#ANYWAY yeah I’m in a mood tonight may or may not keep ranting later

[eyecide]

Rather unsurprisingly I have not actually been stress vomiting, at All since mr “guilt tripped me into letting him basically cheat on me with other people online, chronically unemployed, lived in literally filth BY CHOICE, checked himself into the psych ward bc I needed space from the constant fighting for a few weeks, treated me like an object constantly and barely even tolerated being around me if we didn’t fuck but somehow was so convinced he was The Good Boyfriend” and I broke up

[orangeoctopi7]

Stupid Teen Emotions

@forduary Week three is travel/trapped. In this story, Stan and Ford TRAVEL back to the past, where they become TRAPPED! It fits!

Chapter 1:  Back in My Day

They didn’t sleep well, that first night. Ford stayed up late, because of course he would have stayed up into the wee hours of the night working on his perpetual motion machine in the original timeline. But he barely touched the project. With the knowledge he had now, he could probably build the whole thing tonight, but that would, of course, be changing the timeline. A younger Ford had learned a lot, working so hard and so long on this machine, and future Ford didn’t want to deprive his past self of that important lesson. So instead, he began writing, racking his brain for anything he could remember of January, 1969.

Stan tried to sleep at first, but he just couldn't. He was too anxious and excited, all rolled into one. So he instead dug out a few of his old comic books that never got thrown away.

They both must have fallen asleep at some point, because come morning, there was a rapping at the door that woke them both with a start.

“Get up, you two! You’re gonna be late for school!” A woman with a thick Jersey accent yelled through the door.

“M-mom?” Ford’s head lifted blearily off his desk.

“Wow, you are really taking the whole ‘stick to the timeline’ thing seriously.” Stan mused from his bottom bunk.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep at my desk…” Ford groaned.

“You never do, Sixer, you never do.”

They marched downstairs and into the kitchen, where their mother had a breakfast of hot cinnamon and apple oatmeal waiting for them. Stan was so happy to see her, he ran over and hugged her, pecking a swift kiss on her cheek.

"Aww, sweetie!" She planted a kiss on his forehead. "I'm still not paying your parking ticket." She added flatly.

"What parking ticket?" Stan asked, confused. "Oh, um, I mean, drat."

Ford was too tired to even work up the energy to be happy to see his mother. As he sat down, he automatically reached for the coffee pot. But a rolled up newspaper smacked his hand away.

“What d’you think you’re doin’?” Caryn asked, eyebrow raised.

“... getting my morning coffee?” Ford answered, addled.

“How many times do I have to tell you, honey? No coffee ‘til you’re 18. It’ll stunt your growth!”

Ford looked like he was about to have a fit.

“Wait, are we not 18?” Stan asked quickly. Luckily, his parents ignored his out-of-place comment.

“Ya don’t need coffee, ya need more sleep!” Filbrick grunted from behind his newspaper.

“You both drink ten cups a day!” Ford argued, his voice cracking again.

“That’s cuz we’re adults.” Filbrick growled, “Once you’re old an’ decrepit, you can drink all the coffee ya want.”

“Trust me, he will.” Stan said flatly.

Ford kicked him under the table. Hard. Stan cried out.

“Can it, you two!” Caryn scolded them, “You’ll wake up Shermie. I don’t wanna have to deal with three crying babies.”

The brothers finished their breakfast sullenly but quietly, and grabbed their backpacks before heading out the door.

“Think we should leave Shermie a note warning him to watch out for time travelers?” Stan asked as he fished out his keys to the STNLYMBL. “Y’know, for when he’s older?”

“Then Dipper and Mabel will be born later than 2000.” Ford reminded him irritably.

“Right.” Stan smacked himself. “Man, this sucks! Why time travel if we can’t make things better?”

Ford’s only reply was a surly sigh as he turned to the cafe next door.

“Hey, where’re you goin’?” Stan asked.

“To get some coffee!”

“Seriously, Sixer? Hot Belgian Waffles is next door, Mrs. DuBios will rat you out to Ma for sure!”

Ford heaved an even more enraged sigh that bordered on a growl, and turned on his heal to get into Stan’s car, slamming the door shut.

“Whoa, easy, we’ll just stop by the donut place on the boardwalk.” Stan reassured him as he started the car. “What’s gotten into you?”

The scientist groaned and pulled his fingers through his curly brown hair. “I don’t know! Normally it’s simple to just focus on my intellect and control my emotions, but it just isn’t working now for some reason!”

“‘Control’ your emotions, or bottle them up?” Stan muttered. Ford shot him a withering glare. “Shoot, I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. Why do I keep doin’ that?”

“And the only reason I’m so mad in the first place is because I’m so tired!” Ford continued to rant, “I got at least four hours of sleep last night, it doesn’t make any sense!”

“Heh, guess teen Ford isn’t used to old man Ford’s space-sleep schedule. Or lack of sleep schedule, anyway.”

Ford’s face brightened into his ‘a-ha!’ expression. “Stanley, that’s it!”

“What?” 

“The reason I’m having such a hard time regulating my emotions, and the reason you can’t keep your mouth shut even more than usual! We may still have our minds from 2013, but our bodies are teenagers in the middle of puberty. Our hormone levels are magnitudes higher than what we’ve become accustomed to.”

“Great. Goin’ through puberty again. Just what everyone wants outta time travel.”

They pulled up to the donut shop on the boardwalk. Stan poked around in his seat and found a quarter, which he handed to Ford. Suddenly, his brother looked unsure.

“Stan, maybe you should hang onto this. You’re going to need all the money you can get, come summer.”

“It’s a freaking quarter, Poindexter.”

“Yeah, but a quarter is worth a lot more in 1969 than it will be in 2013! This is almost a whole gallon of gas!”

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ten minutes ago you were about to have a meltdown because you couldn't get your morning coffee, just buy it, Ford!”

“Fine, but I’ll pay for it myself.”

“With what money, genius? You didn’t have a job in high school because you were too busy with your academic science nerd stuff! Now go buy yourself a cup of coffee, or I’ll make you walk the rest of the way to school.”

Ford frowned, but took the quarter. He couldn’t help but feel guilty as he got his cup of coffee. How could he or anyone else have ever said that Stan was the lazy one, when Stan was the only one who’d ever had a ‘real’ job? Even to this day, Ford had never had what anyone would call a normal job, barring that one summer he’d been a lifeguard at a waterpark in a dolphin-dominant dimension. He’d always relied on scholarships and grants and accademia, which was hard work, in its own way, but still.  It certainly wasn’t what his father would have called a real job. While traveling across dimensions, he’d relied on trading information and knowledge, building and selling inventions, and even, occasionally, stealing.

Stan was the one who’d gotten a minimum wage, part-time job selling popsicles on the beach. Stan was the one who’d entered local semi-pro boxing matches and brought home winnings. Stan was the one who’d saved up for his own car. 

“Ar-are you crying!?” Stan exclaimed when Ford climbed back into the car, cup of coffee in hand.  Ford reached up to wipe his eyes, surprised as his brother to find tears there.

“Oh geez, Stanford, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so harsh, I just--” Stan began to babble.

“N-no, it’s not you.” Ford found his voice wavering as soon as he tried to speak. “It’s just-- gah, I’m so stupid! Stupid hormonal chemical imbalance!”

Ford tried to keep himself from crying anymore by taking a big gulp of coffee. It wasn’t very good, and it was just this side of warm, but it instantly improved his mood.

“Ah, there’s that good dopamine.”

“Better?”

“Much. Let’s go. I think we’re already late.”

Despite the fact that they were ten minutes late, there were still several students milling about when they arrived at the school. The twins felt like they should stick out like a sore thumb, but nobody paid them any mind. 

“Ugh, never thought I’d come back here.” Stan grumbled.

“Well, look on the bright side!” Ford reassured him, “Now that you’ve studied quantum physics and run your own business for thirty years, Math and Science classes should be a breeze!”

“Hey, yeah! I can’t wait to see the look on Mr. Grauberger’s face when I can tell him exactly how much interest $300 will accumulate over 20 years!” But he paused. “Wait, what about changin’ the timeline? Pretty sure I never answered questions in class.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t make that much of a difference.” Ford scoffed. “Even if you get 100% on every quiz while we’re here, I don’t think it’d be enough to bring your grade up past a C, and you’ll be dropping out before graduation anyway.”

“Oh yeah….” Stan’s good mood quickly washed away.

Ford rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We know it all works out in the end.”

“Yeah…” Stan agreed, “but there was still a lot of heartache gettin’ there.”

[golbrocklovely]

the chosen daughter // colby brock - chapter three

A/N: hey yall! here’s the next chapter. i’m so happy yall are enjoying this story so much. writing this story really gets me in the spooky mood. please let me know what you think. i’d love to hear it. also let me know if you want to be on the taglist. okay, see yall later :)

story description

taglist: @far-to-many-bands , @idfk-tbh-oops , @muted-mayham , @ughwhyislifesohard , @justtanerd , @ashyoungxblood​ , @cmburgos

trigger warning: cursing, mention of weapons, vampire powers

word count: 2134

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

“I said, who the hell are you?”

I stared at the two guys in front of me, both pointing weapons. One had light blonde hair that almost covered one of his bright blue eyes. He was dressed in an orange shirt and white pants. In his hand was a crossbow, but instead of a bow inside it, it was a stake. The other one had silver hair that rested just above his dark eyes. Dressed in a black shirt and yellow plaid pants, his weapon of choice was a shotgun.

“Guys, don’t shoot. She’s human.” Mike stated, leaning his back against the couch behind the blonde-haired boy.

When the hell did he get here?

The guys looked at each other and lowered their weapons slightly. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Jade. She’s my friend. And… she knows.” Kevin replied, standing next to the silver-haired boy suddenly.

How did he… never mind.

“She knows about us? How?” Blonde boy asked, his weapon resting at his side.

“I don’t know. But she came in tonight asking about y’all, so she obviously knows something.” Kevin commented.

Silver chimed in. “Did Mike try to see-”

“My powers don’t work on her.” Mike deadpanned.

Silver and Blonde turned to him. “What?!”

Mike shrugged. “Dude, I don’t know. It just doesn’t work.”

“I’m sorry, but what the fuck is going on here?” I exclaimed. “Kevin, who are these two?”

“That’s Sam and that’s Jake.” He pointed at Blonde, and then Silver.

“Dude, why would you tell her our names?” Jake asked.

“She’s already seen your faces and knows about XPLR. Who cares if she knows your name?” Mike retorted.

“Wait… this is XPLR Services?” I questioned, glancing around the apartment.

It was extremely barren, only having two couches, a table, two lamps, and a small kitchen off to the side. The windows were covered in newspapers, not allowing any light from outside in. There were three doors off to the side, most likely bedrooms and a bathroom.

“Yes, this is it.” Sam stepped towards me, putting his hand out. “I’m Sam. Can I ask you how you found out about us?”

I shook his hand, confused. “Yeah… um, this guy X dropped a piece of paper on the ground last night after he saved me.”

“X?” Jake scrunched up his face.

I nodded. “Yeah. He said his name was X.”

Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Colby…”

…Colby?

Sam pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, smacking a couple buttons and then calling someone.

In a hush tone he spoke. “Colby…get the fuck over here now…Yes right now!...Somebody knows about us…no I highly doubt she’s dangerous…just get here soon...but no guns blazing.”

Sam ended his call, looking back up at all of us with a grimace. “He’ll be here in a second.”

A burst of wind came in behind me, the front door slamming open and then closing suddenly. A man stood to the side of me, looking at the group of guys.

“What’s the problem Samuel?” The man queried, his voice deep and familiar. Sam pointed to me and the man turned. I looked at him.

X… or I guess… Colby.

“Why are you here?” Colby questioned.

“We were gonna ask you the same question, ‘X’.” Kevin smirked.

Colby scoffed, facing Kevin. “Why do you think I have something to do with this?”

“She asked for you.” Mike explained.

Colby spun back to me. “How’d you find us?”

“When you left, you dropped a piece of paper. It said XPLR Services and then a phone number. I was gonna call the number but there was no area code, so I couldn’t.” I admitted.

“Dude really? You had our number written down?” Jake chided.

“Sam told me to start giving it out to those that we save.” He turned back to me, stepping forward. “Why were you searching for it, for me, anyway?”

“Someone’s got a stalker…” Kevin joked.

“No. I was just… curious. Besides, what’s the big deal about me knowing about this place? What even is XPLR Services?” I ranted.

“We’re vampire-” Jake started.

“Dude, don’t tell her.” Colby grumbled.

“What’s the harm in telling one person about us?” Jake suggested.

Colby sighed. “If we get caught, I can only protect you for so long.”

“We’ll be fine.” Sam chimed in.

Colby hissed. “But we don’t know her. What if she’s-”

“I mean, there’s no way to know anyway. No one’s powers work on her.” Sam insisted.

“Not even yours?” Colby pointed to Mike.

Mike shook his head. “Nope. Kevin’s didn’t work either, but she was able to guess what it was without it affecting her.”

“What is she, a witch?” Colby guessed.

“They don’t exist.” Kevin spoke.

“We’re vampire hunters.” Sam interjected, looking at me.

“Sam… really?” Colby groaned.

“What? She’s been here for like ten minutes and hasn’t done anything. She’s not evil or out to get us, otherwise we would already be dead meat. I’m tired of hiding out and pretending, brother. Telling one person, one human, isn’t gonna end us.” Sam dictated.

“…It’s your funeral.” Colby deadpanned. He walked over to the kitchen and hopped up, sitting on the counter.

“Vampire hunters? I didn’t know that was a thing.” I stated.

“Technically it’s not. It’s against the law, especially in California. We could go to prison for what we’re doing.” Jake informed.

“So, XPLR Services is a… vampire hunting business.” I confirmed.

Sam nodded. “Exactly.”

“But… three out of the five of you are vampires?” I questioned.

“We only hunt vampires that harm humans. Ones that assault or go after humans for sport.” Mike answered.

“Oh, so, like the one that attacked me last night.” I implied.

“Yeah,” Colby interrupted, turning to the rest of the group. “He was the one hunting on Hamilton Street a couple weeks back. That was just his night off.”

“So, you keep this all hidden because it’s illegal.” I commented.

Kevin declared. “And because we don’t want to mess with the Elders.”

I crossed my arms, confused. “Who are the Elders?”

“Good question. No one knows for certain but essentially, they are the first created vampires. They’re most powerful and the hardest to kill. The older a vampire is, the stronger they are. Most Elder vampires are high up in the government and society so offing them or even alluding to being a hunter could get us killed.” Jake disclosed.

“And God knows no police or human authority is going to be able to bring them to justice, so killing is easy for them. We’re just here to get rid of the lower ranked ones, preferably unnoticed.” Colby finished, staring me down. I raised an eyebrow at him.

Sam smiled, finally looking at me. “Does that answer all of your questions?”

“…For the most part.” I responded. “I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret. I don’t exactly have anyone to tell anyway.”

“You better not.” Colby snapped.

“Colby… chill.” Sam addressed me again. “Why don’t I take you home?”

“Okay. Thanks.” I muttered, a tight-lipped smile resting on my face.

He nodded his head and strolled towards a door by the kitchen, going inside. Jake, Mike, and Kevin all sat on the couch and talked quietly to each other. I stood awkwardly by the door, waiting for Sam.

Suddenly Colby came over to me, lightly grabbing my arm. “Listen here. Sam is my best friend and my family. So is Jake, Mike, and Kevin. I don’t know if you’re good or not.”

“I am.” I demurred.

“Say that all you want, but I will never know since my power can’t tell.” Colby continued. “You need to know that telling a single person about XPLR could put all of us in harms way. Jake and Sam are human, just like you. They may be great fighters and hunters, but they can get hurt and die. I will not allow that to happen.”

“Okay.” I mumbled.

“If that means I have to go against my own beliefs, I will kill you to protect them. Do you understand?” His grip tightened on my arm, his fangs springing from his mouth.

How was he attractive even now?

I rolled my eyes, annoyed at myself and Colby. “Put your fangs away. You’re not scary.”

His hand slid from my arm as I stood up straighter. “I won’t tell anyone. Trust me.”

“I don’t.” His eyes bore into mine, turning red for a split second.

“You ready to go?” Sam hummed, a sweet look coming to his face.

“Yeah. Thank you.” I smiled back. “Nice meeting you Mike and Jake. I’ll see you later, Kevin.”

“Same to you Jade.” Jake waved.

Colby glared at me as I waved at him, smirking. Sam placed his hand on my lower back as we walked to his car. We stayed silent until he began to drive.

Sam spoke suddenly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” I murmured.

“How do vampire powers not work on you?” He questioned.

I shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s always been this way, even well before vampires came out to the public.”

“That’s crazy. I wish I had that. It would be so much easier fighting.” He chuckled.

“How often do you fight vamps?” My gaze landed on him.

“Weekly. Sometimes daily. It really depends on how shitty vampires want to be.” Sam confessed.

“Can I ask you something now?” I responded.

Sam nodded his head, not speaking.

“You seem like an awfully chipper person. How the fuck did you meet X – I mean, Colby?” I sassed.

“I didn’t exactly meet Colby. He met me.” Sam joked, his voice changing suddenly. “He saved me.”

“Really?” I cocked my head to the side.

“Yeah. A couple years ago, when I had just came out to LA, I was attacked by a group of vamps. He saved me from them.” Sam affirmed.

He continued. “But if it makes you feel any better, he was equally as bitter towards me as he is to you. It’s just how he is when he’s first getting to know someone. At least with me, he saw I was a good person. With you… he can’t. So he’s probably extra…”

“Colby.” I jeered.

He laughed. “Right.”

“Why did he say his name was X?” I wondered out loud.

A light smile rested on Sam’s face. “It was a nickname I gave him. When he first saved me, he didn’t tell me his name. So I called him Xenoparochus, X for short.”

“Xeno what?” I sputtered.

“It’s Latin. It means ‘a person who provides for strangers’. I was really into Latin at the time.” He confided.

Nothing else could fall from my lips besides one word. “Oh.”

“It’s kinda why we called our ‘company’ XPLR. Also, because we both love to travel, but we don’t get to do that often.”

“How did you guys meet Jake? And Mike? And Kevin?”

“We saved Jake on one of our first hunts, and immediately afterwards he wanted in. Mike and Kevin, we became friends with from hanging out at the Trapp Haus. Eventually we told them about our company, and they were cool with it. So, me and Colby live above the Trapp Haus. Kevin, Mike, and Jake live together in an apartment not too far away.” Sam explained.

“That’s great that you all are so close.” I conceded.

Sam pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building, parking in an empty spot. “It took a long time to get to where we are, but I’m glad I have them all in my life.”

“Especially Colby.” I replied.

“Yeah. He’s my family.” Sam muttered.

Silence fell over us for a moment. “Um… thanks for driving me home.”

“Let me walk you to your door.” Sam spoke, getting out of the car.

“Oh, you don’t have-” Before I could finish, Sam closed his door and walked over to mine, opening it. I took his hand and nodded a ‘thank you’ as we walked to the elevator, getting in.

“I want you to have this. It’s my phone number.” He handed me a piece of paper.

“Isn’t Colby gonna be pissed?” I raised an eyebrow at him, the elevator coming to a stop on my floor.

Sam smiled, following me down the hallway to my place. “Probably. But when isn’t he? I want you to have it in case something goes wrong.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” We finally came to a stop at my door.

As I unlocked my door, I waved at him. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” Sam saluted lazily, slowly starting to walk away.

I flicked the lights on, glancing around my apartment hastily. My eyes widen as my mouth went dry. “Uh Sam?!”

“Yeah?” Sam stopped, turning back to me.

“Something went wrong.”

<< CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 4 >>

[gloriousstudentfury-love]

A Snowman's Tale ✰

y/n’s POV

I was over at the Alvarez's, again, hanging in Alex's room. We walked into the living room to find Lydia, Elena, and Penelope, trying yet failing to act like they weren't just talking about one of us.

"Am I in trouble?" We asked at the same time

"No. We're just....thinking." Penelope lied, looking between the both of us

"Well, when you're done thinking, can I have. $100?" Alex asked

"What?" Penelope laughed, looking at Alex in disbelief

"I don't know. I need money for tonight, because me and my friends are going bowling, or miniature golfing, or to the arcade. I don't know, just give me $100!" He begged

"First of all, you need a plan. Second of all, I need to approve the plan. Third of all, is y/n going. Fourth of all, 100 bucks? That was funny." Penelope said, continuing to laugh at the outrageous amount of money he was requesting

"Stupid Finn keeps changing his mind." I said, angry with Alex's indecisive friend

"First, he invites Joaquin. Then, he has to invite Jade because he invited Joaquin. Then, she wants to bring JuJu and Casey and Maddie." Alex said, ranting and beginning walk off from the living room

"I don't know any of these people! We need to talk more!" Penelope yelled, watching her son walk off

"Are you going on a date?" I asked, once I saw Alex was completely out of site

"How did you know?!" She asked

"Uh.. mustache thing." I said, nervously pointing to her freshly walked upper lip

She threw her hands up, as I ran off. I know I wasn't supposed to tell Alex, because the women in his family were scared of how he might react.

_________

"Yeah, I'm not gonna see him again." Alex and I heard Penelope say as we walked back into the living room, later that night.

I tried to cover his ears but he quickly swatted my hands off, glaring at me for almost ruining his styled hair.

"See who?" Alex asked his mom, intrigued what she was discussing

"I tried" I mouthed to Penelope, after she gave me a distressed look

"You didn't wanna give me a heads up that he was here?" Penelope asked, upset that Alex had heard what she said

"Heads up, Alex is here." I said, with a apologetic smile

"Wait, why are you wearing Abuelita's lipstick?" Alex asked, pointing to his mom's face

"Why do you know that?" Penelope asked, covering her mouth

"It's Scarlet Sunrise. Duh. And why are you all dressed up?" Alex asked, still trying to put the puzzle pieces together

"Alright, everyone out, so I can talk to Alex." Penelope said, shooing everyone out

We all started to leave, until she stopped me by grabbing my hand and pulling me back over

"You stay. I need someone to hold him down if he tries to swing." She said

I sighed, before sitting on the couch, not really wanting to be apart of their sealed family conversation.

"What happened to your face?" Penelope asked, scanning Alex's bruised face

"What happened to your face?" He retorted

She glared at him, instantly making him regret what he had said.

"I'm sorry. I was hanging out with my friends. It's hard to turn it off." He apologized

"Finn pushed him into a bush and he got scratched." I lied, answering Penelope's earlier question for him

"Why do you like that kid again? Because he seems like a—" Penelope started

"Like a dick?" We both asked

"Yes, but that's not okay that you two said that. Anyway, I wanna be straight with you. Tonight, I had a date." Penelope said

Alex leaned back, so I held him down thinking he was about to get up and run

"What the heck are you doing?" He asked, trying to remove himself from my grip

"Your mom told me to hold you down so you don't run off. I thought you were about to." I shrugged

"I'm not going to run off." He said, smacking me off

"Can't say I didn't try." I said

Penelope laughed, before telling us the story of how she walked out the restaurant before her date even got there.

"You walked out?" We asked, interrupting her story

"I don't want those gossiping hens to hear. But, yes. No one has asked me what I wanted in a long time, and I realized what I wanted wasn't a date." Penelope finished, with a happy smile

"Then what did you want?" Alex asked

"A crappy chick flick by myself. And a fro yo with three too many toppings. The kind that I make you and y/n split." She said

"Aw, man!" I said, "Now I'm hungry."

"Anyway, I sent the guy a text apologizing, but I want Abuelita to think that I went out with him, so that next time I don't get the third degree." Penelope said

"Next time?" Alex asked, confused ar to what she meant

"Yeah, because I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a next time at some point. Are you okay with that?" She asked, genuinely afraid about how Alex may react

"Yeah, I mean, I figured you would. After all, women in their late 30s are in their sexual prime." Alex said

"How do you even know that?" I asked

"Stop talking to Elena." Penelope said, realizing she'd be the only person to know something like that

"Tell her to stop talking to me! Anyway, dating is super weird." Alex said

"I know! I know...Why do you know?" She asked

"My dumb friends have been trying to get me and this girl, Anna, together." Alex said

"Anna?" I asked, furrowing my brows, unaware to that situation

He nodded, as Penelope turned to look at me with a small smile

"Oh, I see." She said

"So, what happened tonight was Finn made a plan. Then, everybody bailed on purpose so Anna and I could be alone." He groaned

"I don't remember that." I said, trying to remember when it happened

"You were in the bathroom." He said, making me nod

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I whispered to myself

"Okay." Penelope said, encouraging him to continue his story

"I mean, I like Anna, but I don't really want a girlfriend. It was like everyone had something to say about it, but me." He said

"He likes Anna?" I whispered to myself, again, unaware of my best friend's feelings for a girl

"That's exactly how I felt. And you're right, dating is super weird, until it's not." Penelope smiled

"Anything else you wanna talk to me about?" She asked, happy that he was finally opening up with her

"Well, I kinda lied to you." He said

"Oh God, what is it? Did you steal something? Did you damage something? Did you pee on something cause you were mad and then later you were, like, "I shouldn't have done that?" She asked

"No! Who does that?" He said

"These are just general examples. What did you do?" She interrogated

"I didn't hurt my self because Finn pushed me. I tried to shave." He, embarrassingly, admitted

"Really? Oh, my God. It's all happening. So, you don't want a girlfriend, but you did wanna look nice." She asked, trying to evaluate the situation

"I guess. I used one of your razors and cut myself. I have no idea what I'm doing." He groaned

"I think I know someone who can help you out." She said

___________

Penelope had gone to the bathroom with Alex to teach him how to shave. So, I just waited in his room wondering I should go home or not.

After a while, Alex came back to his room so we could watch our tv show.

"So, Anna?" I asked as he turned on the TV

"It's not big deal." He smiled

"Of course it is. Why do you like her?" I asked, wanting to know more about my friend's interests

"She smart, funny, pretty. I've just never really seen all of that in a girl, you know?" He said, sitting next to me

What he said hit me in the gut, but I ignored it and answered his confession with a supportive smile.

"Yeah. You know what, I think I'm going to go home. I don't feel too good." I said, coming up with an excuse and rushing out of his room without saying goodbye.

I walked through the living room, on my way out, when Penelope stopped me.

"Where are you going? I thought you and Alex were going to watch Netflix." She asked

"I'm not in the mood." I said, reaching for the door knob

"I know what this is about. Come sit down." Penelope said, patting the spot next to her on the couch

I put my backpack on the ground, and sat next to her, waiting to be uncomfortable or relieved

"You're jealous." She said

"Jealous of what?" I asked

"Of Anna." She said smiling

"Why would I be jealous of her? According to Alex, she's pretty, smart, funny. Something he's never seen in another girl." I said, looking down at my feet and absently swinging them

"y/n, I know what's happening and I think you do too. You're just scared to admit it." She said, rubbing my shoulder in comfort

"You think you like Alex, don't you?" She asked, after I didn't answer

"I- I don't know. I just don't like the way he was talking about another girl." I said, confused to the way I was feeling

"You know, when we moved here I thought Alex was going to have a really hard time making friends. But the day we moved in, I remember this tiny little white girl waltzing into the apartment, helping Alex move boxes. I remember he ran up to me excited, telling me he'd just found his best friend. So, even if Alex doesn't realize yet how great you are, I do." She said, hugging me close to her

"Thanks." I said, smiling and hugging her back +

___________

[staytheb]

Deja Vu

Pairing: NCT’s Taeyong x OC [Esther] Genre: slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 4,683 Summary: Taeyong ends up accompanying Esther home, but she makes a slight detour in hopes that he wouldn’t. Unfortunately for Esther, Taeyong decides to stick around longer.

Warning: none... maybe some swear words.  i don’t remember. slightly proofread too.

here i am again. the title is just something that i glanced within this story and just stuck with it. i suck at titles and hope this one just fits in its own way. but yeah, this one also takes place in the same story and setting of Because I Can with Yuta, but i just made it separate into its own story and what not. this too was originally part of a longer story like Because I Can as well. anyways, another stress reliever to help with my mind and it’s been well so far. i don’t feel as out of it as i have been for the last year. but yeah, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Esther found herself slow dancing with her co-worker, Taeyong, at her friend's birthday party. She didn't know that the two knew one another, but should have figured that out when the two ran in the same social circle unlike her. Still though luckily for Esther was that her friend, Skyler, was having a themed party and everyone wore masks to conceal their identities. At first Esther wasn't up to the whole dancing bit, but Skyler had put her on the spot and so Esther chose the closes male to her. That person turned out to be Taeyong and now here she was slow dancing with him even though he had no idea who she was underneath the mask.

Anyways, Esther was trying to keep this whole thing as neutral as possible, but she was having a really hard time looking at Taeyong when his stares basically went right through her. Every time Esther tried to look at Taeyong his gaze was too intense and so she would avert her eyes to behind him majority of the time. Taeyong quirked a brow with an amused expression as he noticed Esther would shift eye-contact with him when they would locked eyes every now and then. His amusement became concern wondering if she disliked him or something.

"Are you disappointed that you chose me as your dance partner?" Taeyong asked when Esther's eyes avoided him once again.

Esther cast him a puzzled look, but didn't look away this time around when she made eye-contact with Taeyong.

"What do you mean?"

"It seems your attention lies somewhere behind me and not at me."

"Oh, that, well," Esther wasn't sure to be honest or not, but decided to be honest, "It's because of your eyes."

"My eyes?" Taeyong questioned with a laugh. "What about them?"

"Well, honestly, it's because you're looking at me like I stole something from you and you want it back."

A slow smile then ghosted over her face.

"Or you're about to murder me if I don't owe you back your money."

"Ah."

Taeyong realized what she meant by her words as he had a tendency to look at people with a dark stare without meaning to. He tried to soften his expression, but to the female it seemed like he was making weird facial expressions instead. Esther let out a soft chuckle before commenting on it.

"You should stop that. Your face looks weird with whatever you were trying to do just now."

Taeyong immediately stopped what he was doing and felt shy and embarrassed by what he may have appeared like to Esther not that long ago. HIs face again went back to his usual brooding-like appearance. Esther suppressed a laugh from escaping, but the corners of her lips were twitching for it to be released. So instead she asked the male if he was alright.

"Um, are you okay?"

Now it was Taeyong who was puzzled by her words.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Do I not look okay?"

"Well, honestly, you look like you're mad at the world."

"Oh, um, sorry." He apologized as he wasn't sure how to set his facial expression.

"Don't be." She dismissed as she gazed at Taeyong curiously. "It's just..."

Esther's left hand left Taeyong's shoulder briefly so that she could skim her forefinger across his eyebrows. She placed her left had back to its previous position when she felt his brows relaxed under her touch.

"Your eyebrows are pretty expressive and so hopefully that toned it down a bit."

Esther cast him a soft smile while Taeyong felt a bit awkward upon having her smoothed out his brows for him.

"Um, thanks." He thanked her with a shy demeanor.

"You're welcome."

Silence fell between them, but Ester remembered Taeyong's question from earlier and replied back to it.

"Oh. I'm not disappointed that your my dance partner by the way. You lead very well."

At first Taeyong was confused, but then remembered the question he had asked her.

"Oh, um, thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

"I try, but these heels are totally killing me."

Esther let out a groaned before slightly ranting about her friend, the birthday girl.

"This is the last time I let Skyler talked me into wearing these."

"Speaking of Skyler, how do you know her?" Taeyong asked as he knew everyone that Skyler had invited except for the five females that Skyler partially introduced.

"Oh, that. Skyler, me, and the other four girls that I came with, we were roommates back in college for all four years." Esther explained. "We stayed in contact after graduation and this is the first time me and the others girls have attended Skyler's themed party."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Oh, well, we never knew of her background until our last year of school. We usually just stayed home and celebrated her birthday with just the six of us."

She then re-directed the conversation away from her.

"Anyways, how do you know Skyler?"

"Our parents are long time friends which means we were natural to be friends."

Esther was curious about this information and wanted to tease him about it.

"Ah, does that mean the both of you are gonna marry each other?"

Taeyong burst into laughter upon hearing those words.

"Oh, god no. She's like a sister to me. Besides, she already likes someone, but is too stubborn to admit it."

"I knew it. I knew she liked somebody, but wouldn't tell us."

Before Taeyong could comment on it, the song came to an end and Skyler's voice grabbed their attention.

"Alright. Everyone thank their dance partners!"

The pair looked at one another and bowed while thanking the other for the dance and conversation.

"Thank you for choosing me as your dance partner." Taeyong thanked Esther as she chuckled while doing the same. "Thanks for putting up with me, Taeyong."

Taeyong frowned.

"Wait. You know who I am?"

Esther slightly panicked as she forgot that they wore masks and haven't properly introduced themselves to one another. Plus, Esther looked nothing like how she looked like at work unlike Taeyong who looked the same outside of work. Before she could answer him, Skyler's voice sounded again.

"After thanking your partner, please return to your seats! We're now gonna move on to singing the birthday song and eating my birthday cake!"

"Okay, bye!" Esther bid Taeyong a quick goodbye before rushing of leaving him behind.

Taeyong was about to give chase, but remembered that he was at a friend's party and didn't want to cause a scene. He would let it go, for now. Unfortunately he never got the chance as he drank that night and got wasted. He should've knew his limit, but he was having fun. He totally forgot about finding out if Esther knew him or not.

~~~~~~~

Esther was hanging out with her friends along with those that Skyler had invited without their knowledge at the karaoke bar. It was supposed to be a girls' night out, but it turned out to be some sort of group date of sorts with Skyler's male friends they met at her birthday party. Anyways, Esther witnessed her friend, Genevy, running off after one round of singing when Skyler announced the scores of girls versus boys. Something about needing to finish up some last minute work things. Esther knew that was a lie since they lived together, but she amusingly couldn't help but think it was to escape from her co-worker, Yuta, that Genevy's been ranting about since finding out he and Skyler were friends.

Esther also watched Yuta run after Genevy a moment later and wondered how things were gonna turned out like now. She knew that Genevy would tell her later about it and so didn't worry too much. Anyways, this prompted Esther to head on home and leave as well. She wasn't in the mood to sing further and she also wanted to make an escape since Taeyong was unexpectedly invited as well. She kept her cool, but that didn't mean it wasn't awkward in a sense. So Esther knew how Genevy may have felt upon seeing Yuta here tonight, too. She stood up and gave Skyler an apologetic look.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna head on out, too."

"Really?" Skyler cast her friend a look. "Why so soon?"

"Unlike, Genevy, I still have some work things left to do."

"Okay, fine, but hey let Taeyong take you home." Skyler suggested. "He lives in that direction, too."

Before Esther could dismiss the suggestion, Taeyong didn't mind.

"Oh, yeah sure. I'll accompany you home." Taeyong offered as he also stood up.

"Please take real good care of her okay, Taeyong!"

"Yeah, she hates being alone!"

"So don't take your eyes off of her!"

Esther's other three friends, Jasmine, Katherine, and Everly inputted making Esther shoot them a dark look. The trio just laughed it off while Skyler insisted on it.

"Oh, yeah, good idea. Text me when you get home." Skyler said with a smile.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Esther dismissed although she knew her friends were just looking out for her even though it was a little more out of amusement.

Taeyong also bid farewell to his friends and the other ladies before he and Esther headed out.

Unlike Genevy, Esther had made a left towards the metro station when she existed the building which confused Taeyong as he followed after her.

"Um, isn't home this way?" He asked with a confused tone.

"It is, but I wanna check out something first before going home as I just remembered something."

"Oh, okay. Then I'll go with you, too."

"It's fine, Taeyong. You don't have to come with me. I'll j-"

"Oh, it's all good. I don't mind at all, Esther."

Taeyong shot her a friendly smile as he matched his pace with hers. Esther wasn't sure how to feel about this whole thing, but deep within her was relieved to know that she wouldn't be walking the streets alone at night. The two continued talking with polite chit-chat between them, but Esther noticed that she was walking a few steps ahead of Taeyong and so would slow her pace for him to catch up with her. Although Taeyong did most of the talking, she didn't mind as she had nothing really to say and didn't mind being a listener. It just was that she couldn't help to notice that he would lag behind every now and then that she had to mention it.

"Um, Taeyong, could you either like stay walking beside me or ahead of me, please? I dislike it when people walk behind me."

"Oh, sorry." He apologized as he matched her pace once again. "I'm just used to walking behind the others to make sure everyone is there."

Esther scoffed with a laugh.

"Why do you sound like your either a leader of a boy group or a mother herding her children."

Taeyong laughed upon hearing her words.

"Well, honestly, you're not wrong. There's a lot of us whenever we hang out and so I just like to make sure everyone is safe and sound."

"Is that why you're always the last one to leave the building, but also the first one to arrive to work?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Esther tsked.

"You're doing too much, Taeyong. You should really take care of yourself more because I know you be pulling in a lot of over time hours when you don't need to."

Taeyong side-eyed her knowingly.

"Aren't you the same as me?"

"Well, yeah, but I know my limit, too. I at least get more sleep in then you." She countered as Taeyong laughed.

He changed the topic not wanting to talk about work.

"So, what is it that you remembered that you needed to do?"

Esther slightly panicked if she wanted to tell him the truth or not.

"Do you want an honest answer?"

Taeyong frowned at her words.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's work related."

Taeyong groaned.

"I didn't want to talk about work and changed the subject on purpose."

"Well, I didn't know that and it's really not my fault, but I'm dealing with it as I know the others at work won't do it."

"What is it?"

Esther cast Taeyong an unsure look contemplating if she wanted to tell him the reason or not. She decided to go for it since it was already up in the air and she knew that Taeyong wouldn't leave her alone now.

"I have to buy gifts for our bosses."

~~~~~~~

Esther and Taeyong were now sitting side by side on the subway heading to Myeongdong instead. Esther was unable to find something in particular to buy for her bosses on the streets of Hongdae. She assumed it was because Hongdae wasn't the right kind of style for her bosses and that they may want something a little more luxurious from elsewhere. So, here she was sitting on the inside of the metro while Taeyong sat on the outside. Esther assumed that he would have chosen a seat behind or in front of her, or even on the opposite side of the bus, but not right next to her. Esther figured that it may be because of earlier of how she wanted him to walk in front or next to her.

Anyways, Esther's attention turned towards the outside scenery as she zoned out. She wasn't much for small talk and found comfort in the peace between them and of the ride. She later jerked back to the present when she felt something soft, but slightly heavy bumped against her left shoulder. Esther glanced down and saw that Taeyong's head was now lying upon her shoulder. Her eyes widened at the unexpected sight as she languidly moved her head to slightly peer at his sleeping face. Taeyong had surely fallen asleep, but it was barely eight. He must've been super tired to have knocked out like that.

Esther didn't mind as her attention returned to look out the window and zoned out again. She wouldn't disturb his slumber even if it meant that he was using her as a pillow. She figured that he didn't sleep that well last night or maybe the past week. She remembered that he pulled an all-nighter the other day and figure this was the only time he could catch up on sleep. So Esther let it be as Taeyong wasn't really doing anything wrong, but then she heard a bunch of whispering that started to irk her throughout the transit.

Myeongdong was twenty-five minutes away and she still had like twenty minutes left of the ride until she arrived at her destination. Honestly, she wouldn't have mind to what the people were saying and talking about, but Esther knew that the group behind her were talking smack about her. In general, it was because of the male next to her that she was getting smacked talked about in the first place. Even worse was that the group was a bunch of a girls running their mouths and they're so called whispering was anything but that. Esther could tell there were at least five different voices and neither sounded very pleasant to the ears.

"Who's the girl with him?"

Girl One spoke.

"Is she his girlfriend?"

Girl Two follows right after.

"No way." Girl Three gasped in denial. "She can't be his girlfriend."

"But I've never seen the Lee Taeyong that close with a girl before." Girl Four states with a disbelief tone. "Not even at work."

"Wait, I thought you didn't work with him?" Girl Two questioned as Girl Four answered. "I don't. My sister's husband's brother works with him."

"I don't know about that, but I do agree that he's not that close with other females." Girl Five interjects. "I've only seen him like that with his mother or sister."

"So who is she?" Girl One repeats.

"She must be his cousin or some other relation because she looks nothing like his sister or mom." Girl Five states with a nod. "There's no way she's his girlfriend."

"She better not be his girlfriend because she is totally out of his league." Girl three says with total disdain at the idea of Esther being with Taeyong.

"I know right." Girl four interjects. "I suit the Lee Taeyong better than her."

"Oh, please. You all know that I would suit him better than any of you." Girl five disagreed while claiming to be a better fit. "We're a part of the same social class."

"Yeah right. It'll be me and not you two. He's gonna be my boyfriend because I know more about him than any of you." Girl three stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "His parents are super close with my parents even though he and I haven't talked much."

Then all of a sudden the five girls' conversation shifted into an argument of who better fit Taeyong. It got even louder when they all talked over one another that they were the better fit. Esther rolled her eyes with annoyance gracing her face while pinching the center part of her forehead with her right hand. She didn't understand why some people acted this way about a person that they probably didn't even know or weren't even close to at all. Esther slowly turned her head to shoot them a dark look as to not wake up Taeyong before whispering harshly at them.

"Can y'all like shut up because you're disrupting the atmosphere."

Her voice was calm and firm, yet the tone of how she said it wasn't anything like that while she gave each of them a hard stare before speaking again.

"No one wants to hear your bickering about claiming someone as your property. People have feelings and their own mindset. So grow up and stop acting like kids."

"Who do you think you are to say something like that to us?" One of the five girls asked Esther with an attitude. "Do you even know who we are?"

"No and I don't care." Ester responded indifferently. "Your status has nothing to do with this, but your personality is simply trash if this is how you view a person."

Just as another girl was gonna retort they noticed the sudden movements of Taeyong rousing from his sleep. The group all froze in mid-talk while Esther wondered if it was her voice being closer to him than the others that may have woken him up. She felt bad that his sleep got interrupted and wished she hadn't said anything in the first place. Taeyong sleepily rubbed his eyes while letting out a yawn. He then looked at his surrounding before casting them onto Esther a second later.

"Are we there yet, Esther?"

"Not yet, Taeyong. There's still like another," Esther paused to check the time on her phone, "Twelve to thirteen minutes until we get there."

He nodded while letting out another yawn and rubbing his face at the same time.

"Just go back to sleep and I'll wake up up when we reach our destination, okay?" She informed him in a soft tone with an ever softer smile upon her face while reaching over to swipe a few strands of his hair from out of his eyes unconsciously.

Taeyong stiffened upon Esther's touch as he felt like it was deja vu, but wasn't sure on how that could be. They've never interacted this close before and not even at work as they kept things professional. This was actually the first time they've hung out outside of work and sat this close since meeting one another. He slowly watched Esther as she swipe a few strands of his hair out of his way and returned her right hand back to her side. He kinda missed it for some odd reason, but snapped back to reality while removing his head from off of her shoulder.

"Ah, it's okay, Esther. The nap just now helped a bit. Thanks though and sorry about using your shoulder as a pillow." Taeyong apologized feeling shy all of a sudden.

"No, it's okay. I didn't mind." Esther replied nonchalantly although on the inside she was feeling just as shy about the whole thing.

"Um, so..." Taeyong began wondering what to say now before fumbling with his phone a second later as he also pulled out two airpods from his pockets and handed the left one over to her.

"You should listen to this song I've been into lately."

"Sure."

Esther took the airpod and put it into her left ear. After that, the five girls shut their mouths and didn't say anything after witnessing the scene between the pair.

~~~~~~~

While Esther was browsing for item, she unintentionally eavesdrop on Taeyong's phone call with his mother. She only heard his side of the conversation, but then her attention went onto a few items that she found fitting for her bosses.

"Hi. Mom." Taeyong greeted his mother.

"Girlfriend? I don-"

His mother kept talking and talking him leaving him no room to explain himself. He then panicked when his mother asked to face time and he wanted to decline until she hung up and video called her son. Taeyong was going to avoid it, but he knew his mother was gonna call him again. So he picked up her call with an awkward smile.

"Mom. Hi."

"Where are you? I know she's there because you're not alone at night by yourself." His mother reasoned as Taeyong sighed.

"Mom."

"I'll leave you alone if you just show me who she is."

Taeyong was gonna reject the idea, but Esther came up to him after purchasing her items.

"Alright, Taeyong, I'm done. Let's go home."

When Esther looked up at Taeyong, she noticed his expression seemed slightly horrified until she heard a woman's voice from his mobile.

"I knew it! Show me who she is, Taeyong."

Taeyong groaned but eventually showed his mother who he was hanging out with.

"Ohh, hello darling. Aren't you pretty. I'm Taeyong's mother. What's your name?"

Esther immediately felt awkward as she side-eyed the male beside her, but he avoided looking at her. Esther cast her eyes onto Taeyong's mother.

"Um, hello. I'm Esther and I wo-"

She was interrupted when his mother's face lit up happily.

"Oh, you're Esther? Oh my. My son talks about you all the time."

"He does?"

Esther's brows furrowed in confusion as she looked over at Taeyong again, but his face remained stoic and he also avoided looking at Esther.

"Yes, of course! He praises you highly and he just claims that you're both just co-workers, but he's just hiding the fact that you're together."

Esther was unable to explain the situation.

"But I caught him in the act and he can't lie to me. Anyways, I'll leave the two of you on your date, but I expect to see the two of you for dinner this Saturday. See you then and we can properly meet, Esther."

Taeyong's mother turned to look at her son.

"Don't be late and don't forget to bring Esther. Goodbye."

She bid the pair a goodbye before hanging up first. After that Taeyong finally looked at Esther.

"I'm so sorry about my mom."

Esther nodded, but then a teasing smile graced her face.

"So you talk about me to your mom?"

"Yes, I do. Is that a problem?" Taeyong admitted while trying to be indifferent about it.

Esther chuckled at his behavior, but didn't pursue the topic. She was about to suggest for them to go home when Taeyong spoke.

"She's serious by the way."

"Who?"

"My mom."

"What about her?"

"You're gonna have to show up for dinner with me on Saturday."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, then she'll just find a way for you to meet her."

"But I don't know your mom. Just take Skyler with you and have her convinced your mom since she's like a sister to you. I'm sure your mom will trust her since y'all known one another since forever."

Esther realized what she had said as Taeyong stared at her hard.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

Esther quickly turned away and started walking off, but Taeyong grabbed her hand and spun her around to face him.

"No. Really. What did you just say, Esther?"

Esther didn't respond and avoided looking at Taeyong.

"Esther."

She finally looked at him while appearing aloof.

"What, Taeyong?"

"You're the one that I danced with at Skyler's party, isn't it?"

"No. I'm sure you danced with a lot of girls that night."

"But you're the only one I told about my relationship with Skyler."

Esther was gonna retort, but remained silent.

"Esther?" Taeyong said her name in a questioning tone while still holding onto her hand firmly.

She let out a sigh and spoke the truth.

"Yes, it was me. Now you know. So what of it?"

Taeyong frowned.

"Did you not want me to find out?"

"It's not that. It just never really crossed my mind and I really hate mixing my work life with my outside work life."

"Oh. Is that why you never want to hang out after work with the others?"

"Yes. Also, everyone always wants to go out drinking and staying out late. I don't do that."

"Then what do you wanna do?"

"I dunno. Play games, eat out, or go to one of those amusement parks. That sort of things."

"Oh really?"

Taeyong smiled and Esther wasn't sure how to read his expression.

"Then should we go on a date before you meet my mom?"

Esther cast the male a weird look.

"I thought we were supposed to convinced your mother that we're not together?"

"Why convinced her otherwise when it can be true, right?" Taeyong reasoned with a smug look.

Esther still couldn't believe his words.

"So you wanna ask me out on a date and within three days convinced your mother that we're official?"

"I mean, we get along well at work. So why should it be any different outside of work?"

"Because our work site bans office dating."

"But we work in different departments."

"Taeyong, what makes you like me and think this may work?"

"Because Skyler has told me things and the feelings are mutual."

Taeyong smiled at her sweetly and Esther groaned realizing it was a set-up from the get-go.

"How long have you known?" She asked him tentatively.

"Since a few days after Skyler's party."

"Is that why you didn't mind accompanying home after Skyler suggested it?"

"Partially, but I also wasn't feeling up to singing the rest of the night away either."

Esther nodded while changing the topic.

"Okay, Taeyong. Take me home tonight and we can go on a date tomorrow or something."

Taeyong gleefully smiled as he gave her hand a slight squeezed in happiness.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Great. Because Skyler mentioned that you wanted to check out this new restaurant and I thought we should check it out together."

"What else has Skyler told you about me?"

"That your favorite color is blue and that you hate odd numbers."

Esther regarded Taeyong a bit before softly casting him a small smile.

"Well, I guess I can't just leave it be now, can I?"

"Leave what be?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"The fact that we both know that I like you and that you like me."

She then squeezed his hand as a confirmation for herself before leading him back to the subway station.

"C'mon, it's getting late. I also want to sleep long enough before I have to deal with you at work."

Taeyong chuckled as he allowed Esther to lead the both of them.

"Why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing?"

"Because our departments are meeting tomorrow to discuss next week's project and I have a feeling you're gonna try to team up with me."

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

"I'm sure it does."

Taeyong smiled as he soon matched his steps with Esther before interlocking their hands together.

[starzki]

Happy Birthday Angie

I told @mirsan that if she gave me a prompt, I’d write her a story for her birthday, today. Mirsan College AU was one of them, and I had just been thinking about writing a prequel for my fic “Getting Even.” So that’s what this is.

It’s only a second draft because I wanted to post this while it was still her birthday. Even when I fully edit and fix this up, it’s still my gift to Angie.  Sorry it’s not in its final form yet, but I hope you like it anyway.

Also, as a last note, this is actually heavily borrowed from my own college experiences at frat parties. By my senior year, I really did wonder why they let me through the doors...

Title: The Terror of Phi Delta Theta Author: Starzki Pairing: MirSan Genre: Wacky College AU Word Count: 1900 Summary: Sango goes to a toga party and meets a few people.

-x-

"I'm gonna need to be a whole lot drunker for this," Sango said as she and Kagome made their way to the fraternity party.

"You like parties, Sango," replied Kagome as she readjusted the drape of her green toga over her shoulder while tottering on her new heels. They had both pre-partied kind of hard with a leftover bottle of Goldschlagar that had them both already tipsy and breathing cinnamon fire. "Plus, you're not the one about to see a recent ex..."

 "Asshole," groused Sango. But it was the end of the fall semester with only a few finals left, and the Phi Delt toga party was the perfect stress reliever. Yes, Sango thought, I need to be more drunk, but luckily, the party would have a ton of free drinks.

 Kagome smiled warmly at her friend. "We're forgetting about him for tonight, anyway. Let's find you a boy."

"Ha," Sango laughed without mirth. She was determined to keep her foul mood. "Like anyone will notice me with you around." Sango really wasn't bitter. More of a realist. Kagome was delicately beautiful and you couldn't help but notice her and her kind spirit. Half of the men at their university at least had a crush on her, and now that she and Inuyasha were taking a break, they were sure to be circling her tonight.

 "Oh, please, Sango. All the boys notice you. And you picked the prettiest pink for your toga; you look like you're glowing!"

Sango glowered but accepted the compliment, shooting a smile that was half-apology at her friend. They turned down the sidewalk and passed their practice field. They were both on the women's soccer team at their school, and Sango had risen to co-captain, even as a junior, just that season. The field actually lifted her spirits. The season had been over for a month, but they had done well in their conference for once.

"Hmm," mused Kagome. "I wonder if it's coincidence that the Phi Delt house is across the street from the practice field..."

"Coincidence?"

"I mean, half the men's team pledge there.  Maybe they're only Phi Delts so that they can sleep in a little longer before morning practice."

"It sounds like something those idiots would actually take into consideration," agreed Sango.

Kagome laughed. "Yeah. They may not be bright, but they're definitely pretty."

 "Hey, we're forgetting him tonight, right?"

 "Well... I could have been talking about any of the others..."

 "Mm hmm." Sango didn't believe for a minute that Kagome was referring to anyone else, either on the soccer team or in the frat. In fact, if Sango were a betting woman, she'd put money on Kagome and Inuyasha getting together again before the party was over.

 A minute later they were at the door showing their student IDs as well as their licenses to show they were old enough to drink. The young pledge and the campus security officer at the door nodded them in.

 The door swung open and Sango and Kagome were hit with the full volume of the party all at once.

 "Kagome!" was the united chorus as they stepped inside. Sango gave Kagome a pointed look.

Charmed, Kagome could only answer, "It's only because I used to come here all the time to see... you-know-who."

Sango rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her smile. The press of bodies and the smell of beer in the low light of the house was perfect. Before she knew it, she had a can of cheap, awful beer in her hand and Kagome was dragging her to the dance floor.

After that, the night became a swirl of energy and sound and Sango could feel it sweep her away it its inescapable current.

-x-

 One hour and three beers later, Sango was stumbling through the house on her way back to the dance floor from the bathroom. She swung her way into the kitchen to grab another beer for Kagome on her way.

 "Sango!" came the delighted shout from behind the kitchen's island. She pushed her damp hair away from her face and looked around until she saw the voice's owner.

 "Monk!" she shouted back. Miroku was looking very nice in a purple toga that showed off his soccer player physique. He wasn't a member of the Delts, but being on the soccer team gave him an open door there any time he wanted.

"Looks like you've been having fun," he yelled over the music that was blasting its way in from the next room. He rounded the island to get closer.

"Oh, is it because I'm a sweaty mess from dancing all night?" she teased.  "Or is it something else?"

 "It's because you're about to have a toga malfunction," he said. "This whole party is about to get a lot better."

 Sango swung around trying to find the issue with her toga. Yes, it was dragging when it hadn't been before, but in her current state of inebriation, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

 "Wassit?" she asked.

 He smiled and helped her readjust the fabric around her middle and over her shoulder. "So, you're not driving tonight, right?" Miroku asked, hinting that she was way over her limit.

"Nope. Staying with Kagome at the sorority house, so I'm walking."

"Good, I think your toga's all set. You could dance for the rest of the night without exposing anything... unless you want to," he said with sexy smile.

Sango laughed and smacked his arm. "And you didn't even cop a feel. I thought you had a reputation to uphold, Monk."

"How about this?" Miroku pulled Sango into a warm hug.  Damn, but he was a good hugger. "And tomorrow, I'll cop all the feels you want me to."  It was a moment between songs on the dance floor, so he lowered  his voice into a low purr in her ear. She felt goosebumps chasing their way down her neck and back and allowed herself to smile at the possibilities.

Just then, right as a new song blasted its way into the room, Inuyasha entered.

"Fuckin' beer me, Monk," he said. "And then get a fuckin' room. I swear, you and these girls..."

Sango spun and the expression on Inuyasha's face went from bored to terrified.

"You!" she said, everything else forgotten.  "You!"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but Sango was on him in an instant, index finger poking into his chest as she stared him down.

"How dare you! Do you even know how amazing and wonderful Kagome is?"

"Uh..."

"She's beautiful and smart and the most spectacular person you will ever have the pleasure of meeting in your entire life and you go off with Kikyou?"

"It wasn't..."

Sango was having none of it. She continued to poke into Inuyasha's chest, advancing on him until his back was fully pressed against the wall. "Fuck. You. You hurt Kagome's feelings and I have made it my mission to end anyone who hurts Kagome in any way. Including you."

A small crowd was starting to gather to gawp at the small young woman who appeared to be terrifying a rather large, muscular fraternity member.

"I won't..."

"Don't even try with me, Inuyasha. You're lucky that she's the kind, forgiving sort who asked me not to take your head as my prize tonight. But I will let you know that if this happens again, nothing will stop me from being your worst enemy."

Hands up in supplication, Inuyasha finally said, "I promise."

Sango smiled and backed away, allowing Inuyasha to move away from the wall. "Good. Now she's on the dance floor in case you were wondering. And I think I saw Kouga headed that way not too long ago."

Inuyasha's eyes darkened as he spun his head to the next room. "Humph," was all he said before he left.

Sango turned around and saw Miroku with his mouth hanging open. Then he smiled. It wasn't the fake, sly smile he usually wore, but a genuine, open smile that lit up his eyes. "You are terrifying," he said.  

"That was fun!" Sango said. "Come with me. I have more Phi Delts to yell at. You can't break the heart of my teammates and expect me to do nothing!"

-x-

Three lectures and one stomped foot later (the foot stomping had been mostly an accident, but Sango wasn't sorry it had happened), Sango dragged Miroku back to the kitchen for another beer.

Sango was still giggling about her latest rant when the door to the kitchen burst open and Inuyasha entered, carrying Kagome over his shoulder.

"Oh, hi Sango!" called Kagome as Inuyasha strode through the room. "You can stay at my place tonight! I'm staying here!"

"Monk. Sango," Inuyasha acknowledged as he walked by.

"We made up!" Kagome cried as Inuyasha kicked down the door to the rest of the house and slammed it behind them.

Sango just shook her head with another laugh, then smiled up at Miroku.

"You knew that was coming, right?" she asked him.

"Duh," he answered with is own smile, passing Sango one of the few remaining warm beers.

They stood closely, shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the island. After a moment, Miroku threw his arm across her shoulders.

Miroku gulped down his own beer.  He tried not to let it show, but he had been a little nervous earlier. Some of the guys Sango had dressed down weren't the nicest guys. And they had all been in front of their friends or girlfriend, making it less likely that they'd receive her criticism with any kindness.  But Sango was fearless, and those guys had sensed it.  She had gotten promises for apologies from all three, and Miroku believed that they'd follow through.  The last thing any of them wanted was for the ferocious co-captain of the women's team to start a shitlist with their names on it.

Sango sipped at her beer thoughtfully, her eyes lingering on Miroku. He was widely known as a ladies man on campus, but he'd spent much of the night with her, backing her up as she tore through the frat house. It felt like she didn't know so much about him, but everything that she saw, she really liked and admired.

He caught her eyeing him and smirked. "Wanna dance?" he asked.

Sango heard the synth beats coming from the next room, remembering the anonymous press of bodies from earlier, and shook her head.  "You know what I want?" she ventured.

Miroku squinted at her and licked his lips. Then he stood up straight and hugged her shoulder into him tightly. "Let's see. I bet you want to go out on that practice field outside and kick the ball around some."

It was Sango's turn for her jaw to drop. "That's fucking uncanny. How did you do that?"

"It's what I want to do, too.  A drunken late-night soccer practice in togas seems like the perfect end to this party, right?"

Still a little mystified, Sango nodded.

"I know where they keep a ball? Shall we, m'lady?"  He offered an arm.

Sango curtsied, then surprised him as she jumped up onto his back.  Miroku tossed his beer can at the sink and piggy backed Sango through the party and out to the field where they would get muddy and gross and create one of their favorite college memories ever.

END.