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soobadnoonecanstopher · 2 years ago

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Can I Stay? (A Baekhyun Story) Part 5.

Pairing: You x Baekhyun

Rating: M (Mature Content)

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: Outright overly dramatic, yet tasteful and sophisticated descriptions of sex between two consenting adults with an unspecified age difference between them, no mentions of/or absence of sexual protection implied or expressed, an English story that uses the word Noona for lack of another word in English that carries the same feeling, if you don’t like this, then don’t read this story.

Author‘s note: remember all those years ago I said I’d write a Baekhyun x Noona fic? This is that fic.

Inspired by the Ray LaMontagne song Can I Stay

Links: Can I Stay? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Tag List: @andimoon @his-mochi-cheeks

“Noona, I think we like each other.”

You felt the deafening silence as every single voice of reason and each and every alarm bell inside of you went still when you kissed him.

You felt the lighting strike hit close enough this time to send a bolt straight through your chest when you kissed him.

Somewhere deep inside your chest, somewhere tiny and somewhere hidden, you were vibrating. You felt the steady hum of it.

Baekhyun’s lips were so soft and when you pressed your own into his, you felt the smallest movement from him in response. His response was gentle and yielding. He gave in to you so easily as you kissed him. You took what you wanted and he gave it to you.

Baekhyun’s face was still. His eyes took a little bit longer to open and when he did his heavy eyelids resisted. With pink cheeks and lips still wet from the kiss, he lazily pulled his heavy eyes open, you were caught again in the warm deep brown of them. The hands that had held your face earlier had broken the contact with the warm skin of your face when you had kissed him. His hands were frozen now, lifted in their former place but the man was too quiet, too stunned, too motionless in the still and quiet moments after you had kissed him.

After a few seconds he closed his eyes and drew in a breath of air that stuttered on its way in and out again and he laid the palm of his hand over his chest, lightly setting it just over his chestplate, giving a slow and gentle and almost undetectable tap, tap as he breathed through it.

It only took you a few moments of sitting in the aftermath but slowly, and one by one, your thoughts and your many worries came back to you. You gave your head a tiny shake and you rolled your eyeballs around inside of your head and you could feel each one slipping its fingers running them around your rim. You were vibrating. You could feel the hum when you lifted a hand to your own chest. It wasn’t your heart beat nor your breathing.

You’d done it. The President’s son. Your charge that had been carefully placed into your hands to care and to nurture and help grow — you’d done it. Each and every carefully grown, polished, expertly placed year of your career and every single painstakingly ripped and clawed your way through the competition milestone and award you had bled for, and every single sleepless night; every single soul sucking week after week, month after month so you could get to the top; every single fucking thing you have spent your entire life working toward — you could feel the thoughts racing and with each new realization that hit you like a train your breathing puffed out faster and harder from your chest and you had to close your eyes through it. You had to turn your head away from him and you lifted a trembling hand to your face, covering your lips with the palm of your hand.

“Shit,” you said from below the skin of your hand.

Baekhyun must have been alerted by your trembling hands, or maybe it was the very same swear word uttered in nearly the exact same tone as he had used to say it this morning.

You fucked up. Just as he declared that he had fucked up and there was simply no taking this back and rewinding and pretending like it had never happened.

“Hey-” his voice called from somewhere close to you, “hey, hey, no. No, don't say that,” he was whispering beside you. You felt his arms then. He was standing up it seemed and you felt a strong and steady warmth coating you as he wrapped both of his arms around your shoulders, bringing a warm hand up over the top of your head. You smelled him everywhere in this and you found yourself pressed inside the firmness of his chest as he held you so tightly in his arms.

“No, this feels terrible, is that what I said to you after I kissed you? Jesus, I get it. Please don't say that.” His arms were squeezing you tighter and you found movement impossible and the oxygen in here pressed up against the white t-shirt he wore with the heat and the warmth of his chest under the thin fabric. You had a hand in here as well, thoroughly squished by the tightness of the hold he kept on you and you had to breathe, you had to wiggle your hand, pushing against him slightly, anything so he could loosen the hold just a little bit.

“I won’t let you go until you take it back,” he said with an impossible tightening of his arms around you. You were going to die right here smothered between this man’s pectoral muscles. There was some bargaining taking place in the back of your mind. There was some acceptance happening back there as well as you weighed the two deaths. This way: smothered by his boobs, which actually had been featured in one of your more recent late night fantasies, certainly seemed preferable to the vomit-covered splatter fall to the pavement you’d contemplated earlier. Plus he did smell very nice. You could think of worse ways to go.

You did your best to nod your head. He felt the movement and responded by relaxing his body around you just enough, just enough for you to pull your head out of his shirt and lift your face and take deep satisfying cooling breath from the fresh air over your head. Your hand was still pinned right beside your face, a kind of zombie claw coming up out of the ground.

“Let me go—hmm?” you pleaded in a whisper.

“But, you’ll run away,” he replied with a severe pout.

“I don't have anywhere to run. I live here.” It felt like a weird hostage negotiation.

“You’ll find somewhere to run, you are very crafty and very smart.”

“Baek-hyun,” you squeaked out the words and he looked down at you, still very much wrapped around you, extremely close and with one of the most serious expressions set very deep inside his brown eyes. “It’s impossible,” you whispered into the tiny space between your lips and his lips.

“Whatever it is that you’re thinking inside that beautiful head of yours, I need you to stop. It’s not impossible. It’s not even close to impossible. Time travel is impossible. Moving things with your mind, that is impossible— I tried. This is just two people that like each other, nothing could be more possible than that.” His eyes searched over your face as he spoke and his lips hung open as he exhaled his breath over your lips again. The heat that traveled over your face had you gasping for air again, even though he had loosened his hold on you, you felt that pull into him again as he spoke passionately about what you were still pretty sure could not be really happening.

“Noona,” you saw the effects of your most recent negative thoughts roll over his back as he did his absolute best to push them away. His eyes sunk closed and you saw the furrow of his eyebrows as a somewhat pained expression landed on his pretty face. You didn’t like it. From this close up, you did not like to see him like this, in any state of unhappiness.

“Noona,” he repeated again as he inhaled once more, “I think my feelings are hurt.” He gave your whole body the smallest shake of complaint. You were blindsided by how cute it was and you felt your flimsy resolve shake at its foundation with the tiny earthquake he just gave you.

His eyes glanced down at you for a second and you looked up at him with that same look of uncertainty as you had before. This time you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth and you bit down lightly, not hard enough to cause any pain but definitely hard enough for something like a smile to break though.

You heard a soft whine from the back of his throat now, and he shook you again. His arms appeared to be linked tightly around your back. It was evident that you weren’t going anywhere until you both had come to some sort of agreement. You heard a deeply dissatisfied sigh from way deep down in the pit of his stomach and you only had so much you could take before you felt yourself crumble in his arms.

“Baekhyun, what? What do you want me to do about your hurt feelings?”

“I don't know. Make it better,” he grumbled. You closed your eyes and bit down on your lip again.

“How can I?” You asked under your breath and when you opened your eyes he was watching your lips as you spoke. Reading your lips whisper. Reading your struggles and your frustration in them. “How can I, how can we—” the words trailed off and their meaning hung heavy on your tongue.

Impossible.

You would lose everything.

“We just do,” he whispered back into the space that kept you both separated. “You do, and I do and we just—” He shook his head back and forth ever so slightly. There were no answers here.

Only miracles.

His lips still held a pout. His pink bottom lip stuck out just enough for the upset to still be evident on his face. The impossible situation you’d drawn attention to and his frustration and hurt feelings and all of it sat there dripping off his bottom lip.

You looked up and you leaned in. Your own mouth opened over his lips and you pulled him into you. You heard the sounds from his throat, low and groaning at the sudden kiss. Again, only this time you kissed him for the upset. To rid him of that silly storm cloud that had settled over his head with your talk of impossibilities and your thoughts of doom and gloom.

Baekhyun’s lips parted for you and as he received your kiss he offered his own, pushing himself further into you, you felt the tip of his tongue slipping along the softness of your lip, painting along the edge of your teeth, and the suction of his lips as he pulled lightly against the flesh, you felt him bite down with his teeth as he did it.

You couldn't even remember the last time someone kissed you this way, as if under a spell in which every insatiable human urge needed to be satisfied at once.

With every gasp for air there was an undeniable need for more and with every touch of his hands over your skin, every wandering of your own hands over the smoothness of his chest, you came to realize a point of no return was quickly coming to a head and if you were going to stop it, you should act now.

You had to pull away from his mouth, and you had to do it for the sake of your own sanity. You left him with his heaving breaths and his lips hung open and all of that body heat and firmness and tension that you felt all over his body and you had to physically extract yourself from it. It took considerable effort and after a few seconds of feeling all of that cool air over your skin, your mind finally began to grab ahold of itself enough for just a few rational thoughts to finally sink their way inside.

This day; this evening, it snowballed with incredible speed. You felt blindsided by it.

You must have both recognized the danger. Baekhyun leaned against the countertop with his eyes still closed and his breathing finally settling, and you were still close enough to reach out and touch him, but you no longer found yourself trapped in his arms.

You inhaled and exhaled a deep breath and the sound of it pulled his eyes to you for a moment. After a few breaths of his own you saw the smile that appeared on his lips. That pretty smile that touched his eyes and overcame him for just a second. He had to close his eyes for it. It was contagious and you felt your own lips pulling into a small smile, you exhaled a small chuckle as you shook your head back and forth.

“Are you still upset with me?” You knew he wasn’t. You still had to ask.

You didn’t want him to ever be upset with you. That feeling was so strong and overwhelmingly certain inside of you. You tilted your head with the small question you asked him and he watched you with wide blinking eyes and one of his eyebrows bounced up and back down again. His smile was back only he had quit looking at you in favor of throwing his head back and rolling his eyes over the ceiling of your kitchen.

That smile felt like a drug. The small chuckle that burst from his chest was even better and when his tongue slipped out of the corner of his mouth and he bit down on his lip and his eyes slipped once again over to you. The look in his eyes was something you hadn’t been prepared for. You knew this look and it was only trouble. There was longing in there. There was desire and there was lust and there was only one destination with him looking at you this way.

Emergency evasive actions had to be taken for both of your sake if not for the mere fact that you had only just confessed your feelings to each other less than an hour ago and you refused to allow your insane attraction to the man get the better of you.

When you dropped the eye contact and cleared your throat, in some attempt to reel yourself in, you heard him make a sound and from the back of his throat. It was half of a throat clearing, half of some animalistic growl that you tried your best to ignore and you reached for the half full beer can. You put it to your lips, poured the liquid into your mouth, and you tasted nothing of what you swallowed but at least it was something to do with your hands. At least it was a welcomed distraction from the man who at this very moment was doing the exact same thing with his beer. He’d emptied his and you watched him wander from this dangerous spot beside you around to your kitchen trash can into which he noisily dropped the can. It clanked to the bottom and at the same time you heard the boom of another thunderclap from that storm that still raged outside.

It was bound to rain all night long. You wondered if you’d be able to get any sleep tonight.

You noticed he wasn’t reaching for another beer and you figured it was because he knew he would need to drive home at some point.

Your mind wandered through the events of the evening, landing curiously somewhere at the beginning when he first showed up.

What had he told you then?

“Why didn’t you park out front again?” You remembered he’d mentioned a truck, and something else was tickling at your mind as you looked at the clock and saw it nearing 1am now. “Where did you say you parked your car?”

You were asking him real questions now and he gave his head a tiny shake as he pulled his fortitude back into his sane mind so he could have this little conversation with you.

“Uhh…,” he began, and he widened his eyes a bit to clear away the fuzz, “yeah there was a moving truck parked in the front. I thought they might need the space to load up, so I had to park inside a secure lot on the corner.” He cleared his throat after he said it and your brow furrowed as you tried to think of any other lot besides the one that you knew closed for the evening between midnight and 5am, which was part of what made it a secure lot.

You did your best with it, but that was the only lot you knew of existence in this neighborhood.

Your stomach sank just a little bit.

“Baekhyun, the lot on the corner?”

He nodded his head as if he seemed only mildly curious about why you were discussing this right now.

“They lock it up at midnight,” you said flatly. Your eyes blinked steadily at him and you bit down hard on your bottom lip before inhaling to add another fact that you knew about this lot. “It doesn’t open until morning. That’s why it’s a secure lot. There will be no way for you to get your car out until morning.”

He was watching your face with more interest now. After a few moments of him staring his brows furrowed deeply, he inhaled and hissed his response, “Why would they do that?”

He gave his head a shake, as if this made no sense.

“What did you do?” You whispered in response, lifting your hand in his direction in question and you hopelessly fought the smile on your face as best you could, but something in you found this little blunder of his to be weirdly funny. You let a little giggle escape and you lifted your hand up to cover it up.

“I just gave them my car but I thought they would give it back to me,” he whispered back at you with his hand also lifted in the same way you had done and you were laughing outright at him now.

“Guess I’ll have to take a taxi,” he said to himself and another thunder boom sounded in the distance. Your giggles quieted down and Baekhyun was looking down at your counter from the safety of the other side now, away from where you sat on this stool having your own little struggles with the thought of sending him out in a taxi in this storm.

Baekhyun was slowly tracing the edge of your kitchen counter with his fingertip. It was an aimless and mindless motion and your eyes followed the path his finger took until he took a step and reached the end closest to your front doorway. You saw his focus land on a few things you kept there. You had a little dish with some loose change. You had a few sets of keys that opened various locks, some that you remembered, some that you did not. Some baubles and some things that just happened to land there when you got home. His hand landed around a small bottle of perfume that you kept there so you could spray some on your skin or on your neck before you headed out the door in the mornings, and either his curiosity or his brazen nosiness had him lifting the bottle and uncapping it to place it against his nose for a sniff.

“Is this what you wear?”

You hummed out your response, admitting that yes, lately that was your go-to scent.

Baekhyun sprayed once on his wrist and lifted a hand to his nose, coming back with a pout on his lips. Did he not like it? Was it too cheap for his expensive tastes and he found it unpleasant compared to something that you were sure he would buy for himself?

“Smells different on me,” he said after a while and he took two or three steps to close the distance between you both, leaving the bottle of perfume back where he had picked it up.

His hand was extended and you instinctively turned your nose into his wrist to see what he meant. You smelled the notes of the perfume that you loved. You smelled it paired with his skin and it smelled pretty good you thought. You gave a questioning shrug in response and he stepped in closer to you again, pushing his hand forward so his wrist grazed lightly against your neck this time, transferring the still damp perfume onto the skin of your neck just below your earlobe.

“Here,” he said softly and he was leaning his face, pushing his nose into your hair and breathing deeply and slowly from the skin below your ear, “here, you smell so good.”

A match was struck somewhere inside of your body and you felt goosebumps spread over your skin with his face so close to the skin of your neck like this. Everywhere, your skin pulled and prickled and as if against your will, your head tilted to the side giving him access to you. The softness of his cheek brushed against your cheek as he made his way down and when he pulled that breath deep into his lungs you felt your eyes close up and the air you gasped for got stuck halfway inside of your throat. The effect made a sound come out of you. The want pushed your hands forward and you wrapped them around his waist, pulling him into you. You’d been sitting on the stool and when you pulled him his hips landed between your parted knees and there was a fire spreading very quickly.

You heard the low throaty moan from his chest and it echoed through your eardrum, vibrating against your neck where you felt his soft lips press a kiss into the skin below your ear.

You were on fire. You pulled him harder into you with your arms tightening around his waist and you gave in to the urge to let your knees part, feeling him stepping in just enough. You could feel the effects you had all over his body and when he pressed himself between your legs you couldn't help the moaning sound that escaped from your throat. You felt your control slipping. The man was making you let go of every single rule you’d ever lived by and you could feel deep down in your bones a desperation building within you.

Baekhyun lifted his face to look into yours and his eyes were half closed with that same look of heady desire deep in those eyes.

He dipped his face into yours and you felt softness as his lips placed the smallest kiss on your lips. You responded with a puff of air and he pulled his face up again, seeking out your eyes with his own dark ones.

He moved in close again, pressing another tiny kiss over your lips and he immediately pulled up again, his eyes searching all over your entire face as his fingertips smoothed the hair around your temples, clearing it from your skin before he placed another tiny kiss on your face, beside your rapidly blinking eyelid; his next kiss was peppered delicately just over your cheekbone followed quickly by the smallest kiss over your jaw.

He was back again, those eyes were back on you and when he moved in to kiss you on the lips once more you responded. You opened your mouth to him pulling the tip of his greedy tongue inside of your mouth again, needing more of his lips and his tongue and his teeth with only the need for air stopping you from speending hours and days and weeks inside of his mouth.

And then he was back at your neck, only this time instead of inhaling he had an exhaled whisper on his tongue.

A question to ask you.

“Can I stay-” he breathed, “here with you-” his words were gasping, “til’ the morning?”

You wanted him. You wanted to keep him here with you and you wanted to keep him forever.

He was looking into your face again, with half closed eyes, swollen pink lips and that dark look in his irises. You knew what his question was. You could feel the desire in every cell of your body. You could feel the heat he pushed between your legs, desperate for some relief.

Your head nodded on its own. Your body responded to him without any effort on your part at all and even if you had wanted to push him away, you were too wrapped around him to physically be able to.

You knew what this was. It was stronger than either of you could stand.

After your nod, his lips were back to your ear, whispering again, setting your skin ablaze again with those sinful sentences of his. “Won’t you take me to your room?” he asked.

Yes.

Yes I will.

Yes we can go there.

Somehow you found your legs were still working and somehow you found the courage to take those steps. It is just over here, you guided him without speaking as your mind raced, all a jumble of anxious nerves and disbelieving the fact that you were really doing this. You walked and he followed and somewhere inside of your bedroom with the lights turned off and only a small table lamp in the shape of a bird that you had purchased simply because it was cute, illuminated in the corner, you heard the smallest question from him.

“Is that a bird?” Of course he would notice it. It was the only light on in the room and it was fucking awesome. His eyes would be drawn to how sharp the lines were, how clean the design was and how fat its little belly was and how its tiny body was filled from head to tail and bursting with light. You paid so much money for it; way too much for it only to hide it away inside of your bedroom but it made you very happy and so did your bedroom.

“Noona, how can you be this cute?”

And now, Baekhyun was here too.

Standing in here with Baekhyun with him commenting on your very secret and personal silly little bird lamp had your hands trembling and your mouth had gone dry from trying to fill your lungs with deep calming breaths.

Your skin was too hot. Your body was too affected by him and you began to worry about how you might do this. It had been a very long time since you’d slept with anyone. You weren’t even really sure how long. Your last relationship had fizzled out long before you were dumped by him and that sex had always felt rather performatory and kind of unsatisfying. But what if it was you? What if you just weren’t that good at it? What if you embarrassed yourself with just how obviously and how badly you wanted him right now? Because you did. You’d never wanted anything more. A million self doubts were flying through you and you spun anxiously on your heels, turning into him, you quickly opened your mouth to speak.

“B-Baek, umm…” you were speaking quickly, “i-it’s been a really long time since I’ve b-been with anyone.”

Oh god, you sounded scared. You didn’t want to give him the impression that you didn’t want to be in here with him right now.

“I want to though, with you,” you swallowed, willing the audible shaking in your voice to settle down. “I want you.” You said the last bit as cleanly and as plainly as you could. He had to know this.

You could see his face clearly with the small light in the corner, thanks to your awesome bird, and you were sure he could see every shaking, trembling, uncertain expression that had just flown over your face.

He’d taken a step closer to you as you spoke and all the while watching your expression closely as you spoke. You had to close your eyes after a few seconds under his watchful gaze and you only realized you were holding your breath when the tips of his fingertips touched at the side of your face and the gentle touch made you gasp for more air.

“You want me?” He had a sort of wonder on his voice with the question and it pulled your eyes open to him. You could see his lips pulling into a kinetic smile, his lips moving with each of his exhales, his very slight smile pulled and slipped like it might have been powered by his heartbeat. The movements would have been undetectable had you been any further away from him.

“I’m nervous,” you confessed in a whisper with your eyes closed but with him touching you this way you could already feel something other than nerves overtaking you now.

“Baby, it’s me,” his warm breath fanned over your lips, between the kisses he gave you he also gave you promises, “and I’ve got you.”

His reassuring words overcame, “I’ve got you — no matter what, I’ve got you, my darling.”

Baekhyun’s promises coated over you from the top of your head to the tips of your toes and you felt the ease that came with them.

My darling.

His hands had moved now, he ran light fingertips over the goosebumped skin on your waist, slipping his fingertips gently below the elastic waistband of your shorts.

Byun Baekhyun, your Baekhyun, had so carefully and expertly broken down every bit of your self defenses and excuses. He’d seen you so clearly from the beginning and he’d done it in a way that only he could have done. This choice — this act with him felt inevitable. You gave in. Up until this point, it had been a difficult battle against yourself, but ultimately and inevitably, you did it.

You gave in to this feeling completely.

As if you had always been meant to do with him.

When you’d found yourself completely bare before him and he was just as vulnerable before you; you let go of all of it.

The arousal had been so much that every touch of his skin on your skin had you reeling. Your skin was hot to the touch and when his strong arms wrapped tightly around your waist and lifted you up, he did it with such ease that you crumbled in his arms. When the cool temperature of the blanket that covered your bed first touched your bare back you gasped in shock at the temperature difference and when the heat and the weight of his body covered over you in one fluid motion, your breath left you entirely.

You’d underestimated the strength he had in his body. You’d underestimated your body’s response to feeling him here, pressing between your thighs, your thighs which he fit in between so expertly and with purpose, your thighs which he’d pushed open himself with a firm knee as you both fell together into this bed. Your thighs between which he sank with hip bones at first, his mouth still connected to yours. But between your thighs he was there, with a wandering hand and silent fingertips that touched and teased and urged as he found the exact places to touch you; as he found the exact pressure and rhythm to push you close and closer to the edge of your sanity and you lost his lips from your mouth in the haze and you felt him sinking lower and lower, down between your thighs. You gave in. You let go of the tight grip you’d had on his hair as he pulled you harder into his mouth and you gave in to it; the oblivion that took you over.

You’d had no time to recover when you felt his wet tongue and wet lips at your breasts. You’d had no time to recover when you felt those hip bones back between your thighs with the heat and the pressure he brought with him. Baekhyun pushed inside so slowly at first; then came the feeling of being inundated by him and with all of the fire and the pressure and the careless abandon that came with it.

What you hadn’t underestimated, what you just knew would be a truth about Byun Baekhyun and what you had shamelessly imagined many nights since you’d begun experiencing this silly little self indulgent infatuation involving your Assistant, was that the sounds he made as he fucked you were resonant; as thundering as they were thrilling. Many of these sounds he made directly into your ear, sending the moans and whines and whimpers directly into your brain as his body rolled, pulling you on top of him, lifting you again so easily with strong arms as you sank down onto him again and again. It felt simultaneously never-ending and fleeting. Spinning, spinning, spinning forever; the spool had been wound so tight something was bound to snap soon and you could feel a climax nearing for you both.

When the oblivion returned you were overcome with more than that took your breath away. The sex itself, the climax itself was not the only thing that you felt running through your every vein, filling you up from the inside with a pervasive all consuming force. The sex itself was incredibly unparalleled to anything you had ever experienced with anyone else in your life, but there was something more that took hold of you in that very moment and you could not find a name for it as it moved through you.

Even through the eventual separation of your bodies, even through the laborious breaths that were futilely chased and the thick haze and the dense fog that you climbed up through, for some sort of return to reality; you still felt gripped by it.

It felt like falling. It felt like you would never be able to escape from this.

It felt like — felt like—

Baekhyun’s whisper made its way through the obscurity followed by lazy kisses pressed against your sticky skin with a spoken question and you knew.

Even as he himself asked you the very question that danced inside of your mind, tempting you with its heavy implications; you knew the answer.

Whether or not he asked it out loud you already knew it so completely.

But still he said it — from his own lips came that tiny question.

“Is this love?”

[To Be Continued]

Links: Can I Stay? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

#exo #exo fanfiction #exo smut #baekhyun #baekhyun smut #baekhyun fanfic #exo scenario #exo fic #girl dinner #boujee smut

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sulky-valkyrie · 1 year ago

Note

its me im back again with a prompt for whenever you don't have something to write AHAHAHA. Five times Character A left Character B behind, plus one time they went back for them - for fenders maybe?? :O

Better late than never, right? I'm so sorry this took me over a year to get to and I hope you're doing well 💜💜💜

for @dadrunkwriting and screenshot snagged from this lovely Fenders video

~1~

“Well that was…interesting,” Anders muttered as the arcane horror collapsed.

Fenris looked somewhere between haunted and furious. “Gone.”

Hawke shrugged and picked at her teeth. “So we keep looking.”

“No, he’s not here.” He spun in a slow circle. “Take whatever you want. As payment. I’ll… I need some air.”

Hawke filled her bag and made for the door almost immediately, but Anders lingered, running his fingers over the books. By the time he made it outside, the elf was gone.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Argument about my sister. And you.” Hawke offered a fierce grin. “Don’t worry about it.”

~2~

The air inside the Hanged Man was full of stale beer and Anders was losing at Diamondback.

“Another hand?” Varric started dealing.

Anders sighed. Hawke was covering his bets anyway.

“We should move on.” Fenris was at the door, strapping his sword back on. “The gangs will begin patrolling in another hour.”

Was Fenris suggesting they leave together? Impossible. Still, Anders found himself standing up anyway.

Anders paused to retie his laces once they made it outside. “Who's walking who home?”

He looked up when Fenris didn't answer, only to see him already halfway up the stairs to Hightown.

Impossible.

~3~

Hadrianna's corpse fell to the floor. Fenris stared at it for a few moments, then muttered something under his breath.

“Do you need – I mean, are you okay?” Anders reached for him worriedly. They'd started to reach a common ground in the last few months, but it felt like that was crumbling to dust under his feet.

Fenris reared back. “Do not, mage.”

Anders failed to hide his wince, but tried again. “No magic, just let me –”

“No!” he snarled as his hands glowed blue. “There will always be magic with you, and…” he turned away. “I need to go.”

~4~

The clinic was empty, for once. Anders barred the door and sat in the corner, staring at the blood on his hands. I almost killed her.

Fenris phased through the wall, sword in hand. “Your demon is out of control.”

Anders shook his head. “It's not Justice’s fault.”

“No?” Fenris snapped. “Is there another one in there?”

“It was me, Fenris,” he insisted. “My fury. Won't happen again.” I hope.

“See to it, or I'll end this. Permanently.” With that, Fenris walked out.

Anders sighed. Fenris was right. All Anders could hope for was a clean end when it came.

~5~

Anders woke with a start, clutching at his chest, where the gaping hole should be. Should be, but wasn’t. We were in the Fade and… oh. He glared at Fenris in the cot next to him. You hypocritical bastard.

Fenris stirred with a groan and pawed at his throat. He sat up and felt his skin, obviously looking for injuries. “Hawke killed me,” he mumbled. He turned to meet Anders’ eyes, horrified. “I killed you.”

“Whose demon is out of control now?” Anders asked snidely.

“Fasta Vass, I –” Fenris covered his mouth and ran for the exit.

Serves you right.

Fenris’ gauntlets creaked as he balled his hands into fists while Varania left. “To think my sister…”

Hawke put a hand on his shoulder. “But you're free now, right? Both of you?”

“You heard her. I wanted these,” he growled. “I did this to myself, and to her. Where's the freedom in that?” He shook his head. “Let's go.”

“That's it?” Hawke asked incredulously. “We're in a bar. No drinks? No celebration?”

Fenris wiped Danarius’ blood onto his leggings. “Perhaps another time. For the moment, I need to get out of here.”

Hawke slung her bow back over her shoulder. “I'll walk you.”

Varruc stayed behind to organize cleaning up while Anders rolled up his sleeves to deal with customers who'd been caught in the crossfire. Their injuries were remarkably minor, no doubt thanks to well-honed instincts to duck and cover during the many late-night brawls. By the time he was done, the bodies were gone, and a bowl of mystery stew had appeared in his hands.

After he ate, he went down to the clinic. It was past sundown, and no one was waiting for the Darktown Healer to cure their ills, so he didn't bother lighting the lantern before going inside. On the surface, Danarius had been everything Anders used to admire, and seeing all that money and power used solely for personal gain was sickening. He hung up his coat and washed the blood and dirt from his hands, but it couldn't cleanse the lingering feeling of wrongness in the pit of his stomach. I should go apologize. But for what? His ignorance? His insistence that mages were people?

The door creaked open slowly, as though the newcomer was nervous. It wasn’t uncommon for a desperate soul to look for Anders even when the lantern was out, so he schooled his expression into one of serene competence and turned around. “What seems to be the – Fenris?”

His grudging companion for more than half a decade didn’t answer. He swayed on his feet slightly, then took a long pull from the bottle in his hand.

Guess he celebrated with Hawke alone. It was a treacherous thought, full of bitterness and jealousy, and wholly unreasonable. Why wouldn't they be close? Both of their lives had been shaped by magic, and in some of the worst ways possible. Of course they'd find solace in each other's company. Isabela had been betting on it for years.

“I once said,” Fenris began haltingly, “that you'd be happy in Tevinter.”

It was like a punch to the gut. “And I agreed with you,” he admitted. “But –”

“But I was wrong.” He took another swig of wine, peered at the bottle owlishly, then tossed it onto a nearby cot. “You are nothing like a magister.” The room lit up with blue, and suddenly Fenris was in front of him, fingers tangled in his shirt, pulling him close. “They are a disease, a plague on Thedas, but you… you're a cure. Seven years of, of this –” he swept his arm out, gesturing at the clinic “– of wading through piss and vomit and mortal misery and no small number of insults, yet you still care. About them.” He tilted his head up in an invitation. “About me.”

A better man would’ve asked if he was drunk. A better man would've reassured him that of course he cared then suggested he should get some rest. Anders was not a better man. All the absurd fantasies he'd asked Justice to lock away lest they drive him to distraction broke free as he leaned forward to press their foreheads together and slip an arm around his waist. “I always have,” he murmured. “I still do.”

Their lips met, and Fenris' hand slid into his hair. “You're a man of action, mage,” he chuckled softly. “Prove it.”

#da drunk writing circle #prompt fills #dragon age #anders #fenris #anders x fenris #fenders #5+1

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tomwambsgans · 1 year ago

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so i've assumed for the longest time that 2x7 must take place in march of 2020 because in 2x9 DC, gil refers to march 12th as the night that tom sent greg the "can't make a tomlette" emails, and of course a deleted scene from that episode is the only time we would have ever seen that phrase mentioned otherwise. it also makes complete sense, narratively, to essentially do a little fakeout: "tom, is [the date that you burned the documents] significant to you?" "nope! (feeling confident bc there's no proof of him having done that on that day)" "well that's the day you sent all these batshit emails, and how i know for certain you are well acquainted with greg hirsch." "uh oh"

ntm the fact that it makes a lot of sense as a character choice for tom to specifically send greg that email over and over again on the night that he's kinda trying to punish greg, and where he's probably totally unable to sleep.

anyway, there's a But incoming... i fucking wish there wasn't, but. somehow i've only just now realized that in DC, gil refers to the thanksgiving of 1x5 as "last year." which would indicate that it's still 2019, and therefore the march 12th he's referring to should be a day very close to tom's wedding. and, admittedly... it's not totally out there that tom's initial reason for coining the phrase was because he learned about the Greg The Egg nickname, from shiv having told him after hearing it from caroline. hell, maybe it was when they first started at ATN and it was tom's anxiety spilling out to match greg's Principles.

obviously it's a lot of personal bias that mainly makes me not want this to be the case, like... the sheer amount of fic i've written just confidently using the timeline where a year has passed in the first 7 episodes of season 2, which would be fucked to hell if i accept that DC is in 2019 lol

however..... it IS pretty undeniable that at least a year passes in season 2. do the math: exactly 2 years between the pilot and 4x1. ~5 months pass in s1. 2 and a half weeks pass between 2x9 and 3x5 (according to frank). the rest of s3 takes place - MOST LIKELY - over the course of no more than 4 months. about 3 months pass between s3 and 4, based on knowledge of shiv's pregnancy. and no gaps between seasons otherwise... that's a year left. there HAS to be at least one months-long timeskip somewhere in there. and it's always seemed very plausibly to be between tern haven and argestes, given the notion of pierce "fucking them about." for the longest time i've even specifically imagined argestes as being after the holidays and in january of 2020, partially bc that's convenient for why any notion of logan's 81st bday, the recny ball of 2019, and the holidays are all completely missing. the holidays would also be a good excuse on pierce's end not to rush a deal, and finally, i took into account the weather in that episode.

frankly, i consider the climate heavily when i'm working out the timeline of a show. especially this one. if they wanted to make it plausibly deniable what time of year it was, they'd set the episode indoors. or they'd pick a different part of the world for the roys to visit. and in the season 2 finale, they're on a yacht and explicitly swimming in the mediterranean. it's VERY unlikely that they'd be comfortable hanging around in swim trunks and swimming in those waters if it was any time between october and march. going off of that... if s3 begins in late 2019 as opposed to april/may of 2020, then caroline sent out her wedding invitations no less than 6 months early.

basically it's split between this:

what gil said has more weight. we can assume that the seemingly conflicting weather is a metatextual flub to be ignored. DC is in 2019, the emails were around the time of the wedding, and the huge timeskip containing the holidays is in s3 which also means that caroline sent out her invitations very early

settings and characterizations have more weight. we can assume either that gil misspoke or that it's a metatextual flub to be ignored. DC is in april of 2020, the emails were sent during The Return, and the huge timeskip was in s2 and took the holidays of 2019 with them

#2x9 dc #meta #tomgreg #<- bc all this comes from me not wanting to have a wrong timeline for tomgreg reasons #and of course the tomlette and gregs thing

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onhigh · 1 year ago

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knowing your partner can potentially make writing together a lot easier.

– BASICS.

♡ NAME: dust ♡ PRONOUNS: he/they ♡ SEXUALITY: gay/ace ♡ TAKEN OR SINGLE: single pringle

– THREE FACTS.

♡ i majored in criminal sociology in college. i ended up dropping out after c.ovid hit tho. ♡ i recently joined a rocky horror shadowcast group! it's been tons of fun (but also the reason my activity here took a hit). ♡ i've been cosplaying as a hobby for about 11ish years. as far as hazbin goes, i've cosplayed angel dust, and i'm working on lucifer and adam cosplays :3

– EXPERIENCE.

♡ HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): overall, about 15 years? somewhere between 10-12 years online ♡ PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: text, online forums (i.e. gaiaonline, mxrp, etc), skype, tumblr, twitter, discord... ♡ BEST EXPERIENCE: man. i gotta say, probably the steam powered giraffe rpc here. i joined the fandom about 8 years ago, and spent a year or two in the spg rpc -- it's been maybe 5 or 6 years since i've actually written either of those muses, but i'm so forreal it's left a lasting impact. to this day i still talk to a few of my spg mutuals, i still listen to the music, n i still think about my boys <3

– MUSE PREFERENCES.

♡ FEMALE OR MALE: i tend to lean towards male muses, but i can write female muses. i've noticed i lean towards certain personality types when it comes to fem muses though (see: wednesday addams, marceline abadeer). ♡ FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: i love it all. all of it's good. i will say, hurt/comfort is one of my favorite flavors because it mixes fluff and angst. as far as smut goes, i HAVE to know the mun well, and our muses HAVE to have the ship chemistry. ♡ PLOTS OR MEMES: both? both. both is good. ♡ LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i prefer writing longer replies, but due to working full time and participating in a rocky horror shadowcast twice a month, i'm usually very burnt out. some nights i can only manage shorter replies or one-liners, sometimes i'll just stick to writing over discord. to those of you patient enough to let me take my time with longer threads, i appreciate you so much fr fr ♡ BEST TIME TO WRITE: for some reason, when i'm trying to work in the mornings. jk. no, but whenever i have both the muse and the time, i'll get to writing. ♡ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): wym, my muses are like me. projector screen headasses <3

tagged by: swiped from dash tagging: all y'all, if ya wanna!

#dust ⊹ 𝑜𝑜𝑐 ⋯♡⋯╰ тнє ιηηєя ∂ємση ╮#dash games ⊹ 𝑜𝑜𝑐 ⋯♡⋯╰ qυιcк cαѕн gяαв ╮

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melancholyheartss · 3 months ago

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Vent time because I am BEYOND pissed right now.

I'll call my older brother W and my oldest brother M.

For context, I have 2 older brothers, both are adults. One moved out recently, the other is in my room.

We moved about 6 or 7 years back, and about 6 or 7 years ago my parents were supposed to put the wall that used be be between me and my brothers room (my brothers were supposed to share a room).

Instead, my mom took my brothers room and put hers and my brother's stuff in my room. Me and my dad asked her to clean it out so my dad could put up the wall for years (we've had the stuff to build a wall for a while now), but she's put off doing it for years.

A few months to a year back W needed to move in because my cousin moved back in with my grandparents (mom's side), and my mother cleaned out my side of the room in a day or two and had him in there by the next Monday. I got the room for the week between when she cleaned it out and when he got put in there.

Obviously, I'm pretty damn upset about that, Ive been stuck in a room LITERALLY right next to my dad for about 5 or 6 years now, and before that i shared a room with my mom, and before moving i hadn't had a room since i was really little. It was MY room, and she took it and gave it to W.

But whatever, we live in a pretty run down trailer from the 80s, there's not a lot of space, I'm sure we'll figure out some way to get me in there. Thing is I don't want the room now.

M lived in the living room until recently, where he moved out to live in his dad's camper (me and my brothers have a different dad). I have my opinions about this choice, both of my brothers spent years trying to leave their dad's house because their dad is shitty, but he's and adult and it's his choice. He moved out a few days ago.

Since then I've been staying in the living room. it's not ideal, it's cold and there's no lights, but it's better then being shoved in a room with someone else all day. I'd still prefer a room but it's better then nothing.

W has a massive anger issue. He plays fortnite (because of course he does) and he rages a lot. He's broken a lot of computers, monitors, controllers, and everything else because of it, which has cost us a LOT of money we dont have. I've lost a LOT of controllers to him.

Just a little bit ago, he was raging at the game and slammed either his computer or monitor into the wall a few times, before saying something like "oh shit a busted a hole in the wall". I went back there to see what the fuck happened and my mother told me he "didn't really bust a hole in my wall".

I told my dad what I'd heard, and a few minutes later I heard her telling my dad W busted a hole in my wall. She fucking lied to me.

My dad was pissed, made a threat to kick my brother out, and then went to the dollar store. I confronted my mom about lying to me and she said she'd rather lie to me then tell me the truth because I'd "freak out of she told me" and that it "wasn't that bad".

I am BEYOND pissed right now. Stuck somewhere between cursing her and my brother out and telling my dad to kick my brother out, or completely ignoring them and being an asshole. It won't solve anything, but it's all I know what to do.

I want out of this house so badly, that will be the only good thing about being an adult.

Maybe I'm overreacting, idk, but I'm really pissed right now and I need to talk to someone and if I try to talk to my mom she'll just talk about how she "isn't good enough for anyone" and how she's "clearly a bad mom" (like she always does while mad) and I can not deal with that right now.

Don't shit on my mom. I love her a lot, but holy shit I fucking hate W and i want him to get the fuck out. I know he's my brother, but he's such an asshole even outside of this, he's completely unrecognizable to the kid I grew up with and would sneak out to play in the rain with, I hate that I hate him because he's still my family and i want to love him.

Alright rant over, ignore me lmao, just having some family problems and needed to get it out. :')

#vent post #family issues time yippee #vent

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itstheghostofmypast · 3 years ago

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Her Laughter (Modern AU)

Five x F.Reader (Modern AU)

AU: No powers + Assassin AU

Summary: Okay, so she'd laugh when she was nervous and she'd laugh when she was lying- either way, he didn't care. Being able to find someone normal to love, would probably do him some could, especially if that someone brews coffee like it was sent from Heaven. She was his morning sun, his angel, his bag of giggles- as normal as every other civilian- or so he thought.

Requested by: @rpses

The Hargreeves family was an influential bunch, each sibling had an important role to play. A family with dark secrets, with cracks and wounds, and issues that were later given down to the father's favorite child to care about. Reginald Hargreeves adopted 7 different children from around the world, the only similarity was that each child was born on the exact same date, month, year, time, and second. To the naked eye, the lot was a bunch of kids adopted by a billionaire who just needed a hobby, but in the world hidden between black and white, the people of the grey knew their real identity. The 7 children were adopted to create an elite group, each to infiltrate societal reigns, each branch of it. This is why, for a very long time the media was confused as to why the children had numbers instead of names- until of course their nanny gave them names, which each child used proudly, except for 1 of them; Number 5. Nonetheless, as the children grew older, and spread their wings, they began to choose their own path

1- Luther settled down, had a family, and owned a little book shop and library with his wife. The two would constantly be traveling the world, and his wife, Sloane, a famous author, would write about their little ventures.

2- Diego, was a bit different - the rebel. After successfully being thrown out of the police academy, his brothers (Klaus and Ben) encouraged him to open a gym or a training center for children's self-defense. Initially he was against the idea, but after he rescued a little girl from being kidnapped in broad daylight, he realised how important it was for children to learn to kick ass.

3- Allison, the only sister, the star of the family and Hollywood. All sources would tell was how she, albeit being famous, had little contact with her siblings, especially after their father's death. Perhaps due to the incident that took so much hype that a certain Hargreeves had to intervene and shut down many news outlets.

4- Klaus Hargreeves, the resident paint sniffer, was actually one of the only siblings that the 'new head' of the family got along with very well. To say that Klaus actually had a job would be...not particularly accurate, what started off as a "positive affirmations group for senior citizens ', turned into a lowkey cult- which once again led the 'new head' of the family to sort out. So now, Klaus just worked with his brother, in the family business, and stayed at the manor.

5- Five Hargreeves, the star child, the child their father had left everything to. He was titled The Commander, he held control over everything- an issue that was bounced around by the media, for he was the only Hargreeves that never got along with the press or certain controlling structures within the society of the elite. Either way, this "blessing of power" had caused the siblings to separate, especially their sister Allison. To many, Five was a sly, selfish, secretive control freak. At least his image was portrayed to be as such and somewhere down the line, the 30-year-old stopped giving a f***.

6- Ben Hargreeves, the 'nicest Hargreeves', owned a luxury restaurant of his own- the only place Five Hargreeves would eat from. To a point where his loyalty became a problem for Ben. The brother had to launch personalized coffees for the idiot-

"Dude, FINE DINING-"

"I'd like to fine dine in a place that sells black ivory brews."

"...."

7- Victor Hargreeves, the only sibling that was not political, controversial, or even chaotic (that or maybe the others were pretty good at covering his tracks). Either way, he was a normal violin instructor, minding his own business, living his life peacefully- to say.

Now, back to what the greys and shadows of the world knew about the Hargreeves. Trained assassins, especially their current commander. The last collected data showed how 4 out of 7 siblings were still active. 4,5,6 were not only close because of their brotherly love for each, but because they were still running the family business- messy things; while no.2 well, to put it politely, the man was now a vigilante, or as No.5 would describe him to be, "Imagine Batman, then aim lower." Either way, the Hargreeves were shady, filthy rich, and political.

Due to this very reason, Five had decided to not give into anything else. A normal life was never a blessing gifted upon him. His sole purpose in life now was to continue carrying on his father's work. Before the old man died, Five had begun to teach university-level physics and math, but resigned as his responsibilities grew. There was nothing out there that could change this man's pattern of living, change the way their family was broken, or the way at the end of it all, he was always alone. At least, that's what he thought.

Blinking away the sleep in his eyes he stared up at the ceiling, today was the day, the day Five completely dreaded, he was in no mood of going on with planned activities for the day- or rather the evening, but this wasn't about him. He would have to constantly tell him that, no, this evening didn't revolve around him, it was about her, it was for her, he was going to do this for her. Five Hargreeves was never one to give in, let alone listen to any god damn person, but she wasn't just anyone, she was his red rose in the middle of a scorching desert, his moon across the veil of the dark night, the sugar to his bitter coffee. And after three years of being with her, a family introduction was bound. After all, it was coffee that had introduced her to him, in one of the most unusual ways.

After the usual night of taking care of family business, the man slowly made his way down the street to his brother's restaurant. Ben was in Spain right now, but hopefully, the restaurant was open at, he checked his wristwatch- bloody 3 am. God, he was f***ed, he would've murdered anyone for a good cup of joe right now. Much to his expectant disappointment, it was closed. Now don't get him wrong, he knew this restaurant was Ben's but IF HE COULD SET IT ON FIRE, IF ONLY- slowly putting the cement block back in its place, his head whipped in the direction of a heavenly smell, eyes spotting a small light emitting from the corner shop.

His feet ran before he could process, for by the next minute he stood in front of a small, relatively new coffee shop: a cafe. He hadn't seen one here before, come to think of it, there was no other place to eat or drink around the block, especially after Ben's business took over- the man was like a shark, running the area, so how did this person grow a pair to open their business here?

Squinting, he tried to make out what the place looked like, it was still messy like the place was yet to be set up. The small ceiling lamps lit up in silence, an atmosphere of peace and calmness enveloping the things below. Confused, he tried to push the glass door, only to find it was locked. But- but- but he could still smell the coffee and

*Tap*

He slowly, lightly tapped the glass with his knuckles, hoping to gain the attention of whoever was inside. And as lady luck would have it, someone did stumble out from the doors of the kitchen, muttering curses as they kicked the boxes around only to freeze when their- her- eyes locked with his.

"You gonna let me in or what?"

She flinched at his muffled voice, the place was a mess, she wasn't supposed to open for another day. She was a mess, instead of choosing to set up first, she was busy in the kitchen, creating brews and recipes- don't get her wrong, it's not like the movers didn't offer her help with the unpacking, but somewhere deep down inside, the feminist in her called her out, "Girl, we got this". It's not like a random stranger would show up at 3 am for coffee and-

"Lady, it's a simple yes or no, though I'd prefer a yes."

"I- " scurrying over to the doors she unlocked them and peaked out at him- yes, she peeked out of the glass doors. "S-sorry sir *clears throat* we're closed"

"But do you have coffee right now?"

"Perhaps.."

"Then I'd like a mug and I'll pay whatever you want."

She looked at him, utterly confused and nervous, this was not going to be easy. She couldn't just say no to a customer on the first day- wait, what if he was a creep who had bad intentions and-

"Lady, please. I'll stand outside if you want me too-"

The roar of the clouds above thought otherwise, pouring down on him and the world around him.

"mOTHER FU-"

He stopped at the sound of the door opening followed by a chuckle, did she just, laugh at him???? Offended, he was deeply offended and- she was already gone,leaving the door wide open for him as the rain chose to enter before he could. "Shit." He muttered as he closed the door behind him, staring at the wet area, his clothes weren't as bad as he thought, partially wet is better than drenched anyway, but the place around him that was dusty was now a mixture of muddy and watery, man, she should clean up if she plans on opening this joint.

He sat on a free table, only clean table, looking around the place, eyes turning to the kitchen door opening, holding a tray in one hand- balancing it ever so delicately, the other hand holding onto a towel she walked over to him, not meeting his gaze.

"S-sorry about earlier" handing him the towel to dry his damp hair she placed the mug of freshly brewed coffee and a slice of cake.

Drying his hair he nodded muttering a 'thanks' before he heard her chuckle again, eyeing her through his locks. Before he could retort she covered her mouth, turning around, back facing him, stifling a fit of giggles.

"...is there something on my face"

"No-hoho- shit iMsorry"

Eyebrows raised he shrugged, whatever was up with this psycho- who was now running back to the kitchen- he didn't really care. He got a cup of joe that smelled wonderful and that's all that mattered. Pressing the mug against his lips he groaned at the warmth, it was the first sip however, that had him slamming the kitchen door open, causing her to squeak and throw whatever was in her hands- the later noticed cake batter on the ceiling.

"HOW DID YOU DO IT?"

"Do what?"

"The coffee...why does it taste like it was sent from heaven-"

But before he could finish, she burst into laughter, choking on her own laugh as she covered her mouth, trying to gain composure. He had no idea what was happening, but before him was a woman, losing herself to a fit of psychotic laughter on her knees as she tried to stop herself.

"Do i...call 911 or something-"

"No-hoh, i'm fine " she gasped, slapping herself lightly.

"Really don't look fine to me-"

"I LAUGH WHEN IM NERVOUS OKAY JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT"

"Oh..." Staring right at her glossy gaze, he could tell she wasn't lying, the words leaving his lips sooner than he could stop them, "kinda cute."

Cue her face flushing like a tomato, giggles bouncing around the walls of the kitchen as he cleared his throat, looking everywhere but at her. He wasn't lying though, whatever weird quirk this was, it rang like music in his ears.

The same night she had asked him to not look at her directly as she explained to him about the problem of her laughter. How it would trigger every time she was nervous or super anxious- or if she was lying, she could control it usually, tonight being an exception. This was her own place, she was going to open it in two days and the coffee and cake that he had consumed were her own recipes.

"F***ing delicious.".

"O-oh..thank you."

The same night he listened to her talk about how she spent her whole life saving up for this very dream, how she wanted no one to interfere for once, which is why she thought she should unpack and set up herself. He chose not to comment on that, just watching her, it had been a while since he had seen anyone so passionate about something other than money or power. The way she would talk about her plans, how she hoped to never hate this dream she had recklessly dove into. Before they knew it the rain had stopped, the morning light peeking out from behind the grey clouds. Glancing at his watch, he clicked it tongue, standing up as he dusted off his pants,

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck for your future venture."

"Thank you- wait," she stopped him from leaving, only to scurry back to the kitchen.

Looking around with his hands stuffed in his pockets, he realized how he hasn't had a decent conversation with anyone in so long, a conversation that was filled with random day-to-day things. Perhaps he should have helped her with the setting up, or not? It's not like he'll come here every morning just for a cup of coffee, as soon as Ben's back, he'd dip- no need to form connections with someone normal, someone innocent, someone as beautiful and kind and- shit.

"Here you go."

Brought back to reality she saw him holding out a paper bag to him, it had the logo of the shop.

"I uh...it has coffee so make sure you don't flip it around..heh..alsolookintoitwhenyougohome."

"Oh...thank you, you really didn't have to- oh wait, I didn't pay you earlier " he began to take out his wallet only for her to stop him.

"It's okay, this one's..on the house."

With that he walked out, assuming he'd never really come back there. Or so he thought, for when he went home and pulled out the little cup of coffee and plastic box with a tart, he found a napkin, with something scribbled on it.

"I'm sorry I creeped you out Mr.Hargreeves I hope you like the tart, I figured out the special ingredient to add after talking to you, thank you for being my first ever customer. May you find someone you love as much as you love coffee."

Snorting, he neatly folded the napkin and placed it in his coat pocket, "Smooth for someone who can't talk without bursting into laughter."

"What are you smiling about oh dear brother" Klaus sang, entering the kitchen, eyes landing on the brown bag on the counter, "oh...this isn't from Ben's place."

"It isn't"

"And why is that, pray tell?'

"Because it was closed, now if you excuse me, I have better things to do." With that he walked out of the kitchen leaving Klaus behind with only the empty bag-

"Man" picking up the paper bag he looked at it, flipping it over, "I wanted to taste the tart- oh? What's this?" His eyes scanned over the definite feminine handwriting,

"For a special customer"

"Ohoho, there is a lady involved."

Naturally, Five did not go there the next day or the next -practically a whole week, Ben was back anyway and again, she was nice and all but she had her own dreams and work and he had his. Plus, as heavenly as her coffee was, going to her place may actually put her in danger. Hence, he sat at Ben's restaurant, sipping the slightly too bitter coffee, slamming the mug down grimacing- a few heads turning in his direction.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand." Ben sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting infront of him. "Man, it's been a week, a week of you saying the dumbest things about the coffee, it's either too bitter or too sweet or isn't brewed right....so what's it today, buddy?" He hissed, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back against his seat.

Shrugging Five looked around mumbling; "it's too hot."

"Out."

"What?"

"I said get out you-"

"Woah woah woah, ladies, calm yourselves" the third chair screeched, as Klaus flopped down, putting a paper cup on the table, "what's this all about."

Five, who was about to retort paused to stare at the familiar cup, "Where'd you get that?"

"Oh, this?" He said holding the cup, "it's a heaven sent coffee from a little shop around the corner."

"Wait, there's no other food joint here?" Ben asked, taking his cup to taste the coffee, moaning in delight, "What the f*** is this?"

"I know right, cute little place, cute little girl too-"

Abruptly getting up, he stomped away, leaving both his brothers behind. A smug expression plastered on Klaus' face as he raised his eyebrows at Ben, "I love playing matchmaker"

"Please don't."

Opening the glass doors he entered the almost empty cafe, with little to no people around, but it looked pretty- those aesthetic-filled places his university students would tell him about, claiming he wasn't much older than them, so he should like those places too. It looked much different from the last time he saw this place, cleaner and brighter. Eyes stopping at her wiping the counter.

"Morning."

"Good morning- oh Mr.Hargreeves" she paused midway, staring at him, surprised to see him here. He had not shown up since that night, much to her disappointment, she had assumed maybe he found her note a bit too informal or offensive.

"The place isn't...packed?"

"Oh, um...it's been a slow day- i uh...haha..i kind of wanted to haha apologise..." She cleared her throat, trying to regain composure and not scare away the only few customers present.

"For what?" Eyebrows raised, he leaned closer to the glass counter, staring at the desserts.

"For whahahaha-the...haha..napkin message-"

Words caught in her throat, eyes locking with his as he frowned, standing up straight, "Why are you apologising for that? Did you not mean it?"

"Wha-idid."

"Then?"

"I um....heheh...it was..weird?" She muttered looking behind him, checking if there was another customer, but there wasn't. In fact, it had been a slow day, a slow week, she knew opening up next to a 6-star restaurant would be an issue, the whole concept of threat and weakness but, she knew for a fact that her coffees were better. Cheaper too!

"It was cute."

His words cut off her thoughts- any thought process to be accurate, face contorting, suspicious eyes landing on him, eyeing him up and down to notice any signs of lying.

"I'm serious. I thought it was sweet."

"Then...why didn't you come for a whole week?"

Shit. Good going Five, what will you tell her now? He wanted to slap himself, that was not how it was supposed to go around. For f***'s sake, he wasn't even supposed to be here! That little b**** just HAD to buy coffee from here and show up at Ben's, in a few more weeks Five would have forgotten about her- probably, probably not. WHO KNOWS - but now here he was, standing before her like an idiot. He had no intention of telling her how he actually felt- or had begun to feel after he read the note. In all honesty, he wanted to come the very next morning, order a cup of coffee and just sit in a corner, watching her peacefully. Hell, he didn't even know her that well, and she sure as hell didn't know a thing about him-

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me."

Head snapping in her direction as she picked up the crumbs off the counter and walked into the kitchen, doors closing in behind her. Was she serious or was she upset? Shit. He was about to leave before she came out of the kitchen, coming back with a smile.

"So can I get you anything?"

Nodding instantly he pointed at a pastry and cleared his throat, "coffee?"

"Same one?"

"Got something new?"

"You want to try something new?"

He paused for a moment and glanced at her, there it was, that double-edged sword. Now did he want to try something that would potentially end poorly, or perhaps it wouldn't? But would it really be bad if ...maybe for once, he could feel what love...feels like ...to have someone care for you? Keep you warm like coffee?

"What would you...recommend?"

"I'll surprise you" she giggled, trying to cover it up by clearing her throat. Leaving him standing there, smiling at his own reflection off the clean counter that one spot she kept on wiping while talking to him, was she using it as a distraction so she wouldn't end up laughing out of nervousness?

And what a surprise it was. Slowly, ever so slowly, he'd get up a bit earlier than he'd usually do. Making sure to put on a bit more aftershave than usual, hair gelled back, tie fixed, shoes shining. All to ensure that he was the first person there, the first customer there- sometimes, he'd show up before she would, not that she'd mind. She'd just tell him to sit wherever while she'd make them a fresh brew, listen to him talk about his siblings, his usual day handling family finances, his brother's wedding, his sister's movie, his other brother's concert. If one thing was clear as day, it was that this man was in love with his family, she could see that like it was written on the wall- but she noticed how his insecurities would usually get the best of him, making him bitter and distant. She never asked about things he didn't want to talk about, like his actual job or why the siblings never really met, it was more of a 'let him talk about whatever he likes' session. She'd just sit across the table and watch, smiling with a mug in her hand, watching the golden morning hue illuminate his angular face, lashes shimmering under the light, laughter ringing like bells in heaven. It was amazing to see someone so beautiful, near perfect- talking to her, spending their mornings with her.

Three months into this routine he woke up one morning, ready as ever, smiling to himself as he reached for his phone to see a text from her. She was sick and told him the cafe would be closed for the day. And just like that, his morning was ruined. The sun was too bright, the birds were too loud, the house was dusty and Klaus was just a bitch, which is why when he saw his brother coming into the kitchen he snarled,

"Why are you here?"

"More importantly, why are you burning eggs?"

"I am not." He slammed the pan in the sink, "f*** this "

"So, no Y/N today?"

"No, she's sick- how do you know her?"

"Oh well if she's sick-" before he could finish his statement he was slammed into a wall as his brother looked at him with that psychotic look in his eyes.

"Klaus, she is a very normal and a very nice person-"

"Which is why you should totally tell her you like her Five. Man, you're smitten, whipped, head over heels, aching in the core for her- look you forgot how to fry eggs just at the notion of not being able to see her today." He pointed at the pan in the sink, not really bothered by Five's outburst.

Grip loosening he sighed, groaning as he walked over to the counter. "It's not as easy as you think...I'm not..you Klaus. People just don't...like me, let alone fancy me." He muttered, busying himself with making an omelet this time.

"And why do you think that? You tend to think the worst of yourself in every given situation, Five." He taunted, sitting on a barstool, elbows pressed against the counter, face in his palms as he noticed how dressed up his brother was- man, this lad was ready like it's a date. This was one of Five's nicest suits, he knew that for sure.

"I don't think Klaus, I know. I couldn't even keep the family together. Look at us, you and ai are the only ones here- hell if you didn't have issues with your job you wouldn't be here either." Slamming the bowl on the counter he walked over to the other end, grabbing salt and going back to his bowl, "Ben and Vanya are too nice to say anything to me- that and I have shares in his business. Diego is...just Diego, I haven't seen Luther since the wedding, and let's not talk about Alison, shall we?' he said as he gently tipped over the salt, eyes widening as the cap fell off into the bowl, followed by the entire contents of the salt shaker.

"FOR F****'S SAKE I'M JUST-"

"Well, have you ever tried talking to any of them? Minus Alison, of course, we don't want to go back there again."

"No, Klaus. You know why?' he turned around glaring at Klaus who looked oh so happy, "Because I know they don't care. I wouldn't either," he pointed at himself with his thumb, "if I knew me. Especially after Reggie dear left me with all this shit! Why, why would you assume I would like to kill and clean up after that- "

"What is Y/N like that?"

"What?" He paused, staring at Klaus who smiled at him menacingly, "I mean, I know what she looks and sounds like, she also makes delicious coffee to kill for but...what about you makes you like...." He pointed at his brother who was visibly shaking, "Like this. The man that can kill almost ten men in under two minutes, loses the ability to make breakfast at the thought of a woman."

"She's ...nice" he sighed, deciding to give up on cooking and just sitting in front of Klaus, "This entire thing was her dream, I appreciate she actually pulled through, unlike any of us. Pretty straight forward too, " he stared at the white marble under them, "Honestly is smarter than she gives herself credit for, I've met world renowned chefs, culinary artists and all this shit Klaus...but everytime I see her, she has something new for me to try, it tastes different each time too and it's not the bad different - never is."

"Five, I've never seen you talk about someone like that."

Shrugging he tapped the counter, "well, I haven't had a decent conversation for sometime. She listens...really well. And" he chuckled, stretching his arms over his head before sighing, "laughs when she lies or is nervous"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What? I said she laughs when she's-"

"YOU IDIOT."

"Okay, Klaus, no need to ruin our moment here-"

"IF SHE LAUGHS WHY DON'T U JUST ASK HER IF SHE LIKES YOU/"

"because I- '' words caught up in his throat, brows furrowed in confusion before he hummed. It's not like the thought had never occurred to him, but he wasn't sure why he never asked her. Perhaps he was too afraid, afraid to know the answer. What if she didn't laugh? What if she didn't like him-

"Listen to me." The paler man slapped his hands on the countertop, "ASK HER. I've SEEN the way she looks at you when you speak to her, or how she leaves you notes on napkins- ask her or someone else will and you'll be too late!'

"Great speech bucko, but I don't know where she lives".

"I do"

"Why."

"Oh, Ben wanted to buy her business so he got her details, then I was like :Nu-uh Benerino, this girl gonna be our sister-in-law soon-"

"Okay, you know what, just give the address."

In a matter of minutes, he stood there, fist an inch away from the wooden door. Well shit. All that big talk in front of Klaus and now he stood there wondering what to do, as usual. His knuckles barely caressed the timber when the door was yanked open, only to jerk away at the sight of a fist.

"O-ohhahaha, sorry Mr.Hargreeves, I thought you were a creep or something." She mumbled over her mask. The giant hoodie cap making her seem even smaller- the hoodie looked familiar though.

"Thought the same the first time you saw me too." He smiled at her, bending to take the trash bag from her, lowkey forgetting why he was even there in the first place, "Feeling any better?"

"Mmmkay..." Her words were a soft mumble as her fingers played with the material of her hoodie, "why are you here..."

"Why am I here?" Repeating after her he nodded to himself, clearing his throat as he looked around, trying to peak over her head to look into her apartment- ironic how she lived above the cafe she owned.

"I'm here because I had to ask you something, may I come inside?"

She took a moment to think then answered, closing the door a bit, a gesture he noted, a gesture that broke his confidence a bit more, "I'd prefer...you ask here."

"Very well. We'll talk later." He looked around before nodding at her, gripping tightening on the trash can as he turned to leave, maybe this was a bad idea-

"W-wait Mr.Hargreeves, let's talk downstairs...heheeh..gimme 10 minutes I'll be there " she chuckled, groaning right after, this was no time to laugh, throwing the keys of the place at him, which he caught easily, eyeing her. She was nervous, he could tell but about what?

Either way Five had been sitting near the window, the other lights of the cafe were off, but a spotlight at the counter. He had turned up the heat, wanting to ensure that the place wasn't cold when she came in. That's the thing, he didn't understand why he felt the urge to do that. She had just flatly refused to let him in her apartment, well, that isn't partially rude- it is sensible but she's known him for 3 months already. Why didn't she trust him? Or perhaps she never saw him as more than a loyal customer, perhaps those notes about finding love and happiness were just friendly advice. Or maybe they were hints, she was hinting that she wished him the best, but she wasn't the best for him-

"Mr.Hargreeves?"

She didn't look sick- well, she did look tired, even under the dim light and change of clothes, he could tell that much. A chuckle passed her lips as she placed a tray on the table, cleared her throat, sitting down across the table, rubbing her hands together, "Thank you for turning on the heat...hahaha...i uh...haha..forgot to ask you to."

"Why don't you call me Five?"

Nodding at the question she looked at the tray, noticing how he hadn't even reached for his coffee, it was still on the tray. Reaching forward, her hand hovering above the cup, only for him to grip her wrist, eyes locking with hers, "Y/N, I asked you something."

"Because..."

"Because?"

"I...hahahah- shit stOp" she covered her mouth with her other hand, frustrated, of all the moments this horrid curse of a quirk could take over it was now. Pulling her other hand away she got up only to bump into him, she wasn't even sure when he had come up to her. Gently pulling her hands away he sighed,

"Feel free to slap me away."

"Wha-" she was cut off by a soft pair of lips crashing against hers, hands cupping her face as he pulled her closer. Her hands gripped his dress shirt, trying not to fall from the rush of emotions. Pulling away, his lips brushed against hers, admiring her features, how her eyes were still closed, face warm in his hands.

His hands fell off her face, only to find themselves back on her body, this time on her waist. Her eyes sparkling - or so he thought- looking up at him with a look that made it oh so hard for him to control himself.

"I take it, you fancy me?"

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

"Oh, snappy, huh?"

She only giggled in response trying to push him away, only to pull her closer, "wai-heh-t your coffee?"

"Can wait, you taste better."

"What are you thinking about? You have been for a while."

Sighing he turned his head to look at her, her body was completely turned towards him, covered by the sheets, only the sheets. She was much more confident now, much more comfortable around him.

"I was thinking about how we met."

"Oh?" She gasped, scooting closer to him, snuggling into his side only for him to wrap his arm around her waist, "which part? The one where you said I taste better than the coffee I make."

"I said that last night though too."

"You did." Booping his nose she tried getting up, only to be pulled back down into his chest.

"Stay."

"I have work, Five, so do you hahahaa"

"How about we don't go anywhere-"

"What about tonight's dinner?"

"Yeah, about that, how aren't you a laughing mess by now?"

"Why do you think I was laughing last night?"

"Oh, i thought it was because of the blindfold-"

His words were cut off by her phone ringing, pulling away as she picked it up. Got off the bed as she took the sheets with her, to the washroom talking about how she'll be downstairs in 20 minutes. He sat up confused only to smirk at how the washroom door was slightly ajar- might as well shower, before starting their day.

He came into the cafe, fixing his tie, giving one of the employees a nod, "I'll have my usual." He said as he looked around, the place was busier now. Three years of coming here regularly, three years of his relationship and tonight they were going to meet his family.

"For our usual customer."

He glanced up at her and snorted, taking the cup out of her hands, "shouldn't you be in the kitchen?"

"Well, they said the resident old man was here, so I had to deal with him myself- hehehehe"

"No love, the laugh ruins the effect", he smirked at her pout, waving at her before walking off,muttering, "I'll pick ya up at 8."

Chuckling to herself she groaned, she was really not ready to meet them, all 6 Hargreeves. Especially since she had seen how anxious he'd get, irritable as well. She had a bad feeling about tonight, she was sure.

Just as he had said, he was at her doorstep by 8 pm, giving her that dashing smile when she opened the door.

"Well look at you, looking all edible."

"Pffft-"

"Come on my little giggly bean, the sooner this night is over with the better. If it ends well, I'll pat Klaus on the back, if not, I'll kill him."

"This is where you LIVE?"She gasped, staring up at the building, the pointing at the building on either sides, "All of this ohohohomygod." She hissed, gripping his arm, moving closer, if that were possible.

"Yeah, well there were almost nine people here before- anyway" his hand reached for the door which opened before he could only to see Klaus.

"Brother- Oh You must be Y/N!" He opened his arms wide, wrapping her in an embrace, smirking at Five who was growling.

Patting his back she giggled and pulled back, "You must be Klaus, Five talks a lot about you."

"Oh~ pray tell? All good things I suppose?"

Another voice cut her off as a smaller, paler man came into view, coming out of the living room with a smile, "Hello there, it's lovely to meet you Y/N" smiling in return she walked over to the man following him inside the living room.

"By the way" Five stared at her walking away before glaring at Klaus, "I dont talk about you- she was only being nice." Stuffing his hands in his pockets he stomped away as Klaus burst out laughing.

Upon entering the living room he saw that she was chatting and laughing with Victor, but that wasn't her nervous laughter. He was glad he decided to call Victor earlier, at least he'd be able to control the situation. An hour in and more people came through the door,

"Hey Brother." Luther waved awkwardly at Five who snorted, shaking his hand and raising his glass at him. "Been a while Luther, how was Paris?" He asked casually, leading his brother to where Victor and Y/N were standing near the fireplace.

"Y/N, this is Luther." Five lightly brushed his hand against hers, eyes gazing at her softly, as she looked at Luther and smiled, giggling- there's that nervous laugh.

"It's very nice to meet you, I know Five can be a handful." The big boy smiled, proud he made his brother's girlfriend laugh and comfortable around them. Actually, he hadn't seen Five like this before, he was calmer, tamer, at first glance you couldn't even tell that this man killed for a living. Here he was, staring at the woman he loved in the most affectionate way possible- and that is exactly why he knew Five could easily kill a room full of people for her.

"Hey, hey, where's the star of the night- oh! I know you, I've seen you at my gym!" Diego entered the space, putting down a gift bag on a table as he threw his jacket in a corner, "I'm Diego, you were...in my class once, right?" He asked not noticing Five's body stiffening, face contorting into displeasure as he glanced at Y/N.

"O-oh hahaha yes...I uhh .my friend asked me to join it for a day hahah."

"Oh who was your frie-"

"OKAY KIDS, BEN IS HERE, LET US GO HAVE DINNER!" Klaus broke off the interaction making sure everyone was going to the dining room.

She was the last one left with Five who glanced at her, she knew that look, he looked at people that way when he didn't trust them. Shit. "Five I-"

"That's where that hoodie was from?" He whispered, remembering the hoodie she was wearing the day they finally got together.

"Y-yeah..."

"Why didn't you tell me?'

"I-it was just one class, hahah"

"Yeah but I would've preferred being informed about you knowing one of my brothers beforehand and- would've preferred you telling me than him."

"I-"

"Five, you guys coming?" Klaus peaked in, eyes lingering on Five, having some form of mini stare down. Fortunately for her, he won, causing Five to sigh and nod. Turning to her with a small smile, "Come on...we'll talk later."

"What took you guys so long!" Ben gasped, sitting across Klaus who shrugged, "Lover's quarrel."

"You guys fighting?" Victor asked only for her to laugh, "n-ohono..."

"We aren't," he said as he poured her a glass of water, "We were talking and Klaus can't keep his nose out of shit."

Ben just nodded and raised a glass, "To the girl that popped our brother's cherry and is a great rival business"

She choked on her drink, snorting and gagging as the rest of the Hargreeves laughed at how their brother was patting her back, trying to calm her down, "IgNore them- THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR BEING NORMAL"

"HAHAHA"

"Normal, well I wouldn't use that word to describe this family."

All heads turned at the new voice, causing Five to groan, Luther gulped, Diego raised a brow and Ben exchanged a look with Victor.

"Allison" klaus stood up, clapping his hands, "So glad you could come, you're a bit late though-"

"Wait, you invited her?" Five cut him off, angry- no, scratch that he was pissed. He knew Allison had it out for him and she would do anything to f*** things up for him again, it took him 2 years to get out of the heat of the press. He could feel Y/N's hand on his, trying to calm him down.

Allison looked at Five and raised a brow, "Oh? And everyone can meet you new plaything and I can't?"

"Dont.call.her.that." he stood up, only for her to pull him back down to his seat. Countless nights, he had spent countless nights talking about how the issue with Allison had made the situation between the siblings worse- he would say she had a talent on "find you weak spot and making sure to press it ". And from the looks of it, she had found Five's weak spot, sitting right beside him.

"Please, I come with no ill feelings." She said as she sat down across Y/N, taking Klaus' chair. "Nice to meet you Y/N, I'm Allison."

"Nice to meet you too." She smiled, gripping onto Five's hand from under the table.

"Well, how about we have dessert? Huh?" Ben stood up, going to the kitchen to bring back a cake, "Since you're part of the family now Y/N, we thought why not celebrate it properly?" He looked at Y/N who was almost in tears, clearing her throat as she looked at Five. Five looked at her with a small smile, he had to owe it to Ben for making things a bit easier for him everytime. "Only if you want to..." He whispered to her, as Ben handed her a knife.

Not long after that, a bottle of champagne popped open, a few glasses down and most of them were at least tipsy. Standing near the fireplace as the music played around the room, Five was still a bit tense with Allison around, but the sight of Y/N laughing with Klaus and Ben made him feel a bit better. Maybe things would just flow smoothly- or so he thought.

"I'm going to the washroom," she whispered to Five who nodded after giving her the directions to it. With that all seven of them were in the room alone, drinking quietly.

"Nice girl Five." Diego smiled at him, "I'm really happy for you." He raised his glass at the raven-haired man who gave him a tight-lipped smile, "Thanks, Diego."

"Oh, she's a real sweet gal," Luther chimed in, sitting next to Victor who nodded, "Don't be yourself around her- at least not too much."

"I'll try not to be." he snorted, eying Allison who was quietly drinking in a corner, not really pitching in her two cents. She had been fairly decent after the first five seconds of the dinner.

"I'll go check up on her-"

A range of shots rang across the house, glass shattering around them as they fell to the ground. Victor was covered by Luther as Diego pushed Allison to the ground and covered her, "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?"

"HOW WOULD I KNOW?" Five yelled back, crawling away followed by his siblings.

Scampering into the kitchen in the basement he looked at all of them, taking a head count. "Where's Y/N- SHIT" he was almost out the door when Luther gripped by the arm, "Are you out of your mind, you can't just go out like that-"

"I appreciate the concern Luther, but there is a civilian in danger, and WHICH ONE OF YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON US" he yelled at them, going to the kitchen cabinet and pulling out a briefcase, unzipping it. Spilling its contents out he tossed a gun to each one of them, stopping at Allison who sighed in return, "I know how to use a gun Five and no I did not do anything tonight."

"I know, I want you to get Y/N somewhere safe." he said as he loaded his gun and looked at the rest, "Klaus you're with Allison, the rest of you are with me, we'll split up after these two are out of the way- understood?"

"Got it."

Y/N was washing her face when the vibrations across the wall shook the mirror in front of her, hand instinctively going to her purse, Shit. Had they followed her here? Or were these people here for the Hargreeves, not that it mattered to her, at the moment the only person she could care about was Five.

Kicking the door open she aims her gun, taking a quick glance before walking down the hallway, the gunshots had stopped, but she knew they were here. She was unsure of how many people there were, or how loaded they were. She was about to turn the corner when the gun was kicked out of her hand, a man in a mask pointed his own gun at her, only for her to snort and dodge his aim with ease. Fighting in tight hallways was always fun, especially if you were as athletic as her, bouncing off the opposite wall she landed a hard kick across his face, watching him grip his jaw in pain as she picked up his gun, "Cute." she giggled before aiming at him, shooting more than once, knowing this would get the attention of those nearby. Just like that three more men came running down the corner yelling at her, honestly she didn't have time to process what they were saying, this was taking too long, and the longer it would take the more Five would be worried and the last thing she wanted was him to find out about her. "Okay, hahahaha, let's make this quick, yeah?" she asked, grabbing a baton off the body of the man on the floor as she ducked down when her assailant tried to punch her, kicking him in the shin and smacking him across the face with the baton. Giggling at the other two she groaned afterward, whacking the man's knee with the baton, taking the gun off his belt, and shooting the other one in the head, "HAHAHA I am so f****ed" she laughed hysterically, "He's going to dump me for sure- and IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT" pointing at the last man on the ground, her foot choking him.

"You're *wheezes* the crazy lady who laughs alot"

"Yeah...heheh..noho- shit I need to stop laughing- GOD WHy'D you havE to show up hEre? Huh?" she yelled at him, pressing onto his neck harder, "HHAHAHA Oh MYGOD- I GAVE 20 YEARS TO THOSE A**HOLES AND THE GOVERNMENT CAN'T LET ME LIVE A SIMPLE LIFE pfff" to anyone watching, she looked insane, like a woman straight out of a DC movie (Harley Quinn, minus the red and blue hair colour, laughing and killing off men with ease).

"They're coming for yo-"

*Bang*

"Oh f*** off...bloody bastard.* she tossed the gun aside, after shooting him in the head, turning around to yelp. Staring directly at her biggest fear, the man that she was very much ready to give everything up for. "F-Five...hahaha, what are you doing he-ehheeh here?" She asked, taking a step closer, only to stop when he pointed his gun at her. Expressions hardened, eyes cold and empty, she had never seen him like this- correction, he had never looked at her with this look. One filled with doubt and pain, with a hurtful pinch of disgust.

"Y-you're hurt." She whispered, raising her hands to show she was unarmed, eyes glued to his bleeding side.

"Well, my ego is a little bruised. I let you play me like a fiddle for over a year-'

"I wasn't playing anything Five-"

"BULL SHIT." He hissed, aiming right at her head, "That's why you went to Diegos's didn't you, and that day you didn't let me in your apartment, there was a body behind you, wasn't there? All this time. All this time with you and you've been lying to me? Who hired you?"

"No-" she whimpered, shaking her head as she lowered her hands, "I -I wasn't I swear- yes there was a body there and yes I went to check on Diego but-but it jahaha wasn't like that- pfffft- please Five, you have to believe me" she giggled, only to slap herself to stop. This is not how she wanted him to find out about her. "I- I'm sorry, okay! I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how- PLUS I'M SUPPOSED TO BE RETIRED- AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY EITHER, I FOunD oUT MYSELF AND-" she gasped covering her face with her hands and groaning.

"Who else knew?"

"W-what?"

"WHO ELSE KNEW?" His voice boomed across the hallways as if everyone else was completely silent- or just dead.

"Klaus..." She whispered, staring at her feet, tears threatening to fall at any given moment.

"Of course he did." the man hissed, before lowering his gun and looking around the hallway, "Leave."

"What?"

"Leave, it's over."

"N-no Five wait, please-"

"Five, wait, listen to me." Klaus cut her off, running up the hallway, honestly, he was supposed to come to her earlier, but Allison and he got caught up on the lower flower when they were circled by the enemy. Of course, he had known about Y/N, his job was to be Five's eyes, the family's guardian angel- so yes, he knew about her little secret, kept it safe until she was ready to tell his brother.

"Not a word out of you" he looked at Klaus then at her " and I didn't tell you because I thought I was keeping you safe- whatever." He said walking down the opposite direction, only to be stopped by her, she was gripping onto his hand as if her life depended on it, "Please" she whispered with a tear-stained face if he could just hear her out.

"Don't make this harder than it already is." With that he yanked his hand away, crossing Allison by the corner, glancing up at her with a, "Guess you got your share of entertainment."

"What does that supposed to mean?" she yelled at the man who shrugged while walking away, before going to where Klaus was holding onto a sobbing Y/N. "What the hell happened Klaus? Y/N? Are you okay- oh shit, you really did a number on these people huh?" she sighed, looking around before turning to Klaus who looked at her with guilty eyes, mouthing, "I don't know what to do."

Two hours in, with everything a mess, Y/N was already out of the manor he stood by the fireplace, sighing at the burning sensation left by the scotch. He had told everyone to 'get lost'- even when Diego tried to argue with a 'just listen to her man' he responded with an 'I will shoot you, don't tempt me.' So here he stood now, on top of the rubble and the mess, somewhere between the shattered ornaments and glass, lay pieces of his heart, the heart that he had hidden away, oh so well- until she pulled it back out to the surface with her warmth.

"You know." Klaus entered the room, kicking a block of cement that must have fallen off a wall, "She really wasn't lying. She did retire."

"And you're telling me why?"

"Because I know you'll never ask her, block her out when she will tell you and choose to brood for the rest of your life."

"What d'ya want from me, Klaus?" He turned around staring at his brother who was sprawled on the dirty couch.

"To listen!! What did you expect? Five! God would somEhow juST SEND ANGEl your way? No scratch that- you really thought someone normal, someone not like us would be a good match for you? Like dude, if she couldn't do what she did tonight, you'd be brooding here over her DEATH!"

"She LIED Klaus"

"Well no duh! Look at you! It took you three months to even admit you like her! And the worst thing is, you have HORRIBLE TIMING."

"And you know all this?" He asked to walk over to the one seater across from him, sitting there with his legs crossed.

"Listen okay, so the day you brought in the coffee right, I read that little note and I was like nahh gurrl, you don't wanna play with this man's balls-"

"Okay, we're done-"

"NONON wait" he stopped him from leaving, "I'll tell you properly okay? So, yes, what I meant was that a civilian should not be involved with our family, so I went to check her out the next morning. Meanwhile, I had told Ben to get intel on her, I won't lie, it wasn't easy to get information on her, but when we did, turned out she worked for the government for a very long time, she just took early retirement. And that got me thinking, hey, maybe if Five does like her, it won't be such a bad thing cause she'll be able to put up a fight- if needed. Thing is, a day before she texted you that she was sick- I saw her snooping around our siblings, so after she left Diego's gym I approached her. She told me she was only suspicious that you were using her and the government had hired you to take her down- because word got around that she had retired and there had been incidents recently. I assured her that you were just weird and a little cray-cray in general but you liked her. So when you went to see her, and she didn't let you in, she was probably being well- assaulted at that time, which is why she called me right after she sent you downstairs."

"Okay, seriously, this is the seventh guy this week Y/N"

"Klaus, just get rid of the body okay, Five took the bag with the bloody clothes, I PRAY he doesn't check it."

"So, we burying or burning-"

"Do whichever, I have to go talk to him"

"Alright, I'll bite your hideous cake, why didn't she tell me hmmm? We'd been together for three years now?"

"Well, Five, I think you should ask her that yourself, no?"

"F*** you."

"I love you too"

To say she wasn't losing her mind, would be an understatement. Her laughter-filled sobs echoed around the empty kitchen as she took out various pans and pots. Chopping stuff as she chuckled, only to whine in frustration-

"You sound insane"

Instantly swinging the knife in the direction of the voice, the loud clang of it sticking tip first into the wooden kitchen door silenced the place. He opened the door slowly, peaking at her then turning his head to glance at the knife sticking into the door,

"Nice aim, would've actually killed me."

"Five what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to you, that is if you want to tell me the truth this time," he said glancing around at the mess, had she been baking this entire time, what the hell? Sure, it smelled great but at this point, he was unsure if she was just stressed or lowkey insane.

"What do you hahhahhah- wanna know"

"Everything, from the start."

"Well, I was born, normal family, great and all you know." she said, chopping a giant block of chocolate in half, "Then one day, boom house is on fire, turns out we were just caught in the middle of a gang war- anyway, I survived, and let me tell you how kids are horrible bullies HAHAHA i mean heheh I know I have this laughing thing but hHAHHA hohohorible kids-"

"You're derailing."

"S-sorry. Anyway, at 10 I was approached by a lady who offered me a deal, a life of full luxury in return for my services- at first I thought she was a bad bad lady y'know, but turned out she was a government lady-"

"Even worse."

"I.KNow. anyway, 20 years into service, I finally retire, all's good until you pop up at night. And let's be honest, I thought you were here to kill me right." she pointed at him with the knife, "In the suit and all, but then you just wanted coffee and then I gave you coffee but for some reason, you just wouldn't get out of my head and-"

"Again, derailing love."

Slamming the knife down she glared at him, "NO. I'M NOT. BECAUSE THOSE F***ERS THINK WE'RE COLLUDING OR SOMETHING AND EVERY OTHER BAD GUY THINKS I'M AN EASY TARGET AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS BAKE AND MAKE MY COFFEE BREWS IN PEACE BUT NOOOOO IF I HAD TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A MAN, IT HAD TO BE YOU! FIVE F****ING HARGREEVES, THE SAME MAN WHO WAS LYING TO ME LIKE I WAS LYING TO HIM."

"....Are you?"

"Am I what Five?" she sighed.

"In love with me."

"No, I was baking an apology cake for my deceased parents- OFCOURSE I AM"

"You could've just brought me a coffee you know," he muttered, taking his coat off, rolling his sleeves up as he came and stood next to her. "What are you doing?" she asked, peering up at him confused.

"Well, I'd like to help you bake, I don't really have any experience, but I can assist you." he smiled down at her, watching her let out a nervous giggle.

"So, I'm forgiven?"

"Was never really mad at you...was mad at myself for having such poor skills to not see the signs before."

"Yeah- you're preeeettty slow heheh"

"Okay, no need to test the water, hmm love? Anyway, this cake isn't for me anymore, I want to bake an apology cake for Allison?"

"Oh, why is that?"

As Five stared at Klaus, telling him to go to her, he shook his head, muttering a no. He was in no mood of going to see her right now, or ever again- fk everything man. That is until a third person joined them, "She wasn't lying you know, I'm an actress I can tell."

"Thank you for your expert opinion, sister mine, but I don't care."

"You know Five," she began, sitting down next to Klaus, "I don't you're mad at her, no, I think you're mad at yourself. The great Five Hargreeves, Reginald's favorite child was duped by a government agent for three years in a row. I bet, if tonight didn't happen, you still wouldn't have figured it out-"

"Allison" Klaus hissed, "you're not helping."

"Aren't I Klaus? I mean, we always have to cope with him, no? Make sure everyone meets his expectations, catch up with Five, and for once, someone out there actually outraces him and this little bitch can't handle it?"

Klaus looked at Five who was glaring at Allison who was merrily glaring back at him.

"What do you want Allison?"

"For you to accept the truth Five, I'll be gone by morning and won't see you until one of you die or gets married. But Y/N, well you won't see her ever after tonight if you don't go to her now."

"And that's why I came tonight- hard to say I can't stand her, but she was right." he shrugged, grabbing onto the pipe of frosting, staring at it as she took the cake out of the oven. "That's very sweet of her...twisted, but very sweet. She wasn't wrong though, I was just planning on leaving you the cake and disappearing." Placing it on the rack to cool down she side, wiping her hands with the apron, looked up at him staring at the baby blue frosting pipe.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused.

"I've known you for three years, yet, we've never used frosting."

"Not.in.my.kitchen."

"Upstairs?"

"....Hahaha- the cake needs an hour to cool down anyway" she wrestled with her apron, leaving the kitchen as he followed suit, throwing his apron somewhere in the process, going upstairs as they let the cake cool down.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A/N:

Okay, so this is a bit different from my usual writing, it's a different AU- please go easy sobs (I'm sick- yes im using that card)

HOLY SHIT THIS WAS LONG HAHAHAH - I WAS DONE WITH THIS THREE DAYS AGO- but everyone took away my electronics due to Covid. ANYWAY- @rpses I really really hope you like it. It's a bit different from my usual ones, as it's a different AU.

TUA Taglist: @imaginesfire , @placidpluto , @achingwoundforaheart , @esmaada , @samyourneighbor , @xuenihao , @whoreofscience , @navs-bhat , @yuuki4646 , @simpformoonkight , @crowleysqueenofhell ,@anapotatowriter @sibsteria , @ryugujitr , @imherefortea thank you, you lovely people for choosing to be part of my taglist ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊˚)

#five hargreeves #five x reader #five hargreaves x reader #five x y/n #five x you #ben hargreeves #diego hargreeves #tua x reader #klaus hargreeves #vanya #allison hargreeves #tua five #tua fandom #five fluff #fluff #angst #modern au #assassin au

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legendofzoodles · 3 years ago

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LU age Headcanons

Adult: Time(physically mid 30s), Warrior(24), Twilight(quietly turns 23 during adventure), Sky(21)

Late Teen: Legend(turned 20 just days before adventure), Wild(19), Four(18)

Teen: Hyrule(16-17), Wind(13+ and turns 14 during adventure)

Miscellaneous information:

I feel like Twilight was the oldest during his quest being only one of two adults who faced the endgame boss; the rest were either teens or literal children. So Twi was say 18-19 and Warrior was barely 18. Sky was 17 (he was in his graduating year, meaning that he would turn 18 that year- I assume) during SS and Wild was 16->17 during BoTW.

Ironically, Time was the youngest to start his adventure. I’ll say he was like 9 during Majora’s Mask and the beginning of OoT. I like to think that Wind was 12 during Wind Waker because it was Aang’s age during 100 year war and they give me similar vibes. Hyrule was (a mute minor in peter pan cosplay murdering a pigman after assembling triangles) 10 in the original LOZ and around maybe 15 during LOZ 2, Four was 13 in Minish Cap then 14 in Four Swords and Legend was around 13-18 through his adventures.

Amount of time some of their adventures took:

SS: feels like a 2 or 3 month adventure, there’s a lot of instant back and forth travelling and exploring the same few areas. And the 3 regions on the surface aren’t connected in the game, so there wouldn’t be any long drawn out travelling needed. Knowing this Link, he probably took regular breaks up in Skyloft.

OoT: the child stuff probably took a few weeks and the adult stuff probably took a good few months. I feel like even though Link hade Sheik to guide him, he’d take a lot of pit-stops and breaks from the main quest to just help as many people as he could out of guilt for being gone 7 years.

MM: the average player needs around six 3-day cycles to complete the game, so the adventure takes Link 18 days, or almost 3 weeks. That’s about it.

TP: this game felt really long to me, so I’d say the adventure took around 6 months. Sure Link can warp later in the game, but he wouldn’t warp somewhere he could just ride to on Epona.

HW: none benefit from prolonged warfare. I‘d say the first part of the war where they end up defeating Ganondorf took place over a couple months, with the battles themselves lasting either a day or at most a couple of days (stages like Palace of Twilight, Temple of Souls and Ganon’s Tower were probably longish sieges). There was probably a lot of travelling, which must have not been very fast because they were moving the kingdom’s entire army. Then the WW dlc stuff was over a few weeks maybe?

BoTW: a whole ass year starting late summer. Yeah you heard me. The game is huge! Are you gonna tell me Link didn’t take the time to fill his stable full of horses (even spending days catching the giant horse), or build up Tarrey Town, or complete every shrine, or do every side quest asked of him?

WW: like TP this game felt long, so between 4-5 months. There’s a lot of travelling through the endless sea to reach little remote islands.

LOZ: from memory I think Link walks everywhere so this Hyrule is probably one of the smallest since I doubt a small child can cover much ground. But as a child he probably took many breaks and needed a lot of sleep, so idk like 4 months maybe? Similar vibes to BoTW and TP’s mirror shard hunt, where there isn’t really a sense of urgency.

Height Headcanon and more

#loz #legend of zelda #loz botw #lu #lu headcanons #linked universe #link #linked universe twilight #time linked universe #linked universe four #lu four #lu wild #lu legend #legend linked universe #lu wind #linked universe hyrule #lu sky

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silkylovey · 3 years ago

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Ups and downs

sil’s masterlist

You’ve had been dating Tom for 5 years and have been married to him for 6 months. You had your ups and downs, but it was going great. Tom was the best husband you could ask for, but it’s been a bit rocky between the two of you.

He was always coming home late and cancelling on date nights, and you were starting to get insecure. He couldn’t be cheating. He isn’t like that, right.

One night he came home saying that he would be going to a therapist for his experience with ‘Cherry’. “But that movie has been filmed 2 years ago, why only go now?”, you asked confused. Why did he only go now? Was he hiding something? It was all so strange. “I’m having nightmares now so I thought I should go see a therapist”, he said annoyed.

“Oh, okay. Could you come home a bit earlier today I just want to spend some time with you.” You said hoping that he would say yes. “Uhm yeah I’ll see if I can come earlier.” He mumbled.

Why was he acting so strange? He didn’t even kiss me goodnight or give me a hug.

He was late again but this time you wanted to stay up till he came home. You waited in the living room. It was already 2 in the morning where could he be? You heard the front door open, and you knew that he was finally home.

“Where have you been?”, you asked tiredly. “I was out, I told you not to wait up right?”, he said without looking at you. He went straight to the kitchen and took a bottle of water. You followed him in the kitchen and said: “No, actually you haven’t told me anything, anything at all. You didn’t even tell me that you were out. You don’t tell me anything. I have a feeling that I’m married to a fucking wall. I’m tired Thomas, I am so tired. Sometimes I just want to come home and cuddle with you while watching a movie but how am I supposed to do that when you’re never home?”. You finally let everything out. You felt relieved.

He didn’t even bother to look at you. “I don’t have time for this. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Goodnight” he said and then he went into your bedroom. You didn’t want to sleep next to someone that doesn’t give you the love and attention you need so you did your night routine in the guest bathroom and went to sleep in the guestroom. It felt strange to sleep without Tom. You felt cold but you needed to sleep because you had work tomorrow.

You woke up in the middle of the night, you felt nauseous. You ran to the bathroom to puke. You didn’t feel good. You were sweating but you wanted to stay under the covers of the bed. You realized that you period is late.

Oh no no no how we were so careful! How would he even react? Would he leave? Oh no no no no no!

You needed to tell Tom, but you wanted to meet his therapist. So, you say her card on the table in the dining room and you gave her a call. “Hello, this is Y/N Holland, I would like to book an appointment with you.” You said. “Oh, good morning Mrs. Holland, Mr. Holland talks a lot about you and sure, I’m free at 9 a.m. today. Does that work for you?” she said sweetly.

Was he cheating on me with her? She sounds so nice. Oh, maybe she is a lot prettier than me.

“Uh yes, that works for me. Bye.” You said quickly. You didn’t want to talk with her anymore, so you hung up after you said that. It may seemed mean but so many thoughts were going to your pretty head.

You called in sick at work and Tom woke up just when you were about to leave.

“Where are you going?” he asked with his sleepy voice. You didn’t respond because you would be late for your appointment. “I know you don’t start work till 10 a.m. so where are you going?” he asked annoyed by your behavior. “Out”, you said and then you rushed out of the house.

You arrived at the therapist 15 minutes after you left. She was waiting for you in the waiting room. She wasn’t the youngest somewhere between 40 and 50 years old. She had the sweetest smile and big green eyes. She wasn’t that tall.

Oh no I’ve been sharing for too long, but would he cheat on me with her?

“Hi Y/N, I’ve been waiting for you. You’re even prettier than Tom tells me. I can definitely see why he fell deeply in love with you.” She said while she smiled oh so nicely. You followed her awkwardly after saying thank you.

“So why are you here? And here we only tell the truth, doll.” She spoke. Oh no you didn’t want to tell the truth, but you didn’t have another choice. “I thought that Tom was cheating on me with you because he has been really distant, and I think that I’m pregnant and he comes home late, and we don’t have any conversations. I feel so lonely.” You started to cry because it was to much for you.

“Oh no love. The way that Tom talks about you is like he talks about his favorite hobby or his first tea of the day or his favorite movie. He talks nonstop about you. He told me about this, about how distant he has been. He told me he has been so distant because he doesn’t want you to worry. He knows you are busy yourself with you work and an asshole as a boss. He’s always out with one of his friends Harrison because he doesn’t want you to see him vulnerable. And I told him that it wasn’t the greatest way to tell you wife that you’re going to a rough patch, but he would never ever cheat on you. I can assure you that and you need to book an appointment with the doctor, okay?” You felt so relieved after her words. “Oh god, I’m so sorry for wasting your time”, you said embarrassed.

She gave you a hug that made you feel like everything was okay. She was a great therapist. She was like a mum to all her patients.

You felt her and called your doctor. You had an appointment at 12 p.m.

“Hey Y/N, how are you feeling?”, the doctor asked. “I think I am pregnant.” “Okay let’s get examine you”

“Congrats you’re eating for 2 or even more!!!”, the doctor said excited.

Oh god it’s really happening. I’m pregnant.

You were on your way home. You didn’t even know if Tom was home. You didn’t really want to face him after what happened this morning. All lights were of so that meant that nobody was home. When you opened the front door, you smelled your favorite food.

“Hi darling, I am extremely sorry for being distant I didn’t want you to worry about me and I made your favorite food and I just want to spend time with you because I’ve been a real arsehole to you and I promise you that from now on I’ll always tell you what is going on in my mind” he said with a shy smile. The food did look so good. “Oh Tom, I’ve been really hurt by your actions even that I went to your therapist -” “I know she told me to get my act up and that’s what I did. I am so sorry I’ll do whatever you want me to do, I pro- “You cut his little rant of with a kiss. You missed being kissed by him. “Tommy, I need you to do something for me.” “Anything, I will even learn a new language if you ask me” “No I want you to listen and don’t freak out. So, I was felt nauseous last night I puked, and my period is late, so I went to our doctor, and he told me that we’re pregnant.” His eyes widened. He looked at you with the biggest smile and he went on his knees. He gave your belly so many kissed that you started giggling. “Hey little one or ones it’s daddy here I can’t wait to meet you.” He stood back up and gave you a long kiss. “Thank you, my darling, for giving me another chance and for this news let’s enjoy the evening now”, he said before giving you a big hug.

What a great way to start your evening.

#tom holland angst #tom holland fanfic #tom holland #tom holland au #tom holland au meme #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #tom holland x female reader #tom holland one shot #husband!tom holland #tom holland imagine

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spaceageloveblog · 2 years ago

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youtube

I watched an Anthony Fantano video about Pitchfork's AOTYs for each year of the first decade of the 2000s. Had the idea to listen to each of the 10 albums and share my thoughts on them. Plus talk about my favorite albums from each of those years. And other music I remember from those years. And maybe other memories I have too. But I haven't gotten past the year 2000 yet.

PJ Harvey's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is my favorite album from that year. And upon reflection it feels like a transition pick representing a transition year for me. 2000 might be the earliest year I could go back to, pick my favorite album with hindsight, and it also be something I liked back in that year too. That is, I assume if I picked 1999 and earlier, the album I would call out as my favorite now is likely not something I was into in 1999.

"You Said Something" is my favorite song on that album and is still something I listen to on regular rotation to this day. A couple months from now, when I'm absentmindedly creating a quick playlist for some random reason, there's a reasonable chance I throw that song on there. I often wonder what the "something" "said" that she "has never forgotten" and "was really important." Probably something like "I love you" if I had to guess. But every once in a while I like to think it was something zany that'd be impossible to guess.

Why was 2000 a transition time in my life? I turned 21. I hadn't lost weight yet, that'd start the next year, though I daydreamed about it. I think I even tried lifting weights in the basement of the house my friends and I lived in over the summer. I remember hearing to "Californication" on WEBN nearly every evening while lifting. Then I'd come upstairs and go get Hardees for dinner. Even my other fat friends were like, what are you doing?

Though I was into Oasis and The Verve and the post-Britpop bands those bands got me into, I was still more in a Korn and Rage Against the Machine phase of life. Limp Bizkit was still big though my friends were more into them than me. But that was more of what I was listening to. PJ Harvey was a departure, but that album would take me more toward the music I'd start listening to. I remember toward the end of the year, ending the evening watching videos on MTV2, "Catch the Sun" and "Yellow" were on regular rotation, and I loved those songs.

So the kids and I were up in Ohio visiting my mom and my brother's family last week. And we did the 15 hour drive straight through bath ways. On the drive back I needed something to keep me interested so we only listened to music from the year 2000. We started with Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and it sounded perfect took as my first sip of the Americano I ordered in the drive thru of the Alliance Starbucks at 6:35 in the morning, the first coffee stop on the journey.

We listened to Kid A next, Pitchfork's AOTY for 2000. I've listened to the whole thing before. Radiohead are perfectly acceptable to me, but others obviously like them much more than I do. Like seemingly everyone my age, I like the song "Creep." I remember it on played endlessly on MTV the summer between 8th and 9th grade. I really like The Bends album which came out during high school for me, probably my favorite of theirs, though I know the critics preferred what came next much more. OK Computer is good of course, but I always go back to The Bends more so that's why it's my favorite. Kid A came out when I was living in the fraternity house in college and it wasn't for me at that moment in time. Don't think I listened to it in its entirety until years later. Think I lost track of Radiohead after that, but maybe 5 years ago, I read something somewhere that In Rainbows was their best album. That came out in 2007 and I had no idea. I was busy with work and starting a family and listening to pop music during that time in my life. I listened to it when I read about it and it wasn't for me.

The kids didn't notice I was doing this 2000 thing yet. I know they've heard me play PJ Harvey songs before, so those probably washed over them unnoticed. And they probably thought Kid A was just another one of those weird things Dad likes.

I then mixed in songs off other albums from Pitchfork's top 10 of 2000, most of which--if not all--I had never heard before: Sigur Rós, Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grandaddy, The Microphones, Les Savy Fav, Clinic, Smog. Some of it was fine, just wasn't the best situation to deeply absorb new music, careening down I-77 from Ohio to West Virginia to Virginia to North Carolina to South Carolina, timing gas stops and bathroom breaks, looking for good coffee and clean fast food places, still having to cutover on I-26 to I-95 to make to Georgia then Florida. The only album of those I listened to its entirety was Modest Mouse's The Moon & Antarctica because I like their other stuff. And I guess it was fine. Bu it's been a week or so and I haven't gone back for more of any of it yet.

Then I started playing stuff I remember liking--or at least sort of liking--that came out in 2000: "One Armed Scissor" by At the Drive-In, the singles from the Marshall Mathers LP and Outkast's Stankonia, and "Music" by Madonna. That led to Alice Deejay and other Eurdance stuff I remember from that year. I went to Europe for the first time in spring 2000 and Eurodance music was the soundtrack of my trip. "Kernkraft 400" and "Freestyler" were the songs I remember most fondly, besides all the Alice Deejay bangers, "Better Off Alone" being the most bangerest of all her bangers.

Many pop songs that were big here in the U.S. were also omnipresent in my travels in France and Belgium and The Netherlands and Germany and Italy. Like "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "The Thong Song." That led me to start going for stuff I remember regardless of if I liked it or not. That's the funny thing about nostalgia I've noticed, things I disliked in the moment, I can listen back to now and have warm feelings about them. Like Savage Garden or that "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" song.

At some point in the trip, probably during a switch from one Redbox DVD rental to another, one of the kids requested a song, but I told them we were only listening to songs from the year 2000. The were slightly annoyed at first but eventually acquiesced because although I'm a pushover on many subjects, they know that when I get the idea of listening to 15 consecutive hours of music from the year 2000, there's no moving me off it.

Some of the songs led to interesting conversations. Mostly with my oldest, a 14 y/o boy who just finished his freshman year of high school and was sitting shotgun, throwing me random hypotheticals and trivia to keep me awake. At one point I made the comment that it was harder to find playlists of 2000 as opposed to say 2001 or 2007, because when you search 2000 specifically, you find more decade-based playlists, whereas if you search for 2005, you find playlists for the precise year.

That led him to ask me, when inquiring about when someone was born, how far back to you have to go to not care about the precise year and only care about the decade. I said, well, there's a big difference between someone born in 1950 or 1959, because someone born in 1950 was a young adult during the turmoil of the late '60s and early '70s, while the person born in 1950 was in elementary school at the time. So we settled on the 1940s. If you were born during that decade, we don't need the precise year.

My son then started talking about draft, that someone born in 1950 could have been drafted for the Vietnam War. Then he asked why that even happened. And I said it seems like a mistake looking back but cautioned him on hindsight bias and having skin in the game when assessing decision-making. And all I could talk about pulling from personal experience was the buildup to the Iraq War, and I felt it was crazy at the time, but I was just out of college and it was easy for me to say, I didn't really have any skin in the game. And then we had all sorts of conversations about expert opinions and who to trust, but at some point he has to decide things for himself. His mom and I could tell advise him on how to live his life, but in the long run, he has to live with his decisions, not us. I think he listened, and I like to think some of what I said resonated.

I saved Coldplay's debut album for the end, another one of my favorites from the year. I told my son how I really like their first two albums but I sort of lost interest after that, but they obviously became much more popular after that. He humored me and listened to me talk about music I liked when I was young. Then that album ended and there were still 45 minutes to go in our drive, so we listened to Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea again. I told him this was my favorite album from 2000. He said he recognized some of the songs and continued to humor me and not say anything critical. I even caught him singing along to a few of the lyrics of "You Said Something."

If I live long enough, maybe in 2052 we'll take a long drive and he play me his favorite music from 2029.

#Anthony Fantano #Pitchfork #2000 #music #PJ Harvey #rock #alternative #road trips #Radiohead #Alice Deejay #Europe #Eurodance #Coldplay #parenting #kids

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a03bkdk · 4 years ago

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fantasy bkdk fic rec list

a certain kind of magic by eatdirt

((4590-1/1))

“Forgive me, kind witch! I—I do not wish to disturb you, but I’m afraid it's urgent!"

Katsuki will later blame his bewilderment that anyone—let alone a human boy in filthy rags—would drag themselves all the way out to his home on the outskirts of civilization, for why he stalks down the stairs and cracks open the door.

“Are you a fucking idiot?” he growls.

Or, the one where Katsuki is a witch in a weed-infested swamp and Deku won’t stop coming around.

the shrinekeeper and the harvest god by bkdkwritingsdump

((smut-30148-18/18))

Izuku keeps the shrine of the harvest god, a minor god mostly worshiped by farmers and ignored by everyone else until the yearly harvest festival. During a spring thunderstorm one year, a mysterious man named Katsuki shows up at his shrine seeking shelter from the rain, but ends up over staying his welcome by a few months. In that time, Izuku not only begins to become suspicious of his identity, but finds himself longing for something more between them.

cupid, draw back your bow by almasaga

((i dont remember if there is smut-16496-2/2))

Cupid remembers the oath he took, remembers the broken arrow, remembers the wrath of his mother and goddess, remembers his roots, remembers that he is a god.

But when he hears him he forgets it all.

“Are you there still?” Asks a voice, clear and never wrong. The only voice he wishes to hear.

“Always,” he says and it blows through his beloved.

solar by kindaopps

((smut-7037-1/1))

Here he is, a god, wanting a mortal.

deku by mirachadoodles

((smut-20852-9/9))

Neither seemed willing to look away in the tense silence that fell, drawn to one another as if by a thick and brilliant thread.

The boy viewed him thoughtfully, as though he recognized him from another life, as though he knew him.

It was odd—he felt the same way.

---

Or, shortly after Katsuki's dragon went missing, a naked man attempted to break into his family barn. Izuku had no memory of his past life, and apparently had no idea how to be human, either. He was just acting on instinct.

a cat named deku by silentsongbird

((6662-1/1))

Bakugou begrudgingly takes in a stray cat that has been hanging around his home. He says he's motivated by the weather turning colder, but he just can't resist the little fur ball. One night, Deku decides to let him in on a little secret.

if the stars align, then for us they were meant by runawaydeviant

((smut-17485-6/6))

Katsuki and Eijirou crash land in a forest to the south of their homeland. Injured and stranded, they befriend a local nature spirit, who is much more than he first appears to be.

soulmates in steel and (p 2)mine is yours by lalazee

((3000-1/1)) (p 2(smut-2509-1/1))

Midoriya Izuku returns to a tribe long lost and forgotten to claim his rightful throne. At least, that's what King Katsuki assumes of him.

(p 2) One large, calloused hand spread sparks down Izuku’s chest, ribs, rested at his lightly bruised hip. Izuku knew fingerprints still remained from last time, and the last, and the time after that. He felt more like a dappled deer now, all those spots smattered across his thighs, ass, hips, wrists. King Katsuki was certainly a man who marked his territory.

but the entrails are the best part! by supercrunch

((15278-1/1))

The boy straightens up. He’s about half a head shorter than Katsuki, face soft and youthful and sweet. He turns to look at him properly. His dark hair shines in the dying light, basket of blooms looped over one arm and mouth quirked into a tiny half-smile. The sun hits his face and makes his eyes a bright greeny-gold, just like emeralds.

Katsuki likes emeralds.

“Pretty,” he says, reaching out and picking the stranger up around the middle. He’s surprisingly heavy, although Katsuki doesn’t mind. “I like you. Come see my nest.”

The boy hits him.

He’s stronger than he looks, turns out. Katsuki drops him and falls onto his back, pain blooming across his face. Birds sing. The sky’s a lovely shade of orange, clouds floating lazily by. The boy scarpers. He leaves his basket of flowers behind, footsteps thumping on the ground and fading away as he escapes.

The sun sets. Katsuki, lying flat on his back with a bloody nose, decides he’s just fallen in love.

happenstance by merrywetherweather

((78566-22/22))

When Katsuki was just a child, his mother, the King of Lucia, took him to enact diplomacy with the Midoriya's, the royal family of the neighboring country of Tayloria. After that day, his fate was sealed, his marriage arranged to the Midoriya's elusive omegan child.

At the age of twenty, he leaves for Tayloria again, this time, to finally wed his fiance and cement the allyship of the two kingdoms indefinitely. Only, his fiance turns out to be the child he had met on his very first visit, a naive, idealistic young prince who wants nothing to do with marrying the prince of Lucia.

Good thing he just assumed Katsuki was only part of his fiance's entourage.

An arranged marriage between two princes aob au where Katsuki tries to abide by Izuku's desire for a natural romance to develop without letting Izuku know his true identity.

plums by Ivillpunchyouinthethroat

((14116-3/3))

There’s a boy stealing plums from the garden below the balcony Katsuki’s lounging at for the night.

Correction.

There’s a boy stealing plums, very badly, from the garden below the balcony Katsuki’s lounging at for the night.

mermaid AU breathe In by contrarybee

((series-smut-3 works-45236 in all))

Midoryia Izuku was born in captivity. He's never known the ocean.

His human carer Yagi-san tells him they're getting a new merman in the aquarium, one that they hope Izuku might like. Having been alone since his mother's death, Izuku is beyond excited to have a new mer around, but Bakugo Katsuki might prove to be too much. Or maybe he's just right.

fishy by warschach

((smut-19417-1/1))

Izuku’s convinced his hot co-worker/neighbor, Katsuki, is a mermaid-or merman- you gotta consider genders even with mythical creatures- and plans to prove it.

(or this is kinda like the show ‘Monster Quest’, except Izuku actually finds said monster, falls in love, and have sexy times.)

home is where the waves crash. by tiredwrites

((4105-1/1))

Izuku thrashes in his cage, the fins that line his large tail flare with a dangerous purpose. The claws his fingers taper into slice through the water and catch the light that filters into the clear water of the aquarium tank he's in.

His gills flare in irritation as he flips around, muscled tail ramming into the three-inch glass barrier with a thundering BAM!

Bioluminescent sacs under clear scales flare and glow, flashing a brilliant toxic green. The team that had brought the merman into the tank watch the mer flail and roar, flexing the powerful jaws that can often unhinge, like a snake.

only the roses know by katyastark

((13193-5/5))

Izuku didn’t want to marry a foreigner. The person he wanted was here… somewhere. He didn’t have a face or a name to ascribe to his admirer. Only roses. For every name day and holiday since he was thirteen, he had received a perfect orange rose. He’d never seen anything so beautiful. The roses never failed to make him feel doted upon. It was their secret, and Izuku cherished it more than anything else in the world. He didn’t want to give that up for some stranger, for an alliance through a loveless marriage.

torn fur, blunt teeth by scribespirare

((smut-43013-17/17))

After eight months of being collared, Izuku is finally free. But a dark, stormy city is no place for a lonely shapeshifter on the run.

ignorance leads to bliss by nikawithspice

((smut-3941-1/1))

A brave wandering adventurer swoops in and saves a beautiful prince from danger, gets dragged to a celebratory bonfire and has a night that he could only have dreamed of!

Or, the one in which Midoriya Izuku accidentally gets married to a Dragon Prince but wouldn't have it any other way.

#bakudeku #bakudeku fic #bakudeku fics #bakudeku fic recs #bkdk #bkdk fic #bkdk fic recs #yeah

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wondermerci · 3 years ago

Text

Hyuga Wataru FAST Interview 2021/11/02

Never obtained first place. Everything’s undoubtedly to win this match.

It was hard to guess his age given his mature demeanor. But the face that emerges as he put his words together was that of an innocent one— there hides the power to mesmerize others. This boy who did not expect himself diving into the entertainment scene indeed resembled a normal high schooler.

Please enjoy this natural Hyuga-san where his adorable self could reach you.

How did you get affiliated with your agency?

Without my acknowledgement, my family applied for an audition the office held. My resume passed the papers review. Suddenly, I was told, “The interview’s up next, you should go.” I was in my third year of middle school preparing for high school entrance exams. That day I’m supposed to have a summer course at my cram school, but I was allowed to take a day off (laughs). I gladly accepted and auditioned. Following the second screening, the number of contestants narrowed down. It was then that I started to have an interest in showbiz. Eventually, I won the audition and entered the agency.

What was on your mind, upon witnessing an unexpected opportunity to walk into the industry?

I’ve never given the “entertainment industry” a thought, but maybe there is a chance for me to be part of this world…! I started to think so and neglected my studies (laughs). It took 2-3 months until the final results came out, and ultimately I became the victor.

It’s admirable how you managed to secure first place.

This entire time, I had never obtained anything of first place. From elementary through middle school, they had award ceremonies at morning assemblies, right? I was envious of those who had their names called. It’s frustrating how I never got bestowed an award or two. But things took a turn and I won that audition. It feels like all the time when I had no recognition whatnot finally paid.

As you’re also an active high schooler, balancing between school and work must’ve been hectic.

Filming for episodes 1 and 2 were taken without a break. Scenes with only Vice, Revi, and Daiji made me lonely because there were only the two suit actors and me, so Ken-chan (Maeda Kentaro) came to watch over us (laughs). I had the opportunity to transform since episode 5 or 6. While the suit actor takes on the action sequences, I get to have a little bit of rest. Still, as the both of us share the same body and soul, I’m always observing whenever he’s up.

How do you spend your invaluable holidays?

I can no longer do anything. Sometimes I do want to go somewhere, but going outside itself is tiring and I don’t have the energy for that. I want to rest now that I’ve got no work, which is why I always end up staying at home. My holiday in a nutshell would be sleeping through the morning then waking up in the evening. I’d play games, eat dinner, and before I knew it the day had ended (laughs).

You were very composed at answering this interview, nobody would’ve thought you’re only 17. What do you think of your own personality?

I love talking to people. I also think I’m full of curiosity. I’m the type who gets all eager and goes “I wanna do it! Let me try it!” at something to my interests. On the other hand I’d say no to anything I hate (laughs). Something that I’ve always been interested in and actually started out would be the guitar. It’s a hobby that I’ve done for the longest time.

Is there anything you’d like to try out in the future?

I’d like to learn how to play the keyboard. My fellow guitarist Ken-chan also does the keyboard, so now I’m interested. I’ve always been keen on singing, too. Ah, I don’t sing in front of people (laughs). I love singing for myself, to vent out all the stress. Some might think, “Could there be any chances for him to start as a singer?” after what I said. But it’s not like I aim to be a singer, I just simply love to sing! (laughs).

We believe you’re quite busy, but it does seem like you’re improving well as an actor. What kind of actor do you aspire to be?

I want to be someone long-standing. I will gather skills and experiences from all the various works I’m involved in, and I'd love to keep on continuing even if I turn 50 or 60.

日向亘

ひゅうがわたる

Hyuga Wataru

Born on March 18th, 2004

Tall height, slender limbs, and great style. During the shoot, his admirably attractive looks were captivating even from a man’s point of view. The cool image radiating from a 17-year old high schooler and his composure during conversations was a huge gap. The staffs couldn’t help but be delighted with his friendliness. Once the interview was over, he hurriedly returned to the set saying he had left something behind. He couldn’t find it no matter how hard he searched all over the place, so I asked him to check his own bag… The item was successfully found. It was the warmest I felt in the brief time we’re together.

#wataru hyuga #translations

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dianapana · 4 years ago

Text

SH Day 6: Marriage Agreement: ‘Til Our Contract Do Us Part

@sasuhinamonth

Hello dears, this prompt is composed of an older story that I changed a bit here and there and finished just now (it’s somewhat finished as in the ending isn’t too open, but it is open enough for me to continue if I ever wish to). I was very excited to finally use it after having it in my docs for idk maybe a year or so. It’s veeery long compared to what I usually write for these prompts but it just didn’t feel right to split it into parts anywhere.

~Love, Dia

Modern AU, OOC

Champaign

Hinata couldn’t help but sigh in relief when the waiters started walking around with trays full of Champaign glasses, it meant that the speech and toast part would come soon, that was her dad’s way of ending these events, thanking everyone for coming. Usually after the toast people drank their glasses quite fast and they all shook hands with Hiashi before leaving, considering there were about a hundred people around that would take about another hour. She made it thought the preparations for the event and the event itself which took over 7 hours, the worst parts ended, she will survive the goodbyes.

Once the trays were all empty and everyone had a glass in hand Hiashi walked to the middle of the room at what seemed to be the slowest speed possible. Everyone was watching him, nobody dared talk. For most people this wasn’t their first Hyuuga Event and they knew how things worked, and even those that attended it for the first time were smart enough to follow everyone’s lead and stay quiet.

Finally reaching his usual spot Hiashi rose his glass and started speaking. Hinata sent a small prayer to the heavens wishing the speech to be short.

“I want to start by thanking everyone for coming over tonight, especially in such a short notice” it was indeed short notice, Hyuuga events happen 2 times a year on the 20th March and 23rd September; spring and fall equinox. But Hiashi decided a month ago that a mid-June event needed to be held this year. Nobody knew why. “I hope everyone had a pleasant time today, from our oldest friends,” Hiashi said turning to the Nara and Yamanaka leaders “to our newest friends” his eyes moved to Fugaku Uchiha “and everyone in between”

Hiashi started talking about the notion of friendship and how important bonds are in ‘our world’. Hinata could tell the speech would be a long one, and with every bullshit word coming out of her father’s mouth she wanted to roll her eyes. But she couldn’t. The elders were watching her every move, Neji and Hanabi were in the same position, having eyes on them at all times. They all had to smile and nod and act like these events are their favourite place to be, no matter how big of a lie that was. She was tired, the servant woke her up at 5 in the morning to start getting ready, her father didn’t agree with the first two dresses she had put on, the putting on and taking off, took her about 2 hours in total and was extremely exhausting despite the help from the servants. The preparations for the event also took longer than usual. Her father kept telling her how important it was for her to behave. Hinata had never been the one to cause problems during such events, no matter how much she hated them, but for some reasons, it was her that was always given the longest lectures.

The windows were open at least and the night summer wind gently blew inside. The dress Hiashi approved of was a deep red long evening gown. All the skirt layers were extremely heavy and she had been standing on high heels for longer than it should be humanly possible, the corset was so tightly tied, at times she’d have issues breathing and to top it all off the dress had long lace sleeves which were sticking to her skin. It had not been a fun dress to wear in the middle of a heatwave. Her mind was still drifting in space when all of a sudden, her father stopped talking.

“I know many of you have been wondering the reason for this event and we shall let you know. Fugaku would you mind joining me?” The Uchiha leader went to the centre of the room as well. Whispers started going around the crowd, nothing like that had ever happened before. Hinata looked to Neji trying to see if he was aware of any of that, but her cousin would not make eye contact with her. Neji’s head was lowered, his fist was clenched and the hand around the glass was white-knuckled, it was a miracle the glass hadn’t shattered in a million pieced from his grip. Neji was aware of what was about to happen and he was not pleased.

“Today is the first time in over 100 years when the Hyuuga and the Uchiha families meet in peace at an event such as this. The bond between the two is alone a motif to celebrate but we must do everything in our power to keep this bond as strong as we can which is why we have decided to bind the families together thought marriage.” Hiashi’s voice boomed with pride. The crowd’s whispers grew in intensity. Hinata looked at Hanabi, both girls looking shocked and even scared. Hanabi wanted to reach out and hold her older sister’s hand. Grip it tight and pray that they both get over this event intact, but before she could make a move Hiashi started speaking again. “Hinata, my daughter would you please come here”

All eyes turned to her. Her heart beat a thousand times per second, despite her sudden fear her body moved gracefully, her mind was in utter chaos but her body knew the drill, it obeyed whatever her father told her to do. As she was passing by people, a familiar hand gripped her for a moment, trying to say so many is such a small touch. Ino, her best friend, tried to give her all the strength she had, she wanted to assure her everything will be fine, and also thought that touch she said sorry. She said goodbye. Hinata reached her father’s side and turned towards the people. She had never been in the front of the ballroom before, had never had all the eyes on her. Hiashi put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, the kind of smile she had never seen before. The smile she had wished to see as a child, there was pride and content in it, but it only made Hinata’s heart break further. The emotions were not directed at her as a human, he was not proud of her, his pride came from finally finding it, a way to get rid of her. He had married her off.

“Sasuke my son, come!” Fugaku’s command was just as loud and even stiffer. Hinata found Ino’s eyes in the crowd. Her friend was crying silent tears. Seeing Ino cry made Hinata oddly detached. It was a strange sensation, she almost felt like her soul had left the body and she was watching from somewhere far away all of this happening to somebody else. The Hyuuga girl moved her eyes from her friend to the man walking towards them. Her future husband.

Once the young Uchiha stood in place Hiashi raised his glass and finished the toast. “To my beautiful daughter and her fiancé,” they cheered for her. They drank for her. And yet she didn’t. The Champaign glass was still full. She was lost… not in thought, her mind was blank but she wasn’t present either.

“Look alive princess” Came a voice from her right. Sasuke took her glass and finished it in one gulp. He placed both his and her glasses on the tray of a waiter and took her hand and kissed the back of it. People gasped and whispered. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. With her on heels, his mouth came to her ear. “Smile sunshine. This is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. Fool them all” His voice was oddly gentle and it broke something in her. She would have cried but Sasuke was right; she had a part to play. Taking a small breath in Hinata fell in character.

Hiashi told them to do the honours and say goodbye to everyone, after all that was their engagement party. Hinata looked up at the man she would spend her life with and gave him a sweet and shy smile, she even managed to make herself blush when he smiled back at him. She smiled and blushed whenever someone congratulated them or made a comment about their engagement. From time to time, she’d steal a glance at Sasuke and look at him with what she hoped came across as admiration. They made eye contact a few times, he winked at her twice. They were both playing their parts flawlessly. One could not tell that they had never met before, that they were not indeed lovers. Fugaku called Sasuke to him and Hinata was left alone to say goodbye to the guests. A few older ladies praised her for being able to catch such a handsome husband.

The next in line was Gaara. Hinata’s heart broke a little more upon seeing him. He too looked sad, which her brain turned to something else despite knowing it not to be true. Her feelings for Gaara had not gone away as she had hoped they would after finding out that he was in a secret relationship. “I am sorry Hinata” He whispered as he kissed her cheek. There was nothing either of them could do, people were waiting in line to talk to her after Gaara. Her father and fiancé were in front. Hinata smiled and thanked him just as she had everyone else. Gaara would not save her, he couldn’t and even if he could…he wouldn’t.

Ino was one of the last people to come talk to her. She had gone to the bathroom to pull herself together after crying. The blonde was stronger than that, but she had cried for Hinata because at that moment Hinata could not afford to cry. The Yamanaka girl hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear encouragements that they both knew would not help.

Everyone had left but the Uchiha family and the main Hyuuga family. Even the Hyuuga elders had seen themselves out. Habani was nowhere to be seen. Neji, her father, Sasuke, Fugaku and Sasuke’s elder brother Itachi were all talking among themselves. To the side was Mikoto, Sasuke’s mom. Hinata was still by the door; now that everyone had left, she was unsure of what to do, under normal circumstances she would be allowed to leave and go to her room, but her father hadn’t dismissed her yet. The Uchiha woman looked to her, smiled and started walking towards her.

“You look lovely dear. I’ve been keeping my eye on you the whole event but Fugaku would not allow me to come and talk to you sooner. Come dear let’s sit down and gossip while the men talk business”. The two women walked to the first table and sat down next to each other. “The event was so long; I thought your father would never make his speech. It must have been hard for you too, staying all those hours on high heels and in that dress, what were the servants thinking giving you such a heavy and warm dress to wear; do they not know it’s summer?” Mikoto went on about trivia things a moment longer. Hinata had yet to say a word, however, her future mother-in-law didn’t seem to mind her silence, for she filled it with mindless talk.

“I know it’s a difficult time for you,” The woman said and took Hinata’s hands in hers. “They were unfair to you, they should have let you know earlier.” Mikoto touched a strand of Hinata’s hair. “You have nothing to fear. We are a good family. My son will take care of you. It will take a while for you to adjust I know, but this is not the end of the world.”

Hinata opened her mouth to say something but found her throat was so dry she couldn’t say anything. After clearing her throat, she tried again. “Will I be leaving with you tonight?” the idea of leaving tonight and not being able to say goodbye to anyone was unboreable.

“No sweetheart. The Uchiha is an old family with old traditions, you will move in with Sasuke only on the night of the wedding. It is a sin to live under the same roof before that.” Hinata nodded. At least she still had some time before that.

“When is the wedding?”

It was easy to see Mikoto was an affectionate person, she moved her chair to be closer to Hinata and hugged her. Something about the woman put her at ease, her voice and hair reminded her of Hikari, her own mother, it was a strange feeling. “The wedding will be in three months. Before that we have to pick a dress, everything else has been pretty much done, you can look over everything and make the last-minute decisions. Of course you and Sasuke will spend some time together to get to know each other and-“.She was cut off by Sasuke himself when he addressed her “Mother” Mikoto squeezed her harder one more time before letting Hinata go. The woman got to her feet and kissed Sasuke’s cheek. “Goodbye Hinata, I will see you soon dear”

She and Sasuke were now alone. He took a seat in the chair Mikoto had emptied. For a moment they didn’t talk. It was all moving along too fast for Hinata to comprehend. Just under 2 hours ago, all she wanted was the event to end so she could sleep. Nothing could have prepared her for the change her life took. It almost felt like it wasn’t real; or that it was all happening to someone else. She had not made a single decision about this.

“Tomorrow I’ll come and we will have lunch together and talk more. It has been a full and exhausting day.” His voice was just as gentle as it was when he whispered to her before. “What would you prefer we eat? I will make reservations ahead of time”

“Anything will do, I don’t mind” Hinata answered. She appreciated that he didn’t want to ‘get to know each other’ then and there. She was indeed tired and needed to think about everything a little more, in order to realize that it was all indeed real. Looking up at Sasuke she had to say she was lucky; he was very good looking and so far, had shown her kindness. If what his mother said was true her destiny wasn’t as cruel as it could have been.

He got up and extended his hand for her to take, which she did. Hand in hand they walked back to where both families were still discussing. Neji would still not look at her, Itachi offered her a kind smile, Fugaku only a nod.

“I see that the two of you hit it off.” Her father said, it appeared he was really happy with the arrangements. Sasuke nodded to her dad. Hinata was certain that if Hiashi had his way she would leave with the Uchihas that very moment and never return.

“Hinata is tired, it is quite late so we should go. I will return tomorrow at noon in order to take her out for lunch Hyuuga-san.” Sasuke had not asked permission to take her out. He had simply stated that he would. That was the moment she realized her father was no longer the one to command her. Sasuke was. She wasn’t sure if what she felt was fear or excitement.

“Yes of course. Hinata you may leave” Hiashi said but Hinata didn’t move for Sasuke was still holding onto her hand.

“I will walk her to her quarter.” Hinata barely had time to bow to what would soon be her family before Sasuke started pulling her along. “In my presence you will not follow his word. My word is absolute, his is barely wind blowing by you.” Sasuke appeared to be annoyed by the fact that her father dismissed her. “If he says go but I am standing still, you too will stay unless I decide we will leave”

“Yes.” She knew how their world worked; despite them living in the 21rst century where women were seen as equals more and more every day, their world stopped evolving. The husband was the ultimate master while the woman was a possession. First, she was owned by her father, then by her husband.

They walked quite fast when leaving the ballroom, but once they were out of sight Sasuke slowed his steps. He was aware of the difficulty of walking in heels, his mother always made sure to complain about it. Her hand in his felt small and fragile, he had never been given something to take care of, sometimes that was his and his alone. He had been against the marriage at first. He wanted to wait until he was the Uchiha head later in life before taking a wife but his father insisted, he needed to marry young and have heirs because Itachi could not. His older brother had been his father’s favourite from a young age; that was until Itachi was 18 and Sasuke 13, about 10 years ago. On his 18thbirthday Itachi gave up his title as the heir in a very public way only to than later inform his father that not only does he not want to be head but he would not be fit for the role, for he could never give heirs to the clan. Itachi’s infertility came as a shock to the whole family. Sasuke was tested as well as soon as possible but thankfully the tests proved that he would be able to have children.

Fugaku had learned in the past 10 years to accept Sasuke as his heir, his relationship with his father was better now than it had ever been, but even so they were not as close as Itachi had been with him. But Fugaku put in all his efforts to try to make Sasuke the best, he taught him everything he could and allowed Sasuke to do as he pleases as long as what he did would be useful to the family. So, when he informed Sasuke he had picked a wife for him it came to no surprise that he had chosen a girl from a very important family, a family even older than the Uchihas and just as influential. The girl was known among her people as an angel and was believed to be the most beautiful Hyuuga girl to ever be, so of course, Fugaku wanted her for his own heir.

Upon seeing Hinata for the first time that night Sasuke had concluded the rumours had not been false. He had not been disappointed in the slightest. He was actually impressed. He expected two outcomes: either the girl to cry and make a fuss about the marriage or to be the ditzy kind of girl he had seen around that throws herself at him. She had been neither. For the shortest moment she had faltered and shown her true feelings, disbelief and numbness, but she pulled herself together as soon as he spoke to her. She had acted and played her part perfectly.

The pavement was old and uneven towards the main house. Almost nothing had been altered from the time the house was built, only maintained, so cracks and unevenness in the pathways happened. Hinata was trying her best to walk over them in her heels. Normally by that point in the night, she would take her heels off but she was not alone. Noticing her slowing down Sasuke stopped.

“Would you want me to carry you?” The offer was unexpected and it made Hinata quiet for a moment which Sasuke took as ‘yes’. He slightly bent and placed an arm under her knees and the other around her back. On instinct, Hinata placed both her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

“You didn’t have to do that” Despite saying that she was thankful. Her feet were killing her.

“How high are your heels?”

“About 6 inches. Why?”

“6 inches and I’m still 6 inches taller than you.” He made a humming sound. Hinata didn’t know what he was thinking but she didn’t try to figure it out either. It was hard enough trying to figure out what she was feeling, there was no energy or time to uncover the mysteries of Sasuke’s mind. Her body was tired but her brain was even more exhausted. At this point not really caring anymore, she placed her head on his shoulder and just enjoyed the ride. Upon getting to the main house Hinata instructed him to go to the 2nd floor to the left. There was a guard outside her door that did not stop him from entering her room but actually held the door open for him. Two servants were inside waiting to help her undress and wash before going to bed. Sasuke put her on the edge of her bed.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” Hinata said. She felt a bit shy now, not really knowing how to say goodbye to him. This was the first time a man beside her dad and Neji entered her room. Not even the guards were allowed inside.

“Goodnight Hinata, I will see you tomorrow” Sasuke said, he kissed the back of her hand once more and left. Not waiting for her reply. Once again, a choice was made for her that day, but she was grateful for it this time.

The servants were gossiping about her fiancé and how gentle and beautiful he was, about how he had looked at her and how he had carried her like she was the most precious thing in the world. They guided her to her feet and to the full-length mirror to the side of her bed.

All their words were flying around her but none of them really registered; her brain was still not processing much of anything. She was still in the ballroom holding her Champaign glass praying for her dad’s speech to be short.

The servants untied her corset and Hinata took in her first deep breath in what felt like ages. They peeled off her sleeves and pulled the skirt away from her body. She was left in her underwear and heels in front of the full-length mirror. Her arms were splotchy and red from place to place from the itchy lace, her breasts and abdomen had red traces from where the corset was too tight on her. Her panties were red to match the dress, her legs were white and smooth but they were barely holding her at that point in the high heels, they were visibly shaking. Her eyes moved back up over every inch of naked skin until it reached her face. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see there, maybe something different. Some kind of evidence of the announcement from that night, but everything looked just as it did that morning.

One of the servants had just finished putting the dress away for it to be cleaned the next day, while the other filled her bathtub with hot water, salts and oils. Hinata would usually take off her heels and walk on her own to the bath but she was still looking at herself in the mirror, her eye make-up wasn’t smudged at all, her lipstick had gone after eating and drinking halfway through the event, so she excused herself to the bathroom several hours ago to take it off, her updo had lost some of its volume and a few strands had fallen around her face. She was too close to the mirror, her image being all she saw. Hinata took a few steps back and tried to picture Sasuke next to her naked body. They would make a beautiful couple even she could admit that.

Not being able to stomach the image she had in her head anymore the Hyuuga girl finally turned around and sat on the bed for a moment to take her heels off. She walked to the bathtub and took off her underwear as well and lowered herself in the hot water. Her head was resting on a soft towel; one of the servants started taking her make-up off and cleaning her face with scrubs and putting gels on her face and gently massaging everything in.

“Haruhi, could you please put some music on?” Hinata asked the servant that was not busy at the time. A moment later soft music started playing in the background. Once the facial massage was done a charcoal mask was applied to her face and finally, her hair was taken from the updo. Mina, the servant washing her poured some warm water on her head in such a way as not to get it on her mask. Her hair was shampooed twice and conditioned and rinsed and finally, put in a towel.

Haruhi came to help with washing her body, they scrubbed at her neck, collarbones, arms, hands, breasts, back and every other part of her. Her body was rinsed and washed again, more gently with moisturizing lavender soap and rinsed again. Her facemask was taken off, the water drained from the tub and she stepped out of it allowing the servants to towel her off. Mina placed a large towel over her bedsheets and Hinata laid on her back and enjoyed as both her servants massaged every part of her body with more oils, once they were done on one side she turned on to her front and they started to work again.

Her massage was almost done when Hanabi busted through her door. Hinata lazily opened her eyes, she was tired and finally relaxed, thus on the edge of falling asleep. Her sister was in her night attire, her hair still wet from her own bath most likely. Her eyes were red, she must have cried, but she looked angry at the moment. Hinata’s servants did not stop their massage despite the company of her sister.

“How can you stay there and enjoy your massage?” Hinata asked sounding astonished.

“You had enjoyed your bath time, why shouldn’t I?” Despite all of Hinata’s efforts over the years she and Hanabi weren’t as close as she wanted. Hanabi had always resented her for being older, the firstborn, the heir. When Hanabi was 3 and Hinata 7 the younger spent her days playing and reading stories and being watched by the elder women while Hinata was studying with the men. Hanabi had asked once why that was the case and an elder said “Your sister is the heir. She has to know how to be a leader, while you my dear, you will be a wife to someone” Despite that incident, things slowly started changing over the years, Hinata lost her father’s favour and Hanabi was taught leadership skills while Hinata was toughed to cook. Despite the obvious manner in which Hiashi favoured her now, Hanabi had always felt jealous of her sister, for she always believed what that old woman said to her in her childhood, she resented Hinata for she was to be the one that would not be married off. What an irony.

“Why aren’t you upset?” Hanabi’s voice was breaking and she was shaking. “Why aren’t you angry?” her fists were clenched and she looked like she wanted to start a riot. “Why aren’t you in dad’s office demanding he change his mind?”

“There’s nothing to change Hanabi.” Hinata finally got up and gestured to the servants to leave. She took the towel and put it around her body as the two bowed and left the room, left the sisters to talk among themselves. “Dad did it in such a way that it cannot be undone.” Hinata walked to her closet looking for something to wear to bed. “He didn’t tell me before so I couldn’t contest it, and now I can’t. Everyone that matters in this world knows about it. Unless I have a good reason, a very good one, there’s nothing that can stop this. In three months I will not be here anymore” Hinata finally picked a silk shorts and tanktop combo and put it on. “And you little sister.” The older one said as she walked towards her sister “You will be a Hyuuga forever, this will be the only house you know, these will be your people.” Hinata wanted to finish her sentence with ‘just as you’ve always wanted’ but stopped herself short.

Hanabi was crying again. She had prayed and wished to be the one to stay for so many years. But she had never thought about her sister leaving. She had always been bitter and held Hinata at a distance even when the older one tried to make the gap between them disappear. She had never taken the opportunity to get to know Hinata, and now she couldn’t.

“I’m sorry.” Hanabi said and hugged Hinata. They hadn’t hugged in ages. This time it was Hinata who pushed away.

“It’s over for today. I have not yet realized that this is not a dream. We will speak tomorrow. I’m going to bed now” She was a bit angry at Hanabi for only now trying to act like a sister. She had tried before that evening too, right before Hinata’s name was called, but even then it was in a moment of weakness, of fear, it wasn’t out of love or care. For most of her life Hinata tried to convince herself that she was fine with the way her and Hanabi’s relationship was, after trying for a few years to bond with her and being rejected, Hinata became content with what they had because she believed Hanabi not to be able to connect on a deeper level. She didn’t connect with Neji or Hiashi either. But seeing that she is indeed able of that connection, that she just didn’t want it before, hurt her more than Hinata would ever admit.

Hanabi left and Mina and Haruhi peeked in Hinata’s room. “Good night Himata-hime” they said in union and Hinata wished them a goodnight as well. Them calling her hime reminded her of the way Sasuke had called her Princess. ‘Smile sunshine. Fool them all’ he had said. And she did. She smiled and fooled them.

Now that her head was finally on her pillow, hair still damp, sheets cool and comforting, the room dark and quiet she allowed herself to admit a few things out loud. “I am getting married. I will be an Uchiha. Sasuke will be my husband.” The silence in the room was deafening “I am scared.” A little voice in the back of her brain whispered ‘I am excited’ but she didn’t say it out loud. With those thoughts in mind, she fell asleep.

________________________________

The next morning felt normal. She woke up, brushed her teeth, washed her face, got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. She didn’t feel different. Upon reaching the dining room she realized for once she was the last to arrive. Hanabi was in her seat looking upset, Neji was frowning at his phone and her dad was reading something on his pad. That is what the house would look like in three months. She moved from the doorframe and all eyes turned to her. Hanabi still looked sad, Neji looked sorry and her dad was happy. Hinata walked around the table and sat in her chair.

“Good morning sunshine. How did you sleep?” Hiashi had stopped calling her sunshine when she was 4 years old and Hikari died.

“I slept very well, how about you father?”

“I did as well”

Neji was looking at Hinata almost expecting her to cry or scream. He was looking at her face trying to find proof of tears from the night before, but her face wasn’t red or puffy. She looked well-rested.

The breakfast was finally brought for them to eat and they did so in silence. Hiashi was the first to finish and instead of leaving to go do work as he would normally, he started talking.

“Sasuke will be here at noon. You should start getting ready after breakfast” Hiashi too wanted to test his daughter and see how she would address the situation. He wanted to know if he had to give her a lecture about her behaviour around the Uchiha heir.

“Yes, I know. I already thought of what I want to wear. I will change and come seek your approval as I would for an event.” Hinata said between bites. “He didn’t mention where we were going but he did say he will make reservations so I am assuming it is a dressy place despite being a lunch date”

Everyone was taken aback by her answer. Hinata had not lied, she slept very well and woke up early. She accepted her fate almost entirely, she picked what she wanted to wear and even thought about a few things she wanted to ask Sasuke. In all truthfulness, she was a bit excited but was trying to keep her expectations low, that way she would not be disappointed if this change was not for the better. The only thing she didn’t particularly like about this was not seeing Ino and Neji. They were her best friends despite Neji’s behaviour in those 2 days.

Seeing as nobody spoke anymore Hinata excused herself and went to her room to start getting ready. It was only 9 in the morning. Sasuke would only come in about 3 hours but there wasn’t much else she could do.

She didn’t even reach her closet to take out the outfit she had thought of wearing when Neji came into her room. He walked to her and bowed. “I’m sorry” he was apologizing for not telling her, for not being able to stop it, for the way he treated her.

“It’s ok Neji. Everything could have been worse.” She wasn’t lying. She heard of many girls that had married old and abusive men. Their whole life they were raped and beaten. She didn’t know Sasuke at all but from the 2 interactions she had with him, he didn’t appear like he would hit her. Mikoto too seemed nice enough. “What is one prison exchanged for another?” She wasn’t allowed to do much in the Hyuuga household anyways, read and study. She was a bit eager to see if she had a bit more freedom as an Uchiha and if not, she was already used to being a caged bird.

“I couldn’t convince uncle not to do that. The bond with the Uchihas was apparently necessary. And Fugaku requested you to marry his son. Uncle couldn’t deny a direct request like that. Plus...” Neji decided to stop there.

“Plus, dad would rather Hana be the leader.” Hinata continued what Neji wouldn’t say. “I know that Neji. I’ve known that for a while now.”

“If one of the leaders were to request to marry you as well uncle might need to reconsider” He didn’t sound sure at all.

“He wouldn’t change his mind. The relationship with the Uchihas is more important to him than any other family at the moment. In addition, nobody would risk their bond with both us and the Uchihas for my hand in marriage” Hinata absently replied while looking through her collection of necklaces while sitting at her vanity.

“If we ask Gaara maybe-“

“He wouldn’t. and I would never ask him either” Yesterday she might have jumped up at the idea of marring Gaara. But something changed and made her realize her feelings for Gaara were never really for the man, but the freedom he represented. Gaara was her friend, he was a leader and if he would have been her husband, he would have offered her the most freedom a woman can have in their world. “I would never ask your boyfriend to marry me” Hinata said this while watching Neji’s face in the mirror.

Her cousin blushed and looked alarmed. “You are mistaken Hina-“

“Stop” I know I’m not. Her eyes softened. “It took me a while to realize but I did. And I confirmed my suspicions when I told Gaara about my feelings a few months ago and he said he was in love with someone himself. I asked why he wasn’t marrying this girl and he replying that his relationship was taboo. I thought she was a married woman maybe, a commoner. But it clicked when I saw him look at you.” Neji was still not moving or breathing.

“I will not tell anyone about the two of you Neji. It is nobody’s business but yours.” She got up from the vanity and walked to him and hugged him. “For what is worth…I wish you both happiness.” She knew that their relationship would not be accepted in their world and her heart wept for both cousin and her friend. The world was cruel. “I hope you find a way to be happy and free” She wanted that for herself too. Happiness and freedom to find who she was and then be herself.

Neji hugged her back. “That means the world to me Hinata.” He sighed long and his body felt like it was deflating. “I hadn’t realized how it would feel to hear the words from someone other than him or me. How much I wanted someone to validate the way I feel” Neji took a step back and kissed her forehead. “I wish you happiness and freedom as well Hinata. I hope your life as an Uchiha to be better than your life as a Hyuuga has been.”

She hoped that as well. After another hug, Neji remained in her room and the two of them chatted while Mina and Haruhi were doing Hinata’s hair and make-up for her date. The dress Hinata had chosen was a black beach dress with daisies and sunflowers on the skirt. The skirt was cut on one leg to her mid-thigh. The upper part was like a tank top in the front but the back was almost bare, only a few strings places in a random pattern kept the front from falling. She would pair the dress with gold wedges and a gold choker and her normal hoop earrings. Her makeup was done also in soft golds and whites. Her hair was braided in the front like a crown and she asked Haruhi to braid some small daisies in as well. The rest of her hair was free and in waves from not drying it properly before bed. Neji had left right before she changed her clothes about 10 minutes ago. Being finally done she did as promised and went downstairs to get her father’s approval, it was still only 11 so if he had any complaints she would have the time to change, or so she thought. After knocking on his office door and being granted access Hinata opened the door only to find Sasuke in the room with her father.

Hiashi looked up at her and he only nodded his approval for her attire. Sasuke had on a white button up with the last 2 buttons undone and the sleeves rolled to his elbows and a short pair of black slacks.

“Come in Hinata, Sasuke came early so we had a talk while you were still getting ready” Hinashi beckoned her to enter the room but she didn’t move to which Sasuke smirked.

“Actually, I think we will be leaving now, seeing as she is ready as well. I will see you later Hiashi-san” Sasuke greeted the older man, took Hinata’s hand and closed the door of the office. Neither of them said anything as they walked to Sasuke’s car.

Hinata was starting to get nervous, not only for the date and being alone with Sasuke, but because she hadn’t been outside without her father or at least Neji. Sasuke opened the door of her and she got inside his car. He walked around and go into the driver’s seat. Before starting the car though, he kissed the back of her hand.

“You look lovely today as well.” He turned her hand around and kissed her wrist. “You were a good girl Hinata, not listening to you father.”

Her breath hitched due to the second kiss, no man touched her wrist before, let alone kiss it. During her talk with Neji they discussed Sasuke as well. Her cousin said that he is known to be cold and quite cruel. But he had been anything but that to her. He had been gentle and affectionate, something she had never experienced. Nobody in the Hyuuga household hugged her or kissed her hands.

Sasuke looked at her and smirked at her blush, he could tell this was the real deal and not a fake like the ones from last night’s goodbye charade. He finally started the car and drove down the Hyuuga driveway till he reached the first gate, one of the security men opened the gate for them and they continued down the driveway to the second and final gate, this was opened for them as well and they were finally on the road.

“I have never left without father or Neji the premises of the house.” Hinata admitted.

Sasuke looked at her for a split second from the corner of his eye. She was looking out the door with a small smile. “Not even to a friend’s house? I noticed you talking with the Yamanaka girl a lot. Were you never allowed to visit her just with a guard or two?”

“No. Neji always had to come along” Sasuke’s reply was a small hum. He hadn’t realized that the Hyuugas were that strict.

“I will assign my best guard to you once you move in with me. When I am at work; because unlike your father I am away from the house quite a lot, you will stay with him. You are free to go as you please as long as he’s with you”

‘You are free’ was what Hinata heard. She had wanted to be free for such a long time but now that I was so close to her, she wasn’t sure what she’d do with said freedom. The rest of the drive she spent trying to come up with what she would do the first chance she got.

The restaurant was in the centre of the city, where she had never been before. The amount of people walking around was mind-blowing. There were kids laughing, people talking walks and strolling around just because they could. Her whole life the thought of public space being dangerous had been drilled in her head. Other families could be around, they could hurt her. ‘People are mean and cruel’ that was Hiashi’s go-to answer when one of them wanted to go somewhere. Despite Hinata never really believing what her dad said, his words were on repeat in her head, so without really meaning to she took a step closer to Sasuke, held onto his arm with both hands and tried to hide away. Even if one does not believe the things they are told, if they are told them often enough, they become involuntary habits; she had been taught to think she was always in danger, paranoia was not easy to let go of.

When he had said they’d go eat at a restaurant she thought he meant one owned by the Hyuuga or by the Uchiha family, a restaurant from their respective part of Konoha. She knew what part of the city belonged to the Hyuugas and looked up what parts belonged to the Uchihas and this part wasn’t owned by either.

He noticed her stiffening in the car when he parked it. He noticed her fear and the way she clung to him for dear life. “What’s the matter Hinata?”

She looked up at him with big eyes, she looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Aren’t we in danger?” Her voice was low and trembling. Sasuke stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and took both of her hands in his. Hinata took a step in front and pressed her body to his, still trying to hide.

“Why would we be in danger?” he was genuinely confused.

“People are mean and cruel. This isn’t our territory. Someone could try to shoot at us.” The reply rolled off her tongue without much thought. She had heard them so many times they felt natural.

Sasuke placed one of her hands on his chest and the other on his back above the waistband of his pants. Hinata’s eyes grew even larger when she felt both guns. “This is neutral space. We’re not on anyone’s territory.” He said softly and let go of her hands but they stood in place. “And even if someone was to try to harm you, I’d kill them all” he whispered in her ear in the gentlest way possible. The threat should have scared her, but it made her feel secure. “I will protect you with everything I have. Nobody will dare touch a single hair from your head for the fear that I’ll destroy them all” Sasuke tucked a hair strand behind her ear as he continued to spill threats to any future danger. “Do you feel better now?” he finally asked.

“Yes” Hinata answered but couldn’t look at him. She felt silly and embarrassed for being worried. They were a few steps from the restaurant and had been standing in place being an inconvenience to people passing by. “Let’s go inside” she turned around and started walking to the door and Sasuke followed. He could see her flushed cheeks but allowed her to think she had hidden her discomfort from him. There were things on his mind, her fear had been real. She had been taught that if she were to ever leave her house she would die, her father hadn’t been above lying, traumatizing and manipulating her emotions to keep her in place and in control. He had always stayed home to work so he could keep an eye on all of them. Sasuke did not agree with his methods at all.

They were finally seated at a private table on the second floor. Hinata was looking at the menu with a sparkle in her eyes. “Do you know what you want to order?” Sasuke asked her. The restaurant was fancy enough to have steak and lobster but it also had hamburgers.

“I think I’ll take a chicken cheeseburger. I tried making one in secret home and it was good enough but I’m curious to see what a real one tastes like” She said with enthusiasm. “What about you? What are you ordering?”

“I think I’ll have a burger as well, the extra spicy one” Just as the two closed the menus the waiter came to take their order. Sasuke ordered for them the burgers and a big portion of fries and onion rings with a side of all of their 4 sauces, neither of them wanted soda so they decided to order a large bottle of water.

“You’ve never eaten a burger before?” Sasuke asked trying to go back to what she had said before.

“Only the one I made. Our cook usually makes food for 2 days so he has Tuesdays and Thursdays off. In those days I like cooking something that I want to try rather than just help him with whatever dad ordered he cooks…Most what dad wants is traditionally Japanese food and I like it, but I see some foods in movies and I want to try them.”

“So, you like watching movies?” He wanted to know what her hobbies and interests were in order to provide her with them so she wouldn’t get bored alone at the house when he was away.

“I watch a movie once every 2 weeks when Ino comes to visit me.”

“She only visited you two times a month?” He had believed the Yamanaka girl to be her best friend.

“Yes, that’s how many times father allowed her to come over…” Her voice so far had been light but it had a tint of sadness when she had revealed this last part.

“What about other hobbies. What do you do usually in a day?”

“Hobbies? Oh well, umm…Usually I wake up and if it’s a day where the cook is at work, I help him make breakfast, lunch and dinner. In between I had a few classes that the elders taught me about leadership. Neji and I usually have tea in the garden when he has the time…”

He was furious. Hiashi was killing her. He didn’t allow her to leave, but she couldn’t get visitors, she wasn’t allowed to do anything but exist. He wasn’t sure if he could wait three months for her to move it. Hinata was his and she was unhappy. He could tell Hinata was feeling a bit awkward because of her answer which is why he didn’t push it. The food came and they ate in silence. Hinata had loved her burger. She tried all 4 souses and really liked the sweet chilli and the honey mustard one. After the waiter took their empty plates Sasuke ordered dessert.

“Did you enjoy the food?”

“I did. The burger was much better than the one I made home…” Her smile had returned on her face. Despite the fact that he had been against the marriage before, Sasuke was eager for it now. From the moment he had laid his eyes on Hinata this feeling overcame him, the need to protect and please her. She was his and he would keep her safe and happy no matter what. Whatever she’d ask for he’d give her, if she wanted the moon, he’d find a way.

“I’m glad you liked it. Next time tell me what other foods you want to try and I’ll think of a place to go.” Hinata agreed. They talked a little more about the food when the dessert finally came. He had ordered a lava cake with vanilla ice cream, according to many people that was the best dessert the restaurant offered.

“There’s only one. Do you want to split it?” Hinata asked but Sasuke only shook his head and pushed the plate in front of her.

“I don’t particularly like sweets so you can eat it.” He watched her enjoy the cake. She had giggled after cutting into it and seeing the molten chocolate pour out. She had never eaten a lava cake, of course. His chest felt tight, like something was squeezing his heart and wouldn’t let go. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Hiashi had sheltered her from all these small pleasures of life, he wanted to hit the older man, but at the same time, he couldn’t wait to see Hinata experience everything for the first time. It was like watching a child, she had the same big and innocent eyes.

When Hinata finished the cake, the waiter took the plate and brought the check for which Sasuke paid but they didn’t get up to leave yet. “I have a few things for you” he said. And pulled from his pocket a new phone with the charger and its pair of headphones. “I already programmed my number there and Naruto’s; he will be your bodyguard. If anything happens during these months when you are still living with Hiashi call me and if by any chance I can’t pick up call him.”

Hinata was staring at the phone like it was alien technology. “You’re giving me a phone?”

“Yes. I want to be in touch. Sadly, I can’t come and eat with you every day so on the days we can’t meet I want you to call me. I’ll call you as well when I get home if it isn’t too late and we can talk, you can tell me about your day and such” Hinata nodded and took the phone from him and stared at it for a second longer. “You can add any number you want, Neji’s, Ino’s, your sister. It will be helpful to have them for when you come and live with me and feel lonely.”

“I can add other numbers…?” Hinata was once again hit with the realization that Sasuke was offering her freedom and she didn’t know how to take it. She was overwhelmed by the fact that she had a phone, let alone that she could use it to call Ino.

“Of course. It has an unlimited number of minutes and internet too. You can watch movies if you wish. Also, if you want to buy something online use the phone, I programmed it so it would automatically take money from my account and I’ll be notified.”

Hinata was trying her best to keep tears from spilling. For some reason the fact that he allowed her the freedom of a fully functional phone felt like a huge step, he was putting his trust in her. At that moment Hinata made a promise to never betray his trust. In the few hours that Sasuke was the one in charge of her, he had been more indulging and kinder than her father had been during 22 years.

“And the last thing” Sasuke said as he took a red velvet box out from his other pocket. He opened it and inside was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. The band was made of white gold and it had a big red ruby in the middle and on each side three smaller diamonds. The ring wasn’t overly huge, but it was beautiful. “I didn’t have the time to give this to you yesterday, I’m sorry” Hinata shook her head, there was nothing he should apologize for.

Sasuke held out his hand for her to place hers in so he could slip the ring onto her finger. It fitted perfectly and looked gorgeous on her finger. It felt a little strange, she had never put on rings on her left hand because it was considered bad-luck, so the feeling was foreign but she knew it would go away soon enough and the ring would turn into something that brought her peace at all times just from looking at it.

“I love it thank you” The squeezing was back and more powerful this time. She was wearing his ring. He had proof to show to the world that she was his. Sasuke was the one to get up first and Hinata followed. They walked out of the restaurant and back to the car hand in hand.

It was barely 2 in the afternoon. “I’m sorry I can’t spend more time with you today.”

“It’s ok. It was more than enough. I had a wonderful time, thank you” Hinata was still looking at the ring with a smile on. It was weird how something that yesterday felt like the end of the world, today felt like the beginning. Her heart fluttered when Sasuke opened the box and showed her the ring and it violently beat in her chest as he was putting it on her finger. Maybe marrying her off was the best thing her father could do.

They reached the Hyuuga house faster than either of them would have liked. “I’m not coming inside this time” Sasuke said as he walked her to the door. Hinata just realized that that had been her first date. She saw similar scenarios in the movies she watched with Ino. The boy walked the girl to the door after their date and he would kiss her. Would Sasuke kiss her? Did she want him to? A part of her was scared but the other part of her was screaming ‘KISS ME’. But Sasuke didn’t kiss her, at least not on the lips. Just like last night he kissed her forehead and left saying goodbye.

Hinata walked inside the house and it felt even colder and duller than normally. She wasn’t sure she could survive another three months there, not when freedom with Sasuke was that close. Hinata didn’t go to tell her father she was home, instead, she ran up the stairs to her room where Mina and Harushi were waiting for her. Her servants were a few years older than her, yet Hinata had never considered them friends because Hiashi drilled the belief that servants were to be servants since she was small, but her dad had been wrong before, so maybe he was wrong on this occasion as well.

The two girls bowed to her and Hinata stopped. She wasn’t sure how to act, a sudden image from a movie popped into her mind. When one of the girls would tell the others about her crush and they’d all jump up and down and screech. So, she took in a deep breath.

“You can raise your head” she said in her normal tone. The girls did as she asked. Taking in another breath she extended her left hand for them to see the ring. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Her energy was overflowing and she couldn’t contain it anymore. She started jumping up and down and laughing.

“Today was the best day ever. He was so lovely and just everything was amazing.” Hinata took one of Mina’s hands and one of Haruhi’s and started jumping up and down. The servants looked at one another before starting to laugh too and jumping with her.

“The ring is lovely” “And he’s so handsome” “I’m glad you had a lovely date Hinata-hime” “Did he tell you when the next one will be?” The two were talking alternatively.

“He didn’t but he gave me a phone and said he’ll call everyday he can’t see me” She showed them the phone as well. Hinata wanted to call Ino as soon as possible but she didn’t know her friend’s number. Whenever she wanted to talk to Ino she’d use Neji’s phone. Hinata started walking towards the door to the hallway, she wanted to look for Neji to get him to put his number and Ino’s in her phone.

The rest of the day went by faster than most of her days do. She talked to Ino on the phone for hours then took a bath and as she was changing in her night attire her phone rang. Sasuke had kept his promise to call her when he got home. She told him about talking to Ino and asked about his own day. Their conversation wasn’t very long but it still made Hinata smile. She fell asleep with a smile on her face and thoughts of Sasuke in her mind.

________________________

The following morning the first thing she did upon waking up was to check her left hand to make sure the ring was there and that it wasn’t all just a dream. She couldn’t help but smile upon seeing the piece of jewellery.

Sasuke’s question about hobbies bothered her a little, she had never really had the means of finding a hobby, she either didn’t have the time or didn’t know what to try besides cooking recipes she made up. But now she no longer needed to attend the leadership classes, her father informed her of that at breakfast, and she now had access to the internet, she could try learning a new skill, discover what she liked to watch or read, find out something she enjoyed doing. That was on her to-do list until she met with Sasuke the next time, get a hobby.

Ino liked gardening and making flower arrangements, Hinata liked helping her around the garden as well but doing the arrangements themselves was always difficult and not particularly enjoyable. The one thing she knew she’d like was drawing but was a bit scared. She had always doodled on her notes but had never tried to do an artwork. So that was the first thing she looked up on youtube, drawing videos. She found many and every single one was more amazing than the one before.

Hinata immersed herself in the videos and all the different ways in which one could create art.

________

Despite being in the middle of work Sasuke couldn’t help but think about Hinata and the things she said during their date a few days ago. She was basically a teenager getting her first phone. Sure, she knew a shit ton about leadership, her family and their world but she knew nothing about the outside world, technology and real human relationships. She didn’t know herself either, that part, seeing her figure out who she was as a person, what she enjoyed and what she didn’t, would be lovely to watch. But Sasuke was still confused about how Hiashi thought he could shelter his heir from everything, had Hinata been the leader she would have been lost, not because she wasn’t fit for it but because she didn’t know how to navigate her way through the outside world, she didn’t know what to do when someone wasn’t giving her orders. Her father had succeeded in turning her into someone submissive not because she was weak but because she had never been given the opportunity to be independent. Hinata had amazing skills, she knew over 5 languages and was taught how to fight, but she didn’t know many basic things.

Sasuke kept thinking of the best ways to slowly expose Hinata to more of the outside world and its customs, the Yamanaka girl wasn’t as sheltered but she wasn’t exactly well versed in ‘normality’ either. Naruto would spend a lot of time with her too but he couldn’t entrust the blond to teach her things, who knows what dumb stuff he would fill her head with. Of course, the obvious solution would be his mother, she was the sanest out of everyone he knew and she could help her prepare for the life of ‘the wife of the Uchiha leader’, but he would like to assign someone that’s around their age as well, someone Hinata could consider a friend and not feel overly anxious around.

Before he could find the perfect candidate, his cousin Shisui came to inform him his father wanted to talk to him. He forced himself to focus on work, but lingering thoughts of Hinata distracted him every now and again. He was still worried about her being in the Hyuuga household still, time seemed to be moving in slow-motion, the beginning of September appeared to be years away.

________

Her eyes were sparkling as she was telling him all about the painting tutorials she watched the past three weeks, she apologized for wasting so much money on ordering acrylic paints and brushes. When Hinata mentioned the money issue his temper almost got the best of him, Hiashi had so much money, enough to have a Rolex to ear for every day of the year, yet he couldn’t allow his daughter under 100 dollars to buy paints? Not to mention, but Hinata’s perception of money was off, she apologized for spending 12 dollars on a tube of paint without knowing that the phone she ordered it with was almost a thousand times more expensive. Hiashi only ever spent money on his daughters if it fit his needs, he dressed them well so people could see their wealth, Hinata had been nothing but a trophy.

“I’m sorry I asked for your address, but I just don’t want the order to come to the Hyuuga estate, I’m sure father would destroy everything I bought…” Hinata said, the tips of her ears red, as if she was embarrassed for having him as a father. It wasn’t her that should have been embarrassed but Hiashi.

“It was a nice surprise, seeing you order and send things over to my place already made it even more obvious to me that the wedding is going to happen soon” That wasn’t a lie. When her first order of brushes and canvases arrived Sasuke asked the servants to clear a whole room downstairs, one that had a glass wall towards their garden and turn it into a painting studio. Besides what she ordered he got more, he bought every type of paint there was, acrylic, water, oil and many others. He even talked to Sai, one of his workers that is a famous painter and asked if he would be open to giving Hinata a few hours, of course, provided she was fine with the idea as well.

“H-how do you feel about the marriage…? I can’t imagine you were pleased with it…” her face was lowered, her eyes watching as she was playing with her hands in order to distract herself from the question. She was scared he’d say he hated the idea, especially since over the past month since the announcement, her feelings slowly turned to happiness and excitement.

“I was slightly annoyed when dad first told me. But I’ve changed my mind and I cannot wait” Sasuke answered and placed one of his hands on top of hers to calm her down. “It drives me mad knowing you’re stuck in that house for another 2 months. I have to constantly fight the urge to just sneak in and kidnap you” His tone was light thus turning his words into a joke, Hinata giggled at it, but Sasuke was dead serious.

“I’m glad” Hinata admitted and grabbed his hand with both of hers and brought it to her lips and kissed his knuckles. Her feelings for Sasuke were complex, they started out as indifference when they were simply just individuals belonging to the same world, then they turned to fear and maybe a light form of hate the moment Hiashi announced she had been sold off, but after spending the slightest time with him, she felt relief, admiration and gratitude towards him. He represented a better future, one with freedom and happiness, a future away from her father. Sasuke was her saviour, but even those feelings started to change, her heart would flutter whenever his voice echoed from her phone, she’d constantly check for new texts from him, the days in between their meetings were the longest, while the time spent with him seemed to be so short. Every time he kissed her hand or her forehead she wanted to grab onto his face and bring it down to her face, she wanted to hold his hand, to hug him, but the urge she had most often and the one hardest to fight was to ask for the wedding to be held earlier. Whenever Sasuke drops her off at the Hyuuga estate she wants to ask him to marry her right that moment so she could go home with him.

She spoke to Ino about her feelings and about Sasuke, Ino told her that she was so glad the Uchiha was so nice to her, but that she should be careful, her feelings appeared out of nowhere and they developed so fast, she shouldn’t get too attached to him, shouldn’t become totally dependable of him because in their world ‘love’ was never one to last. Ino’s view on love was jaded after her parents’ divorce, Ino’s father was devastated when his wife left him and his daughter was there to pick up the pieces. Hinata was aware her friend was trying to warn her and shelter her from future heart break, but the thought of Sasuke hurting her seemed outlandish.

They ate pasta this time around, and with every bite, her eyes got bigger and bigger. “This is the best thing I have ever eaten. How can something be this delicious?” She kept praising the food throughout, whenever the waiter came to ask if they needed anything else Hinata would ask him to tell the chef that he is a genius, that his food is the most amazing thing ever. Sasuke smirked and shook his head every time.

“I can stay for longer today, is there anything else you’d like to try?” He asked her as they were walking around the pedestrian central part of Konoha. Hinata had been utterly confused with the concept of a part of the city denying car access, whenever they crossed a street, she’d still check for cars despite Sasuke assuring her that there was no way for one to get there. The central part was crowded and busy with people, Hinata stood a step behind Sasuke trying not to bump into anyone, looking over his shoulder at her to see if she heard his question Sasuke realized she had not, she was far too focused on not hitting anyone to concentrate on anything else. Reaching for her with his hand, he placed his arm around her waist and drew her close to his body. Her face instantly turned beet red and she looked up at him. He lowered his face towards her and Hinata’s brain picked up speed, he would surely kiss her, but there? In front of all those people? Wasn’t a public kiss a bit too much? However, his face passed by hers and only stopped when his lips were next to her ear “I asked if there is anywhere else you want to go. It’s too loud and you couldn’t hear me”

Due to her embarrassment and agitation, she simply pointed at a random building, which turned out to be a Starbucks. The two of them walked together, Sasuke still holding her by the waist, but upon walking into the café he let go, she was disappointed, but only for a moment, for he was simply letting go in order to hold her hand. Their fingers intertwined and the world fell into place, the smell of coffee wasn’t overpowering, actually, the café smelled more of chocolate. Sasuke stopped before reaching the end of the line.

“Take a look at the menu, being here for the first time can be overwhelming with all the options. If you want, we can buy so pastries as well” He already knew well that she enjoyed sweets very much. “What do you usually get?” Her eyes were glued to the menu reading all the ingredients for each beverage.

“I don’t think you’d like what I get. I get a large Americano with 3 espresso shots and no sugar.” Upon hearing his order Hinata scrunched her nose in a disgusted expression, she looked up at him. “So you drink just…black coffee, willingly?” he couldn’t help but laugh at her disbelieve “My dad drinks it that way too, says that putting anything else in coffee is blasphemy. I once asked for sugar and he got so mad… I hadn’t had coffee since then” Her story left a sour taste in his mouth.

“Maybe I’ll get a large Latte with 3 shots of espresso and one cube of sugar after all…” That conversation made him realize that there was nothing he’d hate more than her believing him and Hiashi had anything in common, he’d drink sweet coffee with milk from now until forever if it meant distancing himself from her father’s image. The change in his order made Hinata smile. “I decided as well, I want a vanilla and cinnamon Frappuccino with almond milk” Sasuke placed their orders and out a few fruit tarts as well. Their lunch date turned to a dinner date as well, which had been the longest period they had spent together in one day, thus making it especially hard when it was time for Sasuke to drop her off. Hinata watched from the hallways window as his car slowly disappeared behind the huge gates of their estate, watching him leave made her heart hurt. She knew Sasuke hated leaving her as well, still, she couldn’t help but feel abandoned.

“Are you back?” Hanabi asked as she exited the library, she probably had just finished one of her classes. All of Hinata’s bitterness towards her sister disappeared, now she only felt pity. Hanabi would be stuck in the house forever and she would be free, it was scary how one’s view on certain events could change so fast. Barely a few days ago Hinata thought she was the one being punished, but now realized it was her sister.

“Yes I’m back” Despite her pitying Hanabi, the two weren’t close enough to offer kind words of encouragement and support. “But I’m a bit tired so I’ll go to sleep”

“He didn’t hit you, did he?” it was barely a whisper, but it made Hinata’s blood boil. Her alliances changed the moment Sasuke treated her nicely, hearing Hanabi badmouth him made her want to scream at her sister, but she didn’t. She turned around slowly and smiled. “He didn’t. He would never. He won’t. he isn’t father, there is nothing about him similar to father” Hinata didn’t stay behind to hear Hanabi’s reply. She ran up the stairs and the moment her bedroom door was closed she called Sasuke, he picked up on the second ring.

“I miss you” The words were out of her mouth before she even realized, but she didn’t regret them. “I miss you” she repeated, to show to Sasuke, to herself that she meant them.

“I miss you too” his voice was softer than she had ever heard it, it was a shame she couldn’t see his expression. She closed her eyes and wished for the weeks to fly by.

________

Despite her newfound freedom in the form of a phone with full access to the internet, Hinata’s days seemed to move slower than ever. The time in-between her ‘dates’ with Sasuke were dragging on forever. She’d talk to Ino on the phone, watch videos, read from an ebook, listen to music, cook and barely 2 or 3 hours of the day would have passed. The highlight of her day was always her chat with Sasuke. Apart from their night calls, they kept texting throughout the day as well, but he was busy with work so his replies were few and far in between. Wasting time and dreaming of her future became her routine, each day seemed to be a carbon copy of the previous one. Not today, however, today was a special day, today she, Mikoto and Ino were going to choose her wedding dress. Hinata was practically bouncing, eager to leave the house, eager to try the dresses on, eager to see herself in white, the dress would be proof not only that the wedding was getting nearer, but also that it was indeed reality and not one of her daydreams.

She had been worried her father wouldn’t have allowed for it, but both Fugaku and Sasuke assure him that Naruto, her future bodyguard, was the best and he would be able to protect the three women for the day. Thankfully her father was just as excited about the wedding and would not go and do anything to potentially ruin his newfound friendship with the Uchiha head.

The plan was for Naruto and Mikoto to get to her house around noon, then they would drive to Ino’s and to the dress shop. After picking up the dress they’d go to eat and see the wedding venue and all the plans Mikoto arranged, to make sure Hinata liked everything and if she didn’t so they could change everything by the wedding which was 3 weeks away. Hinata woke up at 7, unable to contain her longing to be outside, she got dressed up, ate and has spent the last 4 hours pacing around the entrance hall.

When her father passed by her early in the morning he lectured her, telling her how she should behave, be respectful, yet vigilant because ‘people are mean and cruel’ because ‘the shop isn’t on out territory’, because ‘you are always in danger.

Neji also spent about half an hour with her talking about her feelings about the wedding, her impression of Sasuke. Her stories and happiness eased his mind and guilt, for he had not been able to stop the arranged marriage. He truthfully wished for her excitement to never die; he hoped the Uchiha household would be a proper environment for her growth.

The only one in the Hyuuga household that was not on board with the marriage was Hanabi. She continued making remarks about Sasuke’s renowned cruelness, hinting that Hinata would not know happiness in her marriage with him. She constantly asked whether he had any violent tendencies towards her, whether he ignored her, whether he cheated on her. Hinata always tried to not let her words get to her, Sasuke was wonderful and more than she had ever hope for, she had no reason to doubt him, so all of Hanabi’s words never had any impact but annoy her. Hinata always defended Sasuke and Hanabi would answer ‘my foolish sister’, patronizing her, making it seem as if she knew more than Hinata herself. Hinata tried to understand where Hanabi was coming from…all of her life she had hoped to be the heir and now she was. But Hinata’s happiness was yet another source of jealousy for Hanabi, she was slowly realizing that once again, she was the one who had the short end of the stick, thus all of her remarks weren’t for Hinata to believe, but for herself. She tried so hard to convince herself Hinata’s future was bleak and Hanabi had to pity her, not the other way around.

Once again, right before Mikoto and Naruto arrived Hanabi made a remark that hurt Hinata’s feelings, a remark which Hanabi too regretted instantly, her remorse could be read on her face, but her ego stopped her from apologizing. “Make sure you pick a pretty dress Hinata, that’s what you’ll be buried in when he kills you on the wedding night” she said loud and clear, for the servants around to hear, had Hiashi been there he would have punished Hanabi for trying to destroy the Hyuuga-Uchiha Union, but all Hinata did was give her a sad smile and answer with “Good luck to you too little sister” Their relationship could never be fixed, not when jealousy was the primal feeling Hanabi held for her, not when her ego stood in the way of a sincere apology, not when Hinata was resigned and no longer wished to try.

Mikoto came like a hurricane, she entered the house without knocking, she hugged Hinata and kissed both of her cheeks, she complimented her on her dress and make-up. Behind her was a blond young man that gave her a warm smile. “This is Naruto, he will be your bodyguard when you enter the family”

Naruto took a step closer but made no attempt to touch her, he simply smiled wider and bowed his head slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet and protect you Miss Hinata” Naruto’s use of her name and not of Hyuuga felt odd, but freeing; she wanted to move past this family. She would not forget them, for they were part of her, they made her who she was at that moment, but she wanted to leave them and this variation of herself behind, she wanted to become independent and someone she chose to become.

After picking Ino up the group was ready to go to the dress shop, Mikoto had asked Ino to sit in the front seat for she wanted to talk to Hinata in the back. Hinata couldn’t help but notice her friend’s red cheeks whenever she looked Naruto’s way. Hinata couldn’t tell if the flushness was due to the fact that Naruto was a man Ino had never had contact with when she was young, thus she wasn’t used to his company, or whether her blush had a deeper meaning. In the backseat, Mikoto explained certain details about the wedding preparations, her tone was light and she talked without any formalities. Whenever Hinata answered it was an awkward mix of formal and informal language and she refrained from addressing Mikoto directly, for she didn’t know what to call her, Mrs Uchiha, or was that too formal for someone to be her mother-in-law in 3 weeks? Mikoto, but wasn’t that rude to address in such a manner to an older relative?

Upon reaching the dress shop, the designer working there assured the women that she had reserved the whole shop just for them. She was eager to help and to please any and all of Hinata’s requests. “Call me Sakura!” she said as they met “no need for formalities, after all I am here to help you find what you will be wearing on the most important day of your life”

Hinata tried on 5 dresses before finding ‘the one’. It was perfect in every way possible. The bodice was made entirely of lace that was a bit see-through, thus had white material around the chest area in a heart shape. The skirt was long and flowy but not overly heavy, it had beautiful lace details on the bottom of the skirt and a split on the left leg until above the knee. It was a stunning dress, but so were all the ones before, however, the moment Hinata tried it on, it felt different, it felt right. Seeing herself in the mirror her eyes got a bit misty and in her overflow of emotion turned around to hug Sakura who just finished buttoning the last button at her back. She told her how she felt the dress was the one and Sakura’s eyes got a bit misty too. This is what she did that job for, these moments in which a young woman found her perfect one and only dress to wear on her wedding day, she lived to see the happy tears and all the smiles.

“Stay here for a second, I’ll announce that this is it, this is the dress” She learned in the years of doing this job that whenever an instant click between woman-dress happened it should always be said to the party that came to help pick the dress as well so they would not criticize anything and break the magic spell of the moment. “Hinata found it, her perfect dress” Sakura said just moments before Hinata walked in wearing the most radiant smile ever, Ino screamed and ran to hug her and shower her in compliments, Mikoto watched from the side-line as the three young women discussed how perfect the dress was. After a short while, Hinata turned to Mikoto with bashful red cheeks “What do you think Mrs. Uchiha?”

Mikoto went to her and hugged her close as well. “The dress is perfect, it’s everything I hoped you’d find and more” she made a short pause for she felt this pressure in the back of her throat as id she too was about to cry. “and please, call me mother, I know that the wedding will only be in 3 weeks, but you already are my child Hinata dear” Mikoto’s kindness and warmth only made Hinata cry more. Naruto watched with a smile the whole event, he too liked Hinata from what he had seen of her, he was glad his friend was lucky enough for the arranged marriage to lead him to her. Even before he met Hinata he saw Sasuke’s expression when talking about her, he heard the soft tone in which he spoke about her and could tell that his friend held a deep affection for his fiancé.

After the dress picking event, Hinata asked for Sakura’s number to call her in the instance of the dress needing anything done day-of the wedding, that was the excuse anyway, in reality, she simply felt as if the moment they shared in the dressing room was special and wanted to try and keep in contact with her. Their next destination was the wedding hall, followed by other shops to get the wedding shoes, jewellery and her second wedding outfit in which she would change after their first dance. Just like the days in which she had dates with Sasuke, the time flew by and soon enough it was dark outside and time for them to return. After dropping Ino off, instead of driving back to the Hyuuga estate, Naruto took a sudden left turn which led to Hinata’s confusion, doubt and for the smallest second fear. Mikoto placed her hand on her knee and smiled at her, letting her know there was nothing to be afraid of. Despite being quite late, it wasn’t dark out yet, the summer sun refused to set.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant Hinata knew. “Are we getting dinner as well?” She was wondering why did they drop Ino off, maybe Mikot had something to discuss with her in private? Before she could come up with any other speculations, her car door opened and a familiar face greeted her with a smirk on. Her heart started beating faster the moment her eyes met Sasuke’s. She placed her hand in his and was smoothly pulled out of the car and into his arms. “Thank you, mother for dropping her off.” He said and then nodded towards Naruto expressing his thanks to him silently. Hinata was still in a daze and looking up at him as if he was a mere hallucination.

“I finished work earlier and Naruto told me you guys were still out so I asked him to bring you to me” He explained the situation to her and ushered her towards the entrance of the restaurant. It was the same restaurant in which they ate that pasta, out of all the things they tried together those were her favourite. Looking up at Sasuke Hinata kept wondering how Ino could expect her not to fall for him when he treated her this way, he had brought her more joy than she had experienced in her whole life, the memories she had of him were her favourite. He was slowly and steadily becoming the centre of her universe.

Since the moment they got seated and he reached out to hold her hand and slowly brush her wrist with his thumb, Hinata had been fighting the urge to simply utter ‘I love you’. Was it too fast? They met about 2 months ago, they went on dates about twice a week maybe three times if Sasuke’s work allowed for that, however they talked daily, her thoughts were filled with him. She wasn’t confused, these feelings might have started as gratitude for being saved, but they were romantic, she was in love with him, that much she knew. Sasuke noticed how distracted she was during their meal, she barely complimented the chef, but he decided not to pry yet, however, her silence during their walk after dinner bothered him more than he cared to admit. He loved how her eyes sparkled when she spoke about things she loved. She stopped walking and turned to face her, cupping her face in his hands, her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. She looked so lovely, and so utterly small and fragile, he would protect her with everything he had, he would help her build her strength enough to be able to protect herself, but even then, when she was capable, he’d do everything in his power to destroy anything that posed as a threat to her, whether physical, emotional or mental.

“What’s the matter Hinata? You’ve been in deep thought all night” he had been excited to hear all about her day, Naruto kept him updated every hour, but hearing the events from her would have been much more entertaining. Hinata looked into his eyes longingly, he wasn’t sure what she wanted but whatever it was he would give it to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

“I have been...thinking whether I should tell you something the whole night and I cannot seem to find the right answer, what do you think I should do?” her eyes were still closed, too scared to see his reaction. Sasuke was the one confused now, why would she be struggling in such a manner? She should always tell him everything, anything no matter how trivia, he wanted to know every single thought that went on in her mind.

Sasuke took a step closer to her, their bodies were almost touching and he was still affectionately holding her face. “I think you should tell me; I think you should always tell me everything” Hinata’s heart was beating out of her chest, she was scared to look into his eyes as she said it, but she wanted to see him as she said it too. Choosing to be brave today, choosing to believe that Sasuke would catch her when she fell, Hinata opened her eyes, placed both of her hands over his on her face and smiled.

“Ok, I will tell you” Her mind was made, but she still needed a second to compose herself. “I love you”

The feeling Hinata had when putting the dress on was similar to what Sasuke experienced upon hearing those words, however, the magnitude of his feeling was much stronger, it felt as if the planets aligned, as if all the events ever in the world and its history happened as they did in order to lead to this very moment. A star exploded that lead to the creation of a galaxy, to the creation of a planet, to the creation of humanity, all for this one single moment.

He had not thought in depth about his feelings for Hinata, not because he didn’t want to admit them, but rather because it was unknown territory, but the moment she uttered the words he knew them to be true on his side as well. “I’m glad” he answered, his voice cracked so he cleared his throat. “I’m glad you decided to tell me” Hinata’s smile was stunning, she had told him and he was happy, he was moved, she could see a myriad of emotions in his eyes, all slowly falling into place. Sasuke wanted to say the words back but felt oddly fearful and uncertain, he had never experienced that level of awkwardness. “I do too” he muttered feeling defeated, he had chickened out and took a shortcut, but he will try to work harder, he will be able to express his feelings.

Hinata wasn’t mad or sad or disappointed by his answer, she could tell he was trying his best and if she were honest, it was lovely seeing him be the flustered one for a change. They were still in the same position, their faces close to each other, so Hinata once again took the initiative and raised on her tip-toes and kissed him, it was merely a peck. She knew the Uchiha traditions now and wished to follow them thus not being able to fully kiss him, however, the moment felt monumental enough for a small peck to be excused, plus nobody would ever know.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment longer, she was such a complex antithesis, she was weak yet strong, afraid yet brave, clueless yet intelligent, and everything about her made him glad for all the decisions he ever took that led him to her. He was thankful to his father which without even realizing he showed, since his and Hinata’s engagement was announced he and Fugaku have been getting along much better, everything at work went smoother and he often worked harder and faster in order to get a day off to spend with her. Hinata too helped him, their relationship was equally beneficial to both, they both took and both gave.

________

All of the final preparations for the wedding were coming along beautifully, the big event was the next day, but for Hinata even that was too long, the past three months had felt longer than her whole life before her engagement. Everything was better in the Hyuuga household, Neji and her were closer than ever, for he was finally able to be fully honest with her and she too was much happier and open. Her father mostly left her alone, apart from a small incident in which he admitted that he had spoken to her doctors to have her fertility tested almost half a year ago when he and Fugaku were first talking about the union, the test came back positive, but Hinata still felt like that was a huge invasion of her privacy and complained to Sasuke, who in turn argued with both of the older men, but the deed was long done and there wasn’t much he could do but think even lower of Hiashi and treat his father coldly for a while, until Hinata assure him that she had moved past that issue. Even Hanabi stopped her remarks after the incident on the wedding-dress day. After choosing the dress she and Mikoto went out to spend time together a few more times, she even met up separately with Ino and Sakura twice. When Hinata talked about her new friendship with Sasuke he was, in her words ‘delighted’; Sasuke had hoped for the wedding dress girl to become Hinata’s friend after she first told him about her. He had wanted her to have a friend that was well-versed into normality in order to help Hinata at times navigate society, however, he wished for that friendship to bloom naturally, sure he could have done as others would, namely bribe someone into being her friend, but that would only cause issues later, plus being close to Hinata is payment enough.

The weekend before the wedding Hinata was invited to have dinner at the Uchiha estate, she and Mikoto were already very close, however, Fugaku still scared her a little while Itachi seemed nice, but maybe a bit cold and detached, unwilling to fully interact with this world. He reminded her a little of herself when she still lived at the Hyuuga household. Being able to form that connection, after dinner she sought him out and talked to him alone, trying to relate his feelings with her own. Itachi wanted to be freed from his family much like she did, however, the ties keeping him there were much stronger, he loved all of his family but could not fully function and integrate into their world of organized crime.

After her talk to Itachi ended, Fugaku apologized for breaching her privacy and welcomed her to the family. She knew how much that meant, her father had never apologized for anything, so she could only imagine how hard it must have been for Fugaku to step over his pride and ego, she appreciated it more than she let on.

The night before the wedding Hinata had a dream, in that dream, she and Sasuke were laying together on a bed just looking at each other while holding themselves close, she felt at peace with her surroundings and Sasuke’s eyes on her made her feel seen and loved. The whole dream was peaceful, they sit in silence, then talk a little followed by kisses and laughs, which would quiet down to silence and the circle would start anew.

When her servants woke her up at 5 am, she wasn’t annoyed as she normally would have been before any other event, she had taken with her the peacefulness of her dream, she had waited so long for this day it almost felt like this was just another dream too, but the scrubbing her servants did during her bath stung, letting her know that this was reality, the happiness she felt was going to be a constant, for Sasuke will make sure to keep her smiling throughout their whole lives.

Unlike the preparations for other events in which Hinata didn’t particularly care about her looks, she was very specific this time around, she and Mikoto picked together her hairstyle too, her makeup colours and every little detail. Time seemed to dilate at times and a minute felt like an eternity, while other times it felt as if it were on fast-forward, she’d close her eyes for a second and a full hour would have passed.

By 9 am she was completely done, looking at herself in the mirror she remembered the day the engagement was announced, how picturing herself next to Sasuke felt strange, but now, picturing herself without him felt unnatural, her brain and heart finally agreed and they both knew Sasuke was her everything, he would be the one and only to ever stand by her side. While she was admiring herself in the mirror Neji walked in, telling her it was time to go to the church, the wedding was about to begin.

Nothing could ruin her perfect day, not even Hiashi holding her hand proudly as he walked her down the aisle, not even Hanabi refusing to make eye contact with her, all she could see and all that mattered was Sasuke at the end of the red rug, standing tall and handsome. Everything that had happened before in her life almost didn’t matter, this was the moment her life began. She barely heard anything the priest said, her answers were mostly done on auto-pilot, only when it was the moment for the rings to be exchanged did her eyes water, hearing Sasuke say ‘I do’ was a memory she’ll treasure forever. Their first official kiss was short, much shorter than she had hoped it would be, but even that didn’t ruin her mood, for she had walked inside a Hyuuga and left an Uchiha.

It was during their first dance that Sasuke whispered “I love you” he softly into her ear, only for her alone to hear, it had taken him a bit longer than her but he got to the point in which he could express his feeling in words too, for he had told her he loved her countless times with his actions alone. “I love you too” she replied and pulled his face to her for a kiss, not caring remotely that people were watching her. She would not be punished for causing a scene, Hiashi had no more power over her and Sasuke would never cage her or treat her like an inferior. She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, and her first choice was to kiss her husband in front of all of those people on her wedding night.

@sasuhinamonth

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imonthinice · 4 years ago

Text

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 7/?

Word Count: 3.5k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name, A/N Any Name (your best friend’s name), (Name) - your ex’s name !genderneutral (Don’t use a DC character! Y/N hasn’t dated any other DC character!) :)

3.5k words, my god. And they’ve still only known each other for 4 days and we’re on part 7. I do not know how to finish this.

Lol, Enjoy!

Warnings: Swearing, Heated moments, There is French in this one, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Falling asleep in Jason’s arms after that escapade the two of them pulled the night before was something magical to say the least. Of course, they only got like 5 hours of sleep before they had to wake up and get out, at risk of Y/N being caught in the building, although the thrill of it excited the both of them deeply, but that’s obvious. They liked breaking the rules already.

Riding back home seemed a lot less like a journey to her this time, she just wanted to spend more time with Jason, but he had work and she didn’t want to hang out at Wayne Enterprises. She’d probably go to the library today, she didn’t know exactly what she’d do today, but she always thought that was the most exciting thing ever. “I don’t know what I’m even going to do tomorrow,” one of her friends asked when she moved to Gotham, ‘How exciting!’ she answered.

That friend said the next day she ran through the streets of Metropolis with her arms outstretched like a kid, and she did it in Y/N’s honor. “I told you!” she said, “How exciting that sometimes you never know what you’re going to do tomorrow!”.

These thoughts swirled in her head as Jason drove her back home when, like clockwork, like it was out of a movie, he said,

“I have no idea what I’m even going to do today.”

She laughed, “I always say ‘How exciting!’ when someone says that to me.”

“Really?”

“One of my friends back home, when I gave her that advice, she then spent the next day running around the city with her arms outstretched in my honor, it was apparently one of the more fun things she’s ever done, so” she paused, “I really mean it. how exciting! The possibilities are endless, are they not?”

“Well, not really, I have work to do,” he frowned.

“So own it. Make the office your bitch. Take charge, take lead.”

“Why not?” he said in agreement.

“Why the fuck not.”

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

Jason walked her to her door, “Won’t you be late?” she asked,

“Dad knows where I am, I don’t think I’ll have my ass handed to me.”

“You never know,” she laughed.

He laughed too and slightly pecked her lips. He wanted more, he was hungry for more out of that kiss, but work and life gets in the way of their relationship, and he really whined when he had to break away, but she laughed at it.

“Slow your roll Tiger, one day,” she mused.

“You say that like you don’t want more.”

“This isn’t about me,” she retorted, “So, shut up, respectfully.”

He laughed and kissed the back of her hand, “You have a thing for doing that, huh?” she joked.

“I literally don’t know how to answer that, I think I’m losing my touch with flirting,” he joked back.

“Okay, okay, you need to get going now.”

“Fine! You want to get rid of me so badly, I get it,” he joked and walked back to the car and she waved him off. She hated that time he left, a lot. She knew it was healthy to take a day’s break if they’ve been on 3 back-to-back dates, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

She opened her door and walked in, thinking A/N was asleep so she wouldn’t be barraged for her hair being a mess, but, boy oh boy, was this girl waiting for her to get home.

“What happened? Why’s your hair a mess? Oh my god, did you have sex?” she asked.

“No, but we kissed, will you take that as information while I shower or do you want all the details now?”

“You can shower, you can shower. I’m not that needy.”

“Yes you are,” Y/N joked and went to go shower.

And like she always did, she opened her phone and looked at the news before answering her friends,

Millionaire’s Son, Jason Todd's Girlfriend’s Name Revealed!

She laughed, cause it wasn’t her name. She didn’t think he was seeing anyone else, and they used her picture, so she knew they just fucked it. She forwarded the article to Jason with the caption ‘ Fuckin’ idiots’ .

She then answered Artemis, who asked Did you two kiss? Dick’s up my ass about it ‘cause he knows we’re friends.

I want to take that out of context so badly. She joked with Artemis.

I knew this man had a terrible name that would come to haunt me, but did ‘ya kiss?

Yeah we did. Get Dick out of your ass, though, that’s weird, you have a boyfriend and he has a girlfriend.

Shut up, you’re not funny.

I’m pretty funny.

You are but I’m not going to admit that, girl.

And one of her old friends had texted her, it was someone who Y/N had seen off and on the past few years, they were polite, but she didn’t exactly want to speak to her ex.

Hey.

(Name)? What do you want?

Saw you in the news with the rich boy, guess we’re over?

We have been over for like 5 months, my guy.

Bitch.

Okay!

People from her hometown were noticing her in the articles and recognizing her. Some would think this is the coolest thing that someone they loved met a nice boy, the money a bonus, some would give her the reaction her ex did, but she knew she was days, hours, maybe minutes away from her parents finding out about her love affair with Jason.

She shuddered at the thought, she loved her parents, a lot, but something told her that maybe they wouldn’t did Jason to be like she found him. She also knew she could be overthinking it entirely and they’d like the Criminal Psych Major that she knew all-too-well.

But overthinking was fun, apparently. And she couldn’t stop thinking the worst of so much.

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

When she got changed and just threw on whatever the fuck she saw, she went out to go talk to A/N.

“Hey, nerd. I’m done,” Y/N said.

“Nerd? You’re the one dating the bookworm and you’re in criminal psychology,” she joked.

“Ha, ha. So, how are things with your lover? Have you secured him yet or are you just doing your own thing still?”

“Still just doing our own thing, don’t really have the time to date while getting my degree and working.”

“I mean, if it works for you I can’t throw judgment.”

“What about Jason? How’re things with you two?”

“You ever seen the Wayne Enterprises Ballroom before?”

“In pictures, why- Don’t tell me he took you there you lucky bitch?!”

“Then I just wont tell you,” she laughed.

“The Ballroom? Oh my god, that’s crazy, he's really pulling out all the stops to make you smile, huh?”

“I would do the same if I had more to offer, but I have barely anything since I bought that place in the dance competition across the country,” she said.

Y/N had bought a place in this competition before she met Jason, and she was heading to it on Saturday, in two days, and she actually had practiced the routine during downtime between her and Jason. She hadn’t exactly told Jason about this, and Jason had asked why she looked strained and like her muscles hurt, but that just never seemed like something you share with your casual partner, to her. She never seemed like her casual competitions were worth anything. A/N had begged to differ since Y/N had met her.

A/N said that Y/N had talent, that she could go somewhere, Y/N saw it as an extra circular that didn’t affect her much. She wasn’t the type of brag, and all her trophies were back home with her parents, anyway.

“Have you told him about your,” insert A/N’s heavy sarcasm, “’Casual’ competitions, yet?”

Idk what the hell happened with that line ya love to see it

“I’ll send him a quick text about it, I guess,” she sighed and sent just a quick, Hey, can’t have a date on Saturday-Sunday, forgot to tell you but I’m going to Cali for a quick dance competition, lol. My bad, shoulda said something.

“Why are you like this, be proud of your accomplishments, dammnit!”

“It’s a casual competition!”

“And you’re talented! I’m this close to just showing him videos of you going at it,” she said, exasperated.

“He already knows, we danced in the Ballroom.”

“Oh my lord,” she laughed, “You’re an enigma, if I had your amount of trophies I wouldn’t be hiding it.”

“Im’ not hiding it! It just kind of never came up.”

And he texted back, Oh damn, are you at least going to kill it? You better, I want to show the live broadcast to my family and brag.

She laughed, “See!”, she exclaimed, showing A/N the texts, “He doesn’t care like you do, nerd.”

A/N laughed, “Sure he doesn’t. Do you want to go to lunch, by the way? I’m bored off of my ass.”

“Sure, why the fuck not.”

“Go get dressed then, and I’ll do the same.”

“Okay okay, meet up in 10?”

“Yes ma’am.”

And off they went.

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

Y/N texted back Jason for a quick minute before getting dressed, Of course I’m going to kill it, my notes aren’t a representation of my dancing skills.

Well, I hope you win something. And text me. But mainly win something.

Of course I’ll text you, Jay. It gets boring at competitions.

You should go to a Wayne Gala then, god damn, those fuckin bastards are the most boring events this side of America.

Well maybe you’ll invite me one day.

I’ll probably have to if you show up on National TV. The press will finally know your name.

I hope I’m not on National TV then. Fuck the press.

Fuck the press indeed.

Since Y/N didn’t feel the need or want to dress up, she didn’t. Quick shirt and jeans and she was out the door. Sometimes she would dress up for lunch dates with her friends, just because she was bored as fuck and dressing up was fun, but she just didn’t want to do it today. Combat boots, jeans and a shirt were enough most days. You don’t have to be a model just because the press knows your face, she thought, you don’t.

“Who’s driving?” A/N asked.

“I can if you want. I don’t mind,” Y/N said as they walked to the beat up car they loved so much. It was nothing compared to the Porsche she had been in the night before, but it was still running, and you don’t fix something that ain’t broke.

“Maybe your boyfriend will buy you a new car,” A/N joked.

“If anything, he’d buy me a new computer, since mine is getting mailed to me and you’re going to love hearing the sounds that bitch makes,” she retorted.

“Is it bad?”

“Terrible. My sister called it a screaming electronic goat once,” she laughed, “I hate that fucking thing. But if it ain’t broke-”

“Don’t fix it, I know.”

“Exactly.”

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

For some reason, they decided in the car to go to McDonald's, because hey, it’s not like Y/N is on a dance diet or anything. She wasn’t, because she didn’t want to starve herself for the sake of winning a competition. That was even her thought process as she was younger and more vulnerable to her teachers, she always told them she’d never do that. Years later, she still stuck to that mindset.

They got out of the car and like fucking clockwork, the press was in her face.

“You! The girl with no name, Jason Todd’s girlfriend!”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” she whispered under her breath, “How do they always find me!”

“Tell us about yourself! Are you serious with Jason? How do you feel about his family? How-”

But then she had an idea,

“Quoi? Je parle pas l’Anglais? Qu’est-ce-que vous voulez?” she said, using her bilingual skills to her advantage.

“What? No I mean-”

“Pas de l’Anglais! Désolé mes amis!” and she ran off into the McDonald's with A/N.

“Did you just speak French to get them off your ass, you genius?”

“Spoke very broken French because I wasn’t thinking, but yeah, I did that.”

“I forget you’re multi-talented sometimes, you have a lot hidden under your belt and I try to treat you like a normal person but you’re far from it.”

“I appreciate you for trying, but I think with my new love affair, you aren’t going to get far with those attempts anymore, sorry,” she joked.

Jason texted her, Did you just speak French to avoid the press?

How do you know about that?

We were watching the news during a meeting and they said that you spoke French.

You got to do what you got to do to get by.

That is literally the most genius thing I’ve heard of anyone doing in so long. I think you’ve truly bamboozled them for a while and they might hop off of your back for a while.

You think so? ‘Cause I really hope that’s the case.

My siblings think it’s hilarious, and no one’s leaked that you are just joking with the press, so yeah, they might actually leave you alone.

Let’s fucking go. That is the news of the 21st century.

4 days of knowing each other and you’ve flipped off the press twice, outran them with me once, hid in the Wayne Enterprises Building with me and you’ve spoken French to bamboozle the press. That is impressive.

I feel like the press is going to hate me one day.

Probably. But they also hate most of us most days.

You should probably get back to work.

Yeah, talk to you soon.

She put her phone away and went to stand with A/N, who was waiting for their food.

“Talking to your lover?” she joked.

“When am I not doing that?”

“That’s valid.”

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

Going on a lunch date with A/N made a little bit of the harassment just better. They both bonded over how they hated the press before her love affair with Jason, and how their opinions wouldn’t change much unless, knock on wood, one of them went missing. Y/N told her about all the cases where the press and the internet did so much to solve cases around the world, love or hate the press, they did do a lot for solving crime.

She also told A/N that Jason was related to Dr. Barry Allen and Clark Kent, two people the two of them knew well because of the news and the fact that A/N knew Y/N when she wanted to go into forensics and was reading Dr. Barry Allen’s work.

When her mother texted her.

Y/N? Is that you in the press running around with Jason Todd?

Yeah mum, why?

Are you two in a serious relationship?

No mum.

Then why are the vultures so obsessed with you, says your dad.

‘ Cause you two made a pretty girl and he’s high up in the world, I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really like the press.

I can tell. We’re not mad at you honey, but be careful. And your dad says when you two get serious he needs to take Jason fishing.

He doesn’t speak French, mum.

Dad says he’ll work on his English for you.

Well tell everyone I love them, mum.

She panicked a little bit, her parents were nice when they wanted to be, but they were strict, why wouldn’t they be. So this, while being a welcomed surprise. was still a little panicky.

“Your parents find out?”

“Yeah, they seem chill with it though.”

“Bing in the press sucks when you’re trying to keep your love life out of your parents' eyes, huh?”

“You could say that again,” she joked.

“Being in the press sucks when you’re-”

“I didn’t mean literally!” they laughed.

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

Back at Wayne Enterprises, Jason was betting bombarded by his colleges, friends and family about Y/N and how she was able to get around the press’ constant harassment without flaw. And also because Bruce had seen the two enter the building at around 12am the night before. So Jason was called into Bruce’s office that day.

“1, I know everyone is bombarding you, so you can hide out here, son, 2, you and Y/N didn’t have sex in your office right?”

“God no, dad. We just hid here because security is tight as fuck and unable to get past.”

“I saw you two kissing on the cams and heading into your office, Jay.”

“Okay, okay, but we didn't have sex and the intentions were there, dad!”

“Uh huh, pretty girl in your, my, car.”

“Dad, stop it,” he joked.

“Well, her little shenanigans with the press are very amusing, have you told her that?”

“I have.”

“She’s basically not afraid to tell them what we all think.”

“That’s what I said, dad.”

“Well, hold onto that one and don’t let her go.”

“Do you regret doing that with Talia?” Jason asked.

“God no, she’s insane. The son I got out of her antics is literally her spitting image, so if I need to be reminded of her I can just go talk to Damien for a couple minutes.”

“Dami’s a lot like you too, don’t act like his personality is just Talia, he acts like his dad in every aspect and you know that.”

“Lord help any woman or man that kid goes on to date, my god,” the two of them laughed. It was the small things with Bruce that made Jason happy to be a Wayne, even if he didn’t share the last name. Jason grew up on the streets and even before that, his mum and dad didn’t have a lot of money, so the amounts of money that Bruce could shower on him was a lot, but he was okay with just working for his money. And Bruce knew that.

He spent a lot of his workday in Bruce’s office, hiding from the rest of the office, and texting Will.

She knows about your kid.

Well, she’s a good kid. I’m glad you’re bragging about her, means I raised her right.

Shut up. I love that little girl and I’ve helped raise her, Will.

You’re used to my new name?

I changed your contact to Will when you changed your name, so I could remember that that’s your name now and not Roy. I’m hoping I remember it in person though. It would be awkward if I forgot my best friend’s name.

It would be funny to look back on, though.

Like how your relationship with Jade is funny now?

Never stick your dick in crazy.

I wish you would have listened to that sometimes, but then I remember Lian is amazing.

I’m a cliché of dumb choices, what can I say Jaybird.

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

In Y/N’s house, she would always play loud and sad music when she had the chance, some people thought her mental state was fucked, which sometimes it was, but most of the time the sad music went harder than the happy tunes you would catch from the other side of the house.

But even if music was blasting the loudest it could ever be, somehow she would still find herself lost in her thoughts, whether it was new dance routines or a story she would scribble down in her dream journal. there was something about those little fits of artistic passion she would experience from time-to-time.

It’s hard to put into words how those moments reminded her of the simplier times before sh was thrust into stardom, but also how they reminded her of Jason, and untouched mind she longed to know further. She knew there was so much more to the boy she had gone on dates with.

She would end up ignoring her phone for most of the rest of that day, just because she wanted peace and quiet, when A/N’s lover came over and she had to turn the music up louder so she wouldn’t be disrupted by the obvious.

I just got off of work, how are you? How’s your day been? Jason had texted Y/N while she ws turning up the music.

Well, I just had to turn up my music because my roommate’s lover is over, but other than that I’ve been enjoying peace and quiet in my room, waiting for something to do.

Is texting me something to do?

Yes.

That’s sweet of you. Work was boring though so I hope you don’t expect a story.

I don’t, don’t worry. You don’t always need a story for something to do.

Well, I’m going home with my brothers and dad, and we’re probably going to play office chair racing because I’m a bad boy.

You’re a bad boy?

Was that not funny?

It was pretty funny, isn’t that dangerous though?

Yeah actually, my brother broke his leg playing it and another time my little sister broke her leg playing it.

It seems fun but like, damn, two people have gotten injured playing that game, y’know.

Well if I die it’ll be a fun story!

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