#every day from 2:30pm to about 6:30pm

[whirlybirbs]

ah yes (checks watch) it’s just about time for the soul crushing despair to set in!

[lexirosewrites]

For slick sunday

O!Steve & A!Eddie have 3 nuggets in their grand 6 nugget plans, Steve is pregnant with nugget #4 after nuggets 2 & 3 were a set of twins & everyone is excited & nugget 4 is due around December 28th! They've done this twice now so they have their hospital bag ready, Eddie plans to remember his shoes this time after running out the door without them for both trips to the hospital, & Steve plans to eat a burger w fries & a chocolate shake before letting Eddie take him to the hospital bc once he's in there they won't let him eat, they have Grandpa Wayne on standby to take care of their pups while they're focusing on bringing nugget #4 into the world... except Steve doesn't go into labor on the 28th, the baby doesn't even drop but no one is worried because they've learned by now tht due dates are an educated guess most of the time

Except, then it's new year's eve & while Steve thinks the baby might have dropped while he was sleeping the night before he isnt feeling any of the usual pains he's come to associate w labor, still no one is too worried so they go about the end of year holiday as usual. The Munson family attend the new years party that A!Nancy/B!Jonathan/B!Argyle host every year, wherein the entire world saving party + family & spouses are invited, this year is the first time in awhile tht everyone is able to attend

Argyle has prepared a bunch of games to keep the pups busy as the night goes on & eventually Steve & Eddie w help from A!Lucas lay their kids down to nap till midnight, at around 10:30pm Steve is in the kitchen with Max & Suzie, the 3 of them laughing at Eddie & B!El as they beat out the others at a drinking game, the conversation flows & they end up on the topic of nugget #4 being overdue w Suzie joking abt the possibility of Steve's water breaking at midnight, they all laugh but then Steve abruptly stops as he feels exactly what Suzie described. His water broke & dammit that's what his small stomach cramps were all day & double dammit Eddie's been drinking!!!!!

Then it is utter chaos as a full contraction hits Steve & he tells Suzie to get Eddie & instead Max ends up yelling for Eddie bc Suzie has gone pale & tht just summons everyone at the party & then Eddie is panicking bc he's been drinking & so has the majority of the party guests except Steve & Max: Steve for obvious reasons & Max bc elumax r trying for a baby & so Steve says something he never thought he would, "Max you're going to have to drive."

The pandemonium gets louder as A!Robin calls the hospital, steddie realize they obviously dont have their hospital bag & Max has to help steve into the car while Eddie clambers into the backseat, then they're off & Eddie sobers up as best he can just from the adrenaline of the situation, they definitely break a few traffic laws but arrive to the hospital in one piece, only for Max to run in & realize tht Robin called the wrong hospital & the doctor & nurses aren't ready for them but the hospital staff don't let tht slow them down too much

Soon enough Steve is wheeled in & situated in a room & his contractions timed by a nurse while Eddie drinks something another nurse gave him to help him sober up a little more as Steve clutches his hand & then Steve is yelling because he can't hold off on the urge to push any longer & the delivery nurse is sending another nurse out to hunt down any doctor

Meanwhile Max is making a confusing call to the hospital she deduces Robin did call telling the receptionist to please if anyone arrives looking for the Munsons to tell them they're at this specific hospital & not tht one

For the rest of the pack it's a wild goose chase as the others arrive at the hospital Robin called only to b directed to another hospital

Max meets them in the waiting area telling them she doesn't know anything beyond the staff got Steve into a room & Eddie is drinking something gross to sober up

It's a hectic birth as a doctor they don't know but who was on call in the ER downstairs handles the delivery while their actual doctor races from home after the nurses call her, she gets there & scrubs in just in time to scoot the other doctor aside, coach Steve through the last two pushes, & catch the baby who opens his mouth to breathe & cry & generally let everyone know he is displeased w being out of the warm womb, right away

It's as a nurse & the stand in doctor look at the clock tht they all register the sounds of cheering throughout the building

Nugget #4, Jim Hendrix Munson is born at exactly 12:01am on January 1st 1996, he is a healthy baby with strong lungs & a head of dark hair & he is fussy in the bath till a nurse calls Eddie over to help clean the baby up, then he is placed in the waiting arms of his mom & both parents scent the newborn as soon as he's settled, not long after Eddie reluctantly leaves his mate & new baby to go out & inform the pack of the safe delivery

Before he can speak Robin hugs him & shoves their hospital bag into his arms because she'd gone to their home to get it for them & in the same breath apologizes for calling the wrong hospital but no one is actually upset & Eddie tells her tht, Nancy let's him know tht their pups are safe at the house w Argyle who's called Wayne

"Well that's good, & even better is our baby! He's in the world with ten fingers & ten toes & a set of lungs destined for metal, we've named him Jim"

Hopper outright cries at this tidbit of information

Everyone eventually disperses & Eddie goes back to the room to swaddle their baby in the cloth the parents had been scenting for months

Outside the world welcomes the new year & the parents welcome their new baby

& when the sunrises Robin is the first visitor with a greasy bag containing a bacon double cheeseburger, fries, & she carries in her hand a large chocolate cake shake from portillo's

i’m living for this chaos of love🥰

[nicromancytarot]

YOUR DAILY ROUTINE 5 YEARS FROM NOW

This is a general reading based on a collective of people. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. If you don’t feel like the pile resonates with you, don’t be scared to pick another, if it still doesn’t feel right, that’s ok! Maybe our energies aren’t as connected and my readings are not for you.

I do these strictly for fun and educational purposes. I do not charge for these readings, and I do not fake readings. I would tell you the cards I get for the readings, but I pull like 15-20 cards each reading and that is just slightly a strenuous task to write them all down lmao.

PICK A CARD READING

I asked my spirit guides what your daily routine looks like in 5 years time, pick a card to find out what they had to say!

Pile 1 ———> Pile 2 ———> Pile 3

DISCLAIMER: the timelines I give are not the period as a whole, they are just an estimate of the time when these events could happen.

PILE 1

7:00-7:30am: Wake up, I got the lyric “7am the usual morning line up” from “When will my life begin?” Rapunzel, so you guys are waking up early. The first thing you do is either feed your pets or children, I’m getting heavy dogs for those of you who don’t have kids by this time, but I am seeing a lot of children vibes.

8:00-900am: Showering and getting ready, if you have kids, your partner will be up and looking after them for you, or this will be the time you take them to school. I feel like you’ll be listening to podcasts or ted talks every morning to get you ready for the day.

9:30-10:00am: Checking emails? You might be working from home and checking your emails or messages from clients or employers. I see you sat at your desk with a warm cup of something, going through things on your computer, your partner walks in and lets you know that they’re leaving for work now.

10:30-11:30am: Work work work, you guys will find yourself dealing with a lot of work during this time, however I do think that you make money by the hour, some of you could have a job that ensures you get paid separately by each client (like Tarot or something)

12:00-1:00pm: Making lunch for your partner, you guys will either go out to buy it and then drop it by their work, or you will make it yourself so that it feels special. Some of you could be seen as the “trophy spouse” when it comes to your partners work, they all think you’re a doll and are probably jealous of the food that you bring for your partner.

1:30-2:00pm: You can do whatever you want, this is your break time to go shopping or chill on the couch and watch your favourite show, I see that this changes often so you may like to do different things during this break, it’s not something that is set in stone forever.

2:00-3:00pm: Back to work, I feel this is when you do your best and most progressive work, some of you may be balancing another online job like authoring or possibly being a ghost writer for someone else. This is the time when you would absolutely hate to be distracted or interrupted.

3:00:3:30pm: Your final time to rest up before having to pick up the kids or take your dogs on a walk. During this time you might make yourself a snack, tidy the house (although I feel like you guys have a cleaner)

3:30-4:00pm: Little bit of a messy thirty minutes, you’re rushing around, which is why I think kids could be involved here, the school pick up is never easy lmao. For those of you who don’t have kids, this may just be you being dragged around the street by your dogs (I think they are large)

4:30-5:00pm: Your partner is home! You are also probably dealing with your children fighting during this time LMAOO, one of them wants the TV remote and the other is pissed. This could also be your time to catch up with your partner and tell each other about your day.

5:00-6:00pm: Dinner time, I do think you’ll be the one making dinner, but you definitely want to, sometimes your partner helps you out, but since you did the school run both ways, they’re looking after the kids for you now. You spend a while on cooking, you may even get it prepared around lunch time, throwing some meat in the slow cooker for later.

6:00-7:00pm: wind down time with family, chilling on the couch with the pets, watching as the kids play on the trampoline outside, relaxing in the arms of your significant other. Very calm energy for this.

7:30pm-9:30pm: The battle of the demons, time to put the kids to bed! The kids don’t like going to bed. “But I went to sleep yesterday!” You’ll have a field trip with these.

10:00pm-12:00am: You wanna get spicy with your partner? You can, here’s your opportunity. I do see you guys trying to make another kid around this time if you already have them, or perhaps this is your first. Relaxing in bed with your significant other, I’m seeing someone counting 100 dollar bills, so take that as you will, you may even take a shower together to end the night, or possibly getting wet in other ways is your way to close the day.

PILE 2

5:00-6:00am: Wake up. You guys may have to commute to work, and need to wake up early, for some of you, your work could be over seas, like if you lived in Paris but commuted to London for work everyday using the tunnel, or if you lived on the Isle Of White in the UK and needed to travel on a ferry to get to your job, either way, you’re waking up before the sun rises.

7:00-9:00am: Work, you’re at work for the majority of the day now, your job itself seems something that you’re used to and like doing, a lot of you may have to coordinate meetings, so you could be a higher up. There does seem to be a tad of stress here and there, for a few this may be caused by need of public speaking, for others there could be workplace drama.

10:00am-4:00pm: The people around you look up to you a lot, you may own a company or share management of it, there is a possibility of you working in something which involves fighting, a few of you may be in the army, and this could be the cause for the early wake up and start to the day. Either way, whatever you’re doing, you are the head of it, people have to work with you in order to climb the ranks and better improve their chance of success. You could honestly be in control of pay upgrades and promotions for your business or workplace. I see you making a lot of money by having a lot of control.

5:00-6:00pm: Home time, I see you making dinner or possibly even ordering out, although I do think that you have a healthy diet and lifestyle. A few of you could have your own cook, or utilise certain artificial intelligence that makes food??? (I don’t know bro, my guides seem to think that could be a thing of the future, you could have an online recipe book that you follow)

7:30-10:00pm: Resting up or doing whatever you want. I can’t get a strong read on this as I think it changes each day, you could sometimes go on a run, other time you’re baking cookies on call with your mother. I do think you have a strict schedule you follow when it becomes time to go to bed, you sleep like a log lmao. Some of you may be looking for a relationship at this time, and this could be the entry period for going on dates, perhaps you go on multiple dates a night lol, you seem to be the life of the party either way. A lot of you don’t drink, I see someone at a bar holding a juice box so take that as you will.

Sorry it was so short pile 2! Your day is much more put together and scheduled.

PILE 3

4:00-9:00am: If you have a young baby at this time, you may immediately go to nursing them as soon as you wake up, it honestly could even be that you’ve woken up early morning, your partner comes over to your side of the bed holding the baby, hands it to you. I do see a lot of stress around this time, so honestly I think the majority, if not all of you will have kids in five years time.

7:00-9:00am: I see you spending this time laying in your bed with your partner, possibly the kids have joined you now and you’re all just relaxing watching some TV for the few hours that you have until the morning begins and you need to get up and ready. For the few of you who may not be in a relationship or have kids, this could be a pet perhaps that you are spending the early morning with.

8:00-10:00am: You’re getting out of bed around this time and heading to the kitchen to get some breakfast started, you may have time to take a quick shower around this time, your partner will be looking after the kids, getting them all ready for the day so they can come and eat breakfast in time when it’s made.

8:30-9:00am: Some big change happens around this time, it may be that the kids are taken to school, or you perhaps take them to school. I’m seeing that this is the moment you begin your work for the day, I’m not too sure if you leave the house for it, I think so, as it does seem that there’s a change of scenery.

10:00am-12:00pm: This time is spent getting everything together for your job, I am seeing someone grabbing some coffee, if you work a corporate job, you’ll be getting yourself and some other people some coffee, collecting papers to make sure all your paperwork is complete. Some of you could be a therapist, psychologist or something to do with examining people, this is when you grab all your stuff to prepare for your clients, possible meetings etc.

12:00-1:00pm: A lot of teamwork around this time, this will be your first meeting of the day, first client, first job that you are supposed to complete. I see a need to write down a lot of stuff, you may even have a meeting presentation during this hour. Your lunch time may appear late, you perhaps have a job that runs over the normal lunch hour, so you go on your break in the next 1-2 hours.

2:00-3:00pm: Lunch time, I feel like you will leave your work building to go and buy lunch elsewhere, or perhaps your partner will bring you lunch themself, you might even order it into your section. You could be getting paid this time everyday, or you may count up your money for the day at this point.

3:30-4:00pm: You get to decide what you do here, I think sometimes you get the opportunity to go home at this time, other days you have to stay a little later, I think it depends on your schedule and the day of the week.

5:00-6:00pm: You get home during this period, I see there possibly being some time for you to relax and so what you want, before your partner and kids come home, some of you may have family around at this time each day? Or perhaps you live with extended family members and they will be making dinner for you, or getting some things done.

7:00pm-12:00am: A lot of you honestly could have family helping around the house, or perhaps you even have personal butlers, I don’t see you having to do much when it comes to making dinner, getting the kids to bed or anything, I see that you’ll be working hard on some paperwork that needs finishing, or getting your schedule ready for tomorrow, you’ll mainly be focusing on your work during this period too, I feel like you like to be prepared. You may get intimate with your partner during this time, I don’t see it lasting for too long as I think they go to bed earlier than you.

[purplephantomwolf]

Love in Motion

Chapter One

Synopsis: You're a normal college student until you get a wrong number text.

Note: This is not an accurate portrayal of how the real people in this act. I do not know them personally, so I will not be portraying them accurately.

Warnings: None

Masterlist

I AM REWRITING THIS FROM AN OC STORY. IF I MISS ANYTHING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN FIX IT! THIS IS CHAPTER 1 OF 5 OF ALREADY WRITTEN CHAPTERS.

April 4, 2022 12:30pm

     You sigh, turning your attention away from your software engineering professor to your laptop screen. You watch as the 20 best drivers in the world complete the last lap of the first race of the 2021 Formula 1 season. You just recently got into Formula 1, so you’re watching the 2021 season to get a feel for the sport. Someone told you the 2021 season is a great season to watch because of the fights between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. You silently cheer as your favorite driver, Lando Norris, finishes P4. You look up at the clock and see that it’s only 12:30. Still 35 minutes left of class, you think. You let out a small sigh, turning back to your laptop. You move on to watching qualifying for the first Italy grand prix of the 2021 season. You have just clicked play when you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You grab it and see a text message from an unknown number. 

Unknown Number: Did you make it home from the club okay?

You: *One Image Attached* Considering I’m currently in a programming lecture, I think you may have been given the wrong number. I’m sorry.

     I send a picture of my view of my professor, laptop, and notes to the unknown number. 

Unknown number: Oh, thank you! I’m sorry for bothering you!

Unknown number: Hang on, are you watching Formula 1 while in lecture?

You: It’s okay! Also, yes I am watching Formula 1 while in lecture. I’d rather be learning about Formula 1 than boring C++. Also, why are you texting someone about getting home from the club okay? It’s 12:30 pm?

Unknown number: It’s currently 2:30 am for me. I was attempting to text a girl I was talking to at the club, but it looks like she gave me the wrong number. 

You: Oh, that makes sense. Wait, where are you that’s 14 hours ahead of me? Also, I’m sorry about the whole wrong number thing. That really sucks. Unless she gave you the wrong number cause you’re a creep. Then you deserve it. 

Unknown number: I’m currently in Melbourne, Australia. And I wasn’t being a creep! At least, I don’t think so. I hope not at least; I try my best to not be a creep. 

You: Alright, that’s good. I doubt you were being a creep. And Australia? Jeez, that’s so far from me. I’m in the United States.

Unknown number: That's only a small stretch from Australia. 

You: Yeah, it’s going to be not fun to watch the F1 race this weekend, but staying up is so worth it to see the race live.

Unknown number: Big fan of the sport? 

You: Yeah, I am. I just recently got into it, so I’m watching the 2021 season to learn everything I can. I’m also attempting to watch all the qualifying and races live.

Unknown number: Oh cool. That’s got to be tiring because most of the races are in Europe. Waking up early every day of the weekend must suck. 

You: I mean, yeah. It kinda sucks, but it’s not too bad. I’m not waking up super early unless it’s races in places like Japan and Australia. The earliest I have to wake up is like 6 for other races. That’s not too bad though. 

Unknown number: Oh, that’s not too bad then! Which team do you support?

You: Well, there’s not a specific team I really support. If I have to choose one, it would be McLaren, probably followed by Red Bull. I support drivers more than I support teams really. 

Unknown number: Okay, then who are your top three drivers?

You: That is a hard decision to make for 2 and 3. Lando Norris is for sure my number one driver, but I have like 5 drivers tied for second and then 5 tied for third. 

Unknown number: Oh interesting. Any drivers you dislike then?

You: No, I don’t dislike any drivers. Unless you count past drivers *cough* Mazespin *cough* 

Unknown number: That’s a funny nickname for Mazepin. But why don’t you like him?

You: I’m not sure. I just get a weird vibe from him. 

Unknown number: Interesting. But I get what you’re saying. Can I ask why Lando is your favourite? 

You: Sure! Lando is my favorite because of his personality, humor, and how he speaks out about mental health. I really struggle with depression and anxiety, so having such a public figure speak out about it is amazing. Also helps that he’s got the boy next door charm. That’s definitely my type lol

Unknown number: Ahh, okay! Those are good reasons to like him! Now, I feel weird talking to a nameless person. Can I ask you what your name is?

You: My name is Y/n. Can I ask what your name is?

Unknown number: Y/n, that’s a pretty name. My name is Luke. 

You: Nice to meet you, Luke. 

     You look up when you hear a commotion around you. You see that your classmates are packing their things and leaving. Wow, time really flew by talking to this stranger. You put your phone down and quickly pack your things. You sling your backpack over your shoulder and head out. You feel your phone vibrate with a text again. You see that it’s Luke again. 

Luke: Nice to meet you too, Y/n. 

9 pm

     You groan, leaning back in your chair. You glare at the lab manual you’ve been trying to make sense of for the past two hours. You glance over at your phone as it lights up with a message from your mom, and you pick it up to respond to the message. You are distracted from responding to her though because you see a message from Luke from 10 minutes ago. Your eyebrows rise in surprise. 

Luke: Good morning!

You: Uh, hi. Good morning! Did you sleep well?

Luke: I did! Has the rest of your day gone well? 

You: The rest of my day has gone okay. I’ve been staring at some stupid code that’s not working. The assignment is due in three days, so I need to get this code fixed.  

Luke: That sounds awful. I’m so thankful I’m no longer in school.

You: Yeah, I’m jealous. I’m searching for jobs in my dream field, but I haven’t found any that allows me to do what I want yet. 

Luke: Oh? What’s your dream job then?

You: My ultimate dream job is working as a photographer in the motorsport world, preferably F1, but I’d take any motorsport. My next dream job is just anything that allows me to travel the world taking photos. 

Luke: That would be an awesome job. I recently got into photography as a hobby. Do you have any photos you’d be willing to share with me? 

You: Sure! 

     You send him five of your favorite photos I’ve taken. Two are of cars on the move, one is a still life of a bunch of cars from a car show, the fourth is a sunset, and the last is of a group of people playing soccer. 

Luke: Holy shit! Those are amazing! 

You: Thanks! I’m really proud of these photos. They’re some of my favorite ones I’ve taken. 

Luke: They’re beautiful. 

You: Thank you! So, you mentioned that you’re no longer in school. Can I ask what exactly you do?

     You wait for a minute, but get no response. You decide to mess around on your phone for a bit while waiting for a response. After 5 minutes of not getting a response, you set my phone down. Right as you set your phone down, a notification for your chat with Luke pops up and you quickly click it. 

Luke: I am an event manager for McLaren F1 team. 

You: Really? That is so cool! I wanted to do event management in sports before I was in software engineering, though I was wanting to get into baseball. If I was still event management, I’d want to do motorsports now. Do you enjoy it? What does that entail? 

Luke: I plan events for the fans mainly. 

You: That sounds like a fun job. 

Luke: Why did you switch?

You: My parents thought I wouldn’t find a job that would make as much money as they do, so they made me switch to software engineering because it has higher paying jobs. 

Luke: Well, that’s stupid. Were you happy in event management?

You: Yeah, I was. But my parents are paying for my college, so I have to do what they want.

Luke: That’s very stupid. I take it you aren’t happy with software engineering?

You: No, I’m not. But I’ve only got two years left, so it’ll be all good!

Luke: Alright, well good luck. 

You: Thanks! Do you have a hangover?

Luke: I actually didn’t drink that much, so no hangover for me!

You: That’s very nice. I’ve never been hungover. I don’t drink a lot when I do drink. Can’t stand the taste of alcohol lol

Luke: Oh yeah, I get that. Do you want to play a game?

You: What game?

Luke: 21 Questions? To get to know each other?

You: That sounds like a good idea. I can start. What is your favorite thing to do in your off time?

Luke: I like to play video games. What is your favourite tv show?

You: Doctor Who. I could go on about that show forever. Who is your real life hero?

Luke: Valentino Rossi. What’s your favourite season of the year?

You: Fall. The colors are beautiful, the temperature is beautiful. I love it. What is your favorite song?

Luke: Right now it’s Last Last. What is your favourite city?

You: Of all the cities I’ve been to, London or Barcelona. If you had to guess what people appreciate the most about you, what would you say? 

Luke: My humour for sure. You’ve been to London and Barcelona?

You: Yeah, I went when I was a lot younger with my family. My family went on a three week trip to four different countries in Europe. We went to London, Paris, Zurich, and Barcelona. I loved London the most. It was right before the 2012 Olympics, so the city is probably different from what I remember now, though. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

Luke: I would say I’m in the middle. What are your top three items on your bucket list? 

You: Going to an F1 race, start going to the gym, develop my skills in photography even more. Do you like to go to the movies or prefer watching them at home? Do you talk during movies?

Luke: I would prefer watching them home because it’s more comfortable. Plus it’s not expensive. I do not talk during movies if it’s the first time someone is watching it. If it’s not the first time, I’ll discuss the movie with others while watching it. If you could choose any F1 race to go to, which one would it be?

You: I’m torn between Austin and Great Britain. I know Monaco is like the go to cause of the history and prestige of it all, but I think Austin or Great Britain would be more fun with the atmosphere. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music?

Luke: I only listen to music. Podcasts need more attention than what I'm willing to give than music. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

You: Probably chocolate. What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?

Luke: Talking to my friends. What is the phone app you use the most?

You: TikTok or Discord. How would you spend your birthday, ideally?

Luke: Spend the day casually with my friends and family, and then have a party with them at night. You said you use discord, do you play video games?

You: Yes, I do. It’s one of my favorite things to do in my free time. What video games do you play? Do you usually play single player or multiplayer?

Luke: I usually play CS:GO and F1. What video games do you play?

You: If I play multiplayer games, it’ll be Valorant. But I mainly play single player games, like Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is one of my favorite games ever.

Luke: Which one is that one? I know they take place throughout time. 

You: That one is the Greek history one. I’m super into Greek history/mythology, so I absolutely love it. 

Luke: Oh that sounds cool!

     You glance over at the time. “Shit, it’s already midnight,” you groan. Now that you’re not focused on responding to Luke, you realize you are struggling to keep your eyes open. 

You: As much as I’d love to continue this, I just realized it’s midnight here, and I need to sleep. 

Luke: Okay, sounds good! Have a good night! 

You: Thank you! Have a good day! 

Luke: Good night!

You: Good night!

     You plug in your phone, shut off your pc, and change for bed. You crawl into bed, falling asleep quickly.

Next Chapter: Chapter Two

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Permanent taglist:

@sol3chu

@faithshouseofchaos

Story taglist:

[charcoallbaby]

dirty little secret

smut! choking, cheating and reader gets tied up.

someone asked for a cheating matt so here!!! very rushed but hope you enjoy! happy to be writing again.

every friday at 6:30pm he was outside my door, waiting in his car until i came outside. the second he saw me close my apartment door after myself, he immediately got out of his car, opened the passenger door for me and got back into the drivers seat.

when i got into his car, he would greet me, drive to a enclosed area and fuck me rough in his back seats.

our schedule is friday night until sunday night. he fucks me for them 2 days straight.

no one knows what we do together. not his best friend, not my bestriend not even his own brothers know what we do on the weekends. well i know for a fact that they can hear us, well mostly me. he tells me to be quiet when he’s thrusting into me but i can’t help but scream from his size.

if i ever see him in public which i mostly do, he’s my boyfriends close friend.

my boyfriend tucker. brief summary of him; he treats me like shit, he can’t make me come(matt always makes me come) and he works late on weekends so i never see him, he doesn’t suspect anything.

matt’s brothers don’t know that it’s me he’s fucking. if they knew he would definitely be called out.

as i was saying, if i ever see him in public i can’t be caught looking at him, even when he’s talking. it’s one of his rules. he’s the quietest out of the whole group, so there’s not a lot of talking coming from him.

he rubs my damp panties underneath the table with his veiny hands, with long fingers and thick rings covered on them and no one bats an eye.

it was a friday night. it was my twenty-first. my best friend violet organised a party with all our friends, matt included of course. violet made sure it was at the bar my boyfriend works at, so he could “see me.” it’s only because they don’t ID and she’s still twenty. i made sure to buy a nice fitting dress that showed my curves and of course, my boobs were nearly spilling out of it, it was all for matt. i didn’t care if my boyfriend stared at me, i didn’t care if any random guy stared at me. all i cared about was if matt stared at me. i wanted him to punish me for wearing such a revealing dress around him, i wanted him to not be able to contain himself around me.

matt and his two brothers chris and nick walked in through the door.

my breathing hitched. he looked so good.

rings covering his fingers, a chain around his neck that i loved to pull and that i broke way too many times.

“happy birthday!” nick chimed. i smiled at him, trying to not stare at his brother. “thank you nick, thank you both for coming!” my eyes skimmed past matt’s. i made eye contact with chris and smiled at him. he was sweet. “of course, where’s the restroom though?” “i’m gonna piss myself!” chris squealed. i laughed. “it’s over there to the right,” i pointed towards the back of the building. “thank you!” chris ran off. “is violet here?” nick asked. “yeah, she’s somewhere in the crowd of people.” “come find her with me!” nick dragged me by hand into the group of people.

“nick!” violet exclaimed, taking her arms off her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around nick. “how are you?” he asked pulling away. “i’m good!”

matt stood behind us. i could fill his presence. “i’m getting a drink nick, what do you want?” he mumbled. “dr pepper, you better buy the birthday girl a drink!” nick turned me around to look at matt.

matt stared down at me. i gulped. “what could you like birthday girl?” i could feel the dampness between my legs begin. “malibu and coke please.” he nodded his head before making his way over to the bar. he went straight up to tucker, my boyfriend. i tried to indulge in the conversation that violet and nick were having, i couldn’t. my eyes kept reverting back up to matt talking to tucker and i wanted to die.

matt came back with the drinks. his hand briefly touching off mine. “thanks.” i mumbled. “i’m going to find chris.” matt stated. “okay!” nick looked between me and violet.

i walked out of the restroom, well i was walking until my body clashed into something hard.

“what do you think your doing?” he growled. i looked at his arm, tattoos. matt.

“w-what do you mean,” i stuttered. “in that little slutty dress acting so innocent,” he closed the space between us making me back into the wall behind me. “i’m not innocent you know me well matt,” i batted my eyelashes. “stop!” he wrapped his hands around my neck, gently squeezing. “harder daddy,” i teased him, a smirk planted onto my face. matt’s hooded eyes stared down at me. “listen to me baby,” his grip got harder. “we’re gonna go out there and your going to tell everyone you don’t feel so good,” “your gonna go back to your apartment, strip naked for me and wait until i punish you okay?” his left hand soft caressed my face. i nodded my head. “okay good girl go!” he let go of me. as i walked away matt lightly slapped my ass making me turn back at scowl at him. he had a pretty smile on his face.

“happy birthday sweetie,” tucker wrapped his arms around my waist. i cringed at the pet name, was he my mom?

“thank you,” i gave him a fake smile. “i don’t feel so good sadly, im gonna have to head home, i have work tomorrow anyway,” i pulled away from his grip. “but it’s just my break now?” he furrowed his eyebrows. “im sorry, i’ll make it up to you.” that was a lie.

it wasn’t that late when i got home.

i slipped out of my dress into something more comfortable and layed on my couch until i heard that very familiar buzzer sound.

“i missed fucking you in my car,” matt pecked my lips. “well you get to fuck me in my bed, that’s even better.” i pecked his lips back. “come on, i have a surprise.” matt held his hand out.

i layed down on my bed, my eyes closed as matt told me to wait. my heart was beating fast, i didn’t know what to expect.

i opened my eyes. matt grabbed a tie from his jean pocket. “hands up,” he ordered. i nodded my head and quickly put my hands up for him. he roughly tied my hands against my head board. “this isn’t even the start baby,” he kissed me. i whimpered underneath him.

he left to find something in the kitchen.

i couldn’t see what he had but i could feel it.

a cold ice cube met my stomach. i gasped as matt ran it down my stomach. he guided it with his mouth, slowly meeting my thighs. a cry escaped me as matt moved the ice cube to my soaking sensitive flesh. he rubbed it over my clit. i didn’t know how it wasn’t melted already. i moaned as he made me even wetter. “please baby,” i managed to speak. “no i’m enjoying you like this,” he spoke from below me. i could barely look down at him from my arms being restrained. i put my head back, frustrated.

matt left again for the kitchen.

he came back with another piece of ice in his mouth, hovering over me.

this time he lowered the ice over my nipples making them suddenly get hard and point up. i tried to move for some friction but nothing was working. “matt-matt please, i’ll do anything,” i was now begging. he pulled away from me, dropping the ice cube down on the ground beside my bed.

“what should i start with first?” he scanned my body. “maaaaatttttttt!” i whined. “enough!” matt gritted his teeth. my eyes rolled into the back of my head, i was too overstimulated. my body was in so much pleasure.

matt began sucking on my soft pink nipples, slowly and softly, torturing me, going softly on purpose.

he made his way down to my soaking core, that was practically begging for him.

his middle finger coated in my juices as he pounded it into me. all i wanted was to grab him, which i couldn’t do.

“your so pretty baby,” “looking like this for me,” he positioned himself inbetween my thighs. he gave me a sweet innocent smile as he slowly ran his tongue between my folds making me scream. “i can’t do it.” i cried. the pleasure was too much, making my eyes water. “look at you,” matt pulled away from me. my juices all over his mouth and chin. “your such a mess already and i’m not even inside you.” he pulled my clit into his mouth.

matt kept my hands tied as he thrusted inside me.

he grabbed my legs and put them on his shoulders, so he could get deeper inside me. we were both a moaning mess.

i came. matt came.

“fucking ride me.” matt undid the tie around my hands and flipped me over.

i did as i was told. i rode matt like the good girl i was for him. he grabbed onto my hips and pushed me deeper inside making me lose control of the pace i was in.

less than 24 hours later.

“i know right?” tuckers hand wrapped around my waist.

matt was sending him daggers from across the room, he wasn’t staring at me. he hadn’t looked at me all night.

“thanks for the ride matt!” tucker shook matt’s hand. “of course bro,” matt mumbled.

“you coming?” tucker asked. “i left my lip liner somewhere in here, i’ll meet you inside okay?” i lied straight through my teeth. “okay, don’t be too long.” he winked which made my stomach churn.

tucker was now no longer to be seen. matt pulled me towards him. “your my dirty little secret baby, not him,” “are you gonna fuck him tonight?” he grabbed my face. i shook my head. “even if i did, i would think of you,” i gave him the most innocent look possible. “of course you would,” “enjoy your come-less sex baby, i’ll see you on friday.” he pressed a rough kiss against my lips.

i backed away and he let go of my face. i whimpered. “what’s wrong?” he titled his head.

i looked down at my skirt that was rising at my thighs. “that’s it,” “your mine now tell him to fuck off.” he kissed me hard and grabbed my waist.

sorry about it being short! i love you <333

[orchidyoonkook]

To What We Were Before, And All The Things After | JJK | Ch. 5

Title: Shocking Announcements and Camouflaged Explanations

Pairing: Prince!College Student!JK x Fine Arts Major!(F)!Reader

Series Rating//Genre: (M) | College AU, Mild Royalty AU, Smut, Angst, Fluff, S2F2L, Indiffernce to lovers, sloooowwww ass burn

Summary: I'm sorry the prince is dating WHO?

Warnings: PG16, swearing, drinking, pining, angsssttttttttt, Jk has a lot of feelings, and so does Reader. Yuri being Yuri. Adaline being Adaline. TOUCH of fluff.

Word Count: 6,006

Release Date: October 20, 2023, 2:00PM

A/N 1: brain mush. finally out. Thank you for understanding. Already working on 6.

Series: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

It’s 2:30pm on the Wednesday before fall reading week. 

Saturday’s looking so beautiful. Sunny skies and comfortable temperatures. 

It’s 2:30pm on the Wednesday before the Friday you get to see Nel for the first time since August. 

And by god you can’t wait. You’re counting the days, minutes and seconds till he’s in front of you again. 

But it’s also 2:30pm on the Wednesday after you mysteriously woke up in your bed after movie night.  And that thought alone has been in the back of your mind since you opened your eyes Monday morning. 

You’d thought about asking Jungkook what happened, but also didn’t think you could face the mortification if his answer was the one you almost 100% knew it was going to be. Hell, you could already feel the nose dive your stomach would make towards pavement the second you got confirmation. 

So instead, like any other rational person, you shelved it away in the back corner of your brain. Far, far back, hopefully being covered with dirt and cobwebs and lint as the days pass on. 

Though you have a nagging feeling that someone or something keeps dusting—anyways, there are much more important things to be focusing on. 

Currently at the greenhouse cafe, you’re sipping on hot chocolate and painting this week's florals on a canvas almost half the size of you. Perched onto an easel, a bunch of sunflowers is beginning to take shape when your phone dings so many times you're worried someone’s dead. 

Dropping your brush, you scoop it up from its place on the edge of the table, only to see a series of texts from Yuri, and you loose a worried breath.

Her contact name is the same from when you two went to a party the first night of freshman year. While you were sipping from your first and only drink that night, Yuri was sloshed out her mind and slurring her words. And thus, SlurryYuri was born.

She whines every time she sees you still haven’t changed it. You were never going to, of course.

SlurryYuri [2:32pm]: BITCH

Oh, here we go. 

SlurryYuri [2:33pm]: YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO WENT SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICIAL TODAY SlurryYuri [2:33pm]: BABE ANSWER SlurryYuri [2:33pm]: ANSWER ANSWER ANSWERRRRR SlurryYuri [2:34pm]: YNNNNNNNN

You [2:34pm]: Take a breath why dont you

SlurryYuri [2:34pm]: FINALLY.  SlurryYuri [2:34pm]: By the gods YN…  SlurryYuri [2:35pm]: ANYWAY SlurryYuri [2:35pm]: JUNGKOOK SlurryYuri [2:35pm]: as in PRINCE Jungkook SlurryYuri [2:36pm]: is dating ADALINE. SlurryYuri [2:36pm]: as in #1 ENEMY OF THE STATE EVIL BITCH ADALINE.

You spit out what was left of the hot chocolate in your mouth. 

Thankfully, you had some of your mind about you and managed not to ruin your painting by turning your head…couldn’t say the same for the cafe wall though. Rustic brick now splattered with a lovely, Pollock-esque spray of brown.

Oops.

But Jungkook and…Adaline? That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

He hasn’t mentioned anything about this to you. You speak to him every day, see him almost every day, and nothing? Not a peep? A morsel? A hint? Nothing?

Maybe you two aren’t as close as you thought you were.

To be fair, you didn’t tell him about Nel. And now that you think about it, you haven’t seen or heard much from Jungkook since Sunday, which is unusual. He’s normally stuffing your inbox full of messages as the sun rises and sets, yet he’s sent maybe two a day since then.

You thought he was just busy with schoolwork.

Spiraling, you can’t help but wonder how long they’ve been seeing one another. How long he’s kept this little secret—not that it’s any of your business anyway, but he’s always seemed so open with you, with just about everything. So the fact that he kept this from you? What does that say? 

Does he think you’d react like any other girl? That you would scream and cry and mourn and tell him he’s making a mistake, that you’re his true love? Like Adaline would if he weren’t dating her? 

As if! And he knows that.

He knows that…right?

Doesn’t matter. Yes it does. No it doesn’t. 

Ugh! Whatever!

Does he even know who Adaline really is? Or does she put on a mask in front of him too, like she does everyone else. She must because now you wonder how he could even possibly like someone like her, knowing…well her! 

Bitchiness and duchess-ness aside, you and Adaline are incredibly similar, and Jungkook has never had any interest in you whatsoever, thank god. You and Adaline are both fine arts majors, both top of your class, talented, driven. You both work tirelessly for what you want, and don’t let others get in your way to success. Though only one of you will cheat if you have too, morals be damned. You both want your lives to yourself, to make your own path, to be trailblazers in your chosen fields.  

That kind of woman doesn’t seem like Jungkook's type. 

He needs someone who will follow him, and allow him to lead the nation. Someone who is okay submitting to him and his needs for the good of the people and the betterment of the Western Shores. He needs a politically inclined cheerleader, for lack of better phrasing. And that isn’t Adaline at all…or you, if you're still putting yourself in this conversation, which you’re not.  

Also, wasn’t it a rule that princes could only marry princesses? Or was it that nice, genuine people shouldn’t end up with assholes who use and abuse those around them for social status and power? And isn’t that a thing for him too—that he hates when people use him for his name?

So how could he go for her? You can’t fathom a goddamn reason as to why—

Ah…Well.

You can, but you hate it. 

Adaline is beautiful, and while no, not a princess, she does have a title the prince can be seen with in public without ridicule, friend or more than. Someone who wouldn’t be looked at like a charity case or a flavour of the week. Someone who’s used to the media. Adaline doesn’t have to hide from them. Isn’t scared to be seen by them with him. It wouldn’t ruin her future. It’ll only add to i—Wait.

Holy shit.

Adaline comes from one of the most influential families on the Eastern Shores. One with a lot of political power. Like, best friends with the Queen of the Eastern Shores, political power. Though she was only ever graced with sons. Adaline’s probably the closest thing she has to a daughter.

A marriage between Jungkook and Adaline could potentially unify the two sides again. 

Jungkook and Adaline could re-unite the East and West after centuries of war and separation, and current amicable co-existence.

Now that’s a reason he would date her. to become power couple of the century.

The next step in history. 

The whole idea of them makes more and more sense the more you think about it. Adaline, darling of the East marrying the future King of the West. And your stomach curls in on itself. 

Just because it makes sense doesn’t mean you have to like it. 

And you pray to whatever god or gods there are in this universe that he keeps her away from you and out of your conversations. Jungkook’s relationship isn’t any of your business, nor your interest, but you don’t know how well you’d be able to keep your mouth shut about her if he asks anything. 

You know he likes that you’re honest. That you don’t hide things from him others would just to please him. But at what point do you put that aside to keep the peace in an otherwise very comfortable and still blossoming friendship? At what point does honesty become an obstacle rather than a building block?

You know that if Jungkook ever meets Nel and happens not to like him he would keep his mouth shut, mostly. Hopefully. He may give you a hard time but that’s just him. Jungkook knows your relationship is important to you, that it and Nel, make you happy. He would respect that.

So again, who are you to speak ill of the person he’s chosen for himself? Maybe he knows something you don’t, sees something in her that you haven’t.

Just…Why did it have to be Adaline?

He could have anyone, anyone—on campus, in the West, the East, for the love of god, he could have anyone in the entire ass realm he wants! It’s easy to forget when he speaks with his mouth full, dresses in baggy, comfy clothes, and whines about movie choices, but Jungkook is still Prince of the Western Shores. 

He’s still the most eligible bachelor on the continent.  

Yet somehow he chose the one person you can’t stand to be within 1000 feet of. He chose the one person you never thought he would’ve liked for himself because underneath everything, she is everything he claims to hate. 

He chose Adaline Dupree. 

So yeah, you wonder why he hid it from you. Why he felt like he couldn’t tell you. Sure, you hated her, but he doesn’t know that. Probably.

Maybe his love life is something he keeps private? Everyone has that right, and maybe that’s what he’s used to doing due to his every choice being splashed on every news and media outlet there is. 

You roll your eyes. Merciless vultures. 

So maybe he’s not used to sharing this side of himself with others. Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell you anything. 

And with all of this chaos now flitting around your brain, you failed to notice the little slice of pain behind your sternum the more they ricochet around up there. You’re hurt. 

You didn’t expect it to hurt. 

Out of everything you could feel about this: confusion, anger, exasperation, annoyance, you don’t feel any of them. You just feel upset that he didn’t come to you about it. Didn’t feel like he could discuss it with you. 

You are the person your friends—old and new—come to talk to. Always have been. You’re the one who has the rational, well thought out advice. The common sense distributor. The one sought out to help, regardless of the situation. 

And you love it. You love that you’re able to help your friends. Love that they trust you with such things. That you’re the person they seek assistance and guidance from. The ear they bounce their thoughts off of. You’ve always been told you have ‘knowledge beyond your years’ as your mother says. You take pride in that. It gives your life that much more meaning. 

So even though you don’t want to, and know you shouldn’t, because it has nothing to do with you and you know that…you’re taking this as somewhat of a personal blow. 

Maybe you’re losing your touch. You hope not.

But, you need to react like you normally would. Like you still hate the prince for how he humiliated Yuri, just like she hates Adaline for you. Solidarity between best friends, even if it’s fake.

Come on YN you got this, you think to yourself.

You [2:40pm]: I almost feel sorry for him. After how he treated you tho? They deserve each other

No they don’t, no they don’t, no they don’t. 

He deserves so much better.

SlurryYuri [2:40pm]: I’m just surprised he went for her tbh SlurryYuri [2:41pm]:  isnt she like a total bitch? To you at least?  SlurryYuri [2:41pm]: like just knowing what I do from the tiny bit of time I spent with him, she doesn’t really seem to be his type

Vindication!

You [2:42pm]: uh yeah, like 100% yes. Shes a rich party girl who doesnt know the word punishment, always gets what she wants, regardless if she works for it or not. And takes it when she especially doesnt deserve it You [2:43pm]: probably explains how she got him 🙄

Vivian pops outside to check in, and takes the couple steps to reach your table, some napkins and a large cup of water in hand.

“Hey! Are you okay? I saw that spit take and one; wow, that was impressive. But two; is everything alright?” she asks, passing you the napkins. The water gets thrown on the wall to wash off the splatter.

You wipe up your chin and remnants of projected hot chocolate on the table.

“Sorry, thank you. Yes, I’m fine,” you lie easily. A little scared of how easy it’s becoming. “I just learned some really shocking news is all. I shouldn’t have read it with a full mouth.”

“Oh! That makes sense. I hope whatever it is turns out fine.” 

“Thanks, me too.” 

You know Vivian means well, but she doesn’t know that that is the very last thing you want. You want Adaline’s corruptive, cutthroat, cruel nature away from Jungkook. 

But is he just Jungkook anymore?  

You’ve spent enough time together to consider him a friend, a close friend even. You’ve grown to care for him, platonically, similar to the way you do Yuri. And the fact that you want Adaline as far away from him as she can get so he doesn't go through whatever shit she’ll inevitably get him wrapped up in, definitely says something.

Adaline loves many things—art, fashion, publicity—but the thing she likes better than anything else? 

Attention.

She thrives on it. The more eyes on her the better. She’s a ‘there’s no such thing as bad press’ type, and you worry what that means for him.

Especially now that she’s taken them public—because you know it was her that did it, he would have never—and she’s going to be the hottest topic in all of the newest news cycles. 

Say they’ve been seeing one another since the beginning of the school year? Just a guess, but a likely correct one—you shiver at the thought. That’s less than seven weeks to get to know one another before camera crews and reporters start breathing down their necks. They’ll ask and comment on everything you thought you might go through at one point. But unlike you, Adaline will face it head on with a smile and win them over. Gladly welcome them with open arms.

Because exactly like Jungkook fears with everyone new, she desires everything a relationship with him would give her. 

Status, fame, power, wealth, brand sponsorships, popularity, jealousy, people wishing they could be her. You couldn’t build a better trap to lure her into if you tried. 

Jungkook is potentially unknowingly feeding her already enormous ego simply by publicly dating her. And it dawns on you that your classes with her are going to become even more insufferable.

Great. 

You don’t even know if she’s going to care that she has him. As wonderful, kind and talented as Jungkook is, you have a very good sense that she’ll be just like rest; happy to receive what he can give her, and not a damn to be given about him.

So now you worry. You worry for him and for his safety and for his feelings.

Because that’s what friends do. 

Right?

“Hey.”

You look up to see Jungkook rounding the back corner to the cafe, backpack slung over a shoulder, mask, hat and hoodie all too familiar. You’d be able to spot him a mile away now, it’s all in his posture and eyes. 

Maybe he should invest in some sunglasses. 

And slouch.

You’re elbows deep in yellow and brown paint from the sunflowers that now fill the canvas in front of you. You’ve been experimenting with texture, oil paint thicker in some places to give off a more 3D effect. Stripes of green carved into the medium by the edge of a long palette knife mimic stems, and fat leaves placed with precision also riddle the cloth. 

As he nears, you try your best not to come off as upset, pissed off or worried when you reply.

“Hey,” you fail miserably, sounding exactly like you’re all kinds of upset, and pissed off, and worried. 

Shit.

Like always, he notices immediately.

“Everything okay?” he’s taking his spot at the table beside you, the one that seats four, having abandoned his original one weeks ago. 

You two both found yourselves here so frequently that over time, he started sitting next to you without asking. Always in the same spots. Always side by side. Him at the closest chair to you, you at the same one you always have.

Sure, you two shared movie nights and fun messages, you talk everyday and pretty much talk about whatever you want. But when it comes to academics, he knows he has to tread water a little differently around you. He can’t constantly start conversations the way he would at movie night when you’re at the greenhouse cafe. You’re here to work and to study, and if he wants to be there too, he has to respect that about you, and know not to take it personally. 

So you work together in comfortable silence most of the time, occasionally breaking it to have a conversation, get snacks, or pose for one another’s homework. It’s become another routine you share, an unspoken agreement that when you were both there at the same time, you worked together. 

And you haven’t minded since that first time. The one when you decided to say yes to your friendship. 

You welcome it. Welcome him. His presence. 

Company’s nice to have when it’s wanted. 

When it’s him.

And whether you know it or not, you seem to work better when you are in each other's immediate orbit. You work better when he works alongside you, able to focus better due to body doubling and  to have a second opinion at the ready when you need it. Just like he worked better when you worked alongside him, a willing model any time he needed, and an open ear when he wanted to work something out.  

You two just work. And because of this, he also picks up when something isn’t quite right with the atmosphere you two have created. 

Play it off YN.

“Yeah, just focused. Sorry.”

He doesn’t believe you for a second. When you focus you have a very distinct look on your face, eyes clearer, an eyebrow constantly quirked in self reflection, and that isn’t the one you have on right now. 

But he lets it slide. For now. Somethings up with you, and he knows better than to push you before you’re ready.

“That’s okay. I’m running in, need anything?”

“I’m good, thanks,” you go back to painting, barely acknowledging him and shutting out the outside world. 

Yeah, something’s definitely up.

You’re ignoring him so hard you don’t notice Jungkook lifting your hot chocolate just enough to feel it’s empty. 

Vivian’s behind the counter as he enters and takes off his mask to flash her a wide smile.

“Hey Vivian, how are you today?”

She blushes like she does every time he comes in, hands slowing in their task. 

“Hey JK, I’m good. You?” He had to ask her about a hundred times to drop the ‘your highnesses,’ ‘you majesty’s,’ and ‘prince’s.’ Telling her it really was okay, and that no, she wasn’t going to get in trouble for it. It took her some time, but eventually she came around and it’s made his experience here so much better. So much more normal.

She’d settled on JK because ‘it makes me feel like I’m listening to what you want while also not feeling guilty and weird about calling you Jungkook without the prince part.’

He could work with that logic.

“I’m alright, could I get my usual and a hot chocolate for YN? With a little extra secret ingredient if you're so inclined?” You shared the not so secret stash secret with Jungkook about a week after you said yes.  “She seems upset. Have you noticed anything off lately? Has she said anything to you?”

Jungkook peruses the pastry display while Vivian starts on his drink.

“Not really, she did a wicked spit take earlier about some news her friend told her, but said she was fine, just surprised. Besides that, focused maybe? Or maybe the opposite of that and a little distracted?” She thinks for a second. “Does she have an exam coming up that you know about? She gets a little weird before those.”

He knows exactly what’s meant by that. Witnessed it himself, bunny slippers and all.

But no, you don’t. Your midterms aren’t until the first week of November, nearly two weeks away. You started studying for them last week.

He spots egg tarts in the back corner of the pastry display, hiding. Perfect.

“I don’t think that’s it, but thanks though. I’ll get it out of her eventually, especially if I have one of those egg tarts to butter her up first,” he says in a questioning tone to ask for one while pointing at them.

Vivian smiles a knowing smile. He wants to know what it means because she’s worn it around him for a while now, and he’s half tempted to ask at this point. 

“I think that could be arranged.”

Jungkook pays and heads to your tables again. You’re still locked into your own world of colour and canvas. He subtly sets down the hot chocolate and bagged tart so that you won’t notice until you pop the bubble you’re in.

Halfway through a business assignment he hears your surprise. The weird look on your face finally breaking, a grateful one taking its place as you peek at him.

A soft, genuine, “thank you,” finds his ears as your lips meet lid, and you can’t meet his eye. He knows you often forget to drink or eat when you’re in the zone. 

Maybe now with a warm drink and some goodies in your belly, you’re willing to talk about it.

“You sure everything’s okay?” he asks again.

Your deep sigh and unfocused gaze says enough to him. 

You are willing to talk.

Quietly, almost ashamed sounding, you ask, “Why didn't you tell me about her?”

Her? 

Oh.

Oh… 

You meant Adaline. Why hadn’t he told you about Adaline. 

“Why did I find out an hour ago from Yuri screaming at me through text messages and not from you? Is it something you’re private about? Do you not trust me?”

The truth was that he was hoping to keep it under wraps for a bit longer, actually, hoping you never found out so he wouldn’t have to explain the reason why. 

He still doesn’t have too, and he won’t. Not the real reason.

He won’t ruin things. He can’t.

But he also should have known better. Should have known that not telling you would hurt you instead. Of course he trusted you.

You talk everyday, sometimes for hours, sometimes just to check in. You hang out during the week, whether it be at the cafe like you are right now, or for Sunday movie night. 

Six weeks isn’t a long time, but it was plenty when he thinks about how much time you two have already spent together, how much you’ve gotten to know one another. 

How comfortable you are in each other’s presence. 

Six weeks isn’t a long time, but it feels like you’ve always been there with him, listening, cheering, supporting.

Six weeks isn't a long time, and yet it feels like it’s been forever.

Of course you’re hurt he didn’t tell you. So he doesn’t lie to you, but he also doesn’t tell you the full truth.

“Oh…uh, that.” He rubs a hand at the nape of his neck. “That just kind of happened recently actually, like Monday recently. My father’s been really pressuring me to find someone to court,” and I couldn’t go with my first choice. “So I did.”

“And you went with Adaline?” You ask carefully.

“Uh, yeah? Is there something wrong with her?”

Adaline isn’t his first, second or tenth choice. She's his father’s choice. Might as well appease him and at least try with this girl. It’s going…fine, so far. 

Adaline wanted to make it social media official as soon as possible, wanted what he could give her, like everyone else. Like he expected. And so he willingly suffered through a photo session where she staged everything to make it look perfectly unposed and natural. Even though none of it was. 

She’d told him to put his arms around her waist and kiss her forehead, and it worked. The picture wasn’t bad, they both looked great. But he hated it anyway. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision, or sincere. It wasn’t a picture of two fools drunk on love, wanting to capture something beautiful for their future selves to look back on to reminisce over.

It was an uncomfortable hour and a half of touching and kissing a complete stranger, and it is the complete opposite of what he wants in a relationship. 

He wants genuine and carefree and candid. He wants honest, true feelings and social media posts saved for anniversaries and birthdays instead of using them as a mini documentary of every part of his life through pictures. 

He wants shitty birthday cakes made from scratch, and blurry polaroid pictures of kisses in the rain to put in his wallet when he’s away from them. He wants silly nicknames and inside jokes no one else will understand. 

He wants midnight walks hand in hand under moonlight and quirky habits he picks up from them. He wants pictures of precious moments and holidays celebrated between just the two of you and movie nights under blanket forts with popcorn and hot chocolate and egg tarts. 

He wants real.

He wants authentic. 

He wants love.

Not some staged artificial bullshit for an online presence that means nothing once you’re dead. 

But this is new and exciting for Adaline. He understands that a relationship with him is a very big deal, that she’s not used to it yet, and that it hasn’t been nearly long enough for him to see the true her yet. 

It’s only been 44 hours. Not that he’s counting.

So he’s going to give her some time, and have some faith that maybe she shows him that side of herself if it exists. He doesn't think she's going to change all that much for several reasons, the first being her enormous reputation, and the second being that she’s a politician's daughter, but he’s going to at least try. The way he hopes she will.

And if nothing does change, and she stays the exact same, at least she’s pretty enough to distract him. 

He knows that’s not the most mature or princely thing to do or think. In fact, he knows it’s quite asshole-ish of him, but if Adaline’s going to openly use him for her own personal gain, why shouldn’t he be able to use her just a little bit too? 

She isn’t unfamiliar with political relationships, having been born from one, so he doesn’t think she would be against it either. And it’s not like he’ll be mistreating her, quite the opposite in fact.

He’ll shower her with expensive gifts and happily take however many pictures she wants. He’ll smother her in physical affection and get or do whatever she needs in order to make her happy. 

Because as much as she clearly wants this relationship with him for whatever reason, he desperately needs it more with every passing day. He needs somewhere to put everything he’s feeling. And if that happens to be in a beautiful woman his father approves of who he could possibly, eventually grow feelings for? It’s a win-win in his book.

But at the same time, sometimes he really hates the shit he has to navigate in his Royal Life.

While Jungkook is caught in his thought spiral, you bite your tongue. Like actually bite your tongue. 

Don’t say shit Y/N. 

Don't say anything.

It’s not your business. What they have together and what’s between you and Adaline are completely separate, unrelated things. One’s a rivalry and one's a relationship. Those are not the same. 

At. All. 

So, still untrusting of your mouth, you shake your head and dodge his question by changing the direction of the conversation.

“Why did you go public so quickly?” you ask, feeling like it’s the safest question you can muster. “It’s literally only been two days.”

He shrugs. “She wanted to, and I didn’t say no.”

“Courseshedid,” you mutter under your breath. That should’ve been red flag number one. Two days? Who goes social media official after two days!?

“What?”

“Nothing,” you try your best to give him the closest thing to a smile you can currently muster, forcibly removing any acid from every word. “I hope she makes you happy.”

He doesn’t tell you she was hand picked by the king for him.

That at twenty-four, he still isn’t pulling all of his own strings. It’s pathetic.

“Me too.” 

He hopes she’ll help more than anything. Even if it’s just for a little while. “I’ve never been in a public relationship before. But the kingdom and my father seem to like her, so I’m sure I will too, with time.” 

It takes all of your focus not to roll your eyes.

Of course they do. Of course the King already likes her, she’s got the attitude and knowledge for politics, so she’s perfect! Strong potential to be the heartless, ruthless Queen to what you already know will be Jungkook's kind and giving King. 

Great! Just great. That’s just…great…

Maybe you’re biased. Maybe there’s something in her that you can’t see because of your past with her. 

Maybe they really are perfect for one another and you just refuse to see it. Opposites attract, isn’t that what they say? Well Jungkook and Adaline couldn’t be more opposite of one another.

So you decide that you won’t let your personal feelings get in the way. That you’ll keep the peace and support his choice, regardless of your opinion of her, even if you hate his choice. 

And you really hate his choice.

“I have no doubt.”

The seat heater in the car you rented to pick Nel up from the airport keeps your tush toasty while you drive. 

Friday night has never felt so exciting!

You can barely sit still, the leg not pressing the pedals won’t stop bouncing and you have to sit on your hands at stop lights to try and keep calm.

God you missed him, it's only been two months since you last saw him, and yet it feels like forever. 

You have the piece of printer paper with ‘Smoosh’ printed on it in the biggest font you could have horizontally. It’s something you do every year, and every year it never fails to bring the biggest smile to Nel’s face when you wave it wildly the second you see him.

Pulling up to the terminal you keep your eyes peeled for the first parking spot you can find. Never an easy feat at this particular airport but you manage to find one somewhere in the J lot under section 1, whatever that meant. All you care about right now is that you’re decently close to the doors as you grab your phone, bag, sign, and that you’re perfectly on time.

Entering through sliding doors, you find the waiting area mostly empty, so you pick the best place to sit as you wait for his flight to land: dead center and up front. 

You can’t wait. Just a few more minutes and you’ll see him. 

You can’t wait. You can’t wait. You can't wait!

Your phone dings and you jump at it, looking for the ‘I’ve landed’ text from Nel, but it’s not from Nel.

It’s from Jungkook.

Me [10:42pm]: See you in a week. I hope you enjoy your time with Nel.

That sounds okay, right? It sounds neutral? Safe?

Like he hasn’t been dreading this week since that day you told him about it?

Jungkook hopes so. Because he wants you to enjoy your week off.

Your week off with Nel. 

And not him. 

That’s normal, he has to remind himself. That he’s not anyone particularly special to you, just a friend. Not someone you would go out of your way for to spend all your free time with over break. Not even for two hours on Sunday nights.

Just a regular, average, nothing important about him…

Friend. 

He doesn’t want to feel like this. Doesn’t want to have all of these… whatever these feelings are, about and for you.

He really doesn’t want to. But more than that, he can’t. 

He can’t have any sort of non-platonic feelings for the first person who didn’t give a shit about who he was. For the person who makes him feel more like himself than anyone else. 

For the person who has a boyfriend. 

For the person who isn’t his girlfriend.

For the person who’s you.

But he can’t fucking help it!

So he’s been shoving them down, down, down. So far down that he’s able to function around you. 

Because it’s you. 

You’re kind, and caring. Talented, beautiful, giving. Driven, smart. You respect what he asks for and what he wants for himself, not because he's the Prince demanding, but because it's him—because it’s Jungkook—that asks you, and you liste–

No! Stop it. He can’t. He can’t!

Stop, stop, stop—

You have Nel! 5 years in, loving, loyal boyfriend, probably soon to be more after graduation, Nel.

It’s expected that you would spend what little time off you have with the boyfriend you barely get to see, wouldn’t it? Makes sense that every second you have, is saved for him? 

For being happy with who makes you happy? 

Jungkook wants to see you happy. And Nel makes you happier than he’s ever seen you before, so he can’t be too upset with the guy, even though he wants to be. He wants to hate him. But how could he hate someone that gave you the smile that completely shatters his heart. 

Picasso [10:43pm]: Thanks! I will. See you soon😊

With a broken smile, he turns his phone off and puts it in his pocket.

He’s up against a wall, red cup in his hand filled with something that he’s barely touched yet, trying not to be too noticeable.

Adaline’s dragged him to some party on campus he really doesn't care about. But she said it would be good to be seen out together now that things are official. 

Out in the open, for everyone to see. For everyone to talk about.

So he went, because she asked him to. 

And now he’s regretting it. The music is shit, the people smell and everything he touches is damp or sweaty. This isn’t a part of the university experience he ever intended on participating in, but here he is. 

Adaline appears from the crowd, walking over to where he stands, a cup of her own in one hand and the other finding its way to his neck. 

One thing Jungkook’s glad for is the alcohol. Something to help his racing thoughts, pounding heart, and roiling gut. Something to drown out the world. Even if he’s only had two gulps so far. 

More, then. 

Taking a hefty swig he revels in the burn that crawls down his throat. It feels good, it makes him feel less. So he takes another one and another, and then pours his turmoiled feelings about you and Nel into Adaline’s lips. Shoving them down, further and further, until it’s like they were never even there in the first place.

The only thing that's there now is the fire in his stomach, Adaline, and her cherry flavoured lip gloss.

Chapter Six: Eastern Arrivals and Unwanted Doubt

A/N 2: I'm so sorry this took for literal ever. I never intend on taking forever but unfortunately real life gets in the way and I'm left with no creative energy to output writing I'm proud of.

A/N 3: As always, Thank you for reading, loves. Xoxo - Yoon <3

<- Back

[sacredhyacinth]

tips on time management cause i’m a bit envious how you get done with so much and still maintain consistency in posting

I’ll break down my schedule so you can have context on how much time I have

Monday

School (8 hours) 7-3pm, help out with student council concession fundraising

Internship 3:30pm-5pm

Get home around 5 to do homework/work on comms, draw, read from 5 to 7

7-9 brush my teeth and make an animatic during the night so I can post it during the week (9-12am)

Sleep

Tuesday

Wake up at 6, school 7-2:40pm, meeting for ambassador every other Tuesday during school, help set up concession for fundraising

Leave early to go downtown for weekly meeting for Posse

(Every other Tuesday) communications meeting for environmental org, cancelled this week YUPPP

get home around 7pm, maybe post a short, repeat animatic process/comic drawing, doodling, reading etc

Sleep around 12am

Wednesday

School, internship from 3,30-5 and I get to help with concession (free food it’s a steal)

Lowkey one of my free days and I don’t draw on these days to work on homework or other deadlines like posting to social media through the environmental org account

DEPENDINGGG on the day I may have other club responsibilities after school, but I go to sleep around 10 on Wednesdays, not an art focused day

Thursday

Chill school day, I help out with my school’s concession from 3-4pm, organizing school events

Go home do whatever then I draw from 5 to 10pm, longer depending on the art subject

Friday

My OFF DAYYYY, but sometimes I attend the student voice meetings, and attend a virtual meeting to help out with a research project at a local center

Half day so I draw for at least 4 hours, from 3-6, the rest of the day I’m studying or catching up on work

Weekends

Able to post, get homework done, laundry, and workout

schedule meetings, and help coordinate events on the school’s calendar

watch movies (lol)

I definitely do a lot other stuff but I lowkey don’t feel like talking about it in detail 😭 like I volunteer sometimes at libraries or help with book drives, I help with my school’s yearbook and help coordinate the set up for graduation (location, cap and gown prep) some tips if you’re in school is do all your homework during school because at home you just wanna chill and you’re less likely to do work, also if you’re stressed out take a day long break I promise it’s worth it

I also go to galas/events for an award so that sometimes affects my schedule and I usually get home around 7 cause of that, I work a ton during the night as well cause I know I need to put my time into school during the day. Sometimes tho if I have time during school I work on the visual novel’s soundtrack or script during my easy classes, I read for about an hour a day (shout out to Plato’s republic) plus workout for an hour after laundry and honestly it’s super relaxing to have like an organized schedule of a planned day

[user9298274001127482]

Hiding

pairing: matt!bf x gf!reader

warnings: angst, fluff, resolved ending

a one-shot where matt and his gf of almost 2 years haven’t gone public yet and they can never go out together in case he gets recognised until she gets sick of it

You were so sick. Sick of having to hide everything. Not being able to go out in public with your own boyfriend.

You and Matt had been dating for over a year and a half and yet no one knew. Nobody except your family and friends and his family and friends. The fans already knew you as one of the triplets friends as you had appeared in videos over the years. You’ve known them since middle school and have been close to them since.

Matt’s your boyfriend but you hadn’t even been on a real date with him before. You couldn’t go out with him alone to restaurants or anywhere in public incase “fans suspected anything” he would say, the only times you go out with him are with Nick and Chris. Most of you and Matt’s “dates” consisted of sleepovers and movie nights at your apartment or his place and ordering DoorDash.

You knew what Matt had said is true, ‘the fans will hate on you if they knew’ ‘it’s for your own good’. But you couldn’t help feeling tired of how you need to act with your own boyfriend. All your friends had boyfriends and went out with them all the time, you could only imagine how much fun you’d have doing all that with Matt.

You kept replaying the conversation you had with him on the phone yesterday. You were on facetime as you do most days when you aren’t hanging out with him, you were just yapping about your plans for the day and how you wanted to go to the mall but your friends were busy. “Yk what why don’t you come shopping with me?” you ask Matt. “Y/n… you know how it is. I can’t go out with you unless Nick or Chris are also there and they’re both busy today. We can all go shopping another day” Matt replies seeing the sadness on your face on the screen. With a loud sigh you agree “Yeah I guess”. After that you claimed your phone was about to die so you had to hang up but in reality you just didn’t wanna talk to him anymore.

Not because you were angry at him, you were just disappointed. Disappointed of asking him to go out all the time in hopes that he will one day agree, but being let down every single time. He was coming over today for another “date” but the two of you were just gonna watch Netflix. Your entire tiktok fyp had been flooded with people raving about the new restaurant that had opened up in LA about 20 minutes away from your apartment. You were gonna ask Matt to go there tonight even though deep down you knew the answer already.

time skip (later that day)

6:30pm

Matt had arrived to your apartment for another “date night”. The two of you were cuddled up together on the couch, your head resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around you. Usually the two of you would just ordered fast food but you decided to ask him about the restaurant.

“So.. have you seen this new restaurant that opened up near here?” You ask him while showing him a tiktok about it. “Yeah I’ve seen it, we should go there with Nick and Chris sometime this week” he casually replies. Part of you wants to lash out at him but you knew you had to talk to him properly about what was bothering you.

“Or maybe me and you should go there tonight, just the two of us?” you suggest looking into his eyes with hope. Matt rolls his eyes and lets out a heavy sigh, “How many times do I have to tell you? We can’t go out in public just the two of us. You know how it is y/n, the fans- “I don’t give a fuck about the fans Matt!” you interrupt and yell at him.

“I’m just so sick of not being able to hang out with my own boyfriend anywhere besides home, it’s been almost 2 years and you’ve never even taken me on a proper date. What kind of boyfriend are you?” You blurt out holding back tears in your eyes. Matt doesn’t say anything, he just looks at you with guilt.

Your tears have fallen at this point and he gently brings his hand to your face to wipe them. “I’m tired of hiding our relationship” you sniffle, your voice barely above a whisper. The rest of the night was basically just silence between the two of you. You ended up just ordering food and watching a movie but you both were barely paying attention to it and were still upset.

time skip

the next day

You wake up to find Matt gone. The first thought that came to ur mind was that he left because he was mad at you but you see a notification on your phone.

Matt ❤️

Had to leave for something. Be ready in a nice dress at 6pm and I’ll pick you up, I have something planned ❤️

Was he finally going to take you on a real date like you had always hoped for? Were you finally going to reveal your relationship publicly? A million thoughts raced through your head.

time skip

5:30pm

You were almost done getting ready for Matt’s surprise. You were wearing a short elegant red dress paired with cream coloured heels to match your cream coloured handbag. Your hair was curled and your makeup was flawless.

As you were finishing up by spraying some perfume you hear a knock on the front door. You open it to find Matt standing with a beautiful bouquet of red roses, he’s wearing a white button up shirt and black suit pants. He looks amazing.

“Wow you look- Wow. You look beautiful” he says looking at you with wide eyes in awe as he hands you the roses. “Thank you, you look really nice” you say as you step forward to kiss him on the lips. You place the roses in a vase on the kitchen counter.

“Ready to go?” he asks blushing and holding out his hand. You interlock your hand with him as you both start walking to his car. About 20 minutes later you had arrived, you were at the new restaurant you’ve been wanting to try. Matt gets out of the car and comes to the passenger door and opens it for you. You hold hands as you walk into the restaurant.

Right as your about to step in, your hear a click behind you. Paparazzi already found you and were taking photos of you and Matt holding hands. “Don’t worry what other people will think” Matt whispers while tightly squeezing your hand for reassurance. The rest of the night was amazing. You both had dinner and ordered desert, you didn’t care what a single person thought right now, you were too caught up in how happy you were.

After finishing desert, you both head back to your apartment and Matt stays the night. You were terrified of what the fans would think the next morning but you were too tired to stay up all night worrying. You fall asleep in Matt’s arms to the sound of his soft snores.

the next day

You and Matt both get woken up by the sound of your 10am alarm. You and Matt both loved sleeping, if you didn’t set alarms you would probably sleep in till 2pm everyday. You both sit up against the bedhead. Matt’s arms around you with his head on your shoulder.

You grab your phone so you could watch TikTok together, completely forgetting that your whole fyp would be flooded with news of you and Matt. “Matt and Y/N are officially a couple. Spotted going out to dinner in LA holding hands.” The first tiktok you see reads, you and Matt both give eachother a look of nervousness as you open the comments. You expect to see tons of hate comments but surprisingly the comments are all nice.

“Omg they make so much sense together”

“Stop why are they actually so cute”

“I’ve been shipping them since the beginning”

“POWER COUPLE”

“Matt is so lucky how did he pull her”

“This is… unexpected” you say to Matt who mumbles out a confused mhm. You scroll down and see more tiktoks of you and Matt and the comments are even nicer than the last. Yes there were a few hate comments but 90% of them were people happy for you and Matt.

You and Matt’s smiles grow wider each tiktok, “This is so much better than I would’ve thought” he says kissing your cheek. “Now we can finally go on real dates” you smirk and put your phone down as you throw yourself onto him and hug him as tight as you possibly could.

“I love you” you say, “I love you more” he replies, feeling as happy as ever.

[sissylittlefeather]

If I Can Dream: Chapter 6

A/N: Christmas is about to kill me, y'all. Have a chapter of Jo for your Christmas Eve! Love you guys! (Another one might be coming very soon so stay tuned!)

Need to get caught up? Masterlist HERE.

Summary: It's 1975 and Jo Bellamy has been in love with Elvis for 20 years. She doesn't even care that they haven't met yet. All she needs is a chance and she's determined to get one.

But Elvis doesn't feel much like Elvis anymore. What happened to the man he used to be? He's pretty sure he's long gone.

Can a chance encounter with Jo change the ill-fated trajectory of his life?

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, smut, p in v sex, unprotected sex, creampie, smoking

Word count: ~2.3k

“And you're right.” He mumbles into her neck. “But I'm not just scared; I'm fuckin’ terrified.”

“I know. It's okay.” She turns and puts her arms around him, kissing his forehead gently.

******

Jo flops around in her bed for about 6 hours and then gets up for work. It's amazing how quickly she got used to having Elvis beside her as she sleeps. She puts on her black skirt and red sweater with boots and heads into the office.

For about 9 more hours, she bounces between staring at her word processing machine and the clock, anxious for the end of the day to come. She wonders if he's thinking about her, or if he's realized their tryst was fun, but unrealistic to continue. In some ways, it does seem a little absurd to meet someone and love them so fully and so completely in such a short amount of time. But she knows what she feels and she knows he has to feel something similar. He's everything she ever dreamed he would be and more. She just has to convince him not to let his fear get the best of him.

******

Elvis wanders around the house after Jo leaves looking for traces of her: her glass in the sink, her makeup on the pillowcase, a lipstick kiss she left on his mirror. When he looks at the lip print, he catches his reflection and doesn't cringe for once. There's a light in his eyes that hasn't been there for years. He knows why it's there.

Then he remembers that he sent her away, turns from the mirror, and goes to bed. He sits on the edge of it staring down at the pills in his hand. Does he need them? He hasn't in days. But that was because she had been there, a constant reminder that he had a reason to try to live without them. He carries them into the bathroom and looks at the other bottles, the ones that he takes to get through the day. There's no way he can stop taking all of them just cold turkey like this, but he can cut back. Or he could if she was there. He drops the handful of pills into the toilet and flushes it. Sleeping is nearly impossible, but when he closes his eyes and imagines her next to him, he's able to get a couple of hours.

He drags himself out of bed around 1pm the next day. The Colonel shows up to discuss the New Year's Eve show he's arranged in Michigan. Elvis half listens and hopes he doesn't agree to anything too drastic. On his way out, Colonel Parker corners Jerry.

“He's distracted. What's wrong?” The Colonel gives him a cold stare and Jerry swallows hard.

“He met a girl.”

“He meets girls every day.” Jerry shakes his head.

“No, you misunderstood. He met a girl.” The Colonel looks at him sharply.

“What kind of girl?”

“A good one. She's good for him.” Jerry squares his shoulders defiantly, ready to go to bat for Jo if he has to.

“Hmm. Should I be worried?” Jerry shakes his head, shaggy hair moving wildly.

“No. She might save him.” The Colonel nods and walks out the front door.

Elvis looks at his watch. 2:30pm. Only an hour and half until she comes home.

Home?

Home.

******

At 3:45pm, Jo is ready to crawl out of her skin. She wants to leave so badly to see Elvis. Weirdly, the receptionist comes to her and tells her she has a phone call. She puts out her cigarette and follows the older lady to the phone. Who on earth would call her at work?

“Tink?” His smooth baritone cuts straight to her soul.

“Elvis! Why are you calling me at work?” She's absolutely beaming, trying to keep her voice even.

“Missed ya. But also I wanted to tell you to…” He trails off and Jo can feel him losing his nerve.

“To what, babe?” She hears him sigh.

“To pack some clothes before you come over. I wanted to see if you might wanna stay… for a while…”

“I would love to.” He brightens instantly, so much so that she can practically hear it through the phone.

“Well okay then! I'll see you in a little bit. I love you, honey.” She smiles.

“I love you too, Elvis.” They hang up and the receptionist stares at her.

“Was that really Elvis Presley?” She asks flatly. Jo considers lying for a bit, for his sake, and then decides against it.

“Yeah. It was.”

“Mkay.” Jo nods and starts to walk away. She hears the receptionist whisper under her breath. “Lucky bitch.”

******

When Jo knocks on the door with her suitcase, Elvis actually answers it himself. He grabs her around the waist and kisses her like they've been apart for months.

“Wondered when you'd get here.” He presses his forehead to hers.

“Well, I had to go pack, didn't I?” She gestures to the suitcase and he picks it up to bring it inside.

They settle into dinner, both of them avoiding the inevitable conversation that they started last night. Finally, when there's no more food or ice cream or anything else to distract them, Elvis clears his throat and lights a cigar. They're settled in the TV room, but there's nothing playing on any of the screens.

“Is this a conversation I need to be smoking for?” Jo asks tentatively. He smiles a little and she reaches for his cigar, taking a drag and handing it back to him.

“Tink, I spent the whole day thinking about it.” She expects him to go on, but he doesn't. Her heart is in her throat.

“And what did you come up with?” He lets out a puff of smoke and looks at her.

“I can't stand being without you.” She smiles. “But I have no idea how we make this work.”

“What do you mean?” Now it's her turn to take the cigar.

“Well, I'm not going to change anything about my life. I really can't. And you have a whole life of your own. I can't ask you to uproot all of that just to be with me. What if we… don't… what if it ends? And then what?” She smokes for a bit in silence and then speaks softly.

“What if I die tomorrow?” He blinks and his eyes flash with something he's not ready to admit.

“What the hell are you talkin’ about, honey?”

“What if I'm driving to work and one of those big trucks hits my car and I die?”

“Don't even talk like that.” He takes the cigar back, gritting his teeth.

“What if it happens in three years? What if you die?” Elvis is visibly uncomfortable with the way this conversation is going.

“You better make your fuckin’ point, Tink.”

“We have no idea what might happen tomorrow. Or in three years. All we have is right now. You can't live your life thinking about all the ways it can go wrong. What kind of adventure would that be?”

“No kind.” She takes the cigar.

“Exactly. So now I'm gonna ask you this. How do you wanna live your life right now?” Elvis looks at the woman in front of him: the one who ran on stage and then threw paper airplanes over the wall to get to him and make sure he was okay, the one who made him leave the house for the first time in too long, the one who convinced him to jump into a freezing pool and then made love to him even when he thought he couldn't, the one who brought him back to life and shows him every second that it's worth living.

“With you.” He reaches out and cups her cheek and she smiles and leans into his hand like a cat. She takes another quick drag and then kisses his palm.

“Then why do we need this big plan? Let's just live and be together until we can't anymore. Isn't that better?” He takes the cigar and puts it out in the ashtray. Jo isn't sure whether she should cry or not, so she just sits and watches him.

“You never cease to amaze me, honey.” He pulls her into his lap straddling his thighs and kisses her lips gently. Then he whispers. “Let's be together until we can't anymore.”

“Yes…” She giggles and nods. He kisses her again with more urgency this time and on the third kiss, both of their mouths are open as their tongues dance wildly against each other. She rolls forward, pushing her skirt up her thighs and presses herself against him. He moans softly into the kiss and grabs her ass with both hands, pulling her in as close as she can get. Reluctantly, she breaks the kiss. “Should we go upstairs?”

“Why?” He kisses her neck and drags his tongue up to her ear– a move he hasn't tried in years. She groans as he nibbles on her earlobe.

“Well, I'd like to do more than just kiss you-”

“We're on a perfectly good couch.”

“Elvis.”

“Tink.” He lifts her up and flips her over so that he's on top of her. “I had this couch made deep like this for a reason.”

“I'll try not to think about how many women you've had on this couch..” She giggles as he kisses down her neck to her collarbone.

“Smart girl. But I have to say, you're my favorite.” He lifts her sweater over her head and off, tossing it across the room. His lips drift down her chest to the place where her bra meets her skin. He gently pulls the cup down and slips his tongue around her nipple. Her back arches as he pulls it into his mouth and then releases it, moving over to her other nipple. “I want this off, honey.”

She nods, sitting up a little to unfasten her bra and take it off. He grunts when he sees her breasts bounce free, leaning down to kiss and nibble her soft skin.

“I bet you say that to all of us.” She lets out a small half-laugh. He stops and pulls back, looking down at her seriously.

“No, I mean it, Tink. I don't think I want any more. Just you.” She holds her hand up to the side of his face and traces the line of his brow down to his jaw and up to his lips. He kisses her fingertips and waits for her to speak, but she doesn't. She just runs her fingers through his hair and down his neck to his shoulder, finally landing at the middle of his chest under his necklace and directly above his heart, her eyes following the path she makes with her hand. He starts to get nervous that he's said something wrong. “Say something, honey.”

Her eyes flit back up to meet his clear blue ones and she opens her mouth, but closes it again.

“What is it?” Now he's really worried. She's never been speechless before. Finally, she speaks so softly he can barely hear her.

“I don't know how to tell you that I think I was meant for you without sounding like I'm crazy.”

“Oh, honey. If you're crazy, then so am I.” He dives into a deep and passionate kiss as she pulls at his clothes, pushing his jacket off of his shoulders and shirt over his head and off. He yanks her skirt down her legs, tearing at her panties with a fire he hasn't felt in years. The need to be close to her is so strong, it overwhelms any sense of doubt or apprehension as she pushes his pants down just enough to free his erection. The next thing he knows, he's on top of her with his cock sliding in and out of her as she whimpers and moans and claws at his back. He groans with the sensation of her wrapped around him as he pounds her with a fervor he didn't know he still had. The heat of their passion is matched only by their love for each other.

“Oh God, Elvis.” She moans in his ear as he hits her g-spot at a relentless pace. Her legs wrap around his waist and he grunts with the change in angle. Their skin burns with sweat in the places where it meets and she whimpers as she feels her climax approach. “Oh fuck!”

Her body shakes involuntarily as her orgasm slams into her like a freight train, rushing through her with the speed and intensity of a lightning bolt. She clings to him as he continues to rut into her while she cums, her pussy throbbing and pulsing around his dick.

“Goddamn, Tink, honey, I love it when you cum.” He moans and slams into her one last time, pressing his forehead to hers as his cock twitches and fills her with warmth.

They lay there, both of them trembling in the aftershocks of their orgasms. He kicks his pants all the way off and then rolls onto his back to settle her against his side with her leg and arm thrown over his body.

“Move in with me.” He whispers into her hair. She picks her head up and looks into his face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Move in here and we'll be crazy together. You are my big adventure, honey. Live with me.” He holds her chin between his thumb and forefinger as he talks.

“I'm gonna need to pack more than that little suitcase.”

“So that's a yes?”

“That's a fuck yes, babe.” He giggles and tickles her sides excitedly and they laugh together on the big-enough couch, naked and unafraid of the future… for now.

******

What next?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist:

@ccab @atleastpleasetelephone @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @tacozebra051 @your-nanas-house @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @louisejoy86 @rjmartin11 @from-memphis-with-love @deltafalax @cinnamoroll-things @burnthheparaphilia @jhoneybees @cattcb @everythingelvispresley @returntopresley @searchingforgravity @msamarican @angschrof @lustnhim @polksaladava @librababe99 @hooked-on-elvis @theelvisprincess @makethemorning @peaceloveelvis @mrspresley69 @pxpresley @kxnnxy

[tryingdoesnthurt]

7 - 11/05/2025

wieiad — 1.49 — free day

pre-breakfast (4:10am): half a mango; two cups of soluble coffee&barley

breakfast (5:30am): protein vanilla yogurt, four orange flavor cookies, one apple and one dark chocolate square; one cup of soluble coffee&barley

snacks

6:15am: one banana and some random cookies 6:45am: toast with mashed avocado and one scrambled egg 10:00am: one coffee

lunch (1:30pm): fried pumpkin bites, duck-filled bao, vegetable gyoza, salmon with mango sauce, chinese gnocchi with vegetables, chicken with mushrooms and bamboo (+ tasted some food from my parents plates)

afternoon snack (5:20pm): vanilla greek yogurt, granola and half banana

dinner (8:00pm): pasta with amatriciana sauce and some parmesan, half an apple and half a banana

[B/P - L - D - E - SH] [cigarettes: 10] [vape: 90 drags]

random pics I was able to take

daily log

The free day always makes me so damn anxious. Too many options and meals i wanna have that pile up in the weeks and i arrive at the morning in panic and without wanting to eat. Instead, i kinda ate ranomd things. I woke up at 2:30am and i was not expecting to stay awake.

I was not hungry when i first ate the mango at 4, but every time i have even the smallest thing to eat I get so hungry. too hungry. which is why i had the mango, then breakfast, added a chocolate square hoping it would help w the cravings, a banana, a bunch of random sweets and i would have gone on. But i can't purge, i can't, ùso i told myelf : "if you wanna eat, eat at least something healthy, or try to" so i made myself the egg and toast. And went to sleep for 3 hours

Lunch went oke ! I felt like eating more but i was scared, but i think what i ate was cool and good and enough

Slept another few hours in the afternoon, wanted to skip the afternoon snack but i said yk what? I want this granola (fearfood in a way), i want to try it again after who knows how much time, i want to enjoy it. Who cares about if i will have gained weight tomorrow, i will be oke. So i ate it and i was delicious. I loved it sm

Binged after dinner cus apparently i can't win. Hate myself </3 almost purged but put first the safety of my piercings. Fuck, i hate all this a lot

Night !

song of the day

[dearfuturehusbandblog]

The Stupidity Doesn't End

Dear Future Husband,

Yesterday was an okay day and today was an okay day. No major hiccups or blowups or stupidity. Things were actually relatively okay.

But of course, that means nothing, because everything can change in a split second.

There's a Little Old Lady in our building who is moving to an old age home soon and MotherLivelyHeart decided that we should have a goodbye party for her.

The discussion of this party went from "we should invite everyone she knows to come say goodbye to her" to "we'll just keep it a building thing."

And every time discussion of this thing came up, I kept saying we should do it in the party/conference room that our building has, but MLH has some unexplained hatred for that room and always nixed the idea. She wanted "to do it in my home. I have a beautiful home for a reason."

The last discussion we had about this party earlier in the week (after she agreed to doing the mealtrain thing on Thursday and before she decided she doesn't want to do that again for quite a while), it seemed decided that we would have the party in the hallway near Little Old Lady's apartment with a tiny table set up with a little nosh and a bunch of chairs, instead of in our apartment.

When MLH bought the stuff for the mealtrain breakfast, she also grabbed a boxed cake and boxed brownies. And at some point she scrounged up a bag of popcorn. And erev Shabbos, BigSis baked the cake and brownies.

Then, on Friday, MLH pinned an event in the building whatsapp chat reminding everyone to come say goodbye to Little Old Lady and the time that she posted was 6:15pm-6:45pm or "after havdallah." And the location she posted was our apartment.

Now, time is important for a few reasons. One of which is that, recently, for some reason unbeknownst to me, we have started following a different havdallah time than we used to.

When I was growing up, we waited the longest time for havdallah because my father thought he was chassidush or something and that's what he'd been taught. But it became an issue when he wasn't davening with any chassidush minyan anymore (and hadn't since I was like 2) and we were the weirdos, having heard havdallah at our friends' houses and still unable to do anything after shabbos (like get a ride home) until the proper zman.

My parents spoke to a rabbi* about it who told them that since they had chosen this time as baalei teshuva who didn't really know anything, they could change it. But it was a one-time change and they couldn't adjust again after that, and to be sure of which time they wanted to switch to.

So when I was in high school, we all of a sudden started keeping the "one hour" that most people keep. I believe this is the opinion of The Gra...?

And so, 6:15pm this week becomes important when, out of the blue, we're not ending Shabbos at like 5:30pm if Shabbos started at 4:30pm, but instead at what I think is the offical Tzais HaKochavim time of around 5:45pm. Because by the time Shabbos is over and we've cleaned up from shelosh seudos and actually finish havdallah it's after 6:00pm, which gives us only 15 minutes to set everything up.

And right before havdallah is when MLH decides to tell us that she forgot to get small plates. Oh, and also we don't have any drinks.

This was something SHE was planning. She didn't ask for any help. In fact, ada raba! She told me point blank that she didn't want me making a big deal over this and buying or baking anything for it. "I'm just going to pick up some cookies or something." I was like "fine, this is your thing, go for it."

Well, Little Old Lady showed up at like 5 after 6pm and parked herself right between the kitchen and dining room, when we had just barely finished havdallah, and nothing was set up yet.

We now have 10 minutes to get everything ready which includes finding a folding table for the hallway, making sure we have a tablecloth for it, tracking down small disposable plates and some drinks.

Because none of this was done before Shabbos.

Then another neighbor shows up and she sits next to Little Old Lady and now the direct path from the kitchen to the dining room is blocked, despite us clearly needing that area cleared to be able to get things set up. But whatever. God help our cluelessness.

MLH makes some statement about getting the hallway set up and BS all of a sudden goes "why?" And MLH says "because that's where we're setting things up." And BS makes a face and says "why? it's cold out there." And MLH goes on some mini diatribe about how our apartment hasn't been tidied up and it's so embarrassing, devastating, and humiliating.

Yes, in front of Little Old Lady and Other Neighbor. FFS.

Well, BS's resistance settles the topic - we're doing it in our apartment.

Which shouldn't really be much of a shock, considering that MLH set the location for the event as our apartment and nobody knew the original intention was to have it in the hallway to begin with. But whatever.

Right after Little Old Lady arrived, MLH started cutting the brownies and needed a tutorial on how. Like, seriously? While she was cutting the brownies I asked her what she wanted to do with the bunt cake.

Her response: "Well, we could do an icing or a drizzle, but that means pulling out the confectioner's sugar and vanilla and making a mess... we could cut it up and put it on plates, or just leave it plain and let people do what they want. It's a cake; don't overthink it."

So fine, I left it alone.

Then at about 6:20pm, while she's cutting the brownies into ridiculous shapes despite what I had shown her, she asks me "What do you want to do with the cake?"

I said, "I don't know, it's your cake, whatever you want."

And I get back a condescending remark through forced smile and gritted teeth: "Thank you so much for your help."

Because, I'm of course the bad guy.

Because she "planned" and did a piss-poor job of it.

Because I clearly needed this right now.

I should add that I've been having issues today with the arm that I broke earlier this year. I don't know the cause of it, but I've been experiencing pain for hours, which she knew. And I even made a comment to her about how the most pain is when I have to rotate my arm and grasp things which is required for cutting and carrying.

Yet she kept trying to get me to cut and carry things.

It's almost like she wants me to say no so that she can be upset.

I don't get it.

Anyway, so now we're hosting this little party in our apartment that is "so gross and disorganized and unclean and an embarrassment" or whatever, and while guests are literally coming in she's puttering around tidying random things and muttering under her breath how embarrassed she is at the state of the apartment.

Which, granted, is a bit unorganized, but isn't unclean. It's just not "host-a-party" clean because we didn't clean to be hosting a party.... because it was supposed to be in the hallway and not in the apartment....

So at around 6:30pm, about halfway through the time she alloted for this "party", MLH was fuming at the embarrassing state of our apartment and my inability to be helpful physically (or idea-wise, considering I just parroted back the whole not overthinking the cake situation to her and I guess that was the wrong thing to do), BS started putting together a glaze for the cake, and I sat down on the couch, out of the way, and checked a few messages on my phone and started cataloguing my thoughts.

And MLH took that opportunity to ask me in a whisper across the room "are you going to join us?" To which I was like "what?" and she said louder "are you going to join us at the table?" and I was like "I don't know, maybe" and she said something like "well, then, just go to your room. this is not nice." Because I guess me sitting on the couch on my phone while things were still being pulled together and Little Old Lady was shmoozing with two neighbors, was the rudest thing I could possibly be doing.

Should I remind you that I'm in my mid-30s?

And being reprimanded like a child.

For being in pain and out of the way while people set up a party that I was told straight-up to not do much for.

I frickin' hate my stupid life.

Shabbos was decent and this is how my week starts.

I'm over it all already.

So, my dear future husband...

Here's wishing you a shavua that's tover than mine.

-LivelyHeart

*and just because my life is ridiculous and stupid, this rabbi was someone my mother was doing work for at the time, and who has since been locked up for being a disgusting pervert who went off the rails when he was found out and arrested. I don't even know if he's frum anymore, not that he truly was if he was really doing all those gross things he was accused of, which I kind of don't doubt, based on the piles and piles and piles of evidence....

[aching-tummies]

Circumnavigating on an Empty Stomach

Had an interesting experience that I think people here will appreciate.

Transit in my city took a major blow a day or two ago. My city is large enough to have train lines running through it as well as bus routes. Likening it to anatomy, the train lines are basically like major veins or arteries while the bus routes are little capillary vessels or whatever, often intersecting with the train lines to ferry people all over the city.

A couple of days back I had to be on-campus for a few of the classes I am taking. I usually have to take 2 buses to get from my place to the right train line to get to my campus (there are multiple train lines running through my city and getting on the wrong one could take you to a random quadrant of the city). I ate breakfast around 8AM, found out through checking my emails that a couple of my classes were cancelled, resulting in me getting undressed and tidying up my house for about three hours until I decided to get ready to attend the remaining classes for the day. I headed out for the buses at noon, expecting to get to my campus by around 1:30PM or so and giving me roughly 90 minutes to heat up a packed lunch and eat it before attending a 3PM class.

Buses got me to the station--no problems there. I live diagonally across the city from campus, so it's usually 15 minutes on each bus and just shy of an hour on the train. About two stops since I got on the train, our train came to a screeching halt. Standing passengers got air as they clung to the hand-rails and poles along the train. Backpacks not secured literally soared 6 or more feet over. Loose thermos containers and water bottles went rolling. It took 25 minutes to get an explanation, and part of the explanation was that we would be stalled where we were for at least another 15 minutes. So…45 minutes of my 90 minute buffer disappeared only 2 minutes into a 55 minute train ride.

By the time I got to campus, there was no time to heat up my packed lunch. I just booked it across campus to my class and committed to paying attention as best I could and trying not to think about how it had been seven hours since I'd eaten anything. Breakfast was a distant memory.

Classes ended a little early for me that day and I got word that the train line issues had been resolved, so I headed to the train platform around 5:30PM. I managed to avoid the temptation of buying food on or around campus because I didn't want to justify buying a meal for a day where I went all the way to campus just to attend a class and a half. I was miserable, hungry, and feeling like I had been cheated out of my entire day because classes canceled or ended early without much notice. I spent more time trying to get to campus than I did actually on campus. In my mind, campus had taken my time and my rage--I refused to give it my money too for what I felt had been a day not-so-well-wasted.

Thirty minutes on the train platform with no trains before we got an answer. The incident that had stalled my train earlier had been resolved, but a new one had just occurred on the other side of the line, essentially grinding all train service to a halt. The platform was packed with 5 train cycles full of passengers. Even if a train had showed up, less than a fifth of the people on the platform would have been able to squeeze on. With trains expected to arrive once every half an hour, if at all, we'd be looking at three hours standing on the platform before any hope of catching a train.

I took a detour. I was miserable, frustrated, angry, and hungry. I had zero interest in standing on a crowded platform for three hours.

I wound up walking to a bus zone about twenty minutes (on foot) away from the train platform to board a bus. Unfortunately, from that part of the city my route home would require 5 different buses to get back to my quadrant of the city. Imagine that Campus is about as far to the West as you can possibly plot it on this quadrants thing. My home is just a bit north of the farthest Eastern point of the city. In order to get back home without relying on the failed trains, my trip home was twenty minutes on foot to the farthest Western point (campus is around it, but not directly on it). Bus 1 would take me deep into the SW quadrant of the city. From the heart of the SW, Bus 2 would get me to the city centre. From the city Centre, bus 3 would get me into the SE quadrant. From there, Bus 4 would take me to the eastern point and from there I'd have a choice of Bus 5 or a 20 minute walk up a steep hill to get back home. My alternate route essentially took me on a round-trip through my entire city. (I have altered the quadrants in this telling--what order they appear in to avoid potentially doxing myself, but circumnavigating my entire city on multiple buses on a 3.5 hour, untested route home was 100% real).

I stumbled into my home just after 9PM. Unfortunately, I was so anxious over the experimental alternate route home and making sure that I did not miss any stops that I was pretty tense throughout my journey home. No growls or grumbles 'cuz I guess I was too tightly wound for anything of the sort to happen. There was just this annoying hollow sensation sitting like a ball of led in my gut starting around 3:30 and not budging until I got home and basically face-planted into the patch of floor just within my front door.

[love-me-a-lotta-whump]

The Truth Untold

Pit Babe Season 2 - Fanfiction

Whumpee: Kenta played by Garfield Kankham

Synopsis: Kim and Kenta continue learning how to coexist. Kim feeds Kenta. Kenta gets sick, and Kim reassures him he is safe in the apartment and that he will never hurt him.

Notes: Two more days until the next episode, so y'all know I'm trying to write to get my KimKenta fix.

Maturity Rating: R / M

Words: 4,178

Chapters: 5/? - s2 ep.6

AO3 Link: emrys_lmalw

Days had passed with no word from Pete.

Every day, Kim watched Kenta work through his unhealthy routine that seemed to be etched in stone for him.

7am: Wake up and take a shower

7:30am: Eat breakfast.

8am: Work on the tablet until being forced to eat around noon by Kim.

6pm: Eat after being forced to take a break by Kim.

6:30pm: Work out for about an hour.

8pm: Shower and go to bed.

Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.

Every day he ate the same food. Instant noodles and pre-packaged chicken breast he’d order from the convienience store downstairs. For every single meal. Sometimes he’d skip breakfast if he thought Kim wasn’t watching.

It was time for things to change.

Kim greatly appreciated seeing Kenta become a little more comfortable in his new home. He was happy to see how the structure seemed to help Kenta.

Sure, the nightmares were still pretty bad and he seemed to still have some difficulty with sudden movements especially when startled, but, all things considered, Kenta’s health both physically and mentally seemed to improve.

All but his appetite. 

The cup noodles and chicken breast had to stop. Kim and Kenta along with their entire X-Hunter crew were at an age where their metabolisms were no longer what they were as teenagers.

Kim couldn’t help but notice Kenta had put on a little weight since moving in. It wasn’t a lot but it was noticeable.

He chalked it up to Kenta being more comfortable and his lack of physical activity compared to before but there was something, a little voice in the back of his mind, that told him that it may be something different, entirely.

He’d heard about racers who had digestive issues from insomnia or constant exposure to adrenaline. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was something Kenta had experienced.

┈◈◉◈┈

“How long have you known him that you still don’t know what he likes to eat?” Kim grumbled through the phone.

“I’m so sorry. You should ask him where his favorite restaurant is or maybe where Tony took him last for his birthday dinner.”

“I don’t need your attitude, Pete. Just tell me what he normally cooks, then.”

“I don’t know how to cook anything else.” Kim flinched at Kenta’s voice before watching him step out onto the balcony alongside him to grab his dumbbells.

“Now that he’s there, ask away. Don’t call again unless it’s actually important. There’s a lot going on and I don’t have time for it, I’m sorry.” Pete disconnected the call before Kim could get another word in.

“Asshole.” Kim pocketed his phone before turning to Kenta. “What do you mean you don’t know how to cook anything else? Did you not make food for yourself?”

Kenta huffed as he paused in the middle of a curl. “I only ate what was fast and efficient. Sometimes that meant eating what was thrown out after Tony and his guests ate, sometimes it meant stealing from a food stall late at night. It wasn’t like Tony was itching to give his dog a five star meal.”

Kim stood in silence as he watched Kenta continue with his workout.

Every thing he learned about his new roommate had been against his will, going so far as to make him question how he could have ever hated such a kind, damaged soul.

“I’ll cook lunch for you. My parents sent in some ingredients from back home. Do you have any allergies or sensitivities to certain foods? I’ll make sure to be careful with them.”

Kenta shrugged.

“What do you mean? How could you not know?”

“I don’t know.”

Kim huffed, bringing his hands to his hips. “I’m gonna have Pete send over one of his doctors and we’ll do allergy testing. I thought you said Tony had you do medical checks, why was that not part of it?”

“He was just making sure his horse was good enough to race. He wasn’t ensuring it was comfortable.” Kenta had said it so simply, as if it was obvious. It should have been, Kim could admit, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. “He wanted to be sure there was no excuse for me to underperform.”

“That’s not gonna work. We’re going to figure it out as soon as the doctor is available. It’s important to know these things.”

Kim stepped inside, letting Kenta finish his workout to get back on track of his schedule. He took his phone back out, already dialing Pete’s number, dead set on getting Kenta a proper check up from a doctor that was invested in his true wellbeing and not for the purpose of using him.

┈◈◉◈┈

Sunlight flowed through the balcony windows, a welcome warmth to Kim’s space.

He into the kitchen to defrost some of the ingredients his parents had sent from Korea before making some pre-scheduled calls to family back home.

As noon began its approach, Kim started working on a ssam spread and some tteokbokki for Kenta, as promised the day before. He had already been marinating the samgyeopsal and prepared the sauce to go on top of it as it cooked.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made Kenta feel pressured in their discussion regarding his health, seeing as Kenta hadn’t left his room all day aside from his morning shower.

He brought the food over to the counter, prepping to finish plating for them to begin enjoying their meal.

“Kenta!” Kim called into the next room.

He wasn’t entirely happy with his tteokbokki since the sauce was so thin, watery even, but he persisted, knowing the tteok was perfectly cooked within the sauce.

All that mattered in that moment was that Kenta would have his first home-cooked meal in that apartment.

In fact, it may have been his first home-cooked meal… ever.

◈◉◈ 

In hearing Kim call his name, Kenta turned the tablet off, setting it on the bed in front of him before standing. He straightened out the awkward fold in his shirt, exiting his room as he did so.

He slowly moved through the hallway into the main area, noting all the plates on the table with meat and lettuce on them as well as some sauces as he approached. In his peripheral vision, he saw Kim walking towards the table with a tray in hand and more food on top.

“Come eat with me.”

He turned to fully look at Kim.

“I made samgyeopsal for you. I’m not sure if you’ll like it.” Kim placed the tray onto the table containing a bowl of some rice cakes and red sauce off as well as a full plate of kimchi.

Kenta started walking to the other side of the table, refusing to outwardly admit how hungry he was, hoping Kim couldn’t hear his stomach growling. “I’m not picky.” He’d said it as if he had any other choice but not to be. It wasn’t like he had ever been able to refuse food. His entire life he’d learned that if he had, it would mean he’d go an undetermined amount of time without eating and it wasn’t a risk he could take.

“Sit down.” The two took their seats at Kim’s word. With a half-serious, half-reassuring face, Kim encouraged him. “Eat.”

Kenta grabbed his chopsticks, watching as Kim prepared his bite. He’d never had Korean food before. He admittedly didn’t know what to do with all of the food that sat before him. Not only that, but he wasn’t used to it being so readily available to him. Did he wait for Kim to eat first? Did he put the meat and veggies together? What should he do with the sauces in front of him?

Seeing as Kim seemed to notice his confusion, he grabbed a leaf of lettuce, hoping to mirror what he’d just seen Kim do.

Before he knew it, Kim was standing, leaning over the table in front of him. Kenta’s head slightly whipped towards him, a slight flinch at the sudden movement.

Kim extended both of his hands, one with food and one hand near Kenta’s chin, presumably to catch anything that might fall. He kept them extended, allowing Kenta the ability to accept or refuse, a feeling far too foreign to him.

Kenta accepted, leaning forward, allowing Kim to feed him.

It was… oddly intimate. It almost felt safe in a way. Kim was so gentle and patient with him that it made his insides squirm. It was truly odd that someone would be so caring and slow to anger with him.

Kim sat back down in his seat with a smile as he watched Kenta finish the wrap before standing back up with a pickled radish in his chopsticks. “Have this, too.”

Kenta hesitantly took the food, watching as Kim sat back down with a smile.

He’d felt a warmth in his chest. Was it safety? Happiness?

If he were honest, it made him feel sick.

Insecure thoughts flowed through his mind as he cursed them. His whole life he was forced to question every move he made and now he can’t even share a meal with someone without wondering if he was going to screw it up. Kim had made it so clear in their time living together that he was in no way judgemental towards Kenta, nor did he have any plans to restrict any of his new freedoms he was attempting to get used to. And yet… the memories of Tony’s anger still lived within him, forcing him to need help with something as mundane as eating.

Kim had to hand-feed him to get him to eat. How helpless was that? How useless?

“You like it?” Kim’s voice cut through his spiraling thoughts.

Kenta nodded, making his own food this time.

“It’s called ssam. I can make it again next time my family sends the ingredients.”

With a nod, Kenta ate his share, avoiding looking at Kim for the rest of the meal.

┈◈◉◈┈

Dinner time came quickly the next day. Much faster than Kenta expected. He’d almost dreaded the thought of sitting in front of Kim for a meal after having to be fed to be convinced to eat.

Kim called out to Kenta from the kitchen.

“Hey, dinner’s almost ready, come sit!”

Kenta hesitantly obliged, making his way to the table and, for the first time since living together, he took his seat first. 

Kim sat the plates on the table in their respective spots. “I made fish with some sauce I found while I was out today. Honestly, I’m not sure what the sauce is because it was in Japanese and I can’t read it, but the grandma at the store said it was good, so I bought it.” He grabbed his chopsticks off of his plate, reaching for the kimchi he’d set at the middle of the table. “I figured I’d cook again since you seem to not eat anything of substance if I don’t.”

Kenta picked the bottle up off the table, pouring some more over his fish and oysters, mixing them into his bowl of white rice. “It’s a spicy chili oil sauce.”

Kim looked up from his plate, making Kenta partially flinch at the sudden movement. “You speak Japanese?”

“Yeah. It says 辛いラー油ソース.” Kenta took a bite for the first time since breakfast. Noting the look of confusion that still sat on Kim’s face, he spoke up. “I’m Japanese.”

“I guess I could have assumed given your name but I had no idea, sorry.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Then how did you end up with Tony if you’re from Japan?”

Kenta’s hand stopped half way towards his mouth, suspending his chopsticks and piece of fish in the air as he stared quietly at his plate.

“Actually, nevermind. Sorry, I shouldn’t have been so nosy.”

Kenta lowered his hand and took a deep breath before looking back to Kim with the softest expression he could muster despite the memories that ran through his mind.

“He bought me from my parents. They had left me at an orphanage for a while for some reason. They came back to get me the same day Tony was going to take me. He offered them some money and… they took it instead of me.” Kenta took another bite. “Tony liked that I could communicate easily with Japanese clients and guests so he let me continue speaking it. Some others weren’t lucky. One of the guys that worked under me for a while was from Taiwan but wasn’t allowed to speak Mandarin so he lost it all before Tony had him killed.”

Kim seemed to not want to acknowledge that last statement. “So you mostly grew up here? In Thailand?”

Kenta nodded. “That’s why I don’t particularly feel Thai or Japanese. I just exist as who I am.”

After the usual “I’m so sorry that happened to you” exchange that often followed a heavy, heartfelt traumatic confession, the two pleasantly continued their meal, both hoping to forget what was just shared between them.

Kenta hadn’t meant to make their meal time so awkward but he was not in a place where he felt the need to lie or cover up who he was for some reason.

Kim… made him feel that way somehow.

┈◈◉◈┈

After dinner, the two parted ways.

Kim had decided to go back to his room to look over some race footage and data Alan had sent, watching Kenta go into the bathroom after following him down the hallway.

After an hour passed, Kim had realized he’d forgotten the most important part of sharing a meal. Dessert!

“I forgot I had some tteok that mom and dad sent! Maybe Kenta will wanna try some…”

The racer stood from his bed, exiting his room to head towards the kitchen.

As he stepped out into the open common area, he noticed a suspicious lack of Kenta in the space. It was odd. He was normally out at that time, sitting on his tablet or working out on the balcony. What changed?

“Where’s that muscular puppy-eyed man?” Kim laughed to himself at the sudden nickname coming to him. He looked into the kitchen, the entryway, balcony and all other spaces where Kenta may be. “Kenta? It’s a bit early for him to be in his room…”

Kim shrugged, heading towards the kitchen to grab the tteok out of the fridge. He unwrapped it from its packaging before placing it on a smaller plate to bring to Kenta’s room alongside a water bottle.

He stopped in front of Kenta’s bedroom door, knocking to gain his attention.

No answer.

“Kenta?” He knocked again, still receiving no answer.

Concerned for his roommate’s wellbeing, he opened the door with an apology for the intrusion to see that there was nobody inside. The bed was untouched and the closet door was open, almost telling Kim on its own that nobody was in there.

“Fuck, I swear if he left the house again without telling me–” Kim quickly set the plate of tteok on the dresser that was next to Kenta’s bedroom door, throwing the water bottle to the bed before reaching for his phone that had been in his back pocket. “What does he think he’s gonna do with as little information on Tony as we have? Actually no. Either way, we talked about him not running off like that and agreed he’d at least say something next time. I’m gonna beat the shit out of him when I see him.”

Kim started walking towards the common area, already pressing through his phone to Pete’s contact, hoping to get in touch to warn him about Kenta’s newest reckless adventure.

It was then that he heard a sound come from the bathroom, stopping him in his tracks.

“Kenta?” Kim slowly stepped towards the bathroom, concerned another nightmare had gotten to him.

A whimper echoed through the room, slipping under the bathroom door up to Kim’s ears.

That was a new sound.

Without another thought, Kim opened the bathroom door to find Kenta laid out on the tile floor, holding his stomach. “Kenta! Hey, what’s wrong? Another nightmare?”

“Hot–” Kenta groaned, bringing an arm to paw at the bottom of his shirt.

Knowing exactly what he wanted in the moment, Kim quickly grabbed at Kenta’s shirt, “Here, sit up. Let me help you.” With nothing but the utmost compliance, Kenta sat up as much as he could, allowing Kim to help him get sat up and get his shirt off, leaning on the wall behind him.

It was then that Kim saw the hives all around Kenta’s neck and down his back, some.

“What?” Kim got his phone back out, calling Pete as fast as he could. “Don’t fucking argue with me right now I’m not in the mood. Kenta’s having an allergic reaction right now. Get one of your doctors to my apartment as fast as you can.”

“I’ll call the doctor and have her give you a call on her way so she can help you until she arrives.” Pete’s voice lacked a sense of urgency but, luckily, this time it seemed less dismissive of Kenta’s condition.

“Thank you.”

The two hung up as Kim got to work on talking to Kenta.

“Hey, look at me. What feels wrong? I know you’re hot, tell me what else is happening so I can tell the doctor.” Kim watched as Kenta squeezed his eyes shut, heavy breathing picking up, lowering, picking up, lowering. “I know it’s hard, but you gotta talk to me some.”

“It hurts.”

“Your stomach?” Kim had noticed Kenta hadn’t let go of his stomach since he’d entered the room once. “What else hurts?”

“Itchy.”

“I can see that. Does anything else hurt?”

Kenta shook his head, leaning forward. Kim pushed him back up, some, not allowing him to bend too far over.

His phone rang loudly, making Kenta jump.

“Sorry.” Kim gave him a concerned look as he pressed the green button on his screen. “Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. Kim Minsoo. My name is Dr. Phantak Wanarat. Mr. Pete has informed me that the patient you are taking care of is Mr. Kenta Chen? Can you confirm for me?” Her use of the family name Chen churned in Kim’s stomach.

“You can just call him Kenta. He doesn’t go by the name Chen. And yes, he’s the patient.”

“Understood. What seems to be the problem with Mr. Kenta?”

“I think he’s having an allergic reaction. He has hives on his neck and down his upper back area,” Kim looked all around Kenta’s torso, noting that the hives had almost made his scars 3D, they were so raised. “He said he’s hot and his stomach hurts. He won’t talk much but he looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”

“What has he eaten in the last few hours?”

Kim stopped for a moment, thinking through what all he made for dinner.

“Mr. Kim?”

“Yes? Sorry, I was thinking. I made him some fish and oysters with a spicy chili sauce and white rice. Nothing much. He had a couple bites of kimchi but that wouldn’t cause this much of a reaction, right?”

“When it comes to allergic reactions any–” The doctor’s voice was cut off as Kenta groaned. 

He began reaching towards the toilet in front of him. Kim lifted the lid, helping him as he stabilized himself on his knees. Kenta’s forearms and elbows rested on the seat as he retched. It wasn’t long before his body pushed his stomach’s contents out. Kim reached for the nearest towel, helping get Kenta’s mouth dry while taking the other side of the towel to wipe his forehead of the sweat that had started to drip.

“I can see he’s vomiting. That’s fine for right now. Leave it until I get there so I can determine volume and contents just in case there are further issues.”

“Of course. What do I do until you get here?” Kim lightly pat Kenta on the back as he continued to empty his stomach against his will, repeatedly wiping his mouth.

“Do exactly what you’re doing now. I’ll be upstairs in just a moment. Do not leave his side. Mr. Pete gave me the code to your door, so I will let myself in.”

“Thank you so much.”

The two hung up as Kim continued to tend to Kenta.

┈◈◉◈┈

It wasn’t long before the doctor came in and assessed the situation. She was quick. Efficient. It felt like mere moments before they were able to get Kenta into bed with cool compression on his back and neck as well as some diphenhydramine in his system to ease the reaction.

“This will make him drowsy. That is non-negotiable. It happens to everyone.” Dr. Wanarat explained. “I’d suggest staying with him for a little bit to monitor his condition. After that twenty minute timer on your phone is up, remove the cool compress and wait for one hour before putting it back on him. It should provide some relief while the medication kicks in so he can rest.”

Kim nodded with every word, eyeing his phone that displayed the timer on it and the compress on his roommate’s body once the items were mentioned. “Thank you so much.”

“Of course. Call me once his condition changes. Better or worse, I’d like an update.”

“Understood.” Kim gave a slight bow, eyeing Kenta who laid silently in bed, eyes heavily lidded.

“I will see myself out so you can keep an eye on him. He’s lucky to have you.” The doctor had smiled as she spoke, walking away before Kim could ask her what exactly she meant in her tone as she’d said that.

Kim pulled up the stool from the corner of Kenta’s room scrolling through his phone as he waited for a word or a snore from his roommate.

┈◈◉◈┈

Kenta’s eyes darted open, thankfully pulling him from the weirdest dream he’d ever had.

He was thankful it wasn’t a nightmare.

It was then that he’d noticed Kim half-bent over in a stool sitting next to his bed.

“Why are you here?”

Kim’s body jolted straight as if he was electrically shocked. “You’re up! How do you feel?”

The memories of the previous night flowed like thick mud into Kenta’s mind. He had been sick. He barely remembered it but what he did remember was Kim’s odd amount of panic. Why was he so concerned?

With a nod from Kenta, Kim stood.

“I’ll bring you some miso soup. It always makes me feel better when I feel sick,” Kim combed a hand through his hair as he used the other to tuck the stool he’d sat on back into the corner where it belonged. “After that, you can tell me why you kept eating when you didn’t feel good.”

Kenta’s heart dropped at the statement.

Why did he always have to explain himself? Kim was such a talkative person and it never made sense to Kenta. He was always adamant about discussing things to their fullest extent, to talking about anything and everything at all times.

Kenta was fully aware he was quiet.

He would go as far as to say he didn’t speak enough but one thing was for sure. Kim talked way too much.

“Alright, here’s your bowl. Sit up. It shouldn’t be too hot since I made it about fifteen minutes ago.”

Kenta did as he was told, taking the bowl and the spoon that went along with it.

“Tell me.”

Kenta’s gaze drifted between Kim and his bedroom door.

“I won’t leave until you tell me. I know I’ve been nosy but I need to know why you kept eating the food I made even though you weren’t feeling well. I need to be able to trust you’re not going to hurt yourself while you’re here.” Kim stood, pushing himself further onto Kenta’s bed.

“It’s a habit. I didn’t mean to, it’s just that I didn’t know how to refuse food I was given.”

Kim huffed, causing Kenta’s head to slightly jerk back.

“I don’t care if I buy you a car. If the leather seats make you sick, I’ll return it. If I buy you a house and the paint makes you sick, I’ll buy you a different house. If I do something as simple as cooking a meal, you need to tell me if you feel sick. I will never intentionally hurt you, Kenta.”

“I’m s–”

Kim brought a hand up. “Don’t apologize. I understand your reasoning and it’s not your fault. I understand you may not fully trust me yet or feel safe here yet, either. But I need you to get it through your thick skull that I would never harm you if I can help it. You can’t keep bottling up your thoughts and feelings. Got it?”

With a quiet nod, the two came to an understanding.

Kim excused himself to give the doctor and Pete a call, letting them know Kenta was okay.

------------------

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[goodmorningbatterycity]

What do u do instead of vacations

Thank you for your question. I’d be happy to assist you!

Better Living Industries wants all its employees and citizens of Battery City to have a healthy state of mind. You cannot provide your best work to the company if you’re fatigued. Better Living Industries cares!

Here are a few recommendations from the company to avoid exhaustion and mental fatigue:

1. Join department yoga. Every day at 12:30PM in Battery City square. This is a reminder, if you participate in yoga, you forfeit your 30 minute lunch.

2. Remember the 20-20-20 rule! Every twenty minutes look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Do not look outside that decreases productivity. Take a look at our many promotional posters!

3. Take a walk outside with your coworkers for 15 minutes. Nothing better than the great outdoors. You can take this anytime during your work day. However, this is a reminder, you forfeit your daily 15 minute break if you do this.

4. Per Better Living protocols, all citizens are required to get 8 hours of sleep a night or day depending on work shift. If you are not achieving 8 hours of sleep, please talk to your doctor about medication assistance.

5. Anxieties about work keeping you up? That could be a problem of the past for you. Better Living Industries’ vast array of medications can help soothe your nerves within 10 minutes.

6. Daily stresses getting you down? Look into our company provided therapy services. Each year, you get five free sessions. Try today by contacting social services!

Hope this helps!

[eukrasiancrisis]

Elftober #4: Transport

Taking this prompt as an opportunity to finally do some personal experimenting with my OC lore so hope that's okay. I added pretty gifs to make it... prettier. The rest is me trying to figure out how my aetherically-challenged elezen commutes between Ishgard and Gridania every week without teleporting, how long it should realistically take him, and how feasible it is to do regularly. Just the simple mundanity of his trips back and forth.

-

From Gabriel's Empyrean apartment to his Lavender Beds home:

Coerthas

Leaves after breakfast @ ~9

9:00 ~1 bell walk from apartment building to right outside Ishgard

10:00pm ~1 bell elk ride from the Gates of Judgement to Dragonhead

Optional 1/2 bell: Fireside chat with Emmanellain if he’s free. Asks how Honoroit’s writing is coming along. Makes up a totally valid excuse why he can’t go up north to pay respects to the dearly departed. It’s not as if his failing the young man weighs on him to this day or represents the all the young souls his generation used as stock for a madman’s campaign, now that’d be silly. It’s simply a dangerous ride up.

11:00pm ~1 bell ride between Dragonhead & Observatorium

12:30pm ~1/2 bell Observatorium to north shroud

Total time to leave Coerthas: +4 bells = half a day’s ride at a slow pace

-

North Shroud

1:00 reaches the North Shroud

1:40 arrives at Bobbing Cork

May give his elk a break at the Cork and have some spiced cider for another 1/2 bell. Picks up HQ tea leaves next door for home and for Yuusei.

2:16 leaves the Cork

3:00 Stops by Treespeak Stables to check on Odile

Optional ~1/2 bell: probably administers minor healing to chocokeep Bledros after yet another skirmish with a birb. Occasionally places an order of compost tea made from HQ chocobo manure to be delivered to their home because he is NOT transporting that stuff himself but Fyr swears by it. "Nophica’s own titty milk" or somesuch.

3:30 leaves Treespeak

3:50 arrives at Gridania

Total time to reach Gridania: ~3.5 bells = another half day’s ride

-

Gridania

4:15 stops by the Greatloam Growery. If Fyr’s there he keeps him company until he finishes up, or makes him finish up and drags him behind the boathouse (waterwheels suppress a lot of noise) so they eventually go home together. If Fyr isn’t there, he’ll chat with Fufucha, repeat to her for the umpteenth time how well her forestation efforts are flourishing up north, and inquire about any seed orders Fyr had placed so he’ll pick them up for him.

4:30 waits at the aetheryte plaza for Yuuko to teleport home from Limsa if she had class or an assignment that day, with a box of her favorite Ishgardian muffins. Currently she’s off traveling the new world so no more waiting, but he still sits there sometimes for a spell, reminiscing over her smiling face when she’d arrive all spent but triumphant

5:40 takes the evening ferry from Westshore Pier to Lav. Beds

6:00 arrives at Lavender Beds

6:30 arrives home. If he spots the telltale plume of smoke next door from Yuusei’s forge he’ll know she is absolutely not to be disturbed. If not he’ll stop by for tea for another 1/2 bell

Total to reach home from Gridania: ~2.5 bells

-

Total total travel time: ~10 bells = a whole day’s slow ride to travel between his two residences, or split into two days if he decides to stay at the Bobbing Cork due to bad weather, etc

-

Honestly thought it'd take much longer. The maps, I imagine, are a very small part of the actual size of these areas so in reality it should take longer but then again, time runs much faster in-game so it balances out? Also is it realistic for the Lavender Beds ferry to take ~20mins? Don't know... but sounds good enough for now.

[big-ooof]

Let Me In (live a little)

PART 1 (PART 2 is up, currently working on PART 3)

enhypen!jake x f!reader

Basically… you and your friends are on your way to new york city to celebrate your 24th birthday. Being the loyal person you are in every aspect of your life, you fly frequently on this airline and the morning of the trip you got upgraded to first class. Your neighbor on this flight is a guy named Jake. Conversation came easy, silence was comfortable, and you smiled as you de-planed and waited for your friends to come out.

November 11 // 9:30pm

“I’m surprised you’ve gone the whole day without saying that your mom wanted you to be born on 11/11,” Danielle had a genuine surprised tone in her voice when she said it.

“Probably because she’s said it for the last 6 years and you being the observant friend that you are would point it out,” Sarah chimed in.

It’s true, you say random tidbits or facts here and there, not only pertaining to your birthday. You were born November 13. 13 is your favorite number and was even your jersey number when you played soccer in college. Your mom was the superstitious type so she’s a bit weary about you loving the number 13, especially after hoping you’d be born on 11/11, the set of numbers attracting a more favorable energy. Despite the negative things said about the number 13, you were a good person, followed the rules and loved planning and creating schedules.

Danielle got up from your bed and walked over to your desk where you were hunched over typing away on your laptop. “Y/N, do you really think we need all 5 days planned?”

“Nelle, do you even know me if you need to ask that,” you said with the type of sass that makes your friends smile and shake their heads.

“Okay, let me re-frame it,” she dramatically paces with one hand on her hip and the other tapping her chin. She stops to lean closer to your face and says, “3 hot baddies are going to new york to celebrate a particular baddie’s birthday, let’s leave some room for spontaneity.”

You let out a deep sigh and surprised yourself when you smiled at your friend. Danielle’s eyes widen and takes a step back. “Is that a genuine smile? You didn’t combust when I essentially dissed your livelihood.” You laughed because she’s not far off from the truth. I live for schedules and even considered being an executive assistant, event planner, or producer even, but you couldn’t find it in you to switch and disappoint your parents.

“Okay, aside from a few dinner reservations, everything else is flexible — actually, fuck it, everything is flexible,” you say boldly before quickly following with, “we just need to remember to cancel any reservations in advance because I don’t have the extra cash to pay a cancellation fee.” The three of you laugh and let the excitement sink in. You all decided to stay at your place tonight since you lived the closest to the airport. With a 7am flight, you wanted to eliminate any issues.

“I have a feeling this trip will be good for you Y/N,” Sarah says next to you on the bed, your hear the sleepiness in her voice. “I mean it’ll be a good trip for everyone but I feel like.. for you especially.. if you let it”

“Sarah go to sleep,” Danielle begs from the air mattress. “I know I make fun of Y/N for being such a type A person, but we need her to rest because she’s leading the way for tomorrow’s travel day” You all let out a laugh before humming in agreement.

November 12 // 6:15am

At the gate you hear your name on the speakers, you walk over to talk to the agent who needed to raise his voice a little bit to snap you out of your daze, “Miss L/N, do you want me to print you a new boarding pass with your new seat assignment?”

“Yes, yes, sorry, it takes me a while to fully wake up,” The gate agent smiles at your response and hands you your boarding pass. 13A, first class.

When you go back to your friends you simply show them your boarding pass and Sarah says, “see, told you I had a good feeling about this trip”

“Sure, I’ve also flown a fuck ton on this airlines going to different clinics and hospitals this past year, I knew this would be a perk.”

“Shh, babe,” Danielle whispers, “just accept the good vibes.” You smile at her, and you let the words sink in. You’ve already allowed yourself to smile at your friend’s attempts of letting go and letting the universe guide you.

You look at your boarding pass again as you line up for group one and realize it didn’t sink in that your in row 13. You feel silly for smiling so much in the past 12 hours but only because you spent your whole life appeasing your parents, professors, coaches, etc. But your smile fades when the anxiety takes over body. “Oh shit,” an internal dialogue spews in your head, “I don’t want to have an anxiety attack on the plane. I don’t cope well with change. No. I can do this.” Someone brushes past you, snapping you out of your thoughts. The line started moving and there’s a gap between where you’re standing and the agent. You apologize to the people behind you and move along. “Enjoy your flight, Y/N,” the agent says with a warm smile. You surprise yourself by smiling despite feeling like you were about to spiral moments ago.

As you were approaching your seat an older woman stopped you, “Excuse me, dear, I have a favor to ask,” you took your bag off your shoulder and nodded, “I’m in 15A and my husband is sitting here in 13B, I was wondering if—”

“If I could switch seats with you?” You cut her off but maintained a polite tone. “I can do that, would you like me to let the flight attendant know?”

“You’re an angel, I wanted to plan an amazing trip for my husband’s 70th birthday but I must’ve looked at the seat map all crazy when I chose our seats,” she explained. You asked her, “when’s his birthday? Mine is tomorrow.”

“It was actually the 11th!” The gentleman spoke, glancing up at you from his seat, “I didn’t know about this until she told me at dinner last night. Crazy, I tell you, but I’m surprisingly taking it well, this woman knows me better than I know myself, so I trust that we’ll have an amazing time.” The woman thanks you again and you shuffle 2 rows over.

15B was still empty by the time the last group boarded and for a moment you thought you’d get to live out your introvert dreams of being in first class and have no one sitting next you. That moment ended when 3 more people boarded the plane, all wearing either baseball caps or their hood. One of them sat down next to you and quietly situated themselves.

“Miss L/N, I don’t want to impose if you’re not a fan of attention on your birthday,” the flight attendant began to say, “but we have quite a few of November birthdays on this flight and we wanted to give a little announcement.”

“Oh, when’s your birthday?” the guys next to you excitedly asked. “It’s tomorrow,” you replied. “Oh, what? Mine’s on the 15th.”

“I was just about to ask you as well, Mr. Sim,” the flight attendant said. “Oh, no, please. I’d prefer not. But Miss L/N should,” he said turning to you and tilting his head with a smile.

“You know what, sure, I’m sure my friends would love that for me,” she reply. The flight attendant nods and walks towards the front of the plane. You hear the announcement start as they greet the birthday celebrants, including the gentleman in 13B, your name was last and you could hear Danielle and Sarah clapping and whistling. You sink in a little lower in your seat. “I’m assuming those are the friends who would love the announcement?” Mr. Sim asks.

You purse your lips together and nod slowly. “You know, if they could offer me some cake or ice cream in addition to the unintentional embarrassment that would be amazing.” He let out a laugh, “if they don’t, I’ll get you a cake or something, as long as you feel compensated.”

You glance up at him and he caught you staring a little too long before you could stop yourself. He smiles, hopefully finding it endearing versus creepy, “I’m Jake, by the way,” bringing a hand to his chest.

“Y/N,” you respond. “And thanks for the offer but I think I’ll be fine. I don’t want other’s to feel like they need to do anything for me.” Jake quietly nods while pouting. He glances to the floor before reaching for his phone in his pocket.

You stay still for a moment, feeling the heat creep up your neck. Is this because we’re about to take off? Or because you find the guy sitting next to you attractive? Either way, you unconsciously grip the fabric of your pants at your knee and bunch it in your hand. Jake discreetly glances over to your hand and then your face. You snapped out of it before he could do or say anything. You allow yourself to settle into your seat and focus on breathing as the lights in the cabin begin to dim.

You close your eyes for a bit as you accept all the unexpected things that have happens. You were open to spontaneity during this trip but not to the anxiety you used to suppress so well your entire life. You can’t believe you have to fight a potential anxiety on this plane with your friends in another section of this plane.

You open your eyes 2 hours later and cautiously sit up. “Hey,” Jake said quietly, “the flight attendant and I weren’t sure if we should wake you up for meal service, but I offered to hold onto this cookie for you in case you woke up before they come back around.”

“Thanks,” you reply taking the cookie, “I didn’t even realize I knocked out.”

“Do you have a fear of flying?”

“Me? No, I’ve flown many times.” You struggle with the wrapper a bit before freeing the cookie. “But to be fair, I have lots of other fears.”

Jake watches as you go between taking a few bites of your cookie and looking out the window. He leans his head on his hand. You notice him looking at you and furrow your brows.

“Are you waiting for me to elaborate on my fears?” you ask with partial disbelief, the other part of you willing to share them with a complete stranger. He only smiles in reply. His smile unlocks something in you and you carefully open up to this guy you just met.

It was only when the pilot announced the plane’s decent into La Guardia airport that you asked Jake what his plans were in New York. “I’m here with my friends, Sunghoon and Ni-ki, we have some events to attend and then we have some free time, but I honestly don’t know what we’re doing, I just do what they tell me.”

“My first thought is: I could never. But that actually sounds nice, not all the time, but once in a while I’d like to have someone navigate my day and I could think about other things.”

Jake smiles at you, “that’s progress coming from the girl who had a full schedule 24 hours ago and let go of it piece by piece thanks to your friends.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” you playfully say.

Once the plane landed and it began to taxi to the gate, Jake turned to you, “I noticed you kinda zoning out and clenching your pants before we took off. I didn’t want to bring it up during the flight in case it made you uncomfortable. Basically, I’m glad you were okay.”

“I appreciate that, I think I hide my emotions well though,” you said with a half smile. Jake creased his brows and shook his head, “it’s okay not to be okay, y/n, I know I’m just a stranger but I hope you don’t hide your emotions from your friends.”

He has no idea that talking to a complete stranger was the most vulnerable thing you’ve done in a long time. Your role as a daughter of immigrants, high honor student, your job in the medical field, being the dependable friend, among other things has become your identity and you’re afraid to stray away from that.

This interaction with Jake lit something up within you and you subconsciously plant an idea in your head: you’re allowed to change, you owe it to yourself to live life on your own accord and no one else’s.