And when you finally did start to pay attention, you both joked that you two had probably missed the most important parts, so you two started playing “catch up” and tried to help each other connect the dots about what was going on in the movie.

Out of the two blankets you brought, only one was used because you and Steve ended up just draping one of them across your laps, and the other stayed folded next to you.

Was this still friend territory or was this technically crossing the line?

You weren’t sure, but you decided not to think about it too much. And besides, sharing the popcorn Steve bought was easier to do with you two being closer, so it was actually good that you two were under the same blanket.

It wasn’t until he slowly slipped his hand into yours as you were telling him that maybe Cary Grant was the bad guy in this movie, that you finally could no longer deny it.

Two people that were trying to be just friends definitely did not hold hands with each other— there was no point in even attempting to rationalize that— and as surprisingly good as it felt being this close to him, your brain was screaming at you and reminding you of what you had convinced yourself of barely an hour earlier.

“I told myself that I’d only be friends with you,” You blurted out, only slightly regretting your words that probably just ruined this entire moment.

“Oh, okay,” Steve said softly and nodded as he pulled his hand away from yours.

That could’ve been it. You could’ve turned your attention back to the movie that you two were only half-watching and forced things to be normal and “friendly” for the rest of the night, but for some reason, you felt the need to explain yourself further.

“Because I’m supposed to be figuring out my life this summer and figuring out what I want. If I wanna stay here or go back home or whatever else, I don’t know… But, you’re…” You trailed off and let out a breath. The next two months of your life were not supposed to involve you being with someone; you weren’t even supposed to develop something as stupid and nonsensical as a crush on someone, but somehow it already happened. “I like you.”

You wanted him to say that he somehow felt the same way in such a short amount of time. You wanted him to hold your hand again. However, what you wanted the most was to simply go back in time and take back what you had said about only being friends with him.

Because you now understood how hopeless that was. This was the first time that you two were hanging out one-on-one, and you already knew that you wanted more. Being just friends with him would be impossible.

Steve nodded and let you stew for what felt like an unbearably long amount of time before saying, “I like you too.”

There was nothing you felt as if you could do at that moment, except softly respond with a simple, “Okay.” Your mind was running a million miles a minute.

Things became quiet for a second, and then Steve was speaking again. “It took me a full week to work up the courage to do the chips and Gatorade thing.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “No, it did not.”

Steve nodded, smiling. “Yes, it did.”

“What made you do it today?”

“I don’t know, really,” He answered. “Something just felt right.”

There was no point in trying to hold back your own elated smile. “I’m really glad you did it.”

“Me too.”

You expected his hand to slip into yours again, you found yourself craving that warmth, but instead his hand found your cheek. You leaned into his touch almost instinctively, like him touching you was something that had happened a million times before, and it made you realize how comfortable you felt with him. And he picked up on that, giving you a small smile, and then leaned in to slot his lips against yours.

It was soft and slow at first, just testing the waters and making sure that you both thought this was a good idea. And you liked that, you adored how sweet and movie-like this all felt; maybe you could’ve compared it to the movie you were currently watching if you two had actually been watching it.

You pushed yourself closer to him after a moment, one hand coming up to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck to steady yourself, and Steve was deepening the kiss with a graze of his tongue against your bottom lip. You two kept things tame for the most part since you were in public after all, but it was still hard not to let hands roam a little— his free one slipping beneath the blanket and finding your hip, and yours pushing through his hair completely.

There was something about this entire moment that felt like the epitome of summer to you, and deep down, you could already feel how much you wouldn’t want the summer to end.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

“So, tell me about him,” Steve said. “You said his name is Tom, right?”

The laundry room was small, and you didn’t realize just how much so until you and Steve were in there together. You didn’t expect him to join you; you thought that the conversation had come to its naturally awkward end when you exited the bathroom, but then he asked if it was okay if he waited with you while your shirt dried, and impulsively you said, “Sure, that’s fine.”

The hum of the dryer filled the silence at first, and weirdly enough, it felt okay; you honestly wouldn’t have minded letting the next thirty minutes stay quiet.

But Steve apparently didn’t think the same, and you couldn’t ignore his question.

“Oh, um, yeah. He’s an artist,” You quickly explained. “I met him when I was selling my stuff at this flea market back home.”

Steve smiled then. “You did it.”

You didn’t even have to ask him to elaborate for you to understand what he meant by his words.

It had been on one of those nights, all those years ago, when you two talked about nothing and everything— still getting to know as much as you could about one another— when Steve suggested that you sell the stuff you were fixing up. In the moment, it sounded like such an outlandish idea, and you didn’t even truly consider it until months after the summer was over and you were back home in San Francisco, feeling even more confused than ever.

“Yeah,” You nodded, a little surprised that Steve had even remembered that one-off moment. “For some reason, people really love buying random nightstands and bookshelves.”

“Don’t downplay it like that. Your stuff is good,” He told you, and you had to pull your eyes away then.

At one point, Steve had been your biggest fan and your number one supporter and remembering that in this moment made your heart constrict in your chest.

“Thanks,” You managed to get out and then quickly shifted the conversation and decided to lean into your own curiosity. “So, what made you want to come back here?”

“Richard asked me to come back to run the basketball camp again last year, and then he convinced me to stay past the summer and work at the rec center full time, handling pretty much all of the sports programs,” Steve explained, and you nodded along to his words. “And I’ve been here ever since.”

“That’s great,” You said, and slightly surprised yourself with how much you actually meant the words.

“Yeah, it’s been really good so far,” He told you, and for a second, things became quiet again. “So, you said you might be moving here?”

“Yeah,” You nodded, and you thought about just leaving it at that, but it didn’t feel right to. “Tom might get a job teaching at one of the art schools around here. He just had his final interview for it today, actually. We’re still talking about what we’ll do if he does get it; weighing out the pros and cons and all that stuff. But, it already feels like it will probably happen.”

What you didn’t say was that you didn’t really want to move here, to a place with slightly tainted memories. But, Tom always supported you, so you’d of course do the same for him, and you could tell just how much he wanted this teaching job.

You never even told him about Steve; you didn’t tell anyone about Steve. Instead, you tucked the part of that summer that involved the man now standing in front of you away in a box to never be opened again.

But with Steve right here, it was hard for that box not to finally open up for the first time in five years.

Still, though, you’d keep trying to avoid it as much as you could.

“I hope you guys do move here,” Steve said, giving you a small smile.

You couldn’t smile back. “Why?”

“Because I remember how much you would talk about loving it here.”

You fought the immediate urge you had to roll your eyes at how oblivious he could still be, even all these years later.

“Yeah, that was before things went to shit, though,” You said, no longer able to hold your tongue and keep things completely civil.

His smile immediately fell, and he looked at you with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry. Everything that happened back then—”

You shook your head to stop him from finishing whatever he was about to say. “No, no. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because what’s the point?” You let out a sigh. “Yeah, we haven’t talked in five years, but you’re happy and doing fine, and I am too, so why should we bring up the past?”

“Maybe it would be good to, I don’t know, clear the air,” Steve shrugged as if he wasn’t even entirely sure this was the best idea either. “Get closure or something.”

You wanted to tell him that you didn’t need closure because you had already moved on from all of this. In your head, the past that you and he shared felt like it was truly in the past, and it should simply just stay there. However, you stopped yourself from saying any of that because maybe Steve was actually right.

Maybe you did need it.

Because simply pretending something didn’t happen— pretending that you didn’t fall so hard and so fast for someone in a matter of weeks just to have it all ripped away from you in a matter of seconds, and then pretending that you hadn’t felt absolutely devastated because of it— wasn’t, and hadn’t been, the healthiest way to move on.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1992

“And you’re sure no one else could randomly show up right now?”

“I promise,” Steve told you as he readjusted his towel. “There’s only one key, and Richard gave it to me to lock up for the night.”

You nodded at that as you looked at the pool for a second and then met Steve’s eyes again. “Okay, but if someone does catch us, I’m saying that you kidnapped me.”

He laughed and nodded. “That’s fair.”

You undid your towel and placed it on the back of the red chair next to the pool that had the word LIFEGUARD written on it, and pretended that you didn’t feel Steve’s eyes on you the entire time.

You two had gotten undressed in the separate locker rooms in the rec center because in the moment, it had felt like the logical thing to do, but now that you were standing in front of him completely naked, maybe it actually hadn’t been necessary, and it instead only delayed the inevitable.

You could feel your heart beating wildly in your chest as Steve looked at you, his own towel still wrapped around his waist. You felt a solid mix of shy and excited— you were nervous but you also felt no reason to be.

“Alright,” You said, interrupting his staring and making his eyes meet yours again. “Drop your towel, Harrington.”

“You’re cute when you’re bossy,” Steve smiled at you but still proceeded to listen to your request.

You took a page out of his book and stared at him the entire time as he placed his towel next to yours. It was completely easy to ogle at him— the few moles and freckles that littered the parts of his skin that you were just now seeing for the first time— and you could feel your cheeks warm at the sight of seeing all of him.

Steve held out his hand for you to grab, and you did, letting him bring you closer to him. You expected him to kiss you, the way he was looking at your lips told you that, but instead, he was pulling you into the pool with him.

You thought that there would be some sort of fanfare, a “three, two, one, go!” type of thing, but that wasn’t the case at all. A surprised yelp was falling from your lips as you two splashed into the water.

“Holy shit, it’s cold,” You said when your head popped up. You could feel the shocked goosebumps rising on your skin.

Steve pushed his wet hair off his forehead. “Yeah, I forgot they turn the heater off at night.”

“Maybe this wasn’t your best idea.”

He let out a laugh at your words. “This was your idea.”

“I jokingly suggested skinny dipping when we were eating at the diner, and you ran with it,” You told him as you both swam to the shallower side so that your feet were touching the bottom of the pool.

“I think we have very different memories of that conversation,” Steve responded as he moved closer to you, hand finding yours beneath the water. It was small, simple touches like that that you found yourself quickly liking; Steve was a touchy guy, and you didn’t mind it one bit.

“Agree to disagree, I guess,” You playfully shrugged and then smiled when he laughed again. “So, what are some pool games we can play? The only thing coming to my mind right now is Marco Polo.”

“There’s usually a little basketball hoop for kids to play with,” Steve said as his hand let go of yours and moved to your waist instead. “I guess the lifeguard put it away at the end of the day.”

“We can race,” You suggested while simultaneously pretending that his hand on you wasn’t affecting you entirely. “Not the long way, though. That’s too much.”

“Okay, but I should warn you that I was the captain of my high school’s swim team.”

You smiled at that. “Why does that actually not surprise me at all?”

“Because of my very obvious swimmer’s physique?” He joked, and you were playfully nodding as you leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

“I didn’t play any team sports in school,” You told him as you both started moving to the side of the pool. “But when I was a kid, we lived next door to this family that had a pool, and it was always the hotspot during the summer, and I was the best at racing.”

“Okay, so you’re a pro.”

You nodded and gave him a playful smile. “Pretty much, yeah.”

Even though you had in fact been the best swimmer in the Adams’ pool, that was years ago, and you were pretty sure that Steve being on his high school’s swim team meant that he would definitely beat you at this race, and that was exactly what happened. However, it ended up being a lot closer than you expected.

“Did you go easy on me?” You asked as you caught your breath.

Steve shook his head. “No, I’m just a little rusty.”

You squinted at him and tilted your head a bit. “I think you’re too nice to me.”

“I like being nice to you,” He said with a smile. “Oh, and that reminds me. I have something for you.”

You leaned back against the side of the pool. “Is that an innuendo?”

He laughed a little. “No, it’s not, but glad to know where your mind is right now.”

“We’re both naked and swimming in a pool. Of course, that’s where my mind is right now,” You told him, only slightly joking with your words; it didn’t completely elude you what kind of non-innocent things could’ve been happening between you two in the pool right then. “But, anyway, what do you have for me?”

“It’s in the car. I’ll give it to you after this,” Steve answered, and he moved closer to you, both of his hands finding your hips. “No rush, though. We can do all the dirty things going through that pretty little mind of yours first if you want.”

You splashed some water at him. “Shut up.”

He let out a soft laugh, and you decided to be nice and wipe some of the water off his face.

“Thank you,” He said, and all you could do was nod before he closed the final bit of distance between you two and slotted his lips against yours.

After that night at the drive-in, things had shifted so easily between you two.

That same night, you and Steve ended up at your place, talking until you and he fell asleep on the floor with your backs against the foot of your bed, sharing childhood stories and the most random things you could think of. Your head eventually ended up in his lap and one of his hands stayed intertwined with yours the entire night.

The morning had been a scramble to get Steve back to his place before Levi saw you two together, which worried you, even though you technically hadn’t done anything “scandalous.” But still, you didn’t want Levi to know that you and Steve had hung out at all. You weren’t sure if he’d hate it or not since Steve was his basketball coach.

A routine quickly formed when Monday rolled around. Levi once again ditched you to hang out with his camp friends, and you helped Steve clean up the court again. That time, though, you also helped him load up the minivan— it belonged to the rec center but was also designated as Steve’s after hours— and you drove with him to the rec center. After unpacking the car and getting a brief tour of the place from Steve, you two ended up in the back parking lot, making out in the minivan for a while until he drove you back to the park so that you could get in your truck and head home. And the same thing happened on Tuesday and for the rest of the week too.

And now here you were, skinny dipping with him just a week after the night at the drive-in. You two swam and laughed, did another race (which you were sure Steve let you win that time), and then attempted a couple rounds of Marco Polo. It was around an hour in that you two finally got out of the water and headed into your respective locker rooms to change back into your clothes.

When you two stepped out into the parking lot, Steve asked if he could cover your eyes before he showed you his surprise. The sudden fanfare felt a little dramatic, but sweetly so.

You nodded and let him cover your eyes with his hands, but still said, “This feels like the beginning of a horror movie.”

“Or like the middle of a romcom,” He said as he guided you the rest of the way to what you assumed was the car.

“No, definitely a horror movie,” You responded, and Steve poked your side, which made you laugh.

“Okay, keep your eyes closed, I just need to open the trunk really quick.”

You kept your eyes squeezed shut as Steve stepped away from you and you heard the sound of the trunk opening.

His arms then wrapped around you from behind, and his chin rested on your shoulder. “Okay, open.”

What you immediately saw was a small wooden side table. It was old, you could tell that— chipped in some places and the legs looked wobbly— but you were already thinking about how to make it better; sanding some things down, staining the wood, maybe changing the legs altogether.

“Is it okay?” Steve asked, which made you realize how long you’d been quiet. “I saw it this morning when I was driving to the park before camp, and it made me think of you and everything you said about fixing things up, and I thought you’d like it.”

You could feel your heart constrict at his words, at how meaningful they were. You shifted around in his arms so that you were facing him. “Thank you. Seriously. This is so sweet.” Your arms came up to wrap around his neck, and you pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “I love it.”

The smile that broke out on his face stirred something inside of you. You kissed him again, on the cheek that time, and then your lips found his ear. “Wanna get in the car?”

He nodded immediately at your soft-spoken question, knowing exactly what you meant by your words.

Once you two were in the old minivan, you moved so that you were settled in Steve’s lap. You’d gotten good at doing so easily and not accidentally honking the horn in the process, like you had done the first couple of times you two did this.

His lips quickly found yours, and you smiled at his eagerness, fingers immediately threading through the damp hair at the nape of his neck. His hands grabbed your hips and pulled you as close as you possibly could be to him, and you let out a contented sound at the feeling. Your hand moved from his hair down to the front of his sweatpants, palming at his hard length that was poking at your inner thigh, and Steve immediately gave your hip a quick squeeze in response.

It was the first time that things felt like they really needed to move further, and maybe it was the darkness that surrounded you two in this empty parking lot that made you feel a little more bold.

Your hand slipped beneath his sweatpants, and he let out a low groan at the feel of your hand wrapping around him.

“I need you,” You whispered against his lips. The dress you were currently wearing could make things so easy in this moment; all you had to do was pull your underwear to the side.

“Wait,” Steve said abruptly, hand finding yours to stop what you were doing in his sweatpants. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, worried you did or said something wrong. “I don’t want the first time we have sex to be in this shitty minivan.”

You couldn’t help but smile at that, your worries quickly easing away. “Where do you want it to be?”

Your words came out innocently, as if you didn’t entirely know what he meant.

“A bed, preferably,” He answered and then softly kissed your cheek.

“Solid choice,” You told him as you slipped off his lap and settled back in the passenger seat. “Let’s go to your bed, Steve.”

He drove you to his place at an ungodly speed that, in the moment, all you could do was laugh at. And when you did finally end up in his bed, you realized that you couldn’t have imagined your first time with him happening anywhere else.

Neither of you defined what exactly this was. It wasn’t necessarily a full-blown relationship; the thought of what would happen after summer felt too uncertain to call it that. So maybe, instead, it could more so be defined as a “friends with benefits” type of situation, but it also felt like more than just that.

Because you didn’t think that such intimate post sex moments happened between people who just considered themselves “friends with benefits.” The stuff you and Steve talked about, how vulnerable and honest you got with each other, felt different, to say the least.

“I was undecided for the longest time,” You had said to him one night when you two were in your bed. Your head was on his chest, and darkness engulfed the entire room, but your eyes had long adjusted to it. You weren’t sure why you were getting into the more detailed talk about college and how confusing it all had been for you, but you felt like you could talk about this with Steve. “And then when I had to finally make a decision about what major I wanted to do, I chose Communications because of how broad it was, but making that decision didn't really help at all because I still don’t know what I want to do now.”

“Me neither,” Steve admitted softly, hand tracing small circles on your lower back. “I’m still trying to figure everything out. I don’t really know what I wanna do once the basketball camp is done. It’s been nice getting out of my hometown because of how confusing things have felt there, but it's hard to think about everything long-term even though I have to.”

You nodded instead of saying anything about what the end of the summer would mean for you two. In that moment, you decided not to think about it, even though maybe you should have.

And then there was another night, just three weeks into everything, when you were in his bed and about to fall asleep, but you couldn’t yet.

You two had spent almost every night together, finding the right moments to sneak off to his place, or calling him to tell him the best time to come over to yours; he had become quite the expert at quietly maneuvering the squeaky gate that led to the backyard and subsequently the guest house.

It was all so easy, so perfect, and you felt the urge to lean into that perfect feeling.

You felt like you could tell him anything. So you did. Although there was still no definition about what exactly this was or what would happen once the summer was over, you still decided to do it.

“Hey,” You said as you maneuvered around, hoping he wasn’t asleep just yet.

You saw the tiredness in his eyes, but they weren’t completely closed. “Yeah?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah, anything,” He didn’t hesitate to answer, which confirmed your previous thoughts.

“This will probably sound really insane and maybe even a little stupid because we’ve barely even known each other for that long,” Your voice was soft. “But, I’ve really loved these last few weeks. I love spending time with you and talking about nothing, but also everything. And I even love when things get quiet between us and neither of us are saying anything because it never feels awkward or uncomfortable, it just always feels right and okay, if that makes sense.” You paused for a second, silently debating if you should actually admit this to him, but everything you were feeling felt so new and real, and you were kind of aching to tell him. “And I just, I love you.”

At first, all he did was look at you— which made you think that maybe you’d initially been right when you thought it was too soon to say this kind of thing or even feel this way— and then he smiled.

“I love you too,” His voice matched your softness, and hearing him say those four words made you feel warm all over.

Shyly, you smiled back at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, and his hand reached out to find your waist and pull you closer to him. His lips found yours in the softest kiss that was pretty tame and chaste at first, but then quickly escalated to something more.

The shirt of his that you were wearing was tossed to the side along with your underwear, and Steve’s boxers were gone in a matter of seconds too. Your bodies became entangled and limbs intertwined with quiet and breathlessly whispered “I love you’s” said between every movement.

When morning came, you didn’t make any rush to get out of his bed, even though you probably should’ve because that was what the typical routine was.

“Stay a little longer for once,” Steve mumbled into your neck, practically reading your mind. His hand slipped underneath the t-shirt you were wearing, and gave your hip a light squeeze. “I’ll get us breakfast sandwiches from the place I told you about that’s just around the corner, and we can actually spend the morning together.”

His words were tempting, so much so that you felt yourself nodding instead of shaking your head like you probably should’ve done. Inwardly, you decided that you’d figure out some sort of excuse to tell Levi or your aunt if they asked where you’d been.

“Okay,” You whispered. “I’ll stay.”

The smile he gave you in response when he pulled away from your neck made you want to shyly look away from him, but you didn’t.

“Love you,” He said before pressing a kiss against your lips.

A giddy smile took over your features when he pulled back. “Love you too.”

He got out of bed, and you simply watched him leave, slipping on a t-shirt and sweatpants and then heading out of the room.

You stayed in bed for a few moments longer and then went to the bathroom, grabbing the toothbrush designated as yours. It felt a little funny that this was the first time you weren’t rushing to brush your teeth so that you could quickly head home.

This was also the first time that you two wouldn’t be just confined to his bed, and that made you realize that although you had spent so much time in his place, you knew about nothing aside from his bedroom.

You went into his kitchen and managed to easily find the can of coffee grounds to get a pot going, and you also quickly found a mug too, and then you were pulling open drawers to find where the silverware was.

On your third try, you still didn’t find a spoon. Instead, your eyes settled on the last thing you ever expected to see, and you had to read it three times before it fully processed in your head.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington on October 17th, 1992, in Hawkins, Indiana

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

“So,” You started, deciding to lean into Steve’s suggestion of "clearing the air" and no longer avoiding the almost too obvious elephant in the room. The question that you really wanted to know the answer to, even though the answer shouldn’t have mattered to you at all. “Did you and Nancy get married?”

He wasn’t wearing a ring— you had noticed that when you stepped out of the bathroom upstairs and really looked at him for the first time in years, but you promptly pretended that you didn’t. However, just because he wasn’t wearing a ring now didn’t mean that they hadn't been married at one point.

Steve shook his head, and a weird feeling coursed through your body in response; it felt like relief and something else that you couldn’t decipher right then. “No, we didn’t. We broke things off right when I got back to Indiana at the end of the summer.”

“Oh, sorry,” You said, because when someone talked about a failed engagement it felt like the only thing to say.

Steve shook his head again. “Nothing to be sorry about. Me and her were never going to work.”

You wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but you forced yourself not to. You didn’t need to know the answer to that question.

Apparently, though, Steve didn’t need you to ask the question for him to still give you the answer to it.

“After being with you, I realized that what me and her had never felt like that,” He said. “It never felt so easy and comfortable. Even as short-lived as what you and I had was, there was still really no comparison.”

He was right, but you refused to outwardly admit that. Being with Steve, liking him, loving him, was probably one of the most effortless things you’d ever done, which was what made it hurt a thousand times harder when you had to force yourself to stop.

You had absolutely no idea how to respond to his words, though, and in the vein of being honest and “clearing the air,” you told him exactly that.

“I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

“Sorry, you don't have to say anything,” He told you and gave you a look that you could only deem as apologetic. “I fucked things up so badly and I’ll always regret that, and I’ll always wish that I had done things differently too. And I’m still so sorry about everything.”

In the moment, it probably would’ve made the most sense to simply accept his apology and let the conversation come to an amicable end there, but it didn’t feel done just yet.

“Maybe fucking things up was inevitable,” You said before you could think too much about your words. “I fell in love with you, and it all happened so fast. And I completely avoided thinking about the future and instead just fully leaned into what we had in the moment, and maybe that was stupid to do. I don’t know,” You shrugged and let out a sigh. “It's definitely not okay that you lied to me, but I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe it is okay that things were ruined so abruptly because we both were probably gonna go our separate ways once the summer was over, anyway.”

You weren’t sure exactly how true that was, but it felt like an okay way to think about it all. It was the first time you truly allowed yourself to really think about everything instead of pushing all thoughts of Steve and what happened between you two away.

“And I forgive you, by the way,” You told him, and it slightly surprised you how honest those words actually felt. “And I don’t hate you. Weirdly enough, I don’t think I ever really did.”

He only nodded at your words, but you could tell that there was something he wanted to say. You studied his face and were suddenly reminded of how small the laundry room was; you two felt closer than ever.

“Do you still?” Steve asked after a moment, and the confused look that crossed your face made him elaborate. “Love me?”

There was a part of you that wanted to immediately roll your eyes at his words— you couldn’t believe that he actually had the audacity to ask you that question. After not talking for five years and now knowing that you were engaged, how could he possibly think that was an appropriate question to ask?

However, the other part of you could kind of understand where he was coming from. This conversation was supposed to be about clearing the air and getting everything out in the open, and you actually wanted to give him an honest answer.

“No,” You told him after what was probably the longest stint of silent pondering. “Because I can’t. If I even considered it now, it would just complicate everything, so I think it’s best to just leave everything like this.”

“Wouldn’t it be worth it, though?” Steve said, pushing a hand through his hair. “To consider it.”

Inwardly, you were shaking your head because it felt like the logical thing to do, the obvious thing that you had to do.

“We should be friends,” You told him instead of answering his question, and you surprised yourself with just how much you meant your words. Once this conversation was over, you wouldn't have to see Steve ever again if you didn't want to, but you did kind of want to. You were finally letting yourself think about all of the good moments that happened that summer. “If I do end up having to move here, I hope we can be friends. That’s honestly what we should’ve been all along.”

You weren't sure if you fully believed that, but it felt easier to say that than to admit that maybe there was a chance that Steve was right, and considering what he was saying could, in fact, be worth it.

You really didn’t want to think about it, though, because it made more sense to you to just accept things for what they were.

“I don’t know…” Steve said after a moment. “I don’t think I can be friends with you.”

“Oh,” You responded, slightly surprised by his words, but you definitely weren’t gonna protest them and beg him to be your friend. “Oh, okay.”

As if on cue, the dryer stopped, and you were quickly unbuttoning his shirt and replacing it with your own that still had a faint stain on it, but right then, you didn’t entirely care. And you suddenly didn’t care that much about changing in front of him either.

You handed him his shirt before pulling open the door of the laundry room so that you could leave. “Bye, Steve.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1992

When you saw the wedding invitation, you wanted to immediately leave Steve’s place; the thought of just running away from everything felt weirdly comforting in the moment.

However, your feet kept you planted in his kitchen, waiting until you could get answers right from him.

Impulsively, you picked the invitation up and looked at it further; the smiling picture of Steve and this brunette girl standing in a flowery field— she was really pretty— took up most of the 3x5 cardstock, and the text below it that had been the first thing your eyes had landed on.

Your eyes became pretty much glued to it, reading and rereading in a state of shock, and they stayed that way until you heard Steve coming in through the front door.

He had a smile on his face and a bag in his hand that reminded you of what this morning with him was supposed to be. However, everything was so different now.

“Is this real?” You asked, holding up the wedding invitation, and you watched the color immediately drain from his face. Any sliver of hope you had that maybe this was just some sort fucked up misunderstanding was promptly washed away.

“Yeah, it is, but—”

You couldn’t let him finish. “You’re engaged.”

“Technically, yes, but things are completely different now.”

“Does she know that?” You asked, looking down at the invitation and reading her name again. “Nancy?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it and ultimately shook his head. “No.”

You scoffed and couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Of course she doesn’t.”

“She’s doing this journalism internship thing in New York, and I’m here. We’ve barely talked this summer,” Steve said as if that explanation somehow made everything okay.

“That doesn’t make any of this better,” You immediately responded. Finally, your feet were moving, and you were walking away from him and going into his bedroom to grab your stuff.

You could hear his footsteps behind you. “Please don’t go. Let’s talk about this—”

You shook your head to stop him mid-sentence. “You lied to me.” You pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it to the side, and then slipped on your own. “You lied to me about one of the biggest things ever. You’re getting fucking married in three months, Steve.”

It was finally making sense. Everything that he had told you about what he wanted from the summer finally made sense to you; how he was trying to figure out his life, and how confusing things felt in his hometown.

You thought you two were in the same boat with not knowing what career path to go down and feeling lost because of it, but you were way off. He was trying to decide if he wanted to get married in a few months, and the fact that he kept all of this from you made you feel as if you knew exactly what his decision would end up being at the end of the summer. You were just a placeholder, a little fun before he made a lifetime commitment to the person he actually wanted to be with long-term.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said as you hastily put on your shoes. “I’m so sorry.”

You were too angry to do or say anything aside from simply shaking your head at his words. You could hear how sincere he was being, how genuinely bad he felt, but it wasn’t enough. And you didn’t think anything would be enough to fix what just became broken between you two.

All you could think about was what else he had lied to you about. Was every childhood story and every other softly whispered thing in the dark just bullshit and lies too?

You didn’t ask that question, though, and you didn’t ask a thousand other ones that you probably should’ve; you felt certain that the answers would only hurt you further.

Instead, you left and told Steve not to follow you and to never talk to you again.

Your drive home was quiet, you couldn’t even feel bothered to turn on the radio and drown out the endless thoughts swirling in your head. In the moment, you’d been too stunned to cry about everything. Now, though as you sat in your driveway, it all had finally boiled over.

None of this fully made sense to you just yet. How from one second you could go from being so damn happy to completely heartbroken. Barely twelve hours ago, you had told Steve that you loved him, and now you never wanted to see him again.

But then, there was the smallest part of you that was already aching to see him again. To just go back to how things were before you found out the truth. You wanted to transport right back to the moment you shyly admitted that you loved him; the happy smiles and kisses that were shared between you both.

As the final month of summer passed, that feeling managed to settle into something a little more sad and a lot more empty. Levi didn’t question it when you didn't occupy your usual bench during the final week of camp; he was so happy with his new friends that he didn’t mind you leaving every day to spend the two hours reading at a coffee shop down the street. And then for the rest of the month, once camp was over, he still hung out with the friends he made pretty much every day. Seeing how happy he was erased just a little bit of the sadness you were feeling.

You finally forced yourself to think about life and what you needed to do once the summer was over. The answer suddenly felt obvious— you had to go home. Being here only made you think of Steve; the diner that you two would go to in the middle of the night, driving past the park or the rec center, or almost impulsively driving to his home because the route felt like second nature at this point. Pretty much everywhere here reminded you of him, and you didn’t want to think about him at all.

You wanted to avoid all thoughts of him like the plague; you wanted to pretend that none of this had ever happened. You wanted to forget how easily you let yourself fall in love with him and how quickly it all went to shit.

Your mom was happy to have you back in San Francisco and forcing yourself to work at the bakery she owned made it easier to act like nothing bad had happened in Malibu. And as more and more time passed you stopped thinking about Steve and everything that happened with him that summer altogether.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Malibu, 1997

Maybe it was a stupid thing to say.

Five years later, and here Steve was still ruining things.

He considered leaving the graduation party, but ultimately decided against it because he’d barely even been there for an hour. So, he instead left the laundry room and went back out into the backyard.

Even with all of the people scattered around, he immediately noticed you with who he could only assume was Tom; the elated look on your face and body language told him so. You pointed to your shirt and Steve saw the man slip off his jacket and give it to you to cover the stain, and you smiled up at him in thanks as you put it on.

“Hey,” It was Levi’s voice that made Steve look away from you. The teen did a quick wave as he walked over to where Steve stood by the plethora of drink coolers. “Thanks for coming.”

“Hey, yeah, of course. I’m glad your mom invited me. Congrats on UCLA,” Steve said and meant every word. Getting a basketball scholarship, especially from a really good school, was huge. At one point in his life, he remembered wanting something like that. “That’s really great.”

“Thanks,” Levi said, giving Steve a smile. “I don’t think I ever would’ve realized how much I love basketball, or done anything about it, without that camp and without my cousin kinda forcing me to go to it, at first.”

Steve nodded and was about to say something about how many times you would talk about feeling relieved and so happy that Levi really liked the camp, but he stopped himself. He wasn’t sure if Levi knew about what happened between you two— that you two even talked that summer, let alone did anything else— and he wasn’t about to offer up that information.

“She was really sad when everything between you guys ended,” Levi said, which gave Steve the answer to the question he was a little too nervous to ask. “She never actually admitted that, and still probably would never, but I could just tell.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve’s voice was quiet.

“It’s okay,” Levi shrugged. “She’s happy now, and that’s all that matters.”

Somehow, it was those simple words that managed to make everything make sense for Steve.

You were happy. And honestly, Steve was too.

So you were right, he realized. What was the point of circling back to the past for reasons that weren’t for closure and pondering “what ifs”? Those hypotheticals wouldn’t change where you two were in life currently, and perhaps that was a good thing.

And fuck, now Steve was certain that it had been a stupid thing to say. He shouldn’t have asked you if you still loved him.

Things were so different now. Five years had passed; you two were probably entirely changed people now. No longer confused kids in their early twenties, but actual full-fledged adults with completely different lives— case in point, you were literally getting married.

God, he felt like the biggest idiot.

It felt like hours later before Steve finally got the chance to talk to you again. The sun had long set behind the trees, and the celebratory cake had been cut half an hour ago.

He honestly hadn’t planned to stay so long, but he got pulled into a conversation with Levi’s dad for twenty minutes and then into a near hour-long one with a group of moms that wanted to know practically everything there was to know about putting their kids in sports at the rec center. Steve wasn’t even sure how they knew he worked there, but he figured that word must’ve been spread by Levi’s mom.

You were alone when Steve noticed you by the near empty food table.

“Hey,” He said when he walked over to you. A part of him expected to receive the cold shoulder from you, but instead, you looked at him and nodded in acknowledgment. “Tom left?”

“Yeah, a few minutes ago. He was really tired from how long his interview had been earlier,” You quickly explained as you grabbed a few half-empty plates off the table. “I’m staying to help my aunt and mom clean up.”

Steve grabbed some of the trash off the table too, a few cups and plates, and followed you as you headed to where the garbage cans were on the side of the house.

“I’m sorry for earlier,” He said after tossing out the stuff in his hands and then looked at you. “It was really dumb of me to ask you that question. I get that things are different now. So much time has passed, and a lot of things have changed since we last talked five years ago. I’m sorry for not realizing that immediately.”

“Thank you for the apology,” You told him. You two hadn’t walked back to the table yet, still just standing by the metal trash cans. “That really means a lot, Steve.”

That was probably where the conversation should’ve ended; it felt like a natural spot for Steve to say goodbye to you and let things actually end on a good note for the first time in five years, but you started speaking before he could. “I thought of one more question for this whole closure thing.”

He nodded. “Shoot.”

“Aside from the obvious thing, was there anything else that you lied about back then?” You asked and looked away from him, as if you were a little embarrassed to ask the question. “For a while, I couldn’t help but think that maybe everything we talked about was lies too, I don’t know.”

“No, everything I told you was real. I promise,” Steve didn’t hesitate to answer. He could understand that you had no reason to believe him or trust what he was saying, but he hoped you knew that he was being honest. “I knew I had to keep the engagement thing a secret from you, but, honestly, for most of the summer, I never even thought about it, or about Nancy at all; which I know probably makes me sound like the biggest asshole ever. But whenever you and I were together, I didn’t think about anything else. It was always so easy to talk to you, and to tell you things that I never admitted to anyone else. And none of it was lies, I promise.”

You nodded at his words, and a look that he couldn’t decipher crossed your face.

“It felt the same way for me too, honestly,” You admitted and then continued before Steve could ask what you meant. “It was always so easy to talk to you.”

“Yeah, it was really nice having that,” Steve also admitted, just as softly as you had said your own confession. “Also, you were completely right with what you said back in the laundry room,” He continued. “If you move here, we should be friends.”

Maybe that was a stupid and terrible idea. It almost felt scarily obvious that there would always be something more between you two. If your lives intersected again and were no longer two separate, completely different things, there was no telling what that would lead to.

But you nodded and smiled, and Steve could tell it was a genuine one, and then you pulled him in for a hug.

It managed to be the least awkward embrace by two people who hadn’t seen each other in years ever. Your arms wrapped around his neck and his circled your waist and you squeezed each other tightly.

Steve didn’t know how long the hug lasted. It simultaneously felt like forever and not long enough.

“I’m gonna head out,” He said when you pulled away. “I didn’t expect to stay this long.”

“I saw you got stuck talking to a group of moms for like an hour,” You said with a laugh.

Steve let out a mock-offended sound. “And you didn’t wanna help me out?”

“No, definitely not. I was still a little pissed at you,” You admitted, but there was no real bite or animosity behind your words.

“Well, I’m really glad I’m no longer on your bad side.”

“It’s a terrible, terrible place to be. I can get really evil,” You joked, and Steve laughed because he truly could not see that in the slightest. You lightly whacked his arm when it seemed like he laughed too hard. “Hey, it’s not that funny of a joke. I can be mean.”

“Unless you’ve drastically changed in the last five years, you’re the nicest person ever,” He told you, and you playfully rolled your eyes at him.

“Yes, I, in fact, have changed drastically.”

“Says the person who’s helping clean up a party they did not throw. And I bet your mom or aunt didn’t ask you to help either.”

“Shut up,” You said, and Steve held up his hands in mock surrender, a smile on his face.

Things shouldn’t have been that easy again, and they definitely shouldn’t have felt as if a puzzle piece was so effortlessly falling back into its rightful place, but neither of you thought about that right then.

Steve wanted to stay and talk to you longer, but he remembered how early he needed to wake up in the morning. He turned and looked at the open gate that led out to the street. “I’m gonna go this way. It’ll be easier to get to my car.”

You nodded. “Okay. See you soon, maybe.”

He nodded back and gave you a small smile, repeating your hopeful words. “See you soon, maybe.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

(part two coming next week!)

let me know ur thoughts<333

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington angst #steve harrington smut

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kyogre-blue · 2 days ago

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I hate how long this reblog chain is getting, but I'm going to add to it anyway...

HSR writing certainly ends up "turn your brain off and vibe" but I can't credit that when they make you read so much goddamn lore. It's so overcomplicated and yet feels so poorly planned, which is truly such a combination... well, anyway. I better not get started complaining because I'll never stop.

In regard to the whole 12 factors thing, it seems to be described as data being passed down, so I took it to be something like reincarnation. They can definitely have different human names and lives, but the soul (the data with the attached file name like NeiKosXXXX and such) would be the same predetermined one. This is presumably why we get the system error messages about failing to load data into buffer for the recurrence to start and how I assumed they forced the system to cycle - fully erasing Cyrene's data (PhiLiaXXXX) from the current cycle made the system go back to last main save (start of the cycle) to recreate her from the "clean" data inheritance from the previous cycle again or whatever.

See?? It's so confusing! How am I supposed to viiiiiibe---

Castorice is a particularly weird case. I'm unclear if she and Polyxia were two halves of the same data name (seems to be the case??), and there's a second "factor" person that they were supposed to trade off with for this cycle (and its recurrences) but Polyxia screwed things up by creating our Castorice and letting her become a demigod on a technicality. Or if "Castorice" and "Polyxia" traded off with each other every cycle. You'd think it wouldn't make sense if one of them is the Titan at any given time, but then there's two Phainons running around, so...? Souls sure are mysterious.

In regard to 3.1, I think there's a particular issue where they pretty obviously changed their intended direction for the Flame Reaver. Not the part of him being time traveling Phainon, that's clearly always been the plan, but the details. Just look at the degree to which they emphasize from every angle that he's connected to the Black Tide (including gameplay, him applying the same debuff as black tide monsters), how he "rode in on the black tide," but then by 3.4 there's no direct connection at all. You have to link it all back to Irontomb and it's a huge stretch. He also has a whole ass conversation with Krateros that has very odd contents but also is odd in that he can talk fine, but then by 3.3 he's unable to even properly register Cipher's anything...

Not to mention the weirdness of what Anaxa posits about him. Even if you play that off as unreliable narrator, making Anaxa of all characters that unreliable is a narrative move of all time. (Anaxa thinks he stores the coreflames in his sword, but our boy is just rawdogging those into his body lol)

"Because he was specifically planning to attack places where the Chrysos Heirs would be on a certain day instead just going to grab the coreflames that were sitting there undefended, like Aquila and Oronyx?" Hilarious because he literally does just take Oronyx's coreflame straight from Oronyx.

But yeah, he clearly started doing something that went beyond the simulated sandbox Amphoreus, but we just Don't Know what that actually means or looks like.

3.5, please give us something....

Detangling Mydei's Backstories Backstory?

My last post, casting doubt on 3.2's revelation that Mydei's immortality is deliberate on his part, led to some interesting discussion in the comments that definitely reinforced my earlier thoughts that the inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory are too numerous to be accidental. Star Rail is not known for its flawless continuity (Robin and Sunday's backstory, I'm looking at you lol), but usually the inconsistencies are not so overt, and repeated so many times, that they become central to the entire plot of a character.

So I wanted to refine my earlier theory a bit: I'm cautiously optimistic that there are enough signs that the inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory are deliberate, and that the Mydei of the current cycle in Amphoreus is actively experiencing an entanglement between two different timelines, without (yet) consciously recognizing the incompatibility of his own "memories."

When we work from the standpoint that the events of Mydei's backstory can be separated into two distinct timelines, the inconsistencies vanish:

The "Sea of Souls" Timeline

This is the most prominent timeline, and the one that appears most accurate for "our" Mydei. In this timeline, Mydei was thrown into the Sea of Souls as a tiny infant and spent the first nine years of his life there. This is confirmed both in the flashback we're provided early in 3.1, as well as in Mydei's voicelines and character stories.

After nine years, he crawled out of the sea (possibly motivated by witnessing Tribbie's "star" in the sky). On the same day (or very near it), he met with a band of Kremnoan exiles.

Whether this was a larger group already, constituting a small "detachment" army of exiles, or just started with the five exiled friends and Mydei then grew into a small army by picking up other exiles over time, is still unclear. However, at this point, Mydei makes no mention of returning to Kremnos and instead goes straight from "leaving the sea" to "living ten years in exile:"

This is the key point of inconsistency between the two "halves" of Mydei's story--either he lived in Kremnos or he didn't. We can handwave here and say "Yes, he returned to Kremnos with his friends and they just hid their identities, leaving Kremnos years later in a self-imposed exile," but the story gives us absolutely no indication that this realistically could have happened. Mydei never once mentions hiding his identity, changing his appearance, or living a double life in the city, and never explains how he would have had access to the inner city of Kremnos ("as befitting a crown prince") and the royal library, yet still go totally unnoticed by his father or anyone loyal to Eurypon, including Krateros. (There's also no explanation at all for why he would have wanted to return to a city ruled by someone who tried to murder him and where he would have had to live life under a fake identity just to get by, but you know...)

Instead, the game does give us several pieces of information indicating that the five Kremnoan exiles did not return to Kremnos after meeting Mydei:

First, Mydei's character stories confirm that Mydei deliberately hid his name while traveling in exile across Amphoreus, indicating that he knew he would be recognized by Eurypon/Eurypon's loyalists if he didn't hide his identity. This awareness suggests it is extremely unlikely that Mydei could have returned to Kremnos without being identified:

This also suggests that, at this point in this timeline, no one in Castrum Kremnos knew for sure that Mydeimos had survived being thrown into the Sea of Souls and returned. This is further confirmed by a memory fragment where Krateros says there has been a "rumor" that the leader of the exiled Kremnoan army is one who "defied death." Krateros alone makes the assumption that this could be Mydei and decides to defect to aid him:

This memory suggests two things clearly: Mydei was not living in Kremnos at the time Krateros defected, and the exile of all of Mydei's friends must have taken place before they met Mydei, years in the past, as there is no way an entire small army could have been exiled from Kremnos, with Mydei in toe, and not at all attract Krateros's attention until after they were gone.

The idea that Mydei never returned to Kremnos is further enforced by Eurypon, who did not recognize Mydei when he confronted him, to the point that he didn't believe Mydei was even Kremnoan. This suggests that Eurypon not only didn't know Mydei's true identity--he'd never seen him before at all, making it extremely unlikely that Mydei was walking around Castrum Kremnos, talking to Chryseus Leo, and reading in the royal library all under some false identity for years. Eurypon certainly wouldn't have been capable of exiling someone he'd never seen before from Kremnos, in any case!

Therefore, we can assume the series of events in this timeline is pretty straightforward: Mydei entered the Sea of Souls as a baby, came out nine years later, went straight into a life of exile with his five friends, amassed power and support for ten years, and then returned to seek vengeance on his father.

The only remaining question in this timeline becomes "When did Mydei join up with Okhema?"

I think, in this timeline, it makes the most sense for Mydei to have only joined up with Okhema after killing his father. In 3.1, Mydei confirms to Phainon that all his friends died before he was able to kill his father, and that none of them ever made it to Okhema:

Therefore, the final order of events for the more prominent timeline is:

Dumped into the sea as an infant, nine years in the Sea of Souls

Ten years in exile with his friends amassing strength and support

Returns to Kremnos, kills his father, and the last of his friends dies that day

Then he defects to Okhema, leading any of the Kremnoans willing to follow him there.

By itself, this story makes perfect sense. If this was all the information we'd been given, there wouldn't have been any gaps.

Unfortunately, we also have a whole other set of information that massively conflicts with these events, which can only really be explained two ways: Either Hoyo messed up (again) and really dropped the consistency ball when it comes to writing Mydei's backstory... Or there's an entire separate timeline going on. Personally, I'm leaning toward the latter, because there are just too many seemingly deliberate fingers in the story pointing toward the inconsistencies for them to feel entirely unintentional to me.

Therefore, I propose that Mydei's memories are actually getting infiltrated by a second, entirely different timeline:

The "Gorgo Lives" Timeline

From 3.0 all the way to 3.2, we're given numerous pieces of information that point to a wholly different order to the events of Mydei's life, contrasting the story that Mydei tells Phainon in the Garden. At first, these events seem scattered and nonsensical, contradicting the "main" timeline in too many ways to be anything but errors... But when taken as a whole, we can build a second coherent timeline out of these events if we make one assumption: There is a timeline where Gorgo lived longer.

In the second timeline which is intruding on Mydei's memories, there appears to be one key point of divergence: Gorgo did not die dueling Eurypon. Either she never challenged him to the duel, or (more likely) she was never successfully poisoned, and therefore it's possible she won the duel, allowing her to rescue Mydei from the sea.

Working from that possibility, a second complete timeline emerges:

Mydei was thrown into the Sea of Souls as an infant but did not drift there for nine years. Instead, he was rescued and brought back to Kremnos, where he was allowed to grow up in the inner city, with access to both Chryseus Leo, who served as his teacher, and access to the royal library, which he is proud enough of to call "his" library. He is able to lead Phainon and the Trailblazer around Castrum Kremnos even in its ruined state because he grew up there, spending enough time there to know the city like the back of his hand:

This is where we can slot in the inconsistent memories Mydei has of Gorgo:

(By the way, although Mydei writes this scene off as a dream, you can actually hear Oronyx's whisper play in the black screen seconds before this "dream" occurs...)

But okay, let's say this is just a wishful dream. Maybe this scene never happened. If all we got of Gorgo supposedly raising Mydei was this moment in 3.1, I might agree that it was just a dream (other than there being no reason to play Oronyx's sound effect there, but you know). However, in 3.2 they then hit us with this:

That's multiple moments now pointing to a timeline where Gorgo raised Mydei. Once is handwave-able--twice? That's deliberate.

In this secondary timeline, Mydei appears to have grown up as Kremnos's beloved crown prince, being warmly embraced by his people (at least until Kremnos fell into calamity). Apparently his days consisted of eating pomegranates, training for combat, playing with Kremnos's kids, and hanging out with his five friends. We see snippets of this idyllic life (along with his five friends appearing to be roughly the same age as him--something that likely wouldn't be true in the "main" timeline, by the way) on Mydei's long march back into Castrum Kremnos:

I know some people took this to be Mydei hallucinating or just wishfully imagining a life where he was able to be happy with his friends, possibly even some metaphorical "encountering the souls of the departed in a paradise," but I don't think this is true. Every single time Mydei phases in and out of this "hallucination," the visual effect and the sound effect of Oronyx are distinctly played--the exact same sound and visuals that play when Trailblazer activates Oronyx's prayer to jump between timelines.

Mydei himself doesn't seem to quite understand what is happening to him in this moment, as you can hear him stumble and pant as he repeatedly goes through flashes of Oronyx's power. You can listen to comparison video clips on the prior post I made about Mydei's backstory.

Furthermore, if we work from the assumption that these moments actually represent a rupture between timelines, then the rest of the inconsistencies can finally be cleared up:

In 3.0, Mydei says that his choice to leave Castrum Kremnos was not a forced exile but a "self-imposed" one:

And this aligns with what he stated in the Garden of Life to Phainon, that he and his friends "left Castrum Kremnos" to go into this self-imposed exile, rather than having never returned to Kremnos from the sea:

Furthermore, this also aligns with the angry NPCs in the past version of Castrum Kremnos that Trailblazer and Castorice travel back to:

Remember that this version of Castrum Kremnos was supposed to be occurring while Eurypon was still alive, so there is absolutely no way this line makes sense in the same universe where Eurypon didn't even know Mydei had survived. There isn't any way, in "our" timeline, that Mydei could have been both the "crown prince" of Kremnos for these NPCs and completely unknown to his father, the king.

These NPCs, furthermore, directly accuse Mydei of "deserting Kremnos," suggesting that Mydei was living in Castrum Kremnos as their prince, and then abandoned them to join Aglaea in Okhema, getting himself and everyone who went with him labelled as "traitors to Kremnos" in the process. None of this makes sense in the context of a timeline where no one in Kremnos knew he had even survived.

Instead, all of these elements point to a different sequence of events:

Gorgo lived, likely winning her duel and thereby (likely) giving her the right to save Mydei from the Sea of Souls and bring him back to Kremnos. He was raised by his mother as the beloved crown prince of Kremnos. Then, years later, as his father and Nikador both descended into full madness, Mydei and the Kremnoan detachment defected.

But what would have triggered this sudden need to defect after years of leading Kremnos as a well-liked prince?

The flashback between Mydei and Eurypon actually suggests a possible reason:

Apparently, at some point, in some timeline, Mydei knew about Eurypon's plan to break Nikador's divinity into separate parts and seal him away, harnessing the power of their titan for himself.

Yet the Mydei of 3.0 seems to have no idea about any of this, never able to give any explanation for how Nikador has degraded so much nor why Nikador is seemingly unkillable. Castorice, Mem, and the Trailblazer have to come up with the idea to go back in time to the past Kremnos by themselves, because Mydei never makes any mention of there ever having been a plot to break up and seal away Nikador's divinity, even when they walk past the very blades that did the sealing.

Finally, there's one last piece of conflicting information: While talking to Phainon in the Garden of Life, Mydei states that all of his friends died before the detachment could ever join up with Okhema and that all of their deaths occurred by the time he went to kill his father. But this conflicts with the NPCs above, who state that Mydei had already defected to Okhema and joined the Flame Chase Journey as a Chrysos Heir while his father was still alive.

This inconsistency is further reinforced by a memory fragment with Krateros, who confirms that Mydei had joined up with Okhema already before killing his father:

Putting all of this together, the complete series of events for this second timeline becomes:

Infant Mydei is quickly rescued from the Sea of Souls, is instead raised by his mother, and grows up as the crown prince of Castrum Kremnos with his five friends.

At some point, years later, he discovers Eurypon's plot to break up and imprison Nikador's divinity, and he and his friends and supporters defect from Kremnos as a result.

Either they go straight to Okhema (I'm inclined to say that "ten years of wandering" doesn't fit, chronologically speaking, into this secondary timeline) or they do wander a bit, but ultimately, Mydei reaches Okhema and aligns with Aglaea before killing his father.

After aligning the Kremnoan Detachment with Okhema, Mydei returns to Castrum Kremnos to kill his father, possibly to halt Eurypon's evil plan to harness Nikador's power.

At some point in this timeline, presumably before Mydei returns to kill his father, Gorgo likely still dies (possibly killed by Eurypon and/or Nikador), which explains why the Gorgo in the Sea of Souls seems to be the one convinced that she raised Mydei.

And this is just pure personal speculation, because there isn't enough evidence to really confirm it, but I almost feel like we can even pinpoint how/when the whole decision to defect to Okhema took place. At the end of Mydei's flashbacks to the "peaceful" Kremnos, Peucesta says that Mydei has been away from Kremnos for a while.

Leonnius assumes that Mydei was away on some apparently extended training trip, but this moment specifically ends with Gorgo welcoming Mydei home and asking him one very important question:

Obviously these lines are doing double duty, symbolically welcoming the present Mydei back to the ruins of Castrum Kremnos and asking him whether he's finally ready to take on his role as the "Guardian of Amphoreus." But as the wiki notes, this takes place in a flashback to the past, and for the "Mydei of the past" (aka the Mydei of the alternate timeline), this could very well have been Mydei disappearing from Kremnos to make contact with Aglaea in Okhema, and Gorgo questioning him about his decision to commit himself to the Flame Chase Journey, leading up to an ultimate and permanent defection from Kremnos. (This is just speculation though, trying to tie the last few loose ends together.)

Anyway, when taken from this perspective, that there are two separate backstories here, one from a world where Gorgo lived and the more prominent one where she died, we can sort all the seeming inconsistencies in Mydei's backstory into two surprisingly tidy and complete timelines.

I haven't yet found anything in any Mydei scene that doesn't fit one of these two scenarios, so I'm starting to definitely feel optimistic here that this writing was intentional, and that the "contradictory" backstory we're seeing for Mydei isn't "the worst continuity Star Rail has served up to date," but instead an actual deliberate choice to present us with a character whose memories are a hodge-podge of two divergent timelines, snippets of one timeline constantly erupting and "filling in the blanks" of the other.

I think this would be a fascinating way to lead up to the idea that Amphoreus's world isn't real, that it's a cobbled together story or set of memories that someone is barely holding together, and that it's constantly cyclical in nature, with events repeating with slight variations across times. The idea that Mydei is actually experiencing two different sets of memories crushed together into a tangled jumble and that he's only just now starting to become aware of the discrepancies would be such an excellent way to reinforce the "unreality" of Amphoreus's plot as a whole.

I really hope this is the direction that they take the story... Or at least that I won't one day be looking at all my Mydei posts and sadly thinking to myself that I put a lot more thought into the character's backstory than his own writers did, RIPPPPP. 😂😂😂

Cope with me, people!

#playing hsr

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 13 hours ago

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RAVEN HIS GROOVY LEAKED JUST AN HR AGO I SEND THIS AND MY BRAIN JUST REWIRED

How y’all really be lookin’ right now 👆

Oooh 😯 I think I understand what Twst was doing with the initial card art now, they were setting it up for the tummy tease in the groovy. I still see some people disappointed that Leona's not full-on shirtless (or showing substantially more skin), and while that's their right to feel the way that they do, I'm pretty satisfied with this.

I like that Twst focused on really making Leona's initial art + groovy look super candid and natural. He's not concerned with looking like a model, he just wants to be relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. Squinting into the sun, scratching himself, hair a whole mess, making an unflattering face as he brushes hit teeth... This really gives the vibes of a grumpy uncle that just dragged himself out of bed (because he did) and can't be asked to talk to you until he's had his morning cup of joe. It feels raw, real, and relatable.

AHHHHH, the messy hair in his alt look looks SO good. I kinda want to play with it— In the groovy, the hair does make him seem like a different person… A little older, a little wiser 😂 The vignettes + voice lines associated with the card tell us that Leona takes good care of his hair (he uses a special oil for it!) because having a majestic mane is a sign of strength. I think that’s shown well in how his hair, even when he has just woken up, has such a nice texture, shine, and flow to it.

There's such subtle appeal in what Twst does choose to show and to focus on. His lion's teeth, the forearms, the little peak of abs and cleavage... It's like going to a grocery store and getting a sample of some product they're trying to shill to you. Well, you try the sample and find you like the taste, so you end up committing to buying the full size. That's what this feels like. Twst is handing us a sample so we become more invested in the character. Not just his looks, but also his personality (which comes through very strongly in the vignettes; I will talk about this in a separate post since I was asked about it). Again, I think there's no need to have a character flaunt it all, there is so much more that can be achieved if you keep the clothes on and play your cards right. Ironically, I think Leona would agree with that sentiment; he's not usually one to go for the direct methods anyway/j

bzhaavhwjsosje I know it seems like I’m underwhelmed because my reaction isn’t all caps keyboard smashing 😭 but that’s cuz I’m actually looking respectfully and not shouting about his sexiness or whatever at least not in this instance. What’s appealing to me about this card is how lowkey and honest it is, and I want to match that energy. I hope that makes sense!! 🫶

#also idc for abs personally but that’s neither here nor there #twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #jp spoilers #NOT L*ONA ROT #Leona Kingscholar #notes from the writing raven #tw // suggestive

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caitlyns-left-mountain · 3 days ago

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so.. pervgf!vi x gf!reader where vi can't take her eyes off reader while they're trying on skirts , or js clothes in general at a store? doesn't have to include smut but it's a bonus if u do!

Rubbing my hands together like an evil fly 😈 Vi is an absolute loser in this bc I said so but she's hot so it's fine. Semi-nsfw content under the cut. Hope you enjoy!

Vi is absolutely insatiable. With your purse slung over her shoulder, she guards the dressing room curtain like her life depends on it. People pass and offer weird glances but it doesn't phase her in the slightest. There's only one thing she's focused on, and that's the little fashion show you were set on giving her.

From behind the curtain, you sighed quietly. Immediately she perked up. "Everything alright in there, sweetness?" she questions, resisting the urge to peek in the dressing room. It was almost comical how quick she answered. "Yeah..." you began, "I just don't know if this one looks right." Vi fought to remain silent, though there was a scoff threatening to leave her lips. Everything looked good on you. The dampness growing in her panties proved it. She paused for a moment before speaking up again, trying not to come off as too eager. "...Can I see?" her hand was already on the edge of the curtain, prepared to peek inside.

"Yeah," you replied, and with that, she peeked her head in. Her mouth ran dry. Maybe the first thing she focused on was your ass...so what? She's a weak woman. In fact, maybe it was your fault for putting on something that tight. "What's the problem?" it sounded like her voice was on some kind of autopilot, and when you looked up into the mirror and saw the reflection of her face it made sense. Vi is painfully obvious, but it made your heart flutter nonetheless. Your hands traveled down the sides of your hips in an attempt to smooth over the fabric. "I dunno. I just think I could find something more flattering," you reasoned.

If you could find something more flattering than this, there's no chance Vi would even let you leave the house. She'd be all over you as soon as you zipped it up all the way. The only reason she appeared to have a normal level of attraction to her girlfriend was because you were in public. But her restraint is quickly dwindling. "What? It looks great." her eyes never quite left your bottom half. First it was your ass, then the soft bulge of your tummy, and now her mouth is watering. You shifted awkwardly before the mirror and offered a small shrug. "I'll think about it." you replied, one of your hands reaching for the zipper.

Without wasting another second, Vi squeezed herself into the dressing room. The curtain fell closed behind her. Before you knew it, her hands were on your hips. "Let me help you," she spoke, as if she was totally innocent. Knowing her, she was not. You shot her a knowing look which she avoided. "It's a skirt. I think I can handle it," an amused huff was torn from your lips as she pressed herself into you from behind. Her chin found solace on your shoulder, and from there she could finally get a good look at the front view of your cute little outfit. She was a bit quiet when she responded, speaking into your ear as if whatever she had planned was obvious. "Well, I'm here now." You eyed her curiously in the reflection of the mirror, your attention dropping down to where her hands gripped at your thighs.

The bottom hem of the skirt wrinkled and lifted ever so slightly beneath her touch. Despite catching on to her little display, you decided to question further anyways. "Oh? And how are you helping, exactly?" Vi seemed so casual when she began to move you, turning and guiding your back to the nearest wall with her hands on your hips. "Just...testing the quality, babe. Gotta make sure it holds up." she explained. "For what?" you questioned her once more, eyes widening as she dropped to her knees. Oh. You were definitely going to buy the skirt.

I was gonna write full smut but then I realized that I was about to write porn and it humbled me. Lmk if Vi would even do this bc im clueless.

#vi x reader #this is kinda bad #arcane x reader #arcane #vi x female reader #vi x fem reader #vi smut #vi oneshot

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heldbybarnes · 1 day ago

Note

If you’re not busy, I have a request! This is based off a movie scene somewhere I think??? Anyways. Basically, reader is being annoying and says out loud “I’m bored.” John is like: “Bucky please shut her up,” and Bucky is at first like???? How dare you??? But eventually he’s fed up with it too and tries to convince reader to be quiet, but she ain’t having it ands like “no both of you stfu” and then buckys like “cmon doll ill have sex with you” and reader’s like “okay” and then you write a beautiful smut scene where reader is completely blissed out cuz you’re awesome n then an hour later Bucky returns reader to the couch and she’s passed tf out and he’s like “there i fixed it” and john is like “THAT IS FUCKING DISGUSTING.” oh and reader n Bucky are married!!! I totally get if you don’t have time/don’t want to write this, you write whatever you want to write. Have a great day!!

I love everything about this.

Warnings: explicit sexual content (oral f. receiving, soft dominance, dirty talk), language, crack humor, post-sex bliss

----------

“I’m so bored,” you whine for the third time, rolling your head dramatically onto Bucky’s thigh.

He keeps reading—barely. “Uh huh.”

“I might perish.”

“Tragic.”

John sighs loudly from across the room. “Bucky. Please. Do something. Shut her up.”

Bucky looks up, insulted. “Excuse me?”

“She’s been flopping around like a dying fish for twenty minutes,” John mutters, rubbing his temples. “You’re married. Handle it.”

You scoff. “Wow.”

Bucky raises a brow. “She’s not a problem, jackass. She’s just—”

“Just what?” you ask sweetly. “Craving your attention?”

“You have it.”

“Not the kind I want.”

John groans. “Kill me.”

Bucky sighs, tossing his folder aside. He leans down over you, eyes darkening as his fingers trail up your thigh.

“If you wanted attention that bad, baby, all you had to do was ask,” he murmurs, voice low and rough. “I’d have bent you over this couch and fucked the brat right outta you.”

John nearly chokes on his energy drink. “OH MY GOD.”

Your grin is wicked. “Okay then. What’s stopping you?”

Bucky’s eyes flick to John. “Him.”

“Don’t mind me,” John mutters, covering his face. “I’ll just be traumatized in silence.”

The second the bedroom door clicks shut, Bucky has you pinned to it.

"You want attention?" he growls, dragging his mouth along your jaw. "Now you're gonna get it."

His hand snakes between your thighs, rubbing slow, lazy circles through your panties until you're gasping into his mouth. He drops to his knees like he’s been waiting all damn day and yanks them down with one hand, the other spreading your thighs open.

"Don’t move," he orders, licking up the length of your pussy like it’s dessert. “Gonna keep you right here ‘til you forget what the word bored even means.”

You moan his name, legs trembling as his tongue flicks and curls, building you up mercilessly slow. He grips your ass, pulling you forward to grind against his face, and you cry out, lost in it.

He doesn’t stop until you’re cumming so hard you forget your own damn name.

Then he’s lifting you, throwing you onto the bed like you weigh nothing.

"Hands up," he commands, and you obey without thinking, writhing as he kisses a path up your body and lines himself up.

“You’re such a fucking menace,” he mutters as he thrusts in deep, "but you’re mine."

Your back arches. He sets a rhythm that’s deep and thorough, fucking you slow but hard enough to make your breath catch every time he bottoms out.

“You wanted attention?” he pants against your throat. “Take it. Take every fucking inch.”

And you do—eyes rolling back, legs shaking, nails digging into his shoulders as he wrecks you just the way you wanted.

An hour later, he emerges from the hallway, shirtless, hair tousled, carrying your blissed-out, completely limp body like a baby koala.

He lays you gently on the couch, wraps you in a throw blanket, kisses your forehead, then turns to John.

“There,” he says simply. “I fixed it.”

John stares at your boneless form, one of your legs twitching in sleep.

“That is fucking disgusting,” John says flatly.

Bucky shrugs, grabbing his folder again. “Still worked.”

“I need bleach for my brain.”

“You’re welcome.”

And from the couch, you mumble one last sleepy sigh of victory: “Not bored anymore.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #married!bucky #softdom bucky #reader is a menace #boredom cure #john is traumatized

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maxinehufflepuffprincess · 2 days ago

Text

Travel Log

BangChan x fem! reader. 9th member.

(So, this is long. Like really, really long. It took me so long to write this. I kept getting distracted, but I stayed up all night to get it done. So if there are grammar and spelling mistakes, we're gonna blame it on the tiredness. Please enjoy, I'm gonna go to sleep now.) (Also, p.s. Lowkey feel like this was very Hyunjin heavy when it came to Reader interacting with the members. Could just be me, but idk. It felt Chan and Hyunjin were heavy. I feel like most of my fics are Chan and Felix heavy.)

Taglist. Masterlist. Progress Update. MamaBear Collection.

Summary: You all go to Australia.

The nine of you were gathered together, sitting at a table, discussing what kind of trip you all wanted to go on. Chan and Felix were at the top of the table, sitting side by side. On Chan’s side were Minho, Changbin, you and I.N. On Felix’s side were Hyunjin, Seungmin and then Han.

“Do you prefer sightseeing or relaxing?” Chan asked the group curiously.

“Relaxing.” Both Hyunjin and Changbin said at the same time. Quickly followed by Minho and Felix.

“I like sightseeing,” Han spoke up. I.N. was quick to agree with him. “It’s a waste to relax.”

“I like both. Some time to relax but also some time to sightsee.” You explained with a happy smile on your face.

“Then, do you like to plan or…” Chan trailed off.

“Oh, I don’t like to plan.” Han spoke quickly.

“I only plan the basics.” Seungmin added from his spot.

Hyujin quickly nodded in agreement as he laid his chin on his wrist. “Yeah.”

I.N. looked between the two as he brought his hand to his ear, gently playing with his earlobe. “I like to plan.”

“I follow my friends around and get tired.” Changbin stated, half hunched over in his seat.

“I’m only spontaneous when I travel.” Chan said as he and Felix turned to look at each other. Felix gave him a small smile as he nodded along. “I don’t make any plans.” Chan added as he turned to the rest of the group.

“It’s not what you do there that matters; it’s who you’re going with.” Hyunjin told the group, causing everyone to look at him. The group all let out impressed sounds.

“He’s not one to say that.” Changbin quickly said as he looked at I.N., causing the Maknae to laugh.

“If you’re in Sydney, the beach is a must.” I.N. said after he was done laughing, causing both Hyunjin and Felix to clap.

“I love the beach. The ocean, the sand, the ocean. Making sandcastles. Did I mention the ocean? The look of it, the smell of it. It’s calming, relaxing. I can’t wait.” You let out an excited squeal, causing Minho to look at you like you had two heads.

“Bondi Beach.” Hyunjin said as he clasped his hands together.

Felix then piped up with his recommendations. “Manly and Cooge Beach are nice too.”.

“Could we go to Coogee Beach?” Changbin asked hopefully.

“I knew you’d make that joke.” Hyunjin said as he looked at Changbin from across the table. “I wanted to say that too, but…”

“I knew that about you, but I did it anyway.” Changbin replied, the two males smiling at each other.

“I want you to think outside of the box.” I.N. told Changbin.

Changbin reached over and put Innie’s hand down before turning to him. His voice is now louder. “Whatever!”

Since you were right next to Binnie, his voice went right in your ear, causing you to jump and groan. You gently slapped his arm.

“Yah! You need to stop screaming in my ears, Binnie!” You told him with a huff.

I.N. pouted and gently reached over to cover your ears as he pulled you slightly away from Changbin. “I loved having beer on the beach.” He said as he uncovered your ears.

“Yeah, that was Coogee Beach.” Felix confirmed as he pointed to I.N., “Why don’t we take surfing lessons?” The blonde suggested to you all.

All the boys immediately began repeating the word surfing. However, Hyunjin seemed to love the idea.

“Isn’t it autumn over there? Spring?” I.N. asked as he looked at the two Austlians.

“It’s spring.” Both Chan and Felix confirmed.

“Or are there any forests we could visit?” Hyunjin asked.

Minho perked up and pointed to Hyunjin in excitement. “Let’s go to the jungle. Let’s go see kangaroos!”

“I want to see crocodiles!” Han told everyone, already hooked on Leeknow’s idea.

You shook your head and frowned. “Please, no, Crocodiles are terrifying.” You pulled a face and shifted in your seat.

Changbin turned to you and grinned. He wrapped his arms around you in a hug. “I’ll protect you from the Crocodiles, Honey!”

You looked at him with a raised eyebrow as you hugged him back. “Binnie. You ain't winning against a crocodile.” You explained to him, making him pout.

“You can see dolphins and penguins.” Chan spoke up.

“Woah!” Hyunjin spoke.

Seungmin immediately perked up. “I want to see dolphins.”

Both Minho and Changbin spoke about wanting to ride a dolphin.

“I wanna see a penguin. They’re so cute. I want one. Chan, can I have a penguin?” You asked him with a cute smile on your face.

Chan shook his face with a smile on his face. “No, we can’t have a penguin.”

You pouted and clicked your fingers. “Darn.”

“Penguins in Sydney?” Seungmin asked curiously.

“They come up to the Sydney Harbour sometimes.” Chan explained as he scratched the back of his ear.

“Woah!” Han was clearly surprised and impressed. “How can penguins come to Australia?”

“There are penguins outside the South Pole?” Changbin asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Chan smiled lightly. “It’s warm, so they come up here.”

Han began to move his hands around. “Oh, cold!” He said in excitement as he leaned forward in his seat, imitating a penguin’s movements.

“It’s so cold at the South Pole.” I.N. spoke up with a bright smile on his face as Chan giggled to himself.

“I want to see a spider this big.” Minho said, holding his hands apart a big distance, a grin on his face.

You immediately cringed. “Eww, no. Please no.”

“We have those at home.” Chan said casually, causing Minho’s grin to stop and your mouth to drop open.

“Oh, do we?” Minho asked as he looked down.

“Yeah.” Chan grinned.

“Okay, so I’m not going home. It was nice knowing you all.” You spoke as you dramatically leaned against Changbin, your hand on your head as if you had fainted. “I’m moving back to England.”

“They have big spiders in England, too. Not everywhere, but yeah. You should know this. Remember when you told me about that spider you saw on that horse farm you used to work at?” Chan explained to you with an amused look on his face.

You let out a loud gasp, a gasp so disgusted and dramatic it could rival Hyunjin’s. “Is nowhere safe? I just have to live with the knowledge that spiders can grow stupidly big. Eww no. I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about that time! Why would you bring that up?! I can see it in my mind. no, no. Ahh!” You covered your eyes with your hands as the guys all dissolved into laughter.

I.N. and Hyunjin clapped as they laughed. Hyunjin fell off his chair, and Han smacked his hand on the table as he laughed loudly. Felix and Chan leaned on each other, Minho, Seungmin and Chanbin just laughed as they watched you.

Chan smiled and pointed at you. “This is where the kids get their dramatics from. It’s you!” He told you in a very teasing tone.

You stuck your tongue out at him as everyone calmed down.

“Should we just stay at Chan’s house?” Changbin asked curiously.

“Let’s just eat some lamb at Chan’s house.” Hyunjin added.

“Lamb!” Han interjected.

“That does sound nice.” Hyunjin added.

“Berry!” I.N. mentioned in excitement.

“Berry is too cute.” Hyunjin said as he leaned on the table, his arms crossed as he rested his chin on his arm.

Han nodded. “Wow, she’s cute!”

Seungmin nodded in agreement.

You smiled thinking of Berry. “I miss her. She’s so cute and so cuddly.” You let out an excited squeal at the thought of seeing her again.

“Such a cute dog.” Chan said with a fond smile. He loved seeing the members get excited to see Berry. He knew they all adored her.

—---------

It was a few days later, and the nine of you were officially in Sydney, Australia. Sitting around a table at the Glenmore Hotel Rooftop. In order it was you at one end, then Minho, Felix, Hyunjin, Han, Jeongin, Changbin, Seungmin and the Chan at the other end of the table.

“Welcome to my homeground.” Chan said proudly, causing everyone to clap.

“Bang Chan and Yongbok are in Australia,” Han said, looking cute in his glasses. “Australian icons!”

“Australian monuments!” Seungmin chipped in.

“It’s been so long since we all came to Australia.” Chan said with a nod.

“Sydney’s Pride!” Seungmin spoke loudly, a happy, proud smile on his face.

“How is it?” Chan asked.

“The weather’s amazing, first of all.” Han spoke up first as he straightened up a little in his seat.

“I want to live here,” Hyunjin commented as he looked at his nails.

Han pointed to a building in the distance. “Look, there’s even eBay.” He connected, causing you all to look.

“eBay?” Hyunjin asked in surprise. “There’s an eBay?” He asked.

Han pointed out the big white building that said eBay on it to Hyunjin.

“I didn’t know there was an eBay.” Felix commented as he let out a laugh, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

“Australia has awesome weather.” Chanbin commented as you picked up your drink and took a sip of it.

“It’s unmatched,” Felix commented as he rested his cheek on his fist.

“It feels like a second home to us.” Changbin spoke as he looked at Felix with a smile. That warmed the hearts of both Australians, especially as everyone agreed. “It feels so good to be back.”

“To enjoy Sydney, Feix and I will help. I’m Producer Chan, and He’s Director Bbok.” Chan told the team with a smile as Seungmin reached over him to grab his drink. “The two of us have prepared some criteria for you to have a wonderful trip.”

“It’s just a to-do list.” Felix interjected as he watched Chan hold up the list. It was titled ‘Inefficient Travels.’

“What’s that?” I.N. asked curiously as Chan read out the title.

“We have individual to-do lists.” Chan started by showing his own to-do list. “Bang Chan’s to-do list. Host SKZ inefficient Travels.”

Seungmin scratched his chin with his thumb as he spoke. “He knows the most as it’s his hometown.”

“Honey. Yours is to take some nice pictures. Of the view and the members.” Chan told you, causing you to nod.

“I’m good with that.” You enjoyed taking pictures of the boys, so this would be a walk in the park for you. The boys all agreed, knowing that your photography skills were really good. You and Seungmin made a perfect team when it came to photography.

“Lee Know, improve your swimming skills at the beach with the help of the members.” Minho’s face dropped hearing Chan’s words. Everyone else just laughed.

“Lee Know, what can you do in water?” Seungmin asked him loudly. His voice is teasing.

Felix gently rubbed Minho’s shoulder to cheer him up as Changbin spoke up. “If we’re swimming in the ocean, how can we save Lee Know?”

“It’s actually pretty scary.” Chan added.

Seungmin smiled brightly. “I hope you meet a shark.”

You let out a small tut and shook your head at the three males. “Ya, don’t say that. Nothing will happen, he’ll be fine.”

“I’ll think of today as my last day. It’s been good.” Minho said, accepting his fate.

“And two of our members have a lifeguard license.” Changbin added.

“Oh, lifeguard license?” Hyunjin asked before laughing.

“Nice rhyme.” Han said with a nod as he looked over at Changbin before sipping on his drink.

“Who had one?” Minho asked curiously.

“I used to have a lifeguard license. It probably expired. I earned it in middle school.” Hyunjin told the group, shocking Han.

You raised a hand. “I have an in-date one. I got mine after I did my first aid training.” You told them all. They knew you had your first aid training. You got it, just in case anything happens. You wanted to be able to take care of your boys no matter what.

“That’s really cool.” Jeongin said, looking at you, making you smile.

Chan switches to the next to-do list. “Next is Changbin’s to-do list. Ponder at a gallery, then buy a coffee.” Segumin clapped at this as it was stuff that Changbin never went to and never did.

“Woah!” Han laughed. “That’s so not like him.”

“A gallery?” Changbin asked, making sure he had heard right. “You mean the galleries I know? The things Hyunjin goes to? Are you kidding me?”

“Next, Hyunjinnie. Go to the supermarket alone-” Chan paused and looked up, realising it was raining. “Are we still good? Are you okay?” He asked the group.

“It’s fine, it’s just mist.” Hyunjin said.

“It passes really fast.” Felix added. You nodded and smiled. “It’s fine, a little water never hurt no one. Keep going.” You stated, not noticing the look Minho gave you.

“Yeah, and it’s clean.” Chan stated as Felix, Hyunjin and Han all laughed at the face Minho was pulling. “You could drink it.”

“Just get some on your tongue.” Felix said before making a sound and sticking his tongue out for a moment.

Chan chuckled. “Okay. Hyunjin’s to-do list. Go to a supermarket alone after memorising a grocery list and buy all of them.”

“What!?” Hyunjin asked like it was the most obscene thing he had ever heard in his life.

“Wait, the food that I want?” Han questioned.

His question led to Chan reading Han’s to-do list. “Cook for the members.”

“Wow, that’s so inefficient.” Han said as he shifted in his seat. “You’re leaving cooking to me?”

“This definitely is a romantic trip.” Seungmin chimed in.

“Felix.” Chan started. “Cook for the members.”

“Felix isn’t too shabby.” Seungmin immediately pipped up with a smile.

“Yongbok cooks with me often, so I know he’ll do well.” You commented as you drank some of your drink.

“Sounds fun.” Felix stated, happy with his task.

“Seungminnie. Plan, film, and produce some trendy short-form content.” Chan said with a chuckle, and Hyunjin laughed.

“That suits him so well.” Hyunjin nodded as he calmed down.

“This out-of-touch dude?” Changbin asked.

You frowned at Changbin. “Oi! Don’t be mean to my baby. He’s very trendy.” You said, causing Seungmin to smile proudly and gratefully.

“That uncle’s going to create short-form content?” I.N. asked.

Hyunjin spoke up, his hands moving as he spoke. “Seungmin’s going to film it like this.” He, Minho and Han put their arms out in front of them, acting like they were holding a camera. Hyunjin stood up.

“I’ll do my best.” Seungmin said as the boys stopped their teasing.

“And finally, Innie. Responsible for English communication during the entire trip.” Chan said.

“Are you serious?” The Makenae was in disbelief as Minho let out a laugh, clearly delighted at I.N.’s task.

“This should’ve been Lee Know.” Felix stated as he pointed his thumb at a still laughing and clapping Minho.

“Word is you speak English with Bang Chan and Honey at the house.” Seungmin jumped in on the conversion.

Changbin nodded. “Ayen’s improves a lot.”

The Maknae immediately disagreed and shook his head. “That can’t be.”

“You’re hungry, right?” Chan asked.

“We’re starving.” Han agreed.

I.N. began to roll up his sleeves. “Give me a menu.”

“I.N.’s ordering right away?” Han asked curiously.

“Excuse me!” The youngest called out in English as he put his hand up.

“If you want to sound even better. Take out the ‘e’ and say ‘xcuse me’.” Chan explained to him with an encouraging smile.

“Xcuse me?” Jeongin spoke, seeing how the word sounded.

A menu was handed to him.

“Thank you.” He spoke.

You smiled. “My polite boy. Gets his manners from me.” You said proudly.

Chan shook his head. “Hmm, I think he gets his clumsiness from you.”

You pouted at him. “I am not clumsy.” The boys all suddenly broke into laughter.

“You walked into a door last week.” Felix told you with a puzzled look on his face.

“You almost slipped on the stairs on our way up here.” Han added with a happy shrug of his shoulders..

“You spilt a drink on yourself last night and claimed it was a fashion statement.” Seungmin chimed in with a smirk on his face.

“You smacked yourself in the face when we were in dance practice.” Minho pipped up with and savage grin on his face, proud to air out that you had done so.

“That…” You paused, trying to think of an excuse. The boys all laughed louder. You let out a huff of air. “You’re all grounded.” You told them with a wave of your hand, almost knocking your drink over. You gasped as Hyunjin, Han, and Minho let out a cackle.

Eventually, they all calmed down. “Innie, I want the waiter’s recommendation,” Hyunjin told the male, only to get ignored.

Felix laughed. “That’s such a tough request.”

“I want their most popular dish,” Hyunjin spoke as he leaned onto the table a little, looking at I.N. Once again, he was ignored.

“The salmon looks good.” Chan said, looking at the menu.

“I want tomato pasta.” Hyunjin leaned back in his seat.

“I want, never get.” You said as you looked through the menu.

“Hey, baby. It’s for kids.” Han told him with a laugh. “Are you Stray Kids?”

“I’m Stray Kids,” Hyunjin told him.

“Tell me.” I.N. said as he got his phone out to write down the orders.

“I’ll have the barramundi.” Chan said, showing him the menu, pointing to what he wanted.

“Barramundi.” I.N. confirmed as he wrote it down.

“Barra what?” Hyunjin asked.

“It’s fish.” You explained to the confused male, and you nodded gratefully at you.

“I’ll have the salmon.” Changbin decided, beside him, Seungmin puffed out his cheeks as he tried to decide what he wanted. “Wow, lamb shoulder sounds good.” Changbin added. “I’ll order that.

“Sounds good.” I.N. wrote down his order.

“I’ll take the rump steak.” Seungmin said with a nod.

“Babe, I want the rump steak.” Han added.

“I’ll have the tomato pasta.” Hyunjin spoke up.

“Tomato pasta.” Han spoke with a smile.

“Then I’ll have the tomato pasta too.” Minho told Jrongin.

“Popcorn chicken chips.” Felix said as he looked at the menu.

Chan immediately perked up. “Wow, popcorn chicken chips.”

“The kids' menu.” Felix spoke as he showed Chris.

“Ayen, could we also get the oysters?” Chan asked curiously.

I.N. wrote everything down. He turned to look at you. “What would you like, Mama Bear?” He asked you with a sweet smile.

“I think I’ll have the chicken, please, Sweetheart.” You told him after finally deciding.

“Ayen. Call the waiter.” Chan told him.

The man put his hand up. “Okay. Excuse me!” He spoke in English.

“Xcuse me.” Chan reminded him.

“Xcuse me?” I.N. spoke again, trying to get the waiter to come over.

The waitress came over.

“He’s going to be in charge of ordering for us.” Chan explained to her.

“Okay.” The woman nodded as she moved to look at your youngest member, who was preparing himself to speak the orders out in English.

“Let’s go.” Han was clearly excited.

“One barramundi.” I.N started, holding one finger up. “One salmon, two steaks.”

“How do you want the steaks cooked?” The woman asked as she wrote everything down.

“Uhh-” He turned to Han. “Medium?” He asked the male, who confirmed that medium was good for him.

“Medium!” Seungmin called out.

“Both medium?” The waitress asked.

I.N. nodded. “Yes, medium.”

“Wait, I.N. I want mine medium rare.” Han made sure to speak in Korean. “Change one to medium rare.”

I.N. nodded. “One steak is medium rare.” He continued to order the food. You took out your phone to take a quick picture. You were incredibly proud of him.

“That’s all.” He said before the waitress walked away.

“Well done, Innie.” You told him, causing the male to blush as he drank his drink.

“We have two Instax cameras here.” Chan explained.

The boys instantly grabbed them and complimented them on how pretty they looked and how they had real leather. Han even took a picture of I.N.

Seungmin sat on his phone, looking up trends. “Do we have SKZOO dolls?” He asked curiously.

Felix got up and grabbed a bag before going over to Seungmin. He handed out the Skzoos to everyone.

You smiled happily, holding your Mama Bear Skzoo. You ran your thumb over her fluffiness.

“I’m hungry.” Han complained. “I.N., ask how long the food will take.”

I.N. sighed. “How long does it take?” He laughed before turning to look at Felix. “How do you say that in English?”

“How long does it take?” Felix asked.

Chan spoke up. “How long does the food take.” He said in English.

I.N. immediately began practising, wanting to get it right. “Excuse me? How long does the food take?” He asked the waitress once he was prepared.

“Like five more minutes.” The waitress told him.

“I see, thank you.” I.N. told the woman.

You grabbed one of the cameras and took a few pictures. One of the views, one of the boys all talking, one of Felix and Hyunjin, one of Minho playing with Leebit and one of Han taking a picture of the others. You then took a picture of I.N. mid-laugh.

“You did really well, sweetheart.” You told him. “I’m proud of you.”

“English scares me.” He told you.

You ruffled his hair and shook your head. “You’re getting better. They’ll come a day when it won’t seem as scary anymore.”

Drinks were soon brought to the table. You smiled seeing your favourite.

“I haven’t had Schweppes in forever.” Chan stated as he grabbed one of the lemonade cans.

Seungmin stood up. “Should we film a clip with these?” He asked.

“Let’s do that toast thing….a boomerang?” Hyunjin suggested.

Seungmin nodded. “Ah, toast boomerang.”

The boys stood up, all moving their drinks back and forth.

Seungmin put PuppyM on the table. “Let’s put all nine together.” He said, causing the group to gather around and put their SKZoos in a circle.

Once they were sorted, he did a countdown. “One, two, three!” He began to film.

“Eh, oh!” You all said as you moved your drinks in and out of the circle, above the SKZoos in sync.

You all sat down as the food came over. “Thank you.” You said as your plate was placed in front of you.

“Where is the lamb shoulder?” I.N. asked as he was the only one to not received his food.

You took a picture of your chicken, but didn’t eat it yet. The others all dug in. You did cut up some chicken and put it on a fork. You then got up and walked over to I.N.

“Innie-ah.” You said, causing him to look at you. He opened his mouth instantly, letting you feed him the chicken.

He chewed and let out a satisfied hum. “Hmm, that’s so yummy.” He told you with a smile on his face.

Changbin followed your lead and fed I.N. a piece of salmon. “The salmon is so tender.” I.N. commented.

You sat back down, feeding Felix, Hyunjin and Minho some of your chicken. Minho let you try some of his pasta.

“Changbin, can I have a bite?” Hyunjin asked him hopefully as he immediately stood up.

“Sure.” Changbin let Hyunjin try some of his food.

“Wow.” Hyunjin exclaimed, clearly impressed with the grown-up food.

“Pure Australian beef.” Han connected as he cut into his steak. “Didn’t Chan do an ad with this once?”

“Yeah.” Chan confirmed with a laugh as Han fed I.N. some of his beef. “That’s good.” Han then fed a piece to Hyunjin.

Felix looked at Minho. “How is it?” He asked him curiously.

“Do you want to try?” Minho asked the blonde as he pushed the dish over to him.

Felix nodded. “Just one bite.” He said before trying some of the pasta.

“All three ordered from the kids' menu.” Chan laughed, pointing at Minho, Felix and Hyunjin.

“What’d you order?” Minho asked Chan as Seungmin came over to you to try your chicken.

“I got fish.” Chan said happily as you fed a piece of chicken to Seungmin. The man gave you a thumbs-up.

“I want some!” Minho jumped up and practically marched over to Chan; Feix and Hyunjin weren’t far behind him. The three looked like children ready to try grown-up food.

“Did I.N. even order?” Hyunjin asked as he went back to his seat after trying the fish.

“My lamb shoulder.” The youngest commented.

Minho looked at you as he sat down and raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you eating?” He asked you quietly.

“I’m waiting for Innie’s food to get here. I feel weird eating when one of you boys isn’t.” You explained to him.

Minho nodded. He had noticed this pattern with you before. Always waiting for everyone’s food to arrive and for everyone to take a bite before you even pick up for fork or chopsticks. “He wouldn’t mind. You know that.” He told you as he handed you your fork.

“I know. I just..i don’t know.” You shrugged, not sure how to explain it, but Minho understood. He always did. It was why Minho was your best friend. He understood what you meant. The two of you just understood each other, even without words.

Finally, I.N.’s food came. He cut into it and had a bite. “The meats’ evenly cooked.” He said as you stood up. You got a quick picture of all eight boys enjoying their food.

“Honey, come try.” Jeongin said, holding his fork up with some lamb on it.

You walked over and ate the forkful of food. You let out a hum as the meat practically melted in your mouth. “Ah, that’s so good.”

Chan smiled as he watched Seumgin stand beside you, over I.N.’s shoulder and take a forkful of lamb to try. “Honey, come try some of this.” Chan said, beckoning you over to try his fish.

You bounced over to your boyfriend and leaned forward, letting him feed you. You closed your eyes and did a little dance. “Mm. It tastes yummy. Good choice, Channie.” He beamed at you and shook his head. “You’re cute.” He told you, causing you to fluster. On your way back to your seat, you tried Seungmin and Changbin’s food as well.

You sat down and dug into your chicken. Thankfully, it hadn’t gone cold.

“We’re going to go on a yacht now. Should we go to it?” Chan asked the group once everyone was done eating.

“Yes!” You all exclaimed.

“From the outback to the city and the ocean, come to Australia, where everywhere you go is beautiful!” Chan said, looking at the camera.

Felix spoke up next. “So, what are you waiting for? Come and say-”

“G’day!” You all shouted at the same time. A chip flew off of Felix’s fork and onto Mino’s lap, who simply put a thumbs up.

—---------------

You stood on the yacht making your way to the third deck, where you took a picture of Hyunjin and Jeongin doing the Titanic pose. Of course, Hyunjin was Rose, and I.N. was Jack.

“This is so nice.” You heard Hyunjin say before you walked down to the second deck. The rest of the boys went to the third deck, leaving you and Chan to enjoy the view on your own on the second deck.

You stood at the railing, taking pictures of the view. Arms wrapped around you from behind. Chan placed a kiss on the shell of your ear.

“This is nice. The view, being back home with you.” Chan said as he held you close.

“Yeah, it is. It’s so pretty here. The water is so blue.” You told him as you held your phone up to take a selfie of you both. It was a picture that would stay private. It would go on your private Instagram account, and the picture would find its way to your desk in your room. It was nice. Chan is hugging you from behind, your hair blowing slightly from the breeze. Chan pressed a kiss to your temple; you were both smiling brightly and naturally in the picture. But it wasn’t the only picture taken of the two of you. Because once you put your phone away, the two of you stay there. Wrapped up in each other.

Seungmin had gotten a picture of the two of you. The boys had been ready to head downstairs but paused before getting to the stairs to watch you both. You both looked peaceful, forgetting everything around you as you relaxed, taking in the view and enjoying being together. You had changed position. Both stood in front of the railing, side by side. Chan’s right arm was wrapped around your waist, and his body turned to face you. Your head rested on his chest, your arms wrapped around him, your left hand on his back, and your right on his chest near your head, clenching onto his shirt. In the picture, you were looking at the view. But Chan, he was looking at you with so much love in his eyes.

Seungmin took a picture because it was a beautiful moment. It was you and Chan getting to be together and relax. And all seven men could see how relaxed you both looked in that moment, wrapped up in each other.

“They are so beautiful together.” Hyunjin said with a dreamy voice as he watched the two of you.

“It’s nice seeing them like that. Together, in love. Relaxing.” Felix said from his spot beside Changbin, watching you both like a child who was watching their parents’ love story.

“They need to hurry up and get married.”Minho commented as he walked down the steps.

Han suddenly began to sing. “There you see her. Sitting there across the way. She don’t got a lot to say, but there’s something about her.” He started to sing ‘Kiss the Girl’ from The Little Mermaid. All the boys soon began to join in, harmonising beautifully together as they became the background music for your and Chan’s moment.

—

Inside the yacht, the nine of you sat together on the couch. Chan, you, I.N. Felix, Hyunjin, Han, Seungmin, Minho and then Changbin.

“Play as we are.” Han said as he passed Seungmin the guitar.

“You know the chorus, right?” Seungmin asked curiously before playing the song.

Han immediately began to sing, I.N. joined in as Hyunjin laughed to himself on the floor.

Changbin joined in on the song, and the three did an amazing job harmonising together.

–

Back on the third deck, you were taking pictures of Felix for him. “Turn to your left a little, baby. There you go.” You said as you snapped the picture. You got some nice posed ones and some perfect in-the-moment pictures. You sneakily got a picture of Han playing the guitar as Hyunjin danced. It actually turned out really good.

Minho came to join you all, the six of you singing together, and Hyunjin continued to dance. You took more pictures of the boys. Of Binnie with a nice background. Of I.N. and Felix are resting on the sunbed. Of Hyunjin twirling around. Minho and Han sat side by side.

Changbin came up to you as you all sang, getting you in the video he was taking on his phone.

Chan and Seungmin came to join you all. Felix got a good picture of you and Chan in front of the Opera House as you went past it.

Eventually, the boys left the third floor as the wind picked up. Felix, Changbin and Minho all lay on the floor together. You took a picture before joining them. Your head rested on Felix’s thigh, and Chanbin’s head rested on your knee. Minho’s head was on Changin’s leg, and Felix’s head was on Minho’s thigh. After a while, you all got up, heading inside.

—-

You sat on the couch in the corner beside Minho and Seungmin. You were looking out the window as some of the boys decided to play Halli Galli. The first two to play were Seungmin and Changbin. You and Minho switched seats, so he was next to Han, and you could lie down, putting your head on Chan’s lap, his fingers gently played with your hair.

Seungmin was making you giggly. He was sulking because Changbin kept winning, and then he moved the bell. But still, he lost again.

“Seumgin is super bad at Halli Galli.” Han sang. It felt like since you had set foot on the yacht, it had turned into a musical.

Seumgin finally won, but only because he cheated, causing everyone to laugh.

The guitar was passed to Hyunjin as Han decided to focus on watching the game. Seungmin was ultimately the winner.

You were all soon told that advanced swimmers could go in the water.

“I want to go in!” Hyunjin commented.

“Should we?” Felix asked as the two turned to look at each other.

“Let’s do it.” Hyunjin nodded as I.N. took the guitar.

“Yes! Let’s go swimming.” You said with a big smile on your face, excited to get in the water.

“AussieRacha.” Chan comments as he gestures to himself, Felix, you and Hyunjin.

“AussieRACHA.” Hyunjin said with a grin.

“A.R.” Felix smiled.

“Why am I Aussieracha?” Hyunjin asked, pointing to himself.

“Aussie boy Hyunjin.” Chan grinned as he shook his hands in the air.

“Wait, what about me? I’m from England.” You said in confusion.

Chan smiled at you. “You’ll be Aussie once we’re married.”

—

The four of you got changed and stood on the deck. You were waiting for Felix, who was still changing.

“Felix, where are you?” Chan called out.

“Yongbokkie!” You called out.

“Hyunjin!” Han called to the male. “Just dive in.”

“Yah! Honey! Nice skirt!” Changbin told you. You loved your bathing suit; it had a cute skirt attached to it.

“Thank you, Binnie Boo.” You waved happily at him as he and the rest of the boys watched you all.

Hyunjin and Chan did push up before ending at the edge, ready to get in. Han shouted a countdown. Hyunjin dived in, causing you all to cheer.

You clapped happily as you watched him swim to the floaty pad thing attached to the yacht.

Chan smoothly got into the water and began to swim. Hyunjin dived in to join him.

You watched them fondly before doing some push-ups, and you put on your goggles before walking to the edge. You jumped into the water, spinning as you did so. The boys all let out excited screams for you.

You swam to the surface and swam over to Chan and Hyunjin. It was cold, but you were slowly getting used to the temperature.

Felix came to stand on the desk, finally dressed for the water. He watched the three of you swim to the pad and get on it. Felix quickly did some leg exercises and push-ups.

“Lixie, come join us, Sunshine.” You called out to him from your spot on the pad.

Felix ran forward and did a frontflip into the water, causing everyone to cheer. Felix screamed from the temperature and swam to the three of you, joining you on the floaty.

Hyunjin walked back into the water and swam away a little. Felix followed him, before he hit the water, felt how cold it was and got back on the floaty. Causing you and Chan to laugh.

You smiled and dived back into the water, swimming over to Hyunjin. The two of you held hands as you swam around together. You watched from the water as Hyunjin swam back to Felix and Chan. Suddenly, the two younger ones were trying to push Chan in, causing Felix to slip.

“Lixie, be careful!” You told him.

Chan got into the water and swam over to you. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you close. He brushed some wet strands of hair out of your face, causing you you smile shyly. The two of you swam back to the pad and held on as you watched Hyunjin and Felix try to push each other off of it, only for them both to fall into the water at the same time.

You laughed as Felix swam quickly to the pass and got onto it, Hyunjin wasn’t far behind him.

“It’s so cold.” The blonde spoke as Hyunjin began doing push-ups. Felix quickly joined him. You swam over to them and smiled. “You’re both goons.” You stuck your tongue out at them. Both males rushed forward to get you, and you swam backwards, causing the two to fall in again. They got you back by pulling you under the water by your ankles. Chan promptly saved you from the water demons.

Eventually, though, the four of you had to get back on the boat, returning to your cheerleading squad as the rest of the members cheered for the four of you. Once you were dry, you looked through the pictures that Seungmin got of you in the water.

==================

By the time you got to where you would be staying for the night, it was dark out. You walked into the building, taking off your shoes and putting on the slippers.

“Ohh, this is nice.” You said, looking around.

The boys all commented on how beautiful and luxurious it was.

You all looked through the house, checking out the room. You found yourself upstairs with Hyunjin on the balcony of the master bedroom. I.N. took a cute picture of you, both with the view in the background. The three of you then got a nice selfie together.

You eventually made your way downstairs after everyone else was already down there. You walked outside, where Felix was getting ready to cook the meat. Hyunjin and Minho were sat together talking.

You raised an eyebrow watching Hyunjin grind some pepper into his drink before drinking it.

“I think that’s pretty nice.” Hyunjin said softly.

“Does it not harm the flavour of the beer?” Minho asked him curiously.

“Yeah, the flavour is the same. But the fragrance is better now.” Hyujin explained as he put the lid on the pepper. “Jeongin, come here.” He spoke gently to the Makenae. He held up his drink as the younger male walked over to him, camera ready. “Here, cheers. Like this is whisky.”

I.N. took the picture. “Looks pretty good.” He commented as you came to stand beside Feix, watching him with the meat.

He turned to try to turn on the grill as Chan came to join you.

“How do you turn this thing on?”Felix asked in confusion.

“I think it is on.” Chan said as Hyunjin went behind it. “Don’t you need to open the valve?” Hyunjin asked.

“Don’t you need a torch?” Minho asked, putting a hand over the grill.

“It’s not working.” Felix pouted as the four of them tried to figure it out. Seungmin took a picture as you made your way over to try to help.

“What if it’s broken?” Minho asked.

“Here it is!” Hyunjin exclaimed after fiddling around with the grill, turning it on. “Am I a genius?” He asked.

You giggled and nodded. “You sure are, Jinnie. Beauty and brains.”

Hyunjin beamed at your words as Felix patted him on the back. “Good man.”

Felix returned to the meat. “Can anyone play some music?” He asked.

“Our music?” Hyunjin asked.

“Yes.” Felix confirmed.

Hyunjin put on ‘Runners’ as the first song and immediately sang along.

Felix picked up some seasonings. “Do we all eat truffle?” He asked.

“Let’s use that for dipping.” Minho pipped up.

“Just season with salt for now, Yongbookie.” You told the blonde as you watched him salt the meat.

Minho nodded in agreement from his spot between you and Hyunjin. “We can add pepper later.”

You both wanted to help, but you weren’t allowed to cook. It was all down to Felix and Jisung.

Felix put the meat on the grill. However, Chan did put the pepper on the meat that was on the grill, confusing Felix. “Oh, it doesn’t matter?” He asked. “Lee Know said to add pepper later.”

You watched Felix grill the meat. You wanted to help, but you knew you had to let him do it on his own. “You’re doing well, Angel.” You told him as you placed a hand on the small of his back.

Felix looked at you with an appreciative smile. “Thank you.”

You nodded gently as you brought him a plate to put the meat on.

“I think it is done.” Felix said.

“You have to cut this.” Changbin told him.

“Do we have scissors?” Seungmin asked him curiously.

“I will give you. Felix! Just a moment! I think there is scissors.” Changbin spoke entirely in English as he went on a mission to find scissors for Felix. You were pretty proud of him. Changbin came back, now speaking Korean again. “Yongbok-ah! I found scissors! Cut it up quickly.”

You and Hyunjin both laughed, seeing that he was not holding scissors. You shook your head, heading inside to get a knife, bringing it out to Felix so he could cut the meat.

“With Yonhgbok’s added touch.” Hyunjin started.

“We won’t even need salt.” Changbin added.

You grabbed a second knife, opting to help Felix cut the meat. Technically, this wasn’t cooking, it was cutting. There was a difference.

“I’m hungry, h-h-hungry.” Seungmin sang as he tapped his belly. Changbin quickly joined in.

“Food will be done soon, my loves.” You told them as you continued cutting the meat.

“Maybe we should all cut our own.” Minho said, gaining Felix’s attention.

“Do you all want to slice your own?” He asked.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Minho said.

“That sounds better.” Felix nodded as Hyunjin held out a plate for him to put the beef on. As he did that, you walked over to the beef on the grill and flipped it. You grabbed a plate, putting the beef on it, letting Felix put the lamb onto the grill.

Chan ended up giving up watching, much like you had. He came to stand beside you at the grill and began to season the lamb.

Soon enough, the food was done. Everyone gathered around the table.

“I think Yongbokie grilled about 60 servings of meat today.” Hyunjin said proudly.

Everyone clapped. “Thank you, Yongbok.”

“Grill some more for me at the house.” Seungmin said happily as he looked at his food.

“But Chan helped out a lot, really, and so did Honey.” Felix said, trying to pass the credit around. You shook your head. “I didn’t do anything.” You said with a shrug.

“This is classic Australian barbecue sauce.” Chan stated as he put a bit on everyone’s plate.

“Streak grilled by Yonkbokie.” Hyunjin said, dipping a cut of his meat into the sauce and eating it, happily.

“Steak Yongbok by grill.” Minho replied. He paused, realising what he had said. “Yongbok by grill.” He laughed, making you giggle.

“That’s good.” Hyunjin commented. “Mmm! You’re good at grilling.”

You walked over to Chan with his plate, feeding him his beef as he helped grill the lamb, leaving Felix to relax for a moment and eat the beef he had cooked.

“Chan’s the lamb expert.” Felix said, turning to look at you both as Chan put the lamb on a plate once it was done cooking.

“No, my dad’s the lamb expert.” He said before putting some lamb on everyone’s plate.

The boys all tucked into their food.

“How do you get the meat to taste like this?” Seungmin asked curiously. “It tastes exactly like your dad’s lamb.”

“Yeah!” Hyunjin agreed. “Like father, like son.”

You stood beside Chan, continuing to feed both him and yourself as he grilled the rest of the lamb. “Maybe our future kids will inherit the lamb grilling genes.” You spoke quietly to him.

Chan looked at you with a smile, a real bright smile. “Yeah? You think so?” He asked you.

“I know so. With you as their father, all our future kids are gonna be talented as hell.” You grinned proudly.

“We would make cute babies. They’d known how to cook. It would be nice.” He told you. He loved talking with you about the future you want together.

You and Chan walked over to the others in time to hear Seungmin speak. “Worst ramyeon of 2024.”

“It tastes just like noodles.” Han commented after trying the ramyeon he had made for everyone.

“Is it that bad?” Chan asked as he got you both a bowl of noodles.

“Let’s say it brings out natural flavours.” Minho explained sweetly.

“It’s just ramyeon-scented water.” Han said honestly.

“It’s like Pyongyaang naengmyeon!” Changbin exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh. “It’s bland and not too spicy, so I keep going back.”

“I keep eating it though.” Seungmin said as you tried the ramyeon.

“It’s a new flavour.” Felix said before blowing on the noodles to get it to cool down so he could eat more.

“The ramyeon is the best.” Chan commented as he ate his food.

“Yeah, we finished this ramyeon.” Hyunjin agreed.

“Skrr!” Han was clearly happy.

“It’s not spicy, so you keep eating it.” Minho said as he added more to his now-empty dish.

“It’s diet ramyeon.” Hyunjin nodded as he ate more.

“Because if I made it regularly, you’d all bloat tomorrow.” Han told the group.”We have to shoot early in the morning.”

“Han is so considerate.” Hyunjin smiled as you continued to eat your food. Chan fed you some ramyeon.

“Who hasn’t completed their to-do list?” Seungmin questioned.

“I would have died if I did.” Minho said seriously.

“Yeah, the waves were really wild.” I.N. said in agreement. “Are we going swimming at the beach again tomorrow?”

“We have to.” Minho replied.

“Yeah, Lee Know wants to!” Hyunjin said, pointing to Minho, who was right next to him, before leaning his arm on his shoulder.

Minho laughed as Felix put some lamb on his plate. “You’ll see me crawling on the shallow end.”

“Hey, try swimming in the sand.” Changbin smirked.

“Knock it off.” Minho told him as he turned to face the male.

“All right.”

“I have to go shopping tomorrow, what should I get?” Hyunjin asked.

“You can’t write anything down; you have to remember everything.” Chan reminded him.

“But I can only remember two items.” Hyunjin pouted.

“Hey, take I.N. to pay for the items.” Minho suggested.

“You’re right.” Hyunjin perked up.

“That’ll make some memories.” I.N. said, scratching his head. “Don’t bother me.”

“I.N., am I bothering you?” Hyunjin asked him.

“Yeah, you are,” I.N. replied.

Everyone was soon done eating, prompting Chan to tell the group that you would all be playing a game.

“What game?” Han asked curiously.

“What pyjamas are we going to wear and which rooms are we going to sleep in.” Chan explained.

“We have to decide bedroom?” Minho asked.

Before you all went in, you took a group photo at the railing on the balcony with the SKZoo plushies.

—----------

Once inside, Chan and Felix sat down on the floor facing the couch. Hyunjin, I.N., Han, Changbin, Minho and Seungmin all squeezed onto the couch. You were about to sit on the floor in front of them when Han pulled you onto his lap. Hyunjin wrapped an arm around Jeongin’s shoulder.

“Stray Kids, did you enjoy dinner?” Chan asked you all.

“Yes!” You spoke happily. “Yongbokie and Hannie did an excellent job.”

“But the lamb was the least impressive.” Minho said to Chan.

“Oh really? So the lamb was a no?” Minho just nodded.

Chan stood up. “Now we have to sleep here later.”

“So we have to decide on pyjamas?” Han asked as he played with one of the rings on your hand. It was a ring that Felix and Hyunjin had gotten you for your birthday a few years ago.

“That’s right.”Chan nodded as he stood beside Seungmin, his hand on his shoulder.

“Director, please hurry up with the props.” Minho said to Felix, making you giggle.

“Director Bbok!” Hyunjin called out.

“Director!” Han shouted, causing you to lean away from him and rub your ear.

Felix came back to everyone and placed a chair in the centre of the room with three bags. Tops, bottoms and accessories.

“We’re going to hold A or B up from behind, and the person sitting has to choose one.” Chan said with a smile as he explained the game.

“That sounds fun.” Seungmin said, rubbing the neck of his neck.

“Honey, you’re up first.” Chan told you as Han tapped your thigh.

You walked over to the chair and sat down.

Behind you, you could hear Chan and Felix looking through the clothes. “She’d look cute in that.” You hear Hyunjin say.

You waited and thought for a moment. “You should pick A.” Minho told you. I.N. disagreed. “Pick B.” He told you. You frowned, trying to figure out which to go for. “B.” You said finally.

Then came the bottoms. All the boys seemed to want you to pick A, so you did. Lastly, you picked B again. After hearing Hyunjin say it would look cute on you, followed by Seungmin confirming his words.

You stood up, seeing you had picked an oversized shirt that would probably swallow you whole. It kind of reminded you of some of Chan’s shirts that you slept in sometimes. Your bottoms were a cute pair of fluffy shorts that had teddy bears on them. Your accessory was a red bow. You happily took your outfit from Felix with a smile.

“I’d legit wear this on a normal night.” You said happily as you sat down next to I.N., you began playing with the boy in your hand.

“Lee Know will go next.” Chan announced.

And soon the game started. Lee Know chose B, a money shirt. He chose B again for the bottoms. He then chose A, a bunny headband, for his accessory.

Minho got up and was handed his outfit. He was pretty happy with his outfit. It looked comfortable. “Okay, thank you.”

“Next is Seo Changbin.”

“If I don’t like mine, I’m going to sleep naked.” Changbin said once he was seated. He chose A, a flowery top, after hearing Hyunjin say he should pick A. For his bottoms, he picked B, a pair of pink shorts with a built-in butt. He picked B after hearing Hyunjin, I.N., and Han say he should.

“You weren’t this mean to Lee Know. Do you have a problem with me?” Changbin told the group. However, he doomed himself to wearing a hula skirt after listening to Minho, Hyunjin and I.N. telling him to pick A.

Next up was Hyunjin. Minho got up, wanting to help pick something for Hyunjin, much to Hyunjin’s displeasure.

“Don’t like Minho do it.” Hyunjin complained.

“You know I love you, Hyunjin.” Minho said excitedly as he dug through the basket.

Hyunjin went for A, after Minho said to go for B. Poor Hyunjin fell for Lino’s trap. He then picked A, sparkly red pants, after Minho said to pick them. Lastly, he picked B, a headband, after Minho and Seungmin told him it was better. However, Han grabbed the gloves that Cha had previously held and swapped them with the headband.

Everyone laughed as Hyunjin turned to look at his outfit. “This is nice.” Hyunjin told you all.

Han went next and ended up picking a matching top and bottoms. A fuzzy PJ set with cute yellow ducks on it. It looked comfy and cosy. His accessory was a pair of toe socks.

Next was Seungmin, who ended up with a black tank top, which everyone was excited about. He then picked A, a pair of pj pants that Chan and Felix had cut before the game. The boys were all going crazy with laughter. He picked B for his accessory, a headband.

“It’s funny because you got the tank top.” Changbin told him with a grin.

“I accept it.” Seungmin said as he picked up his clothes.

I.N. was next. He was clearly nervous. Minho tried to sway him to pick B, the Hawaiian shirt the boys had cut.

“I think A would suit him much better.” You said, looking at the blue shirt Felix held in his hands with a giant heart cut into the back of it.

“A.” I.N. said, following your voice.

“Good choice, baby boy.” You told him, proud that he had listened to you.

He then went on to pick B, a pair of neon green shorts and B again, white socks.

“That’s going to be cold.” The Maknae stated as he looked at his outfit.

You patted his back. “You can borrow my hoodie if you get too cold, sweetheart.”

Next up was Chan. You all crowded around. He picked B all three times. It was cute, light blue shorts and a dress-type thing. With a headhand with pigtails.

“It’s actually kind of sexy.” Hyunjin said as he sat on the couch, pulling you by the hand to sit next to him. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you close.

You watched as it was Felix’s turn. Though it didn’t matter what the blonde picked, as the boys all made sure he wore what they wanted him to wear. A cropped Hawaiian shirt, leopard print bottoms and a yellow hula skirt.

Felix stood up and looked at his outfit. “That’s so bad.” He said pouting.

“Don’t worry, sunshine, you’ll look great in it.” You told him, causing him to smile at you.

“Why does my outfit look the worst? I think mine is the worst.” Hyunji asked as he held up his outfit.

“I want to swap.” Felix said as he sat down next to you. You were happy with your outfit, so you didn’t need to swap.

“Do you want to play a swap game?” Chan asked with a grin.

“Okay.” Hyunjin said.

“Let’s decide by rock, paper, scissors.” Han added.

Everyone’s names were in a dish. Minho won rock, paper, scissors, so he got to pick the names. The two who were swapping outfits were Chan and Hyunjin. Everyone then went to get changed.

===========

You put on your outfit, and you felt comfortable. You had braided your hair, clipping the bow at the top of the braid. You posed in front of the camera, before walking to the couch, you almost slipped but studied yourself. You then sat on the couch, Chan's hoodie on your lap. Minho came in next and sat down beside you. Then came Chagbin and Hyunjin.

“Hyunjin, you look pretty.” You told him with a smile. He pouted at you.

Then came Han, who looked adorable. Then Seungmin. I.N. was next, followed by Chan and then Felix.

You noticed I.N. turned his back to everyone. So you walked over to him and gently felt his back. “Ah, Innie. When did you get so muscly?” You asked as he flexed. Felix and Chan also felt his back. But you moved your hand up to his shoulder. Jeongin continued to flex, enjoying the attention.

Chan pulled you away. “That’s enough of that.” He said with a tut. You looked up at him. “Can I feel your muscles?” You asked him hopefully as you moved a hand to his arm.

“Yah! Stop flirting!” Changbin told you both, making you jump.

“Aw, Binnie, I can feel your muscles if you really want me to.” You told him teasingly.

“Anyway, we’re all ready for bed. But now we have to decide where to sleep.” Chan said, changing the topic.

On the tv screen showed the layout of the rooms.

“The first room is actually the best because it has a bathroom.” Chan explained. It was a Queen bed.

The next two rooms were shared by two beds. Allowing two people in both rooms. Then on the second floor was a king-sized bed that two people could share. Plus, in that room was a second, much smaller bed too.

Each bed was labelled 1 through 8.

“So where does number nine sleep?” You asked.

Chan looked at you. “They can either share the queen bed or sleep on the couch.”

“We’re going to play our music videos. Call out the exact time of the video. Whoever’s still frame has the most people wins.” Chan told the group as he sat in front of the laptop.

Case 143 was the first video that was picked.

“Who’s ready?” Chan asked.

“I’ll go.” Han announced. “I choose two minutes, 12.35 seconds.”

Changbin's choice was 57.05 seconds.

Hyunjin picked 58.05 seconds.

“That’s way too similar to mine.” Changbin told him. “You’re going to have to share a queen bed with me.”

“No. Now I really have to do well in this game.” Hyunjin told the group.

“Go with 57.06 seconds instead.” Chanbin told the dark-haired male.

“Okay. .06 seconds it is.” Hyunjin confirmed.

I.N. choice one minute, 52.30 seconds.

One minute, 05.06 was Feix’s choice.

Seungmin picked two minutes, twenty-nine seconds.

“I’ll choose..hmm…I’ll choose after you go.” Minho said, looking at Chan.

Chan chose three minutes and twenty-five seconds.

Minho decided on one minute and seven seconds.

You decided on two minutes, four seconds.

“Wait, are we counting hands and feet?” Hyunjin asked curiously.

“No, it has to have the face.” Minho explained.

“Then let’s say half a face counts.” Hyunjin nodded. “Same with ears.”

Once the rules were set, Chan started going through all the clips. His only had one person, Minho.

“You got Lee Know!” Minho spoke with joy in his voice.

You got three people. A very clear shot of Danceracha. “Ohh, very pretty.” You said with a smile.

“Woah, that’s such a clear shot.” Hyunjin said, impressed.

Lee Know was next. He had three people.

Changbin got nine people.

Hyunjin got six.

Han got three people.

Felix and Seungmin got four people.

I.N. got 18. “This is what I deserve for watching so many music videos.”

“I’m so jealous.” Han told the group.

Everyone clapped as Chan announced I.N. the winner of that round.

“Nice practice game, let’s really start now.” Minho said, ready to win.

“No. I want the first room on the first floor.” I.N. said, pointing to the room on the laptop.

“Then I want the private bathroom there.” Changbi told him, causing I.N. to clap.

“Where do you want to sleep Changbin?” Chan asked him.

Changbin grinned. “Hyunjin, do you want bed two or three?” He asked, clearly wanting to room with Hyunjin. “I’ll have two. We’re always rooming together. You don’t have to room with me.” He said, causing Hyunjin to laugh.

“Okay, I’ll choose number three.” Hyunjin said.

Changbin sighed. “So sick of rooming with you.”

A second round was done to break the ties.

“They’d use three and four anyway, no?” Minho asked guestering to Felix and Seungmin.

You nodded. Felix and Seungmin often room together.

“I choose two minutes and forty seconds.” Felix said confidently.

“I’ll go with two minutes and fifty-nine seconds.” Seungmin decided.

Felix had eight people, with one person being hidden.

Seungmin was the winner, getting around ten people.

“I have a feeling you’ll be roommates.” Minho told the duo. He was right as Seungmin chose bed number five and Felix chose bed number four, making them roommates.

“This is just like at home.”

“Yeah, these are all just the same roommates.” Hyunjin confirmed.

There was another round to break the tie between you, Minho and Han.

“But you’ll be roommates anyway.” Seungmin mentioned.

“Kind of. There’s a twin bed and a single bed. Plus, somehow can still room with Innie.” You explained.

“I want Chan and Lee Know to share a bed.” Hyunjin announced.

“Yeah, the two oldest guys!” Changbin agreed.

“It’d be the first time in a long time.” Chan said, looking at Minho.

“Uh?” Minho asked, flustered.

“We shared a bed when we were trainees.” Chan reminded him.

“Yeah.” Minho nodded before shifting the attention off of himself. “I think Honey should share with I.N. Mother and son, all snuggled up.” He teased, causing I.N. to go red shyly.

It wouldn’t be the first time you two had shared a bed.

“The second floor is screwed,” Seungmin said.

“Two minutes, 55.55 seconds.” Han said, deciding on his time.

Minho picked one minute, 23.45 seconds.

You decided on two minutes and nineteen seconds.

Minho got three people, again.

You got one person, Hyunjin.

Han got darkness.

“Can I choose mine now?” Minho asked about the beds. He then picked the single bed.

You let Han pick before you. He picked one side of the double bed.

That left you and Chan. One would share a bed with I.N. or sleep on the couch, and one with Han. You both shared a look before looking at the two males.

“I’ll take the couch.” You said with a nod. You knew I.N. was excited to have his own room, and you wanted Chan to sleep on a bed.

Chan looked at you and shook his head. “I’m not letting you sleep on the couch.”

“You’re not letting me do anything, I’m choosing.”You explained to him as you leaned back on your hands.

“You’re not sleeping on the couch; I will. You can share the king bed with Han.” Chan told you.

“No, you take the bed.” You let out a sigh.

The boys all watched as the two of you spoke. Their eyes were slightly wide as they listened to you both try to fight for the other to take the bed.

“Honey, I’m serious. Just take the bed.” Chris said as he looked at you.

“No. You need a decent night's sleep, and you ain’t gettin that on a couch Are ya?” You asked him.

Chan ran his tongue over his teeth and sucked in a breath.

“She can share my bed.” I.N. pipped in, not wanting the two of you to argue.

You both looked at the Maknae. “You sure, sweetheart?” You asked the male, and he nodded.

“I’ll room with I.N then. Han, have fun sleeping with Chan. He’s a cuddler.” You told him with a bright smile.

“We’re done…but there's a twist!” Chan announced.

“Are we having a draw?” Minho asked.

“You always need a twist at the end,” Han said in agreement.

“Let’s play rock, paper, scissors, now!” Minho told the group.

“But you know what the real fun thing would be?” Changbin asked. “If we just started over. All nine of us.”

“I.N. included,” Minho stated.

“No, let’s leave I.N. out.” Hyunjin said in defence of I.N.

“Why should we? Do you pity, I.N.? There’s no other choice. Don’t be the youngest then!” Changbin stated, causing the group to laugh.

You smacked the back of Changbin’s head, not too hard. “Yah! You leave him out of this.”

“Is this how you’re going to play it?” I.N. asked, looking at Changbin.

“It’s only one night!” Changbin exclaimed.

“Okay, let’s do it!” Minho said.

“What was the first round for then!” I.N. exclaimed loudly. He had won fair and square.

“I’m sure you’ll win again, Innie.” You told him as you placed a hand on his back.

“But I got first place.” I.N. complained. “So leave me out of this. I got first place!”

“You first, I.N.” Chan told him. Everyone picked a slip of paper. The name you get on the paper would be whose bed to switch to.

Changbin was happy getting I.N.’s room.

“This isn’t fair.” I.N. told the group.

“Don’t you have a heart, Changbin?” Hyunjin asked curiously.

“No.” Changbin had no shame.

“I got first place.” Jeongin said, walking to Changbin.

“You want to sleep in the first bed, I.N?” Changbin teased.

“Shut up!” Jeongin yelled at him.

Seungmin laughed. “He’s actually angry.”

“Let’s just keep the rooms how they are.” You suggested.

Seungmin quickly agreed. “Yeah. Let’s go back to the first result.”

“It’s just a prank, I.N. I can room with Hyunjin.” Changbin explained as he sat up in his seat.

“Yeah, room with Hyunjin.” I.N. told him.

“Let’s play again, without I.N.” Chan said excitedly.

Everyone laughed.

Changbin raised a hand. “Let me just say this, only battle between beds sixth to ninth.”

You let out a laugh.

“Let’s leave the happy ones out of this.” Hyunjin said as he sat down next to Changbin.

Everyone got up and left the room, all saying goodnight to each other.

You went to your and I.N.’s room to wash up. You brushed your teeth and did any skinchair you needed to do.

You exited the bathroom to see I.N. pushing Changbin out of the bedroom. “What’s going on?” You asked.

“He’s being annoying.” Jeongin explained as he walked to the bathroom.

“I’ll be back in a bit. I’m gonna make some tea.” You had trouble sleeping the first night in a new place and bed. So you had a feeling you may not get as much sleep as you want.

You made your way to the kitchen. You turned to look at Chan, who was walking to the couch, a blanket and pillow in his arms.

“What are you doing?” You asked him, arms crossed over your chest.

“Minho and Han are sharing the bed.” You knew he was self-conscious about his snoring. So he liked to keep himself away from the others when he slept. Never wanting to disturb their sleep.

You sighed and took his hand in yours. You helped him set up the couch. “Are you sure, Chris?” You asked him. “I don’t like the idea of you sleeping on the couch.”

Chan shrugged. “It’s not the first time. Besides, I’ll be fine. You can take the spare bed ad Innie can have his bed to himself.” He gently took the bow out of your hair.

You sighed. “I’ll make us some tea.” And you did. The two of you sat on the couch for an hour, just sipping your tea and talking. Relaxing. Eventually, though, Chan convinced you to go to bed. So you did. You checked on I.N. first, just like how you did every night. He was fast asleep. You turned off the lamp and left the room. Making sure to shut the door.

You then checked in on Hyunjin and Changbin. The two were fast asleep. Then you moved onto Felix and Seungmin’s room. You tucked them both in before leaving the room quietly. You walked over to Chan and pecked his lips. “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too.” He said, kissing you back.

You took the cooks to the kitchen and quickly cleaned them before heading to the second floor. Minho and Han were fast asleep, wrapped up in each other. You lie down on the spare bed, under the covers. You got some sleep. Not a lot, but enough.

—------

The next morning, you were the first awake. Mainly, because you didn’t sleep much. You showered and got changed into a cute but warm outfit. You brushed your teeth. You made yourself a coffee and sat on the balcony of the second floor, watching the view, taking pictures, and just enjoying the peace.

“Honey?” You heard Han ask as he arroched you, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Morning, baby.” You said, turning to face him.

He looked at you in confusion. “How long have you been out here? Did you sleep?”

“A few hours. I slept on the spare bed. Chan took the couch.” You explained, causing him to nod.

“Are you coming downstairs?” He was still waking up, and that was clear in his voice.

“I will soon, my lovely. You go and get ready.” You took a sip of your coffee.

Han went for a shower and got changed. He then went downstairs.

Eventually, someone came to sit beside you, Minho. The male was dressed and ready for the day. “Tell me you got some sleep.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I did. Not as much as I wanted, but enough.” You explained.

"How long have you been out here?" Minho asked, curiously.

"About an hour before the sun began to rise." Hours. That's what that meant, and Minho knew it.

"Was it nice?" He asked.

You handed him your phone and the pictures you took with the camera. He nodded as he looked at them. They were breathtaking pictures.

"These are beautiful. I like this one." He held up the one you took on your phone. It had been on a timer. It was you in your seat, holding your cup of coffee, wearing Chan's hoodie, watching the run rise. "You look peaceful in this one." He said as he sent the picture to Chan and to the group chat. It became your new contact photo in Minho's phone. It also became your Instagram profile pic.

"Thank you, Min" You spoke softly.

Minho nodded and patted your knee. “Promise me, you’ll try and get a nap in today.”

You slowly nodded and let out a smal sigh. “I’ll try. I promise if I find a moment, I’l try to take a nap.

Miho seemed pleased with your answer. He stood up and kissed your forehead. “Good girl.” He said before heading back inside.

—----

You sat outside beside Chan, with Berry in your lap, gently stroking her as she nuzzled into you.

“Berry!” You heard Seungmin call out to her from the balcony.

You picked her up and waved her paw at him, which he quickly got a video of, laughing and waving back. It was cute, two adorable dogs waving at each other.

I.N. came down to join you all.

“I should give her a treat.” Chan said.

Berry made her way over to I.N., who was croaching down. “Sit, Berry.” Berry sat. “She actually does it.” He said impressed.

You got a cute picture of I.N. and Berry. The I.N. got some pictures of Chan and Berry, Berry and you and then the three of you together.

Minho came out to join

You and Chan after I.N. went inside. “Channie, Paw.” Minho said, causing Chan to give him his hand. “Good boy.”

Minho sat away from the two of you, and Berry went with him, happy that Minho was stroking her.

“I’ve been abandoned.” Chan pouted. “Berry abandoned me.”

“You still have me.” You told him with a lazy smile.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah. I do.”

You crawled over to him, but your hand slipped, causing you to fall to the ground, causing Chris to laugh loudly.

—----

You sat in front of the house, doing your interview.

“It was nice to have the peace and quiet. Just getting to enjoy the view, watching the sun come up. It was utterly breathtaking. I love sleep, I hate not sleeping, but it’s moments like that that make it worth it.” You shrugged.

You suddenly saw something big in front of you. It looked like a spider. You screamed and fell back, backing away from it. “CHRIS!” You screamed, hoping he would come and save you. Only to then realise it was fake. It was a prank.

You let out an embarrassed laugh as Chan ran out of the house to find you. “What happened?” He asked.

You got up and hugged him, your head nuzzling into his chest. “Take me to Berry. These people are mean.” You pouted.

—-----------

You were back outside with Chan, I.N. and Berry as Changbin came over.

“How was the gallery?” You asked him curiously.

“It was nice.” He spoke honestly.

He handed you all drinks. “Since you’re Berry’s dad. A Berry berry.” He said, passing a drink to Chan, who thanked him.

Chanbin passed you your favourite drink and a cute button badge.

“Thank you, Boo.” You said before sipping your drink.

“You’re welcome. I thought you could add it to your collection. Oh, Hyunjinnie said he had something for you in the kitchen.” That had you raising an eyebrow.

You walked into the kitchen, seeing Han and Felix cooking.

“Honey, I got you something.” Hyunjin told you, handing you a bowl of strawberries.

“Thank you, my Prince.” You kissed his cheek and happily munched on the strawberries.

You sat down on the couch with Hyunjin, the two of you sharing your strawberries and the blackberries that Hyunjin had.

You both looked up as Han let out a surprised sound.

You both went over to try his soup. Turns out, it tasted pretty good.

“Mummy bear! Can you come try this, please?” Felix asked you. He held a spoon out to you. You tried some of the soup and hummed.

Hyunjin tried it after you and spoke up first. “It’s not seasoned, that’s the only thing.” He said.

You nodded. “Maybe add some more salt or some pepper?” You suggested.

Hyunjin nodded. “Maybe some soy sauce too.” You nodded in agreement.

You stayed close as the two continued to cook. You watched Felix add more soy sauce and salt.

“Channie-hyung, can you taste this?” Felix asked as he held a spoonful of soup to Chan.

Chan tried it as Felix hugged you from behind. “Honey, I made you some soup.” He said, giving you a spoonful of the soup. It tasted better this time.

“What is this?” Chan asked.

“Really?” Felix asked excitedly.

“It’s all right. It’s good.” Chan told him.

“So, ‘all right?” Felix asked with a bright smile.

“It’s a little salty.” Chan said, walking away as Han tried some of the soup.

Felix’s smile instantly dropped.

“Don’t listen to him. It’s not too salty.” You told Felix, who walked over to his soup.

“I like it.” Chan told him.

“It’s not salty to me.” Han added.

Felix was debating what to do. “I have to leave it as it is.”

You made your way to Hyunjin. You tripped over the table, landing in his lap.

"Why hello there, pretty lady." He smirked, helping you to sit up as you both laughed. You drank your drink, and the two of you shared your fruit again. Hyunjin played the guitar beside you. You softly sang along.

Eventually, though, you fell asleep on the couch. Hyunjin got a cute picture of you, fast asleep.

You did end up waking up after about twenty minutes. You walked over to see Felix and Hyunjin standing side by side. You took a few pictures of them before rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

“Hmm, how's it going?” You asked.

“I’m making scrambled eggs instead.” Felix told you with a smile.

“I like scrambled eggs,” Hyunjin commented as Felix poured the eggs onto the plate with the food he had made.

“Done,” Felix spoke happily, making you clap. “It looks yummy, angel.” You told him.

—--

Everyone stood in the kitchen. You were gently stroking Berry, who was being held by Hyunjin. It was time for Minho and Jeongin to taste the food Han and Felix made to see whose food was the best. The two taste testers were blindfolded.

“I am Lee Yongbok.” Felix said, smiling.

“Not Chef Lee Yeonok, but Lee Yongbok?” Jeongin asked with a laugh.

“More like Chef Cutie.” You spoke.

“Are you saying Chef Lee Yongbok? Not Chef Lee Yeonbok”? Changbin asked.

“So Chef Lee Yongbok, got it.” I.N. said with a nod.

“This is my first time making seaweed soup.” Felix admitted.

“Please give it a try.” Han spoke from beside Felix, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m confident.”

Changbin fed I.N. whilst Chan fed Minho. They started with the eggs.

“What’s this?” I.N. asked.

“Is it scrambled?” Minho asked. You nodded your head. He was good; he got it right.

The two were fed the first spoonful; Felix was nervous and trying not to laugh.

“Did you put cheese in this?” I.N. asked his hand in front of his face as he inched the bridge of his nose. “It tastes like cheddar cheese. This is clever,” He said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve never learned to cook, right?”

Felix just smiled. He knew how to cook, kind of. He’d helped you in the kitchen lots of times.

Minho was next to speak up. “Thank you for the food.” That was it. He wasn’t giving anything away.

Nex,t they tried Han’s eggs.

“The previous one smelled strongly of egg. But this one has a strong sauce smell.” Minho said, smelling the food.

“How does it smell?” Changbin asked I.N.

“Is it not ketchup?” The Makenae asked.

They both ate their spoonfuls, only for Berry to startled Minho as she brushed past his leg. “Oh, it’s Berry.”

You picked Berry up, holding her in your arms.

“Please, Judge Baek Jeong-in, share your thoughts first.” Changbin stated.

“There’s beef in this. Why is there soup beef in here?” Jeongin asked.

“I think I mixed the meat up.” Han spoke, accidentally revealing that it was his food they had both just tasted. “In Italy, this is how they eat it.”

“That’s odd.” I.N. said, sucking in a breath.

“It’s an egg dish, but the beef was too overpowering.” Minho spoke honestly.

Chan soon spoke up. “Raise your right hand for the first dish, left hand for the second dish.” After the countdown, Lino raised his right hand and I.N. raised his left.

Hyunjin sat on the arm of the sofa with a bright smile. “Wow, this is getting interesting.”

“Now to testing the seaweed soup.” Chan announced. You set Berry on the ground. Hyunjin pulled you over to him, sitting you down next to him. The man then leaned on you, his arms wrapping around you, and his chin resting on your shoulder.

First up was Han’s dish.

“Is this sesame oil?” Minho asked, smelling it on the spoon in front of him. “What is this?”

“There’s a lot of soy sauce in this.” I.N. said as you and Hyunjin moved over to the table where stood beside Seungmin.

Minho nodded in agreement as Hyunjin laughed. “Really, a lot of soy sauce. Now that it’s cold, it’s literally just soy sauce soup.” That made Han chuckle.

“It’s salty!” Chan added.

Changbin smiled. “Would you like to try the next one?” He asked. He lifted the spoon to I.N.

“Oh?” The youngest spoke, smelling the soup.

“Please give it a try.” Chan said as he and Chaangbin fed the blindfolded duo.

The two were quiet, really quiet.

“So, what do you think?” You asked them, dying to know.

“The two of you aren't saying a word.” Chan added with a puzzled look.

“If neither is good, you don’t have to choose.” Changbin told them reassuringly.

“Raise your right hand for number one and your left for number two.” Chan told them before giving them a countdown.

They both raised their left hand, meaning Felix won. You happily clapped.

The two judges were unblindfolded.

“How was it for you?” Han asked them both.

“Dish one was soy sauce seaweed soup.” I.N. said ,causing the group to laugh.

“Why do we make beef seaweed soup?” Miho asked. “Because of the richness of the beef and how well it pairs with the seaweed.” Felix and Han were hanging onto his every words. “Both soups had evenly cooked seaweed. If you look here, you can tell there’s barely any oil. Then, there’s no point in adding beef.” He said, holding both dishes up to show the difference. “If you were going for a cleaner taste, you should have used seafood instead,” Minho explained. You enjoyed seeing him like this. In chef mode, but making sure the boys understood why he was saying what he was. He wanted to help.

“And the beef here was cut into larger, chunkier pieces.” Minho said, pointing to Felix’s soup.

“Who made the second one?” I.N. asked curiously.

“It was me.” Felix said almost shyly as he put a hand up.

“How can a foreigner create this kind of taste?” The Makene asked, causing the group to burst into laughter. “It was refreshing. Recreating this authentic Korean taste in an incredibly difficult task. I was impressed.”

Felix was absolutely beaming from the compliments. He bushed as everyone clapped for him.

“Shall we eat now?” Chan asked. The food was brought over, and everyone sat around the table. In order, it was Changbin, Han, Minho, I.N. Seungmin, Felix, Hyujin, You and then Chan.

“Thank you for food.” You spoke happily, excited to eat.

“Great job, everyone.” Seungmin said as you all eat.

You tried a bit of everything, leaning more towards Felix’s soup. But you had a bit of both eggs.

“I feel like my mission was way too easy.” I.N. confessed as you all ate.

“Mine was actually easy.” Changbin said as he rolled up his sleeves.

“What did you do?” Hyunjin asked him curiously before eating some rice.

“Oh right!” Changbin suddenly got up and walked off.

“Did you bring souvenirs?” Han asked him excitedly, his cheeks full of food.

“I picked this up on the way.” Changbin said casually as he held a white gift bag out to Hyunjin.

“Woah! Did you really bring a souvenir?” Hyunjin asked as he looked in the bag.

“It’s nothing.” Changbin waved him off.

“Changbin, where’s mine?” Chan asked him as he got you some more soup.

“What about mine?” I.N. asked.

“What about ours?” Han added.

“What?” Changbin asked them.

“Why’d you only get one for Hyunjin?” I.N. asked as Hyunjin took his gift out of the bag.

“Are those coloured pencils?” Hyunjin asked happily. He opened them, letting you have a look.

“Those are really pretty. Can’t wait to see what you make with these.” You told the male softly.

Hyunjin beamed at you.

“I bought you all coffee, remember.” Changbi told the great.

“So you didn’t buy Hyunjin coffee but got him this instead?” Han asked him suspiciously.

“I bought Hyunjin coffee too!” Changbin confessed.

“Then why just get coffee for us?” Han was not giving Changbin a moment to rest.

“Why didn’t you get us anything?” I.N chimed in.

“Do you want colored pencils?” Changbin asked Han, causing both Han and I.N. to nod. “Yes.”

Hyunjin laughed.

“I didn’t see this coming.” Changbin said.

“Are you jealous of coloured pencils?” Hyunjin asked before eating some soup.

“Should I get you coloured pencils?” Changbin asked Han.

“Yes. Go and buy them right now.” Han demanded.

“You want me to go get them?” Changbi replied.

“Yes. Buy, bye.” Han told him.

“I.N. will order.” Chan added as he fed you a bit of egg.

“May I order?” I.N. asked in English.

Chan looked at you. “Wait, didn’t Binnie give you a button badge when he gave you your coffee?” He asked you.

You nodded. “Yep, it was super cute. It had a kangaroo holding a doughnut on it.” You beamed.

“Why does she get a gift and I don’t?” Han asked.

You face-palmed. “Geeze, you vouture. Can’t a guy do something nice for his mother and his wife?” You asked, pointing between yourself and Hyunjin, who let out a laugh as he looked at you.

“Eating seaweed soup in Australia tastes so good.” Hyunjin said, changing the topic.

“It feels new.” Felix agreed as he ate.

The food was eventually all eaten. You had the honour of having the last spoonful of rice.

—-----------

The group went to North Palm Beach. You were excited to get in the water. However, that would have to wait as the nine of you headed to have a picnic first.

You all gathered around the picnic blankets as I.N. set down a box.

“Everyone, grab what you want.”

Han moved first. “Then I’ll have coffee.” He said.

Felix nodded. “Okay, then chocolate for you.”

“Didn’t we have a lot of fruit?” Hyunjin asked. “Where did it all go?”

“There was watermelon earlier,” Minho told him.

“We should still have strawberries and blackberries. We didn’t eat them all.” You added with a small shrug before having a mouthful of your drink.

Felix came over with the watermelon. “Wow, it’s super tough to be a show writer for something like this.”

“Our writers are always busy.” Minho told him. “Please cut this for us.”

You got up and went over to Felix, cutting one of the watermelons for him whilst he cut the second one.

“Everyone, the place we’ve come to now is Palm Beach.” Chan told the group As you cut the watermelon. “There are a lot of places like this in Australia. Where parks are right next to the ocean. I thought it’d be nice to have a picnic at a grassy spot, so I thought of this. If you look behind us now, the waves look really strong, don’t they? Later, Lee Know, we’ll dip you in over there.” Chan said happily.

“I love it.” Felix said, looking at the ocean.

“Anyway, since yesterday, we’ve all had our own roles and missions, right?” Chan asked.

“That’s right.” Hyunjin confirmed before eating some watermelon.

“We’re going to check those to-do’s to see if they were done properly,” Chan explained.

You all had to write a travel diary. You grabbed a marker in your favourite colour.

“Today’s weather.” Seungmin read out.

“Sunny.” I.N. spoke as he wrote his.

“Hey is it 2024?” Hyunji asked.

“No, it’s 2023.” Minho corrected.

You wrote down that you had taken pictures of the members' ad of the view. Still planning to take more pictures. You looked through the Instax photos of yourself. You ultimately chose four pictures. One a picture of you taking a picture of Hyunjin and Minho with Felix and Chan in the background. The picture had been taken by Seungmin, who wanted to make sure you had pictures of yourself too. The second one, you picked a picture of yourself in the water when you had been on the yacht. The third was of you and Hyunjin on the balcony when you had been exploring the house, both wearing big, bright smiles. The fourth picture was of you and Chan, watching the sunset on the yacht. You had both been on one of the sunbeds. You were leaning against Chan, his arms around your waist as your back lay on his chest.

Seugmin had taken three of those pictures. Giving you and Chan each one of the pictures. It found its way into Chan’s wallet and the case of your phone.

The boys all discussed going surfing.

Eventually, though, you found your way to the beach, and I.N. asked to play volleyball.

Han raised his hand/ “If you want to be on my team, raise your hand.” No one raised their hands.

The boys all gathered around to decide teams. It ended with Chan, Minho, Han and Seungmin on one team with Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix and I.N. on the other team.

“Don’t you wanna play, Honey?” Felix asked you curiously.

You shook your head. “I’m happy taking pictures of you boys.” You explained to him.

As the boys played, you got some good pictures and videos of them all. You were also keeping score of the game. Ultimately team IFFD won, winning 11:9.

“Hey, we can go straight into the water like this.” Chan told everyone.

You jumped up. “Take me to the ocean.” You said as you ran to him, you jumped, and Chan caught you in his arms.

“Go head!” Hyunjin shouted happily.

Chan put you down as Seungmin wanted to film a short film first. It was of you all taking turns to stand alone, only for everyone to come running at you. You had lifted Chan’s shirt, felt Felix’s stomach, and watched I.N. get lifted. What it came to them all running to you, you laughed as Chan picked you up and spun you around, after the boys had all hugged you.

You watched as Felix, I.N. Hyunjin and Minho got into the water. You took some pictures before going in yourself. You giggled as the waves hit you a little. You made your way over to Minho, helping him up after he fell. He put his rubber ring back on as you and Felix reached him. You each took one of his hands and took him deeper into the water.

Eventually, Felix left the two of you as he, Hyunjin and Jeongin enjoyed the water. You kept a hold of one of Minho’s hands. The two of you were pushed toward the beach by the waves. You moved in front of him, holding both his hands.

“Alright, kick okay. We don’t have to move; we can stay here. But it’s good if you kick so you can get used to the movement.” You told the male.

Minho squeezed your hands as he began to kick his feet.

“There you go. Just like that. Keep going.” You said encouragingly.

“My legs are tired.” Minho whined but continued to kick.

“You’ll get used to it. I’m gonna to start taking some steps back. Tell me to stop when you need me to.” You told him. “Ready?” You asked him.

Minho let out a breath. “No. But yeah. I can do this.”

“Damn right you can, you’re Lee Minho. You can do anything.” You told him before slowly walking backwards. Everyone so often, Minho would as you to stop. Eventually, he stopped kicking, but he felt more comfortable with you being there with him.

Eventually, you got him to the other boys. The five of you enjoyed jumping as the waves came at you. You kept a close eye on Minho, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. He was floating, not really swimming, but he was smiling. I.N. sneaked up behind you, lifting you out of the water and spinning you around, making you let out a squeal of joy and surprise. You and Felix held hands as a wave hit you both. Then you and Hyunjin had fun splashing each other.

Eventually, though, it was time to get out of the water. You helped Minho get back to the beach, only letting go when he could walk properly. Chan immediately wrapped a towel around you.

—------

Skz travel log. Date: 24th of October, 2024. Today’s weather: sunny and pretty. Title: Family trip to Sydney. I’ve enjoyed our visit to Sydney. It’s nice getting to revisit the home of Chris and Felix. Getting to make more memories together. I had fun taking pictures of my boys and of the beautiful views that Austria has to offer. These will be memories that will last forever. I’ve had a lot of laughs during our time here and seen many beautiful sights, but my favourite part was the yacht. Seeing the boys at their happiest. Seeing Chan and Felix relax, finding comfort in being home after so long. I hope we all come back soon. Also, Berry was super duper cute, loved getting cuddles with her. Today’s good deed: Helping Lee Know swim. Today’s regret: Not getting enough sleep.

--------

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gloxym · 24 hours ago

Text

a/n: okay, so it's a continuation of this post right here. might need it for context to understand this portion of the story.

A virgin.

You actually called him that like it was something he should be ashamed of. That he should be angry that he was actually someone who valued the idea of saving yourself for the right person. It shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it did, but when paired up with your words about how his precious pipsqueak might actually want someone experienced, he felt something twist in him.

Caleb knew he would still be a virgin by the end of this. Because you meant nothing to him. You were just a toy for him to vent his frustrations to, his lips claiming yours brutally, teeth clashing together as his tongue worked arounds yours. You were just a living, breathing, doll for him, something to be cast aside once he had his fill. His Evol hummed around you, keeping you pinned while he toyed with your body, his hands gripping the flimsy material of your crop top and tearing it off with a loud rip. You actually laughed at him, your lips swollen and bruised as he pulled back to stare at the strips of fabric that clung to your arms, your bra the only thing stopping him from seeing your chest bare.

“Mnm, really don’t fuckin’ care about me, huh?” He hated how your voice sounded, dripping with artificial sweetness that didn’t belong. “I’m hurt, truly.” He scoffed at that, his eyes burning with unbridled hatred, his hand reaching up to cup your breast with a firm grip.

“I really don’t care.” He hissed, his eyes watching the way your breasts bounce as he shoved your bra up above your chest. The mounds of flesh were only that, his hands gripping them firmly and pushing them up as he leaned down to take a pebbled nipple into his mouth. He wasn’t trying to pleasure you, it was solely for him to prove something to himself. He wanted to show you that he knew what he was doing, his tongue flicking the nub as his other hand groped. He couldn’t feel anything in his right arm anyway, the sensations lost to him as he listened to your pained hisses when he squeezed too hard.

“Good thing I’m not MC, or else I might actually be mad at you for being so callous.” His teeth grazed at the sensitive flesh of your nipple, biting down with enough pressure to cause you to curse at him, the satisfaction of annoying you swelling in his heart.

“If you were MC, I wouldn’t have you pinned to the wall like this.” He would have been gentler with her, ensuring every part of the experience was lavished with love and care. If you were MC, he wouldn’t bite down on your chest, leaving marks and sucking on the patches of skin to remind you that you were at his mercy and he was free to do whatever with your body as he pleased.

He would be cautious with his mechanical arm, wanting to touch her with his organic one to actually feel her body and relish the softness of her skin beneath his fingers. With you, he didn’t show such kindness. He didn’t feel your body, he only took from it, grabbing a fist full of hair in his left hand and yanking your head back to expose your neck so he could suck on the pulse point that beat erratically under his tongue. Your moans weren’t hers when he kissed you. The way your body writhed when he cupped your sex through your jogging pants wasn’t the way she would move. He had fantasized every part of the experience for as long as he could remember.

This was not it.

His breathing was ragged and hot, his fingers pressing up against you through the material to listen to how he drew out your moans, rubbing you forcefully to bring out more of them and watch you crumble. You wouldn’t be able to say shit about his inexperience now, would you? You’d have to admit that he knew what he was doing, despite not feeling you directly. He palmed his hand between your legs, your gasps and moans the only indication he was doing something just right as he peppered more kisses along the expanse of your neck, listening intently to the way your voice climbed higher and higher and your hips rocked forward. You were so close to that peak, he almost wanted to hear you cum.

Almost.

Just before you tipped over, he pulled back immediately, grinning at the whine you let out and watching you with a twisted satisfaction of seeing you so heated. Your eyes were glaring at him, the snarky bite of your words lost on you as you struggled against the hold of his Evol. He relished your disappointment, his fingers gripping your jaw with a bruising force as he leaned in.

“Mad I didn’t give you what you wanted?” He was mocking you, loving the way you looked so ready to hurt him. “Good girls get to cum and you’re not it.”

“Neither’s MC.” His grip tightened around your jaw, the anger rearing itself again as he leaned closer to you.

“Watch it, you’re not at liberty to be speaking so freely.” How dare you talk about her while you were like this. Half naked and exposed, with bite marks littered all over the tops of your breasts and neck. You had no right to speak about her as if you knew her.

“You think she’s so pure? She’s a woman now. She probably already has a fuckin’ sex toy she gets to ride while thinking it was someone else’s dick.” He hated you so fucking much, he couldn’t even contain it. He hated how you put the image of her in his head, the way her thighs would be slick with her juices as she bounced on some toy, moaning out someone’s name when he was the one that wanted to be with her the most. He’d love nothing more than to be the one bringing her over the edge, watching her unravel for him as he brought her to her peak.

Instead, he was with you. Instead, he was the one yanking your pants off mercilessly, pulling your clothes off in his home as he spread your legs to rub the slick coat of your arousal in his hands. God, you were fucking soaked, so wet and throbbing with a heat that had his cock already leaking from the images in his mind. His Evol faltered from the strain of his control, releasing your arms but keeping you elevated as he teased your sex and pushing a finger into your entrance. Your hands wasted no time as they flew to his hair and gripped the strands firmly, forcing his head back to meet his lips with yours. The kiss was messy, sloppy and with more tongue than necessary, but he was groaning into your mouth while he worked a second finger inside your fluttering walls.

Fuck, you were already so close before, but he was determined to be cruel and leave you high and dry. It’s what he told himself as he found a pace that had you whimpering and rocking into his thrusting digits, your teeth biting his lip hard enough to make him bleed. You were trying to get pay back, huh? He wanted to be angry, but the lust was beginning to break through his will, his fingers finding that sweet little spot that had you tossing your head back with a high pitched moan and had you cumming on his hand.

It shouldn’t have sounded so good. It shouldn’t have felt so good that he wished he felt the tight walls clamping down on his cock instead. Caleb really hated you. Truly, from the bottom of his heart he hated you. He hated what you did to him. How you managed to get under his skin so easily and burn him from the inside out.

He released his Evol, letting your body fall into him as he took hold of your thighs to wrap your legs around his waist while he made his way to the bedroom. Why the fuck you were in his home, he couldn’t fully recall. MC invited you and he had no choice but to comply, it was all he could remember as he kicked open the door and threw you onto his bed. The very bed he thought he would be sharing this moment with her and not you. You were already removing the rest of your clothes, tossing the torn fabric of your shirt to the side, along with your bra. His own clothes were already being pulled off, the tank top he wore flung to the side as he dropped his pants down and his cock bouncing when his underwear followed suit.

The one thing he hesitated on was the necklace, his fingers gripping the pendant in his hand as he contemplated what he was actually doing. Was he really going to fuck you right here? He made his peace that it wasn’t his virginity he was giving you, after all, he was just using you. But, the weight of his pendant meant that if he fucked you as the Caleb MC knew… he’d lose. He’d lose something actually meaningful to him to someone he didn’t even fucking like. And for what? To prove himself to you? To prove to himself he was capable of being everything MC needed?

“Aw, getting sentimental? How cute.” You mocked, his expression darkening into a cold simmering hate.

You weren’t someone he wanted to be doing this with. You weren’t the softness wrapped around his heart, making him feel whole. You weren’t the one that made him feel like he was still a person who mattered. But, you were the one that made him feel like he was human. And humans made mistakes. You were his mistake, one he’d regret if he fucked you with the pendant on. Resolved, he pulled the necklace off and set it aside on the nightstand by his bed, drinking your naked form in with a pleased hum. He wasn’t MC’s Caleb, the lovable brother figure that would do anything for her. He was Caleb, the man who had carnal needs that you were gonna fulfill for him.

“You don’t mean anything to me.” He whispered, climbing over you and pushing your legs apart as he rubbed his cock between your folds with a shudder. He wasn’t used to this, his inexperience rearing up on the back of his mind as he continued to tease himself with your arousal. He panted hotly, his cock twitching from the wetness coating beneath his shaft as he felt your body tremble.

“Just gonna rub yourself on me like some mutt?” Did you ever let up? His eyes shot up to yours, your smile taunting as you rocked your hips up into him, his jaw clenched tight from the stimulation. “And here I thought you knew where the hole was after fingering me earlier. Figures it was beginner’s luck.”

“You make it so hard to treat you with even a shred of respect.” He spat out venomously. It was a bluff, his attempt to save face that he was mentally preparing for something he wasn’t familiar with. He was already wound up tight, his cock throbbing insistently as precum dripped onto your stomach from the feeling of your pussy just coating him. He knew if he didn’t try to prepare himself, he’d shoot his load and give you more ammunition to torment him; something that was just not going to happen.

“How adorable. I’d almost believe the act if you weren’t looking so tense.” You hummed, rolling your head on your shoulders as you let out a disappointed sigh. “Gonna die of old age before you put your fucking coc- AH!”

Your words were pissing him off already, he had to do something about it. So he aligned himself at your entrance and slammed right in, his eyes screwing shut as he was engulfed completely in the gummy walls of your pussy. Oh fuck, was it supposed to feel this way? He lurched forward as his hands fisted the sheets tightly, his chest heaving with the exertion of keeping himself from cumming just by putting it in. His hand couldn’t prepare him for this. His fantasies of MC didn’t prepare him for the actual feeling of warm flesh wrapped all the way around. He swallowed thickly, keeping himself still because if he moved, he would not last.

He peeked his eyes open to look at you, to see if you were unravelled just like was. Your cheeks were flushed, your lips parted with a pant, but that infuriating smugness decorated your expression when he met your gaze pissed him off. He was struggling here and you were getting enjoyment from it. “Gonna have me warm up your cock? I don’t mind, but if you’re gonna take a while, mind floating a book my way? Have to keep myself entertained, yeah?” God, he hated you so damn much.

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want.” The slight tremor in his voice betrayed the control he wanted to portray, your walls clenching around him making it harder to think clearly. He needed to adjust, to calm himself down so that he could properly shut you up for later — you didn’t give him that chance.

You rolled your hips up, ripping a groan from his throat, his hand shooting down to steady himself as you kept grinding on him. It was so much stimulation, much too fast. Without thinking, his Evol held you down, the top half your body bound to the bed by the intensity of his gravity, his hands shooting to your hips to hold you still. “Stay.” He commanded, the Colonel in him coming out in full force.

You laughed. You actually laughed, looking at him through your lashes as you pushed against his Evol, testing if he’d slip up in his control. “Move then. I said fuck me, not waste my time.”

He wasn’t sure what really did it for him. If it was the twisted way you enjoyed his misery or the fact that you believed he was wasting your time, but the shift happened so suddenly, he was pulling out to the very tip and slamming himself back in. Maybe he had enough time to adjust, his hips now setting a brutal and deep pace that shook the bed. You couldn’t move, completely at his mercy as he watched you struggle, your moans escaping your lips as he kept thrusting his entire length in and out of you.

“Yeah, that’s right. Fuckin’ moan for me.” The mechanical hand held your hips down, bruising the skin beneath, as he reached up to paw at your chest. They couldn’t really bounce the way he wanted them to, not with his Evol holding you down and preventing the movement as he caged you, but it didn’t matter. They were soft beneath his fingers, the flesh groped mindlessly as he changed his pace to faster, short thrusts that had you singing for him.

“Nothing to say?” He teased, the sweat clinging to his forehead, pulling at your nipple between his fingers and watching you gasp beneath him. “All that talk, but look at you now. You’re losing it over some virgin that’s wrecking your insides.”

He expected you to admit that you were wrong. That you made a mistake and that he could, in fact, satisfy MC if he really wanted to. Of course you wouldn’t. You regained a bit of control to your senses, your tongue running over your lips teasingly. “Pick a rhythm. You’re wavering and it’s not feeling as good as you think.”

A blow to his confidence had him releasing you without his intention and giving you enough time to react, your body shooting up to push him over and flip the positions so that you were straddling him. He was still connected to you, but you were the one above him now, straddling his hips as you hovered over him with a triumphant smirk. “Let me show you how it’s done, virgin.”

Any protest he had died in his throat when you started to move, the assured confidence of practice shining through with the roll of your hips as you tested the waters of what he could handle. It had to be, because you were taking your sweet time, yet every shift had him biting back groans. There was no reason sex was supposed to be this good. There was no reason that he was panting and arching his back into the shallow bounces you were starting to do, working him up to an orgasm he wasn’t ready to have.

Yet he was mesmerized, watching the way your breasts swayed in front of him, his eyes travelling further down and moaning at the sight of his cock disappearing inside you. Fuck, it was too hot and he was captivated by the way your arousal pooled at the base of his shaft, the squelching sounds starting to become louder as you began to really fuck yourself with his dick. He was the one that was supposed to use you, not the other way around, but he was losing the battle when his hips started bucking up to meet yours. His blood boiled with desire, his hands finding your hips to force you into a much faster pace than you were setting. He was desperate, his teeth chewing on his lip as the need consumed him. He wanted to cum, his cock twitching inside you like it was telling you he was close. So fucking close.

“Can’t control yourself, huh?” You were such a bitch, but he couldn’t refute it as he pushed himself up to wrap an arm around your waist and pull you into a seated position. He chased his rush, the coil tightening further in his pit as he moaned into your skin, where your perfume did nothing but fuel his lustful desires as he dragged his teeth along your shoulder. The new angle must’ve been the spot, because you actually had more stability to really rock your hips into him and chase your own high, your moans gaining in volume as you rode him.

“Fuck, so close.” He groaned, his hand reaching to cup your ass cheek with a firm squeeze, palming it in his hand and spreading it as he pushed you down into his thrusts. He wanted to so badly, the urge driving him further into insanity as your voice crescendoed.

“Mnm, fuck, gonna cum. Gonna cum, Caleb, fuck!” Your body stilled, your orgasm hitting you hard as you tossed your head back with a sultry cry. He didn’t get the chance to warn you, the way your walls clamped down around him and milked him — actually fucking milked him — had him cumming inside you with a loud moan into your skin and painting your insides with his seed. Had him nearly seeing stars with how hard he came inside you, his chest heaving with rough gasps of air he desperately needed with his cock twitching wildly inside.

He held onto you tight, stilling your twitches from your orgasm as he tried to get some sanity back down with his cock aching painfully. He really fucking did it… He fucked you. No. He fucked a doll. You were just a toy, nothing more. He wasn’t going to let himself fall into the trap of his own twisted mind, turning whatever this was as something that mattered. He wasn’t.

“Not bad, for a virgin.” The only compliment you were willing to throw his way, his body sticky with sweat as he swatted your ass with a firm spank.

“Shut up for once.” He hissed, trying to reign in some authority with you. He could feel his cum leaking out from your joined bodies, the shudder he felt knowing he might have actually bred you made him feel twisted. He didn’t want to, but a sicker part of him relished the idea of really pissing you off by carrying his child. Fuck, you truly were just a poison infecting him.

“Mnm, ready for round 2?” You were out of your mind. He pulled back to take a real good look at you, to be sure you really were asking that and not messing with him. With the wild hunger in your eyes, the way you looked too energetic for someone that had an orgasm mere moments ago, he knew you meant it.

And fuck, did he want to, too.

“Fuck you.” He breathed, pushing you off of him and flipping you onto your side, your leg over his shoulder as he positioned himself right at your entrance again. He was still sensitive, but he didn’t care anymore. He was gonna set out to use you for his pleasure, his cock pushing into you slowly and groaning at the sensation.

“You already are. But, this time you get to fuck me instead of the other way around.” He gave a sharp slap into your ass cheek in response, his cock plunging into you as he set a pace that felt good for him. You were his mistake, one he’d deal with later when he had more clarity. For now, he just wanted to rut. He wanted to fuck you and listen to your voice shift into more pleasant moans instead of running mouth with mockery.

The heat in his veins burned him from the inside, his lust fully consuming him as he thrusted into you with reckless abandon, his hand finding purchase on the headboard and gripping it tightly, the mechanical fingers digging indentations into the wood. It was sweltering between your bodies, your hand gripping his sheets tightly as the other felt his chest and abs, your eyes looking up at him in a daze. He could feel your walls throbbing around him. He wanted to feel you cum around him again as he reached down between you both to tease at your clit to bring you over the edge.

“Cum for me, slut. Make sure you know who’s the one making you lose your mind.” His voice felt so rough in his throat, almost like it didn’t even belong to him as he continued his pace and watched you unravel for him.

“Fuck, Caleb. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” You were chanting now, your voice climbing higher as he brought you over the edge once more. Before he could really enjoy it, he yanked himself free with a lewd pop, not wanting it to end so soon for him. He must’ve been just as insane as you were, because he was edging himself with the way you whined at the loss, your hole clenching uselessly around nothing.

“I’m not done yet.” He was gone, completely driven by his baser instincts and the need to keep going until you were so cock drunk and fucked stupid, you wouldn’t question his abilities anymore. At least, that’s what he told himself as he flipped you onto your knees, bringing his hand down to spank the swell of your ass and thrusting back into you.

“I fucking hate you. I hate you so fucking much.” He moaned, pulling your hips flush against him time and time again as he leaned you forward so that your shoulders pressed into the bed. “You’re so fucking irritating.” He growled, fucking you with a much more brutal pace, the wet sounds of skin slapping into skin echoing in his bedroom.

“Hate me all you fucking want, like I give a shit.” You responded, his hand smacking your reddening cheeks and noting that you clenched tighter by being spanked.

“Masochistic bitch.” He hated how he was learning what you liked. He hated how in tune he was becoming with the way your body reacted when he fucked you. He was forced to be a Colonel against his will. He was forced to be aware of perceived threats to the Farspace Fleet. He hated how attuned he had to be, noticing every single detail down to the letter. All of that training made him perfect for his role.

And he hated it.

He hated it so much, because he was aware of what made your voice hitch. He was aware of the scent of your musk in the air, the way your back arched or your body trembled when he hit a particular angle that had your pussy clenching him that much tighter. He hated how he could tell how close you were getting by the low whine laced into your moans, fueling him to keep his pace so he could get you cumming around him. You cumming was the last thing he cared about, but god when you came? It felt so fucking good, it had him hooked like a drug seeping through his veins.

He clenched his jaw so tight, he was sure his teeth would crack from the pressure, pulling out of you again to avoid his own orgasm once more as he listened to your frustrated curses. He would mock you if he didn’t want to rip his own hair out for denying himself yet again. But, the adrenaline of getting close again was maddeningly addictive and he wanted to continue to experience it. He used his Evol again, suspending you in the air and slamming you against the wall, the air knocked out of your lungs as you hissed at him for being so irritating.

He didn’t care, stalking towards you and released his power so that he held you up in his arms. His mechanical arm wrapped around your waist, his cock plunging back into you as his lips found yours into a harsh kiss, claiming your lips hungrily while he held your head in place. He could feel your legs around his waist, locking him in so he could only do short, deep thrusts into you as you dragged your nails down his back. More, he wanted more, sucking on your lips as he became lost in whatever poison you were. He didn’t know why he wanted you against the wall, but the allure of having gravity aid him as he bounced you on his dick, completely at his mercy, tickled something inside him and poured more fuel into the fire raging inside him. He ripped his lips from yours, your foreheads pressed together to gaze into your eyes.

Beautiful. He hated how beautiful you looked in this moment, your eyes glassy and lips swollen with the flush upon your cheeks. You were consumed by your own lust, no doubt mirroring his own expression as he languidly licked the tears that spilled onto your cheeks, his cock throbbing again so painfully. Your voice was hitting that whine again, the wanton moans and whimpers as your walls pulsed around him drove him further into the corner of his desires. He wasn’t pulling out this time, he wanted to cum. He needed to.

“Cum for me. Fuckin’ cum. Scream my name when you do, so that you know it was me that got you so cock drunk and stupid.” And for the first time, you didn’t mouth off back at him. You couldn’t anymore as your nails dug and clawed up at his back in such a delicious way that had him moaning when you came. His name left your lips so obediently, the cry of it tipping him over with one final thrust.

He felt it shoot up and down his spine, the way his orgasm hit him like a freight train as he jerked up and came so deep inside you with a twitch. Your walls milked him like a vice, spots dancing behind his vision as he filled you up completely. He held you up as your body sagged forward, legs trembling weakly as you both tried to catch your breath, his cock raw and pained as he slipped himself out of you with a squelching pop, the softening member making him aware that he didn’t have the stamina to back up multiple rounds. At least not yet.

Fuck, no, not yet. None of that. He shook his head, the post-nut clarity hitting him sooner than later as he let your feet touch the ground briefly until he was pulling away from your sticky, sweaty body. The very same body where his cum leaked between your legs, dripping onto the floor as you slid down to your knees, sitting back on the haunches of your calves. You couldn’t walk, which satisfied him enough to admire the blissed out expression you wore on your face. A shame, really, that he couldn’t take a picture. But the idea that anyone, especially MC, might see it was enough to simply burn the image in his mind for later. He’ll tuck it safely away in his memory, to torment you when you were getting too mouthy on him again.

There were no words of encouragement between you; no hollow compliments or the need for words to fill the space as he ran his hand through the moist strands of his hair. You were both aware of what this was, your head clearing up enough to look up at him with an arrogant smile. After care was for people and the way he saw it, you weren’t a person. You were just a tool for him to use. A toy to get himself off and that was it. Single use tools didn’t need coddling.

And he knew you knew that, because you didn’t speak as he turned away from you and made his way to the bathroom to cleanse himself from the events. You didn’t need to, because you already knew you got under his skin and he was doing everything he could to protect himself from letting you see him come undone at the seams. Even as he turned the water to scalding hot, his skin reddening and burning beneath the droplets, he leaned forward to consider his actions in the haze of whatever the fuck you were.

He knew he fucked up. He fully believed that it meant nothing. That in his heart he was pure and saving himself for MC and her alone, yet the soreness in his cock and the marks on his skin were just painful reminders that he did fuck you. He fucked you — and he fucking enjoyed it.

Poison. You were corruption disguised as a friend that ruined him and MC.

And he became addicted to the taste.

a/n: so, I hope it was enjoyable. I wanted to do this the first time but got distracted. if I left out any content warning, please tell me! I don't want to upset anyone

i also was listening to this song while writing it, if you wanna listen.

#gloxym writes #caleb x non!mc reader #caleb x reader #caleb x you #non mc x caleb #caleb xia #lads caleb #lnds caleb #love and deepspace caleb #lads smut #lnds smut #love and deepspace smut #lads fanfic #caleb xia smut #no fluff

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