#AND BLANKETED IN YOUR LOVE AHHHHHH (LOSES MY MIND) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mell-bell · 5 years

Text

Fight so dirty (but your love so sweet) - Part V

The Mandalorian x Reader

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8

Words: 4543

Series Summary: You are sent to hunt down a Mandalorian, the odds aren’t exactly in your favor

Chapter: 5/8

Author’s notes: Once again THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I hope you guys know I read each and every one of your messages/replies and you all kill me with kindness thank you. This chapter fought me tooth and nail which is why I got it up so late so I hope it’s alright because AHHHHHH but it’s setting up for an INSANE next chapter. Once again lemme know if you wanna be tagged! Hope you guys enjoy!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A gentle touch sweeping up and down your arm pulled you from sleep.

“If it’s before lunch I really don’t want to be awake.” You mumbled into the soft pillow your head laid on.

The pillow beneath you began to chuckle and your eyes shot open, freezing as you recognized the familiar body you were lying against.

“Oh. Oh, that wasn’t a dream?” You whispered softly.

“No, not a dream.”

You reached out, your fingers spreading out as you slid your hand across his stomach, feeling the softness of his body instead of the armor you were used to. You watched as his own hand reached out and smiled as his fingers threaded through yours.

You pushed yourself back a little so you could meet his eyes, which were still heavy with sleep. You released his hand and reached out tracing your fingers over his face, much like the night before. His features were clearer in the light of day. And you wanted to memorize every inch of him.

His mouth curled up into a smile and your breath caught as you saw his deep brown eyes sparkle from the sun streaming into the room. Your hand brushed over his dark hair, smirking at the unruly pieces sticking out all over the place.

“You’re okay with this?” You said in wonder as your hand dropped scratching over his stubble, smiling at the feel of it under your fingers.

The man nodded, his eyes steadily holding your gaze.

“The Mandalorians rescued me and brought me into their family. All we had was our armor and each other. They were all I knew for years. But you showed me that family can also be two forlorn bounty hunters and a fifty-year-old child. I want to be that with you.” He cleared his throat.

You smiled widely as he looked away, his cheeks slightly reddening.

“As long as you’re comfortable, so am I. Though I’m not sure how he’s gonna feel.” You motioned behind him.

The Mandalorian turned over in the bed, watching as the small child waddled through the doorway into the bedroom. When the child’s gaze raised to the two of you and he met the Mandalorian’s eyes, he let out a little screech and quickly scurried out of the room.

“Well, that was heartbreaking.” You giggled burrowing your head in the man’s shoulder.

The man sighed.

You pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Don’t worry, I still like your face.”

“I guess that’s well and good.” He muttered.

You snuggled back down into the bed, “Now can I go back to sleep? I was up late last night.”

The man nodded, leaning in a pressing a gentle kiss to your lips, watching as you drifted off to sleep not a moment later. He carefully detangled himself from you, before sliding out of the bed. Reaching down, he pulled the blanket over you. Gently he ran a hand over your face, watching as a smile pulled at the corner of your mouth in your sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You woke suddenly, your heart racing. You shot out of bed tripping over the blankets that had tangled between your legs as you tried to make it to the desk in the corner, where the stolen Imperial papers sat.

How had you forgotten?

With the papers once again in your hands, your heart dropped. It hadn’t been a dream. The plans laid everything out. Though you didn’t know what most of it meant, you knew that they were trying to make a new group of clone troopers with what they called “the force”.

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you sent a message to Governor Gideon letting him know that you would be remaining on the planet for the foreseeable future.

Not wanting to lie to your Mandalorian, you left the ship in a hurry, yelling over your shoulder that you would be in town for the rest of the day.

As you walked through town, you could see the Imperial spies following you. You wanted to lose them but you knew that would draw attention to yourself. So you continued on your way pretending that you didn’t see them.

When you comm buzzed, you looked down. Seeing an invitation to join the Governor for lunch, you swallowed hard before starting in the direction of the address he had sent you.

It was a long walk and as time passed you began to hesitate. You glanced over your shoulder more than once. You shouldn’t have gone without backup. You had almost convinced yourself to leave when you caught sight of the large house at the end of the street.

This was it.

You stepped up to the door, your eyes wide. You were questioning if you had made the right choice. Raising your hand you went to knock but before you could the door opened.

A well-dressed man ushered you inside without a word. He refused to meet your eyes as you followed him into the house, his pace quickening as you entered the foyer.

You cleared your throat, “I’m here to see- wait!“ You yelled as he scurried off disappearing down the hall before you could finish your sentence.

“That can’t be good...”

And you were left alone in the golden foyer.

Taking a tentative step forward, you began to explore. You walked slowly down through the house, stopping to peer into each room. When you reached the end of the hall, you turned into what looked like a small library. Stepping up to the bookshelf, you pulled a book off flipping through curiously.

The hair on the back of your neck stood up as you placed it back on the shelf. Pretending to ignore the feeling, you moved further into the room, your hand reaching toward a knick-knack on the ledge of the fireplace.

“I wouldn’t touch that.” A sharp woman’s voice echoed through the room.

Snatching your hand back, you spun around, finding an immaculately well-dressed woman standing in front of you. Your brows furrowed as you turned toward the entrance, wondering how she entered the room without walking past you.

Shaking your head, you stepped up, an easy smile gracing your face, “I’m sorry I have a meeting with—"

She looked down at your hand in disgust and you pulled it back with a frown.

“I know who you are. I wanted to meet you first. See if we could trust you.” Her voice was deep as she began to circle you.

“How will you know?”

She chuckled darkly, “I’m a good judge of character. Moff tends to get overzealous with his little pets and doesn’t properly assess them out. I make sure he stays safe.”

Before you could reply, a painful pressure pushed at your head and your brows pulled together in agony. You cleared your throat, trying to focus on the woman as she took another step toward you.

“That’s my secret.” She grinned.

Your teeth gritted as you tried to force the pressure from your head. The woman’s eyes narrowed and the pain grew even stronger.

“Enough, Mera.” The Governor stated as he walked in, pushing past the woman, greeting you with a smile.

The pressure vanished instantly from your head. You shook it once, before turning smiling at the man before you.

“Governor, how good to see you.”

“Ah, my new friend. I am so happy you are remaining on planet for a while. This is amazing news. My friends cannot stop singing your praises and I am sure you will fit right in during my meeting today. Before we continue I do want to apologize once more for our last parting and your interrogation.”

“Oh, no harm done. You did what had to be done. Did you ever find what you were looking for?”

He waved his hand in exasperation, “No, but we did execute a few people and I have some older backup papers that I can give to--.”

The woman following behind the two of you cleared her throat.

The Governor sighed, “Oh hush Mera, I can trust this one.”

You spoke up pressing for more information, “Give to who?”

“The Supreme Leader. The one who will eventually lead us to greatness.”

You nodded your heart beating. This was the man you would have to ultimately take down.

“And is he or she here?”

The man let out a loud laugh, “Of course not. Come. Come, I want to introduce you to some more people.”

He led you into a room full of people, motioning for you to take a seat at the table. As you passed by you nodded to those you recognized from the party and quickly introduced yourself to those you didn’t.

The Governor stood at the head of the table, his arms spread wide, “My friends, The First Order is rising. We have funding. We have support. We have new friends. Our universe has fallen apart. We have people that need to be governed. I am here to create order in this lawless galaxy. And we will start anew.”

The applause and cheering that burst from the men and women echoed in your head for the next few hours.

Once the dinner began, your mind was swimming.

There were so many conversations happening you weren’t sure what to pay attention to. It wasn’t until the man next to you mentioned “the force” that your head snapped toward him.

“Ah, interested in that, are you. You must have heard about the Jedi of old?”

You nodded, you had heard stories, legends.

The man leaned in and whispered, “Well I heard the Supreme Leader has found a force-sensitive child to train. And that he is going to turn him to our side to use against the New Republic and their stupid rebellion.”

You didn’t pay attention to much after that. The man beside you was still rambling about something. You nodded every now and then appeasing him.

But when a familiar man walked past you, you froze.

The man from the market.

He stopped at the head of the table to talk to the Governor, a blinking fob in his hand.

His gaze raised and met yours and he smirked. He knew you.

Your heart was in your throat as the man left the room. Your hand inched to move to your comm but you knew you would be caught. You just had to rely on the fact that you knew the Mandalorian could take care of himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you were finally able to excuse yourself a few hours later, you rushed back to your ship, praying that the man with the fob hadn’t found them.

You stormed up the ramp, bursting into the storage room, startling the young child, who was sitting next to the Mandalorian.

You sighed in relief, breathing deeply trying to catch your breath.

“Where have you been?” He questioned.

“Everything’s okay here?” You responded back with a question, your voice wavering.

The man nodded, but his brows were furrowed as your gaze swept the ship as if someone was going to jump out.

“Are you alright?” He stood, moving in front of you, trying to meet your eyes.

You waved him off, “What? Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“Where were you?” He repeated.

You froze, hesitating before meeting his eyes. They were filled with worry as he looked down at you, his hand reaching out to grasp your arm.

You sighed, “With Governor Gideon.”

He growled, his grip tightening on your arm unconsciously, “Why?”

“Last night, I found something in the papers. About cloning.” You gazed down at the child, smiling as he held out his ball to you.

“They want him for his powers.” The Mandalorian said.

“Yes. Moff has a woman like him.” Your brows furrowed as you rubbed a hand over your forehead, “She tried to read my mind I think.”

“You’re not safe there.”

You shrugged, “Maybe not. But I need to get more information.”

“Not if you’re in danger.”

You swallowed, “There was also a man with a fob there. I saw him last night in the market. I think he knows I know you.”

The Mandalorian stepped around you and you followed him out into the cargo-bay.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re leaving.” He stated.

Your eyes widened and you stepped in front of him. He was angry, his eyes were blazing as his gaze traveled down the ramp as if he was waiting for the hunter to appear.

You reached out, placing your hand on his chest, “Let’s not be hasty. Let’s eat and talk some more.”

The man nodded. He waited until you went back into the ship before sweeping around the outside to make sure everything was locked up tight.

When he made his way back inside, he found you on the ground in your bedroom, placing the little red cape you had bought the child on his back.

The green child chirped happily as he walked around his little red cape floating behind him.

The Mandalorian watched as you laughed along with the child, but the joy didn’t reach your eyes. You were hiding something.

Later that night, you laid in bed, watching as the Mandalorian rid himself of his armor. He had convinced you to let him check the town for any sign of the bounty hunter. But when he found nothing, he had returned disappointed.

Staring off into space, you didn’t see him settle next to you in bed and startled slightly when he leaned down to press a kiss to your shoulder.

Brushing it off, you turned with a smile, you caught his lips with yours, in a gentle kiss.

Laying down, you motioned to the man and he turned burrowing his head against your stomach. Your hands threaded through his hair gentling detangling the pieces, the man basically purring against you. His hand slipped under your shirt his bare hand stroking your skin lightly.

“I have a plan.”

The man hummed.

“You have to leave me here.”

The man’s eyes popped open, “I have to what?”

He sat up and so did you, your hands wringing together.

“If you’re here – if you’re both here, then they’re going to keep coming. You’re in danger. I need to stay. This might be what helps us take them down. Keep the little one safe.”

“No.”

You sighed, “It makes sense.”

“I am not leaving you here.” He growled.

You put your hand over his mouth, “It won’t be for long and I’ll be safe I promise. It’s just for gathering intel. I have a chance to make a real difference here.”

“But I won’t be here to help you.”

“But you’ll both be safe.” You whispered.

He shook his head, turning over placing his back toward you, “We’re not done discussing this.”

You nodded.

You laid down staring at his back. Slowly you reached out toward him but pulled your hand back with a sigh. Turning you placed your own back to him.

Not a minute later you felt him turn and pull you toward him tightly. You grabbed his hand in yours, squeezing it tight. He squeezed back.

You both knew you had made up your mind and there was nothing he could do to stop you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One month later:

You watched as the whip came down hard on the young boy, slicing through his back. You bit down on your lip to stop yourself from screaming at the trooper to stop. The whip hit again and again and your hands began to tremble as the boy laid motionless on the cold stone ground.

As the blood began to bleed through the stones, you closed your eyes. A vision of a whip coming down at you and the stinging pain in your back causing you to suck in your breath in pain.

Your eyes shot open.

The whip came down again and again on the boy. You had lost count. But this was well past the normal amount of lashings. You went to take a step forward when the deep rumble of a man’s laugh startled you.

“I see you like watching as much as I do.”

You stiffened slightly as Moff Gideon strode up beside you, his eyes solely focused on the almost unconscious boy in front of you. A twisted grin graced his face as he watched the trooper’s arm raise and drop again and again.

You cleared your throat, “Shouldn’t they leave him alone so he can heal and get back to work?”

The Governor tsked, “No. We can just hire others.”

The man raised his hand and the trooper looked up before reaching for his gun. You closed your eyes just in time to hear the shot.

You turned. Your head hanging low, hiding your pained expression from those around you.

A familiar pressure pushed at your head and you grit your teeth as you lifted your gaze watching as the woman in white walked through the arch toward you. She took a step forward, her heels clicking like daggers against the stones beneath her. Reaching out, she grabbed the Governor’s chin, her sharp nails cutting into his face as she pressed a kiss to his cheek; her eyes, however, focused solely on you.

You had never understood what people meant when they said someone had dead eyes. But this woman – sometimes you believed she wasn’t human. No emotion. No love. Just emptiness.

You met her gaze, keeping your face impassive, the normal prodding feeling intensifying against the wall you were projecting in your mind.

After spending a month with this woman, you had spent hours training yourself on how to block her out of your mind. If you visualized a wall, she would hit a wall. You could only hope that it worked.

Her brows furrowed before she released, her gaze dropping from you and turning toward the young girl beside her. She grabbed her face roughly forcing her gaze at the boy on the ground.

“This is what happens when you disobey. Do you understand?”

The girl stayed quiet, knowing if she opened her mouth she would be next.

“Excellent.” She smiled. Mera released her with a jerk, the young girl’s head snapping sharply to the side.

Fury built in your stomach, as your hand reached down for your blaster. But you stopped, your eyes following the young girl, her shoulder’s slumped as she moved away, backing herself against a wall. Reaching into your pocket instead, you pulled out the tiny amount of money you had left. As you passed by, you stepped up to the young girl, quickly pressing the credits into her hand. Her eyes widened. You nodded.

“Dinner is being served.” A voice echoed through the corridor.

The Governor called for you when he realized you weren’t behind him. And without another glance behind, you turned quickly hurrying across the cobblestone toward the man. As you shuffled along beside him, the people on the streets quickly scattered out of your way.

When had this nightmare become your life?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Mandalorian hit the heavy bag over and over again. He wasn’t sure how long he had been going. Right. Left. Right. Duck. His hands screamed as they continued to slam into the bag, his breathing unsteady under his helmet.

A hand grabbed onto his shoulder and he turned, immediately swinging out at the offender.

Cara ducked out of the way, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.

“You’re getting sloppy.”

The man pulled away with a grunt and turned back to the heavy bag, preparing to begin again when Cara grabbed his arm once more, “Stop, this isn’t helping anything.”

“And?” He said yanking his arm away once more, refusing to meet her eyes, pretending to ignore the look of concern on her face.

It had been over a month since he left you behind.

And he hadn’t been able to get you out of his mind since. He hadn’t realized how much of a fixture you had become in his life. And it didn’t feel right without you.

He couldn’t sleep. Barely ate. When he wasn’t flying or training, he was staring blankly at a wall, wondering if you were still alive.

The memory of you waving at him as he flew away was burned into his memory. Your sad smile the last thing he saw, almost broke him in half. As he had soared into the stars, his hand had dropped, ready to turn around.

If Cara hadn’t forced his hand, he would have.

You had asked Cara to go with him for that exact reason. To make sure that he stayed away until you called him back. You both knew that if he was left to his own devices he wouldn’t wait for you to call, he would be back in a heartbeat.

“You did the right thing. You both did.”

The Mandalorian remained silent for a moment.

“We did the right thing.” He droned on in monotone as if he had become so used to saying it.

Cara looked at him, not believing a word from his mouth, but nodding nevertheless.

Later that day, as the Mandalorian made his usual afternoon drink, he didn’t realize until too late that he had made a cup for you. When he realized you weren’t standing over his shoulder complaining about how he made it too sweet, he froze. His hands shook as it hovered over the cup. He let out a shout, sweeping it on the ground, before storming out of the room.

The little green child had been taking it even worse than the warrior. The first few days he had spent aimlessly roaming the ship trying to find you. And now every morning, he had taken to standing in your bedroom, chirping sadly, his little red cape spread out behind him.

Every day with a heavy heart, the Mandalorian would pick him up, trying to distract him with his favorite ball. But when the child wasn’t looking the warrior would stare off into space, lost in his own thoughts, thinking that nobody was watching.

But Cara was.

And as they continued to jump from planet to planet, waiting for the signal to go back, Cara watched as both the Mandalorian and child lost a bit of themselves without you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had finally run out of luck.

You gripped your blaster tight as you circled the men in front of you, their own blasters aimed at you.

“You’re the Mandalorian’s little pet. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.” The Governor spit.

You raised the blaster at the Governor, the Stormtroopers moving to stand in front of him as your finger began to squeeze the trigger, “You’ve failed. I have your plans. I know who’s working with you. We’re going to stop you. You won’t get away with this. ”

Over the month you had lived here, you had managed to gather generous amounts of information against this new First Order.

It was the bounty hunter that had finally turned you in. You weren’t sure what had taken him so long. Or why he had done it today. But you were done for.

“Too bad you won’t be alive to share it.”

The Stormtroopers rushed at you and your eyes widened as you pulled the trigger desperately, but you were overrun and no sooner thrown into a cell, chained to the ground.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes later when your door opened. When you were met with just silence, you thought maybe you had imagined it. But when you felt someone pulling at your chains you looked up. It was the young girl that worked for Mera. You had never learned her name. But you had always made sure she had food, water, and something warm to wear. She couldn’t have been more than eleven.

The young girl did some motions with her hands and your brows furrowed. But when she did them again the same exact way, you sat up. She was communicating. You had seen the Mandalorian communicate the exact same way before.

“You’re going to get me out of here?”

The girl’s face lit up and she nodded motioning down to your chains.

You pulled at them, the chains clattering loudly against the stone floor, “I can’t get out.”

She held up a finger and reached down into her pants pocket, pulling out a key. Your eyes widened as she held it out to you.

“Thank you.” You said reaching out and taking the key, “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

The girl smiled sadly and shook her head, beginning to walk backward.

“No, wait where are you going!”

A loud explosion sounded outside the door and you threw yourself to the ground, covering your head as stones rained down around you. And when you looked back up, the girl was gone. But where she had once stood, was a hole blown through the wall of the cell.

Using your shaking hands, you quickly unchained the locks and stumbled to your feet. You clambered through the rubble, the stones cutting into your hands as you tried to steady yourself.

You took a deep breath and shot into the hall, grabbing a stray blaster from the ground. The wealthy men and women you had spent a month with were screaming and shoving each other right trying to escape the stones falling from the ceiling. You were pushed left and right and stumbled unsteadily into a smoky eerily quiet room.

You could hear the near-silent footfalls as they walked through the smoke. Moving with a predator’s ease that made you grip the blaster and aim it into the unknown.

“Stop!” You screamed, your voice echoing through the decimated room.

You began to creep cautiously around the debris on the ground, circling wide trying to find the person hidden.

As a man emerged from the smoke you took an unsteady step back, stumbling over a piece of rubble.

With a shuddering breath, you stepped forward in a daze.

And then you were sprinting across the room, dropping the blaster to the ground as you slammed into the man in front of you.

He pulled you to him, his arms wrapping tightly around you.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I’m alright.” You whispered.

For a moment, just a moment, you had thought he wasn’t here. But he was. You could touch him. He was solid. He was here. And you could feel his heart beating hard under your hand.

Your throat began to burn at the smoke in the room and he turned leading you out into the fresh air of the marketplace.

You turned around, shoving him back, “You weren’t supposed to return until I sent the signal. Why did you come back?”

The Mandalorian waited for a moment, watching as your chest heaved. And then he reached out. Cradling your face. His gloved hands stroked over your cheeks and he let out a heavy sigh.

“They took him.”

“What?” You whispered.

Pulling back the Mandalorian reached down before holding out a torn small red cape out to you.

“They took him.”

You reached out, grasping the tiny cape, your fist tightening around it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagged: @sargesbestgirl @abysswhiskey11 @yourfavoritearchangel @pedro-pascal-online @x-wingwarriorbbpoe8 @damnittjim @trickei @countessren @fun-sized-widow-bites@thefandomzoneisdangerous @ichigomiluku @bakerstreethound@clonesdeservelovetoo@bananyaaa @loveleah @javert-delacour @zoogrl05 @live-the-beautiful-game @maryan028@ignimbritetcax @kaidad @kaimoar @yana-versio @peitromoximaff@alittleraincloud @fuckhead-writer @dottie-witch @nowheredreamer @pandalandalopalis@loveharrington @sw0rd-girlfriend@lex0h @piquantbarnes @go-commander-kim @finefangirl@lmao5sosimagines @bandofmarvels@nayploonthedoon @tchallaudakux @allthosepacheeks @i-think-of-dean-moriarty @otherthingsinhead @songofcosplay @cloudykooks @spooky-nob@takemebillyhargrove@flyingowls @funkygreensucculent @andromeda-sighs @audiblesmirk @out-worn @lessthancooljay@whtvrwhizzer @banana-batman @panic-monsters @vamprlestat@clevervast @ghelp0 @just-another-fangirls-posts @jinthusiastsss @c1996 @maldo559@yelenasnatashas @chewymoustachio@heyo–its–mo @hexqueensupreme @ozzy-bozzy@spideydobrik @t-rexmoreliket-flex @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @teenagememetonight @salted-barbed-wire@kitosauras @heyitsjaybird @turnaroundbeautiful @whosmorales @asstiel-barnes@vintagecaptainspidey @swagaliciouspupper @ghost-brocolli @jacobs-judge @cmburgos@lamnothome @no-goddamn-cilantro @chill-4-dayz @lafy-taffy @onaheroicmission @shade-vermillion @sacredburial @panic-monster @jinxedleo @taman-a @readsalot73 @aurorcarter @poemfreak306 @awhiteblanket @and-i-swear-we-are-infinte

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfic #the mandalorian fanfiction #dyn jarren #dyn jarren x reader #mando #mando ff #Star Wars ff #star wars #Star Wars fanfic #my fanfic #fight so dirty #fight so dirty ff

679 notes · View notes

chaoticneutralwriter · 5 years

Text

Jamais Vu

A remedy, a melody A memory that only I will have If we stop here Would it be better to just turn everything off?

guardian demon!Jimin x reader

genre: supernatural, romance, comedy, angst, fluff

word count: 13.5k

related works: see Masterlist under guardian demon!Jimin

Continuation of Second Act: Temperance

A/N: IT’S HERE!! AHHHHHH TT-TT This chapter, we’re finally heading to the concert! :O what other sorts of things can possibly happen here...? 👀 👀 LOLL As always, thank you so much for all of you guy’s patience and the endless love and support i’ve been getting through your asks! I really truly appreciate you all for sticking it out for this story!! 💖💖💖🥺🥺🥺 As always, I hope you enjoy!

Tag: @cherryjiminiee @kokobaekkie @breathebangtan @itsadoozie @thatshylatinagirl @chiminieboi @azulamakesmeblank @sectumsemptae @awkwardwookie @aduky @poisonseashell @shortannoyingginger

“Hey Y/N, we’re here.” A hushed voice along with a gentle nudge stirs you from your half-slumbering stupor. Blinking, you sluggish look around, mind beginning to catch you up on where you are and what’s happening as you hear the car doors open. It takes a minute but you eventually get your butt into gear, taking off your seatbelt and exiting the car as well to round to the back where your friend, Rosa, and the Uber driver were unloading your luggages.

You hastily make to grab yours, the last of it and place it onto the four wheels before pulling up the handle.

“Thank you so much for the drive.” Rosa thanks the driver, a fairly elderly man who’s been nothing but sweet and accommodating to the both of you despite it being nearly the ass crack of dawn.

“It’s not a problem. You two have fun on your trip; take care and be careful okay? There’s been too many horrible stories about young women traveling alone lately.” He says it kindly, almost like a grandfather to their granddaughters and even though you’re so tired, you can’t help but to smile in return.

“We will sir. You take care driving out there too.”

He nods before waving you two off as you and your friend shuffle onto the island. When he pulls away from the curb, you hear your friend take a deep breath in before exhaling. Turning to her, you catch her eyes and she grins at you, white teeth peeking out past the tops of the neck pillow she has on.

“It’s really happening.” She says, a little breathless — nervous yet excited.

You nod, her giddiness, although self-contained (you had a feeling it was because it’s so early and she’s mindful to the people who aren’t as awake yet i.e. you), is still contagious, the smile on your own lips stretching a bit wider.

You both head on inside, rolling your luggages along until you come upon the many self-checkin kiosks placed in the large terminal. The process was thankfully made easy with no need to send anything off; the trip was short and thus, Rosa and you have settled on just having one carry-on case and a crossbody handbag (or in Rosa’s case, backpack) each. With that done in no time, the next thing on the list was finding your correct gate, go through security and then finding the nearest Starbucks to ingest as much coffee as your body will allow you to.

Contrary to Jimin’s advice on getting as much rest as you can, you felt like you hardly got any sleep at all. Your restlessness was caused by many things — nerves from flying out for the first time with a friend, navigating your way through a city you’ve never been to until now, the excitement of not missing out on seeing a BTS concert when you were so sure you wouldn’t be going, it all felt so surreal to you, even as you’re strolling through the airport amongst many other people who bustle along with you, either arriving from a flight or off to catch one like yourselves.

But rising above everything, like a tumultuous wave ready to crash down on you, was your guardian demon. It should be no surprise really as it seems he’s constantly occupying your thoughts nowadays, a permanent resident and not paying rent though you think this time around, you can forgive it. The worry you have for him had remained firmly in the back of your mind, festering and growing until it too, joined in with the other thoughts keeping you tossing and turning that night.

Jimin told you that he would be meet you at the gate in spite of just coming out of a two-day coma from a near death experience; something that you can’t process at all. Even though he’s reassured you that he would heal in time, the very thought of the slight chance he could be putting up a front didn’t sit well with you, made worse that it’s more likely than not. Before you know it, the anxiety is eating at you and already, you’ve caught yourself doing double-takes for the fifth time, mistaking someone else for him. It’s embarrassingly made you prone to spacing out, so much that an officer at one point had to nudge you along because you were holding up the line during the screening process.

Thankfully, you make it through without further incident (though your cheeks are red and you kinda want to curl up in a corner somewhere but that would probably get you sent to an interrogating room under suspicious behaviour).

“Oh hey, I see our gate.” Rosa’s voice breaks through your thoughts, forcing you to take in the overhanging sign indicating that and the fairly empty seating area. Beyond the large windows overlooking the runway, the sky is still dark, the barest soft orange hues peeking through along the horizon. You’re about an hour and a half early for your flight, glad that the ample time you’ve given yourself arriving to the airport was used well because you weren’t in a panicked rush in finding your gate and risk missing your flight. Furthermore, you now have the leisure to do the next thing on your list — finding some food and caffeine.

“I think most of the cafes and other eating places are just a little further down that way.” Rosa comments, stretching her neck to peer down the long pathway before turning back to you. “Do you want to stay here and I’ll go grab us something or…?”

You smile, shaking your head. “No I’ll come with. I think I need to keep moving around to stay awake at this point.”

You choose to leave out the fact that you’re also feeling a little too fidgety, your anxiety not allowing you to stay put.

So the both of you wander further down the terminal, taking advantage of the moving walkways when they come and eventually come across the duty free stores, some luxury brand boutiques, and of course, the cafes and eateries. There’s a decent amount of foot traffic here despite the early hours, though you suppose you shouldn’t really be surprised — the airport only ever gets busier so to some, this might be considered ‘quiet’.

“Which place? Starbucks, A&W’s… I see Second Cup too. Is that a Mcdonald’s?” Rosa lists out loud before audibly gasping at the prospect of seeing the faint traces of the trademark ‘M’. You squint your eyes too, trying to make out if it was indeed your potential elixir of life and can’t help the snort that escapes you.

“It’s a McCafe, which is close enough so let’s go.”

Rosa giggles, falling into step beside you as you both make your way over. Fifteen minutes later, you’ve got a muffin and a medium ice coffee in hand. The shock of the cold drink in your system has you feeling more alert but the effect doesn’t last long nor does the caffeine (you swear it’s actually making you sleepier). You walk around for a while longer, looking at things you can’t afford and nibbling on your chocolate muffin before you lose your appetite halfway eating through the top half. Stuffing the remaining into your crossbody, you continue to follow after Rosa, your conversations kept light by the underlying buzz for your upcoming travels and yet you feel like you’re not all really there yourself.

“Hey, Y/N….Y/N?”

“O-Oh! Yeah sorry?” Your gaze snaps back to Rosa, unaware that you had become lost in watching people pass by the shop you and Rosa were in.

Your friend chuckles, giving you a wry smile. “You were spacing out hard fam. I think you need to take a nap.”

“Hey, have pity on me. I am not a fully functioning human-being any time before 12PM, at most.” You reply defensively in half truth. In the end, it’s decided that you should both head back to your gate to wait out the rest of your time there. The seating area has become fuller when you arrive, at least in terms of an early flight which thankfully means you still have no trouble in finding a place by an outlet to hunker down until your boarding time an hour later.

You practically sink into your seat, the exhaustion encompassing you like the flannel blanket you should’ve brought along with you just as a yawn threatens to tear your mouth open.

“Oh my God, we need to board soon before I just pass out right here and miss the flight entirely.” You say around it, stretching your arms before you cross them to get comfortable.

“For real, but luckily you have me to haul your ass onto the plane. It shouldn’t be too long now…” Your friend remarks, taking the seat beside you. She peers out at the runway, the sun already rising and daybreak beginning to light the sky an azure blue but even that isn’t enough to pull you from teetering over the edge of sleep again. You fall into companionable silence, Rosa occupying herself with her phone while you begin to drift in and out of a haze, a confusing seesaw between staying awake and drifting off. You don’t notice how the time pass as when you’re nudged gently on the side, you find your friend grinning at you like a Cheshire Cat.

“We’re twenty minutes from boarding fam! Watch my stuff for a second while I go use the washroom? I don’t want to have to go while we’re 5000ft off the ground.”

Your astounded expression pulls a laugh from her, no doubt picking up on your lack of time awareness but nonetheless, you smile with a nod, voicing your own desire to probably do the same after she’s back so please hurry, the ice coffee needs to be drained from your bladder too. She takes off in a brisk walk, beelining straight to the overhanging sign indicating the facility and make to stretch out your arms and crack your stiff joints. Lifting your gaze, you scan the sitting area, noting the few people sitting ahead of you with their heads buried in their phones or other electronic devices, some having taken up the seat facing the large windows, and there are even those looking like they’ve spent the night here as they lay curled up on multiple seats, oblivious to the world around them as they rest.

You wish you could be like that, but you’re plagued with a restlessness you can’t drown out no matter how hard you try. You breathe a heavy sigh, shoulders heaving as you think how even though your flight is a fairly short one, you get the feeling that it’ll be twice as long in your mind and that’s something you’re not looking forward to.

“Maybe I should’ve grabbed a pack of Xanax or something….” You grumble to yourself, rubbing your eyes with your hands.

“I don’t think you’ve got the health insurance to cover that sweetheart.”

You jumpstart in your seat, nearly jostling both yours and Rosa’s carry-on luggage over as you whip your head to the side. Your gaze catches the back of his head, and you wouldn’t have known any better had it not been for the unmistakable smooth lilt of his voice. He’s sitting on the other side of the bench from you, back to back, one seat to your left so when you twist just slightly, you would’ve caught sight of his side profile. To your dismay and surprise though, the lower half of his face is hidden by a black surgical mask, the rest by his black ball cap.

“Ji—!“

“Eyes forward cherub, don’t want to draw attention.”

Your mouth snaps shut, heat warming your cheeks when you realize how much of your elation at seeing him came through your voice. You heed his advice, partly because he’s right but also to hide your struggles in fighting off the wide smile threatening to break out on your face. Plus, this way it feels like you’re suddenly in a spy movie, meeting up with a contact incognito.

“Could’ve sent me a text to let me know you were here…” You say afterwards.

“I could’ve, but where’s the fun in that?”

You scoff quietly, rolling your eyes at his playful gibe but you’re not bothered by it at all. You’re glad Jimin’s here, his presence having some sort of immediate effect on you and your previous uneasiness, which now, has calmed to something manageable, like the invisible shadow following you has disappeared and you no longer have to keep looking over your shoulder to make sure it doesn’t sneak up on you. You finally have breathing room however, there’s still something that lingers persistently.

“So…H-How are you feeling…?” Your question comes out far softer, more hesitant than you had intended and you bite your lip. There’s a drawn pause, one that felt too long for you and makes you all too aware of the heavy pounding of your heart. Unconsciously your fingers begin to tug at the ends of your loose cardigan sleeves, nervous all of a sudden and just when you open your mouth to fill in the void, Jimin replies.

“Do you really have that little trust in me cherub? I’m kinda hurt…”

 “N-No! What I meant was—!”

“Relax I know, I was just pulling your leg.”

A huff of air leaves you, a little on the exasperated side as you’re frozen midway in fully turning to face Jimin, subtly be damned (you think you’d never make for a good spy anyways). You know he’s trying to reassure you and it would’ve worked had you not picked up on the way he downplays the seriousness of the question, deflecting with humour and banter. He’s clearly intent on not worrying you so much but it only serves to do the opposite. It makes you want to turn around to gauge his expression, see for yourself if he’s really okay.

“Hey,”

The call of his voice tears you from your train of thoughts, head naturally turning towards him and you’re a little surprised to see dark obsidian eyes staring back at you. You’re lost in their depths, how they hold you captive in a gentle but firm way and instantly it’s like the whole world melts away and it’s just the two of you. Then, they turn up slightly at the corner in a way where you can already imagine the soft smile he has on beneath the mask, it sends your heart racing once again as you wait with almost bated breath for what he has to say.

“I’m okay, really. I promised I would be didn’t I?”

Your teeth pulls at your bottom lip, eyes darting off for a second before they come back to his. You take him in as much as you can, searching for anything that might give way to his front but it’s either he’s concealed it so well that you can’t tell or maybe perhaps he really is okay like he says. Jimin was already a hard person to read, but with that face mask on, it’s even harder.

You sigh, relinquishing.

“Then…Can you also promise me you won’t push yourself?”

His eyes crinkle a bit more but you’re determined to remain steadfast in your conviction. Jimin sees it as he tilts his head before nodding in agreement.

“Okay, I’ll try not to.”

You shoot him a pointed look, one that makes him chuckle and raise a finger to tap on your nose, so quickly you didn’t get the chance to lean away. You blink, flinching back in a delayed reaction but cheeks warming just the same.

“Will it convince you if I told you I’m not going to teleport there and that I’ll actually be on the flight with you?”

That makes you straighten up, eyebrows shooting into your hairline.

��You are?”

“Well, I figured it’s the best solution to the two problems we have; I don’t have to strain myself like you said and we’ll be in close proximity to each other, enough that in case anything goes wrong, I can step in without any issues.”

You nod, seeing his point and honestly even asking yourself why you hadn’t thought of that before until you furrow your brows, zeroing in on him again.

“Wait, you haven’t been recognized yet have you?”

“Of course not, I got this on for a reason.” He gestures to his face, indicating the face mask and baseball cap but that only makes you cock your head back, chin tucking in with an extremely dubious look scrunching your face. There’s absolutely no way this ‘disguise’ of his worked, in fact, he’s playing right into the ‘obviously-a-K-Pop-idol-leaving-for-a-flight’ airport look. It makes you cast shifty eyes around you suddenly — maybe you should actually turn around and pretend you’re in a spy movie again.

“Jimin that’s hardly a disguise! And you can’t tell me you haven’t taken it off at least once to do airport security checks. Are you using your cloaking spell right now? Don’t tell me you are.” You resort to frantically whispering to him as you sink a little lower in your seat.

“I’m not right now, but I did use a couple of enthralling spells here and there, nothing too taxing though so relax. Just enough that I get by with no incidents.”

You suppose that’s as good as it’s gonna get with an answer so you choose to not pry any further. Rubbing the bridge of your nose, you let out one last sigh.

“Alright… Just stay out of trouble.”

“I should be telling you that.” He chides back, getting up with a stretch. Jimin reaches down to grab his denim jacket and black duffle bag (Louis Vuitton, you’re not surprised at this point anymore) sitting on the seat beside his. Your eyes can’t help doing a full sweep of his figure; fitted black t-shirt tucked into dark wash jeans, held by a belt cinched around his waist. You feel like a troll next to him in your sweats and oversized t-shirt (that you double up as a sleep shirt too, you literally just threw on a bra before you left that morning).

“Where are you seated?” You ask after getting over Jimin’s unfaltering immaculateness (you swear the apocalypse could be happening and he would still be dressed in designer brands).

“Business of course.”

You nearly choke.

“B-Business…?!”

“Ah, I should really try to snag another cocktail at the lounge before we start boarding soon.” He says offhandedly, dark eyes drifting off in thought and then redirects them to you. “I’ll be in touch cherub, even if you might not see me. Still, stick with your friend and don’t have too much fun now you hear?”

He’s striding off with a finger wave salute before you can get another word in, but not like you can you think, absolutely stunned speechless. You don’t even notice your friend making her way back to you, just as the attendant at the front desk to your gate announces pleasantly that you would all be boarding soon and can those with special needs, young children and the elderly begin to line up to board first.

“Hey, what’s up? You look…kinda pissed? More alive but pissed.” Rosa laughs good-naturedly. “Some bastard try to pull a fast one on you?”

You exhale a wheeze because she’s not too far off with that statement so you don’t necessarily deny it, almost ruefully replying, “Yeah…I guess you could say that…”

She lets out another laugh, grabbing your hand to tug you out of your seat when the attendant calls for your section to begin lining up. As you gather your things and begin to make your way, you ironically think that your friend wouldn’t be laughing if she had known she, and by way you, have been robbed first class seats.

Oh well, you think, you can’t be too mad because as they say, beggars can’t be choosers. And besides, you have a lot to be thankful for in that moment and you’re not just talking about the round trip to seeing your favourite band play. So with a little more pep in your step since you first arrived to the airport, you eagerly board the plane.

What you had planned was to use the flight time to catch up on as much rest as you can before landing where you know it’s going to be a whirlwind of hopping from one place to another.

Unfortunately for you, your ice coffee kicks in despite having emptied your bladder only fifteen minutes into the flight. You significantly feel more alert so your attempts at getting comfortable against the window were futile. Even when you shut your eyes, you’re very much still conscious and aware of everything going on around you, especially the loud droning of the plane’s engine. You don’t know how people get used to it, let alone make it as part of their white noise to help them sleep.

What you do know is that it’s not easy as after a few more minutes of shuffling in your seat, you give up on any hopes of getting any decent sleep and instead, settle for just closing your eyes, earphones on with your old iPod touch cycling through BTS albums — might as well drown out the plane engine with some good music.

You zone in and out for the entire four and a half hour, which felt like it went by in a snap because next thing you know, you’re startled by the chime of the PA going off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we are about ten minutes away from landing and — …”

You pull off your earphones, winding the cord to tuck your iPod away into your crossbody as you gaze out of the window, watching the clouds drift like oversized cotton candy through the clear blue sky, sun blazing on overhead. You’re glad that it seems like the weather would be perfect for the concert, which means there won’t be any pains in traveling around by foot. Bonus is that sunnier weather always puts you in a better mood.

Rosa seems to share the same sentiment because when you turn over to her, she’s staring out the window too, eyes practically sparkling and way perkier now that she doesn’t have to hold back. She grabs your arm, giving it a squeeze, silently conveying her excitement and you grin back at her, wiggling a bit in your seat as you both eagerly watch the wing of the plane dip, swooping down lower until it breaches the sea of white below and you get your first glimpse of the city.

You land without a hitch, even having some passengers clapping much to your amusement but in general, the lively buzz just adds to the atmosphere. You gather your belongings, double checking to make sure nothing is left behind as you wait to join the queue in the aisle to exit the plane.  “So it’s close to eleven-thirty right now, which gives us a good amount of time before doors open to let us into the stadium. Should we find our hotel to drop off our things and then go find something to eat? Or should we drop off our things, head to the venue and then see if we can find a place to eat near there?” Rosa asks, tapping her phone so that the airplane mode is turned off.

You contemplate, humming before you say, “How hungry are you? Because I don’t really have an appetite right now but if you want to eat after we drop off our things first, we can do that.”

“Oh, I’m pretty good too so we drop off our things, head to the venue, then eat?”

“Yeah, sounds good to me!”

After struggling to get both of your carry-ons down from the compartment without giving yourselves a head injury (luckily your seat neighbours were kind enough to lend you a hand), you and Rosa wheel off out of the plane, down into the ramp. For a split second, you catch yourself glancing back one last time, eyes searching for that familiar shadow but the pace in which the masses move easily sweeps you up, not allowing you to linger for too long less you want to hold up traffic. However, you recall his words, assuring you that even if you might not actually see him, he’ll be close by to still be able to help you out if you need it. So you continue on, exiting out into a terminal in no time thanks to bypassing the need to go to baggage claims, telling yourself that everything’s fine and there’s no reason to fret.

You’re here to see BTS damn it; your faves, your ultimate and you can’t waste this golden opportunity by overthinking on things.

 “Okaaay…” Rosa starts, not unlike a ranger about to take their scouts on a rigorous hike while teaching them survival skills. “Let’s grab an Uber and head on over to the hotel. You have the address right?”

“Oh, yes!” You quickly pull out your own phone, pulling up the text file as Rosa opens the Uber app on her phone. She’s typing the address into the destination bar when you hear someone call out to you.

“Um, excuse me?”

You and Rosa both look up, wide eyed like rabbits caught out in the open and turn to see two other girls staring back at you, no older than you are but what caught your attention immediately was the firefighter red cushion that’s shaped like a heart clutched in one of their arms, only this heart had a funny little face on it — two beady eyes, straight brows and round, yellow plush lips. A familiar face.

Tata.

Your eyes light up, you hear Rosa gasp softly beside you and in an instant, the mood shifts. You’re no longer confused from not recognizing the pair, instead it’s like running into old friends again if the way they smiled back just as widely was anything to go by, a knowing look on their faces.

“Are you..—?”

“ARMY?”

“YES!”

“YES!!”

You barely stop yourself from escalating in volume but your newly formed group had already drawn a couple of judgemental looks in your directions. Cheeks warming yet pleasantly aching from the grin, you wave frantically in an attempt to quiet the excited chattering that has exploded, your initial task forgotten in favour of acquainting yourselves with your new found friends, comrades gathered here for a common purpose and love for one particular group.

Rosa lets out a surprise squeak before falling into more of a hush, a sheepish smile playing on her lips and everyone sort of follows suit, still giggling.

“Oh my God this is so wild!” One of the girls laughs, “Are you guys staying somewhere close by the venue?”

“Yeah, actually we were just about to grab an Uber to head over there.” Rosa replies, flashing her phone with the app still open but address only half completed.

“AirBnb or did you somehow grab a hotel?” The other asks you, adjusting her backpack and making a few keychains jingle. You get a flash of a Cooky enamel chain glinting in the light.

“Yeah we’re staying at this hotel.” You showed them the official website page and she gasps.

“Wow! You’re lucky, that’s so close to the venue! Literally everywhere I go I keep hearing how everywhere is fully booked, even the AirBnbs around the area.”

“Where are you guys staying?” Rosa asks, after she’s copied down the address from you.

“We got an AirBnb that’s a little bit further away from the venue, like a ten minute drive? Not so bad but we’d definitely need to Uber to and back.”

You make a sound of understanding, picking up on the implication that it’ll be more money spent but that’s just what comes with these things. However, an idea comes to you.

“Hey,” You speak up, getting the attention of the party, “We can… split rides for Uber to your place if you want to? I mean, we’re all heading out anyways so we might as well right? I think it’ll be cheaper that way too.”

Rosa nods at your proposal, jumping in to add, “Yeah! Uber has a feature for that, I can definitely set up a second trip.”

The two girls glance at each other in a wordless act of debate, shortly reaching an agreement of sorts when one of them shyly turns back to you and Rosa with a timid smile.

“If you don’t mind? That would be really great actually.”

“Of course not! Save money when you can right?” Rosa says exuberantly, dispelling any remaining doubts to the two as their smiles widen again. So with a few taps, you make the necessary adjustments to your ride and now you’re all heading out to meet your driver in a merry band of four.

During your wait, you finally realize you haven’t made any formal introductions to each other (which, upon bringing it up, causes a round of laughter) but at least now, they know yours and Rosa’s names and you know them as Sam and Megan. Conversation flowed easily between the four of you, quickly getting acquainted with each other and by the time you and Rosa are getting dropped off first at the hotel, you’ve all followed each other on Twitter, Instagram and gotten everyone’s backstory on becoming fans of BTS (and of course, biases and bias wreckers).

“Hey, hey I got this, don’t worry!” Rosa says, trying to bat away Sam who had stepped out of the car as well to help you unload your carry-ons in the trunk. Megan follows suit after placing her Tata cushion and duffle bag in the backseat.

“No! This is the least we can do for sharing the ride!”

“It’s not even that heavy, it’s okay!”

Everyone fusses until it eventually turns into a group effort, even if what Rosa said was true. It makes you all giggle in the end at how silly it is but no one seems to mind.

“Thank you so much for the ride again! We should try to meet up at the venue!” Megan suggests to all of which you nod in agreement.

“Yeah! We’ll be in touch then since we have each other’s handles.” You smile back as Rosa closes the trunk. You go to shuffle onto the sidewalk, ready to see the other two girls off when Sam, wide eyed, suddenly lets out a loud gasp.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” She says quickly, darting into the back seat to grab her backpack to rummage through it, you and Rosa watch on curiously. After a short while, she triumphantly pulls out two baggies and already you see the goodies in them — self-printed photo cards of a member, fan art stickers, post cards, and a handmade purple bracelet. What’s more is that she hands them to you and Rosa, making you and Rosa squeal simultaneously.

“I’m handing these out at the venue and I wouldn’t want to run out before seeing you guys again.”

Immediately, you’re thanking her profusely and after another round of bidding each other later, you and Rosa head inside to the lobby of the hotel. It’s nothing fancy to be of note, but thankfully, it’s not sketchy either. The interior is quite simple yet spacious, the decor all in warm tones that matches the lighting, the accents emphasize on a deep mahogany wood. Off to the side, closest to the windows overlooking out onto the streets, is the lounge, the only area where it’s carpeted while the rest of the hotel is tiled, curtains drawn up and out of the way with an array of long couches and chairs surrounding coffee tables. The flat screen tv hanging on a single panel of wall space that perfectly divides the windows in half is set to a local news channel, displaying the weather and traffic around the city.

You and Rosa roll your carry-on towards the front desk, standing behind a few people ahead of you. It’s actually quite busy with lots of people coming in and out or taking up space in the lounge but all of it doesn’t surprise you because you have a sneaking suspicion as to why. Almost on cue, the group at the front begins to walk away, keycards in hand and bags full of BTS merchandise hanging off or stuck to their travel cases. Rosa nudges you but you’re already nodding with a grin on your face to show that you’ve noticed.

Checking-in was an easy process, what with both you and Rosa only needing one room with two beds to share. So you scurry off to the fifth floor, locating room 517 and as soon as you get the keycard on the door, you fling it open, rushing into the room with a bounce.

“Lemme change my outfit real quick! I feel like a slob and I can’t be looking like this in front of my boys!” You gasp, throwing your case onto the ground to open it.

“Oh shit you’re right. I need to put on liner or something! Can’t show my face like this to Jin.” Rosa says, doing the same with her carry-on case to pull out her little make-up pouch.

You grab your change of clothes, rushing to the bathroom and it felt like you were doing a quick change routine by how fast you managed to switch out everything. Looking in the mirror, you can’t help the grin on your face as you check yourself over. You’re wearing a black t-shirt with BTS’ logo taking up most of the front of the shirt while on the back lists all the members names in white text. It’s an old shirt, unofficial merchandise too but you’ve worn it the previous time you were lucky enough to go to their concert so you feel like it’s only right to bring it out again. After deliberating on a French tuck or a full on tuck, you decide to go with the latter, stuffing the ends into your distressed skinny jeans.

Satisfied, you step out to find Rosa already decked out in her concert gear that includes an RJ shirt over black cargo pants and RJ headband. She’s carefully applying lipgloss in the vanity and it prompts you to grab your own make-up bag until the both of you are crowding around another for the mirror. Once you’re done applying liner, some lip tint and other touch ups, you turn to Rosa.

“‘Kay, I’m good to go!”

She turns to you with a grin, grabbing both of your light sticks that’s set out on the bed, presenting it to you like it’s an Oscar. You can’t help letting out a boisterous laugh but take it from her anyways.

“Let's get it!”

You grab your bag, emptying out the things you wouldn’t need and leaving only your wallet, cellphone, charger bank, and keycard in. Stepping out, you make sure the door locks itself properly before you and Rosa start heading towards the elevators.  “So the venue is like… a ten minute walk from here, do you want to Uber it or walk?” You point out, pulling up Google maps as a reference.

“I’m good for walking because we’ll make it five if we power walk.”

Turns out, she’s right. Apparently Rosa’s enthusiasm sparks to double yours which you’ve completely underestimated because before you know it, you’re walking alongside other concert goers and then you see the first of the banners and then…

“Oh my God…” Rosa whispers beside you, absolutely vibrating but you nod, sharing the same sentiment.

There are banners with each members faces on it hanging from the flagpoles lining the walkway towards the stadium. Around on the grounds, there are canopies of tents selling official concert merchandise, light sticks and a giant wall poster with BTS at the centre, dressed to impress as always, giving the fans the opportunity to take a commemorative photo. It’s like a little marketplace for the fans — there’s so much to look at and so much to take in that it makes your heart pound but along with that, there are lines.

Oh the lines.

You gulp just looking at all the different lines leading to different activities and booths, how they seem to stretch for miles and miles, twisting and curving like one giant serpent. You can’t even begin to imagine how early some people must’ve arrived here in order to be the first twenty in line. Honestly, it makes you sweat a little, but somehow, you’re determined to embrace this madness, swept up by the hype and the fact that you may never get this chance again.

“Okay, what do we do first?” Rosa asks, “I’m really not about to try for that merch line but I really wanna do the photo booth. We didn’t get to do it last time right?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”

“Okay! Photo booth line!”

So without a second thought, you and Rosa speed on over to the set up, racing to find the back of the line. You find it curving halfway around one of the buildings that was a washroom with vending machines posted out at the front. Once you made it, you and Rosa buckle down and play the hardest game known to any fan — the waiting game.

It wasn’t so bad you think, you and Rosa basically spent time catching up on things you didn’t get to talk about in the early morning, talk about which songs you’re looking forward to see live and even getting interrupted every once in a while by kind fans handing out freebies. Time is lost amongst the shared laughter, swept away in the electrified thrum of other people’s combined energy and you soak it all in, loving the feeling even if your cheeks ache from having smiled and laughed so much. You shuffle and move along with the line, at times, zoning in and out or simply watch what’s going on around you (you think it’s amusing how every time the venue staff would announce a round of items that were sold out, the awaiting crowd would groan or yell in anguish altogether; it resonates with your soul).

Soon, you find yourself within the winding barricade part of the line, thirty people deep and close enough to hear the squeals and squawks people are making when they first enter the photo booth.

“I’m totally gonna be like them when I go in, just completely lose my shit at holographic Jin.” Rosa points out, grinning.

“I’m just so excited to finally do it! It’s just too bad we can’t get any merch but at the same time, I’m pretty much too broke to afford anything.” You reply. Rosa nods solemnly in agreement.

Another half hour later, you’re finally at the front, waiting for your turn and you’re absolutely besides yourself, rocking on your heels to try to restrain from combusting. It’s hard to do because Rosa is bouncing in her spot which makes the monitoring staff giggle. You shy away a little, even though you know they’re probably used to it by now but your embarrassment doesn’t last long when two of the three booths become free and you’re given the go ahead along with Rosa. You’re laughing all the way in from hearing Rosa’s gradually fading scream.

Drawing back the curtains, you enter in the little room, brick red in colour with one ottoman bench fit for two people. On the wall in front is a touch screen with seven squares, each displaying a members face on it and all you have to do now is choose who you want a digital picture with.

Your finger moves as if on its own, right towards —

You stop.

It takes a second for you to realize where they hover, a hair’s breadth from his picture.

Jimin.

No…Not him. Not…

You shake your head, ridding the thought and this odd feeling that overcomes you in that second. You chalk it up as it finally hitting you how all of it seems so bizarre that you’re here to see BTS’ Jimin when all this time you had a literal clone of him manifested as a demon meant to protect you. It’s tripping you out, which is why it takes you a hot minute to get your head in the game, so to speak.

This is BTS’ Jimin — vocalist, dancer, model idol and member of BTS, the biggest boy group in the world right now. Park, nation’s angel/fairy, Jimin.

Totally different.

You repeat the words in your head like a mantra, convincing yourself before breathing in deeply. Then you press the icon, submit yes and watch with a rapidly beating heart as a countdown begins, the screen switching to the live selfie camera and on one, Jimin appears as if entering the booth. Your eyes dart up to the space he should be instinctively but you quickly chastise yourself, drawing back to the screen in front of you as you hear him speak a few lines. Even as a digital hologram he’s breathtaking, soft honey blonde hair swept off his forehead and dressed in a black suit that fits him so well that it’s almost criminal. He strides to sit beside you and you reel a bit, quickly trying to orient yourself on the seat in the screen and his figure, barely catching a few words in Korean that initiated the first photo take.

The countdown begins and you get into position, smiling towards the screen but within those three seconds, you catch sight of yourself and him; the way he leans into you, a soft smile adorning his lips and in that moment, your heart squeezes and you falter as the camera shutter goes off.

You blink, stunned but you can’t stop to process the feeling so you push it back as Jimin prompts for a second photo, this time holding his hand to form half a heart which you’re meant to complete.

This is BTS’ Jimin.

You hastily follow, almost stubbornly so as again, the countdown begins and you force a smile, angling yourself to look half as flattering as Jimin.

This is BTS’ Jimin.

The shutter goes off again, he says a few more sweet words before he walks off screen and you’re left to choose between the two pictures you’d taken to have printed.

You grimace as you scan them over — neither one of them are satisfying to you.

“I think your photo looks cute!” Rosa exclaims, looking over yours before giving you a nudge on the shoulder with a teasing glint in her eyes. “You two look good together.”

You nudge her back, taking the photo from her and stuffing it into your crossbody. “Stop, before some sasaeng overhears.”

Rosa cackles loudly, throwing her head back. “Oh please, a bitch can try to run up on you or me. I will fight.”

That pulls a laugh out of you but somehow, you have no doubts about it. Clicking her phone, Rosa checks for the time and with a glance, you’re shocked to see that you’ve already spent a good three hours around the venue. And a chunk of it was just waiting in a line.

“‘Kay now should be a good time to grab something to eat.”

At the mention of food, your stomach gurgles and churns in response and you’re surprised it’s only then that you feel the ache of not having eaten anything sufficient since six in the morning.

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel it now. Where should we go?”

Rosa hums, straining to look around as you come to the borders of the stadium grounds. She turns her head from one side of the street to the other and you follow her, spying a few familiar fast food chains by their company colours.

“I think we should grab something that we can take on the go, it’ll be easier in case we spontaneously decide to jump in a line again.”

You snort, not arguing with the idea but the thought of getting into another lineup is…. You’re gonna have to think on that after eating a sandwich or something. Your head cocks a little at that.

“How about a sandwich then? That’s pretty easy to carry around, and filling too.”

Your friend considers the idea and then nods, “Yeah, I can do that.”

It wasn’t hard to find a place that would meet your requirements of a delectable sandwich as the concert venue was situated very closely to the downtown parts of the city. It was only a matter of how far you’re both willing to walk, which is…not very far. You and Rosa both agreed that it would be in your best interests to stick around the venue because on your way to picking a spot, you chance your first look at the one lineup you and Rosa probably dreaded the most, outright feared.

“God is that—?”

“…Yeah….” The words come out short but heavily in a resigned sigh. Like with any other lines you’ve seen so far, this one stretches just as long with the only difference is that you can at least pinpoint exactly how and when it started. You easily spot the makeshift camp ground fans have created, tents of varying colours dotting along in the empty parking lot, peeking out from over the heads of those currently waiting in the queue for GA. Now your stomach churns uneasily for a different reason.

“Let’s hurry and get in before the line gets any longer!”

The both of you rush into action, entering the closest fast food establishment for the sake of not dallying but perhaps you think all in vain because it too was crowded with people, specifically other concert goers. At this point, there’s no escaping the wait anywhere and Rosa seems to realize too as she gives you a wry smile, moving to stand at the end of the formed line with you following suit. Another twenty minutes later, you and Rosa are dashing out, a bag in each hand containing your sandwiches, extra snacks and bottle of water. You’re out of breath when you finally reach the end of the line, ready to sit on the sidewalk and eat. To your pleasant surprise however, you find some familiar faces.

“Oh my God! Sam, Megan!” Rosa exclaims, wide eyed as the girls glance up from their phones respectively, wide smiles appearing on their faces when they see you and your friend. They envelope you in a hug each and you fall into conversations, all centred around what you’ve done so far in the venue, showing the pictures you took and freebies you got. It goes on for a while until you can’t stand it anymore and as politely as you could, informed that you must devour this sandwich now or else you would keel over. The first bite you took was nothing short of heavenly and it’s like a ravenous monster has been awakened because you think you downed it all in ten seconds flat.

Regardless, it does the job of filling your stomach with something so that it doesn’t end up eating itself but you somewhat had the thought before to try and portion it out, knowing you had a bit of a wait to get through before doors officially open. Within that time, you had also finished your bag of chips, sharing amongst the group and drank your fill of water. Hydration has always been the one thing everyone emphasizes the most when going to BTS’ concerts but you still struggle to find that balance between getting enough water and having too much water because who would want to have to go to the washroom in the middle of a concert? Plus, any water you don’t finish before security check you would have to throw away anyways.

You end up holding back on chugging your entire bottle, stopping when you felt like your bladder won’t explode any time soon but that means you’ll have to accept that the rest would be given to the trash.

Finally after some time, you’re startled from your stagnant position when the line ripples to life. You perk hearing the muffled bass of songs you’ve grown to love and know word for word despite the different language. Megan is the first to stand up, all of you at one point resorted to sitting right along the sidewalk edge, tip-toeing to see what the commotion was.

“I think doors are opening! The line looks like it’s moving now!”

The news has an immediate effect, the rest of you springing to your feet just as the people in front of you start shuffling forward. A surge of jitters tingles along your spine as you move along, inching closer and closer to the entrance. Not only does this mean you’ll be finally getting into the arena, but it also means that the concert is well on its way to starting soon. You catch yourself in time from bumping into the person in front of you when the line suddenly stops right on a bend. You think nothing if it until you hear murmurs of a commotion and see people actually leaving from their spots.

“What’s going on?” You ask, concerned.

“I think there’s a confusion between lines?” Sam answers, peering around the many bodies in front of you. You do the same, trying to worm your way through this broken telephone game until you hear someone raising their voice.

“Left side of this line is for GA!! This line is for seats!!”

“Ah shit!” Rosa curses, turning to Sam and Megan. “We gotta bounce then. Enjoy the show girls!”

“Bye!! You too! Now go, go!”

You wave hastily before Rosa is pulling your arm and you both go running to the newly formed line beside the one you were just in. You’ve made quite the jump, even if you are a bit aways still from seeing the front entrance. But it’s almost like it doesn’t matter because the line continues to move and before you know it, the doors are right in front of you.

“As soon as we get through the security gate, we’re booking it.” Rosa says, determined and fired up, even doing little stretches as if she’s getting ready to do a 100m sprint. You don’t argue with her though, chewing on your lower lip at thinking about how many people must already be in the pit, how your chances of getting a good spot is dwindling lower and lower with every people let in. Slowly, you grow more anxious and now you’re antsy to get your ass in ASAP because like hell, you’re going to be stuck with an awful view!

You swear it takes everything in you to remain as calm and collected on the outside as you can once it’s your turn for the security check. You present your crossbody, showing them the inside, dispose of the water bottle in the growing bin, pull up your ticket on your phone for verification and once you’ve given the all-clear—

“Go, go, go, go, go!” You take off, following the herd as your only means to finding the path to the concert pit, glancing over your shoulder to make sure Rosa is behind you (she is with a big goofy smile on her face). You hear the echoes of numerous excited voices bounce off the walls and they increase in volume, easily intermingled with instrumentals and growing clearer, more distinguishable as you approach. When you finally pass through the entryway, you feel your breath hitch.

The crowds are already gathered at the edges of the barricade, singing along to the music video being played on the large screens. Above and all around you, the seats are being filled by more fans, their light sticks twinkling to show their numbers. You rush to join in with everyone, coming to the space furthest left at the head of the stage, just a row or two behind others, brandishing your own light stick to switch on. With the app, you sync it up, right when Rosa joins you.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE HERE AHHHH!!” Rosa screams, waving her light stick crazily and falling into the fan chant. You laugh, not caring how loud you might be. You spend the next remaining minutes dancing, singing, and screaming, immersing yourself in the energy all around you. Rosa pulls you in for selfies, taking commemorative videos every once in a while. It helps pass the time and as the final notes of the music video fades out, the lights dim and the screams are louder than ever. All eyes are glued to the intro VCR, your heart’s pumping in your ears as you feel the rush of adrenaline increase. You’re blown away by the visuals and you can’t help but to scream whenever the sight of any of the members appear (and this is all before they’re on stage dear god).

The video fades to black, transitioning into a new track as the spotlights light up one by one to the beat until it swells into a climax as extravagant stage props are revealed and the pyrotechnics are going off. You truly lose all sense of inhibition when from the floor of the stage, seven figures emerge. You don’t know if you’re shaking from the force of your scream, the screams of a thousand people around you reaching a whole new level of pitch and intensity, or from the booming stereos that begin to blast their title track.

They were nothing short of incredible, you’re starstruck at how coordinated they were, all the while maintaining such stable vocals, not to mention look absolutely stunning in their stage outfits — sparkly black suits with varying gold accents that decorate their shoulders or as lapels, giving off very princely vibes. And you’re witnessing all of this with your own two pair of eyes. Never have you ever been this close to them before where you seldom rely on the big screen camera in front of you and you’re having trouble on where your eyes should be, so captivated by their aura and charisma.

So you find yourself screaming names left and right when you’re not shouting the fan chant. The first song comes to an end though it doesn’t mean that the energy doesn’t carry on as after a moment’s pause, the next song starts up, another hit single everyone recognizes and loves. When the lines of the first verse starts, the boys start making their way down the catwalk towards the thrust stage. As they move, so does the audience, all eager to keep their eyes on them no matter what. It’s hard to fight the wave so you can only go with it, forced to shift from your original spot to something a little less than favourable. You’re still too far up the main stage that the only thing you see is their backs and try as you might, half the time a phone is blocking your view.

It’s a struggle but you make do with the large screen and when there’s a song this hype playing, it’d be a crime to not do anything besides dance and cheer at the top of your lungs. And that’s what you love about their concerts; the moment you step into the arena it’s like you’re transported into another world, a place where you can let loose and for once be happy, blessed and thankful.

No more worries, no more what-ifs.

You’re going to seize this moment as if it’s your last.

When the song comes closer to the end, the members gradually make their way back to the main stage, waving to the crowd as they go and you swear Namjoon had returned your wave, dimpled smile on display. You can’t help the squeal that comes from your mouth.

When the last notes end, you finally turn to assess your surroundings, the crowd once more shifted but thankfully you spy Rosa not far from you so you maneuver yourself to her. She greets you ecstatically.

“DID YOU SEE JIN?! HE HAD PURPLE HAIR!! I’M GONNA DIE!!”

 “I KNOW!! AND NAMJOON WAVED AT ME!!”

The two of you fangirl until the VCR is done and the melodies of another song bubbles over the speaker. Once more, the attention of everyone in the arena draws towards the main stage and from there, it starts all over.

You work up a sweat dancing and singing along to the songs, breathless in the best way possible. You were enjoying the concert through and through, the only issue you have was your throat beginning to burn a little more than usual from all your screaming and the sea of people you’re currently swimming in is getting a bit more pushier. But the night was still young and though you’ve been dancing nonstop for four song straight, there was nothing stopping you when the spotlights turn into a warm golden yellow, the ones along the ground turning green and the first notes of possibly your favourite song starts to play.

From the floor, Jimin’s figure rises up, voice as light as a feather filtering through the building and instantly, you’re entranced.

Before, you had been unsure of how you would react to seeing the original Jimin on stage, the apprehension nearly smothering you as you waited but like a spell, as soon you laid eyes on him, singing and dancing so gracefully, so effortlessly, you knew that this was someone else entirely different. Now dressed in a flowing silk shirt embroidered with crystals that twinkle endlessly in the spotlight, he has singlehandedly rendered you speechless as the rest of the thousands watching him. Your eyes were glued to him, heart swelling with emotions as you watch him in his element, nailing each step and note and like caught in a siren’s song, you itch to be closer. Scanning around, you try to find an opening you can squeeze through, anything.

You see a space, big enough for you to stand in and without even thinking twice you surge forward, weaving as best you can before the chance disappears. You bypass two people, grazing their shoulders but shrinking in on yourself pays off because your view is even better than ever. Now you’re a row away from the metal barricade and when you focus back on Jimin—

You’ve heard many times that photos don’t do any of the members justice, not even a fraction of how they look but being this up close, you think it’s the understatement of the century. You’re stunned, mind going blank like it has trouble processing the fact that there is a human being that exists in this world you’re living in that is beautiful beyond words and his name is Park Jimin and you’re currently staring at him, in person.

Being this up close, you can see the details of his movements, how every part of his body from the tips of his fingers to his toes is adding something to this choreograph to make it that much more fluid or powerful. You see the rings on his fingers glint as he brings it up to run it through honey blond hair, strands falling so delicately and softly against the thin sheen of sweat against his forehead, it has you mesmerized. And then you see the beginnings of a secret smile, one that starts in his eyes before stretching over his lips as he sings those sweet words. You don’t stop yourself from swooning loudly because you’re not the only one who’s affected. The song ends all too soon, Jimin backing away to be lowered down on the stage but not without throwing another smile out towards the audience, gaze so full of love for the people around him as he sings the last notes and you feel like you can finally breathe properly again.

You find yourself laughing, half in disbelief and giddiness, smile so wide thinking that that performance was closer to a spiritual experience more than anything.

BTS’ Jimin is truly something else.

So caught up in it all, you fail to notice that, at some point, you’ve lost your friend Rosa, only after when you turn your head, ready to gush about Jimin and finding that she’s no where to be seen. You had the mind to look, but it’s difficult for you less you want to lose your newly obtained good spot. Besides, the lights darkening makes it even harder to distinguish her. You leave it for now, as the next song starts up; if you can’t find her by the end of the concert, you can always call her. With that settled, you return your attention back to the next member performing.

You’re thankful for the relatively slower songs, allowing you to the time to recover and more importantly, keep the crowd controlled to a rhythmic swaying. You hate to admit it, but you really wished you had bought another water bottle even if they did cost you an arm and a leg in the arena. Your throat aches uncomfortably, making swallowing hard even if it’s a knee jerk reaction in an attempt to quench your thirst. The most you can do now is refrain yourself by simply mouthing along to the lyrics but it’s a lot easier said than done. You still catch yourself shouting the fan chants when the timing comes up even when you sound like a dying cat (but who says no to the Kim Namjoon?!)

Perhaps a poor decision on your part because then comes the medley.

You feel it in the crowd before the track even kicks in, like the tides pulling back in a telling sign that a tsunami would follow and you have no choice but to ride it, too deep into the sea of bodies to put up any sort of resistance. You’re forced to move as close to the thrust stage as possible, everyone trying desperately to grab the boys’ attention as they walk along the edges. It pushes you until you’re on the left side of the catwalk behind two rows of people now, much to your chagrin but you don’t linger on it long, too immersed in the heavy beats of the song that makes you dance with reckless abandon.

Your spurt of energy doesn��t last you long as you quickly tire, heart hammering as loud as the bass in your chest you feel like it would burst through your ribs, and what’s worse is that every ragged inhale and exhale of breath agitates your scratchy throat. The t-shirt you’re wearing is too damp for your liking, clinging to your skin and does nothing but add to the heat already surrounding you. You slow yourself down, fighting off a dizziness the overcomes you, like you’ve accidentally stood up too fast and your shoulder collides into someone. You get shoved back and though there wasn’t any real strength behind it, you stumble, barely catching yourself. You think a couple of toes have been stepped on but you think it’s collateral damage at this point, too preoccupied with trying not to succumb to this moment of weakness.

Breathe, relax, you’re fine!

You blink rapidly and as if out of sheer willpower, it begins to subside, the dark hazy border clouding your vision seeps away. You remain in your spot for a while longer, making sure that it goes away completely and once you’re sure, you focus back in on what’s happening. You’ve been moved way farther back into the crowd than you had thought, maybe about ten steps away from reaching one of the sides of the catwalk. You’re surrounded on all sides by jumping bodies, the high of the atmosphere showing no signs of stopping and with the boys still partying it up on the stage, it’s all it takes to pull you back in.

Literally nothing will stop you from seeing this concert to the end.

“Everybody say—!!” You think you hear Jungkook scream and you can’t help laughing but join in to the chorus of thousands of others singing along. The song tapers to a simple beat, the main instrumentals dying off a bit so that you could really hear the echoing voices and see the way members egg on the audience. It gradually builds again, you realize it’s a remix in place of the original song that seems even more hype than should be possible. It’s gearing up for a drop you know would have the whole arena lose their mind over as the boys travel back towards the main stage. You naturally follow the crowd, always vying to get a better view just as the music picks up and everyone starts jumping in place again.

You’re torn from trying to see the actual stage or the big screen, so keen on keeping your eyes on them until the song comes to an end. You’re out of breath once more, shoulders heaving in effort and the foggy feeling creeps back again. The stage lights dim until the only source of light you have is the big screen playing the next VCR. You distantly hear the dreamy soundtrack, a mere muffled sound against the ringing in your ears. You try desperately to make it pass, along with this dizzy spell and you shut your eyes in hopes of doing so.

It was meant to be for a moment; just like the first time it happened, you had expected for it to pass easily, only… it doesn't.

It’s like your body decided to shut down without notice, going numb before you even had a chance to fight it.

It all happened so fast.

When you become conscious again, you’re extremely disoriented, vaguely aware that you’re not where you thought you would be — on the ground, trampled with a concussion and causing a whole scene by having a team of on site paramedics surrounding you (and if you’re being honest, you’re thankful that it’s not the case because you would rather take the concussion, unconscious and all than having to see thousands of people and all the members of BTS remember you in that way).

Vision clearing a little more, you slowly start to piece the shapes and colours that come together until you recognize them as eyes…

You…You know those eyes….

Time seems to slow until you’re taken back to the night you first met eyes with a pair of crimson ones. You remember how vibrantly they gleam against the dark, burning so deeply into your soul that you had dared not breathe. Those eyes stared at you with an intensity that had frightened you from the power they hold, yet you learned that they can shine with mirth, twinkle impishly, soften in tenderness, become the moon and hold endless stars and galaxies that had you wanting to see more.

But now, they stare back at you, pupils shaking in an amalgamated storm of emotions so palpable you wonder if the stars had burnt out and the world was no more.

Distress.

Panic.

But above all, fear.

“Y/N….? Hey Y/N, can you hear me?”

You blink, rousing from your daze, the faint smell of lavender intermingling with burnt wood enveloping you like a warm blanket— a comforting and familiar scent. You turn to get a better look at the owner of this voice but all it does is throw you in for another loop.

Jimin is staring down at you, wide eyed in alarm. The black surgical mask he’s wearing is pushed down, revealing full lips parted in a way that can only be described as holding his breath, bracing for the worst. The hoodie he has pulled over his head makes it hard to get a good look at him, the orange cast of the light above almost intensifying the shadows over his face that it has you squinting, wanting to discern his features, wanting to confirm that it’s him but his voice alone should’ve been enough.

“Ji…Jimin…?” You wince at the croak you just let out, voice completely shot and sore but you need to know if this is real or not, still feeling so out of sorts. Gently, you’re being propped up into more of a sitting position and something touches the bottom of your lip.

“Drink…”

As soon as you get that first sip of the cool liquid, it’s like you come to life again, grasping at the bottle to gulp down more like you’ve spent the past hours in a desert rather than in a concert arena.

“Slow down cherub….”

A bit spills over, trickling down your chin but you don’t care, the feeling is welcomed against your hot skin. After having your fill, you pull away to take a deep breath, finding the strength to support yourself though you feel the solid arm behind you linger.

“Wha — What happened….Where..?” You mumble, bringing a hand to press to your forehead, to yourself or to him you’re not sure.

“You blacked out, probably from dehydration. I had to get you out before you got seriously hurt.”

“Out…?”

The word belatedly registers with you but when it does, your gaze whips around you, taking in your surroundings for the first time. You’re outside, on the side of the building that acts more like a back alley meant for delivery trucks and it’s secret employees-only side doors that more or less, lead to the dumpsters you see farther down the way. It’s dark out, the night air much cooler now and distantly, you hear the cheers and the thumping of the bass, the concert still going on.

The concert!

A gasp flies from your lips as you spring to your feet, so fast your world spins and you would’ve toppled over had it not been for a hand to steady your shoulders.

“Y/N! What are you— “

“I-I have to get back! The concert—!” You sputter, cutting yourself off from a cough that tears through you, making you duck into the crook of your elbow in hopes of quelling it. Your feet falter in trying to figure out which way you should go but that wasn’t the only thing holding you back.

“Wait, just hold on a second—!”

You’re tugging against his hold on your wrist, eyes watering from the force of your cough but all you hear is the waves of excited screaming and the start of a new song which rings more like the tolls of a bell signalling time is running out. You become more frantic and frustrated — at him, at yourself. All at once, these tumultuous thoughts surge forward, consuming you in their urgency; you’re blowing it, completely throwing this chance away, couldn’t even do this one thing right, why couldn’t you just hold out?

It was all a waste. You really don't deserve any of this.

“Let go of me! I need to—!”

“Y/N! STOP!”

You’re jerked back quite suddenly, firm hands taking hold of both your shoulders until you feel your back pressing into the rough brick wall of the building. Your mouth parts, a retaliation ready at the tip of your tongue but you’re cut off with a hard shake.

“Are you out of your mind right now?! What do you think you’re going to accomplish going back in there in your state?!”

“Can you just lay off?! I’m fine!”

“You can barely hold yourself up! I’m not letting you put yourself in danger!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“Y/N LOOK AT ME!”

His voice snaps you out of your frenzy, the sheer volume of it able to pull you out of the spiralling decent into your own madness — you don’t think you’ve ever heard him shout before. The revelation makes you pause and it’s enough for you to finally become aware of what’s in front of you.

At some point, his hoodie had fallen off, letting you finally see him. He’s everything you had remembered seeing, still so utterly beautiful in that otherworldly way that it’s almost heartbreaking. Your mind can’t help but to replay those images of him on stage, so ethereal and mesmerizing until they shift, melting away altogether to what you see in front of you — raven locks replacing the honey blond, slightly more disheveled against his forehead, strands sticking to a light sheen of sweat that makes the bruising stand out more against paler skin, and stormy blue irises for a subdued scarlet, the faintest glow barely visible behind those eyes that look at you in such a pained way.

It’s a sobering sight, one that has your heart clenching.

This isn’t BTS’ Jimin.

No, he’s —

You’re slightly out of breath but you realize you both are, his exhales fanning warm against your lashes. You see Jimin’s eyes search yours, not really sure what he’s trying to find in them but you don’t want to know, too afraid of that answer. After a tense moment, he asks, a single question falling from his lips in a disquieted whisper that resonates above the cacophony that surrounds you, inside and out.

“Why….?”

Why…. It tumbles around in your head chaotically with no signs of reaching any conclusions, the thoughts disjointed and fragmented for your mind to even begin processing. It dredges up feelings you’ve unconsciously tried to bury, way more than you had imagined and it becomes too much for you to handle right now, much less put into words. But perhaps above everything, you can’t find it in you to face any of it.

You break eye contact first, turning away from the intensity that has you feeling more vulnerable than it should.

“I....You—….” You struggle to form the words past the trembling in your voice, hands balling into fists until they dig crescents into your palms, on the precipice of breaking down entirely from experiencing so many heightened emotions in one night that you just want it to end. “Forget it…Please, you— you wouldn’t understand….”

You don’t look up to see his expression, won’t dare to but you feel the way his hold tenses, going rigid until slowly, his fingers begin to slip away, touch barely brushing the tops of your forearm before they recoil completely. And then you feel his warmth leave you as he steps back, feet heavy and you miss the way the glow in his eyes extinguishes, leaving nothing more than an empty, dark abyss.

“You’re right…. I wouldn’t…” He rasps, the resignation palpable and your heart squeezes again without your permission. Your guardian demon doesn’t say anything more, the silence threatening to suffocate you but you’re moving before it has the chance to, pushing away from the wall even though your steps hesitate.

You feel like you should say something, guilty conscious tugging you to hold you in place, the words I’m sorry sitting on the back of your tongue but when you swallow, what comes out instead is, “I…should go…”

You run without looking back, ashamed.

A coward.

You find your way into the arena following the sounds of the cheering crowd, rising continuously in crescendos. You have no sense of how much time had passed, the lack in any distinguishable song playing makes you sprint and when you burst through the entrance, the entire place is bathed in violet and magenta as the white lights of people’s cellphones twinkle all around you like a sea of constellations in a galaxy.

“This is gonna be the last song for tonight, love you guys, let’s go.” Namjoon says, a bittersweet smile on his face as the music begins to play and everyone cries out again in recognition. You’re left bewildered, not wanting to believe that the concert is coming to a close already and after a brief moment of stunned silence, you force yourself to move, rejoining the crowd in the pit. You walk, wanting to immerse yourself again and finding a spot on the farthest side of the stage, closest to one of the big screens displaying the members. All around, people are singing along to the uplifting lyrics of the song and you do as well, but it’s like your body and mind are on autopilot, completely numb.

Your thoughts are running rampant inside, the fight still fresh no matter how much you’re trying to take everything in around you, commit them to memory before…

Before what?

Before you lose this small piece of happiness you’ve ever known? Or are you afraid of losing the feeling it brought you, when watching these seven amazing men who share their music that heals the hearts of so many no longer bring that sense of comfort and joy to you, but instead remind you of sad, distant memories full of unspoken words, yearning and regret.

You can almost feel it already happening.

The song comes to an end, continuing on in an instrumental loop as the members gather up to do one final bow at the thrust stage, hand in hand. Afterwards, they disperse, each taking their time to wave and interact with the fans from all corners of the stage before leaving through the lift at the main stage. You catch sight of Taehyung on the catwalk waving and gesturing cutely, Hoseok who’s eyes are glued to the far off seats, grin broad and waving enthusiastically to make sure that the fans there are not forgotten, Jin who makes a show of following the camera to blow kisses into it for everyone to see….

And then your eyes wander unconsciously, searching for him, for Jimin who’s ever the sweetheart, is running to the farthest left of the stage he can reach, right in front of where you’re standing to greet the fans there. He's radiant, a stunning smile stretching over his face so wide in a way that makes his eyes turn into crescents but you know no doubt that they sparkle in pure happiness as they look out to the fans, like he’s trying to memorize each and every face of the people who made all his dreams come true. Jimin waves to as many people as he can, blowing kisses here and there and occasionally gesturing to those to not cry and smile.

You watch on fondly, but your chest begins to ache uncontrollably in a way you don’t think is because he’s beginning to make his way back to centre stage, ready to leave. He walks languidly, like he’s trying to draw out as much time as he can while his eyes still remain focused out onto the fans and in that moment, he looks your way.

You’re not even sure if it’s just your mind playing tricks on you but you see him so clearly. With the softest smile gracing his lips, you lock eyes, his gaze so warm and adoring and as cliche as it sounded, the world slows and you see him mouth something that makes the breath catch in your throat.

I love you.

He reaches out a hand to wave one last time before he’s turning away, screaming those same words again into the microphone to let the whole arena know and with that, the boys are lowered down. The music fades, there’s a final huzzah as a massive lit up panel with the band’s logo rises up to take up centre stage and like a movie, the credits begin rolling on screen, signalling the official end of the concert. People around begin to disperse, intending on leaving to beat the rush of traffic while there are some who remain in their spots to watch the extra practice footage the boys took.

You are the latter, however your attention is not on the clips rolling, rather you are lost amidst a turmoil of emotions as your mind seems to be stuck on replaying that moment with Jimin. You’re not sure why, can’t understand the affect it has on you when logically you know this isn’t the first time you’ve seen something like it. It’s almost a bit absurd until you realize….

For the split second it happened, you had wished for raven hair and deep ruby eyes.

211 notes · View notes

flowerpowell · 5 years

Text

The Boy Next Door (Logan x MC / Colt x MC)

PART TWO

A/N: Hello everyone, part two of this wonderful college AU, slow burn series is already out! As always, the characters belong to PB, I only borrow them. I hope you’ll enjoy today’s chapter, please dont forget to leave some feedback cause it makes me happy!

Rating: PG-13

Word count: 1919

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @confessionsofabrokegirl @akrenich @lovehugsandcandy @walkerduchess @desiree-0816 @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @hellomynameisdevi @client-327 @liamzigmichael4ever @badchoicesposts @choicesarehard @blackcatkita @pixel-thirsty @donutsgirl36 @drakeismyweakness @maccuswielle @miss-raleigh-carrera ♥

“And this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is... Ellie Wheeler, the president of the United States!”

“Thank you! Thank you for your trust, for appreciating me! I promise to continue doing good, I promise to continue being the best president the United States has ever had. I promise--” A sudden noise startled her. “Excuse me! Can you turn off your phone? This is the Nobel Academy, show some respect! As I was saying--” she tried to continue but more phones began to ring. “Turn off your phones, people!! This is my moment of glory!”

“Miss Wheeler? This is your phone ringing.”

“No, it’s not! Shut up! SHUT UP!”

“Shut up!”

Ellie was jolted awake by her phone ring and being still half asleep, she took her phone to turn it off. Why it is so loud at only seven forty-five? It’s Saturday, I should be sleeping. Stupid technology. She put her phone back on the nightstand and went back to her comfortable position only to jump out of bed the next second.

It was not Saturday, it was Friday. And she had classes at eight.

“No, no, no, no!!!” She hastily put on some clothes and sprinted out of her room. There was no time for make up or for breakfast, not even for coffee. It was her first Friday at uni and she heard professor Ortega was one of the scariest ones. She really didn’t want to be late.

Colt was watching a movie and sipping coffee when she ran downstairs and started putting on her shoes like crazy.

“Colt, you’ve got to help me!” she yelled from the hallway.

“It’s not Halloween yet,” he yelled back and she rolled her eyes. Maybe she should have put on at least some makeup.

“Please, Colt, I’m gonna be late for this class and I can’t be! I know you have a car, please, please, please, pleaseeeeeeee!” She really didn’t want to ask him for help but there was no other way. They hadn’t talked much those past few days, only a few of “Good morning,” “coffee?,” “good night!,” “may I?,” (from Ellie) and “morning,” “yes,” “no,” “please stop talking” (from Colt).

“Why can’t you skip school today? You have like four more years of that.”

“It doesn’t exactly work like that, Colt. Pleaseee, save me, I have ten minutes! If I’m late, the prof will HATE me and fail me, I won’t graduate, I’ll never get any job, I’ll be unemployed and without any money, Logan will dump me, I’ll be homeless, then I’ll get sick cause I always get sick when I’m outside for too long, especially if it’s raining, I won’t have any money for meds and I will DIE! Do you want to kill me?” She pouted, trying her best to look cute and innocent so that Colt would break. He rolled his eyes and got up, turning off the TV.

“Fine, fine, just stop, stop!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cheered, throwing her hands around Colt’s neck. He shot her an annoyed look and she quickly put distance between them. Small steps, Ellie, small steps. He’s gonna like you or else I’m not Ellie Wheeler. He MUST like you. You’re too likeable. She smiled to herself but her smile faded a few seconds later during the quietest car drive she ever experienced.

“So... Do you have any plans for today?” Ellie asked in hopes to start a conversation. In response, Colt turned on the radio and turned the sound up.

Small steps, Ellie. Small steps.

~~~~

“I know it sucks, Ellie, and I’m so sorry but I really couldn’t say no.”

Logan’s heartbroken voice filled the silence around her when she was walking back to the apartment after classes.

“So... you’re not coming this week?”

“I’m so sorry, Ellie. I really wanted to but my boss...”

“I know, I know. You couldn’t say no,” she sighed. She was really looking forward to this weekend since Logan was supposed to vist her and she missed him more than she could admit. But apparently Logan’s boss had different plans for him and Ellie was mad. Mad at Logan’s boss for finding him something to do, mad at Logan for not being able to say ‘no’ and mad at herself for wanting so bad to study here.

“I’ll visit you next month for our first anniversary! That’s a promise! I would never miss it. I love you, Ellie.”

“Yeah... I love you, too,” she said and ended the call. When she called him to tell him all about the new professor she was so excited and didn’t expect her mood would be ruined.

When she entered the appartment, Colt was still there, flipping through some papers and Ellie suddenly felt angry.

“Don’t you have a job to get to? How do you even afford this house if all you do is sitting on your ass for days?”

Colt turned to her, his eyes widened at her outburst and she felt embarrassed when she realized she shouldn’t have been so awful to him. He studied her face for a moment and finally spoke, his voice calm but with a pinch of pretended hurt.

“Why are you so rude to me? I saved you from being late, failing, being unemployed and homeless, and from dying. Is that how you show your appreciation?”

She chuckled but quickly composed herself. “I’m sorry. Logan just told me he is not coming this week and I miss him and I was mad at him, not at you of course. But he promised me and I really wanted to see him! And he also promised to help me with my assignment that is due on Monday and now I’m left all alone and... and you probably don’t even care about it. Anyways, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, forcing herself to walk away, go to her room, close the door and cry for a bit. Surprisingly, however, Colt stood up and she could see concern on his face.

“What assignment?”

She shrugged, “I thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t. But if you’re gonna be depressed for a whole weekend I’d rather help you with it myself than live with a zombie.”

“I have this huge term paper to--”

“Term paper? Term? It’s been only the first week! Why do you need to write it now?!”

“... As I was saying,” she kept on ignoring Colt’s question, “it’s a huge term paper. With several parts and I have to do the first part by Monday. It’s about criminals’ rehabilitation and for the first task I need to find an ex-criminal and run an interview with them. I needed Logan for that cause it can be dangerous and he apparently knew the guy. Besides, I’m not the best at meeting new people.”

“Well, no shit,” Colt ran his hand through his short hair. He thought for a second before speaking again. “I think I can help. My friend was released from jail recently. She’s not very dangerous though she might bite if you’re too annoying.”

Ellie’s eyes widened at his proposition. Was he actually nice to her? “I—I,” she stuttered before clearing her throat and smiling, “I would love that. Thank you.”

~~~~

She regretted agreeing right after meeting Colt’s friend. Mona was even less friendly than Colt. If that was even possible.

“Listen, I don’t appreciate your little uni making me feel like I’m an animal in the circus,” she said to her when Ellie told her about her assignment.

“It’s not like that--”

“It’s not? Question one, how is your life different from before the jail? Question two, how to people treat you knowing you’ve been in jail?” Mona read the questions from the interview and Ellie blushed. “It’s not like I have a second head after being in jail!”

“But you kinda broke the law,” Ellie shrugged, “I’m just interviewing here, I can send your complaints to the dean, if you want to.”

“And send him this,” she showed her a middle finger and Ellie heard Colt chuckle.

“I, err, will make sure he gets it. Will you help me though?”

Mona sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I won’t make it easier for you.”

And she didn’t. After an hour, Ellie felt like she just ran two marathons. Mona wasn’t very talkative and was constantly complaining about the questions. When Ellie and Colt reached the house, it was already late and dark, as if a storm was coming. Since Ellie had a major astraphobia, she was relieved to be home, though she did miss Logan. She turned to thank Colt but he was already leaving.

“Where are you going? There’s storm coming out and it’s gonna rain!”

“I don’t mind,” he said pointing to the hood on his jacket.

“But... but it’s dangerous!”

“I don’t mind,” he repeated and she got angry again.

“So you’re gonna leave me like this? I knew I should have never come here.”

Colt sighed and stopped before opening the door. “What’s your problem again?”

“My problem? I hate storms! I’m scared of them. I get panic attacks anytime there’s one. Logan’s not here, you’re leaving and I’ll be here alone. That’s my problem.”

She saw he hesitated but eventually he opened the door and said, before heading out. “The house is safe, you’re gonna be okay. I’ll be home tomorrow.”

She hated him when she heard the door close. She was mad when she realized she was home alone and no one was going to save her. She wanted to go to her room and hide under the blankets on her bed but twenty minutes after Colt left, the thuderstorm started and with a shriek, she ran to hide under the kitchen table. She closed her eyes and started counting to ten but the noise of frequent thunders made her lose the count. She tried to calm herself down, her panic attack getting stronger as she repeated the phrase “the house is safe, you’re gonna be okay” to herself like a prayer. She was already shaking, her breathing was ragged when she heard the door opening.

“Ahhhhhh!” she screamed, too afraid to check what it was.

“Calm down, it’s just me!” Colt entered the kitchen and looked under the table. “You comfy here?”

“Fu—nny,” she breathed, trying to stop shaking so bad. “What... are you do—ing here?”

“You said you were afraid of storms...” he started nervously and ran his hand through his wet hair. He hesitated for a moment but he crouched and got under the table next to her. She looked at him curiously when he awkwardly put his arm around her, pulling her closer.

“Does it help?” he rasped and she could only nod. The storm was still pretty strong but she stopped shaking. Being so close to Colt felt weirdly nice.

“I struggled with panic attacks when I was little,” he said as if trying to explain himself, explain why he was helping her. She nodded but didn’t say anything.

“If you tell about this to anyone I will kill you.”

She smiled to herself. Maybe Colt wasn’t that bad after all. And maybe he even started liking her.

#ride or die: a bad boy romance #ride or die: bad boy romance #choices #colt kaneko #colt x mc #colt kaneko x mc #rod colt #rod logan #logan x mc #choices rod #playchoices #playchoices fanfic

65 notes · View notes

guoxinghe · 4 years

Text

Lovirium - Milo x An Zhi

Request I got to write for Kajipurin from Discord for their OC Milo. I paired them with a made up character An Zhi.

Lovirium is a closed species by Yulteaful on Deviant Art.

Milo belongs to Kajipurin

“Milo! Milo!” An Zhi (安支) shook his shoulder, being mindful of the two IVs. “Baobei, you need to get up!”

Milo groaned, reaching up to pull his ears down and block the noise.

“It’s noon!” An Zhi’s annoyed expression looked like he was in a sitcom, about to turn to the camera and walk off stage dejectedly. Gripping the blanket, he pulled it and the sheets away from Milo, but Milo gripped them, not wanting to lose the warmth. “I don’t care! You’re getting up now!”

Eventually, An Zhi got Milo to sit at the table, the latter still half-asleep. “Have some food. It’ll help.”

An Zhi placed a bowl of oatmeal before Milo. Milo took a bite, chewing slowly and swallowing before his head lulled. Seeing he was about to conk out again, An Zhi grabbed the first thing he saw which were Milo’s ears. He gripped the end, causing the Lovirium to whine in protest.

“Sorry, sorry.” An Zhi switched to holding him up by the shoulders, letting Milo’s head rest against the chair’s back. “Wake up, Baobei. We have a date.”

Immediately, Milo perked up, eyes widening, and he turned to face An Zhi. “We’re going on a date?!”

An Zhi’s annoyed scolding erupted from the small apartment, “Milo were you just pretending to be half asleep?!”

“No, sweetheart!” Milo wrapped his arms around An Zhi’s waist, burying his face against his stomach. “I was really sleepy, but I can wake up if we go on a date!”

An Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he only sighed, patting Milo’s head. “Yes, yes. Get dressed.”

When Milo dashed to the bedroom, An Zhi shook his head.

What a coquette.

Milo latched onto An Zhi’s arm as they walked through the park. Milo’s scarf fluttered in the autumn breeze. It was the tail-end of fall, the grass coated in a layer of frost as winter approached. An Zhi stood a head taller than him, so he slowed his pace so Milo wouldn’t be forced to walk quickly.

Before, this would’ve attracted quite a few stares considering the two bunny shaped IVs, but Lovirium have become more common in the world. With so many Lovirium needing caretakers, the sight of human/Lovrium couples became commonplace as well. An Zhi didn’t smile much, but that never changed how Milo felt about him. Milo loved him unconditionally even when he himself was being a brat. As for An Zhi, he was strict about many things with himself and others. For some reason, that same strictness didn’t apply as much with Milo. Ever since they became a couple, he couldn’t help but think, ‘Damn, I’ve grown soft.’

“A-Zhi, you’re so warm.”

Ever since An Zhi told him what his parents used to call him, Milo started calling him A-Zhi too. It never failed to make his ears slightly warm and pink like peach blossoms. In return, An Zhi calls him Baobei.

Honestly, it’s probably a miracle that these two got along so well considering how they’re polar opposites, but then again, they understand each other the best. An Zhi wraps his arm around Milo’s shoulders, pulling him close.

“Mn. This feel better?”

“Yes, A-Zhi. Ahhhhhh-Zhi~.”

An Zhi snorts in amusement. “Yes?”

“Just felt like calling your name.” A tuft of Milo’s hair curled up like a flower sprouting, waving back and forth in the air. “A-Zhi.”

“Just felt like calling again?”

“I like it.” Milo stood on tiptoes, placing a kiss on his cheek. “A-Zhi.”

An Zhi’s lips turn up. “You are being a coquette.”

“But I’m yours.”

“Mn.” An Zhi kisses the top of his hair. “You’re my coquette.”

#closed species #lovirium #yulteaful #original character

0 notes

madwomanramblings · 4 years

Text

Bloody angel

‘Ahhhhhh!’ he screamed himself awake, covered in a thin layer of sweat. He turned to the little angel asleep next to him. Her tiny arm slung over the neck of her mother. They both slept soundly not disturbed by his outburst.

Darren maneuvered his way out of the tangles of arms, legs and blankets to the cool feeling wood flooring beneath his feet. The tiny ripples and knots in the grain of the floor centered him as he made his way out of the room. Stopping briefly by his son’s room. He opened the door slightly was greeted by bright green eyes of their cat, who rested happily on his son’s snoring chest. The sleepy kitty gently mewed in response to his intrusion and he chuckled to himself.

Closing the door lightly he continued his journey to the curved staircase leading downstairs. He descended them pausing at the bottom of them. His intention was to head outside to his workshop but the person in his kitchen caught his attention. He changed direction heading towards the open doorway and leaned against the door jam.

“You know I am going to start charging you for these groceries you keep pilfering. I don’t care how much your sister loves you,” Darren informed the man standing in front of his open refrigerator.

Johnny spit some of the juice he had been downing all over floor. “Gods be damned, Darren! You know how I feel about you sneaking up on me.” He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his now stained shirt.

“Hmph,” came the reply from Darren as he folded his arms glancing between Johnny and the mess on the floor.

“I got it. You don’t have to stare,” he replied to the silent command, grabbing a nearby dish towel to wipe up his mess. “I don’t know who is worse, you or her,” he complained as he finished his task.

“Her,” they both said in unison. Darren moseyed into the kitchen taking a beer out of the still open refrigerator. Sitting down at the large oak table sipped his beer slowly while Johnny rinsed out the towel and grabbed the container of juice from the counter.

“So, what’s eating you wolf,” he asked before taking a large gulp.

“Bad dreams,” Darren replied running his hand through his hair and over the scruffy beard he had began to grow.

“What do wolves dream about? Chasing large trucks or barking at were-tigers up in trees?” Johnny laughed at his joke.

“Naw, nothing like that,” Darren replied taking another swig of his beer. He set it down on the table. He looked over at his leg that had involuntarily started shaking.

“That must have been some dream to have you this shook,” Johnny noted placing the carton down. He clasped his hands in front of him and stared at his brother-in-law. “Come on bro. Tell me. You know Nat wasn’t the only doctor in the family.”

Darren nodded, knowing he had to tell someone. The dream had rocked him to his core. He needed to get it out. Natalie was sleep and Tony was on the other side of the world. There was no one else he trusted with what was rattling around in his head.

“Okay, but this stays between us. No one else needs to know. I don’t think this was just a dream. It felt so real. It felt, feels like this is supposed to occur. I just don’t know when and I don’t know how to stop it,” he confided.

“Jesus man! What the Hells happened in this dream,” Johnny replied with a mix of horror and intrigue.

Darren took a long draw of his beer then began, “I was running through these back-alley ways in some city. I am not sure which one. It was an urban location, but I can remember the feel of running with the wind whipping across my face. All these scents were assaulting my nose, but I couldn’t find her.” He paused taking a swig of his beer before continuing.

“Her who?” Johnny prompted.

“Izzy. I couldn’t find. I would get a whiff of her and then it was gone. My wolf was going crazy threatening to take over if we didn’t find her.” Darren tapped his foot making his leg shake even more with the growing irritation he felt from recanting the dream. “I ran on, faster searching here and there. I thought I would lose my mind when it finally hit me. I found her scent.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Johnny suggested. Darren’s leg stopped moving and he looked up at his brother-in-law. Johnny started as amber eyes watched him. He knew better than to make any sudden movements. This dream had really gotten to him. Darren shook his head and began again.

“I found her scent, but the stench of blood clung to it. Johnny, it was thick man. I had to fight the change as I weaved my way around a few corners and through a rusted-out fence. I was standing in front of this abandoned factory. It was completely deserted. The wind had even stopped. I had to keep checking to make sure my heart was still beating with each step I took. Her scent grew stronger but so did the blood.”

“Shit,” Johnny whispered under his breath not wanting to distract Darren from the re-telling of his dream.

“I was in front of the door one minute. The next the door was in pieces on the ground, hinges and part of the wall ripped out. And the stench almost knocked me off my feet. I fought the change so hard. I honestly thought I was going to change in the bed. I smelled forest, musk and pack; my change was that close. Luckily, I staved it off as I entered the building. I came to this wide-open space. The room was empty and non-descripted except for all of the bodies on the ground. There she was. My little girl covered in blood,” he finished choking back an inaudible sound that was close to a sob.

Johnny sat watching this strong would be alpha break down in front of his eyes. All he could do was wait for him to compose himself. Darren wiped at his face and both men ignored the gesture. It was okay to cry but acknowledging that was okay too. However, when it is an alpha werewolf you had to be careful about these things. It could go really well or seriously bad.

“Do you know what she said to me?” Darren asked Johnny, who shook his head in reply. “This 4 foot nothing little slip of a girl stood up, pig tails in her hair. Her white night gown drenched in blood. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me and said, ‘You’re late, daddy. I already got started.’ Before taking a bite of some piece of meat from one of the bodies.” Darren downed the rest of his beer.

“Holy crap, that got dark, Darren. What the frack, man?” Johnny exclaimed.

“I know. The worse part. The part that woke me up. I joined in on feasting on those bodies with my bloody angel by my side.”

0 notes

3one3 · 7 years

Text

The Sequel - 889

Eden Hazard Can Really Hurt You

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“Do you know why Eden is asking Schü if you’re back with Lex?”

“Does anyone know why Eden does things?”

“Well did you mention her, or see her or something?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

“Yes. You sound like a paranoid and untrusting girlfriend right now. Why?”

“I’m not. It’s just weird. Why would he ask him about it out of the blue?”

“I don’t know. Ask Eden.”

“K”

“Why do you care why he asked if I’m telling you it’s not true?”

“I don’t.”

“Sure.”

“Are you seeing someone else, other than Lex?”

“No. You don’t trust me?”

“Of course I do, but I’ve told you so many times that you can do whatever you want, so...It wouldn’t be like you were doing something wrong.”

“And I’ve told you I don’t want anyone else.”

“Ok. I’m sorry. It was just weird.”

“What’s wrong, pretty girl?” André asked his forlorn looking wife after he let the dogs out. She looked all distant and vaguely upset again on the couch, like earlier in the barn. He lifted up her blanket to get back under it.

“Nothing. Can you just- Can you ask Eden why he was asking you about Juan and Lex?” Christina grimaced. “I know you don’t wanna hear that I’m now obsessing over that, but I have to be honest, and-“

“It’s okay.” He inhaled deeply through his nose, which made a rather loud sound. “We can talk about anything. Always. He didn’t really ask me about him and Lex. He asked me if I recognized some girl Juan talked to at a club last night, and then mentioned that he thought he was back with Lex before.”

“Oh.” Christina’s face fell, and she looked even more forlorn than before. I don’t know who I’m more disappointed in right now. Juan might be hiding something, maybe, and this one could have told me this bit of information that he knows I am definitely interested in.

“Okay, before you get all upset with everyone, consider the source,” the footballer warned encouragingly. He put his arm around her head and kissed her temple with the side of his mouth. “Eden never knows what he’s talking about, and guys talk to girls in nightclubs. It just happens. Especially when you’re the only single guy there. Girls come up to you and they’re all sweet, or seductive, or fawning for you. You can’t get upset because Juan conversed with a woman, and you can’t be mad at me for not telling you that Juan did something you can’t get upset about.”

“But-“

“But it hurts you when someone who says you’re special so much as acknowledges the existence of another woman- got it.” André nodded and squeezed her head tighter. This is a bizarre thing. I’m here consoling her like her gay best friend, because she’s brokenhearted over another guy. How did our lives get like this?

“I just- I need to go make a phone call...”

“Yeah. Of course. Tell him I said hi.”

Christina gave him an apologetic peck on the cheek as soon as she was released from the headlock, and then hurried down the hall to the study as fast as her ouchy ankle would take her. She dialed Juan as soon as her butt hit the window seat cushion.

“Yeees?” the Spaniard sighed over the line, clearly having expected her call.

“Don’t get mad at me. I’m not doubting you. I just need an explanation.”

“I can’t explain another person’s ac-“

“Not for Eden. He asked Schü about the girl you were talking to at whatever club you all went to last night. He just mentioned the Lex thing for context, I guess.”

“And you want to know who the girl is.”

“Yes. And if you took her home with you and if she now knows your tongue is as good as your left foot.” Christina cracked jokes when she was nervous. Christina cracked jokes when she thought humor could get her out of trouble. Christina thought her best friend was rightfully going to be furious with her for asking those questions.

“Her name is Jenni, she did not come home with me, and I have no idea how she feels about my tongue. I can tell you I don’t feel good about you losing your mind because you heard I spoke to a girl.” Juan’s response was measured. It was angry, and impatient for sure, but measured. He didn’t lash out, or sigh, or make disgusted sounds. He also didn’t go on to lecture her about what her reaction said about their relationship. He just left it hanging there. She almost couldn’t help herself. She had to dig her hole deeper.

“Did you want her to go home with you? Do you like her?”

“Chris!”

“I’m sorry,” she groaned. Spencer noticed her in the window and was hopping around on the patio on just the other side of the flowerbed under it, trying to get her attention. It wasn’t working. Her mind was fixed on something else, immovably. “I’m jealous. Okay? I’m jealous. I love you and you’re mine and no matter how many times I say you can go fall in love with someone else I obviously don’t want you to do that ever. I’m sorry. I’m a terrible person. I’m the worst. I’m insanely jealous. I’m also so mad at him for not telling me this, and at the same time I feel terrible for letting him see how jealous I am because somebody else talked to a girl. Ugh. I am the worst.”

“Are you drunk?”

“High, I think. I took one of the prescription pain meds for my ankle.”

“Ahhhhhh. That explains it,” the Chelsea man said with an audible smile on the end of his sigh. Christina didn’t know if he was amused by her inability to tolerate serious drugs or by her serious jealousy.

“It still hurts. And I decided to retire Nicky Tater Tots in March. And Dortmund is awful- the team I mean, not the city. Everything sucks and you shouldn’t talk to girls.”

“He told me he wasn’t going to let you take those things anymore.”

“Pharma Schü only dispenses them in extreme circumstances.”

“He shouldn’t give them to you at all.”

“I’m just being silly because I was, like, panicked.” Well this is embarrassing. I tried to cover up the anxiety attack over him flirting with someone and now he thinks I’m under the influence. Great.

“Okay,” Juan yawned.

“What are you doing?”

“Watching television.”

“I showed Lukas the Marvel dog costumes you sent me and he wants Spencer and Lucky to go to the Halloween party with him as Iron Man and Captain America. I had to pay like a gagillion Euros to have them shipped second-day.”

“What is he going to be?”

“I talked him into being a baby dragon. He likes the little wings. I think he thinks it’s actually a dinosaur costume, but whatever.”

“Did you decide which season Daenerys you want to be?”

“Season 7, badass Daenerys with the pointy shoulders and black outfit. I tried to convince Schü to be Jamie Lannister but he wasn’t having it. He’s with the team for Halloween anyway.”

“Did you end up buying the expensive wig?”

“Yes. I’m going to bring it to Doha with me and we’re gonna role-play,” Christina teased, finally feeling like the tension was gone from the conversation. Her friend’s voice was back to normal, without lingering traces of irritation, and she felt less anxious too. They’d been discussing Halloween costumes for a week because he saw a kid on the street in London in really realistic, correct Scuderia Ferrari overalls just like Sebastian and Kimi’s and then went on an Internet hunt to find the suit and suggest it to Christina for Lukas, to go with his battery powered Ferrari. He couldn’t find the exact suit, but he did stumble across the dog costumes, advertised on some pups that looked just like Spencer and Lucky, so he sent those to her just for fun. She wanted Spencer, Lucky, and Lukas to be her three baby dragons, since she was going to be Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons. The two-thirds of the family was going to a community party and trick-or-treating thing in Marco’s neighborhood. A bunch of André’s other teammates lived there too.

“I’m never fucking you in a wig.”

“Party pooper.”

“Can I go now?”

“Yes. Sorry about before.”

“Goodnight, cariña. Te quiero.”

“Love you too. Byyyyye.”

Christina returned to the couch. André asked her if everything was as it should be. She said it was. He then asked her to let the dogs back in. She did. Then she announced that she was actually going to bed, and he waffled on what to do in response. His first instinct was to talk to Juan and find out what the deal was. She didn’t actually mention what was said about the Jenni girl, or Juan’s conduct, or how she felt about it. In retrospect, asking her if everything was as it “should be” was a foolish question. Christina could have been literally truthful in her answer and theoretically lying. She might have thought the Spaniard should be able to flirt with other girls, or hook up with them, or even begin a relationship, so if he did any of that then it was appropriate for her to answer “yes” even if she were hugely upset about it and didn’t want him to do any of those things. The player wished he’d just asked her how she felt about whatever was discussed on the phone. He thought of following her to bed and just being extra nice to her in case she was upset, or in case she could be indirectly persuaded to explain the situation. He also thought of just giving her space. Her ankle hurt a lot, she had a busy day, the decision to begin planning Nick’s retirement was an immense weight on her, and she’d been running around trying to keep everyone in the family happy despite things like fish deaths, criminally inept football, unwelcome transfer rumors, a brother’s refusal to commit to a visit, and in-laws who wanted to spend more time with their grandson. In the end, he didn��t really choose. He simply stopped trying to decide, and stayed in the living room.

Christina couldn’t sleep. She wanted to text Juan, not about anything specific, just to chat, but she got a “leave me alone” vibe from him on the phone before. Like her, he needed alone time to do nothing too, and he was historically very turned off by her interrogations and distrust, so she didn’t want to dig her hole any deeper with him. She tried browsing Instagram, playing games on her phone, reading, TV, and even masturbating, which she couldn’t get into. Nothing put her to sleep. The rider gave up and texted her husband downstairs to see if he was coming to bed soon. Rather than write her back, he put the house to sleep and went up to talk face to face.

“Were you waiting for me?” he questioned with his typical look of mild confusion. “Was I supposed to come soon?” Christina shook her head on her pillow. It was all he could see of her, but it was evident from the state of all the other pillows and much of the blanket that she hadn’t been sleeping for the hour or so since she said goodnight.

“I can’t sleep,” his girl frowned.

“Juan?”

“Not really.”

“Nick?”

“Not really.”

“Aidan?”

“Okay you’re making it sound like I’m having relationships with a lot of dudes, boyfriend.”

“One is a horse and one is your brother!” André laughed a little, reassured that he didn’t mess up or miss a cue in not initially following her to bed earlier. He ambled over to her side of the mattress and sat on the edge to give her a kiss once she turned over. “Why can’t you sleep, Prinzessin?” he asked in his Sweet Husband voice.

“I don’t know. I tried everything. I even tried my fingers but my vagina is like a desert right now.” Christina tried out Poor Wife, but was hit with a pang of guilt the second she successfully beamed misery from her eyes. “Are you upset that I cared if Juan talked to a girl? I was really inconsiderate of how you’d feel about that.”

“No. I expect as much. I don’t think I’d be okay with your relationship with him if you didn’t care enough about him to have that reaction. I mean, it’s not pleasant for me, but it’s not a big deal. Don’t let that keep you up,” the player stressed with brows pinched for emphasis. His hand rubbing her hip over the comforter felt honest. It wasn’t an empty gesture. I’m grateful that we’re back to where I can tell he’s being real with me just from the weight of his palm, she reflected. We used to talk at each other and step on each other and just keep getting it so fucking wrong. It was like we spoke different languages and knew nothing of each other’s body language either. “Is it that situation that’s keeping you up? You can say,” André added encouragingly. He wasn’t so sure of his ability to hear and read her. “I don’t want him to do things that hurt or upset you either, believe it or not.”

“I believe it, actually.” A little grin made her face look a lot less unhappy and plagued to him. “Are you ready for sleepy time or are you just visiting?”

“Depends. Are you inviting me into the bed to hydrate your desert vagina or-“

“No I just think I have a better chance of falling asleep on you than by myself.”

“Can I brush my teeth and everything or is this an emergency?”

“You may,” Christina nodded. He’s so sweet. Sometimes he gives me those awkward I-wish-he-could-be-my-dad feels I don’t know how to address. Sometimes he takes care of me and he has the loving, dad-like quality in his voice, and in his face too, even. I guess what you do when a guy gives you dad feels is have a kid with him so that you can see him behave like a dad but you can still sleep with him and stuff. Ugh maybe Juanin is right. I shouldn’t take those painkillers. She reached down to rectify a wedgie situation and then waited for her preferred pillow to use the bathroom, brush his teeth, put his shorts and socks away, plug in his phone, fill his water glass, and fluff his regular pillows, which she’d repurposed for herself during her struggles to get to dreamland. He got under the covers and immediately reached over to hug and squeeze her before he was going to get comfortable and prepared to host her in a snuggling capacity.

“You want talking, or just rubbing and petting? Or spoon?”

“Your legs are so hairy,” the filling in his arm and leg taco observed. The outside of his thigh was the only place for her right hand when she found herself squished in the middle of all of his limbs.

“Are they ever not? That part, at least.”

“In the summer when I make you wax.”

“What do you want to have dreams about tonight, pretty girl?” he inquired with his mouth and nose in her freshly shampooed mane. It smelled like lemon. His desire to help her get to sleep, and indeed to have nice dreams when she arrived there, was grounded in a certain relief and satisfaction in the transparency in what unfolded throughout the night. He knew he had to have felt a certain amount of security to be able to say anything at all to her about Juan and Alexis, and then to explain the full context. Not so long in the past, he would have avoided it at all costs, because he would have felt threatened by her reaction. Then Christina was comfortable enough to admit that she needed to go clear up the gaps in the story with Juan rather than keep her anxiety to herself, hidden from her husband for safety’s sake. And she was still forthcoming with the communication after the call, and she was sympathetic to how he could feel about it. The whole episode demonstrated, in André’s view, a comprehensive improvement in the levels of trust and understanding in their marriage.

The fundamentals of the situation were still tough to take- his wife was still in love with another man too, and enough so that she was very upset by literally the rumor of his sharing a conversation with another woman- but that was easier to digest when she wasn’t also lying about it, trying to hide it, pretending, or deflecting, or letting it destroy everything for her and for them. There was a lot less drama surrounding the core issue. André couldn’t do anything about the core issue. He couldn’t make his wife un-love his former teammate. His choice on that was to accept it or walk away. He always felt he could do something about all the nonsense that ruined everything in their relationship though, and it finally felt as if he’d accomplished that, or they’d accomplished it together. Christina’s relationship with Juan was no longer rat poison for her relationship with him. He was finally just getting the benefits of letting her have the arrangement with the Spaniard that she wanted. He got a happier, less stressed, more emotionally fit girl to enjoy sharing his life with, and though he was sure she could be that way without Juan, he was also sure she didn’t believe that, and that it was foolish to keep trying to make her believe it. It felt very, very good to let go of that need to make her believe, and to duly reap the rewards.

“Exotic macaroni and cheese.”

“Exotic?”

“Like smoked Gouda, or a blend of many cheeses...”

“You want to dream about cheese?” the player asked skeptically as he released his strange wife to find a position that offered more long-term comfort.

“Or bread. Bread and cheese. Baguettes and Camembert. With wine, or coffee, even, in a Paris cafe. The kind the locals go to, not tourists. My makeup should be really pretty and effortless- very French- and you should have your sleeves rolled up, and a lovely scarf. And we kiss between every bite of divine bread and cheese, or bread and delicious French butter, and you flirt with your eyes the whole time, and it makes me blush and laugh a lot.” Christina was safely tucked under her favorite gangly arm by the time she was done setting the scene for her dream, and her cheek was resting comfortably on her footballer’s chest. He started thinking about kidnapping her for an overnight in Paris to celebrate his birthday. It was on Monday, and his girl was leaving for Doha on Tuesday. Bayern Munich was due at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday in the early evening. They could use the charter jet to fly after the match and still get to Paris in time for late dessert, spend the night, enjoy the day there together, and come back Sunday evening.

0 notes