#Dream has had every major friendship fall apart and he will be damned if he loses Techno

[nympippi]

After Pandora, Dream didn’t like being left alone, so to remedy that he started sleeping with Techno and then when Patches came she started sleeping with Dream and Techno (because Dreams paranoid)

But it became a routine, something Dream can’t quite break after being so alone and getting so used to Techno in general, it just became the new normal to share a bed with your -very annoying kind Dream would add- roommate.

[rockislandadultreads]

Libby Spotlight: New eBook Additions

Good Intentions by Kasim Ali

It's the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve and Nur is steeling himself to tell his parents that he's seeing someone. A young British Pakistani man, Nur has spent years omitting details about his personal life to maintain his image as the golden eldest child. And it's come at a cost.

Once, Nur was a restless and insecure college student, struggling to present himself after being transplanted from his hometown with only the vaguest sense of ambition. At a packed house party, he meets Yasmina, a beautiful and self-possessed aspiring journalist. They start a conversation - first awkward, then absorbing - that grabs Nur's attention like never before. And as their relationship develops, moving from libraries and cramped coffee shops to an apartment they share together, so too does Nur's self-destruction. He falls deeper into traps of his own making, attempting to please both Yasmina and his family until he no longer has a choice. He must finally be honest and reveal to those who raised him the truth he's kept hidden: Yasmina is Black, and he loves her.

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

This is the fifth volume of the "Inheritance Cycle" series.

The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan

With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.

But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs. In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?

'Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman

Aspen Moore is living proof that money doesn’t buy happiness. At twenty-three years old, the singer-actress has it all. Fame. Fortune. Her own headlining tour. And yet something—or someone—is missing.

When a scandal rocks Aspen’s carefully constructed Hollywood life, she’s forced to return to her Pennsylvania hometown, where she reconnects with her first love, Roman Torres. Aspen knows they must keep their relationship strictly platonic. This game of push and pull, catch and release she plays with Roman is bad for her. She’s not staying in Fertsville, and he’s not moving to LA. But their chemistry is undeniable, and amidst rumors and drama, the bright lights of Hollywood begin to pale in comparison to the dark brown eyes she fell in love with all those years ago. Could Aspen be willing to give up everything she’s ever wanted for the best thing she’s ever had?

[marcnutz]

Paris

18+, minors DNI

Tags: Dream x GN!Reader x Sapnap, Top!Dream, Top!Sapnap, Btm!Reader, 3k Words, Double Penetration, Fingering, Degradation, Praise, Daddy Kink (sorta), Competition, inspired by Sapnap’s latest alt stream where they went back and forth between who could last the longest. 

Masterlist and Info

Dream and Sapnap had to make everything into a competition. Who could clean faster, who could cook better, who loved Patches more, everything. Now their latest bout of competition has fallen upon your shoulders, and you have to help them figure out who wins this time. 

Living with Sapnap and Dream had it’s ups and downs. Grade A wagyu beef, unlimited cuddles,  and living with you best friends were the ups. Your roommates’ constant arguments and competitions were the downs. Sometimes they ended well, with you getting to choose who cooked better, or once they cleaned the entire house because they wanted to see who could do a better job, leaving you with no chores to do. However most of the time they just ended in pointless back and forth yelling for a good few hours. 

MCC was coming back, and all of you had been separated into separate teams. This only made Sapnap and Dream’s competitiveness worse. Not only were they competing against each other, but all the other streamers as well, and after months of no practice, they were a little rusty on the mini games. 

“What kind of psychopath plays Hole in The Wall for an hour and five minutes!?” Dream yelled into his mic as you and Sapnap hopped back onto the platform for another go. 

Sapnap had ended his stream awhile ago, but you all decided to keep practicing, allowing you to talk about the things you can’t while on stream. 

“I have no idea, but I doubt he’ll last that long in the actual competition,” you said, trying to calm everyone’s nerves.

Dream was about to agree with you, until he got knocked off the platform again. “What the hell!” 

Sapnap started laughing at his friend’s struggle, only making him angrier. 

“Oh shut the fuck up, Sapnap, I’ve lasted longer than you have every time.”

“You can’t last longer than I can,” Sapnap said, trying to poke the bear. 

“Yes I can! Both of you come down so we can reset and we’ll see who can go longer.” Dream said as he stared at you flew off the platform, and Sapnap jumped off. 

“Fine, but I we all know I can last longer,” Sapnap said in a way that suggested he was referring to something other than Minecraft. You just rolled your eyes despite having your camera off. However, you would be lying to yourself if you said his suggestive tone didn’t wake up the butterflies in your stomach.

Dream laughed at Sapnap’s words, “Oh yeah? Why don’t we put you to the test then?” he replied in an equally flirtatious manner. A deep blush was starting to form on your face. Being completely honest, you had a major crush on both of your roommates. Dream was tall, strong, and handsome. Sapnap was loyal, cute, and soft. You may have had one too many dreams of the both of them... having their way with you. The contrast between both their personalities sending dream you into a spiral of pleasure. 

There were times when you thought for a second that they may have similar feelings for you. Once when you and Sapnap were having a ‘friendly’ cuddle and watching anime. You had both fallen asleep, and you woke up with his hand you your thigh and his very obvious hardon against your ass. You hadn’t know what to do, so you quietly slipped out of his arms despite your heart telling you other wise. As you opened his door, you quietly heard him murmur your name in his sleep. 

Dream was more subtle with his emotions. Small touches, glances, and blushes were what cued you into his possible feelings, it was just that you always felt you might have to choose between them both. However choosing one may ruin your friendship with the other, and you valued that more than any relationship. So you vowed to just keep quiet and let your hand fill in for them. 

“HELLOOO?!” Sapnap’s yelling had brought you out of your thoughts. “You still there?”

“Y-yeah, sorry. I was just lost in thought,” you replied, jumping onto the platform to continue your practice.

“Well, Dream and I want you to help us settle our debate.”

“About who can last longer in Hole in The Wall? Why not just play and see?”

Dream laughed, “No idiot, who can last longer.” There was that flirtatious tone again. Sapnap was laughing slightly. 

You were at a loss, do you play it safe and act innocent, or do you play up their banter. There was almost a 0% chance this ended in a threesome. Almost zero, but not quite. 

“Oh gosh,” you said in a breathless tone, “I’m not sure? I think I might need to know what you guys can do.” There, not asking to get fucked, just asking what they would do to you should you get fucked. Now the worse that could happen is you have more inspiration for your late night alone time. 

Dream let out a small laugh, “Do you really want to know?”

“Well of course, I have no idea good you both are, so in order to give an informed decision I need to know all the dirty details.” This felt like the start up to a bad porn film, but at this point you’ll say anything to be sandwiched in-between the two. 

“Hmm, that does make sense... However, I have noticed you’re more of a visual learner. Why don’t we just come over there and show you what we can do,” Dream said, logging off the MCC server.

Sapnap laughed, “Ooo~, then we can know for sure who can last the longest.”

“Get over here then,” you encouraged, “At this pace it seems like I’m gonna last the longest.” You definitely were not. 

Neither Sapnap nor Dream took the time to disconnect from the Discord call. You heard their steps bounding up the stairs and down the hall to your room. Sapnap was the first to barge into your room. 

“There.” He demanded, pointing to your bed. You were quick to follow his orders, pinching your arm slightly on the way there to make sure you weren’t dreaming. 

Dream came into the room as you lied down, coming over and setting a box of condoms and a bottle of lube on your nightstand. He stood over you and just stared down. You tried to avert your eyes, which fell onto Sapnap, his dick showing through his sweats. 

“So Sap, how do you want to go about this.” Dream asked, taking his eyes off you to look at Sapnap, who didn’t take his eyes off you. 

“We could each take a side? I want their mouth...” He said with a small smile on his lips. 

“Fine with me,” Dream replied with a shrug. He flipped you over onto your stomach and gave a solid smack to your ass. “You sure you’re okay with this?” 

“Never been more sure of anything,” you replied. It was the truth, you wanted this more than you have every wanted anything else. Doesn’t mean you weren’t nervous as hell. You’d never had a threesome before, and doing so with your roommates that you had a major crush on was nerve racking. 

Sapnap stood in front of you and lifted your head up with his hand. He gave you a small kiss on the lips, before pulling away and throwing a condom at Dream. “We need to start at the same time so it’s fair.” Sapnap took his shirt off as Dream helped pull yours over your shoulders. 

“Of course, we need to make sure they’re prepped first though. However that might make it a little unfair to them...” Dream said as he continued to undress you.

“We can just add a couple minutes onto their time.” Both you and Sapnap were down to just your underwear, while Dream was still fully clothed. Sapnap crawled onto the bed and sat on his heels in front of your face. He reached down and kissed you again, however this time it was much more than a small peck. 

Dream just sat back and watched as you and Sapnap made out, your ass in full display for him as you held yourself up on all fours. Your small moans went straight to his dick, and it didn’t take long before he started to palm himself through his shorts. 

He let out a small moan that caused Sapnap to open his eyes and look over at his best friend. He managed to smirk at him with your tongue still in his mouth, and his cocky attitude broke Dream out of his trance. He was supposed to make this last, not get himself off. He quickly pulled his shirt and shorts off before pulling your underwear down and giving another smack to your ass. 

“Sapnap, hand me the lube,” Sapnap huffed at Dream’s request, having to break away from you, a small line of saliva connecting your lips for a moment before breaking apart. He threw the lube at Dream and went right back to your lips. 

Dream opened the lube and applied a generous amount to his fingers. He slowly circled one around your entrance, the cold lube sending a shiver down your back. He suddenly thrust his finger into you, causing you to let out a loud moan against Sapnap’s lips. Dream’s finger worked you open while trying to hit all the right spots, and when he found it he added a second finger before ramming into it over and over again. 

Sapnap pulled away from you, causing your face to fall into the mattress. He quickly took his boxers off before slowly stroking his dick, watching you get finger fucked by his best friend. At this point he had three fingers inside of you, and it made you wonder how big his dick was that he needed this much prep. 

“You think you can take it now?” He asked while slowly scissoring his fingers inside of you. All you could do was nod weakly. 

He slowly pulled his fingers out of you and took off his own underwear, dick twitching at the cool air. You looked up at Sapnap when he let out a small “Damn” at the sight of his best friends dick, Sapnap was about average in length but thick. You turned your head over your shoulder and saw Dream’s as he rolled the condom on. He was about the same thickness as Sapnap, but a good six to seven inches in length, and you now knew why he took so much time to prep you. 

“Okay we go in at the same time,” Dream lightly patted your ass, “You ready?” He asked. 

You nodded, and looked up at Sapnap before opening your mouth for him. He grabbed your face and Dream grabbed your hips, both steadying their dicks at your entrances. They looked up at one another, nodding, and slowly pushed in. Sapnap stopped at just the tip, letting out a high pitched whine. Dream on the other hand pushed all the way in, stopping to let out small pants once he bottomed out. He gave you a second to adjust, before slamming into you, pushing Sapnap’s dick deeper down you throat. 

Dream set a slow but steady pace as you sucked on Sapnap’s dick, the force of Dream’s thrust causing you to bob your head slightly. Sapnap had one hand on his dick, the other gripping your hair has he looked up at the ceiling. 

Dream laughed at his friend’s face, “Oh come on now, you could at least look at the slut, taking both of our dicks so well.” He smacked your ass again before thrust into you harder. It caused Sapnap’s dick to go all the way down your throat. He moaned louder than ever as you gagged around him. 

“Oh god... So good for me... You’re doing so good baby...” Sapnap said as he pet your hair. The contrast of Dream’s degradation and Sapnap’s praise causing your head to spin. 

“Yeah they are good at this, I wonder how many people they let do this to them. What do you think? They probably fuck anyone who looks at them. Oh well, it’s our turn now. I’ll use them up until they can’t walk anymore.” Dream continued to talk, but you barely understood what he was saying. 

Your moans were muffled by Sapnap, the vibrations causing his dick to twitch in your mouth. “Oh fuck yes baby, just like that. You take daddy’s dick so well...”

Everyone was snapped out of their trance when Dream’s pace faltered and he began to wheeze, “DADDY?!” He yelled, folding over you, tears falling from his eyes from laughed. You pulled Sapnap out of your mouth as you began to giggle as well. 

“W-what? I didn’t say that!” He stammered.

“Yes you did,” you replied, smiling up at them. “Do you really like me that much, daddy?” 

“I-I, uhh, I... I mean... Y-yes?” Sapnap’s brain faltered at hearing you call him daddy. He just shook his head and grabbed your face. “Both of you shut up. We’re trying to prove a point with all of this. Hey, is it okay if I just fuck your face.”

You nodded, mouth falling open with a moan as Dream roughly thrust into you once he had caught his breath. He was somehow hitting all the right places with every hard thrust. Sapnap took this opportunity to roughly thrust his own dick down your throat. You gagged a little, causing you to tighten around Dream’s dick. He let out a loud moan, large hands gripping you harder. 

This was bad, you were getting close. While you were nowhere near as competitive as Dream and Sapnap, you still wanted to see how long you could last. It wasn’t quite equal, you thought. You were getting pleasure from two places while they where only receiving it from one. Dream fingering you also didn’t help. 

Dream snapped you out of your thoughts as he laughed lightly again, “Awww, are you close already? Dumb slut can’t even last long enough for us. How long have you been waiting for us to take you? Do you think I don’t notice you staring at us at dinner, or the way your hands grip your thighs whenever we cuddle you. I’ve even heard you screaming our names when you touch yourself. Such a fucking slut, I bet you wanted me to hear you and come in and do something about it just like I am now.” You were almost crying at how good you were feeling, Dreams strong hands smacking your ass as he continued to call you names. 

All of the sudden Dream hit your sweet spot one to many times, and you were coming all over his dick, and moaning around Sapnap’s. “Oh fuck yes, come for me,” Sapnap said, the pain of him gripping your hair fading into the pleasure of your orgasm. 

“Heh, that’s one down,” Dream said as his pace slowed down to let you ride out your orgasm. He reached his hand out to Sapnap for a high five, who just rolled his eyes and let him have it. 

Sapnap would be lying if he said he wasn’t close. The feeling of you moaning around his cock, and the sight of you taking the both of them was too much for him to handle. He just watched as his dick went in and out of your soft lips, saliva dripping down your chin. It was getting harder and harder for him to care about this dumb competition. Who cared who could last the longest? He had the most amazing person sucking him off, and that’s all he cared about.

Despite his cocky attitude, Dream was just as close as Sapnap. He was the real slut who thought of fucking you every chance he could, but he would never let that one. He watched as your ass jiggled with every strong thrust against his hips. However, he did want to win this competition, yet it was hard to focus on doing math in his head when you were almost screaming around Sapnap’s dick from overstimulation. 

Sapnap’s whine just got louder as tears started to run down your face, and just a few more thrust into your throat and he was pulling out to cum all over your face. You opened your mouth to catch some of his cum on your tongue. Sapnap just watched in awe as your tried your best to catchy his cum in your mouth, the rest dripping down your cheeks and off your face. The force of his own orgasm caused him to fall back onto his ass, with your face falling onto his pillowy thighs.

Dream had won, but to him all that meant was he could finally focus on chasing his own release. He reached over to push your head down more into Sapnap’s thighs, cum, drool, and tears mixing on your face and his thigh. 

Dream pounded into you, feeling you clench around him as he sped up. “Look at you, covered in cum and you’re still taking my dick. Want more you fucking slut? Want me to come all over your back so you can have more, huh?” Dream said, when you didn’t answer he gripped your hair and pulled you up to have his face against yours. “I asked you a question, whore. Do you want my cum or not?”

A weak “Yes,” was all you could muster before Dream dropped you back down onto Sapnap’s thighs, who just looked on in awe in his own post orgasmic haze. Dream’s pace faltered a bit before he gave a few more rough thrust right into your sweet spot, leading to your second orgasm of the night. It didn’t take long for Dream to pull out, pulling the condom off before stroking himself to cum all over your ass. He threw his head up moaning loudly before collapsing against your back.

You all lied there for a few minutes, catch your breathes as you all finally came down from the events of the night. Dream gently stroked your arms and Sapnap did the same with your back. 

The quiet moment was broken when Dream started to laugh, “I win.”

“Oh shut the hell up,” Sapnap said, “I’ll beat you next time, that is if you want a next time.”

Both boys looked down at you expectantly. “Nah, I’ll win for sure.” All three of you laughed slightly before falling back into comfortable silence. The idea of this becoming a regular occurrence sounded quite nice to you all.

[spiked-tea-writing]

and they were roommates?!

SapnapxFem!Reader

Summary: Imagine being in love with your roommate, couldn't be you.

Pronouns: She/her

Warning: Swearing

Word Count: 2.3k

A/n: I don’t watch or know anything, I just like these people and I had a concept. Also, he and Dream aren’t roommates in this for the sake of I can’t figure that out. Also also, my timeline is probably fucked but who cares

The dynamic in the apartment was...interesting to say the least

In the two years of living together, it had shifted a lot

In the beginning, you and Sapnap had been... less than cordial to each other

Both eighteen, fresh out of high school, off to college thinking that you knew everything.

There was lots of fighting, to say the least.

All of the “No it’s your turn to vacuum”, and “I swear to god Sapnap I will punt you halfway across the world if you eat my pineapple again”

The only reason you didn’t slit each other’s throats was that if the other person was dead, who would pay rent?

It was the summer before college started at the time, and you were working long hours minimum wage so coming]’/ home to an annoying prick caused a crap ton of conflict

After a few months of being little bitches to each other, y’all got piss drunk in the apartment and it all just sorta fell apart

Got that good drunk therapy, spilling your deepest secrets

(y’all were underage but shhh)

So by the time college started, the two of you had become actual friends and started enjoying each others company

A few months into the friendship, you encouraged him to post the video of “Minecraft, but it’s Raining Cats and Dogs” on a whim

Lmao little did you know what you had created (we’ll get to that later)

You mocked his train of thought constantly, laughing at the timing of it all.

“Ahhh yes, I am Sapnap, the genius who thought it’d be great to become a YouTuber while in my first year of college.”

He’d always just laugh and roll his eyes, playfully shoving you while stealing your chips.

The next few months were a haze of studying, work, and him.

It was truly a friendship of convenience since you guys were so busy, him starting his youtube career, and you working restaurants, then school on top of that, it was just easy to find friendship in your roommate.

Of course, he had his close friends which he spoke to over the internet, and you had your friends from back home, but as for college, it really was only him.

You guys had a fun time just hanging around the apartment, and it became so easy to be friends with him

And it WAS truly platonic (we’ll get back to that as well)

The best thing he brought to the friendship was his animals

You got on fabulously with Cash and the cats

They were all so cuddly and honestly loved you more than him lmao

You guys were just trying to get degrees and not be too stupid, was that too much to ask???

Well to a certain 2020, it was

The beginning of that year was great.

He was sorta realizing that he liked putting himself on social media, but on top of that, it seemed like a great start to a year.

February brought him to twitch, which you loved

You found it hilarious how he would just sorta play games and have people watch him live.

But you were incredibly supportive, as a friend, of course

He really liked it so, you tried to ignore the shouting at three am, and the loud anthems at night

Sure you’d give him hell in the morning, but why kill his fun?

March started great, as it was his birthday.

You got him a glittery lighter as a gag, but it was the perfect gift for a broke-ass college student

Then a certain pandemic came a-knockin’ on y’all’s door

It was a hard hit on both of you.

An executive decision was made that you two would stay put, but being away from your families was incredibly tough.

That spring was the birth of The SMP.

It brought him so much joy, which in turn made you happier.

The rest of the school year was a blur of zooms and test

Nick nearly killed you on multiple occasions when you made fun of the fact that he was learning computer science over the computer or made him help you figure out what the fuck zoom was since it was tangentially related to his major

“SAP HELP ME YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS ITS YOUR FUCKING MAJOR!!!”

“NO, IT’S- AHHHHHHHHH”

Yall got more than a handful of noise complaints shhhh

That summer was fill was spent trying to fill the time in weird ways

Note to self, he can’t cook (which you learned the hard way)

Yall spent so much time trying to cook and bake, then sweating off the calories working out with The Fitness Marshall lmao

As sucky as the situation was, that summer was so incredibly fun for the both of you, and truthfully the only arguments were about what music to blast

“Y/n I swear if I listen to Cosmicandy one more time I will drown you.”

“Well if I hear American Idiot one more time someone’s knee caps are getting harvested.”

(that argument was settled with Elton John.)

When school started up again that fall, something shifted

After a year of actual friendship, you guys were no longer just friends, and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife

You had watched every single one of his streams since day one, but within 2 seconds of his Love or Host, you felt the need to hurl for some peculiar reason

It was bizarre because there was no way you could ever like him, of course not.

Within the apartment, you guys suddenly got a lot more touchy, but only because it was getting cold with winter and all that jazz.

It wasn’t because yall were secretly in love, what is this, a romcom?

The number of times you guys woke up on the couch, definitely not cuddling was too many to count

You started sitting in his room while he streamed, definitely not watching him with heart eyes because of how excited he got

He always had a pot of coffee full and a 6-pack of monster in the fridge since he knew you ran on spite and caffeine, and definitely not so that he could spend more time with you in the early hours of the morning.

The laundry started getting all mixed around, resulting in just sharing any sweats, hoodies, or socks.

The same thing went for food.

No longer was anything labeled with a name, if it was in the fridge, it was fair game (unless there was a post-it because come on, yall weren’t monsters)

But no, y’all were just roommates, not dating, lets make that clear.

Feelings? We don’t know her.

This entire time, his friends have had to hear about you rip.

But they got front row seats to your relationship development

“OMG my roommate is the worst she ate all of the frozen strawberries”

“Y/n kidnapped Storm all day while she studied and I thought I lost the fucking cat asjvdk”

“I had to run down and talk to the landlord because we dropped a pot of pasta sauce all over the carpet and couldn’t get the damn stain out.”

“She is so nice in preparation for a family dinner zoom, she ran out to the local Filipino food place and pick stuff up.”

“Sorry I’m late I overslept and didn’t want to wake up Y/n.”

They weren’t stupid, and could clearly see how whipped he was.

Dream and Geroge teased him about it constantly.

“Woah, calm down Sap, you should probably tell her you love her before you propose.”

“Yeah Dream’s right, it’s kinda weird that you’re living together before ever dating.”

He always flushed and denied it with a shake of his head.

He wasn’t into you, are they crazy?

Quackity and Karl messed with him in more unorthodox ways

There are a solid number of clips where they are fake crying over how he’s cheating on them, and even more tweets to match

It only got worse when you met them accidentally.

He was chatting post-stream on a video channel with George, Dream, Karl, and Quackity, and just his luck, you came into his room.

Like of all the times you could walk in, it was the time he was with his five closest friends but I digress

“Yo I got some extra tips yesterday so I picked up some extra Red Bull if you want to do one of your weird all-nighter streams.”

“Y/n I’m on channel.”

“Oh shit sorry my b. Catch.”

All the guys heard was a thud and a groan from Sapnap as the six-pack hit him in the chest.

Dream was the one to recognize your name.

“WAIT IS THAT Y/N I WANT TO MEET THEM!”

You could hear Dream’s voice through his headphones

“Sap… who is that?”

“No one. I’ll be out in a sec to help with dinner.”

You could hear a British voice come through.

“Oh so we are no one now, huh.”

Another voice piped through.

“Common... ¿Qué intentas ocultar?”

You cut in.

“Your headset it shit my guy. I can hear everything. I’m down to talk to them.”

He let out a groan.

“Fine. But you’re gonna have to do the dishes tonight.”

“Deal. Now move.”

“What? No.”

“Fine bitch.”

You collapsed onto his lap, plucking the headphones off of him.

“Hello, Sapnap’s friends. I am Y/n. A pleasure to meet y’all. Can you hear me?”

You heard a series of laughs through the headset, and a voice came through.

“Yes, we can see you too. I’m Karl, it’s so nice to finally meet his girlfriend.”

A blush rose on both of your faces, and another voice came through.

“Yeah, we’ve heard lots about you. Plus we can’t see your face in that picture Sap sent us. I’m Quackity”

That remark stopped your embarrassment in its tracks.

“What the fuck? How do you guys know me? I’m not even his girlfriend? And what picture?”

Sapnap grabbed your arm to calm you down as another voice cut in, but his one you recognized as his friend Dream.

“Hey, it’s okay. He just talks about you a bit, and the picture I believe was of you holding like three cats with like a red bull can on your head.”

“Jesus fucking christ why do they have that photo??”

He looked guilty but chuckled.

“Because that photo is a damn masterpiece.”

Karl’s voice came back in with a giggled.

“Soooo, Y/n we’d love to hear about you. Specifically anything funny or embarrassing that you have learned by living with him.”

Sapnap let out a groan from behind you as you went off.

“WELL lemme tell y’all, he has no cooking knowledge, well I mean, now he does, but one time, about a year ago, I had I been keeping a pot of water boiling for about an hour, soft boiling eggs, cooing noodles, blanching bok choy, etc. but this fucking genius is like ‘oH tHe HaNdLe Is StIcKiNg OuT. LeMmE mOvE iT wItH mY bArE hAnD.’ Needless to say, he burnt the crap outta his hand and kept the bag of frozen blueberries on it for the entire night. It took me like a solid five seconds to actually help him because I was laughing.”

By the time you had finished that story, you had seen Nick roll his eyes like 5 five times while the rest of the guys were wheezing.

“Yeah, well remember the time you were trying to imitate Rapunzel after we had watched it over Zoom with my sister, and you swung the edge of the frying pan into our head and got a nasty bump on it? At least I moved quick enough to put some ice on it.”

“Ice? It was the damn leftover Slushy that I had been freezing.”

“True, but you got to drink it after, so it was a win-win situation.”

“Sap, I had a bump the size of a golfball coming off of my temple. There was no winning.”

“Fine, you’re just making me sound like such a shit roommate.”

“No that’s not true, you do all of the talking to the landlord, and you at least tried to muffle the noise when you stream.”

“I guess that’s true, but you do like 80% of the cleaning.”

“Yeah but only because you’re working. Plus in the past 6 months, you’ve made coffee every morning, AND made sure I was taking my meds.”

“Those things aren’t that hard and I do it to make sure you don’t die because I lo- care about you.”

“What?”

“What?”

You heard Dream’s wheeze laugh and remembered that you guys were still on call.

“Smooth.”

You both went red, and Sap moved his arm around you to leave the channel.

The next few moments were complete torture, the two of you just sitting in silence.

You were wondering if he meant what he was about to say and he was scared that you had heard it.

He was the one to break the silence. (mind you you’re still sitting on his lap lmao)

“I’m sorry about that.”

You weren’t sure how to respond. Should you ask him if he meant it? Because that wouldn’t be that bad. Or just pretend it never happened. Nah that’d be hella awkward. Or-

“I love you too.”

“You what?”

Wow, okay your brain is being a little bitch rn, but fuck it. Balls to the walls baby.

“I love you, and I have for a while now. I just want you to know.”

You finally looked him in the eye, and he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Thank god. I love you, and nearly fucking told you for the first time in front of my friends accidentally. Damn, I’m smooth.”

You laughed and he smiled wider.

“Can I kiss you?”

After a quick nod he swooped in and holy hell his lips felt great. His arm wound around your waist and your hands made their way to his jaw as he pulled you closer to him.

The only thing playing in your mind was “and they were roommates”

[michibikionmain]

This isn’t THE tommyinnit villain essay but it sure is one of them

Ok ok so 4 those of u who aren't on discord with me: i have two main essays that have been in the works for MONTHS, these being my Complete Dream character analysis essay going in-depth for nearly all of his canon interactions and finding his character traits and motivations through the story, and my Tommyinnit (and Wilbur Soot) were Always The Villains on the server essay talking about how the only reason so many people view them as the good guys or heroes is because we see the story from their perspective mainly. This essay? Is not either of those. BUT, it does go through a lot of my thoughts on Tommy and Dream’s characters so I figured I’d post it. maybe itll help me organize my thoughts 4 my Mega Projects lol

@ranboocore bc u helped me pop off on this so hard LMAO

Warning, it’s VERY Tommy Critical, what a suprise. I do not like Tommy as a character lol. idk what triggers yall might need me to tag but if u need one in particular pls lmn!

My biggest issue with tommy's character is that he SAYS hes learned but he never does he is exactly the same person he was at the start of the server just More Sad and with Trauma, when out of all the characters he's had the most push to change. c!Tommy is a very tell-don't-show character which can make it hard for some people to connect to him, especially those who don’t directly share his trauma or see themselves in his character. Of course, there is still a MASSIVE amount of people who relate to his struggles and thus love him regardless of his writing, but those who can't relate to him will always feel some kind of barrier until the things they've talked about are actually shown to the viewer instead of being spoon-fed to them.

It is a very beginner writing thing, and I'm hoping that Tommy is figuring out how to fix this, maybe with support from the many other writers on the server. There's the 3 you mentioned, plus fundy, niki, and maybe tubbo who also play dnd, plus Dream who said he would've been an English major and does a lot of personal writing for fun.  I think the biggest issue in the writing lies in the individual ccs being inexperienced in the medium, particularly with planning out their own character growth. 

Another glaring issue I have with c!Tommy is how he's framed to be sympathetic and he goes through all these horrible things without acknowledging his role in any of them. The things that have happened to him are a direct result of his actions, but the thing is HE won't acknowledge and so it falls flat. This isn’t to say that being abused is his fault, because it’s NEVER the vicitm’s fault, but being exiled? His multiple fights with c!Dream? His friendships falling apart? Losing the disks in the first place? They’re the direct consequences of HIS OWN actions, but he never acknowledges this and constantly just... brushes off any accountability by either saying that it’s Dream fault or simply SAYING he feels bad without properly showing it through redemption and GROWTH.

Denial is useful in storytelling sometimes, but Tommy's character has been in denial since the very beginning of the server and at this point it's just exhausting. He only ever switches between denial and depression, not really going through all 5 stages of grief properly. His violent/upset reactions would be more powerful if they were any different from how tommy usually acts, but this is always how he is. When he “lashes out” because he’s reached the end of his patience, it doesn’t SEEM like the snap it is because that’s just... it’s seriously just his standard reaction to everything. It hold no WEIGHT to see c!Tommy yell at someone violently or threaten to fight them because he does that anyways!

Static characters can be a good thing, and can be interesting if done correctly, but not every character SHOULD or CAN be static in a story.

Static characters need to have their position or behavior challenged and question, where they look into if the way they see and interact with the world is really the 'correct' one or just evaluated to see if they truly believe in them. This questioning period is CRUCIAL! and NEEDS to be well done in a way that ACTIVELY SHOWS the conflict between the two ideals. If they decide to hold onto their beliefs/continue their behavior then, it feels deserved, because rather than just being a flat "they do thing its who they are" they have defined WHY. WHY is a very important question to think of when telling the difference between dynamic and static characters. The why of a character is ESSENTIAL to developing them as a relatable, sympathetic person rather than a flat story telling device. It makes them a human rather than a puppet. When a character's motives aren't well defined or discussed, they're doomed to fall flat in everything else, because the WHY is the foundation of what makes them who they are.

c!Tommy has an underdeveloped "why", his motivations are weak, rarely properly discussed and when they are it doesn't particularly stick with him. His motivations change without showing us the internal struggle that should come from literally shifting your driving principles. There are some good MOMENTS of him reevaluating the importance of certain things, but they're so spread out and contradictory and immediately spat one that they're hard to piece together. He TELLS us what his motivations are as well, which is another big flaw when it comes to all that but we don't have time to unpack all THAT Anyways, the key to static story telling is reaffirmation. The character goes through a complete journey and ends with the same beliefs because they've looked into why they have them and determined that they still matter to them. A great example of static writing in my eyes is c!Techno, who since the beginning has believed that governments are bad. c!Techno enters the server to destroy a government, and still ends up doing that because he sees and we see him experience that the reasons he didn't like government before still hold true and he has no reason to support them any more than before, and so his anarchist beliefs are REAFFIRMED, proving to him that they way he handles things is the right one for him.

c!Tommy’s attachments are all just... they're all so weird.  like he LITERALLY SACRIFICES HIS LIFE MULTIPLE TIMES for L'manburg. By action of sacrifice it seems like it should be the most important thing to him, but then he throws it away for some disks that mattered less to him just a minute ago.  But then it's all about how c!Tubbo is worth more than Anything and maybe he's found something more important! but then he shoves THAT out the window for the discs again ig!!! but then it's about l’manburg again? Make it make sense.... pls....

Here's smth that really irks me about Tommy's character, and is kind of weird but give me a second to explain: Tommy has never actually permanently lost much of anything on the server. Every punishment he's ever received he's tried to find some way around. And like... I'm not expecting him to be HAPPY to face the consequences of his actions but seeing him constantly have his cake and eat it too is very irritating, especially when there are characters who DO have to deal with actual permanent sacrifices. The whole thing with the disks. where he WILLINGLY OFFERED THEM UP AND GAVE THEM AWAY THEN SPENT FOREVER TRYING TO STEAL THEM BACK WHILE CLAIMING DREAM STOLE THEM FROM HIM, is the biggest example of this, but it's generally his characters way of dealing with things. He's very backhanded and conniving, constantly calling himself "big man" except for when he wants things from people and he plays up the "iM a MiNoR" card to try and get them to give him things or feel bad. He's not just some sweet innocent kid like people paint him, he knows damn well he's messed up and while he SAYS he feels bad about it, he has never once really shown, with his ACTIONS, regret for what he's done except for the stuff with c!Sapnap, which could it could be argued he did because he thought it would help get c!Sapnap on his side to fight Dream and he knew c!Sapnap was a skilled warrior and could possibly be persuaded to fight with dream.

c!Tommy is in NO way some sweet innocent child, he knows what he's doing. He KNEW l'manburg was a drug empire, and wanted to turn his hotel into the same He was FULLY prepared to just murder c!Schlatt for legally winning an election that he KNEW was rigged AND INTENDED TO HELP RIG HE LITERALLY TEAMED UP WITH c!TECHNOBLADE KNOWING THAT HE INTENDED TO BLOW UP L'MANBURG AND ONLY LEFT WHEN HE REALIZED IT WASN'T GOING TO ACTUALLY HELP HIM--

The line of c!Wilbur saying "Tommy, are we the bad guys?" wasn't him mentally going batshit it was him realizing that the entire time they've been doing terrible things. c!Wilbur was literally ALWAYS Vilbur but the time people CALL Vilbur is when c!Will himself realized he was a villain.

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

I want to read some WIPs!!! I've been reading only completed fanfics for a while now and I miss the thrill of receiving an email with an update and reading a brand new chapter! The only WIP I'm follow is RYLH, and I really want to follow some more! Can you suggest me a few stories please??

I can guarantee you that the thrill of readind a brand new chapter is amazing! I particularly love it!!

Here is a small list with all the WIPs I’m currently obssesed with:

The Queen Of All My Dreams by springsteenicious (also on ao3):

Four days after Chicago, Jackie is missing. Thanks to a dream that Eric has, they know where to find her. But the journey will not be as easy as they think. Through dragons, magic dreams and missed connections, will Hyde be able to return to Jackie?

I’ve been reading this story since it came out, and I’m very invested in it, it’s amazing. There’s only a chapter left, but I can’t just not recommend it, please read it.

Rated M.

88k words, 34 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

We’re Not Broken, Just Bent by SparklingSoul (also on ao3):

When tragedy strikes and Jackie and Hyde are forced to live up to their godparent duties, they need to overcome their differences and work together. Along the way, they realize that maybe their relationship isn't broken beyond repair after all...

This is a post season 8 story, and it’s AMAZING. The author updates it every Friday and Monday, and the story is already pre-written so it’s not going to be abandoned.

Trigger warning for major character death.

Rated T.

17k words and 7 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Jackie Stargazer by MistyMountainHop (also on ao3):

A funeral brings Jackie and Hyde together after fourteen years apart. Trauma made them wanderers, vagabonds moving in opposite directions. But the rock band Hyde roadies for reconnects them in ways neither expects.

So far I’ve only read the first two chapters, and they’re pretty damn good. I decided to wait to read the rest of it though.

I already know this is going to be a very long story, so I’ll wait until the story is like, on chapter 25 or something, because when I read it, I want to make a weekend out of it. I mean it. I plan on spending the entire weekend locked in my room, eating sweets and reading the hell out of this story. I’m already looking forward to it lol

Rated M

35k words, 9 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Miracle by B_August

To Pam Burkhart, Jackie is the abnormal child that her husband dragged in during their vacation in Hawaii. To her peers, she's the smart and stuck-up princess that graces the school halls. To the Basement Gang, she's the annoying brat that infiltrated their ranks. To Jackie herself, she is a super powered freak who just wants to do her best. But to Jack Burkhart, Buddy Morgan, a pair of higher life forms, and those who she would later help, she is nothing short of a miracle.

I’ve been waiting so long to read a Superhero AU in this fandom, I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this popping up on my ao3 feed this week. The first three chapters were pretty great and I’m anxiously waiting for more.

Rated G

3k words, 3 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

In Through Out a Door by djgrannyglasses

In the Summer of 1980 Hyde receives an unexpected visitor.

Also a pretty great story, it’s only in the beginning and there’s probably a lot more to happen, but the first few chapters were very promising and I honestly can’t wait to read more.

Rated T

6k words, 4 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Fez/Kelso, Eric/Donna

A retro romance by poeticlyme

Jackie Burkhart, the Princess of Point has an unrequited crush on a certain paranoid burnout. Or is it so unrequited?

This author mastered the slow burn thing, it’s amazing. The sexual tension between Jackie and Hyde in this story is just... Wow. I love it.

Rated M

73k words, 21 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Friday I’ll Be Over You by SnooksTheAllMighty (also on ao3):

Instead of Jackie pining over Hyde and bending over backwards for him after HE cheated on HER, she sees that she deserves more. But will that mean the end of Jackie and Hyde, or will he get his head out of his ass long enough to win her back? Takes place after 6X1.

I think we were all very frustrated by Hyde’s attitude in the first episode of season 6. In this story, Jackie stood up for herself like she should’ve.

Rated T.

5k words, only one chapter so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Playing Pretend by isnotme

Caught up in her teenager concerns – and some wounds to heal, Jackie didn’t realize that her parents' marriage was crashing down for real, causing a major turnaround in her world.

In the edge of seventeen, Hyde had too much on his mind. With graduation coming so soon, he knew too well he was about to be kicked out of the Forman's home. But when Bud’s illegal activities came to knock on his door, Hyde saw his plans falling apart once again.

Or An AU where Jackie and Hyde get themselves in one of those fake relationship situation and somewhere along the way, they find somethings in common.

I LOVE CLICHES. This is amazing, read it please.

Rated T

37k words, 17 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

I’d have you anytime by anonymous author

What if Jackie after panicking in her show, gave up? And what if she made an unnatural friendship? Basically a fix it of season 7.

I love a good J/E friendship story, I can’t help myself. This is adorable.

Rated T

15k words, 9 chapters so far

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Movies As Friends by rymilu

Jackie realizes a few things about herself after her kiss with Hyde. She once more tries to bag him after Michael and Donna leave to California, no longer hiding her feelings. Instead of pressuring him like before, she decides to start with taking him to the movies.

Ah, the mutual pining is everything in this story. They both have crushes on each other, and now that Donna and Kelso were in California, they decide to do something about it.

Rated M

38k words, 6 chapters so far.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I think this is pretty much it. I hope I was able to help you out!

[jalapeno-princess]

Second Chances

CEO Mark Tuan X Chef Reader

Word Count: 18.5K (Damn this is the longest imagine I’ve ever written I didn’t even realize how long it was)

Genre: Ex’s to Lovers, angst, fluff

Summary: There were no words to describe the love you and Mark had for one another. You were an aspiring chef and after graduating high school and going straight in to culinary school, everything seemed to be falling in to place for you. You were pursuing your dream career with the love of your life by your side. You felt as if life was going perfectly for you. That was until one night, something happens at a dinner party where he finds himself having to choose between you and his family and by choosing his family, he lost you. Years later, after starting up your own restaurant and becoming an extremely successful and renowned chef, your first catering client just so happens to be your ex-boyfriend and his soon to be wife.

A/n: Hey guys! A bitch is back and dying here in this quarantine. I hope you are all doing well. I AM SO FUCKING SHOOK OVER THEIR COME BACK LET ME TELL YOU I AM NOT BEING BIASED BUT THIS IS MY BABY MARK’S COMEBACK UGH DO NOT GET ME STARTED THAT MAN IS OTHERWORLDLY AND WE DON’T DESERVE HIM. Anyways, this imagine is based on the song “Once upon a dream” by Lana Del Rey and I don’t know why but lately, all her songs have been reminding me of Mark (I literally wrote at least 10 Mark imagines based on her songs ugh I can’t get over her last album and how almost every single song makes me think of Mark) I’m #sorrynotsorry this is so long but I hope you all enjoy! This is honestly the reason why I’m failing in my marine science class BUT WHATEVER (BTW, if you’re a JB stan, I suggest you stay away. Don’t say I didn’t warn you)

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem But if I know you, I know what you'll do You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream

“Hey boss, there’s a lady on the line. She’s wondering if we can cater to her wedding.” You smiled politely at your sous chef as he popped his head in to your office and silently thanked him before picking up the phone. 

“Thank you for calling Sunrise Restaurant, this is y/n. How may I help you today?” 

A soft and gentle voice quickly answered. “Hello. I’m a big fan of you and your cooking. I’ve been to your restaurant many times and I think your food would be perfect to serve to the guests at my wedding. Do you guys cater?”

You took a second to think about it. You owned a decent sized restaurant, but the amount of chefs you had were enough to cook for your customers. There were three sous chefs, two prep cooks and one line cook. No one has ever asked you to cater for an event before, so you didn’t think you and your team, no matter how talented and hard working they all were, were capable of taking on such a task. However, the thought of it did excite you. If things were to be a success and the guests of her wedding were to appreciate your food the way the lady on the phone seemed to, your restaurant would become even more successful this bringing in so much more customers. Without a second thought, you found yourself agreeing. 

“When is the wedding and approximately how many people are you planning on inviting?” The line went silent for a few seconds before she spoke up again. 

“It’s in August and I’m expecting at least 150 people. Is that okay?” You hummed in agreement while writing it down. Once you were finished with the call, you’d have to alert your team beforehand even if her wedding wasn’t for another five months. 

“Would you mind coming in sometime this week so we could talk about the menu?” Although you couldn’t see her, the way her pitch increased made it known that she probably had a huge grin on her face. 

“Of course! I’ll call you again to set up an appointment with you. You don’t know how much this means to me! Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day.”

As soon as you hung up, you released a long sigh. Sure, you were always up for a challenge, but you should’ve consulted with your fellow chefs before signing them up to something they may not want to be apart of. However, you were very confident in your team, you’ve been working with them for over three years. If anything, you considered them to be family rather than just mere employees. 

After taking a few moments to relax, you made your way towards the kitchen where they were all preparing their sections for dinner service. 

“Hey guys, I need to talk to you.” The smiles that were all on their faces as they chased each other around the kitchen soon were replaced with blank and worried expressions. 

“It’s nothing bad. Well, that’s my opinion. I don’t know how you all will feel about it and I should have talked to you before accepting the offer, but I agreed in catering to a wedding. I’m sorry if you guys don’t want to do that but—“ you let out a soft giggle when you saw all of them releasing breaths of relief. 

Two of your sous chefs Yugyeom and Jinyoung made their way toward you and tightly sandwiched you in between the two of them. Since both guys were quite taller and more broad than your petite frame, you were practically suffocating from their embrace and began playfully punching on their chests. 

“How is it that the tiniest one of us is the one who tells us what to do? You’re so cute y/n. Shit, you scared us. I thought the restaurant was closing or something.” 

You glared at the lanky boy and shoved him towards his section. “Hey! My restaurant is pretty amazing if I do say so myself. There’s no way I’d let this place shut down. I’ve worked too hard to open it up just to let it close.” 

Soon you felt another presence behind you and arms were wrapped around your waist as he placed his chin on your shoulder. “You better watch what you say Yugyeom. She might be tiny, but she’s feisty and at the end of the day, she cuts your checks.” You absentmindedly leaned back in to Jaebum’s chest but quickly came to your senses and remembered who you were currently surrounded by. “We’re perfectly capable of handling a wedding y/n. Don’t you trust us? If we can feed at least 600 people from the time we open to the time we close everyday I’m sure we can handle a wedding. We’ll be fine. You’re an amazing chef and a wonderful restaurant owner. The client chose you for a reason. There’s nothing to worry about.” You smiled softly at the older boy while he playfully pinched your cheek, earning the two of you groans from the others. 

“Stop trying to butter up the head chef Jaebum. Just because the two of you have a little thing for each other—OW. I can’t cook if my arm is in pain. Control your woman Jaebum!” Your eyes widened in shock at BamBam’s sudden revelation and right as you were about to chase after him, Jaebum softly tightened his grip around your waist. 

“Don’t waste your time on him. We have customers to tend to chef. Come on, the sooner we finish, the sooner you and I can go out to dinner.” 

What you and Jaebum has was hard to describe. Out of the six guys, Jaebum was the first one you met three years ago in culinary school. He was always to himself and your classmates labeled him to be mysterious. There was one time the two of you were paired up for an assignment and it was in those few weeks of working alongside each other that you learned of how kind and extremely soft he was. To most people, he was intimidating and he hardly had any friends in your major because of it; but he liked it that way. That was until he made a friend in you and from that day on, the two of you were attached to the hip. 

He was the first person you reached out to when you began planning on opening up a restaurant and he was quick to agree to be one of your chefs. Although you’ve known him for quite some time now, the two of you only recently started developing feelings for each other a little over three months ago but even then, it never escalated in to more than just some flirtatious banter, lingering touches and stolen glances between you two. However, even if you wanted to consider Jaebum to be something more, your heart would never let you. 

As much as you kept trying to tell yourself it was because you didn’t want to lose your friendship with him if things were to go south between the both of you, you knew there was more to it. 

The night went off without a hitch as it did every night and once it was over, Jackson offered to treat everyone out to dinner as a way to celebrate your restaurant’s first catering opportunity. However, you were too tired and couldn’t wait to go to bed. This earned you multiple frowns and boos from the rest of the crew but Jaebum was quick to silence them with a scowl. 

“She’s had a long day. It’s understandable. You guys have fun, I’ll take her home-“ This brought even more boos but also a couple of winks and eyebrow raises from the two youngest chefs. 

“Just say you want to have y/n all to yourself. We all know neither of you are going to get any sleep tonight if you go home together—that’s it! The next time we wash uniforms I’m purposely putting a red sock in your pile you asshole. Good night y/n. Get some rest and we’ll see you again tomorrow.” 

You said your goodbyes to the guys while Jaebum reached for your things and led you to his car. “Congrats again y/n. This’ll be great publicity for the restaurant if things go well with the wedding.” You felt warmth rise to your cheeks as he opened the passenger door for you. Whenever any one of the other chefs would compliment you, you’d simply smile and thank them; but whenever Jaebum said something nice about you, you always found yourself blushing. 

Something about the way he’d look at you as if you were the only girl in the world would send butterflies to your tummy. However, he had yet to take things further between you both and you felt as if he was hesitant for the same reasons you were. But you liked how things were going with you and Jaebum, and your restaurant  was your main focus as of right now. A relationship wasn’t in your plans at the moment, especially because of how your last one ended.

“But what if it all goes to shit Jaebum? What if I mess up? What if the guests don’t like our food? What if we forget something once we get there and what if—“ he brought his finger up to your lips in attempts to prevent you from continuing saying such negative things about yourself. Jaebum thought the world of you and hated that you never saw yourself the way he saw you. 

From the first day he met you in college, he knew you were someone special. He saw how dedicated you were when it came to your craft and perfecting your dishes. He always looked up to you and could only dream of being even half of an amazing chef as you were. When you first called Jaebum to tell him you were opening your own restaurant and asked him to be one of your sous chefs, he wasn’t surprised to hear that you were opening your own restaurant. It was a dream of yours ever since you were a little girl. Jaebum was completely aware of how many extra hours you picked up at your job on top of being a full time student just to save up for a restaurant. Seeing as how you did it in less than a year after graduating was pretty impressive and he knew you had it in you. 

“Will you stop that? Stop thinking so negative about yourself y/n. You’re one of the best chefs in the state. They didn’t write about you in the newspaper for no reason. It’s obvious you have a gift y/n. That lady chose our restaurant out of the hundreds of other restaurants who are known for catering and you wanna know why? Because our food is spectacular. Our recipes, our menu. It’s unique, it’s different. Our staff is entertaining, you’ve decorated the place really nicely and guess what? The owner and head chef is an extraordinary person. You are a marvel y/n. Now stop worrying that pretty little head of yours and go get some rest. We have a long week ahead of us. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”

The rest of the week went by far too quickly and finally, it was the day the soon to be newlyweds were coming in to meet with you about their wedding day. The bride Erica, whose name you learned when she set up a meeting with you two days after your first call, called you just a few minutes before her scheduled time to let you know she was running late but that her fiancé was almost there and that it was fine if the two of you started without her. 

You were in your office filing some paperwork when Youngjae came in and let you know that Erica’s fiancé was there. When you walked in to the dining area and saw who he was referring to, your heart sank to your chest. It was as if the whole room was spinning and you couldn’t breathe. 

Three years. 

It’s been three years since you last saw him. 

Three years since he let you walk away from his parent’s house in tears. 

It’s been three years since he broke your heart and now here he was, standing in your restaurant, waiting to meet with you to talk about his wedding. A wedding the two of you talked about many times in your almost seven years of dating. You felt like you were about to throw up. Was it too late to say you couldn’t do it? There was no way you’d be able to cater to your ex boyfriend’s wedding. You couldn’t stomach the thought. 

“Y/n, aren’t you coming?” You didn’t even realize you weren’t moving until you felt the older boy tug at your wrist. 

“Youngjae, I—“ If you were coming off as rude and unprofessional, you didn’t care. This was the man you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with. Your first love, your soulmate, your best friend. How could you possibly cater to a wedding of a man you planned on marrying? There was no way you’d be able to do it without crying during the process. All the memories of your relationship to your last night together came rushing back and you felt tears brimming at your eyelids. Before you could turn around and attempt to walk away, you heard his breath hitch. 

“Y/n.” You released an exasperated sigh before making your way towards him. “Hey. It’s been a while.” As hard as it was seeing him after all these years, you had to put on a strong face and pretend like nothing was wrong. No matter how much you were on the brink of crying. You wouldn’t let yourself cry in front of him. He didn’t deserve you or your tears. 

“Please follow me. We have no time to waste. I have to start preparing for the lunch service.” The sharpness in your tone and the spine chilling glare you sent his way didn’t surprise Mark. He deserved it after what he put you through. What he wasn’t ready for, was seeing you after three years. He didn’t think he would be able to sit in a room alone with you without crying over what no longer was. 

Seeing you again after how things ended between the two of you only brought back images of your puffy red eyes and tear stained cheeks. It was the worst day of his life. 

When the two of you entered your office, you made your way towards your secret cabinet where you stored your alcohol and began preparing yourself a drink. When you heard him snicker, you rolled your eyes and took a shot. 

“Are you allowed to drink on the job?” You poured yourself a glass of red wine before finally taking your seat in front of him. 

“This is my restaurant. I can do whatever I want and I’m going to need a few sips of liquid courage if I’m going to have to deal with you.” He frowned before sitting up right so he could take a better look at you. From the day Mark met you, you always had a very bright and bubbly personality. You were one of the sweetest, kindest and most generous people Mark knew. But hearing you speak to him so harshly made him hate himself for turning you in to such a stone cold person. 

“Look y/n, I can already tell that you hate having me in your presence and I’m sorry this is happening right now. You don’t have to go through with this if you don’t want to. I can talk to Erica and we can find someone else—“ You shook your head in disagreement. 

“I am a chef. My professional life comes before my personal one. I’m fine. If you’re going to have a problem with dealing with me then you can go ahead and tell her you want to look someone else.” He furrowed his brows while biting his lip. It was something he did many times when he was contemplating something. You hated that you still remembered the meaning behind every single movement of his. 

“I’m happy to see that you followed your dreams of completing culinary school and opening your own restaurant. I’m proud of you y/n. And you haven’t changed a bit. Still breathtakingly beautiful, as you always were. Always will be.” You scoffed in disbelief. Was he really saying all of this to you? He was engaged to be married and yet complimented you on your looks. Sure, he made it known how beautiful he thought you were every single day back when the two of you were still together, but this was a completely different story. He also had the nerve to tell you he was proud of you for following your dreams when it was the reason for your breakup in the first place? You couldn’t believe your ears. 

You and Mark started dating in your freshman year of high school. He was a junior you had met in P.E. Him and his group of friends were known throughout your high school. He was the captain of both the baseball and soccer team and he was one of the only students with a car. A Lexus to be exact. Everyone was completely aware that Mark’s family owned one of the biggest technology companies in the country. However, he was very simple and modest. He wasn’t this narcissistic, big headed asshole that everyone assumed he was just because his family was rich. 

One day, your class was running the mile run when you tripped on a rock and sprained your ankle. Mark was quick to run towards you and didn’t hesitate to pick you up bridal style and carried you all the way to the nurse’s office. He stayed with you for the rest of the period and in that half an hour, the two of you talked about anything and everything your hearts desired. From that day on, you became really good friends and it didn’t take long for you to fall for him. He never failed to make you laugh at the cheesiest jokes, he would always bring you snacks and made sure you were eating your meals. He would drop you home from school almost every day and when the two of you exchanged phone numbers, he would find himself texting you all kinds of memes, videos and links to posts he’d find funny. 

Less than a month after your accident, he confessed his feelings for you and you were excited that he reciprocated your feelings. Dating Mark was a dream. You didn’t think he could be even more amazing as a boyfriend than he was a friend, but he proved you wrong. He took you on many dates that he’d plan out thoroughly, wrote you cute little love letters, attempted to help you with your studies even if most of the time you were together was spent making out and would end practice early just to spend as much time with you as he could. Since he was well aware that he was your first boyfriend, he let you control the pace of your relationship. He only did whatever you asked him to do and didn’t want to cross any boundaries in fear of scaring you away. 

Although he’s been in multiple relationships before, you were the first girl he’s ever been in love with and he had a huge feeling you were going to be the last.

When Mark graduated from high school, you were afraid the distance was going to take a toll on your relationship. However, Mark never failed to reassure you that nothing would change between the the two of you. If anything, it brought the two of you closer. He made sure to continue picking you up and dropping you off to school because on some days, that was the only time he got to see you. And he never failed to call you and text you when he missed you. 

Your life revolved around the older boy. He was all your heart knew and wanted to know. You started losing friendships because of how focused you were on your relationship but you didn’t care. Mark was your main priority and he made it obvious in his actions that he felt the same way about you. 

Once you graduated from high school, you went straight in to culinary school and to say you were excited was an understatement. Cooking was a passion of yours from the time you could talk. When your siblings would watch cartoons, you found yourself watching the food network. Instead of joining a sport or some kind of dance class, you joined cooking and baking classes. There was something about the art of cooking that went beyond just throwing some instant noodles in to a pot of boiling water. 

Cooking meant more to you than what it did to most people. You were lucky that you had a boyfriend that was extremely supportive in your dreams and your goals. No matter how many times you told him no, Mark would buy you everything you needed in order to cook. All the supplies you needed in your classes, he bought nothing but the best brands. There were some days you felt shy having to bring your Martha Stewart cooking set to class knowing everyone else had brands that were sold at Walmart. 

Knowing that your boyfriend wanted nothing but the best for you made your heart flutter. Whenever you wanted to try a new recipe, he would always offer to be the taste tester even if you knew it was just his excuse to get a free meal; but he deserved it. Mark made it aware that he was your number one fan. The two of you moved in together not too longer after you graduated because he wouldn’t stop complaining about how much he missed you. 

Even when he was back in high school, he knew he was going to take over his dad’s position at his company when he were to retire. Which is why he never got to attend college and went straight to work at their company. However, you knew deep down that Mark had dreams of his own. 

You’d watch him draw pictures of buildings, you’d see him look at construction sites in awe and you’d catch him watching hgtv in the wee hours of the morning. Mark wanted to be an architect, there was no doubt about it and you knew your boyfriend was capable of becoming an amazing one. Unfortunately, whenever you’d bring the topic up to him, he’d give you a sad smile and just shrug it off; ultimately changing the topic. 

One thing you both loved and hated about him was how obedient he was. He did whatever people told him to do. From an early age, he was groomed to become a CEO, even if he wanted nothing to do with the company. 

On the night of your breakup, you and Mark were invited to his parent’s anniversary party. You’ve met the Tuan’s many times and they were some of the sweetest people you knew. They were also very particular when it came to their reputation and when Mrs.Tuan heard that her oldest son’s girlfriend wanted to become a chef, she wasn’t having any of it. You were all currently seated in their grand dining room area having dinner when curiosity got the best of her. 

“Y/n sweetheart, you’ve been with Mark for seven years now and you’ve been in college for almost three years but I have yet to learn what it is that you’re majoring in. What are you studying dear?” You smiled widely at her but before you could say anything, you felt a pinch on your thigh. You quickly turned towards your boyfriend and frowned at his worried face, not understanding what his expression meant. But once the words “culinary arts” fell from your lips and the whole room went in to uproar, you knew exactly why Mark looked so bothered. 

You felt like everyone was stabbing at your heart with every laugh that was being thrown your way and when you turned to Mark, he was staring at the ground with a blank face. 

“Y/n, dear. You cannot be serious. A chef? Are you crazy? You want to cook for people? Now why in the world would you want to do that? There are so many other occupations out there much more impressive than that. Whose going to be impressed when I tell them that my future daughter in law is a cook? I’m sorry, but that just won’t do.” 

You could feel your throat getting dry and you wanted the ground to swallow you whole in that moment. As much as you liked and respected Mark’s family, you couldn’t go past the fact that they were looking down on you and belittling your dream career. They should accept you and your future career for what it was. 

However, it wasn’t their words that were hurting you. The fact that Mark allowed them to continue attacking you and treating you as if you were some pathetic being who didn’t deserve to be there instead of defending you and your dream is what was slowly tearing you apart. How could he claim to support you in everything you did, love you more than anything or anyone in the world and want nothing but the best for you, yet fail to protect you from his family? His silence spoke volumes, which is why you weren’t surprised when your next few words fell from your mouth. 

“You have nothing to worry about Mrs.Tuan, because I have no plans on marrying your son for that matter. I refuse to marry in to a family who doesn’t accept nor support my dreams and I refuse to change a thing about for anyone but myself. Thank you for having me tonight. I wish you all nothing but the best. Happy anniversary.” You did not waste any time getting out of there and mentally cursed yourself as you remembered Mark drove the both of you to his parent’s house. 

You started briskly walking to the nearest bus stop seeing as how it was getting quite late. Tears began to fall from your cheeks when you came to the realization that Mark wasn’t chasing after you, but you knew his family probably kept him from doing so. 

Throughout your walk, a part of you felt as if you should’ve kept your mouth shut. No matter how much the Tuan family seemed to like you, you should’ve known that they were people who cared about their wealth and social status. But another part of you refused to give up on your dreams in order to impress people who clearly didn’t deserve you at all. 

The fact that Mark didn’t fight for you or for your relationship is what was killing you the most. You loved him with every fiber of your being. You had plans to settle down with him, get married to him, have kids with him; you wanted it all. Now, you wanted nothing to do with him. You were going to head back to your shared apartment in order pack up everything and head back to your parent’s place. When you finally reached the bus stop, you called your mom up and explained the whole situation to her. 

You’ve never heard your mom swear so many times in one sentence before. She was fuming and she had every right to be. As much as she wanted to be angry with Mark, she was much more disappointed. Parents claim to want nothing but the best for you. However, if you feel in your heart that what they want for you, isn’t what you need, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you’re going to take responsibility for your own life, or continue to let them tell you what to do. Mark would always do whatever his parents wanted him to and there was nothing you could do about it. 

Once you hung up the phone with your mom, you took a look at yourself and let out a hysterical laugh. You were a mess. Your eyes were swollen and your cheeks were red and puffy. It just occurred to you that you lost the love of your life. This was it for the two of you and you didn’t know what you were going to do. How were you going to live without the man who was all that you knew? You were so deep in your thoughts that you failed to notice Mark trying to get in touch with you. After a few moments, you saw his Lexus pull up to the bus stop and you turned towards the other direction. 

“Y/n. I am so fucking sorry baby I—“ he got out of the car and made his way towards you but you continued to give him the silent treatment. When he came in to view, you refused to look at him. 

Your mind felt disgusted with the boy kneeling in front of you. Where was the man who held you as you cried because finals were too hard? Where was the man who stayed up till the wee hours of the morning to take care of you when you got the flu? Where was the man who bought you twelve different pints of ice cream once because he knew how much you loved ice cream? Where was the man who cried in to your shoulder when Moana’s grandmother died? Where was the man who told you he loved you more than life itself and promised you the sun, the moon and the stars? It was clearly not the little boy on his knees in front of you. The boy in front of you chose his family, his pride and his reputation over you. Over your seven year relationship. Over your love, your happiness, your life and future together. This was not the man you loved. 

“Don’t. Just go Mark. They’re probably waiting for you. Go.” He shook his head and wrapped his arms tightly around your legs as he placed his chin on your thighs. “Mark, get up. You’re being ridiculous.” 

He began to cry in to your lap and you could feel the tears building up again. One of the things you loved most about Mark was how sensitive he was. He cried over many different things and you knew it was because he had a big heart. Whenever he would cry, you’d find yourself crying too. You hated seeing Mark cry, but he never cried over you. He never had a reason to, until now. He made a mistake, and he was now paying for it. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve said something. I’m so fucking stupid. But you need to understand that—“ you groaned in disbelief. 

“I need to understand what Mark? That I’m not good enough for you? Or your family? That I’m considered trash to you because I want to become a chef? What’s so good about you huh? You’re taking over a company. Woohoo! Good for you! We all know that’s not what you want. It’s being handed over to you. You don’t have to do shit. I’m sorry I don’t come from a wealthy family like you. Things don’t get handed to me on a silver platter like they do for you Mark. I have to work for the things that I want. You made me feel like shit. Like I’m nothing in front of your family. You made me feel as if you were ashamed of me and my career path when you are the number one person who pushes me to go after my goals and chase after my dreams.” 

His sobs only became louder the longer you explained your thoughts to him, but you didn’t care. He needed to know how pathetic he made you feel. 

“How do you think your parents would react if they knew their son put hundreds of dollars from their company in to buying me cooking equipment? I bet they wouldn’t be too pleased knowing you’d leave work early in order to come support me at my competitions and drive me to wherever I needed to go. Nor would they be too happy knowing you paid off my entire tuition no matter how many times I begged you not to. Love is about sacrifices Mark. You claim to love me and up until tonight I know you did, but you failed to sacrifice your pride for me and I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that. Thank you, for showing me your true colors tonight. I’m glad I found out who you really are and what your main priorities are now rather than later as I waste the rest of my life with you.”

He finally took his face off of your lap and looked up at you. Seeing the broken look on his face made you want to cry again, but you held yourself together. He gripped both of your wrists before roughly connecting your lips together. Your heart was begging you to react to the kiss. You wanted to be understanding, you knew how hard it was for Mark having to choose between his family and you. But if they were really his family, they would love you and support you no matter what the case and they failed to do so. 

You knew this was probably your last few moments with him and as much as you wanted to hate him, the love you had for him would always be stronger. Seven years of your life spent with him was not going to disappear in a matter of seconds. So you were selfish and allowed him to kiss you for the time being. Just a few seconds later, you pulled away and placed one more kiss on his lips.

“Come on, we’ll talk about this more at home—“ You shook your head in disagreement and you could feel him grip on to the hem of your party dress.

“Y/n, please. Please baby. Hear me out. Let me make things right, please. I can’t lose you. You mean everything to me y/n. I love you so fucking much. I can’t live without you. Are you really going to let seven years go to shit because you want to be stubborn?” 

You scowled as you tried to pry him off of you. “DON’T YOU DARE GIVE ME THAT SHIT. YOU DECIDED TO LET SEVEN YEARS GO TO SHIT WHEN YOU FAILED TO DEFEND ME. WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROTECT ME. WHEN YOU LET YOUR FAMILY LAUGH AT ME AND TALK NEGATIVELY ABOUT ME AND MY DREAMS. You should have grown a fucking pair and told your parents just how proud you are of me and how supportive you are of my occupation but no. You let your mom make me feel stupid and inferior because she doesn’t think my occupation is good enough for you. You always have to do what mommy and daddy tell you huh? I’m sorry. I refuse to let anyone tell me how to live my life. I love myself too much for that. I love you Mark, and I’m always going to love you. But I love myself more. So much more. Have a nice life and take care of yourself.” 

With perfect timing, the bus stopped in front of the curb and you grabbed your things while quickly getting on. You faintly heard him calling after you, but you made your way towards the back and plugged in your headphones. It felt like a huge weight was taken off of your shoulders. Once you reached your apartment, you released a sigh of relief when you noticed he wasn’t there and began to pack away all your things. You were going to miss this place. So many memories were made here and you couldn’t help but reminisce.However, tonight’s events would not stop playing in your mind and you decided to push back all memories of Mark to the back of your thoughts. 

You successfully put away all your things before he could come home and stop you and made your way to your car in order to drive to your parents house. You haven’t seen or heard from Mark since that dreadful night and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss him or thought about him from time to time. But you knew what you deserved and like he’s told you multiple times before, you deserved nothing but the best and that’s the only thing you were going to accept. 

“Yeah. All my hard work paid off. Let’s get started on this shall we?” You tried your best to look anywhere but at him. There was no doubt Mark was good looking. He was the most handsomest man you’ve ever laid your eyes on and like a fine wine, he only gets better with age. However, you could still see remnants of the teenage boy you fell in love with many years ago. You knew you wouldn’t be able to concentrate if you were to look at him. 

“Let’s start off with allergies. What is Erica allergic to?” When he didn’t respond after a few minutes, you gave up on giving him the cold shoulder and finally looked up at him. You looked at him in curiosity and he shrugged at you. “You don’t know what your fiancée is allergic to? Seriously?” 

Hearing his name and the word fiancée together sent an unsettling feeling to your stomach. You’ve always dreamt of going through this with him. Planning things for your wedding. Talking with a florist, a catering company, a baker, hiring a wedding planner. You would always find yourself planning your future wedding and Mark would always join in. Knowing he wanted to be involved always made your heart melt in to a puddle. That should be you sitting next to him with his ring on your finger, but things just weren’t meant to work out that way. You could only hope Erica was nearby so you could get this whole thing over with. 

“If I’m being honest, I don’t know much about her. So we should just wait for her to come.” You released a frustrated sigh before humming in agreement.

 “So, how is the restaurant doing so far? I like how you decorated the place. It’s really—you. The wallpaper, the booths and tables, the flooring, the fairy lights, the wooden plaques you always loved buying from Tj Maxx. If you don’t mind me asking, why Sunrise? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice name. But why?” 

You furrowed your brows and took a sip of your wine. You couldn’t believe you were going to tell him the reason, especially because it had to do with him and your relationship. But you were never one to lie. “Remember that one day we were watching the sunset at the beach and I began to cry because I was upset at the thought of how all beautiful things come to an end?” He nodded in remembrance of the memory and motioned for you to continue. 

“When we broke up, I was a wreck. For months. Hell, almost an entire year. I don’t know how I did it, but I graduated from culinary school with a 3.6 g.p.a and worked at multiple restaurants, trying to get as much food service experience as possible. I saved up enough money to open up a restaurant and here I am today. This restaurant had no name for two months because nothing sounded good to me. One of my sous chefs told me it’s always the darkest before the dawn and that with every sunset, there is a sunrise. As corny as it sounds, with the sunset of our relationship, came there sunrise of all my hard work and success. I lost you, but I gained myself. I achieved all my goals and now look, I own a five star restaurant. I’m a boss bitch if I do say so myself.”

This earned you a soft giggle and you didn’t realize how much you missed his laugh until you heard it again. Mark had one of those distinct and very contagious laughs. Although he was almost 27 years old, he had the cutest little high pitch laugh that you were sure could cure cancer. “Y/n, I—“ before he could continue his sentence, there was a knock on the door. 

“Oh my God, I am so sorry. I had a doctor’s appointment at 11 but it ended up being pushed back till 11:30. I also made a quick stop to my favorite bakery which is right next door. Here y/n, this is for you. This is one of their most popular items, a peanut butter and raspberry jelly croissant. I hope you like it.”

You gave her a soft smile before attempting to reach for it but Mark was quick to pull the paper bag away. “Mark—“ he took the pastry and placed it back in to the plastic bag she was holding. 

“Y/n is allergic to peanuts and she hates raspberries. Just save it for yourself and eat it later.” You looked at him in awe. Mark was always such an amazing listener. He always asked you so many questions about yourself and what you were allergic to was one of his first questions even before the two of you started dating. You found yourself warming up at the thought of how attentive he used to be whenever it came to you, but you quickly came back to your senses. He was getting married. Even if seeing him again awakened some feelings you still had for him, you couldn’t let little things like that affect you in any way. 

Hate was a very strong word. You couldn’t say you hated Mark. You could never hate him, no matter how much you wanted to. But you were disappointed in him and you didn’t know which feeling was worst. 

“Wait, how do you know—“

“We were talking about allergies before you came. Can you tell her yours, I have no clue.” 

Seeing the way the two of them were interacting made you confused. For two people who were getting married in a few months, they sure didn’t act like a couple and by the looks of it, Mark seemed irritated with her. She was completely oblivious towards his emotions, but you’ve been with him long enough to know when someone was getting on his nerves. 

How could they be getting married when it felt as if neither of them wanted to be there? It’s as if the woman on the phone and the one sitting in front of you were two completely different people. She didn’t have the excited tone in her voice like she did a few days prior and you couldn’t help but feel her fiancé had something to do with it. 

“Okay, how about we decide on the way the food will be served first? Did you guys want a buffet, or would you rather the dinner be brought to the guests?” Mark leaned back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. He was making it pretty clear that he didn’t want anything to do with the decision making, nor did he seem to care about the wedding in general. You couldn’t help but get curious about their relationship, not that it was any of your business. You were consulting them about a catering inquiry not having a couples therapy session. And what did it matter to you anyway? Mark was in your past and you planned on keeping him there at all costs. 

While you and Erica continued to go through the menu, it felt as if Mark wasn’t even there. However, you could feel his eyes on you the entire time. Your assumptions were confirmed when you turned to face him as Erica brought up what she was interested in having. 

“Maybe we could do a surf and turf? So maybe some type of meat with lobster or crab—“ You looked at Mark and your breath hitched when you saw that he was already looking at you. 

“Mark’s allergic to shellfish.” Although you looked away before either of them could respond, the smirk that rose on his face made your heart rate increase.

“Oh, really? Well, in that case we could go with salmon or maybe cod?” Mark sat upright and placed his hands on the table as if he was now interested in the conversation. The rest of the meeting ran smoothly, or so you kept trying to tell yourself. As you and Erica continued to make decisions, Mark would throw in unnecessary comments and you couldn’t help but feel as if he was doing it purposely to get under your skin. But you didn’t let it bother you in any way. You weren’t going to allow him to get to you. Not anymore. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did the two of you meet?” Once the question fell from your lips, you were quick to notice the way Mark tensed up and you were extremely curious as to why. Why did that question seem to bother him?

“Oh, well our fathers are company partners and they thought we’d be a good match for each other.” A bitter laugh fell from your lips as you ignored the fact that Erica was there and turned towards Mark.

“Still doing everything daddy tells you huh? Why am I not surprised?” He glared at you but he knew he had no right to fire back. It was the truth. The two of you were so busy in your own little stare down that you failed to notice how confused Erica now was. 

“I’m sorry, am I missing something here? Do you two know each other?” 

You gave her a sad smile and nodded in agreement. “Knew. We went to school together. That’s pretty much it. Well, I think we’re done here for today. If you have any more questions Erica or need to update the menu, feel free to call the restaurant and I’d be happy to help. Have a nice day.” 

She quietly thanked you before making her way out, however, when she noticed Mark wasn’t following after her she tugged on his wrist. “Come on Mark, we have to meet with the florist.” 

You knew there were so many things he probably wanted to say to you, but you didn’t want to hear it. This meeting was nothing but a coincidence. But you couldn’t help but feel like it was the universe trying to tell you something. Out of the hundreds and thousands of people living in your hometown, how could your ex boyfriend and his soon to be wife be your first catering client? There was no way this happened by coincidence. 

After the two of them left your office, you sank to your knees and began to cry. Why did seeing him again after three years upset you so much? Your sobs filled the room and you felt as if you couldn’t breathe. You were so caught up in crying that you failed to notice Jaebum enter the room until you were brought on to his lap. 

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Shhh, you’re fine y/n. I’m here. Everything going to be alright.” He continued to console you and gently rocked you back and forth to try and get you to calm down. He ran his fingers through your hair and placed a few soft kisses on your forehead. Not too long after he entered your office, you stopped crying and sighed in to his chest. 

“Have you ever had your heart broken before Jaebum?” The sudden question flustered the older boy and he didn’t know how to respond. 

“Y/n—“ you frowned at his worried expression. 

“That man that just left, he’s my ex boyfriend. Ironic isn’t it? I’m catering to my ex boyfriend’s wedding. This has to be a joke. Someone must’ve set me up, this is bullshit. There’s no way I can cater to his wedding. Is it too late to cancel Jaebum? I know it’s unprofessional, but look at me. I’m a fucking wreck and this was only the first meeting. What more at the actual wedding?” 

Jaebum didn’t know how to respond. It was clear that seeing Mark again was ruining you and the walls you’ve took so long to build up after your relationship ended. He didn’t know what to do or how to help you. He wasn’t aware of the situation and even if you’ve known each other for a while, he had no clue who Mark was. His heart hurt for you. Seeing you so distraught over your ex and this unfortunate situation broke his heart and all he could do was hold you as you cried. Once your sobs began to slow down, you slowly got up from off of his lap and wiped your tears before giggling softly. 

“Sorry, I ruined your uniform and I probably kept you from doing something important—“ he brought his finger up to your cheek and wiped away a few of your tears. 

“Will you stop apologizing? God, how you are still so cute after crying is beyond me. What am I going to do with you y/n? You are the strongest and most hardworking person I know. I’m sure it is a lot to take in, but you’ll be fine. We’ve had people complain about our food, compare us to other restaurants and even walk out without paying for their meals and you’ve handled each and every negative situation with so much class because that’s who you are. If you decide that you don’t want to go along with this, then you don’t have to. But the y/n I know isn’t going to let something like this get in the way of her passion. You don’t have to tell me everything, just know that I’m here for you if you need to talk. Why don’t you just call it a day y/n? I can handle it from here. Maybe go to the spa or something. Take your mind off of what went down today.” 

You shook your head in disagreement before pulling him in for a hug. “I’m a big girl Jae. Although a relaxing day at the spa sounds nice, I’ll be fine. Thank you for consoling me. I should be outside in a few, I just have to finish up with their menu.” He placed one more kiss on your forehead and gave you a sad smile before heading back to the kitchen. 

Jaebum was right, there was no way you could work without making a mistake. Thoughts of Mark were clouding you your mind. An arranged marriage. He was getting married to someone because his family set him up for it. Although you didn’t feel like you had the right to think like that, it was only natural that you did. You watched them interact. You paid attention to the way Mark looked at his fiancée in disgust. It was nothing compared to the way he would look at you. Whenever Mark looked at you, your heart would always combust. He looked at you as if you were one of the seven wonders of the world. Whenever Mark looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel like the most ethereal being he’s ever laid eyes on. 

He looked at Erica like she was scum under his toes. She didn’t seem all too happy with him either, but she was handling it better than he was. Taking Jaebum’s advice, you took off your uniform, grabbed your things and made your way towards the kitchen. As the guys heard you coming in, you noticed how quick they pulled away from the huddle they were formed in and you knew Jaebum had probably warned them about your frazzled state. 

“Hey boss, we’re ready whenever you are.” You smiled softly at Youngjae while playfully running your fingers through his soft, blue locks. 

“I’m not feeling all too well. I’m sorry guys. I’m going to call it a day if that’s okay. Jaebum is in charge, please don’t give him a hard time. If you need anything, feel free to call me. I’ll be back tomorrow. Thank you for all your hard work.” The guys nodded in agreement and said their goodbyes as you made your way towards the door. 

“Please get some rest. And don’t overthink too much. Call me if you need to okay? I’m always here for you.” You grinned up at the handsome man and gently pinched his cheek. 

“Who knew the oh so intimidating and mysterious Im Jaebum would be such a softie for little old me? Thank you again. I’ll see you tomorrow. If I come back tomorrow and the restaurants in flames, I’ll kick your ass.” His laughter filled the room and he jokingly shoved you out the door. 

For the rest of the day, you did whatever you could to take your mind off of the fact that Mark was back in your life. You thought you were over him completely. Or at least, that’s what you kept telling yourself. It was one thing to say you had no feelings for someone when they were no longer in your life. 

But now that you saw him and talked with him, the love you had for him all those years ago came rushing back. He was your first love, there was no way you could pretend that nothing ever happened between the two of you. 

A week after your extremely awkward meeting with Mark and Erica, business only increased, giving you a chance to focus on other things rather than your ex boyfriend who seemed to be clouding up your thoughts. Unfortunately, Mark took your little run in as a sign of fate. He was a realist. Like you had thought right after talking with him, there was no way this was a coincidence. Erica could have picked any catering company to reach out to but she chose your restaurant instead. 

Mark never believed in things like fate, or soulmates. But that was all before he met you. When you came in to his life, you were all his heart craved to know. You were all he longed for and everything he’s ever dreamt of. You weren’t aware of how much he regrets that night at his parents house and if he had the chance, he’d do whatever he could to go back in time to change the turn of events. He was miserable without you. Heartbreak was a foreign word to him. Since the two of you were madly in love with each other and planned to spend the rest of your lives together at one point, he didn’t think he would ever experience the pain that people claimed came with a broken heart. However, right after you got on the bus and walked out of his life, he knew you took a huge part of him with you. He hasn’t been the same since. 

He wanted to chase after you, to beg you to forgive him. He would take any beating or any negative words you threw at him because God knows he deserved it. But instead he let you go. The damage was done and he knew that even if you were to forgive him, you’d never forget what he did. He’s never been with anyone since you left. Mark knew there was no one else for him. You were it and you’d always be. Which is why he made a vow to focus on nothing but work. He took on extra shifts in attempts to get you off of his mind, but it never worked. He couldn’t stop thinking about how those words fell from your lips and slapped him across the face. 

You have nothing to worry about Mrs.Tuan, because I have no plans on marrying your son for that matter. 

Once you said those words to his mom, he knew it was over. He didn’t even have to look at you to know that you were upset and as soon as you left the table, he got up and ran out in to the yard, screaming and punching at anything in sight while kicking down both the mailbox and trash can. Mark didn’t give two shits about his family’s company, he didn’t care about their wealth or social status. He’d give it all up if it meant getting you back in his life again. He still had a hard time understanding why he didn’t just speak up and tell his family the truth. If he wasn’t such a coward, the two of you would still be together and he’d be cheering you on and giving you his endless support like he always did.

Unfortunately, Mark wasn’t like you. He didn’t have the strength or courage to go against his family and chase after his dreams like you did. He cared about what people thought about him. He didn’t want his family to be upset with him. But hearing them talk so negatively about the girl he loved more than any single one of them made him angry beyond belief. You were right. By not defending you, he chose them. Whoever said blood is thicker than water had to be an idiot. You meant more to Mark than anyone sitting at that table that night, but being the pathetic man he was, he couldn’t find it in himself to go against his mother’s wishes. 

He knew they wanted nothing but the best for him, or at least that’s what he thought. It took him years after your break up to come to terms with the fact that the Tuan’s would rather their son be miserable marrying the daughter of a wealthy business man who couldn’t give less of a shit about him other than his money, than to allow him to be with the love of his life who happened to be a chef. If they knew just how successful you and your restaurant had become, they wouldn’t have been so judge-mental towards you. 

As the years went by and Mark made it known that he had no interest in a relationship with anyone other than you, Mr.Tuan took it upon himself to find his son a bride. There was no way Mark could take control of such a big company without an equally successful woman by his side. When his father gave him the news that he was setting him up with the daughter of one of the company’s partners, Mark was floored. How could his father allow him to marry someone he never had met before let alone develop feelings for? 

Erica was a very sweet and soft spoken person and in Mark’s opinion, things could be worse. But he knew he could never look at her in a romantic way. He could never look at anyone the way he looked at you. It was his karma, but being the pushover he was, not being able to speak up against his parents, he found himself agreeing to the arranged marriage. His father kept trying to convince him that maybe somewhere along the line, the more time he spent with Erica, sooner or later he would develop some sort of feelings for her. It’s been almost a year since they started “dating” and the only skin-ship they shared between each other was the handshake that sealed the deal of their engagement. 

The word miserable couldn’t describe even half of what Mark was feeling. From the day you broke up with him up until now, he never stopped thinking about you. How you were doing, how school was treating you, how life would be like for the two of you if he just spoke up and praised you the way you deserved, if you missed him the way he missed you. If you still loved him, the way he couldn’t stop loving you. Seeing you again the other day made his heart both flutter and sink. He was meeting with you in regards to his wedding. Although you weren’t aware of the situation between him and Erica and he was sure you were moved on, a part of him felt guilty. Here he was with his fiancée, asking you to cater to their wedding. 

Not only did he feel uncomfortable being in a room with you, his ex-girlfriend and the woman he was still so madly in love with, but he was hiring you to do something his family practically laughed at you for doing. There was no way he could do that to you, but he had no choice. It took him every bone in his body not to walk behind your desk and pull you in to his embrace. 

There weren’t enough words to describe just how much he missed you. Mark didn’t think it was possible, but you were even more beautiful than when he last saw you. Your hair was longer, your eyes still had that pretty glow that he loved so much, your already petite frame got even smaller and you radiated so much confidence as you spoke. He was an idiot for letting you go and he’d never let himself live it down. 

As he made his way back to the apartment the two of you shared together, he began thinking about what to do to make things right between the two of you. Now that he knew where to find you and that there was a chance he’d get to see you a few more times, he had to do whatever he could to get you to forgive him. It was too late for you to become a couple again and he accepted that. But that didn’t mean the two of you couldn’t be friends and if that was the only way he could have you in his life, then so be it. He’d take whatever he could get. 

You could pretend as if you were unbothered by his presence, but Mark knew you like the back of his hand. Hell, he knew you just a bit more than you knew yourself. If you didn’t care about him, you wouldn’t have spoke up about his allergies, nor would you have brought up the fact that he hates artichokes. You wouldn’t have stolen glances at him the way you were when you thought he wasn’t looking. 

He saw how you smiled to yourself when he took the donut away from you and had to stop himself from blushing at the sight. He was older now and considerably more mature. Although he was still living by his parent’s rules, attempting to make his way back in to your life was a rule he was willing to break. That’s if you’d let him of course. 

When you went in to work one morning, your office was surrounded with dozens of sunflower arrangements and you knew exactly who they were from. Only one person knew how much you loved sunflowers; it was the same person who could not leave your mind. You furrowed your brows in confusion, why was he sending you flowers? Just because you had to work for him did not mean anything. You weren’t planning on reconnecting again. You just wanted the whole wedding to hurry up and be over with so that Mark would be out of your life completely and you could get your sanity back. 

Each bouquet had a card on it with different phrases and quotes you loved and you could feel warmth rising on your cheeks. You felt a tear against your cheek, but you refused to let any more fall. Did Mark think that sending you a bunch of flowers was going to fix what he broke years ago? He was getting married to someone who wasn’t you, so why was he sending you flowers? What did it mean? 

“Hey y/n, the food supplier is here—holy shit. It’s like a garden in here. These are obviously not from Jaebum, he doesn’t have the brains nor the money to think about buying all of this. Do you have a secret admirer? He must be rich. So that’s your type then huh boss? I better let Jaebum down easy—OW! For someone who claims I am your favorite, you always seem to show your affection through abuse. My bruise from the soup ladle you whacked me with is still healing you know!” 

You rolled your eyes before throwing on your apron and motioned the blue haired boy out of the room. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with Jackson and BamBam these days Youngjae. You’ve been exceptionally nosy and I hate that those two losers corrupted my sweet little line cook in to a monster. Don’t worry about the flowers, worry about the vegetables that need chopping. Shoo.” 

He playfully frowned while exiting and closed the door behind him. You couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he remembered what your favorite flowers are. Every Valentine’s Day and birthday you celebrated together, no matter what gift he gave you, he’d always give you a bouquet of sunflowers. There was one bouquet that you had yet to read the letter attached and since curiosity got the best of you, you found yourself reading it. 

“I don’t care what you think, I know it’s fate that brought us together again. You don’t have to forgive me if you don’t want to, but since we’ll be seeing each other every so often, it wouldn’t hurt to be civil. Give me a call when you get the chance.-MT” 

You released a frustrated sigh before plopping down in your chair. This man was going to be the death of you. As your mind began to have an internal argument with your heart, you found yourself reaching for your phone and sent him a quick text, thanking him for the flowers and asking him when he was free. Sure, there was no going back to what used to be; but he had a point. You couldn’t keep acting so cold towards him. The obvious animosity between the two of you which was more so on your part wasn’t going to make things any easier. He was quick to respond, letting you know that he was willing to meet right now if you were free in which you found yourself agreeing to. 

There were red flags going off in your head, but you didn’t care. It’s not like he’d be able to hurt you again, there was no chance of getting back together. Once the wedding was over, he’d be a married man and the two of you would go back to being strangers again. It bothered you that you were upset at the thought of no longer seeing him once this was all done but deep down you knew it was the fifteen year old girl who fell in love with Mark all those years ago that was making the decision for you. 

“Y/n, where did you move the first aid kit? Yugyeom’s dumb ass cut his finger again—wow. Are you giving up cooking to pursue decorating flower arrangements?” You shoved the older boy before removing your apron and reaching for your bag. 

“I have to meet up with someone. Can you let Jaebum know? I should be back in an hour. Thanks Jinyoung.” Before he could open his mouth to say anything, you were making your way out of the restaurant. You began feeling nervous, but at the same time a part of you felt happy to see him again and you hated yourself for feeling that way. 

He asked you to meet him at a coffee shop the two of you would always frequent back when you were together. He chose that place on purpose, you were sure of it. First the sunflowers, now your favorite cafe you haven’t been to since the breakup. He was trying to get you to reminisce on what once was and you weren’t going to allow yourself to fall for it. After pulling up to the shop and parking your car, you made your way in to the coffee shop and it didn’t take long for you to see him sitting in the corner. You walked over towards him and your heart warmed when a smile rose on his face as soon you made eye contact with each other. 

“Hey! I’m not taking you out of work or anything am I?” You shook your head in disagreement and took a seat. You’d be lying to yourself if you said he didn’t look good. He was growing out his hair and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him doing it for you. Mark would always complain about how his hair would get in his eyes once it grew a certain length but you made sure he was aware of how much his long hair would turn you on. At one point, his hair went past his neck and that’s when you decided it was time he got a haircut. The memory made you smile to yourself. 

“I ordered your usual if that’s okay. If you’re not in to ice caramel macchiatos with coconut milk anymore I can go change it—“ he stood up but you motioned for him to sit back down. It was so cute how flustered he was acting towards you. Were you really in a relationship with this man for over seven years? He was acting as if it was your first date all over again. 

“That’s fine Mark. It sounds really good actually. I haven’t been here for quite a while. I’m glad to see it hasn’t changed a bit.” The two of you sat in silence for a few moments and you tried to look around the room in attempts to feel less awkward until he spoke up. 

“I’m sorry.” 

You looked up at him in curiosity and decided to stay silent as he continued. “I’m very grateful you agreed to meet up with me. I don’t deserve to be here with you right now and I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but you didn’t let me explain myself at the bus stop—“ 

Why did he feel like this was a good environment to talk about your failed relationship? You were sure he knew you were probably going to cry, so why did he want to talk about such a sensitive topic in the public? “Mark—“ timing always seemed to be on your side. The waitress came over and gave you both your drinks all the while handing you a cranberry scone. You could feel your throat getting dry as your tears began to form. This was all too much for you to handle but you didn’t want to cause a scene, so you quietly thanked the waitress and kept your eyes on the table. 

“Erica and I, I’m sure you’re aware of it. You’ve always been so good at observing people. We’re not an actual couple. My father set me up for an arranged marriage with her in order to strengthen our companies together. I haven’t been in a relationship since our break up and because of this, my father took matters in to his own hands and being the weakling I am, I agreed to go along with it. But I hate it y/n. The meeting we had the other day was the first time I’ve seen her in months and she’s taking this whole arrangement better than I am but I’m sure she’s just as upset if not more with her father. I haven’t been treating her too kindly and it’s not her fault that this is happening, but you and I both know I don’t want to spend my life with anyone other than you. It’s always been you y/n. I meant what I said when I told you we were soulmates.”

You took a sip of your drink, but you didn’t have much of an appetite the more he continued to talk. As much as you didn’t think you could continue listening to him confess his feelings for you, you wanted to hear what he had to say. Which is why you found yourself still sitting in front of him instead of running out like you probably would have if he did something like this right after your break up. 

“I should’ve stood up to my parents, and told them how proud I was of you. How proud I am of you. Look at you. You’re one of the most youngest and extremely successful chefs in the country. You have your own restaurant and achieved everything you said you were going to do. You’re such a wonderful human being y/n and I hate myself for humiliating you and making you feel worthless. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m still so fucking in love with you and it fucking sucks because it’s my fault we’re like this. I don’t know how you feel about me, you could hate my guts for all I know but I deserve it. It’s obvious there’s no way we can be together again and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to get back with me even if there was a chance for us. But I have to go through with this wedding and I think this is my karma. I have to spend the rest of my life being miserable because of the choice I made that night. You have to admit though, meeting up again after all of these years is fate.” He scratched the back of his neck, something he always did when he felt as if he was upsetting you. 

“I’m not going to lie, I found myself searching you up on several occasions to see how you were doing, to see if you accomplished what you put yourself out to do. There were so many times I found myself standing outside of your restaurant, but I didn’t think I deserved to come in. When Erica told me where she was planning on getting the food from, I felt a tad bit excited at the thought of seeing you again. I’ve missed you so much y/n. I can’t even describe how painful it was to lose you. The day I let you walk away was the worst day of my life. If I could go back to that night and did what I should’ve done, I would.” 

You scoffed in disbelief. “But you can’t Mark. The damage is done, so take it for what it is. You didn’t love or care for me enough to think that something like this would happen. You should have known that you would have to choose between me and your family and you chose them. You knew how becoming a chef was my one and only dream; that’s why you supported it. When your mom laughed in my face and tried to make me feel pathetic for wanting to be a chef, it felt like a slap in the face and I didn’t care how much I loved you. I wouldn’t have given up my career to impress your family or to find another job that would make me miserable just to be good enough for you.” You clenched your jaw and could feel your anger building up. You were afraid of saying something you would soon regret if you were to stay a little while longer.

“I tried telling myself that it was hard for you, to choose between your mom and I, but if I were in your shoes, I would’ve chose you. I would’ve done anything for you Mark. I didn’t care about anyone or anything other than my passion for cooking and you. You were all that I thought I could ever need. So that’s why I was devastated when you didn’t seem to have the same mindset that I had. I don’t know what you wanted to come out of our meeting today and I’m sorry if you thought that by apologizing, I would magically end up back in your arms again. It doesn’t work that way Mark. I think it’s best for us to pretend as if we don’t know each other. You’re just another client to me. What we had was indescribably beautiful, but it is no longer. Nor will it ever be again. I’m sorry you’re being forced in to marriage, but you do have a say in it. You just can’t go against your parents wishes. You’re a grown man Mark. Not everything your parents want for you is what’s best for you. It’s okay to choose yourself sometimes. Thank you for the coffee and the scone. Have a nice rest of your day.” 

You ran out of the cafe and quickly got in to your car before you could react to the whole interaction and soon your sobs echoed throughout your car. 

I’m still so fucking in love with you. 

Out of everything he said, those words stuck with you. They were haunting you and you knew you still loved him too. There was no doubt about it. But there was nothing either of you could do about it. He was getting married and with the way he was allowing himself to go through with it, you knew he’d continue doing whatever he could to please his parents. You refused to be with someone who wouldn’t stand their ground when the situation called for it. Instead of returning back to the restaurant, you made your way home. There was no way you could work without breaking down and crying. 

You texted Jaebum and let him know of your plans in which he was quick to offer to head to your place once he was finished. But you didn’t want to burden him with your problems and you wanted to be alone. Mark reached out to you, apologizing for pulling such a stunt and accepting the fact that the two of you weren’t going to be what you used to be. As the months went by, the wedding date only got closer and closer and to your surprise, you and Mark became friends. 

After that day in the coffee shop, he gave you your space and didn’t hear from him unless he had to call you about the wedding. However, there was one night he called you in the wee hours of the morning and you couldn’t help but answer the call. He never used to wake you up with a phone call unless it was urgent and when you heard him crying over the phone, you knew it was serious. Mark was infamous for having panic attacks and he made it known to you that you were the only one who could get him to calm down. 

He knew he was taking advantage of having your number, and he was selfish for wanting to call you. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop crying unless he heard your voice and that’s exactly why he dialed your number. You did your best to console him softly and soothingly and after a few moments, his sobs finally stopped. Hearing him so weak and fragile broke your heart and you decided to forget about everything negative for a little while in order to focus on him. 

You loved this man for a huge chunk of your life; you weren’t going to allow him to suffer on his own if there was something you could do about it. After that night, you let him know that he could find solace in you whenever he needed to. It didn’t take long for the two of you to start talking to each other on a daily basis and you finally accepted the fact that you were falling back in love with him. However, as soon as you felt yourself gaining back your feelings for him, you had to remind yourself that he was going to be a married man in less than a month. 

Although he wasn’t romantically involved with Erica, he was hers legally. You and Mark were stuck in your own little world that you failed to notice your surroundings and what was going on around you. The closer you got with Mark, the more distant you became with Jaebum and you knew it had to deal with the fact that he had feelings for you. 

You liked Jaebum, there was no questioning your feelings for him. But the love you had for Mark was strong, too fierce for you to look at anyone else in the way you looked at him. If you and Jaebum were meant to be more than friends, something would’ve happened between the two of you a long time ago.

Jaebum didn’t know that Mark was the one you were constantly sneaking around to meet with, but he knew there was someone who was currently taking up all the space in your mind and possibly your heart. You didn’t realize how serious things were getting between the two of you until Erica asked to schedule a meeting with you. She never really worried about anything considering your catering share of the wedding and if she did, she would normally call you. So you were curious as to why she was wanting to meet in person. When she entered your office, she had a blank expression on her face and you were quick to notice the way her brows were furrowing as if something was on her mind. You were surprised when the question fell from her lips. 

“Please be honest with me. From one woman to another, you and Mark. You weren’t just classmates, were you?” 

You began to chew on your bottom lip and took a deep breath in before responding. “Did he tell you something?” 

She shook her head. “No. That’s why I’m here, asking you. His dad told my dad that he thinks Mark is secretly seeing someone. Apparently Mark’s been in a very good mood lately and I couldn’t help but notice it happened right after our meeting. Please let me know if there’s anything going on between the two of you so that I can cancel this whole thing. I don’t know what your relationship is like, but I don’t want to go along with marrying him if someone else is in the picture.” 

You began nervously picking at your nails and couldn’t look at her in the eyes. Although you knew that her and Mark weren’t actually together, you couldn’t help but feel guilty. But you didn’t understand why. It’s not like you and Mark were seeing each other. The two of you were just friends. However, she did have a right to worry about Mark interacting with another woman, even if you weren’t together romantically. If word got out that he was having an affair, both his and her father’s companies would receive a lot of backlash. So you could see why she wanted to know. 

“Mark and I were in a relationship almost four years ago. But I promise you, there’s nothing going on between us. What he and I had was in the past. We’re friends, but that’s all we’re going to be. However, if you don’t want to go through with the wedding, do it for yourself. Mark told me about the arrangement. You shouldn’t have to get married to someone you don’t want to marry for the sake of your father’s company. You’re still so young, I’m sure there are many men out there—“ 

She frowned. “You don’t understand how this works do you? Our engagement is already out in the public. Hundreds of businessmen invested in to both our companies because of it. We can’t stop the wedding for no reason y/n. Mark and I may not be a couple and we both probably will never have whatever it is the two of you once had. But he and I both were groomed to take over our companies one day and we are both responsible for making decisions that will benefit our businesses. Whether we like it or not. I’m asking you now, for the sake of your business and ours. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I won’t hesitate to take your restaurant down if you do get in the way of our wedding. If you know what’s best for you, leave my fiancée alone. I’ve also decided that we will no longer be needing your services. Thank you for your time.” 

With that, she took her bag and stormed out of the room, leaving you speechless. You sank lower in to your seat and your heart felt as if it was going to jump out of your chest. Erica was a very polite woman, but hearing her threaten your restaurant made your blood boil. You had no intentions of getting in the way of her and Mark’s wedding and if anything, it was him who was instigating everything between the two of you. 

As much as you cared for Mark, if you continued being friends with him, both you and him would suffer the consequences. It wasn’t Erica that you were afraid of. She was all words, you knew she was just trying to scare you. You were however, afraid of what both her father and Mark’s father were capable of doing if they did find out about your friendship with your ex. You teared up at the thought of losing him again; you were getting used to his presence and having him around, now you were going to lose him permanently. However, that’s what was best for the two of you. You typed out multiple texts, letting him know that you could no longer be friends with him, but you found yourself deleting the messages all-together. 

You couldn’t do it, you couldn’t lose him. Then the thought of your restaurant, your employees and all that you’ve been through to get to where you were ran through your mind and that’s why you told Mark that you could not continue your friendship and that you were no longer going to be catering to his wedding. As soon as you sent the text, you sank to your knees and cried for what felt like hours. It seemed as if every time you cried at work, Mark was the reason. 

You heard a soft knock at the door and you were too distraught to ask whoever was knocking to leave you alone. When Jaebum made his way in to the room, it all felt like deja vu. Just a few months ago, he was consoling you over Mark coming back in to your life. Now here he was, rocking you back and forth at the thought of losing Mark. He didn’t say anything and continued to run his fingers through your hair as your tears kept flowing down your cheeks. When Jaebum realized that you were no longer heaving, he motioned for you to look up at him.

“It’s because of that guy Mark again isn’t it?” You shyly nodded in agreement and Jaebum sighed. “Does it have to deal with his engagement, or is it personal?” You began to contemplate telling him exactly what just went down between you and Erica just a few minutes ago. As your main sous chef and best friend, he had the right to know. 

“Erica no longer wants us to cater to their wedding and it’s because she thinks Mark and I are having an affair.” You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. You could feel Jaebum frown against your neck but you didn’t want to act upon it. 

“I know you y/n, you’re not the type of person to do something like that. Or at least that’s what I’d like to think. But is her assumptions true? Are you and Mark back together again?” You were quick to disagree. You didn’t think your friendship with Mark was going to get in the way of their marriage, but if Erica was willing to cut you off from catering to the wedding, then it was probably serious. After taking a few minutes to get yourself together, you explained everything to Jaebum. From the time you and Mark started dating, to the night of his parents anniversary. Then you updated him on how the two of you became friends again and he just sat there as you talked like the amazing listener he was. When he felt like you were done going in to detail about the mess you were in, he spoke up. 

“You don’t still have any feelings for him, do you?” He took your silence as your answer and released a frustrated sigh. He wasn’t upset with the fact that you gained feelings for your ex boyfriend. It was inevitable. No matter what happened between the two of you and no matter how long you’ve been apart from each other, you could never forget your first love. Just like you, Jaebum was afraid of taking things further with you just in case it didn’t work out between the two of you. 

He wanted you in his life whatever way he’d be able to have you, even if it meant just being your best friend. For the three years he’s known you for, there was always a part of you that you hid from the world, including himself. He knew something must’ve happened to you prior to becoming friends with you, but he never wanted to ask about it. Seeing the way you reacted right after your first meeting with Mark answered pretty much all of his questions and he knew that there was a chance you were still in love with Mark. Jaebum was there for you through it all. 

He’s seen you at your lowest points, and he’s been with you through your highest. He was completely aware that you were such a tough person with a good head on your shoulders. However, after seeing you so fragile, so broken over what had just happened made him worry that not even he could fix you.

“Y/n.” You looked up at him with the saddest look on your face and Jaebum swore his heart broke in that very moment. “If it’s meant to be, it will be. Okay? Love will always find a way. You said so yourself, they’re in an arranged marriage and he’s told you multiple times that he’s still in love with you. If he loves you like he claims he does, then he’ll do whatever he has to do to make things right. Even if it means finally standing up to his parents and backing out of the wedding. If he can’t do that, then it’s obvious he doesn’t deserve you. And I’m telling you right now, if he ends up breaking your heart again y/n, I won’t hesitate to kick his ass.” 

You giggled softly in to his chest before placing a chaste kiss there. You honestly don’t know what you’d do without Jaebum. Your life was so much easier with him in it. Once he felt like you were completely calmed down, he stood up and brought you up with him. He snickered at your tear stained face and placed some of your hair behind your ear. 

“Come on, put on your big girl shoes and let’s get cooking. The guys and I feel as if we hardly see you nowadays and I know Mr.CEO has a lot to do with it. I hope he knows that the six of us will always be your favorite men. I’m obviously the number one man in your life.” You playfully pinched his cheek and put your hair up while Jaebum helped you with your apron. 

You tried your best to focus on cooking and the jokes the guys kept making throughout the day, but you couldn’t help the fact that your mind kept wandering to Mark. Did he get your message? Did Erica talk to him? How did he feel when you told him you could no longer be apart of his life anymore? The day felt as if it was dragging on and you couldn’t wait for it to be over with. Luckily, many customers seemed to come in, giving you a chance to focus on something other than Erica and Mark. Once it was time to close, you made a beeline for your phone and frowned when you saw all the missed calls and text messages from Mark. 

You weren’t ready to hear what he had to say, so you shoved your phone in your bag and packed up your things in order to go home. As you were walking towards the kitchen, you felt a gentle tug on your wrist. 

“I know you’re probably going to overthink if you go home tonight and as much as you want to be by yourself, maybe it’s best if you slept over my place. Just for tonight. We could watch a movie and I’ll make you some ramen. I’ll even give you my favorite hoodie that you love so much. Please? I hate the thought of you suffering alone. We can even steal some ice cream from the freezer.” 

You smirked in response, causing his grin to widen. “Fine. You had me at your hoodie. And ramen. Thank you Jaebum. You’re truly amazing you know that?” He playfully wiggled his brows at you. 

“Oh I know. I’m a catch. I hope you know I wouldn’t do this kind of thing for anyone else. Jackson still complains that he has yet to see my apartment. You’re special y/n and you mean a lot to me.” You were sure he could see the blush that rose upon your cheeks, but he didn’t say anything as he took your bags and led you to his car. 

The drive to his place was quiet, other than the soft jazz playing on the radio; but you liked it. It was a peaceful and calming kind of silence. Most of your rides with Jaebum would consist of loud music as the two of you would sing along to at the top of your lungs, but Jaebum knew that’s not what you needed right now. Once he pulled in to his complex, he walked over to your side and helped you out. Sometimes, you found yourself wondering how your life would be like if you and Jaebum were to end up together. 

He was quite the gentleman, he knew exactly what to do to make you laugh and smile like an idiot, he took such good care of you and wanted nothing but the best for you. However, your heart always belong to Mark and over the years, you continued holding on to a tiny string of hope that he would come to his senses one day and finally choose you. 

After entering his apartment, he quickly made his way to his room to get you something to wear as you took your place on his couch. You decided against looking at your phone for the rest of the night just because you didn’t want to ruin your time with Jaebum. The thought of losing Mark permanently sent an upsetting feeling to your stomach and you were sure he was doing his best to get in touch with you in order to prevent you from doing so. But there wasn’t anything you could do. The ball was in his court now. If he wanted it to be different this time, it was all up to him. 

“Here. I got you some sweats too if that’s okay.” You smiled politely at him and followed him to the kitchen where he began cooking dinner for the both of you. The night was spent eating everything his fridge had to offer while watching the first three Star Wars movies. He pulled you close to him and had his arm wrapped around your shoulder throughout the entirety of the night. You’ve always felt so safe in Jaebum’s arms and you were afraid of how lost you’d feel if you no longer had him around. 

Everyone and their mothers knew that Jaebum harbored feelings for you, it was painfully obvious and the guys made it known almost every day. You were afraid that knowing you were trying to mend your relationship with Mark would only ruin your friendship with Jaebum. If you had to choose between the two of them, you know you’d choose Jaebum. 

Mark chose his family that night, but Jaebum always chose you no matter the circumstance. When you called him and asked him to come work for you, he already had many offers on the table from well known restaurants that he’s never told you about, but he agreed to you in a heartbeat. When his ex girlfriend at the time didn’t approve of his friendship with you and had him choose between you and her, he broke up with her the following morning. 

In the first month after your restaurant opening, you hardly had any customers and you were so embarrassed. You didn’t know what to do. It came to a point where you wanted to give it all up, but the man whose arms were currently wrapped around you never let you do so. Jaebum had always known you were destined for greatness. You were the most hard working and passionate person he knew; so he did his best to put your restaurant on the map by handing out fliers, putting ads online and even handing out free samples to people. It didn’t take long for customers to start coming in and no matter how many times you’ve thanked him for making your restaurant what it was, he made sure you knew it was all because of your talent and determination. 

Your heart cried for the older boy. You wished you could return the same feelings for him. However, even if Mark didn’t come back in to your life, you were sure a relationship between you and Jaebum wouldn’t blossom. The two of you have known each other for too long to put your friendship at risk if something negative were to happen. 

You didn’t even realize you fell asleep on his shoulder during revenge of the sith nor did you feel the soft kiss that was placed against your lips as he placed you gently on to his bed. When you woke up the next morning, it took you a few seconds to recognize where you were; but you’ve slept over Jaebum’s apartment countless times to know you were in his room. The navy blue bed sheets and cream walls suited him. So did the Bart Simpson poster on the wall. You made your way out in to the living room and frowned when you noticed he wasn’t there. It was then that you realized what time it was and began to freak out. Did you really sleep until 11:30? It was practically already lunch time and you were about to lose your mind until you noticed the post-it note waiting for you on the counter. 

“Hey, I’m not too sure when you’ll read this and knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m home by the time you actually get up. I went to work. I didn’t want to wake you, you deserve a break after everything you’ve went through yesterday. I’ve prepared you some breakfast, it’s sitting in the microwave. You kept stealing all the blanket last night by the way, so you owe me one. Rest up and I’ll see you later. Have a nice rest of your morning..or afternoon.-JB” 

you smiled at his words before eating your breakfast and deciding to head back to your place. You didn’t want to take advantage of Jaebum’s generosity and you really wanted to take a shower. Since he was the one to drive you over to his place, you called for an Uber and patiently waited for it to arrive. 

In that moment, you took out your phone and finally began to read Mark’s texts and listened to the voicemails he left. As soon as you heard his muffled cries, you began tearing up yourself. He sounded extremely devastated. He had just gotten you back in to his life and he knew he was slowly gaining back your trust. There was no way he was going to lose you that easily. Mark knew what had to be done in order to win back your love completely and even if it took him years of being away from you and crying over you to come to this point, he was prepared to give up everything for you. 

His texts were filled with apologies but it seemed as if he didn’t know what to do either. There was no way he would stop being friends with you, but he too was afraid of what his father was capable of. Throughout the entire ride, you felt numb. You couldn’t think. Sure, you could beg and plead for Mark to leave you alone even if you both knew that’s not what you wanted. But you knew Mark, he wasn’t going to give up that easily. You just weren’t sure of what he had planned or how far he was willing to go for you. 

After the driver dropped you off to your building, it took all your energy to drag your body to the elevator. Your fingers hovered over his contact multiple times. It was selfish of you and you knew that you’d only make things worse by trying to reach out to him after telling him to leave you alone. However, the slumped figure that was sitting on your welcome mat made your head spin. Not knowing how long he’s been waiting there for, you found yourself running towards him and he was quick to lift his head up at the sound of your shoes against the concrete. 

Once his eyes landed on yours, he got up from his spot on the ground and didn’t hesitate to pull you in his arms. You felt so relieved yet extremely nervous to see him. What was he doing there? Was he not afraid of the consequences if Erica were to find out he continued to stay in contact with you? You felt tears against your neck as his grip on your waist only tightened. 

“Mark, what are you doing here? How long have you been waiting for?” You opened the door to your apartment and pulled him in, not noticing that he had yet to respond. Before you could ask any more questions walk any further, he turned you to face him and hesitantly brought his hand up to your cheek. “Mark—“ when you felt his lips against yours, it’s as time stopped and the room began to spin in slow motion. 

You knew it was wrong, but you’ve missed the sensation of his lips on yours. It felt so foreign, yet all too familiar and you didn’t realize how much you craved the taste of his lips until you deepened the kiss. Things began getting hot and heavy between the two of you, after not having each other like this in so long your bodies were reacting desperately and hearing his sweet moans sent warmth to your core. Unfortunately, red flags began to go off in your mind, causing you to pull away. He knew you were confused by the dazed look on your face so before you could say anything, he spoke up. 

“I quit today.” You looked up at him in shock. What exactly did he mean? He giggled at your blank expression before stealing one more kiss. 

“I’m assuming Erica confronted you and threatened you. She told me she went to see you and I knew something was up when she said she was no longer in need of your services. She began to belittle you and said rude things about you and I couldn’t take it so I stormed out of the conference room at her dad’s company and made my way to my family’s company. That’s also around the same time I got your messages and I was pissed. I know I don’t deserve it; I don’t deserve you, but I just got you back in my life. This is the happiest I’ve been in a really long time. There’s no way I was going to lose you again. Not if there was anything I could do about it. I made my way up to my dad’s office and let my heart do the talking. I told him I was resigning and refused to go on with the wedding.” 

He smiled gently at you and playfully booped your nose. “I chose you, something I should’ve done three years ago. My dad was furious and even started cussing at me. I’m pretty sure I’m disowned by my family now, but I don’t care. You’re all the family that I could ever need. I know, you probably think I’m insane for doing something so abrupt and not putting more thought in to it and I did it without even knowing how you feel. I don’t know whether or not you’d want to be with me. I can only hope and pray that you’ll take me back. Even if you decide that it’s too late for us, I don’t regret my decision one bit. In choosing you, I also chose myself. I don’t know why I allowed the wedding plans to get this far. I just felt like I deserved it I guess.”

He gently placed his forehead against yours and grazed your wrist with his thumb. “The thought of you made me realize that I’m so much more than what my parents want me to be. As much as I hated not having you in my life, maybe we needed this. I mean, I needed it. I learned my lesson. I’m a grown ass man, I have the right to make my own decisions. Even if it means going against my parent’s wishes. There’s so many opportunities I missed out on because it wasn’t something they would’ve been proud of. But I don’t give a shit about what they want anymore. It took me years to come to the realization that they couldn’t give two shits about my happiness yet I was so willing to do anything and everything they asked of me. I wanted to be the perfect son and I lost both you and myself in the process. Fucked up isn’t it?” 

You could feel him tense up at the thought of all he’s been through and you found yourself gently caressing his arms in attempts to calm him down. “You don’t have to say anything, I know it’s a lot to take in. It was a lot for me. I came here as soon as I left the company. I needed to see you and tell you everything. I’m screwed, honestly. I don’t have a college degree nor do I have much experience, but that’s not my main focus right now. I’ll worry about all of that later. You. You’re all that matters right now. I’m all yours if you’ll have me y/n. I can’t give you much. I can no longer provide for you in the ways that I used to be able to. But I can give you my mind, body, heart and soul. I’ll support you, care for you, love you. Do whatever you need me to do. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. I built thick skin during the time we were apart. I truly believe that God, for whatever reason that I will be forever grateful for, brought us together again and I couldn’t let you get away this time. I love you y/n and I’m sorry. I know that my apologies probably don’t mean anything to you, but I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I’m deserving of you and your love. That you’re all I could ever dream of. I’m going to do whatever I can to gain your trust again. We’ll take things at your pace y/n, that is if you decide you’re willing to come back to me.” 

For months after your breakup, you found yourself crying and getting drunk almost every single day in order to prevent your mind from wandering to him. It took you almost an entire year to come to terms with your breakup. You tried your best to lie to yourself, telling yourself that you hated him. That he was never man enough for you. That you deserved better. You made a promise to yourself that if Mark were to ever come back and beg you to return to him, you wouldn’t give in. 

However, the handsome man standing in front of you was different than the boy who failed to put you before his family. He was more mature, he finally realized his worth and no longer cared about what anyone other than you had to think about him. It took a long time, but you were over the moon to hear his sudden confession. You were glad he was aware that you deserved better. But you didn’t want better. You wanted Mark. For as long as time would permit you to have him for. Seeing the way he was looking at you with so much love and admiration in his gaze is the reason you found yourself reconnecting your lips together. You could only hope that he could feel the love you had for him through the kiss and as he smiled against the corner of your lips, you knew your message was received. 

“I love you too Mark. So much. I wish I could say I stopped, only because I was so upset with you. But I never stopped and I know I never will. You own this pathetic heart of mine. I know I deserve better, but I also know that you’re not the same person you were three years ago. I’m so proud of you for building up the courage and putting your foot down. God, you have such a way with words. I really don’t know how to respond to all of that. I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry you had to sacrifice practically your entire life for me, but I’m extremely happy you did. Like you said, you didn’t do it just for me, you did it for yourself too. I know it will be hard for you to start from scratch, but you’ve never failed to make me proud in all that you’ve accomplished. I’m sure you’ve gained a lot of knowledge working at the company. You could go to college and get your degree in architecture and maybe even start your own company. I’ll be by your side the entire time and I’ll help you in any way possible.” 

You smiled up widely at him and giggled when you saw tears form at his eyes. “You were always so sensitive, come here my crybaby.” You brought him towards your living room and laid on your couch, brining him down with you. He placed his head against your chest and began leaving soft kisses along your jaw. 

“You’re perfect, you know that? Thank you for taking me back baby. You won’t regret it.” To your dismay, he got up off of you and as you were about to complain about the loss of warmth, he threw you over his shoulder and playfully slapped your cute little butt. 

“Mark! What are you doing?!” He laughed as he made his way to what he thought was your bedroom. 

“Three years. I went three years without you and your beautiful body. I haven’t had sex in three years y/n, I’m sure I could be considered a born again virgin. I’m sex deprived, hell, I don’t even know if this thing still works. Give it a try babe. Don’t look at me like that. We have a lot to make up for, so be prepared. Why don’t you take out all your built up anger you’ve built up over the years and dom me princess—OW. Yes, I love the aggressiveness—okay I don’t find that kinky at all—will you stop that?” He threw you down on your bed and jumped on top of you. Your hands made their way in to his hair and gently tugged on it, earning yourself an erotic moan. 

Mark began leaving kisses all around your face before making his way down towards where you needed him the most. As he began nipping and sucking on your chest, he suddenly pulled away, earning himself a glare. However, his next words made your cheeks warm. “Thank you for coming back to me baby. This is only the beginning of our forever. Aw babe, don’t start getting emotional on me now. I was just seconds away from eating your pretty pussy and fucking your brains out—okay. You’re definitely gonna get it.” 

Before he could go any further, you cupped his chin with your fingers and made eye contact with him. “I love you Mark Tuan.” He kissed you passionately, as if his life depended on it before grinding himself in to your thigh. “I love you more y/n. Don’t you ever forget it.”

[dfcfanfics]

A Big Ol' Season Four Plot Bunny For You To Raise: Miraculous Prompt of the Day

So... here we are. Truth has aired. Lies has aired. In an imaginary show with Serial Storytelling Continuity, which is not something Miraculous is particularly known for, where ought we to go from here?

The first tentative attempt at actual romance for both Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste... didn't go quite as either of them had intended, both with whom they gave it a try with and how it ended up. Needless to say, this brings on a lot of emotions in each of them, and as much as certain friends of theirs would like to see newly-single-again classmates hook up... neither one of them is ready for that.

- - -

Marinette knows that Adrien and Kagami broke up... but no matter what Alya may think, that doesn't mean that it's time to make her move on him. Quite the opposite, in fact. To move on Adrien now would likely put a major strain on her friendship with Kagami... making her think that Marinette might have been undermining things behind her back to get Adrien for herself, which is the last thing Marinette wants her to believe. (Largely because it isn't true.) She is second-guessing herself over how things ended with Luka... here was a boy who was sweet, caring, sensitive, eager to please and very much into her, and she couldn't find a way to make that work due to everything else in her life. So how can she even think about going after the boy she gets tongue-tied around on the regular? And, most importantly... all of the stresses and responsibilities that torpedoed Lukanette are still right there in her life. Breaking up with Luka was hard enough for her to do... but if she tried to start something with Adrien and then broke _his_ heart as well... that would destroy her.

But she is seeing Adrien moping around, obviously unhappy, weathering the strain of all that's going on his life, and she knows one thing for sure...

He needs a friend. A GOOD friend. Someone to comfort him, to be his anchor, to be the best friend they can possibly be to him.

That may be all that he's ever wanted from me... and if that's what he needs from me, he's damned sure going to get it.

- - -

All things considered... Adrien isn't any happier with his situation. His default response to most problems is "what did I do to cause this"; the fact that he _does_ bear some responsibility for Adrigami not working out makes that weigh all the more upon him. He thinks about all the other couples in his peer group, and how most of them seem perfectly stable... and his brain spends far too many cycles trying to work out what made him incapable of that.

There is a certain pretty classmate, sitting right in back of him, who might seem like a good choice for an emotional rebound... but Adrien can't do that to her. She's told him, straight to his face on multiple occasions, that she doesn't think of him romantically. Whenever the subject even comes up, she reacts awkwardly... and causing one of his favorite people emotional distress just eats away at Adrien. Some Stormy Weather 2-era thoughts do cross his mind... the unsigned Valentine that he's now sure was from her, for instance... and she DOESN'T have Luka now, as he was sure that she did then. But the last thing he'd want to do is pressure Marinette, who is amazing but can be a little fragile at times, with something that he's sure that she doesn't want.

But he watches her every day in school, and it's obvious to him... Marinette is hurting. She's being stretched thin by something in her life, and it's wearing on her, and her normal good cheer and pleasant smile just don't seem to want to show up very often any more. And he knows one thing for sure...

That girl needs a friend. A GOOD friend. Someone to comfort her, someone she can rely upon, someone to be the best friend they can possibly be to her.

And maybe that's all that she'll ever want from me... but I'll always want to be what it is that she needs most.

- - -

And so... a friendship finally begins to blossom properly. When Adrien begins asking Marinette if she'd like to walk and talk for a bit, if he could hang out with her after school, if she'd like to come over and spend a little time with him at his house... at first, Marinette is more than a little bit startled and hesitant. Her friends think that Adrien is finally making his move on her... but his words don't seem to match up with what Adrien tells her when they're alone. He seems genuine about simply wanting to know her better, to wipe out whatever awkwardness that he thinks he's caused in the past... and, lord, she thinks, he needs someone to connect to and he's reaching out to her and how can she not respond to that?

And, slowly, the two become largely inseparable. They eat lunch together, they spend what little free time they have together, they text and call each other at night... the yin has finally met the yang, and this time they fit together perfectly. If you were to ask either one of them, of course, "we're NOT a couple" would be what you'd hear... because neither one even brings up the subject of romance or kissing or officially dating. But anyone watching the two of them together couldn't possibly imagine either of them dating anyone else.

Not to mention that, when Akumas threaten and they need to make a quick escape and an unexplained disappearance... Marinette and Adrien soon discover that each other might be the ONLY people that seem just as evasive as they are. When danger appears, they don't face twenty questions when they need to separate OR when they get back. Not that they don't care about each other's welfare... more like that neither one seems to want to push the question of "where did you go and what did you do" very hard, as long as the other ends up okay.

And THAT is a major comfort for both of them.

- - -

It doesn't take THAT long, however... for Adrien to find himself wanting more. He had found himself attracted to nervous, tongue-tied, awkward Marinette over time; relaxed, chatty, comfortable friend Marinette starts taking up more and more space in his dreams each night. He's conscious that he's missed out on what might've been opportunity for this to happen "for real"... but he can feel their closeness growing daily. He can't be the only one who feels it, right? Maybe she's got some feelings slowly growing... just like he knows that his are?

He pulls Alya aside one afternoon, feeling desperate, and asks her... has Marinette ever hinted to HER that she's had romantic feelings for him? And Alya hesitates momentarily... but sees the opening that might FINALLY bring the two of them together, and spills. Of _course_ she has, she says. She's been crazy about you since the second day you met. She's nervous around you because she likes you that much, and she always has. She kept pulling back because she was always sure that you would say "no." How could you not tell any of that, you dum-dum?

And, so... Adrien begins to slowly escalate things. A "let's hang out after school" invite becomes "would you like to join me for dinner at my house?", and then "what are you doing Saturday night?" Friendly hugs begin to linger, just a little bit. Marinette sees a light in Adrien's eyes that wasn't there before... and it's a light that she's desperately wanted to see, a spark that filled her own dreams for over a year, the answer to her prayers.

But... her internal nightmares haven't gone away. She's still Ladybug, she's still the Guardian, she's still playing zookeeper for a menagerie of Kwamis that are more than a headache to manage sometimes. She's still stressed, she's still being pulled thin... and she's still got that vision in her head of starting things with Adrien, them falling apart just like they did with Luka... and THEN what? She'd have screwed things up with her One True Love, broken his heart, and she'd have to live with that forever.

So her answer to his slowly-escalating requests for Actual Dates... is 'no.' And it stays that way.

- - -

Adrien is highly confused. It's not that he doesn't understand what 'no' means; he's heard it enough times from Ladybug, after all. She's feeling fragile, and he doesn't want to press too hard and break what they've built up together as friends. But on the other hand, his feelings are growing every day. He can SEE and FEEL Marinette's growing bond with him. Alya told him and keeps telling him, look, she IS crazy about you, I know she is!

...So what is it that he's doing horribly wrong _now_?

Their friends are bewildered... especially Alya. These two are made for each other; Martians staring at the Earth through telescopes can tell that. They are pining for each other; Nino hears about it from Adrien every day, when they're alone; he's so sure that he's doing something wrong, but he can't figure out what. Marinette admits it to Alya, when THEY'RE alone; she feels Adrien reaching out and she is soooooo tempted to reach back.

"So what in the world is STOPPING you?" Alya and Nino both say.

Each of them is startled when their close friend makes a decision, one fateful afternoon. Marinette faces Alya, while across town, Adrien faces Nino.

"There's something that's in the way. Something major," each says. "Something that I've been hiding from everyone... and especially from THEM."

Their friends look startled as they speak. "What I am about to tell you... cannot leave this room. EVER. You must never tell another living soul. Not your parents, not our friends, ESPECIALLY not your boy/girlfriend. If this gets out and becomes public knowledge, my life will be ruined!"

"Then why are you telling me this?" they ask, simultaneously.

"Because if I am ever going to have any kind of life... or a relationship with anyone... I need help figuring this out. And right now... that means you. Do I have your WORD?"

"You do..."

[queenangst]

weekly fic roundup #5 (bnha)

weekly fic roundups cover boku no hero academia fanfiction, and generally showcases gen whump fic. for more fic recs, check out my fic rec tag & my weekly fic roundups.

you can check out my AO3 and my works as well if you’re interested.

abstraction by eclipsed_pendulum

gen; 2.4k; 1/1 complete

Midoriya Izuku has always been a learner. As much as he's a learner, so are others. Keep cards close to your chest, cheat, make your opponent think you have a garbage deck.

thoughts: such a fun and interesting AU!

all my down and outs by canlah

gen; 1.2k; 1/1 complete; midoriya & shouji

This is already the longest conversation Midoriya has ever had with Shouji that wasn’t in the middle of a life or death situation, and he has so many questions about his quirk, he’s hardly going to let this opportunity go to waste.

In which Midoriya finds a friend when he least expects it.

thoughts: shouji doesn’t nearly get enough fic & this fic delivers some nice friendship!

Five Times Masaru Hugged His Son and One Time Katsuki Hugged Him by BluePlanetTrash

gen; 2.4k; 1/1 complete; bakugou & masaru

Just like the title says. The five times through life where Masaru hugged Katsuki and the one time that Katsuki hugged his dad.

AKA: There are not enough stories of Katsuki and Masaru and I need it in my life.

thoughts: op is right. i loved the dynamic in this fic!

Truth or Dare by yamadadzawa (liarielle)

gen; 3.9k; 2/2 complete; midoriya & bakugou, class 1-a

Raccoon Eyes slams her palms down on the table. “I’ve got it!” She cries exuberantly, and jabs a finger in Shitty Hair’s face. “Pick dare!” Kirishima looks a bit taken aback by the sudden demand.

“Uh, yeah sure, dare,” he agrees, leaning back in his seat. Ashido grins maniacally and slams her hands down again, but drops her voice. “I dare you to sneak over and get Midori’s journal!” Katsuki feels something twist in his stomach, something buried, forgotten, toxic. “If you bring it over here, he’ll have to come join!”

“Mina, I don’t know if that’s-” Kirishima begins, clearly hesitating as he glances in Deku’s direction.

“You can’t back down from a dare!” Ashido says fiercely. “That’s like, the opposite of manly!” Fuck. Those damn magic words. Katsuki’s not sure why he does it liar, but he turns to face Shitty Hair and grabs the collar of his shirt.

“Don’t,” he growls lowly.

thoughts: oh yeah. this fic is actually interesting because there’s an angst/fluff version of the same prompt, and i enjoyed both takes. it’s got some good stuff!

The Softening by ViolentlyRed

gen; 4.3k; 1/1 complete; aizawa & class 1-a

In the aftermath of the Training Camp, watches as things fall apart.

Or, Class 1-A is not ok, they all move into a building together, and Aizawa is trying his best.

thoughts: ViolentlyRed is quickly becoming an author i’m keeping a major eye on—every work i read is just fantastic. this one really delivers on dadzawa. 

Always the Hero by alightintheshadows

gen; 2.7k; 1/1 complete; aizawa & midoriya

Aizawa Shouta has so much to teach his students, but this class helps him understand he still has some learning to do.

OR

Aizawa is always there for his students, but who's there for him?

thoughts: we love to see it. great work.

Burning Lungs by BrightShadow

gen; 2.5k; 1/1 complete; aizawa & class 1-a

Aizawa dreams of running through the forest fire of the summer training camp, trying and failing to reach the students screaming for him always just out of reach. Just around the corner. Waking up is it's own trial. Letting go of the nightmare another.

thoughts: aizawa has just a Rough Time but there’s hurt! there’s comfort! it’s really nice to read.

Until All the Light is Gone by UnFazed

gen; 4.8k; 1/1 complete; all might & shigaraki

Toshinori knows nothing about Tomura Shigaraki. He does not know why he was abandoned, or why the only one to help him was All for One. Jarringly strong contempt rampages through him when he thinks of the people who ignored this boy, so young and so terrified and so very alone.

But that’s wrong, something in his mind says, because you ignored him too.

-Or-

An encounter with All Might leads Shigaraki down the path to becoming All for One’s protégé.

thoughts: mind that this does not have a happy ending, but i found it really interesting. loved the look into shigaraki’s head. it hurt. 

broken heart syndrome by aloneintherain

gen; 4.1k; 1/1 complete; aizawa & class 1-a

After visiting Kurogiri—Shirakumo—in prison, the stress catches up to Aizawa and, in the middle of class, he has a heart attack.

Thankfully, Class 1-A is there to make sure he’s okay.

thoughts: yeah i know we’ve all already read it, but it’s good. terrifying, painful, but in the best way.

When Enough is Enough by GriffinRose

gen; 9.9k; 1/1 complete; todoroki & fuyumi, todoroki & aizawa, todoroki & midoriya

Five times Shouto almost tells someone about what his home life is really like, and the one time he finally does.

Featuring: heartfelt conversations with his sister, setting his room on fire, and the smartest teacher Shouto has ever had.

thoughts: aw, man, really enjoyed this one. the character dynamics really jumped out to me, and i like the premise a lot as well. 

slowly attached by todorokees

gen; 2.7k; 1/1 complete; aizawa & class 1-a

In which Aizawa refuses to become attached to a set of children, and Class 1-A is an unexpected (and vaguely endearing, though mostly excessively emotional) addition to the ongoing saga of 'Shouta Aizawa Refuses To Get Attached.'

thoughts: [gestures] you know. 

the river walked me home by Thealmostrhetoricalquestion

gen; 16.6k; 3/4 ongoing; todoroki & midoriya, todoroki & aizawa, background erasermic

Shouto's life is a deck of precariously stacked cards, and one online article about Endeavour's approach to parenting sends the whole thing tumbling down. Not everyone believes it. Half the public denies it. But even if it turns out there's no truth in the article, the staff at U.A. are under enough fire as it is, and sending Shouto home for the upcoming week-long break is inexcuseable in the eyes of the press.

Not to mention, Aizawa wouldn't stand for it anyway.

Or: Shouto spends a week or two hiding from the world in his teacher's house, where he is introduced to Animal Crossing, the sweetest cat in the world, and the bizarre concept of feeling safe in his own home.

thoughts: op was so sweet, and i really, really enjoyed this fic recently. i think the setup is great and it hits a lot of nice story beats—there’s friendship, care, and all the things that todoroki needs.

something like tough love by pyrrhicwildfire

Bakugou Katsuki was known as a genius through all the years of his life; from when he was in preschool, bright-eyed and hopeful, up until he became one of UA's most formidable students.

Bakugou Mitsuki knew him before all of this.

thoughts: i love bakugou mitsuki and i loved this. enough said. 

One Thing After Another by DrAphra

multi; 13.4k; 1/1 complete; dabi &/ miruko

Miruko was in the middle of a fight when she got the call that Hawks and Endeavor were in danger.

She leaves the fight, never knowing that she'd been hit with a time loop quirk - not realizing that she would pass it on to the next person she touched. It's something she finds out the hard way, when she kicks Dabi in the face... and then finds herself facing him again. And again. And again.

In between time loops, the heroine and villain reluctantly get to know each other.

thoughts: okay this fic convinced me that i need more of miruko & dabi. note this is tagged ship, but i found it really minor, and the two of them together are just so much fun. we got a little bit of everything, humor, and just a mess on fire with these two and i enjoyed this fic - not a pairing you’d think of off the bat, but give them a chance!

[cajunroe]

sledgefu + paranormal!au ft. ghost hunter!sledge + demon!snafu ↳ever since they met, gene’s noticed little things about snafu that give him pause and make him wonder about the man’s past. but he doesn’t want to lose the friendship and companion he’s gained. not to mention the fact that snafu was the only person who showed genuine interest in gene’s dream of ghost hunting. the occult had always interested him but everyone else in his life thought he was crazy for trying to pursue the goal of finding proof of the paranormal. and as they reach two years of ghost hunting, gene thinks they might be right because every time something has happened, snafu had been at the ready with a logical (mostly) explanation. then, on what’s supposed to be a normal investigation, gene finds out the paranormal is all to real and all too close by.

read below or on ao3

Gene always thought there was something odd about the ease in which Snafu handled terrifying situations.

When they were stuck in a house supposedly haunted by a murderer, Snafu did nothing but laugh every time Gene jumped when he swore something tried to grab him.

When investigating an abandoned asylum with tons of recorded activity, and Gene was certain he heard someone whisper his name, Snafu just claimed it was an open window and continued walking like Gene’s heart hadn’t nearly exploded in fear.

And now, in the middle of what was a routine investigation, where a chair has clearly flown across the room after Gene asked for a sign of a presence, Snafu’s only reaction is:

“Gravity is a strange thing, Sledge.”

Gene’s on the ground staring at the broken chair, mouth open, and heart-pounding.

He looks up, and as Snafu shrugs, Gene loses it.

“What in the goddamn hell is your damage, Snafu? That chair nearly took off my damn head and I know you didn’t throw it at me! Could you cut the skeptic shit for one second and just help me figure it out?”

He knows it’s harsh, but he can’t stop freaking out long enough to care.

They’d been doing this for two years and Snafu’s calm indifference had slowly been driving him crazy, not to mention the fact that it’s the reason Gene’s slowly fallen in love with the man.

 He wipes his eyes harshly and when he opens them, Snafu’s in front of him, holding onto his arms.

“It’s alright, Sledge,” Snafu states, concern evident in the way he says Gene’s name.

“No, it ain’t Snafu! Whatever is here just tried to kill me! I won’t even be right again.”

Snafu stood abruptly then and when Gene looked up, he swore Snafu’s eyes were as pitch black as the night outside.

“You’re right about one thing there, Gene,” Snafu replied with cold intensity, the cadence in his voice making is deeper, darker, and making Gene’s hair stand on end, “Whatever is here did just try to kill you.”

Gene’s certain his heart will stop because there’s no way it can handle the major fluctuations it's experiencing tonight.

There’s no way Snafu just admitted to something paranormal, supernatural happening.

They’d been doing ghost hunting for long enough for Gene to be 100% certain about one thing: Snafu didn’t believe in ghosts, demons, or anything paranormal. As a die hard skeptic, Gene was always curious why Snafu had been so ready to join Gene on his mission to find proof of the paranormal. Even when they met at an occult bookstore, Gene wondered why the man had stopped to ask him what he was reading. He thought he was trying to pick Gene up, but when Snafu made no move, Gene launched into what he was looking for. Snafu had listened to him for hours, the day they met, and they’d been friends ever since. Still, despite being so close, Gene always felt like Snafu was reticent like he was hiding something. When he thought too hard about, late at night in another dingy motel room, Snafu asleep in the bed beside him, he chalked it up to his natural speculative nature and would eventually fall asleep.

Now, though…now he’s wishing he’d looked deeper.

Snafu is circling the room, feeling different spots of the wall like he’s searching for something.

“Snaf, what’s going on?” He wishes his voice were steadier, but the fear suddenly gripping him tight won’t allow it.

“Gene, you have always been honest with me. Seems only fair I’m honest with you.”

Gene swallowed heavily, his instincts telling him to run, but his curiosity forced him to stay.

“I ain’t who you think I am.” He declared as though the statement managed to be Gene at ease in any way.

“For once in your life, Snafu, make some fucking sense. Please.”

He watches a fond smile form on the brunette’s lips and despite being scared shitless, Gene’s still in love with him.

“My name’s not really, Snafu.”

“No shit sherlock.” Gene snaps, he always got ornery whenever Snafu was intentionally invasive.

And Snafu, he just laughs and keeps searching the room.

He stops suddenly, crouching in the middle of the room, hand running along the floor.

Snafu looks up quickly, smile bright, but feral as he lays his hand firmly on the ground.

But Gene can’t recognize anything beyond the fathomless pools of black that encompass Snafu’s eyes.

“My real name is Seire, Eugene. I’m a demon.” Then Snafu’s hand disappears into the floor and when it reemerges and Snafu stands, he’s gripping a creature. Half it’s head is missing and its skeleton is covered in the thinnest, greyest skin Gene’s ever seen. He can’t breathe, can’t look away and when it snarls and reaches its razor-sharp claws towards Gene, he doesn’t even flinch.

Snafu holds it in his grip, with ease, by the throat as it tries to scream but fails.

“This looks like one of, hmmm,” Snafu turns his head to the side taken in the creature as though deep in thought, “one of Raum’s little leeches, huh?”

The creature gets one ear-piercing shriek out before Snafu tightens his grip again.

“Guess the rumors about him trying to move up were true. Thought he’d have enough gall to face me himself.”

The creature tries to speak and Snafu lightens his grip just enough for it to speak.

“Not you.”

Gene both hears it and doesn’t hear it, like a whisper passing by him.

Snafu’s eyes shift from Gene and back to the creature in sudden understanding.

They weren’t after Snafu, they were after Gene.

“Little pet. Weakness.”

Snafu’s face turned serious, severe and he tightened his grip again and Gene watched as the man he loved held demon spawn in his grip like it was nothing. He’d never been more attracted to Snafu since they met.

“You’re wrong.” Snafu replies, a torrent of barely controlled anger held in tense shoulders.

He pulled the spawn closer to him, watching as the creature snarled and tried to escape Snafu’s grip.

He looks to Gene with a soft smile then looks back at the creature.

“Love is strength.”

Gene’s heart skips a beat and Snafu must be able to hear it because he laughs like he always did where Gene was concerned.

“I have a message for Raum when you get back down there.”

Gene hears another whisper that sounded have of a snake’s hiss and a surprised “What?”

Then the creature bursts into flame and without a sound, it’s gone, and Gene is left alone with Snafu. His best friend. The one he loves. A demon.

For the first time in his life, he’s the one in doubt, the one questioning what’s real or not, what he saw with what he knows.

He doesn’t know why, but the first thing he needs an answer to is…

“So, you love me?” He asks, still trying not to lose his mind.

He hears another laugh, this one breathy as though the demon was nervous.

“You find out I’m a demon, Prince of Hell, as a matter of fact, and your first question is whether or not I love you?”

Gene presses if only ease his mind of this one thing.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

Snafu sighs and its wistful nature makes Gene look up and stare.

“Hard not to, Gene. All my time in existence and I’ve never wanted something as much as I want you.”

Snafu replies gently, like someone who’s seen too much but is still in wonder with the world.

He sits down on the splintered, dusty floor in front of Gene who was still attached to the corner he was in.

Gene takes a deep, shaky breath, shocked more at his acceptance and handling of the last half hour than over the fact that the man he loved for two years loves him back and at the fact that the man who loves him isn’t entirely a man, but a demon.

Still.

“A lot of things about you make a lot of sense now.”

“Like what?” Snafu asks, voice lilting at the end in genuine curiosity.

Gene smiles at that.

“Your indifference to all of this,” Gene gestures around the abandoned house, “the way you talk sometimes like you’re adopting speech from another time, your overt politeness.”

“That’s just a southern thing, Sledge, not an immortal thing.”

Despite his better judgment, Gene laughs as he grabs Snafu’s hand surprise to find it can be just as gentle as it is deadly. The heat of the touch warms Gene from head to toe.

“I don’t know if I like your real name so much, though.” He states with a grimace ad smiles when Snafu rolls his eyes.

“Neither did I, at least not up here. Snafu was the first nickname anyone ever called me up here and it just stuck.”

Gene links their fingers, mind racing and following eight thoughts at once, the greatest of these being –

“Hell of a nickname.”

Gene’s eyes widened when he realizes what he said, but Snafu just looks at him with intense adoration and fondness.

It's easy then, to shut off his brain, and follow his heart.

He crawls the little space between them on his hand and knees, then watches as Snafu just waits for Gene to commit. It heady and the way Gene’s heart is racing is making him dizzy with lust and power. He lifts Snafu’s chin an inch higher and locks their lips together harshly. It’s an aggressive and powerful first kiss with biting teeth and hot breaths, and Gene feels like not even the fires of hell could be so hot.

He breaks apart with a gasp, reality crashing in at the worst time, but not keeping from holding a breathless Snafu close.

“Are there gonna be more of those things?” He asks, breathless himself, but demanding.

Snafu looks ashamed for the first time in all the time Gene’s known him.

“Yes and it's my fault, Gene. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stay away from you and you wouldn’t leave no matter how hard I tried to get you to because I couldn’t.”

It all clicks and Gene pushes Snafu so hard he falls back onto the floor.

“You asshole! All the hauntings? That was you?!”

Snafu looks guilty but still satisfied, and how Gene never saw the bit of the devil in Snafu, hell never know. Love truly must be blind.

“Tricks of the family trade,” Snafu shrugs, humble and shy. Gene has to take a moment to let that sink in. A demon, shy and humble at their supernatural abilities.

“But yeah, it was me Gene and you’re so damn persistent and brave that you just kept coming back for more. You’re a reckless idiot and I fell in love with that.”

Gene laughs despite himself, disbelieving but full of so much happiness, lust, and lingering fear, that he could hardly believe this was his life.

“Guess I’m gonna have to add exorcist to my resume.”

Snafu stares for a long moment before bursting into laughter. Gene joins him after a moment and he’s never felt lighter.

Despite it all, the love that Gene feels for Snafu is sacred.

And while Snafu may have more oddities than most, his love for Gene is the most natural thing in the world.

They would make it work, make it last, even if it meant going through hell itself.

[wesevas]

so ngl I went a little ham on her intro so if you tough it out and read the whole way through??? amazing. legendary. iconic. but im hype for this so slap that like and we can get to plotting! also I think we can all agree that discord is far superior or messaging so hmu ( vee#9986 ) ! 

( mishti rahman, 21, cis female, she/her ) did you just see EVA ROMANOV on the quad ?? aren’t they an ARCHITECTURE major or something ?? i swear the JUNIOR hates me because they ignored me in the dining hall. if i had to describe them i’d say something like: a mess of clothes covering a white arm chair, a fresh bouquet wrapped in newspaper, soft smiles & layered gold jewelry.

lbr her pinterest will describe her better then i ever will so why not save some time and check out her vibe

thems the facts

the youngest of four children with three older brothers.

her parents met in russia. her mom was an american student studying abroad on an exchange program and met her dad at uni and they fell hard and fast. after graduation he basically followed her back to the states

while her dad was on track to become a professor in the russia, school was much more expensive and competitive in america and his english was pretty much non existent. he took a job working construction to hopefully save enough to finish his education but as the kids started coming around it became more of a pipe dream then a reality for him

mom got a job as a language teacher

all the kids speak russian bc both parents speak it and it’s just easier for their dad bc it’s his native language

two of her brothers work in the trades. hvac and a mechanic. the youngest brother, aleksandr and the closest to eva played soccer all the way through college but it wasn’t enough to land him a professional contract so he’s teaching

eva is studying architecture and girl is not only passionate but damn good at it

she spent years dancing growing up and was actually pretty good at it but her passion lies with design and architecture 

personality and bits

she’s basically a combination of soft girl and feisty. she’s vivacious and full of life but she has no problem standing up for herself (3 brothers ppl) or telling someone theyre being a dick. 

can be ruled by her emotions lol if she’s angry you’ll know it. if she’s sad, or happy or in love.. it’s all over her face ok i have a lot of feelings about this

makes her bed every morning but leaves a pile of clothes on the plush arm chair in the corner lol

cries when she’s frustrated. which makes her more frustrated

a romantic. probably falls in love a few times a day tbh lol she just wants to be loved and cared for ok leave her alone

loves being outside. going for walks threw the park or throwing a ball with her dog or just having her morning coffee outside is just.. chefs kiss

def the type to make extra food for her friends. like she’ll bake something sweet and drop it off at their doors.

the type who likes to visit the farmers market and buy up all kinds of fresh fruits and veggies

the type to share food at a restaurant. like she’ll probably steal from your plate but give you something from hers in return

always tries to have fresh flowers on her counter. some come from her performances and others are just ones she picked up from a street vendor when she was out on a walk

has an adorable cavapoo puppy named charlie. he’s so freaking cute ok he’s just so happy and excited his tail is always waging and he’s always trying to cuddle and lick people ok he just thinks everyone is his friend    

lives off campus in one of the apartments 

works at the flower shop so if you need a bouquet?? she’s your girl!

wanted connections:

girls!! give her girls to rally behind and to support and girls to do the same for her. emergency ice cream sessions after bad days and trading clothes and makeup and offering up (sometimes terrible lol) dating advice

skinny love. trading smiles and stealing glances when the other isn’t looking. real cute shit

right person wrong time. gimme the pain.

crush. someone she’s just got a silly crush on lol it doesn’t have to turn into anything but just someone she’s enamoured with lol also someone who’s crushing on her too

ex’s. the most angst the better tbh. also!! maybe someone she dated who she had it bad for but after getting together the fantasy just falls apart bc they aren’t who you thought they were kinda deal?

rivals. not everyone is gonna vibe with you so for whatever reason these two just don’t get along. maybe they do stupid little things that they know will piss the other one off like playing their music too loud or sending each other gag gifts just to see their reaction lol

enemies. someone who really gets under her skin. someone who’s arrogant or cold or mean or whatever really and she’s having none of it

unlikely pairing. whether it’s a friendship or something more (!!!!!!) but from the outside it just seems like they don’t match. they seem to be complete opposites but that’s exactly why it works. i’m not saying i’d sell my soul for this but..

neighbours/roomies. she's in the off campus apartment buildings so maybe they live next to each other or on top of each other or whatever. do they get along? do they ignore the shit out of one another? do they leave their doors open and come and go as they please?

a frequent customer at the flower shop?? like someone who always comes and orders flowers for their mom or gf or friend of even just sends them as pranks and she helps them pick out flowers that mean silly things?? PLS

brotps/ride or die

tinder matches/hook ups. girl’s gotta get fed right?

situationship!!

hateship!!

i’m working on a wc tag bc it’s always for fun that way

[vagrantblvrd]

Those GTA V videos with the airport fuck arounds?

So like.

FAHC AU where it’s Geoff, Jack, and this little shit Gavin for the longest time, right?

This kid Burnie picked up somewhere, after which Geoff stole him from Burnie (asshole told him to pick his people for that crew he wanted to build in Los Santos, so really he only has himself to blame) and now it’s the three of them figuring things out.

There’s a surprising amount of downtime between all the meetings and phone calls and whatnot and Jack realizes early on a bored Gavin is a dangerous Gavin.

(I mean, it’s how they ended up with the Vagabond later on, but that’s a story for another day.)

And Jack, right.

Not much better and between one thing or another doesn’t get get as much time with his planes and choppers and whatever else he’d like. (Cars are nice, fast cars are better, but nothing beats flying.)

Anyway.

One day Geoff’s off doing whatever and makes this offhand comment to Jack to keep a eye on Gavin (running gag of him being their kid and the whole mom and dad thing and anyway, not important really).

And Jack, right.

It’s a beautiful day and he hasn’t had the chance to go for a flight for what feels like fucking forever. Gavin’s restless, antsy almost. Poking and prodding and getting meaner with it than he usually does because pent up energy or whatever, so.

Jack grabs Gavin’s hoodie off the back of the couch the asshole dropped it on the night before and tosses it at him. Tells the little shit to get ready because they’re going for a ride and downstairs in ten minutes or Jack’s leaving without him.

He goes down to bring the car around, bit of uncertainty because he likes Gavin, okay. Stupid kid who’s really damn smart but also an asshole. Geoff and Gavin get along like you wouldn’t believe but things are a bit rockier between Jack and Gavin, and Jack’s not sure what to do about it?

But, uh.

Geoff told him to keep an eye on Gavin and it’s a sure bet they’d end up fighting if they were cooped up in the apartment (early days still, no grand penthouse setup yet), so yeah.

He’s not really expecting Gavin to show up, but he does. (Past that ten minute deadline Jack gave him and this odd look on his face as he slides into the passenger side, but he’s there.)

And then the drive out to the airport up in Blaine County. (Faster, shinier planes at LSIA, but if this goes the way he hopes it will it’d be better to stick to prop planes for now.)

Kind of an awkward drive out there, Gavin fidgeting with the radio until Jack smacks his hand away from it because no. Leaves it off because reception is shit out here anyway and their only choices are worse than awkward silence.

Of which there is a fair amount.

Eventually Gavin is just. “Are you taking me to the middle of nowhere to kill me?”

A joke, or it’s supposed to be, but there’s this awkward little laugh and all that Jack, alright.

He can be an asshole, but he likes to think he’s not that kind of asshole.

Still.

“Tempting, but no,” he says, because that whole thing about being an asshole.

Gavin snorts, but Jack must have said something right because he relaxes a little, and the rest of the drive isn’t as painfully awkward.

Gavin actually starts asking his weird little Gavin questions that Jack just didn’t get at first. Thought they were just dumb and pointless, but Geoff thought were hilarious as hell and usually gave serious thought to them. So Jack paid closer attention and realized they were still stupid? But not for the reasons he used to. (Odd phrasing to be sure, but interesting and clever once he got what Gavin was actually asking.)

Anyway.

Takes a while to get to the airport, and when they do there’s not a lot to see, really.

Still.

Jack glances at Gavin who’s looking around, head tipped to the side like he’s trying to figure out what the hell they’re doing here, and Jack, okay.

“You feel up for a flight?”

There’s an old Cuban in one of the hangars. Long in the tooth, maybe, but up on its maintainence and Jack learned to fly in one.

So.

Gavin gives him this look like he can’t figure out what Jack’s angle is, but he shrugs and follows along gamely enough.

Watches Jack through the pre-flight check and takeoff, and then he’s looking out the window with this look Jack knows too well. (Something incredible seeing the world from above, puts things in perspective.)

A few minutes pass before JAck glances over at Gavin again and asks if he’d like to learn to fly.

Because look.

Jack’s been around for a while, used to being the one behind the wheel or yoke, but shit goes wrong, you know?

Been times Jack took a bullet or something else happened and he couldn’t do his damn job.

Not a major problem when it comes to cars, but Jack knows Geoff, okay. Knows he’s dreaming big for this crew he’s building them and they sure as hell aren’t going to be sticking to cars or other ground vehicles. (Crazy motherfucker that Geoff is, and Jack’s just as bad, so yeah.)

Geoff’s a decent pilot, but Jack would feel better if Gavin knew how to fly too. Isn’t expecting him to be an ace pilot or anything, honestly doesn’t think he has the patience/interest for it, but it’s something that could save his life one day maybe.

Besides, they were both bored as hell and this is something to do and honestly Jack’s not sure he has a real explanation for what he’s doing anymore, but here they are.

There’s this moment of quiet, Gavin clearly surprised, and then -

“Are you serious?”

Jack shrugs because yeah, yes, and is about to tell Gavin it’s a good thing to learn, but Gavin’s laughing - this honestly amused thing - and tells him it’s a bad idea.

That he’s likely to send them slamming into the ground but there’s this little gleam of interest in his eyes and Jack, okay.

“Well, okay, how about you don’t do that?”

Because please don’t? But also why not, and Gavin’s easy enough to convince and then the flying lesson starts.

Gavin loves it, gets all excited and the whatnot and Jack realizes that this could be a good way for the two of them to ~bond, and then, okay.

Then it’s Jack taking Gavin out for flying lessons every chance they get, and the two of them building a beautiful friendship while Geoff is a smug bastard because he told Jack he’d love Gavin, didn’t he?

And Gavin, okay.

Fucking loves flying, takes to it far better than Jack expected and while he loves zippy little fighters and all that?

Idiot fucking falls in love with the Titan they get their hands on at some point, which.

Yeah, Jack can’t really say much when that Cargobob of his has a special place in his heart.

The others come along at some point and everything gets louder, crazier (better) and Jack’s prediction of Geoff incorporating planes and choppers come to be because of course they do.

(And oh, the first time the crew realized Gavin was the one saving their asses with a last-minute save in Buzzard he liberated from the LSPD? Like, amazing.)

Anyway, anyway, this is all a super long-winded way of saying I love the idea of Jack and Gavin ~bonding/becoming BFFs via their love of flying because wow do I love the airport fuck around videos with the planes and choppers and everything.

Both of them pulling off near impossible aerial feats to save everyone’s asses/for shits and giggles and everyone else being like why are they like this because why, really.

[painted-cherries]

by the book

pairing: Jackson wang x reader

genre:  college au, fluff

@wangjiaergaga requested: Can you write a neighbour jackson au where they know of each others presence but are too shy to initiate anything initially, but somewhere along the way, they become good friends and start to fall for each other? THANK YOU

a/n: I am so sorry this took so long!!! But I love this idea its so sweet, I hope you enjoy it! It turned out a bit longer than I planned lol also I think the title is kinda unrelated I just needed a title 

I am still accepting requests! You can drop one in my inbox here.

boys were never really an issue for you

and yet

here you were

and here was Jackson

or more accurately, Jackson Wang across the hall in apartment 12C, aka your neighbor

who happened to be a boy with the prettiest smile you had ever seen

and precious laugh and adoring personality

the two of you talked every so often, typically when you’re both in hallway passing or going

but you’ve seen his around the building even if you don't talk extensively

like when he helped Gloria in 9C with her weekly groceries when she had accidentally bought more than she intended

or when the young girl looking for her aunt’s apartment got lost and he helped her find the correct floor and flat before going about his own business

because Jackson Wang was a true gentleman

something that drew you to him upon meeting

even when there two of you didn’t have much to talk about he always gave you the sweetest smile and a polite nod

simple but still enough to release butterflies in your stomach

and little did you know that Jackson prayed every day that he would run into you so he could get to know you more

because he thought you were so stunning

and conveniently right across the hall yet so far away from him

but he was scared to impose so he just kept waiting for the perfect moment to properly befriend you

but one day fate made it so that you would finally end up going down in the elevator at the same time

and it was shocking because you knew that when you were on your way out to your classes, which were always in the afternoon/evening because you aren’t a morning person, Jackson would be on his way back from his classes which were over for the day

he liked to spend the rest of his day completing his coursework and producing music

you’ve never truly heard it but sometimes you can hear the melodic tones drift into the hallways from within his walls

and you had always dreamed to watch him when he composes

but AnYwAyS

yes! he’s here! and you’re the only two in the elevator at the moment 

so of course Jackson being the sunshine that he his bumps your elbow and says hello

with his signature smile

And you try not to melt and say hello back

“aren't you usually on your way up after noon??” you ask

and Jackson is low-key flattered that you notice him like that

and he says that he's actually on his way back to campus for his nutrition because the university didn’t offer it in the morning

and you’re like woah hey I’m on my way to the science hall too

and Jackson planned it this way!! he set up the time for the meeting because he knew he always passed you around noon when you would be on your way to uni 

“would you like to walk with me?? I-i mean since we’re going to the same place and all.”

and you were flustered but was able to manage a ‘yes’

so then you and Jackson continued to talk

the two of you get to know each other more

he tells you about his nutritionist/dietitian major and why he chose it

he loves being active and healthy life styles and he wants to help people become healthier because everyone deserves the opportunity to live their life as long as possible

the usual 20 minutes it takes to get to uni seems so much shorter today

because suddenly you’re already in the hall and parting ways but he promises to walk you back from classes because he won’t be done on campus until about 3 and you only have two classes today

and he keeps his promise

and then Jackson makes it a habit

every Tuesday and Thursday he walks you to class and then waits the 10 minutes it takes you to finish for the day so that he can walk you home

and BOOM you and Jackson are apart of each other’s daily life

just as he had planned

and if you thought you had a tiny crush on Jackson before? yeah you’re full on infatuated with this boy now

because he is just too good to be true

he’s always considerate and empathetic and his personality shines brighter than the sun any day

he loves his friends and is extremely family oriented

he calls his grandmother every day and he’s totally told her all about his beautiful neighbor 

eventually what was a casual friendship evolved into something more serious because now you and Jackson have study dates as well and he’ll always make sure he has your favorite snacks in his pantry 

not to mention surprise bubble tea when you get out of a tough lecture

in other words you fell for Jackson Wang H A R D

and now you cherish so much but can't help but be a little sad 

because of course you don’t think he feels the same way about you

which is a foolish thought because Jackson is stupid in love with you

and his roommate mark can testify to that because he has to hear about you every day 

how Jackson thinks its soooo cute that you like to doodle on the margins of your lecture notes

and how you bite your lip when you try not to laugh at one of his stupid jokes and it drives him crazy

and eventually one day the two of you are studying together like every other Sunday night

and the pizza that Jackson ordered is now cold on the counter

and actually at this point you aren't even studying anymore, you’re laying on the couch cuddled up together watching vine compilations on his phone

and when you laugh at one Jackson can't help but let himself stare at you longer than usual because damn you are just s o cute when you laugh

and he can't help it when he says it out loud but he mumbles a 

“I want to watch vines with you for the rest of our lives” god I love modern romance

and you’re like hello what????

Jackson knows he has to come clean now so rip the romantic surprise he had planned

“y/n, the only things that keep me going are you and vines” (yknow like all the vine compilation titles??)

and now you’re a blushing mess and just nervously giggle because wow the boy you’re in love with just told you he likes you???

and Jackson goes on with

“I have always thought you were the more beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.. y/n can I take you on a proper date?”

and you’re like YEAH OF COURSE but instead you say

“I never thought you would ask” with a huge smile

and now youre both kinda giggly and excited because wow you’re both so in love

and what could be better than that?

[fullmetalscullyy]

soulmate

read on ao3 and ffnet

soulmate

Legend says that when two soulmates meet they instantly know who the other is. Many search for years without ever finding theirs. Others are brought together by chance. Some know who their soulmate is, but have yet to find them once again, having only passed each other by briefly in a single moment.

Before they find each other, the feeling each half experiences is a strong yearning. Until their soulmate is found that feeling never goes away. Two people only become aware of each other because once they meet, that deep rooted need dissipates in an instant. It is so intense that it is immediately noticeable.

That’s what happened to Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.

When the girl opened the door for him it felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He panicked, the teenager not particularly enjoying the feeling of being unable to breathe. Riza gasped quietly across from him, eyes wide, but fearful. Before either could utter a word her father joined her at the door.

“Who is it Riza?” he asked gruffly, pushing the door apart further. Riza had relinquished her hold on it after realising her soulmate was before her.

Tearing his eyes away from the girl, Roy met his potential new master’s expectant gaze. The longer he took to reply, the deeper Berthold Hawkeye’s frown appeared to be.

“Roy Mustang,” he replied finally. “My Aunt Chris has been writing to you from Central? I’m here for the apprenticeship.”

Berthold studied him for a moment and Roy desperately wanted to return to meet Riza’s gaze, but he stood firm. He couldn’t stare at the man’s daughter while Berthold was sizing him up. That would not leave a good first impression.

“Come in.” He turned and left the two teenagers at the door.

“I –” Roy began, turning his attention to Riza.

“Come in, Mr. Mustang.” She beckoned him inside with an air of formality. He swallowed and picked up his suitcase, entering their home. “I’ll show you to your room.” She passed him and started up the worn staircase, eyes cast down.

“Shouldn’t we –”

“Please, Mr. Mustang. This way.”

Snapping his mouth shut he followed her to his room.

For the first couple of weeks they didn’t discuss the fact their two souls were tied together. In fact, Riza appeared to want to forget about it all together. Roy didn’t have much time to contemplate that fact while in her presence. His studies were so intense and exhausting that it left no room for discussion. At night he wanted to seek her out but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was asleep.

Berthold gave him one day off a week and that was a Sunday. The first Sunday he worked to catch up with assignments he had missed during the week. He would sit at the kitchen table working furiously throughout the day while Riza pottered about the house. Again, there was no chance to talk properly.

On the third week when he fell asleep with his head on the table, drooling on his paperwork, Riza spoke to him properly for the first time.

“Mr. Mustang?” she called cautiously.

Roy grunted quietly in response but didn’t wake.

“Mr. Mustang?” she tried again, inching closer and giving his shoulder a poke. After getting no response again, she raised her voice, bringing her head close to his face. “Mr. Mustang!”

Roy’s head snapped up, piece of paper stuck to his face. Snatching it off his face, he felt heat creep up into his face as he looked into her eyes.

“You were asleep.”

“Uh… I guess I was,” he replied sheepishly. He gathered his pages together once more and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He expected a lot of work but this workload blew those expectations out of the water. This was literally eating, sleeping, and breathing alchemy.

“My father likes to push his apprentices hard in the beginning,” she informs him quietly, stepping up to the sink to wash the dishes from lunch. Roy turned to look at her back, surprised. This was the most she had spoken to him since his arrival. He sure as hell wasn’t going to waste it. “He likes to overload them to see if they have what it takes.”

Roy snapped his mouth shut, which had been hanging open. He clenched his fist in determination. “I do have what it takes. I’ll prove it to him, no problem.”

Riza paused in her washing for a moment before continuing once more. Roy might have been dreaming, but he could have sworn he saw her shoulders relax slightly. Her voice softened. “Don’t let him catch you sleeping, then.”

Roy grinned at her back, swivelling back around in his chair. “Right!” Picking up his pen to write, he paused once more. “Thank you.”

Not much else was said on the matter, but the silence that hung between them didn’t appear to be as awkward as before.

Not much is known about soulmates. Scientists have studied it for years, but no real progress can be made because it is something that simply cannot be measured accurately. It just is. It’s the way of the universe and no one really questions it. The same goes for alchemy.

Since both souls are tied together, whether it is through love or through platonic friendship, feelings become shared. Love is intensified. Their friendship becomes strong companionship.

The worst part, though, is the pain.

Religious leaders theorise it is their God’s way of reminding the couple that they are tied together indefinitely and that they must love and protect each other always. Those who do not believe in religious reasoning insist it is a way for people to live in harmony. If everyone is tied to someone in that way then fighting between humans would stop. To put it simply, nobody would want to get hurt because it would hurt their soulmate.

In theory.

In an ideal world.

Of course, the human race always has that burning need for war, so that reasoning was ruled out years ago. Ever since Xerxes disappeared overnight. Science has yet to determine another solid reasoning since then, having just accepted the concept as it is, just two souls tied together. It had been replaced by alchemy, no longer holding the interest of the majority of the scientific community.

In order to maintain efficiency of the military, only those who have yet to discover their soulmate can enlist. If they have, only one half can join, leaving the other sitting at home, wondering if their significant other would die that day, and they would feel it happening, but not be able to do a damn thing about it. It wouldn’t do if both halves of the soul were fighting in the same war, only to have one soldier die, leaving another unable to function. After all, why lose two soldiers when you could only lose one?

So when Roy joined, it wasn’t an issue. He loathed to leave Riza, but he had great ambitions and she told him to go. He never dreamed he would see her in Ishval. How had she even gotten in the military? She had to have lied. But… why? She knew what could happen if they were caught. She knew the penalty. The threat of Riza Hawkeye being court martialled almost made him vomit every day. Since she was the second to join – a couple of years after him – she would be the one who was punished because she already knew the consequences but did it anyway. Then where would he be? If she was killed he would be useless. Of course, he discovered in Ishval that he loved her so much that, regardless of being soulmates, he would be useless without her anyway.

He had first discovered it after she made her first kill. As kids they never spoke about the bond they shared. The only time it had been brought up was at her father’s funeral. In all the years they had been together, that was the first time they had a serious conversation regarding their soulmate status. So when he had found her looking dazed and wandering through the camp, he pulled her aside to talk. He could see her emotional pain no mater how much Riza tried to hide it. He could see how much she was struggling with taking another life. Of course he needed to talk to her.

The legend says that once you accept your love for the other person – whether it is romantic or platonic – that is when you begin to experience what the other is feeling. The only thing Roy Mustang needed to do was not fall in love with Riza Hawkeye and everything would be fine. But he had ruined it. How could he not fall in love with her when she was crying in his sandy tent in that warzone, clinging to him so tightly? How could he not, when all he wanted to do was take away all her pain and suffering and protect her from it all. She was here because of his dream. Roy had caused this.

That was when he fell in love with Riza Hawkeye.

It was a love so intense and so extreme that it took his breath away once more. Riza stilled upon realising it, looking up from Roy’s hold and into his eyes. Nothing needed to be said. They both knew the gravity of their situation. So Roy placed her head back on his shoulder and held her until it was dark. He didn’t miss the way she curled in on herself, pressing her body against his to draw them even closer together.

They didn’t discuss that moment ever again. He didn’t see her much in Ishval, but there was always the constant worry, the constant anticipation, in the back of his mind that she might be killed. The same ran through her mind. She had berated him hard enough when he had been shot by the Ishvallan, but it was only because Riza had been scared. She didn’t know how to properly react to the thought of him dying, so she lashed out at him.

When he burned her back that was the first time they realised they shared the same pain.

In Ishval they were both so dejected and traumatised they didn’t really notice that they were sharing the same feelings. Those two feelings were both prevalent for the two souls already.

But burning her back…

“Are you ready?” Roy asked, swallowing hard. He looked at her back, marvelling at its smoothness and ignoring the tattoo marring her skin. When he saw it the first time he felt ill. Then he felt anger. Riza had soothed him, understanding his anger while neglecting to inform Roy that she felt it also.

“I wanted to make him proud,” she had told him, eyes cast down as they had done so often when her father was alive.

“Yes,” Riza breathed shivering against the cool air in the room. Roy felt his own skin prickle as a draught blew into the room, despite the fact he was wearing his military blues. He chalked it up to what he was about to do, rather than the room temperature.

“Please,” Riza whispered, throwing Roy off. “Please free me from this burden.”

“Right,” Roy replied, shifting his stance and readying himself once more. “I love you, Riza,” he whispered. She nodded, repeating the sentiment back to him.

Riza clutched the pillow she was holding tightly a second before he snapped. Roy watched her do it and it tore at his chest. However all thought of that flew out of his mind a second later. It took him a bit to register it but then his own screams mixed in with hers as his entire back erupted in pain. He gasped and fell to his knees on the floor. Pain seared his back. His left shoulder felt like it was on fire.

Just like Riza’s… The thought was brief and through the fog of pain Roy couldn’t cling on to it.

Roy’s body convulsed on the floor as pain wracked his body. What was this? Why was he in so much pain? His flesh burned as his vision turned a blinding white. He was struggling to breathe. His throat closed off and no air entered his lungs.

He blacked out.

“Roy…” Riza croaked, inching over to him while still on the bed. He heard it briefly through his consciousness.

His eyes popped open and he gasped. The pain on his back had lessened, but only slightly. It stung with such a ferocity it still felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Roy, are you okay?” she gasped from above him.

He groaned, rolling over onto his right side in an attempt to stand.

“What happened?” he panted, propping himself up onto his knees. Riza remained on the bed, face contorted in pain. Despite everything she was still trying to make sure he was okay.

“You –” Riza grit her teeth as another wave of pain washed over her. Roy fell back to his knees, one hand on the bed to catch himself. He experienced his own pain rushing through him… But why? “You passed out.”

Pushing through the pain he rose to his feet and sat heavily on the bed. One look at Riza’s back caused bile to rise in his throat. On her left shoulder blade the skin was puckered and blistered already. The angry red colour of her freshly burnt skin jumped out at him, the sight shooting pain right into his heart.

“Roy.” His eyes snapped up to hers. Sweat covered her skin and her expression was still pained, breathing heavy as she tried to control it. “What happened?”

“I – I don’t know,” he replied. He winced at the pain on his left. “As soon as I snapped I felt this pain on my back –” He cut himself off, his eyes widening in a perfect mirror of Riza’s.

When researching it before Roy left for the military – they didn’t find much in the town library – they discovered that after admitting their love for the other person soulmates begin to share feelings with one another. A little fact both of them had overlooked leading up to this event. After all, they both shared the exact same feelings in Ishval that they never had cause to remember it. Riza had never mentioned feeling any pain when he had been shot. Perhaps she had been too scared to admit it.

“You could feel it?” Riza gasped, body shaking.

“I still can.” He fell forward slightly, bracing his hands on the mattress to catch himself while Riza groaned in pain. “I’m so sorry,” he gasped.

“Roy,” she whispered.

“I’m so sorry.”

Her hand gripped his tightly. “I wanted this.”

“But I’ve hurt you so much.” They both knew he wasn’t just referring to burning her back. He had betrayed the trust she had put in him when revealing her back. He had preached about using for alchemy for good, promising he would do so, but he had only used it to murder.

“You made a promise to me. In Ishval.” Her breath caught and they both experienced another wave of pain as a draught blew through the room, caressing Riza’s exposed and burnt skin torturously. Roy stood shakily, swaying on his feet. He grit his teeth but moved to draw the curtains then slam the door shut. He was breathing heavily after completing his task. It was an effort even to remain upright in this amount of pain.

“Roy, you made a promise,” Riza mumbled, the exhaustion of the situation taking its toll her. “Do you remember it?”

“I’d make it to the top.” He grit his teeth, returning to the bed. “I would put a stop to Bradley’s rule to stop this from happening again.” His teeth ground together even harder. “We would make this world a better place together.”

“Do it, please.” Her hand latched onto his again. “Forget this. I wanted you to do this to me, remember that.”

“How can I forget?” he whispered, desolate. “I burned you,” he choked.

“Because you’ll promise me that you will.”

“Riza…”

“Do it. Now. Otherwise I can’t follow you.”

That thought terrified him most of all.

“I promise.”

Riza relaxed, her body sagging. “Thank you.” Her eyes closed, shielding the true pain she felt from him. Not that it hid anything, he could feel her own pain as clear as day.

When she lost consciousness Roy gasped in relief, the pain on his back disappearing as quickly as it had come to him. He looked down at her face, partly in grief, partly in wonder. So, it seemed that if one of them was to fall unconscious then the pain disappeared.

Well, that was one blessing of this whole mess.

His body was an extension of hers, and vice versa. That was the true meaning of soulmates. They were tied together in every way shape and form. It was more of a blessing than a curse for normal people. For them, it was a curse.

In their current situation, of course, they pretended they weren’t soulmates. It put to rest any rumours about them because not even a straight laced soldier like Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye would join the military and work under her soulmate. She was too by the book to do that. Roy Mustang was a womanizer, proclaiming frequently he was simply searching for his soulmate with that smirk that made all those woman swoon.

It made him feel nauseous.

Being so close to Riza at all times and being unable to do anything about it plagued him daily. She had always been very good at hiding her feelings. Roy, on the other hand, had not, but he had done it for her. That reminder that she would be court martialled for even working with him hung over his head every day.

When the homunculi appeared their cover was almost blown.

Roy choked as he ascended the stairs to the bell tower, a hand flying to his throat as he crashed heavily into the wall. Whatever was attacking Riza was killing her. His throat burned but he pushed onwards and upwards.

The pressure on his neck loosened suddenly and he gaped loudly, sucking in oxygen. Barking then childlike shouts echoed down the stairwell. Hayate. He would make that dog a General if he could. Good boy, Hayate. As soon as he laid eyes on the homunculus he didn’t hesitate, Roy sent that thing out of the window so fast it was gone in the blink of an eye.

He had been lucky no other members of the team had been around as he made his way up to her position otherwise his secret would have been given away. His team were loyal to them both and there was no doubt in his mind that they wouldn’t breathe a word. Hell, they probably already knew, but Roy knew they weren’t stupid enough to ever bring it up. There was no telling who would be listening.

Again, his main worry was for Riza. After Ishval they wouldn’t harm the famous Flame Alchemist. It would upset the public too much so they would punish the Hawk’s Eye instead, as sickening as that sounded. They wouldn’t kill the Hero of Ishval, a national symbol.

So, Roy’s only thoughts after being stabbed by Lust was how it would affect Riza. His side was in agony as he closed the wound. He almost passed out and if Lust was heading towards Riza now he needed her to be at her full strength until he arrived. Plus, the last thing he needed was for them to discover they were soulmates. That would make things ten times more difficult and they would be used against each other.

As he lay on that white floor, eyes finding Riza’s wet ones, he smiled. The threat was gone for the moment and she was unharmed. Roy, on the other hand, felt his pain flare up as blood seeped for his wound. It had opened up after he had fallen.

“Does he know?” Roy whispered quietly after Alphonse left the room to run for help for Havoc. His face contorted in pain and Riza’s grip on his hand tightened in response. From the pained look in her face, Roy knew she was feeling it too. Subconsciously a hand rose to her side, gripping the same spot he had been stabbed.

“Yes.”

Roy stiffened but sighed. He would need to have a discussion with Alphonse about this. It couldn’t get out.

“He won’t tell anyone,” Riza replied softly.

“Why?” he asked, wincing in pain.

“Because he knows just how much is at stake.” Her cryptic message was too much for him to figure out right now. He would just trust Riza would fill him in later.

“I won’t kill her,” Bradley added conversationally, as if discussing the weather. “If I did you would become useless.”

Roy felt his stomach drop. He had become complacent with Riza as his soulmate. They played their game so well that no one even had an inkling they were connected to one another. Rumours had stopped and moved onto something else, taking the attention away from them both. Once this had happened, Roy relaxed and that was the biggest mistake of them all. It was only once Bradley revealed he knew all about their little secret did Roy feel that fresh terror return.

He had researched soulmates in more recent years, using Central Library to his full advantage. If Riza was to die it would feel like he had truly lost a part of himself, like losing a limb. He would cease to function anywhere from a short to a long period of time. Some went insane after losing their loved ones, others simply shut down. That feeling of grief and hopelessness never truly went away.

“And we need you to be useful, Mustang,” the Fuhrer warned, his one eye training on Roy. “Make no mistake, though. If you step a foot out of line then we will kill her, whether we need you functioning or not. At least then we won’t need to worry about you sneaking around if you’re incapacitated.”

They would kill Riza just to keep him in line. If he lost her… He would be a shell of his former self, there was no doubt in his mind about that. No will to live, no drive to fight them…

This truly was a curse for them both.

It should be happy, it should be wonderful… But after what they had done in Ishval, Roy and Riza knew they didn’t deserve it. This soulmates curse was just another punishment for their sins.

“Lieutenant!” he screamed. His own neck burned with pain but he could hardly care. The only thought was that she was dying and he needed to do something to stop it. He could feel what she was feeling, he knew how much it hurt. Her eyes met his and he could see the determination in hers, he could even feel a sliver of it residing in his chest, but she could also feel the desperation in him.

That’s why they never really communicated what they were feeling. They always knew what the other was experiencing. It did, however, mean that no matter how much she downplayed her injuries to her fellow officers in order for them not to worry about her, Roy knew exactly how she was feeling. Riza used that to her advantage, downplaying it to him. They couldn’t reveal the fact they were soulmates so whenever she assured him she was fine, and Roy knew she really wasn’t, he just had to accept it and move on.

He wouldn’t do that now.

“I won’t die,” she breathed into the room. “I’m under strict orders not to die.”

He wanted to believe her but he could feel the pain in his neck lessening. She was fading from consciousness and didn’t have much time left. Panic seized him and he heard Riza gasp in response. He strained forward as far as he could, needing to be as close to her as possible. He needed to hold her. He needed to help her.

“We knew she was the one,” the doctor replied gleefully. “Now, all you need to do is open the portal and she will be fine. You can save both her life and yours because once she’s gone…” he laughed maniacally before his voice turned deadly. “You will be useless.”

Her eyes slid up towards the ceiling before blinking closed for longer than usual. Roy’s heart leapt into his throat as he thought she had passed out.

“Lieutenant, open your eyes!” he commanded desperately. “No,” Roy whispered. He was transported back to years ago when he burned Riza’ back. When she passed out his pain disappeared. Now, watching her eyes flutter closed despite her bravado about being ordered not to die, he no longer felt the pain in his neck.

She was almost gone.

“Lieutenant!” he screamed. The grip on his right arm loosened. Eyes snapping up he saw one of the Xingese girl’s knives embedded in the arm of his captor. Wrenching his arm free he grabbed the sword, stabbing the other in the leg. In a burst of energy he was on his feet. The pain that had disappeared from his neck was all that fuelled him. Despite how awful it felt, despite the fact it would hurt Riza, he would do anything to bring that pain back right now. If he brought it back that meant she was still conscious and one step further away from death than she was now.

Gathering her up into his arms Roy begged her to open her eyes. There was an impending feeling of finality creeping up on him.

“Lieutenant, please, open your eyes!” he called, giving her body a squeeze. “You have to wake up. We promised we would fight this together.” Roy swallowed past the lump in his throat. “You promised you would stay by my side. You can’t leave now.”

Nothing.

“I’m nothing without you.”

“Let me help!” Mei Chang commanded. She threw her knifes down and within a couple of seconds she had performed a transmutation. Roy gasped as pain flared in his neck, but it was duller than before. He winced, a hand automatically flying up to the affected area, but the relief he felt overcame it all.

He scooped Riza into his arms, burying his face in her hair. He breathed in her scent, feeling her chest rise and fall with her breaths. She was alive.

The worst of it was over for the moment.

Or that was what he thought.

As if fate or god or whoever didn’t think it was hilarious enough already to pin them as soulmates, they didn’t even get a chance to rest. Bradley pounced on him without a moment’s hesitation and Roy’s fear intensified both from his own and from Riza’s. This was the first time he had felt such a raw emotion coming from her. She rarely showed it, even to him. Emotions were easy to bury when it mattered. He had only ever been privy to her pain.

One thing he didn’t count on was what would happen after he opened the gate. When the swords pierced his hands he heard her gasp, the sound echoing his own strangled yell. Their screams mixed once more as it felt like his body was being torn apart to go through the gate.

“Colonel!” Riza screamed for him as pain enveloped his entire body.

Then it was gone.

“Colonel,” he heard Riza whisper to his right. “Your eyes…”

“Are you all right, Lieutenant?”

The battle with Father was over. They had been taken to a military hospital nearby and patched up. That hadn’t been pleasant as Roy felt every time the needle pierced Riza’s skin as she got the stitches on her neck. He simply lay in bed, staring up at a ceiling he couldn’t see while his hands were clenched by his side.

Silence. His heart beat wildly in his chest in anticipation. His hands reached out for her, needing to feel she was there and that she was all right. The pain was still present in his neck, so he knew she was alive, but he needed to confirm it.

“I’m all right.”

He breathed in response, relief flooding his body. Riza grabbed his hand tightly, giving it a squeeze to reassure him that she understood his concern. They were soulmates, after all. She could feel the relief he was experiencing right now and the panic that had swelled within him when she didn’t reply right away.

“My wound will heal nicely, they said. All thanks to Mei.”

“Good.” Silence fell once more as Roy formulated his next question. He had so many he needed answered so he decided to get the most important ones out of the way first. “Did you feel it?”

“Sir?”

“Did you feel any pain… when I lost my eyesight?” Riza remained quiet, the silence eating at him. “Riza…”

“I did.”

Roy stiffened. “How bad was it?”

God, he wanted to look at her face to see her eyes. Emotions were shared between soulmates but they were easy to hide. Riza had been doing it for years. Pain, however, was not easy to hide, that was why it was so prevalent in every soulmate bond. In a time when he needed to see just how much it had affected her, he couldn’t.

That was what he had been focussed on for so long, after all, just how much his pain would affect her without any real concern for himself.

“It stung. My head…” Roy squeezed her hand, prompting her to continue. They always knew how the other was feeling so never needed to relay it back out loud. This was something new for Riza but Roy was extremely grateful that she was doing this for him, especially now when he couldn’t pick up on her cues. “It felt like a headache. Like a stabbing pain behind my eyes.”

“I’m sorry.”

Riza sighed in frustration. “There is nothing to apologise for. What happened to me… Well, that was much worse.”

“I thought you’d died.” Roy swallowed. When the feeling of grief threatened to overwhelm him he felt both Riza’s hands grasp him and she exhaled. Roy followed suit, letting it all out in a breath. “Well, you can probably tell already how much that affected me.”

“You were so scared.”

“I thought I was going to lose you.”

“I felt you straining. I felt their grip on you tighten.”

“I couldn’t let you die alone.”

“You fought for me,” she added simply, as if only now realising it.

“Of course. Where would I be without you?”

Roy felt her tears build in her chest. He lifted a hand to her face, fingers becoming wet as he confirmed what he felt through their bond.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I would be lost without you too,” she whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too, my soulmate.”

[peachymhaechan]

“Do you even know how to have fun?”

Genre: angst to fluff, badboy!au

Warnings: language, mentions of drug abuse, underage drinking, mentions of sex

Pairing: Jeno x Reader

author’s note: this is my first request omg !! requested by @april-diamondthings, i hope you like it !!

if there was one thing you hated, that would be fuckboys

and, hate to break it to ya, but lee jeno was The Fuckboy at your school

everyone thought that jaemin was the school’s resident fuckboy but you knew better

after all, jeno had been your childhood best friend and has lived next door since you guys were in diapers

middle school came along, tho, and wiped out all friendship after you developed a crush on him and he didn’t feel the same and well... 

you guys drifted apart:/

senior year was coming to an end, and it was tradition for the seniors to throw a party with the juniors and pass on the torch of being top dogs of the school

that party, as per tradition, would have lots of underage drinking and drugs (don’t drink or do drugs, it’s not worth it guys!!)

since you had nothing better to do on a Friday night and your friends were bored, you figured why not go? 

besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

oh boy, were you about to wish you had just stayed home lmao

your parents all thought you were going to a friend‘s house (luckily none of your friends’ parents or your parents asked which bc uhhhhh y’all would have been found out real quick)

so since your parents were going to a family friend’s house for a lil party, you guys decided to leave at about 8

your small group of three friends climbed into your car and set out on your way

“Okay, guys. let’s make a pact: if one of us gets drunk, we will not let whoever it is get behind the wheel or drunk text. got it?” you announced, setting out ground rules for the night

your friends were all easy going and pretty responsible people, so needless to say, they all agreed

the venue was always the abandoned water park that your city had in the rundown part of town and every year, kids would sneak in months in advance and start decorating

they turned the old waterslides into fully functional slides again by running hoses, they’d string lights everywhere, and transform the wave pool into a skate park

of course, though, since your grade had a majority of the Dreamies (some weird clique that gave themselves a name, which Jeno was a part of), y’all were not prepared for half the shit they had in treat for that party

they deadass got one of the pools to work again

how? nobody knows to this very date, the Dreamies are a fuckin mystery

they also set up a swim-up bar in said pool, where a bunch of the seniors would be constantly pouring drinks for the whole night

a bon fire was going in one of the pools, where a bunch of kids gathered with their drinks and drugs and bs-ed for a while

when you guys arrived, bathing suits under your clothes, you came face to face with the thing of legends

juniors were invited every year, but you didn’t go last year so you had no idea what to expect

and lemme tell ya, it was not that

as soon as you climbed the fence to get in, you found yourself in a fucking amusement park

the kids you had gone to school with since kindergarten all ran around, partying out their last hoorah

like always, cliques stuck together but some intermingled

one of the Dreamies and one of your best friends greeted you right away

“Y/N! So nice of you to join us! We have drinks over there, hope you brought your bathing suit- oh, someone threw up on the fucking slide, damn it Chenle- and so much more pretty much all throughout! Gotta go relight those tiki torches, if you need anything just come find me!” -Haechan, 2k18

“I say we get a drink first,” one of your bffs suggested, pretty much signing everyone’s death warrants then and there

of course, nobody knew then that that’d be a big mistake

you guys put your clothing in one of the lockers the park had and went into the pool and over to the swim-up bar

“Mark! Long time no see, what the fuck is up, my man?” you asked the college boy serving drinks

you figured he had come back home to help out with the party bc 1) he used to be the leader of the Dreamies and Mark was 100% of their impulse control, and 2) they needed someone who actually knew how to make drinks to serve at the bar

“Hey, what’s up, Y/N? What can I get you?” 

“Whatever will fuck me up the fastest.” 

he didn’t bother to tell you what he had given you, and surprisingly (and fucking dumbly, too) you drank whatever it was in one go

“holy fucking shit, I’ve only ever seen one other person handle their strong ass liquor like that and that was a 40 year old alcoholic-” 

“give me more, bud!“

within the first hour of being there, Mark had you fucked up pretty good

you weren't completely drunk, but you were well on your way

because of this, everything was super fun and entertaining

Chenle’s dolphin impersonation in the pool? Hilarious

Jisung splashing the shit out of Renjun? Comedy gold

Jaemin trying to do the sexy lean against the side of the pool to hit on some poor girl and losing balance as he was asking her out? A gift from God

Haechan trying to stand up at the bottom of the water slide and falling flat on his ass? Hoy shit, the best thing since sliced bread

Everything was going great until you found yourself falling into someone’s arms

“Thanks-” you looked up to see who had caught you right before you fell off the ledge of the pool and your eyes locked with a pair you used to day dream in for years

Jeno

“You should watch where you’re going,” he muttered to you, helping you regain your balance

“Do you even know how to have fun?” 

that question stopped him dead in his tracks, somehow managing to freeze that cocky boy

“Do I know how to have fun?” he mumbled, unsure if he heard you right, partly amused by that question, “Oh, babe, you haven’t had fun until you’ve met me.” 

feeling pretty confident from the liquid courage, you said, “Then show me.” 

Jeno stared at you in shock, not knowing who exactly he was talking to

the last time you guys were considered friends was in junior high, and you had been so timid and he didn’t know how to bring you out of your shell

so jeno took your hand and whoosh! you were off for quite the adventure

first stop: the (fixed! vomit free!) water slides

pretty unsafe but they fixed up one of the ones that went almost straight down and jeno expected you to be super against it but nope, didn’t phase you in the least

“hold my beer” and down the slide you went

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” he told you at the bottom, helping you stand up

“Like I asked earlier, do you even know how to have fun?” 

oooooooh that was the wrong thing to say, because from that point on he made it his life goal to prove to you that he did, in fact, know how to have fun

since he had yet to drink or get high, he thought it’d be okay to impress you with his skateboarding abilities

in the ‘skate park’ he wasted no time in showing you all of his best tricks

“Show me how to be- how to be on X Games mode,” you demanded, wanting to know how the hell he stayed balanced enough to do that

the boy was super eager to have an excuse to be closer to you so of course he helped guide you on the board, keeping you on path and preventing you from falling off

his hands were on your waist to keep you steady, and in your heart you were excited because you had missed jeno being in your life but your mind said to cut that shit out right away

did you listen to your head? no, you listened to your heart

“well, was that enough?” he asked you, pulling you guys out of the skating area

“Nope, show me more,” you demanded, walking past the pool and the bar

jeno figured you weren’t paying attention to him so he mouthed :what the fuck did you give to her?!” to mark, and to his surprise, mark replied with “everything, bro! it’s my frat’s specialty. good luck getting her to function tomorrow!” 

jeno realized then that you needed to go home asap

“I’m gonna sit you down here and I will be back in a couple of seconds, okay?” he said as he forced you to sit down by the bon fire

he left you with a bunch of kids singing songs and rolling joints

luckily he appeared a few seconds later as promised, because you were getting more and more on board with trying drugs, too

“Here, drink this,” he told you, placing a red solo cup in your hands

your confused mind thought it was more beer so you chugged it, but became disappointed when the taste registered as just water

“I think that’s enough fun for tonight, yeah? Let’s get you home,” Jeno said, wrapping your arm around his shoulders and supporting your weight as you stumbled around everywhere

you pouted and bitched the whole time, wanting to stay longer

“can I pleeeeeease stay for a couple more minutes?” “no”

“can I please get another drink from Mark?” “No, I am going to have a conversation with Mark about what he serves people-”

“can we take a trip to the beach?” “no” 

“can I please hug Renjun? Oh, god, look at him, he’s so small I have to make sure he’s okay-” “Y/N, he’s so much taller than you are,” “don’t crush my fucking dreams, Jeno” 

“Jeno, I really don’t want to go...” “I really don’t care, you are completely shit faced, Y/N. It’s dangerous being this drunk! We are going home.” 

he put you in the passenger seat of his car and drove to your house, and the whole car ride you sat there and stared out the window

when he got to your front porch, you didn’t even need to pull the keys out, he took them from where your family hid it and unlocked the door

you were surprised that he even remembered that hiding spot from when you were kids

you both stumbled around in the dark, but finally you made it to your room

“Will you be okay to change into pajamas on your own?” he asked, worried about you getting hurt or falling asleep in the process

“Uhhhhh... yes. You can take some of my dad’s clothes,” you informed him, slurring your words to the point where he almost couldn’t understand

somehow, you managed to change out of your nasty party clothes and into pajamas

you curled up in bed while waiting for him to finish

when he came back into the room, he found you curled up into a ball on your bed, looking tiny in the sheets

just as he walked through the door to go downstairs, he heard a small and muffled, “Don’t go.” 

?

“Don’t you dare leave me again.” 

after that statement, of course he went back into your room and joined you under the covers

your body melted into his and you stared up into his eyes

“Do you ever miss it?” you asked him, suddenly sober again

“Miss what?” he asked, genuinely curious as to what you were talking about

“Being friends. Do you miss it?” 

“Of course I do, Y/N. You were my best friend...” 

“Then why did we let something as silly as a crush ruin it all?” 

“I... I don’t know.” 

“I fucking miss you so fucking much, Jeno. I miss you knocking on my window at three in the morning and coming over because you had a nightmare, I iss riding our bikes to the creek and searching for crawfish the whole day, I miss having snowball fights in the crazy old neighbor’s yard, I miss- I miss you, Jeno.” 

he gazed into your eyes, with an unknown glint that you could not place

he took your hand in his and did not let his eyes leave yours for one moment

“Did you know that my parents still ask about you every day? God, I miss you- I miss the way you’d break into my house and have random baking parties in my kitchen, I miss how you’d make me smell your hair when you’d try a new conditioner, I miss how you’d tease me over nicknames my family gave me, I- I. Miss you. So. Damn. Much, Y/N.” 

“Please don’t think that this is just a decision I made when I was drunk, because i have been thinking about this for a really long time,” you pleaded before stretching up and planting your lips on his

it wasn’t exactly how you had dreamed it’d be for the first time, but you couldn’t argue that it was bad

Jeno fell right into it, pulling your hips closer to him so he could take control of the kiss

that kiss felt like it lasted for years

when you finally broke the kiss for air, he said, “Y/N, please don't ever leave my side again.” 

“Trust me, I won’t.” 

After that, he fell asleep with you in his arms, not that you really minded lol

that night ended with sharing secrets and worrying about your drunk friends

let’s just say that that was the first of many more to come

[jamiemac26]

Movin’ On Chapter - Eight: Year Six

Movin’ On - By JamieMac

Description: A relationship is made up of moments. Moments that span days and years, spaces of time. Y/N had been with Harrison Osterfield for 10 years, but after a horrific argument they break up and she finds herself reminiscing, about all the good times they had together and all of the bad times that they went though. She starts to see the pieces that fell - what she once thought was the perfect puzzle, every piece in its place, turned out to be a facade, one big jumbled up mess with nothing but patches in place of the missing pieces.

“Ew, I look terrible,” Y/N scrolled through the paparazzi photos. She and Harrison had been leaving a popular downtown restaurant, days after his new TV show had premiered, when they were bombarded by flashes, seemingly coming from every direction. They had known that this was a huge role for him. Primetime TV on a major network, something one could only dream about and he had snagged it out from under some fairly popular actors. She was so proud of him and he was so happy. They had gone out to dinner to celebrate, and it had not occurred to her that anyone would even care about their whereabouts. Boy, had she been wrong.

“You don’t look terrible,” He kissed her cheek, his hands rubbing her shoulders. “You look hot and you’re on the arm of Hollywood’s next big star,” He laughed as he read the words underneath the photos, each on touting Harrison’s talent.

“Whatever,” She pushed him playfully, “But seriously Haz, I am so proud of you.” Her fist clenched the material of his shirt, pulling him closer to her face, “They are all just now discovering what I’ve known all along...that you belong here, right alongside those men that you beat for this role.” She pressed her lips to his, her arms wrapping around his trim waist. “I still look terrible in these photos. I mean, really, they so need to get my from my other side.”

Harrison chuckled, pulling away from her, “I’m sure that you will have plenty of opportunity to perfect your pap pose.”

She rolled her eyes, returning back to her dissection of the photos. A text message notification popped up, pulling her attention and she squinted her eyes.

Tom: I just watched the first episode… damn, he did so fucking great.

Y/N: Right...I was so impressed but I knew that he had it in him all along.

Tom: Of course he did. How is he doing?

Y/N: Riding cloud nine. I haven’t seen him this happy in years Tom.

Tom: Good good, he deserves it, he really does. Hell, you deserve it.

Y/N: When are you going to be in LA next, maybe since he’s in such a good mood, he’ll be willing to meet up this time.

There were several minutes of silence and Y/N kept glancing off into the other room, her eyes clocking Harrison as he continued to accept congratulatory messages from friends and family. He wasn’t paying any attention to what she was doing. He suspected that she was still in contact with Tom but he had only brought it up casually in conversation a couple times and she had easily diverted the course to another topic. Harrison’s issues with Tom ran deep and she didn’t want to create anymore rifts then what was already there.

Tom: I’m not sure that is a good idea… not again Y/N.

Y/N: I know that last time was bad, but he’s in a better place..would it really be so bad if you tried again.

Tom: I think so...yes. I know you want it all to be okay again, but I think that ship has sailed.

Y/N: I just want to make it better.

Tom: Love, you can’t make someone do something they are animatedly against. I think it’s time that we just let it be.

Y/N: Are you sure?

Tom: Just let it go...for me.

Y/N: Okay. I can still see you though, right?

Tom: You better.

She placed the phone back down on the table, her eyes falling back onto Harrison’s face. He was beaming, his face bright and cheery. Her heart felt full, but for one small hole, a hole that she knew would never be filled. There wasn’t a moment that went by that she didn’t mourn what their friendship used to be and she knew that he felt it too, but he was too fucking stubborn to admit it. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the table, moving to sit next to him. His smile grew, and he showed her something on his phone that he had been studying. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arm falling casually around her. At least she still had them both.

-

-

She stumbled slightly, the darkness that cloaked her sight distorted her sense of balance. “Can I look yet,” She giggled as Harrison steered her up a couple more steps.

“Not yet. Wait right here, don’t move.”

His body left hers and she heard a lock click and a door swing open. His hands were once again on her shoulders, guiding her over what she assumed was a threshold. He stopped her and she stood still as she felt his fingers undo the knot holding the blindfold over her eyes. The light was bright, and she blinked a couple of times, allowing the shapes of the room to fully come into view. The ocean greeted her through the floor to ceiling windows. The space was airy and light and beautiful. She turned to face her boyfriend, “What is this?”

“This,” He made a sweeping gesture, “Is our new condo, complete with ocean views.”

She inhaled a deep breath, slowly letting the air escape, “Harrison, we…” She paused, wanting to choose her words carefully, “How can we afford this?”

He moved to stand near the tall panes of glass, his eyes searching the sandy white beaches, “I’ve got a great gig right now and you just got that promotion and you said that you had no interest in staying in that dump of an apartment for too long...it was time.”

“But we promised one another that we would save our money, even if it meant living in that crappy place. Haz there are no guarantees in life and my job alone can’t pay for this place.”

He spun around to face her, his eyes narrowed to crinkled slits, “What are you saying?”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m trying to be realistic, that’s all.”

“By doubting me?”

“No,” She shook her head, “Harrison this place is lovely...I just want to make sure that we don’t get in over our heads.”

“I try to do something nice, to let you know how much I love and appreciate everything that you’ve done and sacrificed and this is how you accept it?”

“Oh my god, where is this coming from?”

He paced back and forth across the spacious room, his hands wildly expressing his frustrations, “You’ve been talking him, haven’t you?”

“What,” She stared at him in bewilderment.

“Tom, you’ve been talking to Tom, even after I asked you not to.”

She let her eyes examine the hardwood floor beneath her. She wasn’t meaning to lie to Harrison, to keep from him her communication with his once best friend, but Tom was an important part of her life and she wasn’t going to cut off all ties just because Haz couldn’t control his jealousy. “When do we get to move in?” She decided her best course of action was to just go along with what he wanted and avoid the topic of Tom all together.

He stopped moving, his eyes glued to her.

She shuffled awkwardly under his intense gaze, “We might need to get another car, not sure that the buses will be useful out this way.”

Harrison grinned, taking her bait and letting the subject of his former friend drop. He approached her, his arms enveloping her waist, “I knew you’d fall in love with this place once you saw it. I just want you to be happy Y/N and I want to be able to give you the life that you deserve.”

She allowed him to hold her, his face nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Her eyes studied the ocean, watching as the waves rolled onto the smooth beach before quicky washing the sandy particles back out. She knew that this was a bad idea, but it wouldn’t be the first time she had just gone along with him and it wouldn’t be the last. Maybe, maybe their luck would hold out and they could live this lavish life, be happy here together. Maybe.

Movin’ On Masterlist

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