#And I also can't help but think maybe his more open affection toward the car is relevant too

[ineffable-endearments]

Crowley and His Plants in Season 2

I've got this complicated post about Aziraphale and the bookshop brewing, but I want to give Crowley and his plants their own post.

It's really important that Crowley hung onto his plants for juicy characterization and symbolic and thematic reasons. It's a major character development portrayed with relative subtlety, an excellent example of Showing, Not Telling, and I think it's a thrilling sign for Crowley's character development.

Before having a chance to think about it, I thought keeping the plants in his car was a funny and odd - but sweet - detail to include. In fact, it was so sweet that it was one of those "felt like fanfic" things!

In Season 1, and in the novel, the plants were very much there for trauma reenactment, for Crowley to vent his hurt and fear and anger and betrayal onto. In a sense, they seemed to be Crowley's way of roleplaying with himself, if we assume they were only sentient because Crowley thought of them that way. Through the dynamic of yelling at his plants, which he assumed could understand him, Crowley could emotionally act out both the terrified, powerless plant (subconsciously) and the big scary entity threatening it with destruction (consciously).

If we take everything at face value, we can also guess that Crowley disposed of plants that he no longer liked because of their imperfections, which would seem to imply he didn't have much of an attachment to them. Where they went doesn't matter that much to this particular line of theorizing. He could have given them to his elderly neighbor, he could have plunked them in a community garden, he could have left them on a doorstep, he could have shredded them in the garbage disposal. In any case, they were gone from his kingdom.

And after Season 1, I wondered if he would care to keep the plants if he wasn't using them to act out trauma anymore.

But in Season 2, the plants are in fact the ONLY thing from the flat that Crowley has hung onto as he moved into his car. Sure, it's possible that he has other possessions squirreled away somewhere and he just carries the plants around because they need sunlight, but most of the other possessions go unmentioned, so we have to guess that the plants are specifically important. They're also important enough to follow him into the bookshop and back to the car instead of just staying in the car for the trip to Edinburgh.

We also don't see a single instance of Crowley berating the plants in Season 2, but they do still express his emotions somewhat (shaking when he's afraid). He still has whatever subconscious connection to them he was experiencing before. Notably, there's at least one scene where a brown spot is visible on a plant, so whatever Crowley's doing, he's not getting rid of the plants like he used to.

This seems like an obvious example of Crowley's attachment to Earth condensed into a handy symbol. Crowley has started to admit to himself that he cares about these helpless living things, that he just likes them for their own sake. They're not a sign of a job well done for Hell. They're not a memory of Aziraphale. They're not a tool to make life easier or numb the pain. They're just Life On Earth and Crowley likes to have them.

Crowley has gone from using his plants as a tool for trauma reenactment to holding onto his plants because he has a genuine attachment to them. And, for a character whose arc I believe is going to involve forming more outward connections to others, that's a big deal.

Crowley's still got a ways to go. He's carrying these plants around, but the Bentley can't be an ideal environment for them. The whole process of driving them around, not to mention bringing them in and out of the bookshop, has to be kind of awkward for Crowley, too. It's very reminiscent of a character whose attachment to Earth is ambivalent, but who is moving in the right direction.

I wonder what'll happen next. His progress could be relatively linear, wherein he just goes off and forms more connections to humans on Earth after Aziraphale goes back to Heaven.

My suspicion, though, is that he will return to Hell with the specific goal in mind of thwarting the Second Coming and possibly trying to bring the entire system crashing down. In this way, Crowley experiences a massive setback in his position (he wants to be on Earth, not in Hell!) but is actually demonstrating a redoubled dedication to Earth and humans, so what he's doing is not backsliding. Compare it to Season 1, when Crowley is charged with delivering the Antichrist and complains, as late as the Antichrist's 11th birthday, that he didn't want to be involved, that Hell shouldn't have chosen him - when Hell choosing Crowley was the only reason he was ever in a position to try to thwart Armageddon.

But that's a lot of speculation. The point is, the plants are a meaningful connection to Earth and Crowley is taking care of them.

[thewadapan]

Pitchposting: STREAMERS

Sometimes at work, I want to reach out over the counter with both hands, grab my customer by the head, and scream at them, have you ever worked a job like this in your life?

Pitch #1: Disclosure Agreements

A "streamer" is someone who broadcasts their stream of consciousness online. Riders can join or leave at any time, and experience all of the streamer's qualia, including some awareness of the streamer's thoughts and relevant memories alongside the raw sensory experience. The connection is one-way.

There's probably a stream for basically anything: adrenaline junkies skydiving or racing fast cars, artists struggling through the process of ideation in realtime, influencers eating experimental meals in foreign cafés, obviously a lot of people having a lot of sex, zookeepers, fighters, clubbers, stoners, and also one astronaut.

Casey finds streamers who are working shitty, minimum-wage jobs, and experiences their shifts with them.

It's mostly boring. It's very human. Maybe she's not the only one—there could be an entire subculture of workplace voyeurism. It can't yet be mainstream for people to be streaming their jobs, otherwise the public awareness that it's widespread would affect people's behaviour—y'know, the observer effect—so maybe it's underground. Maybe it's positive, and they're watching out of camaraderie, or maybe it's negative, and they're all just waiting for the bad day with the blow-up argument. If the workers get caught streaming, they'll be fired, so there's a strict culture of kayfabe in the riders: don't interact with the streamer, don't post their personal details anywhere. But then, what counts as a personal detail? People are breaking these rules all the time. People keep getting caught. The streams go dark. But there's always more: the world has an infinite supply of cashiers and call centre operators who just want to be seen, to be seen as a person, by anyone. Casey takes it all pretty seriously, which from a certain perspective makes her a fanatic: but her own emotions are naturally muted, repressed, given over to the people she inhabits. I think you can't help getting the sense that Casey is waiting for something, perhaps without even consciously knowing it.

One day, she's in a stream all by herself—maybe it's a night shift, maybe the job is uniquely boring or unpleasant, maybe the guy himself is offputting in just the right way that, most of the time, there's literally nobody else who wants to live in his head. And then something terrible happens. It'd probably have to be something like, he kills someone, or commits a terrible moral wrong by more subtle means (say, deliberately sabotaging a batch at his factory in a way that's likely to cause deaths), and appears to get away with it. Or maybe it's the other way around: something singularly horrible happens to him, and Casey is the only other person in the world who knows what he's experienced. Casey becomes obsessed with him, and travels to his place of work to expose him or meet him. I'm not exactly sure what the ending of this one would be like. For me, the moment this entire thing builds towards is one of rejection: Casey finally sees this guy from the outside, and he is disgusted by her and what she's done. What she envisions as a moment of catharsis or empathy turns in an instant into total alienation.

In text, this story could use a parallel-columns gimmick: the prosaic experience of the streamer on the left, and Casey's running commentary on the right. As a comic, you'd overlay Casey's thoughts as narration, while the artwork shows the streamer. I think it would be fun to do a really cold open, where it's not clear what the relationship is between these parallel narrative threads, or even that they're literally different people!

In television or movie, you could instead employ first-person POV camerawork, and/or split-screen effects. A more conventional approach might be to film Casey physically inhabiting the same scene as the streamer, jarringly substituting them from shot to shot. Casey's performance would never quite matching the emotional tone of the scene: maybe she laughs while the streamer is upset, or literally keeps making little asides at the camera.

(This story obviously wouldn't work as a video game, because the lack of agency Casey experiences—locked in, a spectator—is antithetical to the immersion and choice offered by games.)

Pitch #2: Exposure Therapy

A "streamer" is someone who relives the memory of another person, experiencing their stream of consciousness. The technology was originally intended for healthcare: memory transplants can be used for therapy, to allow patients to experience their fears in a perfectly controlled environment, or maybe even as a new form of anaesthetic; memories are a strictly controlled substance, like hard prescription drugs.

However, there's also a black market for memories: a marketplace of ideas, if you like. Suddenly, experience itself is being commodified; if you go through something terrible, that sucks for you, but hey, maybe someone will pay out the ass for you to show them that memory!

You can remember shaking the hand of a dead celebrity. You can remember going to that concert which sold out before you could get tickets. You can remember playing that concert. You can remember shooting up a school. You can remember being attacked by a bear. You can't remember what it feels like to die, but you can remember what it feels like to almost die.

And again, you can remember having all kinds of sex—but of course, this new kind of porn is harder to produce, because now all those pesky thoughts are an inextricable part of it. There's cyclical escalation where people are trying to feel better about the sex they're having, to produce more sublime smut, but the more self-conscious they're being about it, the worse it is. (I'm assuming people have thoughts like this while making regular real-world porn; the difference here, to me, is that the audience is experiencing those same thought processes, which then becomes part of it. The basic Streamers concept naturally lends itself to stories entirely about sex, via themes of intimacy and exhibitionism, so I'm trying to take these pitches in less-obvious directions.)

A lot of people think the whole thing is sick and tasteless. There's maybe a cohort of people who believe that running these memories constitutes creating—and then killing—a clone of the person who originally experienced them; they're framed as fringe conspiracy theorists, but there's a tiny chance they're right.

Trent is an ex-veteran who has killed a man in cold blood, legally. He is disabled and struggling to pay his healthcare bills. He feels used and abandoned by the government. When he discovers that there are sickos online who will pay very well for memories of murder, he makes the choice to share this memory, despite feeling like he's only further exploiting the man whose life he took. However, when the memory goes very public, his actions come under new scrutiny from the general public, and it threatens the entire legitimacy of his country's military and government. (For a version of this story without the military, Trent is a thief who "accidentally" killed a man during a home invasion that went awry.)

I do kind of think it'd be better to have the protagonist of this one be purely a victim, rather than a morally-complicated victim of the military-industrial complex. The thing is, the exact trauma they've suffered massively informs the character of the story. In Trent's case, his PTSD is externalised as it becomes reality for countless strangers around the world, and his sin is reified by the media.

For me, what I find compelling about this pitch in abstract is that it's a heightening of the economic pressures that face many writers of "real" literature: readers want real experiences, which means people writing about their real traumas, which can be a way of experiencing that same trauma over and over.

Pitch #3: Composure Breakers

Kyle is a "streamer"—that is, someone who streams an experience from one person to another. He breaks into someone's home, knocks them out, and forces them to inhabit the mind of someone undergoing trauma. (Perhaps it would be better for it to be a computer virus, or a letter bomb, or a magic power, or something similarly impersonal and hands-off.) Obviously this is illegal.

It's very ideologically motivated vigilantism: Kyle believes that if only he can show a bad person what it's like to live in their victim's shoes, they will change their ways. To start with, he's been using memories donated to him consensually: "this customer is rude to me and my colleagues every single day. I want you to make her see what she looks like from the outside". Or, "that public figure is a turbo racist. I want you to show him this time I was beaten within an inch of my life for the colour of my skin". Or, "that politician keeps lobbying for hostile architecture. I want you to make him experience a single night from when I was sleeping rough". Car crashes, redundancy, cyberbullying, poisonings, gender dysphoria, theft, workplace accidents, domestic abuse, chronic illness, sexual harassment: Kyle takes them all and uses them to make people beg for forgiveness, and as his ambitions grow, he turns his attentions to bigger targets. (If he's a hacker type, maybe it's a different kind of escalation—he uses a virus on the entire userbase of an incel forum.) The results aren't always perfect, but he believes he's overall doing good.

Eventually, though, he gets a violent memory of dubious provenance, and an opportunity to use it on a very powerful person. Maybe he's purposefully sought it out on the dark web, where people are selling bad memories for stupid money. Maybe a mysterious benefactor has passed the memory on to him. It's obvious that the victim shared this memory with someone they trusted, only to be betrayed, either for money or out of misguided concern. Kyle knows it's wrong to use it, but he's convinced this memory would let him make someone change the world.

I guess it's a little unclear to me exactly how the victim finds out their trauma has been used in this way. Maybe the public figure immediately makes a very public disclosure, with lots of specific details that the victim is aghast to recognise? To Kyle, they say: how dare you make them a victim, how dare you make them anything like me. The inherent contradiction of Kyle's ideology is laid bare: he wants to reduce suffering in the world, but the only way he can think to do this is by duplicating suffering.

I think this one would live-or-die on the quality and specificity of the experiences seen towards the beginning. If I was writing it, I'd want to make sure to consult with people who've experienced similar things to whatever I chose to depict. But the idea of that leaves me uneasy, because in a way, that transmutation of other people's trauma feels like exactly the same thing I'd be criticising Kyle of doing.

The only way I could see myself writing it would be if Kyle doesn't experience any of the memories himself, and neither does the reader: instead, we see these conversations before and after, and the mundane reality of him breaking into people's homes. But then, if the audience isn't actually experiencing those memories, that feels like it instantly makes this pitch a worse version of this premise than the previous two.

Still, in terms of the moral complexity, this is the one that grabs me the most. The themes of appropriation and justice have plenty of depth to explore, and I connect more with Kyle than with the other protagonists. I feel like we've all talked to someone who just does not understand how another person or group is suffering, and thought to ourselves, I wish I could put you through it.

Influences

If you haven't read any of my previous pitchposting articles on my website, here's the rub: I have no intention of writing this story. Sometimes I get an idea in my head, and it's an interesting thought exercise for me, but it doesn't compel me enough to go through the entire process of working out specific beats. This is how all my stories start life, as a very abstract outline full of the impressions of scenes: "a joke goes here" rather than the joke itself.

Although I've presented them in a certain order to create a logical progression, Pitch #3 was what first popped into my head, with the other two being variations on the theme. I was inspired by the very recent furor over Seven Shoulders, a newly-announced book by some guy called Sam Forster who disguised himself by doing blackface to prove that racism still exists in America. To see someone trying to vicariously experience other people's misery to prove a point, while violating generally those same people's basic wishes, filled me with secondhand embarrassment; this informed Kyle's character.

If you're compelled by these pitches, here's a list of pre-existing stories I consciously drew inspiration from:

I recently finished watching the hit show Severance, in which a work/life balance is forcibly implemented by partitioning the mind; one version of yourself knows only work, and the other knows the rest of life. While Severance is a dreadful mystery-box show that I'm convinced will never be able to deliver on an ending, its core conceit is great and it has some amazing character work. Themes of memory and exploitation have been on my mind!

"It's Not the End of the World" by @alexanderwales is an unfinished series of vignettes about a superhero with voyeuristic powers, set in the world of Ward by Wildbow. I always felt like it was a shame Wales never finished this one, because I loved it.

"Lena" is a short story by qntm about digital copies of the human mind, which are exploited years into the future. It slaps!

Much of the hedonism of Pitch #1 is, weirdly enough, inspired by a film I never finished watching: Like Me by Robert Mockler, about a girl who livestreams a bunch of fucked up shit. I genuinely just didn't have the stomach for it, but I also felt like it was fundamentally misanthropic in a way which I flatly disagreed with. Don't recommend it!

Obviously this whole thing is very Black Mirror, with particular inspiration drawn from "The Entire History of You" with its recorded memories, "White Christmas" with its vicarious livestreaming, and Pitch #2's main theme draws inspiration from the ending to "Fifteen Million Merits".

Without spoiling too much, the ending of Puella Magi Madoka Magica reveals that, in our final, darkest moments, we are not alone: a higher power is there to experience our suffering with us, take it on as their own. This is probably how Casey views herself in Pitch #1.

The movie Inception is about people trying to sneak an idea into the mind of an influential individual. I picture Kyle's means of implanting memories as being similar to the apparatus depicted in that film.

I probably also drew inspiration from the memory orbs in Fallout: Equestria, an edgy doorstopper My Little Pony fanfiction which I read as a teen and which basically forms the entire basis for my work. One character in that story develops a compulsion to watch a particularly memory orb over and over, as a coping mechanism.

What would your take on these stories look like? Are there any experiences you could be moved to share with other people? How do you think these stories end?

Anyway I promise I'm working on actual writing, I'm just very bad at it!

[out-of-control]

hi i sent the original jaxjim theory anon and im keefed and i didnt realize that yoru discord usernames were usernames and i thought you were saying "dick game baptismal they fuck like crazy KILL YORUSELF they fuck like crazy dick game baptismal" and so on and so forth. can u guys elaborate on all the insano car crash metaphors in jaxjim divorce saga.

KATZ: before meeting Jim, Jax already has a relationship with car crashes. his mother was killed in a car crash and so even though he was never in it, it's become this thing that looms hugely over his whole life. like he and Erin were so close and he sees the crash not just as something that killed her but something that Took Her Away From Him and so since he feels so alienated from and by the crash and he's spent years and years trying to understand it/get closer to it. like when he was a teenager he dug up fucking police reports because he was obsessed with the idea that by understanding everything about her death he could sync up with her again somehow and maybe fill this hole that opened up inside him when she died. like. Jax didn't get Erin's birth date tattooed on his arm, he got her death date. so even before Jax ever meets him he has this whole thing going on where he's obsessed with the crash from his own past and. feels left behind by not having been in the car crash and so he tries to map out other violence onto his body to make up for it.

but in addition to having his weird like desire to manifest car crash stigmata to honor his dead mother, he also is deeply affected not only by the violence of her death but the isolation of it. she died alone and scared and in pain. and that breaks his heart. and it's that whole thing more than the violence aspect that first drives him towards Jim, actually. because he sees Jim as alone. and his brain sort of makes the connection between Jim the car crash victim and Erin the car crash victim, but ALSO between Jim as a literal car crash survivor and Jax as a more metaphorical car crash survivor (he wasn't in it, but it ruined his life regardless). and it was that sort of empathy of being like. so you went through this horrible traumatic pain and now there is no one to help you carry it. and subconsciously at least Jax wanted to shoulder that. just a little. he wanted Jim to not be so sad on a summer's evening. so he said do you wanna get out of here.

so that's the background. and although it's lovely that car crash related trauma brought them together it's also absolutely part of the reason it drove them apart. after Erin died, Jax sort of lost the ability to see her as a person. to an extent I think most people do that with their mothers but since she was dead too Jax heaped all of his misery into the same pile and really developed this belief that if only she had lived, his entire life would be perfect. which is of course silly. some things would undoubtedly be better, but some things are unavoidable. and although Erin can't really be affected by this on account of being dead, I think that the whole "let me sanctify you" thing freaked the fuck out of Jim. because well Jim is just some guy but Jax treats him like he's holy. lot of pressure there.

FEO: <- has nothing to add to this

[the-fire-might-be-shooting-at-us]

I'm sorry you have to deal with the billy stans. I tried once, but they wouldn't listen to a word I say.

Like when I brought up that Max was verbally abused they twisted in a way that because she yelled at Billy and drugged him she was also an abuser who was on the same level as his dad because she used the words Neil used on Billy. However, they really close their eyes at how Billy also uses those words at Max (the Say It and Understand part). They also ignore the context. She had to watch Billy almost kill a guy. What should she have done? Talk him out of it. Drugging was her saving Steve and Billy because he would have murdered him.

Him threatening Max in the car earlier in the season was after Max expressed that she liked it here and it was Billy's fault for them to move, he then had to intimidate her by driving recklessly (putting her in danger for funsies) and wanting to run over a bunch of kids so he has control over Max again. If that isn't abused, idk what is. Or when he broke her skateboard after he found out Max hung out with Lucas at the arcade. It's implied he does this quite often, idk if this is normal sibling behavior, lol. Max even confides to Lucas that Billy takes out his anger on her, but his stans ignore it. She literally cried in front of him, which is big because Max is very closed off.

Also, the way they shit on Steve at the Byers house. Like Steve only lied because Max was terrified of getting hurt by her brother. I could even imagine Lucas begging Steve to do something because he knows about the situation, and he would have picked up on the racist undertones Billy gave him. To say Steve lied for no reason and was in the wrong idk, he didn't want Max to be hurt. Billy would have done something to her. He held in his anger the entire time waiting to explode, and Max already told us she would receive it. Billy didn't care about her he only cared to get her home so he could stay out of trouble. So Steve got Billys anger full unleashed and yeah me may have thrown the first punch (after Billy threatened Lucas and pushed him violenty in a cabinet), but after he was knocked out, Billy never stopped. Some even say Steve deserved it, which is like okay?? But then ship h*rringrove at the same time.

Also, Billy isn't even redeemed in my eyes he never made amends to Lucas and Steve. Maybe he treated Max better, but he still wasn't sorry about his behavior towards Lucas. Max had every right to have complicated feelings about his death. I think that was the thing s4 got right. Her not being able to open up to Lucas or Steve because Billy hurt them, so she retreated and pushed them away. She knew her friends hated her brother because he was awful to them. So she felt like she couldn't tell them she missed him or felt guilty for gis death. At the same time, she felt relief because he couldn't harm her anymore, which also made her feel guilty because that's still her brother.

I get why he acted the way he did, but that doesn't give him a free pass to do whatever. I have a friend who relates to Billy, like she also acted it they way he did, but she never makes excuses for him. She can recognize his faults. Billy needed help, which he sadly never got, that makes him tragic, but he also hurt people along the way, and they also have every right to critique his behavior. Same with people watching the show, they should be allowed to discuss it in a way without others coming for them and harass them (especially if you tag it accordingly).

I'm sorry this is kinda long, but you can't say this on here, or you will be hunted down and ridiculed. (Also, you can totally ignore this if you don't want to have this discourse anymore)

No bc you're so right I'm just so over Billy that I can't be bothered to add more.

Perfectly worded, I find Billy an interesting character for sure, because the abuse cycle, the patterns of trauma infliction, it gives a new perspective to how abuse affects people.

The Billy stans excusing his actions just ruins this take for me, and it also just feels like a further insult on Max and Lucas's characters.

Also the Hargrove stans are by far the most unnecessarily aggressive, toxic, and illogical, and I've seen the twitter Steve vs Jonathan discourse.

[raggaraddy]

The Basement: part one

Anon request: Hi can I request an assassin!yoongi one shot where yoongi gets jealous over reader somehow even though I know he isolates her so she depends on him but maybe she somehow stumbles into a colleague of his in his living room or a friend and the friend is 👀 looking not so respectfully

A/N: Enjoy lovely. 💜💜💜 Part two

Summary: For the first time ever there is someone else in the house with you and Yoongi. How could Yoongi expect you to resist speaking with him.

Trigger warnings: Violence, intimidation, kidnapping, imprisonment, yandere themes.

Yoongi

Yandere! Yoongi

Assassin! Yoongi

It may only be a few hundred square meters, but this house is your entire world. You know every creak, every floorboard that squeaked, how each door closes, everything. So in the middle of the night when you are woken by an almighty thump, at once you could recognize how out of place it was.

Cautiously sneaking downstairs and peering around every bend, you are just in time to see Yoongi slamming the basement door shut behind him.

Putting your ear to the entrance, you could hear the sounds of banging, of the chains, of low spoken voices. Over and over in your head, you told yourself to ignore it. To go back to bed and let it be. But the signs that there was another person down there with Yoongi were clear, and the temptation of that was too much to bear.

Your lesser instinct winning out, you open the door, instantly coming face to face with an ascending Yoongi. And behind him, in the place where you had been chained up many times before was a hooded man. Seated on the floor in a slumped position. His hands fixed against the wall keeping them high.

"Out," Yoongi demands, shoving your shoulder lightly to push you back through the doorway.

"Who-" is all you can gape, disbelief printed on your face.

"Not your concern." He refuses, closing the door. Continuing to push you back into the kitchen. "You do not go down there. Am I clear?" A finality to his expression not allowing any room for discussion or expansion.

Nodding, with a small pout you look at the basement one last time before faking a smile and returning to bed.

You were awestricken. Not once in nearly 8 months have you seen or heard another person in this house. Also not during the 6 months stretch before that. No one had visited. Not a single person had come past the house or had even driven up the driveway by accident. Your curiosity was burning you from the inside out. Your longing to see, to speak to another human aching your very soul.

Yoongi had gone into town, leaving you alone with the unlocked basement door. You'd always been chained up if he kept you down there, so it had never needed to be locked before. And the very idea of taking a quick peek was so tantalizing. However, on the more sensible side of this debate, you knew that Yoongi's word was final and you had never disobeyed him before.

You would like to say you were smart enough for this to at least be a difficult decision. But you swiftly threw common sense to the wind and went downstairs the second you heard the car pull out of the garage. Your body buzzing as you approached the new man.

With a heavy breath and timorous movements, you pull the hood back from the man's head. Black, straight, short hair. Dark, full brows, a perfect heart-shaped face, and ears that stuck out just a little too far. From head to toe, he's largely built. Taller and wider than Yoongi, making you astounded to think about how dangerous he really was.

For a few seconds, the both of you look equally surprised to see the other. Your pulse coursing through your ears, mouth slightly agape, looking at another human for the first time in forever.

"Hi," you squeak, nothing else coming to mind.

"Who are you?" He snarls.

It's spoken with so much hostility, but that question is one that brings you so much relief. You break down, pouring out your entire story in a rampant monologue. Telling him in detail everything you could about you, Yoongi, this place and your abductions. Fully spilling all that you had been so desperate to tell.

He, however, gives you nothing in return. For nearly 10 minutes you ask him question after question and he declines them all. Not even his name slips loose. He explains once that he can't know if your working with Yoongi, or that lunatic as he called him, and he is not going to tell you a single thing. Every question afterwards is only met with a solemn stare or a shake of refusal.

"If you won't tell me anything," you mope a little, "well, you look like a James Bond character, so I'm going to call you Mr Spy. The Spy? 007. Spy-man? I'll work on it." You mutter completely senseless and giddy from this rare moment. Continuing to overshare and divulge.

"Okay, Y/N. With everything you've told me, we're on the same page. So, if you help me get out of these," he rattles his hands, "Then I can get you out of this place."

The thought is alluring. But also more than you signed up for when you came down here. Firstly, Yoongi always keeps the keys for these chains on him. But secondly and most importantly, if you attempted to escape, if you tried to leave again Yoongi would never forgive you. You can't get away from him. You know you can't. And if you tried he would lock you up and throw away the key. You couldn't- You can't.

"I'm sorry, but no. I can't." You sadly brush his offer aside. Feeling awful denying him help like that. "I have to go back up before Yoongi comes home," you mumble.

Leaning over him you bring the hood up. You need to return him to how he was. He doesn't fight or argue, seeming to somberly accept his fate, but his eyes do dart to the top of the stairs at the last second.

Reacting to his troubled expression, you spin around seeing Yoongi already home, standing at the entrance.

At once your body tightens becoming flushed with sweat. Scrambling back from the man you stand in the middle of the room, trying to keep your breathing slow and deep to hide your fright.

"I thought," He starts to lower down the stairs, punctuating each point in his sentence with an additional step. "I said. You could not. Come in here."

"I'm sorry," you hush as Yoongi snatches the hood from your hand. Your head lowering in surrender.

"You want to save her?" He turns his attention and building anger towards his new prisoner. His fists are tight, knuckles cracking as he clenches and twists them. "You want to get her out of this place?" The challenge, the hash way he spits the words spoken about you is making the hairs on the back of your neck stand. Goosebumps flittering down your skin.

Lurching forward Yoongi's knee bashes into The Spy's head. And again. His foot following down booting him in the chest. And again.

"You think she wants to go with you?!" He growls, beating his fist into his head, over and over. The skin breaking, blood erupting all across his face. The Spy's restrained position not allowing him to protect himself in any way, only able to groan and splutter through the abuse. "You're too weak to even get yourself free. You think you can take her!" Yoongi steps back and lifts his leg, stomping the heel of his boot into the curled up fist of The Spy. Making him explode in a pained howl as you hear the bones crunch.

Not wanting to show any reaction, you stay coiled and fixed. Praying for this to end quickly. You had seen this level of violence and sadism from Yoongi before in the outside world. He doesn't acknowledge or accept any interference and he will only finish on his own terms.

You can't help but think if this is this how cruel and viciously he treats everyone else?

Stomping down again, this time he lines up The Spy's ankle. Throwing all his weight, all his force into the joint. The man's screams turning into cries as he wails in agony.

"No. You're not taking her anywhere." Yoongi straightens up, blowing out a heavy breath. Running his fingers back through his black hair over and over pulling it out of his face. "You're gonna tell me everything I wanna know. And then I'll finally let you die." He swallows hard, rearranging his clothes and loosening his muscles. His fiery explosion now quenched.

You can't lift your eyes as he drags you to the top floor. The basement door sealing, muffling the tears of the man below.

"Yoongi. I told him- I told him I couldn't-" You're starting and stopping, trying to sufficiently explain or plead your case. He's never shown anything near that level of violence towards you, but you were still sure he was about to lock you away endlessly for disobeying him.

He steps into you, silencing and making you jump back, smacking into the wall. Trapped between it and your hovering captor.

"I heard you." He speaks deeply and softly. In complete opposition to how he was moments ago. "Well done." His coarse pronunciation is abandoned as he speaks these words very clearly. Making sure you hear his sincerity.

His hand runs softly over your hair, stroking and cupping your head. Making you fight not to melt. Making you look up at him with big eyes. Any sort of affection from Yoongi instantly impacting you greatly, making you emotional and needy for more. Your bottom lip quivering, you whimper lowly as you lose the internal struggle and lean into his hand. Your eyes scrunching tight, hating yourself for how much his gentle touch affects your heart.

"Come with me," he holds your hand having you trail him upstairs. Taking you into his bedroom where he extends the affection and intimacy. Being with you so tenderly and kindly as your mind and heart tears back and forth between the softness you can feel now, and the horrors you saw him do before.

Despite the risks, your head fills with how and when you could see The Spy again. He was hurt, and he needed your help. And you were too eager to see him again. But when you wake the next day, you find a hefty padlock keeping the basement door sealed.

Yoongi at once reading your reaction. "You should thank me for locking that door Y/N. You don't know how dangerous some people can be."

Part two

[muffindaddystyles]

KISMETS (Part 2)

Harry Styles x fem!reader.

Slow burn, platonic love and bunch of affection.

Fluff! Smut! Smut!

Frenemies to lovers, dad!Harry, Bestfriend!Harry.

Author's Note: The concept's kinda weird but if you've watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Phoebe Buffay carrying child for someone. You've got it my pal!

MASTERLIST PART ONE PART 3

"Oh pet . . you're jealous innit?" He swipes the tip of his finger over the waffle picking the puff of cream and swallowing it whole, "'M not! Why'd I be?" She squeals kicking at his boots.

"Always told me y'had a candy crush at Harold." He smirks mischievously. Spitting truth. She smacks his bicep with a wide open mouth.

Or

Y/N's carrying Harry's babies and is trying not be angry at him for pulling her into all of this with him.

//

Red's everywhere. It makes her pout. Everyone have someone to celebrate the day but she's the only one giving careless ears to Niall who's sitting opposite from her in the crispy lilac heart booth, "Mean ye' fought again with him?" He stirs the mango bobas in his drink wiggling his brows at her to fill him with some tea. She gasps full of drama and surprises, "What d'ya mean 'again? D'ya think 'm this crackhead that rips people in two for no-reason?" She whispers the last part when a waitress passed by them.

"No. Pet what 'm sayin' is --- you're too, feisty with Harry." He chuckles leaning to meet her betrayed gaze, "Did he bribe you with new golf stick? You've switched sides." She juts her bottom lip wet from pink marmalade drink and startles in her spot when Niall cackled ever so loud at her silliness.

"I just tol' him to go through Chessie marathon somewhere else than my home." Harry was at her flat as always. She was making red velvet strawberry flavoured muffins for the moment ( promised not to give it to Harry — "even if he'll beg") and then she fulfilled her promise when she saw him going through his pictures together with Chessie. The jealous little Y/N jumped out from her polite skin and she just tinsy bit mocked him, "I'd never look back at the person who'd have left me and my children. . ." That broke a mighty bit argument between the two idiots. How they're gonna take care of two babies when they themselves need a person to put them away from eachother?

"Oh pet . . you're jealous innit?" He swipes the tip of his finger over the waffle picking the puff of cream and swallowing it whole, "'M not! Why'd I be?" She squeals kicking at his boots.

"Always told me y'had a candy crush at Harold." He smirks mischievously. Spitting truth. She smacks his bicep with a wide open mouth. Sighing he grabs Y/N's hand knocking some sense into mama bear gently and making her nod with the each advice, "'s valentine's day 'course he misses her. His wounds are fresh they need ointment babe -- You've always been so good with him, what's the matter now?"

She circles her fingers round eachother. Sucking her lip harshly and not meeting Niall's intense stare, "Turns me mad that 'cos of one person we're here now." She mumbles caressing the belly button protruding from the flimsy fabric of her oversized hoodie.

"It's the fate, pet. Always tol' me how much you liked kids." She shakes her head in denial. "Not in this situation where 'm lost and doesn't know how it'll work out — " He cuts her off with concern.

"Talked to Harry bout it?" When she again denies he asks, "What you're gonna do about it then?"

"Dunno. Share?" She's new to all of this. What did she actually mean was that they could do it like how divorce parents do it, maybe? Doesn't know how Harry wants to handle the situation just leading a blind eye with him. Hasn't even considered getting ready for the life that'll come along with them.

"They're babies not a packet of crisps, Y/N!." He burst into giggles and she huffs slumping against the foggy window, "Pain in arse you're." She scoffs that pout still intact the whole time while Niall keeps on giggling finding it too funny.

. . .

Walking from the elevator to her flat's door seems like hiking a mountain for her and cherry ontop that the stares she gets from her neighbours is full of judgments. It makes her want to hide underneath her blankets and never pop her head out. Her brows coming together in wonder at the sight of small wood basket at her doorsteps.

"Oh my god don't tell me someone left a baby at my doorsteps, Hello!!!??" She spins here and there but finds no-one but empty hallways when a feeble sound coming from inside it almost made her tumble on her bum. The last thing she wants is not another baby. With a grunty noise she ducks down to lift the basket supporting it at her belly and unlocking the door while trying to squint inside it.

When she throws the lid away a fuzzy little grey creature with big mossy eyes was pawing in air needy for attention, a red choker with heart in centre around her lil neck. It almost brought her to tears. Blame her being extremely emotional these days.

"Awww. Hi!" She fawns picking it up from armpits inspecting the miracle kitten that's here outta no where. A crumpled note laying in the basket with a bunch of colourful disoriented flowers.

"'M sorry fo' throwin' a tantrum and leavin' all fussy. This's oreo. I want her to grow along my kids! Also forgive mee plssssss?"

She giggles throwing her head back snuggling oreo against her throat as she meowed adorably sweet, "Daddy's such a daft ehh?" She says in between breaths petting the new addition to her loved ones.

The first thing she does is call him and he picks on the very ring as if anticipating for it, "Come back home you fool." His smile was infectious as he taps his feet in his car a lil over joyed at the thought.

"So generous." Running upstairs as he used to in oast with anticipation to spill the tea of his day to her in any hour of the day. The door was already open, them standing at the either boundary line of flat. His first priority's always to shower his babies in evermost affection. Falls to his knees smushing his face to her belly quenching outta a ribs aching laugh from her as he caress his cheeks against the soft side of her womb murmuring things that's a secret between him and his babies.

"Hey Angels!" He greets them patching a loving tight kiss atop her belly button that tickles her softly, stands up and meets her teary gaze from laughing with much serenity it knocks breath from her, "Hi mama angel." His whisper fuses against her skin while kissing her cheek.

"Hi. ." She inhales in his woodish vanilla scent. Preventing from melting into his arms she pulls him back from shoulders grinning at him, "Let's ruin valentines watchin' Anne Hathaway's romcom." He tuts instead leading her with him to the sofa.

"Can't be better than that –— let me pop in some popcorns real quick."

. . .

The yellow carpeted floor's littered with candy wrappers, packets of half folded crisps, peach sodas and an empty bowl of popcorns. Oreo snoozing in her basket. They're on their fourth romcom. Her legs in his lap. His's on coffee table. He chuckles everytime she takes almost three minutes to be in a comfortable position, ushering her to sit up so he could put cushions under her.

"Are you craving nama chocolates?" She eyes him nipping at her blanket trying to snuggle closer to him. He runs his thumb at her shoulder blade in soothing circles peering down at her, "'m not pregnant. ye're moppet. havin' a sweet tooth?" When she nods sheepishly he shakes his head quickly hoping on his feet.

"Don't be shy --- dunno where ye' got this giddiness from, 'm your bestie. Gotta tell me yeah? Lemme grab me jacket." He grabs her from wrists helping her up and goes to her wardrobe to get her fist gloves, beanie and warm slippers.

When hears her huffing and puffing grunty-ly his head perks up with brows furrowed, "What's it babe?" He pads towards her and when she turns for him to have a look the zip of her jacket bursts open all the way to end revealing her bump.

She pouts sadly, "Nothin' fits me anymore." He just smiles adorning the same puppy look in his eyes as her's to light up the tension.

"I'll buy ye' new. Those cute maternity clothes, ehh?" Shimmies down the clothing from her shoulders, "oi you don't have to!" She retorts and he bobs his head taking his own puffer jacket off to wrap it round her small body.

"Yes I do." He mumbles zipping her all the way up warm and squishy in his jacket three sizes larger than her. Pulls her hair out and cups the nape of her neck with his calloused soft palm bringing her closer to feather a delicate kiss to her temple, ". . .deserves more than just clothes — deserves the world always gonna be thankful to ye, pet." She gulps the cobweb of silence down her throat fiddling with the hem of his sweater.

"What you'll wear? 'S cold." He gives her an elfin grin flaring a baby pink knitted cardigan he sneaked from her wardrobe, "Harry!" She squeals with a giggle, "You're gonna look like grann Matlinda."

"Ehm. 'etter not forget to send her a picture when 'm matchin' with her." He quips snapping his fingers.

. . .

They walk over the glittery layer of slushie snow and Harry walks infront of her two steps at a time capturing pictures of her as she prowls carefully trying to move the hood away from blocking her vision, "Ye'r walkin' like a penguin -- cutie!" He giggles with each echo of flash.

"Look who's saying an otter himself!" She mimics him and he blushes under the mellowness of street lamp. They're champs at pulling eachother's legs.

"It's soooooo slippery." She complains wiggling her fingers from under the sleeve, "Grab me hand 'n don't leave it kay?" He smiles like advising a three year old who's afraid of crowds in a market. His grip warm and safe for her.

. . .

"Aish. gimme gimme!" She gets all jumpy on her toes when Harry comes out of the shop with a box of chocolates and two sticks. "'Ey greedy pup." He chuckles booping her button nose opening the silky lid of box revealing the velvety delcious chocolates. He picks the stick up taking a piece of chocolate with it and hovering it over her little mouth. Scrunching his nose at how adorable she gets the moment she chews it.

"Hmm. 'S so soft!" She gulps wetting her cold lip getting all butterfly feeling when she catches him gazing down at her as if she hung the moon and saturns. Raises her brow for an inquiry if he's okay tugging him closer with a gentle clutch to his cardigan.

Their surroundings turning into ice crystals of blur carelessness, the noises of glimmering lights into lulls of whisper and their bodies cocooning into snuggly blanket when Harry's fingertips fluttered tenderly against her cheeks glueing her at the spot. Leans in to press his lips softly to her plush sweet ones in a heartwarming caring kiss that flooded her veins with warmth and made her brain mushy unable to think.

"Yours are softer lil penguin." He murmurs stroking the corner of her mouth and smirks when she squeaks a thank you in return.

"Such a cutie." He cooes squishing her blushed cheeks and kissing each of them with loud wet noise till she pushed him away wiping his wetness with a pout. "'M highly offended pet ya never used to wipe me kisses away."

She shuts him up by stuffing a chocolate in his mouth. Walking back home with his arms wrapped around her protectively as he comes up with silly jokes whole way.

. . .

Everything reminds her of him. That fuzz of kitten. The empty box of chocolate. Couldn't even focus on the work she's doing on her laptop. It's just that gooey feeling never left ---- now it has gotten stronger with it's mushk when Harry kissed her under that beautiful sky of wintery lilacs. If he's playing with her feelings he better not cause she'll break him in two in that case.

He was out shopping clothes for her when she texted him if he'll like to eat roasted chicken she made for lunch. The mere thought of him caring for her brings her to tears because before him nobody was there except only him that knew her from the depths of her heart.

"You look pretty. . ." She finds typing hard while laughing this loud as Harry sent her mirror pictures of him trying the maternity clothes himself that he's supposed to buy for her, "Thought a visual representation will be good idea ;)" He shrugs typing back with a grin standing bottom naked in the changing room getting a rolling eye emoji in return.

She yawns putting her phone aside when Harry got busy into his hunt for nice warm clothes for her. Something wasn't fine today. She's been changing sides for an hour now and she couldn't sleep. Her shoulders twitching with each blink of eye and when she finally slips into a light conscious sleep a bone rattling pain shoots through her whole damn body. She jolts from the state of haze and tries to sit up when another zap of pain makes her feel limbless. A feeble grunt of helping cry fizzes out of her when she feels a cramp at the bottom of her spine.

In her panicked state she fumbles for her phone dialing the first emergency number doesn't give him a chance to speak before she's yelling into receiver out of anxiousness, "Harry somethin' not right! — 'm m havin' these contractions —--" He's been out dining with Niall and shoots from his seat the minute her worried voice reached his ear.

"It's okay, lovie. yeah? 'M comin' take deep breaths how we practiced —-- I'll be there in a mo'." He assures her in his softest most pacific rasp but she shakes her head vigorously tears brimming in her sleepy eyes. Oreo tries to comfort her by sitting in her lap and rubbing her crown against her tummy.

"They aren't supposed to come this early . . . fo' fucks sake haven't even started my third trimester!" Harry doesn't know what to do except of consoling her and fidgeting around as Niall drives the car with same expressions of anxiousness and panic as Harry.

"Oh . . It's gone." She frowns in confusion able to sit now and it takes a little of burden away from Harry. He listens to the rustling going on her side jumping on his bum almost screaming into phone, "Stay where you're don' move!"

"Oh my god. They're back I'm not ready for this . . I'm not ready for this Harry." She cries and Harry even leaves Niall behind squeezing into the elevator fingers crossed at his back.

"'M here. Call our midwife can ye' do that fo' me, puppy?" She sniffs nodding to herself. Calling their assisted midwife with shaky fingers and tries to breath looking up at the ceiling.

In the meantime Harry's barging through the door pacing towards her in hurries steps. His face pale that if he has seen a ghost. She tries to saturate the distance between them knowing at this moment how much she wants him in her life.

He sits her back carefully crouches down and wipes her tears away, "'m so scared . ." She whispers squeezing his biceps and her phone's still ringing atop the sheets, "Don't be baby. Ye' have me — 'm not leavin' yer side."

He massages the dimples of her spine and runs warm hands at her sides to calm her down when their midwife picks up their call, "Hi. Is everything okay?"

"No Y/N's havin' these light contractions 'n 's not even the time of her labour." There's a pause from her side and Y/N bolts a worried glance at Harry in return he cradles her cheek to assure her.

"Oh . . that's nothin' to worry bout Mr. Styles. Those're some mild braxton hicks she might have mistaken with labour contractions." They both takes a sigh of relief but the little tick of pain keeps on coming and subsiding.

"They start at the beginning of third trimester, Y/N are you still getting 'em?" She asks her and Y/N clears her throat tugging the sheet beside her.

"Yes but less painful. Is that okay though?"

"Completely okay. Harry rest her against the headboard and push her knees upto her chest they'll be gone in a snap." He nods at her instructions helping Y/N lean against the headboard of bed gently and scooting between her thighs to do as she told.

"Better?" He whispers glancing up at her while wrapping his hands around her bended calves and pushing it slowly against her front, the move relaxing her pelvic muscles. Her head lulls at her shoulders from the effect and she hums from throat making Harry choke on his own spit.

He dares not to drift his gaze from her rigid features which are loosing it's tightness seconds after. Their breaths erratic from the humidity of sexual tension in the room when Y/N gets back to normal diverting her all attention to Harry who has his head tucked between her fleshy thighs. A blush creeping at her flushed cheeks and Harry gives her a flustered chuckle kissing the top of her knee to answer back Miss. Dori who's been asking how's Y/N.

"Stay hydrated and don't forget to take your vitamins." Saying this she ends the call. Y/N takes a huge sigh of relief spreading her legs back and Harry squeezes her ankles, "When was the last time you had a glass water?"

"Two hours ago." He rolls his eyes. "Supposed to be drinkin' every hour . . dehydration's s' unhealthy fo' you pet." He leaves the bed meandering through her wardrobe taking out a bag with Oreo in his armpit.

"What're you doing?" She gasps with wide eyes looking back at Niall who's still standing at the doorframe. God. It's so embarrassing he had to watch all of that. Now, he'll never not stop teasing her about it.

"Packin' 'cos ye're stayin' with me. No protests." Like she was going to. She loves to stay at his house. His guest room's mattress is such a royalty to sleep at.

. . .

When he tucks her under the layers of blanket she decides it's still not warm enough and grabs at his wrist when he was about to leave, "Can we cuddle please?" His lips quirks up with happiness and he crawls to the empty side of bed still letting her hold onto him. Slipping beside her to canoodle her cosily against his front nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck with "mhmpm." sounds of exhaustion.

"Anytime." Her eyelids slip shutting from the comfort he brings along with him, "ye' okay now?" His lips leaves it's sparkle at her skin as he mumbles spooning her from behind and spreads his palm wide atop her belly protectively. She nods cuddling into his bicep kissing the inside of his elbow and slips into darkness just with the song of his breath.

"Good night Angel."

. . .

She wakes up to the ruckus going outside and gurgling stomach from hunger. Pinches the blanket around her head and waddles outside yawning her way. Harry making brekkie in the kitchen, a grinder running, and waffles sizzling as he himself is moving around like Remy the Rat in ratatouille. His muscles stretching out with each haste motion and it made her tummy stir. She's been trying not be horny but it proves to be the hardest task when he's always around being that charming and alluring.

"Pet!" He grins spinning with a VR camera in his hand that makes her giggle, "What you're doing?" She giggles trying to hike up the stool.

"Recording the days with our babies until it's labour." Immediately he's at her side helping her sit up putting the camera at the counter and Y/N waves at it adorably voice low and sleepy, "Hi babies it's me your mommy." It catches Harry off guard. His heart shaped mouth baubles into awed expression as he blinks the shock away from his vision looking down at her.

"What happened?" She asks him in concern but he shakes his head pecking her hair and handing her the camera to go back to prepare brekkie — moreso to recover from the happy surprise of her acceptance or he might scream into these four walls.

He's got a heart of gold. Pure from the selfish intentions and full of love. He thinks he's an utter dimwit for neglecting his feelings for his own fucking bestfriend and finding love into places that were never meant for him. Now, he can't think of someone else as the mother of his children except her.

He smiles wet-ly to himself. Waterline stinging from the sweet epiphany that they're really gonna be parents. Together. That she's his person. Who never left his side. Fulfilled his dream of becoming of a dad when his own girlfriend backed out cowardly. What did he do to get her written in his fate?

"Would we get to eat in this hour of day Chef?" She quips elbow perched on the counter and chin resting in her palm. We. It makes his insides melt into squish of adoration and love for her, "Sorry! I know ye're hungry." He pouts apologetically putting the plates and a glass of smoothie infront of her tucking a napkin into her crew neck.

"I don't need that, pet!!" She laughs squeezing his thigh to refrain from falling -- for the fact she's the most clumsy person Harry knows, "look cute 's just all." He giggles back pulling his bottom lip that she has done a great job of flustering him this early in the morning — gonna be like that the whole darn day with the her words swimming in his mind hi babies it's me your mommy ——

"Hmm. It's so yummy!" She gives him a thumbs up leaning down to sponge a kiss to his cheek and his dimple milks against her lips from the shyness. He scrunches his nose as a cover up from blushieness else he might burst into lil confetti, "yeah?" His irirses twinkles impishly as he gave her an eskimo kiss.

They're so domestically in love. It's cute. Does thingies without knowing they've rocketed past the intense levels of intimacy.

When she whines at the end refusing to drink the green smoothie it's where he went all stern and daddy-ish with her. Pulling her into his lap, holding her wrists with his nimble finger and placing the rim of the glass at her lips encouraging her to drink, "I might puke." She tells him in a warning.

"Okay after drinking this." He declares not caring if she wrenches at him quiping with a pinch of brows petting her back.

"You're sucha meanie bro!" Bestfriend shit. More like lovers shit.

. . .

Blank staring is useless as fuck and mind tiring even if it's done sitting in the comfiest corner of sofa to get a watch of some piece of furniture, toys and clothes that litreally just belongs to little humans that are resting in her womb. There's this nice lady that Harry gave away all of this things to because she's having her third child and couldn't be able to afford this stuff for her baby, at the moment she's here to shift it.

"You don't have to --- I don't care. It's just some stuff you guys bought together." She had told him before he sat on the decision and once he makes up his mind nobody can make him act otherwise.

"Nope. Bought things fo' me babies by the choice of a person who wasn't even their mother in the first place, never deserved to be —-- would never be. We'll do everything from scratch . . ." His words held venom and hatred for her unlike the usual sadness and betrayal they carried weeks ago as he wrapped his forearm around her collarbones flushing her closer to his chest swaying in the living lounge, ". . . remember the plushies nan Matlinda gave ye' on ya eighteenth? Thinking it was yer thirteenth birthday? Found them from under me bed last night. Will throw 'em in the laundry and the descion will be on yours if ye' want them fo' yourself or your babies." She nods giggling and he joins her.

"'Course that'd be s' cute. My kids playin' with plushies that were once mine!" She clapped her hands atop her chest in sheer excitement.

At the moment, he flops onto sofa beside her with a dramatic huff after bidding the lady a warm good bye. Squeezing Y/N ankles as she's laying on her side. A pillow under her thigh for the ease purpose head on the other cushion, "Watching's the hardest work innit toots?" He grins impishly and she bobs her head with hooded eyes.

Rolling her shoulder to pop some joints to show her tiredness she's good at acting made him scoot closer to her immediately, "Actually yes — " Gets cut off with Harry getting really caring about her in instant.

"Lemme give ya good rub." His calloused palms starts it gentle pressure from the heels of her feet tricking up her calves and she hums sweetly with her face smushed into cushion. He does it for a minute, thumbing at her soles and popping her toes making her giggle lazily.

Her breaths turns warmer against the fabric when he glides his touch up her soft thighs running a trembling shiver into her blood and the coaxation from the daily tiredness plus the effect of him on her almost made her whine. Their breaths hitches at the same time his pinky brushes at the curve of her bossom peeking from underneath her pyjama shorts.

It makes her clench her thighs from the burn coiling in her tummy and it's embarrassing because he's doing nothing but giving her a rub. When the second time the pads of his supple fingers paints imaginaries at her skin she wiggles her cute ass and moans with an alluring stretch of throat when Harry slapped her arse playfully.

"'S good?" He rasps palming balmily her bossom ass hands gliding dangerously low to where she's pulsating with desire, "don't tease . ." She gives out a kitten-ish whine griping the corner of cushion to exhert the tension in her muscles. With a single glance to her deshilved state he slides his hand between her fleshy thighs pressing his lanky fingers against the wet splotch of her arousal from the only approximty of him.

"Jeez pet. ye'r absolute soakin'." He whispers circling her clit in tight circles from over her pyjamas and she ruts her hips in his hand for more. He hovers his fingers round the hem of her shorts testing the waters and if she really wants it ---- although she proves it with a groan indicating him to get rid of the material.

"Such a pretty bum 's a shame I got to touch it now." He traces the imprint of his redness on her skin making her hiss into her elbow and he pulls her over his lap; slowly feathering his touch between her pink slick folds down to her hole making her clinch around his digits trying to swallow them.

"S' tight babe. How long someone's been between these beautiful legs?" His words don't carry any taunt. It's just a genuine question. She gulps trying to escape the haze — couldn't when he's gliding his fingers non-stop in her wetness with dirty noises, "dunno . . don't remember!" She squeaks when he slides them inside her with ease from slickness caging a grunty moan that's threatening to slip from his lungs.

"It's been that long then . . ." He drawls out and Y/N's shook that she hasn't heard him in that tone ever before or maybe she's too floaty. This Harry intimidates her in a sweet way, makes her want to be blanketed under his warm weight always, to depend on him and be with him always. Makes her want to kiss him till the colours fade out and blossom back again with the witnesses of their love.

"Harry . ." She moans fogy-ly when he adds two more letting her stickiness drip down his thighs, "Yes baby." He giggles bashfully sneaking his arm under her shoulders to kiss her cheek.

"Gonna cum." She cries out softly nipping at his skin and he pushes his fingers deep till knuckles in her cunt pounding inside her with a pleasuring pressure, "Didn't stop ya." His little bubble kisses trails to the crook of her neck biting down to glitter hues of his affection for her.

"Oh my!" Her eyes popshut and thighs smack crampies his hand cumming on his fingers. Making a mess down his wrists, his trousers and the hem of his shirt. She purrs cheeks smashed near his thick thigh into velvet when he rubs her back to soothe her heated body down as that of a kitten, "Ye purrs are puttin' oreo to shame, moppet." He pushes her up. Straddling her each leg around his torso letting her melt onto him.

"S' warm." He mumbles against her throat pecking where the paths of her veins leads him to. Grabs her chin and nuzzles his nose to the underbelly of her jaw saturating her closer to his chest. She hiccups a breath when his swelling bulge nudges her already sensitive pussy making her wet again; she blames her hormones.

"Can you fuck me, please?" She gives him pleading eyes swiveling her hips back and forth against his thick length, "Don't 've to ask pretty girl." He kisses her mouth. It's not like their first kiss. Their first held innocence and sccachirness. This one's rather filthy, full of sucking, bites and spit. He splits his thumb in her hair cupping her cheeks kissing her passionately and winding his arm around her waist to caress her belly.

When she throws her shirt away he puffs out unbelievably taking in her to memorize each velvteen of her skin, "Fuck you're so beautiful moppet." It splashes blush at her features and his eyes litreally twinkles at the sight of her being like this. When his eyes halt at the swell of her titts he exhales through his nostrils a grin worming up at the little rainbow patterned bra she's wearing.

"Cutie." He kisses her again. It's like he can never stop kissing her ever. Her plump candy lips make it impossible. She skids his trousers down wrapping her hand around his girth squeezing him to quench out a throaty grunt from him. Stroking his cock with his pre-come and arches her back when his weepy head brushes against her cunt.

He helps her to take his cock being ever so carefull with her since she's pregnant but Y/N wants otherwise. She's insatiable. Could bite him whole at the time.

"Use me baby ---- make yourself cum with my cock. Wanted it yeah? C'mon now fuck me pretty girl. Take it all in. Yeah . . . Jus' like that." He grits stretching her to max and brings her neck to snuggle in to his chest when she was about to fall back because of her limbs giving out due to the ecastasy. She spurts out a giggle putting her hands between them to recoup herself and moves with his assistance on her ass.

"It's hard." She whines walls fluttering around his dick making him moan, "what me prick?" He smirks batting his eyelashes to get through the haze.

"Such a rotten joke." She rolls her eyes riding him with faster pace now and it's turning them all sweaty and hot, "mhmp. good girl takin' me cock s' well." His hands wanders above her tummy fondling with her nipples and takes it in his mouth while giving the same attention to other one with his thumb pulling it and tweaking it gently not to harm her, "don't like my jokes but you love my prick --- want to make ye' feel amazin' with it."

His balls thwacking against her bum and she leverages herself with his shoulders crying out in his ear when he hit a spot inside her she could never with her own fingers — she narrows her knees for more closeness and he tucks loose errands of her hair away kissing her temple with closed eyes.

"Tired?" His wet lips teases her earlobe and when she nods he gropes her ass thrusting up inside her, "It feels more good when daddy does it . . doesn't it?" He pounds roughly with a sharp angle of his pelvis and keeps on fucking her till she's crying his name.

She's a puddling. His words only made her float into her own head space where it's golden streaks in the amidst of violet clouds.

His own groans getting hoarse when she pulses around his cock milking and pushing his head fat out it makes him choke onto his spit, "cum for me --- inside me want it s' bad." She whispers woving fingers with his's and pressing it into sofa still grinding down at him whole body jolting from the sensitivity.

He does cum inside her. Filling her to brim with his seed it oozes out making soppy sounds when he pumps it back with lazy strokes to extinguish the last sparkle of fire that was crackling in their insides.

Remains like that. Tangled and dishelved. Listening to eachother's silence. He didn't even got a chance to pull out of her when his phone startled them beside her making her cramp hard around him and his head falls on the headboard with a grunt.

"Fuck." He squints back and pretends to eat the apple of her cheeks with roar like noises tickling her side making her stomach squeeze with laughs when his phone rings for another time and she ushers him to pick it.

His expressions remains stoic. Lips thinned into a hardline as he listens to the person on the other side. She's familiar with it. The feminine seductive voice she can never unhear --- it pangs her heart with an unbearable amount of pain and clogs her windpipes.

Dunno from where she found the need to ask this she did with a second thought from the anxiousness whirling in her mind the second he ends the call, "Are you gonna leave me now?" Tears of hurt without her knowing are already spilling down the valley of her chest.

Harry stares her. But, she could see nothing in them due to blurness from the pulversive of a single call.

[jenojaemssss]

stay next to me

a/n: repost bc i think i accidentally deleted it when i was trying to edit it LOL anyways, this is a new style for me so hope you guys enjoy! based on this song by quinn xcii and chelsea cutler

warnings: there IS a makeout session so be advised :D

jaemin and you are pushed against a wall about 2 feet away from each other

when i say pushed against a wall, i mean quite literally pushed against the wall

because there were maybe 20 people dancing around you

and they were all shoving and jumping and swinging their arms back and forth

and no way in hell do you want to be swept away in that mob

the space around you was probably 7 square feet at most with too many sweaty bodies surrounding you

like there are probably 400 people at this place because no way the carrying capacity of 250 would put you in this situation

and you're sweaty and sticky

and so is jaemin

because there are just way too many fucking people

you're trying your best to keep your drink from spilling over because everyone is shoving

jaemin looks just as uncomfortable

you notice this because what kind of best friend are you if you can't tell that he was feeling uncomfortable?

so you reach over to feel for his hand but before you reach it you accidentally brush your hand over someone's butt

and then someone's boob

and then someone's crotch

but you finally reach his hand

you hold onto his hand and he holds yours back

he pulls you in a little closer

you're pressed against each other's sides

sharing even more heat because of how close you are

"i don't even know this band," he yells over the noise

you chuckle in response and nod

"me neither!"

"let's dip?"

you can feel his hot breath on your ear

but you're dumb enough to look up

and you're met with his smile

his smile, god his smile

he was so close too

and you just wanted to kiss him but you shouldn't because he's your best friend

so you nod instead of doing anything dumb

he takes you and literally has to drag you away from the crowd

but you make it to the front door of the club

when you step foot out of the door and feel actual air

you both let out the biggest sigh

deep breaths and all

his hand is still holding yours and you were about to pull away but he just grips it tighter

"are we going somewhere, jaem?"

"anywhere but here," he chuckles

it's the chuckle that kind of rumbles from his chest

and you find that shit so attractive

you guys don't say anything else

you just lead him down the busy streets

it's dark out, but the streetlights and cars are lighting up the road

and it's just so pretty

but there's something prettier?

jaemin.

he looks so pretty illuminated by the lights and you can't help but gawk at him

like, normally yellow lights make people's skin look a little off and saturated

but this man looks so fucking good with this kind of lighting

nah, any kind of lighting

you realize how hard you're staring and focus on the road instead

he's still holding your hand, by the way

and honestly, it was kinda normal for him to hold your hand because he likes affection

correction

he likes affection only when he's comfortable with that person

but this was weird because he doesn't often hold your hand for this long

but hey, you guys are wandering around the city and it's fun

and you were both a little tipsy

not drunk

just one or two drinks each

so tipsy

and then you reach a place that reminds you of something and you smile

it was a skate park that your friends dragged you too a lot

jaemin notices this and leads you there

and he buys both of you water from the vending machine

and you guys just sit down and talk about life and whatnot

like school, jobs, whatever that comes up

he mentions something about prom and high school sweethearts because he sees a group of teens running down the street and laughing

and he's reminiscing how the two of you ditched prom to get mcdonald's your senior year

and then you bring up the topic of first loves

jaemin goes speechless when you ask him who his first love was

because little did you know, jaemin was also pining over you

so he tries switching the subject to something else

he doesn't answer you and shoots you a question instead

"when was the last time you've been in love?"

you're not sure what the hell comes over you but you respond

"now."

and he's like

O.O

and you just blush

and he's like

"same."

and your heart lowkey drops because you're not sure who it is

then you look at his face and realize that he's also blushing

and then it clicks in your airhead

oh.

"cool," is all you can get out 'cause????

jaemin loves you back?

"'cool?' y/n we just confessed and your only response is 'cool?'"

"we confessed?"

"yes, i thought it was obvious?"

"well then yes, because i'm not sure what to do in this situation."

he suddenly lets go of your hand

and you're scared you did something wrong so you look up from your feet

but before you can bring your head all the way up he's already cupping your cheeks

and he's leaning in

you're just frozen because jaemin is about to kiss you???

you?????

and right before he reaches your lips he asks for your permission

"can i kiss you?"

and instead of answering you meet his lips with your own

and now the two of you are kissing

his lips, god you wish you can kiss him forever because they feel like clouds

he smiles mid-kiss and your heart skips like 20 beats

his breath still had the slight hint of burnt whisky

it's so damn addicting

he pokes his tongue against your lips and you slightly open your mouth a little to give him access

and you swear there are spurts of electricity jolting through your body

you're quite literally melting into his touch

and his lips

you two continue to kiss and it's just like you're in heaven but on earth

did i mention how his lips felt like clouds?

sure, they're a little chapped but they're still the softest pair of lips you've ever laid eyes...i mean lips on

it's like his lips and yours were made for each other because the movements the two of you make send chills down your spine

you're breathless at this point

when he finally pulls away you're both grinning like idiots

he rests his forehead against yours and you use this opportunity to reach up a little bit and give him a peck

and he smiles even wider

he grabs you and pulls you into his arms and you rest your head on his chest

you're both leaning against the wall of one of the ramps so he takes this as an opportunity to throw one arm behind your shoulder

he places little kisses on your hairline and whispers little sweet nothings

but then he asks you

"what now?"

"what do you mean?"

"what are we now?"

"jaemin," you sit up straight and look at him dead in the eyes

"will you," you point at him

"be my," you gesture towards yourself

"boyfriend?"

"are you drunk right now?"

"NO! i'm dead serious," and you are

"yes, y/n, i will be your boyfriend," he chuckles and pulls you back into his arms

you hear his heart beating in his chest and you feel so calm

because although his heartbeat was a little fast, it seems to be matching the same rhythm as yours

"it's getting late," you mumble after checking your phone

you turn your head a little, but jaemin's resting his head on top of yours so you can't really move it

"don't you have places to be tomorrow?"

"i don't care," he murmurs against your hair

"just stay next to me."

a/n pt 2: if y'all can't tell, i get a ton of my inspo from quinn xcii songs:) a lot more are in the works, so i recommend listening his album "a letter to my younger self" bc half of my fics are based on that album LOL

[storyofmychoices]

Welcome Home, Jovie!

[Bryce Lahela x Olivia Hadley Masterlist]

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x Olivia Hadley (OC) Other Characters: Keiki Lahela, animal shelter volunteer Book: Open Heart  Rating/Warning: General *Fluff*; brief mention to animal neglect Word Count: ~1,450 Prompt: Mango: @choicesaugustchallenge ; @choicesbookclub OPH Book 2

Synopsis: Olivia, Bryce, and Keiki head to a local animal shelter to rescue a pup and give him or her their fur-ever home.

A/N: I had every intention of giving these three a bunny, but #TeamDoggo won the vote.

"I still think we should get a hedgehog." Keiki crossed her arms as she got out of the car.

"I can't help it if people like dogs best," Bryce gloated, pleased that his Pictagram post had received the most likes and comments, cementing the choice for their future pet. "Besides, what would you even do with a hedgehog?"

"Take adorable photos," Keiki interjected. "Did you even look at the recent ones I sent you? They made him a little tent and set up a campsite for him. It's the most adorable thing ever! Think of all the precious photoshoots we could have!"

"No."

Oliva's lips pressed together in sympathy, wrapping her arm around Keiki's shoulder supportively. "They really were adorable. Maybe one day."

"I guess," she sighed, her posture slumping. Her eyes widened, turning her attention to Bryce. "It's just that... after you left, I was all alone." Her voice dropped somberly. "I didn't have anyone to talk to or play with—it was just me. I had to pretend a lot. Looking at all the cute hedgehog pictures gave me something to hold on to with the hope that one day I could have one of my own. Since owning a hedgehog in Hawaii is illegal, I thought here my dream could finally come true."

His face softened, taking in his sister's requests.

"I guess some dreams are meant to be broken." She sniffled, wiping away a single tear, and then turned into Olivia.

"Bryce!" Olivia appealed, gesturing to his crying sister in her arms.

He exhaled noisily, running his fingers through his hair. It was the least he could do to make up for leaving her all those years ago. "Ughhh. Fine. If it means that much to you, then maybe we can—"

"Oh my god, really?!" She turned quickly, her tone rising instantaneously.

His gaze narrowed on her overly cheerful appearance and noticeable lack of tears. "Wait. Did you just make that up?"

"What? No! Why would I do that?" She rambled defensively.

"You were this close!" He held out his fingers to demonstrate. "Close, but not close enough, Keiks. Now, let's go meet our new dog!" Bryce moved eagerly toward the shelter.

"Did you really make it up?" Olivia lowered her voice as she and Keiki followed closely behind.

"I might have embellished and taken some creative liberties." She shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"Have you considered auditioning for the school play?" Olivia looked at her in bewilderment.

Keiki's lips turned up, and her face brightened. "It's crossed my mind."

"A dog will be fun!" Olivia nudged her cheerfully. "And don't forget, we still all get a say in which dog we adopt. You might just find one you love!"

The three had researched nearby shelters and looked online for available dogs. There were too many choices, so they settled on some criteria to help narrow their search. Despite the adorability factor of puppies, they decided a puppy needs more time, attention, and training than they currently have to give. They also limited their search to small and medium dog breeds. Big dogs are floofy and fun but need more room than is available in their apartment. With this focus, they found an animal shelter just outside of Boston that had several potential matches.

Despite all three of them initially wanting different types of pets, the moment they entered the shelter, they were like kids in a candy store. Olivia and Keiki cooed merrily at each pup they saw, their eyes growing impossibly large, taking in all the adorableness around them. The rounds of affection pleased each of the pets they greeted, happy to have attention. Bryce's eyes glowed as he moved more thoughtfully and purposefully, looking for just the right surfing companion.

"Aww!" Olivia fell to her knees beside a cage with a scrappy, tan dog. "You're so cute!"

The two-year-old mutt tilted its head to the side, looking up at her.

"Keiki! Over here! Look at this sweet girl!" Olivia covered her mouth as her eyes grew wider. Her tone quickly shifted as she cooed at the curious canine. "Yes, that's you. You're a sweet girl, aren't you, Mango."

The dog yipped in response, her tongue hanging out to the side of her mouth as she panted contentedly.

"Ohmygosh! She's adorable!" Keiki knelt beside Olivia, putting her hand up to the metal bars. A smile grew across her features as the dog licked her fingers.

"Aww," the two girls sounded in unison. Their high-pitched cheer brought Bryce to their side.

"What even is it?" His brow arched at the smallish-medium dog.

Olivia gestured to the sign attached to the corner of the cage. "It says Mango is a spaniel mix/breed unknown."

His lips pursed, not as taken by the dog as them. "I don't know."

Before he could protest further, one of the shelter volunteers was beside them. "She's a great choice! Mango came to us a couple of months ago from unfortunate living conditions. She had been neglected and was malnourished. But, she's a trooper. She's recovered wonderfully. Would you like to meet her?"

"Yes!" Olivia blurted out. Her teeth showing as she smiled brightly. "I mean—yes, please. Thank you." She breathed, trying to contain her enthusiasm.

"Come on, girl," the volunteer directed as he opened the cage door.

The honey-colored dog poked its head out apprehensively, sniffing the air cautiously.

Bryce sat beside his sister, holding his hand out for the dog.

"It's okay," Keiki offered.

Mango inched her way forward, looking between the humans staring at her. Her head tilted to the side, her tail wagging tentatively as they continued speaking quietly to her. Feeling more courageous, the pup bounced up, hopping into Olivia's lap.

She roared with laughter, her head falling back as the eager dog licked her cheek.

"Liv! She loves you!!!" Keiki gently ran her fingers down the dog's back, moving closer.

As if on cue, Mango turned her attention to Keiki, looking to offer her affection to the next human. "She's amazing!"

Bryce tried to keep a straight face, but as Mango made her round to him, his face softened.

She dropped down playfully in front of him. Her front paws fell low to the ground as her hindquarters raised; her tail swooshed happily in the air.

"What? You want to play?" His voice was light as he leaned down to her.

Mango barked and spun around in a circle before resuming her jovial stance.

He slid his hands down her back, capturing her vibrating tail.

She followed his movements, barking and turning to try to catch him.

Olivia's squeal of excitement pulled his attention from the dog. "You love her, too!"

He sighed half-heartedly. "Do I even have a choice?"

Olivia turned toward Keiki; their matching smiles showed they had already made their decision. "Technically, yes, but since there are two of us, and one of you... there's no point."

"We're really going to adopt a dog named Mango?"

"Why not?" Keiki defended. "They're delicious!"

"Exactly! They're a fruit! Not a dog," he insisted.

"We named her Mango. She didn't come with a name," the worker interrupted. "When she first arrived, one of the things we found she loved most was mangoes. That little girl couldn't get enough of them."

"See! There's a good reason," Keiki argued. "It's fine. You'll get used to it."

"If the name is troubling you, should you adopt her, you could change her name," the volunteer suggested.

"That won't confuse her?" Bryce questioned.

"Dogs are resilient and highly intelligent. Many of our adoptees end up with new names. Dogs of any age can learn a new name in as little as a few days to a week."

"Hmm," Bryce considered.

"Belle?" Olivia suggested immediately.

"Honey?" Keiki offered quickly.

"Princess."

"Sweetie."

"Fluffy."

"Snookums"

"Smushie!"

"Mr. Fluffikins!"

"It's a girl," Bryce interrupted the girl's back and forth.

Keiki shrugged. "I stand by the suggestion."

Olivia watched as the dog pranced between the three of them, her body fluttering with joy under their attention. "What about Jovie?"

"Like Bon Jovi?" Bryce questioned.

"No, Jovie, like jovial. She's so cheerful despite everything that she's been through. She hasn't let her bring her down."

"Aww! That's adorable, Liv!" Keiki agreed. "I like it. She'll bring us all joy too."

"Is this going to be a thing now? I'm continuously outvoted?" Bryce grumbled apathetically, feigning protest.

"Well, you are going to be living with three girls," Olivia smirked. "I'd get used to it if I were you."

His gaze narrowed toward her, as she winked in reply. There were certainly worse things to happen than being surrounded by three females that he happened to adore.

The decision had been made.

"Welcome Home, Jovie." Olivia scooped the dog in her arms, letting the affectionate pup pepper her face in kisses.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. Tags will be in a reblog, please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed.

A/N2: Holland Roden is my Olivia face claim; her dog Fievel will be Jovie's face claim.

[haikyuu-appreciation-club]

Hiii love💞, could I request a kurro x reader based on the song "sometimes" by "Chelsea Cutler?" It's a beautiful song, and I would love to see how you write it out!! Thank you, and I can't wait smto see what you make out of it!!!

•Sometimes•

Kuroo x Reader

warnings: a few curse words + mentions of depression, mental health issues, suicidal thoughts + trust issues

genre: angst to fluff + comfort

word count: 2.2k

hey sweetheart!! 

I really adore this request, it’s different then anything I've done before and I'm excited to get to turn my interpretation of this song into a fic

my interpretation of this song is that its in the perspective of a person that has depression and it’s consuming them. It constantly comes and goes and affects the way they are in a relationship. they feel as though they are unable to be loved and they have a hard time trusting that their partner actually cares for them due to this added baggage they have. 

ik the actual meaning of the song is different but I'm writing based off of that :)

this is a very beautiful song and I hope I bring it justice 

enjoy <3

(TRIGGERS BELOW)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

(TW DEPRESSION, TW SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, TW MENTAL HEALTH, TW TRUST ISSUES)

You used to enjoy the early morning hours. The way the sun would peer through your partially open blinds, casting rows of golden hues across your walls. The taste of flavorful coffee flowing down your throat, bringing you to your senses. Even the noise of cars passing by brought you a source of peace as you got ready for your day.

Overtime, mornings grew bitter. The sunlight became a nuisance, causing you to bury yourself deeper in your covers. You no longer had to energy to get up and make yourself a cup of coffee and the hum of the car engines just reminded you of the dreaded day ahead. 

Honestly, you can't recall when the beautiful colors of this world had faded from your view.

Although you had grown accustomed to these emotions, they weren't always dominating your life. They came and went in waves, allowing brief moments of happiness to creep through. On one of those special occasions, the universe brought Kuroo into your life.

Meeting him felt like coming up for your first breath of air after a long swim. He wasn't a complete stranger but you had been too encased in your thoughts to ever go out of your way to talk with him. Luckily, he made the effort to reach out and the two of you clicked right away. You had thought things were finally looking up for you, crawling your way out of the slump you had constantly been dragged in and out of. You saw this as your time to collect the broken pieces of yourself and start over with Kuroo, but those thoughts were soon deemed trivial. After a while, your depression had hauled you back into the darkness, stripping you from any ounce of joy you had left. Kuroo had kept you afloat for longer than anyone has ever had, and maybe that’s why you allowed yourself to indulge in wishful thinking. You should have known better though, you were broken repair and it was no ones job to fix you.

Although you never opened up about your struggles to Kuroo, he wasn't completely oblivious to the situation. He had noticed your change in attitude straight away. The way you would shy away from any social situations, silently begging him to just stay inside and cuddle on the couch. The way you would take two or three bites of dinner and lazily claim you were full. The way the things you loved to do, didn't seem to peak your interest anymore. Even the way your sleeping patterns had shifted, either feeling you toss and turn in the middle of the night or finding you still sleeping in at four in the afternoon. 

Kuroo was confused to say the least, this demeanor was so new to him and he didn’t know what to do. You seemed so hollow, as if you were a shell of your former self. It broke Kuroo’s heart to see you in such a state and he wanted to help you, he just had no clue how.

You weren’t the type of person to lay all of your emotions out on the table, Kuroo knew that much. So, he didn't want to force things out of you or do anything to make you shy away from him more then you already had. He wanted to be able to handle this situation in a way you both were comfortable with. So, he took his time observing your behavior and researching the things he noticed. 

Soon enough, his hunch that you had been entrapped in a depressive state had been confirmed. All of your actions and new found mannerisms had lined up with the symptoms almost perfectly. Now he just had to find a way to approach you about your current situation.

Things on your part were growing worse with each passing day. You were exhausted, as if all the energy had been drained from your body. The motivation to even get out of bed had been snatched away. You were at the point where you just felt like giving up. There was no point in trying anymore and you had discovered living to be so tiring. The only thing keeping you going was Kuroo, and you felt oddly selfish for that. 

Kuroo had always made it a point to care for you and be by your side with everything throughout your relationship, but why should he? Did he not realize how damaged you were? As if you were a surgery gone wrong and no one could find the source of the bleed. You loved Kuroo with all your heart but knowing how much trouble you had already caused and how much was waiting to ensue tugged at your chest.

Thoughts continued to swim in your head while you lied in your bed, curled up with your knees to your chest as you stared at the empty wall. You couldn’t recall how long you’d been lying there. Time seemed to fade away recently, the minutes, hours, and days blended together. Honestly, you couldn’t care less. Opening your eyes had been dubbed a difficult task so getting ready for the day had been out of the question for quite a while. Lying in bed all day had become so familiar to you, you were no longer content with anything else.

A creak came from the opposite side of your bedroom as the door leading in softly swung open. Your eyes darted in the direction of the noise but you didn’t move a muscle as light footsteps approached the bed. You knew who it was but you couldn’t bring yourself to greet them, it was too much effort on your part.

The second Kuroo had walked through the door he had taken notice of your disheveled state. He had been unable to see you for the past few days due to a family event that had been planned.

He invited you to come along but you refused, seeing you didn’t want to ruin the mood and you didn’t have the energy to put up a front for that long. Kuroo didn’t want to leave you by yourself but you insisted that he went and spend time with his loved ones. So, reluctantly, he bid you farewell and went on his way. The two of you kept in touch through text messages which helped to sooth his nerves a smidge, but soon enough your replies grew shorter and popped up on his screen less often until they stopped appearing at all. Panic conquered his mind and he booked the first flight home to you. 

There was a dip in your bed as Kuroo sat at your side. A small part of you wanted to hug him but you stayed stiff as a board, expression unwavering. You felt a hand gently sit atop your thigh as small circles were rubbed into your warm skin,

“Hey babe.”

You wanted to answer him, you really did, but only silence hung over the room following his warm greeting,

“I know you’ve been going through a lot lately, do you mind if i help you out a little bit?”

A small nod was given, insinuating that he had your permission to continue with whatever he had planned, not as if you had the strength to disagree.

You felt the covers lightly being drawn off of your body, allowing the cool air to dance against your skin. Kuroo swiped at the hairs that had invaded your vision and placed a chaste kiss to your forehead before scooping you up. You fell limp in his hold, turning towards him and hiding your face in his chest. 

Kuroo carried you to your bathroom and seated you on the counter. He watched as your eyes stayed glued to your feet, as if a weight had been attached to your neck. Although his heart ached at the sight, you were hurting more than he was right now. Grabbing your toothbrush and toothpaste off the counter, he placed a hand on your jaw and began to brush your teeth. 

He continued to tend to your daily tasks, those of which you had been neglecting since he last saw you. He brushed out your hair, bathed you, and dressed you in clean clothes. 

As you sat on the bathroom floor, allowing you hair to air dry, Kuroo carried on. He had changed your bedding, throwing your old sheets into the washer and pulling fresh ones from the cabinet. He also walked around your room, picking up trash and putting things where they belonged. He had even made it a point to peel away your blinds and open your window, allowing the outside world to finally reach you after what felt like an eternity.

You couldn't understand why he was doing all this, he should leave you while he had the chance. Hell, you would've left a long time ago. So why didn’t he? 

The door of the bathroom was pushed open once more, interrupting your thoughts. Kuroo crouched down in front of you. Although your appearance had returned to it’s prior state, your eyes still held a sorrowful glow,

“I’m gonna bring you back to the bed, is that alright?”

You nodded once more, allowing him return you to your area of origin. 

As you lied on your back, staring at the celling, Kuroo timidly slid down next to you. His body had turned towards you as he wrapped his arm around your midsection, the other tucked behind his head. 

Kuroo may not let you see it, but he was beyond nervous. He was anxious he wasn't doing or saying anything right and the last thing he wanted was to make you feel worse than you already did. Despite this, he knew he had to bring this situation into the light somehow. Even if you shied away from the subject or the conversation ran short,

“I’m sorry Y/N. I know your mind has put you though hell and back. I might not be able to understand it but you aren’t alone, okay? You’re so important to me and no matter what, I'll be right here by your side. And don’t push yourself to let me in, I'm here when you’re ready.” Those words had cleared something from you mind and finally allowed you to feel. Not even realizing it, a tear slipped down your cheek. Then two, and three, until you were choking on sobs. Your hand had found the front of Kuroo’s shirt as you cried into his chest. Everything that had been stored away had finally found it’s way to the surface. 

Kuroo held you in his tight embrace, placing soft kisses on the top of your head as you broke down. He didn’t mind the damp shirt or the feeling in his arms disappearing, all he was focused on was you. 

After a while, he felt your voice vibrate against his chest,

“Hm? Sorry baby, I didn’t catch that.”

Your voice had been muffled by the cloth pressed against your face. So, you pulled away from his grasp, finally looking him in the eyes for the first time since he set foot in your home,

“Why? Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you.”

Your mind drew a blank, was his answer to your question that simple?

“What?”

“Because I am in love with you,” he cupped your cheek and gave you a soft smile, “I am completely in love with every single thing about you Y/N, the good and the bad. I love it all because at the end of the day, It’s still you who’s by my side.”

You felt a tug at your heart as he gently pulled you into a kiss. You slowly returned the gesture, relishing in the feeling of his lips on yours. You hadn't realized how much you had distanced yourself from the man you loved until this very moment. Your depression had lead you to reject the fact that your boyfriend actually cared about you, making you shy away from him as a whole. 

As the two of you pulled apart your mind granted your body permission to pull your boyfriend into your embrace, another sensation you had deeply missed. You sunk your face into the crook of his neck and breathed in the sent of his cologne.

The two of you stayed that way for a while, allowing yourselves to become familiar with each other’s touch once more.  

Soon enough, you had grown tired due to your fit of tears earlier and began to slip in and out of consciousness. Taking notice of this, Kuroo pulled you down until you were both lying side by side. Your body had found his once more as you snuggled into his side,

“I love you Kuroo.”

“I love you more Y/N.”

There was much to be discussed but that could wait until the morning. For now, all that was important to Kuroo was being by your side, where he loved to be.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[twinkleallnight]

A Twisted Tale

Chapter 2

Book: The Royal Romance AU

Word count: 2334

Characters: Liam, Drake, Riley, Olivia.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to pixelberry.

Rating: Mature

Warning: mention of death.

A/N: I m We are participating in @wackydrabbles prompt: "That makes my {body part} tingle." that appears in bold.

Catch up here

An AU of The Royal Romance paving it's way through mixed emotions of wants, needs and desires, of revenge and regrets, of trust, faith and hope.

A joint venture brought to you with love by @twinkleallnight and @annekebbphotography

Liam’s POV

Riley looks at me with concern and all I can do is shake my head, I didn’t want to get into it right now. All I wanted to do was talk to Olivia and she didn’t even give me a chance to say anything, just assumed she knew what I was doing.

“Are you ready to go?” I ask as we walk towards the jet.

Riley beams at me, I have never seen blue eyes sparkle like that. “More than ready. I am so excited.” She giggles as she walks towards the steps. I let her go first and damn, she is making it hard for me. She’s wearing a tight blue jean with a pink flowing shirt, but her ass is on display as she climbs the steps of the jet. I know it’s wrong, I am in love with someone else, but damn she’s beautiful and can I mention that she is making my pants pretty uncomfortable.

I shake my head to get the thoughts out of my mind, I need to focus. All I need is to get back to Cordonia and see Olivia. Then all of this will be over and I will be back to normal. Riley will only be working for me and probably become my friend.

The flight back to Cordonia is spent with me explaining to Riley how things work in Cordonia. I tell her about the ins and outs of the royal council and how to address each of the court members. She impressed me with knowing most of the things I was teaching her. I believe that she will do well in the Palace. She will obviously be my right hand, and she will have to attend functions and meetings with me, until I finally find my Queen. No wait, scratch that. Until I get married to my Queen. I just need her to fall in love with me.

The pilot lets us know that we will be landing. “Look out of the window.” I motion to the window next to Riley and I can’t help admire the happiness and excitement on her face.

“Wow, It’s really something else.” She says, a little too excited.

*****************

After getting checked by security and getting the all clear, Riley and I make our way to the palace. Seeing the excitement in Riley’s eyes makes me see the place and the country in a different light. I have been here all my life and love my country, but I think I might have taken it for granted.

“Is this where I will be staying?” She points to the palace and I can’t help but smile.

“Yes, you will have your own room. Normally we will put you in the guest rooms, but I want you close to my wing. You will not be alone. My best friend, Drake Walker also stays in the wing you will be staying in.” I nod to Bastien as he pulls up in front of the palace.

“I can’t wait to start work. It might be weird, but I want to learn as much as possible.”

Bastien opens my door before I could say anything else. As I get out I see Olivia coming down the front step of the Palace. This is even more bad timing.

Olivia crosses the distance between us in a few swift steps. She curtsies in front of me dramatically, "Welcome back home, your majesty." I can feel the bite in her tone.

"It's good to be back Duchess." I smirk, as I take her hand and kiss the back of it. My eyes never leave hers. That is until she breaks my gaze and looks over my shoulder. I turn around to see that Riley has just stepped out of the car.

"Since when did you start bringing your dinner home?" I don't know if it's her regular snarky comment or is she jealous.

"Since it's too good to leave behind!" I say with a grin on my face. Lets see how far this can go.

She sneers at me and almost looks like she is going to attack me when Bastien interferes. "Can we take this inside, Duchess."

Olivia glares at Bastien. She turns around and storms back inside without saying anything.

I turn towards Riley. She is a bit flabbergasted at what just happened. "That's Duchess Olivia Nevrakis of Lythikos for you." I offer her my arm. "Shall I show you to your room." She links her arm with mine and I can't help but smile at the jolt of electricity I feel when she touches me. Her cheeks turn a soft pink when her hand touches my arm.

As I am walking her in, I pass through the corridors and see Olivia sneaking into my study. I am a little nervous now thinking of what lies ahead. Upsetting the woman I love is not my style.

I try to be quick with Riley hoping she doesn't catch the hints of my nervousness.

"Please make yourself at home. Bastien here can help you if you need anything. I have some pending office work to complete. We can start with your job profile tomorrow."

Having said that, I quickly turn on my heels and stride down to my study. I enter and see Olivia standing with a wine glass. Her devilish smile welcomes me in. "Dinner was not to your taste? You left the party so soon?"

"I have my dinner preparing for me. I plan to make it breakfast and lunch as well. Maybe a reading snack in the library could work for me." I know I am digging my own grave. But I love bickering with her.

"Cut it out Liam." She snarls at me. "We both know your appetite well."

"Then don't make assumptions, when you do not know the whole story." I walk over to my desk and take a seat. "Now, we have matters to discuss. Please take a seat" I motion to the seat in front of my desk.

With a huff and a puff, Olivia gives in and sits in the chair across my table. I can still feel her restlessness. When she cannot contain it anymore she finally asks. "Who is she?"

I smirk as I lean back into my chair resting my hands behind my back. "She is my new personal assistant. We will be working closely together." I throw it out there. I need a sign that this is affecting her.

"Okay. Just a personal assistant." She reverberates. She fans it out, sipping her wine. As the warm liquid passes down her throat she relaxes. "What did you want to discuss?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing. Also I would like you to take Riley shopping. She would need appropriate clothes to wear to the office."

Not that I mind the clothes she's wearing, but selfishly I don't want the other men to look at her like that.

"If you are forgetting, I am a Duchess. Not staff at your palace. Why would I spend my precious time on a girl you randomly picked up from the streets of America. I give a damn at how she dresses. That's her problem if she doesn't have the basic training or dressing sense."

She then adds. "Ask Drake to do that. He knows better how to deal with Street hawkers, from where he comes."

"She is not just some random girl. I am asking you, because I want you to give her a chance. She's best qualified for this job. If you don't want to do it, I will do it myself. I don't mind spending time with her."

"For god's sake Liam! What's wrong with you? You are a king, not a teenage boy following a girl, holding her bags. You won't go shopping with her." She orders with authority. She loves me. She won't say it but she does. She tries to show she owns me. That makes my heart tingle. How can I resist her? I don't want to. I want to hold her tight at this moment and tell her how much I love her and I will do as she demands. But I resist the urge and continue defending my case.

"It is because I am the king that I can do this. I asked you and you said no, so now I will take her. Isn't that what you wanted. To have someone else take her?" I raise my brow at Olivia. I will get her to love me or at least admit that she loves me.

" I want someone else to take her because I want you to be with me at Lythikos. I have some things to discuss for the duchy."

It is not easy to bend her. She has her ways. She again found a reason to ignore my advances.

" Okay. I will come with you." I get up and move across the table. I take her hand in my hand. Her skin is soft against my touch. " If you promise that we will have dinner after work."

Her green eyes pierce at me.

"Fine." She says and slips out her hand to stand straight. "See you in an hour. You can accompany me on the drive to Lythikos."

She walks down to the door and turns before leaving. " I will ask Drake to help your damsel in distress"

"NO..." I stop and take a deep breath. "Fine, ask Drake to go with her."

***********

Olivia's POV

I walk out of Liam's study with a staid mind. This was not how I had expected things to progress. I have already started hating this American girl. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and start walking to the stables in search of Drake. He spots me first.

"Hey red hood!" He calls out from the booth where he is tending a horse.

"Hi Wolfie." I walk over to him.

"What's up?"

"Job for you." I wait to gain his full attention.

" At your service madam. Name it." He washes his hands and carelessly rubs them over his apron. He discards the apron to show off his chiselled chest. He has a habit of being ruthless about how his supermodel body has an effect on anyone around him. He pulls in a white cotton shirt but doesn't bother buttoning it up, leaving his rippled abdomen open for view. Had he not been a commoner, I would have let my fingers roam over his rugged body. I'm lost in drooling over his killer looks when, as if he has read my mind, he speaks.

"You were 25 inches up."

I turn pink on that comment and take my eyes off from his abs, 25inches up, to his brown eyes. I clear my throat.

"Liam has got some American girl with him. Says she is going to be his personal assistant and want you to take her shopping for her formal wear."

"And why would he send the message through none other than the Duchess?"

"Because I suggested it. He wanted me to do that, but I have some work at the duchy, and I am taking Liam along. That leaves only you available."

" So, you are trying to whisk away the king from the girl."

"No, I am not." I say firmly.

Drake ignores my comment and continues," But if she is going to be his personal assistant, you may have to up your game."

"There is no game being played here. Just do the damn shopping with her." My voice raises in frustration.

"Okay, okay. Will do it."

" Bastein will take you to her. See ya later." Before he can throw more questions, I spin and walk away.

After an hour, I am travelling alone in my car. Liam excused himself for some security check reasons, saying he will be there in another hour. I know he is taking his time luring his new found fascination in that girl. I feel my blood boiling at the thought of them together. I make a few necessary calls and wait for the road to end.

Seething in the same anger I stomp through the Chateau to my room. When I am inside I find aunt Lucretia waiting there for me.

She welcomes me with her crooked smile. "So how is my favourite niece doing?"

"Your only niece." I throw my purse callously on the bed and sprawl on it. I am staring at the ceiling trying to assess the situation.

She sits at the edge of the bed and moves her fingers lovingly through my loose hair.

"What is troubling you my darling?"

"I think I stretched it a bit too long."

"Stretched what?"

"Ignoring Liam's feelings. Now he seems to have got some seductress from his UN conference and is following her like a puppy all around."

"Oh dear, these girls come and go in the lives of nobles. Let him loiter around. He is a king and when it comes to choosing a queen, he will not look for some common girl. He will only have his eyes for you."

"I don't want to take this lightly." I prop up on the bed. "He is coming to Lythikos. He insisted on a dinner date with me. I am going for it."

"I think you are overreacting."

" Aunt Lucretia, I had that guy entwined around my little finger all these years. And today he got the guts to get some commoner and throw her into my face? I am no longer leaving it for chance. I am going to make him bend on his knees, and when he does that, I am going to gladly accept it."

I get back on my toes and proudly announce. "Once I become the queen of Cordonia, I will take the reins in my hands. The Nevrakis blood will rule Cordonia. The dream my parents had, will come true. And so will my revenge for their death!"

Tags: @ao719 @anjanettexcordonia @bascmve01 @bebepac @charlotteg234 @choicesficwriterscreations @cordonia-gothqueen @drakewalker04 @eadanga @gkittylove99 @glaimtruelovealways @krsnlove @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @idontknowwhysblog @indiacater @jessiembruno @jovialyouthmusic @jaxsmutsuo @kat-tia801 @kingliam2019 @khoicesbyk @shewillreadyou @lisha1valecha @lovablegranny @mrswalkers-blog @mom2000aggie @neotericthemis @no-one-u-know @ntoraplayschoices @princessleac1 @ritachacha @secretaryunpaid @sirbeepsalot @speedyoperarascalparty @shanzay44 @texaskitten30 @txemrn @queenrileyrose @briefdreamlanddream @sfb123 @sweatyrysconnoisseur @theroyalheirshadowhunter @aestheticartsx @yourmajesty09 @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @drakewalkerfantasy @els31 @rainbowsinthestorm @darley1101 @the-soot-sprite @ladyangel70 @rafasgirl23415 @anotherbeingsworld @callmeellabella @msjr0119 @walker7519 @ofpixelsandscribbles @cocomaxley @lodberg @jared2612 @gnatbrain @cmestrella @queenjilian @iaminlovewithtrr @marshmallowsaremyfavorite

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

Love On-Set (Pt. 02 of 10)

Pairing: Dacre Montgomery X Reader

Summary: You knew acting on Stranger Things season 3 would be a challenge, and you also knew, from the start, you'd have to work closely with Dacre Montgomery. But is wasn't a big deal for you, since this is your job and you're determined to act professionally. You had it all figured out, or so you thought, until the moment you were out face to face with Dacre. Then, this job became a lot harder than it was supposed to be, since you can't seem to focus whenever you're around Dacre. And you'll have to be around him a lot until the end of production.

Word count: 2.9K

<- Previous part (01)

Next part (03)->

{Dacre Montgomery Masterlist}

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

×

Feelings

On the next morning, you make your way to the back of the hotel, where a van will come to pick you up. You're talking to Vicky through the phone, listening to her advice and tips for today. She won't be around as much this time, she wants you to build your own connections, but she will be aware of everything that's going on. The co-stars you'll be working with today are a few feet ahead, chatting, and they haven't noticed you yet. You don't mind though. They've been acting together for two years now, you wouldn't have anything to add to their conversations anyway.

“(Y/N).” The voice makes you turn around, seeing Dacre as he walks over you. “Morning.”

“Vicky, I gotta go. Talk to you later. Bye.” Quickly, maybe too quick, you hang up, focusing on Dacre. “Hi. Good morning.” Nervously, you gesture at the others. “You should go stay with them. The van is almost here.”

“I'll introduce you to them, c'mon.” With a hand on the small of your back, barely touching you though, he guides you to the small group of people. “Hey, guys. Good morning. This is (Y/N), our Amy.”

“Hi there,” Joe says, reaching out his hand which you shake. “I'm Joe.”

“Natalia.” One of the girls says. You already know their names, but decide to let them formally introduce themselves. “These are Charlie and Francesca. But you can call her Fran.”

“Hello.” You mutter, shaking their hands before stepping back to stand beside Dacre.

“Heard you two shot together yesterday,” Joe says, typing something on his phone before putting it on his pocket. “I was there earlier but I think I left before you got there.”

“Yes. And I must say (Y/N) was amazing.” Dacre speaks before you can, and you blush at his compliment. You didn't do much, you think, it was just a simple scene. More complicated things will come.

“Thanks, but you were great too. I'm just trying to keep up.”

“It's good to see you're modest,” Francesca remarks, giving you a small smile.

“Just saying the truth.” You're still speaking when the van arrives, and the guys gesture for the girls to get in first.

You move to the back of the van since it's always been your favorite seat, resting the script on your lap before buckling up.

“May I seat here?” Dacre gets your attention, and you look away from the window, meeting his eyes.

“Sure.” You don't want him to feel like he has to be around you just because he was the first person you met from the show. But you won't just push him away like that. “Did you sleep well?”

“I managed.” He answers. “You?”

“I did.” Once again, you fall into silence. There isn't much you can talk about other than work. “Excited about today? Amy and Billy will have another confrontation.”

“Poor Billy. Amy's going to steal his heart.” He puts a hand over his chest and you giggle.

“He kinda deserves it. After breaking so many hearts.” Shrugging your shoulders, your mind goes through the scenes of the day. You'll have another one with Dacre alone. “I–”

“Hey. Why are you guys seated all the way in the back?” Joe asks, turning his head to look at you and Dacre. “Come–”

“They're talking. Let them be.” Natalia pulls Joe back into his seat, giving you a stare and a smile.

Blushing a little, you exchange a glance with Dacre before looking down at your hands. “You can go be with them if you want.” You decide to let him know.

“I'm alright here,” Dacre affirms. “Is there anything you want to talk about our scene today? Any ideas for something we could do better?”

“The director wants tension, so we have to focus on that.” Opening the script, you easily find today's pages, since they were marked. “Like here. You could keep stepping closer and I'd keep pushing you away. They're both nervous since they're talking about the Mind Flayer, but it would break that tension with a different kind of tension.”

“I like that. It can work.” Dacre leans over a little to read, standing closer. “Amy could give Billy a push, what would make him a little mad, but not the usual kind of mad. James wants me to convince the audience Billy will have strong, true feelings towards Amy, so I think it will help. He won't be as aggressive with her as he is with everyone else.”

You only get half of what he says, suddenly distracted by his voice. “Yeah, I like that.” You watch as his fingers trace the paper, following the dialogue lines. “You have a nice accent by the way.”

“I'm Australian.”

“I noticed.” When you turn your head to look at him, and he does the same, you take in how close he is, quickly looking back down. He has nice eyes too. “I think it'll be fun.”

“I hope I won't make you uncomfortable. Basically, all of our scenes together involve some kind of proximity.”

“You won't.” Uncomfortable is not the word to describe it. Dacre does make you a little nervous, but any girl would be nervous acting with someone who looks like him. You realize he probably misunderstood your gesture from before, looking away from him so abruptly. “I don't feel uncomfortable. And I agree with you. We should get to know each other, I think it would help.”

“It would.” The van bounces suddenly, what gets a tiny exclamation from Joe. “So. What's your favorite color?”

The silly question makes you giggle, putting a lock of hair behind your ear. “Pink. Definitely. But I also love blue and lilac.” Taking a deep breath, you decide to look at him, just to make sure you'll kick away whatever he was thinking when you averted your eyes from him. “Yours?”

“Red.”

“Only one?”

“Yes. I'm a normal person, unlike you.” Despite the sassy comment, Dacre is smiling, sustaining your stare.

“So you're normal? That's a shame. I don't befriend normal people.” Closing the script, you take a look through the window, admiring how the sunlight gives everything a golden shine.

“It was good while it lasted then.” He says, and you bite your lip involuntary. “Who's your favorite character in the show?”

“Amy.” You're quick to answer, turning to look at him again. When the car takes a turn, the morning sun casts its light right on Dacre's face, illuminating it. His blue eyes get your attention, and you notice they remind you of LA's beach, near your house. Shaking your head lightly, you snap back into reality. “It's my character. I own her that much.”

“That's favoritism. You can't pick her.”

“Who would you pick then, Mr. Montgomery?” He giggles at the name.

“I like Maxine.” He answers. “She's badass and I admire her for enduring such an awful step-brother.”

“I like Dustin. His voice is funny.”

“Here I was thinking you had a deeper reason for liking Dustin.” Dacre fakes a disappointed tone, but a small chuckle escapes his lips.

“You're a deep person then.” You conclude, giving him a quick glance.

“You can say so. Aren't you?”

Guys don't usually like thoughtful girls, you know that. At least not the ones you went out with. People, in general, don't like that, so you learned to keep things for yourself. “We can say I think a lot. But I don't usually put it into words.”

“Why not?”

You get the feeling Dacre knows he hit something inside you. Something he doesn't understand, but he knows it's there, that it's delicate. You can tell that by the change in his voice, all the joking tones left behind, replaced by a much serious expression. Guess you can tell him, it's not a big deal. “My father once told me I feel too much. That, just like my mother, I suffocate people with all my... Feelings.” Breathing out, you can't help but remember the fight you had that day, many years ago. “It was ugly. Everyone was yelling, I was a teenager and just had my heart broken by this stupid guy so... It just kicked in. I pretty much closer some doors that day.”

“I'm sorry you had to go through that.”

“Don't be. It's not a big deal.” Isn't it? You're not sure, but you tell yourself it isn't. Going back there won't help, won't solve any problems, won't change anything.

“Of course it is. It clearly affected you.”

“How do you know it affected me?”

“Your voice changed, so did your posture.”

Gasping, you look at Dacre. People don't notice these things. They just say they're sorry and change the subject. “You're very... Perceptive.”

“Well, I don't think feelings are a problem. If he felt suffocated that was all on him. Not you or your mother.” Taken aback by his words, you can't help but smile at how kind he is. “Anytime you need to talk about anything, I'm willing to listen.”

“Thanks, you're–” The driver hits the breaks, and when you look through the window, you realize you're at the set. “We're here.”

“May the fun begin.”

An hour later, you're in a dark pink swimsuit, shooting a scene with Natalia for the third time. This is about Heather, already taken by the Mind Flayer, making her first appearance at the pool. The director, who now you know is named James, makes several changes for every take, but you and Natalia just have to repeat the lines.

“So. You were talking to Dacre.” She says in between takes, as you wait to see if there will be another one or if you can go on to the next scene. Natalia gives you a look that makes you blush. You didn't know she was paying attention to you and Dacre in the back of the van. “You two getting along?”

“Yeah. He is–”

“Alright, everyone. Heather's coming down and Billy is entering the pool. It's a quick one, so let's get it done in one take if possible.” James announces, and you lay back down in the chair, happy that this conversation was cut short. “Everybody ready? Action!”

Everything sets in motion, and Hawkins Community Pool comes to life once again. You engage in small talk with Natalia as Heather climbs down her chair, walking by.

“Is she alright?” Nancy asks Amy, eyes following Heather.

“She must be sick.” You tell her before the cameras leave you, all turning to the locker, from where Dacre is already coming from.

You know your part. Exchange a glance when he's close by and look away, annoyed.

But that's not what happens. When he comes close, you do give him the look, the cameras now focusing on you, but the whole thing vanishes. Your mind is blank as you just keep staring, a weird sensation building up when you realize you're watching Billy Hargrove right before your eyes. But when he walks by, you see he breaks character for a moment, as if wondering what you're doing. Of course he thinks you're improvising. So Billy's face comes up again, eyes lingering on you until he passes by, and you break out of your state, looking away.

“What was that?” Nancy asks, and you wonder if that's Nancy or just Natalia, because the line isn't on the script.

“Nothing.” Your answer.

“Cut!” James yells and you relax, taking a deep breath. “(Y/N), I liked what you did. Good job! Five minutes everyone.”

“What was that?” Natalia asks again, in a different tone this time, making it clear it's her who's asking. “Did you improvise?”

“Sure.” Getting up from the chair, you follow her to the resting area they set up for you. “Just thought it would give him the tension he wants too much.” Lying is not your thing, but what can you say? That your mind went blank? That you forgot the whole script for a moment and Dacre's reaction was what saved you so you wouldn't be looking like a total idiot?

“You did well then.” She takes a water bottle, taking a sip. She doesn't seem so convinced though. “Oh, we'll start gathering to go over the Starcourt scenes. They'll be heavy and everyone agreed on start working on them so it won't be so messy on set.”

“It's a great idea. When will it happen?” The Battle of Starcourt is the most complicated and longest scenes of the season, and you're glad they want to go over it.

“We have a group chat. I can add you so you'll know when we'll meet.”

“I can add her,” Dacre says and you turn on your heels, giving a step closer to Natalia. “I have her number.”

“Great.” She exclaims, drumming her fingers on the table. “I'll go find Charlie and Joe. We got a scene together later today.”

“Ok.” You mumble, waving at her as she leaves. “Nice tan.” The words come out of your mouth the moment your eyes involuntary fall from his face to his chest. “Now I know why Billy turns every head when he walks by.” Thinking fast, you manage to bring some sense into whatever you were talking about.

“You also look amazing in this–”

“Dacre, (Y/N). C'mon.” The director calls and Dacre rolls his eyes, making you giggle.

“Guess this is our cue.” He says, gesturing for you to walk before him. “Are you nervous? We're going to be face to face again.”

“No.” It comes out too fast, and you're sure he can tell you feel the exact opposite. You weren't thinking about it, but now you are. “I'm alright.” You're walking beside him, near the pool to where James is gathered with some people, getting things ready for the scene. “I think Amy–” The words get caught in your throat when your bare feet slips on a puddle, but instead of colliding to the ground, you're pulled up quickly, heart beating fast from the sudden motion.

“Are you alright?” Dacre asks, his hand still resting on the small of your back, and the other holding your arm, making sure you have your balance again.

“Yes.” Now you definitely look like an idiot. “Sorry.” When you raise your head to meet his eyes, you clear your throat and step back.

“Don't worry, I got you.”

“(Y/N), are you ok?” The director asks and you nod, walking fast over him. “Good. Let's get this going.”

This scene is the confrontation about what happened in the road. And you're supposed to be 100% focused, the lines at the tip of your tongue, but as you breathe in deeply to get into character, you can't help but feel restless. Maybe if you do manage to befriend Dacre it'll get easier. Hopefully.

“Ready, everyone.” The command comes and you prepare yourself, quickly replaying the lines in your head. “Action!”

In Amy's skin, you start walking back to your chair, carelessly running a hand through your hair when your arm is grabbed suddenly, and you stop, turning around to face the source of the attack. Anger takes over your expression the moment your eyes, or better saying, Amy's eyes, find Billy. “What the hell do you think you're doing?”

“We need to talk.” That said, he pulls you with him, away from the people.

“We have nothing to talk about.” Amy keeps fighting but still trying not to let anyone notice. Billy drags her behind the supply closet, away from curious eyes and ears. “Let go of me!” With a push, you set free from his grip.

“Well, did you tell anyone?”

“Tell what? That we saw a huge alien monster made of darkness?” You whisper-yell, looking into his eyes and giving a step back, just to figure out there's a wall trapping you. “Of course I didn't.”

Dacre steps closer, his chest pressing you further into the wall. “Then you saw it too. Right?”

It takes a while until you remember the line, and what you're supposed to do since the proximity clouded your mind. With both hands on his chest, you push Dacre away. “Yes, I did. It was after me.” You mutter as Dacre plays his part, surrendering into your push before coming closer again.

You take a deep breath, struggling to remain in character, annoyed and anxious, who can't wait for Billy to go away. “I...” He stutters. “I forgot it. Sorry, I got distracted.”

“Alright, let's roll it again from 'Did you tell anyone'. I want constant eye contact this time. Action!”

You get exactly two seconds to take in the command and set it into motion, but you do as you're told, raising your head slightly so you're staring at Dacre.

“Well, did you tell anyone?”

“Tell what? That we saw a huge alien monster made of darkness?” You've seen blue eyes before, but not that blue. It startles you a little when Dacre steps closer, and in an attempt to put some distance in between you two, you move back, hitting the wall. “Of course I didn't.” You manage to push out.

“Then you saw it too... Right?” Dacre changes his tone, and you get the idea. Billy is confused, not really convinced that what he saw was real.

“Yes. It was after me first in case you don't remember.” Keeping the annoyed tone in your voice, you have Amy push Billy away, now, slightly aware of your hand on Dacre's bare chest. Keep it professional, you tell yourself. This is a job. “And stay away from me.”

“That thing...” He steps closer again, ignoring Amy's requirement. “...What was it?”

“I really need you to stay away.” Another push, but this time Dacre grabs your arm, leaning even closer, putting a hand on the wall beside your head. You roll your eyes, breaking eye contact just for the sake of your character before she slips away again. Regaining your senses, you look up into his eyes.

“Sorry, if I'm making you nervous, princess, but I can't have anyone else listening to this crazy talk.” He gives you his wicked smile, the one that makes the girls melt.

That's it. That's the moment when Amy stands up to him, and you have to nail it because honestly, you don't think you can do this again. So you stand up straight, ending the tiny distance that was left between you and Dacre, between Amy and Billy, chests colliding and eyes burning with anger and indignation. “You think you can flash a smile and have all the girls of Hawkings at your feet but I won't fall for it.” You hiss, standing on your toes just a little bit, trying to match his height, but, of course, it doesn't happen. Dacre still towers over you. “So drop the bad boy act, jerk, and if you want to focus on the real problem here, the freaking thing coming from the sky hunting us, you're free to talk to me.” Then you leave, storming away, leaving the shooting area before turning around to get a glimpse of Dacre's acting. Billy keeps staring at the place where Amy went, which makes Dacre look straight at you. You see Billy's surprise face, filled with perplexion, not able to believe what just happened. Then, it softens, as he slowly goes back into Dacre.

“And cut! Jesus, it was amazing.” James exclaims, standing from his chair. “I don't think we should do another take, despite thinking a kiss would fit well in the scene.”

Your eyes go wide as you stare at James, who looks pleased with his work. You thought you'd have more time before kissing Dacre. To get to know him, so it won't be a mess like it was right now. You don't even know how it was possible for it to be so good as James says. You were all over the place.

“But no, it will be better on screen to build up the tension until it explodes. You did very well, you two.” James friendly touches your shoulder. “I can see you're still a little nervous, but it's normal since you basically just met Dacre.” He gestures at him, who comes to join you, and James puts an arm around his shoulder. “Perhaps you should get together and work on the kissing scene. See how you feel, how you could make it even better because every time you improvise, it gives me goosebumps and I like it. You two have chemistry.” His voice gets a little higher on the last word, and he let's go of you two. “So this is a little homework. Go over that scene and let me know if you think anything should be different.”

When James leaves, you're blushing, his words echoing in your brain. Homework? Does he really want you to do that? “Like a read-through?” You ask.

“You already did a read-through. Do the real thing. Or even better.” He turns around, walking backwards. “Get it on camera and send me so I can check how you two are doing. Amy and Billy are this season's power couple, I want it to be amazing. You're both doing great and that's why I want to take this to a whole new level.” And he sets in motion again, gesturing for someone to give him something. “Now get ready, I want to shot Heather's scene again.”

×

@baker151910 @shinydixon @dreamin-of-dacre @hanoi15 @lickmymelanin @skykittysstuff @foccus @multific @uncookspaget @kellysimagines

[bonsigh]

bi-weekly journaling about my relationship so my friends don't get overloaded from the mush time lol.

so my bf asked me to live with him right. on new years eve. and that was a shock. in that last 8ish months or so, i've seen a huge change in his behavior towards me. he's always been great, i've been very happy, but he's also moved at a slower pace than me our whole relationship. i've watched him grow gentler, more generous (with affection, time and resources), more patient, more excited to be with me and more content to be around me.

so when he asked me to live with him, it was like. wow. we've been together for almost three years. the sudden tenderness was a welcome adjustment i was settling into, but the desire to live with me was like whiplash.

i was happy, but i was hesitant. i could tell something had shifted for him in how he was viewing our relationship, but neither of us have lived with a partner before, and i didn't want to make that step until i knew he was on the page i was with our relationship.

that page is, i love him, and i'm wanting to start having deeper conversations about the future. i want to be serious about whether or not there's a future with a family and marriage for us.

so, i sent him a text message. "hey, no wrong answer, just temperature checking, what are your feelings about our relationship rn?" we have these conversations regularly to check and see if we're both feeling happy and comfortable, but i get nervous every time.

i've learned that, if you run away from the discomfort of hard questions, you'll miss the best opportunities to get what makes you happy and fulfilled. it's still hard for me to do, but i've been so steadfast and true to my goals, expectations and desires with him, and i can't help but be proud of how facing my fears has enabled such good in my life.

anyways, he calls me about an hour or so later, and tells me that his dad was in town. i said, oh. i feel nervous. we had an argument once: we're sitting in the car together, about to go on a trip, and he says, "oh, my parents were here two weeks ago and--" i don't remember what he said next, i was just stunlocked and processing that his parents, from out of state, were in town, and he only thought to tell me two weeks later as an anecdote. i felt hidden.

so he tells me he ate dinner with his dad, and that the he brought up his girlfriend during the conversation. he told his dad about me, and he wanted me to meet him that weekend.

he continues and says he read my text, and he wanted me to know how he felt. he said he was feeling like his mind was opened up, and that he's thinking about the future now. that he's happy to be with me, and that he's excited for what's next, and that he thinks we'll be happy living together.

what an amazing feeling to be on the same page.

it's so relieving to be met, level for level, with someone you love. i know how it feels to be the one who loves less, and the one who loves more. the one who is ready for something serious, and the one whose future gets cloudy when i try to picture someone else in mine. his energy is matching mine wholly, and i didn't know how good it would feel to just be balanced.

anyways. things came up, and i wasn't able to meet his father, but i see it as a blessing in disguise. now that i feel solidly we are moving in the same direction, i decided to start learning Korean. (another change from him is him asking me to learn; suddenly in the last couple months, he went from being indifferent about the idea to insistent) he's been a very patient and encouraging tutor, but i found a private teacher i'll be seeing soon.

i have done some pretty big things in the short time i have been on earth, but the older i get, the more i realize my happiness isn't just in my accomplishments or ability to accomplish. the more i want a simple, steady, happy life, with a loving life partner and maybe a child, and a moderate home, and game nights. i'm feeling optimistic and light.

anyways, here's that cute drawing of my little family by kitbeary again. 🙂

[voidstilesplease]

in another life

part two

Stiles assures Theo answers for all of their questions -god knows they have so many- tomorrow. Theo's reluctant at first, doesn't intend to let go of Stiles's words hanging in between them: "You think she's alive?" Eventually, Theo nods, finding something in Stiles's eyes and placing his trust in him. An odd feeling of protectiveness settles in Stiles's stomach at the vulnerability that Theo freely displays - in the past, he used to act guarded like everyone was out to get him. Granted, Theo had conned most of them before with charm and fake tears, and it's not above him to try it again if Theo could gain something worthy from it. But Stiles doesn't feel the usual tingle in his bones when he meets some shady criminal mastermind. His instincts have gotten him this far, so he gives it credit.

Stiles sighs. Innocent until proven guilty. He hopes Deaton has answers that expose the truth.

In the meantime, they have saddled him with more responsibility: bringing Theo home with him. Theo refuses to be stuck with either Liam or Mason any longer, it is unwise to put Theo alone with Melissa, and stupid to leave him unattended. So Stiles is the only viable choice. Plus, Theo thinks they're together. It only makes sense. Maybe.

It probably won't to his dad initially, but hey, after a while of normalcy, even he will acknowledge the need for something to go down - even dressed as Theo Raeken.

•••

They're in Stiles's Jeep, driving home to the Stilinski's, and it is a little disconcerting how Theo seems to be accustomed to his car. Theo had seen and been in the Jeep before, but this is different. He's too comfortable in the cramped space, even knows how to operate Stiles's defective radio. And the way he leans against the seat on the passenger's side and knows where to keep the screwdriver Stiles uses to manipulate the ignition is boggling his head worse than the snow outside.

Stiles draws in a breath, glancing sideways to his quiet company. "So, um, Deaton," he says, "we're going to Dr. Deaton tomorrow."

Theo turns to him, frowning. "What kind of doctor? Are you taking me to a shrink? Babe, I'm not crazy. What happened is freaky, but you have to believe me."

Okay, the babe thing, they're going to have to iron that wrinkle as soon as possible. Not even Lydia called him babe when they dated, and certainly not Malia. It's a cosmic joke that the once bane of his existence gets to call him that first. "No, he's not a shrink," Stiles promises him. "He's a veterinarian. But he knows about these things."

Theo arches a brow, "He knows about teleportation?"

"Telepor-" Stiles creases his forehead, jerking his head to Theo. The latter is expectant when he looks back. Stiles blinks, disbelieving and a little horrified. There's also a small bubble of hysteria beginning to form in his stomach. Somehow, this takes the cake in the weirdness of the situation. Because, of course, Theo also doesn't remember he's a chimera, does he? Blowing a heavy breath, he turns back to the road. He rubs the side of his temple, where it's starting to hurt, and purses his lips. "Yeah, sure. Teleportation."

Silence hangs in between them for a moment, Stiles sighing when he takes the last turn to his street. He can feel the burn of Theo's stare at the side of his face.

"You really don't remember we're together?" Theo sounds genuinely small when he speaks. "Then why are you here, if not to take me home? The two -Liam and Mason- are accusing me of having amnesia. But it's you who can't remember."

Stiles opens his mouth, but he doesn't know what to say. He knows that if he tells Theo that he remembers an illusory life, it's only going to invite more questions Stiles has no answers yet. In honesty, he's still reeling until now, and he's too tired to consider diving into research mode immediately, much less form a cohesive plan other than to bring Theo to Deaton first. And the best thing for them both to do before then is rest. They can't do that if Stiles stays up all night convincing Theo that they're not even friends, that he was a lying, conniving chimera asshole that tried to break his pack once, before turning a new leaf and helping them, and then disappearing on them like a bubble one day. Oh, and yeah, that it's so twisted for him to think his sister was alive when he had allowed her to die when he was nine.

No. Rest, Deaton, and then fuck up some shit - Stiles is doing this in that order.

"Hm," is what he ends up saying. Stiles pulls in the driveway, noting the blue truck already parked there. He's relieved to find a change of topic. He clears his throat, pointing at the vehicle. "That's your truck. Corey, Mason's boyfriend, drove it here."

Theo doesn't look away from him for the entire minute it takes Stiles to turn the engine off and gather his belongings. When he looks at Theo, that's only when the other man lowers his head and breathes. Theo nods and gets out of the car, moving towards the truck. Stiles silently prays for more strength if this is how awkward it is going to be for the whole evening until the morning.

Theo is studying his blue truck, eyeing it with trepidation. Stiles slings his messenger bag and stands beside him. Theo turns to him, shaking his head. "This isn't my car."

Stiles moves to the bed of Theo's pickup. "It is," he tells Theo. 

Stiles is, unfortunately, familiar enough with this car, and not with pleasant memories. Stiles lifts the haphazardly strewn cloth covering most of the space of the truck bed and makes a noise of disgust with what he finds underneath. It was definitely tidier before.

Theo also peeks under the cloth and pulls his face in a similar reaction. An alarming amount of empty plastic noodle cups and take-out boxes litter the covered area. "It can't be mine because I'm not crazy for instant ramen."

Stiles drops the cloth and walks to the driver's seat. He cups his hands on either side of his eyes and looks inside through the window. He finds a folded blanket at the backseat and a pink sweater on top of the pile of clothes. The chimera wore the hell out of those, Stiles remembers grudgingly. Transferring his scrutiny on the passenger side, he sees empty water bottles and coke cans, and old receipts. What the hell has Theo been up to that he can't even throw his trash out or attempt to be less sloppy?

One thing is sure, though. The car is where Theo lives; the pizza in the backseat looks stale but not molded. He faces Theo and gives him a grim nod, "Let's discuss the condition of your car and your unhealthy lifestyle tomorrow, yeah?"

Theo huffs, wanting to protest and eyeing his car in disgust, but shrugs in agreement.

•••

His father is working the night shift, so explaining Theo is a problem for future Stiles, which makes him sag in relief under the hot spray of his shower. When he's finished, he changes into clean sweatpants and an old Christmas ugly sweater and goes back to his room.

Theo is already sitting on his temporary bed on the floor. Stiles refuses to make him sleep on the couch where the kitchen and knives are near. At least, inside his room, he can fight him should Theo attempt anything at all. Stiles has gotten better at hand-to-hand combat since the FBI, and also a very light sleeper and sometimes prone to insomnia, especially on stressful occasions like this. Any minor shuffling from Theo will alert him. Not that he thinks Theo will do anything. His impulses tell him that Theo's memory dilemma is not made-up, and he's truthful this time, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Theo looks up when he enters, offering a small smile. Stiles's eyes catch sight of the outline of a necklace hidden underneath the collar of Theo's borrowed shirt. Stiles's clothes look a bit tight on him but otherwise, more comfortable than the dirty jeans he was wearing earlier. 

"It's so weird to see your old bed," Theo says, looking at the said bed. "Noah brought you a bigger one so that we can share when we visit. I wonder what happened to it?"

Stiles drops onto his bed with a small bounce. He didn't expect that. "Oh, um,"

Theo meets his eyes, "And Roscoe," a shadow crosses his face. "You took down all of the polaroid pictures we put of us. You even replaced the screwdriver that I gave you with an old one."

He sounds so betrayed that Stiles is stunned by what he's hearing. What startles him most, though, is: "You know my Jeep's name?"

At this question, Theo looks downright affronted. But Stiles has every reason to be surprised. His mom, his dad, and Scott are the only people apart from him who knows his Jeep's name -not another soul. Not even Lydia.

"Of course, I know your Jeep's name," Theo responds with a deepening scowl. "We've been together for four years, Stiles."

Stiles raises a hand to halt Theo as his cogs turn in his head. A swell of panic takes root in him. This memory thing is more serious than he initially thought. Theo's not only hallucinating a different life but he also somehow knows things he shouldn't. The screwdriver compartment, his broken radio, his Jeep's name -what else does he know that he isn't supposed to?

"Okay," Stiles finally says, lowering his hand and barrier from Theo, who's still glowering. It seems he has lost his patience with Stiles, as well. If this continues, Stiles might snap, too. So he says as appeasing as he could. "Let's say that whatever happened to you affected our memories of each other. But we'll go to Dr. Deaton for answers tomorrow, and then we can go back to our normal lives. Yes? Do you trust me?"

As soon as he says it, Stiles wants to take it back. It seems like a strange concept to ask Theo, of all people, to trust Stiles after everything. As crazy as Stiles actually trusting Theo. But here they are.

Theo doesn't reply for a long time, but he looks pensive and considering as he glares. In the end, he huffs in surrender, shoulders drooping in defeat. For the first time, the bags under his eyes become more prominent in his features. He looks so weary, hurt, and confused. Stiles is well acquainted with that look. It's the look of someone who hasn't been sleeping well. With the state of Theo's truck, Stiles has no problem picturing the man twist-and-turning to find a good position and not finding any.

Theo dips his head, replying with a rough voice, "Yeah. I trust you."

Before Stiles can say any more, Theo gives him his back and reclines on his mattress. He pulls the covers on himself, like a shield, and mumbles good night to Stiles.

Sighing, Stiles turns the desk lamp off and lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling for who knows how long. After a while, he exhales and rubs the bridge of his nose. His body is exhausted, and so is his mind, but they're not shutting off like they're supposed to. He almost wishes he is back in his dorm room in Virginia, staying up to piece the puzzles of a case. He has dealt with mundane human crises for so long that coaxing the supernatural mojo back appears to be an impossibly draining affair.

When he glances back at Theo on the floor, he pauses as he notices it. There's a blank inked mark on Theo's nape: a tattoo that Stiles knows for sure he didn't have the last time they saw each other. He turns to his side to look closely at it.

The tattoo is of a circle interlaced with three interconnected ovals. It reminds him closely of Derek's triskelion tattoo. But unlike Derek's, Theo's mark gives him an ominous feeling.

Because Stiles is sure, it isn't an optical illusion when it glowed in the darkness of his room for a second.

~•~

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

Johnny “Coco” Cruz x Chibs Telford’ daughter!Reader

“What if you should move to Santo Padre for two months...”

Chapter one.

Word count: 3.4k

Author comments: I hope you all enjoy. English isn’t my first language, so I’m sorry if I have some mistakes with grammar. Gif credits: @angels-reyes.

Thanks to my lovely beta reader and partner in crime with this one, @chibsytelford 💘

Tag list: @starrynite7114 @dazzledamazon @chibsytelford @mara-mpou @sammskellington 💥 (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

Since you've been forced to move from Glasgow to Charming, your life has been a roller coaster with noisy falls into hell. Some days you were fine, the rest you were only available to create chaos around you. Your mother died because of a terminal disease, after fighting for two years, and the last time you saw your father before that it was when you were a child. Came to live with him after twelve years without no contact, except for a few calls every month, it was hard. Harder than he could imagine. 

The first days you were locked in the room he enabled to you in his house, where you only had a bed, a nightstand and a wardrobe. No picture, no colors around, nothing. It was kinda depressing. At least, he tried. He tried to re-build the good relationship you two have had in the past, before your mother kicked his ass out of Scotland, when Clay said he needed him at California, with the Sons'. 

Filip used to cook your favourite dishes, having had to learn to cook before. At first you only ate two or three bites, until one morning when you woke up hearing him screaming in scottish. You've never heard him so angry, and that scared you. Barefoot and silently, you went out of your room, sticking your head by the door frame of the kitchen. Unbelievable. He was arguing with his phone. Specifically with YouTube. You could see how he was watching a recipe of baked fish. It sounded easy, right? The problem was the sauce. Apparently he forgot to add some ingredients, and he had to repeat it from the start.

“Shit!” He shouted hitting the marble countertop, supporting his fist on it with his head down and a sigh in his mouth. “Fuckin' pepper and fuckin' lemon”.

“I don't like”. You said in a whisper, getting out of your hiding place. 

He turned at you frowned and upset, leaning against the furniture. Cross-armed, he shook his head with his gaze on the floor. You knew how frustrated he was, trying to kick you out of that sadness that it was consuming you. You lost your mother, you had to move out of your country, from the cold to the heat. And you truly hated sunny days. 

“I just... wanna make you feel like you're at home”. He said kinda desperately, scratching his head hard, completely disheveled. “I know this is not Scotland, nor your house. It's ok if you miss it, but this situation is killing me too. So, please, give me a break...”

You heard every word he told you, feeling the same knot he felt on his chest, and his voice about to drown in tears. You walked slowly towards him, looking inside your head for the correct things to say.

“I like the way you cook, but you scared the shit out of me, 'cause I didn't know you were shouting at YouTube”. You thought maybe some kind of joke could help, while he was holding your hands. “I don't like pepper, nor lemon, so it's fine. Maybe... we could have lunch together, if you're not busy with the club”.

“Fuc' da' club, caileag”. For the first time, you saw him smiling and it was amazing. “Do you think everything will be fine?” He sounded sad, simply sad. But you nodded without any doubt.

“We will be fine, athair”.

That was all he needed to hear. Chibs leaned towards you, placing a hand behind your head to leave a kiss on your forehead. Your hands held on his waist in a warm hug that you were wanting to give him since you arrived to Cali.

━━━━━━ (One year later) ━━━━━━

But what happened next was totally unexpected. You hear Happy talking with his prospect, around the corner of the workshop, about a dangerous mission they have to take care of, keeping them for two months out of Charming. And by Chibs decision, you're not coming. But he didn't tell you anything about it, before. Walking in the front yard, you find six motorbikes and a van you don't recognize from your charter, but belong to an MC. You're angry, so angry. Your steps are heavy and big, going faster to the clubhouse, taking off the rings of your fingers to keep them inside the pocket. You open the door suddenly, without warning the men who seems mexican sitting closer to your father. You only can see that fucking scottish who made a promise he's not gonna keep. And he sees the fury burning in your orbs. 

“Oh, shit”. It's everything he can say before one of your fists go straight to his face.

“Woah, woah, take it easy, chamaca!” One of the unknown man talks, trying to walk next to you, until you point it at him with the gun you had tucked under your shirt. All the men raise their hands with their eyes so much opened, letting you know that they're not gonna interfere again.

Time have passed. Some wounds has been closed and you have got used to the heat of the coast. Now, you're not who you used to be. SAMCRO changed you, having its good things and its bad things. You lost all the innocence you had, learning to defend yourself by fighting body-to-body and shooting weapons of different calibers. Happy and Tig usually try to catch you by surprise hitting you, but your faster than their old asses, blocking every hit that comes from nowhere. And sometimes you ‘play’ paintball with Juice on his free day. You're one of the Redwood family, being included in every mission one way or another, working hand by hand with the prospect; with the minimal difference that your father is your sponsor. This gives you two some problems because of the strong character you have inherited from him. And there are some times when you end up being beaten. The crew is used to it.

You turn to your father, who is rubbing his right cheek between some groans, supporting a hand on the pool table. You're breathing distressed with your eyes full of tears. You know how it works. When he leaves Charming, you don't have any notices for almost one week. You live every day with the pain of not knowing if he's still alive or not. Two months is too long. You can't even live without him at this point of your life, how are you supposed to do it?

“You promised me!” You yell at him pointing your chest with your own forefinger. “You said ‘us against the world’! You said it!”

Your voice is breaking, drowned by the tears that run down your face and your neck.

“You're a fucking liar! You're doin' the same you did thirteen years ago!” Yes, you can see how your words are affecting him, but you don't care. 

“Baby, listen...” He tries to give some steps towards you, receiving a push on his chest.

“I don' wanna hear more bullshit”. Putting the gun again behind your back, you turn to the front door, with a slight pause next to the other charter. “By the way”. You stare to the man you pointed seconds ago. “Next time I'm talking to my father, you shut the fuck up...” Reading his patch, you raise your eyes at him. “Presidente”.

You slam the door shut after you leave, seeing Happy next to your motorbike. He knows you know what is gonna happen by the tears running your cheeks. But even if you don't wanna talk with him, being your confidant since you came to Charming, he wraps strongly your body with his arms before you can run away from him. Crying inconsolably, you hide your face on his chest without moving your arms, only supporting your weight against him. Happy rest his chin on your head with a sigh, 'cause he knows well how much you suffer when your father attends a mission out of town.

“Are you leaving too?” You finally ask, even when you don't wanna hear the answer. He nods slowly, cleaning your tears with his long fingers.

“I'm sorry. I promise I'll try to write you”. He says hoarsely. “I'm sure you didn't let Chibs explain himself, but listen… Not even my prospect is coming. It's really dangerous for you two, we're gonna be ok, (Y/N)”.

“Who are they? What are they doing here?”

“They're Mayans, from Santo Padre. Oscar and Canche ‘family’. We can't leave you here, alone, without any protection. So, Chibs asked them to take care of you while we're out”.

Now you understand what's happening. It's suppose you should move from Charming to the south Cali, surrounded by men you don't know. Leave your house, again. Your cry appears again, shaking your head with some sobs stuck on your throat.

“Baby, listen, listen”. Happy try to have your attention cupping your face between his hands. “They're good men, they're gonna take care of you. And Canche will go to Santo Padre every week to see you”.

“I don' wanna go, Happy. I wanna go with you, please”. You beg in tears, with your lips trembling.

“(Y/N), you can't”. He sentences, trying not to sound too rude. He snort closing his eyes for a second. “Listen, they also have a car scrapping. You can work there. You like cars and you studied to be mechanic. 'Am sure these two months gonna' pass so fast that you're not gonna notice it”.

The front door of the club house gets opened. You turn for a while, just to see how the men gets out of it. You sigh, looking at Happy again. And you nod, even when you don't want to do it. Pulling yourself away from him, you're heading towards your motorcycle. In silence, after fastening the helmet, you start the engine. If you have to leave Charming you wanna do it as soon as possible. So, it's time to pack your stuff.

And that is what you're doing, when you hear your father's keys opening the door. His footsteps coming close to you, watching sideways how he leans against the door frame arm-crossed. Your basic clothes are already inside the suitcase on the bed, closing the zip after checking again that you have taken everything you could need. In the bag next to it, you keep your laptop, your headphones and all the chargers, in addition to other things.

“Please, talk to me”. Chibs says, but there's no answer from you. “I didn't know how to tell you, and I'm sorry, honey. But I promise...”

“Don't”. You turn at him raising your forefinger. “Don't make any promise you're not gonna keep, Filip”.

He knows you're truly sad when you call him by his real name. Chibs walks towards you, holding your hands slowly hoping that you're not gonna push him away again.

“Bishop and his guys 'gonna take care of you. And Happy said he told you about ‘Romero and Brothers’. I'm pretty sure you're gonna have fun there”. He's trying to make you understand.

“I don' care. I'm gonna be away from you”. You finally say, letting go all the pain you have inside your chest, oppressing your heart. “And you're not allowed to text me, nor call me. Could you imagine how distressing it feels?”

“'You think it isn't for me? I'm not stone cold, even if sometimes it's what it looks like, (Y/N). I think about you all the time. About what you're doing at any moment. If you're eating well, if you're sleeping... All the fucking time”. He replies trying to hide his anger. “But I need to protect you. And there aren't better hands than Bishop's”.

You nod. You don't want to continue arguing with him. Filip hugs you tightly, hiding your face on his neck, trying to not break in cry again. Your hands clinging on the back of his shirt. You're not sure how many time you have been like this, when your father decides that he should call the Mayans to pick you up.

The roars of motorcycles, coming just in time, have your attention. You take your stuff, rolling the suitcase over the floor till you find them outside. Your father takes it to keep it inside the van, before saying goodbye.

“They're gonna take care of you, ok?” He says again, holding your cheeks between his hands. You nod in silence about to cry. Leaving a kiss in your forehead, he hugs you. “If I can, I will text you. I promise. And I'll keep that one”.

“Two months?” You ask raising your gaze at him.

“I'll be back before your birthday”. Assures you. “I love ya' more than anything. You know, rai'?”

You nod again swallowing, before leaving one last caresses in your left cheek, cleaning the tear that falls down through it.

“You're going with my man, Coco”. Bishop talks, with the helmet covering his head while he wears both leather gloves. 

“And my bike?” You turn to your father with more dramatism than necessary.

“It's in the van too, don' worry”. Chibs answers, hitting twice one of the doors. “Canche could need you”.

“Or us”. The Mayans president add with a soft smile on his lips.

Things starts to change, when you're conscious that you will continue working with the charters even if yours isn't present. So, at least, it's not gonna be that bad as you thought. 

“I'm sorry 'I pointed you with my gun”.

“What I can expect from Chibs' daughter? It would have scared me more if you hadn't, after everything we've heard from you”. Your father chuckles because of the words of the Mayan. “Ready?”

You hug him again, taking some seconds to memorize his smell to not forget it at all.

“I love you”. You whisper, pulling him away softly, before walk to the front passenger seat of the van.

But, before the man could start the car, your father makes a last appearance, pointing with the forefinger to all the men presents there.

“If anyone of you touch my daughter, I'll cut off your cock and make you eat it”. The Mayans know that it's not a joke, so they nod agreeing.

“I've a daughter. Her name is Letti”. The mexican accent, camouflaged in the foreign language, pushes you out of your thoughts. “She's sixteen, but I think you could be fren'”. 

━━━━━━ ﹅ ━━━━━━

The sun is falling when you leave the ‘Welcome to Charming’ sign behind the van. You sigh heavily settling in your seat. The fresh air that enters by the open window makes fly some strands of your hair, supporting both arms against the door, with your chin on it, to watch out of the car the sunset on the horizon. It's gonna be hard, you know it, but at least you will have Canche visiting you every week. Maybe Oscar comes from Stockton too.

“Yea', maybe...” You say, turning for a second.

Coco turns the radio, hoping that music makes you feel better, looking for a channel without interferences. Then, you hear your favourite song, turning to the hand that is moving the calibrator. The man stares at you with curiosity, before turning up the volume. The melody continues, while you go back to your position leaving your cheek this time and closing your eyes to focus in the song.

“Hey, oh, listen what I say, oh! I got your hey, oh! Now listen what I say, oh!”

You're about to give him the silent treatment, but that only has bad points in your favor. You'll have to live and work together for the next months, so sooner or later, you're gonna have to talk him.

The first time you listened that song, you were living with your parents in Glasgow. You can remember your father singing it to you all the time, before go to Charming. So, listen to it again causes you bittersweet feelings.

“I like the Red Hot' too”. Coco says trying to be kind, while his fingers drum the steering wheel to the beat of the music. You have to say that he has a funny voice and hearing him singing sounds like a dying cat. That makes you chuckle. “Hey! What's up, mami? Don' laugh on me!”

“Sweet Jesus Christ, you're gonna make it rain”. Your laughter is loud now, capturing president attention who slows down to reach your window.

“It's everything ok, uh?” He shouts over the sound his motorbikes does.

“I hope he has a good aim, 'cause he couldn't work as singer!” You say in laughs.

“He's a veteran Marine, kid! What do you think?” Bishop accelerates to return to his place, while you turn to the driver, truly surprised. He has a triumphal smile on his face and his gaze in front.

“These motherfuckers discharged me because I used a rifle to shoot a cigar out of an officer's mouth”. He tells you. “I was three hundred meters from him”.

This is amazing and you feel the curiosity growing inside you. Curling your legs on the seat, putting around them your arms, you stare at the Mayan.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“'Bout wha'?” He asks looking at you for a second a little confused.

“About the Marine”.

He frowns, looking at you again.

“You wanna hear 'bout it?”

“I'm not asking you about the Area Fifty One”. You say with a sharp voice shrugging.

“I'm pretty sure that would be a good talk too”.

“C'mon! It's a long travel!” It almost seems like you're starting to beg, but the topic of the Navy and Marine has always interested you.

“It's weird!”

“Why?”

“Cuz' nobody has asked me 'bout it before”. He says with the same confusion you saw on him before.

“So bad is it...?”

“No, it's... cool. Pretty cool”. He replies with a slight smile on his face.

“I wanted to enlist in the British Army, but my mother said it was too dangerous for me. So, I didn't”. Your voice trembles for a second, and he realizes it.

“Sorre' 'bout your mom, Chibs told us”. He says after a moment in silent. “I killed mine”.

Your face shows a similar gesture of horror, he shrugs exaggeratedly.

“That bitch hit my daughter, and hurt her so bad. She also forced her to have a ‘bad life’, 'you know what I mean. She deserved it”. The calm with which he explains overwhelms you.

You're starting to think he hasn't had a good life. But who in their right mind would work for an MC? Not you, neither does he.

“And your mother hate you so bad that she called you ‘Coconut’?” You try to finish the tension installed inside the van with somewhat bad joke.

“The fuck told you that's my name?” He breaks in laughter, shaking his head, accidentally giving a flywheel. 

“Oh, shit”. Both say in unison. The charter looks back.

“My bad!” He shouts sticking his head out the window for a moment.

“Then? What's your name?”

“Johnny Cruz. And everyone calls me Coco”.

“Why?”

“We're not in that level yet, mami”. He imitates the sharp voice you used before.

“Ok, but, are you gonna tell me about the Marine?”

He sighs rolling his eyes, before showing you again his smile. So, there you are, lying on your seat stretching legs crossed on the dashboard of the van. He starts to talk, of course with the funny story of how he enlisted and all the chaos he created, compensating for it with his good aim. His voice is so calm, that if you close your eyes, you could think is one of those podcast people use to sleep; without the part of shooting, murdering, and all the bloody stuff. 

Actually, you did. You closed your eyes, opening it when the night has fallen. You yawn, putting your legs on the floor of the van.

“Sorry, I didn't sleep last night”. You apologize with flushed cheeks, rubbing your eyes.

“It's ok, mami. Te ves bonita mientras duermes”. (You look pretty while you're sleeping). He says.

“What did you say?” You ask, pretending that you don't speak spanish, but the truth is that you studied it for three years while you were living in Scotland.

“That you were drooling everything”. He lies so bad that he's a little nervous. “We're almost reaching to Santo Padre”.

“Great... Home, sweet home, isn'it?”

[kpophours]

One Love || part III

➵ SF9: Youngbin x fem. reader / series, werewolf AU / fluff

➵ warnings: slight cursing, mentions of alcohol, sexual suggestiveness 

➵ word count: 5.1k

previous. | next.

​On Tuesday evening, you left work with only a few minutes to spare until your appointment with Youngbin, so you had to hurry to make it on time. This time, the front entrance was illuminated when you arrived and you saw Youngbin shuffling through some papers, broad back turned to you. You quickly parked your car, got out of it and made your way towards the office. It was icily cold this night and you sighed contently when you opened the entrance door and were greeted by a welcoming gush of warm air. Youngbin whirled around upon hearing you enter, immediately beginning to smile, which you softly returned.

"Hi, Youngbin - sorry I'm late.", you greeted him, rubbing your frozen hands together - your gloves hadn't been in any of the last unpacked boxes and you hadn't come around to purchase new ones yet.

Youngbin looked at the clock and then back at you. "It's 7pm sharp.", he said and raised one eyebrow, "So you're actually perfectly punctual."

"Oh. I thought... Well, I've probably made good time driving here, then." You grinned and handed him your car keys, "Sooo, should I just leave and come back later or...?"

"You can wait in here, if you want to - but you can also come with me and learn a few things about your car, if you’d like." At the prospect of spending time with you, Youngbin’s heart began to pound fast against his ribcage and he quickly tried to hide his shaking hands by crossing his arms in front of his chest, unintentionally displaying his well-toned muscles in the process.

Your gaze quickly fluttered from his face to his arms and back again. "I- uh, sure, learning new stuff is always a good idea.", you murmured and blushed, clearing your throat in an attempt at trying not to seem too affected by Youngbin’s body proportions. He in turn tried his best to hide the smirk creeping on his face and gestured towards the door, following you out of the front office and to your car.

"So, this is it.", you said, pointing at the black VW golf.

"It?", Youngbin sounded almost offended, "This is an old lady, not an it!" You laughed, "Oh no, I'm sorry. I haven't had time to come up with a name yet. I will give it one very soon, I promise!"

Youngbin seemed pleased by that. "Good."

You smiled and slid into the passenger's seat while he took the place behind the steering wheel.

"I'm sure Jaeyoon could help you come up with a name. He names almost everything - especially his plants and Rowoon’s endless cooking utensils.", Youngbin told you while starting the motor and driving the old lady into one of the open garages.

"He does? Oh, that’s kinda adorable though! I think I met him just yesterday - handsome with dimples and quite cheeky, right?", you asked without thinking, blushing at Youngbin’s almost scandalized expression. "Cheeky and dimples, yes. But handsome?", he countered, getting out of the car and lifted it up with the help of a hydraulic ramp.

"Well, he is - just not as handsome as you, I guess.", you replied teasingly, basking in his surprised yet pleased expression.

If only you knew how much you had just managed to surprise him with your flirty statement… He actually didn't know how to reply, so he just smirked at you and, after putting on some work gloves, finally had a look at your car.

"Mhm yes, Hwi was right - the steering mechanism isn’t fully working thanks to a rusty wire. But it's nothing major, so no need to worry.", he explained, "See that?"

You quickly joined him under the car, ducking your head out of reflex - even though that wasn't really necessary as even Youngbin could stand at his normal height.

"I just see... wires and stuff.", you confessed, scratching your head and squinted to try and see what he was seeing. Youngbin laughed at your expression. "Well, I guess that's what it looks like for an untrained eye. But see here, there's a loose and rusty wire, right?" You took another step towards the handsome man to get a better look at the underside of your car and his breath caught when he noticed your sudden proximity. "Ahhh yes. Even without glasses I can see that wire!", you finally exclaimed proudly, grinning up at Youngbin. When you realized how close you stood as well, your eyes got even bigger and you hastily took a step back.

"Even without glasses, I'm impressed. Maybe I should hire you as our new helping hand, what do you think?", Youngbin said, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. You laughed. "I could never do that to Inseong, I'm sure he would be heartbroken if I’d just leave him like that."

Youngbin nodded thoughtfully. "Fair enough."

You took another step back, emerging from underneath the car again. "I think I'll better let you work in peace now.", you said, looking around the garage, "Or can I do anything to help?"

"Not really, but thanks. You can go to the office if you want to - it's a lot warmer inside.", Youngbin suggested, making you pout. "And here I was thinking you liked my company.", you sighed deeply. Youngbin seemed to miss the irony in your voice, as he quickly emerged from under the car as well, looking a bit taken-aback. "Of course I like your company! I just don't want you to get bored or cold." You giggled at his apologetic expression. "I was just joking. But good to hear you like my company." With that, you winked at him and he rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. "And I thought our chaos line was cheeky...", he muttered, disappearing under the car again.

"I heard that!", you said.

"Good." But his voice was laced with humor and you found yourself smiling again - something you seemed to be doing 24/7 in Youngbin’s presence. If you were being honest... you liked him, even though you had only met him twice so far. But his steady, courteous manner, laced with that quiet, slightly sarcastic and teasing humor was just so attractive in your eyes! It also helped that he was more than easy on the eyes of course - you really wanted to touch his jet black hair, just to find out if it truly felt as soft as it looked. It probably smelled amazing too.

"Okay, keep it easy.", you reminded yourself quietly, but Youngbin seemed to be blessed with perfect hearing: "Keep what easy?"

Your eyes widened and you were scrambling for an explanation. "Uhhh nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"You're rather talking to yourself even though I'm here too?"

There it was again, that humor you already liked so well. "I just don't want to interrupt your quality time with my old lady here.", you replied, crossing your arms in front of the chest and smiling slightly. Youngbin chuckled. "I can divide my attention and time between the two of you." At this, you gasped theatrically. "So you're cheating on me with her? Or on her with me?"

This time, he really laughed. "Friends share, don't they?"

"Pff, not my boyfriend though."

"Ohh, so I'm your boyfriend now?"

Your cheeks were flaming red by now, you were sure of it. "No, you're the old lady one's."

"Oh, really? And here I was, thinking we two could have a future together.", Youngbin continued to tease, making you chuckle.

"Well, who knows how long the old lady's still alive, right?", you say, tone of voice cheeky.

"Oh NO!" Youngbin suddenly shouted, running out from underneath said lady, looking quite shocked. "What, what is going on?!", you asked in a panicked voice, quickly looking towards your car, pretty much expecting it to go up in flames or explode any second now.

"I think that's it... the old lady... she is gone. I can't do anything for her anymore. We should just bury her and continue to live our lives like she surely would have wanted us to - together." He looked, expression serious and grave, only the tiniest glint of mischief in his eyes betrayed his acting.

"Youngbin!" You shoved him playfully, giggling, "You really scared me!"

He laughed as well and shrugged, winking at you. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. But what do you think... Would you like to get dinner with me sometime? I promise, I won't tell the old lady." He held his breath, almost fearfully awaiting your response. A soft smile lit up your face and you immediately nodded in agreement. "I would like that, yes. But only if the old lady approves." Youngbin grinned, turning around to your car. "You're okay with that, right? I mean, I just fixed you, so you kind of owe me something..." He fell silent, pretending to listen to something. When he looked at you again, he nodded. "She's okay with it."

You giggled again - an absolutely endearing sound in Youngbin’s opinion - and nodded too. "Great. So... how about this Saturday?"

He smiled. "I'll pick you up at around 7pm?"

"Well, that just seems to be our time."

He laughed again and nodded. "Apparently. Your old lady is finished, by the way - she's as good as new. Or as new as an old car like her can be." At this, you looked surprised. "Oh wow, that was fast!"

"What can I say? I am very fast.", Youngbin said proudly and you grinned.

"Well, I certainly hope not in every aspect." You wiggled both eyebrows at him and he let out a snort, not having expected your innuendo. "I haven't had any complaints yet.", he replied cheekily and you raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't really have to mean anything."

"Fair enough. I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself, if you want to know the truth."

Your eyes glinted mischievously. "Maybe I will."

Youngbin gulped, trying to ignore the shiver that ran down his spine. Here he was, flirting like crazy with his mate and he was enjoying every second of it. And now he actually had a date with you - only a few days away.

He could hardly wait.

You were invited for dinner at the pack's house for Thursday evening that week - and everyone was highly anticipating to finally meet you. So far, Inseong, Youngbin, Hwiyoung, Rowoon and Jaeyoon had gotten to meet you, and the rest felt slightly left out. Youngbin still hadn't told anyone that you were his mate - it just never seemed to be the right time, and he wanted his pack to meet you without any bias for the first time. He also wanted to see how your date on Saturday would go.

… All in all, he always found different excuses not to tell his brothers. Inseong was also always gushing about you, telling the others what a great mind you possessed and how your many ideas had already improved his own work greatly. Youngbin would never admit it, but this made him incredibly jealous - that the other man could see you, his mate, every day at work. He knew he was being stupid and unreasonable, but he just couldn't help it.

"You do realize that she might not like Korean food at all, right?", Dawon said to Rowoon on Thursday evening, about an hour before you were supposed to arrive, observing the slightly younger man handling several different pans at the same time and looking a bit stressed out. "You do know that a frying pan is an amazing weapon against annoying brothers, right?", Rowoon replied, not even bothering to look at the other man. Dawon pouted. "Hey, I was just trying to help!"

"With what? Unnecessary commentary? I'm sure Y/N will like the food - and now it's too late to make something else anyway. So be quiet and leave me alone." With that, he simply ignored Dawon, even though the slightly older man continued to whine.

"Dawon - out, now.", Inseong immediately ordered the younger man when he entered the kitchen.

"Why?! I didn't do anything!" Dawon pouted even more and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Inseong just sighed in exasperation. "I know exactly what you did, so don't argue and just go. You and your brothers can set the dinner table."

Mumbling something unintelligible, Dawon finally left the kitchen. "Thanks.", Rowoon said, shooting Inseong a quick look and smile. "No problem - I'm the one who has to thank you for cooking. If I would have had to cook tonight, I probably would have poisoned everyone on accident or something like that." The taller man just snorted while continuing to stir the noodles. "Still, can I help you with anything?", Inseong offered, gazing around at the many pots and pans.

"Nope, I'm almost finished. Y/N said she'll bring dessert, right?", Rowoon answered, tasting some of the soup.

"Yes - cake, I think."

"Good, because I really don’t have the time to prepare something right now."

The older man just nodded and slowly backed out of the kitchen. Better to leave Rowoon alone, he always liked the solidarity while cooking - except for when his mate, Tori, was there. She was always allowed to help and taste everything - but that was the thing about being mates: different rules applied.

You were balancing two giant containers with cake as well as your bag towards the car, desperately trying not to trip over anything. That would be truly fatal as the two cakes you had made earlier this day would probably end up on the ground. You somehow managed to open your passenger's door, softly placing both cakes and your bag onto the seat. Then, you walked around the car, slid into the driver's seat and started your motor without any problems. You tried to follow the directions Inseong had given you earlier that day, but after some time you were pretty sure you were lost. It was already dark and everything looked pretty much the same to you - you had long left the city district, driving on small forest roads as Inseong’s house was located somewhere around here. "Damn it. Where the hell is this stupid road he was talking about?!", you whispered to yourself, tuning down the music a notch. After unsuccessfully driving around for some more minutes, you finally sighed and called your boss/friend. "Y/N? Is everything alright?", Inseong said after picking up the phone. His brothers immediately fell silent when they heard him say your name, all attention on him and the phone call.

"Yep. Or well... not completely. I think I'm lost?", you said, voice a bit wobbly.  

Inseong snorted and ruffled his hair in an exasperated manner. "How the hell did you get lost? I gave you the directions!"

"And I tried to follow them! But everything looks the same - there are trees everywhere and small roads and... Well, I have no clue where I am to be honest. Why didn’t you just text me the address, then I could have used my navigation system?!"

"I can do that now.", he proposed, but you just sighed: "My internet connection isn't working that far out into the forest, so my navigation system won't work."

"Well... What am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't know! But I do not want to die so young in the middle of some forest, just because my boss didn't text me his address like every other normal human being living in the 21st century would have done!"

Jaeyoon and Dawon had by now begun to giggle uncontrollably - everyone could hear your words thanks to their wolf hearing, and most had smiles on their faces.

"Okay, okay. We'll figure it out. Do you see anything... I don't know, like a landmark around you?", Inseong asked, beginning to walk up and down the living room and gnawing on his lower lip.

"There are literally only trees around me, Inseong."

"So no landmark."

"I’m going to kill you if I make it out alive."  

Chani sniggered. "I already like her very much.", he said quietly to Hwiyoung, who grinned as well. "Oh yeah, same, bro."

Youngbin raised an eyebrow, trying to control his jealousy - they were his brothers and didn't even know you were his mate, but still, he didn't like them talking about you like that. You were his.

… Even though you were really funny.

"Can you send me your location?"

"Do you have Alzheimer’s?! I have already told you, I have no internet connection out here! How the hell am I supposed to send you my location, Mr. Smartass?"

"Fair enough. I think I'll just rally some of the boys to look for you. Just... Don't move? Park the car on the side of the road and wait. We'll come and get you."

"Park the car in the middle of a dark forest, great. That's the perfect setting for a horror movie. If I die, I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your miserable life." And with that, you simply hung up, leaving Inseong to silently gape at his phone, a slightly incredulous smile curving his lip upwards. "Sooo... who wants to go look for her?", he finally said, turning around to his pack.

"I'll go.", Youngbin immediately offered, earning himself some curious glances from his brothers. "Me too.", Rowoon stepped in, Hwiyoung following immediately.

"Good, I'll go, too. The rest of you - stay here and don't do anything stupid. Jaeyoon, Dawon, keep an eye on them, will you?", Inseong pleaded, looking at the chaos line, now the eldest staying behind. Both smiled and nodded while the others protested, persisting they didn’t need any supervision. Inseong just ignored them, shrugging on his winter coat and boots while grabbing his car keys to finally follow the others out of the house and towards the parked cars.

Meanwhile, you sat inside your cozily warm car, playing soft music and cursing your terrible sense of direction yet again. To be honest, you should have just asked Inseong to text you the address - but you’d been so busy with work today that you had simply forgotten to ask him. So now you were waiting in a dark, misty forest, hoping for one of the guys to find you. You closed your eyes, leaning your head back against the seat and quietly began to hum along to the music. You just hoped you didn't have to wait too long - it was definitely a bit scary being alone in an unknown, dark forest.

Youngbin drove his jeep through the dark forest, not worried in the slightest - he knew he would be able to find his mate quickly. That was one of the many benefits of your bond: he knew your scent and always felt some kind of connection, no matter the distance between you two. His brothers wouldn't even have had to come with him - but as they didn't know about you being his mate yet, he hadn't been able to say anything against it. Youngbin turned on some music, feeling for the connection inside him. You weren’t too far away from him, he noticed - you had probably just made one wrong turn, resulting in you getting lost. It only took him a few minutes to pull up beside your car. You were deeply huddled into your padded leather jacket, both eyes were closed and you were singing along to some music, when he hopped out of his jeep and knocked on your window. 

You jumped, eyes widening in shock before you recognized him. You immediately opened the car door, almost falling over your own feet in the process of quickly getting out of the driver's seat. "Youngbin! Thank God.", you said, throwing your arms around the taller man without really thinking about it. He stiffened for a second before sliding his arms around your back, hugging you close and chuckling slightly.

"Hey there. You're alright?", he said softly, his brown eyes gazing down at you with slight mischief in them. You quickly freed yourself again and smiled, a tad embarrassed. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm sorry to have driven you out here in the cold, but I really have no clue where I am at the moment."

Youngbin grinned. "You're actually pretty close to our home - I guess you just missed the road and drove onwards. Just follow me with your car, we'll be there in no time."

You nodded, thankful, and slipped back into the driver's seat, starting the motor. Youngbin did so too and soon, you were driving towards the big farmhouse where the pack lived while their alpha quickly informed his brothers that they could abandon their search and come home too.

Everyone was already waiting for you and Youngbin when you opened the front door, the latter balancing both cakes in his arms. "You're alive!", Inseong said sarcastically, enclosing you in his arms and hugging you softly.

"Yeah, no thanks to you though. I would've probably died out there in the cold if Youngbin hadn't showed up and rescued me.", your voice sounded muffled from being pressed against his chest and your boss just chuckled, letting you go and taking you coat. “Yeah, sorry about that. I'll never let you drive anywhere alone ever again."

You rolled your eyes at him before looking at the other men assembled in front of you, beginning to smile a bit shyly. "Uh, hi. I'm sure I've just made an amazing first impression on you guys. I'm Y/N - Inseong’s new scientific assistant. Very competent in our field of research, not so much with directions unfortunately.", you introduced yourself, earning yourself some chuckles and laughter from everyone. Youngbin gazed at you with admiration in his eyes - he simply loved your laid-back sense of humor. Inseong noticed his gaze, raising one eyebrow but refraining from commenting on it - yet.

"Well, if no one wants to go first... I'm Dawon." With that, Dawon stepped forward, shaking your hand and smiling warmly at you. After that, everyone else came forward as well - first Taeyang, then Zuho and lastly Chani. Hwiyoung, Rowoon and Jaeyoon already knew you, so they just smiled, or, in Rowoon’s case, hugged you.

"It's really nice to meet you all. Thanks for inviting me tonight - your house looks amazing, by the way. Very cozy.", you said and smiled at everyone before Inseong shoved everyone into the shared living and dining room while Youngbin quickly followed Rowoon into the kitchen to bring in the food.

When both men entered the dinner room, everyone was talking animatedly - Youngbin took the chance to watch you for a few seconds. You were deep in conversation with Zuho, Jaeyoon and Dawon were screaming and laughing at each other, while the youngest of the pack, Taeyang, Hwiyoung and Chani were getting on Inseong’s nerves, talking about some upcoming university projects they had to do and didn't want to: "But having you, a professor, at our university, as a part of our family, should have some benefits!", Chani complained and pouted, while the other two nodded vigorously. 

"Nope. Not happening. It's not even my faculty! And I'm sure as hell not going to ask some colleague to postpone your project, just because you're lazy.", Inseong said strictly, taking a sip of his beer. "Unfair.", Taeyang commented and Hwiyoung looked around until his eyes settled on you, who was just laughing at something Zuho had just said.

"Y/N!", Hwiyoung yelled, making you jumped. You turned around, looking somewhat alarmed.

"Can you put in a good word for us, so our professor gives us more time for our research project?" Hwiyoung looked at you with what he probably thought were cute puppy eyes. You just raised both eyebrows. "Oh, so you guys suck at time management?", you answered, looking slightly amused. Chani pouted even harder: "Not true! We just had a lot to do these past weeks..."

"Really? Tell me about it, come on - entertain me.", you demanded, propping you chin up on one hand and smirking slightly. "Well...", Chani thought hard, gazing helplessly at his brothers, "We... Had to... Do stuff..."  

"Well then - learning by burning." And with that, you turned around again and continued your conversation with Zuho, who looked rather amused by your words to the youngest ones.

"She's really perfect for you.", Chani said to Inseong, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking slightly put-off. "Yep, we sure make a great team.", the oldest man just grinned and toasted towards you, who just smiled at him.

Youngbin watched all this with an uneasy feeling. He knew that Inseong wasn't interested in you - well, at least not in the way he himself was, but it still unsettled him to hear about them being "a great team". He wanted to be a great team with you! You were his mate! The wolf in him wanted to mark you as his and his alone and a snarl was etching its way out of his throat - but he forcefully suppressed it.

"Food!", Rowoon finally yelled over the noise, bringing in the big pot full of Bulgogi, and Youngbin quickly following with bowls of rice. Your eyes glinted at all the delicious looking food. "Wow, that looks and smells amazing, Rowoon!", you complimented the chef, who immediately began to smile, somewhat embarrassed. "As long as it also tastes good...", Dawon murmured, earning himself a smack against the back of his head from the cook. "Rowoon’s food always tastes good.", Taeyang protested, earning himself a smile. Youngbin helped to fill the plates of everyone before sitting down on the only empty chair left - between Dawon and Hwiyoung and directly opposite you.

How was he supposed to concentrate on eating when he just wanted to stare at you all evening?

He sighed inwardly, looking down at the delicious smelling food on his plate. He really had to calm down if he didn't want the others to immediately notice that you were his mate.

He tried hard not to gaze at you all through dinner, beginning to talk to Hwiyoung about some repairs he had to do this week at the shop. He still noticed the stolen glances you threw his way ever so often, and felt the wolf inside him purr at your attention. After the main course had been demolished, you brought in your cakes - they smelled of chocolate, red wine, cinnamon and other spices, and everyone rushed to get the biggest slice.

"Oh God, this is the best cake I've ever had!", Dawon exclaimed happily, speaking around his full mouth. You snorted, chewing silently and smiling while you were gazing around at them all. You truly liked every single one of them already - you couldn’t explain it, but you had a feeling of just... fitting in with them, feeling truly at home and ease. You had also managed to talk with every single one of them so far - well, except for Youngbin who seemed to ignore you, not even looking at you once.

What was going on with him? You’ve had so much fun talking to each other yesterday and he had seemed to be interested in you - or had you read the signs... wrong? You sighed and took a sip of red wine - you only allowed yourself one glass tonight as you still had to drive home later.

You were just laughing at something Jaeyoon was telling you, when you finally felt Youngbin’s gaze on you - you quickly looked up and were proven right, his dark eyes seemed to burn into yours and you swallowed hard, breath hitching. Inseong beside you looked at you in a funny way, so you quickly averted you eyes again, trying to continue to listen to Jaeyoon’s story - even though you still felt the burning gaze of Youngbin on yourself. You could hardly wait for your date this Saturday.

The evening passed way too quickly for everyone's liking and soon, it was time for you to leave - all of you had to work or go to university tomorrow and as it was already way past midnight, you thought it was best to leave.

"You can stay the night!", Dawon whined when he saw you grab your coat, "We have a ton of rooms we don't use! We can stay up for a bit and watch a movie together! Pleeease?" He made huge puppy eyes at you and pouted, making you laugh while you finished wrapping the scarf around your neck. "Another time, I promise. But I'm tired and still have to try to find my way back home - tomorrow's a work day too. Buut... I'm free tomorrow night, if you're up for it?" You raised one eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"YES!"

You giggled at Dawon’s loud yell. "Great. We'll text about the exact time and movies, okay?"

"Perfect - who else wants to join us? I'll make a group chat!", the cheerful man offered enthusiastically, phone already in his hand. Jaeyoon, Rowoon and Zuho immediately agreed to join while the others excused themselves, all having dates with their girlfriends/mates. Inseong and Taeyang had already agreed to go out with some other friends that evening - so only Youngbin was left without any excuse. He quickly agreed to think about it, even though he already knew he was definitely going to join the movie night, just to be around you some more. He just didn't want to seem too eager in front of his pack.

After the plan for tomorrow was finally settled, you were allowed to leave. You smiled one last time at them all, waved and left, the door closing behind you with a loud thump. A few seconds later, the pack heard you start the car and drive off. Inseong turned around to look at his pack. "So?"

"I LOVE HER!", Dawon immediately yelled, Jaeyoon beside him nodding vigorously.

"She's really nice.", Taeyang commented.

"I think it's mean she didn't want to help us with our project.", Chani intercepted, earning himself some glares from his older pack members, "I'm just joking! I like her too."

"Good - I also think she fits right in with us.", Inseong said, smiling in a slightly relieved matter. Youngbin didn't say anything, even though he felt the other man look at him while he said that. He just turned around and excused himself, saying he was tired. He took a quick shower, and, when he entered his room again, heard his phone vibrate on his nightstand. 

Yawning and ruffling his wet hair, Youngbin looked at the screen:

Youngbin just grinned at the exchange - he was really looking forward to your movie night.

[next chapter] | [all chapters]

[onf-headcanons]

ONF MEMBERS AS YOUR SIBLING (U & Laun version)

Either you are related from Yuto or Minseok side and either one of them later joined the family. Confusing? OK example you are Yuto's sibling by blood and then later Minseok joined. Or in reversed, Yuto joined later.

Or You are the youngest sibling (could be in terms age when the family comes together or you being born later)

Or, You are the eldest.

Any scenario that is suitable to your own imagination. Also there will be some repeated ideas fron first universe because i would like to keep characterization consistency.

Btw this pair of sibling would be one of the less noisy siblings of all.

My recommendation, your birthday is in older than both of them. But you can totally imagine that your are younger ones. I will try to elaborate both, I hope i won't confuse you guys🙈

Also i recommend, if you are going to imagine yourself as eldest, you are 2 to 3 years older. While if you are the youngest, you would be 5 to 7 years younger.

Scenario 1

If you are related with Yuto and Minseok is the new join

You Defo speaking Japanese comfortably

Your parent moved the family to Korea (or minseok family moved to Japan is doable too).You and Yuto attending school at Korea so you two speak somewhat decent Korean.

And your parent met with Minseok parent then they decided to tie the knot.

Your parents decided to have a dinner before wedding so that you kids can know each other before hand

Btw it would be a lie if you did not once considered Minseok is cute (non romantic way)

Maybe Minseok is not studying in the same school as yours/Yuto's. But it is doable too if he is. Even being classmate with Yuto

(It will a callback to onf meme if your side of family is maternal side so your parent took in Minseok family name. And then Mizuguchi Yuto also known as Kim Yuto lol)

Minseok already excited to have Yuto (a Japanese) as sibling, even more excited to have you too. Especially if you are the elder sister/sibling

Minseok explaining to Yuto about meme or idioms or weird metaphors seen in TV

You found out Minseok sneakily munching ice cream in the fridge in early morning to wake himself up (which is a weird way in your common sense) and then understood he cannot handle coffee. If you are an employed sibling, you might offer to drive him to school/University and let him sleep in your car while you are driving. (this is if both Yuto and Minseok attended different schools/University)

Minseok has many questions, asking about both of your experience in korea, asking about Japanese cultures, and even asking you both for help on Japanese

Minseok taking Japanese classes online and dedicated to one day properly converse in Japanese with you and Yuto

Learning some Osaka dialect from Yuto and you. And maybe both of you talks in the dialect so much that it affects Minseok's beginner Japanese. Cues in Minseok once flustered when his online instructor asked why his intonation sounds mixed with osaka accent.

Of course you both will chill him a bit mentioning is fine because you both are OK with korean too. But Minseok looks up to the effort of both of you learning a foreign language, hence he continues with learning Japanese until he is somewhat fluent.

As Yuto's sibling, you know your brother is the quiet side when he is trying to adjust. Bonus if you are a sister and you hope the boys could bond, you might help out by leaking some information of Yuto's preference to Minseok. Example like Xmas gift or birthday gift

Once they opened up, your job is done 👌. Maybe you move out and then once in a while return home and seeing them two playing games together or even inmersed in dance cover/tutorial videos

If have the same characteristic of laughter as Yuto, Minseok's usual ☺😊 is very unusual to you

Maybe you might ask "Minseok ah how can stay calm and smiling like usual when we are already dying of laughter?"

Minseok just scratches his head and replies you with his innocent eyes, "I was laughing and nearly losing my breath though?"

Them two defo bond with dancing and songs they like. But mostly dancing. Could be something one of your parents brought it up during the dinner and both Minseok and Yuto's eyes glimmers for a short while as if they found comrade lol

By the way of you happened to be the younger sibling of Yuto in this scenario, Minseok being a new elder brother is just the best thing of all. He will share food or stuff with you the most. I do feel he will do that more if you are a sister. Not sure because he is the new joined, he is trying hard very much to be attentive to everyone. Or, he just does not want you to feel left out as now there is 2 boys in house and you did not have a sister to bond with

When you have problems, both Yuto and Minseok will listen to you attentively. Depends on what problem was it you will go to different person to consult with. Yuto is your sibling and he knew you long and well enough, so if you want a more unbiased view you would go to Minseok.

Yes Minseok smiles alot but when he is concentrating into something important (also means listening to your concerns), his expression goes into a serious mode and you never knew he had that.

Also it will be a nice contrast if you are the fearless one and the boys are the scaredy cat. I will elaborate at Scenario 2

Scenario 2

If you are related with Minseok and Yuto is the new joined (by the way if not sibling, Yuto honestly as exchange student is also definitely doable for this one. I wont be separately writing about this soon I will mesh this into sibling au.)

Even thought alot similar with scenario 1, I will try to add more variety

Both are excited to meet Yuto

prior to your parents wedding, they decided to have a dinner hope you kids can know each other before hand

You and your brother noticed the new soon to be sibling is quite quiet in personality.

He smiles alot

One of the parent brought up dancing and mentioned it, you definitely saw them two looking very much brighten up and cannot wait to talk to each other to find out more.

You 3 exchanged numbers but mostly is just Yuto and Minseok texting each other more. And you are happy that your brother get to know someone with similar preferences

Maybe in this scenario its only Minseok who is dedicated to learn Japanese.

Probably you 3 bond by playing games, Mario kart maybe? And that is the first time Yuto showed himself. Loud laughs, loud wails when your car accidentally bumped on his.

Only then he starts getting more comfortable with his new siblings

Yuto's laugh is contagious.

Sometimes in charge for dinner and he cooks japanese style

Also you might see Yuto tapping on Minseok with music on just to teach him about the beat in the music when they are discussing on choreography. And your brother just sits there receiving all the tappings (this happens in other scenarios too but its more significant here)

Learning some Osaka dialect from Yuto. And maybe Yuto talks in the dialect so much that it affects Minseok's beginner Japanese. Cues in Minseok once flustered when his online instructor asked why his intonation sounds mixed with osaka accent.

Nope, its a bad idea to bring them to haunted house. Not even roller coaster. Maybe there is once your parents brought you 3 to Japan for vacation and you all stop by at Fuiikyu Highland (a theme park in japan) that day and both of your brothers regret their life choices for placing Fujikyu first and Universal studio for the next day.

One of them maybe "WHY CAN'T WE JUST GO TO UNIVERSAL STUDIO AT OSAKA INSTEAD?!!!!!"

Another one nearly crying " WHY CAN'T WE SKIP TODAY AND FAST FORWARD TO TOMORROW INSTEAD?!!!!"

Scenario 3

If you are the child that born later from your parents marriage

This timeline, Minseok and Yuto has gotten more comfortable with each other mother tongue but still learning

They are best buds right now

They value you a lot. Leo is very attentive and showering you with straightforward love and Pisces is a bit of tsundere but a lot of small gestures showing his affection towards younger sibling

I think both brothers will cradle you when you are still a baby. Of course involving some panicking when they first time trying to hold you. Minseok loves to gently rub his cheek on yours, he cannot help it lol(yes like how SoonYoung/Hoshi from Svt). And Yuto always love to caress your head

Overall they are very protective. In a bit different ways. Minseok would be the attentive protective type, while Yuto be like "Run along my young one, but remember big brother is here."

I dunno why but I do see you converse with Yuto in Japanese and Minseok in korean

Sometimes being the middle person to teach/help them with the unfamiliar language. You grow with 2 languages that is why in comparison, you might be the most fluent person handling and juggling 2 languages in the household

Scene like Minseok trying to express himself in japanese with Yuto and he kinda stuck with the word and your second brother turn to you asking you whats that is korean and you just nonchalantly tell Yuto what Minseok has been trying to convey

Purposely integrate this here. You 3 are very interested in dancing. Guess its in the blood if you sort out the equation. I also think that you used to watch them dancing very much and it got into your trait/character

Maybe your memory is not the precise type so they coach you alot regarding to sequence. No worries when it comes to the strength and timing when comes to dance moves, you are their sibling after all.

Uploads dance covers of you 3 to YouTube

Either you are not the scaredy among the sibling or maybe you are also the scaredy cat lol

If you are not scaredy cat, they might look at you with amaze when you dared to watch horror movie, ALONE.

I dun think you would be the evil prankster sibling in the household. You might lean on the omg why can't they understand the beauty of horror

People definitely are going to "cannot believe their ears" when they hear you 3 conversing in both Korean and Japanese, switching the language back and forth

A/N: is was longer than i expected? I got info from kprofiles that they are both isfj. Which makes actually them are the quiet ones compare to other hyungs. Hope its not too boring for your preference. Anyways see you soon!