#-paid attention in class i wrote down notes i did practice questions why was that not enough. looked up proper study methods and tried to-

[salsflore]

just got home from school ～ ate a sandwich to cheer myself up, think i’ll play genshin for a bit and nap ... pulling on shenhe’s banner solves everything

[bbangsoonie]

goal: your heart

member: sunwoo genre: fluff word count: 5,423 synopsis: due to a budget cut, you have to follow the soccer team around for both the school newspaper and yearbook despite knowing nothing about sports. before you know it, you find yourself warming up to the team’s star player, who you swore was the most annoying and arrogant person ever.

a/n: this is a part of the star player collab with @atbzkingdom​ for sunwoo’s birthday! (also, this will be written with the american academic calander in mind)

You knew exactly what you were doing. You were the top student of both your class and school and the leader of many clubs. Your college application was full of achievements and your essay exquisitely written. The only problem? You had no idea what to do after graduation. You didn’t know where you wanted to go or what you wanted to study.

Growing up, everyone told you that you’d eventually find something you love. By senior year, you thought you would at least have an idea by now.

But nope, you were even more lost if anything. Dream job? That was just a capitalistic lie meant to make people happy to slave away for money.

Grumbling, you listened as your friends rambled on about the campuses they visited. It was only the first day back and everyone was already obsessing over one thing and one thing only.

“Y/n, you’re so lucky,” Juyeon pouted. “You don’t have to worry about getting into a university. Your stats are literally perfect.”

“I have other things to stress over,” you groaned. “At least you know what you wanna pursue.”

“Y/n has other things to worry about. She’s about to graduate without ever finding love,” Younghoon teased.

“It’s all our fault,” Jaehyun squinted as he pinched his nose bridge. “We raised her standards too high. I’m sorry, Y/n, that I can’t take responsibility.”

The notebook in your hand threatened to fly over to his seat. Luckily for him, he was saved by Juyeon’s very unnatural attempt at changing the subject. He inquired about the school newspaper that was barely spared in a major budget cut last year.

Thinking about it made you sigh. You had poured in so much effort over the years for the paper and it was almost taken from you. The school was cutting funds for a lot of clubs and diverting the money to the many sports teams that brought home trophies.

A part of the negotiations to save the newspaper club was to feature more sports events and student athletes in order to garner support for the teams. You weren’t pleased with the decision. Your plate was already full without trying to inflate the ego of players who had a god superiority complex. Jaehyun was a great example of the type of jock you didn’t want to raise on a high pedestal.

You had also promised Kevin, the president of the yearbook committee, to help out with photographing games since you had to attend them anyway. Despite the many tasks assigned to you, you were relieved that you could spend your last year continuing to write articles.

“Does that mean you’ll get to come to practice with us? The basketball team is always on my ass about introducing them to you. Now I can finally stop being pestered to be the middleman,” Jaehyun grinned.

“No shot,” Younghoon shook his head. “My swim team has already tried but Y/n puts up a cold front.”

“Hey, I’m a delicately guarded rose with sharp thorns,” you joked, making Jaehyun pretend to gag. This time, the notebook hit his arm.

“No one is good enough for our Y/n,” Juyeon defended. You turned around to coo at him and said something about him being the only nice one as Younghoon guffawed.

The first day of soccer practice meant you had to stay behind after dismissal to meet the team. The coach introduced you to the players and beamed when he got to the last one.

“This is our ace, Sunwoo. Although I’m sure you know that already,” he said proudly.

To be honest, you had no idea who he was. The school was too big to know everyone and you had absolutely no interest in sports. You rarely even went to Juyeon and Jaehyun’s basketball games and Younghoon’s swim meets.

Not wanting to offend anyone, you simply smiled. Sunwoo, catching your hesitance, raised a brow. However, he kept quiet until he approached you during one of his breaks.

“Do you really not know me?” he asked as he took a seat next to you on the bleachers.

Surprised by his sudden question, you blankly stared at the boy in front of you. Sweat was dripping from his hair but he paid it no attention as he chugged an entire water bottle.

“How cocky are you?” you scoffed.

“You really don’t know our soccer team’s star player, Kim Sunwoo?” he gaped.

“Sorry to disappoint but I really don’t care or know much about soccer. Or any other sports for that matter,” you shrugged.

“You’re going to write about the soccer team… when you don’t even know who we are or what we’re doing?” he asked incredulously.

“That’s why I’m here to observe,” you snapped back.

Finding you amusing, he finally wiped away his sweat as the coach blew his whistle to gather the players again.

Sunwoo always gave it his best but for some reason he found himself practicing extra hard that day. Knowing your eyes were on him motivated him to show off his skills by annoying his teammates and stealing the spotlight. After his third goal in a row, he looked at you to see your reaction but was baffled to see you busy writing something down.

Frustrated and peeved, he kicked at the grass with a huff.

When practice came to an end, he snuck up behind you to see what you were so intently focused on. Reading the notes on your notebook, he hummed.

“So that’s what you were doing instead of watching me,” he mused.

You were listing physical traits and personality attributes of each player. He scanned the paper for his name and frowned when he saw what you wrote about him.

“Arrogant and conceited? That’s all you have to say about me?” he whined.

“What? It’s true,” you deadpanned.

“Haknyeon gets “tall, bubbly, and extroverted” but I get “arrogant and conceited”? That’s not fair. This is biased journalism!” he exclaimed.

Realizing that practice was over, you gathered your belongings and stood up to leave. With his cheeks puffed, he watched as you left the field. You were unlike any person he had ever encountered.

“Sunwoo? Kim Sunwoo?” Younghoon repeated with his eyes wide. “The soccer caption Kim Sunwoo?”

Jaehyun and Juyeon’s chopsticks froze midair in shock. Finding their reactions odd, you nodded as you took another bite of your lunch.

“I can’t believe the lady killer got rejected by the man hater,” Jaehyun broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Now that’s a title I’d like to see on the school newspaper,” Younghoon snickered.

“Okay, first of all, I did not reject him because he did not come on to me,” you rolled your eyes. “Secondly, who the hell is he anyway? Why do you all know him?”

“He’s notorious for his fuckboy image. Although I think that’s an exaggerated reputation,” Juyeon said you picked out all the vegetables from your plate. He willingly moved them to his own and you smiled gratefully in response.

“So my first impression of him was correct,” you said.

“He’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty cool. Rumors don’t do the sweet guy justice,” Juyeon explained.

“Our lovely Juyeon sees the good in everyone,” Younghoon gushed as he pet his friend, earning him a smack on the back of his head.

“We were partners for a history project,” Juyeon clarified. “I got to know him a bit and he’s a good guy. Just enjoys attention a little too much. Like Jaehyun.”

Weirdly offended, Jaehyun scowled. You shrugged it off, returning your attention back to your food. You had no intentions of getting to know Sunwoo anyway. At least, that was the plan until he bombarded you in the hallway while you were walking to class.

He blocked your path with that irritating smirk on his face. Exasperated, you asked him what he wanted.

“So I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday,” he started.

“Oh, so you do think?”

“Hey!”

“Do you think you can move and get out of my way?”

“Anyway, as the president of the newspaper club who’s in charge of covering the soccer team, I think you lack way too much information about the sport. And our school’s players.”

“How do you know I’m the president?”

“I asked around.”

You look at his eyes, trying to peer through any ulterior motives. He was being suspiciously generous. But he wasn’t entirely wrong. Even you thought it was ridiculous that a person who didn’t know a thing about soccer had to write articles about it.

You were also aware that any interviews with the athletes would be surface level stuff that all the students probably already knew. You were the only one out of the loop.

You pursed your lips, annoyed that he was right. Realizing that you were in agreeance, Sunwoo grinned.

“I am offering you the very special privilege to follow me around and learn everything there is to know about the team. For the paper of course,” he quickly added the last part after seeing the look on your face. “I can teach you about both soccer and my teammates.”

After pondering his proposal, you finally nodded.

“Deal,” you eyed his happy expression. “What do you want in return?”

He was taken aback by your question. He hadn’t expected you to assume that he would demand compensation. Your presence and attention were what he was after in the first place. However, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass by.

“Bubble tea,” he declared after some thought. “You can treat me to bubble tea after practice and I can tutor you then.”

“Fine,” you sighed before pushing him aside to make it to class before the bell rang. He was left behind with a stupid smile on his face.

The first tutoring session was extremely awkward for you. You weren’t used to hanging out with guys other than Juyeon, Younghoon, and Jaehyun. They were the only members of the male species you didn’t despise. This riled up Sunwoo’s competitive side. He was determined to get close to you.

He couldn’t stand having someone not like him. He was used to being on friendly terms with everyone—including teachers and even wallflowers. He had a strong desire to receive acknowledgement from everyone.

Perhaps that was why so many girls fell for him.

Nevertheless, the wall around you remained thick and high. Just as he was well known for his playboy persona, you were infamous for never letting guys in. You cold heartedly turned down any and every guy who asked you out. And there had been a lot.

Sunwoo, on the other hand, was excited to spend time with you. Bubble tea was just an excuse to meet you outside of school grounds.

His phone dinged, notifying him of a text. Haknyeon had sent him a screenshot of a post made on the school’s gossip page and wrote “this you?”. He snorted at the content speculating his relationship status after supposedly receiving another confession and rolled his eyes. Curious, you asked him what he was looking at.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” he shook his head as he put the device away. “Just the stupid tea account.”

“Oh you mean that anonymously run social media page that popped up over summer break?” you frowned.

You hated everything about it. It spread rumors, without fact-checking, and started drama. It resulted in both a breakup and the end of a friendship in the span of two months. It was exactly what you and the school newspaper stood against.

Nothing could be done to stop the false information and invasion of privacy because it wasn’t officially affiliated with the school and the students continued to feed into it. People even sent in stories to be posted.

“So tell me what you do know about soccer,” he leaned in and propped his chin on the palms of his hands.

“I know the very basics from catching glimpses of the World Cup,” you leaned back on your chair, making him pout.

“Well, to be honest, explaining the rules is a lot easier to do when directly pointing things out during a game. There’s a match airing tonight. Do you want to come over and watch it with me?” he asked expectantly.

“We can watch the replay tomorrow during study hall,” you said.

“Then we can start by talking about me today,” he chirped. “My squad number is 19 because 9 is usually worn by centre forwards but I wanted to be special and added a 1 in front of it. I’m the centre forward, which is the main striker. That means playing offensive is my main objective. Which is why I’m the highest scorer on the team.”

You wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. It irked you how he so easily bragged about himself.

“I also really like movies and can play the guitar. A true all-rounder and romanticist,” he smiled.

He continued to reveal fun facts about himself for another half an hour. It was only at the end that you realized most of it was useless when writing for the paper. You groaned, realizing you had fallen for his trap.

Still, you learned some things about soccer and his position in the team. Following him to the cafe hadn’t been a complete waste of your time.

The next day, Sunwoo hunted you down to make sure you kept your promise about watching the game together. He dragged you to the computer room during study hall and pulled out the earbuds he prepared. He had purposely rummaged through his drawers the night before to the share wired ones with you.

You had to admit he was extremely helpful when explaining the rules and strategies of soccer. Despite being uncomfortable with the proximity of his body to yours, he was a great teacher. He made everything sound so simple. After you began to understand the game, you even found yourself enjoying the match.

After spending a week with him, you hated that you couldn’t say you still disliked him. After all, you two met almost every day for hours.

You had a gut feeling that you would come to regret it and were proven right. You had a bad feeling the moment you saw Jaehyun run up to you as if his life depended on it. Panting, he barely pulled himself together to show you the post that made him immediately report to you.

“KSW and Y/INITIALS seen cozily spending time together. Will he be the one to finally break through her?” you read aloud.

A photo of your backs from the computer room and a mosaicked side shot of you two at the cafe were attached to the title. The comments under the post were even more ridiculous.

“A challenge to be anticipated.”

“Poor girl will only end up as one of his many heartbroken playthings.”

“I know who KSW is. Who’s Y/INITIALS??”

“The legendary man hater? With a guy?? Wow how good must he be 👀”

“Damn so she rejected me for him?”

Your blood boiled and you shoved the phone away. Trying to calm yourself down, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. And failed.

“What is this, fucking Dispatch?” you exploded. A few students passing by stared at your outburst and widened their eyes when they saw that it was you. You sighed, knowing that the whole school saw the post.

“I’m not a celebrity! Why are people so invested in fake rumors about me?” you yelled, trying to keep your voice to a whisper as you pulled Jaehyun into an empty classroom.

“I’m sure it’ll blow over,” he assured.

“If I ever find out who the admin of this page is, I will ruin them,” you glowered.

You almost didn’t go to the soccer practice that day. But you knew that avoiding him would only add fuel to the fire so you sucked it up and went to the field after school as usual. You heard the hushed murmurs that stirred among the team when you arrived and you wanted to turn back around and leave.

Before you could, however, Sunwoo appeared and shut everyone up with a warning glare. He announced that the coach would be late and to start by running laps.

You were more annoyed than upset about the post. It just stupefied you that people really had nothing better to do than gossip about you. You didn’t think you were that interesting.

You were so close to escaping after practice but Sunwoo caught you trying to sneak away. He stood in front of you, crossing his arms as if to ask where you were going. Giving up, you muttered a “fine” and waited for him to change out of his uniform.

This time, you two wordlessly agreed to go to a different cafe. With the bubble teas on the table in front of you, you sat in silence until Sunwoo finally spoke up.

“Don’t mind what the post or others say,” he huffed.

“I’m not too bothered by it,” you shrugged.

“Good. Because I want to get to know you as just Y/n and Sunwoo. Through whatever you wish to tell and show me. I feel like we’re always just talking about me.”

His words left you speechless. Juyeon hadn’t been kidding when he mentioned how thoughtful Sunwoo was. You felt your heart warm as you smiled.

“Well what do you want to know about me?” you asked.

“Anything. Everything.”

So you spilled about your interests, hobbies, and goals. It was strange. Although it hadn’t been long since you met him, you felt comfortable around him. He made you feel at ease and you didn’t think twice about opening up to him.

You told him about your struggles as a high achieving student. About the pressure you felt and how embarrassing it was to tell people that you didn’t have any dreams.

With your grades, all the teachers expected you to apply to medical school. On the other hand, your parents encouraged you to work towards a high paying and stable salary as a corporation employee. Your friends suggested that you go for something in journalism because of your passion and commitment to the school newspaper.

But the club was just something you did for fun. You didn’t know if you liked it enough to pursue it as a career.

Sunwoo listened attentively as you went on about your concerns. From the outside, you looked like you had your life together. You were the perfect student and the girl that many guys chased after. But as he spent more time with you, it became clear that you were very uncomfortable with boys.

“Can I ask how you got so close with the Bermuda line?” he asked.

“The Bermuda line? What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the term? Juyeon, Jaehyun, and Younghoon are called the Bermuda line because they’re the most popular athletes out of all the sports teams. The girls say that once you fall for them, you’re stuck in between them forever because you can’t get out.”

You hadn’t laughed that hard in so long. You knew they had fans but found it hilarious how the trio even had a nickname.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to make fun of them for this,” you laughed, nearly in tears.

When he told you that they actually took great pride in the title, you bursted out in laughter again. Their self love truly was on another level.

“So how’d you end up friends?” he asked again.

“Juyeon, I’ve known since middle school. We were in the same class for all three years. Jaehyun didn’t go to the same school as us but he was friends with Juyeon because they played basketball together. I met him and Younghoon at the end of freshman year. They kinda crash landed into my life but we really clicked so that’s why I still bless them with my friendship.”

Sunwoo giggled at your own overwhelming confidence. He loved that you never sold yourself short. He didn’t notice he had been staring at you until you pointed it out. Blushing, he insisted that it was nothing and took another sip of his bubble tea.

Two months passed by and you eventually came to call Sunwoo a friend. Younghoon teased you about him being more than a friend and at first, you thought he was crazy. But with him planting the idea in your head, you began to question your own feelings. Cursing Younghoon, you blamed him for confusing you.

As the designated photographer, you tagged along to the soccer team’s last match. The entire team was nervous as it would determine the winner of the tournament. Even Sunwoo was anxious.

Before the game started, you offered him a supportive smile and he felt all worries lifted off his shoulders. He erased all thoughts of winning and losing and just concentrated on the ball. He wanted to enjoy the last match of the season and look cool in front of you. That was all that mattered to him.

Fortunately, he got both plus the win. The crowd erupted into cheers as he scored the winning goal just seconds before the whistle was blown to signal the end of the game. His knees fell to the ground and his teammates rushed to surround him.

Seeing how happy he looked brought a smile to your lips. He jumped up and scanned the bleachers for your face. When he finally spotted you, he broke away from his team to run up to you and embrace you in a giant hug.

Caught off guard, you froze as his teammates hooted and applauded. You felt your cheeks heat up at the attention.

“Congratulations,” you chuckled, patting his back. “You did well.”

“Did you get a lot of pretty pictures of me?” he grinned, pulling away to look at you.

“No, I only took pictures of Haknyeon,” you joked. By now, he was used to your teasing and simply ruffled your hair in response.

“There’s gonna be an after party tonight,” he brought up carefully. “I’d really like it if you came. Only if you’re okay with that type of scene though.”

Surprised, you nodded before you fully thought it through.

That was how you ended up moping at Jaehyun’s house. The invitation was extended to the Bermuda line as well and they were all planning on dragging you there. Younghoon was excited at the thought of finally going to a party with the whole group and Juyeon was picking out an outfit for you from Jaehyun’s sister’s closet.

“I don’t know if I trust your fashion sense,” she made a face at the top he held up.

This was your first party and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. There was a reason you hadn’t gone to one throughout your high school years.

Nonetheless, you were dressed up in an outfit that definitely reflected Jaehyun’s sister’s style more than yours. She fawned over how pretty you were and urged you to go with the boys.

So you walked through the doors and into the house vibrating with music. Everyone who recognized you was shocked to see you there. Feeling awkward, you stuck by Jaehyun’s side as you maneuvered around the throng of people. When he finally caught sight of Sunwoo, he dipped and left you alone with him.

“Thanks for coming,” he shouted over the loud music.

“Thanks for inviting me,” you shouted back.

Sunwoo offered you a drink, which you declined. Following your choice, he opted for a soda instead as well. You weren’t much of a dancer so you enjoyed people watching instead. It was fascinating to see your classmates have so much fun.

You giggled when you saw Juyeon be so painfully oblivious to a girl’s advances and walked away to dance with Younghoon. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was having the time of his life flirting with girls. You blocked your eyesight when you saw him leaning in to kiss one of them.

“Ugh, gross,” you cringed. “I do not need to know this side of my best friend’s love life.”

Laughing, Sunwoo offered to take you outside for some fresh air and a change of scenery. You gladly agreed and let him guide you to the backyard.

The night sky was full of tranquility that contrasted the chaos that ensued indoors. You sat on the grass and Sunwoo joined next to you.

“You look beautiful today,” he commented.

“Only today?” you laughed.

“Especially today,” he answered in a serious manner. His sincerity made you clear your throat and look away. He stunned you by cupping your face with his hands.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Are you drunk?” you blinked.

“I haven’t had a single sip of alcohol.”

His voice was slow and raspy. Your heart was beating faster than you wanted it to and you knew the corners of your lips were betraying you.

“You can either lean in or pull away,” he said as he brought his lips closer to yours.

Your heart now felt like it was about to jump out of your chest. Red alarms were going off in your head and you didn’t know what to do. All you knew was what you were only a few centimeters away from kissing Sunwoo.

So you did what any insane person would do and closed the gap between your lips. You wanted to punch him when you felt him smirk but he pulled you closer and held onto you tightly.

The weekend passed without much changes in your relationship with Sunwoo. You were worried that you had either ruined your friendship or that he was sick of you but Juyeon reassured you that he probably wanted to talk about it in person. Anxiously, you overthought things until Monday finally arrived.

Wanting to keep yourself busy until you met Sunwoo, you stopped by the club room early in the morning to import the photos from the last game. Shortly after you connected the camera to the computer, you heard a knock on the door.

Startled, you looked at the door and saw Jacob sheepishly poking his head through the door. You told him to come in and he took a seat next to you.

“Kevin told me to drop by before class for an interview,” he said. You nearly facepalmed. You had completely forgotten about that. You were supposed to interview him for the paper.

“Oh yeah! Hold on, let me go get my notebook,” you searched through your backpack to find it.

The volleyball player was this month’s star of the month and you had to write a piece on his past achievements. He was extremely kind and was careful not to use any advanced sports terminology to make sure anyone could easily read the interview, which you were grateful for.

Before you parted, he gave you a side hug out of habit and apologized when he realized that it was only his first time meeting you. You laughed it off and insisted that now you could be friends since you two hugged already. Relieved that you weren’t disturbed, he happily waved goodbye to you as he walked away.

Being in a different class than Sunwoo meant that you had to wait until lunch period to see him. You honestly didn’t even know if you wanted to see him. You weren’t ready to face him yet.

When the bell finally rang and it was time for lunch, Juyeon forced you to go to the cafeteria instead of hiding out in an empty classroom. The moment you sat down with your tray, however, you felt all eyes on you. Your stomach dropped, knowing it couldn’t be good news.

“Y/n, is this true..?” Jaehyun asked, showing you the new post on the gossip page. You hated that you were always right about bad intuitions.

KSW and Y/INITIALS caught making out at last night’s party… is BJY a side hoe?

You had no idea when a photo was taken in the brief second you and Jacob hugged that morning. When you scrolled and saw the next part, your heart dropped.

A shocking revelation of history: Y/INITIALS and SYJ used to date in freshman year. Does this have anything to do with the swimmer and basketball players always next to her?

You felt your breath caught in your throat as you read through the comments.

“Isn’t BJY on the volleyball team and SYJ on the baseball team?”

“Wow she clearly has a type.”

“I guess athletes just hit it well 👀”

“And here I thought KSW was the hoe… who’s playing with who?”

“Aye so KSW finally managed to break through her. Thanks for my $10 bro.”

“Aren’t the basketball players LJY and LJH? And the swimmer KYH? The Bermuda line, right?? I always thought she had a thing with one of them.”

“So much for the icy Y/INITIALS. She was acting all pretentious when she was already having all her fun.”

Juyeon grabbed the phone out of your hands and glared at Jaehyun. You never thought your past relationship would ever get exposed. There were only a handful of people who knew about it and it had stayed hidden under the rug up until now. It was something you wanted to bury and never think about ever again.

Shakily, you got up and ran out of the cafeteria with Younghoon calling out after you. You ran as fast as you could. You didn’t stop until you busted through the doors and collapsed on the rooftop. Your lungs were on fire and you closed your eyes to stop the ringing in your ears.

Meanwhile, Sunwoo was running across the school to find you. When he didn’t see you in the club room, he changed his target and sought out Eric.

“Is it true?” he demanded when he finally saw his friend.

“I can’t believe people already figured out that it’s me,” Eric sighed.

“Is it true?” Sunwoo repeated.

“Yes, yes, it’s true,” he answered with his hands up in defeat. “She never wanted anyone to find out. We didn’t exactly end on good terms. It’s something I’m not proud of.”

“What happened?” he asked, trying to contain his anger. “What did you do to her?”

“I…” Eric trailed off. “I cheated on her.”

“What the hell, Eric?” Sunwoo yelled.

“I-I was stupid! And young. It’s the biggest mistake I made in my life,” he admitted.

Frustrated, Sunwoo left and ran off in search of you again. When you weren’t anywhere to be found, he checked the rooftop as a last resort. He didn’t expect to actually see you there.

“Y/n,” he breathed. You felt a lump form in your throat. It was the first time he had addressed you by your name.

“Get away from me,” you glared. “Was I nothing but a bet to you? Was I just a challenge for you to win?”

“Y/n, I never placed bets on you. I don’t know what other people have been betting on but I have always been genuine with you,” he affirmed.

You refused to let your tears fall. There was no way Kim Sunwoo was going to see you cry.

“I like you,” he confessed. “I like you a lot. I meant to say this that night but got too flustered. So I wanted to tell you today. Whenever I see you, the butterflies in my stomach won’t go away. When I don’t see you, I miss you like crazy. You inspire me to become a better person and all I want to do is hold you and call you mine.”

And now Kim Sunwoo has officially seen you cry. He bent down to wrap his arms around you as you sobbed into his shoulder.

“You’re an asshole,” you mumbled after you calmed down.

“I think you mean the opposite,” he chuckled. “Whatever barriers you put up to protect yourself, I’m going to take them down one by one. With you. Together.”

“Who said I’m helping?” you muttered.

“Then I guess I have to work twice as hard to prove myself,” he softly smiled.

“This is embarrassing,” you groaned.

“This will only be embarrassing for me if you reject me,” his hand reached out to the nape of his neck. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me?”

“I’ll think about it,” you huffed, prompting a chuckle from him.

[drakenology]

All Yours! - Kirishima Eijiro

“i’m all yours!” 

author’s note: this is pure filth ok? kiri is always written as a gentleman and I wanted to make him a slimey little cheater. tbh it was kinda hot. hope you guys enjoy this.

warnings: smut, angst, infidelity, fluff, fem!reader, phone sex , characters aged up! made up wife yall can give her a name if yall want lmao “she’s” just for the story. 

How can I put this? Sure, I loved my wife. She was with me when I was a nobody. Supported my dreams even when it meant I couldn’t be with her. But I can’t shake this feeling of regret. It’s almost as if I have married the wrong person. We stopped being intimate. She tenses up everytime I approach her. She doesn’t even look me in my eyes. She doesn’t love me anymore, I’m sure. I don’t think I loved her as much as I did when we first met. I was scared to tell her, scared to leave her. To be honest, I think we were both too chicken shit to sign those divorce papers.

Me and Katsuki talk about it all the time. He hypes me up over a few beers and when I get home I just lay dead next to her in bed, a huge wall separating our bodies from each other’s warmth even though we were so close. Our marriage was dying, withering away as we watched it fade. I don’t even bother telling her I’m leaving. I’m sure she has company over to fuck her while I’m gone. I caught her once.

He was amongst the higher ranks of Heros; I’ve seen him around before. He was on top of her, kissing her in the spots I used to kiss her. She seemed to be enjoying herself until I walked in. I was pissed. I pulled that guy off her and my mind went blank. I collect myself as she held me back from him. All I remember is her screaming. 

“It’s over! Don’t you get it!?” The pain in my knuckles snapped me out of it as I listened to her defend a man she hardly knew over me. He was knocked out on the ground, the pig naked and sweaty sporting a new blackeye courtesy of yours truly. I’ll never forget those words. We’ve been cheating on each other since that night. 

Tonight I was going to a bar with Katsuki and Kaminari, who wanted to get a few beers and maybe catch up a little. The both of them were pretty happy in their relationships. I never thought Bakugo would settle down. I’m watching my friends get into new and healthy relationships, while mine finds its impending doom. 

“Cheer up, Eijiro. I’m sure you’ll work up the courage to leave. It’s not working anymore, bro. I can see it in your eyes.” Denki says, taking a sip from his beer. I sigh and nod, only able to impishly agree. I was pretty upset. I spent a lot of good time with her. We made good memories. But it just didn’t work out. What went wrong? What happened? 

Bakugo grumbled about how I need to get over it, “Every woman in this joint would throw their fucking panties at you to have one night fucking a pro hero, don’t you get it? To be honest you should have left her that night you caught her cheating on you with that fucking side kick. Stop bein a coward and get it done.” I looked at him in shock but nonetheless he was right about me being a coward. I’d rather stay with her than try with someone new. Or so I had thought.

Time seemed to freeze when this woman walked into the bar with a few girls I was in the same class with in UA. She was quite possibly the most beautiful fucking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. She seemed so confident and walked with her head held high. She knew she was hot, and wanted to make sure everyone in the bar knew. She wore this skimpy little dress in red, red lipstick on her full lips to match. Why does she seem so familiar?

She walked by our table, her perfume seeming to lure me towards her to follow her wherever she went. I was drunk and looking for something or anyone to distract me from what was going on at home. It felt wrong but something in me couldn’t resist. I couldn’t help but stare at her long legs in that dress that seemed to hug and squeeze at every curve in her body. I just wanted to grab her and nail her on the nearest surface in this fucking bar. 

“Yo, you’re drooling, dude.” Denki says, waving his hand in front of my eyes. I grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand away from my view. Something about this woman made me want to know more about her. I guess I could start with her name. I stood up from my seat and approached her, telling the guys I’d be right back. My hands got clammy as I got closer. I’m not gonna lie I was nervous as fuck. She was having a conversation with someone at the bar, her head slightly tilted to the side to better hear the person over all the music and outside chatter. I sit on the other side of her and tap her shoulder. 

“Hey. Can I buy you a drink?” I ask. She turned to me and smiled brightly, her teeth almost twinkling. 

“Sure! I’m Y/N. What’s your name?” She shouted over the music. I was a little shocked she didn’t know who I was. It’s hard to even go grocery shopping without being recognized. It was almost refreshing. 

“Eijiro Kirishima.” I say, holding out my sweaty hand to give her a hand shake. She took my hand and shook it, giggling as she noticed the wetness of my palms.

“Nice to meet ya, sweaty hands.” She said teasingly. God she was pretty. It was like no one was here except the two of us. She ordered the drink she wanted and I paid the bartender after we got our orders. We talked for what seemed like hours. It was almost easy with her. She was open and honest. She had nothing to hide and she was real. It’s hard to find that in people nowadays. 

“You’re pretty handsome, sweaty hands. You must have some girlfriend waiting for you to come home tonight, don’t you?” She questioned. I froze, thinking of my wife as I take a big sip of my drink. 

“I’m uh.. actually married. But she and I are separating.” I said, looking down at my drink. 

“Are you just telling me that so I’ll sleep with you? Or are you serious?” She asked, squinting her eyes at me to see if she can detect any lies. 

“I wish I wasn’t serious. I did love her at one point but..” I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling pathetic. I was about to cry in front of a girl I’m trying to fuck. How manly. 

“Hey. You don’t have to explain much more, ok? I understand and I believe you.” She said, her small hand resting on my shoulder in reassurance. I look her in the eyes and smile. Why was she being so nice? 

“Hey, here’s my number. Call me anytime, sweaty hands.” She giggles, kissing me on the cheek. She finished her drink and pulled a pen from her purse. She wrote her number on a napkin and kissed it, leaving a red lipstick kiss on it. Y/N handed it to me and left, swaying her hips as she walked out the door.

Fuck.

“She was HOT! Way to go, Kirishima!” Denki said, surprising me. He pats my back and orders another round of beers for me and Bakugo, who was cheering me on back at the table. We sit for a while and go home a few hours after. I call an uber being that I’m too drunk to drive. When it gets to me, I get in and take the number out of my pocket to lock it in my phone. Should I even be considering this? 

Fuck it. 

I text her. I couldn’t wait to talk to her. 

“Hey sweaty hands. Took you long enough to text me.” She texted. I could almost hear her voice through the text as I text her back with shaky hands. 

“What are you doing?” I text, sitting back in the seat. She doesn’t respond for a while until I’m about to get out of the car. 

“3 Attachments.” The message read. I nearly fall over at the thought of what those attachments are. I unlock my front door and sneak back inside. My wife was already asleep, thank god. I couldn’t take her nagging when I was out late. I go to our room and sit on the bed, opening her message. God. She was naked with a blanket covering her more intimate bits. She was laying in bed, her nipples poking through the thin blanket as she pulled her features into a lewd look. She looked so good. 

“Thinking of you.” She said. My pants grow tight as I think of what she looks like under that blanket, my mind trailing to all the dirty things I’d do to her. How pretty she’d be with my dick in her little mouth. What was she doing to me? I send her a text back, 

“You’re such a tease.” I feel my wife stir in bed as I slowly try to climb in without waking her. I sigh as she turns back over and goes back to sleep, turning my attention back to my phone. 

“I want you, Eijiro. I wanna help you forget all about her.” She texted sending me another sultry image. “She won’t please you like I can.” I gulp and get up from my bed and rush to the bathroom. 

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.. I wanna show you.” She texted, tempting me to risk it all. I facetime her without thinking. Fuck I hope my wife’s still sleeping. Y/N answers, already naked and spread out on camera for me. Dirty girl. God she looked heavenly. She wore nothing but these pink thigh high socks

“I’m so wet for you, Kiri. I want you so bad.” She whined, playing with her wet folds teasingly as if she was waiting for me to tell her what to do. I practically drooled at the sight of her so lewd like this for me, her face full of desire for a man already taken. This wrong feeling just felt so right. 

“Don’t be shy, love. Show me how you please yourself.” I said, my cock twitching in anger at the lack of attention. I licked my lips as I watched her finger her pretty pussy for me, her sweet moans filling my ears as I completely forget about everything around me. I could watch her fuck herself all day. 

“Kiri- I-I wish you were here. You’d do a much better job than me- ah!” she whined, adding another finger inside her needy little hole. I pull out my cock and start to stroke it feverishly, wishing her pussy was wrapped around me instead. 

“Yeah?” I huffed, Y/N moaning in response. I pant as I stroke myself, enamored by this woman spread out before me. I can’t wait to really taste her. 

“I’m all yours, Eijiro! Whenever you want me. Ughhh god, I can’t wait to have y-you.” She mewls, her pace quickening.

I smirk and follow her movements, mimicking her rhythm to at least simulate the feeling of her pretty pussy wrapped around me. Her moans rang in my ears, the sound of her wetness squelching around her fingers as she fucked herself open for me. I pant, feeling close to cumming all over myself as I watched her legs start to shake, a sign that she herself was close too.

“Fuuuuck, Ah! I-I’m g-gonna cum for you, Kiri. Please let me cum.. please?” She begged, the sound nearly broke me. The fact she was begging me to let her cum as if I owned her really turned me on. I huff, holding myself back further as I sweat profusely.

“G’head, baby. Cum for me. Let me hear you.” I pant desperately, wanting to let go myself. And she did, her pathetic little screams echoing in my ears like a symphony. I cum just about the same time she does, my seed spilling all over my hand and lower stomach. I hear her cooing praises at me as I moan and gasp for air in front of her.

“Mmm, I wanna lick that up for you, daddy. You’re so big.” She said, licking her lips at the sight of me. I sigh in relief, telling her how gorgeous she is as I clean myself up. She stood up and grabbed her phone, winking as she told me,

“I guess this is to be continued, huh?”

[jtsfavslut]

Falling [G.D]

Description: Just when Y/N thought she was over Grayson, he pops back into her life, making her wonder if you could fall for the same person twice. Inspired by ‘Falling’ - Harry Styles. 

Warnings: None, Just sad stuff lmao!!!

Word Count: 4K+

Also a special thanks to cole [ @blazedgraysons​] for keeping up with my annoying ass questions while I wrote this, and for helping me and giving me advice I love you <333

   Her small feet carried her body down the familiar street, cars zooming past her as her body softly bumped into the others around her. The loud sounds from the environment being blocked away by the soft, yet loud music that was coming out of an old pair of Airpods she had gotten for Christmas back in High School.

This was Y/N's daily routine. Get up early in the morning, do her business in the bathroom, get dressed, and walk over to her favorite cafe. The Beachwood cafe had become Y/N's second home ever since she moved to L.A, spending most of her time there, before and after class.

A smile lit up her face as the familiar blue door came into her view, a content sigh falling past her lips as she got closer to the door.

The strong smell of coffee hit her nostrils as she walked inside, music being paused as she walked fully inside, giving her attention to the cashier that greeted her every morning, "Hi Y/N, your stuff is on your table," she smiled up at Y/N before pointing towards her usual table.

It was the one by the window in the corner of the shop, the bright yellow and blue floor illuminated her small journey to the table, where her coffee and breakfast sandwich happily waited for her to approach. She sat down, hand reaching into her Yellow Kanken backpack, another Christmas gift from high school that she dearly took care of, she pulled out a brown journal and a pen.

A journal filled with memories and random thoughts that popped in her head. Y/N thought writing things down was good for the mind and body. She believed that writing things down would help you keep your thoughts safely, and lock memories into place without overworking your mind. A pen that has been through many journeys on the same yet different page.

All pages were the same until the pen went over it, recording things until the end of time. They were all the same until she wrote down her thoughts for the day.

Her small hand gripped onto the pen as she wrote down her thoughts from the previous night, coffee cup in the other hand as she slowly sipped the liquid.

Last night I thought of him again, just until I drifted off. I don't know why. It hasn't happened in months. Nothing bad, just a memoir of all of our memories together. Like the time we broke into the school's pool one night. Where he pushed me in with all my clothes on, then he jumped in and we made out by the stairs. Funny how we never got caught since cameras were around us. Or when we had our senior trips to the mountains in Colorado, and how he kept sneaking into the girls' room just to be with me. We were lucky we didn't get caught again. I tried to not keep thinking about him. I know it's time to finally drop it and move on, but how? How do I erase all those memories from my brain? How am I supposed to just drop it and move along? Just how? I don't need or want to know why just how.

She softly slammed the notebook closed, right before she could feel a slight burning in her eyes and a rock starting to form in her throat. The subject of her and a past lover that she was still holding onto, still being a deep wound to her.

She thought about and remembered Grayson every day. After all, he was her everything during her entire High School life, and he still was…...sort of.  Grayson and Y/N started dating in the 9th grade, right about in the middle of the year. He asked her out behind the school's bleachers during lunchtime, a mixture of flowers from his mom's garden that she shyly accepted from him after she said yes. That was followed by their date to the movie theater, where he held her close to him every time she faked being a little scared, not that he could tell, and three dates after he officially asked her out where she said yes again, and that was followed by an accidental kiss, he was leaning towards her cheek when she accidentally moved her head to the side, causing his lips to land on hers. Neither of them complained, just smiled at each other and carried on.

They went on for 6 years, all of high school and two college years, where he decided to break it off because of distance. He went off on how being across the country from one another was hard, and the fact that the time difference from New York to California was 3 and 4. She didn't complain. Didn't give a reason as to why not, even if she had trillions of them. She didn't try to change his mind. She simply said okay, and wished him the best. She still loved him though.

The words that her grandpa had spoken replayed in her brain every time she questioned why she still thought about him; "You never stop loving anyone sugar, you just kinda love someone stronger. If you stop loving them, then you never loved them to begin with" She thought about that, and that made her feel better. Maybe there was someone out there who she would love more than she loved Grayson.

With a quiet sigh, she put her journal away, switching it with a book she picked up at the library a few days prior, yet read a million times.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a book she read many times in school, mostly everyone has. It's the one book from school she actually enjoyed, so she picked it up from the book shop down the street from her apartment before work one day, and didn't get to read it until now.

She opened the book with a small smile, the sensation of the book against her finger bringing nothing but happiness to her, and took her mind off whatever was bothering her. She lost herself in the book, almost done with half of the book before her alarm rang, signaling it was time for work. She left a 20 on the table after putting all her stuff away in her backpack and walking out of the shop and towards her job which was a paid internship at a local hospital downtown, all she did was watch and help out with minor cases like cuts, sprains, X Ray's and the occasional stuff like questioning. She entered the hospital, sanitizing herself and changing into her uniform, walking over to her area, that being the Pediatrics Emergency room where her boss, mentor, whatever you might want to call him, Dr. Reyez, and the rest of the team were waiting for her.

"Morning everyone," she chirped at the tired yet awake health care workers, who all had smiles on their faces. "Morning Y/N, you're going to be practicing by yourself today, can you handle it?" Dr. Reyez asked her, which she just nodded her head with a smile. There wasn't a single ounce of doubt in her brain.

"I'm pretty sure yes! And I can just reach out to you guys if anything, right?"

"Yeah, just page us if anything. Your first patient should be here soon, just go wait by the desk," Reyez instructed her and that's exactly what she did. She sat on the desk for over 20 minutes until someone came in with a toddler covered in rashes.

"Hi baby, I just need to ask you and mommy a few questions, yeah?" She sweetly and patiently asked the 5 year old as his mom was filling out some papers, to which he just nodded his head.

"Okay, Xavion, did you eat something new today? Maybe something you've never eaten?" She asked and both the mom and son nodded their heads.

"Do you think he was allergic to something?" The mom asked, causing Y/N to shrug.

"Well, it depends. We need to get an allergy test for him. It doesn't hurt or anything, we just scratch and pour a drop of the allergen over it and see how they react. Mom, do you happen to remember what he ate today for the first time?" She replied by recording some notes down on her clipboard before telling a nurse to get an Allergy Antibody Test ready.

"He ate everything that he usually does except for some broccoli I gave him," the mom replied and Y/N nodded her head before writing it down on her clipboard and walking them to the testing room.

Once the results came back around half an hour later, Xavion was, in fact, allergic to broccoli, and other things that Y/N had to explain to the mother. She got about 15 minutes of break time before Reyez called her another minor emergency.

"It's an 11 year old, possible breakage or sprain to the leg, you can handle this one right?" He asked and she nodded her head, "Good, they're in room 217, good luck," he added before sending her off to the room.

She quickly made her way over to it, grabbing her clipboard on the way, "Hi, I'm Dr.Y/LN, I'm going to be taking care of you guys today! May I have the child's name and date of birth please?" She nicely asked as she walked inside the room, quickly walking over to the desk area that was in the corner and placing her stuff down.

"Uhhh, Caleb Dolan, August 17, 2008," a deep voice that she could recognize from anywhere spoke as she turned around. Her heart dropped at the sight of Grayson in front of her. She tried to reassemble herself, after all, she couldn't make any mistakes right now, Reyez was trusting her and she couldn't afford to mess the opportunity up.

"Caleb, August 17, 2008," she mumbled as she wrote it down on her piece of paper, "Caleb, do you mind telling me what happened, babe?" She asked with a smile on her face. Her smile turned into a small frown as she looked up at the boy who happened to be in pain.

"Me and uncle Gray were practicing for the soccer game that's next and I fell on the mud and hit my leg really hard," he explained as she walked towards him nodding her head.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, One being okay while 10 being the worst, how would you rate the pain?" She asked, walking over to the walk to grab a pair of gloves, putting them on, and walking back towards him.

"Uhh a seven," he replied and she nodded her head.

"Okay Caleb, just know this might hurt a little okay? It's just protocol to check if it's dislocated, broken, or sprained okay?" She asked and he nodded his head, a few tears falling down his face from fear. Grayson quickly leaned down to wipe off his face whispering a quiet 'you'll be okay' as Caleb grabbed his hand.

"Can you try and move your ankle for me? Just try and move it," she explained and he muttered at quiet yes before moving his foot in a slow circle, she nodded her head before placing both hands over his ankle checking for any bumps, which there were none to find, "Luckily for you Caleb, it's just sprained! There are no bumps meaning it's not dislocated, and you can move it meaning it's not fractured! Just to make sure, we're going to need an X Ray' just to make sure there are no hidden surprises yeah? Dr. Lindsey will do those with you, and I'll be right here when you come back," she smiled up at the boy before Dr. Lindey moved him to a wheelchair and took him to the X Ray room, leaving Y/N and Grayson alone in painful silence.

"So this is what you do? This is where you work?" Grayson was the first to speak after a couple of quiet seconds,

She cleared her throat and nodded her head, placing her hands inside her white jacket, "Yeah. It's a paid internship so it's basically a job, what about you? What are you doing here?" She asked to make direct eye contact with him.

"Moved here after me and E graduated, looking for some roles and an agent," he spoke, his voice not as deep yet shakier than when he first spoke.

"Any luck with that?"

"Yeah. We've landed a few small roles here and there," he answered and she just nodded her head.

"That's good! I'm glad everything's working out for you," She gave him a genuine smile before continuing to fill out Caleb's paperwork.

"Listen, I know it's been 2 years but-," Grayson began to speak before Y/N cut him off. "-Grayson just don't. I'm at work right now, and it's enough seeing you after 2 years, but I don't really need this right now. I'm sorry," She apologized before leaving the room to get some papers before walking back in, thankfully Caleb was already in the room when she walked in.

"I'm going to wrap your ankle up with this and then you're good to go, buddy. Make sure you don't apply pressure on it for two weeks. And carefully when you're playing any sport, I don't want you back here," she said while wrapping his ankle up carefully. She gave Grayson the discharge papers, their hands touching each other for a split second before she pulled away waving them off before walking to where her team was.

"That guy was looking at you intensely," Reyez pointed out, earning a glare from her.

"Don't even start," she rolled her eyes before taking a sip from her water bottle that was on her desk.

"Wait is that the?" Jacob, one of the nurses, asked and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's him," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Holly shit Y/N, I knew you said he was hot, but girl? That man is hotter than-,"

"Mackenzie, don't you dare," Y/N joked towards her other co-worker, "God why do you do this to me? I was almost over him and then you put him on my path again? The universe hates me,"

"I'd go for it again if I were you," Mackenzie encouraged earning a glare from her.

"Alright, leave her alone before she starts to crumble, Mackenzie go fill out reports, Y/N go take a breather," Reyez ordered them around and they all nodded their heads, going on their way to do what they were told.

. . .

Soft snores began to quietly run past her lips as she drifted off to sleep, all before a feeling of suddenly falling down an empty whole woke her up. She shook her head letting out a quiet 'fuck' before turning to look towards the clocks on her nightstand, 3:30 AM being brightly displayed on it. Y/N let out a loud sigh, knowing she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon.

Her mind suddenly clouded with knotted thoughts and notions, too many of them just to focus on a single one. She pushed her body up, just enough for her to reach over and grab the small yellow backpack that she lazily threw on the floor, pulling her journal and pen out before throwing it back on the floor.

She clicked the pen and opened the journal, blank pages waiting to be filled up, her hand delicately moved along the paper as she scribbled letters and words on the empty pages, thoughts clearing out of her head, one by one.

I saw him today. He looked different. He's grown. After it all, it has been two years. His voice is deeper too. He wanted to talk, but I said no. Maybe if I did, I would fall for him again, or something. I'm doing just fine, so why did he have to move here. Anyway, Reyez finally allowed me to take care of patients by myself today. It was fun, I liked it, I guess. Luckily I'm free tomorrow because I can't sleep at all now. Maybe it's the repeating thoughts of him running through my mind, or just simply the lack of melatonin in my body right now. I'll probably go to the park tomorrow, stop at the cafe first then make my way there, but anyway, I'm going to try and sleep now.

It was a quick entry, nothing special, just her major thoughts being written down, just enough for her to feel better. She got up from the bed walking over to the kitchen grabbing a water bottle before leaning against the counter and sipping it. She crossed her bare legs over each other, looking out of the big window in her living room. Her favorite part about the apartment? It was the window that looked down on bright LA city. Y/N could sit there for hours and not notice the time pass by, she knows this because it happened before. She left the kitchen and walked towards the window, propping her body down on the small couch she had in front of the window. She laid her head on her hand, watching the few cars that sped down the street, the small yet bright red lights disappearing into the distance as her eyes followed them until they could.

Her eyes softly closed as she laid down on the couch, drifting off into another universe. The next morning she woke up at around 8 AM, doing her daily routine, except she stopped at the Cafe, picked her things up, and made her way to the park. It was an old park, there was an old playground that seemed like it hadn't been used in years. She sat down on an old bench drinking her coffee as she watched the scenery.

She didn't take her notebook out, her mind not having any thoughts, or at least no thoughts relevant enough for her to write down. She just took her time to take her surroundings in. She admired how the wind moved the trees, yet they were so strong they didn't crack. The way the birds lifted off whatever surface they were, and drifted off into the sky. She admired the rare butterflies that randomly appeared just to disappear once again. She simply admired the earth, something that she didn't do quite often; Always being too deep in her thoughts to actually study the things around her.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" Grayson's voice spoke out of nowhere, making Y/N do a slight jump in her seat as her heart raced.

She brought her hand up to her chest, a sigh falling past her lips as she glared at Grayson who was chuckling, "You fucking scared me,"

"Sorry," he sighed, sitting down next to her.

They both let out sighs. Both knowing that there was no escaping the conversation that was about to happen, a conversation that was long due.

"You could, hmm, you could go first," she spoke after a few moments of silence, throat dried making her clear it in the middle of some of her words.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. You were working, and Ummm, it wasn't the right place or time to talk about things. I'm also sorry because I never gave you an explanation as to why we should've broken up. After all, you didn't ask anyway," He softly spoke. He thought every word through, studied each meaning before letting them run past his lips.

"I didn't ask because it's what you wanted. Your decision was clearly made. I mean, I don't think breaking up with someone is a spontaneous thought is it? Your decision was made, and if you felt like I was holding you back, then I had to let you go, if I loved you, then I think I did the right thing." Her words were careful too. And quiet, so quiet feeling that if she spoke too loud the things around her would break.

"I didn't want to break up. I felt like it was the right thing to do, you know? We were always so busy, and we made time for each other, but it was exhausting. And when you were out with friends, I felt like I was annoying you or something," he sighed and she shook her head, the thought of her ever getting annoyed at Grayson's presence being absurd.

"Oh God absolutely not," she chuckled, "I thought I was annoying you. Like I wondered if you talked about me, or not. I wanted to know if I annoyed you because I felt like I did,"

It was true. In her journal, multiple pages were filled out with her question herself on whether Grayson talked about her or not. Even after the breakup, she wondered if he'll ever need her. Most pages were about him, all of her thoughts revolved around him, always.

"I did. All the time, to the point where I said your name subconsciously," he smiled, remembering the conversations he had with his friends about her, and how great she was.

"I did too, well not say but write," she sighed, leaning her back on the bench.

"You wrote about me?"

"Grayson you know I did, that's a dumb question," She shook her head, taking a sip of the coffee that was somehow still warm.

"Do you still write about me?" He asked and she stayed quiet, not knowing whether she should answer truthfully or not.

"Honestly speaking, I do. I write about everything that comes to mind, so sometimes? Yeah," she sighed, knowing that it would be easier if they just told the truth.

Maybe this was the closure that they both needed, yet never got. Maybe this was going to help her fully move on from him, and have thoughts that don't include her.

Or maybe not. Maybe this would help them reconnect. Y/N left it all up to the universe. She was a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and that you can't change your future since it's already written about. When she got home after a couple of hours she took a shower, lit on her favorite candles, and did the expected. She took out her notebook and wrote.

We spoke today. He told me the reason why we broke up. It wasn't an intentional meeting though, I was just admiring nature. I was looking at the butterflies I think. He randomly spoke. And I know it was long due and needed so I just told him to say it. It's better to just get it over with than to just keep pushing it back, I think. He told me why he wanted to break up, which right now, sounds like a valid reason. I just wonder why he didn't just say it back then. It would've saved me a lot of nights, don't you think? He now knows I write about him, and where I go to write about him. Maybe I shouldn't go there anymore. It sounds out of this world I know. But maybe, just maybe, I should just close that chapter in my life.

There are just too many memories of him at Beachwood. That's where he surprised me the first time he came to visit. And it's where I write about him the most. I could find another cafe near here, there's plenty.

I just wonder if we're ever going to see each other again. If I'll ever fall for him again, if that is even possible. Because I don't think you could fall for the same person twice, right?

That was the last page in her journal. All the pages filled with her delicate letters, her writing being eternal. Filled with on-going words until the end, where an unanswered question laid. The weight that was once on her shoulders began to fade, and for once in her life, the thought of her future no longer made her afraid.

 This is the first time I’m proud of a something I wrote, so if this flops, I will deactivate! Just kidding, sort of. Anyways, yeah, I feel like my writing has improved, and as always, if you have any tips, and/or constructive critism, please, please, please drop them in my inbox, and don’t worry, I won’t say your hurting my feelings lmfao!! 

Tag List:   @guiltydols @evergreendolan @ydolanssss @rhyrhy462 @resilientdolan @simplyxdolxstyles @simplyxdolxstyles​ {If you wanna be added to my Tag List, just let me know :) lol}

[2ynjns]

connected || kang taehyun

pairings: taehyun x reader

word count: 2.7k

genre: fluff, slight crack, soulmates!au

notes: bratty, lowkey annoying reader, reader is kinda oblivious, best friend!kai.

a/n: requested by anon!

Hello! Can I please request a soulmate au with taehyun? Maybe they can be connected through dreams? But please give it a happy ending 🥺👉👈 Thank you so much!! ❣

thank you so much for requesting! i enjoyed writing this one. although this might not what you expected i hope you liked it T T

+ i wrote this on google docs and idfk how it got to 8 pages 🤡

there you are again, wide awake in your room, staring at the ceiling and unable to sleep. you’ve shifted your position for about seven times now and you just can’t find the right position for you to even feel slightly sleepy. even using your phone to make yourself sleepy isn’t helping either, it just makes you more awake.

honestly, you have been thinking about this one person in your dreams. that person has been appearing in your sleeping state for weeks now and you are eager to figure out who that person is. you just want to know who he is and why the hell he keeps appearing in your resting brain. 

and you wonder, do you also appear in his dreams? or is he even a real person? or is he a ghost?

you scratched your head from frustration and sat up on your bed.

12:18 am. you sighed and checked your phone, you swore to yourself this is going to be the last time you’d check your phone before you go to sleep, for real.

you even asked your friend huening kai if he ever encountered something like that before, he said no, but his older sister did. his older sister said that through people’s dreams, soulmates connect. you were confused at first because you never really believed in love, let alone soulmates.

“well guess what, i don’t really care about soulmates. i just need my peaceful and quiet sleep in. that person does not need to bother me and has no business to be in my brain at all.” you remember telling huening kai. you cringed at that thought but just brushed it off.

you have to attend your 8:30 am English class tomorrow morning and overthinking about that person isn’t helping you at all. you covered your face with your blanket and it’s good enough for you that you fell asleep after a few.i

you found yourself in your all white clothing wandering around a grass field alone. you looked at the horizon and it’s sunset. trying to look for your phone in your pocket, you found it and checked the time. 5:53 pm.

you frowned and looked for someone around, but you’re alone. there’s literally no one but you.

so you gave up and just sat on the grass to watch the sunset. i mean if you’re gonna be alone in an unfamiliar place, why not just sit down and appreciate the horizon right?

you sat and laid on the grass, you watched the sky as it turned dark but you couldn’t help but to be awed by the blue-orange hues of the sky with the sun setting. you smiled to yourself and sat up, you lifted your right hand and pretended to grab the sun as if it was a cookie.

“if you were to eat the sun, i don’t think it would be very pleasant.”

you quickly whipped your head around to see a blonde guy, also wearing all white just like you are. your brows met as you pointed.

“it’s you! again!” you yelped and faced him, now standing up. a gust of wind quickly brushed through your face and it made you squint and once you opened your eyes, the guy isn’t there anymore.

“actually, it’s you, again.” the guy said, now sitting on the grass next to where you were sitting. you frowned.

how the heck did he get there so quick? and what is he anyway?

“who are you?” you asked him, daring not to sit down because what if he just attacks you?

“i should be asking you that because you’re in my dreamland.” he looked up and raised his brow.

your eyes flew wide eyes and your hand involuntarily placed itself on your chest. “excuse me? your dreamland? YOU are in my dre-- wait, i’m dreaming again!” you turned around and grabbed a bunch of your hair out of frustration.

omygosh don’t tell me kai’s sister is right…

the guy chuckled and paid attention to the setting sun. “tsk, you’re being overdramatic.” he said and laid on the grass just like you did. you looked at him and you saw him resting on the grass, looking peaceful as ever.

you pouted and looked around to see if there is any exit so you could leave the place, but no. this place is just a never ending grassfield and horizon that there is no building structures or any door to leave, just grass and the sky.

“maybe if you stopped panicking there your body will just wake up by itself and you’d be able to leave in no time.” the guy told you, body still relaxed and eyes are still closed. you sighed and sat on the grass about six feet away.

you hugged your knees and looked at the sun again, gosh why can’t i just wake up?

“why are you so far?” now with his eyes open and looking at you. you rolled your eyes and shook your head.

“just practicing social distancing.” you said and dug your face on your knees.

you heard the guy chuckle as he sat up. “you believe in soulmates right?” he asked you, you paused before answering him. “no.” you admitted. “i think it’s stupid.” you added.

he shook his head, “you’re one dense of a person.” he stood up and walked towards you and held his hand out. “get up. let’s take a walk. i don’t think our bodies will wake up anytime soon.” he offered.

you just stared at his hand then to his eyes, you gave him a questionable look and not moving at all. “why would i take your offer?” you asked.

sigh, he is actually so done with you, your nonstop questions and your bratty attitude, but he’s just keeping his cool because he knows you are his soulmate. although he doesn’t want his soulmate to be this bratty, there’s really no turning back anymore. he can’t just throw a fit to the heavens above to take you back and change his soulmate.

“cause i’m your soulmate, smarty pants. now get up before i leave you here.” he said still having his hand out. you bit your lower lip before taking his hand and getting up.

he gave you a simple smile before walking ahead of you and you just followed him, not asking where he is heading but you actually want to know where he is going.

“where are you going?” you asked him, though he didn’t answer. he just kept walking without looking back, walking like there’s no end. well, literally there is no end. 

you waited for his answer but you didn’t get any at all. so you threw in more questions.

“who are you?” “how are you my soulmates?” “so you believe in soulmates?” “why are you not answering me?” “why are we in each other’s dreams?” “why do we have soulmates?”

he stopped walking and took a very very deep breath. he turned around to meet your gaze and that caused you to feel flustered and stop breathing. you saw him purse his lips and sighing before saying something.

“soulmates connect through dreams.” he finally said, “god, why are you so annoying.” he said and continued walking.

you pouted and stomped your way to follow him again, now with your arms crossed. “i don’t even know your name.” 

he shook his head and looked back at you still walking. he smiled at you, “it’s bleep” 

you frowned at him. “what?”

“bleep is my name.”

you looked at him weirdly, “all i hear is bleep.” you said and rolled your eyes.

he just stared at you without any emotions, “why don’t you introduce yourself?”

you squinted and scrunched your nose. “my name is bleep.”

he laughed at you as if you were crazy, “well i guess both of our names are bleep.” he looked at the sun, now almost down to the ground.

“well this is it.” he turned to you and waved his hands. “see you around!” 

and with a blink of an eye, you saw his body disintegrate into the air which caused you to be scared.

“wait!”

your phone alarm woke you up and you got up groggily, having only five to six hours of sleep when you knew you needed more to keep sane throughout the day. you massage your temples and turn off your alarm. 

having to dream about that guy again, you’re kinda disappointed that you didn’t even catch his name and all you heard was bleep, which was very odd.

but you just shook it off, you’re not really interested in meeting him soon anyway. you don’t even believe in soulmates.

kai gave you a ride to your first class since you both have the same morning class together.

“i dreamt about that guy again.” you started while taking a bite of your bagel on the way to you lecture hall. he giggled and teased you.

“did he kiss you?” you pouted and took another bite of your bagel. “heck no. he was annoying.” you got in the lecture hall and walked towards your usual spot.

but your mood immediately fell down seeing another person sitting in your usual seat. you shook kai and pointed at the spot. “someone is sitting on my spot.” 

kai looked at the direction and just shrugged. “you can sit on the opposite spot, still next to me.” he said, you frowned even more. “but i want my spot.” 

kai pinched your sides before pulling you towards the seats. “stop being a brat and don’t give a tantrum. you’re an adult, you know better.” he shook his head and patted yours.

you gave the person a death glare before going to your new spot. but you couldn’t see the person’s face since they’re wearing their hood on and it’s covering their face. you sat on the chair next to kai with so much anger, wanting your seat back.

kai glared at you and sneered. “stop being a brat.” you rolled your eyes and took out your laptop to start taking notes.

15 minutes in the lecture you started to feel sleepy. you smacked your face lightly to keep yourself awake because you don’t really want to fall asleep at the lecture hall because one, you’re gonna fall asleep until later later, or two, you’re not going to be able to eat until later when you get home.

“lemme go to the restroom for a moment.” kai tapped your shoulders before heading to his business. you just nodded without looking at him and rested your chin on your hand, and sighed. gosh why does english lectures have to be this boring?

“even in real life you’re bratty.” the guy next to kai’s seat blurted.

you peeked to his direction just to be shocked it’s the same guy in your dreams.

your hands immediately covered your mouth from keeping yourself from screaming and yelling at the guy from first, stealing your seat, and second, oh shit he’s that guy in your dreams.

you pointed at him and whispered-yell, “it’s you!” you looked at your professor’s direction but he wasn’t really being mindful what the students are doing.

“what are you doing here? why are you here? you’re a student here?” you asked him, he just shook his head and rolled his eyes then paid his attention back to his tablet. “even here you ask so many questions.” he said and gave you a smile.

you crossed your arms and leaned on your chair, “you literally stole my seat and i always sit there.” you said. 

he looked at you, “you’re unbelievable, it’s just a seat.” he got up and grabbed his stuff and walked towards you, “we can switch seats. it’s really not a big deal.” he said and pulled you up.

you excitedly got up and took back your seat, settling you laptop and bag on your usual spot and sat on the chair the guy was sitting on.

“omygosh, your butt is warm.” you said.

“stop complaining, i just gave you your seat back.”

you didn’t answer and there was an awkward silence between the two of you until kai came back next to you. his brows are furrowed to see that you have switched seats with the guy. “you switched seats?” he asked you and you happily nodded.

“got it back, thank god.” you said and hugged the desk in front of you. “i missed you.” you said to the table. kai just looked at you with disgust and went back to writing on his notebook.

“are they really like that?” the guy asked kai. kai quickly looked at the guy and shrugged. “yeah, they're always a brat. sorry about that, they probably bugged you when i was gone.” 

taehyun just laughed and shook his head, “nah, they didn’t. i offered to switch seats since, well, they looked very upset. and i already knew they’re gonna be… like that…” kai gave the guy a smile before giving a small bow. 

“thanks. and your name?”

“i’m taehyun. i’m new here so that’s why i accidentally got their seat.” 

“hey stopped talking to him.” you told kai, kai whipped his head towards you and gave you the look. “and why not?” he asked.

you glared at taehyun and hissed at him, “he’s that person who keeps bugging me in my dreams.” you admitted.

kai’s jaw dropped opened and turned to taehyun, “oh my, you’re that guy?” he said. “you’re THE soulmate?”

taehyun let out an airy laugh before nodding, “unfortunately, that would be me.” he said.

kai shook his head and pinched your sides, “ouch! kai!” 

“well, you’re going to treat him to lunch today, y/n. you’ve been acting bratty towards him and you should give him a pay back.” you rubbed your sides and hit kai’s arm.

“he should be the one treating me lunch since he’s been keeping me awake the past nights.”

“actually, you’re sleeping and resting when we meet in the dream so you’re actually not sleepless.” taehyun pointed out. you glared at the guy again attempting to throw your pencil at him.

instead of taking sides, kai just blocked his arms in between you and taehyun to stop the bickering he’s witnessing in front of him. “okay okay, how about we just take lunch together since taehyun is new here, yeah? and no, y/n you can’t complain, again.” kai said before you could say anything.

you pouted and looked away. “as if i could do something about it. i’m practically stuck with this guy forever.” you said.

an hour has passed of you and taehyun arguing in class, you finally decided to take an early lunch since you have another class at 12. and yes, kai dragged taehyun with you both to tour the new guy around campus and meet new people around.

“hey bleep, what are you getting?” taehyun asked you, you scratched your head and answered. “i’m getting carbonara. Why?”

“okay, i’m getting carbonara too.” taehyun said. kai walked towards you and taehyun and teased you both. “did a hear a secret nickname between you two?” kai wiggled his brows.

“ew no.” “yes we did.”

you kicked taehyun on the shin before walking to the counter to order your food.

“that hurt!” taehyun ran to you as you order your plate.

“one carbonara with breadstick please, and iced tea.” you said, “make that two.” taehyun said before pulling out his card and giving it to the cashier. 

you looked at him handing his card as it was swiped on the machine, “why?”

“take this as my apology. and you’re my soulmate, you’re basically my other half or whatever. so drop the attitude and let’s be friends for once.” 

you stuck your tongue out to him and walked to an available table and taehyun sat next to you. “my name is taehyun.” he said and offered his hands for a handshake.

you didn’t hesitate but to take, “y/n”

“at least we’re not bleeps anymore.” he said, which made you giggle. “don’t tell me you’re gonna be in my dreams again tonight.” you frowned.

taehyun held your cheeks between his fingers and gave it a slight squeeze. “yes, i am and get used to it.” he squeezed your cheeks a little harder and he cooed at you.

“maybe you’re cute, you’re just annoying.”

“hey!” 

“omygod, can you two get a room. we can see that you’re soulmates, jeez.”

[eskalations]

"I've always known that I was a big target for them - almost as big as Erwin himself - but I never thought they would go after my own daughter." Levi released a dark chuckle at this, closing his eyes in disbelief. 'I can't believe my stupidity. The Titans have cut down families before, I don't know what made me think that mine would be any different."

(Rivetra AU where Petra is a pediatric nurse and Levi is a single father)

Hello! Wow oh wow! I haven't written since August and this oneshot definitely made it more obvious. Originally it was only supposed to be about 5,000 words but it soon grew into the monster that it is now. Will it stay a oneshot forever? I don't know...but for now, it is what it is! Editing this was a nightmare, so I apologize for any missed mistakes, as well as my poor writing skills that have been underutilized for quite some time.

I hope regardless of that, you will still enjoy this! I just finished AOT and this couple's story absolutely gripped my heart. Here you go, Rivetra fandom!

As always, reviews are MUCH appreciated. So please be sure to tell me what you think!

-

Petra Ral was NOT having a good day.

While she had been a night nurse for several years now, her penchant for making rookie mistakes was almost as bad as it had been when she started. Upon crashing into bed at seven this morning, she had completely forgotten to set her alarm for later in the day. Hence, why she was running through the streets of Paradis like a madwoman.

Her co-workers were less than impressed with her dramatic entry onto the ward. Nanaba was glaring at her over the top of the counter, while Nifa bristled from beside the employee water tower.

"Really, Petra?" The spunky redhead commented in a low, disapproving tone - watching as the other ginger woman threw her bag down onto the floor beneath the desk and hurriedly began to punch in her time. "This oversleeping thing is getting pretty old, considering it's six in the afternoon, not six in the morning."

Petra held back a growl as she fumbled with her card, sticking it into the machine but not getting any response due to the shakiness of insertion. Finally, she heard a click and withdrew the parchment. With her heart still racing like mad after her dash up the stairs, she dropped in exhaustion into a vacant chair.

“You say that - “ Petra spoke for the first time since entering Paradis Hospital, her usual chipper voice hoarse from her ragged breathing. “ - but you’re not the one who worked a 12-hour shift yesterday. You were too busy working on that boyfriend of yours to even - "

“Shhhhhh!” Nifa’s face glowed scarlet as she shushed the young woman, her pale skin heating at the vulgar comment. Nanaba just laughed quietly at her friend’s embarrassment, turning her attention back to the file in front of her. All the nurses and doctors bustling about around the counter paid the girls no mind, used to the familiar banter between the three.

"Say what you want about Nifa's love life," Nanaba bristled, pulling out another form from the file in front of her for closer observation. The blonde's eyes cut towards Petra, disapproval evident in her tone. "But your the one who's late today. We had a pretty intense case come into the ward too from emergency."

“What?!” Petra yelped, her nurse’s instincts kicking in instantly at Nananba’s words. Despite her still heaving chest, the young woman sat up straighter to observe the report that was being handed over to her. “Is the child okay?”

"She's stable." Nanaba offered, turning back to the folder on her desk to grab a few more forms. "However, she's going to need to be watched closely throughout the night. The poor thing was stabbed and the blade had poison on it."

Petra wished she could act shocked, but she wasn’t. Paradis Hospital received several stab cases a day due to the gang violence in the area. The Titans certainly weren’t pulling any of their punches when it came to looting. Regardless of whether their victim was eight or eighty, they would steal from anyone with a bit of coin in their pocket.

Stabbings weren't super common on the pediatric ward, but common enough that all the staff who bustled about barely batted an eye at the thought of such an injury being treated on the floor.

"She's already been stitched up and the antidote for the poison has been administered - but, the emergency department sent her up here for monitoring, just in case she relapses," Nifa explained, now leaning over the counter to read the forms Nanaba still held in her hands. The blonde threw her an exasperated look.

“She’s not your patient, so stop being so damn nosy.”

"Well, I've never - " Nifa scoffed at the blonde's scathing tone, though Petra could hear the amusement behind it. "Sorry, for wanting to dedicate my life for the next 12-hours to a hot man with a nice - oh, I mean to a sweet little girl with a -"

"Nifa!" Petra exclaimed, catching on to what the young woman was implying. "Don't tell me you're trying to hit on a little girl's father while she's bedridden in the hospital! Have you no shame?"

“Not really!”

Even Nanaba laughed at Nifa's answer.

"Well, too bad for you, since you have a boyfriend." The blonde reminded her, to which the red-headed nurse simply stuck out her tongue. " - and  Petra has been assigned to be her nurse."

“Me?” Petra had the gall to act surprised, but her friends simply rolled their eyes at her modest response.

“Oh please!" Nifa sighed, crossing her arms over the counter to once again lean closer to the girls on the other side. One of the older doctors, a man with grey hair and spectacles, eyed her disapprovingly as he passed. Nifa didn't even spare him a glance. "While you may be a notorious flake when it comes to arriving on time, it's no secret that they entrust you with the higher priority cases on the ward."

Nifa was right - it wasn't a secret. Since graduating at the top of her class in nursing school, she had always been highly respected for not only her knowledge but bedside manner, as well. Just last year, she had received an award for having the highest satisfaction rate on her floor. Now, if only she could show up to work on time…

“- he’s really short, but his eyes - wow!" Petra was brought back from her thoughts by Nifa's words. Nanaba was shaking her head as she wrote a note down in one of her patient files, trying to tune out the girl's excessive praise. "He's got that rough around the edges look, yet is put together and clean and - "

"I hate to cut you off in the middle of your fantasy - " Petra commented before standing and collecting the patient papers from the desk. "- but I have patients to take care of."

Nifa's mouth popped open in shock, her expression quickly turning to one of disbelief at the sight of Petra's teasing look.

“Says the girl who was LATE!”

Petra chuckled, shrugging her shoulders as she rushed off to her first patient's room, ready to begin her shift with newfound energy. Despite her exhaustion from the night before and the soreness in her limbs, she couldn't approach the job she loved with anything less than excitement and positivity.

Maybe it would be a good day after all.

-

Upon entering Heidi Ackerman's room twenty minutes later though, Petra was once again lamenting the horrible luck that seemed to be plaguing her during the past twenty-four hours.

It wasn't the child who was causing her such discomfort, but her father.

After having checked on and familiarizing herself with the low-risk patients she had been assigned, Petra finally decided to introduce herself to the latest Titan's stab victim that was residing on her ward. Checking the young girl's forms before entering the room, the nurse noticed that the child was due for a round of medication soon anyways.

‘Perfect,' Petra thought to herself while turning the knob of the door. 'If I take care of her medications now, I won’t have to return for another hour and then I can go check on - ‘

Petra's thoughts were interrupted by the sight that met her upon entry to the room.

Nifa wasn’t kidding - the guy was short. Like, really short.

Petra rarely met a male anywhere close to her height - so, the short stature of the figure that stood by the lone window of the room, instantly caught her attention.

The second thing that caught her attention? His looks.

While the man was certainly not attractive by societal standards, his piercing gaze was enough to stop any woman in her path. His eyes were grey and heavily hooded by pale white lids and beneath his stare, lay two dark bags that spoke of a restless nature. Despite the blatant signs of exhaustion, his dark hair lay near perfect across his forehead, the shaved lower half of it buzzed in an undercut fashion.

He was captivating and terrifying all at once.

“Oi, are you just going to stand there?”

His gravelly, low voice broke her from her analysis, jolting her back to reality as he shifted his posture to a more casual stance. Whereas he once stood rigid, he now placed a hand on his hip and schooled his features to resemble something more akin to indifference.

Realizing she had never responded, Petra suddenly jumped into action.

"Oh!" She smiled awkwardly, not quite feeling like her usual self. Typically, talking to patients and their families wasn't so difficult for her, but this guy was unlike her usual clientele. He practically exuded indifference and didn't look very interested in receiving an answer to what she had to assume was a rhetorical question - but Petra did not care. "Hello, my name's Petra Ral, I'll be the night nurse for Miss Heidi."

As if saying her name had reminded her of exactly why she was standing there in the first place, Petra turned her smiling face towards the bed, trying not to show her concern as her gaze fell on the small child.

Heidi Ackerman at five years old had experienced more pain in the past several hours than some adults would face in their entire lifetime. While the child's sweet features could still be seen over the top of the crisp white blankets, the pained lines of her forehead spoke of a quiet distress that had taken a hold of her and refused to let go.

Petra ached to go towards her - however, a snide remark from the man on the other side of the room had her pausing.

“You’re going to attend my child looking like that?” Disgust was evident in the man’s tone as he gave her a once over from top to bottom. “Ever heard of an iron?”

The young woman could feel her face go red at his comment, her eyes glancing down at the outfit she typically wore during her shift - a white nurses uniform, tights, and white slip-ons. The front of her outfit was pristine white - however, the bottom of her skirt had a set of small wrinkles. Petra went redder as she realized that in her confusion to get dressed after having slept in, she had picked up her uniform from the previous night that had been lying atop of the hamper.

Most people wouldn't even have noticed her slightly used uniform, but somehow this man had called her out on it, despite it only having had a few wrinkles of use embedded in the fabric.

Petra was furious. Of course, she wasn't going to show it, since she was a professional - but she couldn’t help but bite back, even if it was just a little.

“Yeah - well you aren’t looking too good either, so I guess we're even.”

The man cocked an eyebrow at her comment, before looking down at himself to see what she was talking about.

In Petra's defense, she hadn't actually looked at the man's clothes. When she had entered the room, she had been so distracted by his face, that she hadn't even gotten the opportunity. But, as he looked down at himself in search of the reason for her comment, Petra was able to give him a once over too. After examining his outfit of choice, Petra had to bite back a groan from the error of her comment.

He was dressed immaculately, wearing a dark brown leather jacket with a white shirt underneath and a pair of slender black jeans on the bottom. On his feet, were a pair of shiny, black combat boots that looked as though they had been polished that very morning.

However, the state of his clothes was not the reason Petra wanted the Earth to swallow her whole. It was the substance on the front of his shirt.

Blood.

“Tch," The man clicked his tongue, having caught sight of the dried, red blood covering his otherwise pristine white shirt. "I guess my child's blood isn't the best accessory to wear, huh?"

Fully embarrassed by her comment, Petra immediately stuck out her hands in defense, forms and all.

“Sir, I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean - “

“I’m sure.” The words were said with such a quiet finality, that the woman felt her tongue grow heavy in her mouth. Not knowing what else to say, the room fell into an awkward silence that even Petra’s vivacious personality couldn’t conquer.

Perhaps, she had officially met her match.

The man continued to stare at her with his slate-gray eyes as the silence drug on - however, they were both interrupted from their thoughts by a quiet cough coming from the bed.

‘That’s right!’ Petra thought, a newfound energy taking hold of her as she returned her attention to the small patient residing in the bed. ‘She’s the reason I’m here.’

"Sorry, Miss Heidi!" Petra adopted her usual, chipper tone as she approached the child, already glancing at the chart that had been left on the wall at her side. While the form should have match the one she had been given, she wasn't one to cut corners, so she began to read over it to check for any additional information that could have been missed. "Your father and I are rudely neglecting you. Are you in any pain at the moment?"

While most children instantly brightened at the ginger's easygoing bedside manner - Heidi, much like her father, was not acting like a typical patient. Instead of answering, the small, dark-haired girl remained silent, glancing over at the woman with the same hooded gray eyes as her father.

Petra found the whole thing incredibly unnerving. To keep herself busy, she began to check the young girl's vitals. As she glanced over the numbers, she snuck a peek at her charge who still lay silent in the hospital bed.

Despite her lack of response to Petra's earlier question, the woman could see from the lines of distress on the girl's forehead that something was bothering her. She knew from the child's file that she had been slashed with a knife across the stomach and had been on the receiving end of an incredibly deadly poison. There probably wasn't much on her body that didn't hurt at this point.

Although she knew that the young girl must be in pain, the silence continued to grow as the two females in the room kept their gazes locked on the other.

Finally, Heidi turned to her father, who had been watching the scene unfold from his designated spot by the window. The girl's eyes shone with nothing short of fear as she appeared to silently communicate with her father. While the look on the poor child's features caused Petra's heart to clench, the man by the window merely bristled at his daughter's behavior.

"Stop trying to be tough, brat." His voice was rough, the edge in his tone similar to what it had been a minute ago. However, Petra was relieved to note a slight gentleness to his words that hadn't been present in their earlier conversation. "There's no reason to hide your pain if you're feeling any."

While the young nurse imagined any normal child would flinch at such words being thrown at them after having experienced such trauma - Heidi just blinked at her father's comment, almost as if pondering the meaning behind it.

Petra was about to jump in, having seen quite enough of the man's crass attitude towards his daughter, when the little girl finally spoke. Feebly, but with conviction.

“My stomach burns.”

Unlike her father's voice, Heidi had a sweet, slightly high-pitched voice, that would have had Petra cooing, had it not been for the current predicament the child was in.

“That’s to be expected.” The ginger responded understandingly, wanting the girl to know that she was someone she could trust over the next twelve hours. “What if I told you that I have some medicine that could make it feel better? Would you like that, Miss Heidi?”

Heidi hesitated for a moment, pulling the crisp white blanket up to her chin, almost acting like she was ashamed for having to take medicine. However, only a few beats passed before she nodded in response to the young woman's question.

"Perfect!" Petra's smile grew, the genuine kindness that typically radiated from her, shining from the depths of her chestnut eyes. "You're going to need a drink to help you wash down your pills - and I know they may taste a little nasty - so, how about I get you a juice to make it just a little bit better?"

As though a switch had been flipped, Heidi’s pale hands dropped the sheet covering the lower half of her face, revealing a tiny, rosebud mouth opened in shock. The dull gray of her eyes that had been so flat just a few moments ago, sparkled at the prospect of such a treat.

It made Petra’s heart clench once again.

The nurse was about to ask what flavor the girl wanted when her attention was drawn back to the man standing on the other side of the room. He had made a disapproving noise with his tongue as his daughter's face lit up at the thought of the sweet drink.

"Now you've done it." The man chuckled, though there was no real humor behind it. "This girl's favorite thing in the world is sweets. Now she's going to say she's in pain, just so she can get some juice."

“Sir,” Petra responded firmly, her once shining brown eyes hardening at such a careless statement. “I’m sorry, but after what she’s been through today, I think the least we could do is allow her to have some juice.”

The man shrugged his shoulders, raising his brows as though to tell her ‘do what you want’.

Which she would - gladly, in fact.

Turning back towards Heidi, who was now watching her father with a concerned expression, Petra attempted to redirect the girl’s attention.

"What flavor do you want?" That got Heidi's head swiveling back towards her. "I have cherry, grape, apple, orange, or watermelon."

“Uhhhh - “ Heidi pondered over her choices, looking up at the ceiling as though the answer would be there. After a few moments of thinking it over, the girl finally glanced back at the nurse waiting anxiously by her bedside. “I guess...cherry?”

“Excellent choice!” Petra agreed, readying herself to leave the room, but stopping dead in her tracks when hearing Heidi’s little voice again.

“Is that okay, Daddy?”

Petra watched as the little girl turned to her father, gauging his reaction for some kind of approval. The nurse waited with bated breath as the man simply stared back at the child, giving no indication of his approval either way.

Just when he was opening his mouth to give Heidi an answer - Petra jumped in, tired of witnessing the power dynamic in front of her.

“Your Daddy’s not the one drinking the juice, Heidi - so, I’m sure your choice is of no real consequence to him. Isn’t that right, Mr. Ackerman?”

There was a challenge in her tone, the words laced with borderline rudeness as she stared down the man across the room from her. Never in her life had she been so sharp with a patient nor a patient's family - however, she guessed there was no day like today. If she was going to get fired due to bad conduct, at least let it be because she stood up for a child who seemed to be in want of an advocate.

What reaction she was expecting to get from the man, she did not know - but it certainly wasn't a smirk.

He was smirking at her.

The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, the man's thin lips holding that frustrating smirk in place. He watched her as though waiting for what she was going to do next, but instead of shrinking under his gaze, she simply crossed her arms over her chest, ready to stand her ground.

Once the older Ackerman noticed Heidi’s head swiveling from side to side, watching their reactions, he released another tired, breathy chuckle.

“That’s right, Miss Ral.”

Petra hated to admit it - but, even after exiting the room, her legs continued to shake as she made her way down the hall. The trembles soon transferred into her hands as she poured the little girl a glass of cherry juice.

Upon re-entering the room, the first thing Petra noticed was that Mr. Ackerman had moved from what she thought was going to be his permanent spot in the room. He now stood by his daughter where she lay in her hospital bed, speaking quietly to her about something that the nurse couldn’t hear.

The second he saw her walk through the door, he quickly quieted - his lips returning to the thin line of indifference that she had become acquainted with, not too long ago. Choosing to ignore the strange atmosphere that settled over the room at such a blatant display of secrecy, Petra smiled brightly towards the child lying in the bed.

She was her priority.

“Alright, Miss Heidi!” Petra chirped happily, trying her best to return to the usual persona that she emulated while within the walls of the hospital. “Time for your medicine! If you could just sit up for me - “

The girl began to shift higher up in the bed, struggling to prop herself up against the pillows that lay behind her. Petra rushed to find somewhere to set the glass of juice down so that she could help her patient - however, she was beaten to it.

The girl's father placed his hands underneath her armpits, slowly pulling her back towards the head of the bed. After she was situated a little bit higher, he released his grip on her before tugging at the pillows to arrange them in a fashion that was more comfortable for her. Though he moved with purpose, his actions held a tenderness that Petra was surprised to see. If this was an unusual occurrence for Heidi, she certainly didn't show it on her tired, yet grateful features.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

The man grunted in response, patting his hand on the pillow behind her head one more time before moving his hands back to his pockets.

Petra’s brow rose in response to the uncharacteristic helpfulness she had just witnessed, but she tried to school her features in a way that didn’t show her surprise.

“Well - “ The woman cleared her throat, before handing the glass of juice over to the girl, to give herself time to retrieve the pills she had placed in the pocket at the front of her dress. “Hopefully, your pain will lessen after you take these.”

Heidi gave a shy nod at the woman’s words, looking warily at the pills. Noticing the child’s hesitance, the older Ackerman reached for the cup of juice in her shaking hands. With the movement of his arm, Petra watched as the cuff of his jacket slid up and over the skin of his wrist.

She couldn’t hide her surprise at what she saw branded there.

It was a ‘Wings of Freedom’ tattoo.

This man was a part of the Survey Corps.

It wasn’t that Petra had never interacted with an SC member before, it was just that they normally didn’t frequent this side of the hospital. Most of them didn’t have children and, even if they did, most of them wouldn’t have the opportunity to care for them properly.

It was no secret that of all the cities in Marley, Paradis was the one that had the biggest gang violence problem. Paradis was deemed as the headquarters for the infamous Titans gang, a group of thugs who were well-versed in politics and typically well-educated. One could never know that someone was a Titan, since they blended in so well to society.

There were rumors floating around that several larger corporations had Titans at the helm, working their way through the ranks in an attempt to have a better chance at being elected into political office. Their end goal was unclear - however, their violent acts and shady business dealings had escalated over the recent years.

Suddenly, businessmen who were in perfectly good health one day were turning up dead in a river the next. The same went for major political figures. Several big-name military men had been cut down in the streets and in their homes, to the point where the implications couldn't be ignored.

This was an all-out war.

Though Petra had been busy in nursing school at the time, she still vividly remembered Commander Erwin Smith’s case - since it had eventually led to the creation of the Survey Corps.

Erwin Smith had walked into his home one day after a long day of work, only to be attacked by a group of four masked Titans brandishing knives. While the Commander had lost an arm as a result of the poison on the blades that had come in contact with his arm, he was able to fight off all four assailants and come through the accident with a clear vision of what needed to be done.

This incident prompted the formation of the Survey Corps.

The Survey Corps was a group of former criminals who would have otherwise faced jail time or execution if they chose not to serve their government. The Commander's idea was that when it came to the Titans - one had to fight fire with fire. For him, the Survey Corps was his fire.

The men would be given a meager compensation in exchange for their loyalty, as well as a full pardon for the crimes they had committed in the past. All they had to do was promise their hearts to the cause.

Petra had always thought the venture sounded like a risky one. How could someone trust a criminal? If someone was willing to commit a crime once, wouldn’t they be willing to do it again? From what she had seen of the SC members who had been wheeled into the Emergency Room over the past few years, they looked more like thugs than the actual Titans themselves.

However, it appeared that that was the whole point.

The Survey Corps were used to obtain information about the Titans from the inside. To learn about the Titans, it seemed you had to act like one. Once inside, their goal was to negotiate deals with the underlings, who would then pass on the information to the SC in exchange for compensation. No surprise, though - these exchanges could turn deadly pretty quickly.

The young nurse couldn’t imagine how anyone could trust a criminal to infiltrate the enemy without the fear of them turning themselves - but from what she had heard, Commander Erwin Smith was a very good leader who kept a tight hold on all the men who worked under him.

Petra guessed as much since a good majority of them had small government-issued tracking devices located somewhere on their person - somewhere that they were unaware of, of course.

The woman had only ever seen an actual 'Wings of Freedom' tattoo once, and it was on the wrist of a body that was being rolled to the morgue past her in the hallway one day. The symbol was a sign of rank. Much like how the military operated, the Survey Corps themselves had a set of ranks that signaled a separation of powers within the group.

Only captains and the Commander himself were given the ‘honor’ of bearing the SC tattoo. The placement was purposeful, too - right on the wrist, where an opponent’s eyes would be drawn as they wielded their signature blades.

Suddenly, the behavior of the man made a lot more sense. He was a former thug - now, turned Captain of the Survey Corps.

The nature of Heidi’s injury also made a lot more sense now. She wasn’t victim to a few Titan pick-pockets on the street of Paradis. She was a victim to her father’s line of work.

She had been caught up in the crossfire.

"Miss Ral?" At the sound of the man's deep, gravelly voice, Petra looked up only to be met by a steely gray gaze. He had noticed where her eyes had fallen and had also deduced where her train of thought was drifting. "Are you ready to hand over the medicine?"

His tone was polite enough, not to alert Heidi to the mounting tension that seemed to build with every interaction the two adults had - but there was certainly an edge to it. He was pretty much daring her to ask questions.

Petra certainly was not taking the bait.

“Yes,” The woman responded, slowly. The smile that had fallen from her face at the sight of the man’s tattoo, returned as she warmly regarded her waiting patient. “Let’s get this over with!”

Neither father nor daughter caught the double meaning behind her words.

This shift could not go by fast enough.

-

After what she could only describe as ‘the longest 12-hour shift ever,’ Petra was ready to hit the sack and enjoy the next two days off.

It seemed like fate, though - had other plans.

"What?" The woman groaned as she pulled her time card out of the slot, her whine catching the attention of a few doctors passing by. Petra couldn't care less what they thought of her right now, she was exhausted - and the news Nanaba had given her was definitely less than welcome "There expediting Krista's maternity leave? Isn't she still like - I don't know - four months away from giving birth?!"

Nifa shook her head from her usual spot by the water tower, looking just about ready to fall over herself.

“Two months,” She reminded the frazzled ginger, chuckling at the groan her answer received. “It was bound to happen sooner or later with how faint she’s been - it just so happens that they made the call during a hospital-wide nursing shortage.”

Petra didn’t want to seem inconsiderate, but this news had really put a wrench in her plans - plans which had included nothing but cleaning and sleeping - but plans nonetheless! There were about a million other things she'd rather do than continue to cross paths with her patient's reticent father.

She had really thought that as the hours passed, his mood would perhaps lift and become a bit more pleasant - but no, things had only seemed to get worse.

While Heidi had slept most of the night, it was almost as if the dark-haired man was reluctant to close his eyes. No matter how many times Petra had walked in there over the past twelve hours, he never moved from his spot near the window. Even when Petra offered to help move the chair over closer to the wall so that he could see, he had glared at her as though she had outright insulted him.

Never had Petra felt so uncomfortable while tending to a patient and she had been doing this for years!

The worst instance of this was when she had gone to change Heidi's bandages over where her injury was. While she had tended to many injured patients before, she could feel a cold sweat breaking out along her hairline as she gently removed the bandages from the young girl's pale skin.

Every movement she made was subject to his intimidating glare - almost as though he was waiting to snap at her the second she made a wrong move. Though he was trying to hide it behind a wall of indifference, Petra could tell that he was on edge as she began to work on Heidi’s wound.

If one thing could be said, it was that Petra had never met a five-year-old quite like Heidi before. Though she remained silent for most of the night, the young woman could tell that she was highly intelligent and aware. Never before had she had a patient who was able to grit their teeth and fight their pain so well. Not even when her bandage got stuck on a small area of irritated skin did Heidi release a whimper.

Petra knew the whole process must have caused her a great deal of pain - however, like her father said, she was hellbent on acting tough.

It wasn’t until she got to the part of the cut that appeared to be the most severe that the child even happened to make a sound.

“Is that tender?” She had asked, but it was more of a formality. The lines of distress on the girl’s forehead told her all she needed to know. “I’ll try to make it quick.”

Heidi said nothing in response, but at her obvious signs of discomfort, her father shifted forward - hands still in his pockets, but his rigid posture showing that he wasn't nearly as indifferent as he tried to act.

Petra was suddenly aware of the man's eyes following the movements of her hands and - though she had done this in front of an audience many times - his attention made her more nervous than she had ever been before. Not only were his eyes watching her like a hawk's - but his body was also tilting forward , closer to her, to see exactly what she was doing.

Under such pressure, she panicked - something that was highly unlike her on a normal day.

With the man's eyes boring holes into her hands, her sweaty palms lost their grip on the bandage she had been trying to pull gently from the skin.  Heidi's reaction was instantaneous.

While she had made little more than a whimper up to that point, when the bandage slipped from Petra's hand and the skin of her palm made contact with the stitches that lay over the girl's abdomen - a short, little whelp escaped from her lips at the pain.

If that didn’t have the nurse feeling bad enough, Heidi’s dad’s reaction almost had her crying.

While most parents would be understanding of such a small mistake - many not even realizing she had made one - because he had been watching her so closely, he had borne witness to her error. The shock on his face, expressed only by the raise of his brows and the slight opening of his mouth, soon morphed into something much more threatening - anger.

"Don't you know how to do your job?" The man seethed, glaring at her with the same eyes that had been watching her so closely moments before. While his voice was not loud, the quiet tone almost made it that much scarier. "Can't you see that your mistake has caused her pain?"

Petra didn’t know what else to do besides look at him like a gaping fish.

"Well - are you competent enough to continue your work, or should I request another nurse?"

“No sir,” The woman answered, quietly - in a sort of daze from the man’s unusual reaction. Though she thought he was going to argue some more with her - he instead leaned back against the wall next to Heidi’s bed and continued to watch her in silence, as though he hadn’t questioned her skill at all.

Petra rolled her shoulders back, steeling herself to do the same thing she had done a million times. She would not let this man get to her twice.

After apologizing to the small girl, who merely gave a meek nod in response, Petra finished removing the old bandage from her cut. Once the wound had been cleaned and rebandaged - the nurse hurriedly made herself scarce, barely giving the girl's father a second glance.

When she had left the room, her face had been flushed and she had felt as though she was going to cry - but after hearing the taunts from her friends at the desk, thinking she had had some kind of flirtation with her patient's father, she instead turned to the next room and prepared herself to tend to her other patients.

“Earth to Petra?” Nifa’s voice brought her back to the present, something she was grateful for. Though it had been a long shift, at least it was finally over. “So, are you going to cover Krista for the rest of the week?”

Petra groaned once again. She had forgotten why she had spaced out for so long in the first place - they wanted her to take on the night shift for an additional two days.

"Hey!" Nifa chirped, crossing the small distance that separated her from Petra, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "The good thing is you'll get almost a full week off if you finish all your hours now!"

"Yeah - " Petra agreed reluctantly, though her voice held little excitement. "But what good are hours off if I'm too exhausted to enjoy them?"

"All you do is clean, you neat freak! Don't act like it's going to spoil a hot date or something!"

Nanaba chuckled at Nifa's words, also reaching to pick up her card and clock out. "You know, she's not wrong."

Petra blushed at their goading. “How would you know?”

Both girls looked at her dubiously,  their reaction causing Petra to blush an even deeper shade of red. Nifa shook her head, clucking her tongue in disappointment.

“I rest my case.”

“Oh, shove it!” Petra grabbed her bag from the floor, ready to leave the past 12-hour shift behind. “I’ll cover Krista’s damn shifts if it means I’ll get some time away from you weirdos next week.”

Nanaba rolled her eyes at Petra's dramatics, while Nifa simply laughed in response, also retrieving her bag from under the counter. Though both busied themselves by getting their stuff together to take home, neither missed the shameless smirk Petra sent over her shoulder.

“I guess this is the price one has to pay when they’ve been named the most satisfactory nurse on the ward.”

Now, this comment had both Nifa and Nanaba groaning, the girls rushing to catch up with Petra as she made her way to the stairwell.

-

The second day Petra was assigned to the Ackerman’s was just as strange as the first.

After getting a good 8-hour rest, the nurse entered the hospital with a renewed bounce in her step. The reason? She had pressed her uniform to perfection and had even pushed back her shoulder-length hair with a headband with not a hair out of place.

‘Let’s see what that man can find wrong with me now,’ Petra thought to herself as she clocked in for the day, only to be shocked by what she saw going on at Room 325 - Heidi Ackerman's room.

She could recognize the dark blue suits of the Military Police from a mile away.

Two men, one with long blonde hair and the other with a dark, crew cut, stood outside the girl's room, talking with Heidi's father. The men were speaking quietly to each other, the blonde one jotting down some notes onto a form he held in his hand.

It looked like a statement.

Not wanting to intrude, Petra double-checked Heidi's folder to make sure that she wasn't due for another dose of medication for another half an hour still. The day nurse had left several notes for the night nurse, describing the girl's progress. While she was still in a considerable amount of pain, her vitals had remained stable throughout the day. Now, the only thing they needed to worry about was the possibility of infection setting in at the sight of her would.

Petra made a mental note to remain extremely vigilant when it came to caring for the girl’s wound. The faster she healed, the faster she would be out of the ward.

'...and the faster her father could get the hell off of my floor.'  Petra thought to herself, jotting down a few quick notes of her own, before closing the file and picking up the next.

By the time Petra arrived at Heidi's room, the MP's were long gone and the girl was sleeping peacefully in bed.

Upon entering the room with a glass of cherry juice already in hand, Petra braced herself for a rude comment or a deadly stare - but was surprised when she found that she was not on the receiving end of one.

Mr. Ackerman was still dressed in the same clothes he had worn the day before, his hair styled still to perfection, yet a bit greasier from the lack of a good washing. While his gaze was cold as ever as it moved from his daughter's slumbering form to the nurse as she entered the room, it wasn't nearly as intimidating as it had been before.

The man just looked tired.

Still, he stood by the lone window in the room, leaning against the ledge as if it was the only thing keeping him on his feet. Petra spared a glance towards the only chair in the room by Heidi's bedside and noticed that the pillow and blanket that she had left for him last night were still neatly folded and waiting to be used.

He had never slept. He had never even sat.

Petra's mouth popped open in surprise as she stood in the doorway, glass in hand. She wanted to say something but found that every time she tried to get the words out, they got stuck in her throat.

"Don't wake her up." It was the first words she had heard out of his mouth since entering, his tone as deep as it had been the day before, but weaker from lack of rest. He almost didn't look so much annoyed, as he did exasperated. "She's had a long few hours and was just now able to fall asleep."

At his request, Petra felt conflicted.

"It's time for her medicine." The woman insisted, talking quietly as she approached the girl's bedside, placing the glass of cherry red liquid onto the side table. "I'm worried that if she doesn't take it soon, she may wake up in pain."

The man considered her words, staring at her for a few moments before letting his gaze drop to the sleeping five-year-old in the hospital bed. The fact that he was even chewing over her statement had Petra reeling. While the day before, he had been questioning her methods - now he was actually taking her seriously.

The man sighed, pushing himself off from the wall he was leaning against.

“Could you wait twenty minutes?”

The words were spoken quietly, yet for the first time, they held no underlying rudeness. He seemed genuine in his request, his gray eyes boring into her's as he waited for an answer.

Petra was beginning to feel as though she was experiencing whiplash on the receiving end of his mood swings.

It was only in that moment, when he was making such direct eye contact with her, that she began to notice the slight shake of his stature, almost as though a short burst of chills were beginning to overcome his body. The sight was so strange, that Petra felt herself nodding at the man's request before she had even had a chance to think it over.

"Uh - " The young woman stuttered, trying desperately to find her voice. "I guess that would be alright?"

The man gave her a short nod of appreciation, his lips pressed in a thin line as he seemed to consider whether to say something else. Instead of asking any more questions though, he breezed past the young nurse and began to make his way to the door - something that caught Petra's attention, considering he had not left his daughter's room the entire time during her shift before.

"Wait!" She called out in surprise, though the volume of her voice surprised her. The man gave her a sharp look as he glanced over at the still slumbering child. After watching the rise and fall of her chest for a few long moments - he switched his gaze back to her, annoyance evident in the twist of his features.

And just like that, the same man from the day before was back.

"What?" He asked, as though it wasn't unusual for him to leave his daughter's room. In most cases, it wouldn't be strange for her patient's parents to leave their child unattended while they went to find some food or refreshments in the hospital, but this man had never done that before.

‘Maybe that’s why he wants her to stay asleep…’ Petra thought to herself, as she tried to think of what else she could say without sounding too nosy.

“Where are you going?”

Nice one, Ral.

The man scoffed, as though he believed her question didn't deserve an answer. Without responding, he turned back to the door and placed his shaking hand on the knob.

But Petra was surprised when, before leaving the room, he quietly called back over his shoulder.

“Would you mind keeping an eye on her for me, real quick? There’s something I need to do.”

Not waiting for her answer, the man was out the door before Petra's brain could even catch up to what he had been asking. However, when she realized what he had done, she found herself seething.

What did she look like - a babysitter?! She had other patients to be taking care of!

Though she knew that she had no real obligation to stay in Heidi’s room, there was something that had her sitting in the chair beside the bed, scooting the pillow and blankets out of the way to make herself more comfortable. She didn’t know what it was that kept her rooted in that spot, but she truly felt like she couldn’t leave the little girl.

A vision of the MP's quickly flashed through her mind.

It was that feeling of guilt that had her planted in the chair for the next twenty minutes - even though she had other patients to check on.

‘Oh well,’ Petra picked a piece of lint off the top sheet of the bed, watching the steady rise and fall of Heidi’s small chest. ‘What are they gonna do? Fire me?’

Just as Petra was fantasizing about all the things she could do if her boss truly did fire her - Mr. Ackerman returned to the room.

The first thing the young ginger noticed about the man was that he held a large white bag in his hand - one that seemed to be from the hospital's gift shop. The second thing she noticed was that he held a mug of what looked like some kind of tea in his other hand.

The third thing she noticed was that he reeked of smoke. With this knowledge, Petra could feel her face heat up in annoyance.

Now the shaking of his body and hands made sense - he had been going through withdrawals.

“You left me in here to tend to your daughter while you went and had a smoke?” The nurse stood from her spot in the chair, quietly chastising the man as he walked through the door. “Don’t you know those things can kill you?”

After having gotten his fix of nicotine, the man was back to his usual pleasant self. Before Petra could even think of what else to say, his eyes flashed towards her in contempt.

"Don't you know how to mind your own business?"

At such a rude response, Petra threw caution to the wind, sick of the man's attitude. Not caring whether Heidi woke up at this point or not, she stormed over to the dark-haired man, pointing a single finger into his chest. At least the man had the nerve to look surprised.

“Listen here - “ Petra dug her finger further into his hard chest, the fabric of his white shirt wrinkling as she tapped him once more for good measure. “Your daughter is currently my patient, Mr. Ackerman. So yes, your health is a part of my business now. What I’d like to know is how you think you're going to take care of your child on nothing but cigarettes and tea? Did you even eat while you were gone?”

The man raised a brow at her tirade, still shocked at the fact that the small redhead had had the nerve to speak to him like that. He definitely wasn’t used to it.

"Well, did you?" She asked again, demanding an answer, sticking him in the chest with a finely manicured finger once more.

What the man did next, nearly floored the poor girl for what felt like the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. He smirked.

That damn infuriating smirk again!

Before she could repeat her question, the Survey Corps member grabbed the finger that was currently poking his chest, pushing her hand down while the infuriating smirk on his face only grew bigger.

"No," He said simply, as though he had not a care in the world. Petra could tell by the challenge in his eyes that he was eagerly waiting to see how she would respond.

Almost as though it was a game to him. Well, Petra was perfectly ready to play.

Pulling her hand out of his hold, the woman crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at him as he continued to smirk down at her. While he had shaken her the day before, she had become familiar enough with him to know that he only seemed to respond positively to her when she was actively challenging him.

What was he - a masochist?

“Lucky for you I have a wide array of crackers to offer you.” Petra smiled sweetly, watching as the man’s brows rose at the sound of her tone. “What would your flavor of choice be - cheese or peanut butter?”

“Neither, I - ,”

“Oh!” She cut him off, tapping him once again on the chest, knowing that this seemed to annoy him greatly just a few moments ago. “I’m sorry but ‘neither’ doesn’t seem to be a flavor - try again!”

The man's brows rose even higher at her continued teasing. "What if I'm allergic to peanut butter and cheese?"

Petra was anticipating such an answer, her arms once again crossing over her chest as she puffed it out with pride, knowing that this was an argument she had already won. "Then I guess I get to pick your poison."

They stared at each other in silence, neither intending to back down. Finally, the older Ackerman broke.

The man chuckled. Not a pity chuckle, either - but a real, amused chuckle. Though it may have been quiet, Petra couldn't conceal the pride that swelled up in her chest at having broken through at least one of the man's self-made barriers.

They didn't call her the best nurse for nothing!

"Alright, alright…" He finally conceded, no longer chuckling - but still keeping that mysterious smirk on his face. "I'll eat something, but no crackers."

Petra’s brow rose at this. “Why not? Isn’t that the most universal snack there is?”

“They’re too messy.”

The woman had to stop herself from giggling at the look of annoyance that passed over the man’s face. It seemed they at least had one thing in common - Petra absolutely hated a mess.

“An apple?”

The man shrugged noncommittally. Petra took this as confirmation that the fruit would do.

“Daddy?”

The feeble call from the bed had both of the adults turning, their eyes falling on the once slumbering girl who still lay propped up against the pillows. Though she had only said one word, Petra could tell from the look on her face that she had been woken from her sleep by some kind of pain.

The girl’s father hummed in response, acknowledging that he had heard her. Not wasting a moment and with a new pep in his step from his smoke break, the Survey Corps member approached his daughter’s bedside, placing his tea down by the glass of juice that still lay on the bedside table.

It was when the girl glanced over at the juice and then at the door, that she noticed the short nurse who was also now standing in her room. Petra liked to imagine that the girl’s face had lit up a bit at the sight of her, but she wasn’t foolish enough to think that it was anything other than the prospect of juice that had her glowing.

Heidi, much like her father though, surprised her.

"Hi, Miss Petra," The girl said in that sweet tone of her, her words still shy, but definitely more confident than from the night before. "Is it time for my medicine?"

Petra smiled in encouragement, joining the girl’s father at the side of her bed. “Yes, it is. Are you in any pain?”

Once again, the child looked up at her father - but, instead of waiting for some kind of input from him, she turned back to the nurse and answered for herself.

“Just a little.”

While her answer was not nearly as descriptive as Petra would have liked, the woman knew that this was probably the best she was going to get out of the child. With a tough-as-nails father by her side, the little girl was never going to give a true indication of how she was truly feeling. To do so would be to admit defeat in her eyes.

It was sad to an extent, but having grown up with a single dad herself - something she was assuming based on the fact that Petra had yet to see a mother stop by for a visit to Heidi's room - she knew how important it was to show them that their little girls were strong enough to handle themselves.

Petra’s respect for the precocious five-year-old just continued to grow as she spent more time with her.

After the nurse had given the girl her pills and had made sure that they went down easily, she reviewed Heidi’s vitals one more time before promising to return in the next hour.

Before she could make it out the door though, she turned to face the girl’s father one last time.

“I’ll be bringing you an apple, Mr. Ackerman,” She called back to him, watching as his gaze drifted upwards to meet her’s. “- and I’ll be expecting you to eat it.”

“Levi.”

The response was so quick and unexpected that it had Petra quieting immediately. Seeing the look of confusion written across her face, one side of the man's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. He sighed, shaking his head before closing his eyes in exasperation.

When he opened them again, there was a softer look there than there had been before.

“My name’s Levi. Stop it with that Mr. Ackerman stuff.”

Even Heidi chuckled from her place in the bed at the sound of such a formal name for her father. Once Petra had collected her wits, she gave a short nod in response.

"Levi, then."

Without wasting another second, the woman turned from the room - shutting the door close with more force than what she had intended to.

Her face was burning as she walked away from the room - and for the first time since she had been assigned to the patient in Room 325 - it wasn't from shame.

-

It was nearly an hour and a half later that she was finally able to return to Heidi’s room to check on the girl. With an apple in hand, the woman pushed open the door quietly, just in case the little girl had happened to fall back asleep.

The scene that lay before her, had her pausing in the open doorway in wonder.

Levi Ackerman was sitting. Not only was he sitting, but he was reading - and from a children’s book, nonetheless!

The white bag from earlier lay at his feet, the contents of it having been removed. While it had been puffed up quite large only an hour before, it now sat deflated on the cold tile of the hospital floor. Petra couldn't imagine that a few children's books from the gift shop would make a bag look that full, and she was right to assume that.

The reason the bag had looked so full was currently resting in the happy little hands of one Miss Heidi Ackerman in the form of a very large, stuffed teddy bear.

"Then Mr. Owl asked Mr. Bear if he could borrow a few - ," Petra listened to the smooth voice of the man who had nearly made her cry the day before, no rudeness left in his tone as he read to a very captive audience.

"Daddy, why would he ask to borrow something that he could never give back?' Heidi asked from her hospital bed, fully engaged in the story. Whether it was consciously or not, she hugged her bear a little tighter to herself as she turned onto her side to regard her father.

The man gave her a small, patient smile. "It's an expression, Heidi. Mr. Owl is going to eat the carrots, of course - so I'm sure hoping he's not planning on regurgitating them and giving them back to Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear is letting Mr. Owl have something without the guarantee of ever receiving it back or something in return."

“Then it’s not borrowing.”

Her father shrugged, his eyes turning back to the page in front of him. "Not really, I guess."

Before the man could pick up where he'd left off - Heidi cut him off once more.

“Daddy, I don’t think owls actually eat carrots.”

“Are you going to let me finish the story, brat?” The man gazed at her over the top of the book, annoyance creeping into his tone after having been interrupted for the second time. “Or do I need to read from the dictionary in order to please you?”

While Petra had been shocked when he had referred to his daughter as "brat" the night before, she would have to be deaf to not hear the endearment that lay hidden in his tone. He said it so gently - as though it was meant as an affectionate tease more than an insult.

Heidi certainly wasn’t offended by it if her sweet little laugh was any indication of how she was feeling.

“Daddy!” She whined, hugging her bear even tighter. “No dictionary! I want animal stories!”

“Then sit back and enjoy the damn book, instead of overanalyzing everything.”

Heidi’s eyes widened in shock, her small mouth forming an ‘o’ at her father’s choice of words. “Daddy, you swore.”

The man twisted his lips, trying his best to hide his face behind the children's book that he held in his hands.

“I heard you! You’re going to have to put change in the swear jar at home!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Heidi smiled brightly at her father. "Nuh-uh, it's a deal! I'm going to be rich!"

“Heidi,” Levi raised one dark brow towards the girl, his tone darkening with warning as she continued to get louder. “You need to be quiet.”

At her father’s admonishment, the child’s face fell, her bright smile falling swiftly off her features. Petra made a movement to jump in - anything to bring that sweet expression back to the darling girl’s face - but was stopped by the man’s voice chiming in once again.

“ - and besides, you only have two dollars. That’s barely enough to call yourself rich.”

While most children would have balked at Levi's use of blunt humor, Heidi - who must have been used to it by now -  began to giggle once more, the bright smile from just moments before, returning to her face. Petra was even surprised to find that the man was wearing one of his own now.

"It's almost enough to buy a chocolate bar." Heidi insisted as if the candy was the most precious thing in the world.

Petra had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from laughing out loud. From her spot in the doorway, the nurse's shoulders trembled in quiet amusement. This little girl was something else - and, from what she had seen over the past few minutes, so was her father.

"Now you see, Miss Ral?" The question had her pausing mid-shake, her amusement slowly fading now that she had been caught. "I told you sweets would be her downfall."

Petra could feel her cheeks heating up. She had just been caught eavesdropping - how unprofessional could she be?

Opening the door all the way, the woman stepped fully into the room, apple still in hand. While Heidi certainly seemed to quiet as the woman entered the room, the smile on her face did not fade.

While she had thought the older Ackerman would look at her in contempt for having the gall to eavesdrop on him, during what she would call a very intimate family moment, he instead looked over at her with a slight quirk in his brow.

“ - and eavesdropping will be yours.”

Without saying another word, the man placed the children’s book on top of the bedside table, where Petra could now see an entire stack had been laid. Next to it, a small cat plush sat, almost as though watching over the mountain of books that now stood beside it. Before the nurse could make any comments in regards to his gift shop purchases, the man stuck out his hand.

Petra just stared at him in confusion.

Levi gave her a less than impressed look. “My apple, Miss Ral?”

If Petra had thought her face had been burning before, it was nothing compared to now.

-

A few hours passed uneventfully in the pediatric ward. That was one thing Petra had always enjoyed about the night shift - there was a certain calm in the air that seemed to hang over the 3rd floor of the hospital. A child would cry out in pain, only to be shushed a few moments later by comfort or medicine - or a buzzer would go off, signaling that someone needed assistance.

Other than that, the ward pretty much always stayed quiet in the late night to early morning hours of the day and Room 325 was no exception to this.

Heidi was snoozing peacefully as Petra made her rounds once again to check on the girl. After having received her last dose of medication until morning, the girl had lost her battle against sleep. She had fought valiantly - wanting to stay up and continue listening to the stories being told by her father - but after several hours and retellings of the same stories over and over, she was finally out for the night.

While Petra hated to disturb the girl's sleep, it was pertinent that she clean her wound every few hours to keep the infection from setting in. Though the girl was already taking oral antibiotics, the nurse knew that it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to wounds.

In an attempt to be as stealthy as possible, Petra quietly entered the dimly lit room of Heidi Ackerman, careful not to make any noise as she closed the door behind her.

Giving her eyes time to adjust to the lack of lighting in the room, Petra squinted while looking over at the chair.

There sat Levi, bloody clothes and all, by his daughter's bed and still wide awake despite his obvious exhaustion. Petra had given up hours ago on telling him to get some sleep, learning quickly that even without an injured child the man was a terrible insomniac.

However, she couldn't help but be concerned when it came to the man's state of mind. How on earth was he supposed to tend to his child when he wasn't willing to rest himself?

"Oi, stop lurking in the doorway." A ragged voice called from the chair, his eyes never drifting from Heidi's face. Even without looking, he seemed to just know she was there. it must have been a Survey Corps thing. “She’s out for the night, so there’s no need to sneak around as if the smallest noise is going to wake her up.”

Petra blushed at the call-out, stepping fully into the dim light of the room, her expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to change her bandages."

The man grunted in acknowledgment, shrugging his shoulders. "It can't be helped. Several more hours of reading from 'Mr. Owl's Adventures' sounds like a decent penance to me."

Though Petra found herself chuckling at the man's dry wit, she couldn't help but notice the strain in his voice that spoke of some underlying guilt she was not privy to. Trying to lighten the mood, she moved closer to Heidi's bedside, bandages already in hand and a soft smile on her features.

"Count yourself lucky," The woman bristled, reaching into her pocket for a disinfectant wipe. "You could be changing dirty bandages and bedpans for the rest of the night. I think I would choose Mr. Owl over that, any day."

While she hadn't expected the man to laugh at her remark, she wasn't expecting him to sober so quickly either.

He watched as she placed the packet of disinfectant wipes down on the table, her hands moving to the bandages to ready them for placement. The night before, she had found his gaze unnerving - now, however, he seemed to be pondering her actions more than looking for something that she was doing wrong.

“Could you show me how to change her bandages?”

Petra couldn't hide the shock that flooded her features at the quiet request. The words were spoken so softly that she questioned whether she had even heard them.

“Huh?” She heard herself ask, pausing mid-action.

Levi's face held its usual passive expression - but, when Petra looked closely, she could see the skin of his neck turning red underneath the hairs of his undercut.

The man was blushing.

Petra had little time to be amazed before he was speaking again.

"I tried watching you last night and when the nurse did it this morning," The man confessed, his voice tight as though he felt ashamed for admitting it. "But I want to make sure I know how to do it right since I'm the one who's going to be doing it at home."

Suddenly, his attentiveness to her actions during her prior shift made a lot more sense.

While she had thought he had been watching her closely to see if she made any mistakes while changing Heidi's bandages, he was really just trying to learn how to do it himself. So the reason he must have been so grouchy when she had made that one mistake, was because he was frustrated not only with her but with himself for having to seek out someone's help.

Man, she had misjudged him terribly in that moment.

Knowing that it was hard for the man to admit he needed guidance - Petra gave him a small but encouraging smile.

"I can show you," The woman gestured for him to come closer to the bed so that he could see better. "This is the perfect time, actually since I'm going to be doing it really slow, so that we don't wake her."

Petra tried to calm the furious beating of her heart as the man rose from his chair and made his way over to her side. This was the closest she had ever been to him, even closer than when she had gotten up in his face earlier. From this vantage point, she could see the dark stubble that now lined his cheeks and the puffy bags that seemed to permanently reside under his eyes.

The man was starting to look a bit ragged. However, no amount of exhaustion could dull the look of determination in his eyes.

Petra took her time, carefully peeling back the bandages that sat across Heidi's abdomen. Levi watched closely as she worked her finger under the sticky material at a particularly irritated patch of skin. While Heidi mumbled a few incoherent words in her sleep and turned her head to the side in agitation, she remained unconscious as Petra continued to work on her wound.

The nurse quietly explained proper wound care, as she cleaned around the stitches that lay on the girl's stomach. Levi nodded in acknowledgment to each of her points, his steely gaze never leaving her hands.

The whole process took about ten minutes, much longer than usual, but Petra felt like it had taken a hundred years.

The man was just so close and it was distracting.

Despite being flustered by his proximity and rapt attention, Petra was able to successfully clean and re-bandage the wound.

She ripped the end of the last piece of tape needed for the girl's skin, gently patting it down with soft pressing motions. "So, that's all there is to it."

Levi nodded, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to internalize everything he had just seen.

It struck Petra as odd that he needed such guidance from her when his line of work surely included some bumps and nicks over time. Almost as if he could guess her train of thought, the man answered her unspoken question.

"I've had to treat my own wounds before," He admitted quietly, eyes glued to the area of Heidi's stomach where her injury lay. " - but I've never had to treat a child's. I just want to make sure I do it right."

Petra gave him a sympathetic smile, placing the roll of tape back on the table. "It really isn't that much different from dressing your own wounds."

Levi's eyes darkened at her words, his tone shifting. "It is different."

The young woman watched as the man's eyes drifted back up to Heidi's peaceful face, her small pink lips opened in an 'o' as little breaths escaped between them. From a hardened gaze, the Survey Corps member's eyes softened at the sight of his slumbering daughter.

“What happened?”

Petra didn't know what had come over her, but at the man's words and expression, she couldn't help but speak out of curiosity. While the girl's file had said she had been cut by a blade that had been laced with poison, it hadn't said any more than that. She figured that Heidi had been caught up in a crossfire, but she couldn't be too sure.

She wanted to know what had caused her patient so much pain - and she also wanted to know what it was that was causing the girl's father so much guilt.

Petra had not expected much in ways of a response, figuring that the man would tell her to mind her own business. She was surprised when, instead of snapping at her in anger, Levi sighed and crossed his arms over his chest in defeat. She could see his reluctance to share in the rigid way he stood, but could also see in the way he rolled his lips inwards, that there was a part of him that wanted to tell someone what happened.

"They broke into my home when it wasn't there." The man admitted quietly, a quick rush of breath leaving him as he resigned himself to share with Petra the details behind the incident. "Heidi knows not to open the door to strangers, so when they came knocking, she hid - but they knew she was there. They had been watching."

"The Titans?" Petra asked in a whisper. Levi nodded.

"I've always known that I was a big target for them - almost as big as Erwin himself - but I never thought they would go after my own daughter." Levi released a dark chuckle at this, closing his eyes in disbelief. 'I can't believe my stupidity. The Titans have cut down families before, I don't know what made me think that mine would be any different."

The man sighed, his eyes cutting back to his daughter’s face. “One of my men had heard through our line of communication that The Titans were planning on laying siege to my house - however, it had been kept under wraps for as long as possible to keep the plan from getting back to me.”

Levi's face darkened, his thin lips pressing together as his eyes took on a faraway look - like he was being transported back in time.

"Unlucky for them," The man continued, his tone growing terser as time went on. "I found out and was able to intercept the attack."

Petra watched as the man’s focus drew back to the present, his steely gaze never leaving his daughter. “But not before Heidi could get hurt.”

Levi ran a single hand through his hair, the action causing the arm of his jacket to rise and the ‘Wings of Freedom’ tattoo to be exposed.

"There were six of them at the house," Levi admitted, not even pausing when this information called forth a gasp from Petra. "I cut down every single one of them."

At the dark look on his face, the nurse could feel herself gulp in fear. The same intimidating man whom she had encountered the night before during her first shift was suddenly making an appearance once again. His behavior - however, made more sense now. He had been reticent and ready to snap, not just because his daughter had been injured, but because he had just murdered six men.

Petra also realized that the blood that lay splattered across the man’s white shirt was, more than likely, not just Heidi's. While the news had Petra suppressing a shiver, she didn't interrupt him as he continued with his story.

"When I realized the blade had been laced with poison, I rushed Heidi here." He glanced over at her now, his gaze watching her carefully as he analyzed her reaction. "Then a few hours later, we met you."

Petra didn't know what to say - half of her had expected the story to be something like that, but also half of her wishing it hadn't. She was outright conflicted.

"She had been alone?" She heard herself ask through the whooshing in her ears. Her head was spinning from all the new information.

Levi nodded. "I can't afford to send her anywhere. She's always alone."

Though Petra tried to hide her surprise, she couldn't conceal it quick enough for his all-seeing eyes.

"She has no mother." Levi admitted though Petra had deduced as much. "The woman dropped her off on my doorstep years ago without so much as a word - so I'm all she has."

"That's horrible." While it was an understatement, to be sure, it was all Petra could think of in response. At least it was able to draw a dry chuckle from the man.

“I guess you could say that.”

Not knowing how to dispel the tension that currently lay in the air, Petra turned to continue cleaning up the used bandages from the side table, disposing of them in the trash while she continued to think of what to say.

Noticing her unease, Levi sighed. "I didn't tell you all of this to make you feel awkward. You did ask, you know?"

"I don't feel awkward!" Petra insisted although she knew it was a fib. She rolled up the gauze that she had neglected to use while trying to choose her words carefully. "I'm just not sure what to say."

"You don't have to say anything,"  The man said, walking back around to the other side of the bed. His eyes drifted to the children's books that lay stacked on the side of the bed. "It's the ways things are and the way they will always be. All I can do is ensure that none of my decisions from here on out will infringe on her safety.'

Petra nodded. “I guess you're right.”

The room was quiet as Petra continued to bustle about. She fluffed Heidi's pillows a few more times, before reviewing the young girl's vitals. She didn't know what it was, but despite the tense atmosphere that lay heavy over the room, she really didn't want to leave.

No matter what she wanted though, she knew she had other patients to see.

Before she left, a thought came to her as she reached for the handle on the door. She remembered at the start of her shift that Levi had only taken leave of his daughter's room when Petra was guaranteed to be there and keep watch. The circumstance had Petra pausing.

Was that why he hadn’t bothered to go home and change yet?

Petra could see that the man needed a good shower and a fresh pair of clothes - but, after hearing about what happened, she highly doubted he was willing to leave the hospital while his daughter was still in such a vulnerable state.

She didn’t know what came over her, but suddenly she was speaking.

“I get off in a few hours. Do you want me to sit with Heidi while you go home and change?”

Her offer caused the man to turn his head, his eyes gazing at her warily. “I couldn’t ask you to do that. I know you probably need your rest.”

Petra shook her head. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t willing.”

"I couldn't -,"

"No offense," Petra finally said, her arms crossing over her chest in an act of defiance. " - but you are starting to look rough.”

This caused one side of the man’s mouth to quirk up. “I’m just now starting to? I thought surely when I walked in covered in blood yesterday that I looked about as rough as I could.”

“Well, then I guess you’ve been proven wrong.”

Levi shook his head. “I’m not leaving. Besides, I have nowhere to go. My home is a crime scene, remember?”

"You can use my apartment." The words had left Petra's mouth before she even had time to think. At the suggestion, she could feel her face heating up, but she continued speaking anyway. "Go at least take a shower - please."

This had the man's brows raising to his hairline.

"You would let a man who just murdered six people take a shower in your home?"

Petra shrugged. “Yeah, I mean as long as you promise not to mess with anything.”

“You’re damned crazy.”

"Yeah, maybe," Petra conceded, but her arms still crossed tightly over her chest. "But it's better than being stinky. I'm going to get a shirt from the lost and found for you to take. My shift is over in three hours, so try to at least get some rest before it's my turn to watch Heidi."

Without waiting for a response, Petra exited the room in a flurry of white fabric and frazzled nerves, missing the smirk that followed her actions as she hurriedly exited through the door.

- True to her word, Petra had returned to Heidi's room after clocking out. The woman handed the older Ackerman a piece of paper with her address, a key, and a plain white t-shirt - before practically pushing him out of the room.

Not allowing any chance of negotiation, Petra slammed the door behind him, fighting the urge to actually lock it.

Now fully awake, Heidi giggled at the sight of the young woman bossing her otherwise intimidating father around. The sound had Petra smiling, too. Though she was tired, she was looking forward to spending a bit of downtime with the girl.

During the hour and a half that Levi was gone, Petra learned many things about Miss Heidi Ackerman.

She was born in late September and couldn't wait for the Summer to be over so that she could finally be six. Her favorite thing to learn about was animals - hence, why her father always bought her stories with animal characters rather than humans. She had named the big teddy bear her father had gotten her, Felix, after a cat character with the same name that existed in one of the storybooks her dad had once read to her.

While it wasn’t new information, Petra was struck once again by how intelligent the little girl was.

Heidi shared with her the process of her daily routine - how she woke up in the morning to find a bowl of cereal already sitting ready for her at the table. Though her father was usually gone by this time, he always left a note telling her what time he would be home and reminded her to never open the door to strangers. After reading the note, she would do a few chores around the house - she loved sweeping - and even had her own little broom that matched her father's so that on the weekends they could clean the floors together.

While Petra imagined such an existence would be a sad one - being all alone in a house all day, especially, at such a young age - Heidi didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

"When Daddy gets home in the afternoon, he always cooks me something yummy for dinner," Heidi's voice held all the wonderment of a child, who was properly spoiled by her father. "Uncle Erwin even sometimes comes over and eats with us. He can toss me up in the air really high! Higher than Daddy!"

Petra found herself chuckling at this. “Oh, really?”

Heidi nodded excitedly, her cheeks flushed from the conversation and probably what was still a bit of residual pain. Despite this, she continued chatting as though she couldn't be bothered.

Petra felt her heart warm as the girl slowly began to open up more and more to her - remembering how quiet she had been during the first time she had attended to her.

It was as though the child that sat before her now was a completely different person from the one before. While she could probably blame some of that on the young girl's injury - a bigger portion of it was just that it probably took the girl time to warm up to people.

‘Much like her father,’ Petra supposed.

By the time Levi returned, both his daughter and the nurse were sat up in the hospital bed, the scene causing him to pause in the doorway.

Petra had sat herself behind Heidi, allowing the girl to lean back on her legs and chest in a reclining position. The nurse’s hands were working through the girl’s hair, her deft fingers twirling the long dark strands into a simple braid.

“I’ve always wanted a braid!” Heidi shared, squeezing her bear close to her chest. “I’m so excited! I hope it looks pretty.”

“Oh, it looks very pretty," Petra insisted, her light, chestnut eyes finally drifting towards the man that stood in the door. Her lips quirked up in a small smirk. "Doesn't it, Mr. Levi?"

Fighting the urge to groan at the use of mister before his name, the man closed the door to the hallway behind him before stepping fully into the room. "Oh yes - very pretty."

At his insistence, Heidi giggled - her little cheeks flushed now from the compliments.

Once the girl was situated back on her pillows - chatting with her bear about all the hairstyles she'd like to try to learn to do in the future - Petra turned to Heidi's dad, giving him a smile of appreciation.

Instead of wearing the t-shirt she had retrieved from him, he was wearing a dark blue one with the hospital logo that they sold in the gift shop. The woman had to smirk when she saw that.

"What are you -  a germaphobe?" She couldn't help but ask, remembering the wary look he had had on his face when she had handed the used t-shirt over. Though she couldn't blame him, being very particular about things like that herself, she couldn't hold back a laugh.

Levi shrugged. “Sure, let’s go with that.”

They stood there for a few silent beats, the only sound between them being that of Heidi's quiet voice as she chatted to Felix, the teddy bear. Finally, Levi pulled his hand out of his pocket, her key shining in his hand.

Petra held out her hand to receive it.

"Thank you for your hospitality." The man drawled, placing the object in the middle of her palm, a smirk teasing the corner of his lips. "Your lodgings were adequate enough, I guess."

After having heard from Heidi herself in the past hour of how her dad was a self-proclaimed 'clean freak' - the woman was not surprised at such a comment. In fact, knowing what she did now, it made her quietly chuckle.

“I’m glad.”

Petra called over her shoulder to Heidi that she would be back on the night shift in just a few hours, the girl happily waved at her as the woman made her way to the door. Knowing that she only had one more 12-hour shift for the week, the young nurse moved with a slight bounce in her step.

The realization that she probably only had one more night to spend with Heidi and her father had her pausing though.

Shaking her head, she attempted to rid her mind of the thought. She wasn't one to get attached to her patients and she definitely wouldn't start now.

Still, there was something in her heart that tugged every time she thought of Heidi’s sweet little face. Not only that, but the tug worsened every time she thought of Levi’s.

‘I need some sleep,’ She lamented to herself as she continued her way down the stairs.

Yes, sleep was all she needed.

-

Upon arriving on the 3rd floor for her fourth shift of the week, but third with Heidi, Petra was surprised to see the one and only, Erwin Smith exiting the room of her favorite patient.

She guessed she shouldn't be surprised by the appearance of the blonde man - given how much Heidi talked about him - however, what did surprise her was the grave expression present on his features. While not one to fear the worst, the furrow between his brows and the thin line of his lips had her heart sinking, just a bit.

After confirming with the day nurse that nothing had changed in Heidi's condition, Petra was able to breathe easier. Apparently, in the last hour, Dr. Shadis had even cleared the girl to return home whenever she pleased - however, both the Commander and Levi had convinced the doctor to extend her hospital stay by one day.

The day nurse said she had no idea what the reasoning was behind it but Petra had a good idea.

‘My home is a crime scene.’ Levi had said earlier in response to her pressures for him to go home and shower. The truth of the matter was, Petra feared that neither Levi nor Heidi had anywhere to go.

With that in mind, she entered the girl's room for her first round of medication with a slight hesitance in her gait.

Whatever nerves she had been feeling though dissipated at the sight of Heidi's joyful face.

"Miss Petra!" The girl exclaimed from her place in bed, arms wrapped around her teddy bear and now a large monkey plushie too. "Look what Uncle Erwin brought me!"

The woman was about to respond when a sort of grumbling coming from the direction of the chair caught her attention. Levi had his chin in his hand, his eyes glaring at the plush kitty that still sat on the bedside table untouched. Petra could see a hint of jealousy in his actions.

Dare she call it - adorable?

Though his mutterings weren't all that caught the woman's attention. The man had a whole new change of clothes on, the hospital t-shirt now stuffed away in the white bag that lay by his feet.

The commander must have brought him an extra pair of clothes.

Realizing that she hadn't ever answered Heidi's cheer, Petra smiled at the child who lay in the hospital bed. "Well isn't that a lovely surprise?"

Heidi nodded excitedly, hugging her plushies closer to her. “I think I’m going to name him Beast.”

"That's a lovely name," The nurse agreed, laughing quietly as she watched the girl's father roll his eyes. Despite the current levity in the atmosphere, the woman knew she wasn't going to be able to keep her mouth shut much longer.

Placing the cup of juice she had brought with her down on the bedside table, she busied herself preparing Heidi’s medication as she thought of how to brooch the topic.

“So, I heard Heidi’s been cleared to return home?”

Levi was silent for a moment, but she soon heard a grunt behind her. “It would appear that way.”

“I heard Dr. Shadis approved her for one more night in our care?”

Levi hummed in response, not saying anything more as the woman continued to arrange the pills. Her hands paused as she got to Heidi’s sleep medication.

“Will you be staying with Commander Erwin?”

At her question, the man remained silent - watching as Petra assisted Heidi with taking her pills. Always a brave patient, the girl barely grimaced as the nasty medication tumbled down her throat. When it was all over, the five-year-old simply laid back on her pillows, picking up right where she left off with her two stuffed animals.

It took Levi so long to respond that Petra figured he wouldn't say anything more on the subject - however, his quiet answer came soon enough, a sort of bitterness in his tone.

"No, we can't," He spat out, a rare show of his old reticence shining through. Petra could tell that it wasn't directed at her, though - it was more so in response to the situation. "Erwin thinks it's a bad idea for us to stay with anyone who's a part of the Survey Corps. If they had my address, who's to say they don't have any others?"

Petra had guessed this was the case by the way Commander Erwin had looked upon leaving the room. It was the look of a man who was used to solving problems, who just couldn't seem to solve this one.

Levi continued, missing the pensive look that settled across Petra's features. "He's trying to find somewhere cheap that we could stay, but at the end of the day, the Corps don't receive much funding. I barely make enough to pay for the place we have now and I'm still going to have to pay for it until my lease is up."

“You don’t think you’ll be able to go back after everything is cleaned up?” Petra asked, the wheels still turning in her head. Levi released a dry chuckle at the suggestion.

"I'm not going to make the brat stay in a home where she was almost killed. I may be a monster, but even I have more compassion than that." He spoke quietly, aware that Heidi was still very much awake and able to hear their conversation.

"There's no one you could reach out to and stay with?"

Levi laughed bitterly, once again. "The only people I know are either a part of the Survey Corps or thugs themselves, my options are pretty slim."

Petra nodded, quietly mulling over his words.

After a few moments, she made the offer she had entered the room willing to make.

“Why don’t you stay with me?”

Levi's brows rose, a look of mild shock commanding his features. Feeling uneasy from his reaction, Petra began to ramble in order to fill the awkward silence.

“I mean -,” She cleared her throat, hating how the words had come out as a mere squeak. “You said my lodgings were adequate, right?”

"Well, yes. But -,"

"I certainly wouldn't mind it - and you wouldn't have to pay me rent or anything! All I would need is maybe a little bit of money for groceries since I barely have any - and - uh - and I'm barely home anyway since I work so much, so it would probably be just like living alone!" The words left Petra in a rush, her brain working faster than her mouth as she tried to convince him that this option wouldn't be so bad. "I'm a pretty clean person, so you wouldn't have to worry about -,"

“Could you shut your damn mouth for a second?!”

The low growl of his voice had Petra pausing mid-ramble, her mouth hanging open as the man in the chair cleared his throat, in an attempt to get emotions back under control.

When he spoke again, his tone was even, incredulity evident in his words. "You really expect me to accept such charity?"

Petra closed her mouth, shrugging meekly. “I mean, do you have any other options?”

"Yeah, the street." The nurse found herself rolling her eyes at his words.

"What happened to not allowing any danger to fall upon your daughter again?" Petra asked, remembering their conversation from before. While the man's eyes flashed in anger at her implication, the woman didn't stop there. "Do you really think the safest place for your daughter currently is on the streets?”

The man was silent again.

“I can’t pay you.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“I hate charity.”

"This isn't charity." Petra insisted, meeting his steely gaze with one of her own. "I'm honestly being selfish. I don't think I could sleep at night knowing that the two of you ended up on the streets when I could have helped.'

“Why would you do that for people you barely know?”

"I don't know," Petra answered, honestly - her eyes drifting to where Heidi lay still unaware of the serious conversation taking place next to her. "But something inside of me is telling me that it's the right thing to do."

Levi stared at her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"So you would offer up your home to two strangers just because your heart is telling you to?”

While his comment was snide, Petra refused to back down. "And you would offer up your life to a cause that will most likely get you killed in the end? It seems like neither of us is very responsible when it comes to where our hearts lie."

The man couldn’t argue with that.

The room descended into a suffocating silence for a few moments, before Levi spoke again.

"What about Heidi?" He asked. "She stays home alone all day. Are you okay with a child residing by themselves in your apartment?"

"Not really," Petra admitted, though she had already thought about this. "But my friend who lives down the hall runs a daycare out of her home. I'm sure if I explained the circumstances, she would be willing to make an exception and let Heidi stay with her when you or I can't be at home."

Levi sighed, realizing she had thought this out a lot more than he had expected. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”

“Nope.” Petra smiled brightly, knowing that he was close to admitting defeat.

The man looked once more towards his daughter, who was now rubbing her tired eyes as she tried to win the battle against sleep.

“Fine.” He begrudgingly agreed, refusing to make eye contact with the now ecstatic ginger.

"Perfect!" The woman nearly exclaimed with glee - however, she kept her reaction quiet, aware of the presence of Heidi who was almost in the throes of sleep. "Leave all the planning to me. Heidi was cleared to stay one more night - so, once I finish my shift, I'll go home and get everything prepared for her discharge tomorrow afternoon."

Levi nodded, still not exactly happy about the situation.

"Don't think you're going to be able to stand around and mope, either," Petra warned, pulling the blanket up higher on Heidi's chest, the girl finally losing the battle against her eyelids. "I'm doing this because I want to, so I won't have you feeling guilty.

Levi shook his head, a smirk appearing on his features. "You're crazy."

"Maybe," Petra shrugged.

After picking up the empty glass of juice from the girl's bedside, Petra decided to take her leave, ready to attend to her other patients.

Before leaving the room, she turned back towards Levi, still sat in the chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"We're going to figure this out," Petra assured him as she exited the room, smiling as he turned his face towards her - a look of apprehension on his features. "You, me, and Heidi - it'll work, I promise."

Though his answering smirk was tired, Petra could see that maybe - just maybe - he was starting to believe her.

[baeklooming-day]

April Breeze | Baekhyun

Lines 2. "Hey, hey, calm down. They can't hurt you anymore." and 43. "I feel like I can't breathe."

Summary: There is this boy who is too shy, but also too in love with you to not try to get your attention. Even if it means forgetting how to breathe.

Feat. wingman bff Chanyeol

Genre: Good boy!AU, Bad girl!AU, fluffish fluff, extremely shy Baek

Word count: 1.8k

A/N: This is probably the most innocent Baek I have ever written oml

"Look, it's Y/N."

"Y/N is so beautiful. I wish I looked like that."

"Yeah, because only her looks are good, her personality leaves a lot to wish for."

"Be quiet! She will hear you."

"So what?"

"The last person who royally pissed her off ended up with an almost broken nose."

"Seriously, why is she even so popular..."

You walked through the school hallway, pretending to not hear any of the comments the other students present there were making about you.

It actually always amused you to be honest, them thinking that you couldn't really hear their whispering whilst you were passing by.

Little did they know, you had a remarkable hearing sense.

But even despite that, some of them weren't particularly trying to keep their comments quiet, so you would be able to hear them nonetheless even if your ears weren't that good to tell the truth.

Still, for some reason they were thinking that their voices couldn't reach you.

Well. Not that what people were thinking and saying about you was something that you considered particularly important anyway.

You tugged your soft hair behind your ear, revealing a dangling long earring made of pearls, a noticeable piece of jewelry which you liked wearing the most.

As you approached your locker to take a book for your next class, you noticed a little note being glued to it.

A little note, this time the paper was in a shape of a heart and in a pastel pink color.

This time, because it was what felt like the thousandth note in that April which you found on your locker.

»You are beautiful«, the note said.

You smiled involuntarily. At the beginning you completely ignored it not taking any of these seriously, but with time as the notes kept appearing with always sweeter messages, you were slowly starting to wonder who was hiding behind them.

Of course only out of simple curiosity.

You gently peeled the note off of your locker and threw it in your bag, taking your book and walking away in the direction of your classroom.

You did it all automatically, not being aware of your surroundings, or more like of WHO was in your surroundings in that moment.

If only you paid a little attention to your right, you would have noticed a boy in a pastel yellow hoodie, pretending to look for something in his own locker, whilst in reality he was trying to stop himself from blushing madly and see your reaction all at the same time.

You disappeared way too quickly for him to properly look at you, leaving him with only a sight of your back when you walked away with your book.

His dreamy brown eyes followed your figure, slowly disappearing in the distance of the hallway.

Just when you disappeared completely behind the next corner, the boy let out a sigh.

"I feel like I can't breathe."

"Ya, Baekhyun, do you need some fresh air? Seriously, you have been in love with Y/N for what feels like forever, it would be about time to make her aware of your existence." Said a loud deep voice.

Baekhyun, who was still looking like a human resemblance of a tomato with his flaming cheeks, looked at his friend who appeared next to him with pain in his eyes. "Listen Chanyeol, not everyone is so outgoing like you."

Chanyeol gave him a disapproving look. "But leaving her your love notes everyday, sure." He paused. "Is it because of what happened on Valentines Day this year?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Baekhyun said, finally closing his locker.

He didn't want to either talk or let alone think about what happened back then, when thinking that he finally found the courage to talk to you in person and ask you to be his valentine, scarlet roses in his hand each one of them with a love note attached to it with an equally scarlet ribbon, that one popular and extremely mean boy from your parallel class who had a big crush on you somehow found out his plan.

In conclusion, the roses which were supposed to be given to you disappeared in mysterious circumstances during the lunch break, whilst Baekhyun himself ended up shivering outside in the cold winter air, completely soaked in ice cold water which had been poured right on him from the window, it wasn't even necessary contemplating who thought of doing this.

Ever since then, he decided that it would be better to just admire you from afar, seeing that his actions were attracting everyone else's attention but yours.

That decision lasted only for so long though, when during the following months he found himself helplessly falling even more for you, finally starting to stick little love notes to your locker, hoping for not even knowing what.

"Look, of course I wouldn't love anything more than Y/N somehow noticing me... But I don't want to have all that delinquent squad from class one after me again." Baekhyun said.

"Hey, hey, calm down. They can't hurt you anymore." The taller boy reassuringly put his hand on his friend's shoulder. He paused for a moment, before cheerfully continuing. "Well, you know that I'm good friends with a dude who is friends with Y/N's brother and, you know, I just accidentally heard that she likes cherry blossoms and chocolate oat milk." He informed his friend with a knowing smile appearing on his face.

Baekhyun looked at him a little confused. "And why are you telling me that?" He asked.

"Well." Chanyeol smiled even wider now. "Having all this information and knowing that it's April and cherry trees are blooming, isn't it just the perfect position to FINALLY ask Y/N out on a date?"

"Um-"

"Of course it is! And YOU my dude, are going to use it!"

"I am?"

"Yes you are!" Chanyeol suddenly looked all serious. "Tomorrow it's Saturday, and now you have a free period, so that leaves you with about forty five minutes until Y/N comes back from her class." He quickly glanced at the watch on his wrist. "I have to run to my practice now, but I believe in you!"

"What? Chanyeol-"

But before Baekhyun could say anything else, his tall friend was already leaving through the door.

Alone the thought about having your dazzling bright eyes looking at him made him forget how to breathe, but instead of covering his flaming cheeks and shaking it off, he pulled out a piece of paper from his bag, pausing for a moment to think before his hand started to scribble words on it on its own.

The time flew unexpectedly quickly, but you were more than grateful for that, given that all you dreamed of doing right now was to leave those books in your locker and make yourself on your long awaited way home.

You approached the lockers, immediately noticing a new note being glued to yours.

You put your bag on the ground, taking the note off and reading the words written on it.

»All the cherry blossoms seem to be blooming just for you. But you are the loveliest of them all. When I see you it's like an April breeze.«

You would never admit it, but sometimes even something as simple and cheesy as that could leave some effect on you.

You smiled to yourself.

"Who the freak could you be" You said.

"Do you want to know?" Asked a sweet voice, coming right from behind you.

You immediately turned around, being met with a sight of a boy in a pastel yellow hoodie, nervously fidgeting with a blue pen which he was holding in his hands.

It looked as if he had some visible difficulty looking you in the eyes, instead focusing on some random point on the lockers behind you.

His full cheeks were tinted always more and more in a dark blush, and when he finally met your eyes, all he managed to do was to open and close his mouth like a goldfish breathing underwater.

"I... um..." The boy stuttered. "I..."

"You?" You asked impatiently.

As you took a closer look at him, you were sure that you already spotted him somewhere around your school, however you couldn't link him to any particular class or to anyone you knew.

"I, well..."

"Are you alright? Why are you looking at me like that?" You asked a little bit concerned, given that he looked as if he was about to pass out right where he was standing.

The boy slid the pastel yellow hood off of his head, revealing his fluffy light hair. "Because, um..." He paused for a brief second. "When I see you it's like an April breeze." He said quietly.

It took you a moment to realize what he just said, looking at the love note in your hand and at his flushed face.

"It's you!" You exclaimed, making him almost jump in surprise at your sudden loud remark. "You are the one who has been leaving me all those notes the entire time!"

You observed the always present blush on his cheeks, taking the opportunity to acknowledge his cute face, with soft locks of light hair falling gently on his shy brown eyes.

No way that someone who wrote such beautiful words meant just for you, was now completely frozen and startled in your presence, not knowing what to say.

"What is your name?" You asked in a softer tone.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Baekhyun."

"Baekhyun." You repeated.

If only you knew what you were doing to him by saying his name, a thousand of butterflies dancing in his stomach and a pounding heart which was nearly exploding.

You already figured that he apparently was the super shy type, so instead of waiting for him to finally get to his point, you proceeded talking. "Did you want to ask me a question?"

Apparently your own question did something, noticing how he immediately straightened and tried to maintain the eye contact with you. "Yes. I have been meaning to ask you, if..." A brief pause again. "If you would like to watch blooming cherry trees with me?" The question was soft and quiet, but enough for you to hear it clearly.

"When?" You asked, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Tomorrow." He replied decisively. "Tomorrow at four."

"Alright. But under one condition." You said. "Give me your number."

"Wha-" He looked at you, flabbergasted. "Oh, yes, of course!"

The two of you took out your phones, giving them to one another to type in your numbers.

"Well, alright." You said, flashing him one of your rarest and brightest smiles, noticing how his cheeks went red all over again. "I will see you tomorrow, then." You tugged your hair behind your ear. "Baekhyun."

With that, you turned around and directed yourself to the exit, leaving the shy boy behind you with a pounding and jumping heart, sparkles glistening in his brown orbs.

And thinking that there you were, sure that all the shy boys were too afraid of talking to you.

You left the school building continuing to involuntarily smile to yourself, letting an unexplainable happy feeling consume you.

Sometimes things that you would never expect to happen, do happen in the least expected moments.

A/N: leave me your thoughts!! reblogs are always welcomed 💫

and also i really don't know what to think about this story myself lmao

[kayrogers]

to all the girls i've loved before ][ p.  parker

a tatbilb au

Paring(s): LJ!tom holland x PK!reader

Inspo: TATBILB cause Peter is a total soft boi and also I'm a slut for rom-coms

Word Count: 1700+

Warning(s): cursing and awkward kissing

Part: prologue | part ??

A/N: this has literally been a draft in my notes for like over a year, but college has been creatively hitting me in the stomach with a baseball bat so I only wanted to start it when I got a semi-break. Obvs updates will not be regular just like everything else I write because I am the worst, but I mean thanks in advance if ya read it!

‘ Dear [Y/n] [Y/l/n],

First of all, I refuse to call you [Y/l/n]. You think you’re so cool, going by your last name all the sudden. Just so you know, that only makes you one of the guys. That’s it.

Did you know that I didn’t stop thinking about our kiss every time I saw you in school for at least the rest of seventh grade? Sometimes I think you do. Because you always seem to know everything. And you always smile when you see me blushing like you know you’re the reason why. That’s what I hate about you. Because you do just know, or at least you act like it. You’re too cool to be bothered by anything, or be wrong EVER.

Well here are some things you don’t know that I think:

You swear all the time and say the grossest things. I’ve heard every dirty joke Flash has ever made, and you beat him without trying! And you just assume everyone will think it’s cute cause you’re a pretty girl and you curse. And if they don’t, who cares, right? Wrong! You care. You care a lot about what people think of you.

You always show us bugs you think are cool and it’s gross. That’s terrifying and I hate when you stick them in my face cause I’m grossed out. It’s rude.

You’re so good at everything. Too good. I have to try harder around the guys to be half as cool as you.

You kissed me for no reason! You knew Flash wanted to kiss you. Everyone knew that Flash wanted to kiss you. He made all of us spit-shake on not kissing you if we ended up in the closet for 7 minutes in heaven because he liked you. But you still did it. Why? I wanted my first kiss to be special, and with my future girlfriend. All romantic, you know? That’s what it was supposed to be. And it wasn’t any of that. Thanks to you it was the most un-special kiss it could be AND I got my ass kicked by Flash!

The stupidest part is, that kiss made me like you. I never did before. Didn’t think of you as anything but one of the guys. Flash has always said you’re the prettiest girl we know. And yeah, that’s true. But I still didn’t LIKE you. Missed the hook that every other guy was on in middle school. A lot of people are beautiful. Doesn’t make them interesting or intriguing or cool.

Is that why you kissed me? Cause I was the only one who wasn’t wrapped around your finger? Well it worked! Ever since then, I saw you. I mean really looked at you. Behind every scratch, bump, and bruise from whatever sport you were playing, I saw you. How you weren’t just beautiful, that word isn’t good enough. You just exist effortlessly.

And yes, I did go through the thesaurus for that adjective. You’re hard to describe, [Y/n].

After you kissed me, I liked you for the rest of seventh grade and almost all of eighth. It’s not easy watching you with Flash. It’s also not easy when he shoves it in my face all the time cause he doesn’t like me anymore. So thanks for that! But I get it, if I had you I wouldn’t be able to shut up about you either. You make him feel special. Because that’s what you do, right? You’re good at making people feel special.

But not me anymore. I haven’t really seen you over the past year. And any time I do, you’re with Flash. Your spell has worn off [Y/n] [Y/l/n]. I am proud to say that I am once again the only boy in school to not be hooked into you. All because I got too much of you at once and now I don’t think I’ll want to be under that spell ever again.

What a relief!

Peter Benjamin Parker ’

You felt your brows furrow, cheeks equally red from a shyness you hadn’t felt in years and slight anger. Clearly he wrote this years ago, but why send it now? Right after Flash cheated on you?!

Did he like you? Did he hate you? Why did you care? It was just Peter-fucking-Parker.

You purse your lip, placing the letter back on the desk. Your blood boiled, heart skipping a beat. Every single reaction in your body was opposing and you hated how much it affected you.

So what would be the best course of action? To act like it didn’t effect you at all. At least, that’s what you saw as the right decision. It’d be easy, just let Parker down and tell him you didn’t feel the same. Because maybe that’s what this was? Maybe Peter did fall back “under your spell” and now that you were finally single he had to tell you? That was the only idea which came to your mind anyways.

You looked over at your closet, eyes focusing on your favorite shirt. It was a white crew neck sweater decorated in the entomology of beetles, and you decided you would be wearing that to turn him down.

“Don’t like my bugs? Yeah okay, Dickhead.” You muttered and pulled the item out before forming the rest of the outfit which consisted of running shorts and sneakers. Classy, right?

You took a picture of the letter before folding it back up and placing it into the envelope. Why? Well not that you’d admit it, but you were never complimented like that before. And that part of the letter made you feel kinda nice actually. He paid attention to you back then, which could have been sweet once upon a time. Now? Now you didn’t know how to feel about it and that bothered you immensely. 

Later, in school, You mulled over how you would confront the boy. It was weird, really weird. You and Peter hadn’t really talked since middle school and the most the two of you interacted in high school was you apologizing for Flash being a dick to him about 24/7. And now he was apparently infatuated with you once and you had to tell him that you didn’t feel the same. But as the clock ticked on, you knew you had at least one class with him and that was gym.

 You anxiously gripped the letter in your hand, jogging along the track and looking for a familiar set of brown curls. It didn’t take long for you to catch up with him, spotting Peter and Ned half-walking the whole thing while the gym teacher wasn’t looking.

“Yo Parker! Wait up a second.” You called and his head whipped around, his eyes instantly going to your sweater.

‘Do bugs really bother him that much?’ You thought and held back a frown before shrugging it off. There were more important matters.

“Nice shirt! Is it accurate?” Ned instantly chirped up and you let yourself smirk, he always had such an excited demeanor in a way that could light up a room if anyone bothered to notice him.

“You think you’d catch me wearing pseudoscience? What the hell do you take me for?” That smirk grew into a smile as you spoke to Ned, not noticing the pale color staining Peter’s face. Because while you were focused on Ned, Peter was focused on you. 

Specifically, the letter in your hand.

“You’re right, I apologize. What brings you over here anyways? You usually lap us twice by now.” You looked over to Peter while Ned talked, watching how he was unable to even look up from your hand.

“I wanted to talk to Peter, actually…  alone?” You scratched the back of your neck while Ned let out a big ‘ohh’ and quickly made himself scarce.

The boy looked more nervous than you had ever seen him, running his hands through his hair so much that every knot could have been plucked out by now. 

“What um- what’s up, [Y/n]?”

 “Listen, I’m gonna make this quick to save both of us the awkwardness. I think it’s really nice that you think I’m one of the prettiest girls in our grade and stuff… but me and Flash just broke up and I really don’t see you that way-”

The only thing you heard from him was an exasperated ‘what?’ before practically watching the boy fall in slow motion. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and you gasped out loud when his head hit the ground.

“Oh my god, Peter!” Dropping to the ground after him, you immediately move his hair from his eyes and wave your hand in front of his face.

“Are you okay? Parker? Do you know your name? What day is it?” You gave a choppy version of the concussion questions your coaches asked after a particularly bad hit to the head, panic evident in your eyes.

‘Did I just concuss this kid?!’ you thought wildly.

Slowly, he sat up, taking a couple breaths while you kept your hand on his shoulder. “You weren’t supposed to see that,” he said exasperated and you watched his eyes grow twice their size as he glanced to his left.

Storming towards the two of you was a recognizable scowl, an envelope in her hand. Michelle Jones. She was MJ to you, once upon a time, but you couldn’t think of the last time the two of you said a word to each other.

“Oh god!” Peter rolled his eyes, grabbing your attention yet again.

In a blink, the boy had managed to grab your waist and pin you underneath him, one hand was gently caressing your head while the other wrapped underneath you. You couldn’t even take a breath before his lips were on yours, surprise flooding your system. His lips were soft and you hadn’t even realized how your body instantly reacted to him as if you had done this a thousand times before, kissing him in a quick but simple rhythm. But once your brain did register it? You grabbed his face, separating the two of you.

“Parker, the fuck?!-”

“Bye!” He blurted out before letting go of you and running off at a speed you didn’t even think was possible for him.

So this left you, alone, confused, and strangely breathless on the ground.

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taglist(s):

tatgilb -

permanent - 

@ultrunning​ @jesseswartzwelder​

[evelinamox]

Mammon x MC - Bewitched

*Side note before reading; I wrote this a few weeks ago. Been really out of practice writing, my peak was in 2017, so please go easy on me. ❤️ Also I should have named this something more like “Fell For You” 😂*

"Is he always late?" You groan to Satan as you wait outside RAD for Mammon to show up. Leaning against a wall, visibly pouting.

Satan shrugged and thumbed through one of his books. "Knowing him, he probably fell asleep in class or another teacher is scolding him for his grades."

You slid down against the wall until you were sitting on the ground. "Sadly I wouldn't be surprised," You looked down and picked at a loose thread on your RAD jacket. "Why did I even agree to meet with him here when he can't even try being on time? I'm never late so how come he can be whenever he chooses?"

Satan closed his book and looked down at you. "I have heard that exact line from you five times now. If you hate waiting on him then say something. I need to get going, good luck." With that he stepped away before you could even come up with a rebuttal.

Has it really been five times now? I mean I enjoy going with him places, especially photo shoots, but him always being late.. I think I'd rather be stood up at this point because at least it'd be clear how little he cares.

While lost in thought, Mammon snuck up to your side and attempted to scare you by grabbing your hip. Being an easily spooked, you let out an embarrassing yelp of fear that caught the attention of any demons within earshot.

"Grr Mammon!" You yelled at him as you jumped to your feet. Even while standing straight and trying to appear angry, you weren't near intimidating to him.

Mammon laughed at your attempt to be scary and ruffled your hair. "That's right! The Mammon has bested you! Say my name again for my victory!" He beamed a smile at you and put a hand behind his ear waiting for you to say his name again.

Crossing your arms at him and pouting, you shook your head in refusal. "Nope! Not happening!"

Mammon exaggerated a shocked look and clutched at his chest, pretending you physically hurt him. "After I grace you with my presence and you refuse my simple request?" Though still upset, his goofy nature caused you to crack a smile despite your annoyance.

Seeing you had cheered up some, Mammon did a "after you" hand motion, you started the walk together from RAD to Majolish.

Even while feeling a little better, Satans advice kept nagging at you until you spoke up. "Ya know... Not much of gracing me with your presence if you're making me wait every time." You said sounding dejected while kicking the same pebble every few steps to keep from looking at him. "I don't want to keep waiting for you on stuff you invited me to. I'm never late when it comes to our plans." The truth in your words hurt as they came out. You wanted to spend more time with him but being late for every plan he made got old fast.

Mammon at first became defensive at your words, "Why should I change my habits for a mere human?" but when you started picking up speed to get away from him, he quickened his pace to keep up with you. "Okay, fine! I will try to be on time from now on."

Due to his words you stop walking and so does he. "Promise?" You ask him with a hopeful tone.

He rolled his eyes at your question before saying "yes, I promise."

Without thinking you grabbed his hand while smiling at him. "Thank you!"

He became a bit flustered at first before nervously scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "N-no problem, (y/n)."

Unintentionally he looked down at your joined hands, but when you noticed and tried to pull away he held on tighter. "We'll keep it this way for now so I know where you are." He said while blushing brighter than you thought possible. You began blushing too since he wouldn't let go, but you went along with it as you both walked on.

Watching the shoot was intense as usual for all the workers. To avoid being caught in the hustle of all the other workers you took your usual spot against a wall between some unused equipment. You didn't ever mind your hide away nook since it also gave a decent side view of the action, and it was better than staying home studying.

After some time passed while watching the shoot, it started feeling awkward just watching Mammon. You liked him and he was undeniably hot, but you had a creeping feeling later he was going to say something like "Couldn't keep your eyes off me huh? Can't say I blame you though." Plus you weren't just tagging along to be some weird fan as much as it was entertaining.

Just as you took out your DDD to check Mononoke Land, you catch a glimpse of him winking at you which seemed to be anything but what the camera man wanted.

Was that intentional? Some kind of signal? You asked yourself. After that you continued to watch to see if it'd happen again. Before you knew it you forgot your plans catching spirits of Mononoke. Distraction. Definitely a distraction tactic that worked too well.

Finally the camera man ended the session and one of the assistants brought him a towel while a second assistant brought him a drink. It was noticeable that she tried to hold a conversation but he clearly just wanted to get away with how disinterested he acted.

Seeing him walk your direction you wanted to gather items and be ready to leave together. Rushing to pack your bag you didn't notice how numb your legs and butt were, causing you to stumble forward. Before you could fall face first Mammon caught you with his left arm wrapping around the front of you. Effortlessly he pulled you back up but then didn't let go. "Oh human, what would you do without me?" He laughed while still holding you against him.

Blushing from his bare muscles wrapped around you in what could best be described as a hug from behind, you glance around and notice a few staff looking at you two. Out of all the glances, there was a particular set of eyes glaring you down from the assistant that was trying to talk with him earlier.

"Probably have a few extra bruises." You try to laugh off how awkward you felt and lightly pushed off his arm that was still wrapped around you. "How much longer?" You nervously ask, feeling like a sheep with a wolf across the room planning its next meal.

"Aww want to know how long till we can leave and you can be alone with me?" Mammon beamed his same cocky smile.

Though you weren't sure it was actually happening, it felt as though the second assistant was starting through your back harder than before. If looks could kill, a crater would've been in your place. "Thanks." You sigh the word under your breath avoiding looking in her direction.

Completely oblivious to how uncomfortable you were, Mammon continued. "I'll get changed and we'll go. I'm not getting paid for cleanup so I'm not staying."

"I'll wait for you outside." You quickly answered before making a break to get out, not wanting to be alone in what felt like a lions den.

Waiting outside and taking in a fresh breath of air, you felt a dozen times better at the least. Mammon didn't take long either, but you did notice him shoving a strange crumpled piece of paper in his pocket while stepping out.

Awkwardly stopping at your side he extended his hand out to you while also bashfully looking away. "Let's get going."

Reaching out to grab his hand but stopping, you couldn't help but feel flustered. "Are you sure you want to still lead around a clumsy human?" You poked fun at yourself thinking back to him catching you.

Even after your question he still held his hand out but then looked back down to you. "It'd be for my own amusement, I'm not concerned or anything like that." He argued back, trying hard to not let his emotions show through.

Knowing he was trying to hide that he wanted to hold hands, you couldn't help but be a bit excited. Quickly you took hold of his hand and left together.

The walk home was fine, if not a little tiring. As a thank you gift you left a kiss on Mammon's cheek which left him so flustered that he was speechless as you quickly stepped away to hide your own embarrassment.

Next few days passed like any other school days, save for a few exchanged tsundere level flirting lines from Mammon and the usually shenanigans from the other brothers.

Early Saturday morning while sleeping you were suddenly awoken by rapid knocking on your door followed by a visitor coming in without permission.

Without even giving you a chance to comprehend his presence, Mammon deemed it appropriate to jump onto your bed in excitement.

"The hell do you want?!" You yelled while throwing a pillow at his face.

Mammon still excited ignored the pillow assault and showed you what looked like a paystub. "I got paid and decided you deserve a night out at a restaurant as thanks for coming with! We'll leave at 6p.m., so don't keep me waiting!"

He seemed so excited but you still wanted to pelt him with more pillows for waking you at 7 a.m.. "If you let me go back to sleep I'll give you a night to remember," you said, not really thinking on the meaning of the phrase.

Mammon's eyes widened and before you could take it back he ran out of the room while saying "Deal!"

"Nice one." You sighed sarcastically to yourself when you realized what you just said. In a short time you rolled back over hoping to sleep more but as soon as you closed your eyes many questions started running through your mind: Is this a date? Which restaurant? How should I dress? Did I really say I'd give him a night to remember? I mean I guess I wouldn't mind but... I must know if this is a date! It must be a date if he got that excited right? How long has he been planning this? Since when has he been a morning person?

After a fitful attempt at sleep that only lasted a few more hours, time passed and you began to obsess a bit too much over finding a outfit that wasn't too casual but also not to fancy either. Asking Asmo for help near noon, his shopping trip for you ended up taking another four hours before you could break free and retreat to your room.

Finishing putting on your favorite outfit of the assortment Asmo picked, you worry seeing that it was already 5:20p.m. and you haven't even attempted to help your hair yet. Sitting down at the vanity in your room, suddenly you noticed your face in the mirror appeared distorted. Your reflection appeared... Dead?

-Mammon's view-

While looking at his phone Mammon noticed it was already 6:20p.m.. Already annoyed he paced by the floor. "I gave (y/n) plenty of time to get ready. How dare that human make me wait." Getting tired of waiting Mammon marched up to your room about ready to pull you out of the room for the date. Nearing your room he felt dark magic in the air similar to what the witches have tortured him with. He made an audible gulp knowing that something wasn't right.

Knocking on your already open door he cautiously stuck his head in. "(Y/n)?"

Stepping into the center of the room he glanced around his eyes landed on a broken mirror and some strange green liquid he's seen before with the same witches he feared.

A churning feeling settled in his stomach and he ran to the first brother that came to mind that could help.

Slamming on the door to the twins room he started shouting. "Beel! Witches got (y/n)! Open up!!"

Beelzebub opened the door quickly when he heard that his favorite human was missing.

Completely panicking that two of Mammons worst fears became one, he didn't know what to do but he knew he needed help. "Beel! Can you sniff out (y/n)?!"

Beelzebub disappointedly shook his head at Mammons idea. "I'm a glutton but I'm not a dog! I will help you look though."

Mammon honestly thought it would be a solid plan for Beelzebub to sniff out (y/n).

Belphegor overhearing the conversation rolled his eyes at his greedy idiot brother, then got out of bed. Without a word he left the room and went down the hallway.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Mammon shouted to his youngest brother. Half tempted to grab Belphi by the back of his neck like a kitten and make him help.

"Getting Lucifer, (y/n) is screwed if you're in charge." Belphie answered with his back to Mammon, still walking down the hall.

Before much time passed all the brothers were searching the property.

When it turned 6:35p.m. it became established there was no sign that a human left on foot.

Lucifer shook his head while thinking over all the information the brothers have gathered. "There's no sign (y/n) left in a normal manner. This means either (y/n) was taken by teleportation magic or managed to break the enchanted locks to the roof. We should all contact with any mages we know to see if they know what happened."

Mammon ignoring the last of Lucifers plan, his eyes widened in realization as all the pieces came together. At the photo shoot the other day he received a message from one of the assistants that was the key to all of this. One side had a phone number but when he checked it the note again later on the numbers were replaced with the message, "A tragic fall at dusk the day of Sabbath."

Mammon didn't think long on this note, thought it was a bad poem from a fan.

Without giving a explanation, he ran as fast as he could up the stairs till he reached the roof exit that only the best at magic should've been able to unlock. Much to his surprise and dismay he was right. Seconds away from dusk, you were stepping to the edge of the roof.

When you stepped off you regained control of your body, giving you a chance to scream out as you fell. Your scream was cut short, not because the ground or form impact, but because you felt someone grab onto but also falling with you. The scent and feel of the person holding on from behind was familiar, but everything was happening so fast you couldn't even think. Mammon had twisted you both in midair so you'd land on him. The feeling of the air engulfing you two before the landing deafening all the senses.

Crash landing together with a loud thud, Mammon let out a gasp while still holding your back tightly to him. "I got you. I have you." He said between gasps.

Opening your eyes you looked up at the building seeing that easily the fall could've severely hurt if not killed you.

Mammon let out a groan before rolling you over to the side of him so he could see your face. "(Y/n)... are you hurt?"

Slowly pushing yourself up into a sitting position, you nodded to him, feeling more concerned of his physical condition, though he didn't appear to be grimacing.

Mammon then sat up facing you, without a chance to ask his condition he pulled you to him in a tight hug.

Forgetting that witches were involved, only thinking of how his heart nearly lurched out his throat at the sight of you stepping off, he started shaking without realizing it. "Why? Why would you do something like that?! Do you hate it here so much that you'd rather die?!"

Unable to see his face or know what he was thinking, all you had to go on was the fall and the sound of him choking back sobs. "I.. I don't remember," You admit, wrapping your arms around his neck. "I was in my room, then next thing I knew I was falling in your arms."

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" He cried out, a few sobs escaping his mouth afterwards.

Forcing some space in his hold, you leaned back to look into his deep blue eyes. Instinctively you wiped away one of his tears rolling down his cheek. For longer than you could remember you had feelings for him, but could never get a full grasp of his emotions. For once his eyes and actions reflected how much he cared for and feared the thought of losing you. It hurt knowing how scared he was, but that made you all the more sure if there was ever a time to confess how you felt, it was then. "I love you too much to leave now." You whispered as you leaned in, your forehead against his.

In response to your words he placed his hand on the back of your head to push you into his kiss, it was a unexpected but welcomed surprise. Soaking in his emotions, a real feeling of love came from him. No force to it like lust, or void of emotions like pity. No, his kiss was perfect and reflected the bond you two built over the past few months.

When the kiss ended, his concerned expression was replaced by content. Hugging you to him once more he whispered in your ear. "I protect the things I love most, that includes you... (y/n)."

Epilogue

With help from all the brothers, Mammon found the witch responsible for the bewitching of (y/n). It turned out that a witch was helping the demon assistant steal Mammon's attention away, but the demon hoping to have just a disfiguring curse done to (y/n) was double crossed by the witch.

As it turned out this witch and Mammon held a contract but when he wasn't able to help with her most recent request, she decided to hit him where it hurt; by killing his precious human.

Though Mammon and the witch had a contract, no contract could save her from the brothers ripping her apart.

[pandaplxys]

Akaashi x fem!reader

2.4k fluff oneshot for Akaashi’s birthday! ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

relationships: Akaashi x fem!reader

characters: Akaashi, reader, Bokuto, mentions of Fukurodani team, brief mention of Tsukishima

warnings: none

~ my ao3 profile ~

Pov: You are a second-year studying in the school's library and you're looking for the last copy of a book that another boy, who was in your class, was also looking for...

"...over there dear." "Thank you." You bowed you head to the librarian in respect, letting your long (h/c) hair fall in your face and glasses. You walked over to the bookcase where the last copy of the book you needed for a research project. You saw a boy following you, but paid no attention to it, assuming he needed something from the same aisle. As you reached for the book you needed, he also reached over to grab the book. You both stopped in your tracks in confusion. "Did you need this?" He asked you in a soft voice. "Oh no, it's okay, you can have it." He stared at you for a few seconds. "Wait, (l/n) (f/n)? Second year right?" "Yes.." You answered slowly, unsure of how he knew your name. "I'm Akaashi Keiji. I'm in the same class as you." Something finally clicked in your mind. He was the Akaashi Keiji, setter for the school's team the Fukurodani Owls. "Oh- you're that setter right? Sorry I don't know much about volleyball." You chuckled. You were the one of the most forgotten students in your class due to the teacher constantly skipping over your name for attendance. You always sat in the back corner in the classroom where everyone could easily overlook you, so you were even more confused as to how he knew your name. "It's okay. And you got my position right, I am in fact the setter!" He quietly clapped, making you blush out of embarrassment. "Well, since we're both working on that research project.. maybe we could share the book?" You offered. "Sure. I don't mind." He gave you a small smile. "We could work at my table if you'd like." "Sure." He followed you back to your table with his backpack and sat with you. You both started up some small talk, learning more about one another. From how he knew you and noticed you in class, to a few things about volleyball. Both of you realized you had a lot in common. About how you both were only children and you both even had the same habit of fiddling with your fingers when you were anxious. After a couple hours of working, the librarian warned both of you that the library would close in 5 minutes. You both wrote down important parts from the book so you could return it and started packing up your things. "Hey, we should do this again sometime." Akaashi said to you. "Yeah." "Oh- nevermind... that would be a pretty dumb thing to ask.." You mumbled out loud. "What is? I doubt it would be stupid." He asked curiously. "I was wondering if you would like my number..." You mumbled. He pulled out his phone. "Well, what is your number?" You noticed your face heating up out of embarrassment, knowing he noticed too. "I- uh-" You stammered trying to get your words out. "It's okay, take your time." You finally gave you number to him, along with him giving his to you. You both parted ways, heading back to your own houses.

You were the one to text him first. You were a pretty reserved, quiet, and introverted person, but you had your occasional boosts of confidence. After figuring out what you wanted to asked him, you came up with what you wanted to say. You asked if he wanted to facetime each other sometime and he said yes. 5 minutes later your phone lit up with Akaashi's name.

You both compared what you wrote down from the book and gave each other pointers and tips. Eventually his mom was calling him to eat dinner and he had to go. You finished up writing down more notes as you put away your things and laid down on your bed. Even though you two never talked about it, you both became quick friends, and for you he was your first friend since starting high school. You got lost in your thoughts as you drifted to sleep.

At school he talked to you a lot more, wanting to know even more about you. You partnered up with him in his AP classes, you sat with him alongside Bokuto, who was confused as to why Akaashi invited you to sit with him, knowing he wasn't a sociable person. He overlooked that and gladly welcomed you to their table. You started coming to his volleyball practice, and was shocked to see you there, writing something down on a notepad. Then you two would facetime each other usually every other day, sometimes for the project, sometimes just to talk. Eventually one day at school, you couldn't find him anywhere. You asked Bokuto, but he had no idea either. He ended up texting you saying he didn't feel well and was taking the day off. You felt bad for him, with him telling you his parents were out of town for a month, he would be at his house all by himself. You remembered him saying something about his address one before on a call before. You made a plan to see him after school.

"Come in, the door's unlocked." A hoarse voice called out. You opened the door and found Akaashi lying down on the couch with a box of tissues beside him. "Oh- what are you doing here (y/n)? What if you get sick because of me?" You silenced him by putting a finger up to his lips. "Shhhh. I'll be fine, just rest for now." "Is there anything you wanted? Something to eat or drink? Extra covers?" "No, I'm good..." He said as he drifted to sleep. You sat down beside him, quietly humming a song that had been stuck in your head for a while. "You have a really pretty voice.." Akaashi mumbled. You blushed profusely in response to his compliment. As the sun set you told him you were heading back to your house. You told him to call you if he needed anything, no matter what time it was. He nodded his head as you walked out the door. As you walked back to your house, the only thing on your mind was how pretty Akaashi looked. "Damn he's hot." All you could think about is how he looked even more peaceful asleep. How his beautiful black curls framed his face perfectly. How his chest rose and fell slowly. You could go on and on about it all night. All your thoughts remained unspoken, especially about how big your crush on him grew bigger.

The research project that you and Akaashi helped each other on was due, and both of you got the highest grade in the class. You both smiled each other and talked non-stop at lunch. You offered him to come over to your house, and he accepted. You guided him through your house and letting him into your room, filled with multiple posters from famous bands and a Playstation in the corner of your room. "Wow." He said in awe. He pointed out some of his favorite bands from your posters. You put on some music as you handed him a controller to play something on your PS3. You loaded (any 2P game but i'm using Sonic The Hedgehog 2 bc that's my fav game) up and started playing. "Um (y/n), I.. I don't know how to play this game." "Don't worry, I can teach you!" You can the Tails to my Sonic!" You laughed at each other when you fell off the moving platforms in Chemical Plant Zone, or when you fell into the hole that led into Hidden Palace Zone. You both congratulated each other when you each passed an act together, or when you both defeated Robotnik and set the animals free. He almost jumped a little when you put your head on his shoulder. "I wish time could freeze right here in this moment." You mumbled softly. "Hm?" Your eyes widen as you realized what you said. "Uh- nothing! I didn't say anything!" He chuckled. "Whatever you say." You both fell asleep leaning against each other.

"Ooo, does Akaashi have a crush?!" "Bokuto, not so loud! And no, I don't. I just want to be friends with her, well for now at least." "Oh, okay then!" He didn't bother telling Bokuto about last night, knowing he would get the wrong idea. He didn't have a crush on you, at least that's what he wanted him to think. If he told Bokuto now, he would accidently let it slip and tell you. Besides, he didn't think you would like him back anyways. It was like unintentionally friendzoning each other. But he didn't think he had a crush on you, he never really thought about it. He saw you as a person he could easily relate to and get along with and share a close bond. The last thing that would cross his mind is being in a relationship with someone. But after some deep thinking, he realized he might've actually caught feelings for you, but not wanting to act on them just in case you didn't feel the same way, remembering what you said last night about him being the Tails to your Sonic, assuming you just wanted to stay friends and nothing more. Sighing in defeat, he looked through his phone and even though he wouldn't be the best person to ask for advice, it was better than risking word getting out. He called Tsukishima, knowing he was together with Yamaguchi. "Hello?" "Hey um, it's Akaashi." "What did you want, and why are you calling me out of all people?" "Listen, I need some advice." Tsukki paused. "With what?" "Um- I don't know you to say this but-" "Just spit it out already, I don't have all day." "Um- how do you know if someone likes you, and how do you confess to someone?" "I don't know, I'm not Google, just look it up or something. I have to go now. Bye." He hung up on him while he sat in confusion. He opened his laptop and began to find the answers to his questions. After searching through the internet, he finally gathered enough info to put something together. Now he just needed the courage to actually ask you.

Two months went by, and he still hasn't confessed yet. You two would still facetime each other, except it was almost every night now. You would go over to each other's houses and even walk home together. It was when one breezy day when you two were walking home together when everything changed. You had everything set up for what you were going to do. You had your note in hand, and you checked to see the wind was blowing at a wind speed not too gusty, but not too light either. You had your note in hand and everything was set. "Ah, my note!" You exclaimed as your note flew away from your hands. Using his quick setter reflexes. He successfully caught it with the right side facing up. "Perfect" You thought to yourself. As he was about to give it back to you, he noticed his name on the front of the note. "Oh? Why is my name on hee?" "It's for you actually." You chuckled. He opened the note and his eyes widened. Inside was a handwritten confession in your handwriting to him. He blushed as he wrote the last sentence. "Wow (y/n) I- I didn't know you felt the same way." Now it was your turn to blush. "What? I didn't think you would like a girl like me back.." "I've liked you for a while (Y/n) It's been what, two almost three months now? I wanted to tell you sooner but I was just a stupid coward and I was just too scared to-" You silenced his rambling with a kiss on his cheek. "It's okay, I understand where you're coming from. But now, you can be the Sonic to my Amy." You both walk home together flushed.

It was when Bokuto noticed you holding Akaashi's hand for a brief second. He asked you two about it. Neither of you knowing what to say, you both were a stuttering mess. He finally put two and two together and realized you two were in fact dating. In response you both nodded your heads. He jumped out of excitement, with Akaashi asking him to keep your relationship private. He asked if he could tell the team. Knowing Bokuto would have a hard time keeping a secret like this He allowed it with your consent. Just between you three and the team. The team was super supportive of your relationship, vowing to keep it a secret. You took more notes on the sidelines and even stood next to Yukie, the third year manager of the team and talked to her, asking some questions. After practice, he asked you what your notes were for, but you never answered him, you always told him it was a secret.

~ timeskip one year later ~

You both were in your third year together, still in your relationship with him. It was a lot quieter without Bokuto around, but after hanging around Bokuto a lot, you finally came out of your shell and let your louder and more mischievous side come out more. You cheered on the team from the sidelines, waiting to tell him about some good news. He was overjoyed when you told him on the walk home that you would become the team's manager. He was so excited he kissed your lips out of excitement. When he realized what he did. He bowed his head and apologized. "I'M SO SORRY- I SHOULD'VE ASKED FIRST-" You lifted his chin up and you kissed him on the lips this time. "No, don't apologize. I really liked it actually." His face was painted with shades of red as you kissed him. Your soft lips meeting his just as soft and perfect lips. You teased each other as you both walked into your bedroom, with him taking your glasses as you ruffled and played with his soft hair. Everything about him was perfect, not a single flaw. You stood in front of your PS3, unsure of what game you both wanted to play. "Sonic?" You asked. He nodded his head in response. You walked back over to your bed, planting a quick kiss on his forehead. You both shared another kiss as the loading screen popped up. You laid your head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around you as you both played.

[lemonerix]

Anthem of the Heart and Mind

Day 2: Crush or Pining/ Soulmate AU

Word count: 4152

[Warning: slight cursing ahead]

Soulmates aren’t unheard of in our world, but are very rare. There are many ways that two destined souls find each other, some ways are unique and strange, while others are simple. You could have a red string tied to your finger that would lead you to your soulmate. You could have the first thing they say to you written on your wrist. Some people even have watches that countdown to the moment they meet their soulmate. But having a someone meant for you makes your life a bit harder. You would have a lot on your mind, you would constantly think about them, wonder what they are like and wonder if they would like the kind of person you are. That kinda sucks, but it would be worth it when you finally meet “the one”.

Finding your soulmate also requires time and chance. There are some who find their soulmate a little bit too late and end up living the rest of their life with regret. There are some who aren’t just that lucky and miss each other before they could even have the chance to meet. That’s what scares me. I worry that I might’ve missed the chance to meet “the one” for me, or that I’m too late to find them. I overthink too much, I know. It’s one of my annoying quirks that hopefully my soulmate would tolerate.

This leads us to why I’m talking about soulmates and destiny. A month ago, I began hearing a melody. It wasn’t too loud to be distracting, but it was loud enough for me to hear it like a song being played a few rooms away. The tune was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, it was melancholic and longing, yet loving and hopeful. At first, I thought that I was going insane, but after consulting my friends and discussing about it in internet forums, I concluded that this might be how I meet my soulmate. I followed an anonymous advice on the web and wrote down the melody I heard; it was probably the best advice I got. But there was one problem, the song wasn’t complete. The melody in my head played in an endless loop and I was itching to hear the end.

.

Students were already heading to their first periods when I arrived at school. I headed to my locker to get a few things that I needed for my class. Gilbert was waiting for me by my locker, he gave me a small wave as I approached him. “Dude, don’t you have class right now?” I asked him. “We don’t have Home Economics today, after the incident with Kirkland yesterday.” He told me.

In our school, the Seniors begin their classes an hour earlier before the lower grades. Gilbert was a year older than me (I was in Junior year), he became a close friend of mine when I joined the Classical Music club in our school in my 7th year. I raised an eyebrow as I closed my locker and asked, “What happened yesterday?” Gilbert hummed before answering me, “Remember the exchange student I told you about, like a month ago?” I nodded, motioning for him to continue, “Well, that guy is definitely not gifted with culinary skill. Can’t cook for shit and can burn water for some reason. This wasn’t the first time he set something on fire, but it was the first time he blew something up. I can’t believe that he wasn’t expelled for it!” my friend laughed. “That guy must be a riot, huh?” I chuckled, seeing Gilbert’s delight as he reminisced the events of yesterday, “Heh, not really. Oh yeah, remember the text I sent ya earlier? Mr. Edelstein is going to introduce us to a new club member.” He told me.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. It’s rare for him to handpick students to join the orchestra. That guy’s standards are super high.” I remarked, Gilbert nodded in response. A smirk formed in his face, “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, kid?” I blinked for a moment, trying to figure out why he asked me that question. I felt my blood run cold when I realized I was late for class, I swore and sped down the hallway.

“Language, and no running in the halls, Alfred!” Gilbert cackled behind me as I hurried to my first period.

.

The day was very exhausting, all I wanted to do was flop on my bed and play video games all weekend. Unfortunately, the Classical Music club just had to ruin my weekend plans. I entered the club room and greeted my club-mates. Gilbert waved at me and frantically pointed to the seat beside him. I only rolled my eyes as I walked towards my friend, I bumped his fist as a greeting before the two of us engaged in a conversation. “Who do you think the newbie is?” I asked him, he only shrugged. The room was noisy with the conversations of students, we talked and laughed and joked.

“I heard that the new member is a prodigy.” I overheard someone say, “It seems like Gilbert is going to have some competition.” Another giggled. If Gilbert heard this, he didn’t show it. I know how egotistical he is (very much like me) and how he is very protective of his pride. All my years in the Classical Music club, I learned that Gilbert was the only prodigy that Mr. Edelstein introduced since the formation of the club. He could play the flute like some kind of flute god. He’s so good with the instrument that sometimes I don’t even believe that he’s actually human, maybe that’s why I looked up to the guy.

The whole room hushed when Mr. Edelstein walked into the room. We all straightened in our seats and listened to what he had to say. The man cleared his throat, “I guess you all know why you are called so suddenly out of the blue. I’m here to introduce a new member of the club,” he turned and gestured at the open door, “come now, don’t be shy.” All our heads craned to the door, where a young man walked in carrying a violin case. Something inside of me shifted when I laid my eyes on him, I watched him as he walked across the room. His hair yellow like butter, his skin was pale like porcelain, and his doll-like features took me aback for some reason. But his eyes struck me the most, they were like glittering peridots as they swept through the crowd, momentarily landing on me before returning their gaze on the floor.

I looked over at Gilbert and saw that his jaw was slack, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. I probably had the same expression on my face, but I was more enchanted than surprised.

“My name is Arthur Kirkland, I’m an exchange student from England. I hope we can all be friends.” He said formally. “Now that you have properly introduced yourself Arthur, why don’t you show us what you can do?” our teacher clasped his hands together and nodded at the boy. Arthur pulled out his violin, he tightened his bow and applied rosin on it before he began playing an excerpt of Vivaldi’s Winter. Everyone in the room were silenced in awe as we watched him play, his fingers moving gracefully on the instrument, hitting every note with perfection. But there was something else with him that I alone noticed. The little changes of expression on his face as he played, the way his body moved with the melody, and the way he played reminded me of something at the tip of my tongue. The song in my head gradually grew louder as I saw Arthur’s performance, but I paid no attention to it. All I saw was Arthur, and all I heard was the singing strings of his violin. I was ensnared by the music that I didn’t even notice that he was finished, no one made a sound as he bowed.

“HOLY SHIT, KIRKLAND?! YOU PLAY THE VIOLIN?!” Gilbert shot up beside me, grinning from ear to ear. Arthur’s face flushed, Mr. Edelstein glared at Gilbert and told him to sit down. Everyone in the room cheered and applauded for the new member, Mr. Edelstein roused everyone in the room and told us to sit in our respective groups. We were going to rehearse our newest piece; it was a piano concerto that Mozart composed, but I didn’t bother to remember the name of the piece. I was the only one who played the piano in the orchestra, so I had the most important role to play.

I made my way to the piano, humming a melody to myself. The room was filled with the sounds of instruments being tuned and students warming up. I cracked my knuckles and did some warm up exercises on the piano, making sure that I have my music sheet ready, and went over the measures that I needed to practice. In the middle of that cacophony of music, Mr. Edelstein hushed everyone in the room. I noticed that Arthur was standing by the chalkboard, observing the orchestra before him. Our maestro made us play the do-re-mi routine as warm up before we play the piece. He gave us the signal to stop, then he began to move his arms.

The winds and brass played the intro softly, gradually growing louder and faster. The strings followed, providing the counter melody of the winds and brass. When my part finally came up, I let the music lead me. My hands pressed the familiar keys as the tune I had practiced hundreds of times filled my ears. I couldn’t help but be seized by the music, a small grin tugged at my lips while the orchestra backed up my melody. I realized that we were almost at the end, so I had to look up at Mr. Edelstein to make sure I don’t miss the signal. I couldn’t help but steal a glance at the boy standing by the board. He regarded me with some kind of respect, before I returned my gaze at the conductor, narrowly missing the signal to stop. I accidentally hit a wrong key just as the song ended, and immediately everyone groaned at me. “Are you fucking kidding me, bro?” Gilbert raised his hands exasperatedly. “Mr. Beilschmidt! Another peep from you and I won’t hesitate to give you detention.” Mr. Edelstein warned the young man. I heard him stifle his laughter before clearing his throat and (not sincerely) apologizing to the older man. Our teacher only rolled his eyes and praised us for the job well done, and told us to practice over the weekend.

.

Mr. Edelstein made Gilbert stay behind and clean the room as punishment for his behavior earlier. I felt a little bad for him so I stayed behind and waited for him to finish cleaning.

“Sucks to be you, man.” I laughed, he glared at me and threw a broom at my general direction, making me laugh even more. “Mr. Edelstein is lucky that I like cleaning, but fuck him for ruining my plans for the weekend! Antonio and Francis probably hung out without me!” Gilbert groaned as he stacked the last of the chairs in the room and pushed them to the side. He then moved on to the music stands, folding them and placing them in their bags. “Does he even understand what we even go through? The stress we have to deal with? The deadlines we have to meet? Did he not go through high school himself?” He ranted. I was being a jerk by laughing, it wasn’t my fault that he sounds ridiculous while doing it. He glared at me and crossed his arms, “What’s so funny?” he asked irritated. I calmed myself down and told him that it was nothing. Gilbert only rolled his eyes and went back to his duty.

When he finally finished with cleaning up, I remembered something I meant to ask Gilbert earlier. “Oh yeah, I just remembered!” I rummaged through my bag and found the folder I was looking for. My friend’s eyebrow was arched as I showed him the composition I was working on, “What’s that?” he pointed at the folder. “Remember about the stuff I said about soulmates and junk last month? I decided to write it down, but I don’t know how it ends.” I showed him the contents of the folder. His ruby eyes skimmed through the pages, then he looked at me, “So you want me to finish it?”

“What? No! I just want some advice, dude. This is my soulmate we’re talking about. You can’t finish it for me.”

“Advice, huh?” Gilbert tapped his chin thoughtfully, “My advice is that you play it. Your soulmate might hear the song and the two of you could finally meet each other.”

I blinked, I never thought of actually playing it. Just more proof of how stupid I can be. “Oh my god, why haven’t I thought of that?” I grumbled to myself. Gilbert let out a boisterous laugh, “No need to thank me, Alfred, my boy. I am a genius, after all.” He ruffled my hair, making me grin. He can be an egotistical asshole sometimes, but Gilbert is like an older brother I’ve never had. Just another reason why I looked up to him.

I waved goodbye to Gilbert as we parted ways at the school gate, he waved to me before running to his two friends, planning to get into trouble once again. I headed the opposite direction, humming to myself. Dusk was near, the streetlights had already turned on and I couldn’t help but slow my pace and enjoy my walk home. The little town I was in wasn’t much, but it had so many things about it that made it charming, I realized that most of the time, I didn’t even appreciate its peaceful atmosphere.

Then something broke the quiet evening.

A singing violin echoed through the dusk, I stopped in my tracks and felt my heart leap inside my chest. I immediately whipped my head upwards as the familiar melody filled my ears. There, by a window on the third floor of the apartment, was Arthur. Playing his instrument with such grace, I felt compelled to go up the metal staircase on the side of the building to get closer to him. The music he played was almost like the melody in my head, but his song was brash and fast, it was an upbeat and wilder version of the melody I kept hearing. Then the music stopped, I saw him peering outside of the window and glance below. I panicked, if he sees me here, he’d think I’m a creep! I scrambled away from the building and down the street, hoping that he didn’t see me running away like a madman.

.

The year passed by so quickly, and before I knew it, classes were about to end. We were going to have a year-end recital, and a farewell party for our club seniors. The past several months, Arthur and I became acquaintances, then walk-home buddies, then friends (thanks to Gilbert). I also had a growing suspicion that there was a chance Arthur was my soulmate. Gilbert, my ever-loving friend, noticed that I was crushing hard on the Brit, and kept on finding ways to get me and Arthur together. At first, I tried to deny it, but in the end, I had no control over destiny. If he was meant to be with me, then he was. Not that I had any complaints. I also noticed that he had grew a liking to me, because he treated me a little bit differently than other people. In short, he’s just nicer to me. I also enjoyed the little things I noticed about him, and the small things that he would do for me. Fuck, I might be falling for him. Fuck that, I fell for him the moment he played in front of me.

“Alright! We’re going to wrap up the show with…Arthur and Alfred’s duet!” Mr. Edelstein shouted in the noisy backstage, he pointed to the two of us and gestured at us to get ready. I fixed my hair and straightened my bow tie, “Hey Artie, we’re up next!” I reminded him. “I know that, and stop calling me Artie!” he yelled at me, then he muttered something about the noisy room while he was trying to tune his violin. “Al, Arthur, side of the stage, right now!” I heard Gilbert shout over the noise. I walked towards the Brit and told him that we were up. He sighed and reluctantly followed me to the side of the stage.

We made it just in time as the school’s Glee club finished their song, the choir bowed and exited through the other side of the stage. “Hey, your bow’s a bit crooked.” Arthur said as he straightened my bow tie for me. I thanked him, he replied with a soft smile before we were pushed up the stage to perform. The audience clapped as we made our entrance and bowed. I sat by the piano, hands hovering slightly over the keys and Arthur stood beside me, already poised to play. The whole auditorium fell silent, I breathed in and out lightly, clearing my head from distractions. Then, I began to play.

Arthur soon followed, and the music from the two instruments joined to form a beautiful song that echoed throughout the building. It was perfect, it sounded like the two instruments were made for each other. The violin leads the piano’s melody, while the piano guided the violin’s rhythm and tempo. I let the music flood my senses, my hands were flying over the keys, like how Arthur’s fingers flew on the strings. We locked eyes and gave each other a knowing smile as we did the finale of the song.

The auditorium exploded with claps and cheers as we bowed once again and got off the stage. We were jumping like little kids on Halloween when we were off, “Holy shit dude, you were amazing out there!” I grinned at him. Arthur laughed, “No, the whole performance was brilliant because of you!” he and I continued to gush and praise each other for a job well done when someone interrupted us, “Alright, sorry for interrupting you two lovebirds, head over to the other side of the stage. We’re gonna do the closing remarks.” Gilbert told us nonchalantly and left without another word. I felt my ears grow warm when he called us “lovebirds”, he can be a good friend sometimes, but he’s a total jerk at the moment. Arthur cleared his throat, “We should go.” He said, I nodded in agreement and the two of us went through the backstage.  

We did the closing remarks, everyone who performed got to bow on the stage as pictures were taken and farewells were said as the night grew deeper. Mr. Edelstein told us to stay behind for a little while, because the farewell party was about to begin. Most of the younger students and a few older students left early, because they didn’t want their parents to worry or were too tired to party. I decided to stay behind, because I wanted to see Gilbert and Arthur off before they leave high school. I was gonna miss Gilbert big time, he was like some kind of parent-figure I had in school, and he taught me more than I could ever let on.

The farewell party was to be held in the auditorium, a few rows of the plastic chairs were moved to the side to make room for the dance floor and for the snack table. The seniors have already begun to make the most of the night. Several of them were dancing to the music roaring from the speakers, a few were standing on the side chatting with each other, while others were just enjoying the music, snacks and punch. I decided that I won’t dance that night, because I had one final thing to do before the seniors leave. I made my way back to the stage, where the piano was still set up. Arthur must’ve saw me walk to the stage, because when I got there, he was right behind me. “Hey, why aren’t you over there dancing on the dance floor?” He asked. “I’m a little worn out to dance tonight. Besides, I was just grabbing something from the backstage.” I told him. He asked me if he could come with and I just nodded, I wanted for him to come with me after all.

After I spotted my bag, I took out the folder containing the unfinished composition. “What’s that?” Arthur asked me, “It’s something I’ve been working on. It’s not finished yet, but I want you to listen to it and give me advice on how I should finish it.” He took the folder from my hand and studied the notes carefully. His eyes widened momentarily before he asked me to play it.

We went to the stage where the piano was at, I sat on the seat and placed the notes on the piano. Arthur watched me carefully, as if he was expecting something brilliant to happen. My heart was now racing, it was now or never. I played the first measure slowly, then gradually went faster as I progressed. The melody was no longer looping in my head, but was surrounding me. I could feel it touch my skin, I could almost taste the sweetness and bitterness the music had. It was just a sensation too ineffable to describe. Then, I stopped. That was where the song ended abruptly. I turned to Arthur to ask what he thought about the song, only to find him with tears brimming in his eyes. I opened my mouth to say something before he grabbed my arm and pulled me backstage.

He engulfed me in a hug as he sobbed into my shoulder. I was shocked and confused, I stood still as he continued to cry. “It’s you. I’ve finally found you.” He said, his voice breaking a little bit. “Arthur…what are you—?”

“You are the song in my heart. The one I’ve been looking for since I’ve learned to play music. Your song clouded my heart every single day. I’ve spent so long searching, and now I’ve finally found you.” He laughed, tears still streaming down his cheeks. I began to finally piece together the events that happened so quickly, everything finally became clear, all of my doubts and suspicions were finally silenced. Arthur is my soulmate. He is the melody in my mind. The song that kept repeating over and over, finally had an ending to complete it. I did not notice the joyful tears in my eyes as I hugged him back. We both laughed and cried like madmen as we were wrapped in each other’s arms. We finally calmed down from the joy and ecstasy we felt, he had lowered his arms to my side as I wiped away his tears with my thumb. Our foreheads rested against each other, noses almost touching and I could feel his heart beating against my chest. I wanted to make the first move and kiss him, but I guess Arthur had the same idea. His lips captured mine and pulled me towards him, I pressed him against the wall where he began to grind his hips against mine. We were so caught up in the moment that we did not notice someone enter the backstage.

“What the—? Oh, god. I’m so sorry for interrupting.” Mr. Edelstein apologized and briskly walked out of the room. Immediately, both of us flung each other away like two magnets with the same pole. I heard running footsteps and Gilbert sprinted to see what was going on, “Holy shit, what the hell were the two of you doing back here? Mr. Edelstein just walked out of the building, red as a cherry!” Gilbert, the jerk he is, wiggled his eyebrow. I groaned as other students came to see what happened. I glanced at Arthur, who I caught was staring at me. His lips were swollen, his suit disheveled and his face the color of strawberries, he looked godly. Arthur let out a small giggle, then it turned to laughter. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh with him. Gilbert and the other students stared at us in confusion, like they missed some kind of inside joke.

I didn’t care, tonight was the night that changed my life forever, and nothing’s going to ruin it for me.

***

I was inspired by some stuff that happened to me in my junior high, I’m part of a school band (it’s not really classical, we focus on traditional instruments most of the time. Our school’s marching band is something else entirely.) and it’s really something that I’ve always wanted to write about. Anyway, sorry for feeding ya’ll this useless info about me. I hope you enjoyed the story!

[birger-wuvs-elsa]

Shadow ~ FE3H One Shot

Edelgard dragged me along again, but honestly, I kinda conspired with her this time around.

Enjoy.

Shadow had followed her for as long as she could remember.

Edelgard did not know who it was, nor even what it was. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d seen it out of the corner of her vision. She’d just happen to spy her shadow, only to realize it was far too big, far too muscled, and far too tall to be her own. But every time she realized, and would look to the strange shadow, Edelgard would just see her own.

Thus did her young self dub them Shadow.

As a child, she had very much enjoyed Shadow’s company. When she read a book, she could feel a presence look over her shoulder and read with her. She’d even read slowly, just in case Shadow wasn’t as fast as she was. When Edelgard would practice her dancing, if she ever did so alone, she would feel the air before her shudder as if she had a tall partner join her.

Edelgard knew better than to let slip the presence of her strange companion. Even as a child, she never thought it wise to inform the adults about her invisible friend she called ‘Shadow’. She both preferred not to suffer the looks they’d give her, but a jealous part of her enjoyed Shadow’s exclusive attentions. The simple fact that no one else saw signs of Shadow’s presence, but Edelgard clearly could…

They only wanted her to know them, and that made her small chest swell with pride.

As she grew, Shadow remained close at hand, no matter where her family ended up taking her. The assurance that her companion was not just some localized phenomenon greatly comforted Edelgard. She truly had come to cherish Shadow’s friendship throughout her childhood. Even as the young Hubert became her vassal, and as such a physical shadow that trailed behind her, the Shadow that eclipsed them both still held a special place in her heart.

Which would make the tragic events that would soon befall her all the worse.

Growing up, Shadow would occasionally disappear and spend time on their own. Edelgard grew to understand that they simply wanted to strike out on their own every once in a while, and explore. Even as a child, Edelgard was all right with this; after all, imaginary friends didn’t leave of their own accord, they were always where you imagined they would be. Since she always wished that Shadow remained close, their autonomy further proved the tangibility of her companion.

So it came at poor timing that Shadow was missing when Edelgard’s suffering began. During that dark and painful time, Shadow had seemingly never returned, even when she thought they should’ve. Edelgard did not know if her friend feared the horrid people that tortured her so, or if they had some shell that prevented their presence. Throughout all the agonizing pain of the experiments inflicted on her, she begged for Shadow to come back. Edelgard would be loathe to admit it in her elder years, but one could call her silent pleas for Shadow’s return prayer.

But strangely enough…it seemed to work. As if her inward calls actually reached them, Shadow found her just as the arduous experiments came to an end. Whether they were freer with their feelings, or their strange bond was stronger, it didn’t really matter; all Edelgard cared about in the wake of her pain was that she could feel Shadow’s own. They were beyond shocked to find her as they did, and she could all but feel their sorrow and their guilt.

Shadow didn’t leave her side again for the next several years.

The days of the Academy were an especially fascinating time for them both. Shadow seemed strangely shy for a being who could show signs of their presence to only Edelgard, and she found new ways to interact with them without being caught. Quiet, stolen moments with a book in the library, silent exchanges in the cafeteria that none could understand, and whispered good nights and phantom hair strokes before sleep. Though tenuous with the undercurrent of Edelgard’s plans, Shadow kept to their word, and never left her side once.

But it was when the new professor arrived that things…changed.

   For the first time ever, Edelgard’s gaze was stolen away from her Shadow.

For several months, her focus was on her studies, and even then, she was often distracted by the new teacher. True to their promise, Shadow remained close, and what times Edelgard paid attention, the air about her when they were near seemed…oddly gleeful, especially when she was with Byleth. She pointedly ignored it, though it did please a part of her that Shadow seemed to approve of her teacher. She dared not share Shadow with Byleth yet, though to her surprise, she often considered it.

Even poor Hubert didn’t get such consideration.

Beyond the abnormality that was Byleth, and the confusion that seemed to bring her, Edelgard’s time with Shadow remained mostly unchanged. The only real change seemed to be that, to both her surprise and delight, Shadow was taking a more physical presence. They toyed with her curtains, fluffed her pillows when no one was looking, and even pulled up her blanket as she slept.

It was especially nice when Edelgard had a quiet moment alone, Hubert standing guard as always, but giving her privacy. She’d bring out her chess set and set it up, then make her turn. All she had to do was wait, and watch as the other side’s pieces slowly moved along the board on their own. Edelgard would almost smile, always so comforted by seeing the pieces move and the assurance that her childhood was not a dream. The game would continue, and to her delight, the outcome was never certain. She would win most of the games, but that was not always the case; either Shadow would somehow force a draw, or to Edelgard’s shock and joy, even win once in a while.

This enjoyable routine soon found itself with a shadow of another sort over it, however. As Edelgard’s plans continued, and Shadow remained ever close through it all, she often wondered what they thought of everything. What they thought, what they wanted, why they were even here at all? Why did Shadow follow her all this time? Why did they even care?

...who are they?

One day, however, Edelgard got her answer.

   After a long day of class, as the sun set and everyone went about their evening, Edelgard eagerly returned to her room. She was just a touch sore and tired, having overly exerted herself during spars and training. It was all the better, of course; if she was going to succeed, she had to be at her best. She’d been somewhat distracted, however, over the course of the day.

Shadow was missing.

They hadn’t been missing since that time, and so their absence had bothered Edelgard just enough that she struggled to contain it. The day before had ended the same as all others, there was no sign that something was amiss. As Edelgard made to turn into the night, she paused and stared at the table by her window.

The chess board was sitting out…she’d put it away last night, and hadn’t touched it all day.

Edelgard approached the board slowly, and kept her senses keen for any disturbances. Whether it was Shadow or something else, she would not be caught off guard. As she got closer to the board, it came to her attention that not all of the pieces were out. Only two of them were, set side by side atop a folded piece of paper. The White Queen and the Black Knight, with the former oddly set slightly in front of the Knight to its side.

Or perhaps…the Knight stood behind its Queen…

Gently, almost reverently, Edelgard set the pieces aside on the board—she even took the care to keep them together, out of some strange sentimental urge. She lifted the note and carefully unfolded it, only to drop it upon seeing letters scrawled on it. Edelgard turned to scan her room, but frowned when it was clear that she was alone.

She took a shoring breath and looked back down at the note as she picked it up again. The handwriting was somehow both bold and rushed, a hand so confident that it wrote too quickly. As she read it, a tumultuous storm of emotions ignited in her chest.

 Edelgard, follow my pull and come to the steeple roof. It’s about time that you and I properly spoke; I owe you an explanation, after all.

~With love,

            Your Shadow

 A slight tremble took to her hand before she stilled it. Shadow wanted to speak? Face to face? Why now, after all this time? Was it because of her plans…did they want to talk her out of it? No, with a purse of her lips, Edelgard knew that wasn’t the case. If Shadow disapproved, they would’ve made it clear well before she’d reached this stage.

They wanted to explain themselves…a lifetime spent not questioning their presence, and now, all the answers she never asked questions for were at her feet. Or, they would be, once she followed Shadow to their chosen spot.

As soon as Edelgard set the note down, she felt a gentle pull at her shoulder. She turned with it, and saw a dark phantom shape on the wood of her door. It was so tall, it had to crouch for its totality to be seen. The shadow was too muddled to make out, but Edelgard’s heart stuttered as she realized what it was.

Then she blinked, and it was gone.

Edelgard rushed out the door, and swiftly looked both ways down the hall. She saw nothing, but then felt another pull on her shoulder. She followed it, just as they asked, and continued to follow both the pull and the phantom silhouettes until she reached whatever destination Shadow desired.

It was, indeed, one of the large steepled roofs of the monastery. This particular one was large enough that its angle was not too steep to be climbed. Edelgard had heard tale of many rebellious, adventurous students who dared each other or themselves to climb to the top and watch the sunset. But on this night, the sun had already set and the moon lit Edelgard’s climb to the enormous beam that stretched across the height of the roof.

Just as Edelgard was about to reach it, her foot slipped, and her eyes widened in dread. She threw out one of her hands to try and get traction on the tiles of the roof…only to have the hand be grabbed by someone else’s. With their hold as an anchor, Edelgard managed to get her footing and catch her breath. Relieved that she wouldn’t have to explain herself to everyone, she looked up at the hand that held her own.

Her eyes widened as she realized the hand holding her own was so very larger, what felt like a hand was merely fingertips.

Edelgard followed the crimson digits thicker than a halberd’s pole, to the black palm that eclipsed her own like the sun dwarfed the moon. All of it was blacker than the night sky, an abyssal skin that felt like living metal. Farther along, the arm as thick as a small tree, covered with more of the black, jagged metal-like skin, the black occasionally broken by streaks of red or gold. The arm more muscled than all the boys in the monastery combined flowed up into a shoulder that made a stone look insignificant, into a chest that blocked out the moon entirely from Edelgard’s vision.

And atop that chest, a vast head…the head of a dragon.

Bright blue eyes flecked with gold shone in the shadowed expanse of the beast’s face, shrouded by the shadow it made with the moon at its back. A crimson mane crowned it, enormous bull horns of gold swept forward out of it, and above huge ears that looked somewhere between those of a horse and a bat. The long snout curled into a smile, the gentleness of which defied the grand, fierce visage that it bore.

The beast inclined its head to Edelgard, its long chin brushing the metal-skinned chest beneath.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you properly, Edelgard.”

The deep, gentle baritone of its voice struck a chord inside of her, like she’d heard it before, and yet this was the first time it graced her ears. As the man-dragon carefully pulled her up onto the steadiness of the steeple’s beam, Edelgard looked up—way, way up, the entity was massively tall—and narrowed her eyes as she met its own.

“…Shadow?”

The fluffy red eyebrows above its eyes curved upwards as it smiled sheepishly.

“Aye, the one and only.”

Edelgard stared for a moment before she shook her head.

“This can’t be…what are you? A dragon?”

Shadow nodded, their smile still rather shy as they scratched the back of their mane.

“Of a sort, yes, I am.”

Edelgard narrowed her eyes up at them.

“Of a sort? You have the bearing of a man, but the head of a dragon…that is a rather unique sort of dragon to be.”

The dragon sighed as they nodded, and carefully made to sit down on the steeple beam. They let their long legs stretch out down the roof’s tiles, and it was then Edelgard realized the lower half of their legs were also more draconic than human. They had no tail, it seemed, and with a sigh of her own Edelgard crouched down to sit beside Shadow. Even sitting down, they towered over her, even the mere top half of their badly greatly outreaching her own height.

After a few moments of silence, thankfully not ruined by the revelation of Shadow’s appearance, they finally spoke.

“I am a god, Edelgard.”

Time itself seemed to halt as Shadow’s words hit her, and she held terribly still. All of her frustration and anger at the church and the gods it revolved around bubbled dangerously in her chest, and she struggled to keep it at bay. This was Shadow, her Shadow, the friend she’d known since she was a little girl…

…right?

Without looking to them, she whispered so softly she barely even heard herself.

“You can’t be…”

A gentle huff of a half-hearted laugh from them.

“Can I not?”

“You can’t be a god…you care.”

She saw them move out of her peripheral, and knew they had glanced her way. The following silence hardly lasted another heartbeat before Shadow spoke again.

“I know nothing of your gods, Edelgard, but I am a god myself and you’re right…I do care.”

Her fists clenched and lips pursed, and she glared coolly up at them.

“Do you? Truly? And yet you allowed so much to occur? To this world, to my family, to–“

Her voice caught in her throat, and Edelgard looked away. But before she could stew in her grief and frustration any longer, Shadow softly spoke again…and their words seethed with an undercurrent of an emotion she couldn’t quite place.

“…it is not my place to decide what happens in this world, Edelgard. I swear to you, had I the authority, had I the influence, had I the thrice damned power I once did, your hair would still have been the sweet brown I once wished to touch.”

Edelgard’s eyes widened and she looked back up at them, and almost leaned back at the burning intensity in their eyes. It was anger, but not at her…no, she knew her Shadow, they would never be angry at her. But then who could possibly be on the receiving end of this fire? The longer they stared at one another, however, the clearer it became.

Shadow was angry with themself.

“What…do you mean, the power you once did? You lost power?”

Shadow raised a mighty paw, and stared down at it before they slowly curled it into a tight fist. Sparks of fire and lightning pulsed and zapped across the metallic, abyssal sheen of their skin. But…for a god, it was…oddly small of a show.

“I am not of this world, Edelgard…I came here, searching for someone precious. But it was far more costly than I ever could’ve imagined.”

Edelgard tilted her head as she regarded her friend, and felt a strange urge come about her. She slowly reached out with a hand, and braved her own hesitations and gently set it on Shadow’s great arm. She expected the metallic appearance of their armor-like skin to indicate a cold touch, but rather Shadow radiated heat like a small, dying star.

“Shadow…you…came here? From another world entirely?”

They stared at their fist for another moment, before they looked down at her hand on their arm and sighed.

“Aye…I did…I thought I would find her here…”

“Her? Who were you looking for?”

The look of sheer heartbroken sorrow that overcame Shadow’s eyes actually affected Edelgard to her core.

“…my heart…my dear Elizavere.”

Shadow then regaled Edelgard with a tale she could hardly believe to be real. A tale of a world of bestial gods, of their children that they abandoned, and how one mortal woman broke Shadow’s self-imposed exile and somehow won their heart. To hear of a woman so selfless and brave, she willingly took upon herself the powers of yet-to-be-born gods that offered their strength to her cause…both in word of her actions, and by the adoring, reverent tone Shadow spoke of her with, Edelgard found herself moved.

Shadow crossed a thousand worlds and a thousand lifetimes, following their love to every life she was forced to live after having been banished by Shadow’s enemies.

Their tale finally finished, Shadow sighed as their form slumped, the mighty size of the dragon god suddenly so small.

“I thought she was here…I thought I felt her, but I was wrong. She’s nowhere to be found.”

“Why don’t you leave, then?” Edelgard questioned, the answer seemingly so obvious escaping her. “Find another world where she may be?”

They shook their grand head sadly.

“I can’t…I am too weak right now. Had I wished to leave, I should’ve done so years ago, before my power waned. At this point, it’ll be another several years before I am rested enough to leave.”

Edelgard frowned, and took some time to consider what could possibly have kept Shadow here, in a world without their heart. If they’d long since realized she was missing from here, then why? Why would they stay, when they could’ve continued the search?

“…then why did you stay?”

A sad smile spread across the black and crimson snout of the god as they turned to look at Edelgard.

“I couldn’t ignore the prayers of a little girl who needed my help.”

Her eyes widened as her breath stilled in her chest.

“But I…I didn’t, I never…I don’t…pray…”

Shadow’s smile remained unfazed.

“Ah, but you did. When those monsters took you away and ravaged you, I had been making a final search for Elizavere. I was just about to make way, to leave and hope you would grow to think I was just a figment of your imagination. But then I heard you…afraid, in pain, and I felt my heart ache.”

They looked away, and up into the starry night sky.

“I couldn’t leave you alone…she would never forgive me if I abandoned you, and I would never forgive myself. Besides…”

They smiled down to her again, the mirth and cheer she’d once associated with Shadow as a child evident in their blue-gold eyes.

“I’ve grown rather fond of you, my dear Edelgard. Besides, remember how I said I had thought I felt her here?”

She nodded, hesitantly, and their smile grew impossibly brighter.

“Your spirit fooled me for hers, they were not too dissimilar.”

Edelgard stared at them in shock, and shook her head.

“No, you must be mistaken. Elizavere, she…she sounds like a hero, she sounds more like Byleth or some other noble soul. I cannot possibly have…”

She drifted off as Shadow’s smile endured, unaffected by her dismission. They slowly raised a hand to gently hold her back, the paw so large it nearly dwarfed her back.

“I have had the pleasure to meet my Elizavere in more lifetimes than I care to count. She has not always been the same in each world, Edelgard. In each world, in each lifetime, I saw a different Elizavere. She was always different, but never the same. I truly believed you could be her, Edelgard. Though that may have proven false, do not dare think yourself unworthy of my attention. There is not another mortal on this world that has come close to deserving my gaze, let alone my time.”

Their gaze drifted away, and they tilted their head.

“Except for Bernadetta, perhaps…I still battle the urge to show myself to her father and give him a piece of my mind.”

Edelgard could not combat the smile that came about from Shadow’s admission. After all, it was a sentiment she regularly visited herself. To know that Shadow had felt the same when watching Bernadetta while they trailed behind Edelgard was very satisfying.

She sighed, and let her own gaze drift away and up at the stars.

“What will we do now, then, Shadow? While we wait for your next window to find your heart?”

She heard their heavy sigh, and easily imagined they looked star-ward as well.

“Most paramount, I do not intend to be known to anyone else in this world. I was never meant to be here, and I cannot dare be known by any others. No…I shall stay your Shadow, and hope I can be of help to you beyond the reach of the others.”

Edelgard raised an eyebrow and eyed them out of the corner of her vision.

“So you intend to follow through with me, then?”

They huffed once more, the laugh bearing more heart in it this time.

“But of course, my future emperor. There is wisdom in your plan, its only faults caused by the limitations of the thinking of those around you. And…well…”

She looked over just in time to watch Shadow gently, oh so very gently, take her small hands in their huge ones and eye her chest.

“I know all too well why you rush, Edelgard, and I understand. I will do all that I can to assist you, in every way my limited capacity will allow.”

As Edelgard stared up at their blue-gold eyes, and saw the devotion and the sincerity of their claim, the words left her before she could even consider them.

“Please…call me El.”

  Edelgard’s relationship with Shadow surprisingly didn’t change that much, even with their godly revelation.

They returned to their dominantly incorporeal state, as they’d done before. As her plans began to reach a head, Shadow never left her side as they kept an eye about her and whispered what they saw and what they thought. There remained some degree of mirth in their interactions, however; especially on Shadow’s side, as their newfound openness gave them more confidence in being silly, it seemed.

Edelgard couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or not.

Shadow had been awfully proud behind Edelgard during the coronation, and if she was honest with herself, it felt nice. There were not many who she could consider truly close that attended, and Shadow’s beaming presence at her side warmed her like a gentle fire. Though, it didn’t help when Shadow pointed out to her that Byleth was present.

Edelgard could all too easily imagine Shadow’s cheekily excited body language, and ignored it along with her own budding joy at her teacher’s attendance.

The next five years were difficult, with the war in full swing and Dimitri’s wrath on the horizon, Shadow’s enduring support was much needed. Especially after Byleth disappeared; though Shadow assured her that she was all right, but never disclosed how they knew. Edelgard let it go, and focused on the war efforts with her army, and her house classmates she formed into a fearsome strike force.

Shadow provided surprisingly effective tactical advice every now and again. It ranged from supply line information, improving efficiency in a variety of fields, and…attack plans that were shockingly ruthless. But then, Edelgard supposed that she shouldn’t be surprised. Shadow had, after all, had to all but wage war with most of their godly siblings, and would later go through several lifetimes following their soulmate.

All that experience would’ve worn away a lot of Shadow’s…sentimentality regarding such things.

Hubert often asked after Edelgard’s mysterious source of advice and information. She simply assured her dear friend that all was well, and the source could be trusted more than most anyone else. He took that rather skeptically, as she expected him to, but Hubert accepted it on the grounds that it kept his lady safe and victorious.

A delightful change of pace after Shadow came clean was the stories. Every night that they were able, before Edelgard retired to bed, she would challenge Shadow to a bout of chess. Rather than move the pieces akin to a ghost, Shadow would fully appear as they had that fateful night. It was a delight for her to actually get to see their face and body language as they considered their moves.

The way they bent forward, rested their strong arms on their knees. The way their bushy crimson eyebrows clouded like a bloody stormfront over their blue-gold eyes. The way their shoulders hunched forward, and would rest their long chin atop clasped paws. Edelgard couldn’t decide which was the more fascinating part: getting to see a contemplative humanoid dragon, or playing chess with a god.

Ultimately, she decided the most fascinating part was simply getting to play chess with Shadow at all.

Edelgard was also impressed at Shadow’s capacity for multitasking, as they managed to continue to provide a challenge for her whilst simultaneously sharing more tales. Though they seemed rather hesitant to share too much about their first home, Shadow readily regaled her about all of the other worlds they’ve been to, the lives they lived. Some of them were too outlandish for her to believe, and occasionally the shine in Shadow’s eyes seemed too…mischievous.

Edelgard especially like the stories about Shadow’s closest friend, a powerful, brave woman known as Yuna. Apparently, she had to teach Shadow a thing or two once upon a time, and saved their ass more times than they could remember. They spoke of her fondly, and often referred to themself as “her dragon”. What this woman did to earn the god of dragons as her personal dragon companion, Edelgard could only dream.

Some of these moments, however, found a shadow of another kind over them for Edelgard. It dawned on her that this time with Shadow was borrowed. They regained the strength they needed to leave once before…and sacrificed that chance to go back for her. But now, that time was coming again for Shadow to be able to leave. Maybe not go home, exactly, but to continue their search for Elizavere’s next life, and reunite with them again.

Shadow was going to leave her soon…

  The end had finally begun.

Fhirdiad spread out before them, lit aflame by Rhea’s desperate order. Edelgard stood alone, apart from where her army and friends were massed, and waited the order to proceed. They’d just seen Rhea transformed into a dragon, and soared over the city. They would be marching soon…

“So that’s what a dragon looks like here.”

Edelgard looked to her left, and then up as she took in Shadow. They had their thick arms crossed over their mighty chest, and crimson eyebrows bunched angrily over their eyes as they glared solemnly over the city. She sighed as she looked back to the burning buildings ahead of them.

“Indeed, it would seem Rhea was keeping secrets.”

Shadow hummed in thought for a moment.

“Is that so? A shame I didn’t spy on her more, then…though, perhaps she might’ve sensed me were I too close. Alas, it’s past now.”

Past…

Edelgard’s gaze grew distant as she lost her focus. She held up her hands and stared at them, trapped in contemplation. The time must be soon…the finality of everything was too purposeful, too fateful. The journey was coming to an end, and Shadow would soon be just a memory…just a story.

She felt a large hand gently cover her back.

“El…come back, now, El.”

They spoke so softly, her breath caught in her throat and she could swear her heart stuttered. Why was this happening? Why did she feel this way, so on edge?

Why were her hands shaking?

“You’re going to leave soon…” Edelgard murmured, her eyes still on her shaking hands.

She heard them sigh.

“Aye…soon, I’m almost strong enough to leave again. I need to find her trail; I’ve been away from Elizavere for too long now.”

It wasn’t quite envy—or perhaps jealousy?—that Edelgard suddenly felt waft over her, no. But it was something deep and sharp, that struck at Shadow’s words. They’d been around for so long, for as long as she could remember when she was a little girl. What could life possibly be like without her Shadow?

“Do you have to go…?”

The words were spoken before she could stop them, and she immediately scrunched her eyes shut and pursed her lips. She didn’t mean to say that, Edelgard didn’t want to say that. The last thing she wanted to do was guilt trip Shadow.

“I’m sorry, Shadow, I didn’t–”

“Kalahan.”

Her eyes shot open wide, and she looked up at their face. Their hand was still on her back, and they smiled at her when their eyes met.

“My name is Kalahan.”

Edelgard felt quite calm, strangely, upon hearing that. She frowned and tilted her head as she gathered her thoughts.

“Kalahan…I am sorry, I didn’t mean to ask that before. You have elsewhere to be, your place isn’t here. It isn’t…”

She took a deep breath to shore herself.

“…it isn’t with me, and I understand. But I must admit…I will miss you terribly.”

Shadow—no, Kalahan—nodded, their smile sadder now.

“I will miss you too, El…so very much. It has been a delight to watch you grow up into the mighty emperor you became, even if I had to watch you endure so much pain to reach it. And it has been the highest of honors to earn your friendship.”

Edelgard watched as Kalahan took a step back, and her eyes widened as they lowered to one knee. They placed their hands one over the other on the still raised knee, and bent over in a shallow bow.

“I wish you all the best in your future, my emperor.”

Her body seemed to be in the mood for rebellion. Perhaps the war raged against the church was to blame…but in the moment, as Edelgard’s feet moved of their own accord, and she found her arms envelop Kalahan’s thick neck, and gripped their mane in her gloves, she didn’t care. It was for the best, then, that she forgot herself in this moment, and the feel of Kalahan’s strong arms gently wrap around her and their chin softly fall to her back, it was worth it.

“My dear El…I am so glad I chose to stay behind. I meant what I said, it has been a true honor to be your friend. I cannot wait to tell Elizavere all about you, when next we meet. She’d have adored you, as would that rather rambunctious companion of mine I warned you of.”

A chuckle came unbidden, but Edelgard had truly given up her cares, this moment was too important for them.

“I still doubt I could be so alike to this heart of yours that you’d mistake me for her, but I am grateful for the mistake all the same.”

The dense chest beneath her arms shook with laughter.

“I will happily call you my greatest mistake, if that’s what you’re implying, El.”

Edelgard shook her head as she pulled away, her hands rested on their shoulders as she gazed somberly into Kalahan’s blue-gold eyes. They seemed to take notice, and let their own hands carefully rest on her back as their ears perked up.

“Kalahan…promise me, here and now, that should you ever have need of my help you will not hesitate to call on me. I do not care where, when, or what you are when you do so…I will always be at the ready, whenever you may need me.”

They stared at her for some time, as if testing her resolve…and seemed pleased as they smirked.

“I promise, Edelgard. Should I feel the situation is dire enough, and I need to call upon my allies, you shall be first and foremost among those I call to arms.”

They then gently squeezed her back and smiled.

“If you promise me…”

They hesitated, awfully distressed with what they were about to say. Edelgard reached out and pet their chin as she waited for them to gather their courage. Kalahan took a deep, shoring breath before they could continue.

“…if you can’t get your crests taken care of, then please, I beg you…pray to me before the end. Let me be there, please…”

Kalahan’s voice was thick as they spoke, and Edelgard could swear she saw their eyes glistening. She was confused at first, until she remembered: Kalahan watched her grow up. They really were there for her from the beginning, and were perhaps…making light when they said, that night they revealed their nature, that they had “grown rather fond” of her. Even if they had vanished when the experiments were performed, they knew…Kalahan knew what it meant.

Edelgard realized that it was genuine fear and sorrow that shimmered in Kalahan’s eyes.

“You can’t be a god…you care.”

Oh, what an understatement…

Edelgard could feel the prickly sensation of threatening tears, but ignored them as she pulled Kalahan’s chin down and gently kissed their nose, just beneath the golden horn that sat proudly there.

“You have my word, my dear Shadow.”

  Edelgard sat there, on her knees, fire all around her but she didn’t care.

In her arms was her teacher, was Byleth…her heart. Rhea, the Immaculate One, lay dead behind them, slain by their combined and determined might. The city burned around them, and no doubt, their forces were taking care of everything. All that mattered to Edelgard in that moment was Byleth.

Her heart had stopped, and the emperor clung to her, crying.

Don’t you leave me, too…I can’t lose you both, not in one day…

Suddenly, Edelgard heard a soft beat from the chest beneath her ear, and her eyes opened widened. She pulled back and stared at Byleth’s face as she watched the woman slowly open her eyes. Relief fell from Edelgard’s eyes as she smiled, and laughed with joy as she hugged Byleth tight. Her heart only soared higher as she felt weak arms gain their strength and hug her back.

“El…”

The whisper was soft, the voice hoarse, and Edelgard gently squeezed her.

“Don’t speak, my teacher, please…rest yourself.”

“El…I-I heard…someone…”

Confused, she pulled back and scanned Byleth’s face, further perplexed to see her smirking.

“Yuna says hello…she’s…she’s taking care of Shadow for you…”

Somehow unsurprised that Kalahan’s closest friend had been watching over Byleth, Edelgard simply laughed and held her heart close.

[needdl]

Marriage In Style

“Neji and Tenten adjust to the newlywed life.”

do not ask me how long this has been up on FFN or AO3 if you want to feel unignored. (sorry yall)

Part One     Part Two

Neji and Tenten didn’t get around to watching their wedding footage for almost three months. They’d had more interesting things to do- each other, mostly, but Tenten’s classes were kicking up and she was still settling into how she wanted to balance getting her doctorate with her job and home life.

They finally had a weekend when they were both home and felt like watching the footage, and so Tenten sat down and wrote out the last few thank-yous for wedding gifts while she waited for Neji to bring out their dessert- usually, Tenten would cook the meal and Neji would make dessert, then they’d do the dishes together. She didn’t know what he was making tonight, only that it was complex and scientific and she’d been banished from the kitchen in the meantime.

She signed a thank-you note to a distant aunt of Neji’s- she’d gotten them the high-quality printer from their online registry, which had prompted Tenten to ask Neji how he’d charmed his aunt so thoroughly. (“My family is wealthy and likes to flaunt it in pretentious, meaningless ways,” was his only comment, to which Tenten shrugged and said, “Fine with me, we got a great printer out of it.”) The printer now sat in their shared office, ready for use.

Tenten picked up the next thank-you note, glanced at her watch, and frowned. “Babe, are you almost done? I wanna get started!”

“I’ll finish when I finish, Tenten,” came the terse reply. She rolled her eyes, then started jotting out a generic message to Choji’s parents.

She’d just completed stuffing it into an envelope when Neji came out of the kitchen, walking slowly and carrying two small bowls in his hands.

He set one down in front of her carefully, and she gaped at it. “Is this- is this an actual soufflé? Did you make soufflé?”

Neji nodded, looking very satisfied.

“How do you know how to make it?”

He raised his brows, somewhat condescendingly. “It was a recipe, Tenten. Perhaps you’ve heard of them-”

She smacked his shoulder and rolled her eyes. “Okay, you dick.”

She grabbed her spoon and dug it into her soufflé, then brought it to her mouth. It was warm and chocolatey, and she let a small happy noise and took another bite. “Oh my god, Neji, this is so good.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Neji took his own bite of his soufflé and looked pensive. “It’s perhaps a little sweeter than I intended, and I think I could have gotten more rise out of it-”

Tenten hooked her chin over his shoulder. “If you don’t like it, give it to meeee.”

He yanked his soufflé out of her reach. “Get out of here.”

“Booooooo.”

They started the wedding footage and settled in, eating their soufflé with the sides of their legs pressed together. At the start of her vows, Tenten let out a little groan and covered her head with a decorative pillow.

Neji chuckled. “You really can’t stand to watch yourself profess you love for me?”

“Shut up!”

“Fine, don’t watch. I, however, have a vested interest in this section.”

“Great. Congrats.” She kept the pillow over her eyes until her on-screen counterpart had finished, then peeked over the top to watch as Neji began his own vows. She let out a tiny smile as on-screen Neji declared her his “fate”, and turned her head to look at her husband.

He wasn’t watching the footage at all. Instead, he had turned to look at her and take in her reaction. He met her eyes and gave her such a soft look she felt her insides actually melt.

“I meant it,” he murmured. She mustered her will and held his gaze, even though every part of her wanted to hide away the soft mush she was becoming. “I know,” she whispered. She quickly turned her gaze back to the television to watch the kiss and raucous cheers that followed (three-hit combo of Lee, Naruto, and Kiba as part of the groomsmen, though Sakura and Ino in the bridal party were by no means quiet either), blushing under Neji’s lingering gaze.

The camera followed the two of them back down the aisle, fingers entwined, before fading into their reception. Tenten jerked out her reverie and asked incredulously, “Shino seriously did this? I had no idea he was so good at video editing!” She turned back to look at Neji. “We paid him for this, right?”

“Yes, but he gave us a friends and family discount, then cut back even more as part of his wedding present.”

“We should pay him more.”

“Yes, I gave him extra already.”

“Oh, good.”

They watched as the footage showed their guests settling into seats and Lee’s best man toast (he was wonderfully poetic and romantic, and only mentioned youth four times), followed by the dinner. After the first course, Ino and Sakura stood up for a joint speech that had on-screen Tenten hiding her face away in Neji’s shoulder.

Watching the speech again from the comfort of her own home, Tenten could appreciate it a little more- it was fairly funny, after all.

She stood up and grabbed their empty souffle dishes, then headed to the kitchen with them. “You want any wine?” She called over her shoulder.

“Yes, thank you.”

She grabbed an opened bottle from a few days earlier, plus a new one, and two wine glasses. Tenten settled back down next to Neji on the couch and poured them both a glass, sliding Neji’s to him.

She grinned at him. “Cheers.” They clinked their glasses together.

Neji ducked his head and kissed her. “To our marriage.”

“Cheeseball.” She kissed him again. “So far it’s been pretty damn good.”

“Good,” he echoed, kissing her again. They stopped and lingered in each other’s space for a little bit, before a voice from the the television caught their attention.

“What I like about them, or like why I think they’re a good couple?” Ino was squinting into the camera, a half-consumed glass of champagne in her hand. Judging by the slight sloppiness of her hair, it was towards the end of the reception, when some of the guests were a little tipsy. (Ino. Ino was a little tipsy).

Shino must have answered the question behind the camera because Ino sat back in her chair and made loud, thoughtful noises. “I like that… well, hm. Look, I’m drunk, don’t expect poetry. Hm.”

Sakura slid into the seat next to Ino, clutching an appletini. “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii,” she said. Whether she was addressing Ino, the camera, or Shino was unclear.

“Forehead, what do we like about Neji and Tenten as a couple.”

“PIG.”

“Ohhhhh, you’re druuuuunk.”

“So what? I'll kick your ass!”

Tenten turned thoughtfully to Neji. “How did we not notice that most of the bridal party was drunk?”

“We were rather… occupied.” Neji smirked.

Tenten paused to remember some furtive, uh, kissing that had happened in a side room towards the end of their reception. “Oh. That’s right.”

Onscreen, Ino slapped her hand down on the table. “I like that Neji thinks Tenten is one of the funniest people on the planet, even though her sense of humor is horrible and almost exclusively shitty puns or history jokes.”

Sakura, who was snuggled into Ino's shoulder with her eyes closed, grinned. “Yeah! History…”

“Like, Tenten will be having a conversation with someone, and then be like… ‘Hurr durr, Hashirama Senju something something-’”

Tenten took a sip of her wine. “She could at least tell a decent joke.”

“-and like, it’ll be some obscure reference that no normal person will understand-”

“What!” Tenten scowled at the screen. “Hashirama frickin’ Senju is not obscure.”

“-but Neji will always laugh. Every time. I mean, I always kind of laugh, just because she thinks she’s funny-” Tenten huffed indignantly. “But not only does Nej understand the reference, he thinks it’s funny.”

“Yeah, because I’m funny.” Tenten told the television loudly. “NOT MY FAULT YOU NEVER TOOK A HISTORY CLASS AFTER FRESHMAN YEAR, YAMANAKA.”

Neji watched her ranting at Ino (who, of course, was not actually there) and grinned. He did think Tenten was funny, but she was most humorous to him when it was unintentional- when she blustered away at his affections, or when she let her emotions overwhelm her common sense (as she was doing now).

He continued to drink from his wine and watched as Tenten cussed out her (still absent) friend. After a minute or two, she sat back with a harrumph and took a gulp of her wine. She turned to Neji and gave him a sulky look. “I’m funny.”

Neji shrugged and indicated the television, where the footage had cut away to show the pair of them watching Hinata’s short but heartfelt speech. “I think so, but apparently my opinion is not to be trusted.”

“Well, it’s the one the matters most to me, so Ino can suck it.”

“Matters most, hm?”

“It’s why I married you,” Tenten leaned over to kiss him. “Good opinions.”

“Thank you. I practiced.”

Tenten snorted and turned back to the television, keeping herself tucked against his side. He pressed his lips against her temple and lingered, before resting his head against hers and giving the footage his attention.

The final shot was the two of them slowly dancing together, silhouetted against the setting sun.

[haikyuu-imagines-and-others]

I was afraid sth like that might happen bc tumblr kinda always finds a way to fuck up. But thank you so much!! I really appreciate it ♥ My request was a college AU scenario where Iwaizumi has some lectures with the chubby!reader and she has a huge crush on him, but doesn't approach him bc she's too shy & thinks he won't like her anyway bc of her appearance. But they start talking and eat lunch together at some point, and they soon become friends and he asks her on a date and they kiss maybe ?

I couldn’t agree with you more, love haha It tends to eat up a ton of requests :( Even for me for other blogs!! At least we caught it though! :D This was a super cute idea… so I hope you like how I wrote it out! Thanks for requesting! - Admin Satori

Iwaizumi Hajime:

It started with a brief glance - you’d been studying in the library, cracking your head open for the chemistry equations to fit in there properly for your upcoming test. Helium and Hydrogen molecules blending together, you’d looked away to give yourself a chance to relax and not pop out of their sockets from the stress building behind them. An oncoming headache, you knew, but what was more important to you? Your grades or health?

Considering how many headaches you got in the average week, you promised yourself you’d take some time to heal. Evaluate your mental wounds before getting back out there for that well deserved ‘A’.

For now, you stared off at the front doors of the library… Again, you hadn’t meant to catch his eye when he walked in, backpack slung over his shoulder, dark green eyes showing you nothing much past his clear exhaustion.

A single glance, nothing more than a locking of eyes for less than a second.

Yet, there you were… blushing as if he’d just given you the corniest pickup line.

Then he was turning and walking to the coffee shop in the corner of the library, his backpack sliding just the slightest down his shoulder as the smell of the hot bean water infiltrated his still half asleep mind.

You hadn’t seen him walk away. You’d buried your face in your hands, trying to look like you were tired or rubbing your eyes, but internally you felt as if you were on fire. He’d looked at you. He’d locked eyes with you! That beautiful, gorgeously built young man had stared into your eyes and you into his foresty green ones.

This is absolutely ridiculous, you knew, to be so hung up about a single, meaningless glance he’d thrown your way. But how could you not react the way you were? Iwaizumi Hajime was the leading champ in almost all the sports your University provided, and he was a top student! He was practically a celebrity on campus! Of course you’d be honored to be at the receiving end of his gaze.

But now wasn’t the time to fall into another drooling episode. Checking your phone, you hopped out of your singular cubicle seat and grabbed your school work. Your ‘philosophy’ class started in less than five minutes and you were not about to be late. Again.

The next instance of being blessed with his gaze, and this time his actual presence, was that next day. Biology class, required for all students regardless of majors, but ultimately not doing anything for what your dream job would have you be doing. Or at least, the lowest level of bio you might need… You weren’t sure yet. Choosing majors was hard.

You’d been dozing as the professor took their time getting their study lessons in order, making sure their presentation would work properly come action time. You’d crossed your arms in front of you, and as each minute passed you realized you were lowering your head in exhaustion. Who required students to attend class at 6AM? Why? You weren’t even human at 6AM - just some amalgamation of exhaustion, red bull, coffee, and irritation.

You were not a morning person.

“Is this seat taken?” You were waving off the question of the asker - not really in the mind to be kind this morning; You were tired. “Are you sure that… combination is healthy?”

“Look, guy, if I wanted health tips, I would have paid to be in a health cla-“

But the rest of your quip died on your tongue as you went to glare at whoever decided 6AM was a good time to start judging and asking questions.

Because there he was. Wide awake, a little red from what you assumed was his morning practice, but an amused smile pulling the corner of his lips as he saw you flush with embarrassment. ‘Cute’ he couldn’t help but think as you ducked your head with an awkward cough.

You didn’t look at him for long, quickly blinking to break the trance he had you in before you were looking down at your class materials - the lights of the classroom being dimmed just the slightest so the professor could start their presentation for the day.

Bad idea.

With the lights dimmed, there was an electric current running between you and the actual adonis sitting next to you. Every time he inhaled, your stomach clenched - every time you went to take a note, he shifted in his seat. Yin and Yang - though equal in reaction, different in action. Together moving in sync. You’d glance at him when you didn’t think he was looking, enjoying the view he so graciously offered - and he would blatantly stare when you’d turn your head down to focus on your notes.

Needless to say, you were hyperaware the rest of that morning.

He took it upon himself to seek you out the next time you two met. He felt he hadn’t been fully awake enough to enjoy your embarrassed reaction that morning in the library, but regardless of that fact he felt as if he owed you some kind of apology for being rude during class. Who was he to decide if your routine was unhealthy? Sure, he was currently ‘paying for a health class’, as you’d grumbled that morning, and yeah, he did know first hand what red bull did to peoples hearts… But who was he to judge?

Books scattered around your small corner table in the cafe. Your food, cold and forgotten, resting on the very edge of the table as you manuevered books closer and further from you as they gained or lost their necessity value. Studying was a bitch, you’d come to learn - dozens of different studying styles had never fit you.. But of course the one that made you look like an insane person actually stuck.

Just your luck!

Though the table was fairly packed, and your jostling it as you reached and pushed books away or towards you didn’t help.

Soon enough, as gravity and fate would dictate, your lunch plate was tipping over the edge of the table. You didn’t even have time to react - your eyes watching as it slowly shook further and further towards its demise.

Then it was stopped. A hand swooping down and picking it up before it could tip into the void. And you were confused, for an embarrassingly amount of time, when you didn’t hear the shattering of the plate or feel the amused stares of your classmates judging your clumsiness. But when you finally realized the crash would never come is when you followed the hand that currently held your lunch plate.

Amused forest green eyes stared back at you, his eyebrows raised a bit as he had waited for you to come to your senses. How deep in Study Mode had you been? Had you taken a break yet? Regardless, he set his plate down on the empty table next to yours before coming back to you, closing the books closest to you and setting your lunch on top.

“Eat. Food is brain power.” Then he retrieved his plate before doing the same to the books across from you and taking a seat.

What the hell just happened? You blinked rapidly as you tried to answer that question yourself. Your food was cold, but God did it look good.

But he looked better.

“Uh… Thanks…” Iwaizumi nodded to your appreciation before he started eating his own food, his eyes glancing around at the books nearest him in curiosity. What was your major? What did you want to be? There were a lot of different subjects surrounding him… were you just catching up on homework? Procrastinator until the last minute? “I-“ His eyes met yours again as you spoke, your cheeks blooming a gentle red at how immediately he’d given you his attention. “I’m _______.”

Iwaizumi smiled as he nodded, “I’m Iwaizumi Hajime….” Though your eyes betrayed your meek nod - you knew who he was. The moment you laid eyes on him, you knew exactly who and what kind of Godly person he was. Though your high thoughts of him flew out the window at the sight of his soft blush as he rubbed at the back of his neck anxiously - he was human. Just like you. Just like anyone else. “Uh… I wanted to… apologize… For earlier, in Bio….” He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with saying sorry.

“Apologize?” Your voice was quiet as you echoed him, staring blankly at him as you tried to understand what it was he was sorry about. “For what? We just met today…” Though you knew that wasn’t the full truth. Sure, you’d just introduced yourself today - but you’d seen and even snapped at him during class. You’d locked eyes in the library. Not exactly meeting and becoming acquaintances for those two instances.

Anxiety nibbled at the inside of his stomach as you unintentionally dragged out something he didn’t really like doing. Apologizing, even if he was in fault, always took a bit of his pride. “I had no right to judge you the other day in Biology… If you want to mix red bull and coffee, that’s entirely your decision.”

His words didn’t register as serious for the first few seconds after they left his mouth. And for a moment he was worried you hadn’t heard him before he realized you were actually just 3 feet in front of him… there was no way you hadn’t heard him.

Your lips pulled at the corners as you tried to hold back your giggles, your eyes crinkling at why he’d apologized - how goofy. He really thought you’d taken offense to something like that? You went to cover your mouth as you quietly laughed, his eyebrows furrowing as he pouted and looked away from you. “What’s so funny?” Though his tone revealed he didn’t really want to know because he knew it was silly of him to apologize for something like that… too late.

But you shook your head with a wide smile, your hand lowering as you, boldly, reached forward and patted his hand resting on the table. “Don’t you worry your cute little head, Iwaizumi-san… You didn’t hurt my feelings in the least.” His cheeks grew a bit red with you saying his name, even if it was his last. Though you didn’t understand it as that but rather embarrassment of you teasing him for his ‘transgression’.

“Maybe I should have then.” He grumbled, his hand turning on the table top to feel your palm resting against his, your fingertips lightly touching his forearm.

You nearly choked at the feel of his hand against yours - his warm touch sending your stomach twisting into itself. But your confidence was soaring from his gall to apologize for something silly like that, so you merely laughed quietly and patted his hand this time, “I’d like to see you even try.”

His pout turned into a challenging smirk as he caught your hand with his on one of its pattings. “Okay, how about… Over dinner then…” His gaze held yours, and it felt as if your soul were leaving your body at just how… intense the man before you really was. You’d heard stories, and first hand experiences from those around campus, but they paled in comparison to your immediate moment with him.

Heat was all you felt. Heat in your face from your blushing, heat in your chest from your heart slamming against your ribs, and heat in your hand as you held his just as tightly. This was moving much faster than you’d ever experienced before. Where was the chasing? Where was the silly chatting? The friendship that awkwardly made its way into romantic feelings?

Where was the insecure boy you’d usually find yourself dating?

Iwaizumi was different.

Iwaizumi Hajime is a confident man of action.

And winning your attention seemed to be his first and only goal in your budding relationship.

*sniffles* I didn’t get to the kissing TT~TT But I’ll probably do a Part II, whether its requested or not ;D

Tag List:

@this-badass-cutie-patootie @summon-the-stars @mme-hajime @kuroosarium (ah you changed your name love!) @lyra8 

[chipsandwaffles]

just wondering (can we be friends?)

Synopsis: There is no way you had a crush on Daniel. Absolutely not. No matter how many times you drunk dial Seongwoo saying that you did nor how many signs get shoved in your face. Nope. Member: Daniel/Reader Word Count: 6,727 Notes: i definitely wrote this for @yugenvevo and definitely not because i’m weak for daniel. that sounds fucking stupid, being weak for him... honestly, my french anon, i wrote this for you too. for all the daniel hoes, how about that. now to fling myself into the sun. goodbye. enjoy.

You hate your best friends.  

Okay, hate might be too harsh. You don’t hate them. On any other day, you really love them and love being around them.  

But today, you just want to kick them both in the dick so hard that they won’t get up for the rest of the week (less Jaehwan than Seongwoo, but still).

Because today is apparently Tease Y/N about her crush on Kang Daniel day (which was not a thing you did not have a crush on Daniel) and they have not let up since you sat down at your usual lunch table.  

"And she's all "I like Jihoon not Daniel!" Seongwoo exclaims, in this over the top way that has you brooding. Jaehwan's laughing did not help. "But then she calls me drunk at 3 A.M saying how in love with Daniel she is-

"Oh my god, I did not-

"You did!" Seongwoo is laughing with Jaehwan now, their arms around each other making it seem like they were on a team and you were alone on your own team. A losing team. One that had no chance of winning in the first place.

Which you were.

"And- and she says she hates him but then when she's talking to him she can't stop staring and smiling-

"She's lovestruck!"

You were always on the losing time when you were against them.

"When do you think they're going to get together?" Jaehwan suddenly asks, his and Seongwoo's laughter dying down immediately. You hated how easy they could switch attitudes.  

"Never, I hate him," you say. They both ignore you.

"Soon, right? It has to be," Seongwoo says. Jaehwan nods in agreement. They continue talking to each other, their voices getting quieter and quieter as you watch them. You're sure they're insulting you in there somewhere, they must be. That's what they always did. Seongwoo even puts his hand to cover their mouths, as if you could actually hear them.  

You sigh, waiting for them to turn back to you and include you in the conversation. They had to eventually.

Hopefully.  

But, of course, it's them, your idiot best friends, and instead of doing anything you expected, they do something even worse.

"Daniel!"  

You stare in disbelief at Seongwoo, wondering why he was calling Daniel over. Why did he have to make your life difficult?

"What are you doing?!" You hiss at him. Jaehwan leans in close to fill you in.  

"You say you hate him... So tell him that. Stop giving the poor boy false hope." Seongwoo turns to you and nods, a disappointed look gracing his features.  

"Yes, Y/N. Let him down easy, okay? For he's just a cute little puppy."  

"The cutest puppy," Jaehwan agrees.  

"I hate the both of you."

Daniel arrives at the table then, breathing a little heavier since apparently he jogged over to your lunch table. He could've just walked like a normal person but no. He had to be cool and athletic and jog over to you.  

"What's up guys?" He greets in that deep voice of his, the one that makes your heart pick up speed in that stupid way that only Daniel can make happen. He could've just had a normal boring voice like other people, but no. He had to have a super hot voice.

"Just wanted to ask if you got the dance down yet for practice?" Seongwoo asks Daniel. You quickly look down and shove two crackers in your mouth, hoping Daniel won't notice you or something. Maybe if he didn't, you could continue not thinking about him.

Because you definitely weren't.  

You weren't thinking about going on cute dates with him or holding his hand or making him laugh or kissing him in front of Seongwoo and Jaehwan to bother the shit out of them. Because you were a normal person who didn't think about Daniel like other people.  

"Hey Y/N." Daniel greets you so nicely, with almost a hint of shyness as he does it.  

It's so stupidly adorable that you can't help but look up at him. He's smiling in this cute way, where his eyes crinkle and his two front teeth are showing behind his lips, and it only makes your heart race even more. He's only ever smiled at you like that.

Fuck, you hated yourself.  

"Hey, Daniel. What's up?" You ask. You can feel Seongwoo's and Jaehwan's grins pointed your way like the cocky assholes they were. Of course you weren't going to tell Daniel you hated him. How could you when he smiled at you like that?

"Nothing much. You get that economics homework done?" He asks. You nod your head.  

"Easy peasy, really."

"For you maybe. You're smart. It's always easy for you," he says. The compliment does nothing to ease your heart.  

Before you can reply though, Daniel's friends are calling him back over to their lunch table, loud enough for the whole place to hear. He apologizes for having to go and says goodbye before jogging back over to his own table.  

You totally don't watch him go away.

"What happened to telling Daniel you hated him?" Seongwoo asks. You turn your attention to him, seeing that cocky grin you knew was there.

"Forget Daniel. I hate you."

"See, you can say that to me because you know it doesn't hurt me. But if you say it to Daniel you know it's going to break his heart-

"And Y/N doesn't want to break Daniel's heart, do you?"

"I hate you," you tell them. Seongwoo shrugs in his cocky way, a triumphant look on his face, and Jaehwan copies him right after he sees how bad your glare is.

You were such a fucking liar. You didn't hate Daniel. You had the biggest crush on Daniel.

But you definitely hated your best friends.

-

Your crush started back in your last year of high school. Daniel had recently transferred to your school after moving from Busan, not knowing anyone but still smiling at the class and offering friendship.  

You hadn’t really paid any attention to him as he came to sit next to you, too focused on finishing the chapter of the book you had in front of you before the teacher actually got to her lesson. Daniel didn’t pay attention to you either, some boy on the other side of him, Minhyun, getting his attention immediately. You kept to yourself, and Daniel, as friendly as he was, kept to his own business as well.

You and Daniel didn’t interact until one fateful day, a day you think about often, where you had embarrassed yourself immediately in front of him.  

You had been sitting at your desk eating your lunch and entertaining yourself with hitting the end of your pencil so that it would do a flip, thoroughly enjoying yourself every time it succeeded.

But then you had been too distracted with taking a scoop out of your pudding cup that when you went to hit the pencil you hit too hard and it ended up flinging across the room. You watched it soar, going, going, until it hit its destination.  

The place it hitting being Daniel's forehead. Your eyes widened in shock and you quickly looked down, not wanting to have to explain what you were doing. Considering you had been the only one in the room, you knew it was pointless. He was going to ask you.  

Which he did.  

He walked over to your desk and stood in front of it, holding out the pencil in your line of sight.  

“Is this yours?” he asked. The question was stupid, because clearly it was yours, but you just shook your head.  

Because you were embarrassed and just as stupid as Daniel, apparently.  

“No. I’ve never seen that pencil in my life,” you said. You heard Daniel laugh, soft and dorky and something that’s never been directed at you before. It made you look up, seeing a just as equally soft smile, eyes crinkling in the cutest way possible.  

You’re pretty sure that was strike one before you fell for Daniel.  

“So, who threw it then? The invisible ghost?” he asked. You shrug.  

“Must have been.” You paused, looking back to the pencil. “But they didn’t throw it I… think they were trying to make it do flips- but I don’t know I was just eating my lunch.”  

You reached for your pudding cup and took a large scoop out of it then, shoving it in your mouth a moment later. Daniel laughed again, and then he was pulling up a chair on the other side of your desk, placing the pencil down.  

“You know, if the ghost wanted to flip it well, this is how they should do it.” You watched Daniel demonstrate a perfect pencil flip, his hand coming down on the very tip of the pencil making it do a complete circle before landing back on the desk. You stared at the pencil, then shook your head before looking at Daniel.  

“You call that a flip?” you asked, clearly trying to challenge him.  

You and Daniel had then entered a pencil flipping contest to see who could get the most flips. You remember Daniel getting the most three times, but since it landed on the floor it never counted and you had taken first place. He wasn’t happy about it, but had given in when you offered him some crackers from your lunch.  

Which then prompted Daniel asking why you were eating alone, a question that had made you roll your eyes. You admitted to him that all your friends were in another school, and no one here was really all that interested in getting to know you so you just kept to yourself.

Which then made Daniel ask if he could be your friend.  

Which then you shyly accepted after he agreed to bring you pudding cups every day for the rest of the school year.  

Your friendship grew from there, Daniel ditching his friends to come have lunch with you every day, sitting next to you during breaks while you read books, coming over to your house to study and sleep on your couch with you while you watched some random movie, complimenting you whenever you got good grades and laughing at himself when he got worse ones, telling you that you were his best friend, and eventually telling all his friends when they asked why he was hanging with you that you were his best friend.

That was strike number two.  

"What?" He had asked when you stared at him disbelieving. "You knew that."

"Yeah but-

"But nothing. You're my best friend. Unless we're not best friends and all those pudding cups meant nothing..." You rolled your eyes and hit Daniel, turning away from him to continue reading your book. You couldn't help the smile that got shoved into the pages of your book but was ultimately for Daniel, because he made you feel so loved when your friends were all somewhere else.  

And then came the day when you realized you were crushing on Daniel.  

You had been late to school, not even bothering to pack a lunch like usual or even try to look mildly presentable, with your shirt untucked and your hair in a messy bun. You were stressed as you entered the class late, the teacher immediately telling you to wait outside while she finished up talking to the class. You had never gotten in trouble before, and being out there had only stressed you out more.

But suddenly, the door to the classroom was opening and Daniel was coming to stand next to you, bumping his shoulder with yours.  

"Bad morning?" He asked. You looked at him, frowning.  

"Why are you out here?" You asked. He smiled at you, one of your favorite smiles, soft and light and used only when he looked at you.  

"I can't let my best friend stay out here in trouble by herself. You'll get bored. What kind of best friend would I be if I left you here alone?" You stared at Daniel for a long time, your heart swelling at his words. He was willingly out there with you to keep you company, to let you know he was there for you even if you got in trouble for being late.  

Thinking about the gesture made you look away to the floor, finding the school floor tiles so interesting.  

Knowing Daniel had your back no matter what, that he was willing to get in trouble for you made you realize that he was more than just a friend to you. That was strike three.  

But there were issues being in love with your best friend. All you could think about was Daniel, all you wanted to do was kiss him and hold his hand and go on dumb dates together. You blushed when he complimented you or smiled at you, and you found yourself all over the place every time you got near Daniel.  

It was a problem, and you being your confused teenage self had ended up acting irrationally on it.  

“You want to stop being friends?” Daniel looked heartbroken at the proposal, his face unbearable to look at the more he stared at you with those sad puppy dog eyes. “Why- did I do something wrong?”  

You shook your head. “It’s not you Daniel, it’s me. I just-

“Are you breaking up with me?” Daniel asked. You rolled your eyes and shook your head again.  

“We aren’t dating, Daniel.” But you wanted to be. “I just need some time apart from you. I feel too dependent on you-  

“I’m okay with that,” Daniel tried to reason. He just didn’t want to lose his best friend. But you hadn’t felt like his best friend anymore. You just felt like some girl with a crush on him.  

“I’m not, Daniel. I just- give me time, okay? When I’m ready, we’ll be best friends again,” you said. Daniel didn’t look too happy about it, but he agreed anyways. Because that was Daniel, and he'd do anything for you.  

How could you not have developed a crush on him?

"How much time do you think you need?" He asked as you ate your last lunch together. You shrugged, taking a spoonful of your pudding.  

"I don’t know. As much time as I need. I guess you'll know when time is up."  

Two years later, and you still needed time. You still weren't over Daniel. No matter how many people you kissed, no matter how many boys you pretended to like, no matter how much you denied it and said you hated him to Seongwoo and Jaehwan, you still loved Daniel.  

And he was still waiting for you.  

"Y/N?" You jump in surprise at the voice next to you, knocking your knee against your desk and letting out a noise of pain in response. You wince as your hands come to your knee, holding it and mumbling curses as you sit there.  

"Oh my god- I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" You turn your face to look at the voice, seeing Daniel with concern on his face as he watches you. You frown and look away.  

"'m fine..." You mumble out, pressing your forehead to your desk. The teacher keeps talking to the class as you sit there and eventually Daniel puts his hand to your back, rubbing up and down to give you some comfort.  

There he was. Daniel, the guy who had your back no matter what, even when all you did was hit your knee against the desk.  

It had been two years since you said you needed space from him, since you stopped being best friends, and yet, he was still there for you.

You wished you weren't so stupidly in love with him.  

-

"So why don't you tell him?" Seongwoo asks as you sit in the library together. You turn to him, frowning in this over the top way that makes him roll his eyes. You hated that Seongwoo knew what you were thinking about without even having to tell him. "What? You act like it's a bad thing."

"Telling Daniel I'm in love with him is a bad thing. It's like telling Jaehwan he's not funny," you say. You hear a gasp from behind you, making you and Seongwoo look to see who let it out. Jaehwan is staring at you in shock, a hand to his chest because he's dramatic like that.  

"What do you mean I'm not funny?!"  

"See what I mean? He's going to now pretend we don't exist while coming up with stupid one liners that are just "so funny" because he's upset. It's like me telling Daniel I like him. If I do, he's just going to ignore me and get upset," you tell Seongwoo. He looks at you, moving his arms into a thinking position with one hand on his chin and the other at his elbow as he nods his head.  

"I see your point..." Jaehwan comes to sit across from you two, mumbling crap under his breath that neither you nor Seongwoo pay attention to. It's happened before; it was really nothing new. You instead focus on Seongwoo, seeing the gears in his small little head turning. He was probably going to say something smart to help you out.  

"Why do you think Daniel doesn't like you back though?" Seongwoo asks. You roll your eyes and turn back to your books. False alarm. It was completely stupid.  

"Because he's only ever seen me as a friend and I mean- I thought he wasn't over, uh... That one girl. Whatever her stupid name is..."

"You're jealous over a girl Daniel dated for two weeks to get your attention," Seongwoo says. You look at him, glaring.  

"Why would he do that?" You ask. A look of disbelief crosses Seongwoo's face and you both hear Jaehwan across from you groan.  

"Okay, I'm going to stop being upset for two seconds- Y/N, are you that dense?" Seongwoo snorts, agreeing with him a moment later.

"Yeah, seriously. Are you that dense?"

"What- I’m not! Daniel-!" You shut your mouth, realizing you're yelling in the library and calm yourself down for a moment. These two were being ridiculous. Daniel didn't like you. "Daniel doesn't like me. We've been friends since high school-

"And he's had a crush on you since high school-

"Has not!" You yell at Seongwoo. He crosses his arms and yells back.  

"Has too!"

"Has not- why would he have a crush on me?!"

"Hell if I know- you're not that cute-

"You're insufferable, Seongwoo-

"And you're no better! Seriously, you're as dense as a rock, Y/N!"  

"Hey!" Both you and Seongwoo tense at the voice yelling at you, turning your heads to look at the girl on library duty right now. She looks furious, most likely because Seongwoo and you had been yelling, and all she has to do is make a motion of zipping her lips with a glare on her face to shut you and Seongwoo up.

You both turn back to the textbooks sitting in front of you, keeping quiet for the next ten minutes so the library girl doesn't kick you out. Seongwoo taps the desk as he reads, Jaehwan mumbles under his breath about being funny, and you stare down at your book, once again getting distracted by Daniel.

How could Daniel like you? You had just been friends, and, if he liked you, wouldn't he have said something about it? He wasn't exactly shy when telling you how he felt, so why would he keep that from you?  

Daniel didn't like you. He would've told you.  

And then by now, you would've been dating, rather than pretending you didn't have the biggest crush on Daniel. You could've moved past your stupid emotions and given them all to him instead.  

He didn't like you. Daniel didn't like you.

But Seongwoo wasn't ever wrong usually unless he was being cocky. And he wasn't being cocky now. He seemed curious to know why you thought Daniel didn't like you back.  

All you knew is he couldn't. Daniel couldn't like you back.  

"Daniel doesn't like me," you mumble out. You can feel Jaehwan and Seongwoo's eyes on you, and you sigh. "I just- I basically gave up on our friendship because I liked him. Why would he still like me?"  

Suddenly, Seongwoo has his hands on your chair and he's turning it around, making you look at something across the library. There, in a corner by himself, is Daniel, looking your way with a smile on his face. When he realizes you're looking he waves shyly at you before going back to whatever he was working on.  

"He does this all the time, Y/N. Stares at you, talks about you, asks us how you are. He even doodles your name in his notebook," Seongwoo tells you.  

"He does not-

"He does. Daniel is willing to wait on you to mend your friendship and has been waiting for two years, dude. You seriously don't think he likes you back?"  

-

"Y/N- Y/N- can you- can you pleaaaaassseeee turn up the music! This is my favorite song!" You can see Seongwoo jamming to some music in your rearview mirror, definitely not the music on the stereo because nothing was playing, but to something in his head. Daniel giggles next to you, while Jaehwan and their friend Sungwoon jams along with Seongwoo.

Driving your drunk friends home was always an experience, that was for sure.  

"Y/N," Seongwoo slurs your name, moving forward so he's settled between the two front seats, his arms slung across the headrests of both. "Daniel needs to be dropped off- off at- at his place. The one place next to the park on that street-

"Why can't I just drop him off at your place?" You ask. Seongwoo pokes the side of your face with his hand, making you flinch away. An experience surely, but also terribly annoying as well.  

"Beeeeeccaaaaauuusseee, Daniel has somewhere to be in the morning and he can't stay at my- my house- my- my apartment? Yes. No. Yes!"  

You roll your eyes and move one of your hands off the wheel, shoving it into Seongwoo's face to get him back in his seat. "Fine. I'll drop him off. Can I drop the rest of you guys at Seongwoo's place?"  

A chorus of yeses come from the three boys in the back and they start cheering about something, making you roll your eyes.  

The car ride to Seongwoo's apartment gets sidetracked by a trip to a convenience store to get ice cream but after that it's relatively short, arriving at his apartment in less than ten minutes. You had to help Jaehwan into the apartment while Sungwoon and Seongwoo stumbled together to the door, but eventually you got them all in, dropping them in Seongwoo's living room before taking his keys and his phone and putting them under the sink.  

Drunk Seongwoo didn't need to go driving his car like an idiot and crash it, so hiding his stuff was the best option. Once he went looking, he'd tire himself out and pass out.  

It all worked out really.  

And after that, you're driving once more, Daniel in the front seat, his head pressed against the window while you drove. He wasn't asleep, you knew, because he was mumbling something under his breath, but you opted to drown it out with playing music.  

It was awkward between you two.  

Your focus was supposed to be on the road in front of you, but you couldn't help it when all you could think about was Daniel.  

You blame Seongwoo for making you think Daniel liked you back. You had been awkward around him since, leaving when he came to your lunch table, sitting in a different row during your class you shared together, not even looking at him even though you knew he was looking at you.  

But he didn't like you back. He couldn't.

"Y/N." You glance over at Daniel as you sit at the red light, seeing him smiling that soft smile he's only used whenever he looked at you. "You're so pretty."

You blink at him, your face suddenly getting hot at his words. He was drunk. He was so drunk.  

"Shut up Daniel. You're drunk," you tell him, putting your eyes back on the light. You hear him giggle and feel his hand at your ear, brushing some hair behind it.  

"Doesn't mean it's not true," he says. You shy away from his hand and shift a little in your seat. You wanted to put distance between you two before you did something irrational.  

Like pull the car over and kiss him.  

"Y/N," Daniel calls your name again, soft and almost sad.  

"Daniel."

"Why did we stop being friends?" He asks. Your hands grip the steering wheel harder than they need to be and you sigh, shaking your head.  

"We're still friends, Daniel," you reply.  

"Not like before."

"Things happen," you try. Daniel scoffs and shifts in his seat. You glance at him once more to see him lying on his side, his eyes heavy as they settle on you.  

"What things happened? You said you needed time. Time to... feel less dependent on me... That sounds like such bullshit," Daniel argues. "What was the real problem? Was it because I ate your pudding cup that one time? Or because I got a higher grade than you for once?" Daniel moves his hand to your face, turning your face so you can look at him. "Do you hate me?"

"Daniel!" You quickly slap his hand away and put your eyes back on the road, shaking your head at him.  

"I'm only trying to understand-

"Maybe I do hate you!" You yell, turning onto Daniel's street. You're pissed at this point, pissed at Daniel, pissed at yourself, so it's no wonder you start spilling things out. "Maybe I hate you because you're so stupidly cute and sweet and you smile at me like I’m so important to you! I hate you because you let me win that stupid pencil flipping contest even though you won three times- and- fuck, I hate you because you're still there for me even though I practically abandoned our friendship and I hate you-

"Because you love me?" Daniel finishes. You quiet yourself as you pull up to his apartment building, put the car in park and reach across the middle console, opening the door for him. You unbuckle his seat and push at him, wanting him out, out, out.

"Y/N-

"Please just go-!"

"Can't I say something?" He asks. You shake your head, still pushing at him, but Daniel is heavy and strong and there's no way you're pushing him out of there. He ends up turning in his seat, grabbing your hands and holding them in his own. His hands that are rough but big, making all your resolve dissipate as you look at him.  

"When you're ready to talk, you know where to find me. I'll wait as long as you need," he says.  

Then he's leaning forward, pressing soft lips against yours so suddenly, making you freeze up at the brief touch. He pulls away just as suddenly, mumbling out a goodnight before getting out of your car, closing the door and going on his way.  

You go home in shock, your fingers touching your lips where Daniel's had been for the rest of the night.  

He didn't like you. He couldn't.

But he kissed you. Daniel kissed you.  

That had to mean something.

-

"He did what?!"  

You roll your eyes at Jaehwan. "Please don't make me repeat it."

"What do you mean he- he just- oh my god, I didn't think he had it in him."  

You sigh and lay yourself across the table. It had been days since Daniel kissed you, and of course, he didn't remember.  

But you remembered. The way his hands held yours, the way his lips felt against your own. You had dreamed of that before, but the real thing was far different. It was nicer and something you wanted to experience ten times over. More than that. You wanted to kiss him forever.

"I need to tell Seongwoo."

You hated it though. Daniel didn't remember, and you were left to suffer like this, alone, with your feelings all mixed up. You needed to talk to him. Drunk Daniel knew that. You knew that.  

Wait.

"No, wait- you can't tell Ong!" You reach for Jaehwan, grabbing at his arm before he can slink away from you like the slithering snake he was. He looks back at you with a raised eyebrow, frowning.  

"Why can't I? He should know," Jaehwan says. You dig your nails into his arm, glaring at him to get your point across.  

"He's going to tell Daniel first thing- you tell him, and I'll break your guitar," you pause, squeezing his arm harder. "And both your hands."

Jaehwan slowly sits back down, agreeing that he won't go tell Seongwoo that Daniel kissed you. You sigh in relief and release his arm, only for Jaehwan to stand back up and run off, leaving you in his dust. That was your mistake. You shouldn't have let him go. You knew better than that.  

Okay, well. Now it was time to hide then.  

You gather your things and Jaehwan's, slinging both your bags over your shoulder before heading off to your apartment. There was no doubt in your mind that Jaehwan was going to tell Seongwoo, and Seongwoo was going to tell Daniel, and then Daniel was going to come find you because he was Daniel and you didn't want to deal with that today.  

Fuck, you really hate your best friends.  

Just to your luck, you end up in the middle of a frat war on your way to your apartment, one that involved water balloons and some concoction of chemicals that made you stink like complete shit. You had yelled at them for doing such a thing on campus of all the places and for pissing you off, but they didn't care. Not to mention none of the boys from the frats bothered to apologize to you, which only further pissed you off, and you stormed off after throwing one of the stink balloons in one of the leaders' faces.  

It didn't help that this whole Daniel business already had your emotions all over the place.  

You were a mess.  

Which, is probably why you ended up at Daniel's place.  

He caused all these emotions, he deserved to deal with them.  

"Sorry, sorry I was- Y/N- oh my god!" Daniel quickly pinches his nose after his face goes through many emotions as he opens the door for you but ultimately contorting into disgust when he gets a whiff of you. You smelled fucking awful, there was no doubt. This was great.

“I got caught between a stupid frat war- can I use your shower or- I don’t know. I’ll leave.” Daniel, even though you stink so bad, doesn’t hesitate to pull you into his apartment, leading you straight to the bathroom. He tells you to start the shower, leaving for a moment to another room. He comes back with clothes in hand, a trash bag, and a shy smile on his face.  

“You can borrow my clothes and I’ll wash yours if you want. I'll... put your bags on the balcony as well. To try and air them out.” You don’t really want to walk around smelling like this and you don’t won’t to keep subjecting Daniel to the torture that is your stench, so you accept his clothes and the trash bag. He leaves and shuts the door behind him after taking yours and Jaehwan's bags, leaving you alone now.  

Staring down at Daniel’s clothes, you already feel better about this whole situation. Because Daniel is sweet, and he’s especially sweet to you, and because even if you smell like absolute garbage and Daniel has every right to stay away from you, he’s actively trying to get you to stay, to make you feel better.  

Maybe… maybe that was Daniel’s whole point. Maybe he was trying to keep you around, to make you stay, because in every sense, you had left. You stopped being best friends and Daniel was waiting. You had taken two years to come talk to him and Daniel had waited.  

Daniel was just waiting for his best friend to come back.  

He was waiting for you.  

Your shower is as short as you can make it while still trying to be clean, the smell of Daniel’s body wash, the smell of his shampoo and conditioner and the smell of his cologne permeating through the bathroom as much as possible. It’s all over your skin and the bathroom smells like some perfume war happened, but it’s better than smelling like ass for the rest of your time with Daniel.  

After shoving your clothes into the trash bag and tying it up, you pull on Daniel’s clothes, a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. They’re far too big for you, the sweatshirts sleeves going way beyond your hands, the entire shirt practically engulfing you. The sweatpants are big as well, falling off your hips every step you take. You have to tighten them well before you finally step out of the bathroom.  

You walk to the living room, your bag of clothes in hand as you go. Daniel is sitting on the couch, furiously texting on his phone but when you enter the room he looks up and sets his phone down.  

"Hey, you're... done," he says. You laugh, nodding.  

"Yep. All done."  

He comes to stand in front of you, taking the bag from your hands, but he doesn't move from his spot. You and he look at each other, his eyes roaming across your face, while you just let him look you over. Something about this was weird. This was so weird.  

"You're wearing my clothes," he says. You nod your head again.  

"I am," you reply. You hear your bag of clothes hit the floor as Daniel's hands come to gently cup your face. It's intimate and everything you dreamed of, and if you didn't know any better, you swore Daniel's eyes were going back and forth between your eyes and your lips.  

But you needed to talk. You needed to talk and get all your feelings out before you did anything else.  

You needed to know if Daniel even liked you.  

"You... smell like me too," Daniel mumbles. He steps closer to you, his hands, big and softer compared to the other night, move back on your face, both his index fingers grazing your earlobes, one of his thumbs swiping across your cheekbone.  

If he leaned down, he could kiss you.  

"Yeah... I smell like... you," you mumble back. You find your own eyes flickering back and forth between his eyes and his lips, his lips that would be so perfect for kissing, your teeth tugging on his plump bottom lip as you kissed.

And his eyes, soft and inviting and always somehow looking your way.

Daniel was always looking at you.

You can't help it when you lean up, pressing your lips to Daniel's just as he did the a few nights ago. It's short, just a press of lips, and you're moving away just as quickly as you moved forward.

Daniel and you are staring at each other again but it doesn't last long because he's leaning down, pressing his lips to yours for a third time. The kiss is different than the other two you've had before, this one desperate, wanting, pleading. Daniel's hands are pulling you close to him, his fingers curling in the fabric of his sweatshirt on your body.

He wants you to stay.

He kisses you like if he stops he's never going to be able to again, like the second he lets go you're going to slip through his fingers. You do your best to keep up, moving your lips against his, just as desperate as him because you wanted him too. You always have.  

But then he's moving you back, still kissing you, and soon the back of your legs are hitting the couch and you're falling down. You find yourself sitting on the couch when you open your eyes, Daniel above you his eyes searching your face again. His hands are next to your head, one of his knees between your legs. You weren't going anywhere, but you're pretty sure that's what Daniel wanted.

"You like me," Daniel says. You nod your head. "Since high school, right? That's why you stopped wanting to be best friends." You nod again. "And you still like me. You kissed me because you like me, right?"  

You nod once more. Your hands move to Daniel's hips, moving up his sides, moving in, moving up his chest, broad, toned, until they reach his shoulders, resting there. You just wanted to touch him, to feel him under your hands. "I kissed you because you kissed me the other night- when you got drunk with Seongwoo and Jaehwan and Sungwoon and- and Seongwoo and Jaehwan kept trying to convince me that you liked me too- you do, right? You wouldn't have kissed me back if you didn't, right?"  

Daniel nods. "Since high school, Y/N."

"Seongwoo said that too," you say. You find your hands squeezing Daniel's shoulders, once, twice, and then letting them fall back to your lap. "If you did, why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't know you liked me back. If I told you, wouldn't I have ruined our friendship?" You laugh, shaking your head.  

"Yeah, but I did that for you instead. I- I'm sorry, I just- I didn't know what to do back then. I didn't want to lose you completely- but then I ended up losing you anyways-

"Y/N," Daniel interrupts. His hands move from off the couch to hold your face once more. "You never lost me. I was going to wait for you as long as you needed."

"...because you wanted to be best friends again?" You ask. It's a stupid question. You know it is, but Daniel laughs, smiling in that way you love so much, with softness in his eyes and something close to love, you're sure.  

"Because I love you, Y/N."

Your heart feels like it stops then, everything in slow motion as you watch Daniel. Daniel smiling at you, smiling at you like he always has, smiling at you like you're the most important thing to him.

You love it.

You love him.  

"But you said you hated me the other night," Daniel says. Your moment is paused as you glare at him.

"You remember?!" He shakes his head quickly, laughing.

"Vaguely! Vaguely! Mostly just the "I hate you" part," he explains.  

"Not the kiss?" He shakes his head again.

"Not the kiss."

Your moment is brought back as you quiet again, Daniel moving his hands so that one is behind your neck, the other holding your chin now, tipping it up further towards him. He looks almost shy as he looks down at you.

"You don't hate me though, right?"  

"I don't."

"You... love me?" Daniel asks. You bite your lip, nodding your head. Your eyes are wandering from his eyes to his lips again, and you can see clearly that Daniel is doing the same.  

"Say it?"  

You don't hesitate. "I love you."

He smiles again, and he's leaning forward, his lips so, so, so close to yours. "I'm going to kiss you now."

"Uh-huh. I'm waiting."

"Bet I've waited longer," he challenges. You roll your eyes, grabbing at his shirt.  

"Kiss me, Daniel."  

Daniel and you only get about three seconds into your kissing when the door is suddenly bursting open, yelling from two idiots flooding into the room, two idiots known as your best friends, two idiots by the names of Jaehwan and Seongwoo.  

They're yelling even louder when they see the position you and Daniel are in, and you can't help but think that you hate your best friends.  

Except Daniel.  

You love Daniel.  

[gukyi]

caramel macchiato | kth

⇒ summary: you never really paid attention to the talkative kid in your college lecture, but he’s paid attention to you. 

⇒ college!au

⇒ pairing: taehyung x reader

⇒ word count: 1.5k

⇒ genre: fluff

⇒ warnings: none

⇒ a/n: this was requested probably an eon ago, but it’s finally here! no, i could not resist titling it this. every time i think of it i hear jungkook’s voice. requested by anon!

College will be fun, they said. It’ll be so much goddamn fun.

Because everyone’s definition of fun is waking up with five minutes to spare to get to your lecture after pulling an all-nighter the previous day because you had an essay due for a significantly more important class, right. That’s why college is fun, this whole scrambling out of bed thing is entertaining.

In hindsight, that all-nighter really wasn’t worth it, because your essay would be a word dumpster whether or not you actually wrote it in the holier hours of the day. You could have just left it and done it today instead, but no, 2AM you was like ‘it’s 2AM? Perfect time to crank out that essay that’s due at the end of the week!’, because this is what college actually is, random spurts of energy when everyone else is asleep which culminates in an all-nighter, less-than-substantial amounts of work actually complete, and an energy crash.

Oh, college. It’ll be fun, they said.

You inelegantly stumble around campus to get to your lecture hall in clothes that are as good as your trashy high-school pajamas, praying that you’re only running the tiniest bit late and that you’ll make it in time to catch, at least, most of the lesson. While you’re fumbling around, looking like someone drunk and hungover at the exact same time, you make eye contact with another boy in your class. You recognize him, he’s the one that always answers the professor first with the right answer, no matter the topic.

He shoots you an awkward smile, one that says ‘Hi, you’re in my class and we never speak but hello, I guess?’ and you reciprocate the action before turning your head down immediately and barreling into the lecture hall, making a beeline for your seat. Does he even recognize you? You don’t say a single thing in that class ever, preferring to keep to yourself and just copy the PowerPoint presentation silently, without question. You might as well be one of those ghost students, who just decide that mandatory attendance isn’t actually mandatory at all and elects to skip the class, over and over and over.

He, on the other hand, is extroverted and intelligent and confident and everything that Dream You wishes you could be, and you don’t even know his name.

God, you really should have not stayed up all night for an essay that wasn’t worth it, because it’s ten minutes into the lecture and all you’ve got on the notebook in front of you is a doodle of a stick figure in bed, sleeping to its heart’s content, and oh, how you wish that was you. You can barely keep your eyes open throughout the entire thing, resting your head on your hand as it perches it up, keeps you looking awake even if you don’t feel it. It would be so easy for you to just fall asleep… right here.

You will yourself to close your eyes just for a brief second as you attempt to get some desperately needed shut-eye, sleep overcoming you far too easily, but the respite is broken when your elbow slips off of the desk in front of you, slamming it into the side of the chair and making you wince in pain. Some of the people around you turn their heads to figure out the source of the noise, and you smile apologetically in return, rubbing your arm.

This day could perhaps, maybe, just possibly, not be worse.

In the end, you don’t really know what the lecture in your Anthropology class is about that day, because you spend the better half of the two hours on the verge of total shutdown, eyes drifting shut nearly every second as they beg your brain to just let you sleep, for God’s sake. You do, however, figure out that 2AM energy bursts are not to be trusted under any circumstances, and that any attempts of getting your important work done before the night before are fruitless and nothing but unrealistic dreams. Lesson learned.

You still have two classes of the day left, which is just the worst thing that could be the cherry on top of your shit cake day, especially because you were the asshole that scheduled all your classes to be practically back-to-back so you could just get them all over with. Intentions: good, execution: meh.

As you trudge out of your first lecture hall, avoiding everyone’s gaze at all costs, you can only pray to yourself that you pay attention in your next two lectures, because you won’t know what the hell to do if you don’t.

When freedom rings in the form of your middle-aged, tries-to-be-cool-by-wearing-sunglasses-inside male teacher telling your entire lecture hall to leave thirty minutes early because he has a doctor’s appointment he forgot to notify the school about, you dash out of there as fast as your legs can take you. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back to your bed, the sooner you can get back to your bed, the sooner you can take the much-needed and well-deserved nap you’ve been craving this whole day, and it’s only two in the afternoon.

You’re zooming through campus so quickly you practically crash into another student—just your luck, too—and find yourself toppling backwards before said student grabs onto your wrist at the last second, beating gravity in the game of ‘Will You Fall To the Ground or Not?’ and pulling you upright, albeit a bit shakily.

“I’m so sorry,” you immediately say, steadying yourself as you keep your head tilted down. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, I—”

“No, no, it’s my fault,” the voice promises you, and it’s then that you recognize it, then that you become hyperaware of the fact that even though you’re perfectly safe now, standing and still, he’s still got his hand wrapped around your wrist, soft skin meeting yours. Daring yourself to actually look up at him, it is him, the same boy from earlier today, the brilliant one who always has something to say but never lets a dumb comment leave his mouth.

“You’re in my Anthro class, aren’t you?” You ask hesitantly, pointing at him with the hand he’s still practically holding, an eyebrow raised in suspicion, praying to God that you have the right guy.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m Taehyung, and you’re Y/N, right?”

Of course he knows you but you don’t know him, of course. That seems so typical of him, for him to just know the kids in his class like he’s known them since kindergarten, and so typical of you, for you to go an entire year without catching someone’s name even if you see them daily.

“Yes,” you confirm. “I’m really sorry,” you repeat again, taking note of the two coffee cups he’s holding in one hand, the styrofoam resting in those Starbucks cardboard carrier things. “I hope I didn’t spill anything.”

“Oh, these?” Taehyung asks, holding them up. “Actually, one of them is for you.”

“For me? Why me?” You ask, surprised as you scrunch your nose up. “We’ve never spoken before.”

“I know, I just thought you looked kind of tired in class today. I thought this might help get your energy levels up,” Taehyung says awkwardly, clenching his teeth together in a rectangular smile as he holds one out for you. “I didn’t know what you liked, so…”

“I really appreciate this, Taehyung,” you say, gently picking up the coffee and taking a sip. You immediately want to scrunch your nose up at the foam on top—you hate foam, it tastes like soap every single time you try it—but it’s the thought that counts, and this is the most thoughtful thing someone has done for you in a long time.

“Yeah, no problem,” Taehyung replies, scratching the nape of his neck as he quirks a grin. “I can give you the notes on the presentation in class today too, if you’d like.”

“Really?” Notes from the most intelligent kid in class? Sounds like a plan if you’ve ever heard one. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I truly appreciate this.”

“It’s no big deal,” Taehyung says, shrugging it off with a wave of his hand. “If you’re not busy right now, we could go to the coffee place and I can give them to you there.”

“The coffee place? We already have coffee,” you ask, a giggle on your lips.

Taehyung blushes red at the realization, cheeks steaming up like the coffee in his hand. “Well, we could go there anyway, if you wanted.”

“Like a date?”

“I never said that,” Taehyung says, pointing at you.

“Did you want to say it?”

Sheepishly, “yes.”

“Then sure,” you say, rocking back and forth on your feet as you beam, meeting his equally as excited smile, eyes crescents, “I’d love to do that.”

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