#Also just like having to build that misunderstanding took forever

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 29

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“Neil, why do you have Smith’s phone?” Andrew asks as the two of them are setting out plates for lunch. Neil startled and looked down at the phone that he had just sat at the table and furrowed his brow.

“What do you mean? This is mine?” Neil asks. He knows his phone even if he’s not really the best with them.

The one that Andrew had given him his Freshman year had died after it got run over by the Maserati when Neil left it on the roof of the car by accident. The second one Andrew had gotten him had been destroyed in rather spectacular fashion earlier in the year when he’d had a bit of a freak out on January 19th. The team knew better than to text him on that particular day now but Andrew had said that he’d take custody of his phone this year. Wymack had stepped in with a phone that same day before Andrew could buy him a new one and that phone had been launched at the Baseball captain that summer.

All this to say, Neil is now looking at the phone in concern because it is highly likely he swapped his with FF’s.

“No it’s not.” Andrew sighs and points to a corner, “You cracked yours up here.” He opens the phone and then the contacts and sure enough Neil doesn’t see his own contacts but the ones that Nicky had programmed into FF’s the day before.

“Oh, I guess I switched them at the hospital.” He says with an embarrassed blush. Maybe he should get a little accessory to differentiate his phone from the other ones that Wymack has gotten.

There’s a slight commotion in the kitchen, “Kevin, stop trying to add vanilla protein powder to Smithy’s soup!” Nicky shouts.

“He needs protein to heal properly! That nutritionist might just feed him a loaf of bread since he is using an outdated model!” Kevin argues back.

“Kevin the doctor said clear soup also do you want to make Smiths sick? Vanilla protein powder and chicken broth?” Aaron asks disgust evident.

“I’d use unflavored but this is all that’s in the house and I am not going shopping until this weekend is over.” Kevin argues back.

“Smiths went out shopping on Black Friday and came back unscathed. He even went out into the worst of it just to get some groceries for baking and breakfast.” Aaron says with a huff.

“He still got stabbed!” Kevin returns.

“Kevin, he was definitely not grocery shopping when he got stabbed.” Nicky shoots back.

“He needs-“

“Przywiążę cię do krzesła.” Neil hears Smith’s Grandma cut Kevin off. Her tone is so sweet just like it has been the last couple times she has interrupted an argument between them all. She really has warmed up to them since Andrew confessed.

Nicky lets out a loud bark of laughter.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asks.

“Yeah, cutting onions make me laugh.” Nicky returns quickly.

Kevin walks out of the Kitchen with the same gooey expression he’s gotten every time Smith’s Grandma has said something sweet to him but considering how often and how hard Nicky laughs at what she says he wonders if she’s just sassing him in a sweet tone.

He really needs to pick up a phrase book.

He might like her even more if his theory is correct.

“It shouldn’t be a big problem.” Neil says but he is a bit more careful as he moves FF’s phone away from where it could get damaged. “Smith is definitely asleep. He looked really tired.” Neil says and it twists his own stomach to think about how FF looked in his hospital bed. FF wouldn’t take anything more than the bare minimum when it came to pain medication.

Each “I’m fine.” He gave had him coming to a deeper and deeper understanding of how frustrating it is to have someone who is CLEARLY not fine say they are.

“I’m more concerned about who might text you.” Andrew says.

Neil shrugs, “Ichirou is more the type to just show up.” Because it’s true. Every time he’s met Ichirou there had been very little warning.

Andrew frowns but then Nicky is coming out with lunch. It was nothing fancy but a home cooked meal always made Neil feel warm. Smith’s grandma had just been using what was in their pantry so far but the two other meals (and her pie) had been amazing.

“Lunch is ready. We’ll head back to the hospital afterwards to see when Smithy can get discharged.” Nicky says putting a large bowl of pasta in the center of the table. Aaron came out a moment later with the Parmesan shaker and the protein powder bottle.

“Here you go Kevin, add as much as you want to your own meal.” Aaron says in a sweet tone just like Smith’s Grandma.

“Eat shit Aaron.” Kevin scowls now knocked out of his gooey expression as fills his plate with pasta and reaches for the Parmesan.

Neil can’t help but let out a puff of laughter at the interaction and lets the worry of being away from his phone slide away. FF was sleeping, he was safe, and Ichirou had not expressed any interest in talking to him.

“Pass that to me when you’re done.” Neil asks pointing at the Parmesan as he fills his and Andrew’s plates.

***

There had been a plan.

Nathaniel Wesninski was supposed to be at this hospital at least according to his cell phone location. His future investment was not the best at keeping that device on him though so he was willing to wait when there were no signs of the Wesninski. There would, of course, be a cost for his patience. He had his men go seek out the uninvolved civilian. If Wesninski came back and found his friend threatened due to his lackadaisical nature with his phone perhaps he’d remember to keep it on him.

Except now that very uninvolved civilian is sitting in front of him. The ’Smith’ that Wesninski had spoken of.

He sees Wesninski’s phone sat on the table and his eyes go back to the young man in front of him. He wonders if this was some ploy by Wesninski, some statement. This young man in front of him took out one of the Butcher’s top men on his own.

He’d confirmed it when he’d gone to see Jackson earlier that day. He went to remind them what would happen if they tried to turn over anything to the Federal agents and to see how two of his biggest headaches had been taken out so suddenly.

Jackson talked about how Wesninski’s friend hadn’t seemed surprised to find him in the alley, had seemed like he had been expecting it and how swiftly he had been taken out. Wesninski’s guard dog had gone out afterwards and they’d lead Romero into a trap that resulted in his arrest and this civilian swearing up and down that Romero was the one that stabbed him even though Romero asserts that he never had a firm grip on the knife.

A great way to ensure he was held by the police while they were fully investigated. They wouldn’t have much time to investigate either of the Butcher’s remnants. Ichirou was only offering the choice between something painful or something easy.

The young man in front of him offered nothing, waiting for Ichirou to begin the talks. His expression clearly showing that he’d happily wait Ichirou out as if he was long used to tense silences. There is no doubt that this man in front of him knows exactly who he is but he still has the audacity to wait him out.

“Where is Wesninski?” He tightens his fist at having to ask first.

“That’s not Captain Neil’s last name anymore.” FF returns with the first hint of expression on his face being a frown.

The first piece of information given. So, loyal to Nathaniel and not to the Wesninski line. Loyal to Captain Neil.

“Captain Neil is getting lunch.” He answers, “I’m the only one here for you to talk to right now.” He adds after a moment putting his hands on the table.

Ichirou can understand what isn’t being said.

“Does, Josten, realize you’re here?” He asks taking care to use Wesninski’s new last name knowing he wouldn’t get his answers otherwise. He has a hard time imagining the man who was so loyal to his friends purposefully leaving this one to act as defense for him.

Wesninski had been very clear during his brief phone conversation with him, “Smith was just caught up in all of this. He’s not a threat to you Lord Moriyama.” He had said voice steady and without a hint of a lie.

“In the hospital? Of course.” He returns, “Down here talking to you? He’ll probably be upset.” he says after a moment.

“And yet, you’re here.” He says mirroring the man’s own relaxed posture.

Loyal but willing to do something that might displease the one he is loyal to if it would keep them safe. Ichirou stops himself from looking to his left where his most loyal man stood. Connor had stepped in front of threats he hadn’t seen coming plenty of times, had questioned him even when Ichirou had threatened to cut out his tongue for it, and had always had the courage to look Ichirou in the eye when he explained himself no matter how injured he was or how irate Ichirou was.

It’s something rare and it seems like it is something Wesninski has found unknowingly.

“Yes, I’m here to talk about Friday night.” He says, “I assume you’ve already spoken with Romero and Jackson.” He says moving the conversation away from Wesninski. Bringing Ichirou’s attention and possible ire to himself.

A truly rare find in his world.

“Yes, let’s talk about Friday night.” He agrees.

***

What was it about the Smith family and making great food?

It was just a simple combination of canned tomatoes, butter, pasta, onions, cheese, spices and garlic but it had Neil going for a third serving. Smith’s Grandma had really made enough to feed an army and when he’d commented Nicky had just reached over and tried to pinch his cheek fat only for his fingers to find little to grab onto, “You’re too thin! Eat more!” He exclaimed before repeating it to Smith’s Grandma in Polish who nodded earnestly.

Wymack was at the table after he took a shower. Kevin was still trying to convince Aaron of all people that he should be allowed to put protein powder into the clear soup that was simmering on the stove top for FF. The dietary restrictions someone faced while they were healing from stomach surgery was no joke.

The other Dealer had dropped despite Wymack and Neil’s best attempts to get Lisa to stay. Seemed determined to head back to her small town and rejoin the family cult she had escaped from. He’d been worried about her going home but she had insisted she’d be back.

It was unfortunate but it was also Lisa’s choice.

His stomach twists wondering if FF is going to go back to Washington with his Grandma when he gets released. There had barely been a whisper of danger from Neil’s past since Ichirou had put that bullet in Riko’s head and now one of his few friends that had been entirely uninvolved in that nightmare was in the hospital because of him.

Andrew elbows him.

Neil turns to look and Andrew is carefully putting a penne pasta on each prong of his fork, “I can hear you worrying.” He says in Russian.

“What if Smith leaves?” He responds back in the same language.

“He has the right to.” Andrew shrugs and shoves the pasta into his mouth.

“I don’t want him to.” Neil admits, FF is a friend. A good friend.

“He still can leave even if you don’t want him to.” Andrew says as he proceeds to once again put a penne pasta on each of his fork’s prongs. “I don’t think he will though.” He adds before shoving his fork into his mouth again.

Neil blinks, “Why?” He asks.

FF isn’t like how Neil was his Freshman year, he’s steady and sure but Neil wouldn’t blame the Freshman if ‘possibly being killed off by remnants of my Captain’s crime family’ is a step too far for FF. Wouldn’t blame FF if he runs.

“He still calls you Captain Neil.” He says reaching over and squeezing Neil’s knee with his hand.

Neil blinks.

He thinks.

FF laid out on the concrete as Andrew worked to stem the blood from his stab wound, “It’s a weird sex alley Captain Neil! I don’t know WHAT to tell you!” He exclaims ready to make a joke even as he’s bleeding because of a situation Neil’s existence put him in.

FF still floating from the initial large amount of pain medication he was on pulling on Neil’s sleeve, “I’m glad you’re okay Captain Neil.” Before falling back into his drugged sleep.

FF’s eyes softening as Neil offered to get a nurse to give him more pain medication, “Really Captain Neil, I’m fine.” He says.

He lays his own hand over Andrew’s.

“I guess he does.” He offers a small tentative smile.

“Eat your pasta Junkie.” Andrew says in English now.

“You’re too thin!” Nicky reminds him and Smith’s Grandma must have picked up on the terminology since she nods earnestly in agreement as the two of them were packing up leftovers and the soup Smith’s Grandma had made for him so they could head back to the hospital to keep FF company.

***

“Why did you go out into the alley?” Ichirou asks.

“Isn’t it better that I was in the alley?” The man across from him asks with a raised brow, as if Ichirou was asking a strange question. “If I had stayed in the club, who knows what would have happened or how many people would have been hurt.” He explains without Ichirou needing to lower himself to asking.

There’s truth to that.

It’s been on the news that the remaining Wesninski inner-circle had been captured but since there’d only been one injury it had been largely overshadowed by news regarding the mass injury incidents surrounding Black Friday. If Romero had started had gotten the general public involved this would be much harder for him to silence the ones involved.

Still…

“This has caused me quite a bit of trouble. It does not look good that I am not the one who found them.” He says because there’d been talks from some of the old men he had yet to rid himself of from his Father’s time. They had wanted the remaining Wesninski men to be brought back into the fold but there was little chance of that happening now. Ichirou planned on disposing them after showing that they were worthless and using it as an excuse to start removing some of the dead weight from his father’s time.

Ichirou was not a man who tolerated incompetence.

“Isn’t it better that they were taken into custody like this?” The man across from him asks, “They were some of the Butcher’s best from what Captain Neil has told me. The fact that it only resulted in me going to the hospital and they were taken out by Andrew and I is one of the better outcomes.” He says.

Ichirou pauses and considers it.

The two men that those relics had wanted for their ‘competence’ and ‘ability’ had been taken out in a way that showcased what Ichirou had thought of them. They were sloppy, they were over-confident, and worst of all they were incompetent.

“Before I forget.” Smith says and his hand goes to the bulge in his jacket pocket.

Ichirou can feel Conner tense behind him and he wonders where this had gone wrong or how the conversation had broken down but he doesn’t have long to wonder about it as Smith pulled something out that was unmistakable as a toy with it’s bright yellow coloring. Smith sets it on the table between them and Ichirou cannot help the confusion that must show on his face despite his many years of training to keep his face blank.

“What is that?” Conner asks sounding utterly bewildered behind him.

“I used this to temporarily blind Jackson during our fight. I figure it would be useful evidence for you.” Smith says.

He hears a bark of laughter to his right as Michael reaches for the toy.

Useful evidence indeed.

It would be easy to show this as a sign that those relics could hardly be trusted to have an opinion in how he ran his empire. Those men they so prized taken out by a children’s toy.

This has gone to his benefit.

“So it would seem.” He finally says, “I will make sure to reward your assistance.” He says wanting a stronger hold over the man in front of him, a tie of some sort to the Moriyama family.

Smith shakes his head in the negative. “I didn’t do anything noteworthy. Whatever it is should go to Captain Neil.” He argues.

Rare find indeed.

“It will be done.” He says and figures with the additional cash flow eliminating the search for the Wesninski men, the removal of his father’s hanger-ons, and the blood he can squeeze from the family Romero and Jackson had intended to go to ( a supposedly allied family) he could more than afford to drop what his three Exy investments owed him as a percent.

His eyes shift over to Smith across from him and finds that he was even more willing to lower those percentages if he could not only drop the dead weight of his father’s empire but perhaps gain someone useful. “Still, I like to reward those who have directly benefitted me. We will take care of any and all hospital fees related to this incident.” He looks to his right and Michael nods.

Smith’s face doesn’t give much away, his pokerface was quite exceptional.

“Thank you." He accepts and says nothing else so Ichirou decides to make his offer.

“I have heard that you are studying languages.” He says.

“I am.” Smith says.

“Which ones do you know?” He asks.

Smith blinks, surprised by the question, “Fluently? French, German, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Italian, R-“ he pauses and shakes his head, “Recently, I’ve been studying Japanese, Chinese, and some Korean.” He says strangely stumbling over a word for the first time this entire conversation.

A useful skill.

“If you ever find yourself looking for work,” Ichirou snaps his fingers and Conner had a card in his hand in an instant, consider reaching out.” He says before he offers it with both hands and is pleased when Smith accepts it with a slight bow before taking it with both hands. “I see you are also studying the etiquette.” He adds.

Smith looks up from the business card and he looks paler but Ichirou chalks it up to the fact that bowing slightly with his current stomach status likely hurt far more than he had let on. “If you don’t know the etiquette you only know half of the language.” He says and Ichirou quite likes the sentiment.

“Tell Josten that I no longer need to speak with him. Our conversation was satisfactory.” Ichirou says as he rises to his feet.

“I will do that…Lord Moriyama.” Smith says bowing his head politely.

***

The sight of Ichirou Moriyama was always going to be one that made Neil nervous.

The only good thing about seeing him right now was that Kevin had gone with Coach and Aaron in a separate car so that the two of them could continue their argument about protein powder in FF’s soup and Andrew had snagged a spot up front while Coach would have to park farther back.

“Lord Moriyama, I did not expect to see you here.” He greets head down and he almost goes to his knees if it wouldn’t have attracted the sort of attention that Ichirou hated from the public. He just hopes that Andrew isn’t scowling and that Nicky and Smith’s Grandma can keep quiet.

“Perhaps if you kept your phone with you then my appearance would not be such a surprise.” Ichirou comments idly, “Though I suppose I did have a very beneficial conversation with Smith. Quite a bright young man you have as a friend.” He compliments and Neil’s head shoots up in surprise at it.

Ichirou had spoken with FF.

FF who was fading in and out of consciousness.

“I have faith that he will not reveal anything.” Ichirou adds and Neil clenches his fist and wants desperately to ask what happened. Wants to know what state he’s going to find his friend in. “I have not done anything to harm him, you are lucky to have a…friend like that.” Ichirou says as if physical damage was the only thing that Ichirou Moriyama was capable of.

“Yes Lord Moriyama, he is a very talented and skilled defenseman.” He says hoping that if nothing else Ichirou’s desire for Neil and Kevin’s future profitability would have him reconsider doing anything in the future to FF to ensure they would have good showings for the professional teams.

“Yes, he was quite talented in your defense.” Ichirou nods, “I will reach out with details of our new deal once some affairs have settled. Take care of your friend, Josten.” Ichirou says before continuing out of the hospital.

New Deal?

Neil banished the thought from his head. They needed to get up to FF’s room and he needed to make sure his friend was okay and find out what exactly had happened.

Andrew’s hand came to the back of his neck and squeezed, “Calm down.” Andrew ordered voice soothingly blank even if Neil could feel the way his grip stuttered. “Let’s go.”

***

The Nurses were saying something about ‘aggravating stitches’ and ‘lucky nothing tore’ but it was all white noise to FF as he continues to think about the business card burning a hole in his pocket.

Ichirou Moriyama.

He’d just had an entire conversation with Ichirou Moriyama.

His stomach was already hurting from his ill advised walk but the moment he’d seen that name on the business card he had accepted his insides had been pure acid. He missed his Pepto Bismol more than anything right now, what he would give for just a single hit of the sweet pink relief.

He couldn’t figure out what was worse.

The fact that he had given over EVIDENCE to the head of a Yakuza group (was it a yakuza group or was it a mafia group?).

The fact that he’d been right in his thoughts from the abyss that the man in the cafeteria looked like a Yakuza member (was it a Yakuza or Mafia?).

The fact that he’d just seen a Japanese guy and thought ‘Oh, must be the Japanese FBI guy I’m supposed to talk to’ which means he’d still been kind of racist.

The fact that he just realized that he had Captain Neil’s phone and not his own meaning that Ichirou had been telling Captain Neil to come to the cafeteria and FF just showed up like a dipshit trying to pitch their lie about the alley.

Finally there was the fact that Ichirou Moriyama had apparently been impressed enough to offer him a spot within his Yakuza group (Yakuza or Mafia?)

Would it be weird to ask during the interview process? Is there an interview process to join organized crime? Do they have benefits? Wait a crime family is paying for his hospital stay right now. This is too much.

He considers asking the nurse to yes please crank up the pain killers and just let him slip into a nice not embarrassing coma but then Captain Neil and Andrew were rushing into his room. “Smith!” Captain Neil exclaims.

Well, too late to ask for that coma.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

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The  requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few  different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I  promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be  something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

If you didn’t get notified on the last part it’s probably because I used tumblr mobile to post and our most beloved garbage fire site just didn’t like that.

Polish in this chapter:

Przywiążę cię do krzesła = I will tie you to a chair

[songbirdseung]

blurred hearts / park sunghoon ft. sim jake

synopsis: I can't wait for the next life to be with you, i want you now and forever. what can I do to have you see me the way you see him?

pairing: bestfriend!sunghoon x reader, boyfriend!jake x reader, love triangle

warnings: one sided love, relationship troubles, lmk if i missed anything.

wc: 2.3k

masterlist

Your upset best friend, Park Sunghoon hangs up the phone for the third time this week. You called late at night to ramble, rant and cry about your boyfriend who has not been the best towards you these days. The other days of the week were spent face to face, you; running over to his house to ramble, rant, and cry about the same thing. With the messy emotions boiling within you, you fail to notice the same messy whirlpool of emotions swimming in Sunghoon; the man who remains stuck in the friendzone.

"Why don't you just break up with him?" He says as he hands you another box of tissues. "You don't understand, I love him."

"You'd know how it would feel if you loved someone the same way I love Jake." He looks at you as you wipe your tears, seeing you in this state for a past few weeks has given him another reminder why he wants to protect and care for you.

"I do love someone, maybe even more than the way you love Jake" Oh, how he wished he could cast a spell over you to stop crying over your boyfriend and wake up and see what was right next to you, him, Sunghoon.

"Who's that?" This time you actually stop and look at him for the first time again since you opened the door for him. He shakes his head indicating how he won't tell you. "I did not come here to discuss my love life while yours is in shambles." and with what he said, you start crying again, lightly shoving him "Then why did you say it, gosh I hate you." Not effected by your emotional and physical jab, he laughs it off and pulls you into a hug "I love you too."

Back at his house, he knew you were right. It doesn't matter if the odds are not in your favor, it doesn't matter if the other person is hurting you emotionally, if you love them...you stay because apparently love is blind.

Sunghoon lays in his bed as he tries to fall asleep, his head turns to the left to look at the picture frame with a photo of you and him during your vacation after high school graduation.

The two of you got permission from both of your parents to go to Switzerland together, you traveled for the first time, just you two. Luckily you did not get lost or had any bad experiences and made yourselves back home in one piece. The picture reminded him always of that core memory you two had but also reminded him of when the kind lady who took the picture for you calling you two a cute couple, you were about to correct her, but Sunghoon just said thank you and joked about how he can't wait to marry you when you both are older.

Sighing as he turned off the lamp, bitterly going to sleep as he realizes that that may never happen, as long as you're under Sim Jake's love spell.

He's sleeping alone with his weighted blanket while you were cuddled up with your boyfriend. Jake was always the cookie cutter, picture perfect, straight out of a rom com (written by a woman) type of man.

The past week just seemed like an off day for you both, a misunderstanding and conflict that caused you to keep running to your best friend. "I'm sorry for the past week baby, I did not mean to make you feel the way you did." Jake soothes you by caressing your back as you lay you head on his chest. "I'm sorry for projecting my work issues on you, I don't know why I let myself do that."

"It's okay, I totally understand. I mean I would get mad at anyone too if my boss was a complete asshole." You both share a chuckle and Jake kisses your forehead, falling asleep to each other's warmth and presence.

The next day after work, you made your way to the main exit of the building and you find both of the men waiting for you outside, leaning against their cars. "I didn't know you and douchebag made up" Sunghoon was never fond of Jake, he would tell you how he could see pass his "good boy" facade, Jake on the other hand never understood how Sunghoon could hate him when they barely exchanged a few hellos back then. "Dude, I-" you walk up to Jake quickly asking him to just leave it. "Baby, don't. It's okay, He didn't mean it."

"Yes, I did." Sunghoon says, not sparing a glance at the both of you. "Sunghoon, why are you here? and what's with the attitude?"

"I thought to pick you up since you and lover boy were not on good terms, but I guess you two made up." He tries to play off the jealousy by shrugging and having a nonchalant look on his face as he enters his car. "See you around, yeah?" Without waiting for a reply he drives away.

"That best friend of yours really hates me" Jake draws little circles on your back as he pulls you closer for a hug. "I guess after all the times you've made me cry the past week, it's safe to say, yes he does."

He laughs, looking unbothered by it "As long as you're always gonna be mine" he says as he opens the passenger side door for you. "Always."

The car ride home was better than the last time he picked you up, now there was less tension and back to normal. His free hand holding yours while stealing kisses from you during a red light or a stop sign. "Why don't we head to the store, pick up a few things and drive home to have a game night?" Jake suggested. "Let's make sure this game night, stays as game night, alright lover boy" teasing him with the nickname Sunghoon called him earlier. "You know the name Loverboy doesn't bother me, love." shaking your head, you just continue to watch Jake drive you both to the store safely.

Meanwhile back at the bar, Sunghoon is seated next to his friends Heeseung and Jay. "You know, Sunghoon...I hate to say this but-"

"Shut up, I know you're gonna tell me I don't have a shot with yn"

"Oh, so you do know but still decide to be an idiot?"

"We might as well record our same old advice and you could replay it every time you're back in this situation." He rolls his eyes and shoves Jay's face away from his. "You guys are such 'great' friends" the other men laugh and nudge Sunghoon. "We are only joking but also, it's the truth man, I know you like her a lot but she's happy with Jake."

"Also, he's not that bad of a guy, I used to work with him." Heeseung shares a short story on Jake. But this doesn't change Sunghoon's outlook on him. "Clearly jealousy is clouding your judgment" Jay takes away the drink from Sunghoon and reminding him he has work tomorrow.

"Wait, have you ever tried confessing to yn?" He shakes his head, telling them how it was clear that you never liked him. "Really? I remember her telling me in college that she had a crush on you when we were in-" not caring about the rest of Jay's story, he books it out of the bar and heads to your house. "Great, you made him delulu, thinking he can pull her now" Heeseung and Jay laugh seeing their friend stumble out the chair and run to his car.

Yes, he was still sober, but he was drunk on you. As he drives, he's thinking about all those times back in college, wondering if you really had a crush on him back then. But as he pulls into your driveway, he spots Jake's car in the garage, oh how lovely.

Nonetheless, he's at your door, ringing the doorbell. "Hello how-" Jake's sentence was cut short once he sees who's at the door. "I need to talk to yn" Sunghoon enters your house, not looking at Jake and just makes his way over to you. "Okay..." Jake awkwardly closes the door and goes over to you.

"Woah, Sunghoon what are you doing here?"

"He said he wanted to talk to you, So, I'll give you to some privacy. I'll be in the room, love." Kissing you and walking away. To this, Sunghoon looks away but rolls his eyes. Once he hears the bedroom door close, he jumps into action. Sitting next to you on the floor that was decorated with blankets, fairy lights, and snacks. The tv screen illuminated by the game you put on pause.

"Jay told me you had a crush on me back in college, that true?" You blink more than you usually do, bewildered on why that made him come over so suddenly. "Well, yeah but only for like a month?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" You think back to the time, and you remember the day you did see him in a different way. "I think it was just because I just got dump by that guy I was seeing, after that I kind of reminisced about how different you two would treat me." You looked at Sunghoon who was waiting for the direct explanation, so you continued. "You always treated me like a princess and reminded me how worthy I was, so I guess during that month I started developing feelings for you."

"And?"

"I didn't do anything about it because that same month, you started dating that one girl from your class." At this point, Sunghoon was now wishing he just stayed for the rest of Jay's story. "Why did you rush all the way here, also, were you drinking?"

"Maybe..I was with Jay and Heeseung."

"Answer my question.

"I did"

"The first question, Hoon"

"I don't remember what it was."

"Don't bs me, you're not drunk" He sighs and quickly thinks on an excuse to give you. "I was so curious, that's all, besides I was driving home, thought I stop by" you weren't convinced in the slightest, but you know there was no more budging this dude, so you nod and tell him whatever.

A little later Sunghoon goes back home, and Jake comes back into the living room. "What was that about?" Sitting back down in his spot and picking up his controller. "He found out I had a small crush on him back in college before you and I dated, he was curious..."

"Well, yeah the guy has a huge crush on you now, maybe he thought you were-"

"Wait what?"

"Oh, c'mon babe, it's so obvious." You pause the game again and face your boyfriend, waiting for more explanations. "I'm a dude, he's a dude, I basically know he likes you based off on how he acts, especially around me with you." Still not believing it, Jake suggests you call him, being direct and just ask him. So, you do, he hands you your phone and you dial his number.

When you call, Sunghoon has just entered his house and locked the door when he hears your ringtone. Picking up and he immediately wants to go run and hide. "Do you like me, Sunghoon?"

"Of course, you're my best friend. Of course-"

"Not platonically, Sunghoon. Do you have feelings for me?"

"What you gonna do if I do?"

As much as he wants you to drop that boyfriend of yours and be with him, he knows it too selfish to take you away from your happy relationship. But with the number of times where he put you first before his own self, was we wishing you would do so? "You know what, yn let's forget about it, I don't want to ruin what you have with Jake" then hangs up the phone. "So?" Jake looks at you with 'I told you so' look, making you glare at him. "He does..."

"You'll probably have to talk to him seriously next time you guys meet" this time when you pick up your controller, you don't have the same excitement you had before, now you're nervous and scared that you might have just lost your best friend. "I'm sorry I even brought that up, now you're in this predicament."

"No, babe. It's fine, it's better I find out than never."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to help him move on?" confused with your own answer that it came out as a question. "That'll be awkward."

And for sure it was, because the next two days Sunghoon manage to dodge you and hide away, but those victories of avoiding you ends now. You stand at his front door. With the help of Jay and Heeseung, you three manage to plan something to get him to come out of his house. Sunghoon got ready to meet Jay but when he opened the door to leave, he saw you. "We need to talk."

"What is there to talk about? Yn, you know now that I like you but there's nothing you can do about it." Sunghoon tries to walk past you to get to his car but when he looks in the driveway, his car isn't there. "Jay took your car but don't worry, you're coming with me." Taking his arm and bringing him to your car. "I don't understand how you say I can't do anything about it when-"

"It's not like you're going to break up with Jake to be with me yn, you love him. You don't love me that way, I can't just force you to." You stop walking and face him again. "I can't get you to fall for me by making moves on you because that's not fair to Jake and you. So please, just forget about it."

He gently removes your hand off him and fixes his jacket. "Just go home yn" you try to walk close to him, but he just backs up, away from you. "Sunghoon, I don't want to lose you."

"But yn, I already lost you years ago." He takes your silence a chance to retrieve back into his house and locking the door behind him. The barrier keeping you two apart.

[all-alone-he-turns-to-stone]

I'm Never Gonna Dance Again, The Way I Danced With You

Stranger Things Masterlist

Summary: After everything that happens to Hawkins, a school dance seems so out of place, but yet, everyone needs it. When an argument seems to break up Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship, Steve thinks it’s finally his chance to ask Nancy to the dance to conquer her heart. But first, he needs to learn how to dance. And of course, it has to fall on you. The only girl in Hawkins that seems to know how to dance and that is also deeply in love with Steve Harrington.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x F!Reader, Steve x Nancy, Nancy x Jonathan

Warning: Fluff, angst, misunderstanding, mention of the earthquake, Steve being a blind dumbass

Word Count: 5486

A/n: So this is the fic I took 6 months to finish, phew! Set up after season 4 when everyone tries to gather what they have left after the earthquake. No upside down breach leaks yet.

Having a school dance after everything that happened had to be the randomest, but the best idea people had in a while.

The school was one of the last, big buildings standing after the earthquake that opened the ground in pieces. With the hospital, it was the place people went if they needed food, shelter, clothes, anything they might have lost.

It was Robin’s idea, surprisingly. As she was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she suddenly dropped everything she was holding, smiled brightly and ran around telling people. With some help, they transformed the school with what they had left, found some speakers in the audio room and printed flies to invite people. Everyone was invited. Not that there were many people left in Hawkins, everyone fled the town.

Since the cafeteria was used for the homeless and wounded, the gym was chosen for the dance. Clothes were given away for the occasion, suits, dresses, of all sizes, so people could take what they liked to wear to the dance.

With all that happened, it was really needed. Just one night, dancing, eating, having fun with everyone and forgetting the mess that was outside… Everyone needed that.

You needed that. It was the perfect opportunity to reveal your feelings to the man you loved. All you had to do was to walk to him and ask him to go to the dance with you.

And there he was, in front of you, folding the newest arrival of clothes. A big, long red dress in his hands, Steve was struggling to find a way to put it on a hanger, totally lost in the number of straps it had. 

One foot in front of the other. Your heart tumbling in your chest. Sweaty hands kept wiping on your skirt. Mouth dry, lips silently mumbling the words you were ready to tell him. And it was easy, so easy, just… Hey Steve! Do you want to go to the dance with me?

Easy, right?

Another step, you were now even closer. Steve finally found how to put the dress on the hanger and placed it on the rack with the other prom dresses. People were so generous, he had an impressive amount of them in front of him.

Another step. “Hey, Y/n!” A voice suddenly rang behind you and you startled. “Sorry I scared you! I have a question…”

Turning to Robin, the organiser of the dance - a title not to pronounce in her presence, the mere thought of being the brain behind the dance turned poor Robin in a puddle of stress-, you forced a smile. “Yeah?”

“I know you were in the dance club before you graduated,” Robin was speaking very fast. In her hands, there was your year school book, her finger pointing at the picture of you with the dance club members. “So, since it’s a dance, I was wondering, what do we dance at a dance party? Like, for the music, of course.”

“Oh,” you picked up the book, smiling as you remembered that time. It was only a year ago, but yet, it felt like forever. “First, you need songs that are slow. We need that slow dance moment,” your smile grew bigger as you turned the page. “I can make a mixtape if you want, with songs we used to dance to?” 

You lifted your head, at first to look at her as you asked her the question, but stopped breathing immediately when you noticed something happening in front of you.

Further in the cafeteria, there was the drinks stand where usually Nancy helps. Now, she was in a deep conversation with Jonathan, both of them having tears in their eyes. You were too far away to hear what they were saying, but at the looks of it, it looked like…

“Looks like Nancy and Jonathan are breaking up,” Robin muttered out loud what you were thinking. "Again." 

And just to confirm, you watched as Jonathan walked away quickly, making everything to hide his face and his tears. Your heart broke at seeing them apart, you wished no one to live through a break up. 

But then, your gaze shifted and you saw him watching. The moment Jonathan was gone, his hands were slicking his hair back, his eyes never looking away from Nancy.

He wanted to try it again with her.

Next to you, Robin jumped her way towards Steve to whisper something to him and you saw him nodding ferociously, clearly listening to Robin’s advice or the plan that she was already scheming for them to get back together.

Your heart sank even more.

Still really stuck in your mind and how you missed your chance, how Steve would never notice you, or notice you had feelings for him for years now, you didn’t notice there was actually a person in front of you trying to get your attention. You got out of your head when fingers snapped near your nose. 

“What?” you jumped again, your voice high with annoyance of always being so jumpy. Your annoyance suffered a major down when you noticed it was Steve in front of you. “Oh… Uh…”

“Y/n. I need your help.” Steve left you no time to talk between his sentences. “I need you to teach me how to dance. I need to be the best dancer before I invite Nancy. Also because asking her immediately after she broke up would be quite a dick move,” Steve laughed, and god. 

You wished he didn’t laugh.

You wished he didn’t offer one of his beautiful smiles.

You wished he didn’t have his puppy eyes activated.

Because helping the guy you love getting with the girl he loves was too painful to even think about it. But when Steve asked you something… Or simply talked to you… You always got in a trance.

“Yeah, of course."

Neither Robin or Steve noticed it. How you suddenly got really flustered and sad at the same time, your heart literally breaking into a thousand little pieces at your feet. How your eyes got darker as you lowered your head while the two were scheming again, creating a plan where Nancy wouldn’t be able to tell him no.

But someone else noticed. He was giving glasses of water to people, reminding them H2O was essential to the body. Still walking with his limp, his injured ankles dragging a bit behind, Dustin stopped to look at what was happening.

“And they call us kids. Unbelievable.”

-

“Hey, flashdance,” you groaned after the fourth time.

It’s been only an hour. Just you showing him the basics. And Steve already stepped on your foot four times. Always the same foot, on the same toe. And at first, you tried to swallow it, swallow the pain to avoid any kind of embarrassment for him. But that one really hurt.

“I’m so sorry,” Steve cringed as he let go of your hand. Stepping back, he sighed and let himself drop on his couch.

After you agreed to teach him how to dance, Steve invited you to his house to start the same day. There was no time to lose, according to him. He had to be good, perfect, even, by the end of the week. Clearly, Harrington had a big ego and wanted to show Nancy how much of a good dancer he was.

The dance was happening next Saturday, and it was only Monday evening.

You sat down next to him, your hand still burning with the sensation of his fingers intertwined with yours as you tried to teach him how to spin his partner. “It’s okay Steve, we still have plenty of time,” you tried to comfort him. "Nancy's gonna be so impressed with your dance moves, you'll see." Of course, the sentence that wanted to be reassuring for him only hurt your feelings.

Steve ran his hand through his hair and you followed his movements, your eyes unable to look away. His hand and his hair. 

Gosh, he was beautiful.

“Yeah but I feel like I’ll never get good…” Steve mumbled and sighed in defeat. His eyes wandered to the left and he looked at your feet. “Sorry for stepping on your feet,” he apologised again and you rolled your eyes. 

“Stop saying sorry. Now, get up. We have work to do, you're gonna impress Wheeler at that dance,” you ordered, standing up and extending your hand for him to take. You had no idea how you managed to stay so calm. Perhaps, even if your heart was beating very fast, it wasn’t exploding because it was broken. After all, you were helping the guy you were in love with getting back with his ex…

Why were you doing that to yourself?

The smile he had on his face as he nodded, took your hand and got up. That was why.

That same smile you fell for and wished was only for you to see.

Swallowing your jealousy and your heart twisting painfully, you forced a smile and resumed the lessons.

-

Spending a whole week with Steve Harrington would have been a dream come true in any other circumstances. 

But spending a week with Steve Harrington to help him get back with his ex was the most painful thing you had to do. Because you really loved spending all that time with him. Not just for the dance where you had to touch and be close, or where you could laugh at how clumsy he was. It was the late night pizza he would order. Or how he always had the house to himself since his parents were out of town, so you two would be alone. It was the few nights you stayed over because it was too late to drive back home.

It was that night he decided to jump in the pool and you joined him. Since you didn’t have your swimsuit, you jumped fully dressed. And it felt liberating.

The week was amazing. But now that it was over, that the dance was coming, that Steve didn’t need you anymore cause he mastered the art of dancing…

Emptiness was filling you up. Steve was simply so happy and proud of himself, he kept talking about it wherever he went. To Robin, Dustin, everyone knew he was now a professional dancer thanks to the best teacher in the world, you.

The dance finally arrived. You were home, wearing the dress you picked, looking at yourself in the mirror. Tears were drowning your sight and leaving trails of water down your cheeks. Luckily, you had no makeup on yet, because it would have been a disaster. 

The dress was beautiful. Red and silky, the corset brought up your shapes and created a semi plunging neckline. In the back, many stripes were intertwined, it had been really complicated to put it on. It was mid length and arrived just below your knees.

It was the dress Steve was trying so hard to put on a hanger. You didn’t know why you picked that one, because it was pretty, or because you imagined how Steve would hold you if you were in it?

“Honey, your friend is here!” Your mom called from the kitchen. You startled, once again, and a hiccup cut down your little pathetic scream. 

“Coming!” You screamed, hurrying to dry your cheek. One last look at the mirror and you admitted defeat. You wouldn’t be able to hide that you've been crying. Your eyes were way too puffy and red now.

Wondering who was at the door, you really hoped it wasn’t Steve. Then, you realised, it couldn’t be Steve. He asked Nancy to the dance. She said yes. That was the reason you’ve been crying for hours now with the dress on. 

Steve was with Nancy.

When you arrived at the door, you expected a lot of people. But not the one that was waiting there. His hair was slicked back, Steve style, and he had the cutest suit on. “Dustin?” You wondered quite loudly as you looked at him, up and down, frowned and crossed your arms against your chest. “What… Why… How…”

“Gosh, Steve is so blind,” Dustin rolled his eyes and stepped inside your house like it was his now. “I’m making sure you’re coming to the dance,” he continued and then took a long look at you. You could see the moment his eyes softened, meaning he noticed you’ve been crying. “I knew it. Now, finish up, we’re going.”

“Where do you come from?” You wondered, trying to wipe invisible tears that would still be there on your cheeks. “How do you know where I live? Why are you here?”

“That’s too many questions,” Dustin rolled his eyes. “But okay. First, I came through the front door. Second, I know where you live because I’m smart. Third, I’m here to help you confess to Steve.”

That was indeed too many questions, because you received way more answers that your brain could comprehend. “How do you-”

“Like I said,” Dustin stepped closer to you and put both of his hands on your shoulders. “No time. I know. Now, go get ready, I’ll be waiting in the car.”

To that, you stopped mid track. Already, Dustin Henderson showing at your house was something you would never have expected. He clearly knew you had feelings for Steve, but that part strangely didn’t surprise you. Dustin was always the clever one, after all.

“The… Car?”

Once you were ready, after your mom kissed you goodbye and told you how beautiful you were, you walked outside to see what Dustin was talking about. And here, parked in front of your house was a car. Of course, it wasn’t Dustin’s, he didn’t have the age to get his licence yet. But as you got closer…

“Hello dear, you are beautiful!”

“Thank you m’am,” you smiled as you entered the car next to Dustin’s mom. Sitting at the back, you knew Dustin had the biggest smile ever. The kid was proud of himself.

Arriving at the dance with Dustin was weird at first, but quickly, you noticed no one was paying attention to you anyway. Already, people were on the dance floor, the mixtape you made for the occasion playing in the speakers. They used the same lights and the same decoration as the snowball dance, but no one minded. Adults and younger people were mingling and having fun for the first time since the earthquake.

“Dustin, I have to ask you.” You were at the drinks table with your friend, hiding. Looking at the choices of beverages to hide the fact you were too scared to look at people and seeing Steve with Nancy. He had to be there. That was for sure. “Why do you want to help me?”

“I’m not only helping you,” Dustin answered, taking a glass of grape juice. “I’m also helping Steve. That poor guy is so blinded by Nancy, it hurts both him and the girls that like him. At first, I thought he would get with Robin, but they don’t have that kind of relationship.” He took a loud sip of his juice as you still avoided looking at anyone in the room. Head bent down, you thought about what Dustin just said. “Then, I saw how you looked at him. It was easy to guess.”

Of course, if someone would see through the mask you tried to wear whenever you were with Steve to hide your feelings, it would be Dustin.

“So,” you resumed, finally making your choice. You picked a can of soda and turned to Dustin. “You do that for him?”

“Steve needs someone like you in his life. And he needs to realise Nancy loves Jonathan, break up or not. Look,” Dustin gestured in front of him, and it was with fear that you finally turned to scan the crowd.

To the left, there was El with Mike, dancing so closely it was barely if they were two people anymore. Hopper and Joyce were there as well, dancing cheek to cheek, and you smiled at seeing them so happy. Hopper coming back to Hawkins was the best thing that happened in a while, even if at first, people were shocked to see someone seemingly coming back to life, again. Then, there was Lucas and Will eating cake, clearly talking about DnD. Will’s face was bright with passion as he spoke to his friend.

Then, like there was a spotlight on them, Nancy was with Steve. 

Steve looked so good, for a moment, you forgot to breathe. He had a suit on, with a bow tie and his shirt was unbuttoned enough to show the chest hair he was so proud of.

Nancy was as beautiful in her pink dress. Her curly hair was tied in a tight ponytail and clips with little bows were decorating the side of her head.

But above their unnatural beauty and how much they fitted together, there was something else. Nancy kept glancing towards the door, as if she expected to see someone come in at any moment. Yes, she was holding Steve’s hands, she was physically with him, but her mind was completely elsewhere. 

Hope seemed to light a flame in your chest. She was looking for Jonathan, that was certain. They say the eyes are the mirror of the heart. And her heart belonged to him. Dustin was right, Steve hurt himself by holding on to her.

The slow song seemed to end, and Nancy whispered something to Steve. Again, you were too far to hear, but the look she gave him before walking to the exit meant enough.

She was leaving to find Jonathan.

Your heart sank then. How could you feel hope when you saw the man you loved getting his heart broken, again? You knew the feeling. It hurts so bad it gets hard to breathe. You could not take advantage of this.

Steve seemed to notice he was alone in the middle of the dance floor, because he suddenly looked all around him. And when his eyes fell on you, when a smile stretched his lips as he walked towards you, you really felt your heart drop to the floor. 

“Here he comes,” Dustin sipped his juice again and subtly walked further in the room to leave you two some time alone together. Part of you wanted to punch him, after all, he brought you here and told you all of that about Steve, to then leave you alone with him. But the other part was thankful.

Here was your chance.

“Hey! I didn’t think you would come,” Steve said the moment he was close enough. You swallowed, played with your soda, trying to find something to answer, but nothing left your mouth. There were so many things you wanted to tell him, your brain was running wild with the desire to speak, but it was blocked. Impossible to say a single thing. “Oh, I love that song!” Steve bobbed his head to the rhythm, clumsily vibing to the music. You knew it was one of his favourites, you practised a dance on that song with him, that was the reason you put it on the mixtape. Hoping you would get to dance to this song with him again. “So, Nancy left to find Jonathan.” You glanced at him quickly to see his reaction; he rolled his eyes, drinking his apple juice quickly. “It’s like she can’t get him out of her head, y’anno?”

“Steve, I-” You tried. You tried so hard to make the words leave your mouth, find the courage… But you were immediately interrupted.

“I spent a week learning how to dance, gathered the courage to ask her, she came here with me, and now she’s gone? If you want my opinion, it’s so unfair. I was right there!” Steve exclaimed, drowning the rest of his juice. “Why is there nothing else than juice and soda here?”

“There’s kids to the dance, Steve, so there’s no alcohol,” you tried again, tears quickly filling your eyes. You wanted to say it. So bad. It was the time. You were alone with him, you just had to say it. The words were bleeding through your lips, your heart beating so hard it hurt. You could barely hear the song above the beatings.

“I just wished she could see me, y’anno?” Steve continued, not at all listening to you. “I’m right there, next to her… And…” You could see him lower his head, clearly hurt by what happened. You really hated to see him like that, so like always… You tried to comfort him.

“I know…” You whispered, knowing exactly what he meant. “Sometimes, the right person is right there, next to you. With only love to give,” you continued. Next to you, Steve nodded, agreeing with you. “You're there. Right there next to them. But they don’t see you.”

“Exactly!” Steve exclaimed. “If only Nancy was thinking like you…”

Tears were now running down your cheeks. You couldn’t hold them back. All you ever wanted to tell him, you basically just did. And he was still talking about Nancy, comparing her to you.

It would always be about Nancy.

“Sorry,” you excused yourself, walking as quickly as you could towards the closest door. You had to leave, right now. Coming was a bad idea. You should have stayed home, curled up in your bed, watching the wall like somehow, the answer to all of your questions was hiding in the wallpaper.

Making your way through the crowd, you couldn’t hold back the sobs that shook your chest. Good thing the music was there, it could bury the sounds. But it also buried Steve’s voice as he called your name.

There was only one place you could go. To hide and cry and let your emotions drown freely out of your body. The lock was broken for a while now, but since no one cared about this place, the school didn’t think it was necessary to change it. Who would want to steal anything here? Dance material, costumes, even the theatre props were put in here. Most of them were so worn, even the patches sewed on the fabrics to cover the holes were starting to rip apart.

During the hell that was your high school, being in the dance club was the only thing that brought you comfort and joy. And then, you became friends with Robin. She wasn’t in the club, but you could see her sometimes during practice in the doorway, mimicking the movements like she wanted so badly to be there. One time, you asked her if she wanted to join, and she answered she was so bad at dancing she would look like a clown. You proposed to teach her how to dance, but then, she suddenly got very busy with something she wouldn’t tell you about.

The earthquake happened shortly after. You knew there was more than that, a truth her group of friends were hiding. Of course, by hanging out with Robin, you ended up hanging out with her friends too, and that included Steve. She promised you there was nothing between the two of them, and you believed her.

Friendship didn’t always need romance after all.

In Hawkins, there was the big, main gymnasium, but there was also a smaller one right next to it. The room was surrounded by mirrors and designated for dance and theatre practice. And in the corner, the only place there were no mirrors, there was a door. And behind, the props you were hiding with.

You had no idea how much time passed. How many tears shed down your cheeks before there were none left. Gosh, you were crying for a boy, and missing the dance you were so happy to attend at first. It was so unfair, you couldn’t stay there and cry alone like a teenager with a heartbreak.

With that new resolution in mind, you quickly dried your cheeks, got up, and opened the door. Lights filled the room, but you couldn't remember you let the lights on when you came in here. Only one step out of the room and you walked into a firm wall of warmth head first.

“Ouch,” you mumbled, staggering a bit to find your balance back. Stupid high heels you were not used to wearing. Once the first surprise of heading into someone was passed, you noticed that in fact, you weren’t alone in here. In your private hiding spot. And you noticed it from the start, when you walked into him. You knew who it was, only with the soft scent he always had. Of course, there was a strong aftershave scent above it. But under, it was him. Your other source of comfort.

Though, right now, it was a source of heartbreak.

“Sorry,” Steve apologised, both hands raised. Not able to face him right now, you kept your head down and stared at his chest. Particularly at the patch of hair he was proudly displaying tonight with his unbuttoned shirt.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, rocking from one foot to the other. Stress started building up, did he follow you? How did he know you were in there?

“I couldn’t leave you after you ran away like that.” Steve’s voice was soft, low, almost a whisper. Like he was speaking carefully, choosing his words to be sure to not mess anything up. “I also couldn’t let you leave without…”

As the first note of the song echoed in the empty room, you couldn't help but lift your head towards him. A smile was stretching his lips, he looked so proud of himself, and he was so close to you you could see your reflection back in his brown eyes.

“How did you…” You started, looking around the room to try and find who put the song on. THe room had speakers, but to have access to it, you needed to be next to the sound console which was not with you right now.

“Do you want to dance with me, Y/n?” Steve's voice was now sulky and warm and even a bit flirty. And when you glanced towards him, it was to see his hand extended to you, a glint of amusement in his eyes and one wild hair strand falling on his forehead. “Please.”

I feel so unsure

As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor

As the music dies, something in your eyes

Calls to mind a silver screen

And all its sad good-byes

Who were you to tell him no? It felt like a fairy tale. Maybe you fell asleep in the prop room, and this was your dream coming true. Well, your dream being a dream. You couldn’t let that pass, so dream or not, you took his hand.

It was warm in yours, almost burning.

I'm never gonna dance again

Guilty feet have got no rhythm

Though it's easy to pretend

I know you're not a fool

This verse, he sung it with the song. And as the lyrics left his lips, Steve hugged you to him, his whole body engulfing yours with the heat. It felt hot, you knew your face was flushed with embarrassment of being so close to him. You almost missed the significance of the song. How the lyrics and what he was singing was exactly what was happening.

Though, as you started your slow dance, your left hand in his big one and your right one on his shoulder while his was around your waist, he didn’t step on your feet this time. He had rhythm. 

You teached him well.

Laying your head on his chest, you closed your eyes. If only this wasn’t a dream. 

I should've known better than to cheat a friend

And waste the chance that I'd been given

So I'm never gonna dance again

The way I danced with you, oh

As the song continued, time seemed to stop. It felt natural. To be this close to Steve. To hold him close to you. To share the same space, the same body heat and the same air. It was beautiful, just the two of you, surrounded by an endless amount of reflection all around you. Your twins dancing the same dance in the mirors.

Steve stepped back ever so slightly, but never let go of your hand. And then, with the skills of a professional dancer, he lifted the arms that were locked with yours and made you spin slowly. No feet stepping on your toes, you swung on yourself beautifully. The hem of the dress lifted and created a swirl of red that got reflected in the mirrors. You saw it all around you. And when you lifted your head to tell him he did it perfectly, your words were cut by lips.

At the same moment Steve kissed you, fireworks exploded in your stomach. There was no one else than the two of you in the school. In Hawkins. On the whole planet. Only the two of you existed. Not wasting a second, you put your other arm around his neck and kissed him back with all the love you had for him. 

And in the distance, the song continued.

Tonight the music seems so loud

I wish that we could lose this crowd

Maybe it's better this way

We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say

We could have been so good together

We could have lived this dance forever

But now, who's gonna dance with me?

Please stay

“Please stay,” Steve broke the kiss and exhaled softly against your face. You closed your eyes and smiled sadly, knowing this just couldn’t be true. It was a dream. “I was blind, so blind,” he continued, a nervous laugh following his words. To that, you opened your eyes again and looked at him, listening to what he had to say.

And in his eyes, you could see anxiety.

Wait. Steve being anxious? He was always so sure of himself. You frowned. “What?”

“I was blinded by Nancy… We never really forget our first love, you know,” his gaze grew sad. Yeah, you knew. Nodding your head, you invited him to continue. “But I realised tonight… Sometimes… Sometimes, the right person is right there, next to you. With only love to give. You were there. Right there next to me. And I saw you, I saw you since the time I met you. But I couldn’t really see you, you know?” You nodded even if you were not really sure to follow. “I mean… Y/n, I like you.” 

Butterflies flew widely in your stomach now.

“So that’s why you kissed me,” you nodded. God, you were nodding way too much!

Steve nodded as well. At least you weren’t the only one using your head to show agreement. “Please, forget how of a blind jerk I was, stay…”

To that, you thought. Stepping back from his warmth, even if staying in his arms was the only thing you wanted, you suddenly clasped both hands on your cheeks quite strongly. By now, the song was over, so the clap sounded loudly in the room.

“I’m not dreaming, am I?”

Steve looked at you with wide, confused eyes. “No…?”

A bright smile stretched your lips. Good. This wasn’t a dream. You took a couple of seconds more to take in the moment, take a deep breath and admire the man in front of you.

God, your heart was about to get out of your chest.

“But… wait,” you momentarily lost your smile. “How… How did you know? Minutes ago, you were all over Nancy,” you reminded him, but you could see for him it was like a stab in the back. You quickly asked your question, afraid to spoil the moment. “And now you’re here, and danced with me, and kissed me,” you smiled, your lips tingling with the need to do it again. “What happened in the meantime?”

LIke he was waiting for the right moment, the door cracked open on an overly curious teen. 

“Good, you both like each other. Now, can we go back to the dance please?” Dustin muttered before closing the door. You listened to his steps fading away.

“I should have known,” you rolled your eyes playfully. If someone had to open Steve’s eyes, it was Dustin.

“Ready to go back?” Steve changed the subject, probably a bit ashamed it took a kid to open his eyes and offered a hand that you took with no hesitation. Glancing up at his face, you were met with a soft gaze filled with warmth.

“Actually... I’d like to stay a bit longer,” you snuggled against Steve, his arms immediately circling your frame. “If it’s okay with you.”

“Of course,” Steve placed his cheeks on top of your head. “We can stay as long as you want.”

Forever Taglist: @nitnat6245​​​ @b3autyfuldisast3r​​​ @eevvvaa​​​ @wickedinspirations​​​ @fictional-affairs​​​ @awkward-and-indecisive​​​ @cryptichobbit​ @katbratsupernaturalwhore​

[onlyweknowleeknow]

Almost Forever

Han x reader

Genre: angst, breakup au, idol au.

Synopsis: Han had always been the one, you had never doubted it for a moment. But sometimes, the right people come at the wrong time. And because of this, your relationship came crashing down in a mix of hateful tears, sorrowful words, and not so sweet goodbyes.

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: afab reader, mental/emotional manipulation, hints of fluff, angst, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, language, crying, yelling, fighting, break ups, regret, misunderstandings, unhappy ending(slanted parts are memories), Han has big time anger issues.

A/n: this is gonna be a unique story. I’m not very motivated to write a normal one, so I hope y’all like this type of writing too. I do not condone this kind of relationship, it is definitely not healthy. this is simply a figment of my imagination, please do not take offense to it, nor get upset by anything said in the story. enjoy! :)

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Han Jisung.

The name seemed so distant, yet all too familiar.

It seemed like an eternity ago, the day he simultaneously walked out the door and out of your life.

Han Jisung had given you anything and everything. It only took the curl of your lips or the flutter of your lashes to get what you desired from him. And you, too, had given him everything. But sometimes, everything still isn’t enough.

Sometimes, on a completely random page in the book of your life, a new character is written. And sometimes, that character fades away within a few chapters, sometimes just a few pages. Yet sometimes, if you get lucky, that character will stay. That character will blossom into someone you couldn’t imagine your story without.

Unfortunately, authors like to tease their readers, don’t they? So they swirl hundreds of words and emotions together, spinning a web of adoration around each and every character, only to rip them away, one by one, when you least expect it.

They build people up, up, and up. Higher and higher, until they break the ladder, until they send one character or another tumbling into a pit of despair and longing and emptiness.

To you, that’s who Han was. He was your favorite character, the one that everyone adored and admired, the one that had been written off the pages of your book all too soon.

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

You unlocked the dull-looking door with a groan. It pushed open to reveal an even more tiresome looking apartment.

Without much thought, you dropped your purse and slid off your shoes. You walked towards the couch with lazily strides, feet dragging.

It had been a long day, an extremely long day. Your boss had been so generous to give you an extra load of work because, apparently, one of your co-workers had called off sick and, also apparently, that was your issue. Somehow.

You didn’t have time to dwell on the past workday, though.

Suddenly, you recalled some leftovers you had in the fridge, tucked away in the very back, hidden safely away. Who knew, maybe Changbin would pop by and snatch up any remaining food. Wouldn’t be the first time.

So, with another groggy sigh, you diverted your path to the kitchen, rather than to the couch. As you walked into the kitchen, your eyes landed on a piece of paper that was magnetized to the fridge.

You had forgotten about the folded sheet, so you inspected it closer.

Quickly, you pulled away, then breathed in a sharp inhale. It was a simple recipe for rice cakes you had used almost a year ago now.

It wasn’t that you really needed the recipe, now or back then, but Felix had recommended it and how were you supposed to deny his suggestion, the baker himself?

Your eyebrows furrowed, your hands came down to snag the paper from the fridge and immediately crumpled it into a ball. You threw it away, then let your hands run over your face as memories began to cloud your vision.

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

Your fingers flattened the table cloth, your tongue pushed against the inside of your cheek. You hoped it looked okay.

Your hesitant gaze wandered across the dimly lit room.

You had spent hours planning the little event in your dining room, but it was well worth it. The crimson table cloth was neatly splayed across the table, delicious food lay spread across it.

One of the dishes included some rice cakes you had spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to perfect, who could have guessed Felix’s recipe would be for advanced bakers only?

Flowers were placed in the center of the table, and candles were set around the perimeter of the room in miscellaneous patterns.

You pushed your hands together and breathed into them happily.

You did good. Yes, this was definitely worth the struggle. He would love it, you assured yourself.

You couldn’t stop the excitement that bubbled up your spine, couldn’t stop your fingers from lightly twitching.

You drew in a sharp breath and scrunched your nose, a habit you used to put your emotions at bay. You spun on your heel after checking your watch; 8:22pm. Han would be home soon, he had promised to try to come home around 8:30pm, which was an hour sooner than he normally got home. It was your 4th anniversary, after all.

You made your way into the bathroom, and made sure to touch up your hair and makeup, along with the grey dress that adorned your figure. It was pretty and delicate looking, yet comfortable to wear and soft to the touch. Your hair was pulled back, styled into a fragile bun. You allowed a few pieces of hair to fall over your forehead; it completed the look, you thought.

When you entered the kitchen again, it was 8:29pm. You hummed, and sat down in your chair to stop from fidgeting. Though, your foot continued to tap against the ground, your teeth also continue to nibble at your lower lip.

You couldn’t sit still, hands itching to touch or fix something. So, you stood up and shuffled around. You fixed everything that was out of place, humming a soft song that had been stuck in your head all day. You arranged the pillows in size order, fixed the dishes that were slightly out of place in the kitchen, rearranged the food platters on the dining table, and touched-up practically anything else you could get your hands on.

Time sure did fly by, because when you checked your watch again, it was already 9:15. Han should’ve been home a while ago, but you couldn’t really get mad. He did say it would be a tight fit, so you decided to wait.

But the seconds turned into minutes, the minutes into an hour, and an hour into 3 hours. And soon enough, you were slouched on the couch, staring at absolutely nothing.

Maybe he got held up? He wouldn’t purposely bail. He was a busy man, after all. He had to write songs for StrayKids’ upcoming comeback, learn choreos, and more.

You stood up, then sat back down. What could you do, really? It was 12:30am now, you were getting tired and worried. It wouldn’t be the first time Han had skipped a date the two of you had planned, but he hadn’t skipped your anniversary dates before. It was a mistake, you were sure.

As another hour passed and Han still wasn’t home. You decided enough was enough. You packed up all the food and cleaned off the table, folding the crimson table cloth into a neat square, before putting it away. You did the dishes, and by the time you were finished making sure everything was spotless, it was 2:07am.

You fought the urge to stay up and wait for your boyfriend. Instead, you walked to your shared room and undressed, putting on some pajamas. You then took off your makeup and thoroughly washed your face. You put your hair into a more comfortable updo and settled into bed, snuggling into the warm, entrancing covers and sheets. You stared at nothing for the hundredth time, a single tear escaping your eyes and leaving it’s mark on the pillow below your head. You checked your phone one last time, but still, radio silence met you from Han’s end.

It was an accident. It had to be.

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

Your mind was filled with memories of him for the rest of the night, and well into the next day.

Work was long and tiresome again today, so you took a short break. You wanted to get coffee, but you really didn’t want to have to call a cab or walk. So you just stayed in your sad, little office, giving your mind a break.

A migraine was starting to form in your head, the familiar throb of pain washing over your body in waves. You sighed, today was only getting worse. Your co-worked had called off for all week, which meant you had double the workload… all week, obviously.

Even though you were prepared to handle everything, your mind was elsewhere, deciding that you definitely shouldn’t get any work done today.

But your self break ended soon, so you had to get back to work. Working definitely made the day go by slower, paperwork upon paperwork piled on your desk. It seemed like the day was endless. Even so, you were hardly able to make a dent in the papers on your desk, which just pissed you off more. 

You groaned, checking your watch.

A mistake. Your eyes hovered on the piece of jewelry, time slowing down even more, if that was even possible. Apparently it was.

It was a simple, leather watch with black numbers and silver pointers.

You unhooked the watch, flipping it over to stare at the indent on the other side. It was Han’s initials plus yours, a reminder that you would forever be his. And maybe, at the right time, you would’ve been.

You found yourself biting the insides of your cheeks, chewing carefully.

And then it happened for the second time within less then 24 hours. It was strange, really. You hadn’t thought about him for months, not even if you looked at the watch. But after yesterday, he hadn’t left your mind, not even once.

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

“Have you seen Han?” Your voice sounded small, even to you.

You only shrunk when Chan and Changbin turned their eyes to you. You weren’t scared by any means, just nervous. You had recently been nervous quite a bit. It was unusual for you, but what could you do? Nothing, not really.

Changbin shook his head. “I haven’t since he left about two hours ago. He might’ve gone to the other recording room though.” He offered. Chan agreed, his deep voice speaking up as well. “Yeah, he probably did. He goes there a lot when he can’t think of lyrics, or just when he needs a break.”

You thanked the boys, who offered you sweet smiles and soft whispers of ‘good luck’.

The pair was right, Han was in the other recording room. You could see him through the small glass panel on the door. He was sitting on the small sofa that sat in the middle of the room, hands covering his face. You watched him for a moment, but he hardly moved from his spot, so you knocked.

That made him jolt upwards, his eyes wide. He relaxed when he saw you, gaze softening as he motioned for you to come in. “Hey my love, what are you doing here?” He asked when you opened the door and walked inside, his voice hoarse. You assumed he had been napping. You offered him a smile, walking towards the couch, where Han was now sitting up with his arms outstretched for you.

You giggled, approaching him. He wrapped his arms around your hips, face pushed against your torso. “I missed you.” He mumbled, sighing deeply. You rested your hands on the top of his head, stroking his soft hair. “I missed you too.” You said quietly, not wanting to startle him awake too much.

“I’m actually here to check in on you. You missed our date again.” You slowly spoke, waiting for his response. And just like that, he was tense again. His muscles tightening for just a moment, before he pushed himself away from you. You stumbled slightly, blinking down at him.

“What do you mean, ‘again’?” He asked.

“Well— I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but you missed our last two dates also.” Your voice was slow and hesitant.

Han scoffed, standing to his full height slowly. “You know I’m an idol, right?” He asked, his tone laced with irritation.

You sighed, bristling. “Of course I know that. I’m not blaming you, I’m just letting you know how many dates you’ve missed now, I—“

You were interrupted by the, now upset, man. “It’s always about me messing up, isn’t it? I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders, y/n. I have to produce music for the group, and still attend normal practices.” He defended himself.

“Han, that’s not what I’m saying, I just—“ He interrupted you again.

“On top of that, I also have an extremely busy schedule to attend to. Fan meets, concerts, filming, vlives, and more things you don’t even want to know about.” Han was practically fuming now, his pent up anger exploding all over you.

“Han, calm down. I know you’re busy, I’m just saying that you’ve missed some of our dates. It’s really okay! I just wanted to tell you and check in.”

Han scoffed at that, crossing his arms as his gaze narrowed. “Calm down? You’re telling me it’s okay? It’s not fucking okay, y/n. All you do is talk about yourself! I can never do anything to please you anymore. You always complain about me not being around, when we both know I spend as much time as I can with you!” He continued on, “I work so hard, harder then you, that’s for sure. You just sit at a desk and sign papers all day, while I’m working my ass off to perform in front of millions of people! On top of that, I have to deal with Dispatch trying to pry into our private lives!” He shouted. Throwing insult after insult at your job and life.

“I know and I’m sorry, but that’s not fair, Jisung.” You said in a hushed tone.

Han paused. You almost never used his first name. But rage blinded him, so he continued. “You’re right, it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair that I have to deal with your complaining all the time, on top of my already stressful life. Would you just give it up? I need a fucking break.”

The Han you had agreed to date would have never reacted to anything like that. But this Han, he wasn’t the same person. He had changed over the past 4 years, and not really in a good way. You could feel tears threaten to spill from your eyes, and judging by the way his own gaze softened, you weren’t doing a very good job at hiding it.

That was the day you really, truly accepted the fact that your sweet, playful Han was gone, at least for now. It was time to close this chapter of your book, it was time to let Han Jisung go. You didn’t want to, but his words just sealed your relationship’s fate.

You stared at the boy who had stolen your heart, only ripping your eyes away when you felt a tear slide down your cheek.

“Fine. You want a break? I’ll give you a damn break.”

You shoved past him, ignoring his sorry pleads of forgiveness and his empty promises. “Y/n- wait, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry, let’s talk. I let my anger get the best of me, I promise it won’t happen again. Y/n—“ You didn’t want to leave him, of course you didn’t, but you had to. If not for yourself, then for him.

It wasn’t fair, it really wasn’t.

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

You wanted to curl up into a little, tiny ball and never see the light of day again. Life was cruel and harsh, you had been sure of that since you were a child.

But now, as an adult, after falling in love, the world seemed unfair in a whole new way. A cruel way.

Your heart shattered each time you saw Han in a news article or on television. It hurt to see dating rumors and scandals about the boy. You didn’t know if any of them were true, since you had cut contact with all of the members, and you certainly had no claim over him, but the thought of him with someone new or just the thought of him struggling, still broke your heart.

Even after all these months, the boy had managed to retain a solid grip on your life, his face appearing in even your deepest dream as of late.

And when you awoke, sorrow would fill your mind, trapping you within it’s depths.

But here, in the middle of your work day, was not the time to think about the miserable story that was your love life, or former love life, rather.

The only thing you could do here and now was hope for the best for Han Jisung and his members.

And sometimes, if you allowed yourself, you could imagine what it would have been like to spend eternity with the precious boy. Because god only knows; you two had almost forever.

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A/n: I wrote this while at a sleepover with two of my friends. It was hectic and honestly, this isn’t proof read. I have no idea why I decided to write a brand new story instead of writing a chapter for my ongoing series, or finishing up one of the two stories I already had mostly finished. But anyways, I wrote this in like 2 hours with a ridiculous amount of distractions, so forgive any mistakes. <3

[jacaranda-bloom]

Five Fave Fics

The always lovely @haztobegood tagged me to share my Five Fave Fics - thank you so much! This is always really hard because my favourites oscillate depending on my mood and how recently I’ve written them, but here’s how I’m feeling it at the moment...

🍁 Man, Deconstructed | 14k | Explicit | I think this one will always be high up on my list of fave’s. It’s just the right length to read in one sitting, the characters are so earnest and adorable, and the secondhand embarrassment just gets me every single time. 

Where a well-meaning best mate, a sculpture-worthy arse, and a heaping dose of misunderstanding combine to create sheer and utter chaos, and also, maybe, the best thing Harry’s ever found.

🍁 The Future Is Now | 16k | Explicit | Another short one that always makes me smile. Louis is charmingly oblivious to what the universe (or rather the fortune telling machine) is trying to reveal to him about his best mate. He eventually gets there, of course, but the road he travels and the scenarios he has to navigate are deliciously infuriating and that just makes the ending even more satisfying.

Where Louis follows the fortunes five times to seek out his true love, and the one time he realises that what he's been searching for might've been right in front of him all along.

🍁 In A Twinkling | 90k | Explicit | Ahhhh my 2021 Advent Fic. It never ceases to amaze me how the underlying messages in this fic crept up and whacked me over the head. I still remember calling my sister mid-meltdown when people started commenting about Louis’ journey of self-discovery and how much it resonated with them. It had started as a quick romp of a thing, and then ended up consuming me in the best possible way. I’ll forever be grateful for the ride the readers took me on with this one, for how they embraced the characters, and for giving me the most wonderful Christmas Present that lasted the whole of December. 

Where Louis’ Nan just wants him to be happy, to settle down with a nice boy, and bring him around for Christmas. Louis is too busy with his career to bother about relationships, but in an attempt to appease his Nan, he sends her photoshopped pictures of him and his pretend boyfriend, Harry. The fact that the man in the pictures is none other than Harry Styles, world famous Gucci model—and recurrent star of Louis’ fantasies—is irrelevant. It’s not like their paths will ever cross… So it comes as somewhat of a surprise when Louis returns home for Christmas and walks into his Nan’s sitting room only to find the real-life Harry Styles happily chatting away with the grey-haired ladies of his Nan’s Crochet Circle.

🍁 No Going Back | 56k | Explicit | This one will likely make any faves list of mine for a long time to come. This was the fic where I felt I found my writing style and really hit my stride. The setting on an isolated island off the bottom of Australia where they were caretakers for a lighthouse just really landed with me. But it wouldn’t have been half the fic it was without being able to work with an amazing collaborator to create the separate travel blog, which was such a treat! 

Where one choice - a left instead of a right, a go instead of a stop, a yes instead of a no - can change the future forever and that sometimes, taking that leap of faith, is worth the risk.

🍁 If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow) | 56k | Explicit | I know hybrid fics aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but this fic was where I felt like I really started to push the boat out and be braver with my writing. The amount of world building that went into this story was overwhelming at times, but is probably also where I found the passion for it that has continued up until this day. Creating an entirely new society, with many of the same problems we have in our own world, just revealed through a different lens was so rewarding for me. Anyway, I adore this fic and I will love it until the end of time.

History teaches us many things. It allows us to learn from the mistakes and achievements of our past, it colours our present, and guides and influences our future.

Sometimes change comes quickly, barrelling on and sweeping up everything in its path.

Sometimes change comes more slowly, one tentative step at a time, barely making a ripple in the fabric of society.

Sometimes change needs an army, a force so powerful it overwhelms all who try to stand in its way.

But sometimes, all it takes is one man, whose love for another is so pure, so enduring, and so powerful that it can rise up and triumph against all the odds.

This is the story of how one man’s love changed the world.

I’ll tag @allwaswell16 @disgruntledkittenface @lululawrence @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @evilovesyou @neondiamond @parmahamlarrie and @fallinglikethis if you’d like to do this and haven’t already xx

[vaspider]

I'm getting married Saturday! Any words of wisdom to impart for someone starting that new chapter (if you're comfortable with it)? Thanks for being a parent figure to so many of us on here. Goodness knows lots of us need someone like that.

In any case, Shana Tovah, and many blessings to you and yours!

💙

First of all, mazel tov! So much joy and happiness to you both. 💓

I had to think about this for a bit. @dadhoc and I have been together for 17 years and married for 12, and we've been with @apocalycious for 2.5 years, so I think we're doing something right. In no particular order:

Know when you need to be Right and when you'd rather be Happy. If your spouse wants to build a house with a Jell-O foundation, keep arguing/discussing/etc. bc you need to be right - it could hurt you both if you don't! If you're arguing over which one of you said what when you clearly had an unfortunate misunderstanding and accidentally hurt each other's feelings... wouldn't you rather be happy than right? Take a deep breath, apologize for your part in the misunderstanding, and figure out how to not have it happen again.

Don't let the sun go down on your anger. Don't go to bed angry with each other or actively arguing. That kind of stuff calcifies.

Figure out how the other person expresses love and says they're sorry, and honor that. Communicate how you need to be loved and apologized to. @dadhoc doesn't always say "I love you" out loud, but they make the leftover challah into French toast on the weekend, and they work really hard on NerdyKeppie stuff. I write poems and make art for people and get silly little presents, like an enamel pin with a red panda or a penguin on it for my boos. If you mention something you might like to do someday offhandedly, or a question you wonder about, Evie will remember that and research it for you! Steve also often doesn't say "I'm sorry" out loud - they will go wash the bedding and clean the bedroom so we can all spend time watching TV and snuggling together when the argument is resolved... but I need to hear "I'm sorry" out loud. So I acknowledge and appreciate the things they did, and they say the words out loud.

Respond to what your partners say, not to your baggage or to what you expect them to say. This becomes more of a Thing the longer you're together: you have so many conversations and talks and arguments that you fall into a comfortable groove with each other. That's great! But. Make sure when they're talking that you're not responding to something your dad said that hurt you 20 years ago, or to your ex who was hypercritical of you, or to who your partner USED to be, 6 years and a bunch of discussions ago.

Celebrate each other's successes, even the little ones. Get ice cream together when you finish a project at work. Take each other out for self-care time. You're together because you're each other's biggest fans, after all, but also...

You don't have to be each other's everything. I'm fact, you shouldn't. Make time for yourself. Spend time with your friends. Cultivate your friends, not just our friends. (Evie is friends with people I can't stand, and I'm happy they get along!) Have your Own Things that you do and are.

Spoil each other just a little. If you won't do it, who will?

Laugh with each other but never at each other. Human beings are ridiculous!

Go to therapy. It's preventative maintenance for your brain.

Find something you enjoy doing together that has a finished product at the end. Build a model, bake a cake. Evie and I really like cooking together. Even cleaning is nice if I'm doing it with my partners.

Don't stop going on dates, even if a date means eating dinner outside instead of in your kitchen.

Speaking of which: try to make Family Dinner a thing. Sit at an actual table presuming you have one, trade off making food, put your phone somewhere else while you're eating, and talk to each other without distraction for at least that long every day. I know I sound like a mom in a Pixar movie, but I'm serious, this works! When I was sick, we stopped having a dining room table really bc of how our house got rearranged, and we didn't eat together at a table for years. Now our Family Dinnertime is sacrosanct. Even if we're all eating leftovers, we eat at the table right around the same time every day. It makes a difference in our ability to connect with each other. Eating together is an important human bonding activity.

You're going to change. So is your spouse. That's not just okay - that's great! Life means growth. I'm not who I was in 2004, thank G-d, and neither is Steve. I'm not who I was in 2019, for that matter. That change and growth is who you're becoming together, so honor and celebrate that. You can't grow old together if you don't grow old, after all.

If you're so inclined generally speaking, never stop looking at your sexy-ass spouse with the same wide-eyed delight you do now. Just... enjoy it when they're getting changed in the room with you. If I ever stop saying "... butt... " dreamily when one of my partners is changing, or informing one that they're missing out on seeing the other's butt, just bury me, I'm dead. Appreciate them out loud. They're cute!

Smooch daily.

Take care of yourself. You can't be a good spouse if you're not eating food food, getting enough sleep, etc.

Even in the shitty parts, which will happen, remind yourself that you've got backup. From now on, you've always got backup, and it's much easier to go through crises with your biggest fan by your side. It'll be a great story on the other side, right? I'll forever tell the one about how when Steve was in the hospital for afib, and the docs had to knock Steve out to shock their heart into behaving, they woke up and started immediately asking "where's my [husbutch]?" They got so insistent about it - still loopy on the anesthesia - that the nurse came to get me. I called from the doorway and Steve calmed down... for 5 seconds, and then their short-term memory cycled, and they started asking for me again. This happened half a dozen times until I asked "do you want me to just ... squeeze in?" bc Steve's insistence was slowing the doctors down, the docs said yes, so I worked my way up to the head of their hospital bed and said "here I am, please calm down so the doctors can work." Steve said, "oh! My [husbutch]. Hello, [husbutch]!" and took my hand and calmed down. It was a TERRIBLE day but I LOVE that story in retrospect.

Smooch lots.

Mazel tov! Love each other. Building a marriage is work, but anything worth building takes effort. It sounds cheesy but it's so true. 💗

[earthyaries]

Omggg hi! You answered my composite chart request and it was so funny because i broke up with this person almost a year ago hahahaha wooow, thank you a lot for your insight and here i am putting a new ask about this new relationship i am. But before that your grasp in my last relationship is very on point, very conflictive energy if you ask me. But thank you a lot for answer it and here is the composite chart for my new relationship, if you answer thank you very much and if you don’t thank you for just reading!💘

I took too long! 💔 Hopefully my quick answer this time around will make up for that lol

And yes I usually try my hardest to look for both positives and negatives in a composite to keep it realistic, but I noticed that the amount of placements that would cause a conflicting/clashing pattern was… not ideal

So let’s get into your current relationship!

Pisces ascendent w/ moon, Mars, NN, & Eris in the 1H: Pisces ascendents give a “meant to be” impression; both partners think that the other person is “too good to be true”. Your partnership is like a forever honeymoon phase, but with Neptune ruling the dynamic of this relationship, there are sometimes misunderstandings and/or doubts that arise. Moon & Mars are in the 1H, this makes the two of you very tender yet passionate with eachother. I can see that their is a high chance of co-dependence within this relationship. With the North Node & Eris in the 1H as well, you two have a very strong bond and this relationship will likely cause drastic change in both partners. Throughout the relationship, you will find that you are vastly different from who you were when you had just entered the relationship. Eris is an asteroid that points out qualities of self-trust, rebellion, desire, & loss/leaving old things behind. Both partners will lose small parts of their own identities, and become more alike to one another as time goes on. You both learn to break your own rules or let down walls that you had up previously or with past partners. Lottttsss of change, fixation, & a definite coalescing between the two partners involved.

12H stellium (Venus, Uranus, Neptune): Both partners have had a hard time being completely open or extremely affectionate in the past; the whim to be affectionate with one another is there, but both partners may have felt a little awkward initiating it at first. You show eachother that you love and care for one another through unconventional methods. Sacrificial energy. Past situationships/exes or general issues of the past may pop up or re-occur while the two of you are in a relationship. Jealousy or territorial behaviors may be felt but not shown; remember that it is better to communicate + express these feelings than it is to build up a resentment toward the problem. It will affect the relationship if not dealt with, if/when the situation arises.

Aquarius stellium (sun, Mercury, Venus, Neptune): The relationship may appear somewhat unconventional to on-lookers. The two of you keep an open mind & share your opinions often. Your aesthetics could be very different, or you both have a similar style that is very unique from other peoples. One or both partners may have considered polyamory, or one partner may have had a lot more/lot less experience than the other partner. One or both partners are likely attracted to more than one gender.

Libra Jupiter in 5H: You two are happiest together. You both feel like you can be your authentic selves, & the two of you practically glow with happiness when you are around eachother. The relationship is fun and pleasurable. The sex is good, there is a good balance of give and take. Neither partner is selfish, nor are they self-denying. Wants & needs are met when expressed. Praise from both partners is likely.

Sagittarius Pluto in 10H: The 10H represents how the public sees your relationship, it could also show how the two of you interact on social medias. Others notice the transformation that you two go through with one another; because Pluto is all or nothing, some people may think of it as a good or enviable thing, and some may think it’s “too much” or “extreme”. You may be seen as “obsessive” over one another, and aren’t typically seen without your partner. The changes are good, but all change should happen naturally over time, & in moderation, if you want it to last.

Overall: The two of you seem like a great pair!! (Much better than the last pairing I read lol) But try to avoid co-dependent habits, & remember that both partners need to maintain independent aspects in their lives (friendship, family, hobbies, etc.) This pairing easily seems like both partners are “meant for eachother”, but this always comes with communication, effort, & boundaries. Hope you enjoyed!!

& Well wishes for the happy couple 🤍

[notnctu]

through the lens ❀ l.jn

❀ lee jeno x fem!reader ❀ genre - slow burn, smut/mature content, fluff (romance?), slight angst ❀ details - photographer!jeno, model!reader, college!au, shy!jeno but he aint shy in bed, strangers to fuckers!au ❀ word count - 8k (this is the longest thing ive ever written) ❀ warnings - nude modeling, swearing, oral (f/receiving), some sweet love makin’ ❀ brief synopsis - jeno asks you to model for his internship project, but little did you know, it was going to be a nude photo shoot.  

❝ jeno was too shy to hold eye contact, but he stared at you endlessly through the lens. ❞

❀ a/n - hihihi this is author doie❀ ! im bad at writing smut so pls dont hate me ah ha lol i tried my best i also dont model/do professional photography so really apologize if i butcher any terms lmaoo the only thing i am is that im in college and im shy

Jeno had applied to almost a hundred internships and almost close to none returned with an offer, even after a whole month of waiting. He absolutely needed to start building his portfolio before the beginning of his senior year of college. The embarrassment of possibly graduating without any experience loomed over the desperate boy. 

Photography had been more than a hobby to him, to the point where he wanted to take it seriously. His parents weren’t the most supportive of an Arts major, but that couldn’t stop him. Jeno saw the best through a camera lens. He had a special eye for beautiful moments and the impressing urge to capture it forever. 

It was too late to change his major, if he wanted to graduate with all of his friends. If he wanted to be successful, he had to act on it now. 

The swoosh! of a new email startled the sleeping boy. He stared at the brightly lit screen, reading the words over and over again to make sure it was real. Jeno was so enthralled with excitement that he scrambled out of bed to wake up his roommate, Jaemin.

He shook him so violently that the sheets fell from Jaemin’s warm body. “Dude! I got an internship!” He spoke with incredible glee, a wide smile couldn’t leave his face.

Jaemin groaned and had to hold Jeno by the shoulders to halt the boy from causing the room to spin. “Why--What is going on?” He dazely rubbed his tired eyes to blink at his giddy roommate.

The screen blinded Jaemin as it was shoved too closely to adjust. “Whoa--,” he pushed it away and shut his eyes, “--repeat what you just said one more time.” Jaemin held a finger up and Jeno grabbed it, jumping onto his best friend’s bed.

“I got an internship. Someone got back to me.” Jaemin returned the same excitement the moment he processed his words. He shot up in bed and hugged his friend tightly. 

“Wo-w, dude! Congratulations!” The two boys hurried on their feet to cheer together. There was no concern for the rest of their housemates, only celebration that roared throughout the entire night.

+

Truthfully, Jeno had no recollection of applying to this studio. It could have been a random link on a job scouting website, but he couldn’t be more grateful. An internship was long overdue and Jeno had been itching to get some recognition for his craft. 

“Hello, I’m Lee Jeno.” He bowed slightly at the receptionist, who had a stern stare that made him feel vulnerable. The first thing he noted about the office: white and minimalistic. 

Jeno’s specialty was landscape photography. His aesthetics consisted of black and white filters, city lights, dark mood lighting, and background commotion. He enjoyed capturing chaos the most, a scene where more than one thing was happening. The only reason being that there was more to look at. 

“Nice to meet you. The name is Lee Taemin, but you can call me what you please.” A young, lean man strolled his way towards Jeno with a wide grin and his hand for him to shake. Taemin was slightly shorter than him, but his stylish, expensive boots made up for his height. He had to be only a maximum of five years older than Jeno as Taemin appeared relatively youthful. 

Taemin’s firm grip pulled Jeno along inside the studio. A small gasp escaped from Jeno which earned robust laughter from the older man. “I hope you can break out of your shell soon. There is no room for timidness around here, Mister Lee.”

“Please, you can call me Jeno.” He smiled, quite awkwardly at the beautiful man. 

The tall glass windows, the concrete, gray floor, the white doors that lined the hallway, had to be all too predictable. Jeno envisioned this is what high class must look like. It was the pristine, bright feeling and the smell of vanilla that lingered distastefully. There was chatter behind the closed doors --- mainly directing, and high praises. 

The only off-put was that photographers worked behind closed doors. From the few studios he has visited previously, photographers often worked in open spaces due to lighting fractures or the ability to roam more freely. 

“I’m actually very ecstatic you signed up for the internship, since you do seem a bit on the younger side.” Taemin gestured toward the sofa in the middle of his massive office. Jeno sat across from him. Water was already placed on the glass coffee table that separated the two. A laptop was opened to face Taemin.

Jeno slyly rubbed the condensation from his palms on his jeans. Taemin’s stare bore deep into the shy boy, who had to break eye contact from time to time. “I know.” Jeno chuckled nervously, “thank you for getting back to me. I was really hoping to gain work experience through mentorship.” 

Taemin nodded at everything Jeno was saying. His face being completely expressionless. Jeno sipped his water to regain moisture in his dry throat. Taemin was more intimidating than he was anticipating. “Sounds great. Happy to have you here. It might be a small business, but the experience is worth investing in. Every photographer who has come in and out of my building has found their forte. Let’s say, it’s eye opening.” 

“That’s exactly what I was looking for actually.” As scared as he was of this mysterious man, he really enjoyed the comfort the environment radiated. 

Taemin leaned forward and squinted at the screen. “I noticed in the portfolio you sent that you don’t have any portraits or any people, in general, in your photos. Do you have any works with people? Since this is a studio of fine art nude photography.”

Nude. Jeno practically choked on the last remaining spit he gathered. Taemin acknowledged the boy’s shocked reaction and tilted his head curiously, “you did know that I specialize in contemporary fine art nude photography, right?” Unfortunately, Jeno did not. 

Jeno cleared his throat, “yes, of course. I wanted to challenge myself.” He had to lie, there was no other way to cover up his disbelief. This internship was the only hope left for him to gain something. Though, even the thought of shooting a naked body made him anxious.

He hated how timid he was. His friends and family say otherwise, mainly for the reason that Jeno automatically lit up behind a camera. In all honesty, he hid behind it. It was the only safe place that Jeno knew what he was doing. However when it came to real life situations without it, he lacked the confidence to be himself.

As ironic as it was, he hated being seen. He liked to be the background character in his own life, because the main character took too much of a toll. It could also be his deafening insecurities and lack of self esteem, but Jeno didn’t mind not being the center of attention.

“You like a challenge?” It was more of a statement rather than a question. Jeno caught a glimpse of the twinkle in Taemin’s dark eyes. “Then for your first task, I want you to show me that you can take on this role.”

Jeno scrambled for his phone to jot down notes. “Send me an emotional portfolio, model of your choice. They could be a friend of yours that you feel comfortable seeing naked. It must include a variation of headshots, full body, and body details. It must also be raw and unedited photos. I want to see if you have the eye for the art to capture these types of images.”

“When would you like it by?” He stammered, completely winded at the sudden project that unloaded on top of him. 

“Next Friday, and you’ll present it to me here in person. Feel free to use this studio if you don’t have a place of your own with equipment. All you need to do is book a room with the front desk. Any other questions?” The sound of the laptop shutting caused Jeno to look up at the brilliance in front of him. He needed Taemin to help him succeed. 

“Why do you take nude photography?” 

Taemin was unable to stop the laughter that erupted into the room. “I don’t run a pimp business or sell soft core porn, if that’s why you’re staring at me so funnily. What I make is an art masterpiece, it has nothing to do with physical features or desires. It’s the pure emotion that clothing distracts from. Clothing conforms the model into an aesthetic, and while that works for editorials, it won’t be a consistent thing here.” 

Jeno nodded understandingly. Overwhelmed and lost at words. He was unsure what he had gotten himself into. Where was he going to find a model on such short notice on such lewd conditions? He was really going to need to step out of his comfortable zone, in his photography and social skills. 

Taemin stood up and extended his hand once more. “I take pride in my art, so I hope you, too, start finding that in your own.” 

+

Jaemin held his stomach from the endless laughter, tears welling up in his eyes. “Nud-Nude photography? And you didn’t know?”

“Jaemin, keep it down.” Jeno whispered and cautiously peered around at the few people flooding into the small lecture hall. “I don’t want everyone in our club to misunderstand and think I’m some creep.”

His best friend straightened up in his seat and placed his hand on Jeno's slumped shoulder, “first of all, you’re a complete idiot for not researching. Secondly, it’s an art form. If you really got yourself a shady, rated R internship, I would’ve told you to drop it instantly.” 

His spirits were slightly lifted, but he was still struggling with who he should ask to model for him. As much as he’s already seen of Jaemin, being his roommate, he honestly would rather leave the rest to imagination. Jeno wasn’t purposefully searching the room for a candidate, but he could not stop his eyes from drifting.

He spotted the most attractive side profile that sat two rows below him. He shook his head to make sure he was seeing her correctly. Peering around, he looked for another possible face to shoot. But oh god, how she caught his eye every time she even slightly moved.

You smiled happily with your friends by your side as your club’s executive board members introduced this year’s goals and events to attend. It had to be the smallest amount of alcohol still running in your system that caused you to giggle every time guys tried to turn around and hit on you.

“Why don’t you focus on our club members instead?” You smirked at the smug older boy, who had poorly attempted to grab your attention. “I think this information is important to you. These events could help you develop your social skills to be much better.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but your girl friends scoffed by your side.

He got up in disbelief and quickly walked out of the room. There was a brief pause at the sudden movement, but the announcement carried on per usual.

Jeno impatiently waited for the club meeting to finally be over, so he could talk to you. The longer it dragged, the more his confidence was subsiding. “I’m heading to study, wanna come with?” Jaemin poked at Jeno’s knee.

“Yeah, but you can go ahead first. I need to talk to someone.” His voice was shaky and his throat went so dry. Jeno’s shifty eyes scanned the room, hoping no one saw how nervous he was acting.

Jaemin’s eyebrows lifted suspiciously, “who? I didn’t even know you talked to anyone who came today. Donghyuck and Renjun aren’t here---”

“--her, Jaemin... her. I’m going to ask her to model for me.” Jeno motioned his head. His heart beating faster at seeing a small grin appear on your face from a comment someone made.

Jaemin hummed, “good luck with that, bud. I’ve got two shoulders for you to cry on after.” The extra hint of sarcasm only made Jeno sweat nervously. He was seriously doubting his decision, but it wouldn’t be a challenge if he didn’t do it. He knew he’d regret it more if he didn’t just ask you. 

Once the meeting was dismissed, you wanted to get out of the room before the heavy rush into the hallways. Unfortunately, a few frat guys pulled you into their conversation and chatted up a storm. Your friends played into their foolery, but you stopped paying attention when they asked for your numbers.

There was a faint tap on your shoulder and you turned to see who the culprit was. You didn’t seem to know him, because you would’ve remembered such a demeanor. His eyes were glued to the floor behind you and his shaky hands ran through his brown locks. His shyness was quite endearing, yet alarming since you weren’t sure why exactly he had approached you.

“Yes?” You asked curiously.

The moment Jeno heard your delicate cadence, he melted like a popsicle left out in the sun. He peered up, but quickly reverted his eyes to the white tiles when he noticed how beautifully you stared at him.

He counted his breathing to calm his rapid heart beat. He cleared his throat to introduce himself, “I’m Jeno. I’m a third year Arts major, um-- I was just--- I know we don’t know each other. I wanted to ask, uh-” Jeno was horrified at how he stammered over his own words. His cheeks burned with a red glow, and if he couldn’t look you in the eye before, he definitely couldn’t now.

“Hey, see you later.” One of the bulky frat guys called and you waved back weakly. 

A guy who had been chasing you endlessly scoffed at the pitiful sight and smirked at you, “see you at my house tonight? Been missing you in my bed lately.”

“Thought you would’ve guessed the reason why I stopped coming around.” Jeno heard the sting in your remarks and the disbelief in the male. 

You honestly could have left, Jeno knew that. But you stayed and waited patiently for him to finish. Jeno could tell how strong you were just by your intimidating aura that practically suffocated him by standing in close proximity to you.

You sighed and reached to grab your jacket on the folded seat, “look, Jeno. It’s nice to meet you and all, but I gotta get going.” 

Shockingly, the shy boy reached out to stop you by your fingertips. His touch lingered before he dropped your hand quickly. “I’m sorry. Are you free this Monday?”

“Uh, that depends. If you’re asking me on a date, then I’m busy.” Rolling your eyes, you weren’t sure why you still stayed to listen to what this random stranger had to say. If it were anyone else, you would’ve walked away the moment he asked if you were free. However, you acknowledged his timidness and the courage he must have mustered up to approach you.

Jeno shook his head violently, completely in shambles from that type of misunderstanding. “Not a date. I need someone to model for my portfolio photos that my internship assigned. It’s actually very important to me because it’s the first internship that responded back to me when I had applied to so many a whole month ago. Basically, I really need this and you because I think you’d be perfect to take pictures of. Oh-- wow! That sounded very bad --- uh --- what I meant is that your facial proportions are perfect and---”

“I’m free Monday.” You cut off his endless ramble and gestured toward his phone. He handed it to you without any hesitation and you typed in your number. “Text me the time, place and what I should wear.” 

“Oh actually, it’s a nude photoshoot.” Your eyes doubled in size, completely offended by that statement.

Jeno felt the sudden shift in the air and brought his hands up to block himself, “to be more clear, it’s a contemporary fine art nude photography studio. The pictures are pieces of art and to be seen as that only. I have no intentions or ulterior motive to sleep with you, see you naked or sell, leak your nudes for the profit of your body. But, I understand if you no longer want to do it because it sounds super strange now that I am explaining it.” 

Your shoulders relaxed and the fist that formed unraveled. You exhaled deeply, “I’ll do it. We can talk more about it on Monday and I get to leave on my own accord if I don’t feel comfortable. We work on my conditions.” Picking up Jeno’s chin, he was absolutely petrified at the forced eye contact and your incredible, powerful gaze. He was mesmerized by the fire in your eyes, and if he stared any longer, he could’ve lost himself in them. 

“Of course.” With that, you dropped his face and left without another look back. Jeno looked down at his phone and the new contact name, (Y/N). It had slipped his mind to even ask what your name was and he slapped his face in utter stupidity. “Do better, Lee Jeno.” It was a remainder to himself to, hopefully, be better the next time you two speak.

+

Monday, 3:03 PM. 

Jeno paced back and forth in the brightly, lit white room. He was trying to find any blinds or curtains to cover the tall windows of the high rise building. It should not be too much of a problem, the extra lighting was a positive. Jeno was only worried for your comfort of the openness. 

There was a soft knock before Jeno practically tripped to open the door. His breath hitched at the sight of your bare face. This time, you were the vulnerable one. Jeno only saw purity, yet impressed at how your tired eyes still managed to bid him a soft smile. He admired your uneven complexion, and the sparse moles that dotted your skin. 

“Okay, so you want to see me naked now or later?” Filled with jokes, your voice was light and airy this afternoon. There was a bit of a contrast from the first time you two met. Softer, enchanting, almost ghostly. 

Everything in the room was white. The mattress on the floor had a white comforter and white sheets. The backdrop. The walls. The hardwood floor. The only color was the blue sky that the tall windows let in.

“Here’s a robe. You can change in the bathroom.” Jeno scratched the back of his neck and his eyes wandered everywhere, but your’s. 

“Would you be okay with me just taking off my clothes in here?” You saw the light tint of pink cover his face, and spread to his ears. You examined more of the shy boy’s embarrassed face, finally getting a really good look at him. Jeno was very attractive, and you could only imagine how beautiful he must look if he fully faced you.

Jeno fiddled with his camera strap, “only if you are okay with that.” Clearing his throat, he stood next to the window to give you some privacy. “I’ll go over what I plan on doing. I’m going to take photos of your face details, parts of your body, full body, and portraits. You can lay down on the bed and I’ll direct you in poses. Have you modeled before?”

He was scanning the bustling city below his feet. Cars zoomed quickly and crowds of tiny people flooded the streets. He brought his camera up to his face, not being able to resist the urge to capture such a thrilling sight. 

“If Instagram counts, then yeah. Professional model gig would be a no. Nude photography is a definite no, unless we are talking about being filmed during sex.” Jeno chuckled, while also holding the camera steady and stealing a few moments to keep for himself.

For a strange reason, being naked for a non-sensual reason felt even more vulnerable. Laying on the soft fabric, you felt oddly exposed and slightly more reserved. You’ve had countless strangers see you naked. Men were sexually desiring to see a sexy picture. You were always lusted after, but this feeling of nakedness was special.

“Are you ready?” Jeno gulped, finally setting the camera down. 

You hummed cheerfully. Your heart was leaping out of your chest as the boy shifted slowly to face you. As he turned, you noticed he had his eyes sealed shut, which caused a small laugh to erupt. “Jeno, you have my permission to open your eyes and to look at me.”

Holy shit, he was trembling with an inexplicable fear. The camera was slipping from his sweaty hands. His mouth was as dry as the desert. Jeno’s pounding heart was loud in his ears. 

Jeno has seen his past girlfriends laying naked in bed, but this situation was too different. When he saw you laying there in absolutely nothing, he was overwhelmed, yet astounded at how graceful you appeared.

There was no exchange of words and no exchange of eye contact. He towered over your lying figure and shakily brought the camera to his eyes. He selfishly wanted to capture your elegance. Through the lens, he saw all of you: the curve in your eyelid, your curled eyelashes, the small mole next to your soft lips, the sharp color of your eyes, the way your hair frames your face.

This was the most beautiful sight he’s ever seen. You were comparable to the arts found in popular museums. Your body lines were enticing and an impressive shape. Your breasts pooled on your chest, the round nude nipple in the centers. Your details had to be sculpted by gods, who took their sweet time making you. You were a true masterpiece. 

Confused, Jeno felt a huge mixture of emotions. Was he aroused? Was he infatuated? Did he just fall in love with a complete stranger? He recognized the same thrilled feelings he felt taking landscape photos. With each click, he grew more excited with how beautiful the photos were turning out.

“Sit up and rest your chin on your left hand. Lean your weight on your right leg.” Jeno’s direction was clear and firm. There was no evidence of a smaller tone he usually spoke in. Sitting up, you placed your elbow on your upper thigh to steady your chin. Jeno had already gotten down to floor level to you. 

Without the camera that separated you two, it had to be the first time he faced you completely in such close proximity. There was so much to admire about Jeno. He remained concentrated on his craft, but it was actually very sexy to see his dedication. It was almost like he was a whole new person, like all the shyness drifted away. 

Jeno couldn’t take his eyes off of you. It wasn’t simply your beauty that amazed him. Your confidence made everything easy. There was something about your blank stares, when he asked for an emotion, you portrayed it perfectly.

“Can we talk while you shoot?” Your sudden voice startled the photographer. He lowered his camera and his gaze automatically wandered off behind you, which didn’t go unnoticed. He nodded after a short pause and the shutter noises continued.

“Why did you choose me as your model?” 

Jeno peeled away from the device, “because you’re you.” He didn’t even know what that statement meant. It wasn’t like he knew you before the first time he asked you to model for him.

The corners of your lips dipped down, drawing an evident frown. Click. Jeno loved that image especially. It was a simple way to get real, authentic facial expressions. He marveled at the photo, but registered the reason behind it. “I wanted to ask you the second I saw you. I just knew that I wanted you.” 

“But you don’t know me.” 

Jeno looked through the lens once again, welcoming a full view of your stunning attributes. He spoke in a low voice, “then, let me know you.” Click. 

It would be the biggest lie to say that you weren’t aroused by Jeno at the moment. He was cool, without trying to be. He really did shine when he had a camera to work with, like a star to a dark night. While he had a distinct demeanor off the bat, you enjoyed unraveling the rest of him. He was, also, the first man you met that didn’t seem sexually driven by a naked woman in his presence. 

You had to resist every urge to push the camera away and share the few seconds of his entire gaze before it wandered away. You wanted to rock his world, he was so innocent and beautiful. You wished to wreak havoc on him, have him show you how much he wanted you. 

+

You anticipated an awkward photoshoot, but Jeno made you feel safe and comfortable. He made sure to adjust the temperature when goosebumps rose on your arms and when your nipples became painfully hard. He never touched you or came too much into your personal space. He always asked for your permission. 

Nude modeling was a new experience for you, but you were surprised at how much you liked it. or how much you liked Jeno taking your photos. He sat next to you on the bed when you put on your articles of clothing and panned through several shots to satisfy your curiosity.

Leaning close, your head ducked to see the photos. A gasp escaped your lips when you saw just the first few. “Is that really me?” The pictures made you feel an abundance of emotions, you felt what they reflected. Sadness, melancholy, happiness, confidence. You didn’t know images had that much power to make you feel that, especially photos of you.

Jeno nodded, smiling so wide that his eyes turned to moon crescents. He was so in love with the results. He found respect for Taemin’s craft and he was right, he might’ve found a new forte to experiment with. “I can send you the photos digitally too, if you want them.”

“Maybe I’ll print them out, frame them, and gift it to every horrid man who has tried to flirt their way to my body since they want to see it so fucking bad.” 

Jeno peered over and saw the tiny glimpse of pain in your orbs, “why would you give horrible people what they want?”

“So they can finally shut up and leave me alone. Plus, this is art and if I tell them it’s actually me, maybe it’ll change their minds to start treating me like it.” 

He held his palm up and almost immediately, your fingers filled the spaces between his. “I’m going to need you to start treating yourself as fine art.”

“Keep taking more photos of me and I just might start thinking I’m Mona Lisa.” Your laughters blended nicely into each other. There was mutual mental acknowledgement of the happiness you were both feeling.

Jeno never let go of your hand, and there was a short moment of comforting silence where you two sat in each other’s existence. You were the one to break it, “are you doing anything after this?” 

He shook his head. “Well then, you’re mine for the rest of the night. We’re going to pretend we’ve been close friends since first year and eat take-out on my bed because that’s what I need at the moment.” 

+

“I know you respect my body and see this as an art form, but I’m genuinely surprised that you didn’t feel aroused at the slightest.”

Jeno didn’t even realize how much time had already passed being you. You two ate and chatted as if you’ve known each other forever, as if the friendship wasn’t established several hours ago. It felt safe and right, like you two belonged in each other’s existence and nowhere else mattered.

He felt warm inside from your hearty laughter and courage, like he was watching a painting come to life or a photo in movement. You were smitten over how endearing and complex he was. He was more than what meets the eye and that alone drew you towards him.

“Okay, I’ll admit,” Jeno paused to watch your reaction, “in the most respectable way, I was somewhat turned on. But! Before you trail blaze me for being just like every disgusting male in your life, I genuinely didn’t have any sexual thoughts during the photoshoot. That was all professional and it will continue to be like that.” 

Getting up from your bed, your mind was working at lightspeed to process his confession. Jeno was fast to pick up someone’s personality, what stood out and what was kept hidden. He knew quicker than anyone else that you were not someone to offend because you were a strong, straight forward woman.

His personality breakdown went like this: you knew what you like, you knew you were going to get what you want, you enjoyed flirty banter (with people of your choice), you weren’t afraid to be blunt, or kick someone’s ass. You carried yourself with confidence that graced your every step, which makes anyone attracted to you instantly. Bold, confident, sexy had to be what came to mind whenever he thought about you. 

Nonetheless, he really liked you as a person. He could pat himself on the back all day long for just approaching you, but he knew the real reason as to how this all happened. It was you saying yes to a stranger’s odd photoshoot. You made him the luckiest man in the world. 

“Continue? Are you looking for excuses to keep seeing me?” You smirked and Jeno’s voice grew small. 

“I--- uh, well,” there goes the nervous stammering, “I know the conditions were a one time thing, so I understand if you don’t want to do it again.” As the night had progressed, Jeno gradually began to hold eye contact and actually looked at you directly without the help of seeing you through a lens. This was the first time he broke it. 

“Hey now, I’m messing with you, Jeno.” He had been sitting on your floor, at the end of your bed. You crawled on your elbows to reach him, and to hold his chin to face you again. Deja vu. “I’d love to get naked for you again, and again, and.. as many times as you want me to.” 

He stared at you with his mouth hung open in disbelief. His eyes scanned your beautiful face to see your lips pull back into a mischievous smile. Gulping, he swallowed every ounce of courage he had left. “You don’t have to say it like that.” He tried to remove your grip, but it latched onto his hand. 

“You’re finally looking me in the eye, sweet thing. I don’t think you realize how much I had been wanting that from you.” You caressed his cheek, rubbing small circles on his texture. 

“What else do you want from me?” His implication sounded suggestive, even if his curiosity was innocent. 

Your hot breath brushed against Jeno’s lips. “I can show you.”

Jeno, the one and only college guy who has seen your naked body in a non-sexual context. Jeno, the shy, sweet boy who appreciated and recognized you as a form of art. Jeno, the talented and skillful photographer, who consistently made sure you felt comfortable. Jeno, the only person in the world who you’d model nude for. Jeno, the dazzling character behind the camera who you wanted more than anyone else you’ve ever met. Lee Jeno.

He seemed like he was inching closer, already tilting his head to fit your’s. You smiled to yourself, seeing that your words were received well. Diving in, your lips swam together fervently. 

The poor boy found himself lost in your enchanting, alluring gaze. He let the trance consume him, selfishly kissing the art he admired so dearly. A small part of him felt the guilt and confusion that began to rise. He wasn’t sure why he suddenly wished to feel your lips on his neck, or run his hands across your hot skin. He swore these thoughts were not present earlier. 

A small pop! and Jeno held your shoulder to pull away. “I’m sorry, did I do something?” You asked, honestly concerned that you were taking more than you deserved. The least you desired was to hurt Jeno, who had been nothing but nice and sweet.

“(Y/N),” you could listen to your name roll off his tongue all day, “I feel somewhat guilty. I don’t want things to be misunderstood.”

“Which would be?”

“I don’t want you to think I coerced you into being my model just because I had intentions to sleep with you.” Jeno was already gathering his things, but you hopped off your bed and placed a hand on his chest. “Because that’s what it’s starting to look like at the moment.”

“Was that something you did though? Did you have those intentions?” Your stare bore right through him. The warmth of your hand relaxed his racing heart.

“Never, (Y/N), I would never do that to someone.” Your hand traveled down to grab his belongings and tossed it back onto the ground. 

He silently watched as you took off your pants, and stood in front of him in your underwear. “Then, we’re fine. I know your intentions have always been pure. But truthfully, Jeno, seeing you focused while you worked sparked something in me. You don’t understand how aroused I got and how badly I wanted you to fuck me on that bed.” His hand trailed up your exposed thighs, finally touching your softness. “You’re the one guy I wanted first, and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that.” 

“I-- I don’t know what to say.” His cheeks revealed how embarrassed he was, but his dark, lustful eyes were telling a different story.

A smirk fell upon your face, “then don’t say anything.” 

Jeno devoured you, inhaling the light hint of vanilla that still lingered. He hoisted you onto your mattress and kissed you like his life depended on it. His antsy hands roamed your free range, exploring, holding, gripping the parts he marveled over. Small moans from the back of your throat encouraged him to continue.

No one has ever kissed you with the amount of passion Jeno did. It was gentle, with enough vigor to cause your panties to dampen. It wasn’t sloppy, where previous guys had a problem of missing your mouth entirely and slobbered your chin. 

His lips worshiped you, highlighting your good sides. Flashes of the photoshoot popped into Jeno’s head as he left purple marks on the places he loved capturing the most. He pushed up your shirt, exposing your chest to him again. His tongue circled around your hard nipple as he made sure to give the same amount of attention to each one. 

Jeno knew he was too shy to hold your intense stare, but getting to know you during and after the photoshoot, he could see the softness in your gaze. He was, now, able to see all of you. The sight of you through the camera was addicting enough, so finally taking you all in was more than satisfying. 

Your hands ran through his hair as he kissed down your torso. His thumbs hooked the waistband of your underwear, and peeled it off your body. You gasped as the cold air from your apartment grazed against your exposed figure.

Jeno paused to admire your glistening pussy, “would it be okay if you let me make love to you?”

Your heart burned, not out of embarrassment, but at how he still managed to ask you for your permission in the sweetest way. You rested your weight on your elbows, “no one has done that before, would it actually make me want to fall in love with you?”

“It wouldn’t be too bad. I have a lot of love to give and you look like a person who deserves all of it anyways.” Jeno’s finger ran over your wet slit and rubbed your clit slowly.

Your moans filled the room as the electric jolted throughout your veins. The wetness grew, seeping out of you like a waterfall. Jeno dropped down to his knees, and lifted your legs on his broad shoulders.

“Are you usually this wet, baby?”

Chuckling, you smiled at his bold choice in using pet names, “Just for you.”

He hummed, chiming at how he liked your answer. Spreading you open, his tongue met with your swollen bud that begged for his licks.

His tongue darted side to side, up and down and in result, your back arched in pleasure and a darkness clouded your mind. His name and mindless profanities streamlined their way out of you as Jeno ate you out in such a precisely delicious way.

Grabbing a fist full of hair, you pulled him closer, even if there was no more space to fill. Looking down, you two exchanged glances before he thrusted a finger into you. Your hips bucked harder as he eased in another one.

Jeno curled his fingers in search of your sweet spot and found it when a deep moan escaped your throat. His fingertips rubbed and pressed into your plush flesh, causing you to practically scream and squirm in his mouth. 

He suckled your clit and fingered you simultaneously and quickly. The pleasure was overflowing and you released his hair to grip your sheets below you. Your legs shook and trembled as he had no caution to stop.

“Please, I’m going to--” you could barely talk due to your face contouring to the splurge of pleasure every single time Jeno rubbed your spot. “--to explode.” 

He had to take back what he thought earlier in the day. This was the most beautiful sight he’s ever laid eyes on. The whole scene played like from one of his favorite films. It felt like he was giving his photos life. Your body twisted and turned, accentuating the curves of your lines. 

Jeno had become painfully hard against the fabric of his jeans, but seeing you fall apart because of his minimal movements exhilarated him. “P-Please, don’t stop.” A breathy moan followed suit and your thighs tried to press themselves together. Jeno didn’t allow it, his free hand hooked underneath your left thigh to pull one side away from his cheeks.

Your high gradually grew so tall that it all eventually came cascading down. Your legs shook violently and sat up from the euphoria that took over you. Jeno prolonged your buzz and you screamed loudly, having to bite down on your fingers to stop yourself from angering your neighbors.

Jeno drank you up, letting your wetness cover his chin and drip down his knuckles. He pulled away, at last, and you took deep breaths to control your heavy breathing. It was like Jeno knocked the wind completely out of you. 

He stood up and you saw the outline of his hard bulge straining itself through his jeans. The next scene was quite animalistic. You, still embodying your high, sat on your knees and unzipped his pants with your needy hands.

“Now, it’s your turn to get nude for me.” You whispered, tauntingly. Jeno groaned when you reached down and gently pulled him out. He stepped out of his clothing, all of it. His shirt was lost in the corner and his bottoms were scattered over your floor. Mirroring his actions, you took off your last piece of cloth.

Jeno was built. Though his biceps did not go unnoticed during the photoshoot, you were surprised at the lines of muscle that sketched his body. It made your mouth water, seeing his extremely hard dick stand against his toned abs. His red tip fell just below his navel. Jeno only kept getting better as the night continued on.

Pulling him closer, his hand found their way to the back of your head as you aligned your mouth to the wetness that spilled from his tip. “I want to make you feel good.” Jeno’s hoarse voice made your knees weak.

Peering up, you batted your eyelashes at him fondly. “Just a little taste?” You begged, having to hold his shaft with both of your hands because of his thickness. Your tongue was already stuck out, your hot breath causing the tiniest bit of sensation for him.

He nodded and his eyes were trained on you. He didn’t want to miss any second of your kitty licks. You flattened your tongue against his warmth, dragging it up to the top. The saltiness hit your palette as you swirled around his redness. “Oh--” Jeno threw his head back and bit his lip, “--lay on the bed now.” 

You smiled sweetly and gave his member a quick kiss before reaching for a condom in your drawer. Jeno climbed onto your bed and situated the rubber comfortably. You laid on your back and he was fast to pull your legs around his waist. 

He lined himself at your entrance and eased his tip in slowly. Squirming, you craved him to fill you up to the brim. He leaned down to kiss you, letting your tongue lap with his. It’s your hands with the mind of their own when they flew automatically to hold his face whenever you wanted to deepen the kiss. Then, Jeno stretched himself all the way in and he caught your gasp with his lips. He groaned, feeling the mess he created merely minutes ago. 

His hips moved so easily with your wetness, but he went slow. Dragging out each pull and then, pushing himself back in roughly. “Jeno!” Your body jolted up the bed each time. His body fell over yours to hold you intimately, letting you bury your face into his neck. Your lips latched themselves onto his sensitive skin, painting a purple sunset. 

Jeno’s arms snaked underneath your thighs as he pressed them to your chest, folding you almost into a ball. Your mouth hung open as he fucked you harder, rougher, deeper yet keeping the tempo rhythmically slow. At this point, you could feel his hits in your gut. Your weak hands gripped loosely around his strong wrists that held your legs down. “You’re pussy is so tight and holy shit---, you keep getting more beautiful.”

A familiar burning sensation set in your chest as you saw how concentrated his face had become. You were so fucked out that you could barely speak, “you—” his hips mercilessly slammed into you powerfully, enacting a low moan every time he reached your sweet spot. “—keep surprising me.” His actions came to a halt and he stared deeply into your soul. 

You whined, wiggling your hips for any friction. He held them down into the mattress, knowing his grip was strong enough to leave a mark. “I told you, I was going to make love to you tonight.”

“I’ve already fallen for you.” You said breathlessly, tracing the side of his face and pecking his lips softly. 

“You don’t understand what you’re doing to me by saying those things.” He whispered and pushed his entire shaft to fill you to your brim. 

You yelped his name and gripped his shoulders, but he wasn’t done yet. “Show me how badly you wanted me the first time you saw me.” Jeno blinked at you in slight shock. 

As he continued to hold the deep gaze, he kept pushing his dick further and further into you. He was balls deep, almost impossible to keep going. He fucked you without the need to pull out, just burying his cock deeper into your wet pussy. You exclaimed, moaned, cussed at every push. Holding the stare was more than enough to lose yourself all over him again. 

Jeno was drunk with the image of your fucked out expression and every time the mixture of pleasure and pressure caused your eyebrows to crease and mouth to open release sensual sound. He had been trying his best not to come undone, to fixate another climax for you.

The feeling of you wrapping tighter and tighter around him drove him insane. “Give it to me, please.” Your muffled plead called for his release, but he could feel that you were close to your second.

Jeno sat up on his knees and pulled you into his arms where your thighs fell over his. You groaned at the empty feeling, though it was quickly replaced with a gratifying moan when he inserted himself again. Your arms dangled around his neck, foreheads touching intimately. 

The fucking eye contact again, how could you get enough of it? You giggled, amused at how different Jeno was when he eventually opened up. He wrapped his strong arms around your back and thrusted his hips up into you. The way this man made you squirm, scream, and shake were nothing you’ve experienced before. 

He smirked, placing a gentle kiss on your cheek when he went rampage on your pussy. “Not laughing now, are you?”

You whined in pleasure, brushing your fallen strands of hair out of his face. “Shut up before I make you.” 

“Then I’d rather keep going.” Kissing up his jawline, you lead your way to his pout. His kisses intoxicated you with his passion and madness, like the most intense part of a symphony, or when the bass drops after a long build up in a song. 

Jeno sped up, ramming up into your slick pussy over and over again. He even brought your hips down to match him, guiding you down as he went up. The headboard was knocked against the wall, your windows steamed up, cries of pleasure from the both of you created the ambiance, the smell of sex filled your lungs. Jeno reached between your bodies to furiously rub your clit to where it felt almost raw. It all sent you into the clouds, the familiar queasiness settled in your lower half.

Your eyes rolled back and your back arched, having to pull away from the desirous kiss with Jeno. “I’m cumming!” You announced before the tension unraveled, causing you to see absolute white. The second wave was much more uncontrollable, Jeno felt you squeezing radically around his dick as he tried to fuck you faster to prolong the feeling.

Your legs shook around his and your upper body went limp with pleasure. You reached the peak of the mountain and it came crumbling down underneath your toes. It was catastrophically enthralling, to the point where you physically felt something leave your body.

“Oh shit..” Jeno stopped his motions at the sight of you squirting over his lap. He pampered your torso with fluttering kisses, hoping to calm your spastic body. “...baby, are you okay?” He asked with a bit of concern of how lack of life you seemed. 

This man just gave you the best climax in your whole life and he asked if you were okay? Regaining your senses, you sighed a small yes to reassure him that he didn’t actually murder you. Hopping off, you pulled the condom that restricted him.

He hissed when you cupped his balls in your palm. “Cum, my sweet thing.” You purred and Jeno’s hand pumped his member aggressively. You leaned in to help, sucking the tip and flicking your tongue over his slit. 

His other hand gripped your neck, causing you to drip on your sheets. Jeno was panting and with every tug, it became louder. He seemed so desperate to release that it made you smile to be the reason behind it. “Can you lay down,” A grunt followed his question, “please.” He huffed.

“Because you asked nicely.” Smirking, your back hit the sheets and you opened your legs to give Jeno a view. He situated himself above your stomach, as he fucked his tight grip.

“I’m cumming---” He couldn’t look any more amazing. With a final moan, the white streaks streamed out in short sequences. It landed across your abdomen, over your nipple, and pooled around your belly button. 

Bringing himself back to reality, Jeno stepped back to marvel you, his masterpiece. The white streaks coated your purple skin and your chest rose fast to catch your reality. Gazing upon your naked body, he was utterly infatuated with all of you. He was so in love with the sight of you that not a single photo could capture the beauty that you were. 

Jeno pondered the thought of how merely a day changed a small part of him. You were life changing, addicting, an incomparable character that he felt like he’s known forever, and now, couldn’t live without. It was the taste of your juices on his lips, your sweet melodic music that was your voice, your daring smile that enticed him to never peel away from you. It was simply you. 

He leaned down to rub his knuckles against your cheek, planting a lovingly peck on your forehead. “I’ll go start the water for you.” 

+

Jeno anticipated the reaction of his mentor. He found himself at the same scene he was when he was first given the task. Taemin sat across from him, hunched forward to analyze his new set of photos on his laptop. Raw, unedited photos of you, your body, your details. 

The hum of the air conditioning droned on, driving him mad. Jeno needed one reaction, but Taemin had been silent and expressionless for the past ten minutes. Whenever he did move, it was to click through to the next picture. 

Suddenly, he shut it closed and stood right up. Jeno, panicked, did the same. Taemin stuck his hand out and Jeno hesitantly grabbed it, incredibly unsettled and unable to read the older man.

Taemin received it firmly, giving Jeno a good handshake. “Welcome abroad, Lee Jeno. I expect even more great things from you.” 

Jeno registered his delightful mood switch and he was fast to follow up, “my photos, --- you --- like them?” 

Taemin nodded generously, patting Jeno on his shoulder. Taemin reached up to tap his own eyelids. “What you can see, is very special, kid. You’re an artist and I’m here to recognize that for you. It seems to me, you can do more than take pictures of sidewalks.” 

Jeno smiled happily, his eyes disappearing from joy. He couldn’t wait to tell you about it. 

The rest of the week, leading up to Jeno’s appointment, had felt nothing short of blissful moments together. You and Jeno spent almost every waking minute together without the cost of your friends’ time. He walked you to your classes, some even being across the campus from his own. You accompanied him for meals, even sitting in his lectures to just be with him.

There were no words that established what you two had become to each other. Jeno wasn’t looking for that anyways, in fact, he somewhat liked the ambiguity. If only he could tell you how making love to you made him begin to actually fall for you.

You were never one to hold a serious relationship, but you found a small want for that festering in Jeno. It was hard to admit to yourself, but Jeno saw you for all that you were. He truly saw you, whether it had been through a lens or through his own eyes. He captured your rawness and you were able to find vulnerability around him. 

He ran to you, where you sat in the lobby waiting for him to finish his meeting. Peering up from your phone, you noticed the beaming smile on the boy’s face. You couldn’t hold back your own grin, seeing him apparent with so much joy. “I’m guessing good things?”

“I got it, (Y/N)!” He jumped into your arms and you laughed at the sudden affection. “He loved my photos.” 

“I didn’t doubt it for one second. You’re an artist, Jeno. You create masterpieces that make even someone like me, feel like art.” 

Jeno hugged you closer to his chest, giving you a tiny squeeze. Pulling away to face you, his eyes examined your outstanding grace. You knew what he was already going to say, but simply wanted to hear him say it. “That’s because you are art.”

[blazingparker]

tony finds out that peter wants to propose. marriage = very scary thing for tony. tony panics. peter mishears and thinks the issue is that tony doesn’t want to marry HIM. [misunderstandings + breaking up then making up + angst w/ a happy ending].

thanks sooo much for this prompt, anon!!!! i changed it a little so they didn’t break up but they do have a big fight and make up. It’s also a little shorter than i wanted since i can’t really type still due to my wrist injury but i didn’t want to make you wait any longer. i really hope you enjoy this!

read it on ao3!

---

But Your Fears Get in the Way

Peter was going to propose.

Holy shit, Peter was going to propose.

It wasn’t like Tony had meant to overhear, okay? It wasn’t his fault Peter had assumed Tony was in the lab, not in the living room when he got back from patrol.

“Yeah, Ned, I got the ring. No, I don’t know when yet. I’ll let you know. I just-I want it to be perfect, you know?”

Tony had reacted wonderfully, if you must know. He most certainly did not pretend to be asleep on the couch so Peter wouldn’t know he’d overheard, and he definitely did not avoid his boyfriend as much as possible in the following days. It was a shitty move, and Tony knew it, but he didn’t know what else to do. He wasn’t marriage material. What he and Peter had - it worked. If they changed it, if they got engaged, Tony would ruin it. He knew that, and he needed Peter to know that before he lost the best relationship he’d ever had because of his own inability to stop fucking up.

It was just a question of how to bring it up to Peter without breaking his heart and ruining everything anyway. Which was why he’d asked Rhodey to come over and help him out. Tony wasn’t the greatest with words and knew he needed to practice with someone before going out and essentially tell his boyfriend ‘Hey, I overheard you the other day. Sweet gesture, but I’m not marriage material.’

“Tony.”

Tony looked up from the Iron Man gauntlet he was in the middle of repairing to find his best friend standing in the middle of the lab, looking very irritated.

“Hey honey bear,” Tony snarked, sitting back in his chair and setting his tools down.

“You do realize you asked me to come over here, right?” “Course I do.”

“Well, then maybe next time you could put down your toys the first time I call your name instead of the fifth.” Rhodey gave Tony a little smirk and crossed the room, sitting down in a chair across from Tony. The genius ran a hand over his face, looking genuinely apologetic - a rare occurrence for him.

“Sorry, Rhodey. I just-this has got me really shaken up,” he admitted. Rhodey tried not to let his shock show, knowing Tony would shut down and shut him out if he looked like he might be mocking him or not taking him seriously.

“You said Peter wants to propose?” He asked, Tony nodding to confirm the information he’d shared over the phone. Rhodey whistled lowly and blew out a breath, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “That’s big stuff, man.”

“I know it’s big stuff!” Tony almost yelled, reining it back in at the unimpressed look the other man shot in his direction. “I just-I can’t let him. I can’t let him propose. But if I stop him beforehand, I’ll break his fucking heart and he’ll know I overheard him the other night. If I say no, that’d be even worse. If I say yes, I’m just prolonging the inevitable break-up.”

“Why would it be an inevitable break-up? Peter loves you. You’ve been together for four years, Tony. That’s plenty of time for someone to decide their relationship is or isn’t going to work and then act accordingly. Clearly he loves you a whole lot if he’s bought the ring and everything like you said.” Rhodey tried to keep any judgment out of his tone, wanting to understand and not aggravate his friend.

“Because that’s what I do!” Tony exclaimed, standing up so fast his chair rolled backwards across the lab floor. “I ruin relationships. It’s honestly a fucking miracle this has lasted this long, you saw how Pepper and I were before.” Rhodey didn’t disagree - Tony and Pepper had been a hot mess. “I ruin relationships, but I haven’t yet with Peter! So everything needs to just-just stay the same so that I can continue to not fuck it up. For once in my life.”

There was silence after that, Tony’s chest heaving as he breathed in heavily and tried to calm himself down. Rhodey stood from his chair as well, crossing the room to his best friend and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Tony almost seemed on the verge of tears, something he’d only seen a handful of times before.

“I don’t think you could ruin what you and Peter have,” Rhodey said, holding up a hand when Tony immediately opened his mouth to argue. “But if you’re that worried about it, tell him.”

“Tell him what?” Tony asked, and Rhodey took a second to think about how to phrase his next words. He thought Tony’s fears about ruining his and Peter’s relationships were uncalled for, but they didn’t come from nowhere. There was real fear there that needed to be addressed. Both men were so deeply engrossed in their own thoughts and their conversation that neither noticed the lab door easing open slightly and a head full of fluffy brown curls peeking in.

“Tell him you can’t,” Rhodey eventually suggested. “Just-tell him everything you told me. Talk it out with him. Tell him you’re not ready for marriage yet but that you still love him.”

“I’m not ever going to be ready.”

“Then tell him that, Tony. Tell him you can’t marry him. But tell him, not me.”

The two men jumped at the sound of the lab door slamming shut and swift footsteps running down the hall.

“Who was that?” Tony asked, thoroughly confused.

“It seems Mr. Parker is leaving the building in quite a hurry,” JARVIS spoke up. Tony’s entire chest filled with dread and the room was suddenly entirely too cold. Peter had heard. How much had he heard? Didn’t matter, he heard enough to just leave. He’d done it again, he’d ruined the one good thing he had left--

“I’ve ruined this already,” Tony wheezed, finding it difficult to breathe. Rhodey’s hands landed on his arms, his best friend coaching him through taking some deep breaths.

“You didn’t. We both made a pretty huge mistake, but we can fix it. Let’s go talk to him, we can explain.” Tony shook his head, placing his hand on Rhodey’s and removing it.

“No, I need to fix this. Thanks though.” He gave Rhodey a weak smile before rushing out the door, following JARVIS’ directions up to the penthouse.

-

“Peter!” He called out as the elevator doors opened. He heard shuffling in their bedroom and ran over to the doorway.

Peter was packing a bag. That feeling of dread in Tony's chest intensified as he took in the scene.

“What?” The younger man asked coldly, shoving clothing into his suitcase in a hurried manner that was so unlike him. Usually he treated his things with more care, folding each item carefully before placing it gently in Ben’s old suitcase.

“Just-stop packing, okay?” Tony walked over to where the suitcase rested on the bed and gently tried to block Peter from placing another shirt inside. Thanks to Peter’s ridiculously good reflexes, he was unsuccessful.

“Why? So I can keep listening to the bullshit you and Rhodey were spewing downstairs?” Peter asked, and Tony sighed as he continued to pack. Eventually, the billionaire just started taking the clothes back out of the suitcase, something Peter squawked at. For a few moments, there was just a flurry of movement as Tony took clothing out and Peter rushed to put it back in.

“Knock it off!” Peter cried out after a few moments, catching Tony’s wrists in his hands and holding them tightly.

“Then hear me out,” Tony said, trying to stay calm for them both. On the inside, though, he was terrified. And maybe a little turned on by Peter manhandling him like that--

Focus, Tony.

“Fine,” Peter practically growled as he released Tony’s wrists and took a step back from his suitcase. “Talk, then.”

“First of all, what you heard was taken wildly out of context,” Tony started, and Peter immediately scoffed and rolled his eyes. The younger man crossed his arms over his chest defensively, taking a few steps back from his boyfriend and fixing him with an incredulous look.

“Oh, so you weren’t talking about how much you don’t want to marry me? How you can’t?” He spat out, the words seemingly spearing directly through Tony’s heart.

“Peter-”

“Don’t Peter me. If you didn’t want to marry me, you could have just fucking said so!” Peter said, clearly distressed but trying to hold back tears. “No, but instead-instead, you strung me along for four goddamn years only to tell your friend that you can’t marry me instead of telling me! Do you not see how fucked up that is, Tony?! The second you overheard me you should have come to me instead of avoiding me like the plague! I thought I’d done something wrong, but I guess the only thing that I did wrong was loving you too much.”

“I-”

“No, I’m not finished,” Peter said, pointing at him. Something in his gaze, in the way he held himself in such a defensive way that he’d never been around Tony before, made the genius shut up. “Four years is plenty of time to tell me you don’t want to marry me. Plenty of time for you to let me go so we can both move on. Why didn’t you? What did you think was going to happen? That we were just going to stay boyfriends forever? Newsflash, Tony, in adult relationships there’s this thing called commitment.”

“I have been wholly committed to this relationship for four years, Parker,” Tony growled, more than a little bit of anger peeking through the fear at those words.

“Congratu-fucking-lations! You’re not acting like an adult though, are you? Committing to a relationship means commitment for the future, too! Not just right now.” Peter yelled - he was yelling now - and something inside Tony broke.

“I never said I didn’t want to marry you!” He yelled, and both of them fell into a shocked silence. Tony never raised his voice - not at Peter, anyway. Sure, they’d fought before, but Tony was usually calmer and when he did get angry he never yelled like that. They both took a few breaths before Tony ran his hands over his face and continued.

“I never said the problem was you,” he rephrased, voice softer now as he glanced down at the floor. “I’m the problem, Peter.”

“You’re the-”

“No, stop. Just let me talk.” Tony’s voice was exhausted, defeated even. He knew this was coming, despite Rhodey telling him otherwise. Despite hoping his days of setting relationships on fire and then watching them burn were over.

“Okay,” Peter agreed in an equally quiet tone. He felt slightly bad for screaming at Tony like that, but given what he’d overheard it had felt justified at the time. Now, after seeing his boyfriend look so utterly broken like this? He wasn’t so sure.

“This,” Tony gestured between them. “This is what I do. I cause problems. My relationships start out great and then inevitably I fuck it up somehow. A suit comes to protect me from a nightmare. I forget an anniversary because I’m too busy tinkering in the lab.” He finally met Peter’s eyes. “I take my fears of losing you to my best friend instead of to you, like I should have.” Something in Peter’s eyes softened slightly at that last admission, and Tony swallowed before continuing.

“Four years with you isn’t enough, Peter. Our whole lives won’t be enough. Of course I want to marry you. But I can’t. I can’t marry you because then when I fuck up and lose you then we’re both going to be in for a world of hurt. It’ll be easier if we just stay like this.” Peter took in a breath like he wanted to say something but Tony kept talking. “I’m not saying dating is going to make it so I never screw this up, but it’ll at least let me enjoy this a little longer. Enjoy you a little longer.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then another.

After a few moments, Peter walked up to Tony and gently took his hands in his own, rubbing his thumbs over calloused knuckles.

“You’re an idiot,” he whispered fondly, and Tony tried to jerk his hands out of Peter’s grip. His boyfriend was too fast, though, holding on steadily and continuing those soft touches.

“That’s not news,” Tony tried to joke, but his voice was weak.

“You’re not going to lose me,” Peter murmured.

“I just did! Almost. You were packing!”

“Because I thought my boyfriend didn’t want to marry me. I thought-” Peter broke off, taking in a shaky breath as tears came to his eyes. “I thought you wanted marriage, but not with me. Why would I stay and make us both go through a relationship where neither one of us is ever going to get what we really want?”

Tony could almost kiss his stupid, selfless boyfriend. Of course Peter fucking Parker would put his own heart into the line of fire to make sure Tony got what he really wanted.

“Now that I know that that’s not what you meant, I’m here to stay. Of course I’m here to stay. I love you, Tony.” Peter reached up and pressed a soft kiss to Tony’s cheek, squeezing his hands lightly.

“So you understand why I can’t?” Tony asked, and Peter rolled his eyes. The action was more fond now than it was angry.

“No, I don’t. But we’re going to work on it. As long as what we both want most is each other, then we can work it out. I’m not going to let your fears get in the way of us.” Peter smiled sweetly up at Tony, who felt slightly dizzy. Peter wasn’t leaving him. They were going to be okay.

“I’ll work on it,” he promised, voice barely more than a whisper.

“We will,” Peter amended. Tony simply nodded before leaning down, capturing Peter’s lips in a fierce kiss. He finally pulled his hands free of that soft grip and wrapped them around the smaller man, tugging him into his chest and holding him close.

As they slowly broke apart, Tony barely held back a whine and tried to chase after Peter’s lips. His boyfriend just laughed, placing a gentle finger on Tony’s lips.

“Wanna help me get my clothes off the bed?” He asked, and the older man groaned at the thought of cleaning up.

“Do we have to?” He asked.

“Well, we can’t exactly have fantastic make-up sex if the bed is covered in all my clean clothes,” Peter pointed out, smirking as he mouthed along Tony’s neck before pulling away.

Tony, ever the genius, simply ripped the comforter off the bed and tossed it aside, revealing sheets with no clean clothing in the way.

“Fixed,” he crowed, picking Peter up and placing him on the bed. The laughter that rang out in their bedroom as he climbed on top of his boyfriend was something Tony knew he would cherish.

They had things to work through, that was for sure. But it was like Peter said. As long as they both wanted each other, Tony had a feeling they would figure it all out.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

What's the most common misconception you hear about c!tommy?

Hey! Really interesting question, cheers. I’d say that there’s quite a few misconceptions floating around: that he never apologises, that he hasn’t developed, that his exile was his fault, that he’s the main source of conflict on the server, that all he does is steal, and plenty of other stuff.

But the one I probably hear most is how Tommy supposedly values music discs over people.

This one is such a mess of misconceptions. I’ve even heard it said that Doomsday happened because Tommy cared about his discs too much and he was wrong because you shouldn’t value items over human lives. I hate this one because it misunderstands Tommy enough so you can dismiss him because its such a weak position. 

Anyway, I understand why its so messy. Tommy throughout season 2 is frequently in a state of uncertainty and is being driven by emotions and isn’t thinking clearly after so much suffering. He says a lot of stuff he doesn’t mean and is very suggestible. Most of his talking about the discs is done when he’s lonely and thinks his friends don’t care for him anymore, that they’re better off without him.

Now, let’s be clear: music discs are something Tommy’s character loves. His happiness every time he listens to one feels very genuine. He’s had so many emotional moments listening to his discs with others and even considers his bench his happy space. He likes them and invites others to listen with him. These items hold no intrinsic value, they’re of no worth to anyone else besides how much they mean to Tommy. The only reason to take them is to try to control him specifically. That’s the original reason Dream took them in the original disc war - to punish Tommy after he caused some trouble. 

And the original disc war was fun for Tommy. He found the battle to be exciting and enjoyed trying to outplay Dream with his best friend Tubbo and anyone he could get on his side. It was like a fun game to him. One that, while chaotic, no one really got hurt from at all - the only one who really suffered was Tommy himself, who put stuff on the line for it and had his whole base dug up. (And Tubbo who got dragged in and lost items, but he was initially a very willing partner who found the conflict fun too.) 

And then we have Dream, who traded away L’Manburg’s independence for Tommy’s discs, an interesting decision which meant only Tommy really paid the price that day. Everyone remarked on how unusually selfless it was of Tommy. That day was a victory for everyone else, but bittersweet for him. Wilbur consoled him, saying they could get them back and then they’d have even more history and sentimental value attached to them, having been what paid for L’Manburg’s freedom. Tommy was encouraged and so the game continued.

Dream over this time became not just Tommy’s enemy, but his friend. They had fights and conflicts but it was more like a fun game. As they also did stuff like make a church together. Eventually Tommy managed to steal Mellohi back from Dream while Skeppy acquired Cat. At the elections, Tommy gives Mellohi to Wilbur who gives it back again when they’re banished. Months pass and they finally win back L’Manberg and its a wonderful day (until it goes wrong) but Tommy’s not done with his disc war. 

This disc war was always a personal thing for Tommy, he’s never wanted others to be dragged in and hurt by it. He kind of takes Tubbo for granted, but Tubbo’s also always been his partner in crime and Tommy enjoys having a war he can fight alongside his best friend - he and Tubbo against Dream. Dream at this point is still seen as a friendly enemy, in spite of choosing Schlatt and helping Wilbur blow up L’Manberg. Anyway, he rejects Presidency, giving it to Wilbur because he trusts him and also wants to focus on his personal battles after so long ignoring it. He doesn’t want others to be dragged in or for his interests to be divided. He’s leaving L’Manburg in safe hands he can trust. That’s season 1 of the SMP, but season 2 is where things get messier.

After the war, Tommy hears that Tubbo had been suspicious that Tommy might’ve been the traitor. In order to show that he trusts him, Tommy gives Tubbo Mellohi. It’s not just a disc now, its a sign of trust, a sign of their bond - at least in Tommy’s eyes.

Then Dream builds obsidian walls around L’Manburg and we first see Tommy showing that bit of selfishness. He states that he’d wanted to step away, that L’Manburg wasn’t his priority anymore. That he’d left it in safe hands so he could focus on the discs. But it doesn’t matter what Tommy intended. Dream is targeting him and is dragging the rest of L’Manburg into it by threatening to seal them in obsidian forever if they don’t comply. Tommy and Tubbo do have a disagreement here, but its not actually so much about the discs. 

-Tommy believes that fighting Dream is the superior option, if they ask for help from others in the server - because what he’s doing isn’t right - then they could defeat him, show him that he couldn’t just push them around. 

-Tubbo feels like that would get them killed and he doesn’t want to risk their lives. It would be better to appease Dream for now and secretly plot how to take him down later but Tommy’s being too hotheaded. 

Tommy brings up the disc to state how he trusts Tubbo and would consider being exiled a betrayal but Tubbo reminds him that they’re just discs and there’s more on the line and Tommy needs to be more cooperative. Anyway, Tommy’s hurt by Tubbo exiling him and think its a sign that he doesn’t care about him anymore. Tubbo meanwhile found it difficult to do but felt like there was no other option but did still care about Tommy. Tubbo would later come to regret doing it while Tommy would later say that it was the right choice when they finally actually talk. 

The discs here are kind of a symbol but Tommy doesn’t really value them over others, he’s being a little selfish for sure but that is mostly a result of being treated unfairly by Dream and feeling attacked and ganged up on by his friends, not seeing how they were trying to help him. Dream’s the one to blame here. At worst, Tommy’s being irresponsible in thinking he can just step away from L’Manburg - he didn’t value the discs over it, he just wanted to fight a personal battle without L’Manburg being involved for once. But too many things do matter to him and Dream realised he could attack Tommy through his friends. Its also why Tommy says he didn’t want Tubbo to be President, because he wanted him to be free to help him in his personal war too. There were some issues in their friendship that for sure got exploited and blown out of proportion.

So post-exile. Tommy is rather confused. He’s decided he doesn’t want to die and that Dream wasn’t really his friend, but he still feels abandoned by all his other friends. He still believes they didn’t really care about him after his failed beach party and everything else. And his feelings on Dream are mixed because he knows logically he should hate him but emotionally he still feels like he’s his friend.

Tommy at this point, begins clinging to the discs as some sort of tangible goal while feeling so lonely and abandoned. He has no real sense of agency and really wants Technoblade to give him guidance. Technoblade however wants to destroy L’Manburg and reaffirms his thoughts that Tubbo doesnt really care about him. Tommy is still...kinda(?) clear that he doesn’t want L’Manburg to be destroyed but is willing to compromise on minor terrorism. His remaining belief in L’Manburg is being eroded. You can see in his trips into L’Manburg he is rather unaware of the extent of his actions. He’s suffered and now feels right in lashing out. It seems to be the start of a villain arc even. Right at this point, the discs make more sense than people so they are his goal. And yet even in the midst of his uncertainty, he says the one Tubbo has is safe, he wants to get the one Dream has. 

The discs are Tommy’s way of saying he wants to fight Dream. It’s not really about the discs anymore, Dream went way too far with the exile and now Tommy wants to stop him and find it easiest to frame it as going after his music disc.

Then the festival. Tommy finally confronts Tubbo and sees him about to give his disc to Dream. It’s his worst fears confirmed, that Tubbo doesn’t really care about him and that he’s on Dream’s side. They fight and Tommy finally says the line ‘the discs were worth more than you ever were!’

And he regrets it immediately. The statement rang false. They were just discs and Tubbo was his best friend. He immediately tells Tubbo to give up the disc and changes sides then and there. The discs were not more important than people. He was being selfish. And he also remembered how much he cared about L’Manburg and didn’t want it to be blown up no matter what he’d agreed to the day before. He wants to fight for it, choosing his friends once and for all. 

In his argument with Techno on Doomsday, he does bring up his discs and words it kind of awkwardly. He tries to explain that ‘nothing had been taken from you, while the discs were stolen from me’ Tommy believes that Techno is destroying something people loved when he could’ve just walked away, he wasn’t fighting for something he loved like Tommy in his wars. That’s what he’s trying to get at, not that music discs are more important than people. Tommy doesn’t actually believe that and prefers wars that don’t hurt others, as the disc wars was once supposed to be before Dream brought in everyone else. Even saying that, Tommy admits he’d messed up so many times in chasing the discs. That he was wrong.

Tommy talks about going after the discs again but at this point it really means taking down Dream. Dream had expressed that he would not stop, he enjoyed their ‘game’ too much. Tommy has nothing left to lose as far as he’s concerned and needs to take down Dream for everything he’d done. 

During the disc saga finale, again Tommy always chooses Tubbo first. There’s this one moment where he has Mellohi and could run away forever but he stops and gives it up along with all their items before their taken to the vault and almost forced to watch Tubbo die while he gets thrown in prison forever. But he chooses Tubbo. He always does. 

Okay, summary over. I hope that better explains why I dislike the misconception that Tommy chooses his discs over people. He doesn’t really. It’s used to discredit him way too much, I feel. It’s only at his lowest, after being tormented in exile that he even gets close to that position and that’s when he’s on the bring of choosing a dark path and becoming what he hates. At the festival, he rejects that path.

Now that he has his discs, he hasn’t started trouble with them once. They’re safe and he can bring them out to listen to when he’s feeling low, not hurting anyone. They’re just something he loves and its okay to have attachments. 

[pufflyhallows]

Getaway

Gif not mine

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: Business is going bad after the war and Fred is not feeling so great, so you decide to cheer him up with a special trip.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, smut, language, tiny tiny bit of angst, still fluffy tho

a/n: this is my FIRST smut EVER so... be nice? also, Fred fucking LIVES bc I’m in denial forever lol

Word count: 4,3k

********

You wanted to surprise Fred.

He had been feeling down lately. Ever since he and George reopened the shop after the war, things had been a little tough. The movement was still quite slow, given the fact that people were still recovering from the war, mourning their lost ones and starting new lives. It was a difficult time for everyone, and of course it affected Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes as well.

What ached your heart the most was the fact that there wasn’t much you could do to help him. Every day you watched as he took longer to get out of bed in the morning, how he sounded slower and quieter when talking to you and, the worst part, how he acted quite mechanic when doing his chores around the shop, the same ones he enjoyed so much in the past and had always gotten done with a bright smile on his face. And although he never stopped caring for you or being loving to you, the bedroom had become… inactive. And you missed it. You missed being intimate with your boyfriend, but every time you tried to initiate it, he would softly decline, claiming to be too tired. You believed it. You could see he was indeed exhausted. And not only physically, but mentally too. Perhaps the latter was actually the one weighing more.

George, however, was quite the opposite. He kept his optimism high and was always the first to wake up every morning, excited with the new day and new possibilities. He would often go out and promote the shop, talk to people and sometimes even manage to bring a customer in.

This big difference between them worried you. No, you did not expect the twins to act the same, but you hoped in secret that Fred would follow his brother’s steps and cheer up a bit.

Cheer up. Yeah. That was exactly what he needed. And what better way to cheer up someone than a surprise trip? That’s how you were going to take his mind off of work. With Hermione’s help, you planned a very romantic weekend trip out of town. You talked to George beforehand, of course, but he assured you he could take care of the shop by himself for two days. He agreed Fred needed this.

“It’s not like we’re getting many customers anyway,” he had said.

So, as Friday approached, you felt the excitement building up. You managed to act completely nonchalant around him, making sure he didn’t suspect a thing. It wasn’t a big, expensive hotel because you knew he would worry about money and that was the opposite of what you wanted for this trip. Hermione had helped you pick a small, comfy hotel that was quite charming and fit your pocket perfectly. You wanted to make sure Fred felt loved, cared for and relaxed. There was also a little extra surprise inside your suitcase that you really hoped he would like…

What you didn’t know was that Fred felt guilty. He reckoned he hadn’t been the boyfriend you deserved lately, but he couldn’t help it. The stress was almost eating him alive and his mind was always wandering back to the shop, worrying about its future. You had been so kind and patient with him, he knew you deserved better than that. The whole thing was snowballing and sometimes he couldn’t see it ending.

That Friday, when you got home from work, the shop was still open and there was actually a customer inside, talking with George. You felt relief wash over you, because you knew what that meant: Fred was probably in a good mood.

You walked straight to the flat, not daring to interrupt George, but you stopped in the middle of the stairs to watch. He was speaking with such enthusiasm, showing and explaining his products to the young boy, that it filled you with pride. You caught his eyes for a brief moment and noticed the smallest of smirks appear on his lips. Smiling back, you nodded at him. Fred was nowhere to be seen, though, so you went upstairs.

There was a delicious scent coming from the kitchen. The older twin was there, cooking. You smiled to yourself at the sight. His favorite The Weird Sisters record was playing somewhere in the flat, adding a familiar, comfortable feel to the whole scene. Fred’s back was facing you while he chopped… carrots? on the counter. He didn’t seem to notice your presence just yet, so you took advantage of that. Placing your bag on the nearest chair, you walked in quiet steps towards your boyfriend. The fresh mint aroma coming from him meant he had probably just showered. Oh, and how you missed showering with him.

You couldn’t refrain your smile from growing even bigger once you noticed Fred’s body was swinging from side to side, so imperceptibly that you almost missed it. Carefully, you wrapped your arms around him from behind, resting your cheek on his back. You felt him tense up for a mere second before realizing who it was. He soon relaxed, letting go of the knife and placing his clean hand on yours.

“Didn’t hear you coming in,” he stated, voice low and raspy.

You hummed in response and placed a soft kiss on the nape of his neck. Fred turned around and briefly met your lips with his.

“It’s gonna take a while. Why don’t you go take a bath?”

“I will,” you nodded, running your hand from his chest to his shoulder and squeezing it gently. “How was your day?”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay”, you repeated. “Well, I hope I can make it better. I have a surprise for you after dinner.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes. I have an idea of how we can spend your days off.”

“Hm… Making plans already, are we?”

“Very good plans, yes. But you’ll have to wait until dinner.”

“Or you could tell me right now so I won’t have to.”

“But where’s the fun in that?”

You smirked and gave him another peck on the lips before rushing off the kitchen and leaving your boyfriend to his curiosity and imagination.

The warm bath made you think about a lot of things and you came to realize you were very lucky. The war was over and there you were, taking a bath in your boyfriend’s flat, the person you loved the most in the world. So many people lost their loved ones, their homes, their entire lives in that war. You knew you had many reasons to feel happy and should not take them for granted. Life was good for you right now, and you acknowledged it, promising to yourself that you were going to enjoy it the best you could, with Fred by your side.

George joined the two of you for dinner, which turned out to be the best you had in months. Not because of the food, although it was perfect, but because it felt like everything was back to normal, like all the meals you had shared before the war. Maybe it was the idea of a day off and the mention of a surprise from you, but you could see that Fred was already less gloomy or aloof.

After the meal, as if sensing you wanted to reveal your plans to Fred, George excused himself to his bedroom, claiming he still had to finish some work. You wished him goodnight, not missing the discrete wink he gave you.

“So…” you started, watching as Fred emptied his glass of pumpkin juice. “Remember when I said I had an idea on how to spend your days off?”

“Oh, yes. The surprise.”

“Well… I figured you could use a little rest from everything, so I made a reservation at a very nice hotel for the two of us to spend the weekend at.”

“You what?” Fred asked, a small smile starting to grace his lips.

“The portkey is set for our departure at 10 a.m. tomorrow.”

“But-”

“Nope. No buts,” you shook your head. “I have already packed our bags.”

“Y/N, doll, I don’t know what to say.”

“Tell me I’m amazing, the best thing that ever happened to you, an angel sent from heaven…  Something humble like that.”

Fred chuckled, that contagious sound you missed hearing so much. “You’re amazing. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, a true angel sent from heaven.”

“I know! We’re gonna have so much fun,” you smiled excitedly, clasping your hands together.

“What exactly are your plans for us, though?” your boyfriend questioned, curiosity dripping from his lips.

“Oh, you’ll find out once we’re there.”

“The surprise doesn’t end here, I see.”

“Exactly. I have everything planned, baby.”

The look in Fred’s eyes seemed to indicate he had an idea of what you had planned, but he did not say a word about it. He would like to see the surprise reveal itself in the right moment. He wasn’t going to spoil your plans in any way.

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

You always had your doubts when it came to ads, but this time you had to admit this was spot on. The hotel looked exactly like its pictures and descriptions.

“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?” the receptionist asked as soon as you stepped in the lobby.

It was something so small, so simple, but it made your heart flutter and stomach fill with those restless butterflies. Mrs. Weasley. Were you ever going to become that? You wondered if Fred even noticed the little misunderstanding.

“Um,” you cleared your throat. “Actually, it’s just one Weasley. Fred Weasley. I’m Y/N Y/L/N.”

Your slight flustered manner didn’t go unnoticed by Fred. Despite the obvious nervousness, he thought it was rather cute. In fact, he liked to hear you be called that. Perhaps he should do something about it…

“Oh, I apologize. Mr. Weasley and Miss Y/L/N,” the receptionist corrected herself as she checked the reservation’s book. “You’re right on time, your room is ready for you. I just need your wands for ID confirmation before I give you your key.”

Both of you handed your wands to the young woman behind the desk and she did as she was supposed to. Sooner than you had anticipated, you were in the lovely suite you had reserved.

Fred placed the small handbag on the bed – blessed be the extension charm, that’s all you had to carry for that trip – and walked around the room curiously. You went straight for the big window and opened the curtains. There it was. The view you had seen on the ad and that had made you instantly choose this hotel.

“Fred,” you called softly, looking behind you. “Come see.”

Your boyfriend let go of the catalog on the nightstand and approached you, eyeing the outside in awe.

“Wow,” he breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?”

When making the reservation, you were met with the question: would you like a room with view to the street/village or to the beach? And you chose the beach, although the village was a lovely sight. Now, seeing Fred’s reaction, you were absolutely sure you had made the right choice.

The hotel was in a small village where both wizards and muggles lived. With a little help from magic, the wizards could go unnoticed and the muggles lived everyday life without a single clue of the existence of such peculiar neighbors. The beach was right behind the village, and your room being in the back of the hotel, you had a wonderful privileged view of nature’s beauty.

“Wanna go down there?” you asked.

“What’s in your plans?” he asked back, switching his gaze from the window to you.

“Beach,” you replied with a small smile. “Basically the entire day at the beach, lunch at a muggle restaurant down there too. But dinner here.”

“I’ll follow your script, doll.”

Fred placed his hand on your waist and pulled you closer, pressing his lips ever so gently on yours. You instantly let go of the curtains so you could run your fingers through his soft hair. The light fabric fell back to its place, covering the windows again and leaving the room a little darker than before. Fred’s gentle kiss wasn’t so gentle anymore.

No, not yet.

You broke the kiss and pulled back, biting your lip as you started to feel that you might not be able to wait until the right time for your surprise.

“I’m starving,” you whispered against his lips.

“Me too,” he pulled you closer again.

“Let’s go, then.” You managed to get out of his embrace and grab the handbag before heading to the bathroom to change into your bathing suit.

A hungry Fred was left standing by the big window.

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

It had been hard.

It had been hard seeing you in so little clothing, dripping wet, skin glistening as droplets of water reflected the sunlight. But Fred managed.

All he had in his mind every time he saw you leaving the water was how he wanted to take you then and there. He had to distract himself from those thoughts, paying attention to what you were saying but not too much to your moving lips. He knew you had something planned and he was appreciative of how much effort you had put in this weekend for him. That was the only reason he wasn’t indulging to his not-so-pure thoughts.

Lunch was a good distraction too, specially since you had to convince a muggle child she had imagined it when she saw Fred stop his falling fork mid-air.

Now, as the two of you walked hand in hand back to the hotel, he wondered if he was going to be rewarded for the self-control test he had just passed. You were humming a song as you observed the houses, trying to guess which ones were muggles and which ones were wizards.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Dinner!” you answered excitedly. “But, if I were you, I wouldn’t go overboard.”

“Why, if I may ask?” but Fred already suspected why.

“Well… there might be plans for after dinner as well.”

Fred held your hand tighter and pulled you towards the hotel in a faster pace. You chuckled, feeling the excitement grow bigger and bigger.

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

“Dessert?” the waiter asked as he took the empty plates from your table.

“No, thank you,” Fred replied before you had the chance. “We’re calling it a night, aren’t we, sweetheart?”

“Actually,” you smirked at your boyfriend before looking at the waiter. “I’d like chocolate pudding, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As soon as the waiter left, Fred gave you a look.

“What?” you asked nonchalantly.

“I thought you said we wouldn’t go overboard.”

“I’m not going overboard. I had a small plate,” you shrugged.

“Right,” Fred sighed, bouncing his leg under the table.

When your chocolate pudding came, you grabbed the spoon and took a small amount to your mouth. Fred watched your every move, arms crossed and brows slightly furrowed as he saw you slowly lick the spoon. You pretended you didn’t know he was watching, eyes on the tiny bowl in front of you, and you mouthed another spoon, unintentionally getting pudding all over your lips.

Your boyfriend gulped as he watched you run your thumb over your lower lip, getting rid of the chocolate there, and gently suck on it.

“For fuck’s sake, Y/N,” he mumbled.

“Hm?” you looked at him innocently.

“Just eat the damn thing.”

“You want some?” you raised the spoon at him.

“Yes, I want some.”

You felt your cheeks burn just a little bit with his remark, heart begin to race as the ideas for what you wanted to do to him tonight started to flood your mind.

“If you wait patiently, you might get what you want,” you teased, looking back at the bowl and already serving another spoon, which you quickly brought to your lips, licking all the content off of it.

Fred shook his head, one corner of his lips going upwards ever so slightly, eyes glued on you.

“You sure you don’t want to taste it?” you offered again, lips glistening as you cleaned them with your tongue.

“I will taste it,” his eyes pierced through your body and suddenly the hotel was too hot.

You had barely served the last spoon of pudding when Fred stood up and let the waiter know you were headed to the room.

“I haven’t finished yet,” you protested and he immediately took the last spoon from your hand and into his mouth.

“Now you have,” he said as he pulled you from the chair.

The way back to the suite felt much longer than it actually was, but as soon as you reached the door, Fred’s lips were on yours. You had trouble to get the key with your boyfriend’s hands all over you, pulling your body hard against his.

“Fred,” you breathed, stepping back. “There’s another surprise.”

Before he could say anything, you unlocked the door and went inside.

“Sit down,” you slowly pushed him to the bed. “And close your eyes.”

Fred complied with no protests, but you could see he was getting flustered, probably guessing what was coming.

You blew out most of the candles illuminating the room and left only a few to create the romantic atmosphere you wanted. You went to the bathroom and changed into the expensive lacy lingerie you had bought for this exact occasion. It was red, a color you had learned Fred was very fond of when it came to this kind of clothing, and had one small, delicate bow right between your breasts.

“Are your eyes closed?” you asked from the bathroom, hand on the doorknob.

“Yeah,” you heard in response.

“No peeking ‘til I tell you to,” you warned.

“…‘kay.”

You opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. Fred was still sitting on the bed, one leg bouncing impatiently, and a slight frown between his eyebrows.

Slowly, you approached the bed and stood right in front of him.

“Open your eyes,” you whispered.

As soon as he did, Fred sucked in a shaky, quiet breath. He eyed you from head to toe, not hiding his astonishment.

“Baby,” he mumbled in a deep voice, already feeling his pants get a little too tight as his eyes still traveled through your entire figure.

“Do you like it?” you asked.

“Mm-hmm,” he nodded, biting his bottom lip.

“Good,” you smiled, placing your hands on each of his shoulders. “Now let me show you how proud I am to be your girlfriend.”

Your lips met Fred’s in a slow, deep kiss as you climbed the bed and straddled him, your arms thrown around his neck. Fred let out a soft moan when he felt your weight against his lap, his hands going up your back, fingertips sending shivers down your spine as they searched for the bra clasp. However, you stopped them and placed them back on your hips.

“Not so fast,” you whispered against his lips.

Before he could protest, you kissed him again, now pushing him all the way back to lay down on the bed. Hovering above him, you started pulling up his shirt, which he quickly got rid of for you. You chuckled. Maybe you weren’t the only one who had missed this.

Now that you had free access to his torso, you began to place soft, wet kisses on his neck, slowly moving down to his chest and stomach, painfully taking your time.

You could feel Fred’s breathing get deeper and deeper as you kissed his abs, working your way down to his pants. Once there, you stopped the kisses for a brief moment, so you could focus on getting rid of that piece of fabric. Again, Fred quickly helped you out until you were both just in your underwear.

The sight sent goosebumps through your body and you inevitably bit your lower lip. He was already so hard, you felt the anticipation building up inside you.

You decided to torture him for a little bit – just a little bit – and carried on with the kisses, not taking off his underwear quite yet. However, Fred’s impatience was growing and he didn’t think he would manage to wait for too long. His hand found your hair and he started stroking it, running his fingers through it, a disguised way to guide your head to where he needed you the most. You realized his intentions, but you did not stop him. You let him take you where he wanted and soon your lips found his still covered length.

“Shit, Y/N.”

You smirked.

Slowly, you started pulling down the last piece of clothing until you completely freed him. He was so beautiful. You still had a silly smile on your face as you ran your tongue all the way up from the base to the tip, where you placed a gentle kiss. Fred’s soft moan reached your ears, a beautiful sound that made you even more wet.

You took him in your mouth and started sucking the tip in a slow, teasing pace, while your hand loosely stroked him. You didn’t want him to cum yet. You wanted him to last. And you were going to make him last.

Fred’s hand never left your hair, and he began to slightly pull it, asking for more. He needed more.

“Y/N,” he moaned. “Y/N, please.”

You ignored him and kept going in that insanely slow pace, taking your time. What was the hurry?

You heard a low groan, and felt him move his hips against you. You stopped.

“Behave yourself, Weasley.”

“Baby… Please.”

You smirked again, giving him one last stroke, and you let go of him.

Fred looked at you in a way you hadn’t seen in a while. His eyes were dark, full of pure lust. But also desperation and discontent with the sudden lack of touch.

You crawled on the bed until your face was right above his, and you kissed him. It was a deep, passionate, hurried kiss between two people who were eager for each other. This time, you didn’t stop Fred’s hands from going up your back and unclasping your bra. He took it off and you quickly felt his left hand on your right breast, squeezing it. His right hand, however, was going up and down your side, sending shivers through your bare skin. He rested it on your waist for a little bit before going down to your ass and squeezing it tightly. You moaned against his lips, your own impatience growing.

You only stopped the kiss to get rid of your panties, the last piece of fabric separating you from him.

Fred watched as you got off of him and started to pull it down your smooth legs. He could feel his cock throbbing at the sight of your completely naked body. You were breathtakingly, heart-racingly beautiful. He loved the lingerie, he really did, but he loved your body a thousand times more. And he would never get tired of looking at it.

When you straddled him again, skin to skin now, he thought he would cum right then and there. You smiled at him, that beautiful smile that never changed, and kissed him one more time. Fred placed his hands on your waist, squeezing it gently, as if to encourage you. Not wasting another second, you guided his tip to your entrance and slowly sank down on him, allowing him to get all the way inside you, quite easily given how wet you were.

“Oh fuck, baby,” he moaned.

Letting out your own whimpers, you placed your hands on his chest and started riding him, still slowly, still teasingly. Fred’s moans soon turned into groans, complaints. He was getting tired of the teasing, he was already on edge. He couldn’t take it anymore. With a swift move, Fred shifted the both of you so now he was on top. He started thrusting into you, quite roughly, earning a loud approving moan from you.

“Fred,” you gasped, digging your nails into his shoulders.

He kept going, pounding harder and harder, moaning as he did so.

You started kissing his neck, biting, sucking, anything that would leave a mark.

“Yes, baby,” you cried out as he thrusted even deeper.

The bed was making a discreet creaking sound that you weren’t sure if the people in the other rooms could hear. You hoped not, but honestly? Right now you didn’t care. The sound of Fred’s heavy breaths, moans, groans and whimpers were all you were paying attention to. Beautiful sounds that had the power to shut down anything else in your mind.

The rhythm he had created was sending you to heaven with every motion. His lips soon found your own again and he kissed you as if he hadn’t done it just minutes before.

“Fuck, Y/N. I’m close.”

“Me too.”

As you felt your body tense, Fred came inside you with a low groan, slowing down just a tad bit. He kept thrusting, however, knowing you were about to reach your climax too. And not long after him, you felt a wave of pleasure wash over you, and your body relaxed completely.

Both of you were panting against each other’s neck, your arms still loosely around his shoulders as he slowly pulled out and collapsed on top of you.

Hugging him more tightly, you felt Fred leave small kisses on your neck, and you closed your eyes, enjoying the extra-tingly sensation. You started to run your fingernails up and down his back, the other hand caressing his hair.

If you concentrated hard enough, you could hear the waves crashing on the beach, the giggling of children playing down there, and the muffled music coming from the muggle restaurant. You felt so at ease.

After a long moment of peaceful, comforting silence, Fred looked up and smiled. “I love you so much.”

You smiled back. “I love you too.”

Not bad for round one.

********

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Bob & B(l)ob| FNF x Reader

A/N: Just a thing I wanted to write bc I got Bob and Bob/Bosip brainrot on the mind :) Also I did my best to clarify which Bob is speaking/being described so apologies if it's still confusing for some.

Also, although Bob Takeover week is an alternate timeline I tried fitting this into the canon timeline where they battle BF after the whole takeover ordeal.

Summary: Reader is a good friend of Bob (Onslaught), Amor, Bob, and Bosip. They can travel between the real world and FNF universe. But after learning of the trouble the blob caused in the Takeover week of the VS Bob & Bosip mod, they enter the game once more to sort things out and clear up some misunderstandings.

......

"Oh give me a break.."

"What's wrong? Are Bob and Bosip okay?"

Amor stopped clicking around the laptop screen as he sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking to you. "I dunno, I can't find them anywhere in this mod. One moment Bob was rap-battling some blob character also called Bob. Then the next moment it crashes during the cutscene and they like..completely vanished. Bosip's not responding to any of my messages about the game, either."

When he mentioned the blob character, your eyes lit up. "Oh! I know that other Bob."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I met him in his original mod. He's broken the game before so...I suspect he's the reason those two are missing."

"...now I feel really bad for sticking them in this game without their knowledge. They thought they were going to Minecraft." He sweatdropped, nervously smiling as he booted up the game again. "Well if you can go in and see what's up, that'd be great. Sorry you gotta fix my mistake because...I honestly have no clue what happened to them."

"It's all good." You chuckled. "He can be unpredictable but I know him best. I'll get your boys back."

"Thanks, [y/n].

..........

Once you entered the game, it took you a while to find your blob-shaped friend in the park. You asked around with no apparent luck, and you began to worry that Bob somehow moved on from this mod.

It was unusual for Ron not to be here either, though you did see a red stain on the road-

"Yo."

You turned around upon hearing the voice and saw Bob in front of you, wearing a disguise of the missing Bob, complete with a blue wig that barely fit over his head. And instead of a blue B on his sweater, there was the word "gloopie".

As amused as you were upon seeing this, you just folded your arms over your chest, looking down at him with a frown. "Alright, fess up."

"Wut?"

"Don't play dumb. Where's the other Bob and Bosip? Amor's worried sick about what happened to them and I suspect you're involved."

He frowned back at you. "That cube-looking bitch beat me in a rap battle."

"And that's a reason to kidnap them both and pretend to be him?"

"....yes?"

"No." You sighed, before looking around. "Where's Ron, by the way?"

"Dead but "in a cool way"," he mocked the folderhead. "He got ran over. Man you should've seen his guts all over the road-"

"I'd rather not. Just...tell me where you took them or I'm getting Opheebop."

Your threat made Bob's eyes widen in horror. While he was scary on his own, nothing terrified him more than invoking the wrath of his girlfriend. So he finally gave in, his disguise dissolving into black goop that was reabsorbed into his body.

And he disgruntledly teleported you both into a dark building, which had a single dim lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It took you a minute to adjust to the darkness, but eventually you heard muffled cries of confusion and panic nearby.

"Mmmh?!!!"

"Mmmhff!!!!"

Looking to the source, you were horrified to see Bob and Bosip were on the floor, their hands tied by rope with tape across their mouths. "What the--oh god hang on, guys." You ran over and knelt down to untie them, ripping the tape off as well.

And here you were, afraid that they've been killed. Amor definitely would've been upset if that were the case. There were a lot of dangers in the games they traveled in, and unfortunately nothing warned them of the blob's evil powers.

The moment you freed them, Bob saw the blob-Bob and screamed, clinging to you tightly. "K-Keep that thing away from me!!" He cried. "I don't know what it wants or why it kidnapped us but--!!"

"Bob..it's alright. We're safe now thanks to you." Bosip smiled at you, before looking back at the blob with discomfort. "But uh..do you know this guy by any chance? Seems it brought you here willingly."

"Oh he's a friend of mine from the mod Bob's Onslaught. His name is also..Bob and...uh--Bob? Bob, please calm down." You had a hard time explaining with the blue-haired male babbling nonsense in your ear. But you just sighed. "I'm really ashamed of you."

Suddenly he shut up and looked at you with teary eyes. "Wh-What?"

"No, no. I didn't mean you. I meant him." You pointed at the blob who was standing there awkwardly. "He's got a penchant for killing people who insult him or beat him in rap battles. He takes shit way too personally."

"No I don't."

"Ah, so he speaks." Bosip mused. "But in our defense, he challenged us first without knowing what we were capable of."

"Yeah!" Blue-haired Bob spoke up, still hugging you but with a less constricting grip now. "I take pride in my amazing vocals and I wasn't about to let some silly knockoff Dre-"

You immediately slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him, giving him a stern glare. "Don't ever call him that unless you want absolute death."

His eyes widened with fear, but he nodded in understanding and you removed your hand. Then he let go of you. "A-Alright. Thanks for saving us. Now can we go? This place gives me the creeps."

Nodding, you looked to the blob Bob. He sighed and willingly teleported everyone out of the building, putting you all back in the middle of the park.

In that same moment, Bosip's phone blew up with frantic texts from Amor, and he reassured his creator they were alright. Then he talked about how, according to those texts, they had to beat a guy named Boyfriend in a rap-battle to escape the game.

While Bob pondered over who would name their own kid "Boyfriend", you and the other Bob decided to take your leave, bidding farewell to the Geometry Dash duo.

"[Y/n]?"

"Yeah?"

"...you like that Bob more?"

You stopped in your tracks and looked down at him, shaking your head. "Nonsense. I've known you since forever. No other Bob in this universe will take your place as my best friend."

Even so, he was still pouting. "Seems you like hugging him more.."

"Oh..is that what this is all about? If you wanted a hug you could've just said so." Kneeling down, you hugged the blob and picked him up, grinning. "You know, your cosplay of him was neat. But...maybe try not to kidnap people you wanna cosplay next time, alright?"

"Fine." He grumbled, though he felt a little better knowing he was your favorite Bob.

Not that he'll ever admit it, but his jealousy was a major reason he decided to kidnap them in the first place.

[fairyavengerwrites]

anniversary ⇝ brock rumlow

content warning: explicit smut. 18+ MINORS, PLEASE DO NOT ENGAGE. oral (f receiving), choking, breast/nipple play, spanking, orgasm denial, unprotected vaginal sex (wrap it up Please), hair pulling.

pairing: Brock Rumlow x reader

word count: 1,500

author’s note: er so that Steve fic did so well it kinda put me out for a while, but I think this one will be good (?). tbh I kinda feel like leslie knope after the harvest festival (as aforementioned) so this is a lil gentler. I wrote this over two days and finished it at 11.30pm, so once again I have no idea what you’re about to experience. also, PSA- i do take requests!! anyways, enjoy! 

You were mad. So very mad at him.

It was your and Brock’s anniversary. Two years. Two whole years since he’d bit the bullet and asked you out. You thought that the man would remember, seeing as it was possibly the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. Apparently, love and commitment terrified him as much as you did, but maybe you’d lost your touch because there’s no way in hell he’d hear the end of forgetting your anniversary. 

Right now, with less than an hour to go until the day was over, and you’d long given up on the man. Instead, you were curled up in your bed, a cup of hot chocolate cradled in your hold with your comfort show playing on the TV, willing yourself not to cry and to sleep instead. If Brock didn’t turn up in the next couple of days, you were going to end things. 

You deserved better than a forgotten anniversary with no explanation. 

You’d just started to doze off when you heard him barge through the front door as always, calling out for you. You decided to ignore it, curling yourself up on your side of the bed and feigning sleep. Only a couple of minutes later did he come through the bedroom door. He called your name again, but you stayed unresponsive. You heard him sigh, and round the bed. He stopped to place a kiss on your head and disappear into the bathroom. You kept yourself still, willing yourself to actually fall asleep before he came out of the bathroom because of course, Brock would know better. He knew you down to every movement, every breath you took. It would be romantic if you weren’t so pissed.

Your cover was blown as soon as he slid into the bed with you, smelling of your shower gel (not that Brock would admit that he used it). He made the move to put his arm around you, but you shuffled ever so slightly to avoid his touch, giving yourself away.

“Sweetheart?” Brock whispered softly. “You awake?” You didn’t make a single noise in response. 

“I know you, princess. You’re awake.” Brock’s hand stroked your cheek, but you still didn’t move. You heard him sigh, then move the same hand to slide up and down your side. 

“Princess,” Brock said, sterner. “Is there something wrong?” You didn’t answer. He sighed again. The hand slid down to your hip, stroking over the bone. Brock shifted closer to you until he was pressed against your back, mouth hovering behind your ear. 

“Sweetheart, you gotta answer me.” It was a command. You puffed, blowing your cheeks out, then grudgingly answered. 

“It’s nothing,” you muttered. You wished you had more space to roll away from him. 

“If it was nothing, sweetheart, you wouldn’t be giving me attitude. Now, tell me-”

“If you wanna know so bad you’ll figure it out,” you grumbled. Evidently, your attitude had been enough to rile Brock up, and he tactfully shifted you so you were lying on your back, caged under him. You tried to look away from him, but he grabbed your chin, forcing eye contact. 

“If you’re gonna act like a little brat then I’m gonna treat you like a little brat, hmm?” Brock snarled, moving that hand down to your throat, pressing ever so lightly at the sides. You pressed your lips together, holding in the whine that threatened to escape your mouth, determined to not let him win. “I was gonna give you your gift tonight, but you want to be a little brat, so I guess I have to punish you first.” Your eyes glinted and you mentally punched yourself. He didn’t forget.

The fucker really had to start leaving you notes.

Although (and not that you would admit it to him), you enjoyed pulling his strings sometimes. 

Brock stalked down your body, sliding your (well, his) shirt up and over your breasts, out of his way so he could trail kisses down your body. He stopped as he hovered over your mound, roughly squeezing then spanking your breasts. You arched up, moaning, feeling his breath over you. You were sure you were dripping for him; you could tell from the way he was staring at your pussy. 

“You could’ve just talked to me, sweetheart, but your attitude means you’re not gonna get to cum.” Brock started his assault on your pussy, latching his mouth onto you. His tongue was rough against your lips, and you whimpered, trying to roll your hips into him. Brock lifted his mouth temporarily to slap your pussy, warning you to stay down before continuing, lapping at you as if he were a starved man in the desert. You felt as if you were melting, only the ruthless pinching and slapping stopping you from becoming adrift in your mind. The hand not roughhousing your tits was circling your hole, denying the one thing you wanted next. 

“Brock,” you whined, sneaking a hand into his hair, hoping he’d get the message. Your orgasm was nearing and you’d already forgotten his previous warning of denial. “I’m gonna-” He pulled away from you, slapping your breasts again. 

“Oh, no, princess. Not until you learn your lesson, baby.” You shook your head at the denial, whining his name again. Brock prowled back up your body, sneaking one hand to the back of your throat, claiming your lips in another steamy kiss. You didn’t notice him shove his sweatpants down, but you did feel his cock suddenly slide up against your lips, smearing his precum and your juices together. You clutched onto Brock, digging little crescents in his back as you held onto him, the friction causing the tension in your stomach to build up again. You moaned into his mouth, lips slacking as you found yourself unable to concentrate. 

“That feel good, princess?” Brock murmured into your mouth, groaning at the sensation of his cock grinding against you. You whined back in response, bucking your hips up. He chuckled at you from above. “I know, sweetheart.” A hand moved to put pressure on your throat again, fingertips squeezing at the sides. You gasped, bucking more wildly, feeling your orgasm approach quickly once again.

“You wanna cum this time princess?” Brock asked, peppering kisses all around your face. You nodded and moaned a desperate yes, rolling your hips faster, but Brock had other plans for you. He lifted himself off you and flipped the two of you around so that he rested against the headboard of the bed, holding you in his lap. 

“No yet princess,” Brock warned, grabbing your hips firmly. He lifted you enough so that he could line his cock up with your hole, then forced you down all the way on him. You gasped as he entered you, stretching you out just enough. Brock gave you a moment to adjust before he started to bounce you up and down on his cock hard and fast. You clenched, throwing your head back as you let yourself melt towards an orgasm yet again. Brock let one of his hands move to yank on your hair, forcing your head up and causing you to let out a strangled moan that relatively sounded like his name. 

“So fucking tight, princess,” Brock rambled, snapping up into you. “Feel so good around me, sweetheart. So good I wanna keep my cock stuffed in you forever. Keep filling you up and up, huh?” You moaned lewdly at the suggestion.

“Oh, you’d like that princess, wouldn’t you? Just so full of me, every day.” Brock rutted faster and faster, chasing his own finish. “You really want to cum now, princess, don’t you?” He released your hair slapped your ass, making you yelp, then whimper. He did it again and again until you predicably squeezed his shoulders again, signalling you were once again nearing your orgasm. 

“It’s ok, princess, you can cum now. Go on, baby, cum,” he ordered, and you did not hold back a second, letting out a small wail as you followed his command. You let your head drop onto his shoulder as he did not relent, only stilling in you a minute later as he finally let go himself. He moved his arms to hold you close and down onto him, grunting your name. You both stayed like that for a moment before he cupped your face, making you look at him again. 

“What was wrong, princess? Want to tell me now?” he urged, stroking your cheek. You bit your lip and looked down shamefully, suddenly remembering how livid you’d been earlier. 

“I-I thought you’d forgotten...” You trailed off, hoping he’d understand. Lucky for you, he did. 

“Princess, I promise you I would never forget you, us,” Brock affirmed, kissing you on the forehead. You smiled meekly at him as he lifted you off of him.

“Start leaving me notes, babe. That’s how we barrel towards misunderstandings like this. Now, I heard something about a gift?”

[bloody-bee-tea]

Brotherhood - All Star Xicheng White Day 3

The prompts for the third day of All Star Xicheng White Day were Good Ending/Bad Ending/Normal and I really wanted to give Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen a good ending here. It's what they deserve.

Jiang Cheng isn’t actually sure what he’s doing with the letter he just wrote up, but he guesses now that he used up some paper and ink for it, he might as well send it off too.

He reads over it again, but there’s actually not that much to it. It’s just an invitation for Lan Xichen to come to Lotus Pier if he should find seclusion or the Cloud Recesses no longer to his taste. Jiang Cheng made sure to stress that it’s open ended, too, because he doesn’t want to pressure Lan Xichen.

Jiang Cheng would have loved to go into seclusion a number of times in his life—after Lotus Pier burned, after Jiang Yanli died, after Wei Wuxian died—but he didn’t have the luxury to do that. But Jiang Cheng also knows himself well enough to know that he would have gone mad if he stayed in seclusion for a longer period of time.

And he just wants to make sure that Lan Xichen knows that he has other options that are not seclusion or diving back into being a Sect Leader and so he sends the letter off.

Coming to Lotus Pier could be viewed as a vacation, or some well deserved time off for Lan Xichen, and Jiang Cheng hopes he will see it like that as well.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t mean to offend after all, and he hopes he didn’t make a mistake writing to Lan Xichen like this.

He doesn’t even know if Lan Xichen will get the letter, or if Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji will intercept it, and maybe if Jiang Cheng flies fast enough he can get it back.

“Stop that,” Jin Ling suddenly says and Jiang Cheng flinches.

“What?” he bites out, but he flushes slightly, because Jin Ling gives him a very judging look.

“You’re worrying over nothing. Lan Xichen will get the letter and he will not misunderstand because you were very clear in your words and now quit fretting over this,” Jin Ling tells him and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes at him, though Jin Ling is right on all accounts.

“What do you know about this?” Jiang Cheng mutters, but he tries to put the letter out of his mind.

“I damn well know about your crush on Zewu-Jun,” Jin Ling gives back with a teasing smile.

“Language,” Jiang Cheng reminds him instead of touching on what Jin Ling just said, despite the fact that Jin Ling is right.

Jiang Cheng was never under any illusions that he managed to keep his feelings a secret from his own nephew, but the hope was always there.

“I will watch my language if you stop looking like that,” Jin Ling gives back and then turns his concentration back to the paper work in front of him.

Jiang Cheng tried his best to raise Jin Ling as the next Sect Leader, but being thrust into the position so suddenly and so early leaves Jin Ling at a severe disadvantage against the other Sect Leaders and so Jiang Cheng continues to coach him as best as he can.

“Careful, brat,” Jiang Cheng mutters, but he can’t help the fond feeling in his chest when Jin Ling just rolls his eyes at him.

Jiang Cheng curses the day he allowed Jin Ling to pick up on that habit, because it doesn’t feel that great to be at the receiving end of this, but if Jiang Cheng is being honest, it warms his heart to see that Jin Ling picked up anything from him at all.

~*~*~

Nothing happens for a year, and then almost two, and Jiang Cheng can’t say that he forgot about the letter he sent to Lan Xichen, but it moves into the background after a while.

It was an open ended invitation after all, and Lan Xichen is under no obligations to actually come through on that. It could be that he burned the letter the moment he got it and Jiang Cheng would never even know.

And it doesn’t matter anyway. If Lan Xichen is doing well in seclusion then that’s more than alright with Jiang Cheng and he doesn’t care at all if Lan Xichen got his invitation or what he thinks about it.

Maybe Jiang Cheng overstepped with his offer?

Jiang Cheng shakes his head and pushes those thoughts far away. It doesn’t matter. He sent the letter and everything else is no longer in his hands. He doesn’t care what Lan Xichen thinks about it.

At least that’s what Jiang Cheng keeps trying to tell himself most of the times, with various degrees of success.

Mostly he fails pretty spectacular at it, especially going by the numerous eyerolls he gets from his nephew.

It’s really a pain in the ass that he couldn’t keep his stupid crush on Lan Xichen a secret from Jin Ling, because he most definitely didn’t sign up to be judged by a kid.

Jiang Cheng can’t wait for Jin Ling to fall into love, just so he knows what it feels like to be judged at every corner.

~*~*~

By the time the third year mark comes and passes, Jiang Cheng manages to mostly not think of the letter anymore.

At least until a disciple announces Lan Xichen’s arrival at Lotus Pier to him.

Jiang Cheng’s heart starts to beat faster in his chest, but he tries to not let it show outwardly, before he makes himself presentable and then follows the disciple.

Lan Xichen looks bad, is Jiang Cheng’s first thought when he comes into view. He looks like he lost weight and his face is pale and pinched and Jiang Cheng wants to bundle him up and protect him from the world.

“Zewu-Jun,” Jiang Cheng greets him, opting not to go for Sect Leader, because he’s honestly not quite sure if Lan Xichen still is the acting Sect Leader.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Lan Xichen softly gives back and bows to him, a letter clutched in his hand where usually his sword or flute would be.

Jiang Cheng can’t see either right now.

He wants to ask what brings Lan Xichen to Lotus Pier, without proper announcement at that, but he can guess when he recognizes the handwriting on the letter.

“Your letter said it’s an open ended invitation,” Lan Xichen says when he follows Jiang Cheng’s gaze. “I wanted to take you up on that, if you don’t mind,” he finishes weakly and Jiang Cheng frowns.

“Of course I don’t mind. I meant what I wrote there. I’m just wondering—” he trails off, because he can’t actually ask why it took Lan Xichen three years to follow his invitation. That would be rude, and Jiang Cheng is not about to spook Lan Xichen away before he even fully arrived.

“The three years—it wasn’t quite voluntary,” Lan Xichen mutters after a long pause and Jiang Cheng goes hot with anger.

Even Zidian sparks lightly on his hand.

“What do you mean, it wasn’t voluntary?” he demands to know and forces himself to soften again when Lan Xichen flinches under his gaze.

“It was—punishment, I guess,” Lan Xichen says with a small smile. “The elders decided that I had to repent for my crimes.”

“Your crimes,” Jiang Cheng presses out. “The crime of getting as thoroughly deceived as everyone else in the goddamn cultivation world?” he spits out and Lan Xichen presses his lips together. “I didn’t see your elders go into seclusion so it can’t be that.”

“It was for that, yes,” Lan Xichen tells him with a shrug. “Apparently I let myself be blinded beyond reason and I needed to reflect on my trust in people.”

“Bullshit,” Jiang Cheng immediately says and then scrubs a hand over his face. “So they put you into seclusion for three years?”

“Yes,” Lan Xichen nods. “I did a lot of thinking but—I don’t think it’s getting me anywhere, to be honest. I’m only moving in circles and I still don’t know where my fault lies,” he finally admits and Jiang Cheng lets out a short laugh.

“Of course it’s not getting you anywhere! It’s not your fucking fault and so no amount of thinking will ever make sense of that.”

Jiang Cheng is entirely unprepared for the hopeful and open look on Lan Xichen’s face as he says that, and Jiang Cheng bristles in defence.

“What?” he snaps out but Lan Xichen doesn’t seem to take offence at his tone.

“You don’t think it’s my fault?” he whispers and the sheer naked hope on Lan Xichen’s face is enough to break Jiang Cheng’s heart apart.

“Of course not! If they think it’s your fault then they should also think it’s Nie Mingjue’s fault, because he trusted him, too. And if they think that then we all have to be at fault, too, because none of us saw past his mask. Nie Huaisang is definitely at fault then as well, because he didn’t tell us what he knew.” Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath to calm himself down before he continues. “It’s just a load of bullshit. We all saw exactly what he wanted us to see and none of us were perceptive enough to notice what he was doing. It’s not your fault you decided to trust your own sworn brother. That brotherhood was supposed to build trust, not ruin it forever.”

Jiang Cheng is entirely unprepared to see tears in Lan Xichen’s eyes, and he doesn’t know what to do about that.

“Thank you,” Lan Xichen whispers, once he wiped those away, and Jiang Cheng pretends he didn’t see anything, because that seems like the safer option. “If it’s not too much of a bother I’d like to stay here for a while.”

“I already invited you in my letter, that hasn’t changed,” Jiang Cheng snaps out at him, because anger is always something he feels more comfortable with.

“And this one is very grateful for that,” Lan Xichen says with another low bow and Jiang Cheng waves over a disciple.

“Show Lan Xichen to his room. He will be joining me for dinner,” he says, though he throws a questioning look at Lan Xichen at the last part.

“Of course I will,” Lan Xichen immediately agrees and Jiang Cheng breathes a little bit easier when he sees how honestly pleased Lan Xichen seems with that.

Jiang Cheng just hopes his stay in Lotus Pier will do Lan Xichen some good.

~*~*~

Lan Xichen is flourishing at Lotus Pier and Jiang Cheng has many, many feelings about that.

Lan Xichen managed to stay idle for about two days after his arrival, before he asked to join in on training—though Jiang Cheng has still not seen Liebing anywhere since his arrival—and soon after that he took over some basic lessons for the smaller kids.

Jiang Cheng wanted to protest that, because this whole thing was so that Lan Xichen could heal, but then he didn’t say anything. He was not about to dictate what Lan Xichen needed to do to heal or come to terms with what happened, and so he gladly handed over that responsibility.

And it seemed to do Lan Xichen a lot of good, because barely two months passed before Lan Xichen could laugh like before and Jiang Cheng definitely felt a very dangerous feeling when he heard it for the first time.

But it’s been a long time since then and now hearing Lan Xichen laugh is as normal as hearing the water murmur and still Jiang Cheng is not getting used to it.

Having Lan Xichen stay in Lotus Pier is not helping his crush at all, and by now Jiang Cheng has to admit that his feelings go way beyond a simple crush. Still, he’s not going to say anything to Lan Xichen, because that would put expectations on Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng doesn’t want that.

Lotus Pier is supposed to be a refuge for Lan Xichen. Not something he wants to avoid just because Jiang Cheng is not able to keep himself in check.

“You’ve been quiet lately,” Lan Xichen remarks that night during dinner and Jiang Cheng shrugs.

They usually take at least one meal together—never breakfast though, because Jiang Cheng isn’t quitebusy enough to get up at five—and it’s become something Jiang Cheng is definitely looking forward to.

“There’s a lot to do,” Jiang Cheng evasively says, and it’s not even a complete lie.

It’s harvest season and that means Jiang Cheng is being pretty damn busy all day long.

“That’s not it,” Lan Xichen immediately says. “You would complain if it was just that,” he very correctly says and Jiang Cheng kind of fears where this is going.

He doesn’t want Lan Xichen to figure out what he’s feeling for him; he is very content to keep spending time with Lan Xichen like that, without anything else happening ever.

“Why did you sent me that letter all those years ago?” Lan Xichen asks him suddenly and that, at least, is something Jiang Cheng can answer.

“Because I thought after some time, you could use a change of pace. Seclusion might be helpful for a while, to sort out your own thoughts, but I didn’t think it would be good in the long run. I wanted you to have options.”

“That was very thoughtful of you,” Lan Xichen says and there’s a dangerous tone to his voice. “It’s just as thoughtful of you to let me teach the kids and help with paperwork and having a meal with me every day,” Lan Xichen goes on and now Jiang Cheng is convinced that he’s teasing him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jiang Cheng snaps out.

“Nothing,” Lan Xichen says with a shrug, but there’s a small smile playing around his mouth. “I just think that if you’re grooming be to be the wife of this household you should at least make your intentions clear,” he then says and Jiang Cheng almost chokes on his tea.

“What the hell,” he splutters out once he can take a breath again, but Lan Xichen only keeps smiling at him.

“It’s been what, a year now? I would say you have courted me very thoroughly. It’s time to make an official move now,” Lan Xichen says as if nothing at all is wrong in the world and Jiang Cheng goes bright red in the face.

“I would never have said anything,” he defends himself, because he wants Lan Xichen to know that, even though his reaction doesn’t seem to be all that bad.

“I know,” Lan Xichen says with a nod. “That’s why I am saying something.”

“Oh,” Jiang Cheng says and his heart is beating very fast when Lan Xichen smiles at him.

“So, about that official courtship,” Lan Xichen says and puts his hand on the table, clearly waiting for Jiang Cheng to take it, which he does almost immediately. “I don’t think shufu will object, so maybe write to him instead of Lan Wangji first,” Lan Xichen advises him and Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know what his heart is doing anymore.

“You would want that?” he has to ask, because he simply needs to make sure that Lan Xichen really, truly feels that way.

“I warned him about receiving a letter with that content months ago,” Lan Xichen teases him. “He was very regretful when he told me nothing of the likes had reached him yet.”

“Goddamit, Xichen, now I started off this whole thing by disappointing him,” Jiang Cheng hisses and he has to admit that he feels better when Lan Xichen laughs softly at him.

“I wouldn’t say disappointed. You’re keeping him on his toes. He’s so excited, he writes me every other week asking where your proposal is.”

“I better should get to that then,” Jiang Cheng grumbles and moves to take his hand back, but Lan Xichen won’t let him.

“If you want that. If you want me,” Lan Xichen lowly says, and suddenly Jiang Cheng is hit by the realization that he still didn’t say anything to Lan Xichen.

“I love you,” he says and it’s almost not hard at all. “Of course I want you.”

He is rewarded for that by a blinding smile and just for that, Jiang Cheng vows to say it often.

“I love you, too,” Lan Xichen says and then leans over the table to brush a quick kiss over Jiang Cheng’s lips. “But you really should write shufu first. He’s about ready to make a trip over here, just to kick your ass,” Lan Xichen tells him and Jiang Cheng groans, before he narrows his eyes at Lan Xichen.

“You know what? Let him. I’d like to ask him for the privilege of marrying you in person,” Jiang Cheng decides and watches in fascination as Lan Xichen goes red at that.

“Oh,” he whispers, clearly taken off guard by that and it only cements Jiang Cheng’s decision.

“I want to do right by you. Simply asking for that in a letter can hardly count as that.”

“You are already doing right by me,” Lan Xichen softly tells him, but it doesn’t change Jiang Cheng’s mind.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he gives back and lifts their hands to press a kiss to the back of Lan Xichen’s.

It might have taken them a long time to get here, but Jiang Cheng thinks it’s still a very perfect end for the both of them.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[angsty-prompt-hole]

Number 4 and number 10 for the ask game!

4. Who's your favourite OC? Why? Do you think you would get along with this OC if you met them in real life?

Oooo this one’s hard. I have a couple of favorites, but I think right now I’d have to go with Haven. Her story is basically that when she was younger, she got caught up in a whole conspiracy involving her father who had disappeared and an eldritch entity, ended up losing her hand and becoming immortal, and then became sort of an interdimensional vigilante who tracks down people who worship that eldritch entity and commits extreme violence against them. She’s just a lot of fun to do stuff with and I really enjoy writing stuff with her. Haven would probably not like me very much lmaooo. She does not like being challenged and I tend to butt heads with people like that.

10. Ramble about an OC! Say whatever you want about them and go on as long as you like ♡

Hi hello yes I shall ramble about someone related to Haven’s story because this OC has been all I could think about for weeks. His name is Liam Prescott, and he’s sort of based on Dewey Riley from the Scream movies. He’s from a version of earth that is infested with eldritch creatures. His sister and her friends got caught up in a serial killing spree committed by two dudes. His sister was murdered, and he was nearly killed, but he and three of his sister’s friends survived. The killers escaped.

Liam got super drunk one night and went out searching for the devil to make a deal to get back at the killers. He did not find the devil, but he found a deal-making sort of eldritch person by the name of Kiz who pointed him in the direction of a cult that worships this evil deer entity. They gave him the power to track down and kill the serial killers, who he found out were actually eldritch monstrosities themselves. One of the other survivors followed him and witnessed the brutal murder, which fractured his relationship with them.

After that, he sort of became a shut-in and never left his apartment. Unfortunately for him, he lived in the same apartment building as this woman who is basically the peacekeeper between eldritch entities, who also happened to be close friends with Haven. Haven was visiting her one night and sensed the lingering eldritch energy from Liam, marched to his room, broke in, and threatened to murder him. 

After the misunderstanding was cleared up and Haven learned Liam’s whole backstory, they started hanging out more because of their mutual friend, the peacekeeper. Haven was very, very aggressive and confrontational towards him at first because he was completely unphased by her acting unhinged or any of her physical oddities like her missing/replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic hand. 

Over time though, Haven settled down a little bit and began to open up to Liam. The two had been through somewhat similar experiences and it really helped both of them to have someone who understood their trauma. Liam’s kind of a dingus though and Haven is so out of touch with her own emotions she never knows what she’s feeling unless it’s rage, so these two took forever to realize they actually really liked each other. 

Liam’s dorky ass upon realizing this decided he was going to panic, and he could not look Haven in the eye for like a week until he was done having a crisis and decided to ask her out. Poor Liam had no idea their first date would end with them having to fight a monster and him learning that Haven can still die, she just resurrects immediately, which was very traumatic for the poor guy. 

Anyways Liam is a dork and likes to buy presents and stuff for people he likes, and he always tries to get people to talk about their interests, only to make a fool of himself because he knows nothing about whatever the person is talking about. He also sometimes overthinks things and ends up really stressed for absolutely no reason. 

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH54

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 54: Purgatory Reunion (VI)

At this moment, the world was silent.

Qi Leren stood on a black rock in the middle of the lake of fire, staring at Ning Zhou, who had become a dragon. The dragon also stared at him. The slender and horrible vertical pupils of cold-blooded animals showed the gentleness of recognition.

The fire and rain falling from the sky stopped, and the magma erupting angrily because of the force of destruction also stopped. This dark underground world was immersed in the warm sunshine pouring in from the gap and the holy light from the Prophet's Heart.

For a moment, Qi Leren couldn't say anything, because there were too many words choked in his throat. When he opened his mouth, the words that could be said and could not be said were about to slip away before his eyes.

He held out his hand and wanted to touch the dragon that he was so close to. Even in purgatory, its head was head high rather, not low. But the dragon in front of him gently lowered its head and stopped in front of his eyes.

Qi Leren stroked the dragon’s cold scales, and then hugged him. He didn't even dare to put pressure into it. He just put his face on the cold dragon scales and choked:

"Ning Zhou, I’m back."

This sentence was like a spell. Qi Leren’s tears that had been building finally flowed down. These tears were full of love and joy. He was thankful that he wasn’t too late, and that the tragedy in his nightmares hadn’t taken place. He finally came to Ning Zhou before everything was irreversible.

As long as Ning Zhou was still alive, there was still hope for everything.

It was also with this sentence that the dragon standing in the lake of fire slowly changed back to its human form—a thin, gaunt, but still alive Ning Zhou. When he stared at him with his blue eyes that held too much emotion, Qi Leren suddenly felt that Ning Zhou knew everything, and he understood everything.

Whether it was misunderstanding, deep guilt, or love, when they met again in this hot lake, a pair of loving souls embraced everything.

　　&&&

"Is this who you were talking about, His Majesty's dead lover?" The Witch of Nothingness turned her head. Although she never opened her eyes, she "stared" at the Devil of Evil, waiting for his answer.

All the demons sitting around the long table looked at him. This oppressive gaze made the Devil of Evil feel pressured. He spread his hands: "According to intelligence, he is indeed dead, but the truth of the matter doesn’t seem so simple. I’m afraid even our Majesty thinks he’s dead."

"Whose side is he from?" The Witch of Desperation only cared about this problem.

"The Holy See?" the Witch of Resentment murmured, staring at Qi Leren who was shrouded by the power of a holy angel.

"No, the intelligence said that he’s a foreigner. He came here from another world, and he had no faith. However, his strength is biased towards the Holy See. Which master in their camp gave him an item to borrow strength?" the Devil of Evil mused.

The Witch of Desperation waved her hand, and the magic mirror’s perspective pulled away, overlooking the lake of fire from a distance. The paradise reflected in the holy light covering the sky had the divine beauty of dusk, just as it had been repeatedly described in the Canon, the home of God.

"It’s the Village of Dusk’s Prophet!" The Witch of Nothingness recognized the characteristics of this miracle and revealed it in the same breath.

"It seems that His Majesty's little lover is a man favored by the Prophet. If he doesn't know what his original strength is, he’ll never become a 'guardian' like Maria, right?" The Devil of Evil touched his chin and showed innocent cruelty in his eyes. "Oh, I don't want to see the tragedy of that year repeat itself."

The Witch of Desperation looked at the magic mirror silently and said after a long time, "It's a pity... It’s almost too similar."

The Witch of Nothingness comforted: "There’s no rush for a while."

"Haha, aren't you going to rush out and stop them now? Even if you say yes, I won't go, I still want to keep this life for a long time." The Devil of Evil put his hands behind his head and leaned lazily against the back of the chair.

"Wait and see. It's not time for us to show up yet," said the Witch of Desperation, drawing a pause symbol on the attempted operation.

　　&&&

The two people didn't go far. Ning Zhou was tired when Qi Leren found him, as if he hadn't slept for several days, and he forced him to have a rest. They settled down in a secret cave not too far from the lake of fire, and Ning Zhou set up a barrier to prevent harassment from lower demons.

There were fluorescent fungi and luminous moths like butterflies in this cave, and Qi Leren took out a lantern to make the dim light illuminate their surroundings.

Qi Leren leaned against the cave wall, and Ning Zhou rested on his leg, his body covered with a blanket.

The warm light of the lantern allowed the two exhausted people to briefly escape from this Nightmare World and take a nap in a pure peaceful land. The scarred soul wrapped in its scarred body finally found rest here.

Ning Zhou quietly looked at Qi Leren, but he couldn't close his eyes for even a moment until Qi Leren secretly hooked his hand under the blanket, and their two hands clasped each other. Then, his nervous look eased slightly.

"Can't sleep?" Qi Leren asked softly.

Ning Zhou shook his head gently, holding Qi Leren's hand tightly, as if when he let go, the warmth in his hand would slip away quietly.

"Then let's talk for a while?" Their old estrangement had long since disappeared. At this time, Qi Leren simply had endless questions and endless words. He was curious about everything about Ning Zhou, his childhood, his past, his mood, and he also had a lot of things to tell him, such as how worried he was... He can talk about forever on his own.

Qi Leren couldn't help but talk about it. From the beginning when he had found love at first sight, he talked about his inner struggle and suffering.

"...I'm not afraid to love someone of the same sex, but I'm afraid my feelings will hurt you. At that time, I even thought… if I choose to be patient to let you live better, I would rather… be patient my whole life. But... but, in the end, my love has become your burden. I'm sorry, Ning Zhou... I'm sorry..."

Just as tears fell from his eyes, Ning Zhou wiped them away with his fingers.

"At that time, I wrote a 7 to tell you that I would be resurrected in seven days, but the moment I wrote it, I regretted it. Because... I shouldn't have said this... I never knew it would be so painful to tell the truth. If I hadn't said it, maybe you wouldn't be here now, you'd still be living in Neverland, and you wouldn't suffer so much..."

When Qi Leren had learned of Ning Zhou’s end in that game, besides his great fear, his heart had been filled with endless guilt and remorse.

He instinctively blamed himself for everything, and decided that his existence had made Ning Zhou embark on a road full of thorns, which was indeed the case. Without his existence, Ning Zhou's identity would still be an exorcist in Neverland, instead of... a descendant of the Destroyer.

"Then you would spend your whole life deceiving yourself?" Ning Zhou asked gently.

Qi Leren was silent.

"Calm pain is better than hypocrisy. I should pay for it all my life, but I shouldn't cheat it all my life... I’ve never regretted my choice." Even at the moment when he was determined to end himself, his heart was filled with endless sadness and despair, but there was no resentment or regret.

Even when he sank into the abyss of despair at that moment, he was illuminated by a beam of light, and he had been redeemed.

God gave him a miracle to embrace the light at the end of Hell.

He had courage and determination again. He wanted to give it a try and see if he could control the raging destruction, not sink into the power and become a slave to it. He was willing to try for the person he loved, even if it was an almost impossible challenge.

He was willing to die for this world, but he was willing to live for his lover.

Sometimes it was harder to live than to die.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Those who can endure and overcome temptation will be rewarded." Ning Zhou gently recited the words in the Canon and looked at Qi Leren. "God has rewarded me and he sent you back to me."

Qi Leren could no longer speak. He felt another person's heat on his skin, so warm and pleasant.

He read another person's soul from his eyes, so pure and calm.

He was glad again that he had not missed Ning Zhou.

Qi Leren took out the Canon and said with a smile: "Chen Baiqi gave it to me. I’ll read it to you. If you’re tired, just sleep."

So in the dim light, he read from the first page: "After the destruction of the ancient world, everything was chaotic and asleep. There was no past, no future, no center, no margin, only endless darkness. The gods came from outside, each sowing a seed. Some seeds died before they germinated, while others were swallowed up as soon as they sprouted. Only the seeds of Father God were born within light and darkness, sky and earth, sun, moon, and stars. Father God was happy, for he wanted to bring life into the seed and make it become its own world..."

Ning Zhou closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep.

Qi Leren closed his book carefully and gently stared at Ning Zhou. At this moment, his heart was full of both sourness and sweetness. He was glad that he had arrived here in time, and pulled him out when Ning Zhou was at his most helpless and vulnerable, so that he didn't fall into the abyss of death.

At first, he thought that Ning Zhou's death would be at the hands of others, but when he came to the lake of fire and watched the black dragon roar in despair, he suddenly understood.

What would kill Ning Zhou was not the devils hidden in this underground world, but the devil inside Ning Zhou.

At that time, Ning Zhou's heart was so desperate that he would rather die of guilt than live in the world... This thought made Qi Leren feel sourness in his eyes.

A fluorescent moth, which had stopped on the cave wall, came down lightly and stopped on the blanket that covered Ning Zhou, emitting blue-green light. Qi Leren moved his fingers and drove it away.

"I believe that power has nothing to do with good and evil. You have never fallen," Qi Leren whispered, tracing Ning Zhou's sleeping face with his eyes.

Ning Zhou didn't open his eyes, but he held his hand tightly.

A teardrop trickled down from the corner of his eye and sank into the shadows.

In this dark world where only a lantern shone faintly, they devoutly delivered trust and love, and then received redemption from each other.

The long night road that they had once thought they would never be able to see the end of, all of a sudden, had already revealed the tiny lights between the distant mountains.

Qi Leren suddenly felt deeply touched. When he was trained hellishly by Chen Baiqi, he had rationally understood that all this was for his own good, so deep down, he had no hesitation or complaints. But when he held Ning Zhou's hand at this moment, he suddenly understood everything, and everything he had endured, whether it was hard training or life and death tests, had taught him to grow with every step. He had to keep growing.

What he shouldered was no longer his own life.

To the world, he was only a trivial person, but to the one who loved him, he was his whole world.

——I am willing to create a paradise on earth for you, and I am willing to hold your wandering and painful soul here.

——At this moment, I only wish that you have a good dream.

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Editor’s Notes: After nearly two hundred chapters, we finally get to see some sweetness between them :’)

[Here] is some fanart of their reuinion.

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