#goodbye for the rest of thr week :’(

[moshaeu]

my general o7

[thalwri]

AIRPLANE MODE!

STARRING: commercial pilot!caleb x flight attendant!reader

synopsis: linkon's best airline has brought in skyhaven's best pilot for an overnight flight. you haven't seen or heard from him in years. you both have your individual duties to serve but with rising altitudes, tension, temptation, and desire will always follow suit.

warnings: porn with plot, light angst and comfort, dry humping, public sex, mile high sex, body worship, dirty talk, hair pulling, handjob, fingering, cunnilingus, thigh fucking, inappropriate use of evol, edging, marking, sloppy fuckin sex, creampies, multiple orgasms, you guys are freaks but freaks that love each other <3.

wc: 5,8k

a/n: have some angst! I'm joking, here's another 'leb fic!

MINORS DON'T INTERACT!

"Is that him?" Is the endless question you hear, from the briefing to the trip through the airport, to the preparations for the passengers to enter the aircraft.

Is that him. Is that Caleb.

Caleb, Skyhaven's best pilot. Caleb, the ex-fighter pilot turned commercial pilot for unknown reasons. Caleb, your one and only who you haven't seen in years.

Not since he graduated from the DAA. That was the last time you saw him. From his lack of contact and radio silence increasing from weeks to months, you had brought yourself to assume he was dead.

So, for you to see that he's more than alive and well... it irks you.

That being said, you have a job that you've worked hard for since he disappeared. You are chief flight attendant for Linkon Air, and that position didn't come easy. It took five years of fighting for it to honour Caleb in his alleged disappearance- even in the moments where you were tempted to quit and walk away.

Now that he's back, your world has tipped on its axis.

Leaning on the wall between the crew deck and the business class cabin you watch your subordinates prepare each seat for the incoming passengers, fluffing cushions, cleaning away any excess trash from the previous flight, and ensuring everything is in place.

Caleb and his co-pilot, Gideon (another missing person you knew), are expected to get to the plane at any minute. They're expected to see you again.

Despite the anger, the reminiscing, despite it all, you find your fingers fumbling with jittery nerves. Sharp pangs strike your chest every time you recall his smiles, his eyes, his hands, his touch, the joy you shard with him, and the pain from not hearing from him for years.

You're burning with anger, weeping with the remnants of your pain, and jittery with hope. Hope to restart, or even continue from where you left off.

"Chief," One of your subordinates snap you out of your thoughts. 'Chief' was a title you earned as a joke but your coworkers have made a habit of using it as a term of endearment and respect. What can you say? You do a good job.

"The pilots. They're here." Fuck everything you just told yourself. There's only fear.

You will yourself to walk to the front entrance, watching them ascend the stairs, wind flowing through their blazers like a gentle kiss goodbye from the elements.

You'd recognise him any day. You've studied him to the atom. He's changed.

His hat rests in his hand with a small suitcase. A shaded pair of glasses sits on his face perfectly, protecting his eyes from the cruel blaze of the sun. He's smiling. You hadn't seen that smile in so long.

As he draws closer to you, you force yourself to swallow your nerves and clench and unclench your fists in the hopes of grounding yourself. It's definitely making you notice he's much more muscular. And taller. And more handsome–

His hands remove his glasses as he reaches you and that does it. If not for your need to maintain professionalism you would have burst into tears. Those beautiful sunset eyes are exactly the same. Radiant, shining, and brimming with stories of you and him.

His smile trembles as his eyes dart all over your face, almost like he couldn't believe that you're here. His grip on his hat tightens.

Sharply breathing through your nose, you serenely smile as you would when interacting with passengers. "Welcome to Linkon Air, gentlemen." You step aside to grant them access to the aircraft. "It is a pleasure to work alongside you."

You smooth down your skirt as they walk by giving their thanks. Your eyes dart to the air traffic controllers out of habit, ensuring everything is in order. They have a pattern that you've learned to track since there'd always be a ton of time before prepping for passengers to arrive.

Although it's likely been minutes since you scanned the roadway, you feel a pair of familiar eyes burning right into your back.

The flight (at least for the first few hours) goes relatively smoothly. You got sleep after takeoff, since your previous flight exhausted you. Your team worked diligently, leaving you with light work as you switched shifts for the second half of the flight.

The sun has been setting from what you've seen doing your rounds checking on the passengers in the economy and business cabins. By the time you get back to your deck, the stars begin to speckle the endless horizon.

Carrying your habits from your university days, the first thing you do is make a cup of coffee as strong as it can get over tens of thousands of metres above ground. The cardboard cup in your hand unexpectedly brings back a flood of memories. Memories of your younger days. 

Memories of Caleb.

Tremors build as the aircraft reaches the higher through the clouds as the sky completely darkens, leaving you with the stars and the blinking lights of the wings. Turbulence is about to strike the plane— hopefully there aren’t any screamers on this flight.

You slowly sip your caffeinated paradise considering whether you should wait for the mini turbulence to calm or to ride it out to serve meals to the passengers. Anything to distract you from him for the time being. Just enough to get the job done.

The soft push of the door behind you send your shoulders twitching into tension but you keep your gaze right ahead. Your grip on the counter is tight enough to make your knuckles go pale against your skin.

“You look good as chief.” Your eyes flutter shut, instantly sinking into familiarity and warmth. His voice. His damned voice.

“You look good alive.” Your tone is gruffer than anticipated. You almost feel bad.

You can hear his footsteps get louder as he draws near you. Closer and closer until he’s right behind you, towering over you. “I’m–“

“Sorry?” You huff, chugging down what remains of your coffee. “I would have probably taken that five years ago. Probably. But you've said nothing. Nothing!” Your voice falls into a hushed shriek to avoid catching the attention of the attendants serving the food through the business cabin. 

Caleb’s gloved hand swiftly closes the curtains to separate you both from the cabin, at least in terms of sight. His hand slowly trails down until it’s just a twitch away from your own. “I was assigned to join the Fleet for off-planet missions.” He informs you in a hushed tone, almost too professional and commandeering for your liking. "I didn't have a choice."

“Really now, cadet?” You scoff, almost tempted to roll your eyes just like you used to whenever you didn’t believe the things he’d say. 

“Colonel.”

“That high up in the ranks, huh?” Considering the limit of space you have, you aim to toss the cup into the bin and hit it perfectly inside. “In a span five years too, very realistic.”

“Maybe we should stop dancing around in this pettiness.” You can almost hear the exasperation in his voice. And the smallest sliver of desperation.

“Perhaps you’d find it hard to be familiar with someone you assumed was dead for five years—“ You hiss as you attempt to side step away from him, only for his other hand to slam down on the counter, holding you in place.

A warm draft hits your neck directly from his breath touching your skin for the first time in so, so long. “I didn’t have a choice, pips.”

“I…” Damn him and his warmth for making you start to forget your anger. “I don’t believe you.” 

“How can I get you to believe in me?” He whispers, lips nearing your skin. Hot shivers run straight down your spine. Your head leans towards him out of instinct, so familiar and natural. “Tell you classified information? What the Fleet has been doing outside of public knowledge?”

His hand rests on top of yours, warm to the touch and gentle in grip. “Didn’t you get my letters?” His lips ghost over your ears. You can almost hear the tinge of hurt in his words. “Like the ones we used to send each other back when we were kids?”

Letters? You hadn’t gotten anything. When you visited your grandmother to ask if she received any correspondence she would always say no— oh.

“She got rid of them.” You finish your thought out loud. Even if you looked they’d likely be ashes before you get home.

“Of course.” The plane’s floor rumbles with his brewing agitation. He doesn’t even want to think about what that old woman was doing to prevent the two of you from having contact for all those years. But you’re here with him, and that’s all that matters. He’s more than ready to spend the next five years grovelling for your forgiveness.

“Caleb,” His eyes flutter shut at his name leaving your lips. There’s no anger, no resentment, only that familiar reverence you two used to share. “You sent letters?”

“Every single day.” You feel his head drop into the junction between your shoulders and neck, fitting just right. “Even when I thought I was going to be trapped in Deepspace, I wrote letters in paper, sent transmissions, did everything I thought would reach you. But since she destroyed them all—“

Caleb pauses in his tracks, deeply inhaling your scent through the thick layers of your uniform. Through the perfume foreign to his senses and the familiar smell of fabric softener, there you were. His favourite aroma, the only one keeping him sane (mind you, his only other source was your hoodie and pair of panties which obviously didn’t last him five years worth of sniffing). 

“Doesn’t matter,” He grumbles, voice muffled by your clothes. “You’re here. I’m here. And I’m not gonna disappear on you again. Not if I can do anything about it.”

Trembles strike the plane again before you can respond; this time more violent. Loud cries echo from beyond the curtain separating you and the passengers as the turbulence topples your balance. You both jerk forward, pressed uncomfortably against the counter, holding on for dear life.

“Must’ve been a while since you had air turbulence, huh?” You grin to yourself, feeling how tight his grip on your hand is. His knuckles are practically turning white. “Space didn’t prepare you for that did it?”

Caleb makes no response other that a suppressed choke. “Caleb?”

The aircraft trembles again pushing you closer together, so much so that you can feel something very hard prodding you from behind. Very hard. Familiarly hard.

You hadn't felt it in so long, your body can't help but respond intuitively. You lean into him, arching your back as he's pushed closer to you. It's as if he's constantly orbiting you in an endless gravitational pull.

Neither of you try to pull away. It's all too familiar and you don't want to run away from the very thing you haven't had in years.

His length strains against the confines of his pants, accentuating its girth and the aggressive throbbing on your core. The turbulence brings your hips into a shaky rhythm moving back and forth, grinding on each other and bringing your minds into a complete haze.

"Pips–" Caleb groans into your shoulder in a sore attempt to conceal his noises. The commotion in the passenger cabins rise as your subordinates urge them to remain calm. There is no way any of them would think to come in your direction– hopefully none of them will try.

A moan slips through your lips as his hips grind up against you in that exact delicious way he used to do it back then. Back when you had all the time to yourselves. When you had each other.

Heat pools at your core, turning your legs to jelly. His head is buried in the crook of your neck, subjecting him to your scent that hasn't changed despite the years. Still that enamouring smell that always drove him insane.

You could stay like this forever, in his hold, in this state as dangerous as it may be. For as long as you need to so long as you can live in the knowledge that Caleb will never leave again. You'd do everything to make sure of that.

"Caleb!" Gideon yells through the muffled door of the cockpit, snapping you both out of your trance. "Get back here!"

Caleb sharply inhales before pulling himself away from you, stumbling back with a ramble of apologies.

"I'm sorry, I– I–" He shakes his head and swiftly turned to the cockpit. "Forgive me, I need to attend to my duties."

The door clicks shut, leaving you to stand in the aftershock of your deeds. You don't have the time to ponder and reflect, you need to do your job.

It doesn't take long to calm the passengers down. After handing out snacks, speaking to passengers, and tying the odd few to their seats with their own seatbelts all while trying to ignore the wetness pooling at your core, the turbulence finally calms.

You can't help but feel hot in your uniform. After that, there's no coherent thought apart from Caleb.

Caleb, Caleb, Caleb.

His scent. His touch. The way his lips automatically found your neck but did not kiss your flesh. The way his hips moved with yours– it wasn't just the tremors of the plane, you were both moving together. His cock was so damn hard you thought it would make his pants unzip on its own.

You close your eyes, shuddering at the memory. It's becoming increasingly hard to maintain composure. To stay professional. But you're practically shivering with need.

Every step you take rubs the soaked cotton fabric of your panties against your clit. Every touch on your skin sends hot shivers right down to your core. Merely hearing your colleagues swoon over Caleb makes your walls clench and your gut boil in brewing jealousy.

Such a shame they didn't get to see how he was practically losing himself just moments ago.

The feeling becomes almost unbearable. The need burning deep within you becomes too much to ignore. You have to talk to him. You have to do something.

You close your eyes and straighten your back. There's a few hours left of the flight. Most of your colleagues are sleeping in their cabins. You've completed your shift. Just a few more hours.

Your hand hovers over the door to the cockpit. You just need to knock. Simple as that.

Just as your fist is about to land on the door, it slides open.

"Oh, sorry!" Gideon apologises as he steps out. "Didn't mean to startle you. By the way, do you know where your colleague is? The short, cute one."

You raise your brow in suspicion. "For what reason?"

"Nothing." He quickly responds, shoving his hands into his pockets. From what you can recall, Gideon has always had a habit of hiding his hands whenever he lied.

"Right." You sarcastically nodded. "She's in the back. Alone." You step aside you let him go through the cabin. "Don't make too much noise. Some passengers are still awake."

He simply grinned and scurried off, practically skipping as he moved.

If Gideon isn't in there anymore, that means it's just Caleb. An open opportunity.

You look around you to make sure you're fully alone and without another thought you step inside and swiftly close the door behind you.

"You shouldn't be here." His voice shoots through you like wine engulfing your tastebuds. He's standing behind his chair, hand flipping through papers that you assume are flight directives.

"I have authorisation." You defiantly stand your ground.

"By what grounds?"

"This isn't the Fleet, Caleb." You cross your arms, leaning on the door. The pounding on your chest grows louder and louder the longer his eyes look straight into yours. "Things are different here."

Caleb's eyes flutter shut as he groans. His hands move to cover the growing tent in his pants. "Don't say that."

"Don't say what, Caleb?"

"Don't say my name like that."

You raise a brow in challenge. "Caleb." You step forward. "Caleb." This time you speak in a soft whine. "Caleb." Agression. "Caleb." Need. "Caleb, Caleb, Caleb–"

His hands hold your face and he backs you against the cockpit entrance, breath heavy with a familiar scent. The scent of restricted desire. You used to hate when he held himself back.

"I tried everything, pipsqueak, everything to reach you." Your eyes closed, hands mirroring his own by holding his face and stroking his skin. His freckles are still there. His pores that you used to poke are still there. His eyelashes are still there. The incision scar from his eyebrow piercing he had when you were younger is still there. Everything is still as it was.

"I never wanted to leave," He whispers. "I wanted to stay. I fought to stay."

"I believe you." You stroke his cheeks, staring deep into his eyes. "I forgive you. I..." You hesitate, afraid it's too soon to say. But you have nothing to lose. "I adore you still, desire you still. I want you."

Caleb's hands twitched as he glanced away from your gaze. "It's been years," He whispers, unable to unite his lips with your own. "I don't even know who you've–"

"I haven't." You reach to hold his face, gently stroking his cheeks with your thumbs. "It's always been you. Only you."

Caleb huffs a quiet laugh. "Your hands are still so soft." His fear melts into adoration, soothing his nerves. "So warm."

You lean up, finally pressing your lips on his. It almost feels like the first time. His lips are soft, reminding you of how you teased him into using more lip balm. He must have kept the habit.

His hands wander lower and lower until they reach your waist and the back of your neck, maintaining a gentle grip on you. Gentle becomes needy, and needy becomes intense.

Caleb moans into your mouth as your tongue slips through his lips, tasting him like a delicacy you hadn't had in years (which is true). His hands instantly drip to your ass, palming over your curves as his hips grind against yours to remind you of his needy hard on.

Your clit tingles with desperate need as your tongues move together, not for dominance but in the greatest form of reverence you can possibly muster. Your hand reaches down to his throbbing bulge, almost nervous to feel him once more. His hips jerk to your touch.

"Please, pips," He whimpers against your lips. Your skirt raises above your hips to grant him access to your soaked panties. "I need you."

You waste no time unbuckling his belt, lips still on his, to free his cock from its confines. You almost forgot how big he is. Your hand can barely wrap around him, for one. His sacks feel so heavy in your hands, making you imagine things you wouldn't dare dignify with words. Three veins travel up his length and end before they reach his reddened tip that's leaking drops of warm precum. You thumb his slit, covering your finger in his juices to bring out a string of moans that you've almost forgotten.

"Missed you," Caleb sputters, leaning down to attack your neck with hot kisses. His calloused fingers pull your panties aside to feel your arousal, collecting your juices until it's slick enough to rub your sensitive clit. "Missed this."

Your nails claw at his nape as your grinds turn into dry ruts, unable to coherently think of anything other than satiating your need for each other.

"Caleb," You moan into his ear, tongue slithering around his earlobe as his fingers finally sink into your pussy. "The plane–"

"Autopilot." His voice is slightly muffled from his lips sucking endless marks onto your skin. "Where's Gideon?"

"With a flight attendant," You grin to yourself. "They'll be busy for a while."

His chuckle sends warmth spreading through your body like nostalgic shock before he engulfs you in his embrace again, kissing you deep and hard until all you can think about is him.

His lips are gentle on yours, almost like he can't bring himself to believe that you're here with him. The context doesn't matter. The risk serves no meaning to him. All he wants... is you.

Caleb reluctantly pulls away from your addictive hold to catch his breath. The scent of mint fans your face as he breathes deeply with you. You can't help but lean closer to his lips, desperate to feel him again. And again. And again until you're sick of him.

But you never will be.

"I need you," You mutter using your free hand to free the skin of your neck for him to suckle and mark.

And he responds swiftly, teeth sinking into your flesh unlike all those other times where he'd gently tease and lick you. Now his nibbles have turned into full-on bites, leaving wet trails of his saliva as an additional mark to his ministrations.

"I've missed you so, so much," You choke on your whispers, feeling tears well in your eyes again. "You can't ever leave me like that again."

"I know," Caleb murmured as his lips pressed another loving peck on another lovebite he leaves on your skin. "I'll never leave you again. Never. Not if I can do anything about it."

Your hand rises from his chest to his hair to tug him back. His eyes roll back with a poorly swallowed groan. "Promise me." It's hard to concentrate with how close you two are, how his cock throbs and twitches in your hand, how your bodies respond to each other like clockwork.

"Promise you'll never leave again." You tug his hair harder, hoping it will emphasise your point. "I swear, I'll keep you by my side at all times if I have to–"

Caleb swallows your surprised moan as he latches his lips back onto yours. The last thing he wants you to do is spiral while you're with him. To worry about an impossible event. He will never leave. He'd kill anyone who tries to take him from you. And if he had to show you to prove himself, he'd do it without hesitation.

"I'll never leave you again. Never." He rasps, hips jutting into your hand unable to ignore the pulsating need that makes his cock leak so much. Just for you. "I promise."

Your clothes ruffle and come apart, piece by piece until your shirts are completely unbuttoned, skirt pulled up to the waist and pants pulled down just above the knee. Your nipples are poking out of your bra, hardened and sensitive and needy for his tongue to worship.

"I've missed your taste." His tongue swirls around your pebbles, drawing one into a gentle suckle while his free hand attends to your other nipple to pinch and fondle.

Your eyes flutter shut as your head hits the wall. Oh, how you've missed the feeling of him on you like this. A soft moan flows out of your lips, hips grinding in immediate response to his touch– his love.

Caleb moans into your skin as if he's the one being touched, hands fondling your mounds. His tongue lavers spit all over your cleavage, soaking you completely.

It is inappropriate to be doing this. You should be doing your rotation and checking on passengers. Caleb should be flying the damn plane and not leaving two hundred lives in the hands of autopilot. But you couldn't care less. You wanted him. He wanted you. You needed each other.

And you wouldn't pass it up for the world– aviation laws be damned.

"I've missed how you feel," His lips wander lower as he brings himself to his knees. "How warm you are when you're with me. How you smile in the sun. You tight your pussy is when I'm deep inside you." His fingers, still pumping inside you slowly pull out to your dissatisfaction for him to taste.

"But I think I missed this the most." He closed his eyes, shamelessly moaning at your taste as soon as his fingers land on his tastebuds. "Fuck, pips. You don't know how crazy you make me feel."

He doesn't waste another second to taste you through the slight barrier of your panties– lace and red. Almost like the apples you used to eat together when you were younger. You both moan upon contact, your hands finding home in his hair and his mouth practically drooling.

"Caleb–" You whimper into your hand, worried that you'll make noise. The sun is beginning to rise on the horizon.

His tongue presses flat on your clothed clit, rolling the bundle of nerves around, checking if his old techniques were still valid to use. Your pleasured whimpers turned to soft moans as he eased your nerves with each flick of his tongue.

"You taste so divine." His hand reached down for his aching cock to stroke and tease.

His fingers circle around your entrance slowly and push deep into you in search for your sensitive core. It doesn't take long for the tip of his finger to push just the right spot, bringing your knees to a tremble.

His touch burned your flesh, sent shivers of warmth raging beneath your skin. It is endless, it's infinite, it's perfect.

You moan his name like a broken record, practically shivering with need and desire. You hook one leg over his shoulder, keeping his head in place with both your hands. His moans are muffled deep within your core as he tongues you relentlessly, desperate to give you as much as he can in a short pocket of time.

"Missed your tongue– missed your fucking tongue!" You whine. "Fuck, 'leb, I missed you so much– f-fuck– need you so bad!" Your hips rut up and down his face, lathering his face in your divine juices. You can tell Caleb it relishing in it, from the soft plapping sound coming from his hand working his cock.

"Look at you," You huff with a grin. He glances up with those sunset eyes of his completely glazed over with lust and desire. You brush his sweat-dampened cowlicks away from his forehead to stroke his skin with pure devotion. "Touching yourself for me when you should be flying this plane. Ruining me, devouring me. I want to do the same."

"Mmh," He groans into your pussy and pulls his tongue from you. "Not yet. When we land." He kisses your folds, practically making out with your pussy loud and sloppy. "Wanna take care of you, love you, give you what you've needed all these years."

He presses hot kisses up your body until he reaches your lips once more and slips his tongue right in for you to taste yourself. To relish in what drives him mad.

Your tongues dance a very familiar waltz that turns to a beloved tango, becoming more feverish, more needy, more reckless. His hands guide yours behind your back and turns you to face the door keeping you two separated from everyone outside.

"I want you right now." You both say simultaneously and laugh. For such a moment of debauchery, you would always find ways to laugh together. It's just like it was back then. You're glad, if anything.

Caleb tugs your panties further away from your core being more delicate than you expected. "For someone who used to steal my underwear, I'm surprised you haven't torn this pair."

"I intend on keeping it for myself." He grinned as he pressed another kiss on your neck. "For later use."

His cock rubs up and down and around your dripping pussy, tapping your sensitive clit with his cockhead, bumping it with every thrust as he lathers his length in your juices and his precum. "You're soaked, pips, yet you wrap around me so tightly. Practically squeezing."

"Just for you." You pant against the door. You arch into him, squeezing his girth with your thighs making him moan right into your ear. "Ah, it's all for you."

"And all of this–" He thrusts into your thighs again, securing a tight grip on your waist. "–is for you and you alone, my love."

My love. It is music to your ears.

"My love." He kisses the shell of your ear. "My devotion. My goddess. I vow to serve you. Love you. Protect you. To never leave you alone. I swear it."

He lines his tip with your entrance, shakily inhaling. It's been so damn long. And now you're both here. Finally.

"I'm yours." His cock sweetly slides into you in one swift thrust reducing you both to moaning messes. You fit each other like puzzle pieces designed for each other. You are truly made for each other.

"Fuck." Your hips move in tandem as his cock rocks in and out of you, sweet and slow to savour just how warm you are, how you wrap and squeeze around him so fucking well.

"You feel so good, pips." He whines into your ear, picking up his pace until your slick soaked skin claps loud enough to echo around the cockpit. "Oh my– s-so good. You're so good–"

Your minds become hazy as you lose yourselves in each other, hands scratching, gripping and squeezing what you can reach, his hands on the softness of your ass and your on his to push him as deep as possible. And then even deeper.

"Don't stop." You whine as he pushes his cock deeper and deeper inside until he's completely bottomed out inside you. That delicious squelching noise rings in your ears, driving you into a frenzy of desire and devotion. "Don't ever stop!"

His response is unintelligible, completely reduced to moans and mindless babbles about how perfect you are, how good you feel, everything he wants to do with you right here and now.

“Think about all the people who could be walking past.” Caleb moans into your ear as he pounds his cock into you, dragging his length in and out until your joint slick drips down your legs. “Gideon could walk in at any moment. One of your subordinates could be looking for you. One of the passengers might just hear the wrong thing at the wrong time.”

His hand reaches your neatly secured hair and gently tugs at it, granting himself more access to your exposed neck. He suckles a large bruise right where anyone can see it and sinks his teeth right into you. Your back arches from the pain and your pussy walls flutter from the pleasure, making you come completely undone from the thrill of being caught alone. 

“We both know how much you like the idea of being caught. I like it too.” Caleb muses as he continues to plough you through your orgasm.

“Gets me harder.” His thrusts slow to a cruel yet lewd grind. “Makes me consider risking it all just to feel you squeeze around me. Just to have you milk me dry.” His hand reaching to swirl your clit in circles. Your moans become cries, relentlessly growing louder until he has to stuff his fingers into your mouth.

“We don’t want to get too much attention, pips.” He whines as your walls clench tight enough to snap his cock in half. It just feels so damn good. But the risk is too high. He would rather having you screaming for him while you’re alone than to let a bunch of strangers hear what he’s been missing for years.

He pulls out of your pussy, leaving your walls clenching with need. "Caleb!"

"Hold on," You feel the ground beneath you disappear as he uses his Evol to turn you around and place you back on his cock while facing him.

His finger moves up and down, directing his Evol to bounce you on his cock as he moves to his seat. The pressure from his cock hitting your sensitive spot in a different angle, and the pressure of his Evol tightening deep inside your core renders you speechless with your eyes crossing from the intense pleasure burning through you.

"Have to be careful when sitting you down," He murmurs as he presses his lips on yours. "Can't mess up the controls or we'll end up risking an emergency landing."

He finally sits and releases his Evol on you, sinking you onto his cock once more. You both sigh into each other's lips in another kiss, tasting each other and drowning in each other's adoration.

Your soaked pussy slurps him in like a vacuum with each bounce on his thick, throbbing length, making Caleb absolutely weak beneath you. His hips jerk up, fucking you so hard that rings of cream form around his base.

"Love your cock, 'leb–" You babble, bordering being completely cockdrunk on him. You had long thrown your responsibilities out the window and you're sure he has too. "F-feel so- fuck me– so damn good! I–"

"Love you, pips," He rambles back, tongue slurping the sweat off your skin like it's water. He's definitely drunk on you and your pussy. How could he not be?

"I love you so much– wanna make you f-feel so–" Thrust. "–damn–" Thrust. "good!" The next heavy thrust his cock pounds into your weeping hole shoots hot, thick cum right up your core, spurting globs and globs of his juices until it leaks out of you.

The heat alone makes you bury your head between his neck and shoulder to mask your cry as your walls flutter around him, bringing you to another powerful orgasm.

You both pant, losing your grip on yourselves as you calm down from your joint finish. Your hands travel to each others' faces to bring yourselves into another doting kiss, this time in a warm embrace.

Just as you're about to speak, once the waves of your joint pleasure subside, Caleb gently grips your chin. "Look behind you."

You tiredly turn to feel the warmth of the dawning sun on your skin. It's rising, slowly but it has been long enough to witness your reunion with Caleb. Almost like it blessed the two of you to another chapter in your story. This time, a chapter that won't end.

"I've always told you the summer sun makes your skin glow," Caleb half-moaned half-hummed, kissing the corner of your lips in worship. "Like gold. Like diamonds."

"I've always told you that you make me shine." You smiled, leaning into his touch.

"No," He turns you to face him once more, his lips inching closer to yours to bring you into a kiss. "It's the other way around. You make me shine. You're the star I orbit, pips. Above the skies and on the ground. You are what I wake up every day for."

You'll deal with your jobs later. What matters is that your pilot is here with you. He's home. And he will stay in your orbit, now and forever.

[writingoddess1125]

Hi, I love Morticia and Gomez Effect universe, and I have to say it. I'm the only one who thinks that if she ends up getting pregnant, it would be a girl. How would Mihawk be as a girl dad. Or, would they have twins or triplets?? They want an army, after all.😏😉

I like your thinking! MWHAHAHAHAHS

Morticia and Gomez Effect - pt. 3

Creating an Army

Mihawk x FemReader

Previous <<

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• It seemed all that really had to be done was speaking the wish for a child- In less then 2 months you found out you were pregnant. Much to the delight of Mihawk and yourself.

• Mihawk was very protective of you, essentially a helicopter. He needed to make sure you were safe and healthy, cooking all your meals, making sure Perona was as respectful as possible and didn't dare to cause a fuss while you were pregnant.

• Which she didn't in truth. Perona had been actually excited at the idea of a baby, flooding the place with more stuffed animals and 'cute' onsies.

• While for you, the pregnancy reminded you of the sea. At times calm and cool, while others it was like a raging storm in your body. You were fortunate that Mihawk was like a massive ship that could ride through the calms and battle thr storms, Rubbing your back when you puked- Whsipering sweet words when you cried and wiping away the discomfort that settled on your bones as the baby grew.

• It was a normal day, you were 6 months along in your pregnancy and Mihawk had gone out to train. Leaving you to the peace of your favorite fruit tea and some cakes.

• Delightful

• As you tucked into your new found treats you heard the door open and the sound of chattering. Knowing that it wasn't Mihawk you reached for the blade you kept tucked to your side under the large blanket you were under.

• Till you saw young familiar faces.

• The young Pirates, The Strawhats finally had return it seemed. With your necklace in tow as they looked like they had been through quite a journey and back. The scorch marks upon their clothes also being a amusing sight.

• Zoro stepped forward, bowing respectfully to his teacher. The other pirates also coming to greet you and hopefully stay in your good Graces.

• "Madam Dracule, We have your necklace" Zoro said with calm respect.

• He watched you stand and his eyes and the eyes of the young pirates all went to the same thing that had been obstructed by the thick blankets. Your rounded stomach-

• "Thank you Zoro, I do hope it was able to help in your journey" You say calmly as you take the necklace from him- Seeing how their faces went to that or horror and shock at the sight of your clearly pregnant stomach.

• The blonde one, with a weird eyebrow was the first to break "THATS NOT FAIR!? HE GETS A HOT WIFE AND GETS HER KNOCKED UP!?" He screamed in shock which surprised you before the rest of the crew decended on him like hounds to shut him up. Zoro still just standing there shocked till a random foot seemed to hit him and he joined the fight-

• Of course Mihawk hurt the commotion and quickly went to find you, coming to a sight he didn't know what to deal with first.

• There the strawhats were all fighting each other. The two women of the crew speaking to you calmly and touching your rounded stomach with your blessing as you held your ruby necklace and A passed out Reindeer at the foot of the fight..

• Deciding the fighting was the first thing be wad quick to knock out all the boys and toss them out his home. The reindeer he just stepped over since it was useless- he also make quick work to ask the women to leave which they did after giving polite goodbyes and congratulations.

• That leaving Mihawk to then scoop you up and bring you to bed. Having found that it was bedtime-

• Possessive as ever...

• In the coming months, the house was prepared for your birth. Mihawk having brought in a medical team for you- You assumed they were paid well but terrified.

• It had been after dinner, 3 weeks early when your water had broke. It seemed your child wanted to make their grand entrance early.

• It was like the world had stopped when you felt a rush of water down your legs when you went to stand to get some juice- Mihawk and you both just staring at the floor under you were the water was

• ....

• "..Hell" Mihawk muttered first, shooting back his wine in a effort to calm his nerves before rushing over to you and quickly escorting you to the labor room. Summoning the doctors quickly as well who got you prepped and ready.

• It was slow at first- But as the hours ticked by you the pain increased. Mihawk seated next to you as he tried to guild you through the waves of pain that wrecked your body.

• While labor is hard, He knows you are quite strong and will survive. You have to... You can't leave him

• "You alright darling?" He ask softly, holding your hand as you suffer with bringing in the next Dracule in the world.

• You give a weakened smile "It is painful- But it's a is not worth dying for" You say playfully, Earning a smile from Mihawk who kissed the back of your hand.

• The poor Doctors are uncomfortable by the whole situation. Especially with how calm you were during God Damn Labor!-

• It was near twilight of the next Morning did the labor finally come to an end. A shrill cry piercing the cold morning air as new life was brought in.

• "It's a Girl!" The Doctor said cheerfully as the crying child was liftwd and placed on your chest carefully and beginning to be cleaned with a towel.

• You and Mihawk seated next to each other staring wide eyed and in awe at the little girl screaming on your chest.

• "Looks like I had nothing to do with this at all" You mused, seeing how your little daughter looked so much like her father it was unfair. Even with her face pink from crying and her rounded face you could clearly see Mihawks genes had dominated yours.

• The thin layer of black hair onto her head also not helping. Mihawk chuckled as with a gentle hand he touched his daughters hair.

• "She is beautiful" He says softly, his own eyes getting misty as he stared at the little girl.

• Is actually quite pleased their first child is a girl and the only. It couldn't be better in his mind as he remembers his youth around the children that Gol D Roger would bring onto the ship. The boys were the most troubling.

• "She is.." You say softly, Watching as she settled down and yawned. Reaching out her little arms randomly, her little pudgy fingers wrapping around Mihawks finger. You practically saw the hearts in his eyes when she did this-

• In less then 4 minutes the baby girl has already stolen her father's heart and has him wrapped around his finger.

• "Dracule Marya" He whispered. Kissing your cheek as he smiled down at his daughter. You swore you saw tears in his eyes.

• Mihawk is a absolute girl Dad, Truthfully a good father overall. He enjoyed cleaning up after her, helping with feedings, choosing important items for her development.

• He does have one poor habit however-

• You stand there with your arms crossed under your bust as you raise and eyebrow at your husband. "Mihawk hand her over my love- She needs to learn to sleep in her crib" You explain.

• Marya was 4 months old and Mihawk had grown used to Marya sleeping in the bed between you two. So you had finally decided to put the smaller crib to use, pulling it into your twos shared bedroom so she could no longer sleep in the bed with you.

• But here she was-

• Your husband holding your half asleep daughter in his arm carefully while finishing some paperwork. This had been the 2nd time that night you had placed Marya in her crib to sleep on her own and everytime she cried in less then 10 minutes it would stop and you'd fine Mihawk holding her again in his study.

• "She was crying" He said calmly, setting down his pen to pat her back to comfort her.

• "That's the point Darling- She needs to learn to sleep in the crib" You stress, seeing Mihawk scowl at this and hold her closer to his chest.

• "She doesn't like it" He said stressing- This making you sighing at his dramatics.

• "Fine- But you'd have stay in the nursery with her since she can't sleep in our bed anymore" You said with a sigh.

• He slept in the nursery, on the floor next to the crib with his hand resting ontop of her- for 3 nights before you finally kicked him out and strong armed him to let her sleep in the crib in the bedroom.

• Besides Mihawks constant want to hold his daughter and carry her everywhere he was perfect. And in his eyes so was she-

• Mihawk sat there watching you, feeding little Marya and cooing softly at her as she watched the world around her, her eyes matched yours the only thing that you seemed to give to the little girl since she was such a clone of her Daddy.

• "Darling" Mihawk called to you waving you over, making you look up from your task at hand. Marya pulling from your breast full from her meal.

• Walking over Mihawk gently took Marya from you, beginning to burp her as you pulled your shirt back to place. He smiled as his yellow eyes gleamed

• "What is going through your head my Love?" You question. Knowing that look all to well. Mihawk shrugging slightly to keep from shifting Marya too much.

• "We should have another-"

Tag List- {Sorry I forgot to put it!}

@who-the-hockeysticks @vexladin @iraaiitz

@stellasloth @yuriwk

[bloodywilliams]

HOW DID IT END 2

cw: angst.. sorry y’all. i did tell y’all it’s based of true events.. enjoy!

after the hallway incident that was so brief (although it felt like you two were in that hallway for hours, just smiling at eachother) she immediately texted you.

ellie:OMG

ellie: YOUR SO PRETTY

ellie:AND COOL

ellie:you barely looked at me 😞😞😞💔💔

you smile as you sneakily read these messages, back in class. the happiness was short lived.

this was a mistake. by revealing yourself you also just came out to someone you hardly know. going to a school in a small town, everyone knows being lesbian is the biggest insult. what if she tells people? what if she expected someone cooler? your hands shake for the rest of the day.

days pass with little to nothing from ellie. you anticipate her coming up to you one of these days but she doesn’t. you add her on your actual snapchat account that’s attached to your REAL name so you dont have to seem like a creep who only texts her under a fake name.

she adds you back but still, nothing.

the end of the school year looms closer and closer and the seniors will be graduating soon. so, your school has a senior drive off, where all the senior girls wear pretty white dresses and wave to everyone goodbye.

the school gets dismissed third period to go to the front of the school, near the parking lot to watch. 

so when your finally at the front of the school, you look around for her. maybe to see if she was somewhere with her girlfriend.

you look around the entire crowd, seeing her nowhere but right when you’re about to give up, you realize… she is just about three feet next to you.

there’s no way this is an accident? right?? she’s just so casual about it, not sparing you a glance, just chatting with friends. your heart nearly stops but you make it through the senior drop off and head inside. 

you return to third period but then, your phone suddenly vibrates. you look at your notifications and see a text from ellie, you damn near pass out.

as soon as your class ended you rush to check your phone

ellie: i like your sweater :)

oh my god.

over the next few weeks, you avoid ellie at all costs. not because your mad at her or don’t like her anymore but you just can’t stand it. can’t stand walking past her, knowing that soon you probably will never see her again. it’s not like she actually cares. she doesn’t ever really reach out. you’d be lying if you said you didn’t care. in fact, it killed you. even though you’ve given her every reason to think your crazy, it still just hurts.

and whenever you two DO talk, she always mentions her girlfriend. something about how falling in love in a town so beautiful is amazing blah blah blah. you cry about it a lot.

the last few days of school comes and your leaving school when she’s right infront of you, leaving out the same door. your heart pounds through your chest.. is she gonna hold the door for me? smile at me? fuck.

she reaches the door, looks behind herself, sees you, and lets the door close on you.

and after that week, school ended and she did what she promised, she moved. far far away. you didn’t find out until almost a year later but, her and her girlfriend ended up breaking up when she moved. but that didn’t make you feel better

truthfully, ellie was your first desire, thr first girl you’ve ever liked, the girl you came out to your best friend for. but that’s in the past. she’s in the past.

tag list:

@vahnilla

@liztreez 

@firefly-ace

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Hi, can you do a Spencer Reid x daughter!reader. She has ADHD and she's been hyper focused on her work. She hasn't had a break, so Spence has to force her to have a break/rest. They watch the doctor who for the rest of the night, maybe? Thank you, if you do write this! xx

Spencer Reid X Teen ADHD daughter reader

Request : Hey can you do a Spencer Reid x daughter!reader. She has ADHD and she's been hyper focused on her work. She hasn't had a break, so Spence has to force her to have a break/rest. They watch the doctor who for the rest of the night, maybe?

Third person pov...

Spencer Reid had always been an amazing father. While he was often focused on his work as an agent with the BAU, he had plenty of time and energy left over to devote to his daughter Y/N but lately, Spencer had noticed something different in his daughter's behavior.

The teen had been more focused on her schoolwork than ever before, and he could see that it was taking a toll on her. She had been snapping more than usual at him and it felt like there had been a heavy weight in the Reid household.

Currently he was on his way out the door to work but took a detour to his daughters room, rhe man poked his head into his daughters room to say goodbye when he saw how tired she was, the teen had passed out at her desk.

Her usual happy smiling face full of life now looks like a corpse he sees while on a case, she had large purple bags under her eyes body slouched, her books stacked left and right with notebooks and pens out, she had about 6 empty cups sitting around her.

Spencers heart pains at the state his daughter was in, tiptoeing the Agent wlaks over to his sleeping daughter grabs a blanket from her made bed and gently drapes it over her slumped shoulders.

He then kissed her head and walked out of the room, he had to do something to get her to relax from her studies, as proud as he was he wanted her to be healthy.

He knew she hadn't been sleeping, currently she was studying for the entrance exams for medical school, since she was young Y/N wanted to help people like her dad.

Of course Spencer knew she could do it but you always need a break even he does sometimes, with Y/N on his mind the Agent leaves the house and gets to work.

He sighs as he puts his bag down on his chair hoping the case is local this time, the man then slouched in his chair, behind him his team watch their resident Genius.

JJ, Derek and Emily all shared concerned looks, Spencer wasn't usually that tired or sighed that loud when he gets to work, so it must of been something not work related.

Not even 5 minutes later Derek, Emily and JJ are surrounding his desk, Derek puts his arm on Spencers chair making the man look up at his team, Emily stands in front while JJ stands behind next to Derek.

"Hey guys" he says, this gets a worried look from JJ while Emily and Derek watched.

"Okay what's up Spence you look depressed" Says JJ asking thr question they all wanted to know, Derek shakes Spences shoudlers and the man answers her.

"It's Y/N" he mutters, Emily then slams her hand on the table. "Hold up what about N/N is my god daughter okay!" She exclaims making the Dad laugh.

It was a happy lesson laugh more like he a he exhaled than a laugh, but still it got the attention of thr others.

Of course his daughter was loved amongst the team. "You know she's been busy studying for her exams to get into medical school" he says the guys nod their heads.

"Well im worried, she hasn't been her self lately, she's been snapping at me, and spends every second studying not sleeping, this morning I saw her passed out she looked like a corpse, what do I do?" He says voice in pain at the state of his daughter.

JJ, Emily and Derek all give the young man sympathetic looks as he pours out everything that he's bottled up for weeks. JJ then puts a hand on his shoulder making the genius look up.

"Well Spence, you could do something together that you both love,that might get Y/N to relax" says JJ, suddenly the man is sitting up.

"That's a great idea JJ!" He exclaims smiling larger than ever, suddenly Hotch can be heard from the round table. "We've got a case!" Yells Boss man, the four agent then get ready to leave.

Once the case was solved Spencer had a plan, it was the weekend and he didn't have work so he decided to set up a movie weekend.

He and Y/N would watch Dr who together as it was their favourite show to watch since Y/N was a baby, they always had fun rewatching it and jsut having fun like a normal father and daughter.

That Saturday morning he set his paln in to action, the genius had coaxed Y/N to take a break from her studies, and he had a surprise lined up.

He and Y/N had both always been Doctor Who fans, and he proposed a warm and cozy night in watching the show together.

At first, Y/N seemed too tired to focus on anything besides her work. But as the show went on, Spencer could see the tension slowly starting to diminish from his daughter's face.

By the end, Y/N looked more relaxed than she had in weeks. They even ended up having a lively discussion about the plot points and character arcs as they finished the episode.

After that night, Spencer tried to make it a point to have more fun, family-oriented activities with his daughter. Even if it was hard to pull her away from her studies, forcing her to take a break and enjoy Doctor Who together was the perfect reminder that even overwhelmed students need a little break.

Once that fun weekend was over Y/N was alot more relaxed and let her Dad help her study for the exams, he always made her get more sleep and have fun with him, now they always have a daily weekend movie marathon if Spencer does have a case.

The end!

Hope you liked this oneshot!

Request are open!

Word count: 1052

[katsuki-goodness]

Alone Without You | Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Warning // Strong language and sexual themes ahead. There may be none in this chapter but the rest of the story will have these themes. Read at your own discretion.

Pairing: Kirishina x f!reader

Tags: School!AU, College!AU

Count: 3,469

In just a few days, you were going on a date with Katsuki to a party. You didn’t think you were excited because you weren’t thinking of Kiri, and yes, it was kind of hard, or really, thinking of anything. It’s until a day before the party, the butterflies in your stomach were apparent.

You weren’t sure what to wear, though, looking through your closet and randomly picking out things you assumed would fit. The mirror showed otherwise and you had to buy something new for that day. You quickly called one of your friends, taking a few calls to answer since she couldn’t stop playing her guitar. Jirou held her phone between her ear and her shoulder, plucking some strings then strumming which you clearly heard from the other side of the line.

“Hello,” you heard the dead pan voice of Jirou who was too concentrated to put any emotion.

“Hey, you busy?” Another strum was heard as it fell silent.

"What do you need me for? Don't tell me I have to cover for you again."

"No, I need help with something. I'm going to a party this week-"

"I'm not going."

"That's not what I was going to ask! I need help with my outfit." Once again, silence fell on the other line. You could somehow feel her thinking, but she finally responded to you with a sigh.

"Sure. I'll be there in 10." She hung up without a goodbye and you just sat on you couch, contemplating whether you should have asked someone else instead. Well, she is more direct so her opinion is of high value for you and you appreciated how quickly she was able to assist you. You made sure it was both ways because she was there when you cried even if it was unintentionally.

You silently played with your hands, rubbing your knuckles, pulling lightly at your skin, anything that would distract you from the party in a few hours. Bakugou had called you an hour after he dropped you off, giving him your number by taking his phone and typing it in. He looked kind of happy, even his smile looked more like a grin. That is his face after all. He told you he was going to pick you up in his car, and to make sure you bring your jacket because he wasn’t going to let you borrow his. Your apparent smile made you think how happy you felt to be taken out by a guy, and you weren’t giving it any thought about how Kirishima would see you and him if you two ended up dating.

You shook your head. You didn’t want to think of that when this date was just to a party. He could be interested in someone else and he just wanted to catch up with you. Technically, this would be the easiest way how if you didn’t want to be alone in regular light, you guessed. Either way, you didn’t want to get your hopes up, just like you did with Kirishima.

Just like Jirou said, she was there in 10, and she walked in with a bag full of something you assumed was make up. “Alright, I brought what I could in 2 minutes, and some snacks since I wasn’t sure how long this was going to take.” She set down the bag on the counter as you closed the door behind you, chuckling at her unintentionally funny comment.

“Thank you for coming. Seriously, I wasn’t sure who to ask. I would have asked Mina for advice if she wasn’t 300 miles from here.”

“Well, you would have asked me regardless.” That was true. Having them both in the room would be the easiest way of having the best outfit and make up.

Jirou did not disappoint as always. She made you look amazing, and the amount of times you remember putting yourself down, have now become times where you felt like they were nothing. You finally picked an outfit that both you and Jirou liked, not taking into account how many times you had to change your shoes because it barely fit anything in your wardrobe. You went with a blouse, see-through sleeves and black jeans and knee high boots. Your hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, curled and with complimentary leather jacket. It somehow seem a lot but you found it perfect.

“You look good,” Jirou complimented, smiling at your own smiling reflection in the mirror.

"Well, you helped me. Thank you, Jirou. I don't know what I'll do if I didn't ask for your help."

"Probably canceled on the party."

"Yeah. I don't think Bakugou would like that." Silence fell through the room as you saw Jirou, was now looking at you. You stared back and she started to laugh.

"Bakugou?!"

"Why are you laughing?!" She didn't answer back but she had a fun time laughing at you, imaging so many scenarios between you and the hot-headed blonde.

"I didn't take you as a Bakugou kind of girl. When did this happen? Don't tell me you just up and asked him because of Kirishima?"

"N-no, of course not. He asked me to a-accompany him." She didn't believe you, especially after nervously stuttering. She was basically looking at you with an unamused expression, but she didn't laughing at you anymore. She was thinking to herself as she stared.

"Maybe I should go, just to see what happens. No offense."

"Is that really a good idea? I mean, I'm not even sure who's part it is."

"Well, I can always just stay here just in case. Its not like I had anything to do today." Its not like she can't stay, but what if it went farther than just taking you to the party? Maybe you are thinking a bit ahead for the night to come but it was crazy to think its Bakugou. He use to be so mean to everyone, but now, he has calm down. Izuku was nowhere to be found, at least, not here in the area, but even then.

A knock at the door made you jump, both Jirou's eyes and yours trailed to the sound of the door. You quickly went to the door, opening it slowly as you saw Bakugou in a dark fitted outfit with the only thing standing out was his bright garnet eyes. His eyes sparkled a bit, widening at the sight of you.

"Hey Bakugou. Come in," You said as you stepped aside for him to step through. He looked a bit relucent but he did lead himself in with his eyes scanning your living space. It wasn't big but very cozy, and he even thought of how he didn't want to go to the party anymore just to sit here in your small living room.

He had another thought too, but he couldn't act on it. "You're ready to go? I came a bit early without meaning to," His low voice trailing off as he continued to admire your apartment.

"Y-yeah, I'm good! Let me just get my purse and we can head out." You quickly head over to your room, Jirou staring back at you with a face that is just asking for the details. Grabbing your phone and purse, you smile very excitedly at her and she pushes your back lightly so you hurry through the door. She closed the door behind you, and now you were basically alone with him. You had to head out because now that you feel happy about going on a date with bakugou, somehow you felt a little bad about a certain someone. You didn't say his name, you made sure not to think about it. That wasn’t important right now.

“Shall we?” It prompted Bakugou to open the door for you in response.

“After you.” You walked out with the blonde trailing behind you. As your door closed, your bedroom door opened with Jirou peeking out, smiling as she sliently wished you luck on your date. It was nice to see you nervous because of someone else, and she stayed just so she can take care of you once you come home. You liked Kirishima for so long and got nothing out of it aside from being friend’s with him. The friendship should have been enough but Jirou didn’t think so.

-

You checked multiple times to make sure that your phone and your wallet was in your purse. You didn’t realize how nervous you felt just looking over at Bakugou and seeing how hot he looked in that all black outfit. It was nerve-wrecking but you kept your cool as much as possible. He was paying attention to the road, and you were making sure to look away, the silence in the car making you feel uncomfortable. Bakugou use to yell a lot and was unnecessarily mean to everyone but he was never one to really talk to anyone properly. You didn't know him that well but that was basically what everyone said and from the little you knew about him and through Kirishima.

You knew you had to say something to him but something was putting you off and you couldn't bring yourself to do it. Nothing told you that you should but you felt that way.

Even with that thought in mind, It felt like forever to get to the house but you finally got there. Bakugou turned off the car but told you to stay put. He got off and walked around the car just to open the door for you, a light smile plastered on his face as you stepped off. "Watch your step." You stepped forward as he closed the door behind you, then he placed his hand on your lower back to guide you towards the house, looking around to see the people at the party. You felt the nerves just burst out, blushing so hard that you stumbled on your feet that Bakugou had to hold your waist as he asked you "Are you okay?"

You nodded in response, fixing your outfit quickly before walking in with Bakugou still guiding you up the steps and into the door. It was so loud, people were having fun but there was so much alcohol that seeing all of those drinks was putting you off. You almost retracted from there but Bakugou was still pushing you lightly. He led you to the kitchen right away, letting you go and grabbing a couple of waters, handing you one with his back towards you. He seem to be looking for something and tried looking over his shoulder as you grab the water out of his hand.

"Here you go," His hand holding a plastic cup. You took it from his hand as well, looking a bit confused. "Its just in case you wanted to drink."

"Oh, I don't know about that," You retorted, handing him back the empty cup and he takes it again.

"You sure? It seems like you need it."

"No, I'm okay. I don't like drinking that much. Personal reasons, I guess." He only responded with a hum. You weren't sure if it was because he denied the drink, but he seem to have gotten a lot less enthusiastic about being with you. He was with you throughout the night but his eyes weren't on you anymore. He talked as if you were annoying him. The simplest responses were sometimes ignored right after, so you decided to walk away from him. You needed some space to think. You weren't sure what was wrong but the tension between you two was growing, and it didn't help that he would constantly look at his phone. Who was he texting?

You didn't want to deal with this, not anymore. You thought you would be meeting new people with Bakugou beside to introduce you. Now it seems like he didn't care to even be next to you. His cold stare was the worst part of it all. His red eyes staring back as you but nothing seem to be there. You remembered when he picked you up how bright they seem to look, but now it didn't feel that way.

You entered the upstairs bathroom, closing it behind you and locking it as you began to breath heavily, the compression on your chest more apparent. You had to calm down, everything was okay. You can call someone to pick you up. Jirou won't be able to though.

Right. You can call Jirou.

You didn't think twice. You quickly dialed her, the phone ringing only a second when she answered, some rustling on the other side. She always seem to be doing something as she answers the phone.

"Y/N?" She said as more rustling was heard. "How's the date going?" You didn't say anything but her voice made your eyes close shut. You didn't think that calling her would make you cry, or was it because you felt like you're getting betrayed again?

"Y/N," Was heard again and you finally started to whimper softly. She let you cry as they began to die down after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry," Was all you could muster to her. She didn't answer right away. It took her a bit of time for her to orginize her thoughts before saying anything.

"I don't know what happened between you and Bakugou but I can go get you. I can ask Kaminari.” You shook your head as if she could see you saying no to her.

“I can’t have you coming here… I’m okay…” Why did you say you were okay when you weren’t? It was because he brought you here and you didn’t want to rudely leave. You weren’t like that but at the same time it was hard to stay.

“You’re crying, Y/N. It shouldn’t matter what Bakugou thinks.”

“I know but… I just..” You didn’t understand it. You couldn’t leave but you should, so what else were you suppose to do? “Okay, I’ll leave. But I’m going to tell Katsuki I’m leaving.”

“I say you don’t but if that’s what you want. I’ll be there in a few. Call me if something happens. I’ll call you once I’m there.” She ended the call right after. You assume she was quickly calling Denki and trying to get here as soon as possible before anything else ended up happening.

In your fail attempted to clean yourself up and wipe your tears, you hear a knock at the door. You quickly got your things and opened the door, passing the person and letting them in. You quickly walked down the stairs and looked for Bakugou, his blonde hair not even standing out and was gone from where you previously left him. Your eyes trailed around as you walked through the people, squishing you as you held your phone close to your chest.

After some searching, you finally found him. He was speaking to someone almost angry, like he was told the most absurd thing, and it seem like you were right. The person he was talking to was getting upset too, his red hair flat down and eyes burning from his anger seeping through.

“How could you lose her?! I told you to stay with her when I texted you!”

“Don’t go blaming me for your faults,” Bakugou had grabbed his friend’s shirt, his well known anger finally showing itself. You looked at them both, and you noticed that he hasn’t changed one bit. Maybe the addition of an eyebrow piercing was the only difference you saw, but everything was basically the same. He looked at you, his eyes softening as he pushed Bakugou back, approaching you with the intent to talk to you. You instinctively walk back a bit but he still moved towards you as his arms lightly spread open.

“Y/N.” He said your name with the sweetest voice you’ve ever heard coming from his lips. You didn’t say anything and just stared back, almost in fear. “What's with that face? You can’t just forget me like that, can you?” This can't be happening. He shouldn't be here.

"Kiri, leave her alone," Bakugou had tried to grab onto Kirishima but he just shook him off.

"It's nice seeing you here. Can we talk?" Your thoughts running wild, you didn't know if you were having a mental breakdown or the fear of seeing him was preventing you to say anything, but you could only muster a small mutter. You didn't even try to explain yourself.

"No," Was all you said, walking away, making sure you didn't look back at anyone you bumped into. You thought maybe this would have been a nice day, spending time with Bakugou and maybe going back to your place a bit drunk but still managing to talk to him. The hopes you had for a splended night were gone. You walked out the door quickly, trying to text Jirou, the tears running down, making it hard to even spell out the right words. You were trembling so bad that the thought of Kirishima and Bakugou made it even harder, and you ended up dropping your phone on the way to the sidewalk. Why did it have to happen like this? What did they say?

'How could you lose her. I told you to stay with her when I texted you'? Bakugou was helping him. You should have known when he asked you out. How could someone like Bakugou ask you out? Just because he wanted to? You didn't think so. You sometimes you forget that even your best friend at the time didn't want you around. It didn't matter the reason you two didn't talk to anymore, what mattered was leaving this place.

You didn't even get far enough down the street when someone tapped your shoulder. The red eyes of the blonde you were beginning to like was now sorrowful and even his usual angry expression was a lot more softer, almost like he was hurting.

"I'm sure you don't want to leave without your phone," He said to you. You quickly grabbed it out of his hand but not before he grab yours. He looked so guilty but you were so angry. He held it your hand gently, looking down at it as he scrunched up his face, turning it into a frown. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

You can't believe this. What kind of an excuse was that? "You did, Bakugou. Thanks to you I ran out like an idiot." He didn't respond back so you pulled your hand away and walked away from him. The amount of thoughts running through your mind and the emotions running through you almost made you turn around and slap Bakugou, but deep down, you weren't like that. You still didn't want to hurt him just because you were hurting.

"Let me take you home at least," He shouted out to you but you kept walking. You started to hear footsteps behind you, assuming it was Bakugou trying to stop you again but when you turned around to shout to bakugou out of pure pain, another pair of red eyes were staring back at you. He looked as surprised as you when his eyes met yours.

"O-oh, uh," Kirishima was stuttering, since when? He didn't say anything else aside from that. It seems like he was thinking but the words weren't coming out, even as an apology. Nothing was said. It was so silent that the only thing heard were the buzzing of the street lights and it made you very uncomfortable.

Almost on cue, there was a honk of a horn and the open of a door, Jirou quickly stepping out to get your hand and pull you away. "Sorry guys, it seems like I got to her first."

"H-Hey, wait a minute," Kirishima was so confused that he unintentionally tried reaching for you, but Jirou was somehow quicker. She pulled you behind her, putting a boundary between you and him.

"If you're just going to hurt her, I suggest you save it." With that simple angry statement, she pushed you into the car who had Denki driving it, his worried expression noticable to both Bakugou and Kirishima. He felt bad he was going against his friends but he can clearly see that they both fucked up. You didn't do anything to them and you clearly didn't deserve any of that, so why not help? You are a friend of his after all too.

After Jirou got into the care with you in the backseat, Denki drove off, leaving the pair of boys behind. You didn't dare look back because then you would start to feel bad. For once, you wanted to feel sorry for yourself instead of putting someone else before you.

| Not edited |

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[frannyzooey]

I postponed this reading as much as I could, because I didn't want it to end.

But this ending couldn't be more perfect, I think it was all well measured.

It finally hit me how emotionally attached they were with the cabin. They've found peace, love and started a new family in there and seeing them leaving broke my heart a little, although I know it was for the best (as if I wasn't a heavy entusiast for them to go to Jackson).

I heavy cried when Joel set a cairn for Sarah, I think this was one of the best scenes of Joel dealing with his grief. I think that the Joel from thr beginning of the SDLN wouldn't be able to speak with her like that.

And they said goodbye to their bed, I see it as a ritual for good luck and safe travels

Kelli, thank you so much for gifting us with your story, it was the greatest experience from the beginning to the end, you're one of the best people in here and will always be one of my favorite writers, ever, I love you 💖💖💖💖

I cannot even express to you how many times I have read this since you sent it.

The Joel at the beginning of this story would never have been able to speak to her like that, you're spot on. He was hiding so much of her deep inside, to keep her away from what had become of his life and to also spare himself the pain, but I just...love thinking of him not only becoming a man he thinks she would be proud of, but also just having that time to heal himself.

I also cried when I wrote that scene, lol. I kept thinking about how he'd be able to feel a physical weight lifting from his chest as he said those things to her, and how he could finally rest knowing that she herself was resting in a peaceful place. I can't even fathom losing a child, let alone being forced to leave their body lying somewhere in a ditch - the thought itself was a horrible one, and to give him (even though I know he's a fictional character) some peace over that - it was the whole point of the fic, and I feel so grateful for being allowed to share it with you all.

The cabin is something I became emotionally attached to (funnily enough) and I was really sad to see it go. I love thinking about it preserved like a little time capsule of their lives, with that little cross outside ❤ - such a spot of serenity and peace, and love.

I have a little bit left - a tiny little epilogue that I am going to share here in a week or so ❤ thank you thank you thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for always being such a kind, thoughtful, amazing human being and member of this fandom - you have stuck by me through thick and thin! and I wouldn't be here without you ❤

ily ❤

[pbandjesse]

I have a pretty wild headache right now. I very much want to close my eyes. It's been hours and I can't seem to shake it. It wasn't a bad day, but it was very full. And maybe I just did to much? I don't even really think that's the case.

Some of the problem is probably that I didn't sleep well. My back was hurting and I just kept waking up and struggling to get back to sleep. Not the most restful.

James would get up and then getting up woke me up. But I was able to fall back asleep for a few more hours.

When I got up for real at 9 I had a message from our friend Hayley. She was coming by to buy one of my bears. And she said she would be by around 10. So I needed to get up.

I went downstairs while the water warmed up. Said good morning to James and asked them to get the bear from the car. And then took a shower. It helped me feel a bit better.

James made crepes for breakfast. Which were excellent. I would also have them for lunch. I had breakfast upstairs but would soon head down to the studio to both wait for Hayley and work on some sewing.

I had the 8 bears I've sewn over the last two markets. I got all of their faces done, then finished their arms (flipped them, stuffed and sewn the arms shut), and finished stuffing them. I felt really productive.

James sat in the studio with me and it was nice being together, doing our own thing.

Hayley and her wife Ellie texted me and let me know they were here. And it was so nice to see them. I was excited to give them the bear but I was also just excited to show them our house and specifically the baby room. Hayley is 17 weeks pregnant and so we had lots of stuff to commiserate about.

We hung out for a bit but they had other errands to do. So there were hugs all around and then they were off.

Me and James would sit in the studio together for a little longer. But soon I decided to go upstairs and lay down and scroll on my phone until I had to leave for my class. James had made me the second serving of crepes and they were excellent. It was a good morning.

I felt a little off though. I got myself together and after some kisses I went to awah.

When I got there I was surprised that they had a new project for us? We were supposed to be finishing last week's project. So I was slightly frustrated. I texted my main contact and let them know the situation and that I was going to pull materials. Paint and cups and brushes and everything else I thought we would need.

But because I had to do that I was a little frazzled.

Naomi rang the bell and I let her know what was up. She would go get the vessels from last week while I finished collecting everything.

We needed to fix the cracked pots though so I got a hot glue gun and while I was setting up I had Naomi fixing them. This would be a mistake.

I would realize during the teens class that half of the ceramics had not been fixed and the other half had glue dripped all over them?? Naomi would keep apologizing today, she just kept saying she brain wasn't there. And I tried to be gracious and tell her it was okay but I also had to spend like 20 minutes trying to clean up thr glue. I just wasn't comfortable leaving their pieces like that, they worked hard on them and they should be treated with respect.

So I fixed them. We would premake paint pallets and did water changes as needed. I went to get some good sturdy paper for painting for when students were done their pieces. And while I was feeling a little withdrawn, I was still having a nice time.

One of the teens brought me a page from a magazine about animal crossing Legos, she said she remembered that I liked them. And it was just so nice to be thought about. It made my day better.

The adult class went really well though. People were working well. There was some nice conversations. And I was having a good time. And at the end I reminded everyone that next week will be the last of this session. Which lead to getting hugs from those who wouldn't be there next week to say goodbye. It was so sweet.

We cleaned up and got all of the materials we took out put away. And I was alarming the building by 3.

James let me know that they were going for a walk. And I would end up beating them home.

I was feeling really tired when I got back. And would get in bed. James would come home and soon they would join me.

We spent a good hour just watching TikToks but eventually James asked if I wanted to watch another episode of our vampire show before we were leaving for dinner. And I said sure.

It was nice to be cuddled up in bed and watching our show. It got so dark outside, it felt like the middle of the night. But I was happy, even if I wasn't feeling amazing.

We left here at 6. And got to Cyprianas before the Fulwilers arrived.

My head was already throbbing though. And I was trying to not completely fall apart. But it was still a nice time. Celebrating my husband. Being with family. We made a plan to see a show on Thursday and I love seeing plays so I'm excited about that.

We got a bunch of small plates. Which is fun but I never feel like I ate enough. I had a falafel and some steak cut fries with fun Greek sauces. Tomato jam and taziki and tahini and feta. It was good. We also got hummus and pita but the pita had to many spices on it so it wasn't my favorite.

The conversation was good though. And while I was disappointed that the dessert I wanted wasn't available, we got three desserts for the table and the two I had were incredible. A sort of fried dough with honey and a puff pastry with cream and rosewater. I also had raspberries with whipped cream. It was an excellent way to end the meal.

Even if the headache hadn't really gone away. We all started going home then though. Hugs and good byes. Promises to see each other soon.

The car ride home was a little hard. The head ache had me really nauseous. James kept apologizing for making me come out of the house but I didn't regret it. I would rather be doing something, even if I don't feel amazing, then just feeling bad at the house.

The drive did make me feel a little worse though. And when we got back here I needed to lay down. James brought me baby aspirin. And it seems like it has finally started to help. I did have to pause writing this though because Sweetp came up to me and had a huge scab on his chin. I cleaned that up and put medicine on it so hopefully that heals soon. I don't want him to be uncomfortable.

Now though I am going to clean myself up and get ready to sleep. I'm glad the headache is easing but I for sure still don't feel amazing.

Tomorrow we are going to go look at Christmas trees. And I have my rhumatologist appointment. It will be a good day I think.

I hope you all have a good day. I love you all. Goodnight everyone.

[albatmobile]

and even when the sky falls, I’ll be there pt. 3

[1] [2] [3] next: [4] || ao3

𓅪 Rated: M | 3.1k includes: angst, fluff

𓅪 established fem!reader x jason todd, fem!reader x roy harper, eventual fem!reader x Jason Todd x roy harper

The earthquakes start that same night, taking down entire cities as unstable energy from Earth’s core is released into the mantle. 

Time is never guaranteed, you know this, but you still can’t help but wish for just a bit more of it.

“Flash has been in the speed force since this morning,” Roy hesitantly tells you, not sure if you’re in a state to hear it, but the fate of the world was hanging in the balance. He needs you to come back to him. He needs you to be present.

There’s no more time for you to wallow in your zombie-like state.

Batman calls an impromptu meeting and you don Catwoman’s leather bodysuit for the last time. Roy, the kind man he is, had washed it at some point, so it’s no longer stained with your lover’s blood, though you know the fibers still carry it deep in their threads. In this way, it’s a deep-set, stubborn stain and a morbid reminder that death doesn’t leave so easily. 

“You know, you wear it better than she ever did,” Roy says. You snort lightly, knowing he’s just trying to get your mind off of what happened last time you’d worn it. “Sorry,” he sighs, “I’ve, uh, never been too good at goodbyes. Not that this will be one, though!” he hastily adds at your quirked brow. “It’s been a crazy ride. No matter what happens, I’m glad we had these few weeks together.” His light green eyes twinkle, sending your stomach into a frenzy of butterflies. “It’s been… a gift.”

If there was any way to say fuck-all and stay with him in this safe haven, you’d take it in a heartbeat. Anything to stay with him for just a moment longer without the fate of the world weighing down on you like a thick smog.

“It has,” you say, taking his hands into your own. “But it’s not over yet, remember?”

That’s exactly what he’d told you during the last battle.

After all the support he’s given you, now it’s your chance to return the favor.

“Of course,” he sighs. “Even if it is us just waiting around to see if we die or not.”

You laugh lightly, “Yep. At least we’ll be the first ones to know.” He winces slightly. “I was just joking.”

“It’s the truth, though. We’re all relying on that replacement core, but what if it doesn’t draw enough energy to replace what Apokolips has already destroyed of it? What if, no matter what, we’re fucked?” He rubs at the crease in between his brows. “We can’t ignore the fact that Superman doesn’t have the composition to get anywhere close to the heat that surrounds it anyway. It’s like the more I think about this plan, the more holes I find in it. It’s essentially all relying on this damn suit.”

Whatever remains of your heart breaks. You’ve never seen Roy so disheartened.

Batman, alongside Superman, end up creating a replacement energy core using an energy-secured capsule that can hold Captain Atom. Superman is then supposed to use a specialized suit that will, hopefully, allow him to withstand the environment, as well as the radiation, surrounding the Earth’s core. Batman, however, only had time to create one suit, thus the fate of the world rests on Superman alone to get the replacement core into place. 

You just hope it’ll be enough.

It’s a plan with many flaws, as Roy’s pointed out many times, which does nothing to calm your nerves. Regardless, you’re determined to remain as upbeat as you can. Even though it might be your last hour on Earth, at least you’re here with Roy. 

Flash is set to return from The Speed Force, but the big leagues aren’t waiting around to see if it’s going to work. Rather, Superman and Batman are busy bustling around your new base of operations in Happy Harbor. They’re hoping to use the volcano at Mount Justice to more easily infiltrate down to the Earth’s core. 

Heat-resistant drones were inserted into the volcano’s branch vents and have been digging down through lava chambers and through to the mantle. At this point, they haven’t stopped digging since they started, which was a week after you’d lost Jason. Even in this short time, the few remaining drones are nearing the outer core and are set to shut down a few miles short of breaching it.

When you actually arrive to the main scene, Captain Atom is already fully integrated into the replacement core with Batman helping Superman suit up. You watch silently as Batman points out certain switches and buttons as he straps the man of steel into, well, a prison of steel. The bulky suit seems to be the base of the suit Batman had used to fight Superman all those years ago and the irony doesn’t seem to be lost on either of them. 

It’s not exactly the same, though. Batman’s been tinkering away at the suit ever since he’d finished the drones, modding it specifically for the obstacles of the mission. The most significant change is the addition of nth metal, compliments of Hawkgirl and the Thanagarians, to the already titanium exterior in hopes that it’ll be enough to withstand the extreme heat. 

Then, it’s time.

Batman nods once, but Superman seems to understand the unsaid goodbye after years of knowing the man of such few words. 

Now, everyone’s gathered on the platform stationed at the mouth of the volcano, but Roy tugs you away.

It’s hot as fuck up there, so you don’t complain when he leads you down to the beach below. There are a few stragglers hanging around in the vicinity of the dirty, soot-covered sand the two of you plop down in, but they’re far enough away that they can’t hear you.

“It could work,” you say, though you can hear the dregs of doubt that litter your words. “It, at least, seems more solid than what I’d originally thought coming here,” you school your voice better this time and Roy has the decency to nod, if only to quell a tiny bit of your anxiety.

The sand you’d scooped up streams through the cracks in your fingers into little piles in front of you and Roy. It reminds you of an hourglass and the heavy feeling in your stomach that follows has you stopping in your tracks. Your soot-dirtied palm stills midway from picking up another handful of sand, knowing your fate is just around the corner- that you’ll come face to face with it in mere minutes. 

You are not afraid. 

Scratch that-

The Earth rumbles out another, albeit marginally smaller, earthquake. Still, the quake produces enough force that Roy ends up covering over you to protect you with his body.

When the shaking finally subsides moments later, you find that Roy’s arms still remain around you. You relax into his hold but nudge his head with yours until he finally shifts back enough to come face-to-face with you. 

“I…” he huffs and his eyes crinkle slightly in the process out of aggravation. “I’m not good at this kind of thing.”

“So you keep telling me,” you tease through the steady forming tears in your eyes.

He wipes your tears away before they can even spill. “Please don’t cry, gorgeous.”

“Sorry,” you apologize with a tiny laugh.

His touch on your cheeks lingers until he gently caresses your cheek. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

You nod. “I…” you trail off.

I love you.

“I know,” he insists, his eyes search yours earnestly. “I want forever with you, too.”

Your happy laughter bubbles into tears when the weight of the situation settles down on you again. Roy has a habit of taking you out of your worrying, but it doesn’t mean he can completely prevent it. At least not forever.

You can’t help it, but you break down. Roy’s right there to keep you together.

Moments pass, looking into each other’s eyes. You don’t know how long it’ll take, but you try not to think about it and fight your racing thoughts to remain in the moment.

It feels like hours and, yet nothing at all as Roy holds you close, hands sifting through your hair like it’s the only thing keeping him present. Waiting is a constant debilitating, internally wrought, sickly dread that consumes every sense with tar-like tentacles. With so much riding on this one plan, it’s hard not to let the worry consume you while the seconds heavily tick by.

Screams.

Roy releases you momentarily to search around.

The others on the beach come closer to ask if you know what the screaming’s about, but you hardly know anything that’s going on.

“Did it work?” you ask, but it seems like everyone’s just as confused as you are.

Heads turn as everyone looks around for answers but find none.

Suddenly, there’s a huge rumble that’s grand enough to send boulders tumbling down to the beach. The loudest thunder you’ve ever heard in your life crashes against your eardrums, washing directly over Roy’s rampant concerns.

“That one side of the mountain is going to cave in,” Roy repeats again, shaking you out of your stupor. He doesn’t need to say any more for you to realize what it means. 

It didn’t work…

Why wasn’t it working???

Seconds tick by, then Wonder Woman drops Batman and the other League members off onto the sand while rocks on the other side continue to tumble. Everyone from retired superheroes to mutant kids who look fresh out of elementary school scatter around frantically, looking for some kind of direction, some kind of plan B, but there’s nothing of the sort.

The Amazon flies back up one last time to grab the last remaining member from the platform. Batman.

“Superman’s vital signs cut off,” Batman states gravely once his feet hit the unsteady ground.

“What are we going to do?” Wonder Woman trails off, looking around for an answer, but there’s none to find. “Is there anything we can do?” Her voice grows increasingly worried, which does nothing to quell the sinking feeling settling uncomfortably in your stomach. 

The rumbling only continues to intensify.

Batman’s silence is deafening.

You’re fucked.

You’re all fucked.

After all this bullshit, after all this fucking planning and you’re still fucked.

Roy seems to understand this at the same time you do because he focuses his attention on soothing you. “I’ve got you, baby. I’m right here,” he says, looking awkwardly toward Batman for some reason, but you can’t dwell on it long. Hell, you can hardly question it when you only have mere moments left with him.

You waste no time in capturing his lips with your own before he can say some dumb shit like, ‘It’ll be okay.’

You don’t care about the stragglers on the beach, it’s your last fucking moments alive and all be damned if you aren’t going to get some sort of fucking action. 

You forcibly push Roy backward, giggling when he lets out a shocked, not to mention disappointed, grunt when his ass hits the ground. He doesn’t have time to question the action before you’re climbing into his lap and guiding the rest of his body down to the dirty sand below. You take a moment to appreciate his mundane beauty that seems nearly ethereal to you in your last moments. How the black, clouded sky does nothing to dull his radiant, effervescent charm. Your fingers trickle through his soft hair as the fiery strands tangle with the ashes and scattered shells that litter the beach below.

It’s hard to close your eyes because you want to revel in Roy’s beauty forever, but, nonetheless, they slide closed as his mouth moves slowly and tenderly against yours. It’s the last thing you’ll ever do and you know it, so you breathe your remlaining life into the kiss until Roy’s responding just as desperately.

His hands shamelessly move from the small of your waist to the globes of your leather-clad ass with a guttural moan. You find yourself inadvertently bucking into him when you hear a cacophony of screaming.

“YOU HAVE TO GO BACK!” Wonder Woman’s yelling from somewhere close beside you. “GO BACK AND STOP THIS!”

You gasp, trying to pull away, but he pulls you right back in to prevent you from seeing whatever horrors are descending. Tears trail from your cheeks to splatter across his freckled ones as you force yourself to focus on his tender touch.

“GO BACK!” More desperate pleas join in.

The screams only continue to get louder and, this time, Roy finally pulls away. 

A burst of red and yellow comes into focus and stops right in front of your tangled pile of limbs.  

Flash.

“Uh,” he scratches at the back of his head, looking around confused, “I don’t think that worked.” He puts his hands on his hips as he faces Roy’s way again. “The world is still ending and shit, right?”

Roy nods, unable to formulate a further response.

Wonder Woman and Batman sidle up to the group. Her panic is palpable enough that Flash backs up when she reaches him. Her strong arms grip Flash by the shoulders as she hurriedly relays, “It didn’t work. None of it worked.”

Batman finally speaks up, “You need to go back and stop this all from ever happening, Barry.” 

Barry?

Panic sets in as her words settle over you. 

You pull away from Roy’s bruised lips realizing you aren’t ready to give this all up. You don’t want to remove what happened between the two of you from existence. 

You can’t.

You refuse.

One look down at Roy proves he’s already thinking the same.

“You can’t!” you exclaim helplessly before you can even realize the words have escaped.

Both of them turn their attention to your precarious position with confusion written all over their faces. 

"Aren’t you, er," Flash trails off. All the while, he looks down at the two of you, still in each other's arms, with obvious hesitation before clearing his throat and trying again, "Weren’t you with Red Hood?”

You hope the glare you give him is enough to kill. Well, maybe not actually, considering he’s essentially your last hope, but still, the sentiment remains.

What confuses you even more is Flash also looks awkwardly at Batman as he addresses your new relationship. Batman, though, seems more preoccupied with saving a group of remaining League Members from debris coming from the collapsing mountain.

“Seriously?” Roy sighs, finally releasing his hands from your ass to help you stand on the shaky ground. 

“What?” He at least has the decency to look somewhat abashed.

“Barry, I’m like 50% of the reason she’s even still breathing right now. It killed me to see someone I cared about, to see her like that,” Roy says, shaking his head. “I wanted to help however I could. For Hood’s sake and hers. And y’know, maybe selfishly my own, too.” The redhead looks down in shame, but you’re right there with a comforting squeeze on his bicep. 

At this Flash’s, well, Barry’s face falls.

Even Wonder Woman looks at you with that same pitying look you’ve resented all these weeks. 

“Don’t worry,” Flash tries to calm the lot of you, though his confidence, or lack thereof, leaves something to be desired. “I’m going to fix this. I’m going to fix everything. I know what I need to do.”

It does just the opposite.

“You see,” you sigh, looking at Roy from the corner of your eyes, “there’s a slight problem with that.”

Wonder Woman glares at Flash, growling, “We’re running out of time. There are no more ‘slight problems,’ only the main, big one.” She motions aggressively to where Batman stands solemnly, overlooking the remnants of his failed plan.

Flash makes to run off, but you can’t let this be it.

No, you won’t allow it.

It’s a knee-jerk reaction, one you don’t even realize you’ve made until his red costume is firmly clenched in your grip.

“Wait!” you exclaim. You grab his shoulder forcefully, all while scanning around the area desperately. “Does anyone have paper?” 

It’s then that you look down to find all the loose paperwork that litters the ground and waste no time gathering it up. You see The League’s crest at the top of the page and assume this will be enough to convince Jason that, yes, this is real. 

You don’t have any time left to search for a pen and realize there’s only one way you’ll be able to write anything. If anything, you hope that this will further cement to Jason that it’s actually you writing this to him.

Wasting no more time, you remove Catwoman’s mask from your head. You rip one of Roy’s arrows from his quiver and cut a long, shallow line right above your eyebrow, using the excessive spillage as ink with your finger as the quill. As savage as the spot you picked sounds, it’s a lot less painful and more fruitful than cutting anywhere else. Anywhere else, per se, like your finger, wouldn’t have produced nearly enough to write what you need to say with such little time remaining. 

This doesn’t stop the Flash and Roy from staring at you in absolute horror as the entire right side of your face becomes coated in a curtain of crimson.

“Babe, what the fuck?” Roy’s voice is guarded as he rips the arrow out of your hand, wincing at the blood that drips from his grip as he does. 

“What?” You look up from the beginnings of your crude writing. “We’re all about to die in this timeline regardless,” you say with a shake your head like it’s the most obvious thing in this ending world. “I need myself to know that you took care of me,” you look up shyly, “that you love me.” You hold back your tears for the league member’s sake and continue writing.

When you’re done, you hand him the wet paper with your clean hand. Flash stays for a brief moment more, watching as your attention settles fully on the redheaded man next to you. 

Roy wastes no time in gathering you into his arms, drawing you in for a chaste kiss with his chapped lips that causes your heart to swell at the bittersweet situation. The kiss quickly deepens into something more passionate, like he’s draining all the life he has left into it- into you. 

You look around at the remaining members as they take in their final moments, then focus back on Roy. Your rock, your love. 

“I should’ve done that when you first asked me last week,” he chuckles somewhat bitterly. 

“Oh, you’re telling me?” you laugh with tears in your eyes as your lips meet again.

The world is ending.

The world is ending and you have Roy.

You pull away from his lips, opening your eyes just in time to see a white flash spawn across the expanse of the sky and consume it just as fast as it appeared.

It’s actually over.

A/N: I'm a loser if u wanna know my calculations for how long it took superman to reach the core check out the author notes here

next chap is the last one!! (i had to split it in two bc the next scene is so long lmao)

[next] || masterlist || pinned || ways to support

[karda]

im so eppy .. Life update . bought stickers so i can put them all over my mf dashboard!!!!!!!!! learning the opening shift next week (・_・;)have 2 wake up at Three in the morning <3 super excited . if i survive i will actually be excited for real though bc having the rest of thr day after work (i leave at 1pm) is actually rlly nice ... closing shift SUCKS !!! I go to work and leave when the suns gone its soo sad . cant do anything . went to the dentist today and on the drive there i had to stop and pull over bc it was so pretty out for no reason . the trees r getting nice and red yellowy . . . . . çouldnttake a picture i was too enamoured with the beauty of the world ! !!!fr! that is all now goodbye <3

[countrymusiclover]

4 - Changing Times

Part 5

The Charming Sister masterlist

"That storybook is more than just some fairytales they're true. Everyone in this town is someone else and you Ella...well you're real name is Y/n and you traded your heart over to Rumplestiltskin."

Henry words have been in my head for the rest of the week and I'm dying to ask him more questions about the woman he thinks I am but he went on a field trip for school and won't be back till late. Shrugging my brown jacket over my shirt and blue jeans I somehow decided to take a different route to work. Passing Gold's pawnshop I took a few steps backwards eyeing an object sitting on the counter through the window. Opening the pawnshop door I found that the object I saw is a hairpin, a golden one to exact. "Find something you like lass?" I jumped a little at the sudden voice feeling my heartbeat calm down seeing its Mr. Gold who had spoken. "Oh Mr. Gold you scared me, but I was just passing by and saw this." I pointed to the jewelry watching him go around the counter lifting it off its hook, handing it to me so that I could get a better look. Seeing it closer there's blue gems embedded and a little rusty. I wonder who lost something this beautiful.

"Would you like to purchase it, Ella?" He asked leaning his arms on the countertop. Lifting my gaze up I met his brown and I weakly smiled liking the way my name came from his lips. I knew he would probably want a lot for something like this so I sit it down giving it back. "I wish I could but I don't have that kind of money." Gold slides it back to me with a small smile. "Take it lass. I ensist." Shacking my head no I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. "Mr. Gold really I can't. I don't have the money." He nodded walking around the counter as I headed for the door. "Stop by later if you're still interested. Maybe we can work out an agreement." I smiled answering my phone once I'm outside hearing the voice of my current ex. He was dating this girl named Ashley who is pregnant and worked at the diner. "Ella, can we talk please?" Running a hand through my hair I sigh heavy. "Sean I don't wanna talk right now." He replied again trying to explain. "We're family, husband and wife-" I cut him off hanging up thr phone. "We were but now we're divorced because you got another girl pregnant. I don't want anything to do with you and your family!"

"I can't have this baby now!" Snow cried clutch my brother's hand. Doc pated her head with a cloth as I stood at the foot of the bed. Thunder roaring in the distance makes me whip my head around in fear. The Queen's curse was almost here. The chamber door opened seeing Gepeto. "It's ready." Mentioning the wardrobe but as my brother started to move her Doc explained. "It's too late we can't move her." Snow has to push a couple times before a baby's cry fills the room. I wanted to cry but my eyes just simply feel tears stuck in my eyes. "Y/n, you have a niece. At least were together." My brother exclaimed sniffing with Snow who held her baby in her blanket. Snow sniffed holding baby Emma realizing that they have to do something. "No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe." David lifted his head up at his wife. "Are you out of your mind?" The pair argued for a few seconds as I run my hands through my hair about sending a baby by itself. "We have to believe that she'll come back to us. We have to give her her best chance." Snow breaths out her voice shacky.

David glanced up to me tears in his eyes as I held my mouth open. Reaching for the sword attached to my belt on my hip of the short dress. "David, we - there's no other way." I croaked out feeling tears starting to slip out. Snow hugs her daughter to her chest whispering. "Goodbye, Emma." My brother takes his daughter in his arm kissing his wife running over and grabbing a sword. Pulling out my sword I followed my brother seeing one of our guards is stabbed in the back. David goes first fighting off and he gets cut by one of the evil queen guards. Spinning around on my feet I injured a guard and one tries to stab me in the chest. "Y/n!" My brother hollers out seeing the blade go into my chest where my heart was but I don't feel anything. My brother comes and stabbed him in the back and I gasp seeing the blade fall out but I'm not dead. "Are you okay?" He asked still holding baby Emma as a guard ran up so I elbow him away onto the floor running for the door even though my chest hurts since I got stabbed. He kicked the door open laying Emma inside the wardrobe kissing her forehead. "Find us." Once the door is closed another guard came in my brother and I both picked up our swords fighting the guard. But when David makes a move the guard stabs him in the chest making me cry. My brother fell to the floor as my vision blurs and my eyes close seeing the wardrobe is empty.

Leaving Granny's inn I decided to take a walk to clear my head of the fact that Sean called me. Looking down the street I see a yellow bug pull up and Henry got out of the car with a blonde woman wearing a red leather jacket. Walking up to them he told her about the clock tower that has never moved. "Henry, I thought you said you had a field trip?" Putting my hands in my pockets having him look at me sadly. The blonde finally spoke introducing herself with her right hand out. "Hi I'm Emma Swan. I'm just trying to get him home." I nodded telling the new woman in town where he lived. "He's in the mayor's house." Emma nodded seeing me bend down to Henry's level whispering. "Can we talk tomorrow...possibly more about the book?" His face lights up at my words and he nods excitedly. Watching the bug drive away I kept walking thinking about that hair pin. Like I've seen it somewhere before. Entering Gold's shop he comes from the back room keys in his freehand seeing me. "So you've decided to return dearie?" I nod pulling out cash from my apartment sitting it on the countertop. "It's not much but it's a start...I can pay off the rest when I get more money."

Gold takes the jewelry out lifting it in his hands asking for me to wear it. "May I?" Brushing hair over my shoulder he clips into my hair and I sucked in a breath feeling strange that he's so close. Turning around I blushed seeing we really close so I take a step backwards. "So how much do I owe you?" He grabs his keys grabbing his coat and shrugging it on. Opening the shop door for me letting me go out first and he locks the door. "You don't owe me anything dear. How about our arrangement be this. We have dinner at Granny's on Friday and I'll pay for it. Your payment will be to never not wear that jewelry because it's compliments your beauty." I feel my cheeks turning slightly red feeling his brown eyes glancing my direction as we walked down the road. "If I didn't know any better Mr. Gold I'd say you find me Charming." He chuckled bending his head down with a smile. An actual smile that I immediately enjoyed seeing. For some reason I tilted my head up looking at the stars and its then that I noticed the hands on the clock tower starting to move. "What is it, Ella?" Gold questions staring where I am as the hands move, actually moved. "It's like they moved like magic." I mumbled shocked that they actually moved after all these years.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[biletdoux]

stages of love | j.jh

Pairing | jung jaehyun (nct) + female!reader Rating | M Genre + Tropes | college!au, romance (angst, fluff, smut) Warnings | explicit language, alcohol consumption, instant love?, sexual content (drunk sex, receiving and giving oral, penetration, cow girl position, nipple play), greyzone fidelity Length | 15k+

Summary | A playlist for the trials and tribulations of a beating heart

(Or; your relationship with Jung Jaehyun in ten songs.)

Note: ahhhhhhh!!!! we finally did it boisssss. this fic has been a long time coming and honestly im sick and tired of jaehyun. i’ve spent too long thinking about him for this fic smh. this is also my first time writing smut so we’ll see how that goes lmao. anyway this was a long labor of love so please let me know what you thought of it !!! <333

1. Peach by IU

smitten at first sight.

“How can I explain this feeling?”

“Alright, I think that sums up about everything we need to cover for today’s lecture. Remember, most of this will be on your final exam. Any questions before you’re all dismissed?” 

Your professor looks up from the board, scans the room and all he sees are most of the students waiting with bated breath, itching to leave the class, and half of those students having already packed their belongings in anticipation. He held them back an extra twenty five minutes today, which is notably longer than previous lectures in which he delayed dismissal.

“Okay, you’re free to go. Chapters nineteen and twenty are due the next time we meet.”

You breathe out a sigh of relief, ready to head out with the rest of the class. You like Professor Jang and find that he makes history somewhat digestible, but he has a tendency to lose track of time, which is inconvenient, but more so today since you have agreed to meet up with Yeri. You glance at your phone to see text notifications and curse to yourself. You’re already ten minutes late and Yeri is many things and impatient is one of them. 

You’re one of the first out of the small lecture hall and you shoot her a quick reply before making your way to the oncampus cafe. Through quickened strides and shortcuts engrained from cross-campus treks from class to class, you arrive in record time. You’re slightly out of breath and impressed by your speed, but you stop, frozen in your tracks when you see Yeri’s displeased face. You find her situated in a small, but cozy corner next to the windows, already unpacked with notebooks and papers strewn on the desk ready to review for exams. It's one of the best study spots in the cafe and you immediately know your best friend had to come extra early to nab such a sought after table. 

“About time,” she scowls, “what took you so long?”

You shoot her an apologetic look, “aww, Yeri,” you pout your lips a little too dramatically, “I’m sorry. I just came from history and you know how Professor Jang is.” 

Yeri looks at your jutted lips in disgust, but then her face softens in consideration. “Hm, I do know Jang.” She scrunches up her nose remembering her time in his class last semester. “That old man can talk for days on end and he never lets anyone leave class early. I guess I’ll let you go this time.” 

You beam at her knowing she’s no longer angry for your tardiness. “Great, drinks are on me today. It’s the least I can do for being late.” Yeri forgives as easily and as quickly as she loses her temper. You learned this after a few weeks of being her roommate. 

Yeri says nothing in silent agreement and you place your stuff down across the table next to the chair she reserves for you. You pull out your wallet and weave through the packed cafe to head to the order counter. The line is long and you patiently review the menu. Your roommate has consistent tastes and always orders a vanilla frappuccino regardless of which cafe she goes to, but you base your decision on your mood. You mull over your choices and by the time you reach the barista taking your order, you decide you’re in an ‘iced Americano’ kind of mood today. You have exams on top of exams you need to review for and a stronger caffeine kick is much needed.

After paying, you head back to the table with two drinks in tow. Yeri takes her drink and after you both take a few sips and catch up for the day, you dive straight to work. The two of you decide to review for statistics. 

Between re-summarizing chapters and answering review questions, you muse to yourself about how your college experience thus far hasn't been that much different from your high school life. You didn’t necessarily hate high school, per say, but it was safe to say you didn’t enjoy it. Your heart was in the arts, specifically music, and you had found studying the core subjects to be boring and tedious. You remember being ecstatic to have been accepted and enrolled in a performing arts college, foolishly thinking your days of solving differential equations and memorizing chemical formulas were over. You specifically remember daydreaming of your hours being filled with keyboard practice and composition notes and only such things. Somehow the reality of mandatory general education courses slipped your mind when you constructed such fantasies.

Despite frivolous and preconceived notions of college, you have already survived a semester and you are nearly through your second. 

“Hey, do you remember when this stats assignment is due?” Yeri’s inquiring voice snaps you out of your brief reverie and you search your cluttered brain for a date.

“Uh, I think it’s due, like, a few days before the final, but I’d have to double check.” 

Yeri nods. “Alright, well let’s take a small break. We have some time till then, we don’t have to finish all of it today.” 

You happily agree and set down your pen. Yeri takes a sip of her frappuccino and you lean over the table to get closer to her. “Anyway, did you hear about what happened with Jiwon and Youngjae from the entertainment management department?”

Her eyes glisten with wicked interest. “No. Do tell.”

Break time is always synonymous with gossip hour between you and Yeri. 

You spend the next fifteen minutes dishing what you know and Yeri offers her own input whenever she feels fit. 

“And they think they’re being discreet, but the whole dorm knows they’ve been sneaking around, but guess wha─” Before you can finish your sentence, you are cut off by a loud and energetic voice calling out Yeri’s name.

The two of you look up to see a slim and boyish brunet waving to Yeri and excitedly making his way to your table. He looks vaguely familiar, but you can’t quite place your finger on it, so you let it go.

He smiles happily at Yeri and greets her. “Hey Yeri, how’s it going?” He notices you there and gives you a polite wave, which you return in the same manner.

Yeri replies back breezily, but with her full attention. “Good. Did you need anything, Mark?” 

He flushes just the slightest bit, but it doesn’t escape your eyes. “Erm, nothing I just wanted to remind you that we’re meeting for the music theory project tomorrow at four. I would’ve texted, but I forgot to get your number in class, and I saw you here and thought it was a good opportunity to tell you.” 

Yeri’s eyes widen, “ah right! I completely forgot about it. It’s a good thing you found me here today, huh? Here, I’ll give you my number.”

She reaches her hand out her hand expectantly, and Mark is confused before scrambling to pull out his phone. You can tell Mark looks flustered while Yeri is calmly putting in her contact information. After finishing, she hands his phone back, “okay, all set. Just shoot me a text so I have your number as well. Thanks for reminding me today or I probably would’ve forgotten and not have shown up or something.” 

Mark smiles again, this time a little more sure than before. “All good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Yeri.” 

They wave goodbye and you watch Mark scamper from the cafe. Your eyes follow him, but Yeri is already focused on you again, paying Mark’s retreating form no mind. 

“So…” you start.

“So?” She returns.

“He’s cute.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she shrugged. “I barely know him though. We have music theory together, but this is the first time we’ve talked all semester and we’re only talking because we got paired up for a project.”

Yeri seems apathetic and you study her closely. You notice she’s acting a little too stiffly carefree to be truly indifferent to the situation. You can’t help, but to tease her a bit. “Well, make the most out of this project then.”

Yeri gives you a hard look and you decide to let it go despite finding your best friend’s situation to be amusing. 

“Anyway, keep telling me about Jiwon and Youngjae. You never finished.” Yeri changes the topic, knowing that you might decide to pester her again if she doesn’t.

“As I was saying,” you started up again. A figure outside catches your attention and you peer outside through the window past Yeri’s shoulders. You realize it’s Mark and you watch with interest as he gestures excitedly, pointing to something in his hand, you assume his phone, to some of his friends. From there your eyes wander absentmindedly from one person to the next, and it’s when you see him. 

The reaction is almost instantaneous. 

“Like you were saying?” Yeri urges, but her words fall on deaf ears, for all your attention is captured by the boy next to Mark with heart-shaped lips.

When you see said boy laugh, you notice he has moon for eyes and you unconsciously suck in a sharp breath. You must have been staring too intently without noticing because he turns his head in your direction and you two hold direct eye contact. Like a deer caught in headlights, you freeze and lose all rational thought. Your head is completely blank. You have never seen someone so beautiful and your mind does not know how to process any sensory information at the moment.

Someone calls the boy away and the entire group of friends leave. It’s only then do you find yourself releasing a breath you didn’t know you had been holding onto so tightly. Your heart is pounding and you feel as though blood is rushing through your ears. 

“Hello?” Yeri sounds annoyed, but you struggle to find the words to answer her. 

You feel a sudden heat rush to color your cheeks a vibrant red and a feeling surges through you that leaves you out of breath and weak at the knees. A steady warmth washes over you quietly and you feel it deep within yourself and you can’t help but let out a small laugh.

How silly, you muse. Not to be dramatic, but you think you’re in love.

2. Shadow by f(x)

adoration from afar. 

“I’m really really into you.”

The next few weeks are packed to the brim with assignments and papers, but despite this, you still find time for your personal research into the boy who was with Mark that day. 

Being the obvious first and easiest option, you beg Yeri to ask Mark directly about his friend, but she immediately shoots you down. 

“No. Absolutely not. At least not anytime soon anyway,” she huffs. “I’ve barely held two full conversations with him, like hell the next is gonna be about his friend just cause my best friend started thirsting over him after one glance. I mean come on, girl.” She shakes her head at you. 

Yeri’s right and you apologize to her for being thoughtless of her situation. She doesn’t say it, but she seems really hopeful about the music theory project and what might bloom from it. You would not want to impede on such possibilities of happiness for your friend, so you let that option go, but Yeri promises to help in other ways and she does. 

Somehow between caffeine fueled cram sessions and sleep deprivation, you, with Yeri’s help manage to find out more about the boy. You casually ask around in your contemporary writing and production department and she offers help by searching her vocal performance department. 

You find out his name is Jung Jaehyun and he’s a third year in the musical theatre department and that he’s a member of the local chapter of the performing arts fraternity on campus. You also discover his Instagram handle and you find yourself skimming through his page throughout the day more often  than you’re willing to admit to any living soul. 

You occasionally see him around campus since you first saw him at the cafe and each time, you can feel your heart hammer in your chest and you become so flustered to the point of your sympathetic nervous system activating. Unfortunately for you, your body unconsciously chooses flight each and every time at the sight of Jaehyun because you can always feel your knees go weak and your body lurch away to escape in any direction that isn’t Jaehyun’s. You kind of hate yourself each time you do, but you can’t help it. He’s just so pretty that it’s intimidating!

You try to think positive after the bouts of shame you experience after each escapade. 

Well there’s no way to embarrass yourself in front of him if you run away before having the chance to, right?

Even thinking about it now in the comfort of your bed, you can’t shake your self-consciousness and bury your face in a large pillow resting on your knees. Your cheeks are burning and you don’t know what to do. 

“Hey, why don’t you just talk to him, instead of moping all day and stalking his profile like a creep.” Yeri’s crisp words cut through your musings and you glance up to see her entering your shared room in the dorms.

“Shut up. It’s not like I have a benevolent match-making professor who happens to pair me up with my crush for an end-of-semester project.” You retort back before sighing dramatically, “I literally have no excuse to talk to him. We’re not in the same year or major. We don’t even have mutual friends. Unless, y’know, you and Mark hit it off, who knows.” 

Yeri sits down next to you on your small twin bed, resting her head on your shoulder while letting out an equally dramatic sigh, “yeah, well, Mark’s so dense, all the divine intervention in the world isn’t going to help me.” 

You let out snort, “what’s up with you two anyway?”

“Y’know, I could’ve sworn he was into me and I had a chance with him, but every time we meet up we literally only work on the project and nothing else. Every time I sort of tried to do something I get shot down. Like I told him I was kind of chilly today in the library, and he looks all thoughtful for a moment but all he ends up saying is ‘yeah, all the buildings on campus are always cold, huh? Good thing I always bring a jacket with me. You should bring one too next time, I don’t want you getting cold.’ And then he just turns back to the project like nothing. Can you believe him?” Yeri complains and you swear her annoyance is palpable. “And every time I text him to hangout, he thinks it’s to work on the project. I honestly can’t tell if he’s really that stupid or if he’s just not into me.” 

You laugh at her unfortunate, but undeniable state of love affairs. 

“Really? That bad? I remember him being all blushy when he asked for your number,” you recall. “And you should’ve seen how he looked when he showed off he got your number. Well that’s what it looked like anyway, I could be wrong.”

“Well, at least I’ll get a good grade though. Mark is nothing if not diligent and hard-working, with him being a double major and all.” Yeri sounds resigned however, she sighs again, this time more frustrated and you hear the determination in her voice. “Alright, after finals, for sure we’re gonna hit the clubs. We need to let loose, have some fun.”

You agree with her to appease her short temper, but deep down you feel disappointed. You feel sorry for your friend, having genuinely wanted Mark and her to work out, but a small and selfish part of you felt sorry for having no bridge to Jaehyun at all if it didn’t work out between Yeri and Mark. Looks like you were stranded now and you’d have to find a way to Jaehyun one way or another, but your line of help ends here.

Shaking away such negative thoughts, you think to yourself how soju bombs and dance floors don’t so bad after such an intense exam period after all. It will definitely take your mind off of things for sure.

And even though you say this to yourself, you know your mind will still be plagued with Jung Jaehyun no matter how much you try.

3. What Is Love by EXO-K

careful contemplation. 

“I can’t explain what I feel.”

“Mark, tell me you did not.” The disbelief in Johnny’s voice made the situation all the more hilarious and even Jaehyun, who’s the calmer of the two, couldn’t suppress the guffaw from escaping his lips. 

The tips of Mark’s ears flush a light pink and he tries to deliver a convincing argument, but all that comes out is a meek stammer, further driving Johnny up the wall.

When Mark came up to his and Johnny’s room asking for advice, Jaehyun had an idea of where it was going to lead, considering Mark’s clueless disposition and inexperienced track record, but Jaehyun had no idea it was going to be this bad. 

Mark, having developed a crush on a fellow vocal performance major in his music theory class, came to Johnny, his frat big, to spill his guts and ask for advice constantly. Being Johnny’s roommate, meant Jaehyun was also privy to all the details of Mark’s love life and he had no problem giving advice to the amusing first year student, which Mark appreciated because going to Johnny meant a clowning session before he could get any useful nuggets of information. 

When Mark’s music theory professor randomly assigned the two for the end of semester project, Mark was one part excited and two parts nervous, resulting in a frazzled mess. He has been going up to the second room on the right of the second floor of the frat house almost every other day to ask for advice since then. 

Johnny was thrilled when he initially heard of the project, already envisioning his little’s love prospects, stating something along the lines of “my little’s gonna get laid!” 

However, now looking at Johnny rubbing his temples in exasperation, Jaehyun can tell that his roommate’s initial enthusiasm has dissipated. 

Mark’s daily roadblock today consisted of his crush giving him the cold shoulder and being much more snappy than before in the project meet up earlier. Mark recalls Yeri’s anger toward him and racks his brain for an answer. Even Johnny and Jaehyun are stumped at the sudden behavior, assuming that things were going smoothly from Mark’s previous reports filled with clumsy, but endearing and ultimately positive signs. It’s only when Mark offhandedly mentions her so-called ‘strange’ comment about the temperature, does it become clear why Yeri’s attitude suddenly shifted so drastically.

“I mean, I don’t know what I did wrong.” Mark’s second attempt to defend himself has Johnny flaring his nostrils in indignation and Jaehyun has to turn away in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

“Dude, she’s so into you. Or, at least she was, I don’t know about it anymore.” Johnny starts after calming down. “She left herself wide open for you to take a clear shot and you effectively said to her face, ‘thanks but no thanks’ and then walked away. No wonder she’s pissed, I’d be pissed too.” 

“Well, what was I supposed to do then?” Mark counters. 

“Mark,” Johnny begins, his tone dry and coarse, “you’re killing me.”

Jaehyun deems this the perfect time to step in, the laughter about done coursing through his system at this point. He clears his throat before offering his input, “It’s not too, too bad. Johnny’s just being dramatic. If she likes you enough, she’ll probably forgive you if you play your cards right from here on out.” 

Mark perks up, his attention solely on Jaehyun. 

Jaehyun hums absentmindedly to himself, gathering and organizing his thoughts to properly explain exactly where and how Mark went wrong and what to do moving forward. When Jaehyun opens his mouth to speak, Mark is glued on to every word and Jaehyun can see the gears in his brain whirring at high speeds. 

By the time Jaehyun is done, Johnny has calmed down and Mark nods his head fervently in understanding. 

“Ah, that makes so much sense now! I got it now.” 

Despite his assurances, both Johnny and Jaehyun know Mark will be back soon. 

“Alright little, listen up,” Johnny starts. “Here’s the game plan from here on out.” 

Johnny goes off on a sermon, determined to help his little ‘get some’ as Johnny so delicately puts it. Jaehyun can see it’s not the most tasteful of word choice for Mark to hear, but the youngest says nothing. 

Lounging lazily in the bean bag on his side of the room, Jaehyun knocks his head back and thinks of a few weeks back when he accompanied Mark and some other frat members to the rec center for some basketball. Jaehyun remembers Mark was bemoaning the fact he forgot to ask for some girl’s number and it was as if a higher entity heard the boy’s laments and felt especially gracious, because right as they were passing the cafe, Mark stopped in his tracks and suddenly ran off into the busy building. 

The group of frat boys watched him excitedly weave his way through the crowd of bodies and occupied tables to reach a table with two girls. When they saw the girl putting her number into Mark’s phone, Johnny elbowed Jaehyun, and like a proud parent Johnny exaggeratedly acknowledged his little. “They grow up so fast, don’t they, Jaehyun.” Johnny even wiped an imaginary tear from his eye to really send the message home.

It was only a few moments later and Mark came bounding out of the cafe, eager to show everyone how lucky it was that he happened to see her. “I mean what are the odds, right?” the said boy exclaimed so happily, his cheer so infectious, Jaehyun couldn’t help himself from letting out a laugh of his own. 

Jaehyun turned to give Mark an encouraging pat on the back and it’s when he notices a pair of eyes on him. He turns fully to come in the direct line of sight of a girl whose eyes, Jaehyun imagined to have been very warm, had they not been burning holes into him. Her intense gaze slightly unnerved him, but not to the point of pulling away. He found himself entranced and the only thing that broke the quick spell was Johnny’s voice, calling him to move it along. 

Jaehyun recalls easily breaking eye contact and giving little thought to the strange girl with fire for eyes, but as the days passed, Jaehyun couldn’t shake the thought of her from his mind. 

Even now in the comfort of his room and with Johnny and Mark not even a foot away, carefully planning Mark’s love endeavors, all Jaehyun’s mind can really focus on is the thought of you. 

Jaehyun is sure he’s only looked at you for less than a minute, but somehow he’s able to clearly trace out the image of you that day, like a perfect snapshot. 

“Yo Jaehyun,” Johnny calls. “You good? You’ve been spacing out, bro.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Jaehyun answers offhandedly, before contemplating to himself. Was he good? Jaehyun wouldn’t necessarily say he’s bad in any way, but it isn’t normal for him to have the thought of a girl remain so clearly engraved in his mind for so long, and even less common for it to actually be a girl he doesn’t even know nonetheless. It’s not a pressing issue, but it does bother him. He weighs over the next steps in his mind. 

“Alright, just making sure.”

With one last thought, Jaehyun concludes to himself that it’s time to tackle his concern at hand head-on. 

“Actually,” he starts, “Mark, do you remember the girl next to Yeri the day you asked for her number?” 

Mark quirks his head in thought and Jaehyun can see Johnny raise his eyebrows in sudden interest. 

“Uh kinda,” Mark answers. “I think she’s a CWP major. I’m pretty sure we shared an arranging class last semester, but like, I don’t know her personally or anything; it was a large lecture. To be honest, I don’t even think she recognized me at all, judging from her reaction that day. Why, what’s up?”

Jaehyun nods, absorbing the information, giving Johnny ample time to fire away. 

“Yeah Jaehyun,” Jaehyun can visualize the glint in Johnny’s eyes just from hearing his mischievous tone. “What is up? I haven’t seen you ask about a girl in a hot minute. Thought you suddenly went abstinent without telling me or something.”

Jaehyun isn’t quite sure how to reply. Without a doubt you were cute to Jaehyun and he wouldn’t be opposed for things to happen between the two of you, but he doesn’t even know you! Well, not that it’s been a problem for Jaehyun in the past, but your lingering presence bothers him in ways he cannot communicate. Why is that the thought of you won’t leave him and why does it bother him so much?

Jaehyun decides to be straightforward, as straightforward as his muddled brain allows him to be. “She’s cute. I wanna get to know her.” 

“Okay, Jaehyun.” Johnny whoops obnoxiously. “I see you.” 

Mark is surprised and suddenly Johnny is all fired up again. Abruptly, Johnny shoots up and the determination that burns in his eyes is admirable. 

“I’ve got it!” He declares proudly. 

Jaehyun and Mark are quiet, waiting patiently for him to continue. They say nothing, knowing there is not a thing that can reach him when Johnny gets like this. 

“We’re throwing a party and you bet your ass your two girls are gonna be there.”

4. Heaven by Ailee

walking on Cloud 9. 

“When I hear your voice, it feels like I’m dreaming.”

You look up at the two-story house before you and wonder how you got here. Actually, you don’t wonder at all because you know exactly how you ended up at the steps of the local performing arts fraternity at your college, but you sigh regardless, as if someone had weaseled you into being here. Your nerves gnaw at you and you feel your stomach doing all types of aerobic tricks, the feeling reminiscent of the sensation before the roller coaster drops. 

Yeri grabs your hand and pulls you excitedly to the front door. You can feel the thrum of music emanating from the building.  

You recall how Yeri almost jumped you to tell the good news. 

Finals flew by without any major hitches, ignoring sleepless nights and caffeine crashes. You don’t know how you’ll do, but you’re satisfied with your exam performances. You were in the clear and were just waiting for Yeri to present her joint music theory project before the both of you could finally let loose as a celebration to end the school year. 

You waited for her outside of the classroom building as promised, playing with your phone to past time until you were suddenly engulfed by a delighted pair of arms. Yeri hugged you tight; she was in high spirits, seemingly from acing her presentation and you hugged her back in congratulations. She pulled at you closer and whispered in your ears, “just say yes.” 

You were confused, but looked up to see Mark headed toward the two you. Yeri released you, leaving one arm still slung casually over your shoulder.

“Hey guys. My frat’s throwing a party tonight to celebrate finishing exams. I was wondering if, uh, you guys wanted to come? I mean you don’t have to, it’s totally optional.” 

You didn’t say anything at first and Yeri interjected, “Of course!” She smiled at you innocently despite harshly pinching you to respond, her action hidden from Mark’s sight. “We’d love to, right?”

“Uh,” you answered distractedly. “Y-yeah, sure.” 

“Great.” Mark beamed. “Party starts at eight. I gotta go help set up, so I’ll see ya there!” 

And with that, he left as soon as he arrived and you looked at Yeri questioningly for answers. “I thought we were hitting downtown tonight. What happened to club hopping?” 

Yeri smiled devilishly, “change of plans. I’ll tell you more about it later. The most important thing is finding the perfect outfit for you tonight, cause Jaehyun’s gonna be there.” 

And so, here you find yourself dressed in high-waisted shorts and a cute top that took an embarrassingly long time to decide on. You are greeted by the fraternity president at the door of the house, Taeyong you think his name is, and he gives you two a quick verbal tour of the place, really emphasizing where to get drinks. Yeri thanks him for the both of you and you enter the crowded house. You think at least half of the performing art majors must’ve been here judging by the sheer volume of packed bodies. 

You remember Yeri explaining how she and Mark may have been making a breakthrough and this party was imperative for its success. You were completely okay attending for that reason alone, because after all, what kind of person sends her best friend to a frat party alone? However, your resolve to go was set in stone after she explained that the frat that was throwing the party just happened to be the same frat Jaehyun was a member of. 

“And y’know, seeing as how you’ve been obsessing over him the past few weeks, it’s the perfect opportunity.” 

You frown remembering her words and make your way to the kitchen with Yeri in tow. Various beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, crowd the table and you recognize the guy standing nearby idly chatting with others. It’s Jaemin, an acting major in your history lecture with whom you frequently exchange notes with when either one of you decides to flake for the day. You vaguely recall him mentioning his fraternity association, but didn’t realize it happened to be this one. He sees the two of you approaching the drink table and he smiles widely.

“Oh hey, what’s up?” Jaemin greets casually. “Didn’t expect to see you here. How’d you think you did in the history final?” 

You groan. “I don’t even want to talk about it. What’s important is that we’re finished and I won’t ever have to think about the WWII timeline for, hopefully, forever.”

“Amen,” Jaemin laughs. “I’ll drink to that.” He raises up his red solo cup to cheers, before realizing both you and Yeri had nothing to drink. 

“Oh shit, I’m a pretty bad host, huh? First thing I should've done was get you two something to drink.” He chides himself, but his tone is playful. “What can I get for you, ladies?”

Before you can think about what you want, Yeri cuts you off, her tone matching Jaemin’s. “How about some shots to start off and we’ll forgive the lack of hospitality.”

Jaemin laughs again. “Alright, I like it.” His hands are adept at weaving around the table and finding the paper shot cups and the vodka. “Svedka’s okay, right?” 

“We’re not picky.” You and Yeri agree. You take the shot in one gulp and the unpleasant burning in your throat makes you wince. 

“Can I get you two anything else?” 

“Yeah,” you say. “I think another shot and then a mixed drink. Anything’s fine, but preferably on the stronger side.” You look over at Yeri and she nods in agreement.

“Coming right up.” Jaemin agrees easily. 

He pours the two of you another shot and you think he must be a generous guy because the shot is overflowing. You and Yeri cheer once more while Jaemin gets to work mixing a cherry bourbon with some Coke. He tops off the drinks with some ice before handing it over to the both of you. “Here they are. Enjoy, ladies.”

You thank him and take a sip before excusing yourself to make your way around the party. The drink is sweet and the smoky aftertaste of the bourbon gives it a pleasant edge. You and Yeri are attached to the hip as you drift from one part to another around the party, making easy going small talk along the way. You are sufficiently buzzed by this point and feel much lighter as though the party was somehow two degrees removed from your senses. You look over to check on Yeri and she’s noticeably drunker than you are, giggling about the simplest of things and slurring her words just the slightest bit. You make a mental note to ease the drinking, wanting to be sober enough to look after her in case anything were to arise. 

The two of you are at the base of the stairs when you hear Mark’s voice calling Yeri’s name. You turn your attention upward to see him ambling down the stairs with excited fervor. His cheeks are flushed, more so than usual around Yeri, and you can tell it’s due to alcohol because Mark is holding her hands and you know he can never be so bold without the help of liquid courage. 

“Yo Mark, slow down there.” A voice calls out and you look up again and you feel your breath caught in your throat. 

There in front of your eyes is Jung Jaehyun in the flesh. He looks heavenly dressed in simple jeans and a white tee. You unconsciously swallow the lump in your throat and your heart beat gallops a mile a minute in your chest. Your mouth goes dry and you mindlessly gulp down swigs of your drink. You know Yeri would’ve sniggered at your current state had she not been so tipsy and completely preoccupied with Mark. 

Jaehyun catches up to Mark and when he reaches the base of the stairs, he notices the two of you.

“Oh Jaehyun, lemme introduce you guys.” 

As promised, Mark introduces everyone quickly and Jaehyun shoots a smile that seems to be aimed at you. “Nice to meet everyone.” 

“Cool, now that everyone knows each other,” Mark starts. “Yeri, can I show you something?” 

“Uh, y-yeah.” 

You give Yeri a hard look and she takes your hand to squeeze it in reassurance. She looks at you pleadingly and there’s a confidence in her eyes that you can’t argue with. You relent and let her go. 

Mark takes her by the hand and leads her up the stairs while you watch, slightly worried. 

Jaehyun seems to have sensed your apprehension because the words that leave his mouth snaps you out of your perturbed state. “Don’t worry. Mark’s a good kid, you have nothing to worry about. You have my word on it.” 

And suddenly the situation dawns on you. The boy of your recent all-consuming infatuation stands here before you, and it’s just the two of you alone. Any social skills you have, leave you and you’re unsure of what to do. 

Jaehyun notices the awkward tension in the air and works quickly to dispel it. “Your drink’s looking low. Can I get you something else?” 

You look down to your drink to see that he was right. Only a few sips remain. You didn’t realize you had drank so much at the sight of Jaehyun. 

“Um, some water would be good. I don’t want to be too hungover tomorrow.” You answer shyly. You also need to be sober enough to look after Yeri, but you decide to leave that out.

Jaehyun chuckles, “sure thing. Here, come with me. I’ll get you some water.”

Jaehyun leads you to the kitchen with ease, seamlessly weaving through the crowds of people. Every group of people he passes greets him loudly to be heard of the pounding bass of the music. You are not surprised to see how popular he is. 

Once in the kitchen, he grabs you a bottle of water and a beer for himself from the fridge and you thank him. The cold water is refreshing, but it does little to cool your nerves. The awkward tension is high and still ever present. You feel as though you’re drowning in it and you also feel like running away from here despite this being what you’ve wanted for more than anything for weeks on end. 

“So,” Jaehyun starts, clearing his throat. “Mark told me you’re a CWP major?” 

“Uh, y-yeah, actually.” You hate how you’re so flustered around him. “How’d he know? Did Yeri tell him or something?” 

“He said you guys shared an arranging class last semester.” Jaehyun recalls.

“Wait, really? I had no idea.” You start going off on how you could’ve missed such a thing and Jaehyun smiles. You’re much more comfortable when a rhythm has been established and the words flow out of you easily. You’re not as relaxed as where Jaehyun wants you to be, but he thinks it’s a good start. 

You continue with small talk from there, much less uptight than before and you feel glad. Jaehyun is as radiant in person as he is in your imagination. You find him to be very kind and your heart flutters even more. Jaehyun mentions he’s a musical theatre major and you do your best to act surprised despite it being one of the only things you know about him prior to this moment.

Before he gets a chance to tell you more about himself, a tall boy with long limbs calls out to Jaehyun that it’s his turn to join the next game of beer pong. Jaehyun looks reluctant to leave and you don’t want him to leave either, but you’d hate to hold him back from prior engagements. 

“Would you,” Jaehyun licks his lips in consideration, “like to play with me? I don’t have a partner.” 

You nod your head and readily agree, eager to spend more time with him.

You’ve only played beer pong a handful of times and being around Jaehyun makes you nervous, so you miss the first few shots. You feel embarrassed, but Jaehyun is patient and assures you that it’s no problem at all. His little words of encouragement mixed with the beer you drink helps melt your tension, and halfway through the game, you’re whooping and hollering with everyone watching the game. 

You high-five Jaehyun without a second thought after nailing a perfect shot and Jaehyun smiles even wider. The two of you are leading when Taeyong comes in to kick everyone out. 

“Sorry guys, party’s over.” 

Groans of complaints could be heard throughout the crowd, but Taeyong’s words are firm and he ushers everyone to leave. He has a few other frat members behind him helping out. He reaches the beer pong table and pulls Jaehyun aside. After a few exchanged words, Jaehyun nods in agreement and ends the game completely, apologizing to his opponents. 

You’re confused, so you carefully ask Jaehyun what’s going on. He sees you and his gaze softens, he quietly explains, “apparently, the campus police have received multiple noise complaints and since the fraternity already has a strike, Taeyong doesn’t really want to risk another. “

“Ah, I see.” You nod. You’re saddened by the turn of events, having finally eased into a relative comfort around Jaehyun and you yearn for more. “Well, I better go look for Yeri then.” 

This is a goodbye and you’re unsure of what else to say to him, your disappointment mixes with alcohol making you feel even more miserable. You want to ask for more, but can’t find the words to reach him. Luckily, Jaehyun does it for you. 

“Are you free sometime this week?” He asks. “I feel like we didn’t get a chance to really talk and I’d like to.” 

Your heart hammers and the blood rushes in your ears, but you still find yourself uttering a mousy agreement.

“Great,” his smile is dazzling and you feel dizzy. “It’s a date then.”

5. 24 Hours by Sunmi

rushed minutes. 

“Time goes by so quickly.”

“Hey,” a distant voice calls out and Jaehyun looks up from his phone to see your approaching figure. Your cheeks are rosy from the summer sun and stray pieces of your hair escape from your loosely styled updo. Jaehyun takes all of you in with careful appreciation.

“Hey yourself.” Jaehyun chuckles, slipping his phone casually in his pocket and standing up straighter to greet you properly.

Jaehyun sees the red of your face flush brighter, the soft color bleeding across your cheeks and onto your nose. Cute, he thinks. He watches as you tighten your grip on your clutch, knuckles white with nervous tension, in an attempt to gather your composure and calm your nerves. You clear your throat, “I didn’t know you’d be here so soon. You should’ve texted me.” 

“It’s all good, I finished early.” Jaehyun notices you no longer stutter around him like the first night you two met. He’s glad the days and nights of sober texting after exchanging numbers at the party did wonders to make you feel comfortable around him. He’s not too worried about your current ‘first-date’ anxiety, knowing it’ll be dispelled soon enough. “Shall we?” He moves to open the door and the cool rush of air from the cafe greets the two of you. 

The cafe is quaint and cozy, tucked away in a small corner of intersecting back streets and crowded buildings. Jaehyun discovered the little spot not too long ago and something, Jaehyun assumes his instincts, compelled him to take you to it for the first official date. It just felt right.

The two of you walk to the order counter and you take it all in. You can hear the quiet chatter of the cafe occupants mixed with the rattle of espresso machines being put to work. Your eyes scan over the decorations and several potted succulents hanging from the ceiling. It’s incredibly homey and you feel at ease. 

“Hiya, I can help the two of you whenever you guys are ready.” The barista is cheerful to a fault and Jaehyun watches you shoot her a grateful smile before your eyes move to the menu to decide on what to get. 

Jaehyun knows what he wants, so he waits patiently for you to decide, but seeing your eyebrows scrunch together in indecision, Jaehyun chuckles to himself. “I hear the iced lattes here are really good, particularly the caramel latte,” he offers. 

You perk up in surprise, but you recover quickly, “okay, that sounds good then. I was between that and the iced cocoa.”

“No problem, I’ll order then. Today’s on me.” Jaehyun says. 

Jaehyun walks up to the barista and quickly places the order. He reaches for his wallet after the barista recites the order, but he falters slightly when he sees your gaze glued to the cake display, particularly the crepe cake. 

“Can I get a slice of the chocolate crepe cake over there too?” 

“Of course! Here’s your new total,” she turns the touch screen display over to Jaehyun and he readily inserts his card to pay. When finished, Jaehyun turns back the screen and after a few taps from the barista, a receipt is printed and she hands him a buzzer. 

“Your order will be out shortly.” She informs him.

Jaehyun smiles and says a small ‘thank you’ in return before turning his attention to you. You look up to meet his eyes and you smile, “can we sit over there by the window?” 

You head to the little corner table first with Jaehyun steadily in tow. You sit at the chair that leaves your back to the window and Jaehyun is mesmerized by how the afternoon sunlight refracts through your silhouette. You’re glowing and Jaehyun swallows thickly. 

“So,” he starts. “What have you been up to?”

“Celebrating finishing my first year of college in one piece.” You laugh lightly. “I got by with passable grades, but other than that Yeri and I just finished moving into our new dorms. We’re no longer freshmen, so first year dorms are off limits. I’m gonna miss the convenient location.” You jokingly mope. 

Jaehyun laughs easily with you and before he gets a chance to reply, the buzzer goes off so he excuses himself to go pick up the order. 

A different barista places down a tray with your two drinks and a small slice of cheesecake with two dessert forks resting on some napkins. “Enjoy your order!” 

Jaehyun smiles in thanks and picks up the tray to bring it back to the table. He can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see the mille crepe cake and true to his expectations, your eyes light up at the sight of dessert. 

“Surprise.” He says. “I saw you looking at it earlier.” 

Jaehyun watches as you immediately grab a small fork and try a piece of the cake with unrestricted child-like excitement. Your eyes light up at the taste of the delicate layers of fresh whipped cream and thin crepes and the smile you shoot in his direction has Jaehyun’s heart beating a little faster than he’s willing to admit. 

“Thank you!” You look up at him. “It’s so good, you should definitely try a bite too.” 

“Yeah? I’ll try some then.” Jaehyun sits down and leans even closer to you over the table, his mouth open and expectant and his eyes staring straight into yours. 

You try your best to bite back the scarlet fighting to stain your cheeks as you cinch off a small section of the cake with your fork. Your hand falters just the slightest bit when delivering the small confection to his awaiting mouth, but you push through and feed him despite the embarrassment you feel. 

Jaehyun chews slowly and deliberately, taking his time to lick the stray whipped cream from the corner of his mouth. You lose the game of chicken, breaking eye contact first. 

“Yeah,” he agrees. “It’s good. We should definitely come back.” 

You let out a little awkward cough, desperate to ward off your cloud of emotions. “Uhm, yeah sure.”

Jaehyun has always thought you were cute, but he thinks you’re especially cute today. 

“Anyway,” you start. You want to change the topic because you don’t think you can survive this tension without your brain frying. “I feel like I’ve just seen you around recently. I should’ve run into you a long time ago since the performing arts college is so small.” 

“Oh,” Jaehyun is a little taken aback. “I used to be over at the East Campus. I was a business and administration major for two years before I switched over to musical theatre.”

“Wait really?” Your surprise erases any tension you felt earlier. “I had no idea.”

“Yeah,” he laughs. “It doesn’t really come up in conversation.” 

“Why’d you switch over? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

Jaehyun contemplates his reply for a second as takes a sip of his coffee. “Well, when I entered college, I didn’t really know what I wanted, so I just followed whatever my parents wanted me to do. I actually knew I liked musical theatre for the longest time, but it took time for me to build up the courage to switch. My parents weren’t happy with it at first and we fought for the longest time, but I think they’ve warmed up to it enough by now. I’ve never really talked about this though, I just tell people I transferred from a different college and the conversation just ends there I guess, but it’s really no big deal.”

“Thank you for telling me this, Jaehyun.” Your voice is sincere and Jaehyun believes you.

“What about you, hm?” Jaehyun returns. “Why CWP?” 

“I don’t really have one point that changed my life and helped me find my calling or whatever,” you ponder with a tilt of the head and the taste of cream dissolving in your mouth. “But ever since I was little, I always knew I was gonna end up doing something in music. I was never good at singing though, so vocal performance was out the door and I wasn’t that interested in classical instruments either, so that helped me narrow stuff down. Actually, what really helped me decide was during orientation, my group leader was a contemporary writing and production major and she told me all about it and I’ve been sold ever since. I really like it though, and have no intention of switching.”

“That’s good. Sometimes I wish I switched earlier.” Jaehyun muses. “I feel so behind sometimes. Most people in my class have already been in at least one musical and an internship, except for me. I think about it a lot, but I try not to let it get me so down.” 

“You shouldn’t feel that way!” You try your best to cheer him up, and Jaehyun appreciates it a lot more than he thought he would. “Everyone has their own pace, that’s what college is all about! Nothing is ever wasted time. You can think of your time as a business admin major as a way to help you make up your mind on your true passion. You told me you’ve always liked musical theatre, but I’ve bet without the time in business, you would’ve never known you liked it enough to pursue a career out of it.”

Jaehyun laughs at your earnesty. He thinks you’re a touch naive, but your words make him feel light. “You’re right. I can say for sure I wasn’t happy as a business major.”

“See? Nothing is ever wasted time if you can discover your true happiness out of it.” 

The two of you exchange easy chatter after that and between small bites of cake and sips of coffee, Jaehyun thinks you’ve become prettier and prettier.

“What was it like?” You ask absentmindedly.

“Hm? What was ‘what’ like?”

“Being a business and administration major.”

Jaehyun has to think about it. He recalls constantly dressing up for group presentations and boring lectures, but his mind wanders to his activities outside the classroom. He remembers the constant partying and the blur of faces that helped him keep his bed warm. He remembers brief flings and relationships cut short. He doesn’t want to think about those things when he’s next to you. “Uhm. It was okay, nothing special, but that reminds me–”

“Yeah?”

“Are you free next weekend?”

“I should be. Why, what’s up?”

“Great,” Jaehyun smiles while taking the last sip of his coffee. “I’m having a housewarming party at my new apartment. You should definitely be there.” 

--

The day of the long awaited housewarming party rolls up sooner than expected between settling into your new dorm with Yeri and the occasional small ‘get-togethers’ with Jaehyun. They’re actually dates if you're being honest, but you don’t want to put a title on anything in case he wasn’t on the same page as you. Being with Jaehyun made you giddy in more ways than one, but that means the anxiety that pools at the base of your stomach grows larger each day when the relationship between the two of you goes unnamed. You feel greedy when you desperately grasp at the shred of time you share with him, always unwillingly to let go.

“Are you ready?” Yeri’s voice breaks you out of your small reverie. Her hand is poised, ready to knock on the black door of Jaehyun’s apartment, waiting for you to gather your composure. Yeri is dressed to the nines in a cute skirt with a top to match. She wants to look good for her new boyfriend and you teased her endlessly for it when the two of you were getting ready.

“Mark’s one lucky guy.”

“Shut up. Worry about yourself.”

“All I do is love you, yet you’re so mean to me.”

Regardless of her harsh words toward you, she helped you toss your closet inside and out for the perfect outfit to woo Jaehyun, even if it meant showing up late to the party. 

The two of you leave your dorm twenty minutes later than you intended and it also didn’t help that Jaehyun’s apartment was difficult to find, tucked away in a small building between towering skyscrapers, but now is finally the moment of truth. 

“Yeah, I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” you mutter as you watch Yeri knock on the door. 

It takes a minute before the door creaks open and Jaehyun’s head pops out. His smile is radiant and you’re absolutely ensnared by the way his fringe falls over his forehead. 

“Hey, glad you two could make it.” Jaehyun opens the door wider to allow you and Yeri to enter. He greets Yeri with polite warmth while he wraps an arm over your shoulders. When Yeri heads in the apartment first with her back against the two of you, Jaehyun steals a quick peck to your temple and whispers, “you look pretty tonight.”

His touch is fleeting and he pulls back quickly, as if you imagined the whole thing, but his cheeky smile tells you that it really did happen. Your heart hammers and you force yourself to focus on the steady thrum of mellow R&B that reverberates throughout his apartment to calm yourself. You take his apartment in steady strides with your full attention. It’s sleek and modern with a few pops of his personality here and there in the form of trinkets decoration choices. 

“Hey!” Johnny calls over from the couch. He has a beer in hand, but he’s far from tipsy. Flanked on one side is Doyoung with another beer to match and on the other is Sicheng. Seulgi, the girl, who you assume is Sicheng’s significant other, by the way his arm is casually wrapped around her waist, is also there and she nods at you in greeting. You've come to know about all of them after hanging out with Jaehyun so much. “Did you guys get lost or something?” 

“Yeah,” Yeri replies as she moves to sit next to Mark who’s on the adjacent loveseat and resting a drink on the coffee table.  “Something like that.”  

She places a sweet kiss to the corner of Mark’s mouth in greeting and you swear you can hear him crooning at the attention. 

“Doesn’t matter, Johnny. The important thing is that they’re here now.” Jaehyun interjects. “Do you guys want anything to drink?”

“That’d be nice.” You hum.

Yeri laughs in agreement, “yeah, the two of us could never say no to a drink.”

“Alright, I’m on it.” Jaehyun calls while moving to the kitchen. “Any preferences?”

“No,” you say. “Surprise us.”

Jaehyun works to mix drinks and you take a seat on the floor next to the coffee table to observe the party. Perched on the shelf of a slender bookcase in the corner of his living room is a bluetooth speaker playing music, the rhythm quiet and bass steady as everyone chatters away once introductions are made on the sofas. You remember him offhandedly mentioning that he doesn’t want any noise complaints on his first week in the new place and it makes sense. Jaehyun’s housewarming party is a quiet affair that is far different from the wild party at the frat house in which you met him, but you think this vibe fits Jaehyun more.

Jaehyun returns shortly with two drinks in tow for you and Yeri and sits himself snugly next to you on the floor. He picks his idle beer from the coffee table and once Johnny realizes that everyone in the proximity has a drink in hand, he raises his voice and beer in a toast. “It sucks that Taeyong couldn’t make it tonight, but here’s to having fun without him. We’re gonna get twice as fucked up to make up for his absence, cheers!”

Everyone lets out a chuckle, but obliges to humor him anyway and joins to connect their drink to his in cheers. 

You pull your cup back and take a big gulp of the drink. It’s sweet and carbonated, but the sting of alcohol at your throat leaves you wincing just the slightest bit.

A few pleasantries are exchanged here and there, but it’s only then does Doyoung pull out a deck of cards with a devilish glint in his eyes that deceive his looks. 

“Ring of fire, anyone?”

--

After who knows how many rounds of ring of fire (and maybe a few other drinking games here and there) with too many drink refills for you to remember, you somehow find yourself splayed on the couch and leaning over Yeri’s shoulder in support. Seulgi is on the other side of you leaning on you for support, the same way you’re doing to Yeri, but you don’t mind it one bit. The three of you have grown surprisingly close with one another throughout the night.

Your mind is lucid enough to still be conscious and completely aware of where you are and what you’re doing, but the alcohol in your system eats away at the details in your memory. 

You vaguely recall ridiculous punishments that involved Johnny twerking on the dining room table and Mark taking a shot of Jack Daniels mixed with ketchup, and you can’t help but snicker to yourself. 

“I think we should get going now.” Sicheng is the first to speak as he moves to help Seulgi up. “It’s getting late.”

Doyoung looks a little groggy, but when he checks the time, he perks up immediately, “oh shit, you’re right. I need to get going too, I’ve got something in the morning.”

With that everyone shuffles to clean the remnants of the party with as much grace as they can muster while intoxicated, which wasn’t much, but in twenty minutes, Jaehyun is already walking half the party to the door in goodbye. Only you, Mark, and Yeri are left. 

“Hey Yeri,” Mark calls softly to Yeri as he brushes a strand of hair from her face. “Are you ready to go too?”

Yeri is still sprawled on the couch with you, but mumbles a small response. “Yeah, I should be. Give me a second.”

She turns over to you and nudges you just the slightest bit. “I’m gonna go back to Mark’s tonight, are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” you assure her. “I’ll be fine, just go have fun.”

“She’s free to rest here until she’s ready to leave, don’t worry. I’ll call a cab for her when the time comes.” Jaehyun pipes up. 

Yeri gives you a look, but you squeeze her hand one last time to give her some peace of mind. “I’m a big girl, Yeri. I’ll be okay, promise. I’ll walk you to the door, Mark’s waiting.”

You give Yeri a tight hug in goodbye and you find your way back to the couch. The fact that you’re all alone in Jaehyun’s apartment doesn’t hit because of the remnants of alcohol in your system melts away your nerves. 

You’re pleasantly buzzed, lost in your own thoughts when Jaehyun comes up to you with a glass of water in hand. “Here, so you don’t feel as bad tomorrow morning.”

You accept it gratefully and take in big gulps, the water refreshing, but your skin feels hot. 

Jaehyun takes a seat next to you and the proximity makes your head spin. You turn to look at him, and he flashes you a smile.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“You might’ve mentioned something.” You tease. “But I don’t mind hearing it again.”

“Well,” he hums. You’re not sure, but you think the distance between the two of you is decreasing. “You really do look stunning tonight.”

You flush at his words, but you look straight into his eyes. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Yeah? I try to impress.” Jaehyun’s eyes are hooded and your throat goes dry. “Can I kiss you?”

You say nothing at first, his words not registering into your muddled brain, but when you feel his breath ghost over your lips, you don’t hesitate to close the gap between you. 

His lips are slightly chapped and you can taste the vodka on his breath, but to you it’s perfect. Jaehyun’s perfect.

Jaehyun kisses you with reserved passion and practiced expertise. His tongue sets the rhythm against yours and his roaming hands have you feeling as if you’ve been set ablaze. He pulls back just the tiniest bit and the intense longing for his touch that hits you is indescribable. 

You pull him back in your arms and your lips reconnect in a desperate fervor. Jaehyun adjusts his arms around you and the next you know, you’re in his embrace and he’s carrying you to his bedroom. He places you down gently, his bed is plush and comforter soft. 

Jaehyun’s touch is gentle as he gathers your face in his hands. He kisses you again and you wrap your arm around his neck to pull him closer. He pulls back and looks at you earnestly. “I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with. We don’t have to do anything tonight.”

Everything’s moving so fast and you’re dizzy, but you don’t want whatever this is to stop. You want to be as close to Jaehyun as possible.

“No,” your voice is hoarse. “Don’t stop. I want you, Jaehyun.”

He kisses you again, this time unrestrained. His tongue is hot, but you can only savor it for a minute before he starts trailing kisses down your neck and tugging at your shirt. You let out a breathy moan in response to how his touches make you feel. 

Jaehyun reaches at your shorts and makes quick work at unbuttoning them. You help him remove the article of clothing and his slender fingers dart inside your panties. You’re slick to the touch and Jaehyun must be made of magic because you think you’re seeing stars. You unravel before him embarrassingly quick, but he kisses you at the base of your clavicle in sweet reassurance. 

Your chest is heaving, but you want more. You grab at Jaehyun’s shirt, urging him to take it off. The expanse of his abdomen is a sight to behold, but Jaehyun is cruel and doesn’t give you the time to take it in. He’s on top of you again, lips crashing onto yours once more. He reaches behind you to unclasp your bra and while he’s pre-occupied, you unbuckle his belt and steal a moment in his boxers. He feels thick and hot in your hands as you run your finger over the tip to feel a drop of pre-cum. He buckles just the slightest bit and it emboldens you. 

Jaehyun helps himself out of his jeans and you push him onto the bed wanting to be on top this time. He’s straining against his boxers and you want to help relieve the tension. When you pull off his boxers you can feel his inaudible groan. You stroke his length gingerly and look up to see him with hooded eyes look right back at you. 

This excites you so you take him in your mouth in a moment of unfiltered courage. Your tongue starts at the base before tracing your way up to his sensitive head. You tease him accordingly to his quiet grunts and groans and when you feel like he’s had enough, you take all of him in until his tip is hitting the back of your throat. You gag a bit, but push through.

“Fuck,” Jaehyun stutters out between stacatoed breaths. “Babe, you’re so good.”

You hum in pleasure at his praise and he grabs your hair. This goes on for a few more minutes before he reaches down to stop you. “Not that I don’t love this,” the look in your eyes nearly has him faltering his words, “but I don’t want to cum just yet.”

You relent with a slick pop and Jaehyun shifts over to rummage for a condom in his nightstand. You settle back down in his pillows. Jaehyun gives you a soft kiss on the lips before he enters you. 

“Tell me when it’s okay to move,” he whispers and you place a small kiss at the base of his neck. 

He starts off slow to let you acclimate to his size, but neither of you are very patient, so he ends up pounding into you a lot sooner than he anticipated and you find yourself getting caught up in the pleasure.

It feels like you’re dreaming, but if this was a dream, you never want to wake up.

6. Hush by Miss A

shh, no talking, just us.

“I can’t think straight.”

You and Jaehyun don’t become official until a few weeks later. 

He asks you one day when you’re naked and out of breath. You’ve gone one too many rounds with him and a thin layer of sweat coats your body as you lay on his heaving chest. You absentmindedly draw shapes on his skin and he gives you a chaste kiss to your temple.

“We should date.” He hums. “I think I’d make a good boyfriend.”

“Yeah?” You raise your eyebrow in teasing.

“Yeah,” he ascertains. “Give me a chance and I’ll show you.”  

“Hmm,” you pretend to think it over as if this wasn’t you’ve been hoping for since the first moment you laid eyes on him. “Okay. Let’s give it a try, boyfriend.”

Jaehyun laughs and you feel the world fall into its right place. “Alright, girlfriend.”

And the rest is history as they say. 

Jaehyun isn’t your first, but you experience many firsts with him. You’re not exactly inexperienced, but he really opens your eyes.

“Fuck,” he groans into your neck. His hands grip at your hips to help guide you along, but you’re fully in charge. “You’re doing so good, babe. Just like that.” 

You didn’t see yourself as someone who liked to take charge during sex, but after that one time Jaehyun asked you to top, you’ve never looked back since. 

You roll hips into him and at a pace you know drives Jaehyun wild and you pull him into a sloppy kiss. It’s all tongue and no grace, but you love it the same regardless. You capture his bottom lips between your teeth playfully before pushing him flat on his back until he’s firm against his plush mattress. You place a hand on his chest and the other on his thigh to balance yourself and Jaehyun immediately knows you’re close. 

A hand rests on your hip to steady you while the other snakes over to play with your clit to further stimulate you toward your climax. Jaehyun knows what you like and his timing is impeccable, so before you know it, both of you are reaching your highs together. You collapse on his chest and you allow yourself to stay in his warmth long enough to have your breaths synchronize before you extricate yourself from him to head to his bathroom. 

When you come back out, he’s disposed of the used condom and opens your arm wide for a hug, which you gladly indulge in.

Time stops when you’re in his arms.

--

On the surface, it looks like Jaehyun likes to mix it up. He seems like  an elusive guy with varied tastes, but the more time you spend with him, you realize he likes the control of seeing you unravel before him.

He likes the intimacy of missionary. 

The close proximity to your body has him looking into your eyes and leaving you feeling the most vulnerable of ways. He has full access to your neck, which he lovingly claims as his own and you chide him the next day when you see scattered purple blooms. Jaehyun changes his pace on a whim and you fall to his mercy. When he takes you fast and hard, you see stars, but when thrusts in you with languid leisure, he has you begging for more. 

He likes the intensity of taking from behind. 

When you’re on your knees with your ass in the air, he takes it as a guarantee to fuck you senseless. Your muffled moans makes his dick twitch and you swear you can feel him fuck into you even faster. Jaehyun always makes sure to wrap his arms around you to finger your clit until you go into sensory overload and he doesn’t stop pounding into you until there are tears in your eyes. He kisses each one away before taking your lips in his and you can taste the salt water on his tongue.

He likes the dominance from eating you out.

He laps at your core like a starved man and makes good use of his adept fingers until your head is spinning. Jaehyun makes it a habit to eat you out until you’re satisfied before he gets his turn. When your thighs are on either side of his head and your hands tangled in his hair, he swears he can stay there forever.

Above all, Jaehyun just likes you. He likes being with you and he definitely likes fucking you and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

--

“Mmmh,” you breathe out.

Your back is flush against Jaehyun’s back as you rock your hips back and forth on his dick. You grind your ass back even harder when he pinches your nipple between his fingers. 

He kisses your shoulder blade from behind and bucks his hip upward to meet you in the middle. 

The afternoon sunlight is streaming in from the gaps of his blinds and you want to take it nice and slow today. The television in front of you is playing a movie, but you’re too enraptured by the feeling of him filling you to the brim to pay it any mind. 

“I love it when you’re on top, babe.” he hums as he plays with your clit. 

You let out another breathy groan before you can find the composure to bite back at him. “What happened to no sex today, hmm? I thought we were just going to have innocent quality time together and watch a movie.”

Jaehyun must’ve not liked your sass, so he bucks up harder. He’s telling you to pick up the pace and you oblige. Before you know, you’re practically bouncing on his dick and you can feel your impending high about to crash down on you. He can sense it too and maintains his tempo. When you cum, Jaehyun rides on the tail of your climax in pursuit of his own. He cums shortly after with stuttering hips and a bite on your shoulder. He gathers you in his arms and runs his tongue soothingly over where he bit you and the various love bites that he’s littered on the expanse of your skin. 

“Just being with you is quality time in itself.” He says. “Besides, class is starting soon, so I won’t get to see you as much.”

7. Disturbance by BoA

a ripple on the surface.

“I didn’t know at first.”

“So I do have a roommate after all,” Yeri’s voice calls out and you turn over to see her standing by the doorway. You roll your eyes at her, but quickly turn back to gather your things. 

She lets out a chuckle, but you don’t miss the sour edge to her tone. “I thought I got a single dorm since it’s so empty all the time.”

“You say that, Yeri,” you retort. “But I know you’re over at Mark’s constantly so I don’t wanna hear it from you.”

“Yeah, but I make time to come back here and I always let you know when I’m going out. I feel like I’ve only seen you maybe once or twice the past few months. I feel like the only reason I see you these days is ‘cause of classes.”

“You’re just exaggerating, don’t be so dramatic. Come on, let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”

She looks displeased, but nothing leaves her lips as the two of you head out for the day.

--

It’s late. 

When night falls, shadows come out to play and your college campus is riddled with them. The school auditorium is situated in the far corner of the campus and the lamp lights of the main walkways do little, but you pay it little mind. Jaehyun should be getting out soon.

It takes another ten minutes to see him emerge from the double doors and you perk up immediately at the sight of him. He looks a little shocked to see you, but greets you with a warm hug and small peck regardless. 

“Hey,” his voice is small, almost reserved. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you I was finishing late tonight.”

“Oh, you did, but I still wanted to see you.” You explain, eyes bright and tone undeterred.

“Not that I don’t appreciate it,” he licks his lip. “But it’s really late and I still have more stuff I need to work on. I’ll see you some other time, okay?”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, babe. Next time.”

--

“Oh hey,” you smile, but Yeri’s fury is palpable and cuts through you.

“Don’t ‘oh hey’ me.” She spits out. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Sheepish, you reply, “oh sorry. I forgot to fully charge it before leaving and Jaehyun and I have different phones, so I couldn’t charge it at his place.”

“You were at Jaehyun’s?” Yeri is glaring at you at this point and you feel a bit peeved. 

“Yeah. What of it?” 

Yeri’s been getting angry at you recently, losing her temper at the drop of a hat, and you can’t seem to pinpoint why. You’re getting tired of being her punching bag. 

“We made plans to go shop for Seulgi’s gift today. You promised you’d be there, don’t you remember?”

“Oh shit.” It completely slips from your mind and you open your mouth to apologize, but Yeri cuts you off before you get the chance.

“Forget it. I don’t want to hear it. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Yeri turns to leave before you can say anything back.

8. Symptoms by SHINee

something’s wrong.

“The worse it gets, the more exhausted I get.”

Jaehyun feels off.

He can’t pinpoint exactly what he is that he’s feeling, but he thinks it’s reminiscent of his world being tilted by six degrees. It’s not immediately jarring and takes little time for his eyes to register, but he’ll occasionally bump his toe, signalling that this isn’t right. Things aren’t where they’re supposed to be. His head spins just the slightest bit and he feels woozy, but he doesn’t know why.

Jaehyun just feels off.

--

Jaehyun checks the bulletin board of his school auditorium almost religiously. 

Each time before and after class, he’ll swing by and peruse the flyers that hang from haphazardly stuck on pins. He ignores the tutoring offers and the part time jobs scams, his main focus is almost always on the center of the board where they post the upcoming musical theatre production and eventually, the cast list. 

This semester, the chosen production is La La Land and Jaehyun has been dead set on landing the role of Sebastian Wilder. He stays back extra late each day to practice the script and to work on his singing and annunciation. 

On the day of the audition, he’s sure he’s nailed it and thinks to himself the world must be ending if he weren’t to get the leading role. 

When he leaves the auditorium in a rush, excitement flows through his veins and he drinks in the night air as a toast of victory. He’s tipsy on his excitement and wants to laugh out loud, but in the corner of his vision, he sees you. Your eyes light up the sight up, outshining the moon and the stars, but your visage does not elicit the reaction he thinks it should. He expects his heart to swell and burst, but somehow he feels heavy. 

He pulls you in for a hug and a quick kiss to quell his weighted heart, but he thinks he’s starting to sink so he calls you off for the night. He’ll see you next time. 

Yeah, next time will be better.

--

You’re snuggled up close and personal on Jaehyun’s chest. Jaehyun notices you fill every nook and cranny of his being perfectly to a tee, and yet that feeling. It’s there again. 

Jaehyun feels off. 

You laugh at something one of the characters say and you cuddle harder into him. He feels heavy again and it makes his throat itch, so he swoops down and captures your lips.

It’s hard and fast to scrub away at his uneasiness and before he knows it, his clothes are missing, but so are yours. The foreplay is brief and almost impersonal, but he doesn’t care. He just needs to be inside you. 

When Jaehyun has you begging and writhing, he feels like the world is where it should be. No longer is he living at a slight angle when he’s buried to the hilt inside your warmth, so when he sees you, he does what he can to get you out of your pants. 

Today is no different from any other. 

After a satisfying session you roll on his chest. Your kiss is soft and sweet despite the sweat that covers both of your bodies. He hums quietly as he taps melodies on along your exposed spine.

“Jaehyun?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I love you.”

Ah. Jaehyun thinks he’s getting it now, why he’s feeling off.

Jaehyun thinks he’s being suffocated.

--

To the surprise of no one, and especially not to him, Jaehyun gets the leading role of Sebastian Wilder in La La Land. He was a shoe-in for it anyway and he made sure to put in the work to get it. 

His leading lady is someone by the name of Park Sooyoung, but at the first rehearsal she introduces herself as Joy.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She offers her hand out in a friendly greeting. “Here’s to a successful show together, Jaehyun.”

Her smile is blinding and he thinks Joy is a fitting name. He grasps her outstretched hand, grip firm and sure. 

“Yeah,” he smiles back. “Here’s to a good show together.”

--

Rehearsals span over blurred minutes and long hours. 

Jaehyun sees less and less of you and spends more and more time with her. 

During a quick water break, he scans his phone briefly to see a text notification from you. He takes another swig of water and returns to the rehearsal.

It’s okay, he can always text you back later.

9. Before U Go - TVXQ!

letting go.

“I will leave now.”

“Come on!” You tug both Mark and Yeri along excitedly. “I want to get good seats.”

Yeri rolls her eyes, but obliges anyway, pulling Mark along. It’s opening night for Jaehyun’s big musical and you wanted to be there no matter what to support him. Johnny, Doyoung, Taeyong, Sicheng, and Seulgi are already inside waiting and you’re not sure if they were able to save the three of you a spot. 

After a long chat with Yeri, you apologized profusely to her. You did get blinded by your relationship with him and prioritized him over everything, forgetting your friends and other responsibilities in the process. Yeri forgave you easily and helped keep you in line when you went to head over heels for Jaehyun. 

However, after patching things up with Yeri, you begin to notice a shift in your relationship with Jaehyun’s. You’re not quite sure how to describe it, but it almost feels like a distance almost. 

You chalk it up to his busy rehearsal schedule and choose not to dwell on the topic, in fears of your wandering imagination. It should be fine. After his musical is over, he’ll be less busy and things will fall back into place. 

Right?

“Over here!” Seulgi waves over excitedly. 

The auditorium is starting to fill up and you want to get comfortable before the show starts. 

Everyone greets each other in hushed tones and soon enough, the show starts. 

Right. Everything will be fine.

--

Jaehyun does amazing. 

Your eyes are trained on him the whole time and his singing has goosebumps pricking your skin. You can see the passion pour through him every time he’s on stage and you couldn’t be more proud. 

A nagging feeling at the pit of your stomach points out the undeniable chemistry between him and his co-star, but you push it deep down and suppress it. 

They’re actors, and they’re good at what they do. 

Yeah. They’re just acting. Yeah. Acting.

--

When the curtains close, you’re the first to shoot out of your seat, eager to meet him backstage. You weave through the endless crowd of people, murmuring your ‘sorry’s’ and ‘excuse me’s’ as you pass by. You reach the base of the backstage and shoot a message to let him know you’re waiting. You hum to yourself when you happen to overhear a conversation playing out. 

“You did so good, Jae.” 

“No, you definitely carried the show.” 

You turn up and you see them. Her eyes are almost soft and loving as she pulls your boyfriend in for a hug. They linger in the embrace longer than necessary and you clear your throat to catch his attention. 

He jolts just the slightest bit when he sees you and immediately lets her go. 

“Everyone’s waiting,” you say quietly. 

“Okay,” he nods. “Let me go get my stuff in the back.”

Jaehyun leaves the two of you alone and you wait for him to get back. 

When you leave, he waves goodbye to her and she smiles back.

--

Jaehyun’s celebration party is rowdy, but it’s to be expected when Johnny is the one hosting. 

He books a table at the local club and even orders bottle service. The eight of you work your way through two whole bottles of tequila and are already on your third. Jaehyun is downing the shots at a quicker pace than usual and you’re a bit concerned, but you’re unable to say anything because when you try, he whisks himself away to the dance floor and strikes up a conversation with someone else. 

You’re perturbed, but you say nothing. This is his celebration night and he can choose to enjoy it how he wishes. 

By the end of the night, Jaehyun is noticeably drunk and you haul him outside to get a breath of fresh air in hopes of sobering up. He’s heavy, but you make it out the side door. You prop him up on your side as you lean on the grimy brick walls. 

Months have passed and the weather is chilly. 

Jaehyun’s body sways and he murmurs something in your ear. You don’t catch it the first time, the overwhelming smell of tequila overtaking your senses. 

“What was that?”

He grumbles beneath his breath, steps staggering once more. He tries again, this time his words are crisp and clear and they cut into you in more ways than one. 

“I think we should end it.”

For someone so drunk, he sounds so sober.

You’re at a loss for words. A part of you knew this was coming from his lack of enthusiasm around you and his decreased texts. Even the cold night air couldn’t keep your heartbreak at bay. You say nothing, but you understand the both of you knew it was a silent agreement.

You breathe out wisps of chilled air as Jaehyun’s inebriated body stays slumped over on your side. 

--

You volunteer to take Jaehyun home.

You tuck him gently in bed making sure to prop him on his side in case he vomits during the night. You pour a glass of water and place an ibuprofen on his nightstand drawer for him in the morning. 

You kiss him on the forehead one last time. You hope it conveys all of the things brewing in your heart at the moment, but you know it doesn’t. 

Later, you leave his apartment with all of your belongings that you ever left there with the stars as your witness. 

You never return to his place again.

10. Coffee Shop by B.A.P

what could’ve been.

“So without knowing, like a habit, I came here.”

Jaehyun wakes up to an empty bed.

Morning sunlight streams through his blinds and burns at his skin as a sign to get ready for the day. He blinks the drowsiness from his system and stretches his weary joints before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day. 

On his rare day offs, he allows his body to go on auto-pilot. He completely shuts his brain off and allows it to do whatever it chooses.

Today, it takes him back to the cafe. 

His body knows where it’s going before it registers in his mind. 

The barista manning the order counter is different, but the decorations are the same, still the same succulents hanging from the ceilings. He mulls over the menu and goes up to order.

“Can I get an iced caramel latte?” Jaehyun doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but he’s feeling nostalgic today. 

“Of course! Here’s your total.” 

He pays with a swipe of his card and the barista goes to work making his drink. He waits around by the counter and soon enough, his drink is ready. That particular table is empty, so he grabs a chair to sit. His first sip is overly saccharine, but he appreciates how the flavor mellows out by the end of it. 

It’s been nearly a year since that night. 

Jaehyun remembers waking up to a splitting headache and a dry mouth. He thought nothing of the prepared setup as he gulps the ibuprofen and the glass of water in one go. Nothing seemed amiss really until a few days later. 

No one mentioned your name around him and he caught Seulgi giving him a look every now and then. Mark didn’t say much either, but Jaehyun felt him drifting away.

He thought he’d feel a lot more, but he didn’t. One day you were a part of his life and then the next day you weren’t. It really was that simple.

He kept in contact with Joy even after La La Land was over and maybe they were something more, but it didn’t last longer than a few weeks. 

It didn’t feel right when he was with her. Again, something felt off, but a different kind of off.

Joy was the one to end things with him, but he didn’t mind too much. 

He filled his days with study and practice and it wasn’t until he landed a job at his local theatre company that he realized.

It was you. It was always you and perhaps it still is you. 

Maybe you were different. Maybe you were the one, but Jaehyun didn’t try.

He recalls feeling smothered. You were always there at the beginning, but he took that for granted. 

There are a lot of things he regrets, but above all, he regrets not talking with you. He regrets not trying to work on it. He regrets being a coward and running away at the first signs of true emotions. 

You weren’t perfect, but neither was he, but he should’ve stayed so the both of you could work it out together. Jaehyun always did take too long to find the courage to pursue what he wanted.

With a final sip, he finishes the drink and moves to throw it away. Then, he sees you. Here, in the flesh, in almost a year. 

Your hair is longer, but your cheeks are still as rosy as ever. You walk up to order and Jaehyun thinks it’s a sign. He moves to greet you, but the doors open again and in walk Yeri and Seulgi. He watches you greet them warmly with wide open arms. 

You always did give the best hugs.

Jaehyun watches the three of you chatter away and he feels acutely out of place in the little cafe. You look happy and he should move on. 

He throws his finished cup in the trash can and moves to exit through the side door, but he moves too slowly.

“Jaehyun, is that you?” You call out. He looks into your steady gaze and almost feels shy. 

“Yeah,” he’s quiet. “It’s been awhile.”

“It has,” you agree. “You look well.”

The smile you give him has him believing in second chances and maybe he’ll get it right this time.

Note: i am so sorry that the second part is a hot mess express smh… there were a lot of things i planned and intended that didn’t happen, but i’ll just take this as a learning experience and write and better story next time. thanks for taking the time to read this !! <3

masterlist.

[dailyaudiobible]

01/25/2023 DAB Transcript

Genesis 50:1-Ex 2:10, Matthew 16:13-17:9, Psalms 21:1-13, Proverbs 5:1-6

Today is the 25th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we take the next step forward together on the adventure that we have embarked on 25 days ago. We’re 25…well…once we read today, we’ll be 25 days into our year. This is a day of a bit of transition. We will finish our first full book of the Bible today and then move forward. So, we will be doing that right now. We’ll finish the book of Genesis and then we'll get into the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus and we’ll talk about Exodus when we get there but we’ve got one chapter of Genesis to finish up the book. And one last thing before we get going, we will be going to the land of the Bible here in less…well…in about a week and a half and a bunch of us will be there actually in person and the rest of us will be traveling virtually. But hang out until the end today because we'll be talking about Israel 2024 next year. But let's dive into the Scriptures now. And if we will recall, we said goodbye to Jacob and we remember his name was changed to Israel, which is where we get this name, Israel. And Israel's children are the children of Israel. We said goodbye to Jacob yesterday as he passed from the story and into history. Today we finish the book of Genesis with chapter 50.

Introduction to the book of Exodus:

Okay. So, that concludes the book of Genesis, Jacob has passed, they took him back to the land. They took his body back to the land of Canaan, back to the cave at Machpelah in the Valley of Eshkol and buried him in the ancestral family plot, the only piece of land that's owned by any children of Israel. And, so, they go back to this place and then they returned to Egypt, and Joseph passes away at 110 years of age, telling his family that there's a promise and there’s a land and when God leads you into this land take my bones with you. And, so, now we are about to open up the second book in the Bible, the book of Exodus. And, so, as we open up the book of Exodus, when we flip that page, we’re flipping the page by several hundred years. And, so, all of these original children of Israel that we've met along the way and all of the family dynamics that we've been able to observe, all of these people have passed away. All of these original people that we been, walking alongside, they're all gone now but their families, the generations have flourished and the people have become numerous, numerous as the stars in the heavens, numerous like sand on the seashore like God had promised to Abraham. It's just that they're not in the land that they were promised, they’re in the land of Egypt and they’re growing more and more numerous and more and more powerful, and the Egyptians are starting to become afraid of them and starting to marginalize them. And now that we’re several centuries into the future Egypt has forgotten about Joseph and the way that they were saved from the devastation so long ago. And, so, the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel in Egypt. And Pharaoh, seeking to stop them from growing more and more numerous and more and more powerful, instituted some population control that's horrible. Like if the baby is a boy, throw him into the Nile River. This is the command of the King. And, so, baby boys were being drowned in the Nile River. But there was a promise. There was a hope for a future for this people. And it's interesting because we flip into…into Exodus and we’re hundreds of years in the future and when we think about God's promises in our day and age normally, we are thinking about things that…that need to materialize in a hurry, right? And we don't really think that will give a promise that we won't get to see, like this Longview, like that…that…that we’re a part of a story that is centuries and centuries, even millennia old. We want the instant gratification of it all. But there's a story going on as we read through the Bible. There was a person, Abraham. And we followed his family and there was a promise. And it's still out there and it’s still unfulfilled and it's still going on and it's still a part of the…of the people. God finds Abraham and sends him to a land that he doesn't know. God promises a son of promise and Isaac is born and God appears to Isaac and Isaac passes the promise to his son Jacob. Then God reveals himself to Jacob who passes this onto his 12 sons, the children of Israel who are now marginalized and enslaved in Egypt. But the promise is still there. And they begin to cry out to God. And a baby boy is born, and this baby boy is put into the Nile as commended, but he was put into the Nile in a wicker basket and he was floating and this wicker basket was discovered, as we will see, by Pharaoh's daughter and she names the baby boy Moses. And we will be traveling a good distance with Moses. And, so, we begin. Exodus chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the next step forward. And for the first time we get to experience transitioning from one book to another, and we thank You for bringing us through the book of Genesis, and that sense of accomplishment that we are under way. We are on our way. And even as we look back to the book of Genesis, how much You brought up and out into our lives for us to consider and for us to be transformed by. And, so, we are grateful for that, for that journey through the book of Genesis. And now as we move into the book of Exodus, we’ve met this baby boy who's going to be the mighty Moses. And as we engage with this story, we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct us. May we see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear as we continue this journey forward. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

Okay. So, like I said at the beginning we will be going to the land of the Bible here in about a week and a half. And we’ll be spending the better part of a couple weeks in the land, moving throughout the land from the Mediterranean coast, the border of Jordan, from the Red Sea all the way to the borders of Lebanon and Syria in the north, north, south, east, west and the interior of the land. We have over the years created the most comprehensive biblical immersion into the land of the Bible that that we know how to do while making it a pilgrimage for our hearts. And, so, we’re certainly looking forward to that. And, so, the first thing is to ask the community here to begin to pray over all of the things that are involved in a trip like that - international travel, jet lag, time zone changes, culture changes, all kinds of logistics, all kinds of things that are set up to fire in a certain order and work in a certain way, and of course technology, the technology that binds us together each and every day continues to go forward no matter where we may be in the world. And, so, technology, safety, wisdom, all that we will need to take this journey, covering it with prayer. And this community is a community of prayer, and I have witnessed that over all of these years. And, so, just asking for everyone to begin to pray over all of these things is my…is…is my request, is my ask, that the Holy Spirit might hover over us as we take the journey and do the work in us that…that we need as we open ourselves to the experience. This will be our first journey back since the pandemic era that we went through. It was 2020 was the last time we were in the land and really truly rode the wave ahead of Covid, like literally got back in 2020, two weeks before the world locked down. And…and we had such an interesting strange year in 2020. In 2021, things were still on lock down as far as that kind of international travel goes. 22 went by. And in 2022 we decided as things were opening back up, as restrictions were going down, as things were…at least for international travel returning to something that looks a little more regular...we decided to go. And that's what we’re about to do. We decided in 2022 to go in 2023. And, so, we’re about to do that. But we've also looked at this surge coming into Israel, as things do return to normal. And, so, we weren't really able to go back and kind of then reevaluate and see how things were. It was like man unless you want to go in 2025 or 2026 you gotta…you gotta kind of make a commitment for 2024. And we have done that. And we have to do those kinds of things because we have a whole…an entire team, both on the Israeli side and on the American siding. And, so, keeping that all together and keeping everybody booked in advance kind of to know what's gonna happen, we’ve had to do that. And, so, we are going to go back in 2024 on a pilgrimage to the land of the Bible. This will take place between February 12th and 25th of 2024. So, just a bit over a year from now. Registration is now open. You can find out all about Israel 2024 and experiencing the land of the Bible on pilgrimage with Daily Audio Bible at dailyaudiobible.com or if you are using the app, you can press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that will open up a drawer. Either place. Look for the Initiatives section and in the initiatives you will find Israel 2024 and all of the kinds of details that you would want to know as you consider taking this pilgrimage, but registration for 2024, February 2024 is open now. Just a little bit of a heads up. When we announced the pilgrimage that we’re about to go on, the one for 2023, the one that we announced back last year, I wasn't really sure. I just knew that if we didn't take a step and return then years and years and years would go by. And this has been part of the rhythm of our year, but with all that had gone on in the world with all the sickness, all the pandemic, all of the restrictions, all of the cares of it, all of the uncertainty of it, we just didn't know. Does anybody want to go back to Israel? What ended up happening was very surprising and that was that the pilgrimage for 2023 had sold out within 24 hours. And even if there had been something that…that we could have or wanted to do about that, there was nothing that we could do. Like literally all of the rooms in Israel and all of the places that we were going were all full. So, there has been an extreme demand for…for the holy land. But even had we been able to expand, that's not really what we’re doing here. We’re not trying to take a dozen buses or even half a dozen buses or anything like that. That…that really really becomes limiting to the kind of schedule that we’re trying to keep and the amount of places that we’re trying to allow ourselves to be immersed in and just the entire breadth and depth and width of the country that we’re trying to see. And, so, we take two buses, just enough people that everybody can get to know everybody and we can be family together and a community together as we take the journey together. And, so, that is what we are planning for 2024 as well. And, so, if going to the land of the Bible is something that has been a dream or something on the bucket list, something that you feel compelled toward in your heart, something that you need to feel, like you need to see with your own eyes that you need to smell with your own nose that you need to hear with your own ears then registration is open for the 2024 Daily Audio Bible pilgrimage to the land of the Bible, than registration is available now for that trip. And I’ve told you where to find it. I will let you know again that…that that trip did sell out in a day and then we had a couple hundred people on a waiting list. And, so, if you are compelled to take the journey I wouldn't delay. So, check it out.

That is the announcement and that is it for today. I am Brian I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Dan from AZ and I'm calling to ask for a prayer request for my wife who's been suffering from migraine headaches for over a year every day. And I just…I've been praying for her. She's been praying but it just doesn't seem to help. She's been seeing doctors and stuff and I just would like to get a prayer request out there for all the DABbers. This is my first time calling. This is my first time listening to the daily Bible and it's been a blessing and I just want to reach out and ask for…for help in Jesus’ name. Thank you.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family I am reaching out for prayer. I am dealing with many issues in my life. My marriage needs prayer. My husband needs a lot of prayer. He's dealing with very difficult job depression, anxiety, anger issues, temper tantrums. He's quite abusive as of late and there is potential that he's having an affair. And if he's not having an affair, he's definitely hiding pornography. Anyway, I am also trying to declutter everything that I own for preparation for moving because it looks like this marriage is going to end. Not by my choice but by his and I just need help. I need willpower. I need the ability to let go of stuff that I do not need and to fight this hoarding pack ratting mentality. I don't have a ton of stuff, but I have so much more than is necessary and it's embarrassing, and I'm just appalled by myself as I pull things out of closets and just see how horrible it really is. On the surface the house looked great but underneath it's terrible. So anyway, please pray for me. Pray for my daughter in the midst of all of this. Pray for God to provide. Pray for my husband to come back to the Lord. And if it's God's will, to save this marriage but in such a way that my husband is no longer abusive on so many levels. And pray that I would have patience and be more like Christ through it all. Thank you so much family.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family my name is Evelyn and I'm calling from Germany. I would like to ask for prayers for my mother. Right now, she's at stage four cancer and it has spread to…according to the doctors the brain, the liver, the bones. And yeah, she has done some sessions of chemotherapy and she also did radiotherapy, and she was asked to do so more radiotherapy for the bones. I just could not look at __ yesterday because she broke down crying. And yeah, the doctors gave her news that we just…had broken. And for me it's also breaking my heart and I'm also trying to manage my emotional __ here. So, please ask that you join me in prayers for her. There is nothing impossible for our God to do. Our God will step __. Nothing is impossible for God to do. __ the Lord emotionally, financially. And even looking at her is…is…is…is really breaking my heart. But I trust God and we all trust God. Nothing is impossible for God to do. Thank you so much for sending in your prayers. I would really appreciate it. I've been blessed by following the Daily Audio Bible every day and it has really blessed my life and lifted my spirit and built my faith up. Thank you so much. Bye.

This is Nobody Gets Left Behind from Colorado calling in a praise report and a couple prayer requests. My mom, she is at a homeless shelter now. Praise God for that. Her tent went up in fire. Somebody rescued her saved her life. I just asked that my DAB family can just join me in prayer to put it in her heart to go to and assisted living. She's a bit stubborn but I thank God that she's still here. And I'm about to go pick her up for church today. I want to ask if you could pray for my brother. I had mentioned that he had been released from prison. He was there for 20 years, and I just ask that you join me in prayer that his life can worship Jesus and just be a light to people and that his repentance and his remorse for what he did wrong will always give him the contrite heart and that his music and his talents and all the things that he does that that can just clarify you Jesus. I just also wanted to say that I loved hearing Annette Allison’s story today. I love you sister. You always bring a big, big smile on my face. Praise God for you…you sister and for Blind Tony. I just always love your wisdom that flows from your heart Tony. I praise God for you and Lisa with stage four cancer you've been heavy on my heart, heavy on all of our hearts sister. And, you know, let God's will be done in our lives no matter what we go through. We have eternal mindset. Love you guys.

Good morning everyone __. My name is Gloria __. I'm just calling in to get some help with some things. I just need help with, you know, worrying about myself and staying happy, you know, because I don't want to be depressed anymore. I just want to be happy. When I come to work, I'm very depressed. Just thinking about work I'm very depressing for me. Like, you know, I'm happy to have a job. I was homeless before I even got this job. So, you know, I'm blessed for it. But, you know, it's not even the job. It's the people, you know. This new generation…I'm even in the new generation…I'm only 26 years old. So, you know, this new generation just wants to come to work, stay on their phone, not help others, not, you know, help out and it's kind of hard to endure. It's kind of hard to grasp, you know. I go home every day depressed. And, you know, even talking to someone. you know, here doesn't help. Supervisors doesn't help with it. The management doesn't help. I did therapy. Therapy doesn't work for me. I don't know what else to do, you know, because I go home and I’m so depressed that I don't even have time for my babies. And that's not an excuse. I know it. I'm trying. I just need your prayers you guys. So, please pray for me. Thank you Brian, thank you Jill, thank you China, thank you Ezekiel, thank you everyone, and most importantly thank you God. I am trying my hardest, you know, stay on the right path. Just pray for me please. I love you guys. Bye.

This is Sabina calling asking for prayers for myself and my family. I have been…in the last 15 years I've struggled with really deep tiredness, and I've been sick a lot and…and I have an education, I've been working and sometimes I can work for some months and then suddenly I just get so deeply tired that…that I can't work anymore. It's not possible. I get sick and sometimes depressed and a little stressed and I have a lot of pain and ache in my body. And it's been like this for on and off for 15 years. I've had good times as well but it's really hard sometimes, hard for me and for the family and financially very hard. So, I would just ask if somebody would pray for me and…and our situation and that somehow things will change and, yeah, that I may follow God's will whatever it is. I really want to work. I really want to do things and just…not only just stay at home and not have anything to do. I really want to do something for God and for my family for people around me and for myself as well. So, I pray that, yeah, somehow there will come a change and…and I will know what to do, what is in God's will.

[wandsandwheezes]

Family Man | F. W

TW // mentions of prem kids, pregnancy, children but mostly pure fluff

Taglist ✨ @witch-and-a-half @weasleysflowr @hufflepuffgirly @theweasleysredhair @wand3ringr0s3

If you asked Fred Weasley what his pride and joy was, people would usually expect him to beam proudly about the success of the shop with his brother, nevertheless, when he smiles fondly and says 'Thea Weasley' people are more often than not surprised.

Fred loved his Daughter so much that words couldn't describe how much happiness filled his heart every time he saw her. The second she was born, she had him wrapped around her little finger, a father that would do anything for her.

When you and Fred married, you were quick to fall pregnant with your first child, a Daughter, named after your Mother but the absolute spitting image of her father, however her soft strawberry blonde locks curled into ringlets, a trait that seemed to sprout as soon as her hair was long enough.

"How're my girls doing?" Fred whispers, pulling off his jacket, having just walked in from a day at the shop. You're sat with your daughter nestled into your side, about an hour or so deep into a nap. Fred gently scoops her up, not before pressing a small kiss to your forehead with a sweet hello, her little arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, falling back asleep instantly.

He took her up to her bed, tucking her in underneath her covers before pressing a gentle kiss to her hair, "goodnight my sweet angel, sleep well"

"I wish she'd stop growing," He says, joining you on the sofa, allowing you to cuddle into his side, his hands moving to play with your hair as he kicks off his shoes. "one day I'll wake up and my little girl will be an adult."

Laughing gently, you trace circles on his chest, feeling relaxed against him, you reminice of the moments you'd had together as teenagers, talking like this about your futures, getting married, how many kids you'd wanted and how you'd both give anything to do all of that with each other.

"Unfortunately Freddie, all they do is grow," You move to press a kiss to his cheek, nuzzling your nose into his neck for warmth, causing him to wrap his arms even tighter around you.

Little did you know that day, you were already pregnant with your second & third weasley children - the twins, like their father but one boy and one girl, Lee and Winnie. Identical apart from the eyes, the girl like her fathers and the boy much like yours, both with signature weasley hair.

Not even a few months after the twins you found out you were having another son, Billy who looked much like his uncle Bill did as a child, as Molly had pointed out hence his name. You originally wanted to call him Jamie but when you met your little boy for thr first time, both you and Fred decided that Billy was definitely more fitting.

finally your youngest daughter, Arabella. She was a gift that none of you had expected, after some complications after having Billy, you didn't think that having another child would be on the cards again. You found out you were pregnant a week or so before Fred's Birthday you had taken test after test, and even a trip to St Mungos to make sure, but as your doctor assured you, Arabella was on her way.

The thing about little Bella was that she was a tiny baby, a premature birth. When she was born she was so fragile looking and hearing her cries broke Fred's heart. The doctors said that she was quite frankly a miracle, making her just another pillar of pride for your adoring husband.

Having five children with Fred was an interesting experience, the house grew louder and louder and soon became like a second Burrow, children in and out of the house, magic everywhere. It truly was reminiscent of both of your childhoods. Despite having all the children to look after, he loved all of them with his whole heart and nothing less.

Your kids loved loved going to see Fred's parents and getting to spend time with Uncle George and Uncle Ron it was heart-warming to watch your family love the people you chose to be your family. Winnie absolutely adored being around Ginny and Lee wanted nothing more than to be like his Uncle Harry.

When Thea's Hogwarts letter came, Fred genuinely thought he was going to have a heart attack, "Merlin, Y/N, my little girl isn't old enough to be going to Hogwarts!" he was sat across the table from you eating his lunch, The sounds of Lee and Winnie bickering as Billy quietly draws and Arabella sits in your lap, listening into the conversation. To you, you were watching your babies grow up right before your eyes but to Fred they were always his babies.

"Freddie, my love it'll be the twins next, Lee wont shut up about getting to see Uncle Harry at school." you laugh, playing with the little curls on Arabella's head, a trait inherited from her oldest sister, "give it four years and our Bella will be off on her first year at Hogwarts with all of her siblings."

"I don't even want to think about that, I really don't know how Mum did it, sending us off one by one." you laugh lightly looking at your husband with a small smirk, "From what i heard from Molly, she was all but kicking you onto the platform, apparently you and George were a nightmare"

"We so were not!" he defended, feigning fake offense, rolling his eyes and taking a bite from his sandwich. "I think we were absolute golden angels" you raise an eyebrow at him, shaking your head, "You can be a golden angel and take Thea with you to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get her supplies, I don't fancy a day trip to London with the whole weasley clan just yet!" you laugh, he nods finishing up his food, the plate finding it's way to the sink, being washed up magically like at the Burrow, he presses a kiss to your hair, heading quickly to step into his father shoes, only to break up the growing argument between the twins.

You sat, content in the family you created, praising your younger self for putting up with all of Fred's antics because really, you were the luckiest girl on earth, with the greatest man alive, a loving father and the best Husband.

The time came to send Thea off on the Hogwarts Express, Molly had agreed to look after the rest of the children as you sent off your oldest, you were crying with fred as you hugged your little girl goodbye before she got onto the train. "Remember, Thea, it doesn't matter what house you get put in, and if you need someone to help you, you find Ted or Uncle Harry and they'll help you out." she laughs, wrapping her arms around her father's neck giving him a long hug. "I'll be fine, Dad, after all, I've got the weasley name to live up to!" he smiles proudly at his daughter, i give her one last kiss, giving her a couple of galleons for the train, "I love you, Thea." she hugs me again, "Love you too, Mumma!"

"One down, Four to go." you joke, leaning into your husband's side as you wave the train off, "At least the twins will have each other and Thea next year, the poor girl is all on her own!" you shake your head, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'm sure she's already made friends, she's much like you when it comes to being outgoing..." he smiles, calming down a little, "I can't believe we've just sent our first off to Hogwarts." you hug him gently. "Neither can I, Freddie, neither can I."

[hawkstarz]

Deadcember “I can’t lose you”

TW: Character Death, Bruising, Blood

Snippet:

Something about the way the other set his head back into David’s hand told him he wouldn’t be able to hold up to his word.

“Okay..”

Something about that felt like a goodbye

AN:

I feel pretty okay with how this came out! I haven’t written my own one shot in a bit so it was a nice change! Hope you enjoy! <3

With Jack gone from the strike it left David in charge with only the hope that he could muster up even the slightest courage in the shadow of the former leader.

It had started when the bulls arrived. The whole event was nothing but a haze.

He could vaguely remember seeing Jack running. He could remember seeing him get tackled and beaten, but David had been too busy trying to make sure he kept Les out of the fight to notice what had actually happened until it was already over.

The strike had been left without a leader. Left with shattered and broken down boys, and David was left to pick up the pieces.

He made a point to try and visit him every day. He was no stranger to stories of the refuge and how bad it really was there, but nothing compared to seeing Jack go through the real thing.

The first day he visited him Jack was shaken up, but relieved when David made an appearance. He looked bruised, but not too bad. A bloody lip and a swollen eye, but they were things David had seen Jack wear with something akin to pride before. He never seemed to be a stranger to it. Of course, that didn’t mean David wasn’t worried, but the other being in high spirits when he arrived calmed that for a moment.

Jack had been so firm on telling him to keep going with the strike, and even more so on telling him that he’d get out. He went on and on about how he had a plan, and that he was “Just letting ‘em think I’m scared so it stings more when I get out” in his words. He promised that he’d be out, better than ever, that David didn’t need to worry. He promised that he would be okay.

David believed him.

The second time David visited Jack’s spirits weren’t so high. There was that same relieved look. That same crooked smile that greeted him every morning to sell, but there was a stumble in the other boy’s step, like it was paining him to get to the window. When David had pushed a hand between the bars to cup his cheek he could feel the other sink into it in an instant. It looked as though he’d aged 1,000 years, those bags under his eyes and wrinkles from his eyebrows being knitted together becoming more and more apparent as time passed. He looked so.. tired.

David had asked what happened. He asked if he was alright, if he needed anything. The other simply shook his head, shooting that same kind smile to him that seemed so genuine every time it came. “I’m alright, Dave. Just glad you’re here.”

He visited as much as he could. Hell, at one point Jack had told him he didn’t even have to miss him since he was always around. David tried to come at least every other day, but when things started to get harder and harder in the strike, David’s ability to visit dwindled.

He hadn’t come for a week. It was 11 PM when he managed to reach the window.

“Jack?” He whispered softly, spotting the other boy’s figure in the bed. He could see him shaking.. whether it was from the cold or something else he wasn’t sure.

When he saw the other turn to him he was sure he felt his heart stop.

He could faintly see blood trickling down, though he wasn’t sure where it was even from. It covered the expanse of his forehead, and bits came from his nose and mouth. His eye had been swollen shut and David wasn’t sure he even wanted to know what had been done to the rest of him.

“Dave” His voice cracked. David could see him recoil at that alone. He watched him try and push himself to sit, then to stand. He could practically see the pain shooting through the boy on the other side of the room, it being written all over his face. He watched him stumble, practically fall as before he reached the window, and when he did David was quick to push a hand through the bars to cup his cheek.. just the same way he had the second day he’d visited, only this time he watched the other wince away. He watched him hesitate at seeing him. And finally he watched him let his head sink back into his grip.

“Jack- what the hell happened to you?” Finally he seemed to get his voice back, brushing his thumb along the other’s cheek and being sure to try and avoid the bruising.

“Davey-“ The other winced, his breath hitching in his throat. He could tell the other was trying to hold himself back, but soon enough he started to cough, heavy whimpers seeming to slip out just as easy.

“I need you to-“

“Shh.. Jack take a second-“

“No-“

“Jack-“

“David listen to me” Something about the other boy’s tone made him fall silent. It was uncharacteristically solemn, something David knew better than to interrupt.

He watched the other fall silent once he had.. he hesitated. He looked scared. Scared to speak. Something told David he wouldn’t like what was about to be said.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“Jack- we’re gonna get you out of here.”

“David, I can’t do this anymore.” David fell quiet, already feeling his eyes start to water at the implications. At what he wanted.

“I’m-.. I can’t-… Dave I can’t let them make that choice for me.” He was sure Jack was crying purely by his voice, but David’s eyes were too clouded with tears to be sure.

“I can’t die here because of them.”

There it was. That one word that shook David to the core.

“You’re not- you’re not gonna die here Jack. We’re going to get you out.”

“Davey, please just let me go-..”

“No! No I’m not- you’re going to get out Jack I promise. They’re not gonna get the chance I-.. I can't lose you-“ Jack had gone quiet, looking at David with an expression that made him sick. He looked so tired.. so worn out, as though he wanted to plead and beg just to make it stop and yet he knew David wouldn’t budge.

“I promise I’m gonna get you out of here.”

Something about the way the other set his head back into David’s hand told him he wouldn’t be able to hold up to his word.

“Okay..”

Something about that felt like a goodbye.

Day after day passed. There were less and less scabs showing up, but they were around enough for David to hear about each headline showing up. Hear what bullshit Pulitzer had to spill every day.

But three days later and there was one headline that stood out.

David wouldn’t have dared to buy a paper during the strike, but the more he heard that headline shouted the more it nagged at him until he finally snapped and bought it. He just needed to see.

Above the fold. Nothing. Nothing there. First page, nothing. Second page, nothing. Third page-

Body found in the east river

Francisco Sullivan, better known as Jack Kelly, the leader of the newsboy strike was found dead in the East River on Tuesday, July 30, 1899.

Found dead.

He was dead.

David felt his breath catch in his throat, clutching the paper in his hands tighter and tighter.

He could feel a hand on his shoulder. He could hear someone talking to him, asking him what happened.. Race. Then it was quiet, and that hand from his shoulder fell. He read it.

David felt his knees buckle from beneath him, scraping against the street and causing a stinging along his legs, and that first sob finally escaped him. Heavy, pained, and broken up. It broke the silence that felt so deafening to the point that he wanted to scream.

He felt himself take in a breath, stuttered and stressed, he felt another sob rip from his throat. He felt someone sit beside him. He felt a pair of arms around his shoulders, and he could feel them shaking, and his shirt dampened. Race was crying too.

He could remember the first time he met him. That welcoming smile. How genuine and filled with joy it was. He could remember his sarcastic quips and witty responses that David had tried so hard to seem unimpressed by despite the heat that would rise to his cheeks.

He could remember quiet nights on the fire escape, the other’s head rested gently along his shoulder as they stared up at the sky. It was clear for once, brighter than ever. Jack was talking about god knows what, and if David was honest he was far too distracted by the sight of him alone. The way he threw his head back when he laughed with such genuine joy. That look he gave him that seemed like he had hung the stars in the sky.

He was perfect. He was perfect in ways David could never describe. He was caring and kind and always seemed to know just what to say to calm David’s worries. He deserved the world and David wished he could have given it to him.

He didn’t even make it above the fold.

[mae-gi-writes]

Burning Flame (PT.2 of Catching Fire) | Sunwoo (The Boyz)

BY POPULAR DEMAND! Part Two of Catching Fire; it is only when Atheera falls under attack that your love for Sunwoo gets revealed. 

Genre: fluff, royal au! guard Sunwoo au.

A/n: jesus christ Sunwoo will be the death of me and I aint even mad.

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Confrontation had never been Sunwoo's forte. So imagine the horror on his face once the words slipped from Y/N's mouth as she stared down her parents just like she would stare down the barrel of a gun.

It wasn't anyone's fault per se. It all so happened that the Royal Kingdom of Atheera was under attack a few weeks after the pair's undying confession of love to each other, which made Sunwoo one of the primary guards responsible for devising their defences.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Y/N had said lightly, though the said guard heard the soft lingering sadness in her voice despite her attempts to sound as jovial as she possibly could.

"They need me," he looked up from tying up his boots, catching sight of the princess's worried glances flying between him and the group of soldiers that were waiting outside the stables. She had been allowed to the servant's quarters with the excuse that she would be the one to send off their army. But it was quite unsettling to see her -- refined and pale and looking as fragile as glass -- amidst the piles of straw stacked in the corner and the smell or horse droppings in the air.

She shuffled uneasily, clearly distraught by the fact that he'd be taken from her side for days, weeks at most. Throwing a glance to ensure that no one was eavesdropping, the soldier reached out, grasped her hand, and dragged her to him. His legs parted so that she stumbled between them, tilting his head upwards to gaze into her dark worried pools of brown.

Reaching up almost out of instinct to curl her hair behind her ear, he said, "I won't be long. You'll blink and I'll be back."

"Liar," she shot back.

"Okay so maybe I'll be a little longer than usual," he grinned while trying to imprint her features into memory. God knows how long he'd be gone. He wished he could pause to enjoy this moment -- just the two of them -- for a little longer.

It was only upon feeling the softest brush of Y/N's lips against his forehead that he was brought out of his daze, gazing at her with questioning eyes.

She bit her lip, averted her eyes, "please be careful."

"I will," he wrapped his arms around her middle, hearing her take a soft breath as he dropped a peck onto her clothed stomach, "one day, what's inside will be mine."

"Sunwoo!" Her blush was so prominent atop her cheeks, she slapped his arm, "you cocky bastard."

And so they said their goodbyes with Y/N on the brink of tears and Sunwoo's heart heavy with emotion. When her voice broke as she told him to take care of himself, he had to steal one last kiss from her mouth while murmuring how much he loved her, chuckling as she flushed deep red even when shrouded by the darkness of the stables.

One week had gone by. Then two. Then, just when Y/N had given up hope altogether that her soldiers would find their way back home, she'd spotted the tiniest glimpse of the red Atheerian flag billowing in the distance and had practically fallen out of bed to alert the guards at the gates.

It was chaos. Blood splattered across every soldier's face, clothes torn and tattered in places she couldn't even imagine. Y/N barely kept it together as her eyes flitted from bruises to scrapes to trying to identify a familiar face amidst a sea of vague strangers.

Sunwoo, Sunwoo, Sunwoo, her heart and mind chimed together. But he wasn't there, he didn't seem to be there.

Emotion tightened her throat. Before her eyes fell onto a face.

A face she'd been waiting for all this time.

It was relief that hit her first. It crashed through her body and caused her shoulders to slump away all the tension. But just as quickly as it went, it came right back as soon as she spotted his mangled body being half-dragged by two other soldiers, bloodied shirt and all, and a badly-wrapped wound that was drenched in blood. 

Y/N didn’t realize that her mouth had opened on its own accord, that she was screaming -- until hands fluttered at her sides, pulling her back.

“No!” She screeched and batted the limbs away, before charging towards a barely coherent Sunwoo with a force she seldom knew she had, “Sunwoo!” 

“Y/N,” came his soft, breathy murmur, masked by a soft groan when his movement caused pain to ring through his side. She quickly went to his other side, slung his shoulder around her arm albeit the fact that her nightgown was getting all bloody in the process. He would’ve reprimanded her in normal circumstances, but he barely had any energy to peel his eyes open.

“Bring him to the hospital wing, I want his wound to be treated as soon as possible. Call all doctors if need be,” Y/N’s voice, despite echoing through his mind as though he was hearing her through muffled headphones, was sharp with authority, the power of her bloodline thrumming through her tone, “get the rest of the soldiers to safety. The ones who aren’t injured should go down to the city, gather as many doctors as you can. If there are others just like Sunwoo, get people to start treating them.”

The said soldier willed his mouth to speak, to tell her that he was fine and that there was no need to worry, for his wound wasn’t that deep. But it seemed like he’d lost consciousness as soon as he was marched through the castle doors for the next thing he knew, his eyes were fluttering open to see Y/N before his bed, hands fisted and mouth twisted into a scowl directed towards the King and Queen of Atheera standing at the door.

Sunwoo wanted to ask what happened, only for a cough to rip through his lungs instead. Y/N was at his side in a flash, hand coming up with a cup of water that he downed without hesitation. 

“What--” he coughed some more once she pulled the empty glass away, eyes flitting from her defensive figure to her parents’ worried glances, “Y/N?” he croaked out, “what’s going on?” 

"Nothing,” Y/N’s stance was defensive, a feline that felt threatened, “I’m just trying to tell my parents to call off the betrothal because the man I love is right here, in this room.” 

At that, she tilted her chin upwards in a defying manner, causing Sunwoo’s stomach to coil tightly in a mixture of fear and apprehension. He didn’t dare spare a glance towards the king, whom he could feel was practically drilling holes into his head from where he stood.

“How?” Her mother was saying, stumbling over words with glassy eyes, “how did that--how even? How? We never--”

“Does that matter?” Y/N cut her off as her hands tightened into balled-up fists at her sides, “I always did what you ask. I never complained. I’ve done all my duties as a princess. But just this once, I want to have a choice,” desperation laced through her soprano, “please.”

At this point, embarrassment was boiling through the soldier’s lungs like wildfire. Reaching out to tug at her arm, he rasped out in a whisper, “Y/N, not now--”

“We--” the king cleared his throat. Their faces swivelled, rapt with attention as the older man raised a hand in mock surrender, “we'll talk about this later.” 

And that was when he stepped out of the room, soon followed by his wife after throwing one final glance in the soldier’s direction. It was definitely not a friendly one.

Y/N wasted no time to turn to him as soon as the door closed with a sound that left a bitter aftertaste in Sunwoo’s mouth. Her eyes, red-rimmed and tired, searched his face as she tried not to burst into tears.

“You--” she bit her lip, barely managing to hold on to the multitude of emotions that would’ve rendered her weak at the knees if she hadn’t been sitting, "you idiot.” 

"You’re the idiot,” Sunwoo blinked away the tiredness, hand finding hers to interlock their fingers, “do you want to give your parents a heart attack?”

She shook her head, “never mind that,” glancing down at the bed sheet covering his wound, her eyes scanned his face for any hint of injury, “how are you feeling?”

“Y/N?” Panic rose through his chest, “what am I doing here? Did you tell them--”

“You were dying,” she interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. When his eyes shot up to hers in surprise and noticed her gaze brimming with tears, his heart couldn’t help but give a painful twist. She exhaled shakily, “you were dying and I couldn’t--I didn’t have a choice.” 

Something that felt like horror churned uneasily in the pit of his stomach. That was it. He’d probably be fired as soon as he could walk and albeit the fact that Y/N would fight for his sake, it was clear where the said soldier stood in the eyes of the Royal family; in the stables where he belonged.

As though taken by a sudden impulse to make things right, Sunwoo made to throw his leg out of bed. Y/N quickly shot out, pushing his shoulders back as she said, “Oh no. What do you think you’re doing?” she tucked the sheets back around his neck in a decisive manner, “you’re not moving. Not when you’ve practically lost half of your blood’s worth.” 

“I’m fine, I need--” her hands were insistent and he was too weak to fight her off. He relented with a soft grumble, a guilty expression taking over his face as he noted the dark circles imprinted underneath her eyes, the worried lines along her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” his murmur was soft and barely audible if she hadn’t been paying attention, “I’m sorry, for everything--”

“You scared me,” her tone was fierce, eyes glassy as she squeezed his hand, “I thought you--I thought you were dead.”

“I thought I was, too.” 

“There was so much blood,” her voice broke halfway through her sentence, “there was so much blood Sunwoo, I--I lost it. I just wanted you to get all the help you could get. I didn’t think and I--” 

“Hey hey,” he tried reaching for her, wincing as a dull ache spread throughout his limb. She noticed and leaned closer, close enough that he managed to lift a shaky hand to wipe away the stray tears threatening to cascade down her cheeks, “I’m okay now,” his thumb traced circles over her cheek, “don’t cry.” 

That was when she broke down into ugly sobs, pulling away from his hold and  leaning against the bed while her hands came up to hide her face from view. Sunwoo watched, own tears stinging the corner of his eyes. He wanted to hold her, to pull her close. His heart hurt at her broken countenance and he wondered how many nights had she stayed up watching over him, how many nights she’d cried herself to sleep. 

"Come here,” he rasped out a murmur and found her without protest when he managed to tug her. She wrapped her arms gingerly around his neck, pulled him close in a gentle hug and buried her face into the space between his shoulder and jaw.

“It’s okay,” he kept on repeating like a lullaby, alto so soft in her ear in made her shiver, “it’s okay, Y/N.”

It was only when her sobs had subsided into soft sniffles that she managed to lift her head to gaze at him with swollen eyes, and though she had never looked in a worst state, Sunwoo thought that she’d never looked so kissable right here, in this particular moment. 

And so he tugged her forward. Gently. 

She followed without hesitation, the softest kiss exchanged. It was one that sucked out all air from his body, one that caused all his nerves to light up in a fire of sensual temptation as he gazed at her through half-lidded eyes. 

She was close enough that he could tilt his head up and kiss her forehead. Her nose. Both cheeks. And her lips. Once, twice. 

Before he cupped the back of her neck to kiss her more deeply, mouth staining hers and moving her through a dance that was more rhythmic, more sensual. His tongue delved into hers and she let out a dying gasp as she relented to his attack, allowing his wet muscle to explore and twine around her own. A satisfied grumble echoed through his chest as he pressed her closer while the girl’s hands moved up to cup his face, caressed his jaw as she kissed back with just as much restrained passion.

He felt her desperate need to feel him close, her attempts to mold her entire body to his if that was possible, and smiled into the kiss before drawing away. The softest, muffled whine fell from her throat the moment he did, causing the soldier to chuckle as he watched her flush deep red with embarrassment.

"So what's going to happen?" He murmured, "now that your parents know?"

She shrugged, "does it matter? I'm not getting married to anyone but you. I made that clear enough."

"Y/N, you know it doesn't work that way."

"Oh don't worry," a wicked grin broke across her face, "the prince I'm supposedly betrothed to has already announced his engagement."

"What?" Sunwoo blinked, ears perked up and alert.

"We already had an agreement, him and I," she continued while playing with his fingers, "that both of us would be allied without marriage."

"Do your parents know about that?"

"Obviously," she paused, "not yet."

"Oh god," he let out a groan, "they're gonna hate me."

"Not if I do this first."

He didn't even have time to blink before he spotted her sliding something along his finger. A ring.

A ring.

His head snapped up in shock, jaw falling slack at her action. Y/N gazed back, flushed yet determined, gauging for his reaction.

He swallowed. Opened his mouth. Closed it. His ears flushed deep red.

Finally, he managed to cough out, "I--I was the one who was supposed to do that."

"Nobody ever said I couldn't do it first," she grinned back.

Sunwoo grumbled out an incoherent response and her grin widened even more upon noticing his embarrassment as he turned his hear away.

Giggling, she peered over at him, "are you blushing?" It was amusing to see Sunwoo, so brave and courageous, rendered to that of a small child who couldn't even meet her eyes, "you are blushing!"

"No I'm not!" He replied hotly.

"You so are!" She teased, "oh my god, Sunwoo. I didn't know you could be so cute."

He had nothing to say in his defense, only managed to bury his face back into her shoulder as she kept on laughing softly, hand going up to trickle through his dark strands.

"So will you?" She asked, "marry me?"

A whine escaped his mouth. But she pressed on, "I need a verbal approval."

He made another noise that sounded halfway between a mewl and a whimper. Y/N rolled her eyes and was about to flaunt that maybe she was asking the wrong person, when his hand grasped her shoulder to pull her back so that he could kiss her with much more intensity, a demanding kind of passion that left her breathless and causing a wave of desire to erupt through her stomach.

When he pulled away, there was a hint of a smirk dancing along his lips as he said, `was that answer good enough for you?"