#//SORRY FOR LATE ANSWER I GOT DISTRACTED AND FORGOT D:

[winganon]

*Radio grabs their backpack and pole* Alright, we can go adventure now

-☢️

Alright then, guide the way leader!

*he does an small soldier salute, laughing softly at his own action*

[boygiwrites]

Harley D. Dixon 28

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📖Chapter List.

Author's Note.

I was lying last time. That wasn't a biggun. THIS is a biggun.

'Be careful, Dad.'

'I will, baby.'

I realize the others. 'Oh. And you too, I guess.'

'Real funny,' T-Dog signs, unimpressed.

The strongest of our group spare us no last glances as they turn away, with only five bullets and a handful of bolts between them. I sit next to Lori on the small bench, watching their backs retreat. The Thanton Memorial hospital. There it is, tall and beige like a school, but really more of a Hellbox filled with nasty surprises behind each one of the hundreds of little black windows. Glad it ain't me.

God. Nine miles. Two days. Sharpsburg, East of nowhere. We really made it. I guess I knew we would.

'You know this place.'

Herschel's already looking at me when I turn to him, his moustache curled around a smile.

'Just a feeling,' He adds.

'You're a mind reader,' I decide, regarding him with suspicion.

Herschel Greene; a wizard disguised as a Georgian farmer. I knew there was something up with him.

He doesn't respond, because I guess he don't want his cover blown. That or... Well, he's waiting for an answer.

'My Momma lived in this town.' Is all I supply him with after a time, because it ends the same way most stories do.

'I'm sorry.'

I shrug. It ain't anybody's fault. 'I don't know why I didn't tell nobody.'

'This town means something to you. We don't always share things like that.'

I guess. 'What about your Momma?'

'My Mother died when I was fairly young.' He admits easily, like somebody at peace. 'One day, my brother and I noticed she'd gone out into the rain to water the plants, and things were never quite the same for a long time after that.'

Oh. I've heard of that. People getting old, forgetting where their bedroom is, who their kids are.

It's hard to imagine Herschel as just a boy with a Momma.

Some days, it's even hard to imagine myself as just a girl, even though that's what I still am.

I offer him a lame smile.

'Let's talk about something a little happier,' He suggests, while over his shoulder, a flashlight glares across the inside of one of the second storey windows. 'I'm starting to think it's the end of December. That would mean it's Christmas soon.'

The light disappears.

I ignore it.

If only them pharmacies we checked this morning had anything in them besides rat shit and dust.

'Jesus' birthday party,' I muse.

That gets him to laugh. I think he's tryna distract me. 'Yes. It could even be tomorrow.'

'Really? How do you know?'

'Well, I suppose I don't. Do you like Christmas?'

Everybody likes Christmas. That is, at least, everybody likes presents.

'Yeah. My Meemaw had a really pretty tree.'

'The minute it turned December first, Maggie and Beth would always force everyone to put up ours.'

'Do they believe in Santa Claus?'

'Not anymore, I'm afraid.'

'And you?'

His eyes glint mischievously. 'Of course I do.'

I consider it. 'I don't think I do. I don't believe in the Easter Bunny, neither.'

Or God, but that's a different story.

'They didn't ever come to your house?'

'They came a few times, but I think they forgot about us. My friend Dylan said they're made up. The Christmas after that, I stayed up late to spy on Santa, but I just saw Merle and Dad carrying presents in from the truck. I never told them.'

'I guess Santa was too busy that night.'

'If he is real, I hope he's okay. The Easter bunny has lots of chocolate to eat, but... Santa might be hungry.'

I wonder if the walkers have made it to the North Pole yet. Knowing those assholes, they definitely have.

'You forget; — Santa has magic.'

'That's how he makes the sleigh fly, right?'

'Right. And all those cookies and all that milk... Well. He's got more than enough to last a lifetime.'

'So, you think he's okay?'

'I'm sure of it.'

'I would like some cookies and milk, too.'

The old man only laughs again, giving my knee a gentle pat as Carl leans forward, his mouth moving around some words.

When the boy gestures to me, Herschel translates.

'He asked me what we were talking about. He wants to tell you it's okay; Santa forgot about him too, one year.'

Carl sends me a thumbs up, trusting that the message got across well enough.

It did. I feel my smile widen.

It's wiped away when Lori suddenly lurches forward between us. Her chest wracks, wracks, wracks, a soft wad of phlegm flying past her lips and landing at her feet. My hand goes to her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly, as if that's gonna do anything useful. Her lungs, they must be clogged up like sponges filled with yoghurt, all that sickness and junk coming back up the way it went in.

Herschel's on his feet, bringing his thin hand down on her back, knocking the phlegm out of her.

I glance over my shoulder.

Lights; more of them, swooping over the glass, appearing and disappearing and reappearing.

A gunshot lighting up a window.

Please be okay, I think. Lori won't make it like this.

Facing forward again, Lori's got her hand splayed over the base of her throat, coughing dryly. She takes the water bottle Carol is offering to her, and gulp, gulp, gulps down the last of what's inside, deflating when she's done, cradling her big belly.

Are you okay, I ask aloud as I loosen my grip on her, hoping it sounds how it's supposed to sound.

She smiles at me in the slightest of ways, putting her hand over mine before I can pull it away.

She nods, I'm okay, honey.

I nod back, because that's good. I don't believe her for a second, but that's good.

'There was a gunshot,' Beths signs to me, then.

'I know. I saw.'

She continues signing even as she turns to Herschel, a habit by now. 'That was loud.'

'Don't worry. Anything that heard it will be too slow to make their way over here.'

'I hope so.'

We sit without talking after that, watching the windows of the hospital light up with gunshots every now and then, as if it were a football game on TV. I count them, the flashes. The one I saw while Lori was coughing, that's one. That one there, that's two.

Rick used to talk about the day he woke up in the Grady Memorial Hospital sometimes. Right now, the only parts of the story I can remember are the ones where he'd hesitate to continue, staring at something in the fire the rest of us couldn't see, before he muttered about the way there wasn't one wall in the entire building that wasn't dirtied with blood, not even in the children's ward.

Hospitals just ain't what they used to be, is what I learned from him.

There's definitely more than just rat shit and dust in there.

I glance at Beth, asking her, 'Any noise?'

Her lips crumple into a thin line as she answers, 'Nothing.'

Just when I swear Herschel is about to bow his head and start praying, the front doors swing open.

Mouse perks up, his tail ramrod straight.

That's Dad, T-Dog, and Maggie walking out.

Where's Rick and Glenn?

The three of them are panting, dishevelled, but nobody hurt. Nobody bit. That's always the first thing I look for.

Thing is, though, they're all looking at me like I've won a shitty prize and I just don't know it yet.

What now?, I almost feel like saying, but don't.

The further in we walk, the darker it gets.

Does anybody really like the dark?

The flashlights carve out pockets in the walls and floors around us as we make our way down corridor after corridor. My heart skips a beat each time we pass the body of a patient or a nurse or a person in regular clothing, all with a bolt or a bullet buried somewhere inside them. We sidestep their limp arms in turn, their puddles of blood. I ain't ever been in a horror house before, but I imagine this is worse. I imagine it'd prolly feel a whole lot less like you're being walked to the gallows for execution, and that the blood would be fake.

If I had my locket, it would be clutched between my fingers right now, but the soft spot beneath my throat is completely bare. When I woke up this morning to my empty palm, I knew right away what'd happened. I didn't bother to ask what he did with it.

Passing another body with a bolt skewered through its face, my Dad reaches for it, pulling it out.

Clicking it back onto his bow, he notices me watching him.

'Keep going, baby.' He signs to me, black blood smeared down the side of his neck. 'Not far, now.'

T-Dog comes to a stop in the middle of the corridor a minute later, his flashlight revealing Glenn and Rick standing together just up ahead. Not hurt. Not bit. They look up from what they've been doing, which looks like taking turns kicking the wall.

T-Dog lowers the flashlight to their feet.

There it is.

The Harley-sized hole in the wall.

Now that I'm looking it, I can see what they meant. Nobody else is fitting through that thing, not even Carl.

Still no use, is the sentiment written all over Rick's face.

It looks like they've tried their best to widen the gap, but it's made out of solid brick and we're fresh outta jackhammers.

Will she fit? 

Yeah, I think so, Is the gist of what I can tell they're saying to each other.

We got this piece off here, but it the rest isn't budging. We don't have any bullets left to shoot it.

Maybe... we can do what I said before? Find another pharmacy?

Sure. When you find one within twenty miles of here, you let me know.

You're right. That was dumb. Sorry.

There are no other options. The medicine Lori needs is in that room, and it's like I said. She won't make it, otherwise.

'Listen. There are keys on the desk.' Dad explains to me, his stern expression contoured harshly by the flashlights surrounding us. He takes my wrist, guiding me to crouch with him at the base of the wall, pointing through the cracked bricks. I strain to make out the desk with the keys at the back of the room on the other side, before I meet his gaze again. 'Do you see them?'

'Yeah. I saw them.'

The desk ain't the only thing in there.

'We need you to grab them and unlock the door for us.'

We both know I also saw the walker standing idly in the corner, head bowed to the floor, waiting.

'We'll be able to kill it when the door is open.' He adds when I don't respond, as if he needed permission. 'I can't from here.'

'My heart is beating fast.'

He nods. 'That's a good thing. And this meathead is dumb. Are you dumb?'

I puff my chest out, shaking my head.

'That's right. You don't need to hear them when you're smarter than them. You're always smarter than them. Okay?'

'Okay.'

That's what he's told me ever since I went totally deaf. I don't need to hear them when I'm smarter than them. It's not as if we've had the opportunity to test the theory out, since there's so little walkers that I ain't had to kill one yet, but I trust him.

Twisting around, he gestures for Glenn's flashlight and catches it easily, giving it a few test clicks.

He hands it to me. 'Remember what I taught you?'

I give a nod, feeling the weight of Merle's knife sitting in the sheath on my thigh.

'Good. And be careful of the glass on the floor, okay?'

'Okay. I got this.'

I can do this. I gotta, for Lori and the baby. It'll make for a funny story one day, anyway. I can do it.

'You got this.' He agrees. 'It's gonna smell you, but you're not gonna panic. Easy stuff.'

'Easy stuff. Okay.'

'Okay?'

'Okay.'

With one last look at the group, I take a deep breath and grab onto one of the exposed bricks, contorting myself until my head and one of my arms is through the gap. I pause for a moment, trying not to breathe too much as I watch the walker follow invisible patterns along the floor with its eyes. Once its head is tilted away from me, I brace my hand on the floor, pushing myself through.

Oh, God. What was it I just said? I can do this?

The flashlight blinks on and off as I land on the other side, grabbing it, giving it a shake.

The desk is illuminated in a circle of light, centre stage.

The dead body twitches in the shadows. I slowly get to my feet, silently warning it to stay right where it is if it knows what's good for it. I'm smart. I can read and write now, and my Dad taught me how to stab the thigh first, so the walker will collapse and make it easier for me to reach whatever cavity I can stick my knife in. If this thing gets too close to me, it's gonna get the Dixon treatment.

Uh huh. That's right, I scold it, chin held up. The Dixon treatment. Ain't nobody want that!

The pieces of glass on the floor glint in the light as I tip toe my way through them, stepping up to the desk.

Dad said the keys are here. I saw them. They should be right here amongst these dusty papers — Ugh, God, don't sneeze. Don't. — or maybe even on this folder? What about the shelves above the desk? How could they just disappear?

When I turn the light on the walker, it's looking at me, eyeballs wet, reflecting the light.

It's smelt me.

That's okay. I'm okay. We knew it would.

It starts its slow shuffle towards me as I turn my attention back on the desk, casting about it twice as quickly now, batting the alarm clock, the pen pots, the stethoscope, everything out of my way and following all the pencils and random office supplies down to the floor. Kneeling, I look around, making sure the keys haven't gone down with them or fallen between the desk and the cabinets.

A glint of metal.

I gasp. They have!

I must've accidently knocked them off while I was choking back all that dust in my face.

I stick my hand into the slim gap, but — Ugh. — I can't get it any farther than my knuckles!

I'll have to make it wider.

Abandoning the flashlight, I grab the side of the desk, using all my strength to shove it even just one inch to the side.

Shit, it's heavy. They got bowling balls in here, or what?

The wheelie chair bumps into my ankle. I act on instinct, my hands shooting out, bracing against it. I look up. The walker's slouched over it, reaching for me. My elbows, they buckle. Shit. The seat slams into my shoulder — Ouch! — but you know what. This'll do. This works. I just need these stupid keys. I ignore the walker and its stench of old meat, focused on nothing but the keys.

I'm not gonna panic. It's what I used to do, but I've learnt since then. I'm better!

A couple shoves, and the gap is just wide enough, wide as it's ever gonna be.

Easy stuff. Easy stuff.

The seat suddenly gives way. The body rolls, cracking its cheekbone on the floor. Don't matter. I got the keys. I'm back on my feet and running to the door, feeling out a random key and shoving it in the lock, twisting it. It's the right one. The door opens.

Maggie pulls me out by the arm. It's if there's a fire blazing behind me and I'm about to go up in flames.

That's it. I'm out!

I fall into her stomach, protectively held there.

Thank whoever's still up there. Or maybe, just thank me.

Rick and Dad push past my shoulders, marching into the room and unsheathing their blades, powerfully driving them both into the walker's skull. Blood splatters as they yank them out, droplets landing across the glass cap of the flashlight on the floor. It tints the light and everything it's cast onto a bright red, flickering. Dad picks it up, wipes it on his thigh, and hands it back to Glenn.

Grinning proudly to myself, I hold up the keys up like a trophy head for everyone to see.

Maggie releases me, smiling breathlessly down at me in relief.

'Well done,' T-Dog exclaims with his hands, sharing a high five with me.

Kneeling in front of me, Dad cups my face in his hands. He don't give a damn about the keys. Are you okay?

'I'm okay. The keys were down the side of the desk. I couldn't reach them. I had to—,' Shoving at the air, I enthusiastically mime the struggle, making Maggie chuckle behind her hand. 'The walker was trying to get me through the chair.'

He smiles, wagging his thumbs across my cheeks before lowering his hands. 'I told you. Meatheads. But not you.'

'Not all the time, anyway.'

'You should've come back out when you couldn't find the keys.'

'Sorry.'

'It's alright. There won't be a next time. You did good.'

Then, taking the keys from me, he stands back up and returns to Rick's side in the dark room.

I stay right beside Maggie and Glenn as they make quick work of the storage room door, pushing it open. Their torches illuminate the shelves on either side of them, which to everyone's relief, are completely untouched, lined with all kinds of medicine. It wasn't all for nothing. Without bothering to read many of the labels, they swoop their arms through the masses of bottles, catching everything in their open backpacks and zippering them back up, before nodding to each other and stepping back outta the small room.

Let's go, Rick says as he shoos us forward. We're all eager to get the Hell outta this place.

Stepping through Thanton Memorial's broken glass doors, daylight breaks across my face.

The fresh, cold air floods into my dusty lungs.

When Carl spots me, it's like the bench burns his ass. He's calling my name as he comes running at me, crushing me in a hug that almost sends us both toppling over into the snow. A giggle is squeezed from me as I hug him back, feeling my bones creak under the pressure. Wow. For somebody who ain't eaten anything other than a bit of rabbit for the past two days, he sure is strong.

Pulling away, he holds both my shoulders as he worriedly exclaims something to me.

You're the coolest, bravest person ever, I'm gonna assume is what he's saying, I don't know how you did it!

He pulls me in for another, quicker hug.

When Herschel appears over his shoulder, I get the real story. 'He's telling you we were all very worried.'

Oh. Is that right?

Ow!, The boy scoffs as I land a punch to his shoulder, forcing him offa me.

'Tell him he's talking to Harley Dixon,' I say.

As the sentiment is passed on, Carl rolls his eyes at me, making a retort.

'He wants to remind you of the time he hugged you after you cried from a nightmare.'

Ow!, He complains again when I punch him.

As he rubs sorely at his shoulder, he can't help but giggle along with me.

'Come on,' Herschel interrupts us, herding the two of us back toward the group. 'Very well done, sweetie.'

'I was only a little scared.'

'Of course. This is Harley Dixon I'm speaking to, isn't it?'

Too right. 'Yes, it is!'

Stepping up to the crowd, we gather around the bench as Rick takes a seat next to his wife, uncapping the bottle of water in his lap. Her face looks awful pale-like, paler than the snow packed under our boots. Still, despite the effort it must take, she manages a smile. Her hands shake as she takes the water, watching Rick tap a small bottle of pills against her open palm until two tumble out. 

Being trapped in that room was one of the scariest things I've done. I can say that, now. But as she tips her head back and swallows the pills down with a gulp of water, I'm hit with the feeling that I would do it all over again if I had to.

She sighs, body swaying. We can only hope that it works.

As Rick soothes circles onto her lower back, his gaze accidently meets mine.

'Thank you', He signs, looking like he means every bit of it.

His blue eyes start to water just like they did last night, except there ain't no fire I can blame it on this time.

I only give him a single, shy nod, grabbing onto my Dad's hand. He don't need to thank me. I love Lori, too.

Then to everyone else, he says it again; Thank you.

Carl's hugging me again.

I don't bother punching him this time. I don't wanna do it, anyway.

Being back in Sharpsburg is different to what I thought it would be.

Aside from the old blood smeared across the roads, the way everything seems to have gone through a nightmare and fell back asleep shortly afterward, Sharpsburg is the one place we been that has not bothered to rot away quite yet. There ain't no bombing craters where parks or stores used to stand, no toppled police barricades, army trucks, no bruises from the week everything ended.

Petey's general store is still exactly where it always was, right next door to the news agency, the record store, the locksmith. I don't keep my head down like I planned to. I don't pretend I never knew this place, or the people in it, because I did. I hold my chin up to the light of the setting sun as we walk through the forgotten town, unafraid of the memories I can see behind each and every door.

You know this place. I did. I do. For a long while, it was pretty much the only thing I knew.

Each weekend, I would jump out of Dad's truck the second he pulled up on the handbrake, door slamming as I ran into my Mama's open arms. It would be late afternoon, sometimes twilight. There was no school the next day, no quizzes or beatings to worry about. Not on the good days, not when I was cruising down the sidewalk on my bike with a dollar note in my hand, on my way to Petey's. He would always insist on letting me pick an ice cream out for free, but it never worked. Have-it-her-way-Harley, he always called me, the nickname a hearty chuckle in his mouth. The wind was in my hair on the way home, because I had one back then, dollar note replaced with a fruity-flavored glob of ice cream frozen to a stick. Sugar melting onto my fingers, washed away in the play pool after dark.

I used to do things like that. We all did, I suppose.

As we pass by an empty parking lot, I notice the rainbow streamers of a lonely, fallen bike blowing around in the wind like a white flag. I wanna ride a bike again. Just for a minute. Maybe two, I think, as I hold my gaze on it for as long as I can.

Eventually, we make it to a park. Of course, I recognise this place as well, and so does my Dad.

That's why I can feel him staring at the back of my head.

I never stopped to think about how he knows Sharpsburg, too. He was right there with me on the porch of Petey's store, most the time, smoking cigarettes in the sun with melted ice cream drying out on his collarbones. He remembers it, too.

We used to come to this park all the time; me, Momma, and Dad, on the rare days they got along.

I got to pretend I was a different kid looking in on the three of us and thinking, What a nice family. I wish I was her.

Now, the monkey bars look more like the giant ribcage of an old beast rather than something I'd wanna play on.

A shrivelled walker, curled over the seat of one of the swings, lets the wind brush its fingers along the ground.

Everyone has a Before.

Even that walker.

Even if our Befores were all very different, at least our Afters are all the same. We're all here, sick, hungry, tired.

The park's trees and fences fall away after a while of more walking, making way for a suburban street.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the road, the ache in my feet worsens to a pang, pang, panging.

'Everything alright?' Glenn's asking me as a wave of tiredness suddenly washes over me.

'My feet hurt.' I answer. 'And don't say sorry.'

'I think we're going to stop soon. Don't worry.'

Rick considers the houses lined up in front of us, hands on his hips, as Dad walks up to us. 'What's wrong?'

'Her feet hurt. And are you tired?'

I could fall asleep right here in the snow. 'A little.'

Even when I was lost in the woods outside Herschel's farm, I still don't think I ever walked this much and for this long.

Giving me a regretful look, Dad offers, 'Do you need me to carry you?'

'I'm a big girl,' I tell him, yawning.

'I know. I asked you a question.'

They wait on my answer. I think about fighting it a minute longer, but I just don't have it in me. I'm reaching up for my Dad before I even realize it's what I'm doing, letting him lift me onto his chest as I wrap my arms and legs around him.

I could've definitely handled it. Yeah. It's just that, maybe it's okay if I don't for a while.

I can already feel my eyes drooping shut. I'm gonna fall asleep right here.

It's suddenly a lot easier to feel like just a girl, now.

My chin hooked over his shoulder, I watch through my heavy lids as Rick does a double take on something laying on the ground, turning to pick up what looks like a fallen street sign. The moonlight swells over the clouds, spilling onto the metal.

Brushing the frost off, he reveals the words, Bolton Drive.

Bolton Drive. To me, this was always just Dylan's street.

If we turn left here, there's some bigger houses down the way. I think it's prolly what my Dad's telling the group right now.

We're on the move again right after that, heading further into the suburbs. I'm saved from walking, instead snuggling into my Dad. It's almost impossible to shield my face from the oncoming winds as I peek out over his shoulder, the moon a silver ball in the sky behind us. I bet it's just about the only place left without any walkers, including the North Pole. If I were a bird, maybe I would forget all about Earth and just fly up there. I could look back down on it all like from a faraway window, watching as it slowly spins.

At a harsh gust of wind, I close my eyes, and the moon and all the stars vanish.

Sleep sweeps me up quickly. My mind floods with murky colors, then black, swirling like a shower drain.

When I open my eyes next, we're approaching a house I don't recognise.

'Shhhh,' Dad's soothing me, looking about as exhausted as I feel. 'It's alright. I'm putting you down.'

My feet slowly setting on the ground, Maggie takes my hand before I get the chance to feel the loss of Dad's warmth. We wait shivering at each other's side as the men clear out the house. Rick eventually sticks his head back out, waving us inside.

Climbing the porch, we huddle into the narrow corridor and spread out into the nearest room, the lounge room. Dad's already got a fire going for us as we make ourselves at home on the sofas, the hot breath of the flames quickly starting to melt the frost stuck to my coat. I hug myself, breathing deeply and slowly to try fight off the urge to fall right back asleep. As I notice Carl approaching, I scoot over to make room for him and his Momma, who settles her weight down on the sofa with the help of Maggie and Glenn.

I feel a little bad for being carried, even if I needed it. Lori made it all the way here on foot, deep into a sickness and carrying a baby inside of her. A lotta people might think a lady like her is weak, but they'd be wrong. There's many ways to be strong.

My Dad stands from where he was knelt by the fireplace, peeling off his beanie and sitting beside me.

As I look around the room, all I see are tired faces.

Mouse plops himself between my feet, the poor guy's fur ice-cold beneath my hands as I give him some pats.

We'll be warm soon, buddy, I think.

Everyone's attention is stolen when Rick steps up to the front of the room, fiddling with his beanie in his hands.

He gulps on nothing, nodding to himself. 

'I know we're all very tired,' Herschel translates for me as the words come, even though his arms must feel like they weigh a thousand pounds. 'Been tired for months. But let's just make the most of this and try to relax tonight. We've got a fire. We've got walls. Medicine. It's a Hell of a lot better than those garages back in Newnan. T and I will melt some snow for us to drink, and we got some food we just found in the kitchen. We'll take turns for watch through the night, but there's not much out there. You saw.'

Carol hesitates to raise her hand, shaking her head as she asks a question.

We turn back to Rick. 'I don't know. I don't like staying in one place long, but I'm thinking there's only a few more weeks left until Spring. It's not impossible to think we can tough it out here. There's not many other options right now.'

It looks like we're staying in Sharpsburg for a few more weeks, then. At least until the cold dies down.

There are worse places to end up.

'Try to warm up in the meantime.'

Leaving us to stew in thought, Rick and T-Dog pull their coats on tighter and disappear through the archway.

'You know something?' Beth asks after a minute or two, the only light in the room coming from the fire. It lends her face a pretty, dim glow as she glances at her Dad sitting next to her.  'Daddy thinks it's gonna be Christmas tomorrow.'

Oh, that's right. I'd almost forgotten.

Glenn sends him a, No shit?, sort of look.

'I just figured it would be about that time.' He explains, making Maggie light up. 'I have a sixth sense for it.'

My Dad scoffs, shrugging. 'Well, I don't have a calendar. Why not.'

Wait? Really?

'So, it's Christmas tomorrow?', I ask him, as if we ain't just making all this shit up.

Something so simple, the prospect of waking up on Christmas morning tomorrow even if it ain't in no official way, even if we ain't even got a tree, let alone a star to put on top of it, sparks excitement throughout the room. Yes, it's Christmas tomorrow. From the smiles breaking out on everyone's faces, Maggie giddily gripping onto Glenn to give him a shake, I can tell it's Christmas tomorrow.

Feeling just a little bit more awake than I did a moment ago, I exclaim again, 'It's Christmas tomorrow!'

My Dad seems to find this very amusing, smirking side-long at me.

There ain't much to say in the way of how our Christmases used to go, especially the ones after my second birthday, but I still remember seeing the church all lit up with decorations at night whenever we happened to drive past it. I always liked that.

Carl must exclaim the same thing I did with almost twice the energy, because Lori and Rick laugh.

'I can't believe,' Maggie gushes, 'I forgot about Christmas!'

'It's not your fault,' Glenn jokes, petting her shoulder. 'We've been busy trying not to die.'

'Good point.'

'I'm sure the Lord will forgive you,' Beth says.

'Yeah. He started all this shit, anyway.'

Maggie waves her hand around. 'Hey. A little respect for the Atheists in the room?'

When everyone turns to look at me and Dad, a round of laughter breaks out.

'We're only in it for the presents,' He agrees.

I nod. It's true.

'Me, too,' Glenn says.

'I just wish I we had some,' Beth pouts.

'We're alive,' Herschel argues, looking around at each person in the room. 'There's no present better than that.'

Aww. That cheesy line earns him a funny look from Maggie, who pulls him into a deathly-tight hug.

'I think there actually might be something better.'

Glenn sticks a finger up, standing and disappearing into the kitchen.

When he returns, he's cradling a bunch of shiny wrappers in his arms, dumping them all onto the coffee table. Snack packs. Crackers and cheese, salami and cookies, bread sticks, peanut butter. Those really are snack packs! What a lucky find!

Nobody hesitates. We all grab one, ripping the seals off and huffing the tasty smell that comes out.

'You just found these in there?,' Asks Beth.

'Yeah,' He answers, flopping back onto the sofa. 'They were in the pantry. There's cans, too.'

'I'm in love with whoever lived here.'

Mouse is staring at me as I pick up a piece of salami, so I toss it into his mouth.

I save the next one for myself, groaning at the nostalgic taste of school lunches.

'Better?' Glenn signs to me like a smartass, knowing damn well this is the best thing I ever tasted.

I stick my food-covered tongue out at him.

Blehhh!

Unexpectedly, he does the same thing back. Eugh. Gross!

When Carl notices what we're doing, he sticks his tongue out, too. Even grosser!

'Come on. Enough,' Dad tries to warn me, buts he regrets it a second later when a wet glob of salami lands in his lap.

This is what Rick and T-Dog walk in on as they come through the archway, holding cookware filled with chunks of snow and ice in front of them. My Dad's smacking the salami onto the floor as if it were fresh dog shit, Carl and I trying not to choke on our food, laughing at him. Mouse spinning in circles like a lunatic, spurred on by the chaos, making Carol laugh like she means it. Not that puny, polite little chuckle she does sometimes; a full belly laugh, holding onto Maggie for support. They was only gone a few minutes.

Rick smirks as he shakes his head, deadpanning something to the effect of, I see you found the food.

They set the cookware in front of the fire and join us on the sofas. 

'Why's everyone so happy?', Rick asks as he sits on the ottoman, confused, delighted, because there has to be a reason.

'It's Christmas tomorrow,' I gladly tell him.

'Oh, really?'

T-Dog asks the others, 'Wait, what? How do you know?'

'We don't.' Herschel admits, throwing Mouse a cube of cheese. 'But we deserve a Christmas, don't we?'

Yeah, I see the word slip from Rick's mouth.

'We deserve some eggnog, too,' T-Dog adds, making himself laugh just like he always does.

'Tell me about it.'

'Cover your ears, kids,' Carol tells us, even though she's laughing, too.

I hear that right? As the deaf one outta the two of us, I jokingly gesture to my ears. I can't hear shit, anyway!

As everyone laughs all over again, my Dad reaches out to try and cover my eyes, but I bat him offa me. Nice try.

'You got the card, now, kid.' T-Dog tells me, like it's some secret club I've joined.

'I got the what?'

'The card. I got mine, too. 'Oh, yeah? Is it because I'm black'?'

Carol smacks him. 'Whatever.'

'Next time your Dad gives you in trouble, you can pull the, 'Oh, yeah? Is it because I'm deaf?'

That's silly!

'Don't give her ideas.'

'Too late,' I grin devilishly. 'I got the card, now, Dad.'

He rolls his eyes, trying his best not to laugh, too.

'You can't do that, Harley.' T-Dog mimes. 'Oh, yeah? Is it because I'm deaf?'

'What did I just say?'

Sorry, man, T-Dog chuckles, biting on a tiny bread stick.

What's eggnog, Carl asks his parents curiously, reminding us why we're talking about 'cards' in the first place.

Eggnog is a milky-lookin' drink that got booze in it, which is why Rick and Lori brush off the question. I tried it once, during a party at my Meemaw's, after one of my Uncles shrugged and said, Fuck it. Tasted like garbage sprinkled with cinnamon.

'Let's just stick with what we have,' Herschel suggests. 'There must be some other traditions we can do?'

'Our family used to share a favorite moment from that year,' Beth says. 'Maybe we can do that?'

'That's a great idea, Beth.'

'I got one.' Glenn raises his hand. 'Finding that car in Atlanta.'

'Oh, that was good.'

'Sad we had to leave it.' He agrees. 'I also liked the time I fell into a dumpster after we left the CDC.'

'What?,' Maggie scrunches her nose at him.

'Looking back at it, it was pretty funny.'

God dang, I remember that day. I was sitting off to the side with Sophia, watching the scene unfold together.

'Morales had to grab your ass to pull you out,' I tease him.

Rick tries to hide the fact that he's chuckling, as Maggie asks him what he was doing in a dumpster.

'We'd lost everything. We were searching for supplies, but I saw some yellow boots and I wanted them for Harley.'

Everyone croons, Awwww.

'I remember those boots, actually.' Beths recalls. 'What happened to them?'

'I fed them to the cows,' I shrug, so I don't gotta bring up the farm, where I left them in our tent the night it all burned down.

'Hey. I risked my life for those boots.'

Rick corrects him, 'I think you risked your ass, is what she just said.'

'It's what I said.'

'I got one.' My Dad says, dipping a cracker in some peanut butter. 'The day we put Glenn in the well.'

'Remember how he squealed?,' T-Dog giggles.

'No,' Glenn tries to convince us, doing a very bad job of it. 'I don't remember that. Never happened.'

'That walker was next-level gross.'

Next in the line to share, I decide, 'My favorite moment is when I found Mouse.'

'He loves you, doesn't he?,' Maggie smiles.

I throw him another piece of salami, hoping that the answer would be yes.

Carl tells everyone his favorite moment from this year was sneaking off into the woods with me, but his parents both give him a look, so he wisens up and changes his answer to something a little less totally forbidden; going to shooting practice.

When it's Lori's turn, she mentions a time she pushed Carl on the Greene's swing.

Rick's favorite moment is beating Herschel at checkers, something that the old man lets him get away with sharing.

'Gotta be seeing Daryl wake up after surgery,' T-Dog says after that, startling me with how suddenly sentimental it is.

The firelight flickers back and forth on the rug for a few moments.

My Dad subtly replies, Thanks, man.

'I was gonna say that, too,' I say to be funny.

'Yeah,' Glenn backs me up. 'You totally were. In fact, I change my answer, too. Favorite moment; Meeting Maggie.'

The woman pouts up at him, grabbing his hand, threading their fingers together.

'I change mine, too.' Dad says. 'The moment I found out Harley wasn't bitten.'

'That's mine, too.'

'Me, too,' Just about half the group nod, agreeing.

Then, everyone's coming up with different answers, talking over the top of each other. Bringing Harley back safe from the gas station, is T's second answer, but he also has a third and fourth and a fifth, because he just can't pick one. Making it outta the CDC alive. Finding the farm. Saving Glenn after he gave blood. Herschel's favorite moment is all the moments he's kept his daughters safe, an answer that earns him a big hug from both Maggie and Beth this time, because, I don't know what I'd do without my girls.

Rick and Glenn finding Daddy safe, Beth says, and then Maggie; That's mine, too.

I find myself with a hundred new answers, too. The moment Jacqui and I kicked up all them butterflies outta the grass as we ran to the house, after she told me my Daddy was alive. The morning Maggie made us scrambled eggs and tea for breakfast. All them times I shared a peach with someone while we sat in the sun. Lori making that joke about Maggie and Glenn being in love, and how I gagged at it back then. I can't forget about the time Carl hugged me as I cried, as Dad cut my hair, as I petted a cow's nose or fed a chicken.

All the little things and the big things, but also all the sad things. In a way, I'm grateful for them, too.

If Jacqui was here, or Sophia, or Momma or Meemaw, or my cousins, who could be anywhere by now, dead or alive, or Morales or Eliza or Louis or Miranda, who I ain't sure if I'll ever see again, or even our dog Tank, I like to think they'd be grateful for me, too.

'I told you, didn't I?,' Herschel smiles. 'No better present.'

After that — After Glenn starts to tear up and we all tease him for it — We decide to wrap it up for the night.

'I love you guys,' He blubbers, like we didn't already know, like we haven't almost died for each other a hundred times over.

Okay, buddy, Dad's saying, reaching to pat his shoulder.

'I think it's time to turn in.'

Beth covers her mouth as she yawns. 'Yeah. I'm so tired.'

'Tell me if anybody sees Santa Claus,' T-Dog says non-committedly.

'I'm going to grab the blankets and pillows from upstairs.' Rick announces, standing up. 'Who's on first watch? Me?'

I'll do it, My Dad offers, letting Maggie comfort Glenn, but he's turned down.

He was frostbitten from head to toe only yesterday. I wouldn't let him out there, neither.

I can do it, T-Dog decides, and that's that. 'Maybe it'll be me that sees him.'

No fair, Carl whines.

Rick leaves and brings back down a whole bunch of bedding that he plops on the floor, giving everyone free reign to pick out what they want as T makes himself scarce. I pull out a small pillow and what must be a toddler's blanket, letting Dad help me get settled on the sofa. I lay with my head against one arm rest, Carl resting his against the other. Both our Dads tuck us in.

'Goodnight,' He signs to me, knelt just beside the sofa. 'You still hungry or thirsty?'

I shake my head, yawning. 'Just sleepy.'

'You were very brave today.' He tells me, earnest eyes boring into mine. 'Not many kids would do what you did.'

'I just wanted to help Lori and the baby.'

'I know. They got a better chance, now.'

'Does that mean I get to name the baby?'

He smirks a little bit. 'We'll see.'

I glimpse Beth muttering to Hershel over Dad's shoulder, sharing a big blanket. I sign, 'Would Momma be proud, too?'

His face falls. The words hit him right in the heart, a poisonous bolt. All he says is, 'Yes.'

'Good,' I manage to reply, right before my eyes start to droop closed.

'Goodnight,' He signs again.

Placing a kiss to my cheek, my Dad pulls back and lays his own blanket down on the floor in front of me, laying facing the fire.

Rick was right. This is a Hell of a lot better than those garages back in Newnan.

I would like to help T-Dog spot Santa, I really would, but I just can't stay awake even one moment longer.

I'm being shaken gently.

Groaning, I open my eyes. Dad's face is inches from mine, all the windows behind him filled with grey daylight.

Adjusting the crossbow on his shoulder, he signs, 'Good morning.'

'Good morning.'

Sitting up, I groggily take in the sight of the group still laid out across the room, fast asleep. All except for Dad, and also Rick and Carl. I see them standing in the archway, both dressed for the snow just like Dad is, whispering to each other.

'Get your coat,' Dad says, and before I get the chance to ask what's going on; 'We're going searching for presents.'

We're what?!

After waking Glenn and putting him on watch, the four of us set out into the neighbourhood. The sun slowly rises from behind the falling snow, eclipsing the roofs of the houses around us and washing the morning in a soft, pink and yellow hue. It's quiet, peaceful, just how it always is before the day fully starts. Carl, Mouse, and I are rowdily running down the sidewalk, disturbing it all.

It's Christmas. According to us, it's Christmas, and ain't nobody here to tell us otherwise!

Dad and Rick follow after us until we make it to the park, the two oldies totally left in our dust as we make a beeline for the playground and pounce on the metal merry-go-round. It's been so long since I went on one of these. It feels like we're breaking a rule, a rule that nobody said aloud, but we ain't. Our Dads told us loud and clear that today, we're allowed to do whatever we want.

I'll spin us, Carl's laughing as he pushes on one of the handles, Mouse wisely standing back.

I still remember to hold on tight. Here we go!

Once he's picked up enough speed, he makes a jump for the platform. He skids around like a drunk, landing on his ass. He hugs the closest handle. The world spins into a multi-coloured smear. I just can't stop laughing, not even if I tried.

As the ride slows down, it feels like I'm 'bouta hurl up all that salami I ate last night.

Again!, I shout.

The next time we come to a stop, we round on the sight of Dad and Rick standing off to the side, watching us.

'Wanna get pushed?,' My Dad asks us, nodding to the swings.

I jump off the platform. 'Yes!'

Rick effortlessly peels the dead walker I saw yesterday offa the seat, throwing it aside and helping me on. I'on know how long we swing for, but the warm, pink sun spills and spills between the trees until it's on my face, making me forget the cold.

Spring is right around the corner, now.

This whole nightmare is almost over. I can just tell.

One of these days, the sun will crest the horizon and the snow just won't come.

It doesn't take long for us to make it back to town square.

'Where should we start?', Rick asks.

'I want to look in Petey's,' I answer right away, pointing to the storefront. 'But Carl can't come.'

Obviously, it's because I'm gonna be picking something out for him, which is why he starts giggling when Dad translates.

Rick ruffles the boy's hair, nudging him in the opposite direction. 'It's a plan. We'll search over here.'

'There's a toy store that way,' Dad adds helpfully.

'We'll check it out. Good luck.'

'Good luck. Watch out for elves.'

He laughs a bit as I whistle for Mouse, who runs after us. 'We will.'

Passing barrels of wrinkled flowers, Dad sticks his fingers between the automatic glass doors and forces them open, pulling his crossbow down as they roll apart on the tracks. Out of the darkness, a human-shaped shadow stumbles toward us.

It drops to the floor before it can even open its mouth.

Lowering his crossbow, Dad nods me forward, tugging his bolt outta the walker's wet face.

Look around, He says, wiping the blood off on his thigh.

The first thing I check is the comic section, of course. I'm hoping they got the series Carl likes, the one with the kick-ass astronauts and the evil aliens on the cover that I can't remember the name of. Captain Noel and the Astronauts, or something like that. I read it just the other week while he was dozed off, just to see what all the fuss was about. Weren't hard to see why he likes it.

As I step over a fallen sale sign, Mouse sniffs around the shelves, skulking around the corner.

Approaching the display stand, I skip right over the magazines and check out the comics, flicking through the covers. There's pictures of supervillain scientists, monsters, ninjas in impossible poses, wielding metal stars. They's all dumb-looking, so I'm sure Carl would eat them up like hot cakes for breakfast, but I really want the alien one. He been after the next volume since we met him.

There's a tap on my shoulder.

Hm?

Glancing up at Dad, I watch as he pulls a comic down from the highest rack, holding it out for me to see.

Captain Nate and the Awesome Eight, The quirky logo reads. 

Grabbing it up like it might disappear before my eyes, I feel the pages crinkle under my fingers. This is the one!

Volume Four, It says at the bottom. The final mission.

I hold up three fingers to Dad.

Understanding, he flips through the comics again before handing me the third volume.

I take it, hugging them both to my chest before signing, 'These are for Carl. He loves them.'

'Really? I thought they were for Beth.'

Pssh. He ain't funny. 'Let's keep looking. We need something for her, too!'

He puts the comics in my backpack for me, following me around the store to continue our hunt for the perfect presents.

For Beth, I find a couple bottles of nail polish in the tiny makeup display, throwing in a black tube-thing that reads, Mascara, along with them for Lori, or maybe for Maggie. I ain't sure. I ask Dad what he thinks, but he got even less of a clue than I do.

I decide to throw in a second tube and some eyeshadow thingies just to be safe.

For Rick and Herschel, we decide on a pair of woolly socks for each of them. You just can't go wrong with socks.

When we find some shirts with silly phrases on them, I know instantly that they would be perfect for Glenn and T-Dog.

Lastly, Dad makes us grab a bunch of random things that we need, like canned food and lighters, before we turn into the pet aisle. Mouse is there, nosing a package of tennis balls along the floor. He looks confused when they roll under the shelves. I crouch down, pulling them back out. It looks like he found his own present. He watches me stash them in my bag, pink tongue lolling happily. 

On our way out, I pass by the rack again, stealing a girly magazine off it that I think Carol will like.

Carl and Rick meet us back on the street, both their backpacks suspiciously fatter than they were the last time we saw them.

'How'd it go?'

Good, Rick says, as Carl tries to get a peek inside my bag. 'Want to swap?'

Before the boy gets to close, I fend him off, giggling as he wrestles me.

'Sure.' Dad pulls him offa me. 'Hard to get a present for your kid when they're right beside you.'

'Exactly.' Rick chuckles, offering his hand to me.

I take it, blowing a raspberry at Carl's back as he walks off with my Dad in the opposite direction.

The store Rick and I check out is the record store, Jameson's Jams, just across the way. After he scopes the place out, coming up empty, it's safe for us to go in. The smell of dust and plastic swarms us I look around at the tubs of record sleeves and CDs.

'It used to be tidy in here,' I sign to him, even though he could prolly guess that.

The doors close behind him, shutting the snow out.

' Did you go here often?'

'All the time.' I meander up to the nearest bin. 'My parents loved music.'

As I pick up an edgily-decorated sleeve that catches my eye, Rick steps up to my side.

'Something tells me their music taste clashed,' He jokes. 'Am I right?'

No. 'They both had bad taste.'

Scoffing, I throw the sleeve back, walking around to the other side of the tubs.

Chuckling to himself, he glances down at the record I'd been holding. It fits my Dad to damn T. I don't take it with me, though, because we ain't got no way to play it. It'd just be a waste of space, so I crack open a CD instead, taking out the paper.

Tossing the useless part back in the bin, I look up to see Rick already looking at me.

He's frowning, his brown hair poking out from underneath his beanie, curled over his faint wrinkles.

'What?,' I gesture impatiently.

What's he want?

I hate to admit it, but there's a little stain of bitterness left inside me after what he did to my Momma's photo.

It weren't like it was on purpose, but it didn't have to be.

'I'm sorry,' He signs, the tubs separating us by at least ten feet feeling more like a hundred.

'It's okay,' I brush it off. 'I'm not mad at you.'

'I know. Trust me, I can tell when you're mad at me,' He smiles for a fleeting moment. 'I'm apologising, anyway.'

'That was the only photo I had of her, you know.'

'I know.'

'Her name was Lindsey.'

'I know. Your Dad talks to me about her, sometimes.'

'Why did you throw it?'

He pauses, picking at a sticker on the wood before fessing up, 'Shane makes me angry, honey. I was angry. I threw it.'

'Angry? Not sad?'

'No. Not sad.' He shakes his head. 'We were all past that when we saw the truck leaving the farm.'

'He gave me the locket. My Dad threw it away the night you burned the photo.'

'Yes, I know. He talked to me about that, too.'

'He did?'

'He was going to let you keep it.'

'Why didn't he?'

'You know why.'

Yeah. I do. I don't even know why I asked that. He threw it away for the same reason I'm not allowed to talk about Ronnie.

Rick changes the subject, the tension in his shoulders melting away as he signs, 'Thank you. Again.'

'For the hospital?'

He nods. 'You were brave.'

'Dad said the same thing.'

'It's true. Even I would have been scared, and I'm thirty-four years old.'

'You're never scared.'

'I'm scared all the time.' I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to say that. I wait until he says something else. 'Thank you.'

Hell. He shouldn't make me laugh like that. I'mma breathe in all this dust. 'You're worse than Glenn.'

'What do you mean?'

'You can't stop saying 'Thank you'. He can't stop saying 'Sorry'. Feet hurt. Sorry. My ears ring. Sorry. It's funny.'

'He's sensitive,' Rick agrees fondly.

'I know. He cried last night.'

A muted chuckle. 'That's right. He did.'

As I look off to the side, something on the wall catches my eye.

Guitars. A lot of them.

Abandoning the piece of paper, I run over to them, stepping onto a chair and pulling down an electric guitar.

Rick is eye-level with me when he comes over. 'Your Dad said he knows how to play.'

Nodding, I give the strings a dramatic thrum.

It must be painful, going by the way Rick looks like he's just heard nails going down a chalkboard.

I can't help but laugh, turning to hook it back up. Like the record and the CD, it would just be a waste of space. Electric guitars don't sound so good if you don't got anything to plug them into. Acoustic ones, however, they're perfect anywhere.

Hopping onto to the next chair over, I pull down a classically wooden guitar, cold to the touch. 

When I strum this one, Rick gives a thumbs up. It'll need tuning, but that's a piece of cake.

Jumping down, I have a thought.

'How the Hell do we hide this from him?'

He looks the thing up and down. 'We might have to give it to him now.'

Aw. 'That's not as fun.'

'How about this — You hide behind me. When we see him, you jump out. Is that fun?'

Hmmm. 'Okay. Let's do that!'

Carl's a lot harder to appease than I am, which must be the reason Rick lets out a little sigh of relief. 'Great.'

'It needs a shoulder strap,' I decide, grabbing one from the rack nearby and ripping it outta the plastic. I try to figure it out, turning it over to get a good look, but then I just pass it off to Rick's mittened hands. 'You know how to put it on?'

'Let me try.' He accepts the challenge, kneeling in front of the guitar.

Buttoning each end of the leather strap to the metal attachments, it looks like he's got it.

He hands it back, raising his brows at me. 'Remember to jump out. We have to get him to crap his pants.'

'It's a plan.'

Before we meet back up, we stop by the thrift store next door so that Rick can grab the shirt he'd had in mind for Carl, a simple thing with a superhero he likes on the chest. As we leave through the front doors, Rick herds me in behind his back.

We're only waiting in town square for a minute or two before he signals me that they're coming over.

When I feel the time is right, I jump out!

Rahh!

Dad don't quite crap his pants, but his eyes do widen ever so slightly. In Dixon terms, he's chilled to the bone.

My back-up man watches on, laughing.

I hold out the guitar once the moment's passed, hoping it's obvious that this is his Christmas present.

Woah, breathes Carl as my Dad takes it carefully, Mouse's tail batting around wildly at his ankle.

We watch as he drags his thumb down the strings, remembering what it feels like. Slowly, he starts to smile.

Looking up at me, he seems very, very pleased. 'Thank you. I love it.'

'Merry Christmas!'

'We knew we couldn't hide it from you,' Rick explains, 'So we scared you instead.'

'Did it work?'

Dad nods, frowning as he mouths the word, Terrifying, before kneeling to wrap me in a hug. I kiss his cheek.

'Did you get everything you wanted?'

Nodding again, Dad stands and passes the guitar to Rick, seeing as he's already wearing his crossbow.

Pulling it on, Rick nods in the direction we came from. 'Let's head back, then.'

We make it only five feet before we notice Carl isn't following us.

Looking back at him, he points at the parking lot across the street.

We follow his finger.

Across the street, the lonely bike with the streamers still lays there in the snow, next to a couple other bikes.

We glance between each other, a glint of something cheeky in our eyes.

We're all thinking the same thing, ain't we?

It's a long walk, anyways.

Who the Hell bikes in the snow, is what a sensible person would ask themselves as they saw us race past their house.

We do!, is what I'd shout back at them.

We're zooming down the streets of Sharpsburg like we're late for a wedding, the most ridiculous sight the apocalypse ever did see. Rick, taking the lead just like always, with a guitar bumping around on his back as he pumps the peddles of a pink bike. Carl on the little one, its rainbow streamers blowing out on either side of him without a care in the world. Mouse, sprinting to keep up.

He's going so fast; I think his ears might just fly off and smack me in the face!

It's a challenge to not fall off the handlebars of Dad's bike just from laughing so hard.

I clutch onto it harder as we crest over the top of a hill. Rick goes flying down first, then Carl. Dad wraps an arm around my stomach, hugging me to his chest as we both laugh against each other. We're next. My stomach lurches. My toes go numb. Then we're free-falling, and the tyres are shaking beneath us and the handlebars are jiggling all over the place, the wind racing past us.

Sucking in a deep breath, I let out a shriek of, Wuh-Hooooooo!

My heart's beating outta my chest like when a walker's got me in its grasp, when I feel most alive.

Whatever day I've said is the best day of my life — This is it, now. Hands down.

Rick reaches the bottom first, doing a fancy little skid in the snow and glancing over his shoulder at us to see our reaction.

Carl gives him a thumbs down, making him laugh as he turns back around.

The hill flattens out into more suburbia.

We slow down to a more leisurely pace for the rest of the ride back, and simply enjoy the morning together, trailing the sidewalks like a bunch of kids. The sun is well into the sky now, shining through the frigid air without any clouds to cover it up.

When I spot the house in the distance, I'm almost sad.

As we pull into the driveway, bumping over the curb, Glenn stands from his seat on the porch steps.

Hey, guys, He's laughing, perplexed.

Rick answers him with a few flicks of his bell, braking to a stop.

Where'd you go?, He asks, as I jump down from the handlebars.

Carl dumps his bike on the ground and holds up his backpack, shouting, Presents!

He gawks. No shit?

No shit!, He exclaims, running straight past him and up the porch.

I catch Rick sharing a funny look with my Dad, but he lets the swear word go. It's that type of day.

The adrenaline-high don't leave my body even as I follow everyone inside the house, stepping into the busy lounge room. We're greeted by the rest of our group, who are more than awake by now, hugging us as we come through the archway. They're completely beaming. It's obvious. They've heard the great news — We went out in the early morning to do Santa's bidding, for no other reason than because we managed to live long enough to, and because we deserve it. For once, we can ignore everything else and it'll all be okay.

Shrugging off my backpack, I set it down on the coffee table. Carol and Herschel tidy away the empty snack packs as Dad, Rick, and Carl set theirs down, too. Everybody's eyeing the bags excitedly, tryna see if they can make out the goodies inside.

'You guys are sneaky,' T grins, wide enough to show off the gap between his two front teeth. 'Sneaky!'

'Where did you go?!,' Maggie wants to know.

She lounges back on the sofa, Mouse jumping into her lap.

'Town square.' Rick's looking livelier than he has all Winter; all year, maybe. 'We left while you were all asleep.'

T seems to have an epiphany. 'It's you guys!'

'What?,' He asks.

'You're Santa!'

Realizing the man is pulling our legs, Rick rolls his eyes.

Carl goes on to ramble all about our adventures. By the way he's miming it all out, I can tell he ain't leaving out our visit to the playground. Everyone's watching him with nothing but joy in their eyes, adding comments here and there, laughing.

When Beth notices the guitar, my Dad proudly shows it off to the room.

'Harley found it,' He signs, reigning everyone back in, reminding them to use signs. 'Pretty, ain't it?'

Herschel turns to look at me. 'What a wonderful, wonderful gift.'

'I got more,' I tease, giving my backpack a tempting wiggle. I can't wait to give out the rest of the presents!

'Let's just get right into it then, right?,' Rick suggests. 'Go crazy.'

That's all the permission anyone needs.

As the three of them open their backpacks and start handing out presents left and right, I get to opening mine.

The first things I pull out are the stupid shirts for Glenn and T-Dog, walking over to them and putting them in their hands. Maggie's laughing her ass off as they hold them up to their chests, cluelessly peering down at the text. I step back to admire my work. Sorry I'm late, T's shirt reads, and Hell, it's even funnier than I imaged it would be, I was doing my hair! I think he's laughing something like, You little punk, before he glances over at Glenn's to see the damage. I'm with stupid, His says, except the arrow is pointing at his face.

Aw Hell naw!, T-Dog unabashedly laughs.

'Put them on!,' I demand, taking the fabric in my hands. Glenn helps me out, pulling it over what he's already wearing and straightening it out so the message is on full display. T-Dog does the same thing, even if he does call me a punk again.

'How do we look?,' Glenn asks me and Maggie when they're done, giving a stiff twirl.

'Don't answer that,' T-Dog says.

I give Maggie her gift next, the Mascara. She plants a kiss on my cheek and pulls me in for a tight hug, releasing me so I can head over to the other ladies. Carol gratefully takes the magazine, Lori and Beth Oohing and Aahing over the makeup.

It's no 'Electric Spring Citrus', but Beth still seems very touched by the bottle of yellow polish.

Next, I pull out the tennis balls. Boy, does that get Mouse's attention. I rip off the seal, sending them all bouncing across the living room floor, almost tripping some people over. Mouse darts after this one and that one, chasing them all over the place as I hand the socks to Herschel and Rick. They're both delighted, taking turns giving me a hug. We was right. Ya can't go wrong with socks.

'Carl and your Dad have something for you,' Rick tells me as he pulls away, pointing over to them.

I tap Carl on the shoulder, and when the two of them turn around and realize me, his face lights up.

Harley!, He's exclaiming.

He digs through his bag and holds out my two presents. 

'Thank you!,' I sign, taking them. Oh, wow. A diary and a packet of colored pencils. I don't gotta squeeze my thoughts into the margins, no more. I got fresh, blank pages, enough to prolly last me a whole year. Giving Carl a hug, I hold up a finger; Wait.

Reaching into my backpack and feeling out the comics, I pause just to be dramatic, before I pull them out for him to see. His jaw drops as he snatches them up. All them months hearing him complain, and watching him read the same volume over and over, makes it all the more satisfying to see him flick through the pages, realizing with mounting horror that it's everything he dreamt of.

Thank you, He's shouting, Thank you!

'Wanna see what I got you?,' Dad says next. 'You can both play with it, but it's for you, okay?'

'Okay! Show me!'

Carl and I crouch down with him as he unzippers his backpack. What he pulls out is not like anything I would've expected.

A big, flat white box with a photo on the front of some kids kicking a soccer ball into a little pop-up goal in the sun.

'Can't play soccer without a goal.' He smirks as I take the box in my hands, ready to tear it open with my teeth if I gotta.

They both help me pick the tape off the cardboard, pulling it open and turning the whole thing upside down. The goal slides out. Having finally been broken out of the confines of its box, it immediately springs into shape, almost smacking us all in the face.

Dodging it with a laugh, I exclaim, 'Thank you, Dad!' 

'Do you like it?,' He asks.

'I love it! How do we set it up?'

Looking about, he finds a small baggie of metal stakes that fell out with it, and a page of instructions.

I lean in closer to take a peek as he skims over them, but it all looks simple enough.

'Easy,' He decides. 'We can set it up in the front yard, yeah?'

'Yeah. I'm gonna smoke you both so bad.'

Dad thwacks my arm with the piece of paper. 'Hey. Who said I'm playing?'

'Oh. So, you're scared.' I nod empathetically, feeling smug. 'That's okay. I'm rusty, too.'

'Seriously?'

'I only won three medals when I was in school.'

'I'm old, kid. I'm in my thirties. I'm pretty much dead.'

'Loud and clear. You're scared of losing.'

He rolls his eyes. 'You're a brat. Don't cry when you lose.'

'I've never cried in my life, Dad. Ask Carl.'

As soon as he passes on the question, Carl levels me with the most, Get serious, expression I ever seen in my life.

Whatever. 'I'll still win!'

'We'll see,' He says as I glance at the rest of the group.

'This was so thoughtful of you guys,' Maggie signs from her seat on the sofa, doing that little pout she does.

With all the presents handed out, I take my time looking around the room. T and Glenn are still wearing their t-shirts, of course. If I could have it my way, they wouldn't ever wear anything else. It looks like Rick and Carl gifted Glenn a magazine about race cars, and T-Dog a flashy, gold chain necklace that he manages to make look cool. Lori and Herschel are wearing new matching jackets, the material purple and puffy. They look like father and daughter, sitting there like that, Lori's head resting on the old man's shoulder. Beside them, Carol's blowing air onto Beth's painted nails, while Mouse lays on the floor, gnawing at the tennis ball he must've decided is his favorite.

And Rick. He's not pouring over a map. He's not frowning to himself as he cleans a gun. He's not snapping at one of us to, Stop that, We need to stay focused. He's just smiling faintly next to Glenn, refusing to reveal to anyone this was all his idea.

'I'm just glad there's no wrapping paper to clean up this year,' He chuckles, looking at Lori.

The woman smirks, shaking her head. Bad memories, I guess.

'Every year,' He continues, gesturing to an invisible pile in his lap, 'We would end up with this much.'

'You're not the only ones.' T-Dog scoffs, like this is a lifelong issue he's faced.

'Oh, yeah. You were a garbage man, weren't you?,' Glenn remembers.

'Minimum wage, brother,' He agrees, bringing the pizza-boy in for a bro-hug.

'What have you got there, Harley?,' Maggie asks as they pull apart.

'A soccer goal,' I excitedly answer, before holding up Rick and Carl's presents. 'And a diary and pencils!'

'I don't want you to think it's for schoolwork with Lori,' Rick says. 'Carl just told me he's seen you journalling.'

'I love it,' I shake my head. 'Thank you.'

That bitterness that I'd been feeling toward him, it disappears just as quickly as it came.

'You haven't been writing anything bad about me, have you?,' Glenn asks threateningly.

'Just a little bit,' I shrug.

'She's a brat, isn't she?,' My Dad jokes.

'She's a total brat.'

'Hey! I don't like you, either.'

'Well, Merry Christmas, everyone.' Maggie says to wrap things up. 'Time to take this outside. We got a game to play.'

'Sounds like it,' Rick agrees.

'Come on.' Dad stands back up, grabbing the soccer goal and the stakes.

Jumping up and pulling on Maggie's sleeve, I exclaim up at her, 'We should be on the same team!'

'Girl power,' She agrees, frowning stubbornly as we descend the porch steps.

Mouse goes running out into the snow with his tennis ball. Dad heads over to the fence, setting down the goal and pushing the stakes through the rubber loops to secure it to the ground. I tell him I hope he did a good job of it, because me and Maggie are gonna be making every goal we shoot for. It's Dad and Carl versus us two girls, so the competition is even fiercer. We gotta win!

'We got this,' Maggie goads as T-Dog takes up the goalie position.

Carol pumps her fist in the air. 'Let's go, girls!'

Everyone starts cheering us on as Maggie kicks the ball straight over to me. The game's begun! I stop it with my foot, watching as she skirts around Dad, shouting for me. I boot it back to her at just the right moment, running forwards.

Maggie dukes Dad, left, right, left, before she kicks it right between his feet and back to me.

I stop it again with my foot.

Carl's on me, suddenly. He tries to use his foot to steal the ball away from me, but I don't let him!

Keeping him at arm's length, I line up my shot with the goal. I've done it a million times before. What's one more!

I rear my foot back, and—!

T-Dog's far too big and slow to see it coming. The ball shoots right past him — Goal! — and crashes into the meshing.

'Point for the girls,' Rick announces from the sidelines.

Maggie runs up to me, grabbing my hands and squealing happily, with the boys sulking together in the background.

We end up winning. There's a few close calls here and there, but we're just too quick on our feet for them to really get any smooth moves in. As the winning goal is made by Maggie, Carl stomps his foot into the snow, complaining, Aww, man!

We use every last bit of energy we have left in us to play for the rest of the morning. For once, not just for getting out of bed, or making it through the day. We manage to get a couple more rounds of soccer in before somebody throws a snowball at my Dad while he's trying to kick a goal, and then it all devolves into a snowball fight. There's no teams or rules; just clumps of snow flying across the yard, people falling over, Rick laughing, and Glenn getting dogpiled to the ground until Dad has to come and rescue him from us.

Nobody's really winning, but I don't think anyone's keeping count, anyway. Nobody's losing, either.

Except maybe Carl, when he tanks a snowball directly to the face.

I gasp. Youch!

He wipes it off with a grin, scurrying off to start preparing some returning fire.

I hurry to join him behind the wall of snow, bulking up my snowball before launching it at one of the adults.

It hits Glenn in the jaw. He lurches; falls onto his ass.

Me and Carl share a high five!

To think I was dreading coming back to this town, when it's actually given me one of the best days of my life.

Is it bad I'm happy the world ended?

Probably, but I don't care.

FIVE MONTHS LATER.

I can hear light birdsong in the trees.

We've stopped again, on some highway or other. I'on know. They all look the same to me. Grey road, winding up a hill, flanked on both sides by a strip of dirt and twigs. While the others get outta the cars, slamming their doors shut and grouping together to discuss what's next, I turn my head away from them and gaze out the passenger side window. The sun warms my face. I remember back during the Wintertime; we hardly ever saw the sun. Hell. That was forever ago. Nowadays, we been fending off heatstroke, feels like.

I close my eyes, relishing in the sounds around me. Leaves brushing, idle engines rumbling.

There are a lot of moments like this for me, where I'll just ignore what everyone else is doing and listen. I'll listen to anything. The car radio, if anybody's got it playing, even if it's a song I don't like. A river flowing. A deer trilling. It's the best part of my day.

"We got nowhere else to go," Herschel's suddenly saying, and then I'm opening my eyes again.

The group is gathered around the hood of the car I'm sat up in, splaying a map out for them to study.

"When this herd meets up with this one," Maggie points, "We'll be cut off. We'll never make it South."

"What'd you say it was? About 150 head?" Dad estimates.

"That was last week." Glenn's shaking his head, squinting against the sun. "It could be twice that by now."

I've heard this exact conversation about thirty times over by now.

That herd from last year; It's thawed and split into two, and neither are getting any smaller. The more they walk, the more they pick up. It's how it's always gone. They been following us, and we been running. That's how that's always gone, too.

We had a couple places we holed up for a while. Sharpsburg served us well while it lasted, but we had to move, eventually.

Now, we're back on the run.

"The river could've delayed them," Herschel suggests. "If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through here."

"Yeah, but if that group joins with that one, they could spill out this way."

"So, we're blocked."

We're always blocked, I want to tell Maggie. You know this by now.

In moments like these, I think back to the day we had that snowball fight and try to remember what everyone's smiles looked like.

"Only thing to do is double back at 27," Rick says, "And swing back this way."

Rick's different. For Rick, I think back to the bike ride.

T-Dog's getting frustrated. "We picked through that place, already. It's like we spent the past five months going in circles."

"Yeah, I know. I know."

"Is this what we're doing, then?"

When Rick nods, T-Dog asks him, "Is it alright if we head down to the river to fill up on water, then?"

"Sure. Knock yourself out," He says as they disperse, Maggie rolling up the map.

Herschel whispers something to Rick, then, and I can't quite catch it. My hearing aids ain't that good, but I know it's about Lori because they glance over at her in the car behind me. It's probably the, She can't keep doing this, conversation. Like always, Rick's wiping his sweaty forehead, bullshitting his way through an answer, and like always, Herschel is patient with him. They know he's right.

Lori's about to burst, way her stomach's been looking these days. She's gonna give birth any day now.

I'm just glad she got better and stayed better.

That was a nasty sickness.

Herschel leaves Rick to think about what he's said, making an opening for Dad to ask him to go hunting.

I'm surprised when he turns to me. "You wanna come, chicken?"

There's that Southern twang I once forgot the sound of.

'Come hunting with you?,' I sign, just outta habit. Sometimes, my voice is just too loud for me to bare.

"Yeah. You can stretch yer legs a little. How 'bout it?"

Not wanting to spend one more second in this car, I agree by opening the door and jumping onto the tarmac.

He whistles for Mouse, and then we're walking into the treeline.

"Carl says it was blue, but the boy's blind," I ramble to Rick as we walk along the train tracks, keeping an eye out for animals.

"Between the pair'a ya," Dad muses from in front of us. "You almost make a full vegetable."

"Shut up, Daddy. You ain't funny."

He snickers a little before facing forward again, crossbow at the ready. "Sure I ain't."

"Anyway." I sigh as he pushes a leafy branch outta the way. Rick ducks under it, and then me. "Like I's sayin'—"

When I look up, the sight that greets me has all words dying on my tongue. I slowly catch up with Dad and Rick, who have also completely forgotten about the story I was telling. It weren't very interesting, anyway. Something about a frog Carl and I found the other day. The sun beats down on us as we look out over the sheer drop just in front of us, and at the rolling, green hills in the distance.

Well, I'll be goddamned.

That right there is a whole ass prison.

End Notes.

Okay that's it. I cannot edit this chapter any longer. What's done is done!!

WE ARE FINALLY IN SEASON 3 !! It only took a year and 28 chapters.

I'm very glad to be back in canon again, but writing Christmas with the group was so fun. Also very glad to be able to write Daryl's accent and slang properly again haha. It just didn't translate into sign language. I know some of you will also be relieved that we're not using it much anymore.

As always, I really hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading! Until next time! 💙 :)

[yanderederee]

Nerds are Cute

March5th, 2004

Nav:Start! › here! › after!

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Academics has always been somewhat easy for you for as long as you can remember, earning high scores on most every subject. There wasn’t a lot as to why, it was just how it was. 

So meeting Keisuke Baji, who had the exact opposite problem, was a bit of a curve ball. Sure, you’ve tutored probably half of the class by this point in one subject or another, but for him to have such awful scores in every single subject? 

Still, you put on a smile as the dark haired boy handed you back the paper you’d scribbled some practice questions (as well as examples that mimicked said questions in a way so he could relate back to). Skimming over the paper, the crude handwriting next to your own was a little funny, but you hold back the giggle. How could you joke with the boy when he was staring so intensely at you, begging to whichever gods he could that he did something right. 

His expression only falters further the longer you stare. “Dammit…” He cursed to himself and ruffled his neatly slicked back hair. “No, no! You did better this time!” You reassured softly, laying the paper in between the two of you as you take out a red pen from your supplies.

“You actually almost got all of them right! You just forgot this part here…” You pointed to one of your examples, tracing it back to the answer he’d given. “Just keep in mind that …”

You couldn't read his expression well, given the glare of his large glasses. But if you had to guess, the raised eyebrow and deepened frown showed ‘I still don't get it’. 

Careful not to sigh or get impatient with the poor guy, you catch his attention to look back up at you, and instead give him a big grin. “Hey, stop all that! You’ll get the hang of it soon enough!” He didn’t seem too impressed, but the displeased expression from before had lifted. Baji didn’t have a lot to contribute when it came to the subject, so he just shrugged, and listened to you explain where his misunderstanding tripped him up. 

…

“Sorry for keeping you out so late again,” Baji sighed, looking away when you batted your eyes curiously up at him. Dredging the walk back to your respective homes, he apologizes in a quiet tone. “I’ll work hard so you won’t have to in the future.”

You finally let out a laugh, accidentally elbowing the nerdy looking boy a little harder than intended.  “I don’t mind! I’m usually bored out of my mind at home anyway, I like being out late.” You reassured once again, earning a little quip of his brow. “Your folks not on your case about showing up late?” He asked, recalling his mom chewing him out the last time he’d returned at three in the morning. 

You stifle a nervous chuckle, as it was your turn to shrug. “Nah… Theyy… Usually work late.” The answer sounded like a lie, but it was the truth. It just wasn’t something you talked about much. In fact, you never did talk much about yourself.

Sensing the awkward air surrounding the question, Baji didn’t have much interest in probing. “I get that. My mom used to work long hours too.” He talked, stretching his arms behind his neck. Once coming across a cross section, you notice your paths were soon to divert. “Ah, well, I’ll see you tomorrow!” You chirped at Baji, but faltered when you noticed he shifted to walk your direction again. 

“It’s late, not really safe to walk home alone.” He explained upon your questionless tilt of the head. 

Sure, it was the gentlemanly thing to do, but it still made your heart flutter. Usually when he kept you at school past sundown, he seemed far too distracted, and ran to wherever he had to be in a hurry after they got to the school gate. “Oh, uh, thanks!” You smiled, catching up to him with a few sped up steps. “I’ve been hearing rumors about some gangsters roaming around at night.” 

You had only intended to keep up the conversation, but Baji seemed to give an overly nervous shrug at your comment. “Yeah well the rumors are true, so try to avoid walkin’ alone when it's dark.” He said, almost like a warning, but almost like a plea. 

“My, aren’t you considerate.” You giggled at the gentle pink that crossed what little features you could see. “Well, I appreciate it. It does get a little creepy sometimes.” You admitted sheepishly, earning Baji to look at you with a characteristically unreadable look. “How far down are ya?” He asked, looking down the rather long path. You were right, it was creepy, especially after the sun made its descent. 

Had Baji been a weaker willed individual, he might have shuddered at how eerie the quiet could be. “Mmmm, at the end of the road, I turn right, walk a little more, take a left, and it's only a few paces past that.” You considered the route in your head. “Usually about a 20 minute walk, give or take.” You shrugged. 

Baji never took into consideration how long it’d take him to make the trip from home to school, but he started thinking maybe he should, given he has no idea if a 20 minutes route was normal or not. The conversation died a little while he thought about that to himself, you looking down at your shoes as you two walked. 

However, just as you’d reached the end of the long strip of road, instead of turning right, as you’d instructed, you halted, turning your attention to the left. Noticing your pause, Baji turned around and tilted his head, waiting for you wordlessly. “Do… you hear that?” You whispered, eyes narrowing as you took a step to the left, careful not to make too much noise. 

Instantly, Baji’s mind renders danger. Quickly, in three long strides, he’s in front of you, listening intently. 

And as the quiet took over again, something soft peaked in his ears. Looking at each other in urgency, you both seem to understand the source. You were the first to break out into a run, Baji following only a few steps behind. 

Just as you two had predicted, a scared, long mewl dragged across the night. “Poor thing…” You gasped gently, and bent to inspect the injured cat weakly trying to hiss away from your gentle touch. 

Baji’s heart squeezed with hurt when looking upon the poor feline. Its legs were definitely broken, both of its hind legs seeming puffy and limp. “Careful,” He instructed gently, bending close beside you as he reached out the knuckle of his pointer finger, waiting for the cat to smell and gently rub his cheek across it. 

He gave a soft smile to the poor creature, giving it a cautious pet, inspecting for any further injuries. Before he could have the chance, you found yourself stripping yourself of your cardigan, intending to wrap the cat with it. Baji looked over at your form, shock overtaking him once he noticed the tears streaming down your cheeks, a soft sob piercing something inside him. 

“D-do you know what you’re doing? I-I’ve never…” You drew out, sniffling with uncertainty. 

God, he really hated moments like these. He had no idea how to react in these situations, when people showed vulnerability around him. ‘What would mom do?’ seemed to be the first thing he thought, repeating exactly what he thought she’d do. 

Baji patted your back twice, and took the cardigan from your hands slowly. “Dunno, but anything’s better than leaving it here.” Wrapping the cat gently into the fabric, he gingerly pulled it into his arms, his heart squeezing sadly again when the action earned him a pained hiss. “I know, I know…” He whispered to the feline, looking at just how dirty the cat’s face was.  

“I-I have first aid at my house, b-but I don’t know where any vets are..” You mumbled while wiping the tears with the back of your hand, expression still showing intense sadness for the animal. 

“I can take him first thing in the morning,” it was his turn to reassure you now. “But we should really get the poor guy cleaned up as fast as possible.” 

Nodding with determination, you find yourself speed walking back the way you came. “Then let's hurry, please.” You pleaded almost not waiting for him to catch up as you showed the way.

Upon arrival, you invited Baji in hastily. Throwing off your shoes in one quick action, your bag dropped like trash, you hurry yourself to another part of the house.

‘Damn,’ Baji thought to himself, sweating a little once you declared the average, yet very well decorated house to be your own. ‘What the hell do her parents even do?’ While lost in thought, too uncomfortable in the new situation to move from the front entrance. 

You peek back, and give a cute pout when you see he hasn’t moved a step. Wait, did he just think cute? Quickly whipping it from his thoughts, the painted animal brought him back to reality. “Come on, I have some water running.” You announced, disappearing again. 

Nervously, Baji kicked off his shoes neatly, and carefully made his way to where you'd peaked out from. When was the last time he felt this nervous? Why was he nervous to begin with? He thought it might have had something to do with the fact that he still had on his glasses and his hair was still tied back uncomfortably. 

You two cared for the animal gently, taking your time so as to not hurt the poor thing any further. 

Once cleaned up and properly wrapped, Baji seemed to grow a darker expression, which again, you couldn’t quite see. “Baji?” You asked cautiously. 

“Her legs,” he spoke through his teeth, as though holding back something in him. “They were purposefully broken.” Baji had realized this only a few moments ago. A sharp gasp cut through your throat. “You mean… Someone.. Broke her legs…? B-but, Why?” You asked, almost losing your composure. 

“Some real sick bastards out there.” Baji stroked the cat affectionately. You’d made the cat a bed out of a throw pillow laying on the couch— the cardigan from before now in the wash and replaced with a sweater you'd taken out of the dryer. “I can take her back to my place so I can take her to the vet in the morning.” 

You nodded, expression still hurt as you also gave the tired kitty a rub on the chin. 

She was a pretty cat, a calico, maybe. But her hair was longer than the average calico, so maybe not. Still, her tri color fur dried with your aid, and her fluff seemed to put your mind at ease a bit. 

“C-can I give her a name?” You ask, perking at the thought. Baji shrugged. “I don’t care?” 

Thoughtfully, you continued to pet the pretty kitty, who lay in your classmate’s arms. 

“I’ve… Never named an animal before.” You admit with a laugh, the excitement of being able to do so blooming in your chest. Unsure of how to reply, Baji remained quiet as he looked at your kind expression. His heart squeezed itself again, without knowing why, this time. 

“Ah!” You softly gasped, a grin breaking out, a sparkle pairing in your eyes. 

“How about Sango?” You asked, as though the cat would respond. Fortunately for your innocent heart, the cat seemed to twitch its ears, lifting its head from its sleeping position against Baji’s chest. 

Flabbergasted at the response, your features beam with absolute joy. “I think she likes it?” You chirped, eyes seeing past Baji’s glasses for the first time. Completely taken aback, he feels his face get hot. “Y-yeah, I guess.”

Deciding that 10pm was late enough, you bid Baji a farewell, sending him off with a bag of oranges for the trouble. 

Once out of sight of your house, Baji lets out an exaggerated sigh, earning a purred ‘mrr?’ from Sango. 

“What the hell…” He grumbled to himself, tugging his long black locks out from the pony tail. You’d never seen him without his glasses and hair slicked back, and for some reason, he’s kept that up. It probably had something to do with how people seemed to be more willing to approach him that way.

Usually, his routine would consist of running out of the torture building that was school as soon as the bell rang, entertaining himself with his action manga, or Toman. While he was grateful for your efforts to keep him in good grades, once you’d given the go ahead, he was darting for the exit.

Today however, the Toman meetup had been rescheduled for whatever reason. He simply didn’t have anything to do, so he thought he might as well make sure the goody two shoes helping him made it home in one piece. Not that he’d ever considered the alternative before, but upon coming across Sango, he found himself thinking about it. 

The journey back home was quick, lost in thought for the majority of it. 

—

“Morning Baji!” You beamed with exaggerated enthusiasm, leaning against his desk. “How’s Sango?” You asked, the name feeling foreign still. 

Half asleep, Baji jerked his head upwards, glasses half way off his face to peeked a half lidded, unfocused brown eye. He’d spent the entire night stupidly overthinking, so much so that by the time the vet’s office had opened, bags had already formed. He mumbled, fixing himself and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Right, the cat.” He yawned, and leaned back in his seat, hands stuffed deep into his pockets. 

“Her legs are really busted up, they said. She probably won’t be able to walk again.” He recited, glancing over your distraught features. “But they have this uh, I guess like a cat wheelchair? ‘Said after they look over her for a few days they can see about letting her try it out.” 

Instantly flooded with relief, you sigh. “Thank goodness…” You whisper, the glossy sheen over your eyes not going unnoticed. “Oh! But vet appointments cost right? Please let me handle the cost.” You insisted, eyes peering into his once again. Why the hell do you do that, he looks away to hide the confusing feeling that was surely present on his face. 

“It wasn’t much, don’t s-” he was about to brush it off until he felt a sting on his forehead. Normally, he would sport a pissed off expression and yell at you, but knowing that wouldn’t do any good, he simply sat there bewildered. 

“Whatever, if you won’t tell me I’ll just reimburse accordingly.” You huffed, and while fumbling with your change purse, he was quick to stop you. “Don’t.” He said sternly, earning yet another cute pout— Again, why did he think that was cute? How lame.

“Look, really, it’s fine. I’ll help take responsibility.” He reassured again, earning a soft look from you. He found himself lost in your expression for a moment. “If you say so…” You mumbled, slowly retreating your coins. 

—

The school day went by without much other excitement. Though, Baji found himself growing increasingly annoyed as he simply could not focus on the teachings ahead. Mostly because they didn't make any sense, but partially because his gaze drifted from the board to the back of your head. You sat two rows in front of him, and one to the side on his left.

 He noticed the way you twirl your pencil in concentration.

The way you roll your neck every so often.

How when you found yourself stuck on something, that cute pouting expression would make itself known.

You wore your heart on your sleeve, for the most part. Watching you put his mind at ease. 

There was a spare moment of consideration to ask you to join him, Chifuyu, and Ryusei for lunch, but very quickly swatted the idea away.

He couldn’t get you associated with their questionable reputation for one, and it’d be awkward, for everyone. So, lunch went by as per usual, except Baji’s spaced out expression caught the attention of his two admirers. 

“What's up?” Chifuyu asked, nudging Baji in the shoulder, earning a surprised blink. “Nothing.” He shrugged off, focusing back on whatever junk Chifuyu had come back with from the dining hall. It almost would have been believable, too. “I dunno, you’ve kinda been out of it all day, you came in looking like a corpse man.” Ryusei vouched. “Somethin’ keep you up last night?” 

Baji groaned at their persistence, and barked back. “I said it’s nothin’ so drop it. Got caught up in this manga, that's all.” He huffed, considering walking back early to spare him any further teasing. Luckily, the two backed off. 

—

The school bell rang for its final toll, almost getting an excited reaction out of Baji when he realized that meant it would be just you two again before long. “Bajiiii~!” Ryusei sang as he swayed his arm around the nerdy looking boy. “Been a while since we last hung, let’s hit the arcade.” He grinned mischievously. 

Before Baji had the chance to tell him to bug off, he noticed your gaze land on him, a little surprised. Shit.

Yet, against his expectations, you composed yourself with a wide smile and turned back to pack your things. Why were you packing your things? As far as he knew, you were supposed to tutor him for half an hour every day until his grades got into a decent range. 

“Hellooooo, earth to poindexter?” Ryusei attempted to get his attention, following his gaze. 

Then it clicked. Baji noticed the change in his friend’s demeanor, and glared at him. The glare itself spoke volumes.

Don’t you dare. 

For ONCE, in his life, Ryusei showed restraint, holding his arms up in surrender. 

He was never going to let Baji live this down, especially when he told Chifuyu.

You are here…› next! › …

[unclewaynemunson]

Pt2 to the Wingman Wayne AU sequel :D (This one’s gonna be slightly longer than most of the other parts!) | You can read pt1 here | ao3 link

Robin would never admit it to Steve, but she is nervous. Like, really nervous. The level of nervous you get from having a date as a lesbian in a small town in the Midwest who has only ever dated one girl before – a girl she knew from the school band, which means they didn't actually meet each other on a date, which means that Robin technically doesn't really have any first-date experience at all – contrary to Steve, who has a lot of first-date experience.

What do people wear for a first date? How do they prepare? Should you even prepare at all? Do people come late, do they come early, do they bring a present, how do they greet each other?  

By the time she's finally changed into clothes that make her feel the right amount of comfortable yet attractive, her room has exploded into even more of a mess than it usually is: her whole wardrobe is covering literally every inch of the floor, another pile of clothes is thrown haphazardly onto her bed, and Polly is making herself comfortable on Robin's favorite soft cardigan, no doubt getting dog hair all over it.

She shoots another glance in the mirror, tugging at her collar and frowning at the way her jeans are fitting around her upper legs.

'No, you're not gonna get changed again,' she sternly tells her reflection. 'You're fine. This is fine. You got this.'

'You got this,' Rosalinda repeats from her cage in the corner of the room. 'You look great. You look great.'

Robin perks up at that; teaching Rosalinda to say “you look great” whenever Robin is looking in the mirror has definitely been one of the better decisions in her whole life so far.

She rushes over to the cage to treat the parrot on some nuts, but then she notices the clock and a string of curses escapes from her mouth as she starts frantically looking for her All Stars - which she finds buried underneath Polly’s butt.

Well, at least she has one thing less to worry about now: fashionably late is gonna be her very well thought through arrival time.

---

She arrives at Benny's about ten minutes late. As she haphazardly shoves her bike into a rack, she spots a curly-haired girl leaning against one of the parked cars with a somewhat bored look on her face.

'I'm so sorry,' Robin says, slightly out of breath as she rushes up to the girl. 'I'm literally the worst at time management and I couldn't find my shoes because my dog was sitting on them and then I lost my keys because I forgot to –'

'It's fine,' the girl interrupts her. To Robin's relief, her lips are curving into a smile – a very pretty smile, that is. 'Mr. Munson already told me that you were probably gonna be late.'

Something about that seems really unfair and Robin huffs.

'How does he even know that? I never even met the man! No one even bothered to tell me your name, and you already know all about one of my worst personality traits!'

'It's Nancy.'

'What?' Robin gives the girl a distracted look.

'My name.' She holds out her hand and Robin shakes it, even though she thinks that's a bit formal for a date – it is, right? Or is this normal date etiquette and is Robin indeed as clueless as she feared she would be?

'I'm Nancy,' the girl elucidates. Her hand is cold against Robin's, but not in an unpleasant way, and Robin can barely suppress a shiver. 'And my worst personality traits is that I always want to be right.'

Robin can't help but smile at her. 'Good to know, I’ll make sure to remember that in case I ever need to let you win an argument,’ she answers.

'You're Robin, right?'

'No, I'm Tammy,' Robin deadpans.

'Oh.' Nancy lets go of her hand, going wide-eyed.

'Kidding. I'm Robin. Sorry for that lame joke.'

But Nancy chuckles, and it sounds just as cute as her smile looks. All of Nancy is cute, actually: she's almost a full head smaller than Robin and wearing a colorful skirt paired with a purple button-down. A necklace with a ballet-shoe pendant is resting against the skin right underneath her collarbones, and her fine-featured face reminds Robin of a work of art: perfectly heartshaped, with sharp cheekbones, a pointed chin, and huge, deep-blue eyes that get this adorable sparkle when she smiles.

And unfortunately, Robin knows all too well what will inevitably happen whenever she's put in front of a girl as pretty as Nancy. It's like she can actually feel the words piling up in her throat.

'I have to warn you, I've never actually been on a date with a girl before. I mean, I've dated a girl, but not been on a date, like, with someone I don't know yet. I mean, it's not like I'm not out yet, alright, but in this town, there's only so many people you can be out to, if you know what I mean, so I couldn't exactly go happily dating around, and I've never really been interested in dating boys at all, so that never happened either – so what I'm trying to say is that I've never been on a date before and it's kinda making me nervous and I have this habit that I start rambling when I'm nervous, so you should probably just cut me off at some point or else I'll be passing out soon because I'm getting really out of breath and –'

'Take a breath,' Nancy finally interrupts her monologue. Her smile is less shy now and more amused, and Robin gratefully does what Nancy ordered her to do.

'It's okay,' Nancy says in a sweetly quiet voice. 'I'm glad you told me. I've actually never been on a date with a girl either. I've been in some relationships, with guys, but they didn't – they didn't really work. Um...' She points towards the door. 'Should we get –'

'Yeah, let's go inside,' Robin says, eagerly taking the chance to continue their conversation somewhere that's not a joyless gray parking lot.

They order at the counter and Robin lets Nancy pick a booth; they end up at the one in the most remote corner.

'Well,' Robin says, raising her Coke at Nancy, 'Cheers to Wayne Munson, I guess, for landing both of us our very first official date with a girl.'

Nancy chuckles and clinks her glass against Robin's.

'Cheers to Wayne Munson,' she repeats. 'I have to admit, I was very surprised when he called me. I only met him once, you know?'

Robin listens attentively while Nancy tells her how she met Mr. Munson at the plant, where he was working while she was on an assignment for the newspaper. It's surprisingly easy, to talk to her. They easily launch into this whole conversation about the working conditions and safety hazards down at the plant, both equally indignant about how the employees are treated there, and Robin fires all kinds of questions at Nancy about her job at the Gazette.

'I've been really lucky,' Nancy admits. 'Last year I got this internship at the Hawkins Post and that was... not great. I was basically the only woman and all those men thought I was only good for making them coffee and sandwiches. It's actually why I broke up with my boyfriend. He thought I should just “sit it out,” be grateful for the opportunity or whatever. Which I thought was fucking bullshit.'

Robin nods eagerly, her mouth too stuffed with Benny's heavenly burger to form an intelligible response.

'Anyway, I didn't sit it out – I went behind their backs for a good story and they fired me. But that's how I ended up at the Gazette. They make much better articles anyway – like the thing we did with the plant.' Nancy pauses to take a sip of her drink, and her eyes are lit up beautifully with the passion for the work she's doing. 'They care about this community, want to publish stuff that actually helps make it better. So I got to talk to Mr. Munson, and he had some really interesting things to say,' she said, coming full-circle with her story like a true journalist. 'But we didn't talk about any personal stuff, you know,' she continues. 'So I was really surprised when he called.'

Robin chuckles. 'Yeah, I haven't even met the man, I only know his nephew Eddie. He's supposed to have some sixth sense for matching queer people,' she tells Nancy while jokingly wiggling her eyebrows. 'That's how my best friend became Eddie's boyfriend. I wouldn't have been here if that dingus didn't tell me that it was gonna be worth it.'

The shyness is back in Nancy's smile as she holds Robin's gaze over their fries.

'Well, I think your friend might be right about that sixth sense,' Nancy says quietly.

Robin feels her cheeks heat up at that and looks away from Nancy's intense gaze.

'Don't tell him that,' she jokes. 'His ego is already annoyingly big.'

She looks back into Nancy's eyes and immediately feels fucking stupid for not taking her chance and say something heartfelt in response to Nancy's brave vulnerability.

'But no matter how much it pains me to admit it, I have to agree with you that he might be right,' she awkwardly adds. And luckily, it works: Nancy is beaming at her like the fucking brightest star in the milky way.

Pt3

Taglist: @munsonsuccubus @messrs-weasley @shrimply-a-menace @booksandsience @sadcanadianwinter @mightbeasleep

[tmntxthings]

Hiya!

I saw your little post on 2012 Donnie. I love that one! The fluff was wonderful and sweet!

I was wondering if we could get a continuation of it?

Purple Savior Pt. 2

author’s note: :D I finished this pretty late so pls excuse the typos I’ll fix ‘em laters, hope you all enjoy part two c: ~~~~

warnings: fluff, like one curse word

> part one <

—————————————————————————

previously. . .

By the time the two of you had finished talking the sun was coming up and that made him gasp. “Ohhh no, I’ve got to go,” he paused looking at you expectantly, and it took you only a second to realize what he was asking for, “Y/n!” you said and he repeated your name, nodding. “See ya next time!” He said as he jumped off your roof, heading to who knows where, being chased by the rising sun. You smiled sleepily. You couldn’t believe you just stayed up the whole night talking to a purple teenage mutant ninja turtle, but you knew you were gonna do the same thing tomorrow.

“So I was thinking,” you said as you rocked back on your heels before you started pacing. Another week had passed and you and Donnie had met up every night after his patrols on your rooftop. Donnie looked up from his t-phone, texting back his brothers. “Yes?” Donnie asked when you didn’t continue after a few moments. “Well uh, how was your day?” You held back a sigh as you went back to his side, sitting crossed legged on the rooftop of your apartment. That hadn’t been what you wanted to talk about. But it seemed you lacked the confidence or courage which was kind of strange because you definitely considered yourself extroverted.

He looked at you with an amused smile, “I told you that already,” and he shook his head as he still answered, “I was asleep for most of the day, worked on a couple of builds, something reallyyyy cool-“ you smacked your forehead and Donnie jumped at the sound, “that’s right! The turtle sub! I’m sorry I swear I was listening-“

Donnie cut you off, “Y/n, are you okay??” He asked as you peeled your hand away from your face. A hand print mark becoming visible from where you smacked yourself. “Hmm? Oh yeah just overthinking,” you readily admitted. “Overthinking what? That’s kind of my thing,” Donnie chuckled to himself. “Well it’s definitely my thing, I don’t know I was thinking about doing something other than just hanging out on a rooftop…” you sighed. “But I don’t know exactly where we could go or what we could do,” you mumbled. Donnie was blinking, assessing what you said and then reassessing.

Donatello was immediately on board, unbeknownst to you, as he thought up about ten plans on the spot. “We could play some video games!” Donnie offered and you nodded, “yeah I’m just worried my parents will storm my room if we get too loud.” Donnie made a gesture at himself, “I’m a ninja remember? Stealth is my middle name!” He spoke confidently and you looked at the purple clad turtle who had become a fast friend. “Alright purple ninja, as long as you promise not to get caught!” You snickered and stood up. Leading the way to your window, and you went in first, sweeping your hand back behind you as you said, “Welcome to my humble abode~”

Donnie duck his head to pass through the window. He was a hundred percent sure this was the first time he’d ever been in a human’s room before. Christmas lights were strung up everywhere, along with shelves filled with books. He almost forgot what he came in here for as he approached them. “Ah- uh- wait!” You said stepping in front of him, “video games remember!” You said shaking a controller in front of his face. You seemed to be trying to distract him and your nervous smile only affirmed his thoughts. But he didn’t push as he grabbed the controller just giving the books another glance before he let you steer him to your tv.

“So what’re we playing?” Donnie asked quietly, not forgetting about the threat of being caught by your parents. “Well I’ve got a bunch of mario stuff, mario kart, party, smash bros, world,” you ran off the list then your turned to another pile of games, “then over here I’ve got call of duty, but i mainly just run zombies, minecraft, it’s gonna be a no for all the guitar heroes and just dances..” you said contemplating your options as you gave Donnie a glance wondering if he had any preferences. “How about zombies?” He asked and you smiled, nodding in agreement as you started it up.

“Now I know you're a badass and all but you can not, and I mean not scream when you get eaten by the zombies.” You spoke with a sarcastic, teasing tone and Donnie rolled his eyes. “Yeah I’ll just take note of the badass part,” he smiled as the loading screen came on with the eerie music in the background. “I mean it Donnie no girly surprise screams!” He shook his head as the two of you started to play.

It was round 15, the two of you were a great team, taking down zombies and hellhounds alike. “What’s your high score?” Donnie asked, he’d only played this game a couple of times so he had focused up and had been silent until he felt comfortable and confident that he wouldn’t be the first to die. “Around 20,” you admitted sheepishly but your eyes never left the screen. You hardly blinked, Donnie noticed. When that round came Donnie noticed the zombies were getting tougher and faster. His character was running around the map like crazy, a trail of zombies chasing after him. “SHIT!” You hollered in panic as you got hit and then swarmed immediately going down. You dropped your controller in dismay, “always round 20!” you groaned and watched as Donnie played on.

He lasted two more rounds without you before he too fell to the swarm of the undead. “Wow you’re pretty good!” You said smiling and Donnie smiled back, “yeah and who ended up screaming??” He teased as you sighed, “I think that was an octave lower than a scream,” you corrected. “Y/n??” A voice sounded from behind your door and Donnie was up and moving, wide eyed, not wanting to get you in trouble. “Uh yeah??” You called out, freaking-the-hell-out mentally as you watched Donnie shoot for the door as it opened and he pressed himself to the wall as the door covered him. “What’re you doing??” Your mom said as she held onto the doorknob. “Just playing games!” You said quickly picking up a controller, and moving in front of the other trying to be nonchalant and hoping she wouldn’t notice.

“Who were you talking to?” She asked eyes narrowing as she looked around the room. “Just myself, you know like a pep talk to not lose, never works!” You spoke quickly, waving the controller around in your hand. “Alright well you need to start getting ready for bed, you’ve got school tomorrow!” Your mom said as she started closing the door, “Okay! Will do!” You nodded and held your breath as Donnie came back into view. After a couple of quiet moments after the door closed you and Donnie both let out a sigh of relief. “What’d I tell ya, ninja stealth!” He said triumphantly.

“Thank god, I almost peed my pants thinking she’d swing the door open just a little wider and crush you back there!” You wiped your figurative sweat from your brow dramatically. Donnie chuckled, and he watched as you stood, rocking back on your heels. “Guess we should call it a night,” you said, cheeks staining embarrassed that your mom had unknowingly called you out in front of your friend. “I wish I could go to school,” Donnie sighed wistfully. “I promise Donnie you’re not missing much! Plus you definitely don’t need it your smarter than the whole place combined!” You said playfully swatting at his arm. He gave you a warm smile, “thanks Y/n, if you ever need help with math shoot me a text,” he said as he brought out a t-phone.

Your eyes widened and you looked up from the phone to his face, beaming, “Really?!” you said excitedly. “Y/N!” Your mom hollered from down the hall, “SORRY!” You hollered back and then turned your volume down, “I get a t-phone?!” you whispered happily. “Yeah, it’s got a few games and music too!” Donnie said proudly as you took the phone. Looking at it with wonder and you immediately shot Donnie a text. His own t-phone buzzed and he checked the message, ‘THANK YOU!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!! XD’ - Y/n

Donnie was smiling widely as he gave you a thumbs up in real life. “I’ll see ya tomorrow,” he whispered, fighting the urge to stay and talk about all the other cool features that he was planning for the t-phone, he’d definitely have to give you the upgrade first. You waved and whispered back, “okay get back home safe, oh message me when you get there,” you said pointing towards the phone and Donnie nodded as he exited through your window.

Ten minutes later after you had closed the window and your curtains. All brushed and dressed for bed you were getting comfy as you heard a familiar buzz. ‘made it home! (: ‘ -Donnie

‘phew, I was getting worried!’ -y/n

‘pshhh no need, ninja remember?’ -donnie

‘yeah yeah I feel like you’ve said that multiple times today already :p’ -y/n

‘well it’s true :p’ -donnie

‘copycat :0’ -y/n

‘meeee?! :0’ -donnie

You burst into laugher and quickly covered your mouth to try and keep quiet. Then another buzz sounded off.

‘goodnight y/n (＾ｰ^)ノ’ -donnie

‘woah cool one do I have that??’ -y/n

‘nah only for cool ppl ;p (yes it’s under a diff keyboard I’ll show u tmrw)’ -donnie

‘pfttt okay gnight my purple nerd~~’ -y/n

Donnie couldn’t help the heat that flushed his cheeks as he reread your last message. Specifically one word, my. It made him happy. Really really happy, and he couldn’t wait til tomorrow, to play games again, to show you more t-phone features. Being with you had become one of his favorite activities and his missing presence was starting to be noticed by his brothers. “Who ya texting?” Mikey pipped up from Donnie’s side as he peered over his brother’s shoulder at the phone. “hmm- uh- no one!” Donnie squeaked with surprise as his phone jumped out of his hands and he quickly caught it before Mikey could lunge for it.

“Hmmmm sure dude, surrre” Mikey said as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Donnie quickly picked up the phone, getting up from the kitchen table in favor of escaping to his room. “I’ll get to the bottom of this Donnie! Just you wait!!” Mikey called after him as the purple turtle shook his head. That was just great, with Mikey on his trail he’d soon have Raph and Leo pestering for answers too. But he didn’t really linger on it as much as he should’ve, no his thoughts wandered back to your message. As he smiled to himself, your purple nerd~

[tarosin]

The great adventures of y/n, Tommy, Jack and Tubbo

Requested:yes/no

Pairing: Platonic jack/tommy/tubbo/reader

Summary: another day another adventure

Content warning: cursing / I didn't proof read

An: reader has bright unnatural hair I wrote a lot, I can't figure out how to add read more on mobile I'm sorry

The music you were currently listening to was interrupted by the discord group notifying you that you have a new message.

Tommy: Y/N HOW BUSY ARE YOU TUBBO HAS COME TO VISIT AND JACK IS HERE

y/n: I mean I've currently got hair dye on but it’s being washed off and dried in around 20 minutes, why?

y/n: WAIT TUBBO?!?!

tubbo: oh yeah I forgot to tell you

y/n: how did you forget you know what nevermind, I’m glad you’re here :]

jack: we should be here in an hour so you have plenty of time to get ready

tubbo: what colour dye y/n

y/n: you’ll see soon enough as apparently, you’re all showing up at my house

Tommy: I suggest you wear comfortable shoes

y/n: I am terrified

Tommy: you have nothing to fear... for now

•••

luckily it had only taken you just over 40 minutes to get ready giving you roughly 20 minutes to prepare for the adventure ahead. or so you thought, as soon as you sat down ready to check your phone the sound of Tommy and tubbo laughing could be heard from your room, jack sent a message “hey we got here extremely early I’m sorry there’s no rush the others have been distracted by dreams music :)”

grabbing a backpack from next to your bed you had quickly chucked your phone and purse into the bag unsure as to what you’re going to need today.

•••

as soon as you opened the door you were met with an ecstatic tubbo who instantly pulled you into a hug unable to contain their excitement of seeing their friend

“I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN AGES YOUVE CHANGED SO MUCH LOOK AT YOUR HAIR”

“I look exactly the same”

“Now I’m no genius y/n but last time we spoke you didn’t have unnatural hair”

you paused for a moment as tubbo had a point the last time you and tubbo were on face time your hair was classed as a natural colour however today as a fuck you to your school which didn’t allow unnatural hair you decided to dye it your favourite colour.

“you raise a fair point now if you don’t mind releasing me from your grasp I have to lock the door so no one gets in”

•••

“Tommy unlock the door let tubbo and y/n in”

“Y/N YOU'RE HERE- HOLY SHIT YOUR HAIR! JACK ARE YOU SEEING THIS”

“Hello to you too Tommy”

“well if we weren’t going to get noticed at the shopping centre earlier y/ns bright fucking hair will definitely cause people to notice us”

“oh I’m sorry I didn’t expect to be going shopping with a bunch of Minecraft streamers today”

“don’t you stream Minecraft?”

“This isn’t about me jack”

the trip to the shops was surprisingly relaxing y/n sat at the front listening to jack sing along to songs playing on the radio, however, it was clear the boys had something they weren’t telling y/n which became evident through Tommy and tubbo bickering in the back of the car about who was going to tell them. it was a relatively short journey due to the fact you lived close to the city centre

•••

“let’s go shopping boys” Tommy practically yelled to everyone, tubbo held his phone in your direction then looked towards you, nodding at him you grabbed his phone and began recording

“I'm vlogging”

Tommy walked over “YEAHHHHH”

walking past cex you had to put up with Tommy making sex jokes until you made it to game, you stood holding back your laugh as you filmed Tommy and tubbo fighting about who’s paying whilst jack went off to buy a Minecraft squishy and mug despite everyone’s arguments against it. soon enough fans came over asking for photos with you all once the group of fans left jack took over recording for tubbo whilst you went off to quickly buy some games that you could play on stream.

•••

“want a wig bro? jack!”

the four of you walked into the shop, you couldn’t help but stand in awe looking at all the bright colours already questioning what colour to dye your hair next the sound of Tommy and jack being amazed pulled you out of your thoughts

“Gogy goggles, I’m actually buying them”

“i wan’t a pair”

“no, you’re getting a wig jack”

“I don’t want a wig I want George”

“y/n has bright hair and they’re not complaining”

“what do you have against people with colourful hair jack hmm?”

•••

“I'm not happy”

“you look lovely jack”

“we’re getting so many looks”

tubbo stopped everyone to ‘fix’ jacks wig which resulted in everyone laughing once you had finally stopped laughing you noticed tubbo had walked off and you were convinced jack had randomly decided to record strangers until you saw tubbo going up and down escalators

“oh there he goes again”

“pov you’re thinking about bees”

“where to next boys?”

Tommy pointed towards the lift

“Is this a lift for us”

Tommy noticed the safety sign and automatically made comments about it

“keeping us all safe is what I would say if I wasn’t carrying a knife”

“oh same Tommy”

“look you can see me”

taking that as an invitation to join the vlog you stood behind tubbo and pointed at the sign again and looked at Tommy and jack

“keeping us all safe is what I would say if we weren’t about to do this-“

the three of you went to jump up and down

“NO”

the four of you quietly left the lift however you were convinced that the public heard Tommy comment on having a knife and you threatening to jump as once the lift opened everyone was staring at you but it could also be due to the fact you had brightly coloured hair and somehow convinced jack to keep the wig on, you all spent a long time trying to convince Tommy to get a new outfit, eventually you went into another shop a certain keyboard caught your eye

“I’ve found my home, ill stay here at the gamer bunker”

you decided now was the perfect time to sneak off to buy the keyboard that had caught your eye, once tubbo noticed it was too late you stood holding the bag with your purchase leaving you stood in the middle of the shop defending your purchase to him claiming that it was a business expense and not just because you thought it looked cool.

“you told me you wanted to save your money”

“it lights up tubbo and it fits the vibe of my room”

Tommy placed his arm on your head treating you as an armrest as you were shorter than him and he knew it annoyed you

“they have a point tubbo it lights up”

once the recording ended you made your way back to the car

“say y/n you wouldn’t mind if me Tommy and jack stayed the night as tomorrow we were thinking-“

“sure thing”

“YESSSSSS”

•••

the next day you were woken up at 9 am by Tommy stood at the foot of your bed

“hi y/n”

“WHAT THE FUCK- oh hi Tommy Jesus christ do you know how horrifying that was to wake up to”

“Sorry bout that but if I didn’t wake you up now you’d only wake up in the afternoon and we need to go soon I’ll leave you to get ready”

you noticed a note was next to a jumper on the floor ‘hi, thanks for letting us stay the night I really liked your hoodie so I decided to wear it today here’s mine in exchange- Tubbo :D’

normally you’d be concerned that someone stole your hoodie as you live with your parents however today was an exception once you were all ready you set off jack pulled into a McDonald's drive-through so you could all get breakfast

“nice hoodie y/n”

“Thanks, someone took mine and decided to make a trade”

“you’re welcome”

the journey was quiet again you sat next to tubbo in the back Tommy sat at the front screaming at jack and trying to distract him and people around you decided to took a picture with tubbo who now had his arm wrapped around you as it was rather cold in the car and posted it to Twitter ‘@ ranboosaysstuff wish you were here :D’ less than a minute later you received 2 notifications ‘ranboosaysstuff replied to your tweet: same’ ‘ ranboosaysstuff has tweeted: *the spongebob gif*’

•••

soon enough you all arrived at mint golf to say you we’re excited would be an understatement

“can I get the shortest club you have”

you stood hiding your face in the jumper tubbo left you whilst you laughed a few minutes later you received a call from ranboo the others said they’d sort everything for you whilst you answered

“what’s up tall one”

“stay safe okay”

“ranboo it’s mini-golf I’m not fighting criminals”

“yes but I know how clumsy you are”

“first of all rude second of all fuck you third of all jealousy isn’t a good look on you” you managed to say through laughter

“jokes aside please come to the UK boo”

“oh sure I’ll go book a plane ticket now” *ranboo ended the call*

ranboo made jokes like that before however this time sounded a lot more serious and you had no idea why he called you so you made a mental note to call him again later. once with friends again you were met with Tommy telling the worker all about you all

“yeah we’re big on the influencing”

“What on earth did I walk in on”

“no time to explain let’s go golf”

you were handed a club and a ball and were dragged away by jack

•••

tubbo joked about getting a hole on one as soon as it was his go, you bet £10 with jack he wouldn't

“hand over the money y/n”

you looked at Tommy who was now recording you handing jack the money “so today we have learnt to not underestimate your friends and that gambling is bad. you lose your money to a tall bald guy”

to put it politely you and Tommy found out that mini golf is not your calling in life

“ill stick to streaming“

“you’re both losing by the way”

“yeah well- why and how does tubbo have soup”

tubbo stood cradling the soup as though it was a child

“Some things I can’t explain to you”

you stood tilting your head to the side questioning where the hell he got soup from

“eh”

“soups like a small child I take care of it as if it was my own”

you couldn’t contain your laughter at this point the confused faces of your friends alongside tubbos happiness of soup sent you over the edge so you decided to just sit down before you fall as your knees were already weak from laughing too much

“where did you get the soup from”

“I manifested it”

•••

after a few solid minutes of arguing over soup you and Tommy dropping the phone you all continued with bowling.

“tubbo get out of the way of my dream ball”

you stood recording jack cheering him on tubbo had different plans and kicked the ball away resulting in jack giving up and copying what you had been doing most of the rounds, after missing the hole 3 times each go, picking up the ball and placing it in the hole however again he missed

“you can’t be serious”

“golf isn’t for everyone big man”

Tommy took the phone from you to record “pov you’re me golfing”

•••

“how do we get across there”

“probably the bridge”

Tommy pulled to rope moving the bridge across the gap

“Why thank you, Tommy, wouldn’t have been able to do it without you”

you laughed

“you're extremely welcome y/n it was extremely easy because I’m a big muscly man”

golf was finally going well till you hit the ball a bit too hard causing it to go over the fence tubbo was able to get the ball back

“I’ve been watching a lot of doctor shows” you stood amazed at how far you made the ball go

“see the issue is its mini golf. if this was regular golf I'd have got a hole in one I'm telling you”

•••

“I'm never being in your vlog again”

jack looked at you and tubbo who was now laughing at you pretending to worship the can of soup in the hole

“Tommy please come back”

the rest of the game was chaos, you kept missing the hole then claiming to rage quit golf tubbo and Tommy kept making jokes jack left his drink somewhere then had to go back and find it, no one had been paying attention to you which allowed you to take the score sheet and make it so you had won the game eventually he game was over you had declared yourself the champion of golf despite the fact everyone was better than you including Tommy

•••

the journey back was chaos you called ranboo who claimed he only called you to plan a video/stream with you however it was clear that wasn’t the reason tubbo whispered to you so no one could hear

“I think he wants to be here with us I think he’s jealous”

you laughed and nodded

“of course”

eventually, you all made it back to yours, ranboo said goodbye to everyone then ended the call now it was time for you to say your goodbyes. since your love language was physical touch you hugged everyone. As you walked into your house Tommy yelled “Y/N HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PLANES”

[koganelovesmcclain]

Yeah adhd plus online classes are a major bitch (pardon my french) I do have a routine, and i have a dry eraseboard calendar to keep track of due dates and such, plus the overwhelming anxiety of failure drives me to get them done (i got a major assignment due friday so wish me luck :) ). I'm trying my best, and I'm just ready for this school year to be over with, and god i need to see my friends holy shit I miss them so much :'(

Wow I didnt sign my last message with my lil shark!! Sorry bud!! - 🦈

(It’s okay!)

ahhh that’s good! 

good luck babe! i’m sure you’ll do well!! <3 i totally understand. i’m so glad i wasn’t enrolled this semester. :’)  when is it over? surely soon? i think when i was in college, it ended at the first week of may?

also, that sucks. i don’t have any irl friends, so i don’t relate but it must suck to not get to see them :( 

[princess-of-inarizaki]

Heyheyhey!! Can i request manager birthday and the team forget about it for seijoh, inarizaki, and shiratorizawa bcs tomorrow ma birthday hahah. Thank youuu and i love you

Anon-chan!! This is SUCH an important birthday request and I am beyond honoured to write it for you :D 💖💖💖💖✨

Our birthdays are so close too👉👈 mine's next week. (Exactly ten days apart from yours!!)

Anyways, happy birthday Anon-chan!!I hope you have a beautiful day, filled with lots of happy things, and a wonderful year ahead. you're wonderful, and I hope you always remember that !! 💖💖💖✨ I love you so very much <3

The teams forgetting their manager's birthday

Characters: Seijoh, Shiratorizawa, and Inarizaki

Warnings: none

Oh btw!! since the type of manager is not specified, I'll go with my default fem manager :D she's cute and sweet (like you, Anon-chan 😺😆💖) and the boys adore her a ton. She's also very capable, smart, and confident, and she loves being physical with the boys, which constantly flusters them!

Seijoh

The Seijoh boys would be so busy practicing for an upcoming match, they kinda forget everything that's happening around them.

Lots of focus. You smile fondly, because that's what makes them such a good team. Their ability to focus on their goals and eliminate all distractions.

Until one day, Yahaba is just scrolling through his phone's calendar when he sees “Manager Chan's birthday, 19th November.”

And he's just so shocked and guilty. He immediately calls the rest of the team and tells them what he just realized.

The team feels so guilty and disappointed in themselves. They're a day late to wish you, and they desperately want to make it up to you.

You're their precious manager after all, the one who bandages their injuries with a smile and who always gives them the motivation to do better.

How could they possibly forget such a precious human being's birthday?

That same day, they create a group chat excluding you, and begin to plan something special for you.

They break themselves up into teams with specific tasks of getting things ready for an impromptu birthday party for you.

Iwa-chan is in charge of ensuring everything runs smoothly, and he makes sure to do it with zeal, hoping to make it the best birthday ever for you, eventhough it's a bit late.

The next day, you walk into the gym, and it's absolutely quiet and dark. The boys aren't there yet, which is pretty odd, considering practice should've started a few minutes ago.

You stand in front of the gym and dial Oikawa's number, because he's always quick to respond to your calls, but the number goes straight to voicemail. You're confused, and a little curious as to where they are.

Suddenly, you feel someone's hands covering your eyes, and Oikawa's voice saying “y/n-chan, don't be scared. We have a surprise for you.”

You laugh, realisation washing over you that the boys probably planned something because they forgot it was your birthday yesterday, and follow Oikawa as he guides you inside.

When he finally uncovers your eyes, you see the boys holding a huge, slightly odd looking cake, lit with candles.

Oikawa hugs you from behind and you pull him closer to you, snuggling in his embrace.

You then blow out your candles and make a silent wish. I wish to always be by their side

Iwa-chan is already hitting Oikawa for hugging you before the rest, so you hug Iwa too, then Matsukawa, Hanamaki, Yahaba, Kunimi, and even Kyotani, albeit him being slightly rigid.

“thanks guys, this is an amazing surprise!” you say softly, as your eyes tear up. It's obvious that they made the cake themselves, and eventhough it wasn't perfect, your boys, made it for you.

Your heart squeezed as you cut slices for everyone, and handed it to them, as they sat on the bleachers to enjoy it.

You sit next to Yahaba and leaned on his shoulder. “Thanks for remembering” you said softly.

He blushed. “how did you know?” you explained that Kunimi told you, and he smiled at you and ruffled your hair.

“We're sorry for not remembering sooner, Y/n-san. Thanks for being the best manager ever” said Iwaizumi. He seemed to be nonchalant about it, but his eyes and smile betrayed him. He was fond of you, and genuinely glad that you enjoyed the small celebration they had prepared.

You smiled and kissed his cheek as acknowledgement, which caused him to blush and Oikawa to throw a small tantrum.

You laughed as you looked at them bantering with each other, Hanamaki and Matsukawa teasing Kyotani, and Yahaba and Kunimi next to you. You really did love these boys.

Shiratorizawa

So I'm pretty sure it's exam week, and these boys are just so studious and hardworking, they're totally immersing themselves in their studies and books.

Until it's their calculus exam and Tendou just suddenly remembers “Oh my God, it was Y/N's birthday two days ago!!” as his pencil flies across the room, much to the sensei's disapproval (haha, miracle boy is so cute)

He pulls the other third years aside after the exam, like Ushijima, and Semi, and tells them what he just remembers.

Ushijima is just stoic, but internally he's like "how could I forget? I never forget important dates like these? Is something wrong with me?" And Semi's just so sad he wants to scoop you in his arms right away.

Tendou then proposes the idea of taking you somewhere after school to surprise you, and they agree, and run off to tell the rest of the team.

Goshiki is just close to tears he hates that he forgot his favourite senpai's birthday, especially when you remembered his (and the entire team's) and never failed to make it a special day for them.

So after school ends, you're getting ready to go back home, when Semi just scoops you into his arms and carries you to the rest of the team.

You're not all that shocked, since Semi does this pretty often, and so you let him. “where are we going?” you ask, and he just casually answers “to celebrate the end of exams”

You laugh silently. They're definitely planning more than that, but you decide to humour them, and smile at the team when Semi lets you down gently.

“let's go have udon” says Shirabu with a too-big smile. You and the team walk to an udon shop near the school, and enter quietly.

Goshiki sits next you, and he looks like he wants to say something, but can't, as he bites his lip. Ushijima sits in front of you, and rest of the team take their places and begin ordering.

You notice Tendou talking to the shop owner intently, with Shirabu next to him. Ushijima knows that you might suspect something, so he tries getting your attention by asking you about your exams.

Suddenly, Tendou brings a cake to the table and team begins singing happy birthday for you. You smile happily and wait for them to finish before making a wish and blowing off the candles.

You smile happily at the team and their hearts grow warm, seeing you so happy like that.

“We're sorry for not remembering sooner, y/n-senpai” says Goshiki in a sad voice. Your heart tugs at seeing him so sad, so you ruffle his hair and assure him that exams are tough on everyone, and that it was better to celebrate it after they ended anyways.

You and the team eat the cake after having udon, and talk about the week together. They start reminiscing about memories with you, as they talk about their first impressions, and cute memories with a soft smile on their faces.

Tendou retells the story of how you first came to the team and how much you've grown ever since then.

At some point, Semi sits in your place whilst you've gone to the ladies room, and pulls you to his lap when you come back.

The team laughs when they see you desperately refusing, worried that you'll be too heavy, whilst Semi reassures you that you won't.

Goshiki adoringly smiles at you, and Semi pulls you closer to him. Tendou feeds you small pieces of strawberry left from the cake, as Shirabu records everything, excitedly typing in a caption on his social media.

Meanwhile, Ushijima is just carefully adding in a small reminder in his phone calendar, so he'll never forget your birthday in the future ever again.

Inarizaki

My sweet little fox babies! I think they would be excitedly counting down for your birthday, you're their precious manager-chan after all (and I can't bring myself to say they forgot 😅😭) when Atsumu suddenly sees a friend of yours post a "happy birthday y/n!!" on their Instagram story.

Atsumu immediately jumps on his brother's bed and wakes him up, whilst texting your friend. “Isn't y/n's birthday five days from now?”

Your friend replies. “no haha, it's today!” which cause the twins to desperately call Aran, Suna, Ginjima, and of course, captain Kita!

The boys are hurriedly awoken a few minutes after midnight, and absolutely frazzled! They had all planned something special, but now they would have to change the date, and some things (like the cake and venue) weren't ready so soon.

Osamu groggily got out of bed and began taking out eggs, butter, flour, and other baking ingredients. Eventhough it was extremely late, and he had a tiring day, nothing could compare to his love for you. And so, he started mixing the ingredients at one a.m.

Kita tried to remain calm, but internally freaks out. He and Suna are trying to brainstorm ideas of places they could take you to make your day enjoyable.

Atsumu was busy wrapping the gifts they had all got. He got way too many papercuts and had a bit of trouble, but it was for you, and the thought alone of you smiling was enough to motivate him.

Aran and Ginjima made their own preparations in their own homes for the next day, and Aran even facetimed Osamu to keep him company throughout the baking process.

They were determined to make your birthday a happy one, and genuinely wanted to let you know they loved and cared for you so much.

The next day, six terribly sleep deprived boys arrived at school, with the needed arrangements set. The cake was safely secured with Osamu, and Suna took the bag of gifts from Atsumu.

Kita went to go find you, and he saw you waiting by the entrance of school. “Y/n-san, let's go.” said Kita with a mysterious smile.

You were a bit confused. School was the other way and he was dragging you away from it, but you trusted Kita and followed him.

He led you to the rest of the team, and gently places his hand on your back. “Let's go, y/n-san. We're going to the beach.”

You were super confused. “but school?”. Suna gives you a sleepy smile. “Kita and me have already handled that. We told your teachers you'd be absent today, now c'mon.”

Atsumu gently holds your small hand in his and you guys walks to the subway. As you dig for your subway card in your pocket, the boys get seated. There's one less seat, so Atsumu pulls you to his lap, much to the rest of the team's disapproval.

They're all so jealous, Atsumu laughs silently, and pulls an oblivious you closer. Osamu just rolls his eyes, but internally seethes.

Two stops later, the team motions to exit, and Aran shyly comes closer to you, taking your hand this time. You smile at him and make your way to the small beach you sometimes spend time in, with the rest of the team.

Kita finds an empty picnic table and everyone sits down, placing the items they had brought with them down, and looking at you expectantly.

“Happy Birthday, y/n-chan.” they chorused together. Suna ruffled your hair from the right side of you, and Osamu begins lighting up the candles on your left.

You gratefully thank them for going to the trouble of bringing you here, the fresh beach air and breeze immediately putting you in a cheerier mood.

They then start singing you a happy birthday as you blush silently and blow the candles out, making a wish. I wish to be able to love these boys forever.

You lean over and kiss Osamu's cheek. He blushes red immediately. “Thank you for going to the trouble of baking this, Samu'” if only you knew, he thought silently, as flashbacks of him almost falling asleep in front of the oven came to mind.

Kita cuts the cake and gives you the biggest slice, much to your happiness. The boys all eat their cake and joke around about all the memories they've made with you.

“I can remember when y/n-chan just came. She was so small and sweet, Osamu said she reminded him of a macaroon” said Aran.

Kita fondly smiles as he gives you a pack off green tea from his grandmother.

Ginjima gives you the gifts the entire team had picked and you begin tearing up, much to everyone's dismay. You're just so grateful to have them.

Suddenly Atsumu leans over and swipes frosting from the cake on your face. The mood is once again lifted, as Suna takes a ton of pictures, and contributes to the frosting on your face too.

“hey that's enough now” says Kita. He looks firm, but his eyes betray him. The slight sparkle shows that he thinks it adorably hilarious how the boys are annoying you.

The water seems to be calling you, so you pull Suna to the shore and lean down to the water.

The rest of the day is just filled with the boys and you doing random things by the beach, like eating popsicles, and finding seashells. You're unable to actually get into the water, due to your school uniforms, but seeing an excited you gush over the seashells and smile happily over ice cream is enough for the boys.

At the end of the day, you and the team watch the sunset together, and swear to work extra hard for the upcoming nationals.

As they see you looking up at the sunset adoringly, their hearts squeeze in their chest, so grateful to be a part of your life.

Taglist: @osamusriceballs @k-sakusa-old

[tpwkjerii]

strawberry kisses

you and felix have a longstanding tradition of baking the day after finals. usually, it’s the best method of relaxing after long hours of studying. unfortunately, you find yourself rather tense this time — after all, it’s always fun to spend an entire day in a cramped kitchen with your crush, isn’t it?

pairing: lee felix x reader

warnings: fluff and kissing, mild angst, reader likes strawberries (sorry if you’re allergic skdlsd), ex boyfriend (but supportive bestie) minho, reader has low self confidence :(, like two curse words, kisses!!

genre: friends to lovers au, kinda idiots to lovers, mutual pining

word count: 2.9k+

a/n: short fic for Felix hehe

Your eyes glazed over as you reviewed the last response of your final exam of the term. After two long hours of plugging equations you hardly understood into your nearly-dead calculator and speed-writing to the point where you’re sure you’ve bruised your dominant hand, you finally finished. At lightning speed, you gathered your exam papers and submitted them at the front with a quick prayer to the universe.

A few other students followed your rushed pace out of the large lecture hall, all of you eager to finally get out of the stuffy room.

As you stepped out of the packed hall and into the cooling outdoors, you checked your phone, which was filled with texts from the one person you were trying desperately to get out of your head (and miserably failing at that).

felix (strawberry head) <3

5:23 PM

did you finish your chem final ???

hyunjin and i just submitted our video for our dance performance

your editing was very good btw :D

5:35 PM

y/nnnnn you’re taking forever :(

we’re waiting at the quad for you !!

5:40 PM

*i am waiting at the quad for you

the others got too hungry and left, but i’m waiting for you!

pls hurry it’s cold :[

You bit back a laugh at his texts, his heartwarming tone filling you with a familiar fuzzy feeling. You pushed the feeling aside as you texted a reply.

y/n

5:43 PM

be there in 2 :D

You stifled a smile as you rushed towards the quad. Soon enough, you saw Felix and his bright, red-dyed hair (you first noted that it closely resembled a strawberry). The moment your eyes met his, you felt your heart skip a beat and heat spread across your face. This was the common reaction you’ve had for the past few months whenever you see Felix.

He rushed over to you with a giddy smile and his arms outstretched. Quickly, he barrelled into you and pulled you into a tight embrace.

“You took so long,” he whined, his chest vibrating as he spoke.

“I know, I know. ‘M sorry,” you responded, your voice slightly muffled by his shirt. You took a second to enjoy his hold and the comforting warmth that Felix always provided you whenever he was near. Over the past few years, you’ve grown accustomed to the scent of his sweet floral perfume, the feeling of his tight hugs, and the way he played with your fingers when he was bored.

All the things you were fond of were now extreme nuisances in your life. Not because they were annoying or because you disliked Felix, but rather the complete opposite; you were completely, helplessly, and foolishly in love with him.

“You ready to go?” Felix asked suddenly, breaking you out of your thoughts. He brought his arms down from around you, and you looked down at the ground as you nodded, hoping that he didn’t see the intense blush that was spreading from your face to your neck.

You are so fucked for tomorrow.

After an entire night of tossing and turning in anxiety, the next day finally arrived. To say you were nervous was a massive understatement.

The minute you woke up, you began to anxiously clean your apartment while your roommate Ryujin laughed at you. As you wiped down every visible crevice, she made sure to pester you about a “missed spot” or tempt you with sweets.

“You’ve never cleaned this much whenever Felix came over before,” she pointed out with a laugh while you wiped down the kitchen counters for the fourth time.

“What do you mean?” you asked, your voice uncharacteristically high-pitched.

Ryujin scoffed. “It is so obvious that you like Felix, there’s no point in lying to me,” she stated bluntly.

Your hand froze mid-wipe on the counter. You looked over at your blue-haired roommate nervously. “Is it really… that obvious?”

“Yes,” she deadpanned.

You winced and dropped your head onto the smooth stone countertop. “Do you think he’s noticed?” you moaned into your arms.

“If he hasn’t, I will personally pay for his glasses prescription.”

You whined again as you lifted your head up to look directly at Ryujin. “If he’s noticed then why hasn’t he said anything?”

She stood up as she answered, “Not sure but you could always ask him today.”

Your mouth dropped in horror at the suggestion. “I can’t tell him how I feel! That would completely ruin our friendship!”

“So you’d rather continue tip-toeing around him and never get a clear answer?” she questioned, her arms crossed.

“Yes.”

Ryujin sighed and started to collect her things. “You can do whatever you want,” she started as she placed her papers in her backpack, “but I recommend you tell him soon.” She stood up and headed for the door. Just before opening it and leaving you alone with your thoughts until Felix arrived, she turned around and said, “I won’t be home until late, have fun.” With that, she winked and walked out of your shared apartment.

You scoffed at her suggestive tone and stood upright to check the time.

10:08 AM

You gasped. Felix said he was going to arrive at 10:30, but knowing him he would be at least 15 minutes early, meaning you only had 7 minutes to get yourself together!

You cursed and rushed to your bedroom. Switching out of your wrinkled pajamas, you opted for a random hoodie you grabbed out of your closet and jeans. After you changed, you made a beeline for the bathroom and fixed your appearance. You quickly brushed through your hair and washed your face, hoping you removed all remnants of your restless sleep.

Just as you predicted, you heard four distinctive knocks on your front door right at 10:15.

“Coming!” you exclaimed as you rushed out of your bathroom.

Right before you opened the front door, you placed a hand on your beating heart and mumbled words of encouragement to yourself. Then, after deciding that you were probably taking too long, you pulled the door open.

Immediately, Felix, covered in a large hoodie and arms filled with large bags of baking ingredients, greeted you with a large grin. Like every other time, you felt your heart skip a beat when you made eye contact with him.

“Hi,” you said simply, a smile on your face.

“Hi,” he responded. He looked you up and down, asking, “Are you wearing my hoodie?” 

You paled and looked down at the large pink hoodie, immediately recognizing it as the one that Felix lent you almost one year ago when he dropped you off at the airport since you forgot yours in the car. Once you got back from your trip, you’d forgotten to give it back to him.

“O-oh,” you stuttered, looking down at the oversized sleeves. “I didn’t even realize,” you continued awkwardly. “You can ha -”

“It’s fine,” he cut you off, the smile never leaving his face. He shrugged. “You look better in it anyways.”

Your mouth dropped and you found yourself unable to respond for a few moments. Felix laughed at your dumbfoundedness and gently pushed you aside to walk into the apartment. Once he set the bags down on the kitchen counters, you returned to your senses and closed the door to walk over to him.

“So, what are we making today?” you asked, trying to keep your voice as level as possible. It wasn’t an easy task to do, considering his proximity to you.

You held your breath as he grabbed your hands and looked into your eyes. “What’s your favorite fruit?” he asked excitedly.

“Er, strawberries?” you answered, tilting your head to the side in mild confusion.

At that, Felix let go of your hands and quickly pulled out a carton of fresh strawberries from one of the bags. You gasped in delight at the sight of the bright fruit and immediately thanked him.

“It’s no big deal,” he responded while sliding the fruits into the fridge. “I’m gonna eat most of the tarts and choco strawberries anyways,” he added with a sneaky laugh.

You scoffed. “You always say that but you always end up giving me the most.” You smirked at him while taking out the baking materials.

“I don’t give it to you,” he countered. “You steal them.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” you told him with a sing-song tone. He laughed from your side, and you swore that you heard actual sparkles, as if he were a fairy, when he did.

You cleared your throat, hoping to rid your mind of distracting thoughts that could be potential problems during the next seven hours that Felix would be at your apartment. “So, master chef Felix,” you started, lowering your voice like a TV show announcer. “What are you going to do first?”

“Well, my fair announcer,” he began, holding up the silicon whisk like a microphone. “I think we should start with preparing the shortbread dough, what about you?”

“Ah, you are the chef. Lead the way,” you responded with a wide smile.

You both laughed together and actually began the baking. Like usual, Felix did most of the work while you played music and assisted from the side. You worked together seamlessly, and soon enough the shortbread cookies were done and strawberry jam cooling to the side.

While you taste-tested the jam, Felix began to whisk the melted chocolate, and you took this time to admire him. You stood at his side, allowing you to admire his side profile.

Felix was easily one of the most beautiful individuals you ever laid your eyes on. But his appearance wasn’t the only part you fell for — he was one of the few people whose inside beauty matched their outside beauty.

Felix was kind, funny, optimistic, and just about every positive adjective you could find in a dictionary. After every failed test, he was there with a cup of strawberry ice cream and a shoulder to cry on. When you landed your first job, he was there to celebrate with you even when your own family wasn’t. And when you and Minho mutually broke up, he was there to give you advice as you coped with the end of your first relationship.

How could you not fall for him?

And sometimes you had the feeling that he liked you back. The touches that would linger for just a few seconds too long, the soft smiles that Chan claimed he only ever gave to you, and his late-night texts all spurned a tiny hopeful fire in you that kept your crush alive.

No matter how many times you tried to get over him and convince yourself that your crush didn’t exist, the tiny voice in your head still spoke. “But what if he likes you back?”

Now, as Felix stood by your side with a soft smile on his face while he whisked the chocolate, that voice screamed louder than ever.

And just as you gained a sliver of courage, the same paralyzing thoughts that have held you back for the past few months returned.

Felix was out of your league in every way. He was social and easily commanded the attention of an entire room with so much as two words. His outward beauty matched his insides, and everyone on campus reached a collective agreement that if angels ever existed and walked among us — Lee Felix was certainly one of them.

And those things were only the tip of the iceberg that is Felix. He was talented, sensitive, supportive, passionate, and everything you could ever ask for and then some.

You then thought back to all the people he rejected - kindly, of course - and how you matched up to them. If Felix didn’t choose to go out with all those beautiful and talented people, what on Earth made you think you would choose you?

At this point, Felix picked up on your sudden silence and how your breaths grew heavy and uneven.

“Are you… alright?” he asked carefully, his own chest beating heavily.

You stared at him, panicked that he caught onto your apprehension. “Um…” you started, trailing off as you met his gaze.

Felix let go of the whisk and grabbed your hands. “You can say whatever you need to.”

“I uh,” you started after a few moments, internally battling yourself to gain courage as you realized that it’s now or never. “I kinda like you,” you admitted quietly, looking down at your intertwined hands anxiously. You waited for him to pull his hand away in disgust and start to kindly reject you like he did to all those other people, but it never came. After a few seconds, his hands still the entire time, you looked up at him with glassy eyes in confusion.

“What?” he finally said, his deep voice softer than ever.

You looked back down at your hands shamefully. “Do I really have to repeat it?” you asked weakly. “I like you, Felix. I have for the past few months and it’s been driving me insane because it feels like my heart’s about to stop dead whenever I see you and I can never think straight when you’re with me. Apparently, it’s been pretty obvious and I really tried my best to get over it so it wouldn’t hurt our friendship.

“Trust me, I really wanted to get over it but I couldn’t, and I know you don’t like me back so it’s ok. I can deal with it on my own and you can just leave a -”

“Y/N,” Felix said suddenly, his voice firm. You looked up, tears rolling down your face as you were sure that he was about to reject you.

“Felix please don’t interrupt me. At least let me finish what I have to say,” you pleaded softly, removing your hands from his.

“Y/N,” he repeated, his voice much gentler. He carefully wiped the tears from your face and took your hands into his again. “Can I say something before you finish?” he requested.

You choked back a sob as you nodded, certain that he was just going to let you down kindly.

“I like you too, Y/N,” he said shyly, a blush spreading across his freckled face.

Your entire body froze.

“I was too scared to admit it because I didn’t think you liked me back,” he continued, the words slowly registering in your mind. “To be honest, I thought you still liked Minho.”

You blushed at his words, thinking back to all the times you would pull Minho, your ex-boyfriend, to the side to talk about Felix these past few months. You didn’t realize how it must have looked to Felix or your other friends.

“I was also… afraid of ruining our friendship, so I’ve just kept it to myself the past two years.”

You gaped at him. “Two years?” you sputtered, causing him to laugh at the way your eyes widened comically. “That’s when we first started uni!”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I was instantly attracted to the way you fought Chan on why you should be allowed to keep the minifridge in your dorm,” he joked.

You blushed at the embarrassing memory, although it wasn’t completely regrettable as it was how you met most of your current friends — including Felix.

“I’m surprised,” you voiced simply. “I didn’t think you would ever like me back.” You breathed out, your muscles relaxing instantly.

Felix grinned again and he moved slowly to envelop you in his arms. He rested his hands on the small of your back and his head on the crook of your shoulder.

“Does this mean that I can take you out on a date?” he whispered.

“Will you promise to stop taking unflattering pictures of me and sending them to me in the middle of the night?” you asked, your head resting against his and arms around him.

He sighed. “Fine,” he answered reluctantly with a whine.

“Then sure,” you responded and pulled your head back to meet his eyes. His eyes shined from the sunlight pouring through the windows and his freckles glimmered like stars across a canvas. Felix was truly beautiful inside and out.

“You have some strawberry jam on your lip,” he said after a few silent moments where you both admired each other.

“Really?” you asked. Your hand moved from his back towards your face, but Felix caught your hand in midair and returned it to its original position.

“I’ll get it,” he murmured with a gentle smile before closing the distance between your lips.

You held your breath as he pressed his soft lips against yours. You instantly recognized the strawberry chapstick he uses and the taste of the shortbread cookies. He swiped his tongue against the corner of your lip, and the sudden sensation caused a shiver to run down your spine.

You brought your hand up to his hair and gently tugged at his dyed locks. Felix brought you closer to him and massaged your back as he deepened the kiss.

When you finally pulled away, your face was burning red and you were completely breathless. Felix was smiling giddily, his arms still around yours.

“I think there’s still some jam left,” he told you, not even giving you a second to respond before he pressed his lips against yours once again. This kiss was much more playful than the last as you giggled against each other in the kiss.

“Did you get it all?” you asked him, your voice reduced to a murmur as he continued kissing your lips.

He hummed, kissing you once and twice in between, before responding, “I don’t think so.”

You laughed against his lips. “Well, I guess you better get it all. I can’t have strawberries stuck on my lips all day.”

He laughed with you, and true to his words, he eventually did get all the strawberry jam off (an extra two hours and an uncountable amount of kisses later).

[liamiya]

Hi, can I please get a complex system from the butterfly effect event - number 13 with Karube? Thank you! ~🥰

quote: 13. “Please help - there’s a spider on the wall outside my room and it won’t let me leave.” 

warnings: spiders, but other than that none?

author's notes: im sorry for taking so long! This was self indulgent and i will proofread it later! I hope you like it 🥺💕

You've got your eyes on him since he moved into your building.

Of course you would watch your hot new neighbor, after all, most people that lived into your apartment complex were old couples or families with small children, only a few of people your age lived there and you were too far away from them to actually start a conversation.

When you saw boxes outside the apartment right in front of yours, you felt blessed.

It took you a whole week to actually meet him for the first time. You were running late for university, your paper had kept you awake for so long that you forgot to turn on your alarm again. Stupid. You wished you had trusted your mom and bought a automatic alarm.

As soon as you - practically - bursted out of your apartment, you crashed against a body, almost falling down.

— Oh, sorry! I'm so- – You lost track of what you were saying as soon as your eyes locked with his. The pretty dark eyes that stared back into yours held a confidence that made you strangely attracted. Who– was he your new neighbor?

— It's alright, don't worry. – He chuckled deeply, making a shiver go down your spine. — I'm Karube Daikichi, by the way, your new neighbor.

You nodded a couple of times, practically hypnotized by the way the words smoothly left his lips.

— My new neighbor...? – You saw his eyebrow raising at your expression and you softly shook your head, closing your mouth that you didn't noticed were open. — O-Oh, hum, yeah I noticed! I saw a couple of boxes here a week ago! I just didn't know you were...

A playful smile spread on his lips and he crossed his arms, his head softly tilting while a glint started to shine on his eyes.

— You were...? – His words once again broke you free from your thoughts and you started walking to the stairs.

— It was nice to meet you, Karube-san! I'm a little late, so I will be going! I hope to see you more around. – You waved and turned around, running and opening the stairs door.

— Wait, what's your name? – He said loudly, making you stop for a second.

You yelled back your name and quickly started walking down the stairs, trying your best to not fall down - your brain insisted on focusing on his smile and you were worried it would distract you for the rest of the day.

You missed the way your name rolled out from his lips, sweetly and quietly, testing the tones and vibrations of it. He smiled and entered his apartment, thoughts of your disheveled appearance making him want to giggle.

After that, you two started to see each other more. Your talks went from quick words shared in front of your apartment to him walking with you to your bus stop - he wanted to give you a ride to your university, but you said no, insisting that you didn't want to bother him too much. Every single minute you spent talking to him was amazing. He was a handsome man and so gentle with you despite his bad boy appearance. You felt yourself slowly, but surely, falling for him.

You just didn't have the courage to act on your feelings.

In the end of a day filled with tests and stress all you wanted to do was crash on top of your head and fall asleep. Unlike other days, you didn't see Karube when you arrived home. You two had a matching schedule, you could always count on seeing him to cheer the rest of the day up, but strangely, he wasn't anywhere today.

You brushed it off and walked inside your apartment. You closed the door, not bothering to lock it and your feet dragged you to your bedroom. When you arrived there, you changed your clothes to pajamas, trying to be as comfortable as possible.

A thought crossed your mind. You should go get something to eat. It wouldn't kill anyone right?

As soon as you opened your door, you saw a spider right in front of your face. A loud scream left your lips and you shut the door way stronger than you wished to. You threw yourself into your bed, any tiredness long left your body.

Your panicked body did the first thing it thought of. You grabbed your phone and typed in Karube's number, calling him with slightly shaky hands. After some rings, he answered the call, a deep and sleepy "hello?" coming from his side of the line.

— Please help! There– There's this spider outside my room and it won't let me leave! – You murmured as if the spider could hear you. You heard a chuckle and a shuffle coming from the man and you whined softly. — D-Don't laugh! I'm so scared...

— Don't worry, I'm coming. Stay still.

You relaxed and murmured that your door was unlocked before he hung up. Not long after the call was ended, you heard your door opening and quick steps coming to your room and then back to your living room.

— K-Karube? – You yelled and he answered with a 'yeah?'. — Is everything okay?

Your answer was your door opening. He rested against the door frame, his arms - exposed thanks to the white tank top he was wearing - crossed on his chest.

— Problem is solved, your majesty. – He smirked and you quickly runned to him, embracing him in a big hug. — Whoa there, were you that scared?

— Y-Yeah! – You murmured, nodding against his chest while he wrapped his arms around you too. — It was so terrifying! Thank you for coming, I'm really grateful.

He rested his chin on the top of your head making a warm feeling spread on your chest.

— Well, I could use a payment you know? – Karube said, his voice confident and cocky. — Let me take you on a date, cute thing.

2021 © content belongs to liamiya, do not repost or edit without permission

[sckyie]

song: driver’s license by olivia rodrigo

word count: 2.5k

genre + warnings: angst; swearing, fear of driving, reminiscing in old memories

pronouns used: she/her

a/n: this was orignially supposed to just be an imagine inspired by the song, not apart of the song series but it fits too well to not change oikawa’s song. i also wrote this for @kybabi​​ bc i love her :D n e wayz enjoy :) (part 2)

"So here you're going to turn and he'll make you do a parallel park in the street. You remember how to do that right?" Oikawa asked as he guided you to the next turn. As you turn the steering wheel, you spot a crowded curbside.

"No, can you please please park for me? I hate parallel parking," You pleaded.

"Only because you asked so nicely," He teased.

Ever since you told your best friend that you wanted to learn how to drive, Oikawa never let it go whenever you wanted to hang out. Having you drive him around for practice and giving you tips as you went. He's helped you a ton while you drove around, the only issues you had were parallel parking and merging onto the highway.

"Maybe we should try the highway again," Oikawa said after you two switched seats.

"Are you asking for a death wish?" You joked. "I drive too slow and I'm scare to merge into lanes."

"We can practice on smaller freeways if you want," He asks.

"No," You growled.

It was always a terrifying thing to drive on the highway. You always saw those horrid accidents and feared being in one. Oikawa would always put his hand on your thigh as you merged to calm you down. Just having him be there was enough to get you to get onto the highway. All your fears just faded with him beside you.

Just having this intimate driving lesson with him was enough for you. You grew to fall in love in your best friend. A cliché thing, yet you couldn't say anything. Only you and your girl friends knew about your big crush. It was a funny thing, falling for your childhood best friend. Iwaizumi always joked about you doing so but you never admitted to liking Oikawa. What would that do to your friendship?

Today was the day, it was your test day. The scariest thing you anticipated was finally here. The thing you practiced days on end with Oikawa. The thing that could either make or break you. Today, you'd either come out with your license or you'll be walking home.

The nerves crept up your body like spiders leaving a trail of anxiety webs. You bounced you leg as you waited in the lobby looking out for your driving instructor. As your sweaty palms go to check the time, you notice a text message from Oikawa.

butthead: hey! good luck on your test today!

That's what cooled you down. A simple saying of good fortune will help, right? Sure enough, the test was a breeze, minus the parallel parking as it was the one mistake you got. You happily drove home to tell the news to your parents.

"Have you told Tooru yet?" Your mom asked.

"I'll wait until my actual driver license to prove to him I got it," You smiled.

"You like him don't you?" Your mom gestured to the joy on your face. "I can tell."

"No," You looked away from your mom as she raised her eyebrow. "Okay, maybe but you can't say anything. I'm going to my room now." She chuckled as you dragged you feet to your room.

Two weeks passes and you finally received your license in the mail. You smiled happily down at your new card as you walked outside the school building. You looked up to search for your best friend. Your eyes scanned the courtyard before landing on Iwaizumi. Assuming Oikawa was nearby, you headed towards him.

"Hey Iwa, where's Oiks?" You asked. Iwaizumi raised up his hand and pointed across to the gate. You looked over to find Oikawa talking to Kasumi, a classmate of yours.

"He's asking her to go on a date with him again," Iwaizumi says.

Again? He's done it before?

"Are they dating?" You ask.

"Not yet, Oikawa wants to ask her to be his girlfriend on the date," Iwa explains. "What's that?" He points to your hands as you fiddled with the corner of your driver's license.

"Oh," You said solemnly. "I got my license."

You waved goodbye to your childhood friend before going into he parking lot. Without thinking, you started the car and just began to drive. Out of the school and onto who knows where. Your mind grew blank as you drove.

How could he not mention Kasumi to you? He used to tell you everything but lately he'd been so distant. Maybe that's why he hasn't texted you all week, you thought. Who could blame him for liking Kasumi? She's so pretty and not to mention how smart she is. She's the class representative and she's one of the nicest girls around.

You fell for the one man you shouldn't have. It was too late to even confess how you felt. He was already falling for another while you were left behind. You felt a sharp pain in your chest as you drove by familiar buildings.

The laundromat where you and Oikawa would go to help with the laundry. You both would end up messing around and your parents would have to kick you two out. You and Oikawa would go across the street to the convenience store to buy steamed buns.

He doesn't like you.

The library where you would wait for Oikawa to finish practice so you two could study together. He'd bring you a bottle of tea and some sort of snack to keep you from burning out. Those study dates where you'd stay until the library was closed.

Give up, stop thinking of him.

The ramen restaurant where Oikawa would take you if he won a game. It was a great celebration and you two had made so many memories there. You two had gone there so often, he convinced the owner that you were his girlfriend.

Let him go.

All the feelings you had for him began to ache in your heart as you reminisced in the memories. You gripped tighter on the wheel as you saw an highway exit. "Fuck," You whispered as you merged into the fast lane. Suddenly all those fears you had of driving, just disappeared. You felt this peace as your eyes locked on the long highway. It was like, nothing hurt anymore. Your tensed shoulders relaxed, yet you felt tears roll down your cheeks. You took deep breaths as you drove attempting to stop your tears.

Soon enough, driving on the highway had shifted from a phobia to an escape. Everyday after school, rather than meeting up with Oikawa and Iwaizumi before practice, you'd drive on the highway and on backroads. It was the only thing that kept you sane when you see Kasumi with Oikawa together.

You became accustomed to the fast pace of the highways. Occasionally you'd speed if you felt some type of pain grow in your chest. You'd blast music to drown out any thoughts or feelings you had. You knew Oikawa could never be yours, so why bother crying over him, right? The thought of being around him began to make you uncomfortable. If you kept your distance, you wouldn't get hurt. You wouldn't be considered a distraction.

butthead: hey?

you: what's up?

butthead: it's been a while since i've seen you :( i miss my best friend

you: are you sure you mean to text me or iwa?

butthead: you, y/n i miss hanging with you

butthead: you didn't come to the restaurant after our game

you: i was busy, sorry

butthead: :(

you: i gotta go, ill talk to you later

Oikawa sighed at his phone and looked across the table to Iwaizumi. "Have you talked to Y/n lately?" He asked.

"Yeah, she borrowed gas money from me," Iwa says before slurping his noodles.

"Gas money? She got her license?" Oikawa tilts his head. "How long has it been?"

"A month? You got caught up with Kasumi," Iwaizumi says.

"Hmph," Oikawa huffed as he sipped his drink. He'd been spending so much time with Kasumi that he forgot about you. Or was it, you started to forget about him? He glances at the window behind Iwa and noticed a familiar car parking.

You parked your car across the street of the restaurant next to a convenience store. You quickly got out and went into the store looking for something to drink. As you began to scan the fridge, you heard the door open. "Y/n?" You turned to find Oikawa.

"What are you doing here?" You turned back to grab a soda.

"Iwa came to eat with me since you didn't make it," Oikawa says. "He's still there, did you want to join us?"

"No thanks, I'm kinda busy at the moment," You say dully. Oikawa goes to speak but you had already walked to go pay for your drink. "Later Oikawa."

"Oikawa?" He watched as you left the store and into your car. He follows suit and watched you speed off. Oikawa quickly makes his way back to the restaurant and seats himself disgruntled. "Y/n called me Oikawa..."

"That's your name isn't it?" Iwaizumi raised his eyebrow.

"She always calls me Oiks or Ru, never Oikawa," He says. "Did I do something wrong?"

Iwaizumi shrugged even though he knew the answer well enough. After Oikawa had asked Kasumi to be his girlfriend, your demeanor had changed. Iwa was the first to notice too. Typically, after school you'd see the duo before practice started, yet since you learnt Oikawa had eyes for another, you stopped.

One day, Iwaizumi decided to follow after you when school was over. He trailed behind as you walked to your car door. You pulled open the door handle only for Iwa to shut the door immediately after. You turned to find Iwaizumi with scrunched eyebrows. "What's wrong with you?" He asked. "Why haven't you came by before practice?"

"No reason, I'm just busy," You lied.

"Liar, what's wrong?" He asks yet you remained silent. "I won't tell Shittykawa just tell me why you're being so distant...and also why your eyes are always puffy."

You paused before answering, "I'm just...upset with Oikawa...and Kasumi.."

"Do you..?" Iwaizumi implied. You nod and looked at the ground. "What have you been doing since you found out about them?"

"Driving," You sighed. "Just driving...It's keep me off my mind all week. I bear the fact that he looks so happy with her and not...me. God I'm so stupid."

"Don't say that-" Iwa started but you immediately lashed out.

"It's true! I was too late to confess! And I fell for the one boy I can't have!" You felt tears well up in your eyes. "I can't even drive by certain places without getting upset. I take backroads and I avoid them completely. I hate driving by his house but it's the only way to my own. He just treats me like another fucking fan girl! I'm just so stupid for falling for my best friend." Since that day, Iwaizumi kept to his promise. Not word about your feelings were said to Oikawa.

butthead: hey are you busy right now ?

you: no, what's up?

butthead: can you help me with something?

you: depends

butthead: meet me at the library so i can tell you more :)

You locked you phone and tossed it into your passenger's seat. You looked up to see the light change to green, allowing you to speed into the highway. Your hands rested at the bottom of the wheel as you drove. The slow, lo-fi music surrounded your car as you drove which let you get out of your trapped mind.

It was a crazy thought to think that you and Oikawa were so excited to drive together. Yet now all you want to do is drive alone. You turned up the volume of your music as you merged into your neighborhood. You leaned further back into your seat as you were driving around the suburbs. You glance at the white cars lining one street leading to the library. You scoffed at the sight as a repressed memory resurfaced.

"Why do you like white cars so much?" You chuckled.

"Because they look clean and nice? Sorry I don't like your basic silver car," Oikawa raised his hand to block your face.

"I'm basic? Says the one who wants an automatic," You pretend to throw up to mock him.

"For someone who can't drive yet, you talk big," Oikawa pats your head only to be smacked a few seconds late. Oikawa drapes his arm over you as you walked down the street to the library The entire walk was filled with mocking and talking about the future. "Let me teach you how to drive, that way we could go out together more."

You finally arrived at the library, spotting Oikawa before parking the car. He watches as you easily parallel park and is stunned by how casual you are as you drove. You set out and approach him. Oikawa holds out a snack to you but you politely refuse.

"Let's go inside?" He asks. You shrugged and followed him in. Rather than sitting beside him like usual, you sat across from him. You still had those feelings for him but you couldn't stand sitting next to him. Your heart was pounding out of your chest as you anticipated his next words. "I was wondering if you could help me with Kasumi?"

Ouch.

"With what?" You ask.

"I want to give her a gift, right?" He starts. "A gift that goes along with me telling her I love her."

He loves her?

Your heart aches but you decide to move past that. "Isn't it a bit early to say I love you?"

"Well, we were long time friends before we started dating and I feel like it's the right time to, y'know?" Oikawa leans forward on the table. "Can you help me find a gift?"

This feels familiar. Helping him find a gift for a girl that isn't you. It seems like anytime he does have a crush he'd come to you for advice. This is the first time that you didn't want to give into his favors.

"No," You sighed.

"No? Wait why not?" He raised his eyebrows at you.

"Because," Say it. "Because I-"

"Because?" Oikawa tilts his head at your response.

"Because I can't keep doing things like this for you," You stood up and began heading for the entrance. Oikawa followed afterwards as he could see the pain in your voice.

"Y/n, talk to me, we haven't talked in forever. Tell me what's wrong," He says as you exit the library. You ignore his voice and reached for your car door. He grabs your arm but you shove him off.

"Would you just- leave me alone?" You snapped. "I don't want to help you, okay?"

"What did I do?" Oikawa was beyond confused at your response.

"I- You- Ugh! Just go away, I don't want to see you!" Your voice cracked as the suppressed feelings began to rise again.

"Why not!" Oikawa grabbed your arm again, this time you weren't able to break free.

"Because I fucking loved you idiot!" You yelled. Hot tears streamed down your cheeks as you stopped struggling in his hold. Oikawa paused and stared at you in wonder.

"You...loved me?" He asked.

"I still fucking love you! God, I hate you- I just- Let go!" You pulled off him. "I'm leaving. If you try to stop me, I'm never speaking to you again." You wiped your tears as you entered your car. Driving off into the neighborhood, crying at the red lights knowing you could've ruined your whole friendship.

Oikawa watched as you sped off. Those words lingered in his ear as he stared down at his hand where you let go. His mind was lost in thought, how could his best friend love him? Was he that blind that he couldn't see your admiration? "She...loves me?" He thought.

taglist: @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme​ @d0llpie​ @elianetsantana @joy-laufeyson @kac-chowsballs

[bunnybunbun0]

Harry request!

Harry sees a familiar ravenclaw clinging to her book in the back of the library & curiosity comes over him up to her to see what’s wrong.

Fluff prompt #4 ."im scared of thunderstorms” & #32."you look lovely in my sweater”

Warm|Harry James Potter

Summary:for your whole life you have been terrified of thunderstorms,leading you to develope a method to cope with the fear,Harry was about to show you a new and very warm one.

Pairing:Harry James Potter x Ravenclaw!reader

Warnings:none,this is just bad written fluff

Prompts:fluff-#4.``im scared of thunderstorms``,#32``you look lovely in my sweater``

A/n:thank you so much for your request!also,sorry it took me that long to write,i was drowning in school work,thanks for the patience.

that was really sweet to write,sorry for any mistakes,i kinda got lost on the ending,and it is not that long,but i hope you like it,and that it warms your heart <3

gif credits to the owner

Frustrated,that’s the word you would use to define yourself now,’cause it was better than the word scared.It was already midnight,,and you were ready to sleep,layed on your bed,when you heard it,a thunder,a loud one,followed by a lighting in the sky and the  heavy rain hitting the window,and the roof upon your head.

You felt your heart beat faster and your palms getting sweaty,and you knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep,even tho you were tired,and had classes early in the morning,so instead,you got up,put on some random shoes,and left the dorm.

Thunderstorms terrified you to the core since you were a little kid,it’s just a fear that you never outgrew.You kept wandering through the castle,heading to the library,you always found confort there,among the books and the smell of ink and partchment paper,maybe that’s why you got sorted into ravenclaw.

Once you got to the library,you felt a little less scared,allowing yourself to relax a bit,feeling a cold wave hit your exposed skin,you left the dorm so quickly and exasperated,that even forgot to get a jacket,leaving your figure dressed with only pijamas standing in the entrance of the room.

But it was already too late to go back,so you just grabbed the poetry book you were reading earlier that day,and sat on the same familiar spot.

It was distracting you for a while,you really liked poetry and it was a good book to keep the focus on,and ignore the exterior sounds.Eventually,for your misfortune,the storm got worst,making your body flinch.

“Shit!”

You cursed under your breath,feeling your body shake in both cold and fear.Suddenly,you remembered what your mom used to do to calm you down in nights like this,leading you to whisper the lullaby.

“Daisy,daisy,give me your answer do,i’m half crazy,all for the love of you...”

You had your eyes closed and could feel the stress start to dissipate as the calm notes left your mouth.

“It won’t be a stylish marriage,i can’t afford a carriage,but you’d look sweet on the seat of a bycicle built for too”

A small smile left your lips when you felt more relaxed,having the guts to finally open your eyes again,only to face the figure of the boy standing in front of you,holding a wand with a shiny tip,staring shyly,and tenderly at you.You could feel your soul leaving your body,that was harry james potter,the boy you have fancied since second year,seeing you in a situation like this,you swore you could melt with the embarassement.

“I-i’m sorry,i didn’t mean to disturb you”

“You didn’t” he answered quickly,not wanting you to be sorry “may i?” harry asked pointing to the empty space on your side,after your positive nod,he sat on the floor  by your side.

For a moment,an ankward silence stood between you two,the only thing that could be heard was the thunders and the big drops of water on the windows,making your body shiver.It isn’t like the two of you,had never talked before,everyone noticed you two being overly nice on the few classes gryffindor and ravenclaw had togheter,always smiling and staring,it was almost flirtarious,crystal clear you liked each other,but needed a boost to spit it out.

Harry that was quiet by your side,noticed your disconfort.

“Are you cold?” he asked,it seemed like the right thing since you were shaking,and it was raining.A sudden wave of embarassement ran through your body as you remembered you were using nothing but a tank top and cotton shorts.

“Y-yes actually..”you admited,it was an odd feeling but you felt confortable around him,like you could tell him anything in this world,and he also felt the same.

“Here” he took of his sweater and handed it to you “you can use it” a soft smile was on your lips,and you blushed a little,but accepted,you puted it on,and it was a little loose,but still very warm and cozy.

“Thank you” you told him with a smile,it was just too much for harry,you in front of him,smiling at him,cheecks slightly red,with his sweater on,such a sight for his eyes,and he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Merlin,you look lovely on my sweater” harry whispered loud enough for you to hear,a silly and passionate smile was dancing on his lips,the boy was not nearly as good as you in controling how much he cared for you.

“W-what!?” You could feel your face even hotter.

“O-oh nothing!” he answered quickly realizing just now what he had done,but not regreting it “so,uhm,what are you doing here this late?everyone else is asleep”harry quickly changed the subject trying to not increase the already high tension between you two,but you were sure of what you have heard.

“Honestly?” you were really about to tell him,one of your biggest fears,and you were not even scared,you trusted him enough to do so.he nodded to you in encouragement.

“I’m scared of thunderstorms” you said looking in his eyes “couldn’t sleep with the noise” you were definetly embarassed about what you just said,but there was something about him that just made you feel safe to say anything at all.

“Oh!” he exclaimed,surprised by how sincere you were “that’s okay,we are safe in here,you’re safe with me” he said sweetly,cupping your face and stroking your cheeck with his thumb,in an spontanious act that just felt so right.

Both of you were impressed with the sincerity of your words,and the naturality of your acts,the trust,the care,the love,it was all so real and honest.That was obvious that he fancied you back,but you needed to hear it,to be sure.

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“D-do you like me?” both of you froze for a second “like,really,like”

“I-i do,but it’s okay if you don’t like me back,i-”

You shutted him with a kiss,one that felt like its being denied for years,but finally happened,and he kissed you back,pulling you closer to him,it was slow,but very full of love,a kiss worthy of a muggle movie.Before you even know how,you two were cuddling on the spot,the rain was setting down,and you were starting to get sleepy again.

“Are you still cold?”

“No,not nymore...now it feels warm,very warm”

[twilight-love-nochu]

BTS Reaction To neglecting their family while away (Hyung Line)

JIN (Kim Seokjin)

When you started to date Jin you knew what you got yourself into. Jin is a busy man always preparing for the next comeback or going on tour. He was living his dream and you knew how much it meant to him so you didn’t complain. You felt quite proud of him actually since even with his busy schedule he usually never forgets to take care of his family and spends as much time with your three year old and you as possible.

Though on his current tour it was quite different. For a long time he didn’t call you two and barely ever answered your calls and you were getting quite tired of it. Yes, he was busy but you were just asking for 5 minutes, enough time to check on each other and for him to talk to his son.

It had already been 4 months since he left and your son was missing him terribly. He was starting to be uncontrollable, always throwing tantrums and never wanting to go to sleep demanding for his father to sing him to sleep.

Today was one of those nights again. Your usually smiley son was currently crying at the top of his lungs and kicking when you tried to come near him. At this point you were fed up with it and didn’t have any energy to deal with it anymore.

You left your son’s room and went to the living room were you left your phone. You snatched it from the table it was laying on and FaceTimed your husband over and over again determined to have him answer the phone, which he did after the fifth call.

“What is it?! You can’t just blow up my phone like this I’m about to go to the rehearsals and I’m already late, Y/N.” You could tell that he was pissed by the way he growled at you. But at this point you were probably more irritated than him so it didn’t faze you.

“I wouldn’t have to if you actually answered when I called… or maybe even called yourself.” You retorted with a fake smile.

“You know I’m busy, I don’t always have time. Like right now actually.”

“Seems like lately even when you do have time you prefer spending it with anything or anyone other than your family.” You didn’t even know were that came from and the words surprised even you but you weren’t going to show him how startled you were. “Whatever I just called because your son misses you very much and is making life very hard for me right now so talk to him.” You said while going back into your son’s room and handing the phone to your son who was still crying, though much calmer now.

As soon as he say his father on the screen you could see his eyes light up.

“Hi buddy!” you heard Jin say as you took the opportunity to go to the kitchen and heat up your food as you didn’t have any time to eat before since you were too busy taking care of the troublesome son. You also took the time to calm down from the fight with your husband.

After a few minutes you went back into your son’s room to check on him only to find him fast asleep with your phone on his lap. You smiled at how cute he looked before walking over to him. You payed him down in his bed, tucked him in and pressed a kiss to his temple before taking the phone and walking out of the room making sure to close the door carefully behind you.

“Y/N?” The voice coming from your phone startled you a bit, you didn’t realize that he was still on the call. When you pointed the camera at your face Jin started talking again: “He grew a lot since the last time I saw him. I didn’t realize how long it has been.” He said with a sad smile on his face problably trying to start small talk with you.

You chuckled bitterly at his words “Yeah, talk to you whenever.” You rolled your eyes.

“Wai-“ you didn’t let him finish before ending the call. You really didn’t feel like talking to him after your fight.

SUGA (Min Yoongi)

Yoongi has always been a distant person. He often missed calls or forgot to text back, or even canceled some dates. In the beginning of your relationship it made you doubt his feelings for you quite often but you soon came to realize that he wasn’t being distant on purpose. He is just naturally introverted and very serious and concentrated when it comes to his work.

What helped you realize that we’re many actions of his, like when he came to you when he needed inspiration, or when he sometimes came over to your apartment that was further away from his studio than the dorms fully knowing that you would be asleep when he came and that he had to leave even before you woke up and when you realized that and asked him about it he simply replied that he only felt completely relaxed when he was with you, or simply that he trusted you with his beloved dog Hollie when he was on tour.

Tour was the only time where you two were completely apart from each other and the only way for you to communicate was through the phone. This made tours the hardest times in your relationship, as your communication would be at its minimum. Of course you missed your boyfriend very much when he was away but you trusted Yoongi and knew that if he didn’t call he was just immersed in his work and stressed, you didn’t want to be a distraction from his work since you know how important it was to him.

Anyway you soon got used to his lifestyle and you two started to make changes in both of your lives so that you were both happy. You started hanging out at his studio more often - obviously not distracting him but doing your own thing -, soon you two even moved in together and later on he married you.

Now here you are 5 years later and not much has changed. Yoongi is still as focused on his career and you don‘t mind much, you miss him, but you were used to it by now… but your daughter was not.

Your daughter was only 4 years old so she didn’t understand why her daddy had to be away from her for so long. She is the biggest Daddy‘s Girl out there so she also didn’t like the idea of him going around the world to make other girls happy very much.

The 4-year-old has been feeling a little bit under the weather for a couple of days now and it broke your heart to see your usual bundle of happiness in that state. You thought long about how to make her feel better and came to the conclusion that talking to her beloved dad was the only medicine that would help.

You pondered for a very long time wether you should call him or not since you knew how grumpy he could get when he got interrupted while working but when your daughter even refused to eat you knew you had to.

You went into your room to start the call because you didn’t know how Yoongi would react after picking up the phone and you didn’t want him to snap at you in front of your 4-year-old.

Sure enough Yoongi seemed pissed after answering your second call. “Babe, I’m working, you know I don’t like getting interrupted.” Yes he was scolding you but you couldn’t help the butterflies that erupted in your belly upon hearing his voice after so long.

“Oh come on, you’re always working Yoongi and we haven’t talked in so long.” You pouted a little.

“I’m busy Y/N, I’m working on a new song right now and I really don’t want to forget what I had in mind.” He doesn’t budge, making you sigh.

“Yoongi, we talked about this. When you’re working you tend to get too immersed in it and you forget to call. The last time we talked was more than a month ago and the only reason I even know you’re alive and well is because I talk to your members. I just want one call once in a while even if it’s for a few minutes. Y/D/N misses you a lot… and I do too.” You add shyly.

That’s when you see a soft smile for on your Husband’s lips. “ You’re Right Y/N. I’m sorry. I guess I do get too immersed in my work. I didn’t even realize how I miss you two too.”

“You really need to take a break once in a while babe.” You tell him.

”I know. I will. How’s Y/D/N?” You can see his eyes light up just at the thought of her, making you chuckle.

“Not so good, she hasn’t been nearly as cheerful as she usually is. And I just tried to feed her but she keeps rejecting any kind of food. I think she just misses you a lot. You know I’m used to not talking to you that much but she isn’t.” You tell him honestly and his face falls remarkably.

“You should be used to me neglecting you either, Y/N.” He says sadness laced in his voice. “I’ll make it up to you I promise. For now let me talk to my Princess.”

You walk into the living room with your phone in your hand to find said princess lying on the sofa while watching her favorite show on the TV.

“Baby, Look who’s on the phone!” You say with a cheerful tone.

As sulky as she was before she still looked over to you and as soon as she saw her father on the phone the Y/D/N that you knew and loved cake back.

“Appa!!!”

You stayed on the phone for almost 2 hours during which your daughter happily told him about everything he had missed since his last phone call and he even got her to eat before she passed out on your lap. You were relieved that she was back to her old bubbly self.

Surprisingly, the call didn’t end after you put Y/D/N to bed like you would have thought. Instead Yoongi even insisted on staying on the phone to talk to you until you fell asleep too.

J-Hope (Jung Hoseok)

Your husband Hoseok was a superstar and his popularity was growing day by day. His fan base exceeded national boundaries so naturally he was gone a lot. Be it for a world tour, schedules in other countries or a collaboration with a western artist.

This time he had a 3 months tour all over America and had to stay there a little longer for the promotion of his new song with the newest big female artist in the USA right now.

Though you knew that you had to share your s/o with more than 30 Mio people, you didn’t mind because you knew that in the end you were the one he was married to and had two children with. Plus, you were an army too, so how could you be jealous knowing how important he was to them and vise versa.

Getting jealous because of his popularity would be stupid anyways because Hoseok was one of the most social and charismatic people you ever got to know, so you were sure that even if he wasn’t famous he’d still be gaining the attention of many people. But that wasn’t a bad thing, after all if he wasn’t that outgoing you doubt that you would have gotten to know each other.

So yeah, you were pretty proud of your husband for being so successful in the thing he loved to do. And when he was away you showed your support by watching every show and interview he did. It even became a family tradition for you and your son and daughter to gather in front of the TV every time you knew he was going to be on.

All three of you loved to see him goofing around on screen since lately that was the only way you got to see him.

His new collab song came out a week ago so he was in the middle of promotion and since the song was at the top of the charts a lot of shows demanded his appearance. So every day he was juggling between schedules, went back to the hotel very late and was too exhausted to call. During the preparation of the sind he also was drowning in work. J-Hope was a perfectionist so he stayed at the studio day and night in company of the singer he was making the song with, so every time you called he would tell you that he was busy working with her.

Now, as said before, you weren’t the jealous time at all but seeing how much time he spent with her and how much you were neglected in the process really didn’t sit right with you. And the fact that you saw how well (maybe even too well) they got along with each other on shows didn’t help. You knew fully well that Hoseok wouldn’t cheat on you and you couldn’t help the jealousy that was growing inside of you. You thought to yourself that you only felt that way because you hadn’t seen nor talked to him in so long.

Even so, you didn’t want to let it show in front of your kids since you didn’t want them to think that there was anything wrong with their parents, so you continued to watch the shows and interviews with them every day suppressing the feeling and casting a fake smile on your face.

You thought you were doing a great job at faking it but your son was old enough to notice that there was something wrong with you and he was clever enough to figure out the reason after seeing your smile fall a little every time you saw Hobi laugh with his new friend. He also noticed your general mood deteriorate more and more every time his father didn’t answer your calls.

As he watched you one day try to call your husband once more and sigh when he didn’t pick up your son had enough. He picked up his own phone and opted for messaging you seeing as he knew his father wasn’t going to answer anyways.

You’re an asshole. Hope you know that.

Even though he felt bad for cursing out his father his anger was bigger.

As expected, his father didn’t didn’t respond right away, in fact he didn’t see the message until 3 hours later but as soon as he saw it his heart sank and he immediately called his son racking his brain about what he could have done for his son to suddenly have such a bad image of him.

The 13 year old answered the phone with an eye roll. “Oh so your phone does work. Good to know.”

“Buddy? You alright?” Was all Hoseok said, making the young boy roll his eyes yet again.

“You would know if you called more often… or as all.” Hobi was sure he heard a hint of sadness hiding behind all the sass he definitely inherited from you.

“I’m sorry, bud. I just have so much to do that I barely ever have any time on my own and when I do it’s already the middle of the night over there.” Excuses, excuses is what your son thought.

“Yeah because you’re always with that other woman.” Your son replied now letting his guards down and letting his sadness show. On the other end of the line Hoseok was shocked by his son’s words. His son didn’t think he was cheating on you, did he?

“W-What do you mean?” Hobi asked carefully.

“Every time mom calls you you say that you’re busy with her. You’re making mom sad And I don’t like seeing her like that.”

Hobi sighed, “ Listen to me, okay? I love your mother very very much and I would never even think of doing something that would make me lose her and you and your sister in the process. I didn’t realize I made it seem as if I was hurting your mother on purpose. I wasn’t.”

“Tell that to her then. She acts like there’s nothing wrong but I can see that she’s just faking.” Although still worried for his mom he was actually very glad to hear his father say that.

He was just like you and preferred to hide his feelings so he would never let it show but he was actually very scared that his parents would split up.

“I will, kid. Thanks for making me aware of it.” He was very proud and happy to know that his son was turning into a real man protecting his mother.

“I’ll call her now. I’ll talk to you and your sister later, okay? Love and miss you lots.” He added

“I love you too, dad. Come home soon. Oh and dad?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry I called you an asshole.” Your son said bashfully, making his father laugh.

“It’s okay, but this better be the last time you talk to me like that.” Hobi answered semi-seriously.

“Yes, sir.” On that note they ended the call and Hobi didn’t miss a moment to call you.

RM (Kim Namjoon)

We all know that Namjoon is a very serious man when it comes to his work. I mean, he has to be, he is the leader of one of the most successful groups right now.

Off stage, Namjoon is also the best husband and father to your daughter. Always there for you two when you need it and when you don’t, the best support that you could ask for.

But with being the leader of BTS and of your family comes great responsibility, and as a result great stress. Between having to overview every schedule they have (and they have a lot), making sure everyone is Problem free and healthy both physically and mentally, making their songs, making sure everyone learns the songs and choreography and that the performances are perfect, playing the translator when they are overseas and having to take care or you and your 6 year old daughter there was not much time to work on his sanity. Don’t get me wrong, he loved doing all that, it was just… a bit much at times. Like now.

They had been on tour for 5 months now and they’re last break was too long ago to remember, meaning that Namjoon had been working non-stop for far too long. And he was already working on their next album that was supposed to come out soon after the tour, giving him extra work. He had no time to go visit the cities, no time to just hang out with the members and definitely no time to call you, and even though he was trying to not let it all get to him, it definitely was. And the fact that he had trouble with the song he was currently writing was not helping him very much.

In Korea, you were helping your daughter finalize the present she was making for her father for Father’s Day today.

She might be just 6 but she definitely had inherited Joon's incredible intelligence and creativity. That is why her present couldn’t be just a drawing of you three standing next to a house with a sun in the corner of the drawing.

She insisted on making an album full of pictures of her and her daddy with small notes and descriptions telling him why she loves him and her favorite memories of him.

She just started school so she couldn’t write very well but she still wanted to do it herself so right now you were just dictating her the words for the last note.

“All done mommy!” She exclaimed with a big toothless grin.

“Yay well done girlie! Shall we call daddy now and show him?”

Hearing your words, you saw her eyes light up. She didn’t waste a second before dashing to get your phone and coming back to where she left the album, making you giggle at her excitement.

You started the FaceTime call but went to stand outside of the frame right after. As mature as she wanted to act, your daughter was only 6 so you knew that Namjoon not making it to the ‘Bring you father to school day’ that her school was organizing for Father’s Day

As soon as she saw her father’s face she started beaming.

“Hi daddy!! Look what I ma-“ but her excitement was cut short by an annoyed voice.

“Y/D/N didn’t I tell you to stop taking people’s phones?” You were shocked by your husband's words and even more by his tone. Never has he ever spoken to her like that.

“But I-“ your daughter tried to explain herself but was cut off by her father once again.

“No buts young lady. You’re daddy’s busy, I can’t always talk when you want to. That’s why you should always wait for me to call or for your mother to call me. Now put the phone back where you found it.” And he ended the call.

You could see the tears forming in your daughter’s eyes as she kept on staring at the screen her usually loving father was just seconds ago.

Without a word you went over to where she was sitting and took her in your arms where she started sobbing.

You really didn’t know what was up with Namjoon. Usually even when he was majorly stressed he never talked like that. He was the most pacifist person you had ever seen and hated arguments. And seeing his little mini-me usually helped him destress.

It took you an hour to calm your daughter down and she finally fell asleep in your arms. You carried her into her room and put her in bed, careful not to wake her up.

With a heavy sigh you went back into the living room and retrieved your phone from the table. You took a picture of the album, sent it to your husband and wrote: Y/D/N made this for you. It’s a photo album with all the best memories she was with you. She was already upset enough that you can’t make it to “Bring Your Father To School Day” but you had to be pissy to her when she just wanted to show you her present? I know you probably are very stressed out because of everything and I understand it and I respect it. That’s why I refrain on calling you too often, but the one time I do, for Y/D/N sake btw, you react like that. That‘s really not cool, Namjoon.

Namjoon read the message you left him, and only then did it down on him how awful he was to your daughter and guilt started building in side of him at a rapid speed.

“Fuck.“

[jingabitch]

Adhesion ch.2

SUMMARY: As a new stylist for Blackpink, you need to focus on doing your job well. If only your assigned idol weren’t so distracting.

PAIRING: dom!Jennie x sub!reader

GENRE: slow burn smut, idol AU

WARNINGS: D/s relationship dynamics and negotiation, sexual tension, smut in later chapters

WORD COUNT: 7.3k

A/N: major thanks to @mingyuistall​ for helping me go over this!

series index

Even before you opened your eyes, you knew something was off. Why were you wearing a bra? And pants? You felt a little sticky all over, like you hadn’t showered last night, which you always made sure to do. And were you half-dangling off your bed?

Confused, you cracked your eyes open… and came face to face with Jennie.

Fuck. You bolted up, blinking the last of the sleep from your eyes. The two coffee mugs were still sitting on your foldout table, and Kim Jennie was… lying on your bed next to you. The light streaming in your window let you know that it was way later than your usual wakeup time too.

“Unnie…” You patted her shoulder to wake her up. When she just murmured and turned her face into the mattress, you shook her again, a little more insistently. “Unnie, wake up.” As cute as Jennie was, you had to get to work.

“Stop,” she whined. “Five more minutes.”

You rolled your eyes. You’d heard that she was a difficult person to wake up, and it seemed the rumours were true. Instead of continuing to badger her, you got up and went to the bathroom, picking up the mugs and depositing them in the sink to take care of later.

It was only when you were rinsing the soap off your body that you realized you had made a crucial mistake. Since you lived alone, you usually didn’t bring your clothes with you into the bathroom, preferring to choose your clothes and get dressed in the main area of the studio.

Shit.

Maybe it would be okay, you thought, trying to calm yourself down as you turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She’d probably still be asleep, and you could just grab your things and run back into the bathroom to get dressed.

After drying yourself off, you wrapped the towel around your body and left the bathroom…

Only to come face-to-face with Jennie, who’d turned away from the kitchen sink where she was washing the mugs to greet you. The words died on her lips as she took in your current state of undress, and the deer-in-headlights look you were giving her, your eyes wide as your hands clutched at the edge of the towel over your chest.

Unable to help herself, her eyes drifted over your body slowly as her teeth sank into her lower lip. Indecent thoughts about tearing the towel off your body and pushing you back on the bed – or against the wall – flooded her mind, rendering her speechless as she clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.

“Um…” your voice was small. You’d definitely noticed her staring at you, and you were trying your best to move past this awkward moment. “Sorry, I forgot to take my clothes with me.”

“Right…” Jennie recovered, turning back to the sink. “No problem.”

Feeling like she’d given you permission to move, you scurried across the studio to your closet, hastily picking some clothing from one of the racks before rushing back into the bathroom to get dressed.

Jennie, not daring to turn around until the sound of the bathroom door shutting echoed through your tiny apartment, braced her hands against the edge of the sink and let out the breath she’d been holding. It was definitely too early in the morning for that kind of temptation, yet she couldn’t be anything but grateful about the eyeful she’d gotten.

As she rinsed the dish soap out of the mugs and placed them on your dish rack, she couldn’t help the small smile that stole over her face. Your wide-eyed, surprised expression had been so cute, she was honestly torn between wanting to give you a cuddle and her desire to absolutely ruin you.

You re-emerged from the bathroom, now fully dressed, looking slightly sheepish and apologetic. “I’m sorry again,” you said as you crossed the apartment to your dresser, plugging your hair dryer in. “Do you want to freshen up?” you asked, looking at her in the mirror.

Jennie shook her head as she took a seat on the edge of the bed behind you. “What do you have on today?” she asked, settling in to watch you get ready. This all seemed so domestic, and she loved it.

“I have to go to the YG building for a meeting with the other stylists, and then Jiyoon-unnie wants me to follow her to some meetings with fashion houses about sponsors and stuff.” By this point, you were yelling over the sound of the hair dryer.

“Okay, I’ll drop you off on my way home then.”

You turned off the hair dryer and set it on the dresser. “You don’t have to, unnie, I don’t mind taking the subway,” you rushed to assure her, turning to face her.

“It’s fine,” she responded firmly, and that was the end of that.

You ran through your morning routine quicker than usual, since you were running late, drying your hair, putting on your makeup and then choosing accessories. Working in fashion meant you always had to look flawless, and as much as you enjoyed the primping most days, it did get a little annoying when you were in a hurry.

Standing up once you were done, you walked over to the belt rack you’d mounted on the wall and picked one, buckling it around your waist.

“Okay, let’s go,” you said, picking up your bag, and you left the apartment together.

During the drive to the YG building, conversation flowed easily, and Jennie was struck by how well you got along together -- when you weren’t a blushing, stuttering mess, that was, although she couldn’t help but enjoy that too.

She dropped you off a block away from the YG building, so that no one would see you exiting Jennie’s car. The gossip mills were ferocious at YG, and both of you had to keep your reputations squeaky clean for the sake of your respective careers.

“Thanks for the ride, unnie,” you said as you unbuckled the seat belt and picked up your bag. Just before you opened the door, however, a burst of bravery led Jennie to reach over impulsively, grabbing your sleeve.

You looked over at her questioningly and she tugged on your sleeve hard enough that you leaned over towards her, and she eagerly shifted to meet you halfway, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. “Bye bye,” she chirped once she’d pulled back, letting go of you.

Stunned, you left the car on autopilot, standing on the sidewalk with your hand pressed to your lips as you watched her drive away. What just happened, you wondered.

-----

Jennie had barely shut the front door behind her when Chaeyoung popped up in front of her, smirking.

“Where were you all night, unnie?” she asked, though the twinkle in her eye indicated that she was fairly sure she knew the answer.

“None of your business,” Jennie tried to brush her off as she toed off her shoes, but Chaeyoung just stepped even closer.

“Unnie, don’t be like that!” she pouted. “We just want what’s best for you.”

A slight pause. “Wait a second, ‘we’?” Jennie asked, raising a brow.

Lisa popped her head out of the corridor. “Unnie, you’re home!” she cheered. “How was Y/n-ie last night?”

The implications of her question weren’t lost on Jennie. “Nothing happened last night!” she cried, flushing pink with embarrassment.

Chaeyoung took the opportunity to zero in. “But you did spend the night at her place?”

Caught now, Jennie slumped her shoulders as she sidestepped the younger girls on her way to her own bedroom. “We were just talking and fell asleep,” she mumbled.

Chaeyoung and Lisa clutched each other as they squealed in excitement. “Unnie, that’s so cute!” They followed behind Jennie, eager for more details, but Jennie firmly shut the door behind them, ignoring their protests.

Leaning against the door, Jennie raised one hand to her mouth, pressing her fingers against her lips lightly. In the privacy of her own room, she couldn’t help the small smile that stole over her face, nor hold back the slightly breathless giggle.

----

Given how much Jennie adored that wide-eyed expression you got when she unexpectedly teased you, you really should have expected this.

Still, you thought to yourself as you braced your weight against the bathroom sink, this was surely too much. You stared at your reflection in the mirror, wide-eyed, as you tried to calm your racing heart. In just a couple of minutes, you were going to have to step back out there and do your job again, and you needed to get your shit together now.

Blowing your breath out, you pushed yourself off the sink and turned away, grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser on the wall. You were sure that Jennie hadn’t really needed all that help getting into her dress for the photo shoot, but she’d insisted, and you weren’t really in a position to say no.

Which had led to the two of you squished together in the semi-private space behind the privacy screen, which was really only big enough for one person. Jennie, dressed in only the skimpiest lingerie you could imagine – under the guise that it was all that was suitable for the clothes she had to wear for the photo shoot – stood in front of you, her hands on her hips as she told you that she couldn’t zip up her dress by herself.

Why she couldn’t have gotten into it before calling for you was a mystery to you. You wound up helping her into the dress, before she turned around so her back was to you, pulling all her hair over her shoulder and asking you to help her zip it up. It was technically your job, so you gulped and, with trembling fingers, acquiesced.

“All good,” you announced when you were done, in a voice that trembled. Jennie turned back towards you, flipping her hair back over her shoulder, and leaned in.

“Thank you,” she breathed, close enough that you could feel her warm breath ghosting across your lips.

“Unnie,” you managed to get out, keenly aware of the fact that despite the relative privacy of the corner you were sequestered in, you weren’t actually alone. On the other side of the screen were the rest of the stylists and members.

“Y/n,” she responded, leaning in even closer.

You couldn’t be blamed for what happened next, you thought, leaning against the bathroom door to delay your return to the dressing room for just a second more. You were sure everyone had noticed the way you’d bolted from the room, with a muttered excuse about needing to use the bathroom really bad.

Steeling yourself, you opened the bathroom door and left, heading back to the dressing room. You entered shyly, preparing yourself for a barrage of teasing, but to your surprise, none came. Yuuki shot you a smirk over Jisoo’s head, but the others didn’t have much of a reaction. Emboldened, you walked back to the makeup table where Jennie was sitting.

“Feel better?” she asked as you stood beside her, reaching for the primer. To anyone else, it might have looked like she was just concerned and enquiring about your wellbeing, but you knew better, seeing the half-smirk she was directing at you.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, squeezing some of the product on the plastic sticker on the back of your hand and beginning to apply it with a brush.

“Good,” Jennie murmured, her hand resting on your hip. You could feel the warmth of it through the thin fabric of the sundress you were wearing today. You looked down at her hand, and then back at her, but she just smiled sweetly at you and turned her face upwards so it was easier for you to reach, and you figured she must be done tormenting you for the day.

You finished applying her makeup and moved on to her hair, curling it slightly and fluffing it. “There,” you said when you were done, admiring her reflection in the mirror as you rearranged some pieces of her hair over her shoulders. As you looked down to meet her gaze, you found yourself getting lost in her eyes as she watched you in the mirror with a small, soft smile, so different from the smirk earlier. It made your heart skip a beat as heat rushed to your face, warmth suffusing your entire being.

“Thank you, Y/n-ie,” she said, standing up and turning to face you as she straightened her dress, which had bunched up slightly from when she was sitting. Automatically, you started fussing with her clothes, tugging it down to smooth out any wrinkles.

You bent slightly to get a better look as you ran your hands over her body to make sure it was perfect, so absorbed in your task that you didn’t realise the way Jennie had stiffened, her arms out slightly as she looked down at you. It was only when Jennie made the tiniest whimper as you smoothed your hands over the swell of her ass that you noticed how close you were to her, and the way you’d been touching her.

Startled by the noise, you jerked away from her, apologies already falling from your lips, but when you straightened your back and looked up at her, you found her with her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, her eyes dark.

It was then that you realized the power you held over Jennie. She might be able to fluster you with just a look, but she was definitely not immune to you, and the knowledge filled you with confidence.

“Unnie,” you said reproachfully as you reached up to touch her bottom lip with the tips of your fingers, “You shouldn’t do that, you’ll mess up your lipstick.”

Stunned, she released her lip to gape at you, and you tutted. “Look, it’s all over the place now. It’s okay, I’ll fix it for you, unnie.” You reached past her for the lipstick on the table, but instead of grabbing a lip brush, you used your finger to reapply the product, blending it in by patting her lip softly. “There you go,” you cooed, smiling in satisfaction.

As you reached back around her to put the lipstick back, your body just a hair’s breadth away from hers, her arm wrapped around you, trapping you in that position. “Be careful,” Jennie breathed next to your ear. “Don’t make me have to punish you.”

She felt, pressed against you as she was, the shudder that ran through your entire body. You dropped the lipstick back on the table and pulled back slightly, your body sliding up against hers as you straightened up. “Unnie…” you whispered, and her head was just starting to descend towards yours when Jisoo cleared her throat loudly.

“Jennie-yah, can you help me get my phone? It’s in my bag,” Jisoo said. Her voice was like a bucket of iced water being poured over your head as you jerked away from Jennie, stunned that you’d let things get to that stage. In a room full of your colleagues, no less!

Jennie blinked, looking bereft at the sudden loss of contact, before looking around and remembering where she was. “Right…” she murmured before making her way over to the couch where all the bags had been tossed and rummaging around for Jisoo’s phone.

When she walked over to Jisoo and handed her the phone, Jisoo took it before shooting Jennie a warning look. “Keep it together,” she hissed. The two of you were being incredibly obvious, and if any of this got leaked, you would be reassigned to a different group at best, but it was more likely that you’d be fired, and Jennie would lose whatever freedoms she’d earned in the past few years.

Chastised, Jennie nodded. She knew as well as Jisoo what the stakes were; it was just that whenever she was with you, it was so hard to remember that the world outside the two of you existed. Still, she had to try harder – if not for her own sake, then for yours.

Time to find a different solution.

-------

You didn’t think you’d been so tired in your life. The members had had on-location shooting for music videos, which meant tons of travelling on your part, while carrying makeup, clothes, shoes and accessories around. On top of that, Jiyoon was busy preparing for Seoul Fashion Week, which was in a couple of months, which meant running around with and for her, and picking up all of her slack.

As if that wasn’t enough, you’d had three deadlines for articles almost back-to-back which ate up your free time. You didn’t think you’d gotten more than five hours of sleep a night all week, but as you dragged your feet up the stairs to your apartment, you rejoiced in the fact that you finally had a day off tomorrow. A real day off, one where you didn’t need to do any work.

You unlocked the front door with your thumbprint, flicking on the lights as you stepped into your apartment. It was a mess, and you knew you’d have to do some deep cleaning tomorrow, starting with the giant pile of dishes in your sink. You were hungry, but too tired to cook, and your fridge was empty, anyway.

Oh well. You figured there’d be tons of time to eat tomorrow. For now, you toed off your shoes, leaving them where they were as you stepped out of the genkan. Time for a shower, and then bed.

You were pulling your pajamas out of the dresser when your phone rang, and you hurried over to pick it up, frowning when you saw Jennie’s name on your screen.

Sighing, you swiped and put the phone to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hi Y/n-ie, are you hungry?”

“Um…” You pulled the phone away from your ear to look at it, then put it back. “Unnie?”

“Yeah, you looked really beat today at the shoot. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet, I just got home… I was just going to shower and go to bed.”

You could feel the frown radiating down the line. “Have you eaten?”

“Uhh, no, the fridge is empty.” You walked into your bathroom and put the toilet cover down, placing your pajamas on the lid. “It’s okay, I’ll just eat tomorrow morning.”

“Y/n, that’s not healthy. I’ll come over with some food.” Jennie’s tone brooked no argument, but you tried anyway.

“Unnie, that’s not necessary, I’m really fine—”

“Y/n, please take care of your health. I’ll worry,” Jennie said more gently, and with a sigh, you capitulated.

“Okay.”

“Great! I’ll be over in fifteen minutes,” Jennie cheered, then hung up the phone. You looked at your home screen bemusedly, then shook your head. Since you’d come to Seoul, no one had ever tried to coddle you as hard as Jennie. It made it a little weird when she was also threatening to punish you, but honestly, you were here for it.

Humming absently to their newest release – it was a real earworm, and you’d been listening to it all day on set – you got undressed and stepped in your shower. It felt so good to scrub all the dirt and sweat from your body, the warm water loosening your muscles as you worked shampoo into your hair, massaging your scalp.

By the time you emerged from the shower, wrapped in a fluffy towel you’d gotten on clearance at a department store, you felt much better. You’d taken your contacts out, put on your pajamas and were towel-drying your hair when the doorbell rang, and you wrapped the slightly damp towel around your shoulders as you went to let her in.

“Hi,” Jennie greeted, smiling at you as she came in. Her hands were full of food, and you looked on, surprised, as she placed it on your foldout table.

“Where did you get this?” you asked, helping her unwrap everything. The stew was still piping hot, so you didn’t need to put it on the stove, which you appreciated.

“The restaurant just down the road,” Jennie explained. “Come eat,” she gestured, and you sat down eagerly, taking the lid off the bowl of rice as she watched.

“Mmm,” you groaned around the spoon as you sipped some of the kimchi stew. “This is so good.” Having a hot meal after a long day really was the best, you thought as you picked up some of the eggplant side dish from a little plate next to the bowl of stew.

Jennie had gotten enough food for the both of you, but she opened her lid of rice far more leisurely, distracted by watching you. Besides, she’d eaten a couple of hours ago when she got home from the shoot, and she knew you hadn’t had anything to eat all day.

You didn’t say much, being busy stuffing your face, but Jennie didn’t mind, taking pleasure in the way you were eating. She didn’t usually get to indulge since there were so many restrictions about her appearance and weight, but you were so expressive in your joy that it felt like she was living vicariously through you.

“Thank you, unnie,” you said when you’d cleaned out your bowl of rice, dropping the spoon back into the bowl with a satisfied sigh. Jennie, who’d been eating the various vegetable side dishes while nibbling on her rice, smiled at you.

“You’re welcome,” she said softly. You were adorable, dressed in a beat-up old t-shirt from fashion school and pajama shorts, your hair damp and messy. You always looked put together at work, even on days when you weren’t really trying, and she supposed it was part of being in the fashion industry, but getting to see you looking so relaxed in your own space felt like a privilege, like something rare and special.

It also wasn’t something she was going to get to see for much longer, she thought as she caught the jaw-cracking yawn you tried to no avail to hide. You blinked sleepily at her. “Sorry, unnie,” you apologized, your voice soft.

“It’s okay,” Jennie said. “You worked hard today; you should get some sleep.” She started gathering all the dishes to take them back to the shop, and you picked up your bowl and utensils to help, but she stopped you. “Go get ready for bed,” she shooed you into the bathroom.

When you re-emerged after brushing your teeth, Jennie was all packed up, and you ran up to her. “Please, let me help,” you said, trying to take the bucket from her, but she twisted away from your grasp.

“No, I’ve got it, don’t worry,” she reassured you.

Helplessly, you walked her to the front door. “Okay, good night, unnie,” you said, clasping your hands in front of you as she put her shoes on.

“Good night, Y/n. Sleep well.” One hand let go of the handle of the bucket and came around to rest on the back of your neck, her fingers burrowing into the roots of your hair near your nape. You looked at her with wide eyes as she did that, before she pulled you closer and leaned up to press a kiss to your forehead.

Your hand came up and wrapped around her wrist, and your gaze lifted to meet hers. A breathless second later, you watched as, seemingly in slow-motion, Jennie’s lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she closed her eyes, leaning in for a kiss that you eagerly tilted your head to meet.

Her lips were pillowy soft, something you knew from touching them a couple of days ago, and she kissed you gently, almost hesitantly, like she was afraid to scare you off. Her fingers flexed against your nape, telling a completely different story, however.

Unable to keep yourself from goading her, you whispered against her lips, “I thought you were going to punish me, unnie,” referring, of course, to her threat earlier this week.

Startled, Jennie pulled back to regard you, but you just smiled up at her innocently, batting your lashes at her. “Good night, unnie,” you giggled, before releasing her wrist and stepping back.

As Jennie looked back up at your window from the street, she couldn’t help but smile, remembering the minty taste of your mouth from earlier. She’d thought that you would be shy and quiet, because that had been how you’d been before, but this new side of you, the one who talked back and thought you could take her on… it was intoxicating.

The light went out, and Jennie smiled as she turned back to her car. You were so interesting, and the more time she spent around you, the more time she wanted to spend with you. Preferably naked, and with you on your knees, that smart mouth of yours occupied with more… productive endeavors. After all, she couldn’t have you thinking she didn’t keep her promises.

-------

You were playing with fire, and you knew it.

To everyone else, everything seemed normal. You were dressed in a plain, V-neck t-shirt half-tucked into a black and white plaid miniskirt, with thigh-high suede boots. A little much for any workplace, sure, but then again, Yuuki had worn two different eyeshadow colours on each eye today, so you were in the clear.

The interesting thing about this shirt was that apart from being cut low, it was a little loose, which meant that when you bent down, the neckline gaped open. You knew that when you’d bought the shirt, of course, figuring that sacrifices had to be made for fashion, but now it hardly seemed like a hardship.

Under the shirt, you had on a floral lace bralette which was mostly sheer, and you knew it looked good. The shirt was opaque enough that no one could see your risqué choice of underwear today, but Jennie was currently getting a good look down your shirt, which had, of course, been the goal of the entire endeavor.

You were currently standing in front of her, bent over with your left hand bracing against the edge of the chair she was sitting on as you peered at her face. Completely unnecessary, of course, but you loved the expression on her face when she realized that she had an entirely unobstructed view. One that she was, based on the laser sharp focus of her gaze, enjoying.

“Unnie,” you called after a second, watching as her eyes snapped towards yours slightly guiltily. “Your makeup looks good,” you told her, before standing up and moving behind her so she could look in the mirror. “What do you think?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, sounding slightly dazed. This was new – Jennie was really into fashion and beauty, and often had tons of comments and notes on her makeup and hair, both before and after you did it. It appeared you’d broken her, and you had to bite your lip to stifle your triumphant grin.

“Unnie, are you okay?” You came back around and bent down again to look at her more closely.

“Stop it,” she hissed under her breath at you. “You know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, unnie,” you purred, leaning a little closer. Then you came up right next to her ear, and whispered, “Stop staring, unnie. People are watching. I’ll let you have a proper look later, if you like.”

Then you got up and walked away to speak to another stylist, leaving Jennie to look thoughtfully at you. She wondered if you truly knew what you were getting into with her. In the same vein, she didn’t quite know what she was getting into with you. As you grew bolder and leaned into the flirtation with her, it was getting harder to ignore the fact that what she felt towards you wasn’t the sweet, romantic desire of the novels.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was that, and she did think about holding your hand and walking down the street together, or cooking with you in your little studio apartment, but when it came to intimacy, it was a completely different story. She almost didn’t want to examine her own feelings too closely, because she didn’t know what she would find. Was it normal to feel this way about someone? To want to pin them down, make them do exactly what she wanted?

Even thinking about it made her shift uncomfortably in her seat, and she averted her gaze from you, looking down so that no one would see the way her cheeks heated.

Though she knew she was doomed to fail, she resolved to stay away from you. For both your sake as well as hers.

--------

It worked about as well as she’d expected. That day seemed to mark a change in your attitude, as you became more overtly flirtatious. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it, but she worried, even if you didn’t, about the consequences to both your careers.

Well, that and the fact that she was still struggling with all these newfound desires. Google searches had been… well, she’d love to say she was scarred, but in reality, it appeared that she’d discovered something new about herself. Not something she’d ever thought she would be into, but, well… here it was.

Today felt like a particularly bad day, rather ironically. They were debuting their new song at Inkigayo today, and no matter how many times she did this, Jennie was always nervous.

You knew that, which was why you’d backed off today. Instead of the teasing, flirtatious demeanor that Jennie had grown to love and dread simultaneously, you were dressed normally, in a long-sleeved shirt and leggings, murmuring encouraging things at her as you helped her get ready, complimenting her outfit, her hair, her makeup.

It made Jennie want to scream in frustration. How was she supposed to keep her hands off you when you were so perfect? She watched you puttering around in the mirror, eagerly ogling you as you bent over to pick something up from the suitcase open on the floor and riffled through the racks, biting your lip in concentration.

You disappeared from the room for a second and Jennie looked down in relief, before turning to the side and seeing Jisoo smirking at her. “What?” she asked defensively, her shoulders drawing up.

“Nothing,” Jisoo drawled, but winked in a way that let Jennie know she’d noticed.

Before she could respond, you hurried back in, a sandwich in your hand. “Here,” you said, holding the sandwich out for her. “You should eat something.”

Holding the sandwich like an idiot, she stared up at you, her mouth slightly open.

You pressed your lips together to hold back a coo at how cute she looked, and patted her hair, being careful not to mess up your own hard work. “You’ll be hungry later if you don’t eat,” you cautioned.

“Right, right.” Looking down, Jennie focused on peeling the plastic wrapper off the sandwich. You smiled at her as she started eating, then turned around to respond to a question another stylist had asked.

As she nibbled on the sandwich, being careful to avoid messing up her lipstick, you turned back and smiled at her in the mirror, before going back to your conversation. There was still some time before their item, but waiting was normal at these events, and everyone was prepared for it.

At some point, you got chilly and went to put on your jacket, picking it up from the back of the couch where you’d slung it carelessly. You were zipping it up when you realized that if you were cold, Jennie, in her revealing outfit, must be freezing. Looking over your shoulder, you saw her rubbing her arms with her hands, while pressing her legs together and hooking her ankles around each other.

Really, you thought as you went to get a blanket, if revealing outfits were going to be de rigueur for idols at stage performances, the buildings should have better heating.

Standing on tiptoe, you reached up to get one from the shelf, oblivious to the way Jennie watched in the mirror as you stretched on your tiptoes.

“Here, you must be cold,” you told her as you unfolded the blanket and draped it over her lap. You leaned over, tucking the blanket under her thighs, your braid draping over your shoulder.

So focused were you on your task that Jennie’s hand wrapping itself around your wrist startled you slightly. Your eyes lingered on her long, slim fingers for a second, before your gaze flew up to meet hers. “Unnie, are you okay?” you asked, surprised by the intensity burning in her gaze.

Jennie pinned you with a scrutinizing gaze for a second, sweeping slowly over your face. Were you really not doing this on purpose? She couldn’t see any trace of the usual mischief that would brighten your eyes whenever you teased her. Even when you acted innocent, you couldn’t stop the slight smirk on your face, like you were biting back laughter. None of that was apparent today, however, and she found only sincerity as you stared back at her.

“Nothing,” she mumbled finally, releasing you. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”

You beamed at her in response. “It was nothing, unnie.”

With that, you picked up a curling iron and started fussing with her hair some more. Jennie pretended to look at her phone, but while you weren’t paying attention, she was watching you in the mirror.

--------

This had to be their most successful Inkigayo performance yet. The song they were debuting today was about longing, that magical feeling of anticipation right before falling in love. Jennie poured all the emotions she’d been feeling all day into the performance, stealing glances whenever she could at you, standing in the wings waiting with a bottle of water and a little towel for her.

The lip bite before the hip roll that would break the Internet was completely unintentional, but the look of rapt attention and wonder on your face as you watched her performance, and the flush that stole over your face when you made eye contact with her, made her feel powerful and sexy in a way that having the adulation of millions of fans around the world couldn’t.

When the song was over, the girls went back into the wings, heading straight for their stylists, who wiped their sweat, adjusted their clothes, and fiddled with their hair. You tried to do the same with Jennie, handing her the bottle of water and reaching up to pat her face with the towel. In the months since you’d started working for her, you’d picked up quickly.

Jennie was hardly in the mood for any of that today, though. She knocked your arm away from her with one hand while carelessly pulling off the mic and earpiece with the other, dropping them in the hands of the sound support staff who approached. Once she was free of all the equipment, she grabbed your hand and started walking. The adrenaline from the performance was still rushing through her veins, and she could almost hear her own heartbeat.

Initially, you stumbled a little, confused about what was going on. “Unnie, where are we going?” you asked, almost running to keep up with her pace.

She didn’t answer, instead dragging you down corridors until she found one that was sufficiently dark and deserted.

“Unnie, are you okay?” you asked when she stopped, then turned to face you. Concerned, you reached out to press the back of your hand against her cheek, but she caught your hand in hers before you could make contact.

Her gaze was almost searing in its intensity, and seeing it, you couldn’t help but squirm a little, having a pretty good idea of what was going on now. Still, you were surprised by how forcefully she pushed you back against the wall.

“No, I’m not fucking okay,” she snarled. “Do you know what you do to me?”

And then her lips were on yours in a bruising kiss, her body pressing yours into the wall, her hands on your hips. It was glorious, everything you’d wanted for the past months, since the second you’d laid your eyes on her.

[needsmoresleepwrites]

Kageyama doesn't like a lot of things and right now he especially doesn't like Tsukishima (HQ Fluff Week, D2)

Of Bentos and Misunderstandings

Read on Ao3

Kageyama doesn't like a lot of things. Wrapping his fingers. Not being able to play volleyball. Finishing second, especially if Hinata is somehow involved. Not having all the data he needs to strategize a perfect game. Really the list is endless

But right now he especially doesn't like Tsukishima

He glares at his teammate, who is currently the cause of Hinata's distress (and therefore his because how are they supposed to play their best when Hinata is sighing so dramatically, Kageyama is surprised there's still any substance left in his lungs

He pauses. Actually, Hinata has more than enough air to exhale. But that's not the point!

The point is that these two idiots are having a spat. Over food because of course it would be. He doesn't understand it. If it was a volleyball concern, then yes, he'd even volunteer to solve the issue, be a mediator, even just give them the answer so they can move on, but something so mundane? It gives him a headache

Sugawara doubles over, "D-did YOU just call THEM idiots?! What is the world coming to?!"

"I think if you frown less," Nishinoya perks up, "the headaches will lesson. That's definitely not good for you!"

Tanaka nods, "Yeah, my sister's always complaining about that, not good for your skin either. You get older faster!"

Daichi sighs and looks to be praying.

Kageyama only grunts and continues to help the team clean up.

Yamaguchi comes over to them and scratches his cheek, "That...might be my fault actually..."

Sugawara looks intrigued and moves closer to them, "Wait...what happened?"

And somehow they start to bump shoulders and Kageyama just wants to go home but maybe he's also a little curious. But only a little. Plus, knowing what happened will mean they'll be able to resolve the issue faster. And it needs to be resolved now

Yamaguchi sighs, "Well...the truth is..." He looks over at their two middle blockers and winces at how the two continue cleaning up without looking at each other, "I've been meeting up with Tsukki the last few nights and-"

There's a collective gasp from their little group (sans Kageyama, who is confused)

Sugawara stage whispers, "You homewrecker!"

Nishinoya follows up with a whistle and, "All's fair in love and war, you go Yamaguchi!" He even pats his back and gives him a thumbs up

Azumane asks, "Wait, I don't think Hinata would jump to that conclusion, or overreact, Yamaguchi are you really...?"

Tanaka nods, "It happens all the time on TV, maybe there's some truth to it."

Yamaguchi blushes and shakes his head, nearly yelling, "No! It's not like that!! It's for practice, he's been helping me with my serves! Shimada has been really busy lately so I asked him for help."

Kageyama nods, but that doesn't explain why...

Daichi moves things along, "Ok, so what was the problem? Wasn't it about food?"

Sugawara is still giving Yamaguchi a look that Kageyama doesn't understand, his eyebrows twitching and he wonders if maybe his motor skills are malfunctioning

Yamaguchi sighs again, his features dropping, "Well, recently Hinata has been making Tsukishima bentos every day-"

Azumane smiles, "That's sweet of him."

Kageyama tilts his head, "He can cook?"

Daichi frowns, "I didn't think he could either, he seems like the type to get impatient."

Yamaguchi laughs, "Well, he wasn't at first but he's been getting better." He squeezes the handle of the broom he's holding, "But..."

"But..." The group echoes him (sans Kageyama who is once more confused. Why does he keep pausing? They need to hurry up)

"Well, since he's been staying late, my parents keep inviting him for dinner and you know how Tsukki is, he doesn't have a big appetite, so he hasn't been eating the bento and," he winces like he's remembering The Fight, "and Hinata just found out over the weekend."

The group is quiet as they look over once more at their two teammates, finally understanding the problem

Kageyama crosses his arms and thinks this "problem" is stupid. All because of Tsukishima's stupidly small stomach and why didn't he just tell Hinata to stop making him so much food?

----

They eventually finish cleaning up and Hinata is the first one out the door. Kageyama doesn't even chase after him because he's too busy staring (glaring) at Tsukishima

Tsukishima finally looks at him, a disgusted look on his face, "Can you stop looking at me, it's really creepy. If you have something to say just spit it out."

And so Kageyama does, "Make up with him."

He hears snorting and a quiet, "Doesn't beat around the bush, huh?" He thinks it was Nishinoya

Tsukishima rolls his eyes as he zips up his jacket and grabs his bag, "It's none of your business oh dear King."

Kageyama feels his jaw tick but he stays calm, "It is my business when Hinata can't concentrate during practice and you're at fault. He got caught up in the net three times!"

"And he walked into the pole twice," Nishinoya chimes in.

Tanaka laughs, "He was so out of it today! Reminded me of how he'd get sick when we first started playing matches!"

Tsukishima just frowns and mutters a whatever right before leaving the gym as well

Everyone follows after, Daichi locking up quickly, and they walk over to the bike rack where Hinata is waiting for them. His face is red and Kageyama frowns when he notices he's not wearing a hat or gloves. He's about to tell him that he needs to take better care of himself when someone covers his mouth and pulls him back a few steps. If he didn't have the balance that he does, he would have probably fallen

"WHA..."

Sugawara shushes him, "They're making up, quiet!"

Kageyama looks over at his two teammates and squints. How...?

"They are so cute," Azumane chuckles.

"Tsukki is really nice," Yamaguchi says matter of fact.

Daichi nervously laughs, "I don't know if that's the word I'd use..."

And again, Kageyama is confused.

----

Tsukishima walks over to Hinata and frowns, "Where's your hat? And scarf? Did you at least bring your gloves?!"

Hinata avoids his eye and blushes, "Uh...I...I forgot them."

Tsukishima frowns, realizing that this means Hinata biked to school with no protection from the winter air, "The weather is cold now, you could get-"

"I know!" Hinata yells out, wincing slightly at how loud that came out. Then more quietly, "I was just...distracted..."

They're quiet for a moment and then Tsukishima digs through his bag, taking out a pair of gloves, hat, and scarf. He moves closer to Hinata and then puts the hat on his head, pulling it down past his eyes. Hinata lets go of his bike's handles to grab at the hat and stop Tsukishima

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Hinata manages to pull the hat on properly and Tsukishima is watching him, he's not smiling. Hinata hasn't seen a smirk on his face all day

"I am sorry I didn't tell you, and..." Tsukishima looks away, "the oden from last week was good. I had it for breakfast today...I am eating the food."

Tsukishima still has his hands on Hinata, on either side of his face, and he can feel the way Hinata's face wobbles.

"Kei," Hinata whispers. Tsukishima looks back at him, "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have gotten mad. I mean, I wasn't even mad really!"

Tsukishima raises a brow, "Then why the silent treatment?"

Hinata blushes and Tsukishima likes the way the heat feels under his fingers, "I...I was embarrassed!"

----

OMAKE

The group finally splits and Hinata and Tsukishima are left alone to walk for a bit longer.

Hinata pipes up, "Why did you bring these if you already have yours?" He's pointing at his scarf and wiggling his fingers, now warmly ensconced in the thick winter gloves.

Tsukishima blushes slightly, "I always bring an extra...just in case you might need it..."

Hinata makes a noise, feeling a pleasant flush moving along his body, and calls for Tsukishima's attention, chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Give me a kiiiiiis!"

----

A/N:

here is day 2 of hq fluff week! the prompts are:

- communication - hurt/comfort - "I always carry this because I know you'll need it."

not sure if i nailed the hurt/comfort?! i think it's more like off screen hurt and omake making up, and of course karasuno being "worried" for our duo

also, i keep imagining omake scenarios like 

tsukishima kisses Hinata and grumbles that they should hurry, it’s getting late and Hinata still needs to bike all the way home and he better take a nice warm bath when he gets there. and don’t forget your stuff next time! Hinata watches him walking and then pulls his bike next to him, asks, Wait, where are your gloves? And Tsukishima gives him a look and Hinata realizes he’s wearing them so grabs Tsukishima’s hand and stuffs it in his pocket (and somehow, slowly and wobbly, keeps pushing his bike)

the next day, Hinata sneaks into Tsukishima’s class and checks if Tsukishima was serious about carrying extra items in his bag for him. He smiles when he sees two pairs of everything, even the gloves this time

at one point in time, Tsukishima is at the store. he decided to go with his brother. he didn’t really have a reason to go, he just figured they could hang out and Akiteru had made such a big deal about it, telling their parents loudly that they would be out. but now he’s looking at a pair of orange hats and scarves and he remembers that one time Hinata had forgotten to bring his scarf with him, how he’d stuffed his face into his jacket’s collar and Sugawara had laughed and asked if he was a turtle. he tries to find a matching pair of gloves but sees none, decides he’ll just find a pair later at a different store. Akiteru asks if his favorite color has changed or if he’s buying them because they match Karasuno’s colors and Tsukishima just says yeah, not elaborating 

[ohgodmyeyes]

Movie Night

Luke x Anakin is my new favourite ship, so I’m gonna crosspost one of those, too. I’m bored.

3k words of modern!Anakin fucking his son on the couch below the cut.

18+

Luke liked to sit next to his dad.

"What are you watching?" he asked one evening, as he fell beside Anakin onto the well-worn old couch in the basement.

"Huh?" Relaxing downstairs after work was one of Anakin's favourite things to do. He liked to bathe, shirtless, in the gentle, blue glow of his television set. Like the sofa, the TV was old— Anakin had never bothered to upgrade to HD. Not down here, anyway.

Luke didn't mind. Again, he just liked to sit next to his dad.

"I said, what are you watching?"

"Oh. Movie."

"What movie?"

"Rambo."

"Oh, cool. I like the old ones."

"Fuck off." Anakin didn't think 'Rambo' was that old.

He'd just started drinking when his son had walked in— cans of beer, interspersed with the odd shot of dark, spiced rum. When he offered some of it to Luke, Luke didn't refuse.

Luke liked to do the things his dad did.

So, the two men drank— shot after shot, beer after beer, late into the night. 'Rambo' ended and 'Predator' started, and then 'Predator' ended, too. Luke rested his head on his dad's chest. It was strong, wide, and smooth. 'Top Gun' started to play next. Luke began to absently stroke Anakin's stomach.

By then, they were both certifiably shitfaced.

"You're pretty," said Anakin, sometime during an extended commercial break between films. It seemed to come from absolutely nowhere.

"What?" Luke turned his head to look up at his dad's face. He always seemed so serious. Right now was no exception.

"You're pretty," repeated Anakin flatly. "Like your mom." He was slurring his words a bit, but he wasn't lying. Luke was fucking gorgeous.

Luke felt himself blush. Why the hell was he blushing? "You... you think I'm—?"

"You're gonna get me in trouble one day." Anakin hadn't had a coherent thought for hours. Luke and the heat of his body were all there was. That, and the glow of the television screen.

"What are you talking about?" Luke tried to sit up a bit, but it was difficult. His dad's chest seemed almost... magnetic. He felt stuck to it.

"I'm talking about how you're even worse than your mom. She's a tease, sure... but you're a goddamn sadist." Anakin peered down at Luke. The kid looked like he belonged on a beach— naked, with the sunlight kissing his skin and glinting off his hair. How the hell had he turned out so damn blonde?

"Huh?"

"She likes to... I don't know. Flaunt herself around to get me going. Always has. You fucking torture me, though, and you don't even know you're doing it." Luke would do things like shower with the bathroom door open, and then walk around the house in nothing but a towel. Padmé and Leia were both busy, ambitious women, and that meant they were away a lot— working, socializing, attending school.

When they were away, Anakin would imagine ripping that damn towel right off and having his way with Luke.

He'd never actually tried it, though.

"I— uh, I... I'm... sorry?" stammered Luke. His face still felt hot. Now his dick was getting stiff, too. He didn't know what to say.

"Don't be sorry," said Anakin. "Just... take off your shirt." Again, Anakin was already shirtless.

"...What...?" Luke did manage to sit all the way up then. He looked his dad up and down, unable to stop his eyes from lingering. Anakin had always seemed so big to him— big and strong, and capable, too. He could fix anything, do anything, be anything.

Luke, sometimes, woke up hard and wet in the middle of the night to thoughts of his dad's body.

He'd never done anything about those thoughts, though.

...You really weren't supposed to think about your dad that way, were you?

"Take off your shirt," Anakin repeated. He shifted sloppily in his seat so as to get a better view. Luke's perfect, slight little frame and smooth, milky skin cried out to be touched.

Puberty had been very kind to Luke, Anakin thought, and he secretly loved that his son had stayed a couple of inches shorter than him. He would often sit right here in his basement and fantasize, in fact, about having Luke against the wall near the boiler— he was just small enough to lift, so it would be fun and easy to take him from the front, flush against the rough, bare cinderblock.

Luke would wrap his legs around his daddy's waist, and then Anakin would pound him until he—

"Dad?"

Anakin realized he'd become distracted.

Luke sat in front of him, newly shirtless.

"Fuck," said Anakin.

"What is it?" murmured Luke. The room was spinning, but his dad wasn't. His dad looked perfect. Too perfect. Fuck. Fuck.

"Y-you— you're as hard as a fucking rock."

Luke looked down. Anakin was right. He was only wearing a pair of soccer shorts, now. They were favourite pair— green. He was making a tent out of them with his cock. "S-so are you," he said, glancing across to the bulge in Anakin's own pants.

It was fucking huge.

"Goddamn it," Anakin said. He could feel the tip of his dick starting to drip. His heart was racing, too. This had to be a dream. He'd had dreams like this before.

"...Daddy?" asked Luke, wide-eyed and visibly tentative. He hadn't called Anakin 'daddy' in years. Why did he do it now? He didn't know.

"Tell me what you want, baby boy. Tell your daddy what you want."

"I— I want... I w-want you t-to..." Luke faltered, and faltered badly. How the hell was he supposed to say it?

"Tell me, Luke." Anakin shifted in his seat, and pulled his dick out of his pants. It stood tall and thick. Eager. Ready.

"I want you to fuck me, daddy," confessed Luke, struggling not to gape at the sheer size of his father's hard-on. He'd never seen it like this before, but now that he had, he knew he needed it.

Up to now, he'd thought dicks like his dad's only existed on the internet.

A half-shade or so darker than the skin on the rest of Anakin's body, it looked nearly as thick as a soup can, and more than long enough to choke just about anybody. It had a subtle, very alluring inward curve, and adorning its base was a pretty nest of haphazard, amber curls. Those curls lightened and grew sparse as they trailed up Anakin's stomach, stopping just short of his navel.

Luke found himself overcome with a disconcertingly urgent desire to touch his dad's cock— to lick it, suck it, and take it up his hole. He'd played with toys and played with his own fingers before, but he'd never had anything so magnificent as Anakin's hard-on up his ass.

He wondered if it was going to hurt.

Part of him hoped it would hurt.

What the fuck was wrong with him? He was too drunk, that's what it was.

...Not too drunk to fuck, though. Not too drunk for his daddy.

Luke sprang into action. He got onto his hands and knees right there on the couch, kicking off his shorts behind himself as he ravenously stuffed the length of Anakin's throbbing dick into his wet, eager mouth. Everything in the room seemed to move along with him, and when the head of it first hit the back of his throat, he thought he might throw up.

His dad leaked haplessly onto his tongue.

Luke forgot all about puking.

"Jesus Christ!" shouted Anakin. He'd be glad, later, that his wife and daughter weren't home to hear him. He took a handful of his son's lovely hair in his hand, and pushed down to the delightful sound of a muffled squeal.

This was no dream.

Tears gathered at the edges of Luke's eyes. His dad was thick in his throat, hard against his back teeth. He bit down gently, and Anakin dripped. He coughed, swallowed, and whimpered through his own painfully full mouth. He began to choke as he felt his hair being gathered up, and his head being pushed down and pulled back in turns. On the way up, he'd try to breathe and blink, and on the way down he would simply relish being consumed.

"D-does th-that taste... g-good, baby boy?" Anakin gasped, although Luke didn't answer, because he couldn't. Padmé never let him fuck her mouth like this, Anakin thought. Never let him grab her by the hair, or force her face onto his cock. She thought she was too dignified for that— too 'good'.

Luke was under no such illusions.

Anakin bucked upwards, still pushing and pulling on the back of Luke's head. That pretty little mouth of his was talented, and every time it came down on Anakin, it seemed to have something new in store for him. Luke bit, Luke tongued, Luke swallowed, and Luke sucked. Anakin let out a groan, and realized that he was beginning to lose his rhythm.

Shit. No. Not yet! With a heavy grunt and very little warning, Anakin pulled his son's mouth away from his dick. He wanted to cum, but not like this.

"Daddy," coughed Luke. "A-are you g-going to—"

Anakin interrupted by twisting Luke's hair tightly in his fist, and hoisting him up so that the two were face-to-face. "If you let me fuck you," he warned, "it's going to hurt for days." Anakin knew very well that he had a monster hard-on. He'd always liked to make his wife squeal with it. Would Luke squeal, too?

"I— ah!— I... I want it anyway!" Luke bent his head backwards, squirming and struggling against his father's grasp. His own cock twitched, because he didn't really want to get away.

"I bet you have a tight little asshole, Luke. Tell your daddy you want him to wreck your hole." He pulled Luke close, again by the hair, and went on to sink his teeth into the boy's exposed neck. He smelled and tasted just like a teenager: All pheromone-laden sweat, and cheap, obtrusive body spray.

It was fucking intoxicating.

Luke cried out, and bucked his hips into the air. "W-wreck me, daddy. Destroy me." Anakin didn't know yet that Luke had been leaving the bathroom door open on purpose. Deep down, he wanted his dad to smell his soap, and catch glimpses of his body.

He always had.

Anakin released Luke's hair, letting him fall heavily back onto to the couch. "Give me your ass," he said, stumbling to his feet as hastily as he could manage. His dick was already out, so getting up was all he had to do.

"H-here," breathed Luke, sloppily rising from where he'd been dropped, and taking the back of the sofa in his hands as he stuck his ass out toward his father. He felt hungry right now— empty— in a way he never had before. He'd stopped asking himself how or why, because the reasons didn't matter. All he knew was that he needed it. "Fuck me, daddy," he begged. "Please, please fuck me!"

Anakin had been busy squeezing a generous portion of silky, high-end lube out onto his hand. Padmé had bought it for him to use with her, but he mostly kept it down here because he liked to make jerking off a more pleasant experience for himself: Anakin was horny by nature, and he jerked off a lot... although these days, he tended to do it most often following Luke's cruel, exhibitionist showers.

There was still plenty of slick left on his hand, so just for fun, he started with his fingers. He massaged Luke's little hole, poking and prodding and rubbing circles around it with awe-filled fascination, all while Luke shouted and whined. He reached around, too, to grab Luke by the cock. He stroked its shaft and teased its head, and every time it pulsed, he squeezed it hard and tight.

"You've always been such a good boy," whispered Anakin, curling his fingers up into his son's ravenous little hole.

For what felt like a long while, all Luke could do was writhe and whine as his dad fondled and fingered him... soon, though, his thighs began to tremble, and an intense, very familiar type of desperation started to well up inside of him. His breath hitched as he begged haltingly, "P-put... put it in! Please, dad, I— I—"

"Say it again first," demanded Anakin, abruptly withdrawing his attention from Luke's cock.

Luke screamed in frustration; again, it was a good thing his sister and his mother weren't at home. He knew just what his dad meant, though, so he obeyed immediately and unquestioningly, "Wreck me, daddy!"

"F-fuck... fuck, that sounds so damn good. One more time, Lukie— one more time for your daddy!" He was letting his cock brush up against the backs of Luke's thighs. Sticky little droplets of cum leaked out of him and onto Luke's skin, and Anakin spread them all around with his tip.

"Wreck me, daddy!"

That made Anakin grin. Wordlessly— he knew he didn't have to say a thing— he thrust his waiting length right past the threshold of his little boy's ass.

Luke would always be Anakin's little boy.

"F-fuck! Fuck!"

Again, Luke had played with toys before— his dad's cock, though, was something else altogether. The stretch burned, but as Anakin eased his way in further, a unique sensation of unfettered fullness overtook Luke, displacing his pain entirely.

By the time Anakin was buried up to his sack, Luke had been overcome with an urge to touch himself. When he went to try, though, he was foiled by his father's scolding.

"Stop that," Anakin chided, the very moment he noticed Luke's hand start to move.

"But dad—"

"You'll come when I say."

Luke blinked fresh tears out of his eyes as his own cock throbbed painfully, bobbing about in the air. He didn't have time to argue with his dad, though, because Anakin had already started to thrust: He felt too desperate to take his time, unable to spare Luke even an ounce of his own desperation.

Every one of those open-door showers came back to him then— every time that towel had ever slipped, every time Luke had bent over to grab one of the bottles of sugar-free iced tea Padmé liked to set up in neat little rows along the bottom of the fridge.

Every time the water in his hair would drip onto his shoulders, sending little rivers cascading down his chest and back... every time the outline of his flaccid cock would make itself evident through the immodest strip of blue terrycloth draped around his perfect little waist...

Fuck. Fuck.

Luke felt sticky tendrils of himself begin to drip helplessly onto the couch. Something akin to a sob forced its way up from the very back of his throat, and he gripped the back of the sofa with all his strength. He didn't dare reach back down between his own legs.

Anakin, for his part, just kept on fucking. He placed one hand on Luke's waist to steady himself, but the other shot straight to the back of the boy's head, twisting its fingers up once more in that pretty, blonde mop he so admired. Luke's whining only made him move faster, and their mutual trembling only caused him to tighten his grip. He was merciless, tearing into his son with the unbridled power of years of repressed lust.

Anakin had wanted this for what felt like forever.

Luke's neck bent back at a near-impossible angle, and his cock continued to bounce tortuously beneath him as his dad intensified his rhythmic pounding. He moaned and yelped as Anakin yanked on his hair, and dug a persistent set of strong, blunt fingertips into his waist. He tried not to clench too hard around his dad's dick, but he couldn't help it.

Not that Anakin minded being squeezed.

"Dad, I can't— I— I can't t-take—!"

"Just hold on, baby boy," Anakin interrupted breathlessly, lost in the frantic movement of his own hips. "Just hold on for daddy."

Luke did hold on. He held on with all his might, waiting— waiting for a shout, waiting for a tug, waiting for the sensation of—

"Daddy!"

"Fuck! L-Luke!"

Neither of them would ever know who went off first: Luke's eyes squeezed themselves shut while every muscle in his body tensed. His breathing grew ragged, and he let out a series of obscenely loud, strangled cries as his dad's ravaging finally became too much for him bear. Dick still bouncing along with Anakin's rhythm, he erupted all over the sofa in a hot, sticky, needy mess.

At what might have been the very same moment, Anakin ground his hips sharply into Luke's ass. He cursed, growled, and relished the dire, pulsing sensation of his cock exploding deep inside his boy. It felt like the ultimate indulgence: An indulgence of every single one of the sick fantasies to which Anakin had ever closed his eyes and stroked himself. He'd needed this for years.

He pushed hard while he drained, letting the hand he'd been keeping on his son's waist snake around to finger his sexy little navel. Anakin let his fingertips dance along the edge of the near-indiscernible trail of fine, strawberry hairs leading down to Luke's slowly-softening dick. He finally did wrap his hand around it again, giving it a loving pump or two as he held himself inside of Luke for as long as he could manage.

Luke sputtered and panted, and backed into his dad's cock insistently despite the fact that his arms and legs had begun to quiver. Soon, he felt Anakin start to soften up, and eventually— begrudgingly— pull out of him.

"D-Daddy," he whined yet again, as the very head of Anakin's dick popped out of his ass, leaving him with only its seed, and a uniquely wonderful, strangely devastating emptiness.

Anakin took a moment to catch his breath and regain his composure. He looked down and saw Luke's hole, still bearing the evidence of having been stretched to its limit by his cock. It was beautiful— so beautiful that Anakin traced one last circle around the rim of it with his fingertip, and then reached back to give the fleshiest part of his son's ass a hard, unexpected slap.

With a yelp and a hop, Luke finally gave up his grip on the back of the couch, letting go in favour of sloppily turning to face his dad. He fell into a heap then, almost seeming to dissolve into the old, threadbare fabric. He was sweaty, but still naked, and growing cold. His skin was peppered with goosebumps.

Anakin stood and stared down at him, mesmerized. His cock was still out, although it was now wet and flaccid. He didn't tuck it away until he registered for himself the chill in the basement air.

Then, he sat down next to his baby boy... who immediately moved to cling to his daddy's chest, warming himself contentedly as he basked in the glow of the TV, and in the lingering delirium of their sex.

The old movies had long since finished airing— now, there were only infomercials.

Anakin and Luke were quiet. They were still drunk... although, perhaps, not feeling their drunkenness quite as acutely as they had before.

"See?" asked Anakin.

"See what?"

"I told you— you're pretty."

Just as it had done the first time, Luke's face went red... however, the new heat rising in his cheeks was accompanied, this time, by a serene little smile.

He didn't say anything... but he did snuggle in just a little bit closer to Anakin. His ass hurt, but it was a good hurt.

A hurt that made him feel loved.

Luke liked to sit next to his dad.