ifhymona

[ifhymona]

the days passes me by

sitting in my room, wasting through wishing

wishing i can just go back

back to the laughs, the highs, the good times

i wonder why couldn’t it be like that forever

i sit under the leaves as the days passes me by

listening to the leaves rustle, the wind’s whistle

how nice it would be to be just as peaceful as the leaves

to have the peaceful times, not knowing what bad was

instead being lost in my own fantasy

i cry, wasting through wishing

wishing i can just go back

[ifhymona]

hey guys ! just wanna give y’all an update, chapter 15 is in the works but i haven’t found time to write recently. life has been super busy and my writers block has been killing me. i know what i wanna write for 15 but i just haven’t had the time. i hope you all understand ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

i’m on a break but yall already know i had to make a birthday post for my babygirl 😍 happy birthday chino 🥳

[ifhymona]

happy 420 yall 🤠 have fun and stay safe

[ifhymona]

Hi I found you on ao3 and then i open tumblr, found you again. God, i love your writing so bad. I was crying, blushing and throwing up.I'm gonna crazy about it. I love it so much. Thank you. Please continue writing this story. This is my favorite chino x reader ever.

ahhhh thank you so much !!! this literally means the world to me ! i post new chapters every friday on my ao3 ! @romantic_daydream i just posted a new chapter on there so please go read it and leave a kudos ! i love every single one of you supporting my story ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

chapter 11 of not too late is out now on ao3 ! 😛

[ifhymona]

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 10 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 9 | update ! | AO3

1.9k words

y/n’s pov:

i barely got any sleep last night. i mean, how could i? my mind kept replaying yesterday. i was lost and confused. but not only that, the thought of what chino and me were doing, left me in a daze. what does last night mean for us? what does last night mean to him?

i’ve slept for at least three hours, but not simultaneously. my eyes felt heavy enough to go back to bed.

i looked over to my right and read the time. 7:10 AM. better get some sleep now before i’m too tired throughout today. i turned back over to my side and dozed off.

~

after finally getting four full hours of sleep, i had gotten up and went to take a shower. i still felt nasty from last night so it helped calm my mind down.

i walked out into the living room to get to my kitchen. my mom was sitting on the couch.

“good morning sleeping beauty. i see you decided to sleep in considering you had an active night last night.” she sipped her tea. i could feel her judgement coming towards me.

i groaned, knowing she was gonna bring this back up. “mom! i’m 20 years old. i should be able to go out with people without having to worry about my mother interrupting!” i grabbed a mug and poured the rest of the hot water my mom had left over in the kettle.

“yeah well i wouldn’t have to interrupt if you didn’t do your business in front of the house! do you know what the neighbors would’ve thought? especially if deborah seen.” she gagged and rolled her eyes. deborah was my mom’s neighbor enemy. they never established that they were enemies but they both kind of agreed on it without saying anything.

“i don’t even know why you care about everybody else’s opinion. it’s not like they weren’t all sleeping anyway!” i exclaimed, grabbing the milk from the fridge.

“that’s not the point y/n!” she paused because she noticed i was too focused on making my tea. i quickly finished up and walked over to the couch. i motioned my hand to indicate for her to continue while sitting down. she had a very dissatisfied look on her face. her look was so unbearable, i looked away sipping my tea. “you can’t just make out with people in front of the house!”

a sigh left my mouth. “i know mom. we were just talking and then things.. escalated.” i shrugged.

“yeah, i could tell.” she said giving me the side eye. i could hear the hint of sarcasm behind her voice. “next time, just make sure you do it as far way from the house as possible, alright?” a knock came from the door. she put her mug down onto the coffee table and went over to answer.

“camillo? what are you doing here?” her face was puzzled.

“hi mrs. l/n. these are for you!” chino held out a vase of flowers. “i’m sorry you had to see me and y/n like that last night. i wanted to make it up to you!” what the hell was chino doing?

“oh my! i haven’t received flowers in forever!” she squealed in excitement. yeah, you can say my mom is easily impressed. “thank you so much camillo! you know flattery will get you everywhere in life. please come in!” chino’s eyes laid on me as soon as he walked in. “so camillo, what can i do you for you?” she walked over to the counter and place down her new beautiful vase of flowers.

“i hope you don’t mind but would it be okay if i talked to y/n?” she turned around and rose her eyebrow. “alone?” how bold of him to be asking my mother of such things. she looked at me then back at chino. her stare always makes me break a sweat.

“fine! but no funny business!” she pointed at chino before leaving to her room. must’ve been the flowers that convinced her.

chino turned to me after hearing her door close. i got up and walked towards him. “now why would you sweeten up my mom like that?” i titled my head giggling.

“like i said, i wanted to make it up to her.” he smirked. “besides, i needed a reason to see you after last night.” i felt a little relieved hearing him say that. at least he’s been thinking about it too.

“about that-“ he cut me off.

“look!” he pulled out a single rose from his back pocket. “i brought this for you too.”

i gasped. “chino! you really didn’t have to!” i’ve never gotten flowers from anybody before. well a flower. chino never striked me as the romantic type.

“let me take you out. so we can talk about last night?” that wasn’t a half bad idea. now that we were sobered up, maybe we can get some things straight. my mind was too scrambled after last night, i needed answers.

i nodded. “let me just change my clothes real quick.” i started to walk to my room but he followed me. “you have to wait out here! i don’t want us getting in trouble again.” i said pushing him back towards to the living room.

“oh right.” he nervously chuckled.

~

i had no idea where chino was gonna take me. my heart was pounding thinking about what he’s gonna say to me. the sounds of my stomach grumbling interrupted the silence.

“you hungry?” chino asked. “we should get something to eat before we leave.”

“leave to where?” i tried to get an answer out of him.

he smiled. “you’ll see. where do you wanna eat?” my stomach growled again. i guess i was a little hungry.

“let’s go get jimmy’s. fries with their sauce sound super good to me right now.”

“your wish is my command.” he smirked.

he pulled into the drive-thru and ordered both of us a burger and a large fry to share. i got a dr pepper and he got a chocolate shake. i tried to give chino money for it but he wouldn’t let me.

“what kind of guy would i be if i don’t pay for the food on the first date?” he said pushing my money back into my pocket.

“oh so this is a date?” i leaned my face closer to him.

he smirked. “what if i told you it was?” his eyes analyzed mine. our faces were inches apart from each other. it suddenly grew hot.

“well i wouldn’t mind if it was.” i grinned. “you know how much i love hanging with you.” i brushed my hand against his face.

he tucked my hair behind my ear. “i’ve always wanted to that.” he flashed his smile at me. his hand ran through my hair.

~

we drove up and parked on a cliff side a little past sacramento. “it’s beautiful chino!” i said, stepping out of the car. the sky was blue and a hazy orange with pink undertones. the clouds looked like cotton balls. we could see the entire city from up here. all the cars driving by and the birds flying high.

chino stepped out of the car and hopped on his hood. “i knew you’d like it up here. i come up here sometimes to write lyrics.” he pat his hand right next to him, indicating for me to sit.

i hesitantly sat on the hood, hoping it wouldn’t dent. “what do you write the most about?”

he handed me my food. “i guess just whatever’s on my mind. sometimes my lyrics won’t have nothing to do with me, just a story.” he shrugged.

we sat there in silence, staring at the view. secretly, i felt like i about to have a panic attack. i’ve never felt this nervous before. what if chino was just drunk and acted on impulse? what if he didn’t want to be my friend anymore because of it? i was scared of the possible outcomes this could lead us to.

chino spoke. “so about last night…” i looked out at the view from the cliff mentally preparing myself for every bad thing that could happen right now.

“i understand. you were drunk and you regret it and that’s totally fine.”

“what are you on? i don’t regret it at all.” he scoffed.

“what? but i thought-“

“well you thought wrong. look y/n, i like you! ever since our night at the swings, i’ve been so confused about my feelings towards you. i thought no way i could like you. but last night changed that.”

his gaze softened at me waiting for an answer. “say something.” i couldn’t speak. he left me absolutely speechless. this feels like a dream. never did i think that chino would like me back. there were too many thoughts in my mind to say anything.

when i snapped out of my thoughts, chino had a disappointed look on his face. i suddenly leaned into him and pressed my lips against him. “i like you too, chino.” he cupped my face and brought me closer.

i scratched the back of his neck, moaning into his mouth. but before anything could escalate, he pulled away but remained close. “let’s not get carried away.” he smirked. damn you, chino!

i cleaned myself up a little bit. i couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “so… what do you want us to be? there’s obviously a chemistry between us.” i dip my fry into his shake grinning at him. he had a sneer look on his face.

“i don’t think we should label anything yet.” i gave him a look. “it’s just that, i don’t wanna rush into anything. i really care about you so we should take things slow.”

his words made goosebumps grow over my body. i didn’t think he cared about me this much. “so are you suggesting we be friends with benefits?” i giggle at the idea. who would’ve thought this would be happening to little ole me?

“well when you put it like that it sounds bad.” he laughed nervously before pausing. “but yeah basically.”

i smirked. “you wouldn’t mind if i went out with other guys though, right?”

“no!” he quickly responded with a stern voice. he shook his face while clearing his throat. “i was thinking we could just be each others go to hook up whenever we needed it or something.” he mumbled. my heart started racing at what chino wanted.

“chino, i don’t want you to give up not seeing other girls. especially if we’re not even dating. i feel bad.” i shrugged.

“i’m willing to give that up for you.” he smiled at me and wrapped his arm around my waist. “besides, you’re the only girl i have my eyes on.” butterflies exploded in my stomach. at least that’s what it felt like because holy fuck. i didn’t think a man was capable of giving something up like that. i felt a little special.

i smiled back at him and kissed his cheek. “you pinky promise you’ll stay true to me if i stay true to you?” i stuck out my picky finger towards him.

he chuckled before pinky promising. “i pinky promise.” we turned back to the beautiful view. i rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on mine. his arm held me tight, close to his chest. the smell of his cologne made me want to be like this forever. i wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else with anybody else right now. this moment was absolutely perfect.

a/n: i hope everyone enjoyed today’s chapter !! i do have a few announcements to make. my first announcement is that i will be going on break for two weeks. i wanna catch up on some writing before i continue publishing these chapters. so i will be back March 29th ! and for the other announcement, when i come back, im not going to continue to post on tumblr anymore. i get shadow banned pretty often because of these posts and it’s kind of disappointing to see my chapters aren’t doing well as they are on ao3. so im sorry to all my tumblr readers but if you want to continue reading not too late, it will be posted on my ao3 from this point on. but if anyone opposes it, please just comment and i will keep posting on here. anything for my readers ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 9 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 8 ~ chapter 10 | AO3

2.2k words

a/n: !! PLEASE READ !! the beginning is going back a few days before the gig in case anyone is a confused ! enjoy !

chino’s pov:

it’s been four days ever since my night out at the park with y/n, something’s different about her. there’s this weird sudden change and i don’t know what it is. i catch myself thinking about y/n more than usual now. i needed to talk to somebody about this.

“so you can’t stop thinking about her ever since the night at hot shots?” chi asked me, sitting down on the couch with a bag of chips.

“i mean yeah basically. i don’t know what’s wrong with me man.” i shrugged.

“well why don’t we try something. like a test?”

i scoffed. “a test? man who are you? sonny from a bronx tale?”

“now hold on hear me out first. you guys have known each other since middle school right?” i nodded. “remind her of something about yourself only she would remember and see if she actually does remember. if she does, that’s how you’ll know she’s as crazy about you as you are with her.” chi snapped his fingers. i stared at him. is he serious?

i rubbed my forehead. “chi, i’m confused about my feelings for her. not her feelings for me.”

he laughed and patted my shoulder. “look, just do the test that i told you. if you don’t like mine, make up your own test to make out your feelings about her. you’ll figure it out.”

~

stephen’s caught a cold a week before the gig. so now i’m left at home practicing by myself. except i’m not really practicing. i can’t think straight enough to practice right now.

at first i tried singing but my voice just isn’t sounding good. then i tried writing some lyrics to maybe help clear my thoughts but nothing good came to my mind. all i could think about was chi’s idea. a test huh? the more i thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. maybe i should make my own test to figure out my feelings.

it had to be simple though, something i could pull off easily. i thought back to when she kissed my cheek. that was when everything changed. i should just make a test off that.

~

i felt super nervous today since it’s now the day of the gig. y/n was waiting for me to pick her up. i needed something to calm my nerves before i left. i looked over on my kitchen counter and seen a bottle of hennessy staring at me. i sighed and grabbed a shot glass, pouring the hennessy in it. i quickly shot down the glass. the burning sensation in my throat felt good but made me squinch my face. i wonder why i don’t drink this more.

~

it was the perfect time to start my test. i was parked outside of y/n’s house waiting for her. with the help of the shot i took, i felt like i was ready to get over these feelings. that was until y/n walked out of her house.

her legs peeked under her fishnets and her hair was flowing through the wind. her makeup brought out her eyes and her tank top, i couldn’t help but look. it's like she knows exactly what i'm into.

i stared into her long shady eyes as she buckled her seat belt. she turned to look at me, making my heart beat faster. i trailed my eyes down her body. it took all of me to not stare at her for too long but i just can’t resist. she’s got me wrapped around her finger like it’s nothing! who does she think she is having me wrapped around her finger? she broke my train of thought.

"copycat." y/n smirked. "why'd you have to steal my makeup look?" she pushed my chest back. it’s time to put my test into action. i’ll kiss her to see if i feel anything towards her.

"cmon baby, don't do me like that." i leaned into her but to my surprise, she turned away. my heart immediately dropped. ouch. "maybe next time." i smirked hoping i redeemed myself, but in reality, i've never felt more embarrassed in my life. how could she reject me? nobody's ever just turned their head from me ever. this comepletely backfired! god i need another shot now.

~

after the show, me and abe were backstage having some beers together. this whole day, i’ve been drinking shots and beers, whatever i can get my hands on. it helped calm my nerves, especially after what happened with y/n. i shook my head trying to clear the thought.

"so, what's going on between you and y/n?" abe started acting nosy.

"what's it to you?" i chuckled.

"ain't nothing wrong with asking my bandmate how his love life is going." he took another sip of his beer. "its clear you like her." he shrugged.

"do you really think so?" he nodded. maybe abe can help me sort my feelings out. "i don't know man. it's just something about her has just been confusing me lately. earlier i tried to kiss her, hoping i can make out my feelings for her but she rejected me! she turned her head and rejected me!” i took a swig of my beer after remembering my harsh rejection.

abe laughed. "man cmon, you gotta be way more forward than that."

"hey i was already pretty forward. besides, i don't wanna do anything she doesn't wanna do." which was true. i'm not mad at her for rejecting me. i was mad at myself for even trying.

"well what about the night at hot shots?" abe reminded me. i didn't wanna tell him about our night in the park.

"what about the night at hot shots?" i played dumb.

"you know what i mean." a devilish smile grew on his face. "did you pin the tail on the donkey?"

"you're a freak, man." i scoffed and rolled my eyes but couldn't help but laugh. "i just dropped everybody off afterwards."

"don't lie!" i didn't want abe to think i haven't gotten any play from y/n. so i fudged the truth a little bit.

“i’ll admit, we did make out a bit. but to be fair we were pretty drunk and she wanted to.” i took another swig of my beer. i kind of felt bad lying on y/n's name. i don’t even know why i’m doing this in the first place.

abe smiled at me but i knew he wanted to say something. "what?"

"i don't know, man. usually i'd believe you but this time, i don't." he shrugged.

"what's different this time?"

he smirked. "this time, i know the girl." he stood up reaching his hand out to me. "cmon dude, let's go find everybody else." he helped me up and we walked out to the front together.

when i looked to my right, there was y/n sitting at the bar laughing. there’s never been anybody with a more geniune laugh than her. when i looked past y/n, there was ethan, the one making her laugh. my heart dropped suddenly. i didn't feel too good anymore.

i'm assumming abe noticed because he said, "yikes, there goes your girl." he chuckled before patting my back and walking away.

i couldn't stare at them any longer. if i kept looking at ethan, i definitely would've socked his face in. god, he's so unbearable to look at.

stephen, chi and abe were all standing around the table taking shots. "chino, man get your ass over here and take some shots!" stephen yelled at me.

without hesitation, i walked over and downed one. why was i so hung up over y/n talking to ethan? it’s not like we’re together. i hope all this alcohol will help me forget.

~

the drive home with y/n was awkward for me. i wasn’t sober to say the least. i was brimming with liquid courage. the urge to just pull over and pull her on top of me was all i wanted. what the fuck am i thinking man?

at this point, i was dying inside being right next to her. i’ve never felt like this before. i always just banged the chick and went onto the next. that’s really all i’ve ever known since becoming famous. why were things so different with y/n?

we sat there in silence once we parked in front of her house. i needed to finish this test before she leaves. i needed to kiss her. i wanted to kiss her.

“was i good or bad tonight? be honest.” i asked, trying to clear my thoughts.

she smiled at me. my chest grew warm. “you were good, chino. i loved watching you up there.” my heart quickly dropped along with her smile.

“what’s wrong?” i frowned.

“nothing.” she shrugged. what’s suddenly gotten into her? something was clearly wrong with her. i had to get it out her, or else i’ll lose sleep tonight.

“y/n, i can just feel that something is wrong with you.”

“do you know it though?” she’s so stubborn.

“yeah i do.” i glared at her for a moment. “what’s wrong?”

“why did you say that me and you made out when we didn’t?” i didn’t know she heard me. im such an idiot. of course i wouldn’t get away with lying. what made it worse was abe didn’t even believe me. “i mean cmon chino! you even made it seem like you didn’t even want to. do you know how shitty that felt to hear?” i didn’t realize how bad it sounded now thinking back to it.

“look y/n i don’t know why i said it. i just did. abe didn’t even believe me.”

“really? that’s your excuse chino?” she gave me a death stare.

“excuse? i’m being hone-“ she cut me off before i can even finish.

“whatever chino. i don’t want to talk about it.”

i couldn’t help but laugh remembering her talking to ethan at the bar. “do you know how embarrassing it was for me to see you basically flirting with ethan smith in front of abe?”

“what are you even talking about? ethan was the bartender! i didn’t embarrass you, you embarrassed me! and even if i was flirting with ethan, why does it matter to you?”

“because you’re min- my friend!” i changed my impulsive sentence very quickly. i hope she didn’t hear that but knowing y/n, she probably did. this has been one rough night. i didn’t want her to think of me the wrong way. i needed to explain myself. “i’m drunk and just told abe what he wanted to hear. i’m sorry, y/n, really. i’m serious about abe not believing me. i’d never lie to you y/n.”

she looked lost in thought for a second. her hair laid perfectly along her shoulders. her lips were pink and plump. her skin looked as soft as silk. she looked perfect right now. sometimes i wish i could stare at her for hours without her catching me. “i guess you’ll just have to make it up to me.”

“so am i forgiven?” i pouted.

“yes chino, you’re forgiven.” she smiled at me. i felt a wave of relief. her smile helped put me at ease again.

~

i’m a fucking horny mess. my heart was beating like crazy. never have i felt like this after sex. let alone making out!

i pulled over to the side of the road. i needed to calm down. my mind was racing. it was hard to focus on one thought. y/n had me in an absolute daze.

y/n and her hands all over me. the way she smelt of honey and cocoa butter. i could still smell her on me. i rubbed the bulge in my pants trying to calm myself down. i couldn’t stop thinking about all the noises she made just by me touching her. how soft her legs were and how sweet her lips tasted.

in my peripheral vision, i spotted the polaroid i took of her. i grabbed it from the cup holder and stared at it. i could feel myself growing nervous just from looking at her picture.

why are you taking over my life!?

then it was like something snapped inside of me. like all the dots connected. i like y/n. i really like her. i mean it only makes sense. why else would i be obsessing over her like this? chi was right. maybe my test did work after all.

i stared at her photo. my chest grew warm just looking at her smile.

i breathed out heavily. i felt bad for what i was about to do, but i needed to get off some how. besides she’s the one who got me like this in the first place.

i put her photo off to the side and slowly unzipped my pants.

~

i got home still unsatisfied. i immediately turned on the cold water in my shower. just the thought of y/n got me hard. especially the thought of what we could’ve done if we weren’t interrupted. i felt like a loser hung up over her like this. the fact that still almost two hours later, i’m still masturbating because the first time wasn’t enough? this is the most humbling experience i’ve ever gone through.

i turned off the water and wrapped the towel around my waist once i finished. i walked to my dresser and spotted the polaroid of her again. “she’ll pay soon.” i wouldn’t let her get away with getting me this horny. i put the polaroid in the crevice of my mirror. hopefully waking up to her photo will make my days better.

a/n: i hope everyone enjoyed todays chapter ! chapter 10 will be posted next friday. lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 8 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 7 ~ chapter 9 | AO3

2.1k words

i sat at a table off to the side of the big crowd of people. it had a pretty good view from where i was at. there weren’t many heads covering the stage. i wanted to be able to pay attention to their performance. plus i have no business being inside the pit.

everyone cheered as loud as they could when the band came out onto stage. i cheered with them. chino scanned the crowd then land his eyes on me, a big smile grew on his face. i think my heart just skipped a beat.

“hey, i’m chino and this is my band the deftones.” he presented the guys. “thanks for coming out to support us tonight! but before we start, i wanna give a special shoutout to our assistant y/n.” he pointed towards me. “we wouldn’t have been here tonight without her so big round of applause for her.” he clapped and everybody started clapping and cheering with him. i haven’t felt this special in a while. i grinned at chino mouthing the words thank you. he shook his head mouthing back thank you. he looked back at the crowd. “this is the deftones.”

chi started playing the beginning of one weak. everybody in the crowd made a loud roar hearing what song they were opening with. i even started to get excited once i heard what song it was. one weak is definitely one of my favorites. chino started singing and even though i’ve heard his voice before, i was in awe. his voice sounded angelic to me. like nothing i’ve heard before. nobody else’s voice goes from melodic to harsh the way chino’s does.

stephen and abe come into the song and they both sync up like they’re reading each others minds. looking at all of them together, you can just see the passion they have while performing. they all acknowledge the bond they have and take it to their advantage on stage and that’s really apparent. they all rock out on stage together and to be honest, i wish i were up there with them. they looked like they were at their happiest standing up on there.

~

“you guys were amazing!” i ran and gave a group hug to everybody once they walked back stage. “i knew you guys wouldn’t disappoint!”

“did you guys see me during my own summer? i felt so badass playing the first riff!” stephen boasted.

“it was badass dude! you guys were sick! i’ve never been to a show like yours! it was so thrilling!”

“imagine how it was for us upstage, y/n! i just fucking love being up on stage playing and watching everybody’s reactions. i get so exhilarated up there that i start to feel out of body.” chi chimed in.

“same bro! playing the drums during a show will always get my adrenaline running.” abe responded.

“don’t even get me started on stage diving and crowd surfing. probably one of the greatest things in life!” chino enthused.

we all sat on the couch backstage recapping on the whole show. i loved hearing them talk about being on stage and what it’s like for them. all of their experiences are so different but alike at the same time.

there were still a lot of people post show so they went out and took some photos with fans and gave autographs. it was 11 pm and we still had to take the instruments back to the garage and drop of the truck and everybody else home. i hope i’m not too tired tomorrow.

~

luckily the bar was allowing me to buy drinks since i was with the band so i went backstage to grab my purse for some money. as i was walking back there, i heard two very familiar voices speaking to each other.

“cmon man, you gotta be way more forward than that.” abe told chino.

“hey i was already pretty forward.” chino rose his hands up in defense. “besides, i don’t wanna do anything she doesn’t wanna do.”

“well what about the night at hot shots?” were they talking about me?

“what about the night at hot shots?” he shook his head.

“you know what i mean.” he paused. “did you pin the tail on the donkey?” a smirk grew on abe’s face.

“you’re a freak, man.” chino scoffed rolling his eyes. he laughed a little though. “i just dropped everybody off afterwards, that’s all.”

“don’t lie!” he gave chino a look, pointing at him.

chino pressed his lips together, then smirked. “i’ll admit, we did make out a bit. but to be fair we were pretty drunk and she wanted to.” he shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

what the hell was that supposed to mean chino? he knew damn well we were never drunk nor had we ever made out. he even said it like i pressured him into it.

i grabbed my bag before they noticed me and went back to the bar. i couldn’t listen to them anymore.

i sat down and called out to the bartender. “a gin tonic please!”

“y/n?” i looked up.

“ethan smith?”

“the one and only.” ethan smiled. me and ethan used to be friends back in high school but lost contact after graduation. chino never liked him for some reason. one time he even got mad at me hanging out with him at the skatepark one day. i shake off my thoughts about chino. i don’t want to think about him right now.

“how have you been? i haven’t seen you since graduation!”

“well not much. just working to be honest.” he sighed. “but this won’t be forever!”

we began chit chatting with each other about how our lives changed since high school. he served me my drink.

“so are you and camillo friends again?” he seemed curious.

“yeah, i’m actually his band’s assistant.” he sheepishly smiled while looking to the side. “what’s that look for?”

he sighed. “i just think that you shouldn’t be hanging around them.” i rose my eyebrow. “they’re rockstars who party all the time and go on benders. and you? you’re just a girl from sacramento.” no way he just told me this. right when i stopped feeling like a nobody too.

“well may i remind you that we haven’t seen each other in like two years. you don’t know me enough anymore to worry about who i’m hanging out with. you don’t know the band well enough to talk about them like that.” i snapped.

“y/n-“

“don’t y/n me.” i placed a five on the surface. “and about me being just a girl from sacramento. i can’t wait for the day to come where i’m something more than a just a girl from sacramento and can say told you so.” i scoffed and walked away.

he shouted to me. “well what if i told you camillo isn’t the guy he makes himself out to be?”

i paused in my tracks and turned my head.“that’s for chino to tell me.” what a weirdo. now i know why chino never liked him.

~

after hanging out at the whiskey junction for 2 hours, we had finally gotten everybody home, besides me. why are we always alone in a car past midnight?

he parked his car infront of my house and turned it off. there was this weird tension between us.

“was i good or bad tonight? be honest.” he turned to me.

“you were good, chino. i loved watching you up there.” i smiled at him but immediately dropped it to the thought of what chino said.

“what’s wrong?” he frowned.

“nothing.” i shrugged.

“y/n, i can just feel that something is wrong with you.”

“do you know it though?” i tried stalling.

“yeah i do.” he stared at me. “what’s wrong?”

i sighed defeatedly. “why did you say that me and you made out when we didn’t?” he went silent. “i mean cmon chino! you even made it seem like you didn’t even want to. do you know how shitty that felt to hear?”

he looked down at his hands and started fidgeting. “look y/n i don’t know why i said it. i just did.” he looked back up at me. “abe didn’t even believe me.”

i gave him a serious face. “really? that’s your excuse?”

“excuse? i’m being hone-“ i cut him off.

“whatever chino. i don’t want to talk about it.” i turned away from him and sat straight.

he laughed. “do you know how embarrassing it was for me to see you basically flirting with ethan smith in front of abe?” is he really trying to flip it back on me?

“what are you even talking about? ethan was the bartender! i didn’t embarrass you, you embarrassed me! and even if i was flirting with ethan, why does it matter to you?”

“because you’re min- my friend!” he exclaimed. it went silent. i felt his eyes on me. “im drunk and just told abe what he wanted to hear. i’m sorry, y/n, really.” he rubbed his forehead. “i’m serious about abe not believing me. i’d never lie to you y/n”.

i thought about it for a second. chino is the type to fudge the truth to look cooler. “i guess you’ll just have to make it up to me.” i shrugged.

“so am i forgiven?” he pouted.

“yes chino, you’re forgiven.” i smiled.

we sat in silence for a few minutes staring at each other. then his eyes wandered down to the rest of my body. it started to feel warm suddenly.

“i like these a lot.” he tugged on my fishnets. “i think they’re hot.” he looked back up at me and rested his hand on my thigh.

i felt my face warm up. good thing it’s dark in here. “you really think so?” i decided to indulge him.

“mhm” he hummed. he leaned toward me again. this time i didn’t turn away. i licked my lips and bit them. thank god for the liquid courage.

“were you able to impress that one person tonight?” i asked.

he softly smiled. “you tell me.”

before i could say anything, he kissed my lips. he smelt like a mixture of alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat. normally that would’ve bothered me but this time, i feel like i’ve been so touched starved, i needed this.

his tongue played around mine as he sucked on my lips. i moaned into his mouth and his grip tightened on my thigh. he used his other hand to cup my face and pull me in closer. my heart was beating so fast right now.

i felt his hand slide down and caress the in between of my thighs. my hands tugged on his hair while he placed his kisses around my swollen lips. my mind felt blank. all i could focus on was chino and his lips on me.

“you’re so fucking hot baby.” he trailed his kisses down my neck. he realized he found my neck’s sweet spot when i moaned a little too loud. he started sucking on that special spot as his hands inched upwards on my thighs. a tension started growing inside me.

i grabbed his chin and brought his lips back up to mine. i licked his lips before breathing into his mouth. his arm wrapped around my waist.

“fuck, just let me have you tonight, please baby. i need you so fucking much right now.” he moaned into my mouth. “you should’ve never wore these tonight.” he tugged at my fishnets again. i wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tightly.

a sudden knock interrupted, making us jump. “y/n! get inside right now!” my mom yelled at me. oh god, not right now mom. i gave chino an apologetic look and look down to see his total hard on he had. a wave of guilt washed over me knowing he had to go home unsatisfied. of course the first time in a while i’ve had any action, i couldn’t have this go smoothly.

“i’m sorry, chino.”

he smiled. “it’s okay princess.”

my mom banged on the window again.

“y/n!”

“yeah i’m coming!” i swung the door open and gave my mom a look. she turned over at chino.

“camillo, i was not expecting this from you!” she scolded chino.

“i’m sorry, mrs. l/n.” he let out a chuckle but immediately shut himself up. he cleared his throat. “it won’t happen again.”

“yeah my mother heard that once too.” she rolled her eyes and walked away grabbing my wrist with her. “let’s go, y/n.”

i gave chino an apologetic look again as i was being dragged away by my mom. he smiled and waved before driving away.

a/n: what do you guys think of the new chap ? i hope everyone loves it as much as i do ! this is one of my favorite chapters so please leave a like if you enjoyed it. new chap out next friday ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 7 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 6 ~ chapter 8 | AO3

912 words

i can’t sleep. the gig is tomorrow and my mind was racing. not about the gig, but about chino. well a little about the gig too. but for the most part, i couldn’t help but think about all the things abe told me.

this isn’t supposed to be happening. chino’s my best friend. why does he have to make my heart race all the time?

i started thinking back about my feelings for him back in high school. i felt like i was my teenage self again. dumb and naive about love. i haven’t felt like this in years.

i thought i was over chino. you’d think that i was given enough time to get over him. but apparently not. ever since chino has been back in my life, i always feel an intense wave of emotions wash over me around him. he’s just so effortless. it’s fun having a crush but i had a bad feeling about this. chino is a rockstar, someone worthy for the entire world to see. me on the other hand, what do i have to offer? i sighed to myself. i need to get some sleep.

~

the long awaited gig is now here. they haven’t toured or done any shows in a awhile since they’ve been working on around the fur so much. so this is pretty big. plus more coverage.

chino was supposed to pick me up first so it was time to start getting ready. i put a little black eyeshadow on and put eyeliner on my waterline with some mascara. i combed my hair and grabbed the clothes i was gonna wear. i put on a black tank top with my black shorts and fishnets. to accessorize, i wore a studded belt. i put on my green sweater and tied the laces to my green converse.

i heard a honk from outside. chino’s here. we still had around five hours before the show so we can prepare the venue.

i walked out looking down at my feet nervously. i hope chino doesn’t think i look bad.

i opened the car door and closed it as i sat down. as i was putting my seat belt on, i felt a certain pair of eyes on me. i turned my head to chino. he had frosted tips and heavy eyeliner around his eyes. he was wearing a grey shirt with some black cargo pants and had spiky bracelets on both of his wrists.

he looked me up and down. i started growing nervous. i spoke before he could. “copycat. why’d you have to steal my makeup look?” i smirked while pushing his chest back.

he put his hand over his chest. “cmon baby, don’t do me like that.” he smiled while leaning in towards me. my heart started beating out of my chest. i impulsively turned my face away. oh god i’m such an idiot! why did i turn my face?

“maybe next time.” he smirked and drove away.

~

after our little moment, we picked up the rest of the band and moved all of the instruments over to the venue. i spent most of those hours bringing in boxes full of their merchandise, setting up the merch stand and making sure everything was in place. i was able to hire some people to work the merch stand so i can watch the show.

we were all backstage. everybody else were making sure their instruments were perfect since there were around ten minutes left before the show starts.

“are you nervous?” i asked chino. he was peaking out the curtain, looking at the vast crowd. it was loud from everybody waiting for the show to start. chino turned around to me.

“yeah a little. even if i’ve done this dozens of times, i think i’ll always be nervous before a show.” he looked down at his shoes scratching the back of his neck. i stared at him. when he looked back at me, i didn’t look away this time. we held eye contact.

he looked me up and down. “you look amazing.” he said breathlessly.

i couldn’t help but look down making my hair cover my face. a growing feeling in my chest made it hard stand straight. leave it to chino to make my knees weak even when i try not to.

“thanks.” i softly laughed.

“no seriously y/n, you look good.” i felt his eyes piercing through me. has he been staring at me this whole time?

before i got to say anything, i got cutoff by the sound guy. “five minutes guys!”

i changed the topic. i never really liked being talked about, good or bad. “i’m excited to see you guys perform! this will be a first!” i grinned.

“i’m excited for you to see us. i hope you enjoy seeing us on stage.”

“of course i will!” i look out the curtain to really see the crowd for myself. “wow, that’s a lot of people.” my jaw slightly drops looking out into the crowd. i didn’t truly realize how big of a following the band has created until now.

“yeah well, good thing i’m only trying to impress one person.” he teased.

i turn to him, curious on who he’s trying to impress. i don’t ask. “i hope you dazzle them with your wits.” i teased back. we were staring at each other again.

“sorry if i suck tonight.” he chuckled.

“i’m sure you won’t.” i smiled.

a/n: i hope everyone enjoyed today’s chapter ! new chapters will be posted every friday but i will be taking a break soon to catch up on my writing so i hope you guys understand. lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 6 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 5 ~ chapter 7 | AO3

1.2k words

life has been super busy lately. the band is working on their sophomore album. they wanted to tease the album by playing a few songs at the gig coming up. i’m not sure on what name they’ve decided on but so far, i just know it’s gonna be a hit!

i wish i could listen to them practice but i’ve been working on making sure we have enough cds and vinyls to sell, making eps to tease some of their new album and making t-shirts. i didn’t mind the work load though. it was better than being in my room all day.

stephen ended up getting a cold, of course when we have a busy schedule. so chino just told everybody to practice on their own to try and perfect their sound isolated.

i kept on with my very busy day though. i did drop off stephen some soup, just to check in on how he was doing. i didn’t have to but stephen’s my friend and i like doing nice things for people.

after i dropped off his soup, abe paged me.

‘call me.’ i wonder what this is about. i walked to my nearest pay phone just two blocks away and dialed abe’s number.

he picked up. “y/n! what are you doing today?”

“oh just busy with making merchandise for the show. why what’s up?”

“well since you’re busy, i was thinking maybe you’d want some help?”

“i mean are you sure? you don’t have to.”

“i’m sure. plus how am i gonna be in the band and not see all the behind the scenes.” he laughed.

“well meet me at this place” i give him the address.

“i’ll see you there.” he smiled.

~

“so what are we going to do today?” the room we were in was fairly small but luckily it was just me and abe. there were four screen printing machines and a table off to the side with a few chairs. there was also a fridge and a microwave on a light stand. the fluorescent lights really brought this room all together.

“well we’re going to use these screen printers to make the t-shirts. i have to make a few calls with the record label about buying cds and stuff in bulk to sell.”

“how much are you trying to buy?” i bring out a box of medium white t-shirts onto the table.

“well i hoping for around 250 cds 250 records and 250 cassettes.”

“and how much will that cost?” he gulped.

i chuckled. “you don’t need to know.”

i think he was processing how much money that would cost us. “well, chop chop. we got a lot of t-shirts to make.” i clapped my hands together and got started with work.

~

after a few calls discussing money with the the record label, i was able to start helping abe with some t-shirts.

“so, how long have you and chino known each other?” abe asked.

“chino and my brother were friends in middle school. they were a year ahead of me but i still hung around them whenever chino would come over. in high school me and chino started hanging out together without my brother and we had some good times. then we just fell out my sophomore year.” i sighed.

“yeah i remember when that happened. chino would talk about you all the time!” he rolled his eyes. “oh, y/n never called! how could she? why won’t she just talk to me?” he mocked chino pouting his face.

i laughed. did chino really talk about me? it was hard for me to believe abe. i can’t imagine myself as a conversation topic. let alone someone chino would bring up often.

“chino would talk about you from time to time but he never introduced us to you. we’d see you around at school because we’d catch chino looking at you.” he laughed out loud. “i didn’t realize you were the same girl when you came in to be interviewed.”

“yeah and i didn’t realize chino was gonna be my co-worker for a job i applied for.” i sighed. “i’m sure he moved on after a few months.”

abe scoffed. “yeah right! anytime we’d kickback and smoke and drink together, somehow at the end of the night, your name was always brought up. even after graduation, he talked about you every so often. sometimes during practice, his voice even suffered. we would have to end days short so he could clear his thoughts and get back on track. even now he talks about things you two did before you stopped talking.”

“no way. you don’t have to lie to me.” i looked away. why would he talk about me? he had no reason to.

“i’m being serious! he has like a secret obsession with you or something.” he smirked. i blushed thinking about chino. what is going on with me always thinking about chino?

“anyways i’m glad you two made up. chino’s always sounded really good but i think since you’ve been around he’s been really pushing to be perfect.”

“if that is the case, i’m glad he is. you guys are honestly my favorite band at the moment.” i said, putting my hand over my heart.

“thanks y/n. i really appreciate that.” he smiled.

“enough about me. what’s it like being the coolest drummer ever?” i smirked.

“i love it! i never thought i would be a drummer for a popular band. it’s so riveting to be up on stage playing the drums. seeing all the fans show up to see us is what gets me pumped!” he shook his fist.

“i bet! i’m excited to see you guys play live!” i enthused.

he let out an audible gasp. “i totally forgot you haven’t seen us play live! you’re gonna love it.” he looked around, despite it being just us. he covered his mouth like he was telling a secret. “don’t say anything but we just decided on a name for the album. we’re naming it around the fur!” he grinned.

“around the fur.” i repeated then smiled. “i love it! it has a nice ring to it.”

“i know right! we’re even going to go on tour after the release of our album.”

“shut up! that’s so cool! it’s gonna be so much fun abe!” i started thinking about going on tour with them. how much fun it would be to go on a tour bus all across the country. meeting all their fans and seeing them perform countless times. i’d get to create memories with them that i’d never forget.

we continued to enthuse about the tour and the album while making t-shirts.

~

we spent five and a half hours making loads of t-shirts and talking the whole time. i’m really glad i got to spend this time with abe. he told me stories from his childhood and the early days of the band. i told him more about me and my past. we both enthused about topics we were both interested in like music and clothing brands and magazines. he even told me what it was like going on tour with other artists like korn and ozzy osbourne.

“thanks for helping me today abe. next time you want to help, let me know! i can always use it.” i smiled.

“no problem y/n! it was cool hanging out with you. it’s refreshing to hang out with someone new.” he smiled.

a/n: i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter ! i just wanna clarify, in case anyone is confused, abe and y/n are purely platonic. so don’t go thinking a love triangle is forming bc there’s not. they’re just gonna be an iconic duo 😘 anyways new chapter will be up next week ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 5 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 4 ~ chapter 6 | AO3

1.6k words

y/n’s pov:

being back with the band felt great. it was even better this time now that there was no more grudges. i think my new favorite thing to do is hang out with them.

they’ve been really good in practice lately. abe really is the coolest drummer i’ve ever seen. i find myself always focusing on his drums. stephen and chi’s riffs compliment each other very well. and chino’s voice is nothing like anything i’ve heard before. i honestly think if one of them were gone, doesn’t matter who, the band would be incomplete.

a new venue bar named the whiskey junction had just opened up in sacramento and it’s been hot recently. a lot of popular local bands have been playing there lately. i’ve been working my ass off to get this gig because i think they deserved it. i was excited to tell them the big news.

i walked into the garage when they were practicing one of their songs. i sat there on the couch and listened to them. i always enjoyed listening to all of their new stuff. i felt special to be their audience for every song.

right when they finished their song, i jumped up. “you guys will never believe what i was able to pull off!”

“oh yeah? what’d you do?” abe asked curiously.

“i was able to get you guys a gig at the whiskey junction, the new bar in town!”

“no way!!” they all cheered.

“how were you even able to book us, y/n?” chi gave me hug.

“well after a lot of convincing, you can get anything.” i joked.

chino asked “when is it?”

“it’s three weeks from now. they even have a merch table we could use! you guys could sell t-shirts and some cds!”

“oh shit. we have a lot of work to do then.” chino stressed.

“don’t worry you guys. as your assistant, i’ll take care of the merch table. all you guys need to focus on is making sure you sound perfect!”

“i mean, are you sure y/n? we can help we don’t mind.” stephen asked.

“trust me, i got it.” i said excitedly.

“well if that’s the case, i’m taking us out tonight.” chi offered.

~

chi ended up taking us to this place called hot shots. it was a bar with pool tables and an arcade. i had loads of fun with them. stephen kept beating all of us though. i don’t understand how he’s so good at pool.

i’ve missed having a friend group. high school wasn’t the best. last i recall i had a real friend group was in middle school.

we left hot shots at around 10:30. chino dropped everyone else off first.

“i wanna take you somewhere.” chino told me.

“me? what are you gonna kidnap me?” i teased.

“what? no of course not.” he chuckled nervously. “i just-“ he collected himself. “i just thought you know we haven’t really hung out in a while. i mean we have but i meant just the two of us. like old times.” he shrugged.

“well, where would you like to take me?” i smiled.

“just you wait.” he smiled back.

~

“no way!” i ran towards the park he took me to. “i can’t believe you remember this place!”

“how could i forget? this is where we would always go when we wanted to sneak out together.” he sat down on his swing. i sat on mine.

there was an awkward tension. i guess it’s just been so long since it’s been the two of us like this. “so, what did you wanna talk about?” i asked hoping it would clear some of the awkwardness in the air.

“do you remember that one time in mr.fredrick’s PE class-“ he giggled in between his sentence. “when we were playing pickleball and i said watch this and hit the pickleball towards mr. fredrick’s bald head?” he started busting up laughing.

i joined him. “yes! then it hit is head so hard it bounced off his head and his glasses fell off!” we both were dying of laughter at this point.

when it quiet down, we both sat there just smiling thinking about the whole situation. chino spoke, changing the topic.

“so, what did you do after high school?”

i knew this question would come. i was kind of embarrassed. “promise you won’t laugh?”

he nodded. “my parents wanted me to go to college but i decided i wanted to take a gap year first. then when i actually did enroll, the more time i spent there, the more i realized college just wasn’t for me. that it was more so my parents dream for me. the thing about me is, i can’t do anything for anyone else besides myself, even my parents. so i ended up dropping out.” i sighed.

“well i mean what’s there to be embarrassed about? i didn’t go to college at all.” he chuckled.

i frowned. “i don’t regret it, i just-“ i paused for a moment. “i’m just scared of being a nobody.” it went silent.

“look y/n, i know that a lot of people have made you feel like a nobody, me included, but i want you to know that people’s words don’t define who you are, your actions do. i was stupid to tell you those nasty things that day, let alone think about it. i took you for granted and today you proved everybody wrong. you did the band a real huge favor and i’ve never been more grateful ever.”

i wanted to cry so bad. i wiped my watery eyes and nervously laughed. “can i hug you?”

“do you even need to ask?” he stood up and offered his hand out to me. when i grabbed his hand, he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. he held me as i let out a few tears onto his shirt. he rested his head on mine and we embraced each other. it felt like an eternity holding him. i wish it was an eternity.

i pulled back. “thank you so much chino. i’ve been needing that.”

“anytime y/n.” we sat back down.

“enough about me. what did you do after graduation?”

“summer after graduation was when we started the band. one day we randomly found out stephen knew how to play guitar so we all just randomly decided to start the deftones. i didn’t expect we would take the deftones very seriously and pursue this band as our career but i mean we did.” he chuckled.

“luckily stephen’s uncle had this mechanics garage that was owned by him but he never used it. so he let us takeover on it since he knew we needed a place to practice without disturbing anyone. we worked our asses off to try and establish our sound and who we wanted to be. then we got signed with our record label, maverick and dropped adrenaline. adrenaline was selling pretty well so we started doing lots of more shows. soon we couldn’t handle everything by ourselves since we’re not the most tedious people and boom you got hired as our assistant.”

“i honestly would’ve never thought you would become famous. not that i’m saying i never believed you couldn’t do it but you know what i mean. it’s cool seeing my best friend do good for themselves. at least one of us will make it out of sacramento.”

“pshh what are you talking about? i’m taking you with me.”

i blushed. “you guys will need to get a professional assistant sooner or later. i thought i was only a temporary assistant.”

“are you crazy? you’re the best assistant anyone can ask for. i’d rather have my best friend as an assistant than some weird professional robot who follows my orders. i ain’t no dictator.” he joked making me giggle.

he stared at me for a moment. “wait here.” he got up and ran to his car. he shuffled around in his trunk. his face lit up when he found what he was looking for. it was a blur for a moment until i was able to make out what it was. a polaroid camera.

“what’s that for?” i asked as he was walking back up the the swing. i scrunched my face at him.

“let me take your picture.” he smiled.

i rose my eyebrow. he knew how i felt about having my picture taken. “i don’t know, chino.” i shrugged.

“cmon, y/n, don’t be like that. just this once.” he clasped his hands together and pouted. “please? for me?” damn chino and his irresistible charm.

i smirked and rolled my eyes. “okay fine. but just this once.”

he grinned and got the camera ready. “smile!” i grinned back at him into the camera. the flash blinded me making me squint.

when the photo appeared, i looked at it in disgust. “burn it.”

“oh har har very funny y/n.” he rolled his eyes.

“i’m just saying!” i rose my hands up in defense. “look at how stupid i look!” i said pointing at my face.

“well i happen to like how you look in this photo.” chino chuckled.

i never wanted this night to end. and i think he didn’t want it to end either. we talked and talked and talked. i think we could’ve stayed talking but we started getting tired and i didn’t want chino to be super sleepy since he had to drop me off still.

~

we pulled up to the front of my house. it was 1:30.

“so, we’re here.”

i sighed. “yeah.” we sat there in silence for a moment. i didn’t wanna go.

“thanks for agreeing to come out with me tonight. i had a lot of fun.” he smiled.

“me too chino.” i kissed his cheek before i got out of the car. i smiled and waved bye to him. he waited till i got inside to drive off.

a/n: new chap will be out next week ! lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 4 | chino moreno x reader

chapter 3 ~ chapter 5 | ao3

1.6k words

a/n: !! PLEASE READ !! the chapter is going back to y/n and chino’s argument, in case anyone is confused !

chino’s pov:

she turned around and walked away. that hurt. i stood there for a second thinking to myself. i remembered telling her those things but i also dont. at the time, i was more focused on the fact that she told me to break up with her. my mind kind of blocked out what i said. it hurt even more when a week later she cheated on me. i hated that she was right. that she knew something i didn’t.

when i walked back inside, the guys were all huddled around the door acting like they weren’t listening.

i looked at them and they looked at me. “you heard her!”

“she didn’t mean it though, right?” stephen asked. i stood quiet with my eyes on my feet. “right?” he exclaimed.

“did you guys hear everything?” they all looked at each other and nodded. i sighed. “she meant every word she said.”

chi spoke up. “you should go home chino. we’ll all meet back up in two days and check in, alright?”

i was grateful towards chi. despite my actions, he was still my friend when i needed it.

i nodded and we all packed up at went home.

~

here i am watching star wars for like the millionth time. star wars always helped me feel better when i was in a funk. no matter how many times ive seen it, it will always be my favorite. i even still use a star wars lunch pail anytime we go to a venue in case i get hungry.

but this time, it wasn’t helping me the slightest bit. all i could think of were y/n’s harsh words.

“you’re the most selfish person i know and i want nothing to do with you.” i repeated her words back to myself. “i mean how could she say that? we used to have so much fun together. she aint’t no saint either. what about that one time we all went to the skate park and she didn’t even talk to me. not once. she was only talking to ethan smith. she knew how much i hated ethan too.”

who am i kidding? what i did to y/n was way worse. i just couldn’t stand the fact that she was right. that she basically predicted the future. when i discovered cassandra with another dude, it felt as if my world was crumbling apart. i had lost my girlfriend and my best friend.

i thought i loved cassandra. she was the first girl to ask me out. every guy has a phase where they’re obsessed with their first girlfriend, that’s just how it goes. but after i found her cheating, i slowly grew a resentment towards her. i didn’t understand why i was even with someone like her. but now, i’m neutral about her. that was just a dumb high school relationship. but with y/n it was different.

when i broke up with her, i found myself waiting for y/n’s call for hours hoping she would put everything aside and things would go back to normal. but it never came. i missed y/n more and more. but i couldn’t believe that she had just left so easily. like we didn’t a past together. i didn’t like her like that. i just needed a friend.

after graduation, i stopped seeing y/n less and less. eventually, i started moving on from her. then i got with the band and life has been great. that was until she came back in the picture to be our assistant. when i seen her name in that paper, i didn’t wanna believe it was her. but it was. now i feel like i’m going crazy over her.

i stood up to go smoke a cigarette since star wars wasn’t helping me. i stood on my balcony still trying to erase my thoughts about y/n. but i couldn’t help feeling like an asshole.

my mind kept going back to the memories we used to make. like when we shared a PE class sophomore year and we would always talk and joke and mess around.

or when i snuck into her art class to see her but got kicked out after we started laughing too hard.

or when i would go to the bathroom and would pass her class walking back to mine. i would wave to her through the window and somehow she noticed me each time.

she always had her hair down and it was long and thick but naturally flowy. she would always tuck her hair behind her right ear. i always liked it when she would do that. i don’t even know why i remember that.

i wanted to apologize. but the more i thought about it, the more i realized how much of a bad idea it might be. i missed y/n and i was stupid enough to lose her. what if she really did want nothing to do with me? what if i went to her house and it ends up backfiring on me? what if i apologize and she doesn’t accept it? what if i lose her for good? i needed to give her some space.

~

me and the band were practicing a new song that we had just came up with. but the whole time, i wasn’t feeling it and you could hear it in my voice too.

“okay stop stop stop.” chi shouted. “what is up with you today, man? your voice keeps cracking dude and i miss your little whiny voice.” he said sarcastically. i smiled but didn’t respond.

chi walked my way. “is it really that bad?” he said while holding my shoulders. i nodded.

chi sighed and told everyone, “let’s take 5.”

me and chi sat down on the couch and he asked “is this about y/n?”

“yes. i’ve just been thinking about what she told me and i never felt like this much of an ass before.”

“look man, you need to snap out of it. why don’t you just say sorry?”

“because i’m scared that if i say sorry, she’ll think im lying and never wanna talk to me again.”

chi bursted out laughing. “i love you chino but sometimes you’re such an idiot. if you and y/n have a past and you know that what you’re saying is genuine, then i doubt she’s never gonna wanna see you again. you need to man up and say sorry before it’s too late. plus we still need an assistant and the band has been lacking without her help so you need apologize either way. so go and talk to her right now because we need her.”

chi was right. i’m glad i had someone like chi to keep me in check.

~

after skating for 15 minutes, i had finally arrived at her house.

when i knocked on her front door, her mom had answered.

“is that camillo moreno?? i haven’t seen you in ages! how have you been?”

“hi mrs. l/n. i’ve been good, just got busy with my own life i guess.” i shrugged. “is y/n here?”

“yes but she hasn’t left her room in days so good luck with her.” she sighed.

i didn’t realize how badly i had hurt her. hearing her mom say that made me feel worse. but this wasn’t about me.

i knocked on her door. “leave me alone!” y/n shouted. i walked in anyway.

her room was a mess. there were clothes everywhere but luckily no old food plates.

“jeez this place is a mess.” i teased.

“go away, chino. didn’t i tell you i wanted nothing to do with you?” i knew i was right. this is going terrible already. i should just leave.

but i didn’t want to. i needed to fix this. “you did but since im so selfish, im gonna do what i wanna do.” i joked.

no response. i knew i shouldn’t have said that.

“oh come on, y/n. ive been thinking about what you told me and.. i’m sorry.”

no response. i needed to get her back into my life. i need to tell her how much she means to me.

i sat down at the foot of her bed. “you’re right. it was selfish of me to expect all those things from you. at the time, i thought cassandra was my everything. despite all the bad signs, i only payed attention to the good ones. i guess i was just so caught up with cassandra that i failed to realize i had lost the most important person in my life, you.”

she sat up. her hair was tangled and greasy. her eyes were glossy and red. her nose was stuffed and she had eye bags. but despite all that, she still looked beautiful.

“jesus you look like shit.”

“yeah i wonder why camillo!” she shouted at me.

it went silent. “you have every right to be mad at me. but there’s no reason to leave the band.” i looked into her eyes. “the band hasn’t been the same without you and the guys really miss you. they keep reminding me that i screwed up big time and that i needed to fix it.” she laughed. how much i had missed her laugh.

“y/n, i really am sorry about everything.” we stared at each other. “you know, i will admit that i did miss you a lot. like a lot a lot.”

she smiled. “me too camillo.”

i hugged her. not only because i thought she needed it but also because i needed it too.

“how did you even get in anyway?” she asked.

“i hopped through a window.” i smirked.

she punched my arm. “ow! your mom had let me in, you jerk.” we both fell into laughter.

i love being around her. she’s my best friend. i missed laughing with her like this and i will do everything to make this friendship last.

a/n: please leave a like and a repost if you enjoyed todays chapter !! chapter 5 will be out next week. lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 3 | chino moreno x reader

394 words

Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 4 | AO3: @romantic_daydream

here we are again. back at square one. i was lying under my blanket curled up into a ball.

his words from all those years ago were running through my head over and over again for the past few days. i had absolutely no motivation to do anything.

i heard a knock on my door. “leave me alone!” the door opened anyways.

i was expecting to hear my mom to start talking.

“jeez this place is a mess.” i peeked my eye out and seen chino.

“go away, chino. didn’t i tell you i wanted nothing to do with you?”

“you did but since im so selfish, im gonna do what i wanna do.” i didn’t respond.

“oh come on, y/n.” he sat down on my bed. “ive been thinking about what you told me and.. i’m sorry.” he paused and i continued to stay silent.

“you’re right. it was selfish of me to expect all those things for you. at the time, i thought cassandra was my everything. despite all the bad signs, i only payed attention to the good ones. i guess i was just so caught up with cassandra that i failed to realize i had lost the one of the most important people in my life, you.”

butterflies flew in my stomach when he said that. i sat up and looked at him.

“jesus you look like shit.” he stared at me.

“yeah i wonder why camillo.” i shouted at him.

it went silent. “you have every right to be mad at me. but there’s no reason to leave the band.” he stared into my eyes. “the band hasn’t been the same without you and the guys really miss you. they keep reminding me that i screwed up big time and that i needed to fix it.” i laughed. he smiled still staring at me. his gaze was soft yet strong.

“y/n, i really am sorry about everything.”

we just stared at each other. it wasn’t awkward. even though we hadn’t been friends in years, i still feel most comfortable around him. i haven’t felt like this in forever.

he broke the silence. “you know, i will admit that i did miss you a lot. like a lot a lot.” he chuckled.

i smiled. “me too camillo.”

he hugged me. not just a quick hug, a hug that felt genuine.

a/n: sorry for the short chapter ! i promise the chapters will start getting longer soon, please just be patient. 😅 leave a like if you liked this chapter ! chapter 4 will be out next week, lots of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

Chapter 2 | chino moreno x reader

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 3 | AO3: @romantic_daydream

1.1k words

it’s been around a month ever since i started working with the deftones. not much has happened this past month, just them teaching me the ropes. although i didn’t have a lot of experience, they were very patient with me and helped me get the hang of booking venues and making advertisements for them and etc. they were right about the chemistry between us. i feel like i could really be myself around them as if we have known each other our whole lives.

their album adrenaline has been making good money lately so my pay is pretty good so far. the only con is chino. he’s been a dick to me since day one. and it’s only because of high school drama.

yup, you heard it. high school drama. me and chino had first met in middle school. i was a 7th grader and he was an 8th grader. he started hanging out with my older brother and he would come over almost all the time. since he was always with my brother, i started hanging out with them and got closer with him too.

there were always some type of feelings i had towards chino but nothing major. sometimes, it was just the two of us hanging out without my brother. we would have fun with each other and he knew that. slowly after time went by, my feelings for him started to grow even heavier. that was until my sophomore year. he started dating a very insufferable girl named cassandra but he just saw what he wanted to see in her.

i knew something was wrong with her. i didn’t know what but she just seemed off. it might sound like i was jealous but never doubt a girl’s intuition. keep in mind, this was chino’s first girlfriend. he was head over heels for her. but i could tell she didn’t feel the same. i never seen them have a full on conversation with each other and she never looked like she was enjoying herself around him. it was the worst seeing that since chino was my best friend and he meant a lot to me. he deserved to be with somebody who treated him as an equal. the day i tried to tell chino, it didn’t go well.

i was over at his house playing the nintendo with him. it was the perfect time to bring it up.

“camillo, i’m gonna say something that might come off the wrong way but it’s because i care.”

“okay? i doubt anything will make me mad at you.” he chuckled.

“i don’t think you should go out with cassandra anymore.”

he paused the game and he turned to me with the biggest stink face ever. “what did you say?”

“i know that you love her camillo but i can just tell she’s not into you. i know that’s fucked up to say but-“

he started yelling at me. “what do you know about cassandra? you two aren’t close!”

“yeah but it’s not hard to see camillo. i just don’t want you getting hurt.”

he got up from the floor. “if you were my friend, you would support me no matter what i do with my life! don’t be mad at me because i’m finally getting some action! it’s not my fault that nobody likes you! don’t try and backstab me because I have what you want!”

“oh yeah? what is that camillo?” i shouted at him.

“i’m not a nobody!”

i could feel the tears coming up to my eyes. i will never forget those words. that was what my parents told me at my most vulnerable and he knew how much they affected me.

i ran out of his house before i could start fully crying. i couldn’t let him see me grow weak.

a week later, he found her cheating with a college dude.

so not only had he lost his so called “girlfriend”, he lost one of his best friends too and i hoped that would’ve sat with him. but unfortunately it didn’t. because he still held that grudge against me. although we had stopped talking in general, i could still feel a coldness he held towards me. i couldn’t have given a single shit though. if thats how he wanted to treat his best friend then fine.

shocking for him to still be a dick to me all these years later though. even though all i did was try and be a friend. whatever. the past is the past.

so although things were going great with the rest of the band, chino still refuses to talk to me. i was tired of feeling like the villain when he knows that i did absolutely nothing wrong. so i decided to talk to him.

it was band practice. they said they wanted me there for every practice in case something went wrong and they needed an errand girl. so i was pretty much spending most of my time with them now.

“alright guys let’s take 5.” chino told the rest of the band. as everybody scattered, i tapped chino’s shoulder.

“chino, can we talk?” he looked at me. “outside?” he rolled his eyes but nodded. we both went outside into the parking lot behind the building. i looked around to make sure no one was near.

“what’s your problem with me?” i asked.

“excuse me?”

“you heard me. i said what is your problem with me?” i stared at him.

“my problem? my problem is that you’re a backstabber.”

“oh my god are you still running along with that? i just tried to warn you!”

“no not that! despite even after you heard she cheated on me, you had never called! never came over and never asked how i was doing!”

i stared at him in disbelief. “are you actually fucking kidding me right now? please tell me you’re joking?” i mentally prepared my self for what i was about to say. “camillo you were my best friend. you’re only mad at me because i was right! i’m not your mommy, i didn’t and still don’t owe you anything! are you forgetting about the fact that you held my insecurities against me?! reminding me that i’m a nobody! you think i didn’t know that already?” he looked down. “i tried to be your best friend camillo! but you didn’t even try to be mine! you disrespected me like it wasn’t even your first time! you never not once cared about my opinion! did you even notice that i was on the verge of crying when you told me those things?” he didn’t respond. “did you!?”

“no.” he mumbled, looking down at his shoes. i stared at him. i could feel the tears coming up so i calmed myself down before i continued.

“you are the most selfish person i know and i want nothing to do with you.” i said trying to hurt him. “if you don’t want me around, then i quit.” he looked up at me in disbelief. but before he could say anything, i walked away.

a/n: i hope you guys like this chapter ! please leave a like, if you did ! that would be much appreciated. chapter three will be out in a few days ! :) love of love <3

[ifhymona]

٭* Not Too Late *٭

chino moreno x reader

Summary: Desperate for a job, you go out into the streets of Sacramento hoping at least one place will consider you. You come across a paper looking for a band’s new assistant. Little did you know, the band’s lead singer was your old best friend and ultimate back stabber.

chapter 2 ~ chapter 3

1k words

a/n: thank you guys so much for choosing my story to read ! i have been working on this story for months now and am passionate about it so any criticism is needed and accepted ! authors note’s are going to be a crucial part for understanding the story so please read them when you can ! also posted on my ao3 @romantic_daydream i hope you guys enjoy !

it was the summer of 1997. a month ago i had gotten fired from my job at a flower arrangement company and hadn’t had the motivation to get back up and look for work. i’m 20 years old still living with my parents because i dropped out of college.

mom and dad hated that i dropped out. they were already pissed that i had taken a gap year and started college at 19. i don’t know why though.

my dad barged into my room. “y/n! what do you think you’re doing?” he pulled my blanket that was covering me and opened the blinds.

“you can’t just be cooped up in your room all day! get up and go do something productive for once.” he yelled at me.

i groaned. “dad, it’s summer. i don’t wanna do anything.”

“y/n, you’re 20 years old with no job! i don’t wanna hear that there’s nothing to do when you can easily go out and get a job! now stop being a slob and go!” he slammed my door.

i sat up and looked around. my room was a mess and so was i. i will admit, ever since i lost my job, life has been shitty. my parents keep reminding me that i’m a nobody. i already know that. they think that telling me that will motivate me to get up and do something with myself. when i do, it’s always “wow you’re finally doing this for once?”

i shake off my thoughts and go take a shower and brush my teeth. i go to fix myself a cup of coffee and noticed my dad had left. i started thinking back to what he had said while i was making myself coffee. i hate to admit it but dad was right. i’m tired of feeling like a slob and a nobody and it was time i did something about it.

~

i was walking around town looking for work. i was able to apply at a handful of places already. i didn’t care what the job was, if i seen they were hiring on their door, i would walk in and apply. i noticed on a light post a big orange paper that stated “LOCAL BAND THE DEFTONES IN NEED OF AN ASSISTANT TAKE NUMBER BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS”

the deftones? i had never heard of them before but i do need a job. i ripped off one of the paper slips and went on with my day.

~

when i got home, i had called the number and i was told i would help the band with setting up venues and going out and getting whatever they needed last minute. they said to just show up at the address they gave me on saturday noon aka now today.

i was standing in front of what seemed to be an abandoned mechanics garage. there was a line of people standing outside of the door. i wasn’t expecting that much people to be here.

~

after around 40 minutes of waiting, i heard my name being called. i walked into the garage i had originally seen outside. i could tell that this was where they practiced since all of their instruments were here.

as i was looking around, i seen someone walking up to me.

“y/n l/n?” he read off a paper not paying attention to me. i recognized him though.

“camillo?”

he looked up. i seen him tense up when he realized who i was.

“oh great. i didn’t realize it was that y/n.” somebody walked up behind camillo and flicked his ear.

“what’s got your panties in a twist ?” he shaked my hand. “hello, my name is chi, i’m the bassist of the band.”

“nice to meet you, chi. i’m y/n.” i seen two people chatting together a few feet behind us. “and who are those people?”

chi shouted at them to come over. when my attention was on the two guys, i felt eyes on me. i looked over at camillo and he looked down at his paper. my attention was turned back to the two guys as they introduced themselves.

“i’m stephen, the lead guitarist.”

“and i’m abe the coolest drummer you’ll meet.” he winked at me. i chuckled.

“look guys, i can already tell, she doesn’t know what she’s doing. you need to leave.” camillo grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the door. but my other arm was grabbed by chi.

“now hold on chino, you haven’t even given the girl a chance yet.”

“i don’t need to. i know her type.”

i pulled my arm out of camilo’s hand. “trust me, you don’t.” i glared at him. “if you don’t want me here then i’m completely fine with leaving.” i crossed my arms.

“there’s no need for that. come, sit.” chi pulled me and sat me down at the couch they had in their garage.

they all surrounded me and started asking me questions. i felt like i was being interrogated. they asked me questions about my favorite bands and if i had any previous experience in the music industry.

after around 20 questions or so, they all went to the corner of the room and whispered to each other while looking back to me. i tried to eavesdrop.

“guys, no. she cant be our assistant!” camillo exclaimed.

“why not? just because you’re the front man doesn’t mean you make all the decisions for the band.” abe told him.

“yeah and she’s basically perfect dude. you know it, i know it, we all know it! the chemistry is there! it feels like we’ve known her our whole lives and let’s be honest, everybody else who was here either was just a fan, here to meet us or genuinely kinda sucked.” chi explained.

stephen chimed in. “he probably doesn’t want her in because he can’t keep it in his pants.” they all started laughing while camillo’s face turned a bright red.

“you know what fine. you guys win this time.”

i turned my head to make it seem like i didn’t hear anything when they walked my way.

“you’re in.” they all said.

a/n: i hope you guys liked the first chapter ! i’m only posting this just to see how it does so if you guys want chapter 2, just comment it and i’ll post ! lots of love <3