#i didnt count how many words... oops..

[serjo-konahrik]

Together Forever (A MCSM Admin poly oneshot)

The sound of wind was pleasant to Fred - someone who enjoyed the finer and simpler things in life. Fred loved to watch sheep graze, plant wheat and talk to it, among other things as simple as that. His boyfriend on the other hand, Romeo, couldn't stand it.

Sitting there with Fred as they peered over the grassy flatlands together, he could feel his hands and feet twitch with his antsy behavior. Romeo preferred to do things by hand. "Not boring things ", as he would say - such as; banging swords against trees, the most insane rollercoasters he could create, and things like that. Romeo never understood how Fred could just.. relax and do nothing. This was so boring!

The pale man leaned back, propping his torso up with his hands in the grass as a bored puff escaped his lips. Romeo tapped his red sneakers together and hung his head back, allowing his hair to fall with it. Finally, his larger companion noticed his boredom and casted a red eyes glance his way.

Curiosity - Fred always had this innate curiosity that Romeo could get behind. That's what they had in common.

" Yes, Romeo? " Fred's gentle voice made the redhead blink, a small "uh.." trailing from his lips into silence. He was stunned for a moment, before he shook his head and looked away, humming. " I'm bored. Can't we do anything else besides.. bf- I don't know- sitting and doing nothing? " His voice held the slightest bit of agitation, the sound that made Fred just chuckle breathlessly. He loved the way Romeo stumbled over his words sometimes.

Fred sighed, a small accepting noise that made Romeo sit up straight with an excited interest. When Fred stood up, Romeo bounced up next to Fred and tilted his head up to look at his face. Fred was a bit defeated he couldn't enjoy his scenery, but Romeo would butt into his thoughts.

" It'll always be there! Let's go do something else! I've got myself an idea I've wanted to show you for a while. "

Fred loved his british-french partner, but sometimes he only liked to do things... he wanted to do. Luckily, Fred was a pushover for the people he loved, and didn't mind very much.

It wouldn't take long until the couple had traversed their way back to their lovely cabin, spruce, oak, and birch in all it's homestead glory. They had built it together! To represent each of them.

" Righty dighty! " Romeo spoke out, clapping his clawed hands together and a large grin spreading across his face. His sharp teeth exposed themselves, and Fred felt his heart flip for just a moment. " I've been working on something for a while now, and I think you. Will. Like it! " He annunciated his words, waggling his pointer finger at Fred. This made the blue man chuckle, tilting his head.

" You don't say? Well, then.. Show me what you've done. "

Fred would have no idea what Romeo would whip out when he declared his " ta-da! " So proud of himself when he whipped an egg from his pocket - a spawn egg of black and red. One that Fred hadn't seen yet. Ever since Romeo had gifted them their Admin Permissions, Romeo has been going wild with his creative process.

" Er.. Romeo? " Romeo tilted his head up, proud. " Yes, Fred? " " What.. exactly am I .. looking at.. ?"

Romeo blinked, leaning back and his grip on the egg faltering for a moment. Then, he gasped, seeming to understand that he forgot to explain this little surprise of his.

" Oh, yes! You see - I find that as of lately I've been quite bored. More than usual, so, I whipped up something to keep us all entertained! " Fred couldn't help but to raise a brow, crossing his arms slowly. He wasn't questioning Romeo, but he sounded a bit apprehensive when he spoke. Last time Romeo did something like this, he had retextured Fred's lovely pigs into.. Creepers!

" And that would be ..", Fred trailed off into a question. Romeo hummed, bringing the egg above his head. It was moments before he threw it to the ground with force, and Fred stumbled back, startled, when a loud hiss reached his ears.

Before him stood a black creature - several, gangly legs poking from the sides. Eight, Fred quickly deduced - mimicking amount of eyes on its face. Its eyes were red, glowing, and Fred felt himself shiver slightly.

" What -- what is that ?!" Fred was alarmed. This mob was obviously not going to be passive to others.

Romeo scoffed, waving off Fred's alarm. " Oh, don't get into a tizzy over it! I call it," Romeo's hands went up dramatically, pulling them apart slowly, " a spyder! " Fred stepped back, tilting his head. " Spider? " Romeo rolled his eyes. " No. Spyder - I said y, Fred, y. Fix your accent. "

Fred's light tension was lifted, chuckling nervously. It wouldn't stay that way for long, however, before Fred was jumping back again with a small yelp. An arrow whizzed past Romeo's head from behind, causing him to go completely still, and made contact with the spider. It let out a menacing hiss before keeling over into a puff of smoke, and Romeo threw his hands down in anger.

" XARA! " Romeo yelled. Fred let out a loud, much more carefree laugh this time. Romeo on the other hand would whip around to lock eyes with the assaulter.

There Xara stood, in all of her glowing green glory, on the roof of their home. She had her bow in her left hand, a narrowed look on her face as she kicked off of the wood. Her heels clacked when she pushed to the air, hovering down slowly towards the pair.

" I told you, Romeo, that if you decide to start creating more monstrosities, to leave us out of it. " Romeo spluttered, waving his hands in front of his face. " But - No! It even has a purpose! It drops string!! " Romeo clapped his hands together in a begging motion lips pursed. " I fixed what I got wrong last time! Why don't you like it still?"

Fred felt bad for the rising tension, clearing his throat gently and stepping forward. " No worries, Xara. It wasn't that bad, actually..! I thought it was just a bit.. " Fred trailed off, unable to find the words. Xara found them for him, putting a hand on her hip with a deadpanned " crawly " left her questioning lips.

Fred nodded. " Crawly! Not saying that's.. bad.. " Romeo simply scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away from them both.

" Why can't you just appreciate what I make, Xara? " Xara rolled her neon eyes, stepping up and planting her hand on Romeo's shoulder. " Shut up. "

Romeo opened his mouth to speak, object - yell at her even. Before he could, though, Fred stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend tightly. It made the redhead yelp and stand straight. He was crushed inside of that hug, lifted off of the ground with a lighthearted laugh.

" Romeo, relax! I'm sure she doesn't mean it that way. She's just too shy to say it to your face! " Xara gasped in response, reaching out to punch Fred in his arm. It made the big man laugh, Xara stressing out another " Shut up!" Only then did it click for Romeo, eyes widening and letting out a thoughtful 'oh' noise.

Fred's arms relaxed around Romeo then, easing him back to the ground in time for Romeo's frown to be replaced with a teasing smile.

" Xaraaaaaa, you love meee! " Xara's cheeks went a hue of a more vibrant green, stepping back with a defensive look on her face. " Don't - Romeo, do not- ! " Swiftly was she cut off by the shorter man colliding with her torso, wrapping his skinny arms around her broad build and pushing his face into her chest.

" Ohh, it's alright, Xaxa! I love you tooo!~ "

The mood swing was too intense for Xara, her blush growing fierce as she tried to pry Romeo off of her. " Don't call me that! Stop calling me that! " A second laugh joined Romeo's. In no time, Romeo was squeezed between Fred and Xara, wrapped up in Fred's large and fatty arms. Xara kicked and squirmed, unable to escape.

" Fred! " Fred tutted, shaking his head as he leaned down and put his face in her curly hair. " Come on, Xara, lighten up! He said he loved you. I love you too! " Xara would slow her squirming, slowly casting her glance away as her yells turned to flustered mumbles. Romeo chirped out a laugh, kicking his dangling feet.

" Yes, yes! Love and all that. " Romeo tilted his head up, pressing it back to Fred's chest to look up at him. " And you love me too. But I love it when you are cooking more! " Fred nearly dropped them, gasping softly as he put them both down firmly.

The sun was starting to set! How could he have lost track of time like this?

" Yes, dinner! " Fred quickly swerved around the two others, making his way towards the cabin. " I had a new soup planned out! I want you both to try it! "

Xara slowly turned fully, watching Fred walk away with a small sigh. " Okay, big guy. Fine. " She had began to walk after him, slowing down when she noticed Romeo wasn't behind her and up her ass like a needy dog. Xara looked over her shoulder at Romeo, who was simply starting at her - or past her - with a faraway look in his eyes.

" Rome? " She called to him. That sweet nickname.

Romeo perked up, blinking. Xara awkwardly scratched the back of her head. " You coming? " Romeo took a breath, giving her an oddly weak wave and nod. " Yes, in a moment. I'll.. I'll be right there, My Love! " The woman sighed, shaking her head as she turned back around with a dismissive " whatever. "

The first admin put his gangly fingers together over his chest, clenching his sharp jaw at the palpitation in his chest.

He hated mundane tasks, just as he hated to be left out of things. He hated and loved all sorts of things with a misunderstood passion, but this was was a different feeling. It was like his heart was being gripped in Xara's unforgiving fist, wringing him of his emotions. Romeo felt this sometimes - this overwhelming feeling that had him shaking.

Many things were unsure in Romeo's mind, his insecurities guiding him most of the time. This, though.. the feeling of overwhelming adoration and love.. He could never, ever, lose them. They could never go anywhere when it's just them.

Just them in this world, and they were beautifully crafted for one another. Romeo didn't have to worry about anyone else taking away his beloved.

A shaky sigh escaped Romeo as he began to float from the ground, drifting forward gently towards the warmly illuminated cabin.

This has to be what love feels like. It feels like the sound of Xara and Fred's laughter in the kitchen. The sound of Waffles clucking in alarm when Fred dropped something. The cold of the night being fought away by the warmth of the torches on their front porch.

They did what no one else could - Romeo, for once, felt as if he was made out of their love.

[ivyasproperty]

Light In The Dark.

wanda.m x fem!avenger!reader

summary — you've always had problems with your eyes, so why is it there's something, specifically someone standing so brightly in front of you?

warning(s) : idfk im too tired to check

word count : 2.1k

A/N : took a 2 month break bc i was lazy oops </3, i also didnt know wtf to call the aura so i called it spiritual powers teehee

You were born with a mysterious disease that not even the worlds best doctors could diagnose, you knew this since you were a a toddler, and yet, you couldn't help but get frustrated every time it passed your mind.

Your disease was special, it messed with your eye sight. Yes, you could see, but in your eyes, everything was in a darker hue. What was supposed to be the crystal blue sky on a sunny day, looked like a rainstorm during night.

So of course it made sense you were frustrated, your disease has affected your life is so many ways. You've lost jobs at café's or restaurants for not being able to see the menu, the pages being too dark to see the words written across it, you've lost jobs at business companies, bosses complaining your progress was too slow. Sure the glowing white light from the computer helped, but only slightly.

And so of course you were surprised when Nick Fury, founder of SHIELD, presented an opportunity for you to join the Avengers. You were hesitant at first, not understanding why they'd invite a person like you. But you were then informed that your powers, that being your hindered eye sight, could detect spiritual power. You were confused... spiritual power? How the hell were you supposed to detect that?

As if reading your mind, the one-eyed man told you that a person who possessed spiritual power would emit an aura that only you would be able to see. The more spiritual power that person had, the brighter the aura would be. He explained you would be a useful asset to recruiting more people, be it for the Avengers, or SHIELD.

You didn't like the feeling of being a tool to recruit more people, so you were about to decline, but then brought up the monthly paycheck you'd make if you were to accept. Well..... how could someone refuse THAT amount of money am I right? ( i imagine it to be maybe 10k-15k usd per month ^^ )

ᯓ★

Your first day on the job wasn't bad per say, but it was definitely hectic. The Avengers compound was so far away from where you lived, you had to wake up 2 hours earlier than you usually do to arrived at a reasonable time. It wasn't just that, the compound was so big, you had troubles navigating through the damn building, and with your shitty eye sight, you ran into multiple walls, causing you to rest for awhile and wasting even more time. Curse Stark and his big ass building.

After FINALLY arriving at the lounge room of the compound, you were surprised to see all members of the Avengers lined up in a line facing towards the entrance, as if waiting for you to arrive. Standing in front of them was a familiar figure, one you've come to recognise as Nick Fury.

As if sensing your presence, he turned around and gave what you think was a grin, you couldn't tell, all you could see was pitch black because of your disease.

Introducing yourself was another issue, even with the shiny blonde hair that Steve Rogers and Thor Odinsson had, it was hard to distinguish their faces. You had to squint your eyes to see if a person was standing in front of you or not.

After introducing yourself to Natasha Romanoff, the black widow, it was on to the next and final person, one you've heard on the news multiple times. Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlett Witch. She was just a few years older than you, so you were expecting a shy girl, what you weren't expecting was a bright red light shining around her figure. You covered your eyes, wanting and needing to block out the light to not damage your already damaged eyes.

After getting used to the shine, you let your hands fall to your sides, her features were something you've never seen before, which was ironic since you could barely make out people's faces. She had emerald green eyes, scarlet hair and light freckles adorned her cheeks. She was ethereal, you thought.

You were about to let go of her hand after shaking it when it hit you. Did you just explain her features in detail? But how? You could barely see anything. You looked back up at her face, and your eyes widened at how normal she looked. Nothing about her was a dark color, it was basically your first time seeing colors so bright.

You didn't notice the poor woman getting nervous under your gaze, 'is there something on my face?' she thought to herself. But before she could ask the question that she recited in her mind, she saw Fury tapping your shoulder, affectively breaking you out of your stupor.

"Sorry.." you murmured, "I've just never seen a face with such bright colors before. You know, with my disease and all...." You hated how shy you sounded, it was as if you were a petite girl getting caught for sticking her hand in the cookie jar.

"It's fine!" she enthusiastically said, she felt at ease after finding out the reason for your blatant staring. "Your names Y/N right? I hope we can be good friends." You hoped so too.

ᯓ★

You were settling in nicely. After being here for around 5 months, you've realised a lot more things about yourself. Who would've thought you'd be so good at sparring? Well at least yo were when against Steve, you'd never be able to beat Natasha. And who would've thought you were able to work out complicated biotech with Stark? Certainly not you. Who would've thought your heart would start pounding whenever Wanda Maximoff was around? Who would've tho- wait what? Your heart pounds whenever Wanda is around? You stopped in your tracks after the thought came into mind.

'I like Wanda?' you thought to yourself, 'That can't be, sure I'm always flustered around her and always crave to be around her, but that doesn't mean I have a crush on her! Right?' you asked yourself. 'Right?'

"Right about what, malysh?", you'd recognise that nickname from miles away. "It's nothing wands, somethings on my mind is all." "Penny for your thoughts then?", you couldn't help but giggle at her words, yo don't know why. "It'd be my pleasure."

"Is it about your powers? Oh! Maybe about how you'd finally beat Natasha at sparring?", her words were filled with excitement as she asked you questions.

"Ouch, Wands. To be clear I've beaten Natasha before..... at everything except what she's good at. And no it's nothing you've listed." you replied.

"Whatever you say malysh, so what's on your mind? Let me guess! Let me guess! Uhm...."

You giggled at her excited tone, your lips instantly pulling up into a smile whenever she showed you this side of her. Wanda was still fairly new to the Avengers, sure she was friends with all the members but she was closest to you. You felt fluttering in your stomach at the thought.

But, what if she eventually finds out about the pathetic crush you have on her? You've noticed the way she looks at vision, you don't know what he has that you don't, because you can't even tell what he looks like. Is he good looking? Handsome? Cute? But you did hear Clint muttering something about him having red skin.....

Back on the matter, you were worried, worried about how she'd react, would she like you back? Or would a disgusted look be plastered onto her goddess like features?

Even in stressful situations like this, you couldn't help but find Wanda beautiful. Her face got brighter day by day, the aura surrounding her getting brighter and brighter, showing that she was getting stronger too. You admired her for that.

You looked back in front of you, trying to avoid Wanda's piercing gaze as she tries to guess what's on your mind. What you didn't know was that Wanda had read your mind. She felt guilty, she promised you she'd never do anything like that to you. It was an invasion of privacy. But your thoughts were so loud! They were practically spewing out of your mind!

She couldn't help the blush that rose upon her cheeks at finding out about your crush on her. She herself was also finding it hard to come to light about her feeling towards you. Yes, she felt an undeniable pull between her and vision but her heart pounded in a different way when she was in your presence. She felt the stress ebb away from her body when she was able to rant to you about your problems.

It wasn't until you finally reached your destination, that being your room, that you stopped Wanda's rambling. "It's nothing to worry about Wands, just figuring things out is all."

And just as you were about to close your room door after entering, Wanda hurriedly jammed her foot between the door and your doorframe, wincing at the pain that she had willingly put herself through. To say you were shocked at her action was an understatement. "Are you alright?!" you half shouted, "You could hurt yourself doing that!" "I'm fine malysh. I just.... I just need a moment with you." she panted between breaths.

'A moment? With me? Did something happen? What's going on?' . you pondered as you entered your room, Wanda following behind you. "What's wrong Wands? Your face is really red. Like, REALLY red. And you can tell it's bad when even I can see a color as bright as that.", your worried tone warmed Wanda's heart. 'All I want to do right now is kiss that worried face of yours away.' she thought to herself. Well atleast she thinks she did.

"Y-you wanna what to my face away?", you asked, bewildered at the fact she just said that aloud. "Hm?", Wanda was still oblivious, it took a few seconds for her to realise what had just happened, and of course, her face turned as red as a tomato, at this point it was hard to differentiate the color of her face and her hair, they were almost the same.

"I-I'm so sorry, malysh! It just slipped out! I didn't mean it— well I DID, but I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!-", you could feel your heart pumping wildly against your chest, what does she mean she means what she said? Does she want to kiss you? No that couldn't be it, but then what could she mean? I mean if she did, you wouldn't be complaining.

"Malysh? Are you listening? You know what i'll get straight to the reason why I wanted to talk, I like you, okay? Y/N? Y/N listen to me!" You were still in your own world, asking yourself question when Wanda suddenly started shaking your shoulders and was repeating the same sentence over and over again.

"Wait, hold on a second Wands. You like me? You?" you asked incredulously, as if she hadn't said it a dozen times already.

"Yes, stupid! I like you! Are you gonna say anything? Y/N? God....", she felt frustrated, and rightfully so. Your mind was still trying to process what she said, and after doing so your face turned to what you think is a bright red.

"Oh! That's.... that's cool! Yeah! I... I just......", you were a stuttering mess under Wanda's watchful gaze, and you felt panic rise within you when you noticed an upset look spread across her face. Wanda had took your stuttering as you being uncomfortable, and tried to talk her way out of the topic at hand when you suddenly cut her off before she could even say anything.

"I like you too! Okay! I just, I have a hard time expressing it.... 'M just shocked is all....", the words finally left your mouth in a hurried sentence.

"Why would you ever be shocked, malysh?", Wanda was confused, did you not notice her liking towards you?

"It's just, you're like a goddess Wands. You're beautiful, cheerful and powerful. I don't understand why you'd be with someone like me, someone who can't even see things properly."

"Well you can see me perfectly fine, no?"

"That's different, Wands."

"How so, Y/N/N? I don't care if you have problems seeing, malysh. Hell, I wouldn't even care if you were blind! I like you because you're you. And I like you, okay?"

You were processing her words, still trying to tell if she was saying it for fun or not, but when you realised she wasn't, you wrapped your arms around her frame.

"Woah! Calm down there, malysh. Still need to breathe." she chuckled. But you couldn't care less. She finally liked you back. You finally got your girl. You finally got the light in the dark.

A/N : if im being honest, i fucking hate this. i thought that maybe if i went with the flow it'd come out okay but at this point its just nonsense, but anywayyy!!! hope you enjoyed this one! feel free to leave requests!!!!

[roostersbby69]

0.3 For old times sake

Summary: Bradley hasn’t gotten any action with his wife. They didn’t have kids, not because of their jobs, but because she just didn’t want to anymore. Bradley had a very high sex drive, and his maid that his wife hired might just give him a memory refresh of how good sex is.

Warnings: age gap (reader is 25, Bradley is 36), alcohol, language

Word count: too dang many

Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x maid!reader

For old times sake masterlist. Full masterlist.

“I don’t see why it’s a problem, Isabelle.” Bradley groaned as he shoved his face in his hands on the edge of the bed.

“It’s because it gets fucking tiring, you always asking me to have sex.” She got up and crossed her arms over her chest.

Pilates was really working on her, her arms became more toned, her abs more defined, and her shoulders wider.

“Is it a crime to want to have sex with my wife?” He stood up now, getting angrier and angrier by the second. This was the third time this week he’s tried to pursue something with her. And nothing has gotten anywhere.

“No, but it should be a crime to want to do it every fucking night.” She scoffed and made her way to the bathroom.

All he wanted was some action, anything would do, a handjob, some head, hell even a kiss on the cheek would make him cum at this point.

He huffed and stormed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, he grabbed a beer and cracked it open. His face was hot as it traveled down to his neck, he grabbed his phone and walked out to the porch to make a phone call.

He pressed the contact he was looking for and placed the phone to his ear.

“What’s up?” A female voice came from the other end.

“I’m not sure why I called, I just need someone to listen.” He beat himself up for being so vulnerable right now.

She sighed, “Go on, what did she do this time?”

“She doesn’t want to do anything with me.” Bradley tried to make it PG for her.

“What do you mean, Rooster?”

“Anything, in bed.” He almost muttered the last part, shamefully.

He expected Natasha to throw out an ‘Ew’ or a ‘gross’ but this time she didn’t, “Rooster, dump her.”

“I can’t, Nat, we’re married.”

“Divorce her.” She corrected herself, “All women want is sex, at least thats what my girlfriend tells me, I don’t know man maybe you’re just getting old.”

“Natasha, I didn’t call to get a sex education lesson,” He ran his hand along his face, “She’s always been like this, we used to be physical but, somethings changes. Ever since she got these new friends, this new job and started a stupid workout class. She just doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

Phoenix sighed from the other end, “I don’t know what to tell you Bradley, other than divorce her or have a good talk with her.”

“She even hired this maid…” oops, didnt mean to blurt that out.

“A maid?” Nat questioned, “You mean like an old lady who goes around and cleans your house?”

He rolled his eyes, “No, Nat, a maid that destroys the house. Yes a maid that cleans the house.”

“Damn, is she hot?”

Bradley shouldn’t be talking about this. Not while his wife was in the house.

“Yes.” Too late now.

“Damn, Bradshaw. You’re a dead man.” She laughed humorously.

“Yeah, I know.” He shook his head and sighed.

-

Turns out, Isabelle ran out of the house after their argument and went to her dumb class that she goes to all the time.

So Bradley didn’t see why it wasn’t okay for him to go to the Hard Deck tonight for a couple of drinks and his friends.

He pulled up in the parking lot and turned the engine off. He grabbed his wallet and made his way to the front door which was open and buzzing with people and music.

The first thing he saw was his friends shooting pool and handing out beers to each other.

This already lifted his mood as he made his way towards them and folded his sunglasses on his shirt.

“Rooster!” Coyote hollered across the room and got Bradley’s attention, Bradley made his way to him and shook his hand, “Didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

“Yeah, just thought I’d drop by.” He nodded and smiled at Nat who was shooting pool.

She was the only person who knew exactly why he “dropped by”.

“Nice to see you again.” She looked to him then back to the pool table. She squinted her eyes then jabbed the ball with the stick and made it into the pocket.

“You too, Nat.” He walked over to Fanboy who was talking to Bob.

“Bradshaw!” He patted Bradleys shoulder and.

“Hey, guys.” He sat down at the table with them and watched the rest of the team mess around.

Hangman walked towards them, juggling three beers in his hand, and smirked once he saw Bradley.

“Here, you look like you need one of these.” He slid a bottle to bradley.

“Thanks.” Bradley mumbled and took a sip of it. He really did need one.

“There’s this super hot chick I might bring home tonight.” Hangman bragged and jerked a thumb back towards the bar.

“Who is it?” Fanboy asked, looking over Hangman’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of said girl.

“The cute chick in the blue sundress.” Hangman said as he handed out the beers and took one for himself.

Out of curiosity, Bradley peered behind his shoulder to see the “blue sundress” girl. His eyes widened once he noticed who it was.

-

“A spicy margarita, please.” You took out your wallet and slid your ID to the bartender. She nodded and took it before approving it and giving it back to you.

“So, you come here often?” A guy in a khaki uniform asked as he stood next to you with a smile on his face.

“Um, no, not really. I’m too busy with school and a job.”

He nodded, “You’re in school?”

“Yeah, on my last year of college.” You nodded.

He smirked, he liked school girls. Penny slid his beers to him and told him that these were his last ones for the night. She seemed like she was playing with him but he winked at her and said ‘no promises’.

-

“Some school chick.” Hangman bragged, “Might do a little role play, ill be the student shes tutoring and shell be the naughty teacher who gives me a lesson.” He smirked as Fanboy ‘oohed’.

Bradleys Jaw clenched as he listened to them talk about you with such filth. But he didn’t say anything, to save his reputation.

“You’ve been awful quiet, Rooster.” Bob pitched in as he noticed Bradley staring at you.

Bradley averted his eyes from your figure and turned to Bob who had gotten everyone’s attention on him. Bradley cleared his throat, “Just, had a long day.”

Bob just simply nodded and dropped the subject, and Bradley was thankful for that.

He wanted to walk up to you since you were sitting by yourself, but he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. He had a damn wife, a shitty one at that.

He shook his head and muttered a soft, “Fuck it.” Before getting up and making his way towards you.

You sat staring down at your drink as the ice shifted causing bubbles to rise to the top. You had finished one already and were on your second one when a man sat down next to you.

“Hey, stranger.” He said. You recognized that voice, you turned your head to him and your face went red as you realized who it was that was sitting by you.

“Oh my gosh, Mr. Bradshaw.” You slid your drink behind your purse and widened your eyes.

He laughed at your shyness, “Don’t stress, I’m here for the same thing you are.” He really wasn’t here for that reason, he was here because of his wife. And he was sure you didn’t have a wife.

“I’m so sorry.” You scrambled as you revealed your drink once again.

“Don’t be, you’re old enough to drink, I don’t see the problem.” He shook his head and sipped his beer.

“I didn’t know you came here.” Your eyes never left his broad frame as his elbows rested against the bar top and his shirt was snug against his biceps.

“I could say the same things about you.” He turned to you and smirked.

“I don’t usually come here, I just wanted a drink tonight.” You shrugged and swirled your drink with its straw.

“No problem with that.” He shrugged and turned to face forward again.

“How’s Mrs. Bradshaw?” You asked and noticed as his jaw clenched and his mustache twitched.

“She’s good.” Bradley nodded and decided not to share too much.

“She doesn’t come here?” You asked as you sipped your drink.

He shook his head and looked down at his bottle, “No, she doesn’t really like this place. Not fancy enough or something.”

You nodded and set your glass down after you finished a long sip, “It’s the only place I can afford.” You laughed.

He snorted, “Yeah, same here.” He looked over to you and noticed your cup was now empty. “You want another one of those?” He pointed his bottle towards your cup.

You raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

He smirked back, “Maybe.”

“Mr. Bradshaw.” You teased and smiled, Penny came over with a smile on her face as she took your glass.

“Another one, dear?”

“Please.” You nodded your head.

Bradley smiled as he watched you play with your bracelet on your wrist, he felt awful for acting like this towards another woman. His mother always taught him to be respectful of women. But she also taught him to give the same energy back that they gave him.

“You don’t really look the type to drink.” He looked forwards and lifted his bottle to his lips.

“And you don’t look the type to sit by a lonely girl at a bar when you have a wife.” You teased and smirked at him.

Shit. He had been caught. “It’s complicated.” He mumbled and quickly finished his beer. He probably shouldn’t have said that, yet he did anyways. He decided to blame it on the alcohol.

“Really?” You turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded and hummed.

“How come?” You pushed and almost regretted it immediately.

“She doesn’t like to do anything in bed.” He shrugged and thanked penny once she brought your drinks out.

You almost choked on air at his blunt statement, “All women want to do stuff in bed.”

Maybe what Nat said was true. Maybe something was up with Isabelle. And it wasn’t just him that was causing it.

“Oh really? And how do you know that?” He chuckled as your face went red and you tried to hide it behind your cup as you brought it up to your lips.

“Because I’m a woman.” You shrugged and tried to hold back a smile.

He hummed and went back to his beer, he felt his dick tightening in his jeans as he caught sight of your thighs exposed from your short sundress, your breasts were deliciously on display and it made his mouth water.

His shirt clung to his biceps and you noticed the veins running up his hands as they held onto his beer bottle. You knew this was wrong, thinking about him like this. He has a wife. But you couldn’t help but admire him, the way his mustache was neatly trimmed, his brown eyes that seemed lighter with the lights over the two of you, his jeans that hugged his big thighs, and his lips that curved up into a smile every now and then as you talked.

This was wrong, but yet you found yourself doing the things you knew you shouldn’t.

And it was exhilarating.

—————————————————————

Authors note: They’re getting closerr. This is going to be good!

[bestofbothworldstour]

more than a month late in posting oops lol, but i saw my second regional production of jersey boys last month!! and i saw it twice! the total view count is now 22 hehe. more thoughts under the cut

this was essentially the same production i saw last year. same director, same staging, i think same choreographer, and a good chunk of the same cast (most notably, the same bob, my fav smiley taubert lol.) but i loved that production so i was more than happy to get to see it again!!

the only notable difference was that the language was toned down a good deal? it wasnt like there was only one "fuck" like a pg-13 movie, there were a few, but there were many omitted as well, among other swear words. im very curious as to why, and how they picked which ones they kept vs which ones they didnt, bc there were some that they omitted that i think wouldve been more powerful or funnier than some that they kept. i still dont have an answer as to why they did this lol but maybe one day ill find out.

i had a swing on for tommy at my first performance (who had a small role in the movie!) both tommys were solid (tho the swing was very short which really threw me off lol), frankie was solid, bob was solid again. perhaps most notably, not only was nick solid but i found out the actor is a DRAG QUEEN IRL HOW GREAT IS THAT. of all the seasons to be a drag queen hes like. the last id expect. its always the quiet ones huh (and turns out ill be seeing him again in legally blonde in may!)

i put out an open invite on insta to any friends who wanted to find out why i havent shut up about this show in almost 11 years and one of my fav coworkers took me up on it and we had a ton of fun!! she seemed to really enjoy the show and she went in mostly blind so it was really fun to see her reactions to everything. ive only taken a small handful of friends to the show who hadnt seen it before, tho most of them had already seen the movie, so to watch her go in blind and have her first reactions to everything was really exciting for me.

now i just need updates on that "20th anniversary tour" and/or more regional productions bc im not gonna survive without it again for too long

[averysmolkirbo]

they may not be writer moments and there may not be 10 of them (i'll see what i've got) but i'd say i could give you some of my best moments as a reader

My ✨️Chaotic Reader Moments✨️

Once i'm pretty sure i had a full blown panic attack while reading a fight scene (it was really good, and the character's fate's kinda depended on the fight so i was nervous af)

First fic i ever read, i felt so many things that i wondered if thats what people who liked 'normal' books liked. It felt like opening a hidden door

During said first fic, when the two main characters argued and then split up, i cried, for like the next 10 minutes while reading, not knowing if or when they would get back together

Once in an english class that i later dropped for hurting me one too many times, i had to describe what kind of things i liked reading (which was only fanfic. nothing else) and i had to find a way to tiptoe around the word 'fanfic' itself so i would seem less like a dork who reads nothing but fanfic, only to get my feedback and the prof saw RIGHT thru it. didnt even mention how i tried to dance around it. they were just like 'oh yea i liked fanfic when i was a teen/young adult too :)' and i was internally like 'nooooooooo my schemes they didnt work'

this is hardly rare or unique but due to my system for finding fics being 'quickly read over the tags, make sure its not too weird, mayyyybe read the summary and jump right in' i tend to end up in situations that may have been resolved if i read more

one situation was when i accidentally read a word-count of 60,000(!) as 6,000 and thought 'hey this is a nice thing to read before bed' and then as i was pretty deep into chapter one i got suspicious that this was wayyyy more than 6,000 words and i was right and also in to deep to stop. oops. my sleep that night was screwed but i read thru like chapter 2 or 3 (they were about 10k a chapter) but it is now my favorite fanfic and the thing that singlehandely made me love a character i used to despise.

Another instance that may have been avoided with better research is thinking the tags were bluffing. they were not. They were NOT BLUFFING. god i wish i knew what 'abuse of vacuum cleaner' meant before i had to read that, with my own two eyes. ("What are they going to do, slap the vacuum?" - innocent me)

another tag from that fic i didnt understand and wished i understood sooner was like 'character a & character b get stuck' which confused me because like?? stuck where??? what do you mean by that?? it meant exactly what it said. stuck. together. physically. Intimately. to each other.

there may have also been 'abuse of paintbrush' and i may have also had a paintbrush myself. and morbid curiosity. and very bad impulse control. im not gonna be able to look a paintbrush the same way again

✨ 10 chaotic writer facts you didn’t ask for but are getting anyway ✨

I write 1,000–3,000 words a day. Not because I’m disciplined, but because I have no social life and mild control issues. It’s fine. I’m fine.

Before I ever touched a keyboard, I was an artist. Like, sketchbook-at-recess, drew-my-own-manga-level obsessed. I’ve been drawing since I was five. Now I use those powers to procrastinate writing.

I talk to my characters like they’re real people. I once argued with one out loud in a grocery store. We’re not on speaking terms anymore.

I name all my WIPs things like “pain_project” or “he cries again.docx” because I enjoy foreshadowing my own breakdowns.

I collect empty notebooks like a Victorian ghost who died tragically in a stationary store.

I have cried because a character forgave someone. That’s it. That’s the fact.

Sometimes I start new projects just to avoid editing old ones. This is not a healthy system but it is a personality.

I finish a gut-wrenching scene and then go eat cereal like nothing happened. Cold emotional whiplash is my brand.

I regularly forget what my characters are supposed to know, and when it happens, I just give them sudden intuition or full-blown memory loss.

I’ve rage-deleted whole chapters because a side character took over and made the main one look bland. And yes, I made the side character the lead.

Okay, now your turn—drop your own ✨10 chaotic writer facts✨. I know you’ve got them. Don’t leave me screaming into the void alone. Reblog this with your chaos, I want to see the beautiful mess.

Love u all!

[aries-writingblog]

What A Heavenly Way to Die

Summary: What a heavenly way to die? What a time to be alive? Because forever is in your eyes, but forever ain’t half the time…

Pairing: Jason Todd x reader

Word count: 912

Warnings: lot of religion probably bordering sacrilegious in this one, oops but not oops, some suggestive content, tiny portion of language

AN: little short one today but probably one of my favorites, also I didnt proofread so if there’s any mistakes, no there isn’t

Quite simply put, Jason Todd was a morning person. He enjoyed meeting dawn as she stretched and played over the landscape. Golden light bathing everything she touched. Fresh dew and a soft breeze, leading a thrilled renaissance through grasses and trees. Whisking inconsequential matters to the side. The quiet moments of serendipity, meditative and peaceful.

He liked the warmth of the sheets— the feel of skin pressed to his. Encasing his body in the thick atmosphere of secure bliss. Holding her figure close against his own, shielding her from the night’s chilling touch.

He liked morning.

She never woke at the same time he did. Mornings usually meant Jason had extra time to gaze down at her face, unblemished by smile or frown lines. Or worry, anxiety. Nothing of the sort existed so early.

He could simply stare. Gaze in awe at the beauty lying with her head against his chest. Bask in her glowing presence. Pray that he wouldn’t wake her while he admired.

While he worshipped. Attended a lonesome mass to lay affections at her feet, laving lingering kisses up her ankle, taking the long path to her lips. Over the velvet skin of her body.

Jason exhaled gently— careful in his actions. Careful to not rouse her from her sleep. His body had other intentions as a loud growl echoed from the cavern of his belly.

Damn.

He had hoped to lay there with her a while longer.

Things would only get worse if he stayed there— louder and more compromising. Besides, if he was waking up hungry (which was always), she would be too.

Pulling himself reluctantly from the warmth of the bedsheets, Jason ensured she stayed asleep. No stealth mission or undercover agent could ever compete with the covert, silent movements of the beast of a man who was hellbent on keeping his goddess asleep.

He spared a glance over his shoulder, a smile gracing his lips. Sunlight caressing her as she slept, tucked away and cocooned in warmth.

One of the rare sunny days in Gotham.

Trekking down the hallway, Jason began his morning routine. Checking the windows, brushing his teeth while checking the spare room converted weapons stash for anything unusual.

Then he started on breakfast.

One of his favorite past-times (other than YN of course).

He knew that he would be teased endlessly, if any of his friends were there to witness his endeavors.

How he doted on her. How he would leave barely there kisses to her lips, only to sink to his knees and lay aggressive love bites to her thighs. To leave marks across her neck.

Only to shake himself from the reviere hours later, sweat laden and pressed to her bare chest; Shake himself to take gentle care of her aching body.

To cradle her against him for the come down— to watch the sunset in the windows of his Church.

How he would be teased and mocked— made a fool of— for his actions.

But there he was: The Arkham Knight, Red Hood, Robin, making breakfast.

The same hands that once choked life from collapsing esophaguses, ripped beating hearts out of gaping chest cavities, fired hollow tip bullets into arteries and foreheads. Leaving mutilation and dark ink as footsteps, encroached on the lives of so many.

Those same hands now dropped blueberries into pancake batter, made freshly squeezed juice. Knife skills that were once fueled by mania; Wide sweeping cuts, meant to pierce flesh and slice deep. Now made precise incisions on fruit.

Such juxtaposition to menial, domestic tasks that it was almost laughable.

But peaceful.

Peace. He’d known nothing of the sort in this strange land of after death. Until her.

The catalyst to his healing, the process that Dick and Roy began all those years ago. The one she helped finish.

A soft, sleepy noise from down the hallway turned Jason’s attention to the vacant space. His cursed eyes lifted in time to witness the sun rise— her brilliance nearly melting the decorations from the walls as she entered through the doorway.

Her warmth bled into his bones as she neared; Arms wrapping around his neck, hands threaded through his hair.

A whispered good morning, breathed out between feather kisses against his mouth.

Scarred hands trailed up her hips, accepting her greeting in stride. Keeping careful watch of how close she moved to the stove.

For all her grace and beauty, she was far less agile and dexterous than she appeared. With her sleep mussed hair and lines still pressed to her face from sleep. She must’ve drooled at some point during the night, as a line of it dried against the corner of her mouth. Her pajamas— just one of his own shirts and her underwear— wrinkled and in disarray.

Beautiful.

She tucked into his side, keeping close to his warmth. Jason kept his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, using his free hand to finish breakfast.

She traced light patterns against his bare shoulder blade; Her head cushioned on the soft muscle of his pectoral— the abrasion of his autopsy scar against her cheekbone.

Her lips left a gentle kiss to the marred flesh. Unafraid of his past. Unconcerned of everything, but the steady beat in his rib cage.

Because for as much as he worshiped her, she returned without adversary. Without flinching.

While he attended mass for repentance, praising his angel, she attended her church of the wicked, laying claim to the damned.

[ma3mae]

Chapter 3 : Confusion

Author's Note: eoooww its finally here!! The awaited third chapter where they finally interact and oh BOY was this a ride to write. Honestly had to take so many breaks bc I just didnt know how to move on but I finally did it!! We'll also get some new characters in this story 👀 soo hopefully you'll have some fun reading it 👀💕

Summary: You and Vi finally get to see each other without the other being asleep and oh boy does it get awkward.

Warnings: uhh maybe some swearing, lots and lots of confusion, vi not knowing what to do :((( also y/n makes pizza 👌

Words: around 6.5k (didn't really count, oops)

Masterlist

Tick

Tick

Tick

The ticking of the clock echoing through your apartment.

A sign from how silent the both of you were.

Silent but tense.

Unsure of how to react.

The ticking was loud but your heart was louder.

Badump

Badump

Badump

Both of you still haven't looked away from one another. A faint voice in the back of your head silently asking yourself if she's maybe feeling as overwhelmed as you are.

You slowly bend down to set the bags onto the floor, not daring to make any sudden movements but  atleast wanting to free yourself from the heavy load.

The situation itself was already heavy enough.

You didn't look away yet.

You couldn't or wouldn't dare to.

You saw how she was watching you with  a sharp look, anticipating what you'd do next.

Clenched fist, tense body and furrowed eyebrows.

Seeing her like that made you remember yesterday's events, the feeling of fear slowly accompanying it.

You knew she wasn't a damn animal and that she wouldn't straight jump onto you but you couldn't stop yourself from remembering of having witnessed her strenght firsthand.

A thousand thoughts were running through her mind but no clear answer.

You were finally infront of her.

Now she could seize this opportunity and finally ask you.

She wanted to know where she was, how she got here, why she's here and how to get back.

But how could she ask you?

What could she even possibly say?

And she wasn't sure if you'd be willing to give her an answer.

It wasn't the only problem that she had assaulted you just yesterday but she had also somehow managed to be somewhere, where her language wouldn't be spoken at all.

Oh how lucky could she be.

She shifted her gaze onto the floor, her head was beginning to hurt from her inner conflict.

Meanwhile you had set your bags down, your eyes still trained onto her. You watched how her eyes began to flicker to the ground, her frown deepening with each passing second.

You weren't sure if it was just your paranoid mind making you crazy but she seemed pretty hostile towards you.

All tensed up and that sharp gaze of hers as her eyes kept flicking over your form.

But at the same time, she looked kinda....

Lost?

And here you were debating if you should just run away and never come back so that you wouldn't have to deal with this since she wasn't the only confused one and you were still afraid of her.

Yet a part of you refused to just leave her like this.

You couldn't just go and run away from this.

You closed your eyes.

Deep inhale, Y/N.  Just take deep breaths.

Sooner or later we'll have to talk to her.

You began to deeply inhale.

Just fucking do it.

And slowly exhale.

Opening your eyes, you looked straight ahead.

Her face unchanging as she had burrowed herself too deep in her thoughts with the same  deep frown on her face.

Speak, Y/N.

You felt your lip slightly tremble as you opened your mouth.

DO IT.

"Uhm-"

Grumble

Her head snapped up in surprise as you blinked at her perplexed.

Wait, did that just-

Oh, it did.

From the look of her face, you could see that the grumbling came from her.

And frankly, she herself was ready to jump out of the window and l e a v e.

Wanting to avoid dragging this silence out any longer, you cleared your throat and catching her attention once more.

Okay, this will get real awkward

"Are you-" you pointed towards her "-hungry?" and then to your stomach.

< Did she just ask me if that sound came from me?? >

Slowly you could see her slightly shaking her head.

You blinked at her.

?? But??

"But didn't that just co-"

Grumble

"For fuck's sake" she cursed under her breath. Now was a seriously bad time to be feeling hungry and she had other issues to deal with.

And was too prideful to admit that she was indeed hungry.

"Okay, this is getting really stupid."

You hated it. This awkward silence was beginning to drive you crazy and for some reason she was also being stubborn as fuck which was not helping this situation at all.

Sooner or later someone had to break this up and since this was happening in your beloved home, you had to take charge.

You roughly slipped out of your shoes and turned the lights on, making Vi wince at the sudden brightness. You grabbed the bags and went to the kitchen, putting them onto the counter.

You opened the fridge a bit harsher than intended, making it shake due to the strong pull and took out some packaged pizza dough you had bought some days ago.

Slamming the fridge, you opened up your oven and took out the baking plate and put it onto the counter next to the bags.

You began to rummage around your drawers until you found some baking sheet.

She's hungry and I'm hungry so let's just fucking make some pizza.

Confused was an understatement from how Vi was feeling. At first you had seemed unsure, even going as far as to say that you had seemed fearful to her. Suddenly you had snapped and began to aggressively move around and she was honestly beginning to blame it on herself.

But it wasn't her fault at all. No, you just simply hated it how uncomfortable she was. It just urged you to do something against it.

It just showed how growing up in a household, where it would be expected to act as soon as someone wasn't in a good mood.  Every time you would be expected to just immediately know how they're feeling when there would be even a slight frown on their faces.

Deep breaths. Just take deep breaths. It's not your fault that she's uncomfortable. Not your fault, okay?  Just bake this pizza and then maybe she'll calm down??

Or were you just calming down yourself??

You kept reassuring yourself as you began to take out the ingredients you'd want to put onto the pizza.

Your head snapped up as the sound of coughing had pulled you out of your thoughts. You looked over the counter and saw that Vi seemed to be choking on something.

Panik began to rise within you as you quickly went over to her, forgetting your previous fear of her. Your eyes went wide as you gasped in shock.

"Oh my god, are you okay??" you asked as you went advanced towards the armchair she was sitting in.

She had choked onto her spit and was coughing into her fist while trying to hold up a hand, wanting to signal you that everything was okay.

Keyword tried.

You had started to strongly pat her back, literally smacking her soul out of her body and almost making her stumble out of the armchair.

If anyone would be pass by, they'd think you were genuinely trying to break her back.

< WHAT TH E FU- >

"Shit, shit. It's not stopping! Wait, I'll get you something to drink!" Vi couldn't even ask what you had just said, too busy trying to regain her breath as her coughing slowly yet painfully began to subside.

Not to mention that her back was kinda hurting a bit, whoops.

You didn't even bother to get her a glass as you quickly opened your fridge and took out a bottle of water before slamming it shut and running back to her.

You held out the bottle towards her. "Here, drink this." Vi glanced between you and the bottle, unsure whether she should just take it or not.

Yet here throat was feeling pretty dry and she hadn't drunken anything in a while so there should be no harm, right?

"T-Thanks." she quietly said as she took it out of your hand.

"You're welcome??" you replied back, a bit confused about what she had said but you had a feeling that she was thanking you.

Atleast that's what you're assuming since she said something with a quite calm voice and her answer came nearly instantly as you gave her the bottle.

" Uhm, I-I'll uhh just go back." you told her as you pointed behind you towards the kitchen with your thumb. Not waiting for a reply, you turned around as soon as those words came out of your mouth and went back while feeling her gaze follow your movements.

Vi was seriously not sure what to think of you. She didn't know and couldn't understand you. What she knew is that you definitely meant no harm towards her but that still didn't mean that she knew if she could trust you as long as she wouldn't be able to understand what you're saying.

She did think that it was nice of you that you were using a lot of gestures to convey to her what you meant but she sure as hell wasn't gonna start talking to you like that.

What could she say?

< Hey, so I dont know where the fuck I am and yes, I did slam you against a wall but that was out of self defence  but I'm also sorry for that so how the fuck did I get here and how do I get back?? >

Yeah, she was not even gonna try telling you that through hand gestures because how the fuck could she.

CRASH

Vi tensed up and whipped her head around in surprise to see where it came from.

"Sorry sorry, I dropped the baking plate" you exclaimed as you bent over to pick it up while muttering some curses under your breath but sighed in relief that the dough on the plate was still intact.

She exhaled deeply, not having noticed that she had been holding her breath. She looked at the bottle in her hand and saw that she had crumpled it a bit from clenching her fist.

Feeling her throat itch a bit from her previous coughing fit and general dryness, she decided to take a sip after all.

Slowly, she put it on her lips and tilted it up.

< Holy shit. >

She never knew that fucking water  could taste this good until now.

Before she had realised, she was already emptying the bottle as if it would be her last time drinking.

"Hey, you wanna have uhh tuna or salam-"

You blinked at her as you saw her empty that bottle in mere seconds.

"-Oh wow, do you want another bottle?"  You asked as you put the tuna can and salami next to the baking plate to grab another bottle for her.

She was huffing as you went towards her, probably from having held her breath while downing that water real fast.

" Here. "You held the bottle towards her. Her eyes widen in surprised not havint expected to be given another bottle.

Why the hell were you being so nice to her?

What for?

She asked herself in her mind as she glanced yet again between you and the bottle. This time she didn't hesitate as long as earlier and slowly took the bottle out of your hands.

You felt her rough fingertips graze your hand as she took it making your heartbeat ten times faster.

HOLYSHIT I TOUCHED HER ISKAKDJCJF

"U-Uhm y-you can give me the empty bottle in your hand." You pointed at the empty bottle in her hands and beckoned with your hand to hand it over.

"O-Oh, okay..." came out of her as she gave you the bottle, having understood what you meant.

"Thanks" You chirped at her as you took the bottle and went back to the kitchen.

Now let's just put on one half tuna and on the other half salami? Aaand with some nice paprika? Would she like olives too??

You furrowed your eyebrows at the pizza, wanting it to be a festive explosion on her taste buds.

Wait, has she ever had pizza in her life before?? Maybe I should ask Jenava about if Pizza or smth exists in Piltover or Zaun since she knows more about the lore of lol than I do.

*Gasp*  but the lore of lol and arcane aren't really the same but also kinda??  Or not??

You shook your head at your inner monologue already feeling a headache forming due to your own confusion.

"Let's just chop up some paprika and finish this pizza." you muttered under your breath as you pulled out some paprika out of your fridge.

Taking your knife from your kitchen utensil holder and your cutting board out of one of your cupboards, you began to cut.

Meanwhile Vi was busy spiraling down into her thoughts. The bottle on the table as she kept fidgeting with her bandages.

< Shit, what am I supposed to do?  >

She felt disoriented. All her thoughts kept piling up and just became jumbled.

She would have expected you to throw her out. Yell at her for having literally invaded your place out of nowhere yet here you were giving her water and from the looks of it, you even began to make something to eat.

Why were you, a complete stranger, giving her such kindness?

You had every right to throw her out but no.

You were letting her bask in the warmth and comfort of your apartment.

It conflicted her. She didn't belong here.

She felt that she shouldn't be here at all.

She didn't know anything.

Where to go.

What to do.

Her chest began to feel heavy.

With every passing second she felt as if someone was choking her, the air becoming thinner and her breathing heavier.

< What should I do? What can I do? >

She couldn't take it anymore.

She had to get out.

Where? She didn't know but she needed to go.

Just outside.

SLAM

"W-Whatthefuck?!" You nearly cut your hand as the sudden slam of a door startled you.

You quickly whipped your head around and saw that she was nowhere to be seen.  You put the knife onto the cutting board as you strided over to the hallway, your door hanging open.

You recoiled back in confusion, blinking rapidly while trying to understand what had happened.

"She did not just-"

Blinking.

"Did she just leave??"

Your breath became heavy as panik started to seep into you.

You began to pace back and forth.

"Okay, Y/N. Should we follow her or not? Wait, maybe she'll come back by herself? But why would she even come back by herself? Like we don't even know each other and I was just here making some pizza because she was obviously hungry but NO she just went up and left but to be honest I would leave to if I'd be at a stranger's place but I would stay if there's free food but OHMY GOD maybe she was feeling so uncomfortable that she just HAD TO LEAVE AND MAYBE THATS MY FAULT THAT SHE FEELS LIKE THAT AND THATS WHY SHE LEFT BUT ITS ALSO COLD AND SHE DOESNT HAVE A JACKET AN-"

You stood still as it began to sink in even further.

QOHDEOHFJDEKKD

" SHE DOESN'T HAVE A JACKET"

and where the fuck would she even go??

"ALSO THE PIZZA"

You ran towards your coat rack and grabbed your jacket while struggling to put your boots on. Throwing a scarf over your neck, you sprinted out of your apartment, quickly closing the door behind you. Your quick footsteps echoed through the hallway of the building. Before opening the door, you put your hands into your pockets.

Feeling the cold metal of your key, you nodded to yourself and pulled the door open as quickly as you could.

"Why the fuck is this door so HEAVY?!" You yelled after pulling at it with both arms.

Finally you managed to open it and ran down the stairs leading towards the parking lot and the street infront of it.

"FUCK, which way did she go?!" You whipped your head around, the cold already stinging your face. It wasn't really helping that it was night time and the falling snow making it be even colder. 

You looked at the ground and saw some footprints that were going towards the town's centre.

"You better not slip while running, Y/N" you said to yourself as you took a right turn and began to sprint, putting all your trust into the mere soles of your shoes to make you run smoothly and avoiding a bloody nose or some scraps.

She was walking in quick strides, her fists clenched at her sides and shoulders raised while ignoring the stinging cold stabbing into her bare arms and the snow crunching with each step she took.

< Just walk, Violet. Just fucking walk and maybe we'll find a clue about how to get out of this mess. >

She tried.

Tried really hard to keep herself motivated enough to keep moving. She knew her chances were near zero but what else was she supposed to do.

Chest heaving, she huffed through her nose and forced herself to keep moving.

Faintly she began to hear quick footsteps behind her and... some yelling??

She turned her head to take a glance over her shoulder and oh boy, was she surprised.

"WHY *huff* THE FUCK *wheeze* DID YOU LEAVE?! I'M LITERALLY *cough* MAKING SOME PIZZA RIGHT NOW AND YOU JUST LEAVE??!! IN THIS COLD  ASS *wheeze*  WEATHER?!!"

You were really fucking regretting it never having properly exercised and that maybe you should have stuck to your training some months ago since you've always wanted to gain atleast a tiny bit of muscles and some proper endurance.

Her eyes went wide in confusion, surprise, shock and so much more.

She did not expect you to run after her and wait, were you angry at her for leaving??

"What the fuck??" She didn't know why but something prompted her to walk away even faster.

Was it your angry tone at her or that she just didn't know what to say?

Maybe both.

"NO NO NO DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE T- UGH OH MY GOD"

Aaand there she began to run and so began your game of tag.

Catching up to her proved to be a real challenge but luckily you knew your way around this small town from having lived here for some years and working for parcel service.

You were pretty pissed at her at this point but couldn't deny that you were also impressed by her parkour skills like her just casually flipping over cars as they drove through the street and jumped over any obstacle.

The both of you were nearing the town's centre and you weren't sure how you were gonna make her slow down and there wasn't anyone that could hel-

Hold on, is that-

OHMYGOD IT IS

There you saw her. Like a light at the end of a tunnel. Her bright long red hair sticking out like a sore thumb in the white surroundings of this town.

You saw your friend Jenava standing with  her grandma next to the town's  porcelain shop.

Maybe for a midnight walk? At this cold weather??

An idea came to your head as you saw that Vi was about to run past them.

"Jenava, dear. Look at these cute porcelain cups!."

"Don't you have these already at home, grandm-"

"JENAVA!! TRIP HER!!"  You screamed from far behind, hoping that she would hear you.

You could see her whipping her head around until her eyes landed on you running after some buff looking woman.

"WHAT??" She yelled back while covering her grandma's ears so she wouldn't be too loud.

"Jenava dear, why are you covering my ears?" Her grandma's question fell deaf to her ears as you yelled.

"TRIP THEM AND LET THE BODY HIT THE FUCKING FLOOOOR"

She blinked in confusion.

"Trip who?? The woman??"

"JENAVA, JUST FUCKING DO IT PLEASE" You begged at her as you could feel your lungs burning and begging you to stop running.

She stared at the woman that got closer and closer, shortly debating if she should really do it.

Welp, she'll just use her grandma as an alibi if she ends up having aided in committing a crime.

"She better bake me some fucking muffins after this." she sighed to herself.

"Grandma, I'll just take your cane real quick" she told her as she gently pried it out of her grandma's hands.

"Pff, I thought you were out of the age of using my cane as a sword, my dear?" Her grandma chuckled at her, blissfully unaware of what was about to unfold.

"Oh, grandma. I may be 23 but I can still enjoy a nice swordfight. Also I think mom just called you." She said as she put the cane onto the ground and kept a tighr grip on it, readying herself.

"Oh really? I better call her back" Her grandma turned her back towards her as she took out her phone and began to dial her daughter's number.

Meanwhile Vi didn't know what you just said but she had a hunch that you were planning to stop her and it only raised her suspsicions as she saw someone from afar react towards your yelling and they did yell back.

She rolled back her shoulders, readying herself for whatever was about to happen.

You knew that Vi wouldn't easily fall for this since she had some monster reflexes so you had to catch her off guard and it's gonna be so much fun explaining it to her but did you care?

No.

FUCK IT, MY LUNGS ARE BURNING

You inhaled as much as air you could to let out the loudest shout you've ever done.

Just as she was about to pass your friend, she heard your shout.

Goodbye, my throat.

"STOP FUCKING RUNNING, VI."

Her eyes widened immediately as she turned around.

< HOW THE FUCK DOES SHE- >

Seeing her slow down and turning around with a shocked expression on her face, made you unable to contain your triumphant smirk as you yelled.

"JENAVA, NOW"

"FOR THE MUUUFFINS!!" You heard her yell as she stretched her arm out.

And your plan was successfull.

Maybe too successfull as you watched her trip backwards over the cane and rolling onto the ground until she came to a stop, lying in the cold snow.

Jenava winced as she saw how hard the stranger had tripped but decided to quickly leave the scene, not wanting her poor grandma to witness that she had just commited a crime.

She quickly stood infront of her grandma, blocking the view of a body behind her as her grandma turned around to look at her.

"Jenava, I just asked your mom and she didn't call me at all."

"Oh yeah yeah sorry, my mistake but oh look! Grandma it's so late already and you only wanted to go out for a while, right? So let's just go home already, haha." She let out an awkward laugh as she put the cane into her grandma's hand and hooked her arm with hers.

" Oh, you're right then we should hurry back before your mom worries about us" Her grandma chuckled at her as the both of them began to walk back.

Jenava took a glance behind her and saw you giving her thumbs up before sluggishly walking towards the hopefully not knocked out stranger.

She raised her eyebrow at you before turning around but not before giving a thumbs up back and continued to walk with her grandma.

Letting out a snort at her antics, you made your way towards Vi.

She was lying on the ground and had closed her eyes, looking nowhere near exhausted as you were but the fall did knock out some air out of her as she continued to breathe heavily.

She opened her eyes and narrowed them at you as she saw you kneeling beside her.

"You." All of that triumphant feeling was gone in an instant as you flinched at her tone, the guilt (and the fear) beginning to seep into you as you realised what you had done.

Your expression only confirmed her suspsicions that you were the one who had orchestrated that stunt with whoever the fuck just helped you.

A part of her wanted to laugh at herself for having fallen for such a cheap trick but she was also slightly impressed that you had actually managed to stop her.

Yet she was growing more wary of you as she had never told you her name and yet you somehow knew about it.

Vi didn't know what to think of that.

Another thing she didn't know how to ask you about.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as she sat up.

You moved a bit away from her to give her some space. You felt clearly intimidated by her gaze as she had opened her eyes to take a look at you and scanning you with them.

She let out a short huff out of her nose.

"You're pretty weird, you know? Running after me and tripping me like that." she said as she raised an eyebrow and slipped out a tiny smirk.

You blinked at her.

"W-What?"

Vi clicked her tounge as she saw the confused look on your face.

"Oh right. You don't understand whatever the fuck I'm saying. Forget it."

You looked at her with bewilderment as she seemingly dissmissively waved her hand at you and proceeded to stand up.

She wiped the snow off of her pants and turned towards you.

She held her hand out as she nodded towards her hand, beckoning you to take it.

You silently took it.

"Up you go."  she said as you let her pull you up.

Not expecting her to pull you up with such force, you nearly stumbled into her if she hadn't held you by your shoulders.

"Whoa, slow down there."  She gave you a small smile while patting your shoulder before taking a step back and turning around to continue walking.

"Well, it was nice meeting you."

You could only gaze after her as she began to walk away.

Slowly you furrowed your eyebrows.

You were not letting her walk away this time.

"Wait!" Before you had realised it  you had grabbed her wrist, stopping her movement and her turning towards you with a slightly annoyed gaze.

You flinched at that but didn't let that stop you.

You knew that you couldn't force her to go back and you didn't want to force her at all.

But you also couldn't let her stay outside around this cold.

No matter how tough she may be, you could see the redness of her hands and how cold her wrist felt on your skin.

Not to mention that she also shivered pretty badly earlier before she had gotten up.

Taking a deep breath, you put the other hand into your pocket while she continued to watch your every move.

You pulled out your key and gently grasped her hand to turn her palm towards you.

You tapped her clenched fist and glanced at her, silently asking her to open up her hand.

She fully turned towards you and shifted her eyes with furrowed eyebrows between your hand grasping hers and the key in your other.

She slowly opened up her hand.

You put the key in her palm and wrapped your hands around hers to close it.

Now that the both of you were standing straight and kinda, close you had to slightly tilt your head back to look at her.

The light of the street lamp illuminated her face, seemingly making her eyes steel blue eyes seem a bit brighter than before.

You really couldn't deny that she looked... beautiful.

Vi herself was still in thoughts as she tried to wrap her head around you in general.

She just couldn't understand you and you looking at her with those doe eyes of yours filled with worry and care directed towards her, made her tighten her grip around your key.

You gulped down and deeply breathed in as you shifted your gaze towards her hand.

You tapped onto her hand again.

"Key."

 One hand of yours let hers go to point towards the direction the both of you had come from and looked back at her  "To my home."

You could see her opening her mouth to say something to you but she closed it again, only looking at you with a lost expression.

Clenching her jaw, she slowly shook her head at you and took your wrist, wanting to give you your key back.

< Stop it. You're making this even more difficult for me. >

Quickly realising what she was about to do, you pulled your hand back and frowned at her.

"No!" You told her as you shook your head.

She huffed and glanced behind you and then to her fist holding your key.

You knew that by doing that you had put her in a conflict but you couldn't just leave her like this.

So you wanted to give her a choice.

A cold breeze blew past you, making you shiver a bit.

You saw her tense up, probably trying to surpress her shivering since she had been walking around in her prison outfit the whole day.

Glancing at your jacket, you weren't sure if it would fit her but luckily you had many layers on and maybe your fluffy hoodie could fit her?

Blinking at you in bewilderment, she watched you take off your jacket, your scarf and your hoodie.

You put on your jacket and pressed the hoodie with your scarf  against her chest while putting on your best intimidating expression.

"Here. Take it." You said.

"But-"  "HM!" You put more pressure on it.

Exhaling deeply, she leisurely took your hoodie and your scarf not wanting to refuse you even further or maybe you'd trip her again or worse.

A slight chuckle slipped out of her mouth at her thoughts, making you raise an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

She pointed at your hoodie in her arms.

"But thanks, I guess?"

You weren't sure if she was asking if it was for her or if she was thanking you but you nodded nonetheless.

Slowly you could feel your hands becoming really cold and you had a feeling it was getting pretty late.

Knowing that she wouldn't immediately come with you and she probably needed some time for herself, you began to step backwards.

"I-I'll be at home, okay?" You pointed behind you with your thumb and nodded at her with a small smile while  trying to somehow encourage her to accept your offer that she can return back to your place anytime she wants.

She bit her lip as she felt herself wavering at your kindness.

What did she do to deserve it?

She slowly nodded at you, slightly smiling back at you before turning around and beginning to walk, her grip turning tighter on your hoodie with each step.

You sighed to yourself as you watched her leave and decided to make your way back as well.

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

You were shivering hard as you stood infront of the building's entrance.

Since you had given her your only key, you had to ring your neighbours, Family Morales, to open the door for you.

Luckily it wasn't too late and you knew that atleast Mr. Morales aka Antonio would be awake with his wife to watch some movies around this hour.

Hopefully the ring of the doorbell wouldn't wake any of their children up.

You braced yourself as you slowly pushed the doorbell with their name tag on it.

After some seconds, you heared a click indicating that someone had picked up.

"Helloooo?" It was Mr. Morales, who had picked up.

You cleared your throat. "Hello, Mr. Morales. I- uhmmm- forgot my key again and I can't get in. Could you maybe open both doors for me?"

You had promised him and his wife that you would take better care of your things but nope, fate didn't want you to do that and here you were, fully basking in your shame.

You heard him laugh through the speaker.

" Of course of course, I can open the door but oh pequeñita , you gotta take care of your things! What if we wouldn't be here to open up the door for you?"

"I know, Mr. Morales but before we continue talking. Could you please open the door because it's seriously cold outside."

"Oh! Sorry sorry, I'll open it."

You sighed in relief as you heard the click of the door.

You pushed it open and walked upstairs to get the spare key.

Before you could knock, he had already opened the door for you and brightly smiled at you. You smiled back as the smell of food immediately hitting your nose and making your mouth nearly water.

"Thank you for opening the door, Mr Morales." You smiled at him as he handed you the key.

"Oh please, pequeñita. It's nothing and I told you to call me Antonio."

He patted your shoulder. "No need for formalities, Y/N. You're already part of the family so you can even call me Tio Antonio. But only if you want to which would make your Tio really happy."

You chuckled at his words. "Thank you, I'll think about it. It's just really difficult since-"

"Yeah yeah, because your mother raised you to be polite but remember."

He gently put a hand onto your shoulder and looked at you with such fatherly love that it nearly made you tear up.

"You're here now and you're not alone. From all the years we've known you, you're such a strong girl and you should be proud of yourself, pequeñita."

You warmly smiled at his words. "Thank you. I really am thankful for you and your family but I really gotta go because I'm cold and I'm pretty tired. I'll give you the key back tomorrow morning."

"Oh yes, do that and get some rest. You do feel pretty cold and I am curious about what you were doing outside at this hou-"

"Antonio, when are you coming?! I'm starting the movie without you." You heard Gabriela, his wife, yell from the living room.

He gasped at her words and turned around.

"But mi vida, you said you would wait for me!"

He turned around and gave you a quick hug before pulling away.

"Okay I gotta go back too before she starts without me and we know she can be ruthless like that. If you need something or any kind of help, just ring or knock, okay?"

"I will, I will. Then I wish the both of you a good night, Mr. Morales"

"I told you to call m-" "Antonio~ The movie has already started ~"

"I AM ON MY WAY. okay good night, Y/N!! And ring or knock if you need anything!! "  He hurriedly told you and waved at you as you went towards the stairs and down to your apartment before closing his door.

The family has been helping you with many things ever since you had moved into this building some years ago. It all started when your dad had decided to do one of his surprise visits and it ended up with the both of you yelling at each other in the hallway. Gabriela had come out and started to put him in his place as she had heard some of the things he had said towards you, which led to him threatening you that he'd come back but he immediately went away as Antonio came down and threatened him that he'd have to go past him first. You, being thankful, asked them how you could repay them and initially they didn't want anything but you offered that you could sometimes babysit their children if they needed it and thus began your relationship with the family.

Chuckling to yourself as you heard their daily arguing, you stepped into your apartment, relishing in it's warmth.

You leaned your back against the door as you sighed to yourself, feeling the fatigue hit you like a brick.

You could feel how exhausted you were after tonight's stunt and honestly, your worries weren't ceasing at all about Vi.

You just hoped that maybe she would come back.

She didn't have to stay here but you atleast wanted her to have a place to sleep or eat.

Shaking your head to stop yourself from imagining the worst scenarios, you took of your jacket and boots.

"Ew, I really gotta change my clothes." You said as you frowned at your clothes, which here clinging onto you from how wet they had gotten.

You glanced at the kitchen, seeing everything lying on the counter just like you had left it.

"Aand then I'll just finish the pizza."

"Maybe she'll come back." You muttered under your breath as you went to your room to get some fresh clothes.

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

"Finally done." You groaned as you plopped onto the couch.

You had put the pizza onto the table and covered it with a plate, to atleast slow its's cooling down.

You couldn't let it stay in the oven since you doubt that she'd know you had put it in there to make it stay warm.

It was already 2am and she still hadn't returned. Chewing on your lip, you decided to turn on your TV and try to distract yourself before you'd go crazy and search for her yet again.

You were strongly fatigued yet didn't want to sleep.

What if she does come back or what if she doesn't??

At this point, you hoped she would.

You decided to watch the Amazing World of Gumball.

You needed something fun to watch, hoping it would lift your mood up a little.

You glanced at your phone, that had been lying on the table for the whole day. You tapped onto it and saw that you had gotten 10 messages from "your local dealer" but that was just Jenava, who had put that name for her into your phone.

Sorry, Jen but I'll just text her tomorrow

You thought to yourself as you turned on your alarm clock before putting it back onto the table.

Slowly but surely, it didn't take long for your eyes to droop down and you could feel yourself getting drowsier with each passing minute.

Maybe I'll rest my eyes for a bit

You convinced yourself as you closed them, not needing long to end up falling asleep on the couch, all bundled up with your blanket which slightly smelled like her and only lulling you further into your sleep.

Taglist:

@imdumbhi @chunkysuga @rezeluv @sleepless-addict @iloveallmenandwomen @artsandshadows @skullz-system @luvmeijii @icedcoffeedisaster @imtallerthanyou @iwillbiteabitch @primrose-x0x @cutttteeee @miraeluc @brittlee @heartfairy @blackanblue @94cjones

[sweetiejunie]

It’s Because I Love you

Summary: Soobin dug himself into a hole and needed his bestfriend to help him out

Genre: Fluff, Friends-to-lovers, Slow-burn(ish)

Word count: ~10k (oops sry)

💕 Requested 

A/n: to the anon that requested this. I’m so sorry this took me forever... haha~ I hope you liked it! And writing this actually reminded how much i like writing these. Do you guys prefer these kind of longer fics or the shorter reaction type fics?

Warnings: Some swearing

======================================

      “Y/n i fucked up.”

      Was first line that came out of soobin’s mouth when you opened the door. It wasn’t unusual for soobin to randomly show up at your place. But you really weren’t expecting his presence today, since you knew he would be busy packing to head home for the week break. You were about to greet him but before you could say anything, he beat you to it, his sentence laced with regret and panic.        “What did you do this time?” You answered, “aren’t you supposed to be packing?”        “I- excuse you what do you mean ‘this time’?” He mocked. “Okay, whatever, we’ll get back to that and yeah, i am, but I fucked up real bad,” he repeated.        “Huh?” You took a step back so soobin could enter. “Are you alright? What happened?”       “So you know how all my cousins and sibling are in a relationship right?” Soobin continued, making his way to your couch to sit down. Resting his head back against the cushions as he groaned.       “Yeah, what about it?” Tilting your head as the conversation got more confusing by the second. You closed the door behind you before joining him.        “Well... my brother just called me and may have been bothering me about being the only one that isn’t in a relationship...” he trailed off, “and erm, i may have said i... had a girlfriend. And now my family wants met her.”        You couldn’t help but burst out laughing at his confession, “you did what? You really dug yourself into a hole this time.”        Soobin was the youngest of his family. He was always the one that chose to focus more on his grades than actually making friends. Sure, he went to parties and drank every now and then, but other than that, he rarely did anything short of the ‘perfect son’. But despite all his efforts, there was always one thing his sibling could tease him about, and that was the fact that he was 21 and has never been in a relationship. Soobin always tried to not let this bother him, but i guess today, he just snapped.        “I really did,” he sighed. “That’s why i need your help.”        “How can i possibly help you out of this, soobin?” you ridiculed, glaring at him. “You do know that you’re one of my only friends, right? Meaning, I won’t be able to find anyone to play girlfriend with you.”         “Um, actually about that... i kind of told my family that my girlfriend goes to the same school as me and studies the same major as me. I also kind of told them that she has y/e/c eyes and y/h/c hair.” He sat up, looking for a reaction from you. Instead, all he saw was your blank expression, staring back at him. “Yeah so, if you hadn’t caught on yet, i might have, sort of, just described you to my family.”         Your eyes widened at his statement, you weren’t sure what to reply. You met soobin all the way back in high school, and you’ve stayed friends ever since — 5 years, 11 months, 23 days, to be exact. Not that you were keeping count or anything. You remember the first day you approached the shy boy, the new transfer student sitting at the back alone. He was the first friend you made there. And to makes things worse, you’ve had a crush on him, but you knew better than to confess and possibly ruin the friendship.         You’ve suppressed all your feeling since then. Maybe. Probably. Okay, no. But you’ve tried. And all this talk of ‘pretend girlfriend’ did nothing but make your heart start racing again.        “Why on earth would you do that!”        “I dont know! You were the first person that came to mind! So are you okay with doing me the favour of playing the role of my girlfriend?” Soobin said with a slight pout and puppy dog eyes. A move he knew you could never refuse, “You’re free this break, right?”        His sudden confession was like a blow to your heart. The first person that came to his mind... but it’s probably just because he didnt have many female friends, right?        “Erm...” you paused. The more you thought about his proposition, the more you found yourself weighing the consequences.        “Come on y/n. Please? We already get engaged every other week at clubs for free drinks. This won’t be that much different.”        “Would your family believe it? I mean, it’s me.”        “Sure they will. And it’ll be easy to fake it since you already know me.”        You paused for another second before replying. “Hm, right. Fine. But you owe me. Do i have to bring anything?” You were helping out a friend.         A friend. Nothing more, nothing less.        “Nope, just bring enough clothes. You don’t need anything too fancy,” he stood up, leaning down to give you a quick hug. As he walked towards the door, he looked over his shoulder before leaving your apartment. “Thanks for doing this, i really owe you. I’ll pick you up at 7 tomorrow after our classes, alright? See you then.”

————-————-————-————-

        After an hour, three outfit changes and completely unpacking and repacking your luggage twice, you were finally satisfied and ready to go. It was only a weeks worth of clothes in a small luggage, yet, you still found a way to overthink it. In the end, you had settled for a simple tee with jeans and a coat to keep you warm for the ride.         Already, you were beginning to regret your decision of going along with this whole ‘fake girlfriend’ act. It had nothing to do with soobin or his family. They were absolutely wonderful, his parents were kind, his siblings were fun and sweet and his baby nephew was, well, a baby. The only problem was what if your heart liked the idea of being his ‘girlfriend’ just a little bit too much?         You had met his siblings and parents a handful of times when they visited him at his apartment. They’ve always been nothing but nice to you, and now, you were going to have to lie to them. The more you thought about it, the more your mind was playing angel and devil with you. On one hand, you didn’t want to spend the weekend being dishonest and possibly screwing up the image soobin’s family had of you. But on the other, you wanted to be selfish and be able to call soobin yours, even if it were just for a few days.         You sighed quietly, sitting in your living room waiting for soobin to pick you up like he said he would. The entire day you had been unable to focus in your classes, whatever your lectures said just going right through your head. At this time on fridays, you would normally have found soobin dressed in any lounge wear he had, crashing at your place to watch whatever movie he found that week. But now, you were going to find him dressed up, ready to bring you to meet his parents. The relationship sure escalated quickly. Just as your mind started drifting further, your doorbell rang.        “U ready?” Soobin’s signature eye smile greeted you, his front bunny teeth exposed. You’ve always noticed how soobin’s appearance resembled that of a bunny, but no matter how many times you tried to tell him, he didn’t want to believe it.        “As ready as ill ever be,” you returned the smile, grabbing your luggage and locking your front door.        Well, this was it, no turning back now. Helping you with your things, soobin lead you to his car and started the journey. It was only about a 3 hour drive and a car ride proved to be a great distraction. You hadn’t been to soobins hometown before, so being able to look out the window and see the scenery was no doubt better than sneaking glances at soobin in the drivers seat. You just knew that if you saw soobin, with one hand on the steering wheel, and the other propped on the arm rest, you might have gone into cardiac arrest.        The ride was quiet for the most part, that was until soobin pulled up at a red light. “I made a playlist,” soobin flipped his phone around to show you and connect it to his car. “It’s like, if you were my real girlfriend, this would be the playlist i would share with you.”        You couldn’t help but smile when you realised how sweet soobin would be in an actual relationship. His future girlfriend is really lucky. But you had to control yourself, reminding yourself that it’s all just pretend for the week.        “I’m sure its great. You have great taste in music,” you faked a laugh. “Um... so... soobin? How exactly are we supposed to fake this? I mean, what we supposed to do? What will your family do?”        “Oh...” he started, his eyes focusing back on the road, the lights turning green again. “To be honest, i haven’t actually thought about that part yet.” Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought. “Mmm, when my brother first brought his girlfriend home, my family teased him a lot, just to make fun of him and get her reaction. But they already did that with you whenever they visited me so... I’m not sure what they’ll do, honestly.”        “Oh...” That was completely unhelpful. Pulling your knees to your chest, you continued staring blankly out the window.        “Hey, don’t worry too much okay? We’ll just wing it like we do everything else. And that’s worked out for us so far, right?” Soobin chuckled, trying to comfort you. “As for what we need to do. I guess it’ll just be all that couple stuff like holding hands and hugging. And you’re already such a cuddly person, that shouldn’t be a problem for you. We got this, alright? And I’ll be with you the entire time.”        You nod a response, “yeah, we got this.”        On the outside, you tried to seem cool and composed. On the inside however, you were a mess. Sure, you and soobin already had your fair share of cuddles when he showed up for a movie night at your place. And on the days he was too lazy to go back to his dorm, you would find him whining and groaning for you to make him breakfast the next day. But now you were expected to act that way in front of his family? That was a whole new level of stress you didn’t think about when you agreed to this.         After a while more of driving, it was a little over 10pm when soobin finally pulled up alongside the curd in front of his house. The remainder of the car ride had been relatively silent, except for the playlist that soobin had made for you, and the occasional mindless singing you would start that turned into a carpool karaoke. Getting off, soobin unloaded his and your luggage and lead you to the front door.        Probably noticing your nervous state, soobin grabbed your shaking hands. “I’m right here alright?” He smiled, “it’s show time.”        With that, he rang the doorbell. And not 15 seconds later, soobin’s sister answered the door.        “Soobin!” She greeted, pulling him into a hug, “we’ve been waiting for you and- oh! Y/n! I knew it. Same major, y/e/c eyes, y/h/c hair. If it wasn’t you, i was about to kick his ass.”        “Hah, yeah, surprise?” You said, the last part sounding more like a question than a sentence.        “Aish, this boy. The previous night on the call, he just told us he’ll be bringing his girlfriend home, gave us a description but never told us who. Left us all to wonder who she was and well,” she chuckled, putting an arm around soobin’s shoulders, “if she even existed. I’m glad it’s you, the first time we met you, i already knew you two would end up together.”        “Wait, so you all took guesses on who it was?” Soobin chimed in, shooting a glare at his sister.        “Well, yea! All of us pretty much guessed y/n. Except for mom though, she’s kept quiet about it. But i guess it was just because she didn’t want to get her hopes up.”        Looking at soobins annoyed expression, you laughed. Shrugging of his sisters arm, soobin grabbed both your luggage, pushing past his sister and pulled them into the house. “Alright, alright, just let us in already, its freezing out here.”        “It’s nice to see you again y/n,” his sister said as she held the door open for you.        “Likewise.” You smiled before stepping in.        You’d never been to soobin’s house before. Sure, you’ve seen bits and pieces of it when the two of your FaceTimed over the holidays, but never in person. In the hallway where you stood, were the stairs that you presumed lead to the bedrooms. Sporadically placed were a few house plants that looked as if they had been watered quite recently.  The walls were littered with family photos, and most noticeably, soobin’s baby pictures. You smiled looking at them, taking a mental image of the cute, little baby this giant once was.        Closing the door behind you, soobins sister spoke, “you guys wait here. I think mom and dad are in the living room. I’ll go get them.”        As you saw her silhouette disappear towards one of the entries, you felt the nerves building up again, “soobin...” you tilted you head up to look at him, your face portraying nothing but worry.        “Don’t worry okay?” Taking your hand in his, gently squeezing for reassurance.“ Just follow my lead and pretend you’re in love with me. Which should be easy since I’m your favourite person,” he joked, in attempts to lighten your mood.        ‘Pretend to be in love with him’. Okay, shouldn’t be too hard, considering the fact that you actually were in love with him and spent years pretending not to be. “Yea, alright.”        Letting go of your hand, soobin walked forward to hug his parents when he saw them approaching.        “Soobin, we were starting to wonder how long more you would take,” his mom said. “How are you? How’s everything at school?”         “Everything’s fine,” he replied. Turning to you, he held out his hand for you to take. “Mom, dad, you know y/n.”        Accepting his hand, you stepped forward to greet his parents. Just hoping that your nervous trembling wasn’t too obvious to the naked eye.        “Ah of course! How could we ever forget,” his mom smiled.        “We always knew the two of you would end up together eventually. He’s always been so obvious about you,” his dad added, causing blood to rush to your cheeks, and soobin to immediately retaliate.        “Dad! Stop it. No i have not!” You looked around at him just in time to see him cross his arms and roll his eyes, cheeks pink and eyes shining. He met your eyes and looked away, but the grin on his face never faltered.        Hitting her husbands arm, soobins mom scolded, “aish, stop teasing them, they just got here. Speaking of which, have you two eaten?”        “No we havent, actually. We came right after school,” soobin answered.        “In that case, you can take yours and y/n stuff up to your room and get settled in. I’ll order some food for you. Pizza sound okay?” his mom spun soobin around, pushing him back to where your luggage laid.        “His room?” You thought out loud. Of course they were expecting you to share a room with soobin. What else could you have possibly thought.        “Of course his room,” his mom answered, “you have known each other for such a long time. And i have no doubts there are days that soobin stayed over at your apartment instead of his dorm anyway. There’s no way I’m letting you sleep on the couch.”        With that, you and soobin grabbed your things and headed up to his room. Sure, the nights soobin stayed over you have shared a bed before. But this time, it just felt different. Even though everything was still purely platonic, the element of you being in his home, pretending to be his girlfriend, was still no doubt intimidating.        “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Soobin asked rhetorically, snapping you out of your thoughts. He laughed, clearly taking the whole situation a lot lighter than you were.        Opening the door to his room, it was exactly how you pictured it when he called you. You stood at the doorway, it seemed so familiar, yet unknown at the same time. His bed in the corner of the room with a few pillows and plushies, at the other end, his desk and wardrobe filled with clothes he left behind. His walls were mainly bare, except for one that had a few old polaroids hanging loosing from the ceiling. It felt weird being there.        “Well, don’t just stand there,” soobin grabbed your luggage from you, pulling you in to the room so he could close the door behind you and crashing down on his bed. “First, let me give you the official welcome to mi casa. My family is a lot, but you already knew that. Make yourself at home.”        “Honestly, i cant believe they bought it so easily,” you let out, taking a seat next to him.        “Told you they would. My family probably loves you more than they love me.”        You laughed halfheartedly, still feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing.        “We should clean up before we head back to the wolves den for dinner. The bathroom is right down the hall to the right. You can go first, ill clear a drawer for you,” he offered.          You nod, gathering your things for the night.        This is all just pretend.

————-————-————-————-

       The shower definitely helped calm you down a bit. You loved the warmth of the water against your skin.        “It’s just for a week. Dont get used to it,” you muttered to yourself.        Getting out, you quickly dressed yourself in a tshirt and some shorts. The normal attire you wore to sleep, anything else was always just uncomfortable for you.          “You’re turn,” you announced when you entered soobins room again.        “That was quick. Here, take one of my sweaters.”        “What for?” You shot him a look, raising brow. It wasn’t as if you hadn’t stole his hoodies before, it was just the fact that he was offering it this time.       “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend, aren’t you? Girlfriends always take their boyfriend’s clothes.”        Fishing a plain, red sweater out from his wardrobe, he threw it in your direction, hitting you directly in the face and causing you to yelp a little. “Besides, you already take all my hoodies. This is no different,” he continued, eyeing you as you pulled it over your head.        As usual, soobin’s clothes were huge on you. And this sweater was no doubt oversized, even for him. “How do i look?”        You looked to him when you didn’t get a reply. But this only caused him to turn away from you quickly, mumbling something to himself before answering, “it’s my clothes, it’ll look great on everyone.”        Scrambling to gather his things, he left for his shower. You could have swore you saw him blushing when he was looking at you. But you brushed it off as your overactive imagination. You decided to swiftly blow dry your hair before laying on his bed, scrolling through your phone while waiting for him. You were hungry, practically starving, but there was no way in hell you were going to face his family again on your own. With your new status, god knows what they would do or say.        A mere 15 minutes go by before you hear the door open again. Revealing a damp haired soobin, dressed in a white tee and sweatpants. A simple look you have seen many times over the years, but one that still made your head and thoughts hazy.        “Ready to go down?” He spoke, smirking at you, almost knowingly, “I’m starving.”        “Ye- yeah,” gathering your thoughts, bringing yourself back to reality.

————-————-————-————-

       Dinner with the family wasnt all that bad. Sure, there was the occasional teasing and questions. But that was to be expected. Any parent would have been curious, right?        You let soobin take the lead on most of those. You didn’t want your cover to get blown by having any clashing answers. Once in a while you would feel soobin grab your hand under the table when he needed your help, but for the most part, they were the basic questions like “since when?” Or “who confessed first?”. The usual relationship stuff, nothing too hard. And it was a lot easier with the fact that it was you and soobin, the two friends that have mastered the art of bullshitting your way out of situations.         At the end of the day, the awkwardness ended soon after it started. With it being past midnight, Soobin’s family had long gone to bed, leaving you two alone in the dimly lit kitchen to finish up your dinner, which had quickly became supper.        “So, how was day one of being my girlfriend?” He looked over to you, munching on another piece of pizza. Even in that horrible lighting, he still managed to take your breath away. No one could possibly look good with dull, ugly, yellow kitchen lighting, but somehow, he did. The way the soft light bounced off his skin, partnered with the reflection in his eye that gave that perfect shine to them. You were sure you looked horrid next to him.        “Mmm, it’s alright i guess,” you teased, earning a pout from soobin. “You big baby. I’m just kidding,” nudging him on the shoulder, causing you both the laugh.        You didn’t know why this question surprised you as much as it did. Maybe you wanted to flip the tables, or maybe you just weren’t expecting the answer he gave. “So how was day one of having me as your pretend girlfriend?”        He thought about it for a second before facing you and speaking. “Honestly, it’s been fun. Even though we haven’t done much. But then again, i always knew you would be great girlfriend to someone one day.”        ‘Someone’. If only you could tell him how much you wanted that someone to be him. If only you had the guts to say what’s was on your mind.        “Want to play some music?” Breaking the silence, soobin picked up his phone, quickly scrolling through his playlists before stopping on one he named ‘midnight’. “It’s just some chill songs i found that i thought would be nice to listen to at night.”        The playlist started and the first song to play was ‘what falling in love feels like’.        “Oh, i love this song,” you mindlessly stated between bites.        “Really?” Soobin replied. “I never heard you listen to classical music.”        Your eyes widened slightly when you realised what you said. You didn’t just listen to classical music. You’ve also imagined what it would be like to slow dance to it.        “I never really told anyone... but i always wanted to dance with someone to this song. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit,” you trailed off, the surface of the counter suddenly becoming more interesting. The dead of night had you confessing unspoken words.        There was another second of silence. You could feel soobin’s stare on your face. He was judging you. You were sure of it. Now you were just mentally preparing yourself for a laugh-        “Let’s dance.”        “What?” You weren’t expecting that. You shot your head up, seeing his outstretched hand.        “Let’s dance,” he repeated.        You reached for his hand, but didn’t grab it. You were hesitant. Never would you have thought you’d be slow dancing with your crush — of over 3 years, in the kitchen of his childhood home — at midnight.         He held you hand, helping you to stand before twirling you into his arms. He lead your hands around his neck and his around your waist. You fell in step, letting the rhythm control your movements. Your eyes gazing into his brown, glistening ones, a soft smile on his face. It felt like a dream. Your surroundings and any other disturbances dissolved. It was just you and him. Right here, right now. You stayed like that, dancing. Everything felt just... perfect.        “You know i’d never judge you right?” He said, his eyes watching your expressions closely. “I know that’s what you were thinking earlier.”        You looked away, unable to find the right words. Soobin always had a way to read you so easily. Every once in a while he would remind you how expressive your face was. And you were certain a blush had crept to your cheeks when you heard soobin chuckle.        “You silly girl. You can tell me anything. You know that. After all, you are my best friend.”        “Right... best friend,” you offered a small smile to mask the resignation in your words.         And just like that, the song ended. Soobin let go your waist. Leaving nothing the ghostly feeling of where his hands once were and the sensation of having his body so close to yours.        “It’s nearly 1am. We should go to bed soon,” he nodded towards the clock on the stove. “You can head up first. I’ll clean up here and join you in a bit.”        You nodded. Once you were back in his room, you crashed on his bed. Regret and agony the only things left for you to feel.        Why did you agree to this. You knew it would be hard. But not this hard.        You rolled over to your side of the bed. And true to his word, soobin entered shortly after. Climbing under the covers with you, poking your side when you paid no attention to him.        You jumped, immediately facing him. “What was that for!?”        “Nothing,” he laughed. “It’s just fun to do that to you. I have a fun day planned tomorrow, so get up early. Good night y/n.”        “Good night, asshole.” You scoffed.

.

.

.

       The next morning you woke up to a post-it on your head. You tore it off and looked around the room but soobin was nowhere to be seen. You groaned, sitting up to stretch and read the note.        ‘Wake up sleepyhead. Come to the kitchen for breakfast.’        Oh, how you wished the entire night before had been a dream. But alas, it wasn’t. Pulling yourself out of bed, you cleaned yourself up and descend the stairs. The smell of fresh pancakes engulfing the entire house.        “Good morning y/n,” soobin’s dad greeted you when you entered the kitchen. “Grab a seat. Breakfast is almost done.”        “Your dad cooks?” You whispered as you pulled out the stool next to soobin.        “Mainly breakfast. But yes,” he whispered back.        Soobin’s dad placed a plate in front of each of you. 3 pancakes a piece, and more to come. “Butter or maple syrup?”        “Both,” soobin smugly answered.        “And you y/n?”        “Ill have both as well, thanks,” you smiled before facing soobin. “Where’s your mom and sister?”        “My mom went to the store. And my sister doesn’t get up till later.” Soobin grabbed the syrup his father had just put on the table and poured a generous amount. His attention was fully on his food.        You couldn’t help but grin at his childlike manner. He always loved breakfast. Or any dish that can be both sweet and savoury actually. You both enjoyed your breakfast, watching soobin’s father flip pancakes, cheering when it landed, and messing around while cooking as your morning source of entertainment.        “The pancakes are really good, mr choi,” you complimented.        “Why, thank you y/n. You always have been such well mannered,” he said. “Hopefully some of that will rub off on my son soon.”        “Hey! I am well mannered,” soobin retorted.        “Oh, really now,” you taunted, giving him a look of disbelief.        Soobin tsked, lightly pushing you over. “Okay, whatever. Anyways, hurry up. I’m going to show you around town today.”        “You two don’t come back too late now,” his father added. “And bring a coat, it’s supposed to get colder today.”        Stuffing down the remainder of his food, soobin linked your arms and dragged you out of the kitchen the moment he saw your plate empty.        “Hey! I’m not done yet, i wanted one mo-!”        “Bye dad!” Soobin interrupted, ignoring your plea.

————-————-————-————-

       “So much being well mannered.” You mocked.        “Not my fault you wanted to eat so much,” he shrugged.        Both of you strolled along the road. You weren’t sure where soobin was bringing you, other than his aforementioned ‘town’. Despite it just being the two of you, soobin still dressed nicely, in a turtleneck and scarf with a black coat to go over it.        “Wait...” you started, noticing a passing sign. “Why does that say the town is the other way?”        “Cause i changed my mind. I’m bringing you somewhere else,” he replied, shooting you one of his, oh so charming, eye smiles. “I’ll bring you to town another day.”        “This way’s to the forest,” you raised an eyebrow. “Are you planning to kill me or something? After 6 years of friendship. This is how you want to end it?” You dramatically gripped your chest and joked. “I’m sorry for whatever i did. I can change, I swear.”        Soobin rolled his eyes and guffawed. “Of course. This has been my plan all along. To befriend you then brutally murder you among the trees where no one can find your body,” he played along. “Relax, I’m no murderer. An avid liar? Maybe. But not a murderer. I just want to show you something.”         You hummed a response and continued on your way. Not long after, soobin was leading you down a path in the deserted forest. As the path reached deeper into the woods, the trees got denser.        “Erm, soobin, where are we going?” You called from behind him. “I’m really starting to question the whole murder thing.”        You’re not going to lie when you say the woods kind of crept you out. You could have sworn you felt someone behind you. But when you turned around, there wasn’t a soul. The twigs and dead leaves making a deafening crunch under your feet as the — seemingly never-ending — journey continued.        “Just trust me,” he provided a simple answer that proved to be of no help in ensuring you.       As you continued, the sound of snapping twigs got louder. You turned the corner and the sudden sound of birds fleeing their nest startled you, causing you to jump and grab soobin’s coat from the back.         “Are you really that scared?” He laughed. “Don’t worry,” he continued, turning around and reaching for your hand. Gently running his thumb over yours the rest of the way. “We’re almost there. It’s worth it, i promise.”        Having his hand in yours definitely provided some comfort. But it was also making you feel things that you shouldn’t be feeling. After another minute of walking, you finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The horrid crunching sound had been washed out by the sound of, well, rushing water.        A waterfall.        You gasped in astonishment at the clarity of the Caribbean-blue waterfall. It was spurting over the basalt rock, spilling eel-like over the ledges. Its clamorous passage at the foot of the mountain threw up bubbles of spray. They sparkled uneasily in the beams of light that shined through the leaves of surrounding trees.        When it toppled into the ecstasy-pool, it foamed it at the bottom. The rest of the pool was as clear as cellophane, allowing you to see down into the rocky bottom. Fronds of forest-green plants waved gently in the depths. The waterfall looked like a sheet of blue velour as it swished down. Its edges were hemmed with whipped-white lines.        “Wow,” was all you managed to utter out.        “I told you it was worth it,” soobin grinned. “Come on.” He lead you closer, collapsing on the bank and letting the nougat sweet smell of flowers wash over him.        You followed suit. “How did you find this place?”        “A friend of mine showed it to me when we were kids.” He said, leaning back against his palms. “We used to hang out all the time here. The five of us. That is, until i moved away for high school.        “I wonder what they’re up to now.” He added after a slight pause.        “You don’t see them when you come back for the holidays?” You asked.        Soobin shook his head. “I don’t get to see them much anymore. I barely leave my house, y/n, you know that. Besides, they’re all busy with their own lives.”        You listened to soobin reminisce about his childhood. You would listen to soobin talk for hours if you could. His words are were like gold to you, or perhaps some elixir you’ve been waiting all your days to hear. He had nothing but good things to say. It sounded like he had a lot of fun here, in the small town he grew up in. You both sat there for a while, gawking at the waterfall when the suddenly rustling of the bushes behind you caught your attention.        “Y/n,” soobin stood up, holding you behind him as the rustling got louder. And then a figure walked through, a boy. He was wearing a brown furry jacket. His hair was a strange shade a pink, but it complimented his skin tone nicely.        “Soobin?” The boy said, folding his arms. “No way. Is that actually you? Mr choi soobin. After all these years.”          “Yeonjun?” Soobin replied, letting go of you and walking up to yeonjun. “What are you doing here?”        “I was on my way out and thought i saw you earlier entering the forest so i decided to follow you. Who else knows this place anyway?” Yeonjun laughed, swinging an arm around soobin’s shoulder.        “So you practically followed, what could have been, a complete stranger into the forest?” Soobin shot him a look. To that, yeonjun just smiled and nodded. “You never change, do you?”        “Nope,” yeonjun answered confidently. “Anyways, are you going to introduce me to the pretty lady or do i have to do that myself?” He gestured a smile towards you.        Beside him, soobin stiffened, his jaw slightly tensing before he answered. “Right... Yeonjun, y/n. We met in high school, she’s my best friend.  Y/n, yeonjun. He was one of my friends i was telling you about-”        “Yeah, until this bastard moved, changed his number and practically became a hermit that never left his house much.” Yeonjun jibed.        “Hmm, that sounds about right. The only place I’ve seen him, other than class or the library, is at my apartment binge watching shows,” you added, causing yeonjun to burst out a laugh.        “You guys are mean.” Soobin grumbled, pushing yeonjun’s arm off him.        “I have a feeling she and i are going to be great friends.” Yeonjun said matter-of-factly.        The three of you sat there, talking for what seemed like hours. Soobin and yeonjun continued to tell you about the different adventures they had together as kids with their friends, beomgyu, kai and taehyun. They recounted all the accidents that happened, all the fun moments they had together. Yeonjun eventually proceeded to tell you about all the embarrassing soobin stories he could think of, sharing jokes and making you laugh. The entire time though, soobin barely directed any conversation at you. Let alone laugh at Yeonjun’s ‘jokes’.        As your laughter died down, yeonjun spoke again. “I have to ask though, what’s she doing doing here? Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I’m just curious. Does she live around here too?”        You looked to soobin, unsure of how or what to answer.        “It’s okay, yeonjun won’t snitch,” he said. “Y/n’s pretending to be my girlfriend for the holiday.”         It hurt you every time he said it. In your head you wished so badly for it to be real. To think, by now you would have learnt that wishing only wounds the heart. And each time soobin said it out loud, it was like a punch to the gut.        “Pretending to be your-“ yeonjun cut himself off by scoffing. “What for?”        “Well....” soobin started explaining the whole situation to yeonjun. To which the only response he got out of the other boy was mockery and disbelief.        “Are you serious?!” Yeonjun exclaimed. “So you two aren’t together?”        You shook your head.        “Oh... good....” he mumbled, grinning in the process. “You have got to be kidding me. But you guys do you, i guess. My lips are sealed.        “I hate to ruin the moment but i have to go. It was nice meeting you y/n.” He tipped an imaginary hat. “It was nice to see you again too, soobin. But let know, the next time you’re back.”        “Right, ill keep that in mind.” Soobin replied.        Just as yeonjun started to walk away, he stopped and turned around once more. “Oh! Right. How long are you guys staying? I’m meeting beomgyu, tae and kai on monday at the diner. You should come,” his eyes travelled to you, “both of you.”        “We cant-“        “We would love to!” You cut soobin off, “come on soobin, you haven’t seen your friends in ages. I would be nice to say ‘hi’ again.”         Soobin stared at you for a second. Maybe it was the excitement in your face or maybe he truly did want to see his friends again. But in the end he agreed.          “Great! Ill see you two monday at 5.” Yeonjun ended, giving a small salute before leaving, for real this time.        Soobin went back to the bay, laying down on the grass, letting out a long held sigh. He stared up at the sky that was quickly becoming darker. The stars and moon announcing their arrival.        “You alright?” You asked, sitting down next to him.        “Yeah, why wouldn’t i be?” He answered, his eyes still closed.        “I don’t know. You just seemed... off just now. Like my or yeonjun’s presence bothered you.”        “It’s nothing. Im just tired.” He sighed again, sitting up. “While on the subject, we should head back. It’s getting dark.”        He stood up and started walking without another word.        Was he mad at you? No... he had no reason to be, right? Was he mad about the joke you made with yeonjun?        You quickly caught up to him and followed him out of the forest. Other than your footsteps against the concrete road and the cicadas that came out to say their daily greetings, the awkward silence followed the rest of the way.        “I’m not annoyed at you, if that’s what you’re thinking,” soobin broke the silence. The entire walk you had your focus on the ground, not noticing the stolen glances soobin took. “Stop sulking. People are going to think i kicked your puppy or something.” He chuckled, bending his waist slight to look at your face.        His face was mere inches away from yours. Memories from the previous night came flooding back. You didn’t offer a response, not trusting the words that would escape your lips in that moment. Instead just turning your face to the other side to avoid his stare. Soobin let out a light hearted laugh and continued walking.          You recalled how soobin always said you had an expressive face. He must have seen something you didn’t realise.        The sky got darker as you continued down the road. The cool winter breeze greeting the concrete and skin just the same, causing you to shiver and wrap your arms around yourself. Mentally cursing the fact that, other than your khaki coat, you didn’t think to wear more layers that morning.        Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed. “Are you cold?” Soobin asked, already shedding off his cherry red, wool scarf.        “No, it’s alright, you’ll get cold,” grabbing his hands to stop his actions.        “I’ll be fine. And we’re only about 5 minutes away,” he argued, wrapping his scarf around your neck. He took your hand, pulling you behind him the rest of the way quickly before you ‘caught a cold’.        The scarf sat snug to your skin, soft and gentle, the ends becoming a colourful flag in the wintry winds. It was still warm from where it sat before. You could smell of his cologne on it. Faint, from the day’s activities. But still prominent enough to know it’s existence.        Your hands trembled in his and you thanked the cold for that excuse. Burying your face deeper into his scarf before he could make out the slight blush that painted your cheeks.        When you reached soobin’s home again, there was a faint chattering echoing through house.        “Oh, i think my older sister’s came for a visit.”        Soobin’s older sister. The one that’s the account, married, with the baby — soobin’s nephew — and the lovely husband. You’ve only ever met them once, well that, and the occasional pictures soobin would send you of him and his nephew. Seeing soobin with babies did things to your heart thats you didn’t like. You’ve already imagined the unlikely scenario of what it would be like to have soobin as your boyfriend. You can’t go fantasising an entire family as well. But you had to admit, he would make a great dad one day.        “Soobin!” His older sister ran and hugged him. He’s always had such a close bond with his siblings. “Mom and dad told me you brought your girlfriend home this time.” She wiggled her eyebrows.        “Hey sis. And yeah, y/n. You know her,” soobin turned to you.        “Of course. The last time i saw you two I knew you’d end up together.” She cheered as if she had just won the lottery.        So, from what you’ve gathered, soobin’s entire family had always had some hopes on the two of two. You wanted to smile at that fact. But at same time, you were lying to them right now. It was a bittersweet feeling.        The remainder of the night went on rather unproductive. You had dinner with his family, chatted with them, played with the baby and that was about it. The worst part came when the family decided to watch a movie together. The movie was great, dont get me wrong. You all sat together and watched kingsman again. Even though it was the tenth time you’ve seen it, it was still yours and Soobin’s favourite.        The bad part came when you had to find a seat. The family couch say four, soobin’s mom, dad and sisters. The older’s husband took one of the arm chairs, leaving you and soobin to share the other. In other words, you ended up having to sit on his lap.        “I can just sit on the floor, its no problem,” you suggested.        “Nonsense. I won’t let you sit on the floor,” soobin rebutted, holding your waist, pulling you back onto his lap.        You swear, if it wasn’t for the dimness of the room, the redness of your face would have matched that of the fire place. Throughout the movie you found it extremely hard to pay attention. Soobin had left one of his hands to rest on your knee and the other around your back. Sure, he was probably just putting on a show for his family. But he didn’t have to do the thumb thing as well. Or gently whisper in your ear, so close that you could feel his breath against your neck.          The rest of the time you couldn’t help but fidget in your seat — which just so happened to be soobin’s lap. As interesting as the fight scene on screen was or the dramatic music playing, the only thing you could focus on was the fact that soobin’s hand had now traveled to your thigh.        And underneath you, soobin’s breathing was becoming short and uneven. He was starting to stir as well before getting up, forcing you to stand and murmuring, “I’m going to head to bed early. You guys enjoy the rest of the movie.”        Within the next beat of the soundtrack, he was dashing out of the living room and running up the stairs.        What...?        You weren’t the only one wondering that. Soobin’s family were now staring at you, his mothers brows furrowed, his sister’s head tilted quizzically. “He said he’s tired,” you blurted, face-palming in your head.        Great. You already felt out of place and this certainly wasn’t helping. You sat down on the, now vacant, chair and continued the rest of the movie with his family.        I’m sure he’s fine. You can always ask him tomorrow.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

       You woke up to an empty bed again. But this time there was no post it note or anything from soobin. So you assumed he’d be in the kitchen like before.        “Morning y/n,” it was his older sister this time.        “Morning.” You looked around. No sight of soobin. “Where’s soobin?”        “Oh he didn’t tell you? He went out for a walk around 20 minutes ago.”        Why didn’t he wait for you?        “Yeah, he didn’t. Did he say where he was going or when he’ll be back?” You asked.        To that, she just shook her head.        Oh...

       “I almost forgot,” she continued. “There was a note for you. I left it on the counter for you.”

       You picked it up, hoping to see Soobin’s name as the regards, telling you his whereabouts. Instead, the note was fairly short.

Hey y/n!

Once again i just wanted to welcome you to town. It was really nice meeting you yesterday! Maybe we could hang out some time?

(Hopefully) Your friend,

Yeonjun

       Did Soobin see it? Either way, why does it matter.        After breakfast, you decided to wait for soobin to come home. If he didn’t tell where he was going, it means he cant be gone long, right? You sat in his room, figuring it would be the only place you didnt have to face his family members.        It was only about an hour and a half of waiting and a lunch break, that you got bored. You could only scroll your phone so much before it started to get more redundant than it already was. So, checking the weather report, you got dressed and left for a walk around. You hadn’t seen much of the area yet, it wouldn’t be harmful to do some exploring. Learning your lesson from yesterday, you put on a wool sweater underneath your coat. A pair of dr marten to match.         It was a rather fine day out. You walked under the sun that warmed your skin, but the cool winds keeping the temperature cool enough. The only thing that would make this better would be if soobin were with you...        “Y/n!” You heard a familiar voice call from behind you.        You turned around and saw a familiar lock of pink hair running towards you, frantically waving his arms. He was wearing a leather jacket today. Behind him was someone else that chased after him. He had nicely styled, bleached blonde hair and was slightly short than yeonjun was.        “Oh, hi.” You greeted the two of them. “Fancy running into you again.”        “I know, right!” He agreed, a bit more enthusiastically than what you would imagine. “Why are you alone? Where’s soobin?”        “No clue. He just took off this morning. Didn’t tell me anything and i got bored of sitting around alone.”        “Maybe the pressure of a relationship getting to him,” yeonjun suggested.        “It’s fake though,” you mocked.        He just shrugged. “Doesn’t make it any less of a commitment.”        You hummed a reply. “Fair enough.”        “Anyway. If you have nothing better to do... taehyun and i,” he said, gesturing towards to boy beside him, “were just headed to the arcade in town. Care to join us?”        “Sure, I don’t see why not.”        You followed as yeonjun and taehyun lead you through the town soobin said he would bring you to. Every corner they turned, they greeted someone new. From little kids to elderly ladies and gentlemen. Small town, i guess everyone knew everyone.        Eventually, they stopped in front of a building, the arcade. The pings from the pinball machines, the bullets from the shooting games, and the ‘jackpot’ announcements, all a dead give away. From the outside, the building looked old and rundown. The paint was old and cracking as if it hadn’t been repainted in years. Even the neon signs provided to the retro aesthetic, casting a purple-red hue over everything.        You stood there, taking in the atmosphere for a second. It sure was different from any arcade you had back in the city. You glanced around, when a figure at one of the pinball machines caught your eye.        “Soobin?” You spoke out loud.        Confused, yeonjun and taehyun followed your gaze to said figure.        “What in the?” You walked up to him. the further into the arcade you went, the louder everything got. Tapping him on the shoulder, you just about had to yell to have any sort of conversation.        “Y/n?” He asked, looking at you with the same expression as culprit that had just been caught red-handed.        You scoffed playfully, crossing your arms. “So you ditched me to come play games alone?”        “Um, kind of? Not really though,” he said. His eyes darting towards the two boys that to came up behind you. “You came with taehyun and... Yeonjun?”        “Hey soob, long time no see,” taehyun added.        “I went out for a walk and ran into them,” a quick and easy reason. “You could have just told me if you wanted to come to town alone, you know? You don’t have to sneak off at the crack of dawn.”        “Nice to see you too tae. And I do want to show you around the town. It’s just,” his eyes travelled between you and yeonjun, back to you in a blink. “I just needed a break from things for a while.”        “Hm, alright,” you accepted his explanation, but something still felt weird.        “Since we’re already here, there’s no use standing around.” Yeonjun spoke. “Y/n, come play the shooting game with me!”        Before you could reply, yeonjun was already dragging you towards one of the machines. Leaving taehyun and soobin to do whatever it was they did. He handed you one of the guns available and scanned his arcade card. The entire time you could feel eyes watching you, but shook it off.        Yeonjun was pretty good at the game, you had to admit. He spent a lot of time here, you assumed. Time seemed to disappear the longer you were in the arcade. The atmosphere around you never changed. It was still as lively and colourful as when you first walked in. The bright lights and loud music blasting, disrupting your senses. But outside, the sun was quickly setting.        “Good game, y/n,” taehyun offered a handshake after you beat him at yet another game of air hockey.        You took it. “Not too shabby yourself.”        Beside you, yeonjun and soobin clapped for your victory.        “We should probably go back soon,” Soobin said, showing the clock on his phone. It was nearly 8pm. Time sure flies when you’re having fun.        You all travelled back together. Turns out yeonjun and taehyun only lived a street away from soobin.        “See you tomorrow,” taehyun and yeonjun waved goodbye as you parted ways, leaving you and soobin to go your way.        Neither of you said a thing to each other. And for reason you were having trouble thinking of a conversation starter, this hasn’t happened before. Usually you and soobin had endless things to talk about. It didn’t matter how stupid or unimaginable it was, the two of you never ran out of things to say.        “When you were a kid, did you ever pretend you were smoking in winter?” You said the first thing that came to mind, the cold air making your breath visible, helping to elaborate your question. You laughed at yourself, holding your fingers up in a peace sign, imagining a cigarette between them.        “Yeah, when i was like 7.”        Okay, ouch.        Soobin’s answer was short, providing no further conversation. You pressed your lips together, stuffing your hands in your pockets as embarrassment crept up on you. So much for never feeling judged.        The rest of the night you didn’t speak much. Every attempt you made just being shot down with one liners. Every time you showed soobin a funny video or meme, he gave little to no response. And eventually you gave up.        This continued to the following day. Sure, soobin was an introvert. You knew that. But he’s never ignored you to this extent. Was he getting sick of having you around everyday? If that was the case, he should just tell you, you’d give him all the space he needs.        You can’t lie and say you weren’t hurt by that thought. Your crush was ignoring you. That would have hurt anyone. And right now, you felt nothing more than a parasite in his home.        “Come on, we have to go meet the others,” the first words he’s said to you in hours.

      You followed quietly as soobin brought you to the diner. When you arrived, the others were already there. Yeonjun and taehyun, along with two new faces. Beomgyu and Huening Kai, you figured from previous conversations.        They sat at a semi-circle booth meant for four with two extra chairs at the end. One of which occupied by taehyun as the other three shared the banquette bench.         “Soobin! Y/n!” They waved.         Yeonjun sat at one of the ends and shifted when he spotted you enter. “Y/n, i saved you a seat next to me,” he said smugly, smirking and cocking his head to the space beside him.        You rolled your eyes at his antics, lips curling upwards. Soobin’s expression remained hard, unbothered and unimpressed even. But you didn’t question it, he’s been like that since yesterday. And frankly, you’ve gotten sick of it. Might as well spend time with someone that actually wants your attention.        You got along well with the boys. You learnt that Kai and taehyun went to the same school and beomgyu had just graduated recently. Most of the time though, was spent whispering jokes between yeonjun and yourself. And at some point of the night, he had managed to sneak an around the back of the booth. On the other side, Beomgyu and Kai snickered to each other and eventually shook hands, some bet or deal you presumed.        All of a sudden you heard one of the chairs beside you shift. The feet scratching against the tiled floor. And the next thing you knew, soobin was walking out the door, the bell ringing behind him.        “Where’s he going?” Kai asked.        “No clue,” Beomgyu answered. Taehyun just shrugged. All your attentions still on the door that had already been shut.        “Um, ill go check on him,” you announced, running out of the diner after him. Sure, you and him weren’t on good terms at the moment, but nontheless he was still your best friend, and a huge part of you still cared for him.         “Soobin, wait!” You called, but he kept walking.        “Soobin!” You tried again, chasing after him.        “Stop right there choi soobin!” You yelled, your voice echoing through the empty street. The boys silhouette stood still. But never did he turn to look at you. “Dont you dare take another step!”        Never once in five years have you ever felt intimidated by him. But with his large figure being illuminated by nothing but the dull, yellow street lights, you couldn’t say that anymore. There was silence as you gathered your thoughts, making your way towards him. You had him right in front of you. Now what? You wanted soobin back. Your soobin.        “What’s going on with you?” Your feet stopped on their own accord, right behind the tall boy. “You’ve been acting strange.”        No answer.        “Soobin, don’t ignore me!” You said again, desperation and annoyance laced in your tone.        “I don’t know what you want me to say y/n,” he sighed, trying to keep his temper from exploding.        “I want a damn explanation, soobin,” anger from the previous day slowly consuming you. “Do you know how much of an asshole you’re being? God! I try to talk to you, but it’s just like i’m talking to a god damn wall! So, you can either tell me what’s going on or I’m on the next bus home tomorrow.”        No answer. But you could tell the last part hit him hard. He couldn’t look at you. If he did, he was sure you would see the remorse and anger in his eyes. He hated that you were mad. He hated that you were yelling. But most of all he hated that he was the cause of it.       “You asked me to come play girlfriend with you and i did,” you sighed, continuing when he started walking again. “I only did because,” swallowed the lump in your throat, “you’re... you’re my best friend.”        Best friend.        “I’m your best friend... you can me anything, you know that.” You quoted his words.        “There’s some things better left unsaid,” he offered before walking away again. “I’m sorry y/n.”        “No!” You cried, stopping his tracks. “Apology not accepted.”        You could see frustration building in soobin. His hand pinching his temple, his shoulders tensed as you spoke. “You said you’d be by my side the whole time! But since the waterfall you’ve barely talked to me! You leave me in situations on my own, you’re ignoring me and you randomly take off without a word. You’re doing it right now! So, again, you can either tell me what’s going on or-“        “It’s because i love you, okay!?”        Now it was your turn to stay silent.        Soobin let out a sigh, turning to face you. “Is that what you want to hear?! I love you, y/n!” His tone got softer, “I love you so much. For as long as i can remember knowing you. It hurts when I see you with other people. Especially people that so blatantly flirt with you in front of me. You’re stunning, beautiful. Even a fool could see it. But you’re also so much more than that.        “You were the only person that bothered to come talk to me the first day of school. Others probably viewed me as the weird, loser kid that sat alone during lunch. But you didn’t. You were my first and only friend for years. Before i knew it, i had a crush on you. At first, i thought it was just a phase. But it wasn’t, y/n. And now, im so hopelessly head over heels for you.        “I know, I haven’t earned your heart. I never will. I could spend a million years worshiping you and still not earn it. You’re my best friend, i know I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I know you’re mad at me. And i know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But please... please, don’t leave me.”        He sounded raw, real in a way you’ve never heard before. When he was done, he was closely inspecting the road, afraid to look up. Chewing on his bottom lip nervously, waiting for your rejection.        “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” You asked, keeping emotion from your voice.        He shrugged and laughed. “You’re my best friend, I didn’t want to lose you.”        You let one hand slide against his cheek, resting your palm there. “You wouldn’t have.”        “Wha-“        “I love you too, you doofus.”        You felt the pull of a muscle as his lips twitched. “Really?”        “Yes. Really. For as long as i can remember.”        Soobin, your best friend — now, boyfriend — pulled you into his arms. “I love you, y/f/n. And I’m so sorry for the way I’ve been. What can i say to make you forgive me?”        “Words only mean so much. Actions speak louder, don’t you agree?”        “I do.”        He lowered his head and brushed his lips against yours.        “Am i forgiven?” He asked rhetorically.        You laugh. “Only because i love you.”        “Yes! I told you so!” You turned and saw Kai yelling and celebrating, pointing fingers at beomgyu. Taehyun and yeonjun shaking their heads in disappointment.        What a crazy group of friends they were.

.

.

.

[loversamongus]

Controlled Emotions | Zuko x Reader

a/n: all these fics end up being the reader as an advisor, I have zero creativity. anyways this is inspired by the song “every single night” by computer games because I was listening to it one day and the first lyric just screamed zuko to me idk so here it is. also i didnt proofread this oops

word count: 1.5k

fic taglist:

Advisor meetings have been tense lately. While a mixture of advisors in age, gender, and political leanings was ideal for gaining multiple perspectives on an issue, it also led to frequent arguments about what was best for the Fire Nation and deadlines being pushed back until the majority of advisors have come to an agreement. Though rewarding at times, the job was certainly frustrating. But all that paled in comparison to the most recent audiences with the young Fire Lord. 

Frustrated by another deadline requested to be pushed back, the Fire Lord’s temper had surged throughout the throne room. You didn’t disagree with him either. People in a small fishing village were becoming seriously ill and many signs seemed to point to the mutations and disease in some of the fish from the river as a result of years of pollution from war efforts. 

“It is not your fault the regime before yours was so ignorant of the people’s needs and other environmental factors.”

“In all honesty, who in their right mind would eat a fish with two heads anyways?”

“The river had been supposedly cleaned by the Avatar and his friends shortly before the end of the war, shouldn’t the responsibility lie with them?”

One after another, an advisor countered the Fire Lord’s efforts to financially back abundant medical aid for the fishing village. One after another, flames grew higher and higher nearly scorching the ceiling as the Fire Lord sat quietly. You noticed his scrunched up expression and knew it was only a matter of time before--

“Am I not, as Fire Lord, responsible for everyone living in the Fire Nation? Am I not, having been Prince of the Fire Nation during the war, responsible for how the war had affected our people? How can we sit here and deny help to our own people who are suffering?!”

After an uncomfortable silence, only one advisor stood up to speak. “And what, Fire Lord Zuko, do you plan to do about those injured in the fights breaking out in the colonies? Or the troops returning home from war injured and jobless? Or the villages in the Earth Kingdom burned down by our nation’s doing? There are many responsibilities this nation bears but solving these problems must be done with appropriate organization and objectiveness, not youthful bullheadedness.”

And with that, the audience was dismissed. 

With no clear resolution in sight, you had made your way to the advisors’ chambers to work on new proposals despite the late night. Getting down the business is usually easy but the otherwise empty and quiet workspace was not as calming and focused as you had hoped. It may have been well past sundown, but bright bursts of light kept erupting and peeking through the windows of the chambers, distracting you every time you went to read or write a new sentence. Having been an advisor for some time now and becoming familiar with the layout of the palace, you knew exactly where the light was coming from.

Abandoning your work, you walked the grounds until you reached the gates of the training space. Sure enough, your suspicions had been correct as you eyed Zuko in the center of the pitch running through different firebending forms. It was a surprise however that only the fire blasting from his fists and feet was what distracted you from your work. You hadn’t heard the angry grunts and yells from the advisors’ chambers.

The sound of the gate closing behind you was enough to make Zuko stop and look up at you. But he simply acknowledged your presence with a nod before continuing into the next set of firebending forms. You took a seat to watch on the sidelines. The silence did not bother you. In fact, it gave you time to relax from your role as advisor to the Fire Lord into friend. Or something more. The details of your relationship with Zuko have not really been sorted out or discussed but either way, you knew your role right now was to be supportive yet honest.

“He was right, you know.”

Zuko let out a low grunt as his response before letting more fire blast from his fist.

“It’s not that the other advisors don’t want to help the village. It’s that we have to divide our resources and aid equally. If we send all our healers to the village, none will be left to take care of the returning troops or the colonies or the elderly in the capital city.”

There was no grunt this time but more flames spat from his fist as he punched it forward through the air.

“And it’s incredibly admirable to see you so compassionate about your people but it would be nice to get through one meeting this week without scorching the ceiling tiles.”

“So am I supposed to rule without a conscience?” he asked coldly without looking at you, the anger he was restraining palpable in his voice.

“No,” you replied levelly. “You heard what Ji said. Objectively does not necessarily mean without a conscience. Actually,” a bit of laughter bubbled up into your conversation. “He suggested you talk more with Katara. ‘Now that’s someone who can keep their emotions in check,’ he said.”

“Having been on the receiving end of her wrath, I beg to differ,” Zuko sighed and released his fists before joining you in the stands. “And I have talked to her. She just laughed at me. She said, ‘Now you know what it’s like not to be taken seriously because you’re too emotional.”

You shifted your body when he sat down beside you so that you could still face him. He did not face you, however, and continued to stare forward at the training grounds and into the night sky. “No one is telling you not to feel or have emotions, Zuko. Just that they shouldn’t control you so much, or cloud your judgment.”

“You sound like Uncle,” he groaned before flopping backwards onto his back. In moments like this, you really realized how young the Fire Lord was. He was still mature and doing his best with such a large responsibility, but despite being five years into his reign, that moody teenager still presented himself at times. 

Leaning onto one arm so that you were closer to Zuko, you laughed softly, “I’m wondering if I should find that flattering.”

Zuko ignored your lightheartedness and continued. “People are always telling me, ‘don’t let your emotions control you.’ But why? Without them, I never could know you.”

“What do you mean?” Your eyes remained fixed on him as you tried to sort out your confusion.

“Do you remember one of the first advisor meetings you were a part of?”

“The one where we were discussing having the Kyoshi Warriors acting as your bodyguards over well-trained firebenders much more familiar with the palace and the land? Absolutely. That was when we discovered your throne wasn’t fireproof.”

“Right. And I came here to blow off some steam and you followed me to say that you were on my side and would work on getting the other advisors to agree to letting the Kyoshi Warriors be my security.”

“I didn’t follow you...”

For the first time that evening, Zuko looked at you with a knowing and pointed grin. You rolled your eyes and urged him to continue making his point. “Anyways, go on.”

“If I hadn’t been feeling so angry, I wouldn’t have come here and you wouldn’t have followed me and we wouldn’t be... I don’t know... us.” He sat up and was so close now that your shoulders brushed against each other.

“It’s not just through anger that I’ve gotten to know you either,” he continued. “When I was anxious about a speech, you were the one who volunteered to work on it with me.”

“You made fun of the way I clapped and said people don’t clap that enthusiastically for common budget updates,” you drawled.

“When I was excited about Uncle coming back to visit, you helped to make sure everything was arranged to his liking.”

“You told me never to tell your uncle that my taste in tea may be superior to his,” you proudly added.

“And when I was sad that you had to leave on a trip to the Earth Kingdom, your letters made me smile because I thought at last someone who has worse handwriting than I do.”

“You take that back!” you gasped, pointing your finger menacingly at Zuko. 

“My point is,” he grabbed your hand in his. “If I was cold and stoic as some of these advisors seem to want me to be, I wouldn’t have gotten to know you. So I’m not going to change the way I feel.”

You smiled softly, happy to see this side of Zuko. The nature of your relationship still felt undefined and you were sure the two of you would figure it out. Eventually. It was a discussion to be had, but one for another day, as this day was nearly over.

“That’s nice,” you playfully patted his hand. “But the next time you decide to feel something, maybe you could do so without destroying the ceiling. Or distracting me with your firebending while I’m trying to do my job.”

You stood up and began to walk away from the stands and out of the training grounds, leaving a smiling Zuko behind you.

“You’re the one who followed me!” he called out.

[caermis]

❝Our Rose...❞

Mirio Togata X Black! Reader X Amajiki Tamaki Warnings: Suggestive NSFW Summary:🌻🐙 Both Mirio and Amajiki both fall in love with a 3rd Year transfer student, and she’s black?!🌻🐙

🐙🌻When Tamaki first saw you, he had to do a full double-take. It wasn’t his first time seeing a black woman, but you blew all the others out of the park. From your full lips to your beautiful E/C eyes, they bamboozled him. “Hello.” Speaking with a cheerful smile, Tamaki hadn’t noticed you had walked over to him once noticing his stare. Feeling his face heat me, he couldn’t form words. “...hi...” Smiling, a few voices shout your name, making you glance at them before waving goodbye to the male.

🐙🌻 “Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.” It had become a daily routine that Tamaki found himself looking forward to. He’d go to his locker, see you walking with your friends, catching his stare and jog over to him. Which ‘Hi’ turning into a conversation longer than the last, before your friends dragged you away.

🐙🌻 Yet today was different. You were walking alone and a lot earlier than usual. Spotting the shy-male, you raced over to him. “Hey, Amajik-” Cutting yourself off, Tamaki had picked up when you had become nervous, not turning red like the other girls, but you would press your lips together in a nervous smile. Realizing your mistake, Tamaki couldn’t help but smile. “Y-you can call me Amajiki...if you want to.”

🐙🌻 From there on, you called him Amajiki and on special occasions, Tamaki would call you Y/N. He’d even built up the courage to ask for your phone number, which you gave him gladly. 

🌻🐙Unlike his elf-eared friend, the moment Mirio saw you, he was lost for words and immediately wanted to know you. You had been at your locker, gathering things to head home. Just then, only for a random blonde-haired man walked up to you and fell through the ground.

🌻🐙 Panic crossed your face, only to hear him chuckle and say oops before reappearing. “There goes first impressions. I’m Mirio Togata!” With the largest smile, he held out a hand to you. Your smaller hand taking his with a smile. “Y/N L/N or L/N Y/N, but you can call me Y/N.” and he sure did. Every time he saw you, you could hear him yell your first name before crackling a terrible joke. 

🌻🐙Mirio could easily remember the first time he cracked a pun. He watched you try to keep straight, before a small smile spread across your face, before a full-blown out laugh. The reaction immediately blew him away. He had expected either for you to not laugh at all, or fake a cutesy laugh, but what he received was far much better. Your laugh rang down the halls, which made Mirio laugh with. From that day on, he would purposely tell you the worst puns, just to watch you struggle to hid you smile before breaking out into a laugh.

🌻🐙 Yet today was different. You weren’t at your locker. Frowning to himself, Mirio slightly cursed himself for missing the chance to hear your smile. “Mirio!” Joy spread through his body and he happily turned around, seeing you walk beside Tamaki with a smile.

🌻🐙 “I didnt know you knew Tamaki.” You nodded happily and looked between them. “I didnt know you…. you knew Mirio...” Mirio’s widen seeing how much Tamaki’s stutter decreased around you. “Oop, I guess I’ve never mentioned it, but we know now. I thought we could all hang out and get ice cream.” From then on, you became the three amigos and did everything. Sometimes people confused you for being part of the big three, only for you to have to correct them and say it was Nejire. Yet she never seemed to take it any offense, and you two became close friends.

🌻🐙 Today was different. It was one of the rare days you were gone, living the two slightly sad, but able to easily talk about their feelings for you. “At once.” Tamaki nodded, and they both counted down.

“One.”

“T-two”

“Three.”

“I like her.” The two best friends stared at each other, each with an equally shocked looked. The other had always assumed that their friend was in love with the H/C-haired female, but hearing them say was soul-crushing. “Will….will she have to c-choose?” Tamaki's thoughts ran with all the ways he would lose to Mirio and sighed.

🌻🐙 While Mirio thought of all the ways, they could both have the H/C-haired girl. Mirio firmly believed he couldn’t live without her, and he wanted to feel her chocolate skin against his pale ones. The contrast was already beautiful, from the times Mirio accidentally(purposely) brushed their hands together.

🌻🐙 “What do you like about Y/N?” Mirio had become curious, Tamaki wasn’t the type to just crush on anyone. Watching his friend fidget in his seat, before softly speaking. “I… I like her voice and how she says some things… they sound different… and when she speaks in English…. it’s…. it’s different. Though I do like her nose… she’s self-conscience about it being bigger than the other girls, but..but it’s adorable, but I also like her t-thighs.” Feeling guilty for the last part, Tamaki couldn’t help himself. In his eyes, you had the perfect body, and he often imagined him resting his head on your thighs. “W-what about you?”

🌻🐙 “Her laugh! She laughs so full-heartedly and it never feels forced. Her hair, its so… so different and like defies gravity and she can do so many hairstyles. Though I do like her butt, it seems like it would fit perfectly in my hands.” Laughing at the last part, Mirio prided himself on being respectful, but you and your body alone does some many things he couldn’t help himself but to bust one out at the thought of you.

🌻🐙 “I want her…” Watching Tamaki, he put on a brave face. “Then let’s go ask.” Shock spread across Tamaki’s face as Mirio stood and, pulling his friend with them.

🌹Feeling bad for skipping school, but your mom was heading back to America and this would be the last chance to eat some homemade cooking for a few months before the next holiday. Waving your mom’s taxi goodbye, you couldn’t bring yourself to go to the Airport or risk breaking down and calling her Mommy or Mama and beg her to take her with you, but you already knew she would wave you up, call me sensitive, or threaten you with a whoopin’ even though you were far too old and legally an adult.

🌹“Y/N!” I raised a brow and turned to see Tamaki and Mirio walk towards me. Smiling at them, I wiped away the goodbye tears. “Are you alright?” Worry crossed their features, but you gave a light laugh. “My mom just left and ya know.” They nodded, and you offered them some food your mom made, which comprised baked beans, greens, macaroni, ribs, salad dressing, and cornbread with rolls.

🌹 “My mom made a lot. I can make you a plate.” The two looked at you, not exactly understand what ‘make you a plate’ meant chuckling, you explained to them what I meant. “That makes a lot more sense.” Making them both a plate, I watched them eat, both looked stare struck. They never had eaten this type of food, you explained to them it was soul food, and Mirio excited explaining to you, that he had seen it on TV and though he had tried it when he went out, this was completely different.

🌹 “I wished you met my mom. I would make her bust out the southern accent and call you ‘Sugar’.” Tamaki wiped his mouth and spoke hesitantly. “Maybe, maybe you could do it for us…” They watched your face turn into one of embarrassment and you mumble an apology if it was bad.

🌹 “Sugar, I like ya both.” Speaking in English, the two seemed to melt. They couldn’t understand a word, but what they assume the southern accent was, it was amazing.

🌹 “What did you say?” Looking at Mirio and Tamaki, you gave a nervous smile.

🌹“Sugar, I like you both.”

🌻🌹🐙 That’s how it happened, they both ended up confessing and soon you all started dating, like two ends of the scale, you’re a perfect balance and let’s say Nejire was ecstatic, already demanding to be your bridesmaid. Even though that was a faraway future, no one would be surprised if Mirio proposed now.

[violetnotez]

Can I request a storyline where reader and Ms. Joke gives advice to each other to ask their crushes out. (Reader crushing on Bakugou and Ms. Joke likes Eraserhead). Also I love your Dabi fic it's so damn amazing.

Anon I know this took so long but I loved this idea ALOT. Like-literally GENIUSSSSSSSS!!!! And omg I’m so happy you liked my Dabi fics!!!🥺😭

Another fic for the @bnhabookclub event! If you wanna join in, heres the link!

Also pls ignore that Ms Jokes shoulder has disappeared I forgot to fix it 💀

Bakugo x reader

⤷ Genre: Fluff

⤷ Word Count: 2000+

⤷ Warnings: cursing

⤷ Synopsis: As your helping your hero aunt Ms. Joke concoct a plan to win over Eraserhead, the conversation somehow turns to your crush on Bakugo. Even though you feel comfortable talking about the hotheaded boy with your aunt over the phone, you don’t realize how bad that idea is until a certain someone decided to eavesdrop outside the door.

Song Recs: ⤷ Leave This Place-Lione ⤷All This Time-Deorro ⤷Start It Over-NOTD

“Okay okay, how about this one-

“Can you pass me my inhaler, because you just took my breath away!”

Ms. Joke made an over exaggerated attempt at swooning, her voice airy and theatrical. You couldn’t help but giggle at her antics, your nose scrunching at the terrible pick up line she just gave you.

“I don’t think that one will work Auntie,” you mused, your phone on speaker as you tidied up your UA dorm room.

Not many people were aware of it, but your aunt was Ms. Joke, the comedy hero. It was quite a shocker when you let that information out to your classmates, as they couldn’t understand why you had went to UA over her hero school. It was true you had entertained the idea of going, but as much as you loved your aunt-you could only tolerate her for so long. She was so fun and energetic to be around, but that energy quickly became draining after a few hours.

The thought of having to be around your aunt every day made you feel tired just thinking about it, so you had kindly opted to try UA instead. Your aunt was a little disappointed that you had picked UA over her school, but she was over the moon excited for you to finally follow her footsteps and become a hero.

It also didn’t hurt that you would be around Aizawa quite a lot-and she definitely used that to her advantage.

“Oh Cmon tho, Jitter Bug, he would love it!” She exclaimed through the phone. “That one is such a laugh riot!”

“I think you forget that Mr. Aizawa isn’t too big on jokes,” you gave her a short giggle as you began to fold the freshly cleaned clothes on your bed.

“Hm….” she hummed in thought.

“What about-I’m thirsty, and guess whose body is 75% water? I’d then give him a killer smile to go along with it-he can’t say no to me then!”

Your cheeks turned incredibly red-the thought of your aunt hitting on your teacher so openly like that? Revolting.

You made a gagging noise at the prospect, a nervous laugh spilling out.

“I swear if you do that, I will dig my own grave and lay in there from second hand embarrassment,”

A belly laugh erupted in the other end of the line, Ms. Joke’s chuckles high pitched and uncontrollable.

“You really are a hard one to impress, huh?” She said between laughter.

“That type of pick up line is a little too young though-you babies are the ones that say ‘thirsty’ all the time…”

You heard a little hum on the other side of the phone, signaling she was thinking deeply.

“Why don’t you use that one on that boy you like, what’s his name again?”

She asked good naturedly, a hint of sneakiness in her voice. “It’s-Bakugo, Katsuki Bakugo, right?”

Your eyes went wide like saucers, your body language going rigid.

“Auntie you cant say that so loud, I’m on speaker phone!” You hushed her.

Your cheeks went insanely red, your head swiveling to look at your door.

Damn you and not closing it properly-anybody walking by could have heard!

Your aunt only knew about your crush because she had noticed you staring quite intently at Bakugou at your provisional licensing exam, her questions hard to not answer truthfully. She had promised not to tell anyone, not even your parents, but she used it against you nevertheless.

You sighed a breath of relief once you were satisfied that no one had walked by, your head turning back to your phone call.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

Unknowing to you, someone had walked by-Bakugo.

It was later in the day and getting close to his early bedtime, so he had come up to tell you to be quiet.

It felt strange walking up to your room-Bakugo knew he was beginning to like you, more than just a classmate or a friend, yet he didn’t quite want to believe it.

He shouldn’t have all these vulnerable feelings, he should be focusing on training and nothing more. But the more and more he tried to ignore it the more and more he realized how much he truly admired you-you were so damn pretty to him, your laugh and smile always making a blush rise to his cheeks, and the way you would look at him so innocently whenever he spoke to you made his whole world light up.

He liked how you respected him, but you would also put him in his place if needed.You were really one of the few only people he would listen to, which made it even worse-you had a power over him you didn’t even know about. It frustrated him, but he cared about your opinion too damn much to openly defy your wishes.

It sucked how easily he’d fallen for you, but he couldn't make it stop, no matter how hard he tried.

Just as he trudged up the stairs to your room, he noticed the door unlocked, a strange thing for him to see since he had prepared himself to knock. Whatever-less time waiting outside your door. He lightly leaned himself against the adjacent wall, ready to yell his warning at you quickly until he heard the familiar voice of Ms. Joke speak his name from a phone call.

The hell were you even talking about?

He couldn’t help it, he had to listen in, it was him you were talking about after all. As much as he didnt want to care, he hoped it was only good things you were speaking of, his heart fluttering when he heard your aunt say “you like him.”

Was it true? Did you really feel the same for him?

Bakugo instantly felt himself to sweat, his vermillion eyes wide as he prayed the news he was hearing wasn’t a lie-you had to like him back. You just had to.

Ms. Joke laughed at your distress, her voice lighthearted and loud.

“Oops, sorry!” She said, not a single ounce of remorse in her tone. “But really, y/n, what do you see in that boy! He’s so-well-“

“Harsh?” You finished her sentence, shuffling on your bed.

“Exactly! He’s always so mean and entitled too-you can’t find another boy in UA? What about Shoto-hes a pretty one!”

You gave a giggle, your hands fiddling nervously with your hair.

“Shoto is just a friend Auntie, and besides, he’s quite reserved-Bakugo isn’t,” you sighed, “Ive never meant anyone like him before.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

Bakugo’s heart beat painfully in his chest from outside the door.

This was fucking wrong-he was being a total creepster eaves dropping in your private conversation.

He kept telling himself that this was all okay, because you were talking about him and it was your goddamn fault for speaking about him behind his back-

But he knew deep down it was because he wanted so badly to know. He just wanted to be reassured that there was a connection between you two and he could pursue it somehow.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

“He’s just so-different. He is really harsh and brutally honest-it makes him kinda unique in a way. He’s always so driven, trying to do his best to be the best-it’s infectious, ya know? I can't help but admire him for that.”

you admired him? god, hearing those words sent him over the moon. You sounded so sweet and so soft as you relayed all your inner feelings to Ms. Joke, his heart was practically swooning.

Your aunt gave a small nod at your words, her voice much more understanding.

“Have you talked to him? Tried to ask him out or do anything you little kiddies usually do when you have a crush?” She asked playfully.

You sighed, your hands combing through your hair.

“Oh I could never! He wouldn’t like me back-he’s too into his school work. And he is super harsh-god I don’t know what I’d do if he’d reject me….”

“I understand you full heartedly JitterBug,” she used your nickname again, a groan slipping out of your lips.

“Are you yiu ever going to stop calling me that!”

“Never!” She exclaimed, her voice loud and cheerful again. “Your my wonderful little JitterBug and I’m going to keep calling you that until I kick the bucket!

“But really,” she sighed, her tone much more serious. “You never know until you try! I got rejected myself many, many, MANY times-but Im still doing perfectly fine!”

You held back a small snicker-your aunt, the Jokester Hero, who can’t hold a conversation without cackling like a maniac, the one who wears the most ridiculous outfits, has a chaotic fighting style, and has been pinning over the same guy since her internship days as a rookie?

Yeah, perfectly fine isn’t the best way you would describe her.

You simply hummed a nod in order to satiate her a response, a small smile gracing your lips.

“Ugh, I just got a call-they need me to help out with some robbery,” you aunt huffed out, her tone clearly tired. You felt a little bad for the hero-she must have been having a pretty crazy day.

“I’m sorry we had to cut our call so short!”

“Oh no it’s no problem!” You reasuresed her happily, “stay safe out there!”

“You two Jitterbug! Byeeeee!” She practically yelled her goodbye into the phone, making you flinch.

You breathed a tranquil sigh, readying yourself to start studying for your tests when you heard a loud banging upon your door.

“Oi, dumbass, can I come in for a minute?” The gruff voice of Bakugo filled the room, making your blood shiver-

Bakugo?!? Wait-was he there the whole time?!?

You teeth were practically chattering from that overwhelming fear, your cheeks red and your eyes wide.

You seriously were going to crawl into a hole and never come out if he heard that whole conversation.

You crawled off your bed, your hand making their way to the door to peak it open slightly.

Bakugo’s heart was thumping violently in his chest-now he knew you felt the same for him, this was going to be extremely easy. But he still felt really nervous, especially when your hair was so perfectly messy like that and your cheeks were dusted with pink like you were already nervous yourself.

God damn, why did you have to be so attractive? It just messed everything up for him, making him feel like he couldn’t think straight.

“Hey Bakugo, I-Uh-what’s up? Did you need something?”

“Yeah,” he replied gruffly, his nerves making his hand sweat more than usual. “something like that,”

Damn quirk, he thought in annoyance, shoving his hands into his pants. “You gonna let me in?”

“Oh-uh,”you began to stutter, shifting away from the door and opening it up slightly, “sure, yeah!”

He grinned to himself at your adorableness-did you always act this nervous around him? How did he not notice you like him before-it was so obvious to see now when you were fidgeting like that.

He strutted into your room, a new found confidence in him as he shut the door of the room for you, practically trapping you in with him. A mischievous smirk graced his lips, making your heart thump against your ribcage.

“Don’t want anyone overhearing by accident cause you cant close a door right,”

You groaned in embarrassment.

Welp-he knew.

You gave him a small look, your eyes doe -like and scrunched up in uneasiness.

“How much of that did you hear?” You asked timidly.

Bakugo scoffed, that shit eating grin still plastered on his face.

“All of it, Jitterbug,”

You groaned yet again, plopping your body onto the bed in embarrassment.

How could this happen?! He was right-you should have closed the door! You covered your face with your hands, your fingers trailing against your forehead and your hair.

“God I’m so sorry, I probably sounded like a creep, I didn’t mean to-“ you tried to apologize and explain yourself, your cheeks a cherry red.

“Do you like me?” He interrupted you, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

You looked up timidly-god, was he always this intimidating?

He was standing right in front you, his overwhelming stature making you feel so small and overpowered. He was wearing this strange smirk, as if he was enjoying interrogating you.

That usually wasn’t a Bakugo thing to do, to smirk like that, but damn, was it kinda-hot. You could really only focus on that, on the way his lips curled up so softly like he was happy about something but trying to repress it. It was warm and inviting, and you couldn’t help but feel some of your awkwardness melt away.

“How would you feel if I said ‘yes’?” You tried your best to lighten the mood some what, a nervous smile slipping against your lips.

Bakugo knelt down, his body so much more closer to you. His hands went on each side of your legs, his thumbs just brushing your outer thigh. He caged you in to the bed with his arms, his face mere inches from yours.

Well shit.

You felt the blood rush to your face, your ears pounding-you never knew he felt this warm so close, and god-did he really smell like salted caramel? His vermillion eyes were boaring to yours, sending your senses into over drive.

“And how would it feel if I said ‘yes’?” He turned your words against you, his voice husky and deep form being so close.

You squirmed from nerves, your hands going to play with your hair. It was so strange being so close to him, and you didn’t know what to do.

You looked so cute flustered like this-Bakugo internally tried to remember this perfectly, mentally writing down your adorable mannerisms and facial expression to memory. As much as he loved this, you were taking too long for a reply, and he was getting a little annoyed.

“What was that? I’m still waiting,” he asked gruffly, his voice low and sultry.

You gulped, feeling a pang in your heart from hearing that type of voice come from him. Directed to you.

“I-Uh-yes, I-I do, I've liked you for a while now,” you revealed, your cheeks practically tomato red.

He smirked at your expression, slowly lifting his body with off the weight.

You looked up in confusion, already feeling cold without his warm body so close to yours.

“Good,” he replied, his voice prideful, “cause I feel the same way.”

“You do!” You practically shouted, your eyes wide with shock.

The Bakugo-“liked you” liked you? You could practically scream with happiness.

“Well yeah dumbass, why would I say that if I didn’t?” He chuckled slightly, his bright red eyes still drinking you in.

Now his nerves were coming out again, a heaviness feeling his stomach as he realized what he had to do now.

“I-I’m not good at this shit, but-

“Wanna go out tomorrow?”

You were practically screaming like a little girl internally. This was happening? Was this all just a cruel dream?

Only one way to figure out if this was real or not.

You stood up from the bed, bringing yourself close to the hot head.

Now it was Bakugo’s turn to be embarrased-he was getting too comfortable being the one to make you nervous. He forgot how you could make him so flustered, your warm smile and pretty eyes making his heart thump painfully and his mind go into a panicked standstill.

Your hands shakily wrapped around his neck, slow to see how he would react.

God, you had thought about touching his hair for so long now, it was even better than you imagined-soft and fluffy like a cloud, you ran your hands through the spiky locks. The faint smell of caramel wafted into your nose agaun, making you feel nervous and calm at the same time.

He was slightly rigid, staring at you with shocked eyes-but he seemed to not mind this. You smiled softly, your heart thumping-it was now or never.

You slowly got on your toes and leaned yourself into his lips, surprised how warm they felt. At first he didn’t move, which scared you-but he eventually began to move against your lips, a little rough but still pleasant. A flood of warmth filled your body, your hands relaxing against his body. You felt his arms wrap around your body, his lips now taking the lead and guiding you into him.

You couldn’t believe how good this felt, how perfect and surreal it was.

But you remembered-sadly- breathing was a thing, your lungs burning as you both reluctantly pulled away.

You thanked your aunt for her loud mouth in your blissful daze, because without her, you wouldn’t be kissing your crush now.

You smiled at the blonde, his cheeks dusted with red and his eyes drinking you in.

“Tomorrow sounds great.”

[ivyuns]

come back to me again ❆ ✰

kim seungmin

genre: angst, fluff

word count: 1.8k

warnings: 2018-2020 era, young hearts are broken, mentions of passing out, y/n’s leader name is yerim and other member’s name is sunni, mentions of suicide, fainting, mean comments, strict dieting, one bad word oop, the plot doesnt make sense lol i just wanted a break from landing in your heart, not proofread

notes: i had three story plots i wanted to use but uh yeah i chose this one (maybe ill post all three of them but different members oo) but listen to love again by baekyun, or the cover by minnie <3

masterlist

idol!seungmin x femidol!reader

tell me you love me like the day you did

the day it ended was on a rainy, cold day. seungmin called you to meet up with him, saying he had something to tell you. heading to the jyp building, which wasnt that far from you house.

scanning your id and greeting the staff, you go to the room seungmin was in. knocking twice, you heard a “come in” and opened the door gently. “hi minnie” you smiled at your boyfriend. seungmin waved back with a small smile on his face.

“y/n, come sit here, we need to talk”

going to where seungmin pat the spot for you to sit, he sighs. “i know this is hard, but you know how stray kids is debuting soon?” you nod, knowing where this is leading to. “i- we have to break up” he paused. “but you know i love you right? i promise id come back after three years okay baby?” holding you tears, you looked into his eyes, that are full of sadness.

trying your best to hold your tears in, you gave him one last hug. before parting different ways, seungmin kissed your lips. letting go, you put the promise ring he gave you 2 years ago on his palm and walked away. letting the tears running onto your cheeks as you walked away from the room.

with a sobbing seungmin left alone in the practice room. holding your promise ring made him feel guilty, but it wasnt his fault that he had to do this.

tell me once again, say that you love me again

packing all of seungmins stuff that was at your house and looking though them made your heart burn. from they day he asked you out after school to whenever you two last hung out with each other, which was over 2 months ago.

because now that you and seungmin auditioned to be in the same company, but with seungmin, he had a little bit more talent than you did. it didnt mean you didnt have talent, it just meant you were physically ready to become an idol. still improving, many idols were amazed at how well your singing and dancing was.

finally taping seungmins box, you went to the stray kids dorm and dropped it off and to say goodbye to the boys. deciding to switch to a new company to focus more instead of dealing with you heartbreak.

you rung the doorbell and you come face-to-face with seungmin. handing seungmin the box, you asked if it was okay to say goodbye to the boys, which made seungmin confused. where you going somewhere? ending your dreams?

seungmin moved to the side for you to come in. as seungmin closed the door, a voice was heard. “seungmo! who’s here- oh” looking up, you see minho. your eyes that was red and puffy ran more tears down as you ran up and hugged minho.

minho was in fact the one who introduced you to seungmin. accidentally falling in love with seungmin, you told minho all about it and he eventually told seungmin about your feelings towards him. seungmin, who felt the same way, made the best way to confess to you, which was a success.

minho hugged you back, caressing you back as seungmin looked down and went back to his room. “its okay love, its okay” minho shushed you as you cried into his chest. settling you two in the living room, the whole stray kids but seungmin came out of their rooms, comforting you as they all knew what happened between you and seungmin.

30 minutes passed and you decided it was time to go. giving the boys one last hug, you made sure they’ll have good luck when theyre now idols.

“just know, ill love you guys forever. thank you”

im where ive always been, i still love you

almost 2 years had gone by and you finally debuted into a three member group. with being the main vocalist and dancer. being invited to the award shows, your group gracefully posed on the red carpet, right after stray kids. accidentally locking eyes with seungmin, you almost teared up but you had to be strong.

sitting down in front of stray kids, you grew anxious as if nobody else other than stray kids and yerim knew about your past relationship. stilling having feelings for seungmin, you let them go and paid attention to the show that was now starting.

“hyung, dont you think y/n looks like shes about to pass out?” jeongin asked seungmin. after you left the dorms that day, seungmin didnt know where you were. nobody told him anything about you other than you leaving jyp. you and your group was hidden from social media until your company announced a new girl group was debuting soon.

after seungmin got the news about you, he felt so relieved, knowing that you were still here living. on the pictures online, you looked like a goddess. the way your singing was beautiful and your dancing were sharp. he was amazed at how far you came.

but when seungmin saw you in person, it looked like you were on the verge of passing out due to how thin you looked. it looked like you couldnt perform on what your condition is.

feeling unsteady, your group was the last ones to perform. getting into your costumes, you fell back slightly when yerim pushed you up. after seeing how weak your body has been acting, she was worried something might happen to you on stage. and seeing how you reacted when you saw seungmin again made her worried.

“y/n, are you sure you got this?” yerim asked. nodding your head a yes with a smile on you, you gave her a thumbs up. with the smile that hid everything. yerim nodded her head, your group was ready to perform.

among the three girls that was on the stage, seungmin only looked out for you. anxiety rising, seungmin bit his lips which changbin rubbing his back to calm down.

the end of the performance, you tried your best to stay still, but you only saw blurry vision. as you were about to get off stage, you fainted with your head hitting the floor first. gasping were loud from everyone as yerim and sunni tried to lift you up and go back to the dressing rooms.

as soon as seungmin saw everything, he stood up and tried to run towards you till he was stopped by chan. “seungmin you cant. everyone’s going to find out” “i dont care hyung, the person i love the most is hurt” seungmin said and let go of chan’s hand that was gripped around seungmins wrist.

seungmin runs through the halls and tries to find your groups room. after finding it, he gently pushes away people who are near you and gets a view of you on the couch. “s-seungmin” both sunni and yerim said together. “yerim, what happened to her” seungmin asked, skipping the honorifics since they know each other.

yerim bites her lips with glossy eyes, scared of what to tell seungmin what you’ve been doing. “yerim?! i said whats going on with y/n-” “she tried to kill herself!” seungmin pauses and tries to lets what yerim said sink into him.

“w-what? why?” seungmin asks as tears start streaming down his face, as well as sunni’s and yerim’s. “she was scared. scared that she wasnt going to be perfect to be an idol. she started getting hate comments, saying she was too fat. but this is why shes too thin. she wont listen to us when we tell her she needs to rest and to start eating. all she does is practice with no water breaks but somehow, she still hits every move right. other than that, shes scared of what youll see her like again. she still loves you seungmin, but shes scared”

“sunbae, shes not okay. she needs somebody and that somebody is you”

seungmin was stunned by what yerim and sunni told him. “can- can you two leave us for a moment. please?” seungmin asked quietly as everyone left the room. seungmin starred at your body. eyes closed with you as skinny as your bones. it scared him of how you thought so low about yourself.

he doesnt understand it. he doesnt understand how you got every moves and vocals right without anything. where you like this during your relationship? no, it couldnt. both seungmin and you promised each other that you two will never keep secrets to yourself.

seungmin silently cries to himself, thinking of why you wanted to do this to yourself as he held your hand. his tears slowly fall onto you forearms, which wipes the makeup off of your scars you created, which makes seungmin cry more.

because of you fainting, the award show was paused temporally. with this being said, stray kids got up and quickly went to you room until they were stopped by yerim. “dont, seungmins already in there” all of them nods their heads and waited outside the room with minho dropping down, hands in his face with tears as he remembers when you tried to seek help from him but he never answered because he was too busy.

don't leave me alone baby, just stay for the night baby

still holding your hand, seungmin whispers ‘i love yous’ and ‘im sorry, please forgive me’. gaining conscious, you flutter your eyes open and see seungmin in front of you.

“seungmin?”

he opens his eyes to see you awake. “bab- y/n. thank god” seungmin says and hugs you gently. tears start streaming down as you realized he probably knows everything now. “s-seungmin, did they tell you-” “yes they did. and im sorry. so fucking sorry oh my god, please dont do this again. please eat, please do what you loved to do again. i want the old y/n back, the happy one” seungmin lets out.

“okay, ill come back” you told him. seungmin wipes your tears away, as well as his and plants a kiss on your lips. “come back to me again?” nodding your head, you both smile. this time, a real and happy smile from you.

the awards continued on and your group won an award. chan offered your group if they wanted to come for dinner, you were going to decline, but yerim, sunni and seungmin forced you to, wanting you to start eating again.

heading out, the eleven of you walked to the nearest korean bbq while holding seungmin’s hand. feeling the warmth youve been missing for 2 years.

tell me your love again.

END <3

[sergeanttpoliteness]

Spiderverse Gwen x Reader where The reader is out as les/bi/pan whatever and Gwen is scared to tell her she likes her?

 AND➝  Gwen is ready to start letting people back into her life after the events of Spiderverse. MJ, aware of Gwen trying to open her social circle, tells her about a nice girl from her apartment building and brings the reader along at their next band practice to introduce her. Gwen sets eyes on her and is VEEEERY attracted to this VEEEERY pretty girl.  In Gwen’s bisexual distress, she starts rambling nervously, and probably says something embarrassing about herself. MJ saves them from an awkward situation and starts band practice, Gwen doesn’t see reader outside of school again after that, but Gwen shamelessly stares at her during class. Gwen starts to overthink the situation and gets worried she blew her chance. Later, there’s a situation that she as Spider-Gwen saves reader from. Reader is minorly hurt but SG has to go before she can help reader as authorities arrive. Feeling guilty, her spider sense leads SG to the reader’s apartment, she goes to check on her that night. Confident with her mask on, she strikes up a conversation, compliments her and even drops a bit of a flirty remark about reader before taking her leave. I didnt know where to go from there I’m new to requesting so I hope this isn’t too long but I hope that’ll be enough to get the ball rolling? -🍀

deeply sorry it took me so long to get to these again! i changed a few things, but it’s pretty much still the same idea. i hope the nonnie who requested this finds it and doesn’t think i ignored them :( ily, y’all deserve better.

——-

➹she plays bass➹(spider-gwen x fem!reader)

That feeling when there’s a cute girl who plays bass in your band and you don’t know what the hell to do about it.

Gwen needs help figuring out her feelings. Like, immediately.

word count: 11.6k (oops i did it again)

a/n: i’m sorry this new fic is the size of the bible like the last one, i’ll try to make the next one shorter lmaooo. but it’s what my fave girl deserves due to the unacceptable lack of stories about her on this site. plus, i swear that once you read it it’s so much shorter than it seems. i’m hoping i can post at least one more story before the end of the year, but if i don’t, happy holidays and new year ! y’all were the best part about my 2019 :) hope whoever is reading this has a lovely week. mwah.

warnings: violence, guns, swearing.

——-

She played bass. 

You played bass, to be more specific. And Mary Jane Watson took satisfaction in believing that she was nice. More than simply ‘just nice’ on good days, even. Being the most courteous person was a duty she considered to be hers ever since she was six-years-old and accompanied that girl who always seemed to be left behind in the playground, and years later, in high school when she punched a creep hassling one of her bandmates. Last but most certainly not least, Betty Brant, bass guitar player of the Mary Janes, slipped and fell backwards one unfortunate evening, and she shot out her left arm behind her to break the fall and save her ice cream from hitting the ground. Good news: her ice cream did not hit the ground. Bad news, however, her left hand did— in an odd, twisted position. Needless to say, Betty Brant now had a broken wrist.

At first glance, they’re all unrelated events, stars belonging to separate constellations, and they would have remained so— undisturbed, simply coexisting in the same sky. That was, until Gwen came into the picture and drew a line connecting the bright flecks when she opened her mouth.

In the moment that she admitted to MJ that the idea of meeting new people sounded more appealing each day, she scribbled down the equation in her bandmate’s brain and hit ‘solve’. The redhead’s face lit up, putting to shame a Christmas tree as that sense of responsibility called for her attention. Immediately, she felt obligated to make the Nobel Peace prize-worthy move of texting her neighbor she just met, who also played the bass, to join them on the coming Saturday for band practice. That night, as she prepared to go to sleep, Em Jay cracked an accomplished smile at the reflection in her mirror.

However, two weeks had passed since your first practice with the Mary Janes, and MJ’s pride dove off from where it sat on her shoulder as she observed from afar with furrowed brows how Gwen so fucking blatantly ignored you after you tried to give her a high five. 

“What the hell was that?!” She hissed at Glory who stood beside her, cringing as you awkwardly dropped your hand and turned away from Gwen. Sighing, MJ rubbed her face with sheer desperation— a rather drastically different action from her naïve smile many nights ago. “I put an opportunity right on her fucking lap to make a friend, and she can’t act like a nice normal human being!”

Glory bit the inside of her cheek, sporting her own grimace. “I dunno, maybe they’ll click soon—”

“It’s been two weeks, Glory!” MJ whined. She crossed her arms across her chest, eyes narrowing into concentrated slits, and her gaze returned to an oblivious Gwen who shot at your back what she thought in her mind was a discreet glance. “I can’t let this fail. I gotta step in.” Glory raised a brow.

“Or you could just, you know, let them get to know each other at their own pace?“ 

“That’s dumb.”

Glory opened her mouth but gave up immediately, seeing MJ’s persistence as a lost cause she, in all honesty, did not want to waste any energy battling against that day. “Follow my lead,” MJ elbowed her, winking before she caught Gwen’s and your attention. “Who wants pizza? I do, and so does Glory. You guys want to go out and eat?“ 

“I don’t really feel like going out.”

“Glory, what the fuck?” MJ said under her breath, but later shook her head, a smile stretching across her face. “It’s fine! We’ll just go get it and we can eat here." 

Glory frowned. "But—”

“I mean, sure. I’m definitely in the mood for pizza.” You shrugged, the corner of your mouth lifting upwards. Gwen, however, eyed Glory with suspicion, who in return flashed her an apologetic smile. MJ clapped her hands together, cheering.

“Great!” She grabbed Glory’s hand and dragged her out of the room, glancing back at the two other girls. “We’ll be back in fifteen!”

Not even five seconds passed after they closed the door before you jumped off the couch and muttered to Gwen that you were going to the bathroom, an action that Gwen chose not to spend any time analyzing for her own sanity; but even if she had decided to, the ringing of her phone would’ve interrupted her nonetheless. After she took out her phone and saw MJ’s contact name, she let out the longest sigh in her entire seventeen years of living.

“Couldn’t you have just called for the pizza?” She went straight to the point— no greeting or anything, which left MJ stumped for three seconds, and surprised she had caught onto what was going on in record time.

“No, otherwise my plan wouldn’t have worked. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“What plan and why am I welcome?”

MJ scoffed. “I’m giving you another chance to talk to Y/N, seeing as you completely blew every other one you had.” Gwen perked one eyebrow, confused.

“How come?”

“She tried to give you a high-five and you left her hanging, Gwendolyn.” She said with an obvious tone. “And that’s just one example of many.”

Gwen sat straight, her eyes growing wide. “Wait, I did?”

“Yes, you fucking idiot!” Gwen shut her eyes closed, covering her face with her hand. “How did you not notice, it’s so painfully obvious she’s trying to be your friend but you’ve gained the award of dickhead of the day.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, although let out an amused huff of air through her nose. “Did Glory agree to this little plan of yours?”

MJ took a moment of silence. “No, but her opinion doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Yeah, I bet she didn’t, because it’s fucking stupid, Mary Jane.”

“Em Jay.” 

“You called me Gwendolyn.”

“Whatever,” MJ grumbled, “you asked for this, Gwen. Be thankful, ‘cause I’m really tryin’ here.”

Gwen heard you flush the toilet, and not too long after, the sound of the faucet running. “Hell, okay, fine.” She whispered into the phone. “She’s coming, I have to go.” Before MJ could utter a word, she ended the call right as you walked out of the bathroom and flashed her a tight-lipped smile. You sat back down on the couch, an obvious distance between you two. More time passed while you hunched over your cellphone and Gwen eyed you sideways, gripping her hands together in between her knees, her heart speeding up each time she dared to speak up, and her face heating up albeit she hadn’t directed a word at you yet.

She cleared her throat. “So!” 

You made eye contact with her and she felt obligated to flash you a nervous smile after the silence continued. Eventually, the corner of your mouth lifted upwards. “So what?” You questioned, curious. Gwen’s smile gradually fell. She should’ve contemplated what she was going to say first before she spoke. 

“…What’s your favorite pizza topping?” Gwen hit herself mentally. There literally was no excuse for why she was acting like this— hell, she herself couldn’t even find one. But, on the bright side (however, perhaps not so much for Gwen), whilst the girl was sure this was an agonizing and slow death from embarrassment, your amused grin widened with her visible anxiety.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of options.” You shrugged, your attention moving back to your device. Gwen considered leaving you alone, seeing as this conversation very obviously wasn’t going anywhere, but that option disintegrated as soon as she imagined Em Jay intentionally delaying her arrival with Glory and the pizza so she could take full advantage of her ‘chance’, which she was ninety-nine percent sure was the case. 

“I really like pepperoni.” She blurted out. Your eyes momentarily traveled up to Gwen and you pursed your lips, nodding slowly.

“Cool.”

My God, you really were not collaborating even an ounce— it was a reach, but it was as if you were voluntarily trying to make this as difficult and socially traumatizing for Gwen as possible. Gwen scratched her head, searching for more conversation ideas, but her brain remained as empty as a desert in the middle of nowhere, except for the one tumbleweed happily rolling along its way which was her last idea, and the main purpose of this sad conversation.

“I’m really sorry for that high-five you tried to give me earlier,” Gwen muttered, incapable of looking at you straight in the eye for long. “Em Jay just told me about it.” 

Finally, you tore your concentration away from your phone and focused on Gwen. You didn’t know whether it was the seriousness of her voice combined with the absurdity of the sentence, but you found yourself struggling to hold back your giggles. Gwen’s eyebrows twisted with puzzlement as she saw your blushing cheeks and you biting your lip hard, your shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

“That’s… adorable. It’s alright. It happens to all of us, I guess.” You laughed out. In Gwen’s never-ending humiliation, she couldn’t discern your expression from simple amusement or judgment. 

Gwen stuttered, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Okay, cool. I-I just didn’t want you to think that I hated you or something like that.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I did not.” 

“Good. Because I don’t. Obviously.” She continued, forcing out a chuckle. “I really don’t.”

You smiled hesitantly. “Again… don’t worry, I get it—”

“I just, I wasn’t paying attention to you.” Gwen clarified but closed her mouth immediately, regret drying her throat. You pressed your lips into a straight line. “But I don’t mean that in a rude way, hah. I’m always looking at you.” She dug herself deeper and her eyes grew wide, a tense cough fleeing past her lips after you raised your brows.

“I mean, no, I’m not always looking at you, like, staring, but like, looking forward to whatever you have to say…?” She talked slowly, questioning her own words. “Why would I look at you, anyway?” Ah, fuck, that’s not what she meant.

Your expression transformed into an offended look and she rushed to correct herself. “No! I mean— you’re, like, very, very pretty, don’t get me wrong.” She let out a frustrated sigh, “Again, I don’t mean that in a weird way, I just—”

“Okay! I get it.” You stopped her and stood up, pointing at your phone. “I have to go, it’s pretty late, so I won’t be able to eat with you guys, but, uh… thanks anyway. Maybe next time.” You explained, uncomfortable. You both dubiously gestured goodbye to each other before you nearly ran out of the door. 

From then on, Gwen kind of wanted to hide in her room for the rest of her life, or at least from you; but sadly, she couldn’t do either. She could’ve moved on and just let it be a memory she could laugh about in the future, but she couldn’t hide what had happened to MJ— she retold her and Glory the encounter, and the trauma returned as Glory burst out laughing right in her face and Em Jay simply stared at her like a disappointed mother. Again, she really was determined to forget the whole ordeal, but later in the evening, when all she wanted to do was plop down on her bed and call it a night after another day of patrol, she answered her landline only for her ears to be attacked with MJ’s pleas for her to go fix things since ‘she was so embarrassed for her she literally couldn’t go to sleep’. Gwen hung up on her.

As she originally had intended before MJ disrupted her night, Gwen jumped onto her bed and rolled onto her back, promising in her head that she’d take off her suit in a minute. She stared up at the ceiling for longer than a minute, thinking about MJ’s words. What was the point in going to apologize to you again, anyway? Gwen wasn’t going to do it simply to please her. MJ could gladly go and shove her microphone up her—

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Gwen said to herself as she stood outside your school building. She looked down at her watch. She could’ve been doing so much right then. Someone was probably getting murdered, or a robbery was going on, and she had homework to finish, but she was wasting her time waiting in front of a school like the creep of the block. However, she thought she might as well stick to it in the instant that students began to swarm out of the entrance doors.

She considered leaving. It was her first thought when she ultimately saw you walking amongst the crowd, talking to your friends. You hadn’t noticed her. It wouldn’t make a difference if she spun and ran out of there, like a scared child fleeing from the monster living in her closet. You turned your gaze away from your friend whilst laughing, and similar to the demon (no offense) peeking through the slit in between the closet doors, you found yourself staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

There was no going back.

Gwen breathed in profoundly and flashed you a sheepish smile, waving weakly with her shoulders raised. She watched you say goodbye to your friends before you hesitantly approached her, your eyebrow lifted in a questioning manner. “Gwen?” 

“Yup. That’s me, hah…” She moved her hair away from her face after the wind disheveled it, brushing it behind her ear as she avoided your eyes. “I know you’re wondering—”

“What you’re doing here? Yes, yes I am.” You said, the humor distinctive in your voice, but Gwen scrunched up her nose, shaking her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not… stalking you,” She laughed nervously and stopped herself before history repeated itself. “I would’ve texted you, but my phone…” Now has a bullet hole. “Broke. Em Jay told me I could meet you here.”

You folded your arms across your chest, shifting your weight to one leg. “Well, I’m here, you’re here, so what’s up? Did you want to continue talking about how you don’t pay attention to me?” You joked, tilting your head. 

Gwen winced slightly, cringing. “Actually, no.”

“Okay, good.”

“I came here to apologize. A real apology this time.”

You let your arms drop by your sides, interested and waiting for what she had to say. “I was really awkward. Painfully awkward, and I made you uncomfortable. So, I was hoping that we could maybe… start over again?” She held out her hand.

You briefly glanced down at it before glancing back up at her biting her lip anxiously. You giggled, nodding. “You’re so dramatic, dude.”

You shook her hand.

“So… we’re good?”

You smiled. “We’re good.” Gwen grinned back, her tooth gap having a peculiar effect in your stomach. She peeked at her watch a second time with the intent of leaving; but before she could say goodbye, you adjusted your backpack straps and spoke up. “Actually… now that you’re here, how about we go get something to eat?” 

Gwen blinked, her finger coming up to point at her chest. “M-me? And you?” You agreed with your head, laughing.

“Obviously, you dummy. I don’t see anyone else here.” You playfully punched her arm and she looked down at the spot, her eyes narrowed.

Ah, well. There was no going back.

If there was one thing, one enemy that constantly played with Gwen’s sanity, time was a top-three candidate which popped into her head immediately. Popped wasn’t perhaps even the correct word, for it remained there everlastingly as a nagging fear— a deafening, continuous tick-tock reminding her of how little, or what a painstaking amount of time she had in her hands, and all the things she could or could not do during it. Being Spider-Woman, pages and pages of school work, the Mary Janes, Mary Jane and Gwen’s duty to answer her messages the moment she received them, her aspirations, her dad— it messed with her brain, tangled all the connections into an indestructible knot she could purely helplessly stare at. But when she read the time and realized how late it had become, the panic merely bubbled and spread in her chest. Rather you laughed and she felt the necessity to look away from the numbers to focus on you, despite the tick-tock still present and blaring like a tsunami alert in her ears.

You sat facing her in the restaurant booth, smirking as you bit into a french fry. “You know, I gotta say, you impressed me quite a lot with your drumming.” Gwen bashfully moved a piece of lettuce around her plate, propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She shrugged, smiling at you. You maintained your gaze on her for a moment until you shook yourself out of your odd trance, lowering your head.

“Thanks for hanging out with me. I was tired of hanging out with myself, you know?”

Gwen furrowed her brows, adamant on fixing her look on the most boring stray lettuce ever. “Why? You’re a fun person.”

“Really? ‘Cause it doesn’t seem like that’s what you think about me.” You teased her, masking the undeniable bit of hurt. 

Gwen’s finger’s movements came to a halt and she placed her hands on the table, leaning towards you. “What?! What do you mean?”

“Alright, then what do you really think about me?” You put your elbows on the hard surface and mimicked Gwen, a crooked smile adorning your features. Gwen bit her lip in thought, raising one shoulder.

“You’re cool.” She said simply, trying to appear nonchalant. An ‘oof’ slipped past your lips and you clutched onto your chest, dramatizing the insulted expression.

“That’s it? Just cool? I’m a bit hurt.” 

Gwen rolled her eyes, laughing. “What else do you want me to say?” 

“I dunno, last time you said I was— and I quote— ‘very, very pretty’” You recalled, using air quotes. Gwen scratched her eyebrow, left blank on what to reply because— oh, yeah right— she did, in fact, say that. 

The smugness lingered on your face as you waited for her to break down and repeat herself, but she composed herself and cleared her throat. “Hey, it’s not fair if you’re the only one asking questions! Being interviewed is hard work, you know.” She raised her hands defensively, her eyebrows lifted. You immediately caught onto what she was doing and pointed an accusing finger at her.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Well, where’s the fun in knowing all the answers to the universe?”

You had to agree. But you leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, accidentally (or was it?) nudging her leg with your foot. “I don’t know. I like honesty.” 

Oh dear, Gwen narrowed her eyes, her chest throbbing. “Hey—” The both of you jumped and looked at the source of the greeting— neither of you knew when exactly, but the waiter stood there with a polite smile, holding three menus close to his stomach. “Just letting y’all know that since Valentine’s Day is coming up, the milkshakes are on discount for couples.” Gwen leaned far away from the table, from you, and let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Oh, no, we’re not—”

“Oh, great!” You exclaimed and grabbed Gwen’s hand. “Do you want to share one, babe?” 

Gwen froze, her shoulders and the hand you clutched onto tense, prickling at your touch. You looked at her attentively, and your lovey-dovey eyes left her stunned, grabbed onto her voice and trapped it in her throat— intimidated her. She had to give it to you, though, your acting could fool anyone or leave anyone wondering…especially her.

Seeing as the seconds continued to pass and she never replied, you chose to take it as a sign that she was following you and you glanced up at the waiter. “We’d like a vanilla milkshake, please.” You smiled. 

Following the waiter’s departure, Gwen looked at you surprised. “I thought you liked honesty?” She laughed in disbelief, pretending to judge you intensely. You innocently picked up another fry, hiding your growing beam.

“Hey, I’m not gonna turn down a discount.”

Gwen giggled, shaking her head. “Fair enough. But you’re crazy.”

“But you still love me, right babe?” You smirked and lifted your connected hands. When Gwen realized she hadn’t let go yet, she first thought about pulling away. But she didn’t. Instead, she timidly squeezed your hand, forcing out a scoff.

“Right. Of course, babe.” 

Finally, you unclasped your hands and Gwen’s hand slowly curled into a fist as she considered something. “Hey, where are you headed after this?” She rushed out. You tilted your head.

“Home. Why?”

She swallowed her nerves, thinking about dismissing her own question and shrugging it off. She had to get back home as well, after all.

But she didn’t want to yet.

“Can I walk you back?”

The walk back to your place dragged on for longer than usual, and you both pretended to act shocked, as if it’d been a glitch in the matrix and time ticked away slower than normal; but in the back of your heads, the two of you knew it’d been no accident, that you weren’t too engulfed into your conversation enough that you ended up taking the long way back home without noticing. Perhaps the two of you wandered longer, slowed down your pace much more than necessary— clung onto the moon and kept it in its place in the sky with your excuses so the night would stay, last as much as you wanted it to. Your efforts were partly successful, but of course, it had to come to an end eventually. 

Your meetings didn’t, though. No, they were just getting started.

On Valentine’s Day, you might have taken advantage of another discount for couples, but no one really needed to know that. After that day and after Gwen finally got a new phone (it took her a few days to tell her dad, since she knew he wouldn’t be the happiest once he heard how her phone got destroyed in the first place), you sent her a message which she couldn’t deny made her insides feel a type of way: ‘If you ever need a fake date, don’t hesitate in calling me’. 

And a winky face. She couldn’t forget the winky face.

But, in all truth, neither of you needed a ‘fake date’ as a reason to see each other. Every once in awhile, Thursday and Saturday after band practice, the two of you would abandon the girls and simply hang out. It didn’t matter where— sometimes you didn’t even have a place in mind, but somehow, gladly for your brain fearing rejection, Gwen would agree nonetheless. She didn’t think much about it until one afternoon, once you were done telling a bad joke that embarrassingly enough made her laugh, she realized she hadn’t checked the time. Not once.

During band practice, MJ and Glory noted that something had changed. Mainly because they soon realized they hadn’t witnessed any new embarrassing events between you two for them to laugh at behind your backs in a while, but your peeks at each other weren’t fearful anymore. They were now… something which they couldn’t place their finger on, but it was different enough for them to share a look and raise their eyebrows. Naturally, it didn’t take long before Em Jay had to jam herself into your affairs and asked you what you thought about Gwen, using as a justification that you had gotten a month and a half to get to know the band. 

If Gwen could’ve gotten the opportunity to travel back in time to step in and prevent Em Jay from getting close to you with her blabbering mouth, she would’ve taken it immediately.

“When were you going to tell me you two fucking knew each other?!” MJ’s shriek hurt Gwen’s ears and left her speechless for a few moments after she walked into the room. Then, she succeeded in processing her question through her brain, and her face was now considerably paler than before.

“Hello to you too?” 

MJ glared at her and walked away from her. While she moved around the many cables on the floor with her foot, Gwen dropped her backpack near the door, eyeing her. “How do you know?”

“I talked to Y/N.” She simply responded. Gwen huffed, unbelieving, and crossed her arms. 

“And why did you talk to her?”

MJ gave her an obvious look. “Because, uh, she’s my bandmate? And my friend?” Gwen rolled her eyes and crouched down to take her drumsticks from her bag; meanwhile, Em Jay wasn’t over the topic yet. “I can’t believe you kept that from me. Unbelievable. I’m the only one who knows about your little spider secret!” She threw her hands in the air, as if her attitude wasn’t already dramatic enough. Gwen looked up at her with squinted eyes.

“Because you found out on accident. Did you also tell her about that?” She scoffed, standing up. Em Jay followed her to the drums, pursing her lips.

“No. She wouldn’t believe me anyway. But in my defense, Glory and Betty never do either, so you’ve literally got nothing to worry about.” 

Gwen sat down on the drum stool. “We met last year, but we never became friends, though. We’re just acquaintances, I’m sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Em Jay shrugged, her expression unchanging. “Yeah, I guess. Now I’m embarrassed for you again, though. You have to apologize to her.” 

Gwen’s mouth hung slightly open. “I already apologized twice! Why would I do it again?!”

“You acted as if you didn’t know her when you first met! Like, who does that?” However, before Gwen could explain herself, you and Glory walked through the door, carrying your instruments plus a milkshake in your hand.

“Sup.” Glory nodded her head at the two girls. MJ shot finger guns at her and you walked up to Gwen before you stretched out your arm, holding the milkshake up to her face. 

Gwen quirked a brow. “What’s this?”

“I got you a milkshake, babe.” You joked, smirking. Gwen’s cheeks and ears reddened and she hesitantly accepted it, her mouth twitching. “Since we haven’t had the chance to hang out in a while.”

MJ and Glory shared another of their looks, the one with which they telepathically communicated with. After you left Gwen, MJ kneeled down beside her, grinning knowingly. 

“She told me she thinks you’re great, dude. Do whatever you want with that information.”

Gwen chose not to do anything with it. At least not for now. 

Summer break came along to free Gwen from the suffocating hold school had around her neck, and more importantly, to give her time to focus on patrolling, the Mary Janes, and, well, you. Texting you in the morning, texting you at noon, texting you in the afternoon after she managed to stop a robbery at Junction Boulevard, texting you at night; and she couldn’t forget, of course, spending time with you whenever you could. How could she forget? It seemed almost impossible now, for you had implemented yourself into her routine, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint in what moment. She didn’t even come upon the realization until you left the state for a week, and she found herself waiting for your texts.

However, once you returned and the band reunited, Em Jay wasted no time and suggested having a ‘girl’s night’ at her place, claiming it wasn’t because she ‘missed you all, or anything, but for band-bonding’. She sent you and Gwen to the store to buy snacks (and, unsurprisingly for Gwen, winked at Glory as you two walked out of the door), and right now you both stood in front of the freezers, Gwen observing you as you put all your concentration, your tongue poking out of your mouth, on combining two sodas into an empty water bottle. Gwen gagged dramatically, laughter escaping her throat nonetheless. “That’s fucking gross, man.” She grimaced while you giggled maniacally.

The new beverage fizzled and you analyzed it closely, your eyes following the bubbles dancing in the liquid. “I can’t believe they sell bacon and ranch dressing soda here. This place is nuts.”

“And you’re mixing them together.”

“You could say I’m a scientist.”

Gwen scoffed at your statement, a grin lingering on her face. You sniffed the soda, and held it up to her face. “Do you want to try it?”

Gwen pushed the bottle away with her finger, wrinkling her nose. “You could have me at gunpoint and I still wouldn’t try it.”

You pouted, screwing the cap closed. “Okay, your loss, I guess. I’ll have it here just in case you change your mind.” You waved the bottle and placed it on a shelf before you kneeled down to inspect the bags of marshmallows. Gwen shook her head, her smile reaching her eyes.

“Trust me, I won’t.”

You picked up a bag, eyeing her sideways. “You know what?” You stole back her attention and she hummed, tilting her head. “You’re my favorite member in the band.”

Gwen’s face softened, although she wondered if she was crazy, or if her hands were all of a sudden clammy. “Me? Your… your favorite?” She asked, her voice small. You looked down, hoping she couldn’t see your timid expression.

“Yeah. I mean, no offense to Em Jay or Glory— they’re both awesome, but… I really like you, Gwen Stacy.” You shared eye contact, the corner of your mouth quirking up.

Gwen searched for something to distract herself with, and wound up snatching a random bag of gummies and pretending to read the ingredients. “Are you just trying to get me to pay for all of this?” She joked, gesturing to the casket of food. You let out a dramatic sigh, grumpily looking away from her.

“Aw, man, you caught me.” You made a sad face, but it was fleeting. “…But, no. I mean it. For real.”

Gwen bit her lip, her face the shade of the cherry candy in her hands. “Yeah, well… you’re pretty cool as well, Y/N L/N.” She copied you, shrugging. You groaned in annoyance, staring heavenward.

“Don’t give me that ‘you’re cool’ bullshit again.” You warned, mocking her voice and she giggled, placing the candy back in its place.

“What? It’s the truth!”

“Is that really all you think of me?” You feigned disappointment, playing with her. 

No. Most definitely not. Gwen had grown to form many opinions about you other than solely ‘just cool’. Her thoughts varied. Sometimes she liked the way you made her laugh so effortlessly. Other times she couldn’t wrap her head around how, with you, the concept of time was both nonexistent and eternal, a concept you took its meaning away from, for it became irrelevant. She loved how you played bass, and how you gave it a voice, personified it into a dancing body that mesmerized her. She liked the way the corners of your eyes crinkled when you smiled, and how you tilted your head sometimes when you were confused like a puppy. She liked your way of talking, your hair, how you dressed, your posture, your face and the flaws in your skin. 

Maybe she really liked you. And that scared her.

When she didn’t answer, you gave up and stood up, stretching your legs. “Okay, at least I’m glad you think I’m cool. It’s what I’d expect from my fake girlfriend.” You winked at her playfully, but she wasn’t fully paying attention now. “Okay, last question, though—”

Gwen sighed, her shoulders dropping. “What now?” You moved your arms behind your back, drawing a circle with the tip of your shoe on the floor.

“You never answered if you really think that I’m pretty.”

Gwen almost choked. She thought she had escaped that question months ago. Without thinking, her gaze landed on the soda hybrid sitting on the shelf and she grabbed it. You didn’t know what was happening in front of you until Gwen was sputtering after taking a big gulp of the drink. “What the fuck?! Why did you do that!” You gasped, your eyes wide and the laughter daring to climb up your throat.

Gwen stuck her tongue out and coughed, her face scrunching up with regret. “If I drink the soda then I don’t have to answer the question.” You couldn’t believe she was willing to do anything instead of giving you an answer.

You doubled over, cackling and holding your stomach. “Since when is that a rule?!”

“Since now.”

For the record, Gwen did think you were pretty. Very, very pretty.

As time went by, Gwen couldn’t help but stare during practice. Stare at your fingers, sliding down and up the neck with ease; your head, nodding along to the music, lost in it enough that you didn’t notice the obvious ogling from her part. And your face. She tried focusing on it most of the time, but it resulted a lot more difficult than she originally expected. You either moved it too much whilst you played, or you faced away from her since—well— she did play the drums. 

There was also the third reason. The unsettling burn in her chest that sped up her breathing if her mind went too far, which occurred if she thought about you too much. Too deeply. But, God, did she try, and God, did she take advantage of every time you looked back at her, because you inexplicably dissolved that uneasiness in her.

Late at night, with your blankets wrapped around you tightly, you stared at your phone screen, mindlessly scrolling and double-tapping every picture you came upon. Not a minute passed before you opened a conversation, however, perhaps for the fourth time— not that it was anyone’s business, anyway— awaiting for another text. Gwen’s text, to be more specific. You didn’t want to come off as obsessive, but it had been an hour and thirteen minutes yet she hadn’t responded, and you… were missing her? You shook your head. Well. There was a possibility that you were. Maybe, you couldn’t get her off your mind, and maybe, you wished you could simply think about her and she’d integrate right there in your bedroom—

A knock on the window disrupted your train of thought, and as if on cue, a notification rang from your phone. ‘It’s me’, you read. Gwen had sent the message. “What the fuck?” You muttered, confused. Needing to see it for yourself, you jumped out of your bed and ran to your window before you unlatched the window lock and slid it open. 

Of course, as the text message said, it was indeed Gwen, in your fire escape, and not a prank she elaborated to scare the life out of you. “Hi.” Was all she said. You tilted your head, your brows knitted together.

“Hi? Is that all you’re going to say?”

She thought for a second. “…How are you?” 

“What are you doing in my fire escape?”

“I got locked out of my house.” She shrugged. 

You let out a huff of air in disbelief, moving out of the way so she could climb inside. As she threw one leg over the sill, you placed your hands on your hips, shaking your head. “You get locked out of your house, and the first place that comes to your mind is my place?” You questioned, amused. Yet again, Gwen raised and dropped her shoulders. You went to close the window, but not before glancing out, imagining all the struggle she must’ve gone through to lower the ladder and then climb up five stories. “And how the hell did you even get all the way up here?” You muttered to yourself, but Gwen heard it.

“It’s a fire escape, my dear. They’re there to, you know, get out of the building so you don’t die if there’s a fire?”

You rolled your eyes and sat down on your bed. “Okay, just be quiet, ‘cause I don’t think my family would be very happy about having an unexpected visitor this late.” Guilt sculpted Gwen’s countenance.

“I mean… I can leave if you want—”

“No.” You said quickly, too fast for your liking, actually. You cleared your throat and smiled, patting the area beside you. “No, it’s alright. You can stay however long you want. They don’t have to find out.” You waggled your eyebrows jokingly. She was grateful the sole lamp rested on your bedside table, far away from you and its amber touch embracing you alone, for she didn’t need you seeing the blood rapidly rushing to her warm face. 

Gwen sat down where you motioned her to, although kept some distance, and squeezed her hands resting on her lap together. “Thanks… it’ll just be a while. My dad had an emergency, and I really don’t know when he’ll be back, so…” She explained and popped her mouth after her sentence died out. You nodded understandingly, shuffling somewhat closer to her.

“I’m glad you came here. I wouldn’t want you staying out there and freezing to death. Plus, I was pretty bored.”

Gwen raised a brow. “Bored? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” 

You scoffed with a faint smile. “Shut up, hypocrite. You were out so late that you got left out of your house.”

“I was busy!”

“Doing what? Selling drugs?”

“Maybe. You’ll never know.”

You began to fan yourself. “Ooh, a drug lord, so hot.”

Gwen scrunched up her nose, giving you a judgemental look. “Is that what turns you on? Drug lords?”

“Nah, that’s not quite it…” You glanced at her out of the corner of your eye before your gaze shifted to your lap, your fingers playing with the hem of your shirt.

Gwen didn’t know whether she was reaching— but oh. She didn’t know what courage the universe granted her, either, for she then focused on her nails and pretended to be uninterested. “Huh, then what does turn you on?” Your eyebrows almost reached your hairline in surprise, but you quickly composed yourself. 

“Why do you want to know?” You asked, leaning closer to her. She shrugged one shoulder.

“I mean, you never know. What if a friend of mine wanted to ask you out?”

You bit your lip. “Depends. Is she cute?”

“I never specified their gender. And it’s theoretical.” She cleared up, raising one finger. You laughed, moving even closer to her.

“Well, then, I really like blue eyes.”

“…Really?” Her shy voice made your organs jump, which you didn’t know if it was normal or a serious medical condition you should get checked out. You hummed, holding yourself up with your arms behind you. “They’re cool, I guess.” Again, she tried to sound as if she didn’t care, or as if your comment didn’t make her as happy as it secretly did.

“Short hair is also pretty cute.” You added. “Especially if it’s a cool hairstyle.”

“A cool… a cool hairstyle, huh? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen now knew how frustrated you felt when she avoided your questions. “What about you?” You looked at her, insecurity threatening to overpower your current confidence.

“Oh. I don’t know. Musicians are hot.” She showed you a crooked smile. You wanted to squeal, embarrassingly enough.

“Do you like bass guitar players?” A bold move, indeed. Gwen faked entering deep into thought.

“…Eh, I think drummers are hotter.” 

You shoved her playfully, laughing. “Rude!” 

“Hey, you asked what I liked.” You both giggled, struggling to keep your noises down, but eventually, your laughter dissipated and she played with her fingers. “But bass players are pretty cute, too.”

You gulped, Gwen’s shoulder touching yours spiking your nerves. “Yeah, well, I agree that drummers are cute, too.” 

You both glanced down at each other’s lips, holding your breaths. However, before you could do anything, Gwen got to her feet. “You should try getting some sleep. I don’t want you being sleep deprived because of me.” She laughed nervously, taking off her sneakers. 

Disappointment invaded your brain, but admittedly, your eyes did feel a lot heavier than before. “What are you gonna do?” You questioned, remembering her situation. You definitely were more worried than her, who was unfazed.

“I’ll just wait I guess.”

“You should catch some Z’s as well.”

Gwen didn’t argue. She climbed into bed with you, although insisted she didn’t need any covers or blankets since she was just going to take a nap. After that, you couldn’t resist the sleep threatening to spread through your system and you passed out. It felt like minutes passed at most, until you were suddenly gently shaken awake. 

You fought to open your eyes before you squinted and looked up at whoever had woken you up. Slowly, the indistinguishable figure transformed into Gwen’s apologetic smile dimly lit by your bedside lamp. 

“Hey, sleepyhead.” 

You groaned, rubbing your bleary eyes and sitting up. “What time is it?” You croaked out. Gwen squinted to discern the numbers in her watch.

“Two in the morning.” 

“Two in the morning?!” She nodded, laughing quietly. “Do you have to go?” You would’ve been embarrassed by the heartbreak in your voice, but you were too out of it to dwell on it.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, you can go back to sleep. I just wanted to let you know.” 

You didn’t quite process what was going on until you saw her backing away to the window. Suddenly fully awake, your eyes widened and you threw your covers off of you. “What are you doing?” 

Gwen opened the window and glanced back at you, lifting a brow. “Leaving?” 

You yawned, shaking your finger at her. “No, no, no—” You rubbed your eye and laughed at her. “How about I lead you out of the door like a normal person?” 

Gwen blushed, slowly closing the window. “Ah, well, I guess that’s an option.”

“I don’t want to wake anyone up, though, so just stay quiet, alright?” Gwen simply nodded and you wrapped your hand around her wrist, guiding her towards your bedroom door. You opened it as silently as you could, holding your breath, almost afraid that if you breathed, the entire house would be blown away. There’s only darkness, but you walked into it unbothered, while Gwen followed you like a loyal animal. Now that her sight was gone, she fully took in your touch as your soft hold tugged on her arm. You suddenly stopped and she mimicked you, patiently waiting for the sound of the unlocking of the door. However, all she picked up was the shuffling of your feet before you held in your breath. Then, she felt your other hand grab hers.

“Gwen?” You asked quietly, your voice so timid the darkness and the silence could’ve easily engulfed it. Without the view of your face, your skin against hers seemed too much, nearly unbearable. 

“…Y-Yeah?”

“Can you see me?”

She shook her head, until she recalled that if she couldn’t see you, neither could you see her and the gesture was nothing more than useless. “Not really.”

“Okay. Cool.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

You giggled, and it didn’t knock over the walls, but it most definitely almost did her body.  “No. Do you want me to?”

“Eh… no, thanks.”

“Ok, dork.” You chuckled, but it instantly came to an end. Your breathing wasn’t steady anymore— it trembled, sounded heavy. Then, out of nowhere: “If I kiss you, are you going to run away?”

Gwen just blinked. Despite the darkness, white dots exploded in her vision. “W-what?” Her voice almost failed her.

“Can I kiss you?”

In the room, there was nothing more. It was just your nervous breaths, your loud fridge, and Gwen’s heart. Her heart at full volume, pumping fast, doing its best to keep her awake, sane, on her feet. It was just you and her. Solely you, your gentle hands, and her. She blinked again.

“Okay.”

Your touch disappeared but then reappeared on her cheek, and absentmindedly, she placed her hand over yours. Your thumb, shaking, searched for her mouth, until it successfully brushed against her lips. Gwen gulped, her skin tingling as your breath fanned over it.

It was just you, her, and your lips. Your lips and her own.

You both remained with your eyes closed after your lips lost contact, although it didn’t make a difference in any way. But Gwen’s eyelids fluttered open, and a beam began to blossom.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill me.”

You kissed her a second time before she left. 

It would be a criminal understatement to say that Gwen freaked out after she arrived back home. When she made the decision to start letting new friends into her life for good at the beginning of the year as another New Year’s resolution, she took a gigantic step. She then spoke to MJ, which was a leap in itself, and you joined the band. She stumbled, balanced herself on one foot at the edge for a while, but eventually, she managed to jump to the third step once she waited outside your school and apologized to you. She was convinced that would be it; the final and toughest stride, because if she managed to get past through all the previous ones, then it had to mean she was ready, right? 

She was just finding out she was wrong, though.

The plan was to make a friend. A friend and nothing more nor nothing less. However, without being fully conscious of it, she continued to sprint up the stairs, past what her original intention was. And now, as she stared so far up at the next colossal step— at the feelings that kept growing for you, at your kiss, at you— she felt herself tipping backwards. There was no way she could climb that. She’d only slip and plummet down to her death.

Somehow, though, when you two agreed on meeting up at an arcade two days later, she decided she might as well go for it. 

Gwen eyed the time for what she felt was the millionth time that day and her mask muffled the groan that followed. She had at least thirty minutes left of patrol and— she knew it was a dramatic statement— she didn’t know if she would be able to make it through them. I could call it a day earlier, she thought. It had been the most uneventful day lacking any major criminal activity, after all: all she did was help a little kid get back to his father and stop the usual theft, but other than that, she spent the day swinging around and even had the time to take a picture with a fan. 

Her phone began to vibrate. You were calling her. “Hey… you…kid…” She cringed. How was she supposed to greet you from now on? Things weren’t the same. 

She heard you snort at her hello. “Hi. Just wanted to tell you that I’m on my way.”

Gwen’s brows snapped together and she checked the time one more time. “Already? You’re early.”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get started earlier so I don’t have to walk back home too late, but also so I can beat your ass and get more tickets than you.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Not really, because I already know I’m gonna win.”

“Don’t sound so confident,” Gwen smiled and lied down on her back, staring up at the sky. “But if you do win, you better get me a prize.”

“Why would I get the loser a prize? I’m gonna get myself something cool and big and rub it in your face.” 

Gwen scoffed but giggled nonetheless. All of a sudden, you went dead silent and she sat up, perking her ears for any further noise. “Y/N? Are you still there?”

It took you a few seconds to answer. “I just heard something weird.”

Gwen’s face drained of color and she jumped up, the tingling present in the back of her head. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Get out of there. Now. Find somewhere that’s crowded.”

“Don’t be so paranoid. I bet it’s nothing. Could you imagine if I, like, got murdered, though?” You laughed nervously, trying to ease both of your nerves but Gwen’s sting in her head was only strengthening. “How tragic. Anyway—” 

Your voice halted. A distant strangled cry left the speaker. “Y/N?!” Gwen called for your attention, frantic, her heart nearly breaking out of her chest. Something was not right.

“Hold on.”

It was all you said before you ended the call. She wasted no time nor hesitated— she ran to the end of the rooftop and jumped off, shooting a web. She swung as fast as she could, to the point where her aim nearly missed a building. Her thoughts were rushed, hectic, created the worst scenarios so vivid the bile began to make her way up her throat and she had to blink the dampness of her eyes away.

Hiding behind a dumpster nearing the end of an alleyway, you held your phone up to your ear, your legs aching from the speed with which you ran away. You could barely breathe. It was just a messy attempt of ragged breaths that despite how hard you tried to make them quiet, you simply couldn’t. “Please hurry up.”

“We’re trying to get there as fast as we can, miss. Are you hurt?”

“N-No, I’m fi—” A loud bang shook the dumpster next to you and you involuntarily yelped in fear. Your hand flew up to cover your mouth, but it was too late. 

The woman and the man who chased you quickly found you, and the guy gripped your arm, yanking you out of your hiding spot. “What the fuck did you see?!” He spat in your face, holding you trapped against his body with his arm choking your neck. “Tell us or you’re fucking dead, hear me?!”

You sputtered and your fingernails scratched his arm, trying to get him off of you. When you realized you weren’t getting anywhere, your eyes flickered down to your hand. You blindly moved it up to his face, and once you grazed his eyelashes, you dug your fingers into his eye with all your strength. 

He cried out and let go of you. Without thinking, you spun around and went in to punch whatever area of his face you hoped your hit landed on. But he recovered quickly and caught your fist in mid-air. All you could do was stare at him in horror. You didn’t quite process what was coming at you until he struck your eye. 

“Bad move, kid.” The woman said and you glanced up at her with watery eyes, shielding the throbbing left side of your face. She took out her gun, pointed it at you, and your heart dropped. 

You had lost all hope, until a ‘thwip!’ echoed in between the walls.

Out of nowhere, a web stuck to the barrel of the gun and, in the blink of an eye, snatched it from the woman’s grasp. Spider-Gwen came into your blurry vision before she spun the gun and smacked it onto the stranger’s head. 

She stumbled backwards, grasping her head. Meanwhile, Gwen shot two webs at the wall behind the older girl. Holding onto the strings tightly, she pushed herself off the ground and knocked her down with a kick at her jaw. As she webbed her to the wall, her eyes suddenly widened. She swiftly ducked under, dodging a punch coming from the man behind her. Crouching down, she swiped her leg under him and sent him down. 

After he fell on the ground, Gwen towered over him, her fists shaking with fury. As soon as he opened his eyes, she drew her arm back and smashed her knuckles into his nose, a painful crack resonating clear and loud. 

She panted loudly, her chest rising and falling quickly as she trapped the now unconscious man’s hand to the gravel. She continued to observe him, her lip twitching, the sirens approaching in the background, until she heard a dry sob behind her. She looked back, only to see you backed up into the corner, hugging yourself.

Gwen ran up to you and kneeled down in front of you, holding your hand. “H-Hey, hey, you’re okay now.” She shushed you, her hand almost coming up to your cheek until she stopped herself. She wanted to stay with you and ask more questions, but two police cars parked themselves at the start of the alleyway. Her heart screamed at her not to. It cursed at her, begged for her feet not to move. However, she looked down at you one last moment and she shot a web up at the sky, zipping out of there.

She watched over you for an hour and a half as you talked to the police, and then when the paramedics attended you. She couldn’t stay long, though, since you furrowed your brows and then glanced up, your sight focusing on her. She instantly hid away, deciding that it’d be best if she just waited at your apartment.

Gwen tried telling herself that you were now fine. She saw you there, not missing a limb or anything, breathing and alive. But despite that, she couldn’t rest in peace. The image of you in the corner— your entire body shaking, your rough appearance, the tears that abandoned your eyes. Broken. It wouldn’t fuck off despite how many times she told it to. 

She couldn’t help but recall Peter Parker’s face as she shakily held his corpse in her arms. And then she remembered why she had given up on letting anyone get close to her in the first place.

She had lost track of how long she’d been staring at your window. The window which she climbed through just three nights ago when she got locked out of her place. The night your warm smile greeted her. The night you first kissed her. The night that, perhaps if it hadn’t occurred— if she hadn’t forgotten to take her key with her, or she had left her window open, if she had gone to Em Jay’s, Glory’s, or even Betty’s place instead of yours— if she hadn’t been in the picture, you wouldn’t be in the situation that you were in now. 

Because of her, you could’ve lost your life.

She’d texted you— as Gwen— asking if you were alright. It didn’t help that you straight up lied and said that you weren’t feeling alright so you decided to skip the night. At last, the light turned on in your room and she snapped out of a trance. It didn’t take long before she was trying to look through your window as discreetly as she could, her heart starting yet again with its running when she made out your silhouette. It moved around the room, until it stopped in front of the window. To her nightmare, your figure grew bigger as it came closer and closer, and opened the window. When she saw your face, her insides twisted.

You nearly screamed as soon as you saw Spider-Woman outside your window. You jumped back. It was the Spider-Woman. Unbelieving, you blinked at her— a bad idea, you then realized, considering your bruised eye. 

“…Spider-Woman?”

“Uh, hi there.”

You touched your head, closing your eyes. Maybe the blow you received was worse than you thought. “Am I hallucinating?” 

Gwen laughed weakly. “Nope. I’m very real right now.”

“Oh, okay.” You stared at her, disoriented, a million questions running through your brain. “Can I— can I ask what you are doing here?” You chose to ask first. 

“I, uh, wanted to check up on you after the incident that happened earlier. I didn’t really have time to say anything.” It wasn’t fully a lie. You nodded slowly, tilting your head.

“How’d you know where I live?”

She couldn’t judge you for asking so many questions, but God, coming up with a lie on the spot was turning out to be problematic for her. “Uh… spider-sense?”

She tried.

You were yet more perplexed. “Spider what?”

“It’s a thing… I have…” She tapped her head. Again, it wasn’t a full-blown lie. Thankfully, you didn’t continue budging and instead hummed, nervously playing with the hem of your shirt. “You don’t have to answer— only if you want to talk about it, but…what happened?” She asked quietly, afraid of your reaction. Your body went rigid and you hesitated. 

“I was going to meet up with a girl I like when I heard and then saw someone getting beaten to death.” Her white eye lenses grew big. “The two out of the three people doing it saw me and began to chase me. I tried to hide, but they eventually caught up to me.” You whispered.

Her fingers touched her mouth. “Oh God… I’m so… I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”

You raised a brow. “…What do you mean? You saved me.”

“But I…” Gwen choked up and you furrowed your brows. She checked her watch, her body so weak she was surprised she was standing up. “I have to go. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You don’t deserve it.”

Before you could reply, she scurried away from your window and leaped off the fire escape. You watched as she swung away and eventually disappeared, feeling hazy and more puzzled than ever.

After she thought she had gotten far away enough, Gwen dropped down on a random rooftop, stumbling and falling to her knees. She felt trapped inside the mask. Almost as if it were stuck, permanently sewn to her skin, and if she tried to rip it off, she’d tear every last inch of skin off with it. She was the mask. She was Spider-Woman, and would forever be. It’s a responsibility she was doomed with for eternity unless she lost a fucking limb or her own life, and there’s nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t simply walk away, or dispose of all the criminals and villains, all the calamities and traps hurled at her which sent her defenseless body flying, hurting it, along with everyone else in the way. Everyone else like Peter. Peter and now you. 

Her trembling hand ripped off her mask, her wet face nearly freezing as the wind attacked her skin. She took out her phone and searched for your contact, wiping her nose with her gloves. “Hey…” She typed, but stopped. Keep going, she urged herself. Just fucking write. Her thumb hung above the keyboard, her teary eyes fixed on the cursor blinking, taunting her. 

“If you don’t do this, I’m going to hate you for the rest of my fucking life, Gwen.” She hissed at herself and hiccuped after. It didn’t matter if you hated her. It had to be done.

You inspected with a frown at your bruised eye in the mirror, your fingers ghosting over the swollen skin. But your grimace vanished and a faint grin took over your features when you received a message and read Gwen’s name. Rapidly, you opened the text, the overwhelming heaviness burning in your chest immediately flickering out.

It was only temporary, though.

Gwen read the message one last time, and her heart dropped down to her stomach the instant she saw you had opened it. Her own words repeated themselves in her head, slashing her skin with regret, mercilessly cutting her heart apart into unfixable bits.

“I’ve been thinking lately, and I think it’d be best if we’re just bandmates. You’re cool, so I hope that there are no hard feelings between us.”

She turned off her phone and closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. Somehow, she still hated herself.

You didn’t reply. Not a word, no phone call. Nothing. You explained to MJ and Glory what had happened and missed band practice for a week, saying you wanted your eye to heal as much as possible. You never told Gwen anything, though. The girls were in charge of doing it, and she had to act surprised and repress the regret that stabbed at her. Glory was shocked she wasn’t the first to find out and she questioned her about it, but Gwen solely shrugged and forced out a laugh when MJ joked that getting hurt was a curse running for bassists in the band. 

The week had finally passed by and you came to Thursday rehearsal. You still greeted Glory with your secret handshake and MJ with the usual hug, as enthusiastic as always. But you ignored Gwen, and she didn’t fight against it. She had now made a promise to herself she couldn’t break. 

You’d been practicing for an hour longer than usual, stuck on the same song since Em Jay would stop in the midst of it and insist that you started over again. Everyone knew who was— or, to be more correct— were the culprits, but no one dared to speak up. MJ broke away from the mic, rubbing her face in frustration, and raised her fist in the air to end the playing. “Okay, that sucked. Yet again. But it’s okay, let’s start over from the top.”

Glory let her fingers run down the keyboard, creating what you could say was the loveliest catastrophe of a melody, and sighed. “Em Jay, I think we should take a break—”

“No, no, no, we’ll get it right this time. Let’s just get it over with, okay?” No one agreed, but she continued nonetheless. “One, two, three!”

You began again. At first, no one was messing up, and Em Jay’s hope returned. However, a minute into the song, both the drums and the bass went their own ways and invented their own pace, and MJ turned around, her hands on her hips. “I didn’t want to say it, but you two really need to get your shit together.” She pointed at Gwen and then at you. 

Gwen glanced at you. “Y/N’s a bit late.” You opened your mouth in disbelief and faced her.

“You’re going way too fucking fast!”

“No, that’s the right tempo.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Uh, yeah, it is.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Since when?”

“Since always!” Gwen exclaimed, sharing your scowl. “I’m the one who’s been here since the beginning, I think I know better.” 

You couldn’t keep your mouth shut any longer.

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know shit, okay?!” You yelled at her, taking an intimidating step closer to her. When MJ noticed Gwen gripping her drumsticks hard, she tried to intervene.

“Guys—”

“Leave it, Mary Jane.” Gwen warned her, her face stern, and MJ stared at her, expressionless.

“It’s Em Jay.”

“I don’t fucking care!” 

“Yeah, you very clearly don’t, huh?” You said, laughing without humor and stepping even closer to Gwen. “You don’t know shit, and you don’t give a shit about anyone. It’s scary how you pretend to care about someone, but you don’t. You just fucking use them to keep yourself entertained for a while, until you get bored and then decide to leave.” You were now right in front of her, and you pointed an accusing finger into her face. Gwen tensed her jaw, fighting hard against the wetness of her eyes.

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, don’t fucking lie, Gwen.” You glared at her, shaking your head. “Don’t act like I don’t know you.”

You both shared eye contact for a few moments, and as Gwen began to blink hard, you scoffed and took a step back. “Whatever.” You muttered and turned away. “I think I’m done for the day.”

The room stayed dead silent while you packed your things up. Glory and Em Jay communicated with each other through their gazes, both equally as confused, but Gwen stuck her sight to the floor, her lip trembling as she curled her hand so tightly around the drumstick it snapped. You slammed the door shut, and Em Jay cleared her throat, biting her nails. 

“What the fuck just happened?” MJ and Glory moved their stares to Gwen. “Gwen?”

Gwen rubbed her eye, sighing. “What?” She mumbled. MJ approached her slowly, frowning.

“You got something to tell us?”

Gwen shrugged. “Maybe.” Glory raised her brows. “I messed up long ago.”

“She seems too mad for it to have been long ago.” MJ laughed nervously, but Gwen wasn’t taking any of it anymore. She stood up and pulled her hair, groaning.

“God, Em Jay, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just fucking stopped trying so hard to make our friendship work. You don’t even care about me making friends, you just wanted to feel good about yourself for helping poor little me!” She shouted, nudging MJ with her drumsticks. Em Jay remained quiet, visibly hurt, and hugging herself.

“Gwen.” Glory repeated, her strict voice shocking both Gwen and MJ. “I think you hurt someone. And I think you owe them an apology.” 

Gwen took a moment to breathe, and that was when she realized what she had done. She looked at MJ and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “I’m sorry, Em Jay. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. Thank you for trying. I should’ve tried harder as well.” She whispered sadly.

The corner of MJ’s mouth quirked upwards, and gripped her hand back. “Thanks. But I think you’ve got one more apology left.”

It felt like February all over again. Back when MJ called her to tell her the same thing, and one day later, Gwen waited outside your school. However, this time, she knew she had to apologize for real. For the correct reason.

Gwen let her drumsticks fall to the floor and she jumped over the cables. Speeding out of the door, she hoped she still had the chance to catch up to you and hadn’t lost you again. To her relief, you were at the end of the corridor, in front of the opening elevator doors when she called out your name. Your ears perked up, but your expression hardened when you saw her running up to you. “Y/N, listen—”

“Fuck off.” You laughed and moved to get into the elevator, but Gwen grabbed your arm and spun you around. 

“No!” You stared at her, shocked. “N-No, I’m not going to… fuck off. Not this time.” Her eyes were big, begging. 

You clutched her wrist and pulled her hand away from you. “I think it’s too little too late, Gwen. I’ve had enough.”

“I made a mistake.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Just let me talk, please.”

“No.” You shushed her, breathing heavily. “Let me talk, okay? Let me tell you about this little mistake of yours. Not only did you act as if you didn’t know me months ago and said we were never friends when I joined the band, but you acted as if you hadn’t already done this. You played with my feelings. Not once, but apparently fucking twice! And you didn’t even apologize!” 

Your voice broke as you finally let out your repressed feelings, and you hated yourself for it. You despised yourself for still listening to her, for still caring about her.

You left Gwen speechless. “You wanted to talk, and now I’m giving you the chance. Say something.” You begged, prepared to be let down. But she looked up at you and let out a shaky sigh, sniffing.

“I don’t… I don’t know. I thought I liked you a year ago when we first met. I really did. The feelings were there, b-but…”

“If you never liked me, then why’d you come back?” You asked, broken-hearted. It hurt Gwen to see how much pain she had caused you, all because she was too much of a coward to own up to her feelings. 

“That’s the thing.” She breathed out, shrugging. “Maybe I do.”

Your face softened. “What?”

“Don’t make me explain it, please.”

“You have to.”

“I can’t.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, groaning. “For fuck’s sake.” Gwen shook her head and her shoulders began to shake.

“I can’t…”

“Why not—”

“Because it scares me!” She cried out, a sob finally breaking free from her system. You frowned.

“Why?”

“B-Because…” She wiped her nose, struggling to spit it out. “I really like you. I really do. And I don’t know if I’m ready for something like that. I can’t lose you.”

You gently grabbed her shoulder, while your other hand held her chin. “I’m not going to run away from you. I’m here.”

It wasn’t as simple as that. “I can’t.” She said again, even if she didn’t want to let go of your touch. You bit your lip.

“You can’t or you don’t want to?” 

She didn’t know what to answer. Your hand slowly sneaked down to hold hers, and you looked at her for permission, your expectations not as high. But she clutched your hand hard. “You can do it, Gwen. You can’t spend the rest of your life like this. If you do, you will lose everyone.” You smiled sadly. You quieted down, pondering, but eventually, you breathed out and closed your eyes. “I really like you, too. I always did. And if I have to wait, it’s okay. Just… don’t disappear again, okay?”

Gwen analyzed your face. She wondered what you must have looked like that night back when you kissed her. And since she hadn’t done anything right before, she wondered whether she could try again. 

In a second, she squeezed her eyes shut and pecked your lips. You were caught off guard as your fingers came up to touch your mouth. “Nah, you’re right. I think it’s about damn time.” She bit back her smile.

She took the big step.

[dadbodsarehot]

bliss;

rating: lets say like teen idk. references to sex and drugs ( like actual ones that exist. i dont count bliss thats fake. but if people on bliss bothers you dont read this either ) but nothing super explicit 

pairing: summerseed ( john x tobias ) 

words: 1442 

summary: this was supposed 2 be the baptism fic and then it literally just was not i have no idea what happened. its still gay though. tons of yearning in this one if youre into that. if youre not what are you doing on my blog. this fic was supposed to be funny and that also didnt happen so much?? idk man but im vibing w it 

----------x----------

John finds Tobias right where he left him.

His eyes are dark, tiny rings of brilliant gold around pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates, his wet hair sticking to his face in platinum yellow disarray. The Bliss had sunk it's hooks into him- unsurprisingly, with how long John had left him in the water. Shame seeps into him, but it's not long before embarrassment takes it's place. Tobias is staring at him, now, enraptured- like a blind man seeing for the first time.  

It makes an uneven heat rise to his cheeks. Surely it's all in his head. A symptom of his desire, the same grasping desire that had led him to kiss him when this had all started, before he had run away like a coward. All at once he remembered the soft feeling of him, wet and warm and pressed against his body, the give of his mouth and the taste of water and purity on his tongue, the gentle touch of his fingertips running barely-there through his hair. It had felt like coming home. Like waking up. What had it felt like for Tobias? He didn't dare hope that-

"You look like an angel."

The words break John's concentration on his inner monologue and bring a fresh round of heat to his face, quiet on the night air in the painful way that only Tobias could be quiet. Like his voice itself was an apology for it's existence. And yet, there is no apology for these words. No second guessing, no shyness, no anxiety- only a drug-fueled certainty so potent that it almost tempts him to believe he means it.

There's nothing he wouldn't give for him to mean it. To be the angel that he deserves, instead of the flawed and broken man that he is.

He clears his throat, looking away with the vague hope that if he doesn't see Tobias staring at him, the tension- real or imagined- between them would dissipate. It's no use, though; he can still feel those slivers of captured sunlight burning into him like holy fire.

"Have you seen many angels, Tobias?" The question isn't as confident as he wants it to be. What is he afraid of? That the answer will be yes?

Tobias shakes his head, slowly from side to side, his eyes still riveted on John.

"I didn't think they existed. Not really. But now I do. Now I'm sure that they do. Because I'm-" He blinks in a long, slow motion, swaying on his feet with a shiver as the wind blows through the valley. The desire inside John- to covet, to cherish, to hold, flares up hotter than the gaze leaving vulnerable, aching holes in him. Tobias opens his mouth to resume his sentence, but stops, brows furrowing. "Because I'm..."

"Because you're what?" He's riveted on the candy coated, drug-induced words, on him, on the possibilities. Too riveted. Too involved. Too hopeful. He hates what he hopes for, because he can never have it. And he wants it more than he's ever wanted anything- more than he used to want his next hit, more than he wanted salvation, more than he wants to keep breathing.  

"I.....forgot what I was gonna say." The laugh that follows should be nervous, would usually be nervous, but is instead delighted. "Oops."

John laughs with him, if only for a moment. What else can he do but laugh? It sure beats giving into despair, into the feeling wrenching itself through his gut like a knife. What did he want him to say? No matter what he had said, it wouldn't change anything. The towel that he brought him hangs forgotten in his hand until he wraps it around the small mans shoulders, who pulls it around himself appreciatively and rubs the corner slowly against his cheek. "You must be cold. I'm......sorry."

Another shake of his head- blessedly, his eyes slip closed while he takes a deep inhale of the worn fabric.

"No. I feel... I'm so warm. It just smells like you. I like it. I like it a lot. You're all over me, like this."

John curses the way his heart skips a beat, and curses even more the next words that slip out of his mouth. "Come home with me."

And now those eyes are looking at him again, sparkling in the moonlight like he had plucked the stars from the sky itself- if it was possible, he would think his pupils had dilated further. Tobias tilts his head to the side, and strands of slowly drying, tangled blonde tilt with it. "Home? With you?"

He realizes what that invitation sounds like, at least to himself, and backtracks. "It's late, and you need to sleep this off. Change into some dry clothes."

Tobias looks down at his shirt, like he hadn't realized it was soaked and clinging to him indecently before John had pointed it out. He's lucky; John wishes he could stop noticing it, could stop thinking about leaning over and kissing him again or about stripping it off of him to see his expanse of pale skin glow damp and unhindered in the moonlight. "Okay....but only if I can keep the towel, too."

Again, John laughs.

----x----

The ride home was quiet, filled with staring and starlit skies and nothing but the chirp of crickets and the hymns on the radio to keep them company. Luckily, it was easy enough to convince him to give up his wet towel when John bribed him with one of his shirts. Tobias lays in his own bed, now, a button up trailing halfway down his thighs, pupils still wide even under the fluorescent lights. In another lifetime, they would both be under the influence. In another lifetime, he would pin him there, would leave marks on him, would corrupt this innocent thing with his own desire to fill his holes. In another lifetime, Tobias would be his.

But this is the only life he has, now- and it's one he should be grateful for. One he is grateful for.  

John covers him up delicately and turns to leave. And he would have left, too, were there not suddenly a hand tugging at his shirt, keeping him in place.

"Stay with me this time?"

John knows he should say no. He wants to say yes. It'd be selfish to say no; it'd be selfish to say yes. Was staying a gift for Tobias, or himself? No doubt he would regret falling asleep next to him when the morning came and the haze of Bliss fell like scales from his sunlit eyes. Would it be wrong, to enjoy being close to him in the time before that? He tried to think of what Joseph would do, if put in a similar situation, and all at once was sure he would say no. That he would pull out of the weak grasp on him, twist free from the bindings this man had slyly attached to his traitor heart, and spend the night on the couch regretting it.

It was the right thing to do.

But he is not Joseph, and he realizes in the next instant when he is already flipping off the light and sliding under the covers next to Tobias that he is not someone who does the right thing, either.

The younger man's body once more presses in against his own- if he's aware of the too-fast rhythm of his heart when he lays his head against his chest, he doesn't say anything. John can almost feel him smile when he wraps his arms around him like second nature- another product of his overactive imagination, he's sure.

"I remembered what I was going to say. Earlier. About the angels." It's muffled by his own chest, and growing smaller by the minute as sleep and relaxation easily take him.

"Maybe you should tell me in the morning." His heart squeezes painfully. Tobias' arm wraps around his waist, his fingers caressing his back in what felt to him like agonizing decadence. In the morning, he would pull away from him, as he should; Tobias, he can tell, is someone who does do the right thing. He would not think about the morning right now.

"I believe in angels...." He yawns, precious and small, and nuzzles his still damp hair against John's chest, mumbling the end of his sentence. It's almost incomprehensible, taken by sleep and drugs. But John chooses, for better or for worse, to believe what he only thought he had heard.

Just for tonight, he will say yes to this, too.  

"Because I'm in love with one."

[alastingconfusion]

geraskifer pacific rim au, babes

@humii369, i’m a very slow writer and i did not expect this to be this long but here it is! i hope you vibe with these thoughts.

anyway, this is the third fucking time i’m trying to express my ideas about a geraskifer pacific rim au and evidently the universe does not want me to put this out there, but i will, i will

 jaskier is the one that brings them together. nobody’s sure what jaskier does at the shatterdome, but he’s a rich man’s kid, and one of his relatives is pretty high up in the military?? he’s known geralt forever and he had a pretty unfortunate first meeting with yennefer. everybody’s pretty sure they’ve seen him mess around in the training room and he’s pretty decent, but give him something delicate to hold and oops, that thing’s gone. i mean, it’s on the floor but it’s also in a million pieces and like, it probably can’t be used for whatever it was supposed to be used for.

anyway, he and yennefer have a shouting match right there in the hallway. jaskier’s an asshole cos he’s got family in high places and he’s a privileged bitch and won’t ever admit he’s wrong, yen’s an asshole cos she’s one of the leading scientists on this thing dipshit.

so geralt has to show up at some point to make sure his best friend doesn’t get gutted by one of their best scientists, and anyway he and yennefer hit it off. by that i mean they flirt outrageously because geralt is turned on by women/people who wants to kill him and yennefer is turned on by men/people who like to listen to her every whim but also look like they know how to have fun (i mean if you’re flirting outrageously while trying to defuse the situation from getting your best friend killed/in more trouble that counts right). anyway jaskier is like excuse moi??! because like there’s still a pretty decent chance yennefer is going to get some of her shady friends to murder him in his sleep (if you’re one of the leading scientist on kaiju of course you have shady friends).

but like after this, things settle into this weird equilibrium where jaskier is still hopelessly pining after his best friend, and geralt is also doing that, but also flirting(/getting it on??) with yen, and yen and jask become somewhat of frenemies (what are you, eight? / i will drink all your apple juice),

and then, one day, all of a sudden, jask is like “i think we should pilot a jaeger”

and then the other two are like “???”

“all three of us”

“?!?!?!”

but like apparently triple pilot jaegers are a thing now?? it’s not just that one jaeger?? and they need people to pilot them?? three of them at the same time??

and like jaskier obviously had insider info and like knew about it and has also been thinking about this?? he has full faith in his people, he believes that this will work

(there’s no question whether they’re drift compatible or not, at least not among them. yen might grumble and geralt might silently panic, but like, it’s them

anyway when they go for the compatibility tests, they prove it to everyone, so)

somehow yen gets convinced away from research (look pacific rim is built on the fact that jaegers are in any way the more effective/efficient option compared to other things, so someone think of a reason) (oh wait she can still be a mage, there can be magic shenanigans), and like she’s iffy about it at first, but once she’s in, she’s in. even when the date for their first drift session gets closer and jaskier gets nervous, she’s determined that this will be a thing, she’ll make it work, they’ll make it work

geralt is like a ball of angst, after all he’s one of the last witchers, an experimentally enhanced super soldier(?) designed to save the world against aliens but now everyone else also knows about it too. there weren’t that many witchers left to start with when the rift opened and he piloted a jaeger alone after his fellow witcher dropped out of it dead into the sea, and he survived, he’s one of the last ones surviving. he doesn’t really want jaskier and yennefer in a jaeger, but the world is ending and jaskier is on the base for some reason and have you ever tried to stop yennefer from doing something she set her mind to? no? well, don’t.

the first time they go into drift someone chases the rabbit. i mean this is a must-have trope. is it geralt? no, he’s the experienced one. is it yen? maybe. i mean, she’s got a lot of rabbits to chase about. is it jaskier? i’ll get back to you when i know his backstory.

anyway with all that excitement, they somehow miss that they love each other a lot. but only for a little while. it’s not a thing you can hide for very long in your own mind, when everytime you look at your loves, do something for them, it’s there. 

like yennefer finds some of that real good human connection?? love that she can’t doubt?? she’s important to not just one someone but two someones and no voice in her mind can tell her otherwise because she heard it straight from their brains. she felt it straight from there. (i’m realising now that witcher mages can read minds. we’re gonna have to put a limit on that.) and like, she knows her boys love her? she knows without a doubt? jaskier doesn’t think it, or if he does it hides in the corner of his mind. yennefer is his enemy ok. she sees it in his actions though. undeniably, when he always makes sures she’s present, smiles at her when she enters the room, however quickly he covers it with snark, gets her her favourite/contraband snacks. geralt definitely thinks it. maybe he doesn’t think it in words, but she feels it whenever he thinks of her, thinks of jaskier. he’s so filled with love for the both of them. geralt wants her to be ok. geralt wants her to be there. geralt wants her to be happy.

jaskier is a hot mess trying to deny and push down his illegal feelings for his two best buds, but like jask, jaskier, jasky, it’s not working out bud, everybody knows, especially those two cos they’ve been in your head. they feel it when you think thoughts at them and feel it when you move the jaeger together cos a jaeger is basically a gem it’s made of love. 

geralt. geralt hopes yen and jask aren’t getting too good a look at his past traumatic experiences but he’s been in a bond before. he knows how it works. if they live long enough, and they fight long enough, they’ll learn all that he is, all that matters anyway, and geralt is finding that he doesn’t mind so much, after all, it’ll be ok, he trusts them.

like i don’t even know if this is canon or fanon at this point, but at some point that drift bond crosses over to daily life and they’re getting breakfast, shuffling through the cafeteria like zombies together and yennefer gets jaskiers coffee black cos its that kind of day even though jaskier didnt even ask and he normally drinks his coffee basically as milk+sugar flavoured with coffee, and they sit down down and geralt grabs jaskiers fork when he adhd drops it even though he normally doesn’t bother to do it, cos jaskier does it, like, a lot ok, and it’s his responsibility. but geralt wasn’t even paying that much attention and he foresaw it enough to just catch it?? and they look at each other for a moment and we’re all not sure what happened, but there definitely was some sort of realisation.

also at some point/all points there’s a lot of bed sharing. jaskier likes to sneak into geralt’s room to snuggle with him no matter how many times geralt changes the lock/ups security/goes to someone about it (maybe not so much the last one cos he doesn’t actually want to-- what? no! preposterous!) and jaskier and yen like to paint their nails/do make up together and talk/gossip. sometimes, geralt lurks stoically in the corner reading or something (nerd!). sleeping over does not happen intentionally the first few times but what is jaskier if he can’t just fall asleep in anyone’s bed when he’s comfortable and yen doesn’t have the heart to move him even if geralt offers and after a while, it’s not on purpose, but it’s not on accident anymore, y’know

anyways, that’s all i have. at this point, i’m not sure how much of this is coherent/readable but eh, someone might appreciate it.

oh and one last thing. fringilla’s newt but like sexier and cooler obviously. i’m not sure what cahir’s about but maybe he’s also newt??? i mean is he evil????

[for-ests]

Well, even though I’m already getting ready for Xmas, we can’t ignore thanksgiving. How bout a piece on Tom meeting the whole family on this day but it’s a chaotic mess because holidays can just bring out the best or worst in us. Maybe that’s just my family. Anyways, happy writing! 🦃

Thanks for the request babes :-) I hope this is what you had in mind (I vaguely say aunts, siblings, cousins, so the reader is able to imagine however many they have) enjoy!! ❤️

Word count: 2,145

✭♡✭♡✭♡✭

Even though you had been dating Tom for eight months, the two of you had never spent the holidays together. You had met at the most imperfect time, in late February.

Though you didn’t want to admit it, what unfolded tonight at your family’s Thanksgiving dinner would determine how you would continue on with your relationship. Your family was incredibly Important to you, and their opinion on your boyfriend was just as significant.

Despite the pressure that weighed on you and Tom’s shoulders, you were calm and collected. You were almost positive that they were going to love him as much as you had grown to.

Tom though, understandably, was a nervous wreck.

“Ughhh they’re gonna hate me.” He whispered, crossing his arms in a childish manner, mimicking one in a way that was intended to make you laugh. You chuckled loudly from the driver’s seat, trying to not keep your eyes off the road for more than a second.

“I think the fact that you have a British accent is enough to make my family like you.” You teased, reaching across the armrest and setting a comforting hand on his thigh. He relaxed immediately as you continued.

“We’ve talked about my past relationships before. But I’ve brought worse boys home, you being a decent human being is most definitely enough.”

“I know I know.” He mumbled, setting his hand over yours. “I just want it to be more than that. I’m here to prove myself whether you feel like that’s what’s gonna happen.”

“Yeah, totally.” You quipped, a bit flattered that he was so anxious to meet your parents and siblings. A guy had never shown this much interest in you before, yet alone your family.

“I can see you trying not to smile.” He teased.

Breaking into a smile, you shook your head, purposefully turning farther to the opposite side. Tom always did this, and you smiled every single time.

“Shush up and let me focus on the road”

Whatever your boyfriend said next faded into the background, and he soon turned his attention to his cell phone.

It had been months since you’d been to your hometown, and you were anxious to see it again. You were a well known actor like Tom, and that had kept you in many unfamiliar places surrounded by unfamiliar people. Coming back to your roots on such an important family holiday was what you had been waiting for. To see the people you loved again, and to introduce someone special to them.

Though your hometown was smaller, and not entirely significant, you were proud to be from the area. It was lively and decorated, the landscape stretching on for miles with rolling hills and hundreds of trees.

Your house was placed in a tight knit family friendly area. And as you drove closer, the aspects of your beloved neighborhood and town had become distinct, even the familiar layouts of the back roads put a smile on your face.

You breathed a sigh of relief. Nostalgia was a killer, and you were excited to show Tom around the town you held so close to your heart.

“Here we are.” You turned onto the block, and pulled into the driveway.

Tom tucked his phone away and focused his attention on what lay before him. “It’s lovely.” He smiled, pointing to a window on the second floor. “I bet that used to be your room.”

“Correct.” You tried not to giggle like the little girl you used to be. Unbuckling, you leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

As you pulled away, Tom was staring intensely. One look at you, and his nerves seemed to fade. You were so happy to bring him back. He loved to see you fulfilled, and loved that he was part of that reason.

Without another word, the two of you gathered your bags and made your way up to the front porch. The smell of holiday scented candles was the first thing you noticed when you opened the door. You could hear the afternoon football game playing from the living room loudly, and the bustling of your mother in the kitchen.

But before you stepped over the threshold into your warmly lit home, you leaned over and purred into Tom’s ear. “If you behave, you’re in for treat tonight.”

Tom snorted, nudging you away. “Shut up, I haffta focus.”

You kissed him again, but this time it was fully on the lips. You winked before screaming, “IM HOME!”

Then it was madness. Your family flooded to the front door, taking your bags so they could embrace you for the first time in months. It felt so good to be back, it was almost as if you had never moved out. Everything was the same, everything was familiar.

Introductions ensued. Cooing from your mother, going on and on about how handsome he was, though you had already shown her pictures. (She had seen all his movies already, but she would never admit that.)

A brooding stare from your father- which soon turned into a firm handshake. Your father didn’t really care who walked through the door, as long as they would watch sports with him. Tom definitely had some homework.

And your younger siblings of course, they had been waiting to meet Spider-Man since the moment you told them you were dating a superhero. They poked and prodded him, asking if he could play with them later and give they battle strategy tips.

It was all coming together, and thank God you arrived over an hour earlier than you had intended, so you could find some peace before the storm. Tom was unprepared for the mayhem that was about to ensue when suburban women had to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner.

Though you weren’t prepared for it, you were grateful. You were happy, watching him smile, his eyes twinkle, the corners of his eyes crinkling when your mother showed genuine interest in his career and experiences.

You were sentimental, wishing you could have spent a portion of your childhood with Tom, something that could have developed into an epic love story, one that stretched across decades. Your families would have already been close, before the fame. But when you thought harder about it, you were satisfied with what you had. You were incredibly smitten with Tom, and by the effort he was putting forth, he was equally smitten with you.

Tom had never been to the suburbs, so this trip was equivalent to a vacation for him. Which you found strange, given the fact that it was the fucking suburbs– but you didnt want to ruin his fun.

And ruined it was, or so that’s what it seemed like as your mother screamed at the top of her lungs for your younger siblings to leave the kitchen. You were by her side, also in an apron, trying to carve the turkey as best as you could while your mother mashed potatoes like she had never mashed them before.

“When are the aunties coming?” You squirmed and ripped another chunk of meat off the turkey bones, tossing them into a glass bowl.

“On their way.” Your mom said breathlessly, finishing the mashed potatoes and focusing on stirring the gravy. She then ordered you to crack open a few cans of cranberry sauce.

“Will we be done in time?” You glanced to the oven that had biscuits baking in it.

“Yes. Your grandmother is bringing doubled eggs and relish plates. Your aunt is bringing…” she trailed off as her attention was turned to the stuffing that had yet to be loaded into a plate. Unfortunately, your mom had fallen behind schedule this year and had to cook everything in the last couple hours. Part of that reason was because she was distracted with your arrival. It was a mess, but it was all coming together. With your help of course.

“Is there anything I can help with, Mrs. L/N?” Tom peaked his head around the corner at the commotion. You knew he had been distracted with a long friendly lecture from your father.

Your mother didn’t seem to hear him, as her train of thought was interrupted by the oven beeping. The biscuits were done.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and turned the oven off. Everything was finally cooked, and still piping hot for all the family to enjoy. Yet your mother still seemed anxious. But that was just how she was, every single year.

“You’re the guest, Tom.” You smiled. “And everything is done.”

He gave you two thumbs up, flashing a cheshire grin. Surprisingly, he seemed over the moon, probably excited for the food that was lying in front of him. It was aromatic, and your stomach started to grumble.

“Can I at least help set up?” He asked, guilt flashing across his face. Tom was one of those people that hated to sit around and watch everyone else take part in activities, even if it was as simple as setting up the dinner table. ‘Let me do something’ He mouthed, practically pleading with his eyes.

Your father made his way into the room, but before he could say anything, your mother piped up, back still turned away from the three of you.

Your mother chuckled. “Oh sweetie, guests don’t help set the table.” She walked past him, picking up the carved turkey and setting it gracefully in the center of the elongated wooden table.

“Guests?” You father chortled, clapping Tom on the back. “He’s practically family now.”

Your father’s eyes met your for a moment, and you were pleased to find his statement was genuine. Your heart fluttered, forever grateful that your parents seemed to approve of him. That was a first.

“Oops!” Your mother laughed. “You’re right, honey.” She walked past Tom and guestered for him to follow. “Grab whatever you’d like and bring it over then.” Normally, she would have made a joke, but you could tell she was tired, and wanted to eat.

Snorting, you shook your head. You knew she was trying extra hard to impress Tom. Like you, she had been waiting for another man in the family to spoil. Nodding towards the biscuits, Tom gained the hint that you wanted him to snatch something else to help set up.

That was the calm before the storm. The hustling and bustling of dishes signaled to your siblings and cousins that it was time to eat. They practically ran into the kitchen, a whirlwind of thank you’s in their paths. Taking advantage of that opportunity, your mother started handing them dishes to set on the table.

And before you and Tom knew it, there was nothing left to place on the table.

Setting the biscuits sheepishly on the edge of the table, and handing a few to your cousins at the kiddie bench, he rounded back to your side.

“I feel worthless.” He whispered in your ear, knowing it was a light-hearted joke.

“It’s fine babe, next time.” You left a light kiss on his cheek.

The two of you started to make your way to the table, unable to ignore the grumbling in your stomachs. You had purposefully told Tom not to eat a single thing before the gigantic meal. You had also advised that it was more than welcomed to take seconds, thirds, and even fourths.

And then, as if on cue, the front door violently swung open, and in hurried your aunts and grandparents. “Oofta, traffic was a killer.” You heard you grandmother’s voice complain loudly from the front entrance. A chilling breeze followed, refreshing in the warmly lit atmosphere.

You turned and saw your grandfather balancing at least four pumpkin pies in his hands. Tom rushes forward to help, and you followed suit.

“OH MY GOSH IT’S Y/N’S BOYFRIEND!” Your rambunctious aunt seemed to yell at the top of her lungs when she spotted the stranger.

Tom’s eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Be prepared for kisses.” You warned, smiling from ear to ear, knowing he had already been warned of their excessive amounts of affection.

It was going to be an incredibly wild night. One that you and Tom would remember for years to come.