#I’ll happily explain as many times as people need

[hearmeoutworthypoll]

Reminders:

1) submissions open

2) this poll is not about if you find a character attractive, but whether or not being attracted to them is really that weird

[drghostwrite]

Black is my color…

Pairing: Regina Mills x wife!reader

Summary: One jealous Regina.

Warnings: MINORS DNI, smut(like dirty sexy jaw dropping), some kinks (mommy, slight bondage/blindfold, strap on)

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

Being married to the mayor was one thing, always looking the part, being a driving force and support system, sometimes even her protector, honestly it wasn’t that bad, Regina had changed and everyone loved her so being mayor was like a no brainer.

Being married to Regina Mills, that was a whole other story, at first it was rough, proving to her that she deserved to be loved the way she loves, too many countless nights were spent arguing or even holding her in your arms as she cried from exhaustion and everything; though no one ever said marriage was easy.

You had your good times too, you had family and friends, you owned half the real estate in Storybrooke, but recently opened a bistro on Main street which allowed you to do your own thing and support Regina any way she needed, even if that meant mid day make out sessions in the office.

It was that time of year again, town hall meetings, because of not only owning half the town and also being the Mayors wife you also had to sit through back to back meetings with her.

“Dear, what’re you wearing?” Regina called out to you as she stood in front of the mirror putting earrings in. Your arms wrapped around her resting your chin on her shoulder.

“if I had my way I would say nothing, I’m going to tell them my wife wasn’t feeling well and I needed to take care of her.” You placed gentle kisses on her neck.

“Hm cute… but really?” She asked a hand coming to your hair as she leaned back into you, you inhaled the scent of her expensive perfume holding her a couple seconds longer.

“how’s this look?” You stepped back and in a moments notice she wanted to jump you, you had on the black knit top that hugged your upper body perfectly, the deep green suit complementing your skin tone the pants hugging your smooth curves, the stilettos peeking out made your legs look amazing.

“Absolutely amazing.” She said kissing you passionately.

“well then Mayor Mills, time to go remind this town what a power couple we are?” You held out your hand.

“Always.” She grinned, taking it and following you out to the car, when you arrived at the town hall you watched as people gathered and whispered among themselves.

when Regina entered the conference room followed by you it fell silent, power just permeating the room, there was a sense of security and gentleness that followed you and it was intimidating to most.

It wasn’t long before the meeting started to get slightly heated. You sat next to Regina, who was now distracted by how good you looked, oh how she wished she could take you right there, in front of everyone.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked at you a silent plea for help and immediately you were at her side.

“okay, okay…” you spoke up.

“So you do have a voice?” Gold snarkily replied.

“Gold…” Regina growled lowly, and he smirked.

“Hey she’s pretty persuasive at times… I’ll give her that…” Gold said raising his hands.

“Cause she’s hot, like dirty sexy hot… no offense…” Ruby started explaining, “if you weren’t married to the scariest person alive I would sleep with you.”

“Uhh, Ruby.” Snow gasped as the younger girl shrugged. You heard Regina, a scoff escaping her perfectly painted red lips behind you her signature eyebrow raised.

“Well fortunately enough, I’m happily married and my sex life is not the topic of this meeting.”

“well just saying though, no wonder you always get what you want… Regina’s hot too but you, she’s lucky she got her hands on you first.”

“Amen Sister.” Grumpy added. You knew your wife was on fire behind you as you stood and ended the meeting.

“Honestly if you ever, you know get bored… call me.” Ruby play flirted with you before leaving as you just rolled your eyes.

You felt as Regina quickly grabbed your hand and basically pulled you to the car. The car ride home was silent, Regina sat there not saying a word, you reached over and ran a hand on bare thigh were her skirt was lifted.

“Regina, love are you okay?”

“I’m fine…just ready to be home.” she said with sass and laid a hand on yours, you pulled in the driveway and she followed you in the house.

“I’ll be right there.” You said kissing her perfectly painted lips, going to put your keys away as she brushed past you to go upstairs. When you got up there you could tell something was off but thought maybe she was just tired, your eyes followed her half clothed form as she walked around your room in her underwear and the satin top partially unbuttoned. You wrapped you arms around her from behind, kissing her neck, “Hey, are you sure your okay?” She leaned her neck back to give you more access before turning around and pushing you back.

Soft kisses from you turned into bruising kisses from both of you as she pushed you back onto the bed, on flick of her wrist and you were unclothed, her in just a black lace lingerie set.

“Regina?”

“Dear?”

“Mm…” you said as her kiss stole the words from your lips. You let your hands roam her body, as she did the same to you, but not before she grabbed your hands off of her hips gathering them above your head.

“How much do you love me?”

“more than anything…” you replied.

“and you trust me?”

“with my entire life…” you said as she kissed you, her hands held yours in place as she was above you.

“Hm,” she softly moaned, “then be good for mommy.”

You let out a soft moan as she applied some pressure to your hands, grinding her hips into yours as she straddled you. You saw as she sat back biting her lip, going to move your hands but you felt the soft fabric as it strained against the headboard.

“Baby…” you whined.

“uh uh…” she moaned back, biting her bottom lip.

“mommy?” You asked, with a whine.

“are you asking or telling?” She leaned forward her breasts brushing your stomach as she slithered up your body, her hands roaming the goosebumps forming on your skin.

“I need you…” you whispered breathlessly.

“need me?… come on, you can do better than that…” she said her hands teasing your excited body, “I’m going to make you beg for my attention.” She chuckled darkly, her pupils blown as she pulled a hard nipple into her mouth.

“mommy I need you.” You whined out begging for her to touch you, to fuck you until you were seeing stars.

“if only they could see you now, the sexy and domineering mayors wife, falling apart at my touch.” She whispered in your ear, one hand traveling down to your core, between your legs where she was lying.

she slowly pulled her middle finger through your folds, teasing you, drawing moans from your plump lips. She knew you well, too well, enough that just her skilled fingers brushing against your sensitive clit was bringing you close to the edge, she moved down the bed her breath warm against your core.

“I-shittt, Regina…” you hissed out as she licked up your slit, pulling your clit into her mouth, letting her tongue make magic, you felt one finger then two slide in as she started pumping them, the black satin fabric around your wrist straining as you tried to touch her. You were so close panting, as you were on the verge of climax, then she pulled out, sitting back up to straddle your hips.

“Ughhh…” you let out a frustrated moan as she had robbed you of your high.

“not yet darling,” she said kissing your lips, her tongue roaming your mouth.

“don’t you taste amazing?” She asked you as you could taste you on her lips, she placed kisses on you neck and breast, leaving dark red marks that would definitely be purple by morning.

“the marks…” you struggled to get out, you would leave them on her in the most discreet places knowing that she hated when anyone else could see and yet here she was leaving them everywhere that someone could and would see them.

“I want everyone to know who you belong to, who’s wife you are, who makes you feel this good.” She said marking your body, hands pulling at the restraints as you tried touching her again.

“Damnit… let me touch you, please.” You begged again.

“Only if you’re a good girl.” She said crawling off of you and standing next to the bed, she stripped of her panties throwing them on the bed next to you, she tied another piece of black satin around your eyes, disappearing into your large walk in closet, you tried peering but the fabric wouldn’t let you see anything.

When she returned you felt as the bed dipped beside you and she undid your wrists, she slowly slid the blindfold from your eyes and you shot up on your knees pulling her into a kiss, but you were quickly met with a hand grabbing your hair and pulling you back.

“be a good girl for mommy.” She said her white teeth peeking through her signature smirk. You looked her over seeing the strap on that she currently wore, the thick black dick staring back at you.

“go ahead… show me what you can do.” she trailed as you lowered yourself in front of her pulling it into your mouth, feeling the bumps and ridges on your tongue. She sat there watching, admiring the perfect view of your ass in front of her. You looked up at her making eye contact as she reached down lifting your chin so she could pull you closer to her.

“you ready?”

“yes, mommy.” You said in a low tone watching her lips lightly part.

“Mm, then be a good girl and ride mommy’s dick.” She said sitting down her back against the pillows, you straddled her lap feeling as she positioned the toy at your entrance and you slowly lowered yourself. You hissed as you felt the slight burn as it stretched you, slowly turning into pleasure, you started grinding your hips against hers, the double sided strap on bringing you both pleasure.

you started moving you pace a little faster, “oh god, shit,” you reached out steadying yourself on the head board, your wife taking in the view, you riding the silicone cock, skin glistening, your boobs bouncing in front of her, it wasn’t long before you were both on the verge of climax, she thrusted up into you matching the pace of your hips, her hands gripping onto your hips helping to guide you, keep you steady. You threw your head back, eyes rolling in pleasure as a loud moan escaped from both of your lips. Your orgasms rocked your body, your legs shaking as you felt your muscles clenching.

You stayed there a moment the toy inside of you both as you sat in her lap, letting your breathing steady, gently kissing her lips, breath ghosting over each other as it slowed, you climbed off of her settling next to her on the bed.

“I would never leave you…” you whispered breathless, “I’m always yours.” You looked at her as she smiled at you and climbed on top of you placing delicate kisses on your lips.

“Dear, I’m not done with you yet.” She whispered in your ear, one hand going down to spread your legs, quickly repositioning herself between them, pushing the silicone toy back into you.

“im not going to be able to walk tomorrow,” you said breathlessly in between moans.

“Not when I’m done with you.” She said thrusting back into you bringing you to the edge of another orgasm.

******************************************************** Taglist:

@poisonappleeater @thesamesweetie @gayestswiftie

[lani-heart]

|| series masterlist || next // previously ||

genre(s) -> angst, fluff, non-idol, hybrid au, poly au paring(s) -> choi san x reader x jung wooyoung warning(s) -> mention of abuse words -> 1.2K

abstract -> "...like you’re wanted. It's a sense of security that you have a home"

san's perspective

I’ve been under her care for about a month now… humans often were cruel creatures. She was a saint though. 

The way she cared for others over herself was obvious. The amount of people who come over to check up on her shows how many care for her. 

They were all cautious of me though… of what I did to her. She’s healed by now… luckily she didn't scar. I didn’t want to be reminded by a scar of what I’d done. 

She did prove to want to spoil me and Wooyoung. 

The black card in her hand would pay for everything… I've seen people have their card declined but she constantly picked things out without a worry. 

She is a trust fund kid… but she made money herself too. “San how about this?” she asked me and I shook my head. I didn’t want to show off my arms. 

“San you need some short-sleeved clothes,” she said as she put it back. “Ooh! y/n how about this!” Wooyoung yelled as I saw him pull out another piece of clothing for himself. “If you like it, put it in the cart,” she said happily. 

“y/n?” he asked, looking nervous. 

“Yes?” she said waiting for him to speak… he was fidgeting and not looking at her anymore. “Why haven’t you given us collars yet?” he asked and I groaned.

Collars weren’t something I wanted. 

“Hmm? Oh… well I guess we haven’t had that conversation” she said while looking at me. “We’ll do that at home okay?” she asked and he nodded. 

She wandered off while me and Wooyoung guarded her cart with the mountain of clothing. “Why do you want a collar so badly?” I asked and he sighed. “It's not necessary but… to hybrids, it's almost like you’re wanted. It's a sense of security that you have a home” he said

“Then why hasn't she gotten us one yet?” I asked now feeling agitated at the thought of not having one. “Well… collars are also seen as oppression. Some hybrids don’t like it because it could be offensive” he explained and I nodded. 

“Maybe she hasn’t caused your past? I heard her speaking to our doctor about triggers you have” he said and I knew that made the most sense. 

“I never really had a collar…” I said and he nodded. 

“You should also have some short-sleeved clothes…” he said and I sighed. “I’ll choose some but I doubt I'll use it,” I said and he chuckled. 

“Well it looks like she's looking for some,” he said as we saw her looking at short-sleeved clothes… “Miss?” I heard as I saw an employee get closer to her. “Do you need help looking?” they asked and she pondered before shrugging. 

“Sure,” she said. “Do you know your boyfriend’s size?” they asked and I felt my face heat up. “Huh?!” she let out clearly flustered. Wooyoung laughing at the situation… “Yah, when did you become her boyfriend ~” he teased and I growled. 

“No fair though… I wouldn’t mind being mistaken for her boyfriend” he said softly. The fox had a huge crush on her; it was painfully obvious. 

He was also a big pervert… always when she was out he’d go to her room and leave with her scent on him. I don’t want to know what he does there…

“I think i'm ready for the next store,” she said, quickly coming over to us with a pink hue across her cheeks. 

It was cute how flustered she became. 

“So much,” y/n said as we were now all on the floor lying down surrounded by bags. I don’t even think the floor was visible anymore. 

“y/nnie! We still need to go grocery shopping!!” Wooyoung said and we groaned. He was now the appointed chef since y/n burned lunch one day. He scolded her and kicked her out of the kitchen. Not like he lets me in there either though…

“Does that mean we order food today?” I asked and she chuckled. “What are you craving San?” she asked and I thought about it… “Anything with meat with it,” I said, and the two chuckled. 

I hate the time I wasted being too stubborn to let her in. I’ve never felt happier than by her side and playing around with Wooyoung. 

Everything was perfect. 

“Do you guys want collars?” she asked and I liked the way Wooyoung explained it. A feeling of being wanted… I wanted to be someone like that for her. 

“I do… when my owner died they sold my collar. I never got one again after” Wooyoung said and I sighed. 

“I still can't believe them. I tried visiting you… but they denied us all from visiting saying it was bad for a pregnant woman. Eventually, I just gave up trying to accommodate. I’m sorry Woo”  she said and I noticed he sat up. 

“I’m just glad you never forgot about me,” he said with a grin. “How about you, San?” she asked as she sat up. I looked at her and she always asked me questions with pure curiosity on her face. 

“I wouldn’t mind it,” I said. I think in fact I wanted to be wanted by her.

“Wait here! I have something to give you two!” she said as she stood up quickly and made her way out of the bags and toward her room. 

“What do you think she has?” Wooyoung asked and I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said and he chuckled. “You really are becoming domesticated,” he muttered. “What is that supposed to mean?!” I asked confused and he laughed. 

“You’ve grown closer to her!” he said and I nodded. Before I could say anything I heard her footsteps. We saw her excitedly coming over to us with two bags. 

I didn’t recognize this brand… not like I recognized most but from the looks of it, Wooyoung didn’t either. 

“Before you open it, I got you the second day I went to buy stuff for San,” she said and I was confused. “I also got you one after San told me to adopt you both” she explained. to Wooyoung 

We took the tissue paper out of the bag to reveal a velvet box. Mine was black and Wooyoung’s beige. 

I opened it to reveal a collar… has she got me a collar ever since then?

It was pure black with black jewels around it. “Thank you!!” Wooyoung yelled as he hugged her. I was in shock… she got this on the second day of my being here.

I looked over to Wooyoung. y/n was helping him put it on. It was a beige collar with white jewels around it. “San?” she said as she looked at me nervously. 

I stood up and picked her up. I hugged her tightly…

“Your tail is wagging like crazy!” Wooyoung said and I don’t think I've ever felt this happy. “Do you like it?” she asked and I chuckled. 

“You’ve completed your promise,” I said and she pulled away to look at me shocked. I noticed her eyes turned glassy and she smiled happily at me.

“I hope you’re always happy with me,” she said as she hugged me tightly. 

“I know I will, if I’m with you” 

@wonuangel @danirael @angelsaway @krissroo @minkysmilk @mayonnaise-on-toast @robertsbbygirl @superbbananananana @hyukssunflower @kitty4hwa @justconniez @senpai-of-doom @kibs-and-bits @caityelise99 @ilovekinny @ateezennie23 @wooahaelemons @purplelady85 @watamotee33@chidess97 @littlelostdemonofthelight @maliamaiden @burntarm1n @spooo00oky @eastleighsblog @momo-peachy @kitstar1117 @quartzpirate @sunnyhokyu @iwishiwasrichasfuck @theginger543210 @pandolinka @ddaeing @kpopnightingale @slid3er @kekdo-520 @puppyminnnie @sparklinghwa222 @calicanbeevil @itsvxlentine @atinism @loumin908 @smally97 @rxnexxi @acetruepunk @majesticbeluga @namjooncrabs @tashizxy @itstheghostofmypast @smilefordongil @teeziny @totallynotlyntv @kyeos4ng @prodsh00ky @acescavern

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[gi4hao]

☆ in which a bag of groceries make seungkwan measure the extent of your love

☆ seungkwan x gn!reader — cw: food, seungkwan’s tits are out (._.)

there’s a tension growing in your upper back from carrying so many grocery bags on your own. giving yourself a quick shoulder rub, you make your way to your bedroom whose door is still shut.

carefully opening it, you’re relieved to see it’s still pitch black inside; you’ve apparently been quiet enough not to wake seungkwan up. or at least you have been until now:

“hey sunshine”, his drowsy voice greets you from the bed. in the dark, you can barely make out his arms stretching over his head. “where were you? what time is it?”

he leans to the side to turn on your bedside lamp; the sight of his messy hair and sleepy eyes make your heart swoon just a little.

“10 am. i went grocery shopping, figured the supermarket would be less crowded in the morning”, you reply, sitting next to him.

and you were right, there was practically no one in the aisles today; which was more than welcome considering you had to buy enough groceries to feed all twelve members’ stomachs tonight.

“you should have woken me up!” seungkwan protests, but the way his eyes are still struggling with adjusting to the light proves how much he needed to sleep in. “…did you find everything you wanted?” he asks, lifting one end of the covers to invite you in.

you nod as you happily snuggle against his bare chest, something that might be due to the fact that most of his comfy t-shirts are hidden away on your side of the closet.

“i bought some peanut butter for the cookies, of course i’ll also make regular ones for vernon”, you start explaining, trying to remember the items in your bags: “some paper towels too. i also got some mangos to make those smoothies cheol told me about. oh and i found jun’s shampoo! the one that was sold out everywhere! he asked for two bottles just in case.”

cheek pressed against his skin, you can’t really see his smile growing a bit more with every sentence. but something about the way his fingers start to gently rub your scalp lets you know how grateful he’s feeling.

because not only have you made active efforts to remember these little details about the people he loves, you’ve made them happily and willingly. as if loving him and loving the people he cares about naturally came hand in hand to you.

“i think it’s about time i start gatekeeping you”, he eventually blurts out, bringing the covers up to your nose. “i’ll call the guys, tell them tonight is cancelled. i’m never letting you out in the world again.”

a bashful smile tugging on your lips, you prop yourself up on an elbow to look at him: “you can’t do that. you love showing me off too much. besides, we can’t rob the world of our insane chemistry.”

your words draw a chuckle out of him, because not even him and his usual wittiness can’t deny what you just said.

“i love you”, he simply replies, his fingertips lightly scratching the back of your neck.

you’ve been hearing these three words on a regular basis for the past couple of years, yet you’re still unable to suppress the giddiness in your eyes.

“i’m glad you do… because i paid the groceries with your credit card”, you reply teasingly, but it doesn’t take more than a few seconds before you add a sincere: “i love you too.”

basking in the intimacy of your old lamp’s yellowish hues, he leans forward to leave a delicate kiss on your lips, your breaths intertwining as his hand lays a bit flatter on your neck.

his smile echoes on your face when you finally break the kiss, as you watch him readjust his position to rest more comfortably on the pillow.

“you know, i might not actually gatekeep you forever… but i’m gonna borrow your freedom for one more hour”, he says, arms keeping you close to him, “i’m not ready to start the day yet.”

and for the next hour, neither of you can find their way back to sleep. instead, the room fills with waves of mundane conversations, laughter and soft kisses, reflecting the simple happiness of knowing you found the right person to spend a lifetime of mornings with.

[deansdelicate]

I CAN SEE YOU

CHAPTER II: WATCHING YOU FOR AGES

seth rollins x fem!writer+producer reader

word count: [8.5K]

warnings: no use of y/n, mild cursing, mentions of having a baby out of wedlock (steph and paul), slight allusions to anxiety/loneliness, flirting (you don't even have to squint), mostly a light-hearted, domestic chapter <3

🎧 the soundtrack

summary: You're still getting accustomed to the fast life that comes with working for WWE, but it's all starting to settle down and you're beginning to feel like you belong with each day that passes—and it sure does help when a special someone is always going out of their way to make sure you know it too.

Seth and the rest of the superstars sat patiently on the shuttle bus, awaiting one last person before they could head to the arena for the night’s taping of SmackDown. It wasn’t often that they got to travel as one big group, but it was always something he took up when possible.

Usually the procedure was driving themselves to and from cities, hotels, and arenas, but now that Paul was in charge, he did his best to work in bus accommodations in order to give talent the slot to relax before shows. But even then, some opted to drive themselves, like Roman who was missing from his usual seat beside Seth.

“Who are we even waiting for?” Xavier complained, standing up to scan the area, trying to detect who exactly was holding them up.

“I’m surprised it isn’t you,” Seth cackled over at Finn who was notoriously known for being chronically late to every bus ride.

The Irish lad rolled his eyes. “Whoever has me beat is far more a mess.”

“Mr. Driver, can we get this show on the road?” piped Kofi with a clap as all the superstars agreed, preferring to get to the arena before doors so they could all get situated.

The driver looked up in the rear-view mirror, laughing shortly with the shake of his head. The superstars grumbled, patience dwindling by the second, trying to pinpoint who was the culprit of them running behind and making a pact to bar them from any future bus rides.

It wasn’t unusual for a crowd to gather outside the hotel—many of them children accompanied with their parents to get autographs and photos if they weren’t able to snag tickets to the show. But this time around, the crowd felt larger, more amateur photographers scattered throughout, which was odd considering it wasn’t a pay-per-view event.

“Oh, shit…” Big E singsonged, leaning out of his seat towards the window to see what all the ruckus was about as the fans’ cheers got louder.

Security surrounded you closely, keeping their arms outwards to stop people from getting too close to you. You happily waved at everyone, pausing for the kids who asked for autographs and selfies, making small talk with them before you waved goodbye and continued following the security.

“This way, Ms. Levesque.” One of the guards escorted you towards the doors of the bus, holding it open and ensuring you’d get in safely.

“Thank you,” you murmured with a tight smile, giving each of them a handshake for going out of their way for you.

“Hi! I’m so sorry for the holdup,” you apologized sincerely, turning to meet the driver, “They just wanted to make sure we were clear to go ahead.” You explained, extending your hand.

The man reassured you with a comforting shake of his head and meeting your hand gently. Your father was extremely protective of you, therefore many, if not all drivers and security crew of the company were well aware of the procedure of making sure you got where you needed to be safely no matter how long it took.

“You are precious cargo, Ms. Levesque. Have a seat and I’ll get us to the arena promptly.” He directed, gesturing you to get comfortable wherever you pleased.

Passing through the aisle, you smiled and said your ‘hello’s’ to everyone, most were surprised that you were joining them, considering that you were almost always a driven separately.

But what they didn’t know was that you had to practically beg your father to switch transportation for the day, simply wanting to be around everyone instead of being chauffeured to every event, which was starting to become a little lonely.

Seth sat in the last row of the bus, an empty seat beside him catching your eye. You paused in the aisle, pointing to the space with a hopeful smile.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” you asked timidly, crossing your fingers he didn’t mind you invading his space.

He immediately bopped his head, patting the seat.

“Course, here, let me help you.” He offered, holding his arms out towards you to take your things so that you could get settled with the fuss.

“Thanks.” You breathed a sigh of relief, passing him your purse and laptop.

You slid into the seat and buckled in before retrieving your stuff, your eyes meeting Seth’s with a grateful expression when his fingers brushed against yours for a split second.

“I hope you guys weren’t waiting too long,” you apologized, placing your purse on the ground between your feet.

He shook his head, leaning back into his seat. “Nah, we weren’t waiting long. Plus, it’s always a pleasure to be waiting for the princess herself.”

You giggled, brushing your hair over your shoulders then laying your head against the rest. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

The bus began moving en route to the arena that was a good twenty-five minutes away, giving you enough time to look over the script that you had been working on since what felt like forever ago. It was a part of an assignment your dad had you complete ting—writing four original scripts for the main roster, three of which focused on superstars who needed a bit more of character development.

The three completed scripts were met with praise by your dad alongside a number of producers and fellow writers who thought you were able to curate a story worthy enough to be showcased on TV. The remaining storyline, however, was a challenge—a romantic one.

You had been circling back to early storylines that involved romance, and while they were entertaining and good TV, they all felt one dimensional.

Therefore, you challenged yourself to come up with a script that would allow both leads to shine without acting as if their relationship was the only thing that existed. Sure, it was a longshot your dad would approve of it since TV hadn’t seen a romance trope in a while, but you wanted to take the risk and give it a shot.

“Important business?” Seth peered past your shoulder, raising his brow at your screen that had an overwhelming volume of text splayed across it.

You gawked up at him, nodding with a light laugh. “Just my final assignment.”

He looked at you, confused, feigning concern. “Final assignment? Did I miss the memo or something?”

You swung your head as you giggled, stopping your typing in order to show him exactly what you were up to.

“It’s the last storyline I’m writing for my dad to approve. I’ve been working on it for a while and now I’m just trying to polish it up for him.” You explained, tilting the screen towards him as you scrolled through the document.

“Whose it for?” he wondered, genuine curiosity in his eyes as he read a short fragment.

You rolled your shoulders with a shrug.

“To be honest, I don’t even have any particular superstars in mind. It’s very vague, but the details and sequencing are all there.”

“Well, if you’re writing it, I’m positive it’ll be worthy of Paul’s green-light.” He said confidently, his tone sincere, hoping it would make you feel slightly better to know he was rooting for you.

“I hope so,” your voice soft, exchanging tight smiles before you turned your attention back to work, trying to ignore the feeling of Seth’s eyes peering at you every so often while you typed away.

The bus ride was the perfect change of scenery even if it was just for a little while. It had been a bit lonesome traveling all by yourself and with the presence of everyone else you started to feel like you could get into the groove of things. Even if you weren’t involved in the conversation, the chatter of everyone cracking jokes made you grin through the work.

As the bus parked out back, the driver promptly exited to get the undercarriage opened so that talent could retrieve their luggages. Everyone stayed in their seats, just getting up to stretch their legs.

A security personnel poked their head into the bus, scanning the area until they saw you.

“Ms. Levesque, we’re going to escort you into the building.”

You acknowledged them with a nod, swiftly closing your laptop and gathering your things.

“How come we don’t get an escort too?” Kofi frowned, eliciting amusement from the entire bus, including yourself.

“Because I’m not a professional wrestler who could easily defend herself against crazed fans.” You half-joked with a pout.

“Noted.” Kofi replied with a smirk, flexing his arms and taking what you said as a compliment.

You shook your head with a laugh, turning back to Seth, who had been watching closely visibly seeing that now you were breaking out of your shell and learning everyone’s personalities.

“I’ll see you inside?” You proposed, getting up from your seat.

He nodded, knocking his knuckles against the window behind him. “See you in there.”

You twiddled your fingers goodbye before you walked through the aisle towards the front of the bus where security was already waiting.

“Bye everyone! I’ll see you inside,” you called out to everyone, waving as you exited and followed security through the surveillance screening to get into the arena.

After retrieving his bags, Seth headed straight to the locker room, dropping off his bags and then making his way toward catering for some food. He caught a glimpse of you on the way there, already sitting in hair and makeup, doing work on your laptop while you chit-chatted with the ladies.

He figured he’d leave you to it, hoping he’d run into you later in the night to talk more. He knew how important it was to make others feel welcomed, but it felt especially important to him that he could be someone you knew you could lean on, whether it was casual conversations or just talking about work.

“Where you off to? We’re all scheduled for a meeting with Paul.” Charlotte stopped him in the halls, going in the opposite direction of where all the talent was heading.

He scratched the back of his neck, pointing at her phone in her hand, “Was it an email? I didn’t see it on the itinerary.”

The blonde nodded, scrolling through her inbox. “Should’ve got sent to you this morning, but it doesn’t matter. It said all talent anyway.”

Seth nodded, walking alongside her, noting just how many people were headed in the same direction as Paul’s office. Usually they were all scheduled for meeting by group, but it seemed like it was an important one if Paul was calling for everyone on the same day at the same time.

As they squeezed into the office, some superstars found empty chairs while the rest stood against the walls, making space for those still arriving. The room buzzed with loud chatter, everyone speculating about the meeting’s purpose, hoping it wasn’t anything bad, like another round of roster splits.

Paul who sat at the head of the table, finally cleared his throat, silencing the room with an assertive presence that meant business.

“Okay everyone, let’s make this quick so you all can get out of here.” He rubbed his hands together, passing around papers that had the upcoming schedule for the next month.

“We’ve got some shows scattered across the east coast and mid-west. We’re prepping for SummerSlam, so things are going to start moving quicker and as we wrap up some storylines, we’re also going to be starting new ones.”

Many of the superstars were already well aware if they would be on the pay-per-view card or not, except Seth, who was still awaiting his opponent after he and Dean lost the tag team championships to Sheamus and Cesaro. They were originally going to have a rematch, but Dean ended up getting written into a different storyline with The Miz for the intercontinental championship.

“As you know my daughter joined us just a few days ago, but she has been watching and closely working alongside creative and producers in order to write a few scripts. Some of which will be getting played out in the coming weeks.”

Seth heard through the grapevine that some superstars already had meetings with you the following day after your debut to pitch the new storylines. Braun Strowman was one of the superstars to have a script written specifically for himself, and it was safe to say that everyone else was excited to see if they’d receive a script with your name on it too.

Your father was also greatly elated that you were taking the reins on helping him develop some talent—the pride evident in his voice and face as he spoke about you though you weren’t around to hear.

“And speaking about my daughter, I feel like this goes without saying, but just to make it abundantly clear, I think you should hear it from me.”

The tone in Paul’s voice suddenly shifted to something more serious, causing the superstars to deliberately fixate their sights on him.

“She’s new to this scene and to be quite frank she didn’t even want to step foot anywhere near the business, but she gave it a shot and while she’s still getting adjusted to the way things work around here, I have a good feeling she’s going to be the person taking over when I decide its time for me to step away…”

Everyone nodded along understanding that Paul’s time in charge might not be for long seeing as though he was getting older and he didn’t want to overstay his position of the head of creative knowing that it was best for a new perspective to be let in before things went stale.

Paul took a deep breath, the shift in his demeanor palpable as he transitioned from boss to protective father. His eyes scanned the room, settling on each superstar with a look that spoke volumes and caused most of them to squirm including Seth.

“Which is why I need to make myself crystal clear,” he began, his voice firm and unwavering. “My daughter is absolutely off-limits.”

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in despite him feeling like it should have been an automatic rule everyone should’ve been expected to follow without him saying it explicitly.

Seth found it a little hypocritical considering the nature of Paul and Stephanie’s relationship. Everyone knew they had gotten together despite Vince’s warning and everyone else tell them it was bad for business, yet here they were years later not only married but with four daughters to show for it.

But Seth also knew that mixing pleasure with business wasn’t always successful as theirs was—most times it was like playing a dangerous game, and he respected that aspect of it—plus, who would be crazy enough to go after the boss’s daughter, anyway?

“She’s a sweet girl,” he continued, his voice softening slightly trying not to get emotional when it came to you.

“And I’m not just saying that because she’s my kid. If anyone were to hurt her, especially when I’m the person signing their checks, I would hate to be the one to have to fire them too. Am I clear?”

Paul was anything other than threatening especially outside of the character he played up for fans, but it felt like the first time he showed the true colors that could come out if anyone dared to get on his bad side. There was a collective ‘yes’ that filled the room, nearly suffocating everyone with how thick the tension in the air was.

From the back of the room, Randy’s voice cut through the silence with a choked up laugh.

“I guess my dreams of calling you dad are finally crushed.”

Laughter calmed the room and everyone in it—of course Randy was the only one who could make a joke like that and live to see another day.

Paul chortled, pointing a finger in his direction. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, shaking his head and settling down.

Just then, the door swung open, causing everyone to look in its direction.

You stumbled in, changed out of your casual clothing into a little black dress with your hair pinned up in curlers. Your eyes widened, forehead creasing with worry as you quickly shut the door and darted your eyes towards your dad, sputtering out an apology.

“I’m sorry, I’m late! I thought the meeting started at—”

He shook his head, lifting a hand and cutting you off. “You’re right on time, sweetheart. I just got them briefed on next month’s schedule.”

He picked up one of the printed papers, waving you over to sit in the empty seat next to him.

A sigh of relief escaped your lips, smiling and waving to all the superstars as you made your way to the front of the room.

“Is there anything you guys talked about?” You speculated, brushing your hands against the fabric of your dress before you sat.

Everyone remained dead silent, shaking their heads realizing Paul had strategically given you a different time just so he could give all of them the word of warning without you present.

For a moment you caught eyes with Seth who stood near the back of the room, arms crossed over his chest and he quickly moved his eyes elsewhere, shaking his head like everyone else.

Your dad clicked his tongue, getting your attention. “No, just that and briefly about the storylines you had been working on.” He replied smoothly, covering the previous discussion without you knowing.

“Maybe you should formally introduce yourself, since they don’t know very much about you.”

He sat back in his chair, nodding for you to go ahead. For some reason, it was more nerve-racking to talk to all of them at once instead of the usual one-on-one conversations you had been having with them as the week went on.

“Oh, okay,” you muttered, nodding your head as you stood up, taking a deep breath.

“My apologies in advance for how I look right now. As you could tell, I am horrible with time management.” You bit your lip, miming at your head of curlers.

The room snickered, somewhat relaxing you seeing that they weren’t as intimidating and scary as they came off. They all understood how hectic the job could get, and some of them were still needed to change into gear, which made you feel like it was no big deal after all.

“As you know I’m Paul and Stephanie’s eldest daughter and I am currently serving as a freshman creative writer and backstage producer on the main roster. But before this, I had been writing storylines for NXT, the developmental brand, for about a year and a half. And before that, I was working in freelance writing after I graduated college.” You said, gaining a little more confidence the more you spoke.

“On screen I play according to my dad, a semi-heel and semi-face heiress to the legacy in which my mother’s side of the family forged and now has merged with father. And now that you’re all here, I just wanted to say thank you for welcoming me with open arms and giving me the opportunity to be a part of your world.” You pressed your hands together, bowing slightly towards them.

You caught a few impressed nods and smiles from the superstars, clearly unaware of your extensive experience and appreciating that you gave them their flowers despite you still being so new to the main roster.

“It’s been a huge deal for me that my father trusts me with creating stories, and I know it’s important that you, the performers who make it your own, feel connected to them, therefore I am always open to talking and hearing what we could do to make it better. So please do not feel intimidated by me at all—I’m seriously the least intimidating person around here, and I can’t wait to work with you all.”

The room filled with a round of applause that made you smile in relief as you sat back down after what felt like eternity with all eyes on you. And of course, like your eyes were trained to look in his direction, you couldn’t miss Seth wearing a tight lip grin and giving you a subtle thumbs up as if he knew you would be looking his way.

Your dad reached over, giving you a small pat on the back, displaying a proud smile.

“Well, that wraps it up. Let’s have a good show tonight, alright?”

Everyone slowly began to file out of your dad’s office, a few superstars sticking around to catch up with him, while some came up to you, indicating their excitement at having you on board. Seth waited until you wrapped up with some of them before approaching you to do the same.

“Good job,” Seth spoke genuinely, giving your arm a gentle tap, “Didn’t know you had so much experience.”

You laughed softly, feeling at ease with him around compared to everyone else.

“I didn’t want to bore you with my resume.” You shrugged.

Your father turned his attention to you both, a surprised look spreading across his face as he gestured between you both.

“You guys met already?”

You looked up at Seth, nodding with a silly grin before turning to your dad. “I actually ran into him on Monday before the show. I was totally klutz and bumped into him.” You confessed embarrassingly.

“Sounds just about right.” Your dad joked, prompting you to roll your eyes.

“She did deceive me a little bit,” Seth started, tipping his head towards you, “Left out that she’s the boss’s daughter.”

Your dad let out a snort, shaking his head knowing that you partly did so because you didn’t want to gloat, but mostly because you wanted to keep your debut a surprise for as long as possible.

“How are you feeling today?” Paul asked curiously, lacing his fingers together as he sat back into his chair.

You played with your fingers idly, smiling a little, “I think I’m getting the hang of it, but I still get nervous getting on live tv.” You admitted.

“Well, tonight’s good practice. You’ve got three short segments with some superstars, so they’ll help you through it.”

Alexa Bliss, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns.

You had gone over the script an abundant amount of times having your lines memorized off the top of your head.

Alexa, you had met down in NXT before she was drafted onto the main roster, the two of you becoming good acquaintances outside of the ring. When she found out you two would be having a segment together, she immediately shot you a text, gushing about how excited she was.

Kevin was introduced to you by your dad on Monday night. Him voicing his delight that you decided to come work for the company and all nice things said about the storylines you had forged in NXT prior. He still had a few friends down in developmental who bragged about the storylines you and Shawn were working on together and now that he finally had a face to your name, he was excited about what else you’d do on the main roster.

Roman was someone you watched consistently on TV. He was a part of the same faction Seth and Dean were in—The Shield. You hadn’t met him on Monday since he was on paternity leave, but tonight, having him back in action was the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself.

“Speaking of that,” you diverted your eyes back up to Seth who lingered at your side, “Do you know where Roman might be? I didn’t get the chance to talk to him one on one yet.”

Seth nodded, pointing his thumbs towards the door.

“I’m pretty sure he’s in catering. I’m heading there now if you want to come with.” He offered politely.

And you nodded thankfully, getting up to reach over and give your dad a small hug, “I’ll stop by before the show.”

“Don’t forget to get those out of your hair,” he reminded, chuckling along with Seth as you shook your head. “See you later, Seth,” He added, giving the wrestler a firm handshake before you were on your way.

The hallways were busy with crew members rolling in carts and transporting equipment before doors opened—a rush you were just starting to get used to it. You and Seth were practically shoulder to shoulder trying not to get in anyone’s way. Each time your hand brushed against his arm, you muttered a quiet apology, to which he hushed you, saying it was nothing to worry about.

As the haste in the hallway slowly dwindled, you glanced at him. “Thanks for saying those kinds of things. I really appreciate it.”

So far, Seth was the one superstar you had multiple interactions with and he had been pleasant each and every single time. You figured it was because he held a lot of respect for your dad, but another part of you knew it was just him being a good person.

He met your eyes, nodding his head and rubbing his hands together, “I know how daunting it is, especially when you’re so new to the scene, but just know that everyone already thinks you’re killing it…me especially.” He bragged, gesturing to himself with a smirk.

Your cheeks rose with a smile. “Thank you,” you whispered, and it never seemed to leave your face after that.

Reaching catering, he held the door open for you, letting you through first. Renee and Charlotte had caught a glimpse and immediately waved at you, their eyes briefly widening when they saw Seth strolling in behind you. He said something to you, pointing towards Roman’s back at the same table where the rest of his friends sat.

“Yo, big dog!” He shouted, garnering Roman’s attention as the man looked over his shoulder.

Seth motioned to you then headed off to grab food while you walked up to the man. You immediately greeted him with a glowing smile and a small wave. He grinned, setting his fork down and sticking his hand out to shake yours.

“Hey! Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I heard you and your wife just welcomed two new little ones—congratulations!” You bubbled, making him smile at the thoughtfulness.

Rising up out of his chair, he opening his arms and gave you a warm appreciative hug.

“Thanks, and it’s nice to meet you too.” He replied, before drawing away, “I saw what you did on Monday and man…the fans already love you.” He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I think they’re still a little skeptical if I’m going to be more like my mom’s character or my dad’s.” You threw your hands up, making him chuckle.

Nearly forgetting, your eyes widened, and you snapped your fingers.

“And hey, if you want to change anything about our segment, just let me know. I’m always in my office and if I’m not there, I’m probably hiding from my dad’s personal assistant.”

He and the rest of the table cracked a laugh, aware that your father kept a close eye on you, especially after what they gathered from the meeting.

“I appreciate that. It’s always nice to know I can talk to you,” He replied earnestly, his statement showing his gratitude before taking his seat again to continue eating.

“Wanna sit?” Seth offered, returning with a plate of food and he pulled out the empty chair beside him for you to take. You nodded, thanking him with a smile as you took a seat.

“So you said that before NXT you were working as a freelance writer,” Renee spoke, leaning towards you across the table and you nodded. “Anything we know you from?”

You thought for a moment, shaking your head.

“To be honest, I don’t think so. I did a lot of screenwriting after college. Short films and mini projects that didn’t really take off, but then after that I got really into creative writing and launched a tiny little column in the local paper about fictional entertainment.”

“Wow, you really are a workhorse.” Dean complimented.

“You have to show us one of your short films someday,” Seth chimed in, chuckling when he saw embarrassment flush over your cheeks.

You shook your head vigorously, covering your face, making everyone laugh and shake their heads.

“It was mediocre at the very least. A lot of angst and tropey plot lines.”

Maybe it was you attempting to be humble or truly just wanting to save yourself the mess, but they all knew deep down that you had a vividly gifted mind. It already proved itself to be true with the experience you had, but more so in the fact that you took the time to make sure everyone in the locker-room knew you were approachable because the storylines meant just as much to you as it did to them.

Charlotte reached across the table, grazing your hand, “We’re all going out to dinner tonight. You should join us!”

She extended the invitation with a friendly smile, hoping you would take her up on it, seeing as though they all wanted to get to know you more.

“You sure?” You asked hesitantly, not wanting to impose.

“Yeah, come on,” Seth nudged you gently, flashing you a toothy grin, “The restaurant we’re going to is known for the best steak in the city and I heard they’ve got a killer dessert menu.” His voice had a teasing lilt, as if trying to entice you.

You pressed your lips together, shoulders caving in shyly until you finally nodded.

“Sure, why not” You gave in, the table hooting with a frenzy, making you smile wider.

“I just have to ask my driver to drop me off. Do you mind giving me the address?” You asked, looking towards Charlotte.

“You could ride with me and Seth after the show,” Roman suggested, jutting his chin over at his buddy who nodded in agreement.

“And we’re staying at the same hotel, so it’ll be no problem getting back.” Seth added, his eyes meeting yours in a reassuring gaze.

You nodded, smiling happily, “That’s perfect, thank you so much! Should I meet you guys in the parking garage after the show?”

They nodded. “We’ll be there.”

“Great! I’m going to get these out of hair, but I’ll see you guys tonight!” You beamed, rising up and giving all of them a wave.

As you wandered away, you suddenly turned back on your heel, shooting Roman a playful point.

“And I’ll see you later for the segment!” You added eagerly, and he chuckled nodding as you went on your way.

By the time the main event match was wrapping up, gorilla was nearly empty. Just a few producers and your dad who hung back sticking around to congratulate Kevin and Roman.

You had been sitting in gorilla after your three segments had wrapped, needing a change in scenery while you worked through your final script and took some producer notes as your dad worked.

Soon enough Roman’s music hit, signaling the end of the show. The hard camera continued rolling for a few more seconds until your dad spoke through the headsets to cut, and soon the two superstars began making their way up the ramp.

You immediately stood up, walking over to the curtain to greet them, watching as they shook each other’s hand.

“Amazing match, you two,” you applauded.

The two men laughed when you stuck your arm out offering them a first bump, not wanting to give them a proper hug due to the sweat and they met your knuckles in a friendly manner.

Roman pointed at you, still catching his breath as a stage hand passed him a bottle of water.

“Parking garage, don’t forget.” He spoke and then chugged the liquid.

You nodded, thanking him for reminding you, “Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I wrap up here.”

He went over to your father and the rest of the producers, shaking their hands before heading to the locker room to catch a shower and gather his things for the road. You said goodnight to all that were leaving, thanking them for their kind words regarding your segment and all the work you had been doing so far.

Your dad took off his headsets, shrugging off his suit jacket.

“Where you headed off to?” He wondered, watching you collect your laptop and notebook from the monitor desks.

“Charlotte invited me out to dinner with a few people and I’m gonna catch a ride with Roman and Seth there.” You announced cheerfully, holding your things against your chest.

He smiled lovingly, happy to see that they were making an effort to make you feel extra welcomed.

“That’s nice of them. Just make sure you get back to the hotel alright. We have an early flight in the morning.”

“Of course, dad.” You nodded, going to give him a hug, “And if you see Eddie, tell him I said thank you for sending my stuff over to my suite.” You spoke against him.

He nodded, pressing a kiss to cheek forehead. “Shoot me a text when you turn in. I love you.”

“Love you too, dad.”

You quickly made a pit stop at your office to tidy up the space and grab the rest of your belongings, checking that you had everything before the arena locked up for the night. Anticipating the brisk cold of the night, you pulled on your black oversized blazer, giving the room one last look over before shutting the door and walking towards the back entrance where the parking garage was located.

You looked around, stepping further until you spotted Roman and Seth loading up the trunk of their rental with their bags while Charlotte, Renee, and Dean lingered against the rental beside them, making small talk while waiting for you.

Your heels clacked against the concrete, catching their attention.

“Thanks again for the ride,” you chirped, pausing near the boys who finished up sliding in their luggage and bags.

Seth frowned, looking down and around you.

“Where’s your stuff?” He wondered, pointing to the small space he reserved for your things.

You waved your hand off in the air, “Eddie sent it over to my suite earlier in the night. Didn’t want you guys doing extra arm work.”

Roman tsked, patted his biceps and flexing them dramatically, “Don’t worry, baby girl, these puppies can lift anything.”

You giggled, rolling your eyes playfully until Dean whistled, tossing his keys between his palms.

“Let’s get this show on the road. I want my steak pronto.” He said, rubbing his tummy.

You all began getting into your respective cars. Seth taking the liberty of motioning you to follow him, holding open the backdoor for you, “After you.”

“Thanks,” you murmured softly, sliding in and buckling your seatbelt.

He shut your door gently, walking around to the driver’s seat, getting the car started while Roman got comfortable in the passenger. The radio was on low, and Seth deliberately toggled with the climate control, turning on the heating for the backseat, knowing you were a bit chilly now that you sported a jacket over your dress.

He signalled for Dean to go first, waiting as the other car reversed out of the stall, and Seth followed behind en route to the restaurant that was just a few more minutes into the city.

Roman cleared his throat, briefly looking back at you. “How did you feel about your segments?”

You shifted in your seat, sitting up a tad. “It actually went better than I thought! It’s just the thought of the camera being there and the anticipation of going live that gets me all nervous.”

They both understood what you meant, and to be fair they had a bit of an advantage when they were first starting out. Seth, Roman, and Dean having each other to lean on during segments, matches, and promos which made the whole thing feel less intimidating and prepared them for when they became singles competitors.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, the crowd is already receptive to you and you have good chemistry with everyone you’ve worked with so far.” Seth said kindly, eyes looking at you in the rearview, catching a smile that spread across your face even in the dingy lighting of the car.

The rest of the drive was full of chitchat—Roman gushing over his kids, pride sweltering as he spoke about them and how much he missed them while on the road. Seth expressed the same feelings, except regarding his adorable yorkie named Kevin who he had since his NXT days.

You had a little bit of both—three little sisters whom you were extremely close with, and like a second mother figure to them, and childhood dogs who snuggled you each time you came to visit home.

When you all arrived, Seth the ever gentleman he was, opened your door, helping you out before you all walked in. The restaurant was rustic yet sleek, nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary, which was charming for a nice spot in the city. The heavy wooden doors gave way to the space adorned with marble countertops and wooden panelling that complimented the setting.

“You guys can follow me…” the hostess instructed, guiding your group towards the back of the restaurant in a secluded corner perfect for all seven of you.

Everyone picked their seats—Dean and Renee sitting on one side along with Charlotte. Roman sat at the head of the table and you and Seth sat directly across from the trio, with you on the tail end.

He pulled out the chair for you, nodding his head as you smiled and bowed slightly at the gesture. “Why thank you,” you giggled, taking a seat as he pushed the chair in slightly and took the empty adjacent to Roman.

The hostess got you all started with some menus, letting you all browse over it before she would come back and get your orders. You flipped through the laminated pages, picking two items just in case they were out of the other.

You peered over at Seth who was doing the same until you nudged your elbow gently into his, gaining his attention as he perked up and nodded towards you.

“What are you getting?”

“A medium rare tomahawk, potatoes, and a water,” He said without skipping a beat or taking another look at the menu, “I already knew what I was gonna get.”

The act alone made you giggle, shaking your head at him as he too broke out into a laugh, watching you fold up your menu as you settled down.

“So you were just trying to fit in the whole time?” You bantered, narrowing your eyes at him.

He rubbed his hands over his chest, nodding, “I didn’t want to be the only one not looking at the menu.” He whispered, eyes shifting to everyone else who was still deciding what they were going to get.

You sat back, folding your arms across your chest, shifting an inch closer to him, “I probably won’t get anything too fancy, but I am definitely getting some red wine…you’re not having a beer?”

He shook his head, mimicking your action, his shoulder pressed against your arm. “I am transporting precious cargo and I would hate for you to suffer even a scratch.”

You felt warm all over, trying to suppress another smile that always seemed to be incessantly glued to your face whenever Seth said something nice to you. And you failed to conceal it again, letting your cheeks rise.

“I appreciate your chivalry.” You spoke quietly enough for just him to hear.

“You’re getting dessert after too, right?” He insisted, pointing at the image of a chocolate lava cake that he was most certainly talking up earlier in the night.

You pursed your lips, not knowing if you could stomach it by yourself. “Wanna split it?”

He smirked, nodding, “Yeah sure, but just letting you know, I am going to ask for a scoop of vanilla ice cream over top.”

“Sounds divine.” You wiggled your brows, making him chuckle.

Dinner was full of laughter, with food and drinks served on the side. It had been a while since you had been around people who made you laugh so much without even trying too hard. All of them were so lively, cracking jokes left and right and somehow still being able to carry a casual conversation without missing a beat.

You felt safe around all of them, a kind of camaraderie that didn’t make you feel as if you were just solely the boss’s daughter, but rather a friend in the making through your new venture in life. Good things took time, and you knew the friendships you were going to make with all of them was totally worth it.

“No, they did not!” Renee and Charlotte stared at you wide eyed, the rest of the table bursting out into laughs while you nodded your head instantaneously and rested your palms on the tabletop, leaning towards them.

“I swear to god, I’m not making this up!” You drew an x over your heart, holding your palms in the air.

“Maybe I pissed the guy off for turning him down, but there I was getting ready to drive to class and that piece of shit spray painted “suck it!” all over my car!” You exclaimed, disturbed, but not for long, as you threw your head back and laughed uncontrollably.

The girls followed suit, hunching over the table, reaching for your arms and clinging to you while you all laughed like little kids. You had no clue how you got to talking about your terrible college experience with boys, but somehow you got there, and everyone was dumbfounded that one guy you turned down would go all Degeneration X on you.

“Your parents must have been pissed, right?” Dean sought, settling down with a stiffled laugh.

Your eyes widened as you nodded, sipping on your wine before you replied.

“Oh, they were livid once they first found out! But eventually when it passed, and I got it painted over, we just couldn’t stop laughing because it was just so absurd.”

Roman shook his head, staring at you in amazement.

“I can’t believe we didn’t know about you this entire time. Your parents really kept you out of the limelight, huh?”

You nodded, “That, and the fact that having a baby out of wedlock really wasn’t something my parents wanted out at the time—mostly because of my grandpa Vince.”

They all winced, grinning guiltily knowing of course Vince of all people was the one who wanted to keep his daughter’s premarital pregnancy under wraps. Thankfully, now it wasn’t such a big deal and you and your parents found it slightly comical.

“What’s funny is that I swore I saw you running up and down the arenas back when I was like 10 and you were like 3?” Charlotte recalled, looking over at you puzzled.

You nodded, gesturing up at your hair. “If my hair was in pigtails and I sported a gigantic DX shirt as a dress, then yes. That was totally me causing trouble in the corridors.”

Seth peered at you, watching you closely. “How come you didn’t want to get into the business sooner?”

You sighed heavily, shrugging your shoulders, “I don’t know. I guess I just thought it was too much. Too much business. Too much drama. Too many feelings getting hurt, especially when family is involved.” You pointed out to which everyone understood.

“How’d your dad convince you?” He added, knowing it must have not been so easy.

You set your elbow on the table, resting your chin on your first as you stared at him ardently.

“I had a feeling my dad was going to take over the company, and at that time I wasn’t doing a lot, so when he came to me and pitched the idea, I was a teeny bit hesitant, but he promised me I could have all the creative freedom I wanted. So long as I didn’t erase history or disregarded any talent’s input.”

Seth nodded along, listening to you express your relationship with the company and most importantly your dad. It was clear that you had no intentions of getting involved because to be fair you loved what you did on your own, but you took a risk and fell in love with writing storylines that were refreshing for the product and the new era of television they were in.

Many of the superstars, including Seth were thrilled when it was announced that Paul was taking over, but adding you into the mix made everything feel a little different in the best way possible. Usually writers and producers pushed back against their ideas and suggestions, but you exhibited a profound way of keeping and getting them involved in the product behind the scenes in a way that many never got to chance to have.

He knew, just as well as everyone else that you were going to leave your mark. The way you talked about your craft and the sincerity that leaked with every word had him enthralled—that was until Dean broke up the stare he had on you.

“We better cross our fingers we get a script written by you.” Dean raised his glass, breaking the silence.

You blinked slowly, the warmth still lingering in the air between you and Seth as you shifted your eyes to the rest of your friends lifting their glasses to you.

“To the Levesque Era,” Seth declared, following suit and nodding for you to pick up your wine glass.

“And new beginnings,” you continued, your voice soft but sanguine, the rim of your glass clinking with his lightly as you repeated the sentiment with everyone else.

As promised, you and Seth shared a chocolate molten lava cake topped with vanilla bean ice cream. The two of you sliding the plate between each other, sitting back comfortably as you listened to everyone catch you up on what they were up to in their lives outside the company.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted the hostess. You smiled at her, straightening up as she approached. Subtly, you handed her your card, and she nodded, promising to be back with the receipt.

As she walked away and you discreetly tucked your wallet back into your purse, Seth leaned in over your shoulder, wondering what you were up to.

“What did you just do?” He asked, his mouth still full, staring at you with a mix of suspicion and amusement.

You looked back at him, slowly relaxing back as you bit your lip and tried to pretend you didn’t hear him the first time.

“What do you mean?” you raised your brow at him.

He swallowed, shaking his head. “Did you just pay? I told you it was on us,” He protested, eyes widening in playful disbelief.

“Oh hey c’mon, that’s cheating.” Roman chimed in, pointing at you.

You held your hands up in defense, a smirk playing on your lips. “No, seriously, it’s on me. You guys invited me out, and it’s the least I could do.”

“Next time we’re baring you from even sticking your hand in your purse,” Renee threatened, sticking her hand out for you to shake on it.

Giggling, you nodded as you clasped her hand. “You have my word.”

You let go, all of you beginning to wrap up and get ready to head out for the night.

Seth, still shaking his head, leaned closer, a mischievous look in his eyes.

“You’re something else, you know that?”

“Just trying to make a good impression.” You argued with a playful shrug.

“Well, you’re definitely succeeding,” he retorted, voice true despite the teasing tone that came along with it.

The night winded down perfectly, zero traffic heading back to the hotel and sleepiness just on the precipice of settling behind your eyes. You, Seth, and Roman said goodnight to three after you and the girls exchanged phone numbers while the men got their bags and suitcases unloaded from the trunks.

“What floor?” Roman ordered, looking over towards you and Seth entering the elevator.

“Six,” you and Seth said in unison, turning to each other with matching looks of surprise and a shared laugh. Roman chuckled as he pressed the buttons for both floors.

The elevator hummed quietly as it ascended, a comfortable silence settling over the three of you after the night of laughter and conversations you had. When it dinged on Roman’s floor, he reached around, pulling you into a small hug.

“Thanks again for dinner.”

“Of course! You have a good night.” You replied warmly, returning the hug and stepping back. Roman and Seth exchanged a firm handshake, a silent nod of understanding between them before Roman exited the elevator.

As the doors closed, and continued its ascension to the sixth floor, Seth turned to you with a gentle smile. “Want me to walk you to your room?”

You nodded without a second thought, feeling a warmth spread through your chest.

“I’d like that.”

The hallway was quiet and shadowy, the carpeted floors muffling your footsteps and rolling of his suitcase as you walked sided by side. Your room was at the end of the corridor, just a few doors away from him. Stopping in front of your door, you searched your bag for the keycard.

“Thanks again for tonight.” He kept his eyes on you, catching the way you looked up past your lashes, and shook your head with a small smile.

“It’s the least I could do, and thank you for making me feel welcomed. It really means a lot to me.” You said, finally fishing the key out of your bag.

“Any chance I can treat you for coffee in the morning?” He proposed politely, wanting to return the gesture.

But you pouted wistfully, shaking your head and feeling genuinely bummed.

“I’ve actually got an early flight. It’s my little sister’s birthday and me and my dad are surprising her.” You apologized, wishing your fight was later in the day.

Seth nodded understandingly, not letting his disappointment show past his smile. “That’s alright. Tell her I said happy birthday.”

You grinned, nodding, “Of course! And I’ll definitely take you up on that coffee date when I get back.” You promised, eyes twinkling with anticipating for it.

“Looking forward to it,” he breathed, his gaze lingering on you as you slid the key into your door, turning the handle.

You gave him one last smile, feeling just a tad reluctant to end the night despite your tiredness.

“Night, Seth.”

“Night sweetheart.” He said quietly, watching as you stepped inside and offered him one last wave before shutting the door.

And so he walked back a few doors down, looking down your way one last time, already hoping for the next time he’d see you again.

💌 reblogs, tags, comments, + likes are greatly appreciated! leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!! 💌

a/n: i hope you guys like chapter two of icsy!!! i was aiming to do something domestic and fun, and i thought why not dinner with the whole crew and a side of seth and reader flirting like idiots the whole time??? let me know what you guys think and i cannot wait for you to read the next chapter (hehehe it's already one of my faves <3).

[lucywritesagain]

My Silly Midgardian

꒰ა ˚₊ ✧・┈﹕Loki masterlist ꒰ ᐢ｡- ༝ -｡ᐢ ꒱ Navigation ﹕┈・𐑺 ‧₊˚໒꒱

Please note that this story is a repost from my old blog @lucywrites02.

Summary: Loki’s friend/crush has the flu. Loki having no knowledge about midgardian diseases panics and tries his best to make her feel better.

Word count: 2.2k

You knew something was wrong the moment you’ve woken up. Trying to stretch your muscles a little bit you noticed how sore your body was. At first you blamed it on the training session you had with Natasha yesterday but realisation hit you as you started coughing uncontrollably. You felt incredibly warm. Way too warm for your liking. You looked at your face in the mirror and noticed the bags under your eyes. You groaned in frustration. A fracking flu? You were one of the best agents S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer. You have been working alongside THE Avengers for more than 2 years now, fighting aliens and terrorists and yet a simple flu defeated you. 

You splashed some water on your face and put your most comfortable clothes on. It was going to be a really long day after all. You wanted to crawl back under the covers but your tummy demanded breakfast. You weren't sure if food was what you needed right now. You didn’t want to upset your stomach after all but you also needed to eat something. After some thinking you decided on some plain toast and a cup of tea.

Walking into the kitchen you noticed Loki sitting at the table with a book in his hand. It was one of many you let him borrow to “become more familiar with midgardian culture”. He truly enjoyed some of them but would never admit that. You have seen him reading your favourite book more than once but decided to not make any comments about that. Upon noticing your arrival Loki put his book away and greeted you with a warm smile. 

“Good morning!” he said happily “How is my favourite midgardian doing!”

“She’s doing just fine, thank you,” you responded and pulled two slices of bread out of the bag. 

“I was wondering when you’ll wake up,” the god announced “I made you some tea, it’s still warm.” Your heart skipped a bit when he said he was waiting for you. The two of you talk about books Loki has read every morning and discuss them together. Loki didn’t want to tell you he had already read most of the books you have given him before in fear you would stop talking with him altogether. He was utterly smitten with you but he knew a woman like you would never be interested in him romantically. Several people had mistaken you two for a couple before and every time that happened you would immediately correct them and say you were just friends. The idea of you reciprocating his feelings sounded unrealistic to him. If he only knew you felt the same….

You gave him a tired smile and thanked for the tea. As the bread popped out the toaster you put it on your plate and sat down next to Loki. 

“I think there are some pancakes in the microwave if you want,” Loki stood up, wanting to give you some. “Romanoff made them before they head out.”

“Oh, no thank you! I’ll stick to the toasts today,” you reassured him and took a small bite of your food. “By the way where is everyone?” you asked upon noticing how quiet it was in the tower this morning. You knew Nat and Clint had a mission in Alaska because the redhead told you that during your training but you had no idea what happened with the rest of the team. 

“Thor left with Natasha and Barton, “ he explained” Tony is in Paris with Pepper. Captain and his squad are on a mission in Australia and Wanda joined them”

“So it’s just the two of us in here?”

“Banner is in his lab doing whatever he thinks will help him pass the time” Loki added

You winced in pain as you felt a throbbing in your head. You felt as if you took part in a marathon. Your muscles were aching and you were slightly dehydrated. Loki noticed your discomfort and turned to face you. 

“Are you ok?” he asked, concerned. The trickster only now noticed the bags under your eyes. He touched your hand and got even more worried when he felt how warm you were. 

“I’m great, Loki,” you announced and drank the rest of your tea.

“I’m not an expert but midgardians shouldn’t be so warm and-”

“Really, Loki I’m fine!” you said.

“You are not looking that fine to me.” he responded.

“Wow, rude. Not everyone can just wake up and look like a cover girl.” you tried to laugh but the constant throbbing in your head wouldn’t allow it. You stood up wanting to put your empty mug in the dishwasher. As you did that your vision went blank and the only sound you heard before passing out was the mug shattering on the floor

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You opened your eyes and yawned loudly. You were laying down on the couch with a warm blanket over your body. You tried to sit up but your muscles were too sore to allow any movement. Realising how drenched in sweat your clothes were you groaned.  You started to wonder how you got there when you noticed Loki with a glass of water and a sandwich.

“Norns! You are finally awake,” he said and put them down on the small coffee table. Loki quickly walked to you and kneeled. His hand gently touched your forehead and tucked your hair behind your ear. “You fainted, darling,” he announced and started stocking your cheek. 

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s really nothing bad, Loki,” you tried to reassure him but the god didn’t believe you. You wanted to explain to him that it was just a flu but you started coughing uncontrollably which made the trickster panic even more. He helped you sit up and gently caressed your back. 

“I’m calling Banner,” Loki said but you stopped him before he could do anything else.

“Seriously, Loki, I will be fine.” you hugged the covers even tighter to your body that was already drenched in sweat. “It’s just a flu.” Loki looked at you as if you were crazy.

“Just a-.... Y/N, you fainted!” you knew Loki cared for you but now he was definitely overreacting. “If I didn’t catch you you would hurt yourself!” you noticed the worry in his eyes. It looked like he was on the verge of tears but you blamed your brain for sending you such images. You felt something weird in your stomach and quickly kicked the blanket off of you. You stood up and ran out of the living room, Loki was right behind you. You opened the door to the bathroom. When the trickster entered the room you were  kneeling on the cold tales as you emptied your stomach. 

“Hey, it’s ok, everything’s all right,” Loki held your hair in right hand while his left one was on your back. “JARVIS! Call Banner and tell him to immediately come to my room!” you would argue with him but you didn’t have any energy left. “Can you stand up?” you nodded and flushed the toilet. Trying to take a step forward you winced in pain because your muscles were still too sore. 

Seeing your struggle Loki picked you up in wedding style and carried you to his room. You tried to protest but didn’t have the energy to do so. Instead you put your hands around his neck as your head rested on his shoulder. As he walked into the elevator and pushed the bottom to his floor he felt you shiver and hugged you closer to his body. Loki had no idea what was happening to you. Was it something you caught during the last mission? Is it deadly? Will you be ok? He was seriously panicking now but as long as he was able to feel your breathing on his neck it was ok.

“You’re going to be ok, my love” he whispered, gently kissing your head.

The elevator stopped and Loki quickly walked into the direction of  his room. He opened the door and carefully laid you on his bed. 

“Bruce should be here soon,” Loki announced “Is there something you need? Water? Something to eat? Another blanket? “ if you weren’t feeling like shit at that moment you would kiss for the way he was acting  “Or maybe not, you are already too warm, another blanket would just make it worse.” Loki was mumbling to himself and  it wasn the most adorable thing you have ever seen.

“One blanket would be just fine” you smiled at him softly “But if you could bring me some clean clothes I would be grateful. Those are drenched in sweat,” you asked shily, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

“Of course! That’s no problem” he replied quickly and opened his closet. “Do you need some pants or just a shirt?”

“Pants, too, please” you were sleepy again and ready to drift off any moment now “I mean, if it’s not a problem. I promise I will wash them afterwards”  A few seconds later Loki came back with a pair of black sweatpants and a green sweater.

“The pants are too big for you but I hope that won’t be a problem,” he gave them to you with a soft smile. You tried to stand up and go to the bathroom but winced in pain again. Loki must have figured out what was wrong and insisted that you stay in the bed. He said he would go to the bathroom and give you some privacy and that you should tell him when you’re decent again. 

“Such a gentleman,” you joked

“Everything for you, my lady” he winked at you and left to the bathroom

This man will be the death of you sooner or later.

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After you put the clothes on you awkwardly called for him. Loki came back and ogled your body. You were significantly smaller than him but now that you were wearing his, way too big, clothes you look tiny. The god thought you looked adorable wearing his clothes, especially if they were green. He blushed when he realised what he was thinking about. The two of you were still looking at each other in silence until a knock on the door pulled you both out of that trance. Loki opened them and pulled Bruce inside. 

“What took you so long???” Loki asked, irritated. You wanted to greet Bruce but because your eyes were closing involuntary you decided to rest for a while.

“I was at the store!” Banner defended himself “I just came back and then JARVIS told me you wanted me to come ASAP” Normally the trickster would argue with him more but you were his number one priority right now. The scientist asked what was so important and Loki pointed at your exhausted body laying on his bed and explained what happened. 

“So let me get this straight,” Bruce said confused “You panicked and called ME because she’s sick”

“Yes! You are a doctor, you should help her!” Loki was getting more anxious with every passing second.

“I have some PHDs but that’s not the same” Banner explained

“But you are a midgardian, right?” the god continued “You know what’s happening to her so please help her!” the trickster begged. The scientist was taken aback by his words. It wasn’t a secret that Loki had feelings for you. Everyone in the tower could see it. Except you, of course. But no one would ever expect Loki to beg someone for help. You really meant a lot to him.

“Ok, I see what I can do” Banned patted his shoulder and headed towards you. He gently shook your body and you woke up again. “I heard you weren’t feeling well” you nodded your head as your friend touched your forehead.  “You have an awful fever. Loki, could you bring me a wet towel, please?” Bruce didn’t even blink and Loki was already in the bathroom. The scientist turned to you again “Do you need some pills? I have some painkillers in my room if you want”  you nodded and gave him a grateful smile. Loki came back with a wet towel and handed it to Banner. He then put it on your forehead and stood up. “I’m going to my room to get her some medicine. Give her some water and keep an eye on her. I will be right back”

And with that Bruce left the room. 

Loki sat at the edge of the bed right next to you and gently caressed your cheek. You put your hand on top of his and smiled. Loki’s heart was beating like crazy now. Did you have feelings for him or was it just because you were ill? He wished it was the first one. He could keep staring at your beautiful face for eternity if you allowed him. 

A few moments later Bruce came back with the painkiller he promised you. Loki handed you a glass of water and you swallowed the pill. 

“If you need anything else just call me” Banner said to Loki “Get better soon, Y/N!” you waved at him and the scientist was gone again.

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” the god asked

“Could you read something for me?” you hugged the pillow and moved closer to him “Please?” you added

“Anything for you, my love” he took a book from his nightstand and leaned on the wall. You raised the blanket silently inviting him to lay with you. The gesture made Loki’s heart flutter. He got under the covers, one hand was holding the book and another one was hugging you close to his body, You took the wet towel off of your head and threw it on the floor where your old clothes were. You put your head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. You noticed it was faster than it’s supposed to be but asked no questions. Asgardians were different from humans, right? You closed your eyes as Loki was reading but didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. You could listen to his voice forever. 

The trickster was a few chapters in when he noticed your closed eyes. Assuming you were asleep he closed the book and put it away. He decided that watching you was far more interesting than any story he could read. Not hearing his voice anymore you opened your eyes to check on him. Your eyes met with his and you could have sworn he was blushing. You smiled and he did the same. It was now or never, Loki thought. He leaned in slowly and rested his hands on your waist. You figured out what he was planning and you pushed his lips away with your index finger. 

“I must have misunderstood the situation” Loki took his hand off your waist and awkwardly cleaned his throat. He looked hurt, heartbroken even “Please forgive me”

“No Loki, it’s-” you started “you didn’t misunderstand anything. I’m sick and I don’t want YOU to be sick, too” you explained and gently stroked his cheek. 

“My silly midgardian,” Loki laughed and hugged you “I’m immune to your diseases so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t get sick”

“Well, if that’s the case-” you grinned and put your lips on his. Loki didn’t waste any more time and immediately reciprocated the kiss which quickly went from soft and gentle to passionate and rough

“That was way better than I have imagined” Loki whispered after you two broke the kiss to be able to breathe again. 

“What else did you imagine?” you gave him one more kiss and laid your head in the crook of his neck.

“I imagined going on a date with you” he interfered  his fingers with yours and continued “I imagined us holding hands whilst walking together. I imagined us falling asleep and then waking up together”  you kissed his neck and looked into his eyes.

“I’m feeling sleepy again so your last dream will probably come true” you said, smirking

“In my imagination we have fallen asleep after doing something different than reading but I guess this is ok, too” he added and you playfully smacked his chest. He laid on his side to be face to face with you and put one of your legs around his waist. You put your hands around his body and hummed in satisfaction. “You, my love, are the most beautiful and mesmerizing woman I have ever met” he kissed your head one more time and you both drifted off to sleep.

[naturesapphic]

Her baby

Mommy!melanie martinez x little!fem!reader

Warnings: age regression, fluff, reader being scared of loud noises, lactation

You weren’t supposed to drop. Not right now. Melanie was busy performing and here you were on the side with some of the extra dancers and directors who was making sure everything was running smoothly, and you were deep into your headspace. You guessed it was because of how loud everything was and you just immediately shut down. When Melanie went off stage to get her portals gear on you heard one of the dancers tell Melanie what was happening and she hurriedly went over to you before she had her mask put on for portals.

“Baby? Are you okay?” She said loudly since you had noise cancelling headphones on and couldn’t really hear her unless she was right by you and raising her voice. You whimpered slightly and nodded your head slowly. Melanie knew you weren’t okay but she had a show to do and couldn’t just cancel, especially since it was almost over. She went over to one of the security guards and whispered something in his ear which confused you.

Melanie went back over to you and quickly gave you a quick peck on your lips and forehead “I have to go now babygirl but mommy will be right back. This nice man is going to go ahead and take you to the bus so you don’t have to listen to anymore loud noises okay?” She explained to you and you nodded your head as you waved bye to your mommy as she went over to the makeup and hair people to get her mask on. The nice security man gave you a warm smile and went outside at the back of the building where the bus was at.

He went up to it and put the passcode in, unlocking the door and he helps you inside. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything. Don’t hesitate little one.” He said kindly and you gave him a small but grateful smile as he closed the door as he went outside of the bus to keep watch. It was about thirty minutes later when the door opened and there came Melanie rushing in to see you. “Babygirl! How are you feeling. Are you okay?” She said quickly but calmly.

Ever since she had to leave you to finish her concert she had the worst anxiety knowing that you weren’t okay and you just needed her, but she was here now and that’s what matters. You looked up and saw your mommy coming towards you with a calm look on her face but you knew better than that, you knew she wasn’t calm. You put down your toys and got up on your feet running to your mommy. You jumped in her arms and she caught you with a giggle as you clung to her. “I Otay mommy! Jus nu wike loud noises…” you pouted at the end and she nodded her head in understanding.

“I understand baby. Next time I’ll just leave you on the bus and have security near you at all times so you don’t have to hear the loud noises.” Melanie stated and you smiled up at her. “Tank chu mama.” You said happily and she sighed happily, thankful that her baby is content and okay. “I would do anything for my little bug.” She said and you nuzzled your head against her plump chest which meant that you were tired and was ready to nurse. Melanie went to the back of the bus where the bunks were and let you crawl in first before Melanie went in behind you.

She lifted up her shirt and took off her bra, letting her chest fall free. Your eyes was locked onto her chest as you admired them, even though you’ve seen them many times. She pulled you close to her and cupped the back of your head and guided your lips to her nipple. You started suckling on her chest immediately and made cute soft suckling noises that Melanie found absolutely adorable. Not long after, you fell asleep and once melanie knew you were out, she let herself fall asleep too.

A/n: I had this in my head so I decided to write it. I hope yall enjoy! Remember to stay hydrated and to rest! I love yall! :)

[frozenjokes]

Toys Like Tape Measures (And A Brand New Splint!)

tw for drugging, though only in the medical sense. however, because of the language barrier, Mumbo doesn’t understand what’s happening really, so if that makes you uncomfortable I would skip

“Alright, so here’s the deal,” Mumbo heard Scar before he even reached the clearing, and he couldn’t be more excited. Scar was back, (and Grian was there too) he was finally back after being gone all week! “Today we’re going to fix that splint- ope- don’t make that face at me yet, let me explain, let me explain. I promise it will be 100% safe.”

“So many things- so many things, Scar, but you are not a doctor, much less a veterinarian- how do you even think this is going to work? Mumbo won’t even let us touch him, what makes you think anything about this will be safe?”

“I’ve been doing a lot of research, Grian! I’ve talked to every large animal vet I know, and a few fish people as well! This big ol’ bag on my back you’ve been nagging me about has everything we’ll need! Well, except the fish. You’re going to have to catch a few of those.”

“Scar! Fishing in this spot isn’t even very good and you know it, if you needed fish, why wouldn’t you bring any.”

“Forgot.”

There was a small silence before the two humans burst into the clearing, climbing through the path they’d ended up making through the brush by walking through so many times. Mumbo surfaced to greet them, though they were still preoccupied with each other.

“Of course,” Grian groaned, sighing as he threw down his bag, “Guess I’ll get to it then.”

“That’s the spirit!” Scar beamed, patting the other human hard on the back, who made a soft oof sound before scuttling away, moving to hide its face from Scar as it turned a reddish color. Odd. Usually Grian would yell at Scar for doing something like that, rightfully so (Mumbo still didn’t understand why Scar would randomly hit his friend), but instead Grian was far more meek. Had something happened? Maybe since Scar was hurt, Grian was taking a more passive role than normal. Mermaids were gentler with sick friends as well, and Mumbo knew quite well he could get away with more when he was unwell.

But it was good to see Scar looking healthy. His shoulder was still bandaged, visible under his shirt, but he couldn’t be feeling too badly given his bright demeanor, and his movement didn’t seem to be impaired at all. Thank goodness.

If it was even possible, Scar brightened further when he spotted Mumbo, happily throwing off unnecessary clothes before hopping right into the water, showing absolutely zero signs of fear. Oh, that was a weight off Mumbo’s back; he didn’t even realize how worried he was about Scar being afraid of him until now, until Scar very clearly wasn’t. Good, good..

Mumbo met Scar in the shallows, deep enough that he could keep his tail from dragging on the sand, but shallow enough where he could navigate with his hands; he was in near constant pain even with a week to recover, and while slow, pulling himself along the bottom with his hands caused the least agony on his tail. His splint was sufficiently broken now, only getting more uncomfortable with every passing day. At this point, Mumbo was just waiting for it to fall off; trying to figure out how it was attached was far too painful, though he had tried briefly a couple of times (with little success).

“Hello, Mumbo!” Scar greeted him, “I’ve got something you’re going to like. I’m pretty sure you like human stuff, so you’ll get a kick out of this.” Scar held up a small silver object, round, but not quite circular. Mumbo moved to get a closer look, though he couldn’t lift himself very far out of the water, so Scar crouched down to get it closer. “Tape measure.”

Mumbo squinted. “What.”

“Tape measure.” Huh. Weird word. Usually human words weren’t that long, though, maybe Mumbo had only learned the shorter ones. Was this a human tool? Mumbo attempted to snatch it, but Scar was faster, jumping back with a surprised look on his face. On his perch, Grian laughed.

“I told you! I told you he’d try to take that, and you won’t be getting it back.”

“Well he can have it if he wants, but not before I’m done!” Scar huffed, then turned back to Mumbo, speaking sternly, “No.” Mumbo stared, unamused. He could have guessed Scar didn’t want him to have its human tool, that didn’t change the fact that he was going to take it.

“Scar,” he tried, reaching out a hand a little slower. Maybe it wouldn’t see? ‘Your human object. Give me.’ he continued in a whistle due to the lack of human words, but Scar only huffed, an incredulous smile across its face.

“No!” Scar repeated a tad more forcefully, but Mumbo could see the smile on his face, he knew well enough he could keep trying. Mumbo moved a little forward, hoping to get within reach, but Scar stepped back, then back again, rolling his eyes, “You’re going to make measuring you really difficult, Mumbo.”

“Yeah,” Grian said from across the way, a small laugh in his tone, “I’d say I’ve got plenty of time to catch something.”

“You will, but this is not the reason!” Scar yelled back, pointing an accusatory finger, but the smile never left Scar’s face, and soon his focus was squarely back on Mumbo (who definitely hadn’t tried to snatch at the device while it was distracted).

The tool made a soft whirring sound as Scar pulled on one end, a flat yellow line appearing from inside the device, then snapping back when Scar let go. Whoa. What was that? What was the purpose? Scar moved a little bit closer, pulling the yellow line further this time, but when Mumbo managed to touch it, the line snapped back into the silver device with a sharp crack. Huh. Was it alive? Maybe it was shy? It looked a little bit like a snail..

“What.” Mumbo said, hoping for more information, but Scar only put his hands on his hips, making a show of his annoyance.

“I can’t show you if you keep trying to take it from me!” Nonsense. Guess Mumbo would just have to take it to figure it out for himself.

The next thirty minutes was an odd dance of Scar struggling to keep his distance while also trying to line up the tape measure with Mumbo’s body, and Mumbo would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying the game. The tape measure hurt if it snapped back on Mumbo’s hand, but if anything, that only made the game more exciting. Even with the limited use of his tail, he found himself splashing far more than usual, a certain recklessness brought about only by play. He didn’t even want the tape measure anymore (lie), he just wanted to keep up the game. Scar did not like the game as much, less and less as more time passed, but Grian seemed amused at least, occasionally looking over to laugh when Scar stumbled or outright fell over.

“I could use a little help here if you don’t mind!” Scar called, and Grian laughed again, the sound coming out more like a cackle.

“I thought you had it handled? You kept insisting you were fine, what changed?”

“He just won’t stop moving! Listen, I’ve measured plenty of animals, but they don’t usually have hands! He’s being impossible- he knows I’m not trying to hurt him and he knows I need him to stay still and he’s just not listening! On purpose! This was supposed to be easy!”

“He looks like he’s having fun, I wouldn’t want to rain on his parade.”

“Grian! Help me!” Scar cut himself off with a yelp as Mumbo lunged for the tape measure, but he didn’t get far with his limited mobility, so Scar stepped easily out of reach. He was lucky Mumbo couldn’t use his tail, lucky. With another short laugh, Grian got up from where he was fishing, making his way gingerly off the rocks and giggling as he went before stepping into the water as well. Ah, so another challenger joins the fray!

Though, with Grian holding one side of the yellow line, Mumbo couldn’t quite grab at it anymore, the whole thing bending and snapping like it might break in two if Mumbo wasn’t careful. And that wouldn’t do, no no, how could he figure out its purpose if it was broken?

Instead, he stilled so he could watch instead- wow the line went out so far! How much could fit in there? How far could it go? Mumbo moved to follow the humans’ movement, but they seemed to want to pull the line the length of Mumbo’s tail, chirping nonsense to each other the entire time. At least Scar looked excited; it was always nice when Scar was happy, nice enough that Mumbo didn’t mind all that much that their game was effectively over. Mumbo didn’t love how close they were getting, but a small flash of his teeth was enough to get Grian’s attention, who communicated to Scar in Mumbo’s stead.

It wasn’t very long before the two of them were satisfied though, Grian easing the yellow line back into the tape measure. Mumbo took his chance, lunging as quickly as his impaired mobility would allow, but Scar surprised him by turning around instead of jumping away like normal. While Mumbo was scrambling to keep himself from running face first into Scar’s legs, the human tossed him the tape measure, the thing plopping heavily into the water. Mumbo gaped for a moment before grabbing it, but when he resurfaced, Scar was walking toward the shore, chatting away with Grian like the tape measure didn’t mean anything at all. Well.. okay.

No matter! Mumbo had a new toy, and first he wanted to know just how long this yellow line was. The answer was very long. Mumbo lodged one end under a rock and swam as far as the line would allow, and while he was quite impressed with the length, he was even more excited when he let go of the metal base, the whole thing shooting back in the other direction. Yes! Yes! Mumbo did the same thing at least seven more times before getting a little bored, then experimented with the tape measure above the water, where it snapped back much faster. The height of his fun was setting the end of the yellow line under a rock on the surface, bringing metal end to the other side of the cove, then letting go and watching the thing skirt across the water, splashing all the way. He was relatively sure he made some sort of trill or other noise in his excitement, as Scar and Grian’s laughing caught his attention. Mumbo cringed a little, suddenly very aware of their eyes on him, but his embarrassment was short lived, outweighed by the joy of funny human trinket.

Mumbo would have spent the rest of the day playing with the tape measure, but something else caught his eye. Scar was working on something- no, he was making something. Mumbo had never seen a human make something before- not in the way Mumbo liked to do! Scar’s creative process looked very similar as well, which is to say, all the materials he brought were strewn all over the grass, wildly unorganized as he fiddled with different parts. Most of his materials were long metal rods, but there were also some leather looking pieces, and what looked like parts of white tubing as well. What was he up to?

Mumbo shimmied as close to the shore as his tail would allow, hoping to grab Scar’s attention. “What. What. What,” he said in human, hoping the extra emphasis would translate through the repeated words.

Scar looked up, clearly amused, but seemed to struggle with explaining, starting and stopping speaking several times before settling with, “For you.” Not very helpful, and Scar knew it, making a couple of vague gestures at Mumbo before giving up and going back to his project. Well.. that was fine. Mumbo would just have to watch.

Scar was mostly focused on the leather piece, positioning it in a circular way and winding the metal through to create a cage-looking structure. The leather was adjustable too, Scar fiddling with a buckle on the front to make the entire thing wider or smaller. Mumbo was particularly fascinated by the white pieces though, much flatter than the rods, which Scar only weaved through one side. Why? He tried to ask again what the human was doing, but was only offered the same non-answer.

“Oh!” Grian made a surprised noise from his place on the rocks, and Mumbo saw his line tighten. If only he was fast enough to snag whatever was on it off the hook, but alas, Grian was already reeling in a decent sized fish. Scar hopped to his feet and Grian let out a celebratory noise of his own; it was so cute how humans got so excited about every catch. Though, in all fairness, Mumbo would have been quite chuffed catching a fish that size, especially this hungry. Maybe if humans really didn’t eat the fish they caught, they’d be open to sharing.

Grian scooped the fish off the line with a net, maneuvering the hook out of its mouth before walking it back toward the shore to Scar, who cheered all the while.

“Right,” Grian said as he hit the sand, “You want to give this to him? I’m assuming you’re going to drug him or something.”

“That’s the plan. I was considering a tranquilizer, but I don’t want to make this experience traumatic or anything, and hauling a big ol’ rifle out here might put a damper on some of the trust we’ve established. Hopefully this way he’ll just be real relaxed, maybe even take a nice little nap.”

“You’re not trying to put him to sleep? What are you giving him?”

“Not necessarily, but I doubt he’ll be able to stay awake. Trust me when I say he won’t be in pain, definitely not. And I brought a cone, too, just in case he freaks. I came prepared, Grian, prepared I tell you. I’m no large animal vet, but you could say I’ve been quite involved in many a procedure.”

“Scar, what are you giving him?”

“Like.” Scar paused, tapping the smile on his lips, “A lot of morphine.”

“Morphine?”

“Works on fish. Mumbo’s big, he can handle it, and anyway, it’s the safest option for everyone involved. Are you worried about our friend, Grian?”

“I’m not- how did you even get morphine, Scar?”

“Scar’s not taking any more questions at this time, please call back later. In the meantime, hand me that fish so we can get this show on the road. I’ll stay with him as long as he needs me, but I’m not expecting anything to go wrong here. Still, the sooner we start, the better.” Scar got to his feet, taking the fish net from a gaping Grian and heading back to his bag. Mumbo couldn’t quite see what he was doing, but Grian followed quickly after, fretting the entire time. What, was something wrong with the fish? Scar didn’t seem to think so.

Maybe Grian hadn’t wanted Scar to give Mumbo his catch, but Scar did regardless. Mumbo was more than happy to accept the gift, only throwing Grian one mildly guilty look before devouring the whole thing. He didn’t feel very bad, not really; clearly the humans ate well enough, and given he was having a hard time hunting right now, this seemed fair.

Eating only served to brighten his mood, and with the slight weight off his chest, watching Scar continue working on his human device was all the more fun. Grian went back to fishing on his rock, but he was acting more anxious than normal, stealing glances toward Scar and Mumbo just about every time he cast his line. Though, it didn’t take very long for Mumbo to stop caring, far more intrigued by whatever Scar was up to. It was crazy how much better he was feeling; usually the joy of eating didn’t carry so far after a meal, but when Mumbo was this hungry..

And then it hit him; he wasn’t in pain. The lightness he was feeling was from the lack of hurting- oh that couldn’t be good. What kind of fish was that? He hadn’t even looked! Please say he hadn’t accidentally poisoned himself… Mumbo didn’t feel nauseous though. And if he’d poisoned himself, he imagined he’d be feeling a lot sicker. And he had so much energy! Anyone with this much energy wouldn’t be poisoned, that would be ridiculous! He should do something- go somewhere- hunt- he could do anything! … Nevermind.

Not in pain, no, but tired, goodness, maybe he was dying. Probably not. But maybe. Honestly, he didn’t care all that much. Scar was looking at him an awful lot now, though Mumbo wished he would focus on his invention instead so Mumbo could figure out what it was before he died. Hm.. It kind of looked a little bit like his splint, didn’t it?

…

The gentle touch of skin on scales. A presence around his neck, tight, mildly uncomfortable, but not enough for Mumbo to want to do anything about it. A crack, loud enough to frighten him, to open his eyes, but there was no pain, so it must not have been bone. Something was draped over his eyes, dark like home. It was nice. A couple of clicks told him of Forces, big and near and moving; he should probably swim away, but that’d be quite a bit of effort, wouldn’t it. Maybe another time.

His fins rose and fell with the presence and absence of touch. Not unpleasant. Not until they tried to lift him.

Pain like thorns lit his blood, everywhere, pain, pain- Some sort of noise escaped his throat, something animal, and he moved without coordination- it hurt, everything hurt now. Distantly he heard them, humans, why were humans here? Talking, they were talking nothing, repeating the same words again and again, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Couldn’t they see he was in pain? Why weren’t they helping?

Too much time passed before his attackers released him, but wasn’t sitting in the water the same as before. It was awkward, unpleasant honestly, but he stopped struggling quickly. Too painful to move. Too much effort.

He wanted to curl up. Somewhere dark, somewhere enclosed and safe. Something hard stopped his movement. Guess that was that.

But maybe that was fine.

Whatever had been there was gone now. Nothing else was trying to hurt him. That was good. That was enough.

…

The humans were talking. They were loud, Mumbo could hear them, though his face burned just slightly, a dry feeling. Was he above the water? It didn’t much concern him.

“He’s still asleep, Scar.”

“That’s fine. Normal, even. He’s going to be fine; if he was going to have any bad reactions, I’m pretty sure we would have known by now. I’ve been keeping an eye on his breathing, and it’s stayed consistent this whole time. He’s okay.”

“You said four hours. It’s been five.”

“Yeah, for a human on a human dose. I also told you I don’t know exactly how it’ll work on a mermaid. I doubt anyone knows. I gave him quite a bit more than a human dose anyway, and I’m pretty sure he needed it. He was freaking out when we were trying to get the splint on.”

“I just don’t like the fact that we drugged him without being sure how he’d react.”

“I don’t know what else you wanted me to do, Grian. He was not going to let us touch him, and I don’t think there’s any world in which we could have explained what we were trying to accomplish. Tail injuries could be fatal for mermaids, we don’t know. How’s he supposed to eat if he can’t swim? It’s not like we can weigh him. This was the safest option.”

“You really think we couldn’t have explained it to him? He’s smart, Scar, he’s really observant.”

“I don’t know, I think there’s a chance. But what would happen if he got scared? Even a human might’ve panicked, even if they knew every detail about what we were doing. And you know how strong he is- I’ve still got bruises on my arms from where he grabbed me. He could have hurt himself or us completely by accident.”

A long silence. “I know.”

A longer silence.

“So when’d you change your tune?”

“What?”

“About Mumbo. Nearly every day two weeks ago you made sure to remind me how you were totally going to kill him and sell all his parts or whatever, but I haven’t heard a peep from you since Monday. Did you come out here without me and have some sorta spiritual experience or what?”

“I- no. Of course not. I’m still planning on doing that, I just decided I’d spare your feelings and stop talking about it.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes! And anyway, with you paying me egregious prices for my fish, I’m not exactly hurting for money right now. So it’s fine. I’m not in any rush.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Stop- stop talking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t believe me.”

“Well, Grian, that’s going to be a problem because you’re right, I don’t believe you.”

“I- how dare you! I am going to do it! I could do it right now even, but I won’t, and not because I don’t want to, but it wouldn’t be fair, not while he’s all drugged up.”

“I see.”

“Stop it!”

“I believe you, I believe you.”

“No you don’t!”

“Shhh,” Scar said, his voice dropping, “No fighting,” he trailed off, and the silence was charged with something new, something Mumbo picked up on even in his half-asleep state.

“No fighting,” Grian repeated softly, “He wouldn’t like that.”

“Mm,” Scar acknowledged him quietly, but spoke no more words, and neither did Grian. That, or Mumbo had just fallen asleep again. Possible, all things considered. That was okay.

[namfinessed]

in you, i lay - k.sj.

summary: one night was all you needed to come back to him or a story in which love grows where seokjin goes, and you can’t help but follow.

genre: fluff (7.8k)

note: i have my exams soon, so i’ll get back to writing as soon as they are over, i wanted to give you all a little something before that so, i hope, with all my heart, that you guys enjoy this <3

masterlist

three years ago, your trip to berlin changed the entire trajectory of your life.

one day, your life was all black and white and then it burst into so many colors that you couldn’t quite grasp how quickly it changed to look so beautiful.

which is why you decided to come back to berlin. more successful, happy, and filled with life than you have ever been, you came back to live your bright past for one last time and move on to bigger things.

you look out the window as the cab breezes past the beach that held more memories than 23 years of your life, a smile unconsciously grows on your face as you think back on how different just 3 years of your life were.

you wonder how he is.

you never stopped wondering how he is.

the envelope holding your promotion was sat tightly in your hands, you knew he would be happy, ecstatic even, you just knew he would pick you up and spin you around. out of everyone in your life, you felt like he, of all people, would understand just how much this promotion meant to you.

“take a right or left from here, ma’am?” the cab driver’s voice breaks your train of thoughts. “right, you know this applefarm café which is around here? drop me off there.” you sit back and a giddy smile dances on your face, you wonder if you will run into him just like you did all those years ago or if you will have to call and find out.

you did worry at the beginning that maybe he would forget you, but every nerve in your body forced itself to implant him in your memory forever and you knew that he would do the same.

at applefarm café, you took a seat right near the entrance, it was exactly the spot where you had brunch with him after a night full of conversations that were embedded in you and your heart swelled when you saw the same elderly waitress, who served you all those years ago, heading towards you.

“what can i get for you today, ma’am?” she obviously didn’t remember you, but you couldn’t help but let a large grin split at her sight.

“a peach milkshake and chocolate tart please” it’s a miracle that you’ve managed to remember his order after all these years but every single second you spent with him is all your mind revolves around anymore, especially when you’re so close yet still far from him.

-

~2019~

you don’t know how your friends convinced you to come on this last-minute trip to berlin but here you were, not hating every second but still totally uncomfortable with how unprepared you were for this trip.

you were, to put it in a nice way, a total control freak.

you didn’t like going anywhere that wasn’t already dated in your planner, last-minute plans made you sweat like a wolf in heat, and it annoyed you to your very core when someone canceled plans that you had already made a schedule around.

even right now, as your friends happily pre-gamed before crashing a party, you were anxiously jotting down things you can do in berlin for the rest of your time there. your closest friend, jennie looks over and groans when she catches sight of the planner in your hands and immediately walks over to snatch it from you.

“seriously, what the fuck?” you yell after her as she locks the planner in the hotel room-provided vault. “i thought we all agreed on going spontaneous for this trip” she crosses her arms across her chest as she stares at you accusingly. “yes, all of you agreed but not me, we still haven’t done any tourist stuff and we leave tomorrow.” you desperately try to explain your friends, who through their fondness for your love for organizing, are shaking their heads at you.

“i have reached my limit of spontaneity, give me a break” you groan as you fall back on the bed, you don’t understand why you just can’t relax and let things be, you have always had a hard time with letting go or having fun, always too cautious and way too strung up to even think of doing something rebellious.

“listen, i know this is hard for you but for this one last night, just trust us.” lisa pats your thigh as she sits down beside you, trying not to grin at your obvious misery. “do i have a choice to do anything but that?” you can’t help but ask even if you know the answer and they all collectively smirk at you because they know that you know it too.

so, five hours later, when you’re sitting at your table in a club that you’re sure is way too small to fit the number of people in it, you are not the least bit surprised. your friends are swaying next to you, to the music and you’re all cheering before shots but you don’t feel all excited.

sure, you are happy, you love your friends but there is something missing in the air of the night.

maybe your drinks aren’t strong enough, maybe you are too in your head (yet again) to fully come out of your shell, maybe these lights are starting to make you feel dizzy, you don’t know.

but your attention is quickly taken away by the faint sound of a guitar strumming, and as you start to register the sound, you see everyone hurriedly walking over to the beach at the back of the place, all of them bubbling with excitement.

you watch as people keep shuffling towards the beach with loud chatter and you tilt your head at the commotion, wondering what could possibly have these people so flushed with anticipation.

and you don’t know why but your gut pulls you towards the back as well.

you have always been curious, about everything you come across, you need to everything that’s going on around you, and a large group of people migrating so suddenly, had your feet moving as quickly as they could towards them.

you look around confusedly at everyone gathered around a stage, quickly learning that a performance was set to take place, and also that there were no places left to sit so you dumbly hover by the door leading to the back, concluding that some hinge support was better than standing around in the loose sand for however long the performance was supposed to last.

then, over the gentle crashing of the waves to the shore, you hear it again, the faint guitar strumming but it’s not as faint anymore.

and it was coming from the right of you.

your head snaps to see the silhouette of a man tuning his guitar, and you automatically hold your breath as your eyes involuntarily lock on his figure.

you watched in wonder as the moon seemed to engulf him in cosmic light, you could see his high nose from where you were standing, you could see his hair with a few strands out of place, and you could see the loose shape of a t-shirt hanging off his tall and lean body, but you don’t know what exactly about him made every action in your body pause.

your eyes involuntarily follow him as he is joined by a few more people and all of them head onto the make-shift stage. loud cheers fill the previous silence but you don’t hear any of it, you don’t even hear your own heart beating out of your chest, you don’t see the hoards of people around you because your eyes still refuse to look away from him.

and when the honey-shaded light falls on him, you release the breath you didn’t know you were holding as your body shivers both in dread and delight, which you would later blame the cold weather for.

because nothing in the world could’ve prepared you for the sight that was that man.

you have seen good-looking people in your life, for heavens’ sake, you have some of the most attractive people you know as your friends but no one has quite invaded every one of your senses so quickly, as this man did.

and you are not sure how exactly you are supposed to feel about that.

from the cloud in your mind, you make out that they were introducing themselves but you don’t really understand what they’re saying. they start a song, you can see him singing, you can see his charming eyes hyping up the crowd from where you stood, you can see how the crowd is totally captivated by the dude with the guitar but you don’t know what they’re singing, you are not listening to a word they are pouring their heart into.

and you feel dirty, that you can’t take your eyes off him, you try to think of how if you were in his place, you wouldn’t want someone to stare at you like they haven’t seen another being in their life.

but then again, he wasn’t just any other being, he was literally the most beautiful being you have laid eyes on.

after forcing yourself to snap out of whatever mild haze that trapped your senses, you look around once again to see everyone enveloping the person next to them as they sway to the voice of the guy and the waves moved more soundly as if to accommodate the delicate ambiance that evening.

“maybe i’ll just never know, maybe i’ll just never hold you anymore but i can say i tried, i can say i fought for you, over the tallest hill in the world, i can yell that i loved you as much as i could, can you say the same?”

his angelic voice rings through the crowd, the lights falling even more delicately on him as he raises his gaze to meet the loved-up couples, and instead ends up meeting your eyes which haven’t been able to look away from him.

you turn your head with cheeks feeling hot as lava as you internally cringe at yourself.

what the fuck are you doing?

what has come over you?

sure, he is attractive but why are you acting as if you have never seen another man?

you sheepishly pat your cheeks before making a quick decision to leave as soon as you can, you can’t afford to make yourself look like even more of a fool than you already have.

but you risk it anyway, you tilt your head slightly to see if he’s gone back to what he was doing, you just wanted one last look at him before you left for good, you needed something to burn this into your memory.

so, imagine what happens when he gives you just what you need to never forget him again.

he was looking right at you, refusing to turn away even after you’ve clearly caught him and he continues singing while keeping his eyes on your every movement.

“but i can say i tried, i can say i gave it my all, i can say i used the last breath in me to breath life into you, can you?”

his lovely voice overshadows the bleak lyrics and you can feel your heartbeat all the way down to your toes.

and that’s when you leave.

you don’t notice the way his hands tighten around his guitar as you turn away.

when you go back in, you immediately collapse near the bar and your dress rides up your thighs as you slump forward on the counter and breathe out a long sigh. you can’t believe your body really gave up on you because one guy looked at you, and frankly, you are very much disappointed in your lack of self-control.

but he was looking at you too.

he refused to stop looking at you, even after you obviously caught him.

and that brought back the heat in your cheeks.

you feel ridiculous and embarrassed at your lack of composure, you don’t even think you have looked at any of the romantic partners in your life that way.

you shake your head at yourself, it was one thing to embarrass yourself, it was another thing to embarrass yourself in a foreign country, and you are so busy beating yourself up, you don’t see the person taking a seat next to you.

“whenever you are done talking to yourself, can i have a turn?” you hear the smoothest voice from beside you and you jump in surprise, not expecting another person to have joined you. in a panic, your eyes hurriedly meet theirs, and your breath is taken away all the same when you see who it is.

he’s still got his guitar resting on his shoulder, his hair is still fashionably out of place, his nose is still high from up close, his shirt hangs off his frame just the same but his face, his face was otherworldly this close.

and you have been talking to yourself like a mad person when he was right next to you.

how charming.

“what are you doing here?” the question tumbles out of your mouth before you can catch it and he quirks an eyebrow at you, an amused smile now gracing his features, you are sure he is smiling because of how wide your eyes have gotten. “if you are interested, i am here for you and if you are not, well, i’m here for this.” he picks up the glass collecting condensation on the counter and picks it up.

of course, with a gorgeous face like his, he is also a smooth talker.

“weren’t you just performing up there?” you try to ask with a clear voice but an audible gulp in the middle of the sentence gives away your nervousness. “i’m done, for today at least” he shrugs and you ignore the fact that his eyes never leave your face as he waits for you to speak.

if he noticed how nervous you are (which you frankly doubt he didn’t, cause you were being obvious with your fidgeting), he didn’t point it out which you felt grateful for.

“you’ve got a lovely voice” you tell him honestly, shifting in your seat to face him better, you did find his voice to be one of the sweetest you have ever heard. his voice held a different depth, now when he was speaking, that you are not sure you comprehend yet. “not lovely enough to make you stay till the end?” you want to run away again as he casually brings up how you ran away in embarrassment when your eyes met his.

“that was not the reason i left” you mumble as you lift your glass to take a large gulp and when you look back at him, he is smiling. he feels good, he feels damn good that someone as pretty as you, are losing your words over him. but he wasn’t doing any better, his heart was pounding in his ears with every word he spoke, and he still can’t believe he mustered up the courage to follow you in.

he hasn’t felt his heart leap so simply and so boundlessly, in a long time. he’s not even sure he’s ever felt this way before.

his pull to you felt magnetic, he didn’t understand why he felt the need to talk to you but he did, and he couldn’t ignore his feelings or understand them if he was being honest, so he was going to do everything he can to understand why you stood out to him in a room with 50 other people.

so he found himself, hurriedly running off the stage after his performance to find you again.

and now that he was this close to you, he understood his racing heart a little but that just left him wanting to know everything about you.

“my name is seokjin, and if you allow me, i would like to take you back there” he stands up, putting his hand out for you to take and your stomach tightens in the pure rush that simple line made you feel. seokjin’s hand trembled in the air, out of sheer nervousness that you were going to say no and turn away, he wished you didn’t notice.

“seokjin” you repeat in a quiet tone, you loved his name already, something about his name fit his face perfectly and you realize that while you were thinking of his name, your hand already reached to place it in his.

and his heart leaps again, he lets out a breath of relief as an easy smile takes over his face.

he gleefully tightens his hand around yours and pulls you to stand with him, that’s when you realize you didn’t even ask him why you were going back. and you can’t bring yourself to care, your entire body is flushed from his hand, you are sure your cheeks are as red as they come and your gaze decides to admire his broad back as he guides the both of you through the crowd.

this isn’t like you, this isn’t like you at all.

you never just talk to strangers, you don’t hold their hands, you don’t get this nervous around a person even if you are a shy person but your mind seemed to tumble on itself since you’ve seen him.

once you are out in the open air, your hot skin raises in goosebumps from how cold the weather had gotten and a slow, sweet song was playing. you could see that people were swaying their bodies with each other and it looked like the setting couldn’t have been more intimate, even with the full room.

you suck in a breath when seokjin turns around to look at you, your hand fell limply to your side as he left, and now, you could truly feel how bone-chilling it was.

“only if you want to, can i have this dance with you?” the way he asks in reassuring, laced with choice for you, it mattered to him more than anything, that you are okay with this and when you smile at him shyly, he swears his heart bursts into a million colors. “let’s go” this time, you envelop your hand around his and drag him with you where you can both dance without bumping into people.

you are still confused; you are still so new to all of this but you couldn’t deny how good it felt to be around him.

in a partly secluded corner, you remove your hand from his and wait for him to make the move which he doesn’t take too long to do.

within seconds, he hesitantly places an arm on the side of your waist and you step closer, feeling your breath waver already. he lets his eyes stay on your face as his other hand starts tracing where your arm begins to end by lacing your fingers with his and the entire time, he kept looking for any signs of discomfort in your face and lets out a breath of relief when he doesn’t see any.

“is this, okay?” he mutters, his voice lowering several more octaves and the room felt tight around you, like there was no space to move if it wasn’t in his arms and you found yourself wanting to erase any distance between you two. “more than okay” you mumble back and he bites his lip to hold back his huge smile at your response.

then, he took the confidence he got from the small smile on your face and tightened his hold on you as he started swaying the both of you to the music. and frankly, you didn’t care a bit about the song being played, maybe it was because of the way the same honey-light fell on him as he moved you two, maybe it was because you have never felt so breathless yet so full of life at once but you felt comfortable, comfortable enough to not question how you felt right in that moment.

he made small talk as he twirled you around, seokjin kept leaning in to make sure you knew that you had every bit of his attention and with every question you asked him, he answered with enthusiasm and humor which had your cheeks hurting from smiling so big.

for the first time in a very long time, you weren’t fidgeting to run around to get to the next thing you were supposed to do, you weren’t mentally counting down the minutes you needed to move on, because, somewhere in the middle of him dipping you dramatically to make you laugh to the way his touch left your skin burning; for those few moments, no other place in the world seemed more important.

seokjin’s very presence made you feel calmer than any years of therapy did and you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do with that information.

“aren’t you going to ask me for my name?” you remind him halfway through the third song and he laughs breathily, sucking in a breath before offering the widest smile to you, which made you instantly smile back even more. “i can’t believe i forgot to ask you that, please excuse my lack of manners. so, what is your name?” he asks, polite as ever, and you immediately tell him.

and just like you, seokjin finds your name to be perfect for your face.

“so, tell me y/n, what brings you here to this place?” his curiosity about you was eating him alive but thankfully, you were more than to humor him. “they have the cheapest vodka around here, at least that’s what it said on yelp” you answer honestly and jin lets out a snort at that. “alcohol shouldn’t be as expensive as it is” he shakes his head in a sort of agreement with you. “exactly like it’s my senses that are being deprived, why am i paying with half my kidney for that?” you complain with furrowed eyebrows and jin coos at the sight, he loves to hear you whine, he loves it way too much.

he keeps asking you questions, about what brought you to berlin, what you liked so far, and who you came here with and you felt yourself melting even more into him as you answer him.

“why did you start performing here?” you ask this time and giggle when he spins you around suddenly to place your back against his chest, both his arms still tightly wound around you as he looks down at you.

he barely knows you but seokjin is willing to bet that he’s going to remember this night forever because no one ever asked him about his purpose for performing.

"well, as you’ve said, i have a lovely voice, i thought why let it go to waste, you know?” you let out a small laugh at the confidence and silliness in his tone but quickly tilt your head as if it to ask him to answer seriously.

at the curious look in your eyes and the light hitting you just right, seokjin feels his senses drain from his body because suddenly, all his eyes can see, all his mind can register, is how close your lips are to his. and you notice his eyes fixating on your lips and your breath hitches. seokjin starts leaning in, his breath hitting your face in a warm wave and you stiffen in pure anticipation of what would come.

but then he shakes his head, leaning back with an uneasy chuckle.

“not now, not like this” you raise your eyebrows as you try to snap out of your own daze. “what do you mean?” you mumble, not doing a good job at hiding your disappointment and he panics, because the last thing he wants is for you to misunderstand him pulling back. “don’t get me wrong, trust me when i say i want to do nothing more than to kiss this night away with you but i want to do it right, i want to do it when both of us can’t think of anything else” as he utters those words, your heart pauses.

then beats.

then pauses again.

before beating louder than any rock music on the planet.

were you always capable of feeling this way?

“then, can i do something?” instead of answering you, he turns you back so you were chest to chest now. “you can do anything you want with me” he whispers back his answer with a dopey grin on his face and your chest tightens in the best way possible as you reach up to leave a light kiss on his cheek.

you are more than pleased to see his face turn red as he tries to hide his blushing face in your shoulders. “can we please get out of here? if you don’t have anything planned, i want to show you so much” he mumbles onto your shoulder and you don’t think twice before nodding.

it wasn’t your smartest moment, you were going to admit to that, jetting off with a stranger in a foreign country in the middle of the night, is never the smart choice but you also couldn’t let this night end here.

you wait at the entrance of the pub with flickering lights, pulling your shawl closer to your body after you waved your friends’ goodbye, needless to say, they were surprised by your impulsive decision but after making sure you had a way to reach them if things went south, they left with giggles about how berlin’s air changed you.

“why are you even going with him?” they had asked and were pleasantly surprised when you replied with “i don’t know” and a happy shrug, you were free of any riddling anxiety in your body at that moment. and your friends were glad to see it.

“should we?” seokjin walks out and your jaw drops because of how different he looked with just an outfit change. his loose, dark-colored t-shirt, torn jeans and chains replaced with a well-fitting cream-colored shirt tucked into beige pants and a blazer thrown over his arm. even his hair looked different, now neatly styled and tucked back.

“too much of a contrast, isn’t it? unfortunately, this is how i usually dress, pretty bland colors and all.” he laughs as he sees your face and you immediately shake your head, “it’s fine, it’s nice” it’s very nice and i might be drooling a little, might have been the more accurate response there. he stares at you for a few seconds, doing his best to hide the smirk growing on his face.

eventually, he shakes his head with a huge grin, reaching out to take your hand in his, he was no longer hesitant because if seokjin went by the way you looked at him, you wanted him just as much as he did.

-

your room wasn’t the best, it restricted your view of the prettiest city you’ve had the pleasure of knowing but you didn’t want to waste money on a room you were barely going to spend time in. falling on the bed, your mind goes back to seokjin, as if it ever stopped thinking of him. your smile grew and grew as you recounted everything that happened the night you met him, you can’t believe it was actually you who took off with a stranger.

but it was the best decision you made in your life.

not much has changed now though, you are still extremely strict with your plans and time but you allow yourself to let go when it feels right. you were grateful that you still had that strong work ethic in you because that rewarded itself in the form of a promotion you have waited forever for.

you get up to look out the window, your eyes set on the same pub that let you fall in love all those years and you immediately run to the bathroom to start getting ready.

you couldn’t wait any longer to see him and for someone who hated waiting the most, he truly put you up to the ultimate test.

your hand unconsciously reaches to the chain hanging off your neck, you just hoped he thought of you just as much.

-

~2019~

“so, why do you perform? you never ended up telling me” you pause from the breathless laughter you both have been tumbling in since you sat down near a stall owned by jin’s friend. ‘they have the best bingsu i’ve had in my life’ is what he said after learning that you enjoy sweet things.

“i told you, lovely voice and all” he quirked an eyebrow and you fight the grin on your face as you tried to glare at him. “okay okay, i’ll tell you” he gives in, moving closer to you on the long bench as the cold wind kept hitting both your faces.

you also moved closer, adjusting his jacket on your shoulder and seokjin fought the urge to hold you even closer, he didn’t like even the tiny bit of space left between you two.

“it’s not my actual job, performing at the pub. i am actually an accounting manager, but i was sent by the company to berlin, and they are based in seoul, which is also where i grew up.” he explains and it took you by surprise that this isn’t what he did for a living, he really looked like he was made to be on the stage. “i came here around 4 years ago, so not too long ago but long enough to know where the best food is, where the pretty places are, where the vodka is cheapest” he trails off with a teasing smile to you, and you giggle in response.

“i am holding onto you for the cheap vodka thing, you need to take me there” you say, tilting your head at him with a huge grin on your face and seokjin’s entire face softens at your smile. “consider it done.” and he doesn’t know what prompts him but he leans over to brush his nose with yours and you don’t back away, and instead nuzzle into his touch.

this was nice, this was way too nice.

then he continued, “when i came here, i didn’t know anyone, i was too shy to talk to people at work and i felt extremely homesick, the only thing that kept me sane then was cooking myself korean food from time to time. i was working like a machine, with no real motive or passion for anything, just a repeated cycle. but then, i met these guys, and somehow, ended up in a band with them. we perform only on some days, whenever all of us are free and i didn’t even know i would be happy singing in front of people, but i am, unbelievably so.” his voice was sad when he was talking about home but as soon as mentioned his friends, his voice became louder, more filled with pride and you didn’t need him to tell you that he thought the world of these friends.

he looked over at you and your eyes were slightly glazed over because you can’t imagine missing home, you can’t imagine not knowing anyone in a huge city like this, you would simply not be able to go through with something similar to what seokjin did, and your admiration grew with every word he spoke.

seokjin, on the other hand, can’t remember a time when he opened up so easily and deeply to someone.

“i am glad you performed today” you say, with warm cheeks and not really looking at him. one side of his mouth lifts up at your words, and he nods, “i am glad i did too.”

“so, what do you do? what unwillingly gets you out of bed every day?” he throws the question to you and you sit up straight, the thought of your work immediately alerting your senses.

“i am working at a start-up, we are trying to make a platform for people of color to express themselves on various attributes like their workplace and the micro-aggressions they face there, or their family’s immigration, how it feels to have to live in a place where the language and culture aren’t yours and how they deal with it. the idea is to express all this through different media outlets like videos, or a series of articles, or artwork.” you explain and seokjin sits in wonder at how smart you are, he expected you to be doing something like that, he didn’t know why but he just had a feeling that someone like you was just brimming with ideas.

but he does notice that your eyes don’t light up like his when he talks about performing.

“but you don’t like it?” you nod and then pause before shaking your head at this.

“the objective is great, the whole reason i joined was because i didn’t want people who looked like me, who sounded like me, to feel alone. i wanted to give them a safe place, a voice, something that was only theirs, something i wish i had when i started out.” you bite your lip because talking about your job makes you sad.

“i want to do so much but you know who’s the head managing all of these activities? a white person, a white person with privilege. he’s never had to fight for his voice. he’s straight, he’s white, he plays golf on the weekends, he has kids comfortably going to private schools and he has a trophy wife. he doesn’t understand these stories, he throws every single one that comes our way and refuses to hear out the already silenced people, always asking for something ‘spicy’ instead of the truth, he just wants a dramatic story to publicize. i just can’t stand working for someone like him, someone who refuses to see the entire reason for our establishment but i can’t give up now, not after i promised to myself that i will make it better for others.”

seokjin hears the determination in your voice, he understands the frustration more than anyone else which is he remains in thoughtful silence before he notices something else in your eyes.

a burning passion to destroy whomever this man was.

“you’re going to do something about him, aren’t you?” he smirks at you and your angry glare melts. “i am going to work till i’m seating in his chair and making decisions that he should be making right now, i’m going to make sure that whatever i do, it will be meaningful. i’m getting that promotion someday” seokjin feels his heart burst with pride, he might not know you all that well, but he knows how much this means to you and that you will do it.

“when you do it, you come and tell me all about it, yeah?” he bumps his shoulder with yours playfully.

it’s the way he says it, like he believes you will do it somehow and that fills you with renewed hope for your future.

“deal.” you whisper, bumping him back. you both sit like that, the night feeling longer than it was supposed to be, but you were all the more grateful for it. then, seokjin gets up, dusting his pants off before extending his hand towards you, and it’s instinct to put your hand in his now.

“come on, i want to show you so much more” and then you’re being dragged away to the next place jin wants to take you to.

that’s how you spend the night, hand in his, and exploring every small corner of berlin that they don’t mention in travel packages, you saw berlin through seokjin’s eyes, and those few hours of drifting away with the cold wind, filled your heart with a feather-like feeling, a feeling of being able to float into the sky if it weren’t for seokjin’s hand anchoring you to the ground.

there wasn’t anywhere or anyone else you wanted to spend that time with.

“you should go now” you whisper with your forehead against his, right outside your hotel, not really wanting to leave or him to leave. it was getting late or early to be more precise; the sun was threatening to peek through, the sky being filled with the faintest shades of orange and blue as you and seokjin stood under, hands refusing to leave the other.

“is that why you’re squeezing the life out of my hands right now?” your giggles escape into the space between you two, “but seriously, it’s too late already.” even as you say it, you don’t move an inch and he doesn’t either.

“i’m going to sound crazy” he starts and your ears perk up immediately, “come to my home, i promise i make a mean hot pot, we can do whatever you want to do.” it should scare you, a stranger inviting you to their home, should definitely trigger some fight or flight response in you, but you don’t feel any of your usual anxiousness, you just feel him and the strong urge to follow wherever he goes.

“i understand if you don’t feel comfortable, i totally get it so don’t feel obliged, but if you do agree, i’ve got a gift for you.” one of seokjin’s eyebrows draws up at the last words, and your curiosity bursts through you, any lingering hesitance immediately left your body.

“my answer” you trail off, stepping back, seokjin’s hands fall away from yours and he thinks this is where your magical night ends, this is the night he will spend weeks daydreaming about, the night that will keep him up forever.

he will spend many days just weaving through the possibilities of what you could be, of what you could’ve been.

you keep him waiting, dwelling in the satisfaction that his nervous face brought.

“depends on your gift.” you give him a coy smile and he lets out an airy laugh, “you had me really scared there, for a second.” he shakes his head at you and you fight your smile from growing bigger, “i know.”

and before you say something else to drop his heart to his ass, seokjin pulls out a chunky, tourist necklace with a laugh threatening to break from his throat. the necklace has a huge locket, with the words ‘berlin’ sprawled on it in vivd, neon colors.

it looks ugly.

he knows it looks ugly.

“i think i’ll just head inside” you playfully turn around on your heel and attempt to walk away, you count down the seconds it takes him to put you back in his arms.

one.

two.

three.

he lasted three seconds.

a record for the night truly.

seokjin’s arms immediately pulled you back to him and as you pretended to struggle against his grip, the ugly necklace was already resting on your clavicle.

“you really thought this would convince me to come home with you?” your hands pull on the necklace as seokjin bows over in laughter, “oh come on, it’s not that bad” he stands straight, clearing his throat, his face fighting to stay passive.

you give him an unimpressed look and that’s enough for him to burst into wheezes of laughter again.

and you love it, you love how freely seokjin laughs.

you want to hear it forever.

you stand there with your arms crossed against your chest, a fond smile etched on your face as you watch the man of your night, start to calm down. and he does, in the dramatic fashion you expect him to, fanning his face to force air onto his red cheeks as his eyes wrinkle with pure joy.

“if you’re done, can we go back to yours already?” you tap your foot impatiently, shying away from the fact that you just agreed to spend even more time with him. seokjin’s heart grows wings as his eyes drift over your soft smile, your tired but happy eyes, and then, the big, ugly necklace that rests on your body now.

“i knew you would like it.”

-

“you have a cute home” you look at the photos hanging off his walls, all of them with either his family or the boys from the band. a fond smile grew on your face as you come across a photo with a very young jin holding a fishing rod. “you fish?” you turn around to see him setting up wine glasses on the counter.

“i used to” he sighed, coming around to give you a glass, for which you thank him silently, “why, no fish in berlin?” you tease him as you take a sip, he remains silent. your mood slips when he doesn’t smile at you as he has been all night.

“i’m sorry if i overstepped” you quickly apologize, not meaning to bring up anything that wasn’t comfortable for him, he shakes his head in response, “no no, god no. don’t say sorry, i just haven’t didn’t feel like fishing anywhere except home” he stares at the picture where he holds the fish with both longing and resignation.

“you miss seoul?”

“always.”

“i can’t imagine missing home” you gulp as you imagine how you would be if you moved places, you wouldn’t survive without your comfort zone. “it’s not all bad.” seokjin smiles reassuringly but you aren’t convinced.

“you just said you miss home always.”

“i do but if i went back home, i would miss this too. imagine if i never left seoul, i would have never joined a band, i would have never put my lovely voice to use,” you scoff as he holds back a laugh, “i would have never known where you can find the cheapest alcohol in berlin, nor would i have ever bought some ugly necklace for a pretty woman.” you look away at the last part, hiding your burning cheeks away by staring out the window, “you buy a lot of women necklaces?”

“only the one, actually.” he steps in front of you with a smirk playing on his lips.

“my, she must be lucky” your voice drips with sarcasm as you raise the ugly necklace to his face, “i would insist i am the lucky one” his eyes are light as seokjin hums and traces the shape of the necklace which falls back on your clavicle.

the lightest touch between his fingers and your skin makes you suck in a breath.

as if a passing cloud suddenly rained down on you.

but you have been waiting for the droplets, you have been waiting for the thunder and storm.

you have been waiting for him to do something that leaves you breathless.

seokjin steps forward, grabs your wine glass, and places it on the counter.

“you know, i’ve met so many people over the years i joined the band,” he whispers his words and you quirk your eyebrow, “you’re not off to a great start, seokjin,”

he stifles a laugh behind his hand before clearing his throat and bringing his hands to rest on your jaw, “you are so impatient.” though it’s a trait of yours that you hate so very much, the way he says it with admiration instead of malice, makes your heart burn in your chest.

“you are making me wait too long” you whisper back, shivering under his fingers which traced your features carefully, intently as his eyes spark back with light-heartedness.

“i apologize for that” he sweeps a hand under your jaw and gently tugs your face towards his and your stomach flips into itself.

everything around you faded into oblivion.

but seokjin wandered and invaded every single one of your senses.

his lips were pillow-soft, as soft as you had imagined.

his soft breath warmed your cheeks.

his hair fell around your eyes and made it hard for you to see.

but you could see.

you could see all of him even with your eyes closed.

you could feel all of him especially with your eyes closed.

his hands that clutched your body like it was his oxygen.

his legs that couldn’t possibly step closer to you but still tried.

his shoulders that were strong under your hands.

how were you going to ever leave him behind?

“seokjin i-“ you let out helplessly, trying to tell him that this was only going to be this one night, that you would have to leave him here. he chooses to soothe his hands over your arms, easing your panic as quickly as it came, and gives you a soft kiss, parting away with a nod to let you continue.

that made it a thousand times harder to tell him.

there was no one way to do this.

“my flight is tomorrow.”

“what?”seokjin’s relaxed face twists as sadness settles behind his eyes. “it’s booked for the evening” you give the information with a wince. his grip on you falters as an uneasy smile break on his face, “i thought you were just at the beginning of your trip.”

you wish it was.

you wish so badly that it was.

he steps away from your space, you understand it’s his form of rejection. it feels like a burning sting running down your back and you hold back the tears that dangle on your lashes, you couldn’t bear this. this was the closest you had ever gotten to love in your entire life and it was crumbling in just some hours.

you didn’t want seokjin to be some distant memory.

you didn’t want to wake up and reminisce on what could have been.

“i don’t want this to end here” you say, voice quivering with vulnerability. you didn’t care if you will be rejected again, you didn’t care if he tells you to leave and your arms shifted to cover your stomach, a poor attempt at protecting yourself.

this was the first time you knew, for sure, something that you wanted and you weren’t going to cost yourself the pain that comes from not trying at all.

but seokjin’s silence was weakening your hope and you wanted to curl into yourself for ever believing that you could have a shot at love.

“i don’t want this to end either.”

his words sunk into you slowly and filled you with the warmth that dissipated from your body.

“are you sure?” you hated how weak you sounded.

seokjin tutted at you, stepping into your space to unfold your arms that held before you as defense and engulfed your hands in his.

“i would hate myself for a long time if i didn’t give us a try, it’s going to be hard but i have a good feeling about this. there’s so much more i want to know about you and there’s so much i want you to know about me, so this can’t end here.”

he breathes back life into you with the promise hidden in his words, that he’s going whichever way you are willing to as well.

“me too, i want more, way more than just this night.”

seokjin’s face fills with both relief and agreement, it reassures you that this wasn’t just you going crazy here, this wasn’t just you hanging onto whatever you could, this was both of you, unwilling to let your chance at love die tonight.

so, you spent all night, with each other, in each other, sharing every bit of yourself that you could in the time that you did.

but soon, the sun shone too bright and your eyes couldn’t stop filling up with tears.

-

you held your breath as you pushed the door open to seokjin’s studio, at least, you hoped this was the one. you had been to his old studios but they just moved into this one, so you had no idea what it looked like.

your palms were getting sweaty.

“y/n!” you heard hoseok, the vocalist and rapper from seokjin’s band chime from a corner and your entire body relaxes as you reach out for a hug. “seokjin hadn’t told us that you were coming, we would’ve cleaned up a bit” you both laughed together at the mess around your feet.

“this is kind of a surprise, so not his fault really.” you set aside the basket of baked goods you bought for them.

“thank you for this, we’ve all been out of it lately with the move and the new label so it’s nice to see you, i’m sure he will be ecstatic” hoseok hums as he digs through it.

“how’s the whole becoming a full-time band thing going?” you tried to distract yourself from the actual reason you were here, it was going to be a lot for seokjin to take at once.

“at the beginning, daunting as fuck, all of us were scared but we really didn’t have to worry so much, our gigs have been consistent and with this new baby, we can do so much more with our music.” you nodded, letting him rant to ease his mind and to also ease yours.

you were overjoyed when seokjin told you that they were becoming a legit band with a proper label, contract, and all the work. but hearing now how stressful it’s been, a tiny seed of worry plants itself in your mind that you were being selfish with this surprise.

but he will be happy, right?

like it’s all you two have talked about wanting. but that was before all the label stuff, before he had so much on his plate and your feet started tapping the ground incessantly as your worry continued to grow.

what if you guys break up over this?

what if he tells you that after all this time and effort, he didn’t want to be together anymore?

a jingle at the door made you jump as three figures started to huddle in.

you were out of time to worry anymore.

-

“just one more minute” you pleaded as your arms stayed tightly wrapped around seokjin’s torso, he let out a sad chuckle at that and granted your wish by letting you bury yourself in him. your friends stayed away to give you the privacy you needed for that minute.

this wasn’t fair.

your first shot at proper love couldn’t end this way, it wasn’t ending technically but still, you had no idea what would happen after this. all you knew for sure was that you had this one minute with him and everything after that, was left up to fate.

“i don’t think i can let you go” he whispers into your hair as he planted a soft kiss on your temple and your body shuddered with unshed tears threatening to cascade from your eyes.

“call everyday?” seokjin asks in a quiet tone, laced with the vulnerability that you braved when you told him that you wanted more. “everyday.” you nodded determinedly into his chest.

“visits whenever we can?” it was your turn to ask and seokjin nods just as determined as you, “whenever we can.”

“you won’t forget me” seokjin says with utter confidence, just to make you laugh, which you do with a full kind of happiness, “it’s kind of hard to” you point to the ugly necklace that you decided to keep on.

it was growing on you.

“we’ll find our way back to each other, okay? somewhere, the universe will and has to align for us and when it does, i will never leave you again.” your eyes, already swollen with the tears you’ve cried, grow wet again as you desperately force yourself to believe him.

it has to.

it absolutely has to.

it can’t just end here.

but as your hands leave him for the last time and your boarding ticket crumbles in your hold, you can’t help but feel that the future may not be as kind to you two as you hoped it would be.

-

meeting seokjin always felt brand new, in between the countless times you both flew to each other, touching his skin after waiting for a while, always took your breath away and managed to make you feel like the lightest cloud in the sky.

but as his arms engulfed you tightly, whispering words of surprise and amazement into your ears at seeing you after so long, your anxiety couldn’t be calmed, your hands couldn’t stop shaking and your breath refused to be even.

this was it, this was the day that would truly mark where you two would end up.

“i thought it was my turn to visit this time” he gleefully kissed your cheek and you nodded stiffly, “i just couldn’t wait” you replied, truthfully but your nerves were starting to give you a headache.

“are you okay? you look pale” seokjin’s eyes assessed you with concern as the back of his hand pressed into your forehead and you sighed.

you had to tell him, this could go badly but it could also go well and with that tiny hope, you tugged towards the exit with you and he followed you wordlessly.

through the years you have known seokjin now, you had fights, huge fights, arguments that you thought you couldn’t move past from, arguments that made you believe you were done. but every single time, you both found your way to each other.

and every single time, he gave you more reasons to stay and keep trying.

which is how you are here, in the city where you discovered love for the first time, throwing a stone into the blind for the future of your relationship and hoping it hits the right spot.

“so, what is on your mind?” he pulls you by your hand to wrap an arm around your body and you shiver with the same giddiness you felt all those years ago.

but you struggle to tell it to him.

no one talks about how scary it is to go a step forward in a relationship and just hope that they take the step too.

so, you don’t tell him. you slowly reach out for the promotion letter tucked away in your coat. you give it to him with shaking hands and with confused eyes, he looks at the paper that held both your futures.

you watch carefully as his eyes go wide and the largest grin grows on his face.

“you got it! you fucking did it, i knew you could but oh my god” seokjin gushes and smothers your face with kisses and you can’t help but giggle. “you actually kicked him out the program, i’m so proud of you” he presses a long kiss on your head and your insides warm with the love he showered on you.

“wait, look at the piece i submitted.” you show him the page where you wrote the story of men in berlin who found their home in each other and in their music, how they missed home but built a new one in a city unknown to them.

“this is about us?” the amazement in his voice brings a smile to your face.

“i couldn’t think of a better person to write about, you are the story that people need to know about because you’ve found the heart to make a strange, new place, your new home.” seokjin’s eyes fill with unshed tears, “you wrote all this?” he chokes back a sob and you know he’s beyond happy with it, so you nod eagerly.

“there’s more” you whisper as you point to the very end of the paper.

the end, where it states, that the headquarters of your organization would permanently move to berlin.

seokjin stares at the text for one second without a word.

two seconds.

three seconds.

this was a mistake, you should’ve talked about this with h-

“is this real? does this mean what i think it does?” he whispers to you, voice filled with confusion and hardly contained joy. you nod at him and bite your lip in anticipation, waiting for him to let you down gently or jump in the air with you.

his response comes in the form of him throwing his entire body onto yours, holding you so tightly that you can hardly breathe but you’re okay being breathless, you hardly contain your shivers of happiness when he starts whispering how grateful he was to you, and how much he loved you.

“so, you’re okay with this?” you ask, unable to keep the question hanging in your head. he pulls back and looks at you with such adoration, that you feel dumb for even asking the question.

“are you kidding me? this is all we’ve ever wanted, everything i’ve dreamed of since we started with this. i get to see you everyday and i can’t think of a better thing in my life from now on.” he pushes a strand of your hair behind your ear with teary eyes and that’s all it takes for you to cry as well.

“this is good, very good, why are we crying?” you sob into his chest and he shakes his head, unable to give you an answer but holding you tighter against him.

it was hard to make the decision to move but your town didn’t feel right anymore, and there were so many stories to tell, so many days to spend with seokjin that you just couldn’t give up on, so when the offer to berlin came through, you took it right away with a giddy heart.

“this changes everything for us” he sighs out and you tense again, “in the best way possible, i can’t wait to make you sick of me” seokjin lets out a low laugh at your worried face before kissing all your frown lines separately.

and you let him, you let him continue to kiss your worries away.

you look around the city which will soon become your home, a feeling churns in your stomach but you know this time, that it wasn’t your anxiousness, it wasn’t because you had to go running somewhere else, it was because you finally found your person and your place.

that was enough to spark tears back in your eyes and this time, it’s all happiness, it’s all joy, it’s all the excitement that comes with getting to spend every day with the person you love, in the city, that helped you find love.

[likeabulldigidigibombombombom]

Open Window (Part 2)

Part 1 here

Pairing: Barely threatening thief!Hyunjin x fem!reader 

Trope/Genre: Non idol au, fluff

Summary: You’re nearing the end of your gap year, and you decided to spend your last month of it at your aunts house. Unfortunately, a very stupid criminal has struck your house many times and you need to figure out who they are and why they did it.

 1112 words 

Warnings: Hyunjin LITERALLY ROBS YOU. DO NOT DO WHAT Y/N DOES SHE IS A DUMBASS. Usage of pet names, swearing. 

It had been two days since you’d seen the robber. He had come through the window while you were asleep a couple of times and stolen a few small items that you had to look for when you woke up. You had so many questions.

‘Why is this guy stealing dumb shit?’ ‘Why is this guy stealing from me?��� and most importantly, ‘What is his name?’ All you were hoping for was for him to come back through your window (While you were awake) and explain everything. 

After another boring day, it was finally night again. There was one problem though, it was freezing. Although it had been warm the weeks prior, the temperature had randomly dropped. You weren't expecting him, but just in case, you left a note taped to the window that said “Knock on the window and I’ll open it for you so you can steal all of our prized possessions :)” 

Surprisingly, at midnight you were awoken by a knock at the window. Navigating your way through the dark, you managed to open the window and let the man in. “Hi again!” he said happily as he sat down on the windowsill. “What do you want to steal this time? Because I have a few things that I’d rather keep.” “Well, this time I’d like to talk for a bit, because I feel like you’re a little confused.” 

You were taken by surprise, but touched by the fact that he was willing to help you understand what was going on. “Oh, thanks!” 

“I’m not an asshole, darling, I’m not gonna leave you in the dark… Figuratively, it’s the middle of the night I can't make the sun come up again.” You laughed and began to speak. 

“Why are you stealing from me?” “I can’t answer that.” “Okay? Why are you stealing useless stuff?” “I can’t answer that.” 

“What can you answer then?” “You should start smaller. Let me ask you one. What’s your name?” “I thought I was supposed to be asking questions!” “You’re shit at asking questions.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Y/N. What’s yours?” “I can’t answer that.” “Seriously?!” “I’m kidding. My name’s Hyunjin.” “Hyunjin? That’s a really pretty name.” “Thank you. So is yours, it suits you.” 

“Well, Hyunjin, what do you like to do for fun? Other than stealing weird garden gnomes.” You could see a dimly lit face smile across the room. “I draw and paint and read, so basic stuff.” “I wouldn’t call that basic, especially for a criminal.” “Don’t judge a book by its cover Y/N.” “You stole an empty soda bottle from me, I think my anger is valid.” He laughed. 

“You’re definitely the most interesting person I've ever robbed.” “You’re definitely the most interesting person who’s ever robbed me.” “How many people have robbed you?” “Let me count. One.” “I’m honoured to be your first.” 

“How many other robbers do you know?” “Out of the ones I know? Six.” “That’s more than I thought would be around here.” “Yep, we all rob around this neighbourhood because we’re honestly not bothered enough to go anywhere else.” 

“Well, I’m all out of questions. Is there anything you wanna say or ask?” “Oh yeah! Are you single?” “Oh, um, That was very forward.” “I’m just asking!” Despite how far away he was, you could see him smirking in the darkness. 

“Yeah, I’m single.” “Okay good to know.” “What about you?” “I’m single. Painfully single to be honest.” “Really? I didn’t think that you’d be a romantic type.” “I’m such a hopeless romantic it’s insane.” 

“How many other robbers out there are like this?” “I don’t really know…” 

“Do you want me to turn the lights on? It might help you see what you’re stealing from me.” “Nope, then you’d see me and it would ruin my threatening mysterious persona.” “I hope that was sarcasm.” “No, but seriously, you can't see me with the lights on.” “Sure, but I’m not gonna look for you and report you to the police or anything, I probably should though.” 

“I promise, my stealing isn’t just for fun.” “I believe you, for some reason I trust you a lot. It’s weird.” “I’m just so charming aren’t I?” “I take it back.” “Aw, why?” “You’re too cringy to trust.” “What do you mean?! I’m not cringy at all.” You threw a pillow at him and you could see him dramatically collapse on the floor. “You deserved that.” “No, I didn’t.” “Find something to steal and get the fuck out before I throw something bigger.” “Fine.” 

He scanned the room. “What’s that?” He said, pointing at a new item on your bedside table. “Oh, I was gonna give that to you.” He walked over to pick it up. 

He was a lot closer than he’d ever been before and you could see his face in more detail. He was absolutely stunning. He had an incredible jawline and the prettiest lips you had ever seen. 

“Wow.” You said. He tilted his head in confusion. “You’re so beautiful.” He looked down shyly. “So are you.” 

He held the item and squinted at it. “Is it a torch?” “Yeah! I thought it would be useful to have something that could help you see what you’re trying to steal.” “Thank you so much!” He pointed it towards the corner and turned it on. 

“Why do you have a box of paper clips in the corner of your room?” “I don’t even know. I thought it would be useful but it really isn’t.” “I think I’ll take that.” 

He was about to grab the box when you grabbed his arm. “Wait. Don’t go yet. I’ve barely seen you and I have to leave in two weeks.” “You’ll see me again soon love.” You felt your face heat up slightly. “But,” 

He cut you off as he kissed you softly. Butterflies erupted in your stomach. Your hand was still on his arm and his hand had moved up to hold the back of your head. When he pulled away, he moved his hand and tilted your chin up to look at him. He smiled for a moment but the smile had quickly transitioned into a look of concern. 

“Was that okay? If you weren’t fine with that I’m so sorry.” You laughed. “No that was okay. More than okay actually.” “Okay good.” 

You let go of him and he walked to the corner of your room to pick up the paperclips. He opened the window and prepared to jump out. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Y/N.” 

With that, he was gone and you couldn’t stop smiling, replaying the moment in your head as you fell asleep.

Author note: Thank you so much for reading! I seriously appreciate it. Like always, constructive criticism is wanted! I'm planning to make a part three to this so if you found it interesting stay tuned! If you liked this, please follow me for more fanfics like this one <3 Thank you!

Masterlist

@catiuskaa thanks for the stickynote idea!!! :D

[copias-girl]

To Catch a Cardinal: Chapter II

Song recommendation for this series!

Chapter I, Chapter III

•♥︎𖤐♥︎•

You hadn’t seen much of Copia in a few days, mostly because the Papas kept you busy and the Cardinal was also being kept occupied with work in his office. Sometimes at night, when you were laying awake in bed, you’d hear footsteps down the corridor outside your room. You wondered if it was him, finally trudging back to his quarters after working a long day on translations and black mass preparations and everything else that was in that big stack of paper he was carrying the other day.

The more you thought of it, the more you wanted to throw open the door and pull him inside your room so you could hold him all night long. That subtle need deep inside you burned brighter with each passing day, especially when you kept hearing so many people throughout the day make jokes about Copia, about how weird and awkward he was.

You had passed him in the halls a few times, and you couldn’t help the way your smouldering gaze would sweep over his form. There was just something about Copia that had you biting your lip every time you saw him, always looking good enough to eat in his cassock and biretta. He, on the other hand, had a hard time holding your gaze, his cheeks flushing and his mismatched eyes darting away from yours several times, shyly shooting down to the scandalously high slit in your habit. You always gave him a little smile; a warm one, a respectful one, one that showed the Cardinal that you weren’t laughing at him like everyone else was.

•𖤐•

You were just waiting for an excuse to visit him in his office; fuck, it actually kind of made you feel restless as you stood in the hallway, using a feather duster to clean the ornate candelabras that lined the walls.

Sisters of sin could often be seen doing daily tasks and chores around the abbey, and you were no exception. You all shared the workload, either being assigned certain chores each week or choosing which ones you wanted to partake in. Dusting was one of your personal favourites, so that you could daydream and hum to yourself while doing the mindless work. When there was no one around, sometimes you would pretend like you were in a 1950s musical, dancing and singing and twirling all around with your little feather duster.

It wasn’t long before Sister Imperator called your name, startling you out of your daze.

“Sister Imperator!” You greeted her with a smile.

“Oh, good, you’ve done a marvellous job with the dusting, Sister!” She grinned, gesturing to your work. “Why don’t you take a break for now? It’s shopping day and I was thinking you and some other sisters could head into town and get some things. We’re in desperate need of more black candles, and things like that. Here, I’ve made a list.” She explained, handing you a piece of paper.

“Sure thing!” You nodded, taking the paper and looking it over. It contained things that were needed for mass, like candles and incense, and also ingredients for certain rituals.

“Excellent!” Imperator clasped her hands together happily. “I’ve already told the others so I’ll have a ghoul bring the car around shortly. You can also all get some snacks and things that you’d like to eat, by the way.” She told you. “Oh, and why don’t you go get C from his office and take him with you? It would do him good to get out a little bit!” She added before turning and walking away.

A delighted smirk found its way onto your face as you quickly abandoned your dusting for now, heels clicking as you made your way there.

You stopped by your room to get a Mix Max cake before slinking down the corridor to his office.

You knocked on the ornate, dark wooden door, trying not to look too excited as you waited for the man to answer. You heard some rustling before the door was pulled open, Copia’s sweet face lighting up when he saw you. However, you weren’t exactly sure what it lit up with. Fear? Excitement? Nervousness? Perhaps a mix of everything?

“Hi Cardinal.” You greeted him, a lilt of flirtatiousness in your voice as you held up the little wrapped cake.

“O-oh, ciao, Sorella! Grazie.” He stuttered nervously, taking the cake from you with a shy smile creeping onto his face. You were the only one who was kind to him, you made him feel… special. And it did something to him inside, you did something to him inside. The mere sight of you made his head spin, gave him anxiety and butterflies in his stomach and rendered him a tongue-tied and stuttering fool. Well, Copia supposed that he was perhaps just naturally a tongue-tied and stuttering fool. But still, your essence nearly pained him, and the fact that you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen yet you were the kindest to him… Well, it seemed almost paradoxical. The poor man didn’t suspect a thing about you finding him romantically interesting, however. He simply thought you were being nice out of pity.

“How are you settling in, Cardinal?” You asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. You swore his breath hitched in his throat at that, at the way you were standing just a bit too close than what would be considered appropriate.

“Ehh, I- Si, good, I… Well, si, thank you.” He finally settled on saying, but you felt like he was leaving something out. You could only guess that it was about the way he was being ruthlessly made fun of by the other siblings of sin.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Cardinal? You’re looking a little flushed.” You gently fawned over the man, placing the back of your hand on his forehead to feel for a fever.

“I…” Copia quietly started, but trailed off, not knowing what to say.

After a moment, you shook your head, murmuring something about your hands always being cold, and you cupped his face in your hands and pressed your lips to his forehead instead. You know, just to get a more accurate idea of his temperature.

Now you were sure you heard the Cardinal’s breath hitch at that, not only from your action but because from this angle, the only thing in his line of sight was your cleavage showing from the low cut neckline of your habit. But as quickly as it happened, it was over. You pulled away, trying to hide your delight at his deeply reddened cheeks and widened eyes.

You took the cake out of his gloved hands, unwrapping it and holding it up to his lips.

“Here, eat. I know you’ve been working a lot, right? Have you eaten?” You asked, watching as he took a bite, letting you feed him.

Copia shook his head no, sheepishly flicking his eyes down. He was nearly overwhelmed by the sight of your bare leg sticking out of the slit in your habit and how it was lightly brushing up against his cassock from how close to him you were standing.

Feeding him another bite, you placed your other hand on his shoulder once more, gently getting his attention.

“So, we’re going into town today because we need to get some supplies, and Sister Imperator said you should come. Do you want to?” You proposed.

“Mm,” Copia nodded, finishing the last of the cake. “Okie dokie, I will come..” He agreed, and sweet Satan, your heart melted right then and there. This adorable old man really just said okie dokie in complete seriousness and for some reason that drove you wild. It made you wet, it made lust pool deep within you, it made you want to devour him.

“Good.” You smiled simply, catching his mismatched gaze as you licked the residual chocolate off your fingers. He watched you intently, swallowing nervously as he awaited your next move.

“Well, I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes! Sister Imperator said she was having a ghoul bring the car around.” You chirped happily, the hand on his shoulder ghosting down his arm before you spun on your heel and left.

Copia was left flustered and slightly confused, wondering if all this really happened or if you were just a daydream.

•𖤐•

You met Sisters Mable, Ava, Lilith, and Emily on the grand front steps of the abbey, the ghoul already waiting in the sleek black 1949 Rolls-Royce.

“Wow, you look hot!” Sister Mable commented, looking you up and down as the other sisters agreed. Well, all of them except Emily. Recently, you had started wearing your dressier habit, the one with the low cut neckline and scandalously high slit. None of the other sisters ever wore theirs, usually just sticking to the standard one.

“What, this old thing? Why, I only wear it when I don’t care how I look~” You giggled, twirling a lock of your hair and making the other girls laugh.

The sisters got into the car, and that’s when Copia came shuffling out of the large doors, his gloved hands clasped meekly in front of himself as he made his way to the car.

“Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me…” Mable grumbled.

“Who invited the weirdo?” Emily asked loudly, obviously striving to make Copia feel as unwelcome as possible.

“Sister Imperator suggested he come.” You retorted. “And, well, I think he should too.” You added, giving the poor man an encouraging little smile when his eyes met yours, clearly surprised by you sticking up for him to your friends.

“Well, looks like there’s no more room in the car anyway so he’ll have to stay home!” Lilith chimed in, a smug smile on her face as she gestured to the last spot in the backseat.

“No, because I’ll just-“ You gestured for Copia to get in the car, and when he did, you took a seat right on his lap and closed the door. “There.” You said, the finality in your voice shutting up the other girls, who only stared at you in surprise.

“Is this okay?” You asked the Cardinal, who quickly nodded and stammered out a shy affirmation, his arms naturally coming to wrap around your waist like a seatbelt.

And with that, you were all on your way; gazing out the window as the ghoul drove you into town.

But suddenly the car turned onto this one road and- Satan below, were they doing construction here or something? The road was so ridiculously bumpy, causing everyone in the car to bounce up and down rapidly.

You squirmed on Copia’s lap as you bounced, trying to keep your place and not slide off. Your one hand was tightly gripping the ceiling handle of the car while your other hand found purchase on the Cardinal’s thigh, which was surprisingly muscular.

However, that mental observation was immediately interrupted by something far more… intrusive.

Oh…. Oh. Your eyes widened in realization at what it was. The more you bounced and squirmed, the harder Copia’s cock got, so you could feel every inch of it fully pressing against you as it strained against the pants he wore under his cassock. And holy fuck, he was… big. You also became aware of the Cardinal’s strained breaths as he desperately fought to keep quiet, his grip on your waist tightening ever so slightly as his cheeks burned with shame.

He really did feel so fucking ashamed, like the biggest pervert on the face of the planet. But he just couldn’t help it, not when your perfect ass was pressed against him like this, practically grinding against him.

You shifted again from a particularly obnoxious bump in the road and suddenly his cock was pressed right into your pussy, causing you to yelp out loud from the shock of pleasure.

“Are you alright??” Ava asked you.

“Y-yeah just-! This road is so bumpy, I hit my head on the ceiling of the car.” You lied, even rubbing the top of your head to make it seem convincing.

“Yeah, this road is crazy!” Lilith laughed in disbelief.

You and Copia both stifled moans, releasing sighs of relief when the car finally pulled onto a normal fucking street.

After a few moments, you turned slightly sideways on the Cardinal’s lap, causing him to tense up and exhale shakily with each of your movements.

You were so close, the tips of your noses nearly brushing as you leaned in, cupping your hands around his ear.

“I think there’s something in your pocket that’s poking me.” You whispered, playing dumb, but your voice had a slight edge of knowingness to it. You pulled away just enough to gauge his reaction, and Copia only nodded, biting his lip.

“M-mi dispiace…” He murmured.

“Don’t be.” You replied quietly, biting your own lip to prevent a smirk from forming as you turned to face forward again.

𖤐 to be continued 𖤐

Taglist: @sucharide @the-hole-in-terzos-shoe @rightintheghoulies @copiaswifey @youhaveahomeinmyheart @mister-girl @faeeeeh @rubyserpentine @ramblingoak @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @angelconservation @yourlocalghouleh @gh0sty6 @nikolaiology @thenick100 @mothsdraw

[justtwotired]

Whispers of the night - Lloyd Garmadon x F!reader

Part 1 - previous - next

Tag list: @cipheress-to-k-pop @whore-of-many-hot-men @bodieohbo @anyth1ngfor0urmoony @luvlloyd @viannasthings @beef-fajitas @bubblekitts

Help- trough this story I accidentally wrote ‘Millie’ and ‘Amelia’ as two different people, but they’re the same person because Millie is a nickname, so I had to rewrite sum scenes💀😭

also, sadly there isn't much Lloyd in here, mostly just y/n and friends, but no worries, next chapter will be Lloyd only.

I myself really hate this chapter, its badly written, some thing don’t really make sense, its just kinda.. idk I don’t like it but it’s long so I don’t want to rewrite it you know… also its been a while since I fed you guys a new chapter, sorry about that.

Your POV:

I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand as I put the last book I needed in my bag, standing in front of my locker. I took a quick glance in the mirror I had stuck to my locker door to check my hair and combed a quick hand trough it.

“You’re coming this evening too, right?” Amelia appeared by my side and I gave her a confused look, closing my locker.

“What’s this evening?” I asked, looking around at the others.

“Oh, party at Caleb’s house,” Flora informed. “Caleb Smith,” she clarified, before pointing a quick thumb at the boys who were watching a football game on Anthony’s phone. “They’re coming too,”

“Oh, yeah sure, I don’t have anything planned,” I agreed. “Most of the school coming I suppose?” I asked curiously and Flora shrugged.

“Well yes, but you can invite people if you want,” she explained, “I know that Charlie’s bringing one of his Basketball buddies and Arty’s invited a colleague from work,” she told me and I made an ‘o’ shape with my mouth.

“So it’s alright if I bring Lloyd along then?” I asked and she nodded along with Amelia.

“What, you’re bringing your boyfriend?” Charlie looked up. “As long as you two aren’t all over each other the whole time,” he pointed at me and I gave him a sceptical look and glanced down at the arm he had around Flora’s waist and then back at him.

“Right back at you,” I muttered and he quickly retracted the arm.

Flora hit his shoulder and glared at him. “She can bring her boyfriend and do couple stuff if she wants! It’s not like we aren’t,” she pointed out with a scowl and Charlie sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“Yeah, yeah right,” he stumbled over his words, “whatever, I don’t care,” he looked the other way and Millie laughed at him.

“You over protective little shit,” she giggled and he shot her a glare which she ignored, me and Flora joining in on the giggling.

“What’s going on here?” Luna appeared and Millie jumped into explaining what happened.

“Oh please, like you two weren’t making out on the couch while we where hanging out last week,” she said annoyed and Flora quickly looked the other way while Charles turned bright red.

———

Lloyd picked up almost immediately when I called him, I was walking out of the school with the girls as we where going to get ready together at my house.

“Sweetheart,” he said the moment he picked up. “What is it?” He asked, he sounded a bit out of breath.

“Hi, babe, I was wondering if you could make it to a party me and my friends are going to, it’s mostly just kids from school, might get late,” I jumped right to the point but was disappointed when I heard a sigh in the other side.

“Sorry, love, I have patrol this evening,” he apologised, making me already shake my head to the others and bite my lip in disappointment, just humming in acknowledgment. “I’ll see if I’m able to pop in later in the night, I suppose you’ll be there until late?”

I smiled lightly at the idea of him maybe showing up anyway. “Yeah, I think ill be there until maybe two,” I told him.

“Alright then, maybe I’ll join you. Otherwise I’ll make sure I’ll sleep at yours tonight,” he promised making my smile grow.

“Yes please, see you tonight then,” I said happily and heard him lightly chuckle.

“See you tonight, love you,” he said before hanging up the phone.

“So, he’s coming?” Luna asked and I shook my head.

“Just maybe later in the night,” I told them and Millie gave me a confused look.

“You hung up the phone as if you where sure he was coming though, you said ‘see you tonight’” she frowned a bit and I shrugged.

“He’s sleeping over at mine, so regardless of him being at the party or no, I’ll see him,” I explained, making Mills wiggle her eyebrows at me.

“Oh, he’s sleeping over,” she said suggestively making Luna giggle. “Any plans?” She asked, winking at me.

“Oh leave her alone, Lloyd and N/n should go at their own pace without you guys interfering,” Flora scolded with an amused smile.

“But we want to hear the stories of her getting laid!” Luna cried dramatically. “It’ll be her first time and I want to know, besides, we all know Lloyd is here to stay, so it has to happen sooner or later,” she insisted.

“Oh, please, let the girl have her innocence,” Flora waved it off while I just kept my mouth shut.

“N/n you’ve been awfully quiet,” Amelia pointed out and I just stared at the pavement with bright red cheeks. “Awe, don’t be embarrassed,” she giggled, putting an arm around me, but Luna halted.

“Y/n,” she said with a look of disbelief on her face, I avoided her eyes, pursing my lips. “Is there something you need to tell us?” She asked and I had trouble hiding my smile.

“No, no way!” Millie jumped up and down in excitement while Flora just squealed really loudly.

“I’ll tell you when we are in my room,” I mumbled with bright red cheeks and a smile, making them all cheer in happiness.

———

Flora laid giggling on my bedroom floor while Luna and Millie where watching me with open mouths from my closet, both looking for clothes they could borrow from me.

“I’m going to teach Charlie how to do that,” Flora decided trough her giggles and the next sound was a gagging noice from Amelia.

“Look, I get it, the tongue thing is hot, but to thought about you and Charlie- no, absolutely not,” she closed the closet door and we could hear Luna burst out laughing from behind it. Probably something Amelia had whispered.

“Once Mills gets a girlfriend, she’ll get us,” Flora told me making me chuckle and continue brushing my hair.

“Anyway, what happened next?” She asked making me playfully roll my eyes, but I continued anyway, Luna joining us now wearing one of my dresses.

“You love that dress don’t you?” I asked so the a smirk, having seen her wear it multiple times now.

“It’s just so pretty!” She insisted. It was a black sleeveless dress, it was tight at the top but had a flowy skirt that stopped at the knees. “Also, I love spinning in this thing, look,”

She didn’t quick spin and Flora wolf whistled while Luna giggled and did a quick bow.

“You can have it if you want, I’m pretty sure I don’t fit it anymore,” I turned around in my chair. “It was my favourite at some point, but my boobs got to big. But it looks amazing on you, you should have it,” I said and her eyes lit up immediately.

“N/n, I love you so much!” She squealed and quickly ran over to give me a hug, making me chuckle.

“Think of it as a thank you for buying cans of soda for me everyday,” I winked and she chuckled and hugged me again. It had kind of become a habbit for Luna to buy me soda everyday, because I always asked for it since she walked past the supermarket on her way to school. I paid her back with lunch at a cafe in town and presents such as this.

“Forget the dress, you where about to continue the story,” Flora whined and Lu and I shot her a look.

“Well, after… that, we kind of stopped, he helped me put on his shirt, then he quickly put on his boxers we cleaned up a bit and then we just cuddled until we fell asleep,” I explained. “It was really sweet, I was scared it was going to be awkward but it wasn’t at all,” I smiled down at the ground, playing with my fingers.

The girls awe’d and then Millie came bursting trough the door.

“He didn’t leave in the middle of the night right?” She asked, pointing a finger at me. “If he did I’m going to whoop his ass, he should’ve been there in the morning,” she insisted.

I awkwardly smiled, remembering the poor lad that ended up with a black eye when he had left Luna in the middle of the night. They had eventually talked about, he was just nervous.

Millie didn’t take any of his crap…

“No, he was there,” I reassured. “We talked and joked a bit in the morning and then he made breakfast for the two of us before going home again,”

Flora squealed and squeezed Luna’s hand, who had to pull away because it was starting to hurt.

“Yeah, he better,” Amelia nodded making the others laugh.

“What did you joke about?” Luna asked, walking over to have a quick look in the mirror and apply some makeup.

“Well, I complained about having to cover up the hickeys on my neck, and when he suggested that he wouldn’t do it again, I got flustered and mad and he just giggled and eventually I laughed along,” I explained to them.

“Hickeys on your neck? I don’t see any,” Millie pulled my hair aside and inspected it, making me give her a look and then she smirked in realisation. “Illusion?” She asked and I nodded, allowing for them to see it.

They all stared at me with shit eating grins and continued to tease me for the remaining of the time we got ready.

———

After that, we all finished up our makeup and hair before heading out the door, Malcolm being so kind to drive us to the party.

The girls thanked him when we arrived and I promised him to text him when we were done so he could pick us up and bring us home.

“Be safe!” He called after me and I smiled at him.

“We will!” I said before entering the driveway. My friends were waiting at the door, waiting for me before ringing the doorbell, we were a bit late but it seemed like there weren’t many people yet

“Finally,” Charlie gave us a look after he had opened the door. “Weve been waiting for ages,”

He then pulled Flora towards him, kissing her forehead. “You guys are late,” he gave Millie a pointed look, knowing that it probably was because she had to go to the bathroom last minutes and he was right.

“Sorry,” she grumbled. “When I have to go, I go,” she stated and then stuck out her tongue at Charlie who did it right back.

“Children, children,” Antony appeared. “Come on you guys, we want to start monopoly,” he pulled open the door further and the five of us left the hallway.

“Guys, this is Mathew, my buddy from basketball,” Charlie introduced and pointed at a tall guy, pouring a drink for himself, standing at a high table with bottles on it.

“Sup,” he greeted, we awkwardly said hi back, against populair believe, we were rather socially awkward, at least the music in the background didn’t cause for an awkward silence.

“Oh, and this is Aaron,” Arthur appeared out of the doorway that led to the kitchen, followed by another guy.

“Nice to meet you all,” he greeted, his eyes quickly traveling over us, stopping on me, as a small smirk appeared on his lips. “Very nice,” he said making my eyes shoot to Luna’s, then to Amelia’s and right next to Flora.

“Hi,” I plainly said and turned my back, looking over at Antony. “So, you said we were playing monopoly,” I grinned and he huffed.

“No,” he shook his head, “I just said that so Amelia would get her ass over here, we’ve waited long enough,” he said making the girl give him an offended look.

“You little-” Tony was given no warning when she jumped at him, they stumbled and the others laughed while Amelia tried getting him onto the ground and horribly failing.

“You suck,” James laughed when Amelia laid flat on her back, Anthony still standing.

“Shut the fuck up,” she panted. “I am no Y/n, besides, Ant is a head taller and way stronger, I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did,” she smiled rather proudly.

“Then why did you attack me in the first place,” Antony asked, rubbing his arm when she’d accidentally scratched him with her nails.

“You were bing a dick,” she shrugged making Arthur snort, resorting in him getting hit on the head by his twin.

“Now go on, sit down, grab a drink, be fun,” James dragged me to the floor to sit next to him and I scoffed but sat down on the ground anyway.

“I’ll grab drinks, what do you want?” Luna looked at me and then Millie and Flora.

“Just get me a water to start,” Flora smiled softly.

“Cola mixed with vodka, you know how I like it,” I told her and she nodded and then looked at Millie, who still laid on the ground.

“Just a beer,” she said and Luna nodded before heading to the kitchen. “If we’re not playing monopoly, then what are we doing?” Amelia asked.

“Whatever you want that’s not monopoly,” Charlie said, making her glare at him, causing him to smirk. “We can watch a movie, go outside Caleb’s starting a fire, put on some better music, play any other game, a drinking game, anything,” he named and Amelia sat up.

“Truth or drink it is,” she said, making Charlie groan.

“No,” he whined but she crossed her arms.

“You said anything but monopoly and suggested a drinking game, here you go, truth or drink,” she grinned and he glared at her.

“It’s so lame!” He complained, followed by agreements from most of us, causing Amelia to huff and roll her eyes.

“I don’t mind it,” we looked at the twins as they gave each other a surprised side eye for a second before ignoring the fact they spoke in sink.

“That’s because you don’t care and just say everything,” Charlie pointed at Arthur. “And you can hold your liquor like a champion and just do shots every chance you get,” he looked at Anthony who smirked.

“We’re playing truth or drink?” Luna entered the room aswel and there was a chorus of no’s and yes’.

“Ah, come on, it could be fun,” Mathew, Charlie’s basketball buddy spoke up. “Besides, maybe me and Aaron can get to know you guys then,” he smiled slightly.

It took a few minutes of bribery and begging, but eventually everyone was on board, even Charlie.

“Alright, so we’re just going around the circle?” Flora asked and everyone nodded. The game had already been set up, everyone had their own shot glasses and some liquor bottles stood on the table the group sat around.

“James, truth or drink, who in the group would you kiss without question?” Arthur didn’t waste a second, making James look up offended.

“Why immediately start with me?” He asked, looking around the group for support.

“Oh don’t be a baby,” I teased. “Truth or drink?” I repeated and he groaned. “Also, Art, lame ass question, but that doesn’t matter,”

My last remark was met with a pillow thrown against my head and laughs around the table.

“Chop chop, answer the question,” Luna hurried and James rolled his eyes before looking around the group for a second.

“Y/n, probably, or Lu,” he thought for a bit. “But that’s because I’ve known them for years and I’ve kissed both of them before,” he explained and Anthony gasped, putting a hand against his chest.

“Not me?” He asked ‘hurt’, blinking innocently at James. “How could you?” He said dramatically.

“Oh, any day bro,” James blew him a kiss, causing Anthony to wink at him.

“And they’re still beating the gay allegations,” Amelia shook her head. “I’m so done with you two,” she grumbled, causing the group to chuckle.

“Next,” James stopped Amelia’s complaining. “Luna, was it you that snuck into my house three years ago, stealing all my boxers?” He asked and without hesitation, Luna poured a shot, making me and Amelia giggle.

It did leave Mathew and Aaron with lots of questions, causing James to go into detailed explanation that someone snuck into his house in the middle of the night, stole all his boxers and decorated the school with them.

He never found out who did it, but he had his suspicions…

It had been me and Luna, sneaking into his house while Amelia waited outside for us, standing ‘on guard’ as she’d called it.

We never admitted it and it did leave Jamie rather confused.

The game went on for a while and I did enjoy it, the party got more crowded and two other girls had decided on joining us aswel. I knew them only from history class, but I liked them so I didn’t mind.

Soon enough though, I started to get a bit uncomfortable with this Aaron.

He asked the girls weird questions, except for Flora, probably because Charlie was in the room. He kept glancing at me and one of the other girls, places where he should not be looking.

Luna, Amelia and Flora noticed it too, yet the boys where to blind as always. I’m pretty sure the other two girls saw it to as I noticed their exchange of glances and whispers to each other.

It was Amelia who was the first to speak up.

“Hey, if appreciate it if you stopped staring at N/n’s boobs, thank you,” she interrupted Arthur’s sentence as she stared at Aaron with a scowl.

“Calm down, I’m just looking,” Aaron smirked slightly. “I’m a man, if she has her tits on display like that, I’m going to look,”

My eyes widened and I instinctively looked at James who saw red.

“Dude no,” Arthur, who sat next to him and had been the one to bring him spoke up first. “I will not have you talking to her, or any girl for that matter like that, stop looking at her,” he stated, glaring at the guy next to him.

“Chill, dude, I’m just joking,” Aaron laughed and winked at me.

Amelia didn’t take two seconds to stand up but Anthony was faster and stopped her before she did anything.

“Let’s go outside,” he looked around at the others that belonged to our group. “The lot of us,” he said and took Amelia with him as he left.

James helped me up from the ground and we left too, along with Mathew and the two other girls decided on following aswel.

Arthur stayed behind, I guessed he was going to have a word with Aaron. I exchanged glances with him before going outside and he gave me a small smile.

Outside, the cold air did do me good and it felt good to feel the breeze against my sweaty face.

“What a weirdo,” Luna said when we all stood around one of the fires.

“Yes, I totally agree,” one of the girls spoke up. “I mean, we joined because we saw ya’ll where having fun, but then we noticed how he looked at you,” she nodded at me, “and he looked at Katie,” she gestured to her friend. “And the inappropriate questions he asked us girls,” she gestured around to the girls around the fire.

“That was actually not okay, maybe we should look for Caleb and ask him to kick the dude out or something,” Charlie suggested, wrapping his arms around Flora who was shivering because of the cold.

“Maybe we should just let it be,” I said while looking at the ground, my arms wrapped around myself to get rid of the cold. “It could cause trouble and mess with the vibe hanging around,”

“Yes, but there’s still a creep wandering around a party and almost no one knows him,” James argued causing the other girl to pipe up.

“We’re in Caleb’s friend group, we could inform him of what’s happening and ask him to keep an eye out,” she suggested with a smile.

“We know tons of people, we can just spread the word, maybe it’ll cause him to leave on his own,” the other one nodded in agreement.

“If you don’t mind,” Flora, ever so kind smiled at them. “We don’t want it to ruin your night,”

“Nah, it’s fine, we’ll go look for Caleb, thanks for the fun,” one of them said and they left while waving at us.

“Thank you guys too, bye,” Luna waved before looking at me. “How are you feeling?” She asked, “we can leave if you want,”

“Yeah, maybe that’s better,” Millie agreed, giving me a pittiful look.

“Aye, it’s not that bad, let’s just enjoy the night that remains,” I assured. “Besides, I’m not letting an asshole like him ruin my night,” I huffed making the others chuckle.

“That’s the spirit,” Arthur appeared next to me. “I tolt Aaron off and told him it’d be better if he left, he refused and I can’t exactly kick him out, so I just told him to leave us alone,” he explained.

“Yeah that’s fine,” Amelia nodded. “The girls that were with us are informing Caleb and a few others of the situation,” she explained to him and he nodded along.

“Good,” he stated. “Anyone wanting some drinks? I’ll get them,” he looked around while everyone gave their orders.

“Just a water for me, the shots are getting to me,” I grinned and he huffed a small laugh but agreed anyway.

“I’ll come with you,” Anthony said and then twins walked off to pour the lot of us drinks.

“Is Lloyd coming?” James asked me and I shook my head.

“I don’t think so, he send me a text an hour ago saying he probably wasn’t going to make it,” I told them, a tiny bit upset, but it was fine. “Lucky for Aaron though, I’m not sure his teeth would’ve survived,” I had a small grin on my face.

“What? You’re saying Lloyd would’ve beat him up?” Amelia asked amused and I chuckled.

“Not beat him up per se,” I said with a laugh. “Just punch him or something, he does have quite the temper, but I think it would only happen if he’s in a bad mood already,”

“Damn, I would pay to see your boyfriend beat up a guy for you, it’d be funny as hell,” Luna grinned and I shot her a quick look.

The group fell in easy conversation, Millie telling us a bout the new school gossip.

“Are you alright?” I looked to my side to see James growing ever so slightly. “You seem uncomfortable,” he looked down at my arms that were trying to cover my lower stomach.

“Just a bit,” I answered honestly, “he was staring a lot,” I swallowed thickly and James smiled before taking of his jacket and putting it around my shoulders.

“I expect to get that back,” he warned me and I smiled at him and put my arms trough the jacket.

“I’ll make sure of it,” I promised before retiring my attention to Amelia.

———

After a few minutes the twins returned with the drinks and handed them out. We stood around the fire for an hour and it was quite fun.

At one point someone gave us a bag of marshmallows and some sticks so we could hold them over the fire. We thanked him and it did end up in a bit of a fight.

That translates to, the boys started throwing them and it ended up with James almost landing in the fire.

(Flora told them off, the mother she is)

“Hey, Mills,” Amelia looked up when Anthony called her name and then looked in the direction he had nodded with a wicked grin.

She quickly looked back at us with wide eyes and a red face. Around one of the other fires, her crush was talking with her friends.

“She’s so pretty,” she whispered yelled to us. “Look at her dress,” she bounce up and down and we all laughed.

“Go ask her out,” Luna bumped her own shoulder against Amelia’s.

“What- no! Are you crazy? I barely know her,” she whispered and Anthony rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, I know some of her friends, I’ll get you that date,” he took her arm to start walking towards the others but she backtracked.

“Wow, wow, wow,” she looked at him with wide eyes. “Give me a second,” she said sassily. “How does my hair look?” She turned to me and did a quick spin.

“It looks fine, nothing to worry about,” I assured.

“My makeup?” She asked, bringing her face closer to mine.

“A bit smudged, there’s mascara under your left eye- wait no don’t panick,” I looked at Flora who was already digging in her purse.

“Here,” she handed me some cotton swabs and makeup remover.

Within one minute, Millie was ready to go and she was a nervous wreck.

“Shots for good luck,” James said and took the bottle we had left on the grass and poured a shot for Amelia and Anthony. They clinked their glasses together before throwing back the shot and leaving the group.

“She’s so gonna get laid,” James smirked proudly and then pretended to wipe away a tear making Luna push him lightly.

“Stop it,” she scolded and he grinned at her.

“You know how got laid,” Flora spoke and my eyes widened slightly when she looked at me, my cheeks heating up.

“Shush,” I said with a small smirk and couldn’t say anything else because James squealed loudly.

“You know, I am so proud of you, you are finally growing up,” he said emotionally and hugged me.

“Are you actually crying?” I asked when I felt him sobbing, and I put my arms around him.

“Leave me alone,” he whined and we laughed at him.

“I think the alcohol is getting to you, Jamie,” I said and he pulled away from me, putting me at arms length.

“You think?” He yelled. “I’m never emotional,” he whined and then let himself fall into the grass, which I was pretty sure was wet.

“Get up Jamie, you’re going to get sick,” I took his hand, trying to pull him up but he wouldn’t budge. “Jamie?” I asked but he didn’t answer.

“Is he asleep?” Charlie asked amused and I groaned when I realised he was right.

I was about to wonder aloud how we would wake him, when Luna came with the solution. Without a doubt, she poured her glass of water over James’ face and he shot up, giving her a deadly look.

“Goodmorning,” she greeted with a fake sweetness in her voice.

James pouted at her and she sighed. “Go get this guy a glass of water,” she groaned and Charlie laughed and helped James up.

“Me and Flora are leaving anyway, she’s cold and tired, I’ll take James with me, he can crash at mine,” he suggested and we agreed.

“Are you walking home?” Arthur asked and Charles nodded.

“Yeah, it’s like five minutes,” he shrugged and then looked at James who was drunkenly staring up at the sky. “Maybe ten,” he said in a pained voice making us laugh.

We said our goodbyes, I gave Flora a hug and then the three of them headed inside to get some water and then leave trough the front door.

A few minutes later a notification popped up on our screens and it was Flora who sent her location like we all promised we would do after leaving a party split into groups or alone.

“What’s the time?” I asked Luna who glanced at her phone.

“Almost half past one,” she answered and I pursed my lips.

“Half an hour and then go home?” I suggested and she nodded.

“Fine by me,” she then glanced at Amelia who was seemingly going well with her crush. They where talking and laughing while Anthony observed like a proud dad. “Don’t know about her though,” she said amused.

“Don’t worry about her, you girls go home, me and Tony will make sure Millie gets home safe,” Arthur promised.

“Though, if she’s lucky she’s going home with someone else tonight,” Mathew grinned when he looked back at the girl.

Luna and I giggled while Arthur let out an amused laugh.

We spent the remaining half hour finishing our drinks while tagging along with a group who where watching a football game inside.

Mathew and I had no idea what was going on, but we just decided to cheer whenever Lu and Arthur cheered.

After that, Lu and I said goodbye to the two boys and went to find Amelia. That wasn’t too difficult because she was right where we left her.

“Millie,” I tapped her shoulder and she turned to me. She seemed rather alright, I was pretty sure she didn’t drink any alcohol since leaving our side. “I’ve called Malcolm and he’s coming to get Lu and me, are you joining us or are you going with the twins?” I asked and she contemplated for a bit and looked back at the girl in front of us.

“I think I’ll stay for a bit longer,” she said and I nodded as she gave me a rather excited smile.

“Yeah, that’s fine, just text the group chat when you guys get home and call me if you need anything,” I gave her a quick side hug and waved at the girl she was talking to before both me and Lu left.

When we closed the front door, Malcolm was already pulling up and I sent my location in the group the moment we where safe in the car.

We dropped of Luna at her house before driving home ourselves.

I was gonna hate myself in the morning.

Malcolm, the sweetheart he is, helped me up the stairs to my bedroom and then wished me a goodnight.

I quickly discarded my dress and heels and then just pulled one of Lloyd’s hoodies over my head before dropping into bed and drifting off to sleep.

I sleepily opened my eyes when someone planted a kiss on my forehead and got into bed with me, pulling me into his arms before I drifted off again.

[egcdeath]

okay but imagine frankie stressing out about taking his little girl to the father daughter dance and the reader has to calm him down and assure him he’s gonna do great.

pairing: frankie morales x reader

summary: frankie has some concerns before his first father-daughter dance.

word count: 1.2k

warnings: insecurities about parenting, very light angst, mostly fluff, hurt/comfort, lightly edited

author's note: frankie my beloved!!! i can't believe i didn’t write for him sooner. i'm also taking drabble requests for all pedro characters right now! just drop it in my inbox and i'll try to crank something out :-)

“Say cheese!” you directed, grinning as your daughter flashed her newly grown-in teeth and clung onto her father’s black dress slacks. Frankie looked just as pleased as he squatted down next to your ecstatic daughter, her excited energy clearly infectiously spreading to her parents. 

“You guys are just precious,” you gushed before lowering your camera, pleased with the boatload of pictures you’d taken of your two favorite people in the world. “You ready to go, conejita?” you asked, approaching your daughter and lowering yourself to her level.

“Yes!” she squealed, her little chubby cheeks rising as she beamed once more. “We’re gonna have so much fun, right, daddy?”

“Of course we are,” he agreed, his soft voice fully equipped as he seemed to fall under the spell of his adorable daughter.

“I’ll race you to the car?” she asked, although she was already taking off out the door with zero regard for her dress, or anything for that matter. 

Frankie looked at you and raised his brows as if to ask if he should’ve been chasing her, and you gave him a noncommittal shrug. “It’s her new thing,” you explained, walking at a far more casual pace as the two of you headed outside. “And she prefers to win.”

“Good to know,” he chuckled softly. “You know, I do want to be home more often to do this kind of thing. I want to know what her new interests and little quirks are,” Frankie’s face seemed to fall the slightest bit as you turned to look at him, a small frown now on his face.

“I know you do,” you said understandingly, despite the fact that more often than not, you didn’t understand. His missions were often very hush-hush–even for you–but what you did know was that there was often a lot of money involved. Enough money to allow your husband to become a stay-at-home father, and to send your daughter to college several times over. Yet, despite his growing joint pain and his desire to be with his family, he was often sent on many months-long excursions that ended with him being mentally absent for days, and waking you up in the middle of the night from squeezing you so hard that you thought you might burst. “But this mission is your last one, right?”

“It should be,” he shrugged, stepping out into the garage with you. While you tried to have hope, you could think of multiple occasions where Frankie was told that a mission would be his last, but that ended up not being the case.

“Then you’ll be back with us soon permanently,” you assured him, “More father-daughter dances, more playdates at the park, hugs and kisses from us whenever you need them… Just try to look forward to that. I know I am.” 

You were doing your best to reassure him, but in the process you were also attempting to reassure yourself. It obviously was not your preference to have your partner and the father of your child gone so frequently, but it also wasn’t up to you. That much was clear. 

“I will,” he said, his frown dissipating once he laid eyes on his daughter once more, who was standing outside of the car door with a very self-satisfied grin on her face. 

“I won!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air in celebration. “You’re too slow, daddy,” she giggled.

Frankie wasted no time walking over to her and scooping her into his arms, pressing a big kiss onto her cheek with all the love in the world. As you watched, your heart melted, particularly as your daughter happily scrunched her face up at the affection. You yearned for more of this, to be able to wake up every day and be able to bask in the love that came from the two people across from you. 

“I’m too old now. I’m such a slowpoke,” he said dramatically, making your daughter laugh as he moved to get her settled in the back seat of the car. “We’ll have to do a do-over race at some point.”

“I’ll still win,” she said confidently, causing you to laugh where you were standing by the door. After strapping in your daughter and closing the back door, you were sure that the conversation between you and Frankie was over. He was off to have a fun, well deserved night with your kid, and you had a bottle of pinot noir and a trashy romcom calling your name. 

Yet, before you turned to go back inside, Frankie reached out and grabbed your arm. 

“Everything okay?” you asked, concern written all over you. His previous behavior around his daughter compared to the look he was giving you right then were night and day–his shoulders tense and his worry lines making an appearance as he gulped.

“Yeah, I’m just… I want to make sure that she has the best night possible. We just see each other so little now that I want to be sure that the memories she does have of me are good ones,” he confessed.

“It will be a good one,” you assured him. 

“I-” he seemed to stop himself before he said something else. “I’m a terrible dancer.”

For some reason, you were getting the feeling that his worries weren’t just related to his dancing skills. Frankie had shared his insecurities with you over his parenting a number of times before–his concerns that he was going to end up not knowing anything at all about his own child, his fears that she would grow up resenting him for his absence, and his biggest fear that she one day might even forget that he was her father in the first place. It made sense that something like a father-daughter dance would bring out some of that insecurity in him. 

You pulled Frankie into a hug, knowing that he was never all that great with sharing his feelings, but a bit of physical contact always seemed to help him a bit. You swore you could feel his shoulders relax as you embraced him, swaying him ever so slightly. 

“Baby, you are not a bad dancer. And even if you were the most awful, terrible dancer in this world, all she’s gonna remember is how fun of a night she had with her daddy,” you attempted to comfort Frankie with your sincerity. “You should hear how she talks about you when you’re gone. The amount of times she’s retold me the story of your trip to the conservatory, or about the time you two went to the aquarium together? I promise, all the little details don’t matter. What matters is that she loves you, and she loves getting to spend any time with you.”

The assurance from you that your daughter didn’t think of him in the same way that he seemed to think about himself seemingly did the trick, giving Frankie all that he needed to gently pull away from you. 

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, pecking your lips before looking at you with an almost watery expression. 

“Of course. I’ll always be here for you,” you replied with just as much sincerity. “Now, you should probably get going before she starts complaining about you being a slug and taking so long.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Frankie agreed, fully pulling himself away from you and turning himself towards the door once more. 

“Love you guys,” you called as you began to walk towards the house door. “Make some fun memories tonight, okay?”

The grins and waves you received as the two began to back out of the garage told you more than any verbal answer ever could’ve.

They absolutely would.

[oddballwriter]

Lotta True Crime

Summary: A blurb in which Steven comes home from work and finds you watching/listening to a true crime documentary, again. 

Warnings: I don't talk about anyone specific but the Y/N is listening to a docu about a serial killer. There isn't any actual mention of murder in full detail but it is there, so be warned of that. But overall this is actually domestic as hell and wholesome.  

Author’s Snip: I'm a true crime nut and I often wonder what my various fictional boytoys would think about it I sort of fixated on Steven for a while which led to this. I feel like he'd be slightly off-put by it but would get used to it at some point. Also, the idea of him and his true crime-loving partner just info-dumping about their interests is just so funny and cute.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

It sounds a lot like what you would hear a husband back in the 1950s answer if you asked him what his favorite part of the day was. But it was Steven's honest answer. He loved coming home after a long day at work and seeing you preparing dinner. There was something so domestic about it that he absolutely loved. Of course, he'd usually come in and help you make dinner instead of lounging around, just so that you two can have a nice moment as a couple.

There was one thing that always stuck out from the whole coming home to the partner cooking dinner daydream though.

The stuff you usually had playing in the background.

"-I mean. It was complete madness. All these people started digging at this dumping ground and they found so many bodies in different stages of decay. It took a few days simply because of how many they were finding, you know? You would be digging up one you just found and then you find a part from another and then you'd have to dig up that one, and so on." the voice on the TV explained as Steven locked the flat's door behind him and hung up all his things.

"What made it worse was that there were more. His accomplice said that he had admitted that he had more victims at another dumping site but he never said where that was before he died. So there are more somewhere out there and we don't know where they are." the voice added.

Steven wants to be surprised that there's a true crime documentary playing on the TV while you were happily cooking dinner, and yeah sure the details are especially gruesome from what he's hearing, but this isn't the first time. This is a normal occurrence, actually, and Steven's just learned to roll with it. Even if one time he came home and the TV had an episode of a show that talked about murders in relationships that talked about how a wife poisoned her husband via lacing his food with something, and you were making one of Steven's favorite meals.

He crosses the flat to you in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around you from behind and looking over what you were doing. "It looks like it's coming along nicely." he comments before he kisses you on the cheek. "Thanks," you replay, "I found it in a little recipe note and wanted to test it out." you explain. "Do you want any help?" Steven asks drawing away a little.

"No. I've got everything covered so far. Some stuff needs to sit for a bit. Maybe then I'll need some help." you tell him while also turning your head towards him.

A soft stare ensues between the two of you. You both bask in the nice feeling of being close to each other and having a sweet and domestic moment.

"It was believed that this body found drifting in the river was actually a victim, whose body was washed out of its grave from the heavy storms and rainwater that flooded the bank, since the accomplice said that the old dumping site was along the river. However, no one knows how far the body floated downstream, so they wouldn't know exactly where the site was along the river." a narrating voice said from the TV, soiling the moment.

You blush at the interruption, "You can change that if you want. I've heard of this case before anyway.".

Steven chuckles a little bit. "I don't really mind, love," he says. "You did overhear that one time I was watching a documentary and it went into heavy detail about the Egyptian embalming process." he recalls. "So what if I hear about some old killer's body count and possible dumping spots." Steven concludes.

"It's your version of what Egypt is to me. So how am I to judge." Steven adds.

[arcanumofthestars]

To wipe the tears in your eyes

This is my last fic for @marauderswithpalestineproject! Enjoy!

Word count: around 2.5k

Warnings: Some angst, some swearing, that's it.

“Okay, ew, you two, get a room, that’s disgusting!”

Barty grinned at Regulus and continued to kiss- no, eat his boyfriend’s face. Evan was flustered, to the point where Reg could practically feel the heat radiating from where the boy was sitting, directly to his left. He tried to say something, but Barty quickly shut him up with more kisses. It had been over a week since they’d made amends from their last argument, and Reg couldn’t really explain why they were still behaving like that, but alas.

He turned around, his apple pie still untouched, and came face to face with Pandora, who was basically inhaling her fish and chips. Flowers had started to bloom on the grounds all around Hogwarts, so a variety of them was already decorating her hair, tucked in between the braids. He could never bring himself to learn how Dorcas made them, no matter how many times she’d showed him.

He waited until his friend swallowed, and then spoke.

“Hey, Dora, are you doing anything after lunch? I’ve finished all my homework so I was hoping we could hang out?...”

He prayed he didn’t sound as desperate as he thought he did, for the truth was that Regulus Black, was indeed, that desperate. His friends had been ignoring him for the past few weeks. With Barty and Evan constantly fighting and making up (and out) with eachother, and Dorcas being too busy studying for her N.E.W.T.S., the only person who was still available was Pandora. Reg would love to admit that Dora was perfect, but she had recently developed the nasty habit of hanging out with Gryffindors. To be fair, one Gryffindor in particular.

James Fleamont Potter.

He dreaded to hear those words, yet Dora’s lips showed no mercy as she politely refused.

“I’m afraid I cannot join you today, Reggie. James has invited me to the Gryffindor tower, and there are those amazing tapestries around there, I could get lost in the patterns for hours... I wouldn’t miss a chance to see them again. Plus his friends will be there this time, and I just love meeting new people...”

“Oh.”

Of course she wouldn’t. He didn’t blame her, he just wished she’d never met Potter that wretched evening in detention. He remembered it very well. How Dora had wandered off again, picking flowers, and ended up near Hogsmeade, where professor Slughorn saw her and brought her back to the school. He didn’t know why Potter was in detention that time though. Maybe he’d beaten someone up again. That prick loved to show off his strength at all times. That was all he was. Muscles and puns and smiles. Shallow.

“...Reg? Regulus? Are you okay? If you need it I can stay here, I don’t have to go to t-” the girl sounded alarmed, real concern painting her voice.

“No, Dora, it’s fine. Go have fun okay? I’ll be fine.” He got up.

“A-Are you sure? It’s no problem, after all...”

“No, I’m perfectly fine, just zoned out for a bit.”

He glanced at Barty and Evan, who were still making out. Regulus sighed.

“Won’t you finish your food at least?”

“No, I’m not really hungry.” He looked at the Gryffindor table, where the so called Marauders were making a mess with their meals and shouting happily. If only he was still in good terms with Sirius... But life wouldn’t continue based on ‘ifs’. He turned around and walked out of the dining room, quickening his steps as he reached his dorm room.

Still. What if things had turned out differently. What if he had ran away when Sirius did. Maybe he could be at their table, laughing again. Like when he was a little kid and Sirius would make funny faces to cheer him up after Mother had left them without food for the night once more. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. It was engraved in his memory, just like it was in Sirius’s too. He was sure of it. No, he decided. He couldn’t have ran away with his brother. Walburga would always find him. That phrase was a threat, a curse falling on his head, and he was pretty sure he’d never be free of it.

Had she been any other mother, that would have been encouraging, something she’d say to him to comfort him.

He crushed on his bed.

He’d heard Sirius talk about Potter’s mother, Eudora, was it? Maybe Eugenia? Euphemia? That was it. Euphemia. Euphemia Potter. The mother who, according to his brother, everyone should have. He’d dreamt of living with a loving mother. Foolish dreams of a foolish child, they were. Yet the hope still remained. Hope was a hard thing to kill. Maybe the hardest of all things.

Two weeks later

Reg was walking around in the school grounds. It was a habit he had adopted since Pandora had started spending more and more time with the Gryffindors, leaving him completely and utterly alone. Barty and Evan had had a fight earlier, something about socks... To be frank, Regulus thought that they were slowly becoming really annoying. Or maybe the blood boiling in his veins was speaking.

He’d fallen asleep, on one of the common room’s couches, only to find out that a bunch of Gryffindors - including Potter and Sirius - had snuck in with Pandora’s help, when he woke up. He tried not to upset Dora, after all, entrance in other Houses’ common rooms was not a rare “currency” in the school. She was probably just returning a favor.

Seeing the Marauders and especially Potter again though, he couldn’t help but get mad. He knew the other Slytherins were too, but no one would risk missing one of the Gryffindor parties just because of a visit. At least that was how Narcissa had put it.

He had stormed out of the common room in a blur, but not before he heard Potter whisper to Sirius something along the lines of “What’s wrong with him?”

By now he had nearly reached the lake. The weather had worsened the past days, going from warm and sunny until at least noon to a grey sky, threatening to fall apart and drench them with its rain.

He walked closer to the water. From afar, it looked like a pool of metal, perfectly still, reflecting its surroundings down to the last detail. Now that Regulus could get a closer look, he noticed how murky its bottom was, probably because of the mud the giant squid was moving around, as it lived its life without worrying about social interactions.

He picked up a stone, round and gray, and threw it sideways into the lake. He remembered, back in fourth year, when he, Dora, Evan, Barty and Dorcas had decided to spend the day right at that spot. He’d seen Barty skipping stones, and had demanded asked him to teach him how to. He was actually quite good at it, after all, though he wasn’t able to practice very often.

The stone hopped on the water, one, two, three, four times, creating round wrinkles in the still water before disappearing under the surface. He skipped a few more stones, but had to stop once the squid surfaced. There had been cases where it had actually caught and thrown the stones back to students who had initially tossed them in the past, and he wouldn’t risk it.

Regulus heard someone approaching, but didn’t turn around. It was probably someone like him, someone that wanted to spend some alone time. If they got annoying or disturbed him, he could always just leave.

The footsteps stopped, and a person stood right beside him.

“I knew I’d find you here.” Pandora said.

“Hello, Dora. Why aren’t you in the dungeons?”

“Oh, I didn’t see you there and I went out to look for you actually...” She gave him a gentle smile.

“You didn’t have to do that, I know how much fun you have with the Gryffindors. You can still go back.” He was grateful she had thought of him, but at that moment, he needed his time.

“I don’t want to go back. We need to talk.”

It was rare for Pandora to be that serious, so Regulus waited and listened to what she had to say.

“I know you’re upset. You’ve been avoiding me for the past few weeks. Barty and Evan say the same. Now, I don’t know why this is happening, but I’m here for whatever you need and I’m willing to do anything to fix it, and I’m sure that the same applies to the others too. So if you please could tell me the reason you’ve been so distant...”

Regulus felt tears gathering in his eyes, and blinked them away. How could she be so clueless? How could they all be?

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But I just want to help and-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it okay?"

"But-"

Anger erupted through him.

"Just shut up, Pandora! Shut up for once! How can you- How can you all just ignore me all this time? Do I even mean anything? Because you can't parade around chatting and laughing with Gryffindors one day and talk to me the other! It's not fair, do you understand? It's not fair to me!"

He could see tears appearing in her eyes as well now, but he didn't care.

"You became fucking best friends with goddamned James Potter! How is this fair? You know the consequences of me being even in the danger room with all them Gryffindors and yet you still invite me over? Do you even care about me at all? Was it all an act?"

He felt like he could continue for hours, but stopped when he heard almost inaudible sobs coming out from his friend's mouth.

Pandora got up and ran away, three flowers in her hair slowly falling on the ground behind her.

Then the realisation of what he'd said washed over him, crushing him in a huge wave of guilt. He contemplated running after her, apologising, falling on his knees until she forgave him. It was his last chance to not be alone and he had just thrown it away so stupidly. He turned around, but did none of that.

Regulus stayed there for a good two hours, doing whatever, walking around or talking to himself. He may have screamed his lungs out a few times. He just prayed no one was actually close enough to hear him. Deep down he hoped Pandora would return, help him sort things out, or just sit there even, her mere presence would be enough.

That didn’t happen. And as the hours passed, more and more clouds gathered in the sky, resulting in a heavy rain. He decided to head back, but took his time while he did so. He never minded the rain, he had found out that there was something poetic in being soaked in the thing most important for life to exist, yet if you overdid it, it would result to sickness, even death.

He shivered as he entered the castle through the gates, just in time before Filch closed them completely. The man gave him a nasty look but didn’t dare to say anything. The warmth of Hogwarts was welcoming, surrounding him like an embrace.

He took a turn and headed to the dungeons, and then another, when he bumped into someone.

“Excuse me.” He didn’t have time for apologies. He looked up to the person that was still blocking his way. “I said ex-”

“Oh, no, mate you’re not going anywhere. Not after whatever you did to Pandora. We need to talk.” James Potter said, looking down on him through his glasses.

Regulus felt anger bubble through him once more that night. He was pretty sure he was red as a tomato, but didn’t care. How dare he, James Potter, demand anything from him. He even had the nerve to ask about Dora- as if he cared. He would stand his ground.

“Go on, what do you have to say to me? Let’s see how much your little brain can comprehend of human emotions and interactions.” He made sure he sounded as petty as he could.

James huffed. “I saw Pandora at the library about an hour ago. She was crying. Only thing I could get out of her mouth was your name. Care to explain?” he crossed his arms and leaned to the wall.

“And why would you care about Pandora anyway?”

“Well, shouldn’t I? She’s my friend, something I have began to doubt about you.” Damn it, he was good at this game.

“It’s my business, not yours.”

“Oh hell no, we’re not going anywhere until we have this sorted out.

“Come on now” Regulus said “don’t pretend you don’t hang out with her only to have access to the dungeons and Slytherin parties.” A smug grin had started to form on his face,

That seemed to affect the other boy more than anything he’d said before. “I- I wouldn’t do that...”

“Like hell you wouldn’t. Stop pretending, Potter. Or don’t. Maybe that’s the only thing you can do well after all. Pretend. That’s what you are! A fake.” He let it all flow out, his voice gradually raising to the point he was yelling.

James did the same, though. “This is NOT about me! It’s YOUR fault that Pandora has been crying for the past hour, maybe more!” Regulus flinched. “So stop acting like you’re innocent! Not everything is about yourself! And stop ruining people’s lives by doing that! You had better go talk to Pandora, or I don’t know what will happen!���

Tears had started forming in Regulus’s eyes, but this time he let them flow freely.

“You don’t know shit! You don’t know how it is to be ignored by everyone for days straight, for people to actually hate you! You haven’t lost ANYTHING! So before you start talking, maybe you should actually think what someone has been going through BEFORE YOU START MAKING ACCUSATIONS!”

James seemed to be taken aback by his outrage, and spoke in a calmer voice, rubbing the back of his neck. “Still, that doesn’t make any difference. You shouldn’t-”

“Shut up.”

“No, I won’t shut up, Regulus! Why won’t you shut-”

Hearing his name coming out of James’s lips, something snapped inside of Regulus. He launched forward, grabbing the other boy’s face with both his hands and kissing him roughly on the lips, before pulling away.

He turned around to leave, he would process the atrocious action he’d just done later. He felt a hand in his, and James pinning him to the castle wall in a blur.

“You won’t get away so easily after that.” James loomed over Regulus, and for one moment the shorter boy thought he was going to hit me, but then the bittersweet taste of James’s lips on his took all his thoughts away. They held on each other as they kissed for what felt like hours. Regulus couldn’t understand what was happening, whether it was right or not, the only think that mattered was the boy hugging him like no one had ever before.

“You still have to talk to Pandora, you know” James mumbled, but his smile could be seen, even in the rush they both were in.

Three months later

Regulus was laying beside his boyfriend, or rather on top of him, as when James had realised how touch starved the boy was, he had insisted on them cuddling with every chance the got. Euphemia’s voice suddenly broke the silence.

“Boys, it’s time for dinner!”

James got up from his bed, kissed him and grinned. “You know, you were right. I got something more from hanging out with Pandora... The best prize ever.” He leaned in and kissed Regulus once more.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the a**hole for screwing someone out of a job from them creeping me out?

A couple of months ago I was given a business card from a photographer while working. They said I’d be a great model with my nice hair (My hair is my pride and joy so I take care of it to the best of my abilities. Which has resulted in many compliments and most people grabbing it) so I pocketed the card and went on with my day. Later on I told some of my coworkers about it being excited to try it. They informed me that the photographer was known to give out their business cards. Then with the strong implication that they were a creeper that did things to the models. Which resulted in me throwing away the card and not thinking about it.

Fast forward about two to three months and the photographer is back. I recognized the design on their shirt as the same one that had been on the card. They ask me where one of my managers are for a job interview. I ask them to give me a moment to see if I could find them. So I go to the manager working my section at the moment to tell them that someone was here for a job interview. They stare at me in confusion and state that there weren’t any scheduled for today. I clarified that they were looking for a specific manager by name. They try to contact the named manager to verify so I go back to tell the photographer the situation. They acknowledge it and I tell them to head to our H.R office to possibly help. They decline so I informed them that it could take a while if they waited since our building is big. They brushed off my suggestion to state that they’ll just wait for the manager next to my station. I go back to work seeing that I completed my task. For about a half hour they stood there watching me. Before they told me they were moving to one of the tables. I acknowledged this and went on with my job. Until I could feel someone intensely staring at me and turned to see them watching me. I’m a pretty oblivious person, often times just functioning in my own world. It’s how I survive in life, by escaping reality. So believe me when I say that this person had to have been staring holes into me for my notice. I try to ignore it but kept catching them staring at me for about another half hour. Then the required manager finally arrived and they warmly greet each other while moving to the back. A little bit later the photographer comes back up to my station. They happily tell me that they’ll be my new manager. They point right behind my back as they state that they’ll be right there. Then offer a hand shake which I hesitantly reciprocated to be respectful. I don’t know about anyone else but this marked me as strange. This is from there usually only ever being one person working my station. Managers only coming up to fix issues which are pretty rare. Then the fact their handshake seemed strange in someway. So to verify I asked my coworkers (different ones from the business card) if they had been off putting to them. My coworkers kinda shrugged it off and I told myself it was just my paranoia acting up so give them the benefit of the doubt.

The next day I’m going about my day as normal until they appear. Then kinda situate themselves at the corner of my station. I asked if they needed anything which they declined before resting their chin in their palms and elbows on the counter. I try to ignore the fact that they are now dead eye watching me as I work. Which would have been fine if I was training them or if they asked me about some of the things I was doing. But they just stood there for roughy a hour unmoving. After which they asked me why I worked so hard, I stated that I’m naturally a hard worker. They then say that I’ll be their favorite which made me extremely uncomfortable. I urgently ended the conversation by pretending to be busy. Which they returned to their watching after.

The next time I came in I pulled my manager aside and explained that the new hire was creeping me out. I told them how they were just staring at me unendingly. My manager stated that they had asked them if they needed anything while they had been watching me but they had declined which I remembered. My manager told me they would look into it and I insisted that they double check the camera footage of the security camera that was above my station. I also told them that it could be just my paranoia acting up.

My next work day one of my other managers inform me that they decided not to hire the photographer. I asked if they found that my suspicions had been correct about them. Only to not get a clear answer, so now I’m wondering if I screwed someone out of a job just because they creeped me out.

Which I don’t take lightly because the economy in my area is really bad so I could have ruined this innocent persons life for no reason!

What are these acronyms?