#Inspiration for sending a loved one or friend out into the world on a new adventure. Marriage

[leiswxrld]

𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 (𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 ❥)

pairings: ellie!williams x fem!reader

sypnosis: it’s Valentine’s Day, a special day to spend with your loved ones right but what if a slasher is going around killing only once a year on this special day.

warnings: mdni 18+, smut, college slasher, anal fingering (r receiving), strap usage (r receiving), top ellie and bottom reader, face riding (r receiving), reader giving ellie a lap dance, weed and drugs, praises + degradation (mama, slut, baby, whore), ellie calls her strap her dick, strawberry vape supremacy, graphic content, college au

a/n: happy valentines my lovelies, I know this is a day late but I had to touch up a few things before I could post this and I’ve also been so busy yesterday so it had to wait till I got home, not proof read so there might be a few mistakes, low-key inspired by scream.

credits: @magicalboything @cafekitsune for line dividers ❥

'Good evening folks, this is Heather Gale reporting live from channel 5 with tonight’s news, it's that time of year where couples, friends and family around the world express their love and affection towards their loved ones but one striking question has our community in constant fear and paranoia, will the valentines day killer strike again ?'

'Today marks the death of late cheerleader captain Melissa brown who was found brutally stabbed over 20 times in the chest and stomach in her college dorm room a red rose left on her chest, police say she was returning from a party when she was viciously attacked by the killer, friends and family say she was a bright student, kind friend and positive role model for those who admired her, the community are desperately fighting to get Melissas killer found and behind bars.'

'Police ask that if you have any leads or tips that could potentially catch the Valentines Killer, they urge you to either report it to the police station or to anonymously send in your information, this is Heather Gale on channel 5 and I hope you all stay safe and well this Valentines.'

- -

"Really a valentines party" you reply in disbelief at the instagram post one of the boys from the football team had posted, you couldn't believe they were throwing a party when you were all advised not to throw any especially when the valentines killer could strike again.

"Yeah sick right I was thinking of going" your friend amarie says, scrolling onto the post and liking the picture. you throw her a dirty look, "amarie you know the college advised us not to attend any parties especially after what happened to heather she was killed straight after the party we went to last year" it felt so surreal when you found out she had been stabbed to death just after returning from the college party you attended that year, you remember being in your room when it came up on the news that starville's captain cheerleader was found dead.

"cmon y/n don't be such a whore, we'll all be together and we live in the same dorm room besides I'm pretty sure the killer only kills cheerleaders" she replies and you roll your eyes, "it's not just cheerleaders amarie it's anyone who goes to this fucking college, we're all at risk and were at a higher risk if we attend that stupid party"

amarie turns off her phone paying all her attention towards you, "think about it when was the last time you actually went to a party and got laid no offence but bitch I feel depressed just looking at you"

you cross your arms, "and what the fuck is that supposed to mean"

"it means I feel like I'm living with a christian.. your sex life is drier than a fucking desert" she remarks and you scoff, really.

"difference christians wait till marriage... reminder I have already lost my virginity" you remind her, the last time you really had sex was with a boy you hooked u with a few weeks back but you really didn't get the time to find someone and the only thing keeping you satisfied was your vibrator which was in dire need of some batteries.

"more of a reason for you to come to this party and get laid come on think about it, so many of the girls in our dorm are going we can't miss out on this opportunity besides I hear charlies going to be there" she replies, smiling to herself. Charlie was the star quarterback on the football team and one of the many boys she was frequently hooking up when she got the chance too.

"and that has something to do with me how" you reply and she shrugs her shoulders, "it means that there might be a chance you might meet someone you actually like" she replies, you ponder for a second..it could be a chance to finally hook up with someone.

"fine but I’m only going because I’m getting sick of using my vibrator plus there will be free drinks" you finally decide and she throws you a hella side eye, "girl tmi…” she says and you laugh, “now I need to go freshen up" she says, doing a little victory dance while looking at herself through her phone camera.

it was a good thing that the boys house was a 15 minute drive from your college building which meant you only spent around 5 dollars each for an Uber to get there. the house was the hotspot for most of the college parties that were thrown, a big estate with a pool and 3 floors meaning you could fit over a hundred people inside, "this thong is digging into my ass it feels like I've got carpet burn" amarie says, picking at the bright pink thong underneath her pink skirt.

You both choose to go all out, you in a red boob top and black skirt whilst amarie was wearing a pink corset top with a pink skirt. "I told you to choose the black one at the shop" you remark and she smacks her lips, "it wasn't going to match the cute pink corset top and skirt I've got so I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up" she replies, applying a thin layer of lip gloss on.

You both walk into the house, people stood near the entrance either drinking or getting smoking. you could see the inside of the house bathed in colourful lights, music blaring out into the cold midnight air.

Your strawberry flavoured vape clutched in your right hand as the stress began to creep in, your couldn't imagine that the valentine's killer could possibly strike again this year but the idea of it scared you shitless. You bring the vape to your lips inhaling the vapour as you taste the strawberry fumes enter your lungs, "I didn't expect for the party to be this fucking packed" you admit as amarie nods her head, "yeah seems like the whole campus" she pauses, "and a few other people from nearby attended"

you make it inside, pushing past your way through the sea of people making your way towards the kitchen, "You guys actually made it" Stacy another one of your friends says, going to hug you, "I mean I was expecting amarie but y/n that's a first" you give her a face that screams 'girl really' and she laughs, "no hard feelings babe but I never see your ass outside of your room except if you have class"

"none taken" you reply, manoeuvring around her so you could pour yourself a drink. you decide to do a classic vodka cranberry, basic but could easily get you drunk. "y/n pour some vodka in my cup" amarie says, holding the red solo cup towards you. you grab the bottle, pouring it until it hit the middle line, "girl quit playing pour me some more"

"You want to drink straight vodka"

"I'm trying to get shitfaced not drunk" she replies as if she was pointing out the obvious, you pour some more until it was nearly full. You down the vodka cranberry, putting down the bottle of vodka as you make your way onto the dance floor. the music blared through the speakers as you and your friends danced in the living room, grinding against amarie as she used her free hand to smack your ass.

You felt the unwanted and lustful eyes from every boy in room, ignoring them as you continued to grind against her taking a swig of your drink. Your eyes wandered for a second until they landed on a girl just poarched up against the banister of the stairs, talking to boy you recognised to be Charlie.

You'd fancied girls in the past but never took it further than just straight crushing but she was different, you don't think you'd ever seen her before on campus otherwise you wouldn't forget such a beautiful face. The mysterious brunette was dressed in a white wife beater, blue baggy jeans with a pair of retro red jordan's, the girl takes her eyes off of Charlie to look at you for a second, licking her lips before looking you up and down, not missing the long stare on your half exposed ass.

She had a blunt in her hand, taking a few drags from it before taking her attention off of you. You stop grinding and turn around to face amarie who's looking at your confused, "bitch why did you stop"

"who's that girl over there" you say discreetly pointing in direction of the staircase, "what girl" she replies, squinting her eyes to get a better look.

"that one with the tattoos going all up her arms" she looks once again before grinning, "ohhh that girl"

"that's ellie I only know her cause she normally sells weed to Charlie when we’re together I forgot how fucking fine she was" she adds taking a swig of her vodka, "shit I need another drink I'll be back"

amarie makes her way to the kitchen leaving you with a few of your other friends who were busy dancing on each other, thinking about it now you needed another drink.

You noticed that Ellie had moved to the couch some girl chatting her up as she seemed to not be listening, blunt in hand. she notices you right away, eyes lowered a fraction and manspreading with one leg propped up on the couch. a surge of confidence ran through you as you decide to go sit yourself next to her, she licks her lips turning to face you.

"why'd you stop dancing" she starts, offering the blunt to you as you happily accept it. you laugh, "what did you like my dancing" you reply, taking a drag before handing it back to her.

"I mean I liked what I was seeing" she admits boldly, making you shuffle nervously under her intimidating gaze, "if you'd like I could give you a lap dance" you offer and she raises a brow.

"you want to give someone you just met a lap dance huh" yes and no but this was the alcohol talking.

"yeah if you want I know a few things" you state and she thinks about it for a sec before standing up, "ok follow me doll" you blush at the nickname, taking ellies hand as she leads you upstairs, you look at amarie who's still in the kitchen pressed against the counter as she made out with Charlie, her hands wrapped around his neck as his were around her waist, typical amarie.

you passed so many people, a group of people doing drugs on the floor and the others doing dares on eachother on the other side of the room. her grip on your hand tightened, trying to avoid stepping on the people sat on the stairs to prevent yourself falling. there were many occupied rooms passing through all of them till you found a vacant one, ellie allowing you to go in first closing the door behind you.

the rooms quite big, a double bed with a lamp on each side with little side tables and a vanity behind you with picture frames on top, "you nervous" she asks almost taunting, sitting on the edge of the bed. the new found confidence from earlier was replaced with anxiety as it began to seep in, you've only jokingly given your friend a lap dance but that was only because you were dared to do it but that was out of the question now since you were sobering up and doing it for real.

"yeah" you admit and she chuckles, "don't worry I won't judge beside who's going to complain when they've got a pretty girl grinding on their lap" she grins and you roll your eyes with a smile as you remove your shoes.

the tension in the room was thick, Ellie's hands pressed against the sheets, the overbearing loud music coming from downstairs giving you a headache and the sounds of moans emitting from the other side of the walls, "remember no touching me this is just a dance" you emphasise, going to straddle her lap.

"I got you" she says, keeping her hands to her sides. you start by whining your hips against her lap, hands slowly brushing over her thighs feeling her tense up beneath you. you twisted around, moving to rhythm of the music each movement against her lap making you feel the unsuspected bulge tucked underneath her jeans.

she knows you felt it, fighting the urge to just scrap the lap dance and touch you, the friction against her strap rubbing up against her aching clit, pussy wet just watching you. she instinctively swallowed as your grinding increased, practically fucking her with clothes on, your red laced panties soaked in your own arousal, biting back the urge to moan.

Ellie mumbles in cohesively, her voice low and hoarse as you lift up off of her, seductively moving your hips towards the floor whilst your skirt rode up your ass, exposing the red lace that sat perfectly around your waist. you turn back around, the dim light in the room showing Ellie's eyes that had now darken in colour, her fists locked up tight that they turned red.

You kiss your way up her clothed body, seating yourself back onto her lap as you continued till you reached her neck, leaving love bites all over until you reached her cherry red lips, hovering over them before teasingly backing away, "I know you feel it.... pull it out" her voice low, looking up at you.

"feel what" you innocently tease, gasping when she grips onto your hips, "h-hey I said no touching"

"don't act smart with me...pull.it.out" she tells you and you give her a hesitant look, "what you never seen a dick before"

"no dumbass I have but I've just never done it with a girl" you shamefully admit and she just laughs, "I guess I'll be your first" her hands wrap around your back so that your laying on top of her and gently wraps her hand around the back of your neck, pulling you into a kiss.

her lips were addicting, not like the many boys you've hooked up with who just kissed for the sake of it but she took her time with you, it's almost like having sex but with her mouth allowing her to slip her tongue into your mouth as you moan, your hand going under her top rubbing up and down her stomach.

she pulls away, helping you remove her belt, quickly pulling her jeans down showing the very prominent bulge through her black calvin klein boxers "before you sit on it, I want you to fuck my face with your pussy" your face heats up at her words, embarrassment flooding through your body leaving your clit throbbing.

"you want me sit on your face" you ask almost astonished, "yes is that a problem?" she questions, "well no-

"then sit this pussy on my fucking face" she interrupts and you quickly follow, removing your black skirt and red lace before throwing them into a random corner of the room. you slowly, hover your cunt over her face scared that you might accidentally suffocate her.

she slaps your ass, "lower yourself down more" she growls, gripping your legs and pulling you onto her mouth. you slowly rock your hips against her mouth, ellie pressing her tongue against your clit, flicking her tongue up and down your vulva making your legs tremble, a whimper leaving your glossed lips.

Ellie’s sucking and biting, her nails digging into the fat of your thighs, your juices mixing in with her saliva that dripped down her chin. Your legs shake and ellie gets more faster, your head fuzzy with the overwhelming pleasure you were receiving, you felt like screaming covering your mouth with your hand, muffling your moans.

You never imagined you'd be getting head by girl at a college party whilst there were hundreds of people downstairs, the thought of it made you even wetter and you were fucking thankful you decided to come.

you finally come with a silent scream, gripping onto the headboard as she continued to go down on you until she was done, adding onto the best fucking head that you had gotten in ages. she taps your thigh, allowing you to raise up off of her face, your face heating up at ellie's wet face.

"you taste so good mama" she says, licking her lips and sitting up on the bed. she cracks her neck, giving you a kiss allowing you to taste yourself. "but I'm not done with you" she says, slapping your inner thigh.

"I want you to get on your knees and suck this dick baby" she moves her self to the edge of the bed, giving you room to get on your knees. you follow, getting in between her legs, she opens your mouth with her fingers and slips them inside until they were coated in your saliva before using them as lubricant to stroke herself, tapping the tip against your wet lips.

"say ahh..." you slightly open your mouth allowing her to slip her dick into your mouth, it's been a while since you've last given head, slowly bobbing your head up and down her length, she's just watching you using her fingers to tilt your head up so that you could make eye contact with her, her hands grip onto the back of your messy hair, helping you to go down on her faster your eyes filling up with tears, trying to open up your throat more so that you wouldn't gag.

"fuck..." she whispers, fumbling with something on the bed before pulling out her phone. your pace doesn't falter, watching as she presses the record button, the flash brightening up the dim room. you moan, trying so hard not to choke as you sloppily bob your head up and down faster, eye contact not ceasing.

you felt ashamed yet turned on at the same time at being recorded, ellie stroking your hair back to prevent it from falling into your face. your surprised you had been going on for this long, feeling the evident tiredness in your jaw, drool seeping from your mouth and lubricating her dick. she stops you, slowly pushing you off her, allowing you to catch your breath.

"I love watching you suck my dick baby but I wanna see how well you can take it" she admits, camera still recording. "get on all fours mama" she says standing up as you get up from your knees. she waits for you to get on all fours, arching your back as she climbs onto the bed behind you phone in hand, positioning herself.

she spreads your ass, spitting onto your gaping hole allowing it to drip down over as she uses her thumb to rub it in before prodding her tip against your glistening cunt, slowing pushing herself into you. you gasp, your mouth widening into an 'o', the feeling of her dick stretching you out, but before she could even move there's a sudden knock on the door.

"Room is occupied" Ellie yells, awaiting for the person behind the door to move along but the person on the other side doesn't go, knocking once again, "I said the room is occupied asshole go and fuck some place else" the person on the other side get's the message, walking away from the door.

"some fucking people" ellie whispers to you which makes you giggle. she starts to rock her hips into you, putting the palm of her hand against your back helping you to fuck back onto her. she fucked into you so lovingly but so fucking rough, hitting your g-spot that had you gasping and cursing, biting on your lip and your hand going to grip onto the sheets, "shit"

Ellie doesn't stop recording, one hand gripping onto your hips whilst thrusting into you, cursing at the way your ass moved against her hips. you turn around to look at her, her hair falling into her face as ellie looked back at you. she looked so fucking sexy in just her wife beater, showcasing all the different tattoos she had to offer... you don't think you've ever been this fucking whipped for someone with the way she had you acting.

"you should see how fucking perfect you look on camera...should turn your slutty ass into a fucking pornstar shit" you moan in response to her words, fucking yourself back onto her. your pants get louder, the squelching noises from your gushing cunt getting louder every time ellie pulled back, she slaps your ass watching how it jiggled under the camera light. "fuck.....elsss"

your cheeks were flushed and your forehead was lined with sweat, feeling ellie get deeper every time she pulled you back onto her, receiving cute and desperate moans from your lips as your tits bounce with every rough drag of her hips.

You practically trying to pull away, begging ellie to let you come as she pounded you into the bed, her thumb pressing against your labia, rubbing against it.

You gasp again, feeling her finger slowly slip into your exposed hole the uncomfortable feeling making you clench around her fingers, she curls her fingers almost doing a ‘come here’ motion, whispering for you to relax so that it wouldn’t feel as painful, she gradually builds her speed making you feel lightheaded, this new fucking feeling making you dizzy.

"so fucking tight" she fists her fingers into you, the rings around your walls clenching around her skinny fingers whilst pounding into you as your eyes rolled shut.

You start to spasm around her strap before you know it your creaming around her dick, your climax riding out as she continued to milk you, her pace never faltering, “f-fuck stop els it’s too much”

“be a good little whore and cum for me again” that alone sends you over the edge and your cumming again, not believing you could even come more than twice as she lazily gives you a few more thrusts before pulling out her dick coated in your sweet juices, leaving you sprawled out on the bed, allowing you to catch your breath.

you could hear your heart beating out of your ears, laying there slumped on the bed before ellie stopped the recording. you remain motionless, trying to catch your breath as ellie helped you up from the bed. You both messily get dressed in silence, your back turned as you applied your strawberry lipgloss that had smeared off before a notification on ellie's phone catches her attention, "I-uh gotta go- something I've got to take care off, I guess I’ll see you around y/n" she says, quickly buckling up her belt and stepping into her shoes.

she gives you one last kiss on the lips, savouring the sweet taste from your scented lipgloss before disappearing into the hallway. you look for the red lace underwear that you had thrown into the corner of the room earlier but it was nowhere to be found, you curse yourself deciding to wrap a jumper you found in the closet around your waist to prevent flashing anyone, before swiftly leaving the room.

you make your way downstairs, people screaming and left in a state of disarray , how did you not hear this before……did you miss something ?

a frantic amarie rushes to you, "where were you we were looking for you" she yells, bringing you into a death-crushing hug leaving you confused. "I-i was in the bathroom why what happened" you inquire, pulling away.

"the killer striked again, charlies dead"

[aliennooboo]

I was asked to tell more about the holidays in my legacy gameplay, so here is a super long and detailed post on the subject! 😊

How I use holidays in my game

I used to hate the holidays, cos I saw them as something my sims had to participate in and there was always so much pressure to complete all the traditions! But then I cracked it...

Holidays are a great way to add objectives to gameplay! When every day is some kind of a holiday with its own theme, there's always something for my sims to do.

I tick the "day off" box only if the holiday is a major one or the traditions would feel too rushed if my sim worked on the same day.

I try to have a lot of outdoor/traveling holidays in the spring and summer, and more home lot based holidays in the autumn and winter.

For some holidays, I add a diverse set of traditions and then choose only one or two to complete every sim year.

Sometimes my sims are just too busy with other things in life to participate at all. The No more "awful holiday" sad moodlet mod (linked below) is super useful because it completely takes the pressure off of completing holiday traditions!

It's very refreshing to use custom icons for the holidays, it matters more than you'd think! I use the More selectable icons mod (linked below) for this feature.

I've taken ideas and inspiration for some of my holidays from countless lists made by other simmers over the years.

Holiday mods

Traditions

Please note that some of these mods feature some of the same traditions - pick and choose so you don't get duplicates! Every custom tradition I use in my game is from these mods.

Icemunmun's traditions

LittleMsSam's traditions

Kiara's traditions

Renegadesims's traditions

Lychee's traditions

Pet traditions

Toddler traditions

Kids traditions

Occult traditions

Crafting traditions

Relaxation traditions

Eco-friendly traditions

Food traditions

Baking traditions

Writing traditions

A Night Out traditions

Cottage Living traditions

More Cottage Living traditions

Island Living traditions

Snowy Escape traditions

More Snowy Escape traditions

Paranormal traditions

University traditions

Realm of Magic, Paranormal & Vampires traditions

Other

More selectable icons

No more "awful holiday" sad moodlet

Holiday traditions in my game

The number next to each tradition shows which mod it's from. If there is no number, it's an EA tradition.

Spring

🌅 New Year's Day (day off) A chill day for spending time with your family after New Year's celebrations.

Family dinner ³

Cleaning

Cook pancakes ³

Play cards ³

Tell stories

🌟 Resolution Day It's time to make those New Year's resolutions reality! At least on this one day of the year...

Fasting

Exercise

Donate ³

Volunteer ³

Find penpal ¹⁵

🔫 Play Day Play is the work of the child. Child sims should invite their friends over for some play time!

Activity table ⁸

Make an experience ⁸

Monkey bars ⁸

Play pirate ⁸

Space explorer ⁸

🌄 Explorer's Day (day off) Once per season, sims have a day off for exploring the world! Maybe this year you could go on a mini vacation to Granite Falls to experience it in every season? Whatever you decide to do, this is a day for adventure!

Go hiking ³

Go for a walk ⁶

Go on a vacation or travel

Go sailing ³

Go camping ³

🌍 Earth Day You take care of nature and nature takes care of you.

Apply eco upgrades ¹²

Give gift to wild animal ¹⁷

Island clean up ¹²

Socialize with wild birds ¹⁷

Go hiking ³

🥪 Picnic Day Pack some tasty snacks and go on a picnic with your friends.

Go picnic ¹⁸

Invite guests

Play horseshoes ³

Collect bugs ³

Fire

💝 Love Day (day off) Take your significant other on a date and show them how much you love them! Or stay in and watch a romantic movie... with a special someone or alone, either way is fine!

Romantic spirit

Go on a date

Out for coffee ¹⁶

Send love letter ¹⁵

Watch romantic TV

🌮 Dining Day Today's all about eating as many different meals as you can. Taste something new or stick to old favorites!

Eat cultural dishes ³

Eat grilled cheese ³

Eat pizza ³

Hot pot ¹³

Order food ¹³

🧨 Gnome Day It's gnomes. Just gnomes. We can survive this. It's only once a year. We just have to keep them happy. It should be easy, right?

Holiday gnomes

🧽 Spring Cleaning Spring gives you a boost of energy. It's time to clean the house and fix anything that needs fixing!

Cleaning

Do laundry ³

Upgrade animal shelter ¹⁷

Upgrade chicken coop ¹⁷

Water crops ¹⁷

🪩 Party Night No self-respecting sim stays home on this wild night! It's time to partaaaaaay!

Out for coffee ¹⁶

Drinks at the bar ¹⁶

Go bowling ³

Bubble blower ³

Party spirit

🛠️ DIY Day It can't be that hard, the tutorial made it look pretty easy... Famous last words.

Build-a-bot ¹⁰

Crafting ¹⁰

Fabrication ¹⁰

Juice fizzing ¹⁰

Woodwork ¹⁰

🐇 Bunny Day (day off) Children's favorite holiday that's all about bunnies!

Egg hunt

Socialize with rabbit ¹⁷

Baking

Flower Bunny

Give gift to wild animal ¹⁷

🌺 Festival of Flowers A celebration of the spring turning to summer.

Flower arranging ¹⁰

Give flowers

Visit flower stall ¹⁷

Sunbathe ³

Gardening

Summer

☀️ Start of Summer It's finally summer and you can do all those fun things you dreamed of in the dark of winter!

Streaking

Go fishing ³

Go swimming ³

Kiddie pool ⁷

Play basketball ²

🐶 Pet Day Show your pet how much you love them on this special day!

Feeling the love ⁶

Pamper pets ⁶

Play with dog ⁶

Play with laser pointer ⁶

Teach tricks ⁶

🌄 Explorer's Day (day off) Once per season, sims have a day off for exploring the world! Maybe this year you could go on a mini vacation to Granite Falls to experience it in every season? Whatever you decide to do, this is a day for adventure!

Go hiking ³

Go for a walk ⁶

Go on a vacation or travel

Go sailing ³

Go camping ³

🧸 Children's Day Spend time with your children today. Take them to the park or the beach, or play with them at home.

Voidcritters ¹

Build sand sculpture ³

Games

Puppet show ³

Space explorer ⁸

🐄 Farm Day Visit a farm in Henford-on-Bagley and get to know the cows, chickens and llamas!

Harvest animal produce ¹⁷

Harvest crops ¹⁷

Take care of farm animals ¹⁸

Make animal treats ¹⁷

Socialize with villagers ¹⁷

🌞 Summer Vacation (3 days off) Enjoy summer to the max with 3 days of vacation!

Go on a vacation or travel

Go swimming ³

Invite guests

Sunbathe ³

Water fun

🍼 Toddler Day Take your toddler to the park or arrange a toddler play date.

Ball pit ⁷

Kiddie pool ⁷

Slide ⁷

Tiny treehouse ⁷

Jungle gym ⁷

🎵 Music Day Enjoy music in all its forms. Sing, play, listen.

Dancing ²

Music ³

Party spirit

Watch live performance ³

🌻 Garden Day Does anything make one happier than a thriving garden? Shower your plants with love (and water) today, make a new garden plan, or sow new seeds.

Sow seeds ¹⁷

Fertilize crops ¹⁷

Gardening

Collect bugs ³

Plant oversized crop ¹⁸

👩‍👩‍👦 Family Day Sometimes life feels so busy that you barely see even your own family. Make sure to spend some quality time with your loved ones today.

Baking

Family dinner ³

Games

Puppet show ³

Water fun

🏝️ Beach Day (day off) Celebrate summer in Sulani!

Build sand sculpture ³

Interact with dolphin ¹⁹

Go snorkeling ¹⁹

Go sailing ³

Collect seashells ⁵

🍃 End of Summer One last chance to enjoy a warm summer evening... Have a barbeque with your family and friends!

Bar-B-que

Sunbathe ³

Hot tub ³

Eat ice cream ³

Juice keg ²³

Autumn

🔥 Bonfire Night Dark autumn evenings are perfect for a little gathering around a bonfire. Look at the stars, roast some marshmallows, and wrap yourself in a blanket when it starts to get cold.

Fire

Stargaze ³

Fireworks

Tell stories

Fire dance ⁵

🧛 Occult Night They're creepy and they're kooky... mysterious and spooky... They're the occults and this is their night!

Alien powers ⁹

Mermaid powers ⁹

Use vampire powers ⁹

Cast spells ⁹

Use cauldron ⁹

🎲 Game Night Play some games with your family or friends to bring a bit of fun into this dark season.

Games

Go bowling ³

Play cards ³

Play darts ²

Play foosball ²

🌄 Explorer's Day (day off) Once per season, sims have a day off for exploring the world! Maybe this year you could go on a mini vacation to Granite Falls to experience it in every season? Whatever you decide to do, this is a day for adventure!

Go hiking ³

Go for a walk ⁶

Go on a vacation or travel

Go sailing ³

Go camping ³

❓ Life Change Day Do something today that has the potential to change the rest of your life!

Meet or adopt ⁶

Go on a date

Write a book ¹⁵

Go on a vacation or travel

Run errands for villagers ¹⁷

💡 Skill Day Learn something new today! Either work on skills you already know, or try doing something outside of your comfort zone.

Art & music spirit

Woodwork ¹⁰

Juice fizzing ¹⁰

Candle making ¹⁰

Craft wool items ¹⁷

🛋️ Couch Potato Day After the toil of yesterday, take it easy in good conscience today. It's not a day off, but you could always call in sick... Cough, cough.

Watch a movie ³

Sports TV

Sauna ¹¹

Read a book ³

Relaxing soak ¹¹

🍂 Autumn Day Enjoy the crisp air, the sunshine on the colorful leaves, and cosy autumn activities!

Fall fun ⁴

Fire

Canning ¹⁸

Drink tea ³

Candle making ¹⁰

🧓🏽 Parent's Day If you're in good terms with your parent(s), today's the perfect day to remind them how much you love and appreciate them.

Family dinner ³

Gift a parent ³

Hug parent ³

Remembrance

Tell stories

⚽ Sports Day Whether you like pumping iron or shooting hoops, do some exercise today.

Exercise

Go rock wall climbing ¹

Play basketball ²

Play soccer ³

💋 Date Night Whether it's your significant other or someone you don't even know yet, ask them on a date tonight!

Go on a date

Woohoo ³

Romantic spirit

🕯️ Other Side Day The veil is thinning... If you have business with someone in the afterlife, today's the day to get in touch.

Summon Bonehilda ⁹

Summon a ghost ²²

Conduct a seance ⁹

Commune with the departed ²²

Remembrance

🌽 Harvestfest (day off) Give thanks for everything the land has given you this year. Treat your garden, treat your animals, treat yourself.

Invite guests

Grand meal

Thankful spirit

Make animal treats ¹⁷

Harvest crops ¹⁷

🎃 Spooky Day (day off) It's time to get spooky!

Carve pumpkin ³

Spooky spirit

Trick or treat

Wear costumes

Use cauldron ⁹

Winter

🥧 Baking Day Get your baking supplies out, because today's all about the magic of flour and sugar! Have pancakes and coffee for breakfast, and bake all your favorite pastries.

Baking

Cook pancakes ³

Drink coffee ³

Decorate cookies ¹⁴

Make cupcakes ¹⁴

🌄 Explorer's Day (day off) Once per season, sims have a day off for exploring the world! Maybe this year you could go on a mini vacation to Granite Falls to experience it in every season? Whatever you decide to do, this is a day for adventure!

Go hiking ³

Go for a walk ⁶

Go on a vacation or travel

Go sailing ³

Go camping ³

📚 Written Word Day Read your favorite book in your favorite armchair, or go the library to find something new to read. Write a letter to someone, or finally start writing that book you always dreamt of.

Find penpal ¹⁵

My private journal ¹⁵

Writing skill ¹⁵

Read a book ³

Send love letter ¹⁵

💥 Chaos Day It seems like everyone's lost their social filter today! It's chaos all around! I hate all my friends! OOPS, did I say that out loud...

Air grievances

Fighting

Mischief spirit

Streaking

Magic duel ⁹

🎁 Do Good Day Today is all about being good to others. Make the world a better place by helping those around you.

Donate ³

Make pet food ⁶

Run errands for villagers ¹⁷

Volunteer ³

Vote for policies ¹²

🤝 BFF Day Invite your best friend over for a nice cup of tea or coffee. Share secrets, cry and laugh, have some fun.

Invite guests

Drink coffee ³

Drink tea ³

Play cards ³

Out for coffee ¹⁶

🧘 Mindfulness Day Take care of your mind and body.

Meditate ¹¹

Sauna ¹¹

Massage ³

My private journal ¹⁵

Do yoga ¹¹

🏔️ Snow Day (day off) Celebrate winter in Mt. Komorebi!

Go rock climbing ²⁰

Go skiing ²⁰

Go sledding ²⁰

Go snowboarding ²⁰

Hot springs ¹¹

🏡 Homebody Day (day off) Have you ever dreamed of just staying at home when it's dark and cold outside? Well, today you can!

Canning ¹⁸

Knitting ¹⁰

Cross-stitching ¹⁸

Practice herbalism ¹

Make pet food ⁶

🎄 Winterfest Eve Put up decorations for this wintery holiday, cook a delicious dinner, and then enjoy the evening as you wait for Father Winter's visit.

Attend holiday ceremony

Decorate

Festive spirit

Father Winter

Grand meal

☃️ Winterfest Day (day off) It's the most peaceful day of the year. Spend it with your loved ones.

Invite guests

Family dinner ³

Baking

Go skating ³

Open presents

🎨 Creativity Day Get your easel down from the attic, find your old camera in the garage, or pick up the knitting needles that have been collecting dust on the shelf. Let's do some arts and crafts!

Art & music spirit

Activity table ⁸

Cross-stitching ¹⁸

Writing skill ¹⁵

Knitting ¹⁰

❄️ Yamachan Day Travel to Mt. Komorebi to meet Yamachan!

Yamachan ²¹

Make a Tanabata wish ²¹

Hot pot ¹³

Order from Mt. Komorebi festival food stalls ²¹

Go hiking ³

🥂 New Year's Eve It's time to celebrate the year gone by, and welcome the new one that's right around the corner.

Countdown to midnight

Drinking

Eat pizza ³

Fireworks

Make resolutions

More holiday ideas

If you want to create your own holidays, but struggle with coming up with ideas, here are some things I always consider when I create holidays.

Can you match a world with a season? Summer holidays in Sulani, winter holidays in Mt. Komorebi, etc.

Alternatively, have a summer holiday in Sulani when it's winter elsewhere, a winter holiday in Mt. Komorebi when it's summer elsewhere, etc.

What if you took the default holidays and placed them in a different season? Celebrate Winterfest on the beach in the summer!

Can you match a world with a theme? Nature holidays in Granite Falls, city holidays in San Myshuno, etc.

Think of a simple theme for your holiday (games, sports, food, animals, books, etc.) and choose traditions based on that.

Create a holiday that requires your sim to travel from world to world to complete all the traditions.

Have a 3 day holiday for a vacation trip, with different traditions to complete each day.

Create holidays for specific life stages. What would a teen or an elder sim do for their holiday?

Create a holiday for each occult type. How would a Spellcaster spend their holiday?

Can you think of a way to combine holidays and clubs?

Put two really different holidays right next to each other so you have lots of variety in gameplay.

If you're playing a legacy, create a holiday for each heir sim based on their personality, and have their offspring celebrate these holidays to honor them.

Research real life holidays that are celebrated around the world to find new ideas.

Can't find the traditions that you need in your game? Follow this tutorial by LittleMsSam to create your own traditions!

[999h34rt]

FLATLINE | PAIGE BUECKERS

➣ paige x fem!gf!reader

➣ summary: y/n and paige experience what it means to be in a long distance relationship, but with the distance between them, can they overcome it?

➣ warning : secret relationship, angst (kinda) ,long distance.

➣ duayaps: first post🥳🥳🥳, thoughts?

➣ inspired by flatline by justin bieber.

"I'LL MISS YOU" paige muttered against her neck.

"it'll go by before you know it" y/n said pulling away from the hug. When college applications started being filled, she took a big risk and applied for Politecnico di Milano, a fashion uni in Milan, Italy. She had already said goodbye to her parents, thinking that was the hardest goodbye she could imagine, but the tears in her eyes from saying goodbye to her girlfriend right now, told her she lied to herself a while ago.

Paige and y/n had always had a rocky side of their relationship, for one, it was a secret waiting to bomb the world, two, they always knew that long distance was going to be a thing for them. With Paige going to Uconn and Yn going to PDM, 'it was already doomed' said by most people. But overcoming the rocky side of their relationship, there was the fairytale side. The one where they in love, where they supported each other in everything, where they took each others first kisses, first everything. They were each other's lifelines in a way, they didn't go a day without speaking to each other.

They both hoped that these future 4 years, weren’t going to change their feelings of each other.

✩

Lately you've been busy, wondering if you miss me

Why did you go against me? I just wanna know

How come you act so different? Talk to me, I'll listen

All the love I'm giving, don't act like you don't know

“…leave a message after the tone” y/n sighed as she hung up the phone. It was 7am and her alarm had just gone off, Paige was most likely asleep. It’s 1am at Storrs.

If you put the time difference aside, they were doing well. Both of them spent at least 2 hours everyday on the phone and haven’t had an any problems yet.

But it’s only been 5 months. 7 months and 3 years to go.

Y/n was glad Paige settled in great, she got along with her teammates and had a great support system there. Paige became a media star, with that came many fans. While y/n wasn’t the jealous type, these fans were wild.

She opened her instagram app, and slowly started to scroll through stories. When she stopped, went stiff. “Oh” she muttered, her girlfriend’s teammate, Aaliyah, had posted a story with the Uconn women’s basketball team having fun ,at what she would guess, a bar. Paige is in the background , a girl sitting next to her, whiles shes on the phone. Y/n quickly checked when the story was posted,10minutes ago.

‘Okay so she could’ve just posted this when she came home’ y/n quickly assured herself. Paige wouldn’t just ignore her calls, especially on a night out, right?

As those thoughts filled her head, a notification sound came from her phone.

pb 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏽

gm baby. can’t talk, tired, going to bed.

y/n didn’t think anything, she couldn’t. She just typed ‘sweet dreams💗’ and hit send.

no i love you, no ily, not even an emoji.

‘Stop, don’t overthink this ,shes just tired’ she told herself. She shut her phone off and got out of bed, leaving her thoughts about P in her comfy bed.

:

It had been a month since the bar incident, and everything seemed normal, until a week ago.

Y/n just got out of work, a small intern job to help her graduate early. It was 6pm in Milan, and 12 in Storrs.On her way home, y/n called P.

The phone rang, 1,2,3 times before she hung up. Tried a gain, 1,2,3. User is busy.Paige had hung up on her, she didn’t think much of it. ‘She’s probs busy’.

That was 6 days ago.

While they exchange texts, no calls were made this week. Paige was busy, like really busy, But not busy ‘not go out with her friends for the 3rd time this week’ busy. Y/n got it, freshman year, new teammates, she had to have fun. She also knew that their relationship was on the down low. Even though she assured Paige that it was okay to tell her teammates, P reluctantly agreed. ‘I don’t know, i’ll see’ She muttered to y/n, 2 weeks ago on their normal facetime call.

Y/n didn’t want to think much of it, she didn’t want her overthinking to brew a fight. The last 2 years she was back home, her and paige had never gone a day without speaking to each other, but so what it stopped now?, it was common sometimes to not call. So she let it be, but Paiges text became more and more rare,more dry and definitely more weird.

But y/n knew, paige was just busy.

✩

Girl you always catch me at the bad time (Bad time)
When I know you probably think it's a lie (A lie)
I know I told you last time was the last time (Last time)
How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline?

On the other end of the phone. Y/n hit the red button, and ended the call. She hit her head on the wall behind her in frustration, thankful that the call wasn’t on facetime and Paige could see her sad face.

Y/n had called in sick at work so she could watch Paiges game in peace, her boss gave her an earful, because it was one of the more busier seasons in the fashion world, but she let her be ‘sick in bed’. She was proud of Paige, and was the happiest for her.

But the mood drifted when she heard the voice tell her they need her. ‘I need her too’ Y/n thought. This was the first time in a month that Y/n heard Paiges voice. Her heart clenched when she heard her sound weird, it sounded like she was frustrated. Frustrated with who though, with y/n?.

As time went quick, it felt like Paiges texts were more rare, and even more dry. And Y/n didn’t know if Paige was aware of the way she was acting, she also didn’t know if she should say anything, Paige was a freshman in college having fun, alone,without Y/n next to her.

If Y/n were to say anything, she didn’t want to seem like the bitchy jealous girlfriend that only wanted Paige to spend time with her, she just wanted Paige to spend some time with her.

It felt like their relationship was a bomb, and their time was running out quickly.

How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline? (Flatline)
Cause when I hit you, you don't even reply (Reply)
How could you pull the plug and leave me flatline?

✩

Not breathing, what is it I'm not seeing
Said she's leaving, damn I can't believe it
It's like my heart's bleeding knowing that you don't need me
Shut my heart down, now I don't know what Imma do now

“… i just need some space y/n” Paige said with frustration, a sigh coming after. Y/n’s heart dropped.

It all started an hour and a half ago.

Paige went out with her teammates after a late night practice, forgetting that y/n was waiting on her phone call that she promised she would do after practice.

After she came home, she was bombarded with messages from Y/n. 8 to be exact.

y/n💍

hey did you finish practice?

- 8:15PM

you ready?

- 8:18PM

paige?

- 8:20PM

paigeeeeeeee???

- 8:30PM

pbabyyyy

- 8:35PM

pls tell me u didn’t forget

- 8:45PM

paige are you fucking kidding me

- 9:45PM

it’s our anniversary

- 9:45PM

call me when you get home and make sure you’re not busy

- 9:50PM

And when she called, the yelling happened. It was the first fight they’ve had in a while. While Y/n finally exploded demanding to know what’s happening with her, Paige only had one thing to say.

“I think we should take a break”

“What?” Y/n whispered after a long pause.

“i’m not ready to be in a relationship Y/n/n, i’m still questioning what i want, and i don’t know if its you yet.” Paige said. “I’m sorry, i just need some space Y/n”

Y/n heart dropped, she didn’t know what to say or think. While Y/n knew that not everything lasted, Paige was a sure thing. Paige was her lifeline. What was she going to do?.

Y/n gulped and said the only thing she knew she could say “It’s okay”.

‘It’s okay?’ Paige was taken back. Had Y/n want to breakup before?, and then Paige shockingly felt hurt in her chest, her stomach slightly dropped. Why was she feeling like this? why isn’t she feeling relief?. This has been on Paiges mind for the past 3 months, wasn’t this the solution?

“Go be a superstar but don’t expect me to wait for you while you figure out what you want to do” Y/n said, her voice sweet. Not even a slight tone of bitterness.

Y/n still wasn’t able to move from her spot on the kitchen counter. Tears were streaming down her face, and before a sob sound could come, she hung up the phone. All Y/n knew was Paige, but know she didn’t even know that.

She had literally left her clueless, without her lifeline. now flatline.

✩

- 5 MONTHS LATER -

Paige stood there, watching from her afar.

“That’s her?” a croatian accent asked. She felt Nika sit beside her. “Yeah” Paige answered still in awe of her.

“She’s really pretty” Nika said. Paige nodded agreeing with her. She was wearing a flowy white short summer dress with cowboy boots.

It was Drews birthday today, and as the team had some off time, Drew invited them to his barbecue party. And the weekend before his birthday, he ran into Y/n. Of course the boy was oblivious to the breakup and while he asked still asked Paige for Y/n, she didn’t have the heart to tell him that they broke up.

So when Drew begged Y/n to come to his birthday party, Y/n didn’t know what else to say but yes. He could literally get whatever he wanted out of everyone.

At first, Y/n debated if she should just call Paiges stepmom and cancel, or she should just go and pray that Paige couldn’t make it.

Well, Paige had come. And so did the rest of the huskies. When Y/n saw them, she sighed. Although she was friends with Azzi, she didn’t know the rest of them, but by the look on their faces when she came in, she knew that Paige had told them her history.

Azzi, being the sweetheart she is, excitedly came running to Y/n and hugging her tight. The whole party they caught up with each other, with Azzi telling her about Uconn and Y/n telling her about studying abroad. For the past 30 minutes they’ve been talking, not once have either of them mentioned Paige.

Y/n turned, meeting Paiges eyes. The two of them made eye contact with each other again. Y/n then heard Azzi laughed, when she snapped her head to look at her friend. She saw a small teasing smile on her face. “Don’t even start” Y/n said, glaring at her. She got up and made her way to the other side of the backyard, where there was no Paige in sight.

“Y/n/n” she heard a child scream. Drew was suddenly hugging her legs. “Hi Drewsky” she laughed, beginning to tickle him. She felt the boy starting to laugh, and start to kick her hands away, while Paige and her were together, Drew became a big part in their relationship. Paiges parents often made Paige babysit Drew, and Y/n just tagged along. Through that time, Drew and Y/n became close, Y/n considered him as a baby brother. She would miss him.

“Paigeyy help me” Drew screamed laughing. Y/n became stiff, the hair behind her neck stood. She could feel her ex behind her as she let the little boy go and stand up.

Paige and Y/n stared at one another. Paige was thankful her teammates weren’t around right now, they would be on her ass all day after this.

“Hi” Y/n whispered, looking away from her and to the ground.

“Hey” Paige said back. “How’ve you been-“

“Paige please no small talk, what do you want?” Y/n cut her off. This was already awkward enough, no need to make it even more.

“Uh” Paige stuttered, a sigh coming after. “I missed you” Paige admitted. Y/n’s blood boiled, now she missed me?

Paige could sense Y/n anger, she placed a hand on Y/n elbow, tugging her from leaving. “Please just wait” Paige pleaded “I’m sorry, i just didn’t know what to do i kept having all of this kind of feelings and i know i was busy but i swear just one more chance-“

“Paige” y/n cut her off

“- and i’ll promise i’ll try harder-“ paige continued

“-stop-“ she tried to stop her

“please just give me one more chance”

“-okay” she agreed. Paiges eyes went wide, she didn’t think she would get her to agree that easy.

“I only needed you to apologize P, i only want you to make some time for me thats all. And if were really trying this again you have to be sure you want this because i don’t know if i can handle loosing you again” She said still looking at the ground.

Paiges heart dropped hearing her voice break. Although she knew how Y/n felt, Paige had been nothing but moody,grumpy and miserable these past few months. Seeing Y/n today, brought her hope that she had a second shot with her.

Y/n slowly picked up her head, and looked up at Paige. Paige was jaw dropping hot, and she knew that, her head couldn’t get any bigger by her ego.

Paige reached a hand towards her waist, pulling Y/n towards her. When she did, she slowly dropped a sweet kiss on her girlfriends lips, when she pulled away, her forehead dropped to Y/n’s.

She felt like she could finally breathe, her chest no longer hurt. She had her lifeline back.

✩

[gojoluvs]

J’adore

⤿ Satoru Gojo × reader

summary, “her world turned upside down when her boss announced that he was the father of her unborn child. To make matters even more complicated, she found out that she was expected to marry him as part of an arranged marriage agreement. As she navigates this unexpected turn of events, she finds herself struggling with her feelings and what the future holds for her and her child."

Warning/ tags; angst, profanity, smoking, cursing, smut, violence.

Genre; angst, infidelity, jik, Gojou × reader, modern au!, business au!

Notes: the tag-list is open if you'd like to be mentioned everytime i update just send me a message.

10k words

masterlist ⤏ next chapter

it felt like a fever dream.

Your thoughts were racing as you sat there staring at the positive pregnancy test. You never imagined that a casual fling with your boss, Gojo, would result in this. You were filled with a mix of emotions - fear, confusion, and excitement all at once. You knew you had to tell Gojo, but the thought of his reaction scared you.

Would he be angry? Would he want you to keep the baby? These questions filled your mind as you tried to figure out the best course of action. Ultimately, the decision was yours to make and you knew it wouldn't be an easy one.

"Fuck." Grabbing a piece of toilet paper, you wrapped the positive pregnancy test and shoved it inside your pant pockets.

Immediately washing your hand, you exited the restroom to face your dear friend and co-worker. With her back against the wall, you could see her biting her nails in anticipation.

You could tell she knew something was wrong, as she anxiously asked, "What's going on?"

Taking a deep breath, you slowly let out, "I'm pregnant." As the words sank in, you could see the shock and worry on your friend's face.

You knew this wasn't the ideal situation, but you also knew that you had a supportive friend by your side. Her eyes widened in shock, and she slowly began to walk towards you. She looked at you with a mix of surprise and concern, her mouth agape as she tried to process the news.

You could tell she was trying to find the right words to say, but in the end, all she could manage was a quiet, "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I can't believe this," she gasped, her eyes filled with worry.

"What are you going to do?" You shook your head, feeling overwhelmed and uncertain.

"I have no idea," you replied honestly. "I wasn't planning on this."

Your friend placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. "We'll figure it out together," she said with a reassuring smile. "You don't have to go through this alone." Grateful for her support, you took another deep breath and nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope amidst the fear and uncertainty. You began walking back towards the office while everyone was in lunch.

As an employee at the national elect industries estate that the Gojo's had owned, you were fortunate enough to work closely with Satoru Gojo, one of the most well-known and influential CEOs in all of Tokyo. Witnessing his leadership style first-hand, you found him to be an inspiring and motivating leader who always pushed his team to reach their full potential. Despite being just one of the many employees in the building, you felt valued and appreciated under Satoru Gojo's leadership. His positive and encouraging attitude made it a pleasure to work in the office and you always felt inspired after a conversation with him. It was an honor to be a part of the team.

Unfortunately everyone knew that Satoru was a sex hungry man. All he needed to do was just point at a woman and they would come running to him because everyone knew he was the most attractive man in the building. However, Satoru was not looking for love. He was focused on his career and was determined to be successful. No matter how many women tried to win his heart, he kept his eyes on the prize and refused to be distracted.

"Y/N." Seeing the tall white haired male you immediately grabbed the report you stayed up all night redoing.

Your heart raced as you walked towards him, clutching the report tightly in your hands. You could feel the sweat in your palms as you nervously approached the tall white-haired man. Despite your anxiety, you stood up straight and confidently handed over the report, hoping it would impress him.

You were relieved when he smiled at you, and you managed to smile back handing him the report you had worked so hard on all night.

"Here you go Mr. Gojo, I also decided to put the sales graph from last weeks advertisement," you said with a sense of accomplishment.

As he glanced through the report, you couldn't help but feel proud of your hard work.

You stood there, watching him walk away, you couldn't help but feel a sense of longing and regret. If only things were different, if only you could share the news of your pregnancy with him. But you knew it was better this way, to keep your distance and avoid any potential complications.

You couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would have been, and if his parents would have accepted you and your child. But ultimately, you knew that this was the best decision for everyone involved. With a heavy heart, you turned and walked away, knowing that your secret would remain just that - a secret.

Despite your admiration for Satoru, you couldn't help but feel inferior to him. Being considered a low life and not as successful as him only added to this feeling. Your dad owned a small restaurant down the street where the building was, while Satoru's family lived in a lavish mansion. You were just a commoner and Satoru was like a prince. You had grown up in a small town, and Satoru had grown up in a wealthy family.

The differences in class between the two of you were stark and you were constantly reminded of your social status. You knew that his family wouldn't approve of the two of you together, and deep down, you knew that your relationship was doomed from the start.

"We should go eat, it's on me since your eating for two." Grabbing your arm she held it, you both walked towards the lunch area where the food was at.

Seeing the rest of the workers in the building you wondered who else Satoru had sex with. Knowing you weren't the only one because he once had a long lasting hookup with one of his secretaries but once his dad found out he fired her.

You were feeling uneasy knowing Satoru's history with other women. He was a notorious playboy, always looking for a new conquest. You couldn't help but wonder what his true intentions were. He had always been kind to you, but that could easily change if he got bored.

Despite your doubts, you couldn't help but be drawn to him, his charisma and charm were hard to resist. But you also knew that getting involved with someone like him could lead to heartbreak and disappointment. It was a risky game to play, and you weren't sure if you were willing to take that chance.

"Y/N?" Tilting her head you could see that Utahime was waiting for you to come back to reality.

Nosing you sat down with her, feeling overwhelmed by the thought of raising this child alone. However, you knew that you were strong and capable, and you were determined to give your child the best life possible.

You looked into Utahime's eyes and saw a reflection of your own sadness. You knew that she was feeling your pain and loneliness, and that you were in this together. You sighed and steeled yourself for the difficult road ahead, but with Utahime by your side, you knew you could make it through.

"Can you order me a sandwich please? I'm too tired to go," you said, feeling exhausted from the long day.

With a nod, Utahime quickly got up and left you alone at the table. As you took out your phone, you hesitated before texting Satoru. You knew he had a right to know about the child.

Taking a deep breath, you type out a message to Satoru:

"I need to tell you something."

After sending the message, you lean back in your chair and wait. You feel a mixture of emotions and fear of how he will react. You immediately got a text back. Surprised to see that Satoru would reply to you during a meeting.

The message said:

"What is it? I'm in a meeting right now but I can talk later."

You took a deep breath, relieved that he isn't mad and that you can talk to him later. You respond with a short message:

"Well, if that's the case, we can talk later then."

This way, you can both have some time to calm down and approach the conversation with a cooler head. Plus, it's always better to discuss important matters in person rather than over text.

"Here," handing you the delicious sandwich you've been craving all day, you took a bite. As you bit into the sandwich, the flavor of the freshly baked bread and the savory combination of ingredients made your mouth water.

The juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, and perfectly seasoned meat all came together in a burst of flavor that satisfied your hunger and left you wanting more. You couldn't help but savor each bite, enjoying every last morsel of this delectable sandwich.

"Mm! This is so good." Smiling she drank her coke gazing at you while you devoured the food like if you hadn't ate in weeks.

You were so focused on the food that you almost forgot about the conversation you two were having. You looked up and met her gaze, and you both shared a laugh. She said, "You really are enjoying that, aren't you?" You smiled and nodded, taking another bite.

"Mm... did you see that the secretary that Gojo supposedly had a thing with is back?" she asked you,pausing mid-bite.

"She's back...?" After nodding, you couldn't help but wonder why she returned.

The last thing you remembered was her getting completely humiliated by Satoru's father in front of the entire office.

"I heard supposedly he gave her a check of one million dollars to leave the boss alone. God I hate him." Utahime rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her drink.

You couldn't understand why Utahime harbored such strong dislike for Satoru. Maybe there was more to their relationship than meets the eye.

"Why do you hate him so much?" you asked her, curious. Utahime sighed and shook her head.

"It's not important," she said. "But I can't stand people who use their money to get away with anything. It's just not fair. It creates an unequal playing field and allows those with wealth to escape consequences for their actions, while others are held accountable. It perpetuates systemic inequality and injustice."

You could also agree with that, paying someone to leave their loved one is such a dick move. Before you knew it everyone was already finished with their lunch except for you and Utahime. You looked around the canteen and saw that everyone was watching you and Utahime, with some of them grinning and whispering to each other.

You felt a wave of embarrassment wash over you, and you quickly finished your lunch while Utahime still calmly ate her food.

"Let's go, I don't want to get in trouble," you whispered urgently to your friend.

You both stood up and quickly made your way back to the office where everyone else had gone to work. Utahime gave you a questioning look, but understanding the situation, she quickly followed you out of the canteen. You were careful to avoid contact with anyone as you walked back to the office, feeling like all eyes were on you.

As soon as you arrived, you quickly darted to your desk and started to work, trying to distract yourself from the embarrassment you felt. Despite your efforts, you couldn't shake off the feeling of being judged and the fear of getting in trouble for your actions.

You opened the first document and started typing, your fingers hitting the keys in a steady rhythm. However, as you continued typing, you realized that finishing the reports quickly would not solve the underlying issue that had been weighing on your mind.

You knew that you would still have to confront Satoru and address the problem head-on, no matter how much you wanted to escape from it. You took a deep breath and focused on completing the reports, determined to face the challenges ahead with a clear mind and a proactive attitude.

As much as you dreaded it, you knew it was unavoidable. You had been working late nights for weeks now and the stress was starting to take its toll. You felt exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of work you had to do in such a short amount of time. You just wanted to take a break and relax, not have to deal with yet another deadline.

The pressure to come up with new ideas for the company to expand in the east coast was daunting and you were running out of creative energy.

You could say your position was important but it wasn't that much compared to what other people did. You wanted to be one of the members who would attend the meeting and present your own ideas without getting everything stolen from you. You had a role in the company, but your contributions were often overlooked or overshadowed.

You couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment and frustration. Wanting to be able to make meaningful contributions to the team in meetings and have your ideas taken seriously, but you knew you were far from that, especially now that you were carrying his child.

You wondered if Satoru's family would also give you a check to disappear, to act like you never had anything with Gojo. It was a harsh reality to face, but you refused to let it stop you from achieving your goals and proving your worth.

You thought of all the different scenarios that could happen, you felt helpless. You had come to the office to gain experience and learn from the best. But now you were in a situation you hadn't anticipated and you didn't know how to handle it.

You wished you had someone to talk to and get advice from, but you knew none of your colleagues could understand what you were going through. You had feelings of insecurity and fear. You were scared of being judged and looked down on by Satoru's family and his colleagues.

You felt that you weren't good enough, and that you didn't have the skills or the knowledge to make meaningful contributions. You were worried that if you stayed, you would be seen as a burden and a nuisance, and that your ideas would be dismissed.

"Y/N, sir Gojo is requesting your presence in his office." You were startled by the voice of the secretary, who you had only heard about before. Her beauty was even more striking in person - her long black hair cascading down her back and her piercing green eyes seeming to see right through you. Her pale complexion and rosy lips added to her ethereal appearance.

"Yes," you replied, feeling a bit flustered by her beauty. You followed her down the hallway to Gojo's office, admiring her graceful walk. She opened the door and motioned for you to enter, giving you a gentle smile before she closed the door behind you.

Looking out the window Satoru had his hands in his pockets. Snapping his head towards the door when he saw you enter. He smiled before walking towards you. His tall figure hovering over you. You hadn't realized despite your height, Satoru was super tall. You stepped back in surprise, taken aback by his sudden proximity, and your eyes widened as you looked up into his face.

His kind eyes twinkling and his lips curling into a warm smile. For a moment, you were lost in the moment, unable to remember why you had come.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Satoru as you walked into boss's office. Grabbing his remote, he clicked a button and the window blinds slowly descended, providing more privacy in the office. He sat down and motioned for you to do the same.

You waited patiently for the right words, as he wondered what could be so important that they needed privacy.

Your mind was racing with all the possible outcomes, but you couldn't bring yourself to speak. You fiddled with your hands, trying to calm your nerves, and felt the weight of the situation bearing down on you.

Would he support your decision? Would he be angry? Would he even want to be a part of this? The uncertainty and fear were almost suffocating. You mustered up the courage to meet his gaze, hoping for some sign of reassurance. But his expression remained stoic, leaving you to wonder what he was thinking.

You hesitated, unsure of what to say. You knew Satoru didn't love you, to him you were just a one night stand. But you couldn't keep living in doubt, you had to tell him the truth.

A one night stand that screwed up and didn't use a after pill. You knew that the next few words that were going to leave your mouth was going to devastate Gojo. Maybe even ruin his life. But still, you wanted to know the truth, no matter how much it hurt. You felt like you were caught between a rock and a hard place. Gojo was so kind to you and you had grown to care for him deeply.

But on the other hand, Satoru was the father of your unborn child. You were unsure of what to do and what would be the right thing for everyone involved. You felt helpless and scared.

Despite the fact that you wanted to tell Gojo the truth, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You couldn't bear the thought of hurting him, knowing that the truth would have a devastating effect on him. You felt that it was better to keep him in the dark and live with the regret of your decision.

He was visibly anxious as he waited for you to explain the situation. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was set in a tight line. He clasped his hands together, as if in prayer, and waited for you to break the silence. Staring at him you could tell he was concerned as to why you weren't speaking.

His blue eyes stared back at you waiting for you to tell him the news. You were hesitant to tell him the truth, but you knew you had to. Taking a deep breath, you slowly began to explain the situation. You could feel your heart racing as you spoke, and you could tell his expression was slowly changing as he heard the news.

You took a deep breath and finally spoke, "I'm pregnant." Satoru's face turned to shock and then anger, "You're lying," he spat. You knew this was going to be difficult, but you had to do what was best for you and your child.

"Im not lying," You said back. He was speechless, his mind trying to process what he heard. He was frozen in place, not knowing what to say or do. He was in a state of disbelief, struggling to comprehend the news. Finally, he managed to speak, his voice barely above a whisper, "Are you sure?"

His heart was pounding in his chest, as he waited for the answer. He felt like the room was spinning, the world around him a blur. He was filled with fear and disbelief, as he tried to piece together what he had heard.

His heart raced as he waited for a response. He had never expected to hear this, and he felt a sudden wave of shock and confusion wash over him. He felt like he was stuck in a dream, unable to move or think clearly.

"Yes, here," you said, taking out the small piece of toilet paper and unwrapping it, revealing the positive pregnancy test. Satoru's eyes widened as he grabbed it, shock and disbelief washing over his face as he tried to process the news that would forever change his life.

He couldn't believe that he was going to be a father, and the thought of all the responsibilities and sacrifices that came with it was overwhelming.

His face fell and he stared at you in shock before his emotions turned to anger. "How could you be so careless? Do you know what this means?" he yelled.

You nodded, tears welling up in your eyes. You knew this was going to change everything and it was a difficult situation to be in. You couldn't help but feel guilty for causing this turmoil but you also knew that the truth had to come out.

With a heavy heart, you averted your gaze, unable to face the man in front of you. "I understand the gravity of this situation, and I know that I am not from the same social status as you. If you think it's best for me to leave and raise our child on my own, then I will do so."

He put a hand on his mouth before rubbing it on his chin. "Shit," he muttered.

You could tell he didn't want this pregnancy as much as you didn't want it. "But you took the morning after pill?" he questioned, staring right at you with concern in his eyes.

Despite his hesitation, you knew he would support you no matter what decision you made.

"I did," you lied, feeling a knot form in your stomach. "But it wasn't 100% effective." You both knew the risks, but neither of you expected it to happen.

“What do we do now?" you asked, looking at him for guidance.

"I don't know," he sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Maybe we should consider all of our options." You knew what he meant, but you weren't sure if you were ready to make that decision.

"I'll arrange a meeting with my parents as soon as possible and we can discuss what we'll do then. But... how far along are you?" Gazing at Satoru, you could see the doubt and suspicion in his eyes.

He didn't trust you and it was understandable. You couldn't blame him for thinking you might be using this pregnancy to ruin his life. But deep down, you knew the truth - that you could possibly be carrying his child, and that thought alone scared you.

"I don't know what you think of me, Satoru, but I'm not here to ruin your life," you said.

"I'm not sure how far along I am, but I do know that I'm pregnant, and that's why I'm here. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, I just wanted you to know the truth and I thought it would be better to do this in person."

“Despite the potential challenges and complications, I am committed to taking responsibility for my pregnancy and raising our child. I understand that this may not have been part of our plans, but I believe we can work something out.” Satoru looked at you with a mix of shock and confusion.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just stared at you in disbelief, not knowing what to say. Finally, he managed to stutter out a few words. "Are you sure you want to keep it?”

"Yes i am, if you want me to I will raise this child but I need you to be here. My kid, our kid. Its not going to live without a father." Satoru could see the determination in your eyes. Clenching your fists you wanted for his answer in anticipation

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair before turning to you. His eyes were heavy with emotion as he finally spoke.

"Yes, I'll stay. I promise. I'll be here for us and for our child." He got up and reached out, taking your hands in his, giving them a gentle squeeze.

It was a difficult decision, but you knew that the potential benefits for the child far outweighed the risk of getting your heart broken. You were determined to make sure that Satoru saw the potential of being a father and the positive impact he could have on the child's life.

You were willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that this child had a loving and involved father figure, even if it meant facing rejection or heartache. In the end, the well-being and happiness of the child was your top priority.

"For now I want you to stay here until I'm done with my last meeting then we can head out and go to my parents mansion." You knew how much it meant for his parents to know about this. To be honest, you were so fucking scared right now.

You knew that this was not going to be easy, not just because of the child growing inside you, but because of the potential backlash from Satoru's parents. You were fully aware of the cultural and societal differences between your backgrounds and how it could be perceived by his family. Despite your fears and concerns, you nodded and agreed to his request, determined to make it work and put on a brave face. With a deep breath, you tried to calm your nerves and prepare yourself for the challenges ahead.

Closing the door behind him just like that Satoru went to another meeting leaving you with your thoughts. While you were grappling with these thoughts, you couldn't help but feel a sense of unease and guilt. The image of Satoru with his secretary kept replaying in your mind, making you question your own feelings and actions.

Would it be right to sabotage their relationship for your own selfish desires? These moral dilemmas left you feeling conflicted and unsure of how to proceed. As you sat alone in the office, you couldn't help but wonder if things would ever be the same between you and Satoru.

You felt a pang of guilt and sadness as you tried to push away the thought and focus on the task at hand. Closing your eyes you decided to lay down on the small sofa that Satoru had in his office.

Putting a hand on top of your stomach you couldn't really feel anything. You knew you were at least a few weeks pregnant. You stayed in that position for a few minutes, feeling the warmth of the sunrays coming through the window and calming your body. You felt safe and secure and couldn't help but smile, as you thought about the life that was growing inside of you.

You stayed there, eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun and the comfort of the sofa, as your mind wandered through the possibilities of the future. You just wanted to savor the moment, to make sure you could remember it forever. You had taken the pregnancy test several times, but it was still hard to believe that you were actually going to have a baby.

You had so many questions - you were wondering if the baby was the size of a bean or if it was even smaller than that. You were filled with a mix of emotions - from excitement to fear. You were going to become a mom. Wondering how you were going to explain to your father that you got pregnant by your bosses you couldn't help but let out a sigh. You knew things were going to get more complicated now.

You had always been taught to do the right thing and you knew this was the wrong thing to do. You wanted to do the right thing and take responsibility for your actions but you were afraid of what your father's reaction would be. He had always been so strict and you knew he wouldn't approve of this situation. You felt so helpless and confused.

You were already in a difficult situation, having to work for a man that you felt attracted to and now being pregnant with his child. You felt lost as to how you were going to explain this to your father. What would he think of you? How would you even begin to explain what had happened?

“Oh yeah dad! I thought my boss was super hot and I slept with him and guess what? I'm pregnant!” Sarcastically you let out another sigh. You really screwed up this time. You shook your head and let out a deep sigh. You had just been telling your father about the problems you were having at work, and now this. You knew your dad was going to be disappointed in you. You could already hear the lecture he was going to give you.

However, you knew that you had to take responsibility for your actions and face the consequences. You hoped that your father would understand and support you, but you also knew that you needed to learn from this mistake and make better choices in the future.

You couldn't even tell your mother because she had died when you were born. Never being able to be raised with a mother figure you were all alone im this situation. You covered your face with your arm. Trying your best to forget about everything and just go to sleep.

Maybe a nap would help you process everything and get you in a better mood. You had so much on your mind and felt so alone. You had no one to talk to, no one to turn to. You wanted someone to just listen, someone who could understand what you were going through and be there for you. But there was no one, and you had to find a way to cope with your emotions on your own.

"How long was I out?" you groaned as you rubbed your eyes, still trying to wake up.

You were surprised to see Satoru standing there, wearing his casual black glasses and with his suitcase next to him. It was clear that everyone had already left the building and it was just the two of you. "Did I oversleep?" you asked.

With a deep sigh, you slowly stood up from the comfortable embrace of the sofa. You felt a dull ache throughout your body, as if you had been in the same position for hours. You reached up and rubbed your forehead, trying to ease the tension. Taking a deep breath, you rubbed one of your eyes with your other hand, blinking away the sleepiness.

Realizing that you must have been asleep for a while. Satoru replied , "Not too long, just a couple of hours. You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up." You were grateful for his thoughtfulness and couldn't help but smile back at him.

“You were asleep for three hours." Helping you up Satoru offered his hand. Taking it you thanked him silently before taking all of your stuff and leaving his office.

You checked the time on your phone and realized it was already past midnight. You had slept for the past three hours while Satoru was patiently watching you from his chair. You were embarrassed but grateful for his understanding and kindness. You thanked him as you gathered your things and made your way out of his office.

You walked outside into the parking lot, as you sat inside the luxurious Mercedes Benz, you couldn't help but feel a little out of place. Satoru barely acknowledged your presence as he started the car and drove towards his parents' mansion. It was clear that he was more focused on his own comfort and status, rather than making you feel welcome. Despite the extravagant surroundings, you couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off.

You took out your phone, your fingers gently tapping on the screen trying to send a text to your dad. Letting him know you might come home later than usual as you were going to meet Satorus parents. As you typed out the message, you couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and nervousness. You couldn't resist the curiosity and ended up searching for Satoru's lover on Instagram. You typed her name into the search bar multiple times until you finally found her profile. As you clicked on it, you discovered that her name was "Asami Oba."

As you scrolled through her photos, you couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. She seemed to have a perfect life - traveling to exotic locations, attending luxurious events, and surrounded by beautiful people. You couldn't believe Satoru was dating someone like her. It made you question your own self-worth and wonder what he saw in her that he didn't see in you. Despite your best efforts, you couldn't help but continue scrolling through her profile, torturing yourself with images of their seemingly happy relationship.

However, it still bothered you to see the pictures of Asami and Satoru together. You couldn't help but feel a sense of betrayal, even though you knew she had nothing to do with the reason why he slept with you. It was a constant reminder that you were the other woman, and that their relationship was still going strong while you were left to deal with the aftermath. It made your stomach turn every time you saw one of their pictures with a caption that said "with my love."

The picture that stood out the most was undoubtedly the one featuring them in the Eiffel Tower. The breathtaking view of the iconic landmark served as a backdrop, capturing their joy and creating a lasting memory of their trip to Paris.

As you watched Satoru lost in his thoughts, you couldn't help but wonder about the consequences that would arise once his lover discovered the truth about your pregnancy. The situation seemed to hang in the air, heavy with uncertainty and potential conflict.

What felt like forever finally had come to an end, you couldn't help but feel out of place as you stepped out of the car. The house was even more luxurious than you had imagined, the expensive cars and perfectly manicured lawns. Satoru's parents were known for their wealth and you couldn't shake off the feeling that you didn't belong there. You knew Satoru's parents were going to judge you for not dressing more formally, but you were too exhausted from work to change.

"Listen Y/N," he said before ringing the doorbell. His expression suddenly changed, as if a wave of desperation had washed over him. His eyes were pleading, his hands trembling.

"I'm warning you my family is very old fashioned," licking his lips, that's all he said before ringing the doorbell.

You could practically hear your heartbeat, feeling as if your heart was going to jump out of your body. As you nervously waited for the door to open, you couldn't help but wonder what kind of traditional customs and expectations his family might have. Would they approve of your relationship? Would they expect you to conform to their beliefs? The unknown made your stomach churn with anxiety.

As the door swung open, a small click sound could be heard. A man, who looked identical to Satoru but slightly older, stood in the doorway. He quickly glanced at his son before his eyes landed on you. Raising an eyebrow, he muttered a few words under his breath, "Oh god, your mother is going to be ballistic."

"Father, please." pleaded Satoru as he held onto your hand, almost crushing.

"Please come in, it's a pleasure to meet you. My wife is in the living room, so please have a seat there." Said Satoru's father, gesturing towards the living room. He was a tall and imposing man, his deep voice echoing through the spacious hallway. You couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated as you followed him inside.

The intricate details, luxurious furnishings, and spacious layout of the Gojo mansion left you in awe. It was everything you would expect from a wealthy family's home. As you walked through the halls, admiring the lavish decor and elegant architecture, you couldn't help but utter a soft "Wow" under your breath. While you may have seen similar houses before, there was something about the design of this one that was truly impeccable and breathtaking.

As you sat on the silky white couch, you were met with Satoru's mother's gaze. It was intense and piercing, making you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. She seemed to be silently judging you, and you couldn't help but feel a sense of unease and inadequacy under her scrutiny. You shifted nervously, unsure of how to react or what to say to break the tension.

"What's your name?" her strong voice practically echoed. Despite her age, she was still stunning, with striking features and an air of elegance.

"Y/N, it's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Gojo." You replied with a warm smile, trying to make her feel welcome and at ease.

"So, what business do you have with my son?" she asked, her tone icy and unwelcoming. "To be more specific, what do you want from him?" Her sharp gaze bore into you, daring you to give her an answer she didn't want to hear.

"Mom," he said, avoiding eye contact with his mother. "She's pregnant and the child is mine." Her gaze softened as she laid her eyes on Satoru, her future grandchild. She could see the worry and fear in her son's eyes.

"Are you sure it's your child?" She questioned, looking you up and down before sighing. Her disbelief was evident as she struggled to accept the news. Doubt and confusion filled her mind, unsure of how to react to this unexpected information. She took a deep breath before finally asking, "How can you be sure?"

"I'm not convinced that you are the father," she questioned, eyeing you up and down before letting out a sigh.

"Mom, she's the only woman I've slept with in a while. Please," he pleaded.

"Do you have anything to say to that?" she asked, her eyes fixed on Satoru's father who wore a disappointed expression. His son had made a mistake and it was clear that he was struggling to come to terms with it. The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, and it was clear that he had nothing to say in response.

"As long as it wasn't Asami," he said, your heart broke at the mention of his lover's name.

"I totally forgot about that girl," said his mother, chuckling at the memory of her. "She was so pretty, but unfortunately her background was not so great."

The atmosphere in the room changed as soon as her name was mentioned, satoru shifted his weight uncomfortably and it was clear that her presence had a profound effect on him. He couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and longing when her name was brought up.

Memories of their time together flooded his mind, causing him to nervously bite his lip. He knew he should move on, but the thought of her still had a hold on him.

"Well since you two are over here fucking and populating the earth like little bunnies, it's time for you to take responsibility for your actions," she said sternly as she interlocked her hands together. "I want you two to get married and commit to raising this child together." Her tone was serious and determined as she laid out her expectations for the young couple.

"Mother, I don't even know her that well, let alone love her," you side eyed Satory, seeing his eyes widen at the mention of marriage. You could tell he was visibly frustrated and not ready for such a commitment. It was clear that he needed more time to get to know this person before even considering marriage.

"You know her well enough to have sex with her, please Satoru, you're grown now." Shaking her head, she got up, "and I expect the marriage to be soon. Don't you know how ruined your reputation would be if they found out you got some lowlife pregnant?" she yelled.

"But Mother," Satoru pleaded, "I don't think I'm ready for marriage yet." His mother's face softened as she let out a sigh.

"I know, but it's important for our family's reputation. You know how strict society can be with these things." Satoru hung his head, knowing that he couldn't argue with his mother's logic.

This turn of events was completely unexpected for you. Marriage was never a part of your plans, and you never would have imagined that his mother would actually want you to marry her son instead of getting rid of you.

"I want you to be moved in his house by tomorrow," She said, her voice filled with anger as she glared at you. Satoru's father stood up and gently grabbed his wife's shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"Let's go now, you know how you get with these things," He said, leading her away from the situation. It was clear that their heated argument was not something to be taken lightly.

You couldn't believe how quickly she had dismissed you and Satoru from her house. Your mind was racing with questions and confusion from the confrontation you had just witnessed.

Satoru held his head low, not wanting to look at you anymore. "Fuck," he mutterd between his breath. Satoru's expression was cold and distant, and you couldn't help but feel a pang of fear. You knew he was capable of hurting you, and it seemed like he was about to.

"Gojo," You said timidly, hoping to break through to him. But before you could finish, he roughly pushed you towards the car. You stumbled, your heart racing as you realized that you were completely at his mercy.

"What did I do wrong?" you asked, tears welling up in your eyes.

"Why did you have to get pregnant and not her?" He spat at your face, and you couldn't help but feel like it was somehow your fault. Despite the hormones coursing through your body, you couldn't hold back the tears any longer and you broke down in sobs.

You stood there, stunned by his words. You couldn't believe he would say something like that, especially when you were carrying his child. The tears welled up in your eyes, and you didn't know if it was the hormones or if it was just you feeling completely overwhelmed and hurt by his words. How could he be so heartless and insensitive?

"I didn't think this would happen..." You replied, your voice trembling with nervousness. You couldn't believe that this was actually happening. You couldn't even bring yourself to look at him, your gaze dropping to the floor. Your stomach was in knots and you couldn't help but swallow nervously, unsure of what to do or say next.

"Fuck!" He yelled, frustration evident in his voice as he passed his hand through his hair in exasperation.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He yelled, frustration evident in his voice as he ran his hand through his hair in exasperation.

"Gojo, please." You pleaded, desperately clinging to his arm. But he forcefully pushed you away, his expression hard and unyielding. It was clear he did not want to be bothered, and you could feel your heart sinking with each step he took away from you.

"Get in the car Y/N," he said urgently, "I'm taking you home with me. I'll ask someone to get your things." Your heart dropped at his words. You knew you weren't even allowed to go home, to see your father. The thought of leaving him alone by himself was almost too much to bear.

"But Satoru, my father," you said, protesting as you opened the car door and sat inside. You were hesitant to leave without saying goodbye to your father, but Satoru urged you to hurry as the car started to pull away from his parents house.

"I don't care about your father, you're my soon-to-be wife. You will listen to me, Y/n." His eyebrows furrowed, he sped up.

You looked away and just stared at the window. Watching as you passed by buildings. The moon had come out, shinning down on you. You wondered if maybe life would be better if you got to be the moon - free to shine and roam the sky without anyone trying to control or dictate your every move. But the reality was that you were stuck in this car, with a person who didn't value your thoughts or feelings. You wished you could escape, but you knew that marrying him would only trap you further.

It seemed so peaceful and distant, away from all the conflict and tension happening in your relationship. You couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards the moon, longing for its serenity. But as you looked back at your fiancé's angry expression, you knew you couldn't escape your reality. You were stuck in this tumultuous relationship, always having to put his needs and desires above your own.

"But can I still see him?" You asked, your voice trembling with worry. Satoru let out an exasperated sigh, feeling frustrated with the endless stream of questions you had. "Yes, you can still see him," he reassured you, hoping to ease your concerns.

As you sat there, deep in thought, you couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Was this truly the right decision for you and your unborn child? The weight of responsibility and sacrifice weighed heavily on your mind. You knew that this child would inevitably cost you everything - your freedom, your happiness, and possibly even your own self. Yet, you couldn't bring yourself to speak up and go against Satoru's family wishes. You were trapped in a situation that seemed to have no good outcome.

You anxiously bit your lip, dreading the thought of having to meet new people and make new friends. There was also the added uncertainty of whether or not you would still be working for your fiancée once you moved.

Not to mention the press and newspaper would get ahold of this new engagement. The Gojo's were almost treated as royalty here.

"Do you want to stop for food?" he asked, quickly checking on you before focusing back on the road.

"No."

"What about the baby?" he said, raising an eyebrow as he slowly put his hand on your stomach. "Our baby needs to eat too, Y/N."

You licked your lips proceeding to ask him if he could stop by a nearby fast food or just anything at this point. The last thing you ate was the sandwich during lunch.  He began driving towards the nearest place that sold Onigiri. To be completely honest you didnt have much friends beside utahime.

You were the last remaining original member of your team, and it was lonely at times. You missed the camaraderie and inside jokes that you shared with your former coworkers. But you were grateful for Utahime's friendship. Asami had joined two years ago. However, things changed when they discovered Satoru and Asami's affair almost a year ago.

It seemed odd that she would come back after everything that had happened. Was she truly that deeply in love with Satoru that she couldn't bear to be separated from him? Or was there another motive behind her return? It was hard to shake the feeling that something was not quite right.

You grabbed your phone once again only to be surprised to see so many people had followed you on social media. Confused you clicked on the news article that was labeled "Has the CEO of Berkshire found a new woman?"

You couldn't believe it - the news was spreading like wildfire. You had never expected your life to change so drastically after just one night out with Satoru. As you scrolled through your notifications, you couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and a little scared of the attention. You knew that this new attention could bring both positives and negatives, but you weren't quite sure how to handle it all.

"Satoru, there are already articles written about us." He parked outside the small restaurant.

Getting out he asked before leaving, "What do you want from here?" I'm not sure if it's worth the risk to go inside." Satoru hesitated, knowing that any action they took could potentially land them in even more scandals.

"Can you get me an umeboshi onigiri please?" He closed the door and walked towards the restaurant, leaving you alone in the car. You quickly dialed your father, hoping he could bring you an umeboshi onigiri as well.

"Hello Y/N? are you there?”

"Dad, I'm sorry for not answering your calls. I might not be able to come home today as I'm stuck doing paperwork at work. Please don't wait up for me, I don't want you to stay up too late." You could hear the relief in his voice as he responded to your message. It was important for you to let him know what was going on and reassure him that you were okay.

"Okay sweetie, just please let me know if you need anything," you said with a sigh as you said your goodbyes. Turning off your phone, you couldn't help but feel helpless, knowing that there was nothing more you could do to help.

Your mind was filled with a mix of emotions and insecurities as you read the comments on the Instagram posts of you and Satoru. You couldn't help but wonder what people were saying about you and if they were judging you based on your appearance. You looked around nervously, hoping to see Satoru inside. Thankfully, he was still standing in the restaurant, talking on the phone.

As you clicked through the comments, you couldn't help but feel hurt and disappointed by the harsh and derogatory words directed towards you.

"Shes way prettier than the other girl!"

"she looks like a commoner..."

"What a skank!"

You could already feel the fatigue and discomfort that came with being pregnant, and you weren't even showing yet. The thought of carrying a child for nine months and then going through childbirth was daunting and overwhelming.

Satoru came back with two onigiris, handing you one and keeping the other for himself. You quickly ate it, not caring if he judged you for having no manners in front of him. After all, you were too hungry to worry about etiquette.

"We're almost home yet so dont worry, I can ask my maid to make you something if you'd like."

"No thanks." you replied just wanting to go and sleep already.

The stars were shining brightly in the sky, and the moon illuminated your path as you made your way home. The cool air was refreshing after a long day, and you couldn't help but feel grateful for the peacefulness of the night. As you drove, your mind drifted to the events of the day and you couldn't help but feel a sense of exhaustion creeping over you. But the thought of finally being home, in the comfort of your own bed, kept you going. You leaned your head back against the headrest and let the darkness of sleep overtake you.

"Geto, did you hear what I said?" All Satoru could hear from the other line was laughter, making him feel frustrated and unheard. Despite his repeated attempts to communicate, it seemed like his words were falling on deaf ears. He wondered if Geto was really taking him seriously or not.

"No way," exclaimed Geto, who was currently at a business party on the other side of the world. "You got her pregnant? Talk about a major backfire!" He chuckled, amused by his friend's predicament.

He was about to ask for her number when his best friend called, desperate for his attention. Though he wanted to continue flirting with the hot chick, he reluctantly answered his friend's call.

"And now we have to get married," shaking his head, Satoru picked you up from the seat. His maid had helped him open the door to his house, and he was grateful for his strength.

"Hey man, I told you to just have a one-night stand with her, not to get her pregnant and marry her." Geto said in the other line, he picked up a pen and wrote down his number in the napkin handing it to the cute bartender.

" What about Asami? Isn't she the love of your life?" he asked teasingly, giving him a playful tone. “Have you told her yet?"

He slowly placed you on his bed, his gaze never leaving you. "Can you change her into something more comfortable?" he asked his maid, who nodded before closing the door behind her.

"I haven't told Asami," Satoru admitted. "She's still insisting we get back together." He grabbed a beer from his refrigerator and took off the cap with a small pop before taking a sip.

"But I don't think it's a good idea. We've been through this before and it never ends well." Satoru sighed, knowing that his decision would only lead to more tension and arguments with Asami. But he also knew that it was the right thing to do for both of them.

"I would pay to see her reaction, she's probably going to go crazy." With a sly smirk, Geto had already entered the bartender's contact information into his phone.

Satoru laughed and took a sip of his drink. "I know, but that's what makes her so irresistible," he replied with a grin.

"Besides, I like a little bit of crazy in my life." He uncrossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "You should try it sometime."

Geto chuckled and raised his glass in agreement. "Maybe someday, but for now I'll stick to watching your crazy love life from the sidelines."

"Maybe next time I suggest using condoms," he began, but his laughter interrupted him once again. "Man, you're so screwed. I just know your old lady had a tantrum." His words were met with a bit of amusement.

"What about you and Shoko, huh?" Satoru asked, taking off his shirt and laying down on his couch with a beer in hand.

"You guys have been spending a lot of time together lately." His tone was teasing, but there was a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"It's complicated," said Geto who was practically eye-fucking the bartender on the other end of the phone. The tension between them was palpable, and their relationship was anything but simple.

"Complicated my ass," he thought as he took a sip from his cold beer and smiled. "I bet you're already thinking of having sex with someone else."

“And you’re absolutely right.” With a smirk Geto made his way to her. Satoru was able to hear his whole conversation start to finish.

“You know what i’ll call you later, you have fun.” Satoru took one last sip of his beer before going to the restroom to shower. He turned off his phone and threw it on the sink before undressing himself.

He regretted the night it happened and wished he could take it back. The thought of you now made him cringe, and he couldn't wait to move on and forget about it. He didn't think he could ever find anything about you interesting, and he just wanted to forget the whole thing ever happened.

He couldn't believe his luck - or rather, his misfortune - when he found out that his arranged marriage was to be with someone he barely knew. He couldn't help but compare this stranger to Asami, the woman who held his heart. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this marriage was a mistake, and that he would never be truly happy with anyone other than Asami. But now, he was stuck with this random person who worked for him, pretending to be his wife. He couldn't help but wonder if he had made the wrong choice in agreeing to this marriage.

Despite the intense attraction he felt towards Asami, he couldn't deny that their relationship was tumultuous and unpredictable. There were moments where she seemed to understand him better than he understood himself, but there were also times when she drove him to the brink of insanity. Even now, he couldn't shake the memories of their secret rendezvous, the adrenaline-fueled sex that still haunted his dreams. But as thought of you, his heart aches with regret, wishing that he had chosen Asami instead of you, hoping that he could have created a family with her instead.

His mind would just wander off to when he would have Asami all to himself - skin to skin, after sharing a passionate night together. The way her hair would stick to her face when he was so close to cumming inside her drove him wild. He couldn't wait to have her all to himself again, without any distractions or interruptions.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, feeling his body react to the thought of her naked form pressed against his. The anticipation and desire grew, making him hard and unable to focus on anything else. He couldn't wait to have her in his arms and fulfill every fantasy he had been imagining.

He grabbed shampoo and shoved it all over his face, rubbing his face before rinsing it off. He grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his torso. He grabbed his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth vigorously. After rinsing his mouth, he quickly dried off and went to his room.

Opening the door, he was met with your peaceful sleeping figure, dressed in shorts and a big t-shirt. He couldn't help but smile at how adorable you looked. As he changed into his pajamas, he couldn't help but feel a bit regret on treating you so hurtful.

He felt a pang of loneliness as he snuggled up to you, his fiancée, and not the person he truly desired. He could feel your warmth and smell your familiar scent, but it only intensified his longing for someone else. As he whispered goodnight, he couldn't help but imagine it was his lover in his arms instead.

"Goodnight Asami," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Despite the fact that you were wide awake, Satoru cuddled up to you and drifted off to sleep. You could hear his deep breathing before you bit your lip and silently let tears fall down your cheeks. It hurt to know that he couldn't even say your name.

[no-road-home]

Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern on Backerkit now!

Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern is a GMless one-to-three shot TTRPG based on games like MF0: Firebrands and The Sundered Land. It's a collection of 20 mini-games where former adventurers open a tavern together and reintegrate into society after a life on the road.

What happens after the adventure? What does daily life in a fantasy world look like? Stewpot draws inspiration from stories like Dungeon Meshi, Redwall, Frieren, and Bartender, as well as various aspects of D&D. It's a great way to wrap up a long-running fantasy TTRPG campaign.

Start a garden, cook monsters, run a festival booth, reforge old weapons, flirt with mysterious strangers, and more in a new version of the game with tons of art and new storybook-style layout!

(more info and full description of the mini-games in the read more!)

The structure of the game is based on characters having an Adventurer Job, with Adventurer Experiences that represent their abilities and powers, and a Town Job with Town Experiences. You can make new characters just for the game, or bring in old characters and recreate them with the existing Experiences or write your own.

As you play the game, you'll cross off Adventurer Experiences as you let go of them or let them fade into the background, and gain new Town Experiences that take their place. Along the way you'll upgrade your Tavern and give each other Keepsakes!

Games from the old Itch.io PDF version (0.41):

The First Step: Before you decided to put down roots here, before you found this group of friends, what were you doing? What was the first thing you learned about how to live in town?

NPC Sidequest: Your adventuring days may be over, but there are plenty of people in town that could use your help.

Wear and Tear: There’s always something to fix, or clean, or pay off.

Market Day: You never would have guessed how many things you need just to keep a tavern running. 

Homegrown: There’s something special about using ingredients grown nearby. Why not give growing your own a try?

Sliced: Sometimes supply routes get disrupted. Or maybe you just want to stand out from the rest of the taverns. Whatever the reason, you’re playing this game because you want or need to do one thing: cook with monster parts.

Romancing a Stranger: Someone in the tavern makes eye contact with you, and their gaze lingers a little longer than you’d expect. Your co-workers urge you on, and make every excuse they can to send you over to talk to the lovely Stranger.

Off the Clock: Where do you go after the tables are wiped down? Who’s heard every story you have about the worst people who have walked in?

A Friendly Tavern Brawl: Every tavern has its rowdy patrons. You know they’re good at heart, but sometimes when the ale is flowing and spirits are high, things get a little out of hand. How do you handle the situation?

Festival Day: Your town has a few festival days a year, and they’re some of your busiest. How do you prepare? How do you handle the influx of people?

A Bard's Tale: During your time as an adventurer, you accomplished many daring deeds. In fact, some of those deeds are retold to this day by travelling bards.

A Glass of the Gods: Sometimes a troubled adventurer will come in, looking for answers, and letting them drink themselves into oblivion is the wrong answer. It's up to you  to  mix the perfect drink, something perfect for the situation that can push the adventurer to look inside and find the answer on their own.

A Distinguished Guest: Someone important is in town, and they’re already almost here. The tavern has to be at its best for this guest. After all, they might leave a generous tip.

In the Rhythm of Things: Time passes. Rough edges are sanded down. Before you know it, life in town has become like breathing. You gather in your favorite part of the tavern and wonder where the time has gone.

New games for this crowdfunding campaign:

Shields and Skillets: Enchantments are volatile things, especially when they sit unused for long periods of time. You have to let go of your old equipment before it’s too late.

Shelter from the Storm: Early one morning, you feel it. A familiar ache in your bones. Something is coming.

A Funeral: As an adventurer, you said farewell many times. Sometimes it was only temporary. Most of the time, it wasn't. 

Retracing: You've left town for something: an errand, a vacation, an old favor. Suddenly, you recognize the route you're traveling. You've been this way before, during your adventuring days.

A Fleeting Memory: Something about the way the fire flickers lingers in your mind. The smell of hay and clover brings a tear to your eye. A fading memory resurfaces.

A Familiar Face: An old friend you haven't seen in a while has stopped by. Why not show them around the town and the tavern?

[tongue-like-a-razor]

Can you write something with young!Maverick?

Something like where they meet and she has heard about his reputation (he's the type to only stay a few nights and then move on to the next girl). So, when one night, he approaches her all smiley and flirty (and maybe a little shy and cute) she thinks that's exactly what he wants from her - to take her home for a night of sex just to move on to other people the next day. And, even though she has developed feelings for him, she accepts it, albeit with no expectation that she will become anything other than just another one he spent a night with or that it was anything other than just sex and fun. So, imagine her surprise when he starts acting the exact opposite towards her from what she expected - always wanting to be with her everywhere, skipping nightlife to be with her, being super clingy and loving, etc, etc. She doesn't believe he has feelings for her but she just can't understand his behavior. She starts to feel overwhelmed because her feelings for him only get worse and she fears the day when he will stop giving her that kind of attention (maybe she thinks this is just a harmless game for him, where she is the shiny new toy he is getting to know until she no longer interests him that much). She confronts him, confesses her feelings, gets angry and tells him to stay away. He desperately tries to tell her about his feelings for her, that he has always been in love with her and has tried to get closer to her through everything he has done because he didn't know what else to do. She doesn't believe him and it's basically him desperately trying to prove his love for her and all that cute stuff with a really happy ending 💖❣️

I also imagined a lot of cinematic chase scenes, inspired by that sand chase in There Are Rules and the f14 airport scene in Altitude 🤣🤣 so there's that. Lots of desperate, all-consuming love, perhaps ending with a love making scene that includes it all? Making desperate, passionate and hungry love. Someone so in love that they don't even know what to do, whether to cry or laugh.

You could also include a classic “misunderstanding scene” that unearths deep-rooted jealousy, but is it not what it seems? Lol it's all very cliché but honestly, it's the best shit in the world when it's written by someone who knows what they're doing, I live for desperate love.

I know this is extra long but hopefuly you'll be able to make it, I simply love your writing. Thank you. ❣️❣️

Oooh what a fun request! Thank you so much for sending this in!! I hope you don't mind, I kind of see this as a series rather than a one-shot, just because there's a lot to cover XD

Best of the Bad Boys

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x F!Reader

CW: mild angst, swearing, fluff, allusions to sex

WC: ~2000

Masterlist

“That’s Maverick. Maverick Mitchell.”

You tear your gaze away from the animated man near the bar, throwing his arms around wildly as he describes some aerial trick he’s no doubt performed just that morning. You know exactly who he is, and yet, you turn to your friend jadedly and say, “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

She gives you a sardonic smile and skeptically scoffs. “Right. Like your father’s never mentioned his name.”

You shrug, glancing back at the pack of fighter jocks crowding the front of the establishment, each one admittedly a high-flier in his own right – pun intended. But Maverick… Maverick still manages to stand out. “He talks about all of them,” you reply nonchalantly, adding, “It’s not like I sit there and listen.”

“Why are you staring, then?”

You blink away, executing an elaborate eyeroll as you do, and fix your friend with a serious expression. “I can’t look?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“They’re nice to look at.”

Your friend nods in approval. “Can’t argue with that.”

“Doesn’t matter what his name is. What any of their names are. They’ll be gone in a couple of weeks.”

“Perfect fling material, if you ask me,” your friend wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“No thanks,” you respond with a grimace. Every couple of months, a fresh assortment of aviators arrives at Top Gun, ready to take on the world. Already the finest pilots in their respective squadrons, they are sent to train at the most elite fighter tactics school on the Pacific seaboard. Their egos soar higher than their jets and their heads are always in the clouds.

You see the various groups come and go – the program is only several weeks long – but it’s always entertaining to watch them transform over the course of their training. It’s why you frequent the officer’s club rather than any of the other pubs in the area. That and the cheap drinks.

“Probably for the best,” your friend sighs dramatically. “He’s got a reputation.”

You purse your lips, watching Maverick smile at the waitress as she distributes another round of drinks among the officers. You know about that too. “Point him out to me,” you say, as though you have no idea whom the conversation is about.

Your friend leans into the table and discreetly aims her finger in Maverick’s direction. “The pretty one,” she mutters.

You let out a small chuckle. “They’re all pretty.”

Your friend shakes her head. “Not that pretty.”

“Not that pretty,” you agree musingly. You make an effort not to fall for the top guns of Top Gun and, until Maverick, you haven’t had much trouble upholding that rule. But everything about him, from the squint of his eyes when he laughs to the radiant warmth of his smile, not to mention his muscular arms, makes your heart skip a beat.

And then he pivots in his stool and his gaze, coincidentally, lands on you. You hastily look away, hoping he didn't noticed you staring, and start to fiddle with the pearls of your necklace. Several moments later, you slowly lift your eyes to check if he’s still looking.

Your heart nearly springs up into your throat when you see that he is. His mouth quirks upward slightly before he gives you the kind of smile that says he’s confident you’ve already noticed him.

You don’t smile back. You’re not about to engage in this dance. You do not associate with pilots. Your friend, on the other hand, is all for the naval aviator experience.

“He’s looking at you,” she whispers excitedly.

“Stop,” you warn her sternly. “I’m not interested.”

“Well, I am,” she urges. “Let’s go talk to them. I like the blond one.” But before you can refuse for a second time, your friend mutters, “Oh god, never mind. They’re coming to us!”

You look at her in alarm and then gulp as several of the men from the bar approach your table. You glance up at them with raised eyebrows.

“Hello,” Maverick says, looking directly at you. He presses his lips together into a vexingly endearing sideways smirk.

When you don’t respond, your friend chimes in excitedly. “Hello, hello! Welcome!” she exclaims, as though she’s receiving guests for a dinner party. “I’m Susan. Hello!”

You eye her moodily as she motions for the newcomers to join the two of you at the table.

“Mind if I sit here?” Maverick asks, pointing to the seat next to you.

You meet his gaze reluctantly. “Knock yourself out,” you respond coolly. You’re still annoyed that he caught you staring and you intend to make it clear that you are not just some girl he can charm into bed.

Maverick’s smirk widens somewhat, as though he’s not quite buying the act. He takes a seat beside you while one of his friends starts chatting up Susan who seems very much to be enjoying the attention.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Maverick says, leaning over slightly so that he could speak more discreetly. “Slider, here, wanted to get to know your friend. And I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch him crash and burn.”

You glance at Maverick dubiously. “That’s why you’re here?”

Maverick looks at you, then, and his gaze drifts languidly over the features of your face. “Would you prefer a different reason?”

Ignoring the frantic stutter of your heart as his eyes settle on yours, you shrug and look away, taking a sip of your drink. If only he knew who your father was, he wouldn’t be so bold. “I would prefer honesty.”

“Okay,” he says, resting his forearm on the table. “Honestly? I couldn’t leave without meeting you.”

You glance back at him hesitantly, not sure how to react. “Why?” you ask, trying to control the embarrassing tremor in your voice.

Maverick drops his head and lets out a small chuckle. “I just couldn’t,” he says. “That’s as honest as I’m going to get.”

You eye him tentatively, wishing he weren’t so dangerously good-looking. His sheepish smile almost makes you forget that he dates women for sport.

But the longer Maverick sits by your side, the less important his apparent promiscuity becomes. And when the two of you wind up in the back alley behind the officer’s club, wrapped in each other’s arms, you aren’t overly concerned about the future outlook of this particular liaison. Something about the way he kisses your neck convinces you that some moderate heartache might just be worth it.

Maverick weaves his fingers through yours and lifts his arm over your head, pressing the back of your hand into the brick wall behind you. He cradles the back of your head with his other hand as his mouth moves hungrily beneath your jawline. You let out an audible sigh and he pins you even more firmly against the wall, as though the sound you made has aroused him further.

And despite your every intention to just kiss for a while before taking your leave – because you don’t do flyboys – Maverick has managed to change your mind without speaking a word. You want to tell him that you’re flattered but no thank you, instead, you breathe, “come back,” when he finally pulls away.

Maverick smirks at you and tugs on the hand he’s still holding so that you’re drawn directly into his arms. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers.

You wrap your arms around his body, flattening yourself against him like you mean to be absorbed. And he folds around you like a cocoon, his arms enveloping you so securely, you barely have to hold yourself upright. He moves backward, pulling you after him toward his bike.

…

“We fucked,” you tell Susan the moment she puts her car in park.

She looks over at you with wide eyes and an even wider mouth as her jaw literally drops. “You and Maverick?” she shrieks.

You wince anxiously and look around, making sure nobody heard her exclamation. Then you roll up your window and nod for her to do the same. “Keep it together, Susan,” you hiss. “We’re behind enemy lines.”

Susan grimaces apologetically but the remorse is fleeting and, before you know it, she’s eagerly bouncing in her seat. “As if you’ve been blabbering on about a fender bender for half an hour and drop this bomb right before you have to go!” she whispers feverishly. You give her a grievous look which she expertly ignores. “Was he good?”

You sigh. “He was fine,” you say curtly, still uncomfortable sharing the details of last night’s encounter while sitting in the parking lot outside Hangar 1.

Susan appears disappointed. “Just fine?”

You glance around once more and then respond quietly, “He was very good.”

“I fucking knew it!” Susan yelps, tapping you on the knee excitedly. “Tell me more!”

“Later,” you say. “I have to meet my dad, remember?”

She nods. “I’ll pick you up in half an hour?”

“Thanks, Suz,” you respond. “You’re a life saver.”

…

Your father, Top Gun’s very own Viper, paces back and forth as you sit in one of the chairs before his desk. He’s trying to keep his cool. “You sure you’re not hurt?” he asks again.

You nod tiredly. You’ve had a hell of a day.

Viper sighs moodily and shakes his head at you as though he’s not convinced.

It’s at exactly this moment that there’s a knock on his door and, as you begin to rise from your chair to leave your father to his duties, Maverick enters his office.

You freeze, meeting his gaze in alarm. Maverick, in turn, stops in his tracks, gaping at you from the doorway, forgetting even to salute his superior.

“Lieutenant,” Viper says. “You need something?”

Maverick, who seems unable to look away from you, stammers, “Do – I – uh…”

“Maverick,” Viper says sternly, and Maverick finally glances in his direction.

“Commander Metcalf,” Maverick says, a little dazed as though he’s surprised to find Viper in his own office.

“Speak, Lieutenant. I don’t have all day,” Viper grumbles, still irritable from the news he’s received during your visit.

Maverick, who seems unable to recall why he’s even come, gulps nervously and glances back at you again.

“Okay, well, thanks dad,” you say quickly. “I’ll be off now.”

Maverick’s face slowly morphs into a visage of terror as he realizes who you are and what, in fact, it means for him to have had relations with the commander’s daughter. He watches you in horror, beginning to mouth the word ‘dad’ before he catches himself and leaves his mouth hanging open on the ‘a’.

“How will you get home?” Viper asks you, not paying attention to Maverick’s reaction.

“Susan’s picking me up,” you respond.

Viper sighs again. Then, he sighs in Maverick’s direction. “Maverick, meet my daughter, Y/N. Y/N, this is Lieutenant Mitchell, recent Top Gun graduate and a helluva pilot. Hopefully, soon to be one of our newest instructors. If he finally remembers why he’s here, that is.”

Maverick glances anxiously between your face and Viper’s and then holds his hand out to you. “Pleased to meet you,” he says courteously, his eyes resting on yours for a significant moment.

You give him a tight smile and then give your father a hug. “I’ve got to go.”

Viper shakes his head all over again. “I still can’t believe that bastard hit you.”

“Who hit you?” Maverick looks over at you sharply, suddenly on high alert.

“Nobody – the other driver.” You exhale wearily, not too keen on repeating the story for a fourth time in one day. “I was in an accident –”

“Are you okay?” Maverick asks, immediately taking a step toward you.

“I’m fine, totally fine,” you assure him, taking several steps backward until you feel the doorknob at your spine. “I just need some rest.”

“We’ll sort out the car tomorrow,” Viper says.

“Hey, at least it wasn’t a jet, right?” you joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Neither Viper not Maverick is amused by your humor, however, so you reach behind and pull open the door.

“Okay, well, bye dad! Mav – uh – Lieutenant Mitchell.”

Maverick stares after you as you retreat behind the door, still somewhat speechless.

“Tell Susan to drive carefully!” your father calls.

“Will do!” you call back.

Finally, Maverick speaks again. “I, uh” – he clears his throat – “I could give her a ride, sir.”

You pause in the doorway while your father purses his lips, considering the offer. Joke’s on him, of course, since Maverick has already given you one – just last night.

Maverick Tag List:

I have no idea when this list got so long but the rest of it will be in the comments. Hope I got everyone, let me know if I missed you! As always, let me know if you no longer wish to be tagged in my Mav works!

@wandering-wah

@callsign-sunshine

@ghost-heart34

@birdy-bat-writes

@matya4

@wkndwlff

@nyx2021

@bellamy1998

@oliviah-25

@alexxavicry

@army24--7

@thefandomimagines

@dracosluvbot

@smit41

@scenesofobx

@Criminalmindsandmarvel

@lunamoonbby

@malums-trash-can

@malindacath

@karleetakeenan

@callsign-echo

@toothemoonanddback

@broketraveler87

@atarmychick007

@shanimallina87

@creativitybeware

@xoxabs88xox

@Yoyop7

@hallecarey1

@nik2blog

@rrocky0ah

@kpopgirlbtssvt

@lilianashomaresparza

@latetedslesetoiles

@Elenavampire21

@starberryhorse

@ginger-gabsq

@sarcastic-sourwolf

@risingtripletaurus

@callsignmaverick5

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@hermaeusmorax

@littlebadariell

@simp-for-fictional-people

@ollyoxenfrees

@iamabeautifulperson18

@living-in-my-imagination88

@wintercap89

@mavrellover91

@gingerbreadandpaper

[utterlyotterlyx]

Another Love - Intermission

Eris x Fem!Reader

Summary - Based on the thirteen month gap in Another Love - Alternate Ending, where you become an emissary to the Night Court to avoid Azriel, only to find the one you'd been waiting for your entire life.

Warnings - sadness, angst, fluff, smutty smut smut,

Another Love - Another Love - Alternate Ending

You were sure that you'd take any opportunity to spend as little time in Velaris as possible after what you had found out about Azriel.

After what he had knowingly and willingly done.

No one had fought you when you had asked for a different position in Rhys' and Feyre's court, to your surprise, they had backed you all the way and didn't push back. They knew you'd make a perfect emissary, all of the High Lords knew of you, even if they hadn't officially met you, and were more than happy to welcome you into their homes and share their culture with you.

It helped you immensely to allow your mind delve into anything else other than the grief that came from his betrayal, that sickening betrayal that made you loathe the last 500 years of your life.

Feyre, Mor and Nesta had done all they could to get you out of your shell, they had tried taking you to the markets and out to dinner, but it always ended in the same altercation, with Azriel appearing from the shadows begging to speak to you and they knew you were doing you best to look unphased but they knew deep down that it was peeling your soul apart.

It was hard to see you confine yourself to your home, confining yourself within those four walls and refusing to leave unless it was absolutely necessary for you to do so. The risk of seeing him around the city was something you didn't want to live with.

Rhys had visited often, bringing you new things for your home that added more character to it, from vases and kitchen equipment, to entire rooms that he and Cassian had taken upon themselves to build in a day. If you weren't going to leave your home then the least they could do was make sure you loved the four walls in which you had made into your santcuary.

But you missed the sun on your skin, you missed the breeze in your hair, and so you asked Rhys, no, begged him to send you somewhere where you could breathe again. Where you could begin to mend your broken heart.

It took him a couple days but he had done it, he had contacted Helion and asked him to house you for a couple of weeks, to teach you their ways and to allow you to read as many books as your wonderous mind could consume. And you had left that day, to rarely ever return.

Helion took a liking to you almost immediately, enjoying your scent of sweet lavender that soaked the halls of his palace like art on the walls, lingering there in the forefront of his consciousness. The High Lord examined you to be a soft soul, one full of desire for a better world, but a sassy little thing too.

He wondered why no one had ever really met you, but you had always been left behind to care for Velaris, you were strong enough to hold the lines if anything were to happen, and you weren't overly fond of inserting yourself in the politics of the continent. Velaris used to be the haven that you never really wanted to leave the comfort of.

Until Azriel.

Helion had intercepted the countless letters that had began to arrive once you had decided to extend your stay, the healthy glow of your skin and the serene specks in your eyes being enough to accept your wish. It was clear that the healing had begun, you had arrived in the Day Court a shell, an empty vessel of hurt and desperation; Helion had always thought that the sun had healing properties, though he was convinced of it when he saw how it had transformed you.

He had found a friend in you, an even more than that, a friend he didn't want to bed. Helion just liked being around you, you were intelligent and strong, your ideas of how the world should be inspired him. It wasn't often that someone like you was gifted existence, and he cursed Velaris for holding your mind hostage for all of that time.

Thesan had taken you in next after your short stop in Velaris, you had only gone to spend a couple of nights with your friends, with the Inner Circle bar Elain and Lucien. You weren't ready for that.

The Dawn Court had to be one of the most spectacular places you had ever seen, white marble pillars and a sky that always resembled the faint pink hue of Dawn's break. The air was fresh and crisp, and rolling hills ran for miles from the balcony of the quarters that Thesan had so kindly given you.

Thesan had been briefed by Rhys of your state, of your heartbreak and desire to see the world and make a difference in the other courts of Prythian. The High Lord of Dawn took pity on you, but saw a light in you that still lingered despite the awful treatment that you had been subjected to; he decided to hone it. Not many were invited to work with the Dawn Court healers, but Thesan had extended the gift to you and you had accepted immediately, with bright hopeful eyes and smile and warm as the ocean shores of summer.

He had watched you burst from your shell, he had watched you ask meaningful questions and study your days away on the ways of their talents, all whilst admiring that flickering flame dancing in your eyes. Thesan had also intercepted the letters from Azriel, by hint of Helion, you didn't need to read the words that would bring you more harm than good, perhaps you did have a right to see them, and perhaps one day he would give them to you, but not a moment before you were healed and happy and could read his words with a new purpose.

Thesan had spent many evenings with you on your balcony talking about the universe and how to better the lives of everyone, he had learnt about your passion for helping others, you had told him of the charities you had worked to hard to launch to reduce poverty and increase the levels of education across the Night Court. It was something you wanted to reach every corner of Prythian, you believed that everyone deserved a fair and honest chance to be the best version of themselves possible.

So, he had agreed to roll out your initiative across his court, to help his own people to better their lives through rich knowledge and you had hugged him tightly, and he realised then that you were special, that you were too pure to harm, and he couldn't understand why anyone would ever want to. He couldn't understand how anyone could ever harm you.

It had been one of the warmer days in Dawn, and you found yourself stood in your chambers with ladies flocking around you, tugging an ornate garment up your figure and muttering with approval. Thesan was taking you to the Autumn Court, Eris, the new High Lord, had invited Thesan to visit with his court to continue the celebrations of his victory after overthrowing his father. It just so happened that as an emissary on a visit to Dawn, you were considered a part of the court despite Thesan's insistence that you be on his arm.

You had told Thesan that his kindness was too much, that you surely didn't need such opulence, the room he had given you was adorned with floor to ceiling windows, with one stunning stained glass pane in the centre crevasse, the walls were white with pillars of gold, and breath-taking artwork had been etched into the ceiling in a variety of pinks and pale oranges, it felt like a holy temple of sorts.

The dress that you had been bestowed had to be the most perfect thing you had ever seen, sheer layers of pale pink and blue, it wrapped around your figure and accentuated every single curve of your body, especially your cleavage; the dress possessed a thin gold belt and matching embellishments on the bodice, finished with a gold halo that had been worked into the loose curls of your hair.

The Day Court tan still lingered on your skin, and the wonders of Dawn had softened your features, you would have been unrecognisable to your family if they had entered the room at that moment, and you were thrilled to know that fact, it meant that whatever you were doing was working.

Thesan had hummed with warm delight when you had stepped onto the stone platform to the back of his home, Dawn suited you for more than him it seemed, he stood in a matching pale blue tunic with golden threads woven into the fabric and offered an arm to you, squeezing your hand before he winnowed you to the hearth of the Forest House.

Music had drifted outside, a breeze of fleeting warmth and laughter soon followed. You had looked about the space and gasped at the beauty, the home was surrounded by lush forest life, of leaves in a million different hues and fireflies that hovered just above the surface of the lakes and ponds that wound around the gardens, their humming glow reflecting off of the mirror beneath them. Swans swam by you, craning their necks to keep their eyes on you for a moment longer, besotted by you.

It was strange to be stood in Autumn after all of the conflicted tales you had heard from your family of its inhabitants and leaders, but as you walked through the halls and toward the noise, you'd never disagreed with anything more in your entire life.

Eris was tired.

It had been weeks of non-stop celebration, and all he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep. Each day had been full of meeting his new advisors, of performing the duties required of him, and each night had been another celebration, another visit from a differing court to acknowledge his title.

He sat slumped in his throne, two hounds sat to attention either side of him and his leg was thrown up of the ball of the arm, nearly slipping off more times than he could count on account of his weariness.

It was the last night of his celebrations, and he had saved the softest visit for last. Thesan never really cared for such things, he was wise and polite, and would engage in whatever conversation was needed of him, Eris was thankful that he had asked the lowest maintenance High Lord to visit last. It would mean an early night at least.

Thesan's arrival had been announced, he had glided through the dark oak doors with a woman on his arm and Eris had found his gaze floating to her with his mouth slightly agape.

The woman before him was the most serene thing he had ever seen, soft pools of colour that he couldn't quite name drifted up the widen aisle and met his own and he inhaled sharply. The dancing lanterns bent toward you and he found himself straightening his posture in his seat, his crown of golden leaves dipping to his brow. The dress she wore complimented her perfectly, layers of pale pink and blue clashing in a symphonic cascade, the gold halo on the back of her head making him truly think he had stepped into the realms of heaven. The sun pecked skin, the sultry calm eyes, her oh so kissable lips and the way she moved about with such elegance and grace.

Thesan wore her proudly on his arm, but not the pride of a lover who clearly had the most incredible creature in the room to call his own, but the pride of a friend, of a confidant.

Light curled around her, and every head turned to peer at the angel before their eyes, murmuring of her beauty and asking one another who she was and where she had came from.

The High Lord of Dawn stopped just before the dais and dipped into a bow, one that she mirrored with her own low curtsey before they both rose to their feet.

Golden light shrouded his vision and he felt every nerve and cell burn to touch her, invisible tendrils of shining thread extended from his chest and licked at her fingers, and he felt gravity shift from beneath him, as if every axis now led him to her like a compass pointing forever north. Eris was too infatuated to hear Thesan's congratulations, the muffled voice of the Lord only becoming clear when he had began to introduce her.

"This is Y/N, an emissary of the Night Court, she is currently residing in Dawn and I thought it be wise to bring her."

Eris knew who you were, he had heard many things of your power and grace, of your sass and determination, all from the lips of Cassian and Azriel who quipped to one another countless times in his presence how you wouldn't like a certain thing either of them did once the news would reach you.

You were the only one of them that had intrigued him enough to want to meet you, but he had never been given the opportunity to do so.

"Y/N," your name fell from his lips and it felt like the only right thing he could ever say, he hadn't taken his whisky amber eyes off of you, and you hadn't taken your eyes off of him either, more in astonishment than anything else, "Welcome, please make yourself at home," because it will be your home, he watched your chest rise and fall in equal breaths, too consumed with your scent of lavender and chamomile with notes of rich honey to notice his hounds approaching you.

Most beings were terrified of his hounds, of him, and all he did was watch you in surprise as you knelt down and placed your fingers between their ears, scratching that spot he knew they loved all too well with a grin pulling at your lips. The hounds rolled onto their backs and you patted their stomachs softly, giggling at their tongues as they flopped out the sides of their mouths.

"Thank you for your hospitality, your home is wonderful."

"I'm glad you think so," you looked up to meet his warm gaze and felt the bumps rise on your arms, but you didn't hide away from him, "You should see the gardens, they're truly a spectacle."

"I'd be honoured, High Lord."

"Eris," he told you curtly but not at all with aggression, "Call me Eris."

A hum sounded from your chest and you rose to your feet, "Right," you smoothed down the skirt of your dress, "Eris."

"You reek of Summer," Eris had been leaning against the doorframe of Fir Manor, waiting for you to winnow onto his lawn, and you were on time, as always.

Flipping him off, Eris tilted his head back and roared with laughter as you sauntered around him and into the home that he had placed you in whenever you deigned him worthy enough to visit, whisps of sea salt and sand filled his lungs and he shuddered at the scent, it certainly complimented you well.

Three months had passed since he had first met you, and he had to conjure up every excuse possible to get you to return to Autumn and stay in his private residence. Eris was aware that you had no idea that you were his mate, but he didn't mind, the ignorance to the bond had allowed you to let him into your soul in ways that no one else could, not even Azriel.

Eris knew of what Azriel had done to you, you had confided in him one night after one of Azriel's letters had made it to you and he found you crying in your room. Eris had burnt the damn thing into ash and watched it float away in the Autumn breeze without even a pang of guilt.

Autumn had begun to feel more like home than Velaris had, you had chosen to return to Fir Manor over your own home in the City of Starlight more times than not. Eris had lost count of how many times he had found you wandering through the labyrinth of hedges with his hounds, with one of Helion's books from the Day Court library curled between your fingers.

For the first time in what felt like his entire life, Eris felt at home, he felt at peace, and even just knowing that you were somewhere in Autumn, whether that be the gardens of his home or somewhere in town, brought him untold serenity. It was no secret that Autumn people had been the worst looked after, Beron didn't care much for them and Eris had confided in you that he wanted to make a difference, that he wanted the perception of Autumn to be one of rich knowledge and peace. It was something that he knew you worked hard to bring to Dawn, and he wanted it in his court after hearing the stories of how you had the capability of transforming lives, not like he doubted it for one moment.

Eris had given you everything you had needed to advance the education of his people, from funds to time to gather the perfect materials to give to the teachers you had sourced. You had spent hours alone with each one, teaching them what you knew with the help of Helion's personal books which he had graciously allowed you to borrow, knowing of your desire to make the world a brighter place.

"How is Tarquin?" Eris had asked you once he had closed the door behind your entrance, entering the living room where had a fire roaring and tea awaiting you.

Sighing, you flopped down onto the sofa, the plush pillows of rich red velvet wrapping around you, you looked tired, it had been a chaotic couple of weeks for you, spending time with Helion and his inventors, checking in at the schools you had erected in Dawn, and doing your best to fix the damage dealt by the unfortunate happenings in Summer when Feyre and Rhys had last visited, all whilst dedicating your time to bettering Autumn with Eris by your side.

"He's fine," you waved him off, your eyes had drifted closed and Eris cocked his head at you, noting the tiredness laced in your skin and the tight shoes still on your feet. You hated summer fashion, the too loose clothing and tight pumps that made your feet blister.

Eris moved to you and perched on the edge of the dark oaken coffee table, taking your feet in his lap and removing your shoes to find throbbing red blisters screaming up at him, warmth spread to his fingertips as he worked his digits into your skin, soothing the anger than lay beneath and smirking at your soft moans, "You need to rest."

"Can't," you mumbled back to him, he knew his touch massaging into the balls of your feet were sending you to sleep, "Too much to do," your words were quiet and your eyelids had flitted open to gaze at him.

Eris had determined then that you were so tired that you didn't realise how dark the skies were beyond the windows, that you didn't hear the faint chirp of the crickets who sang to fill the void that was night, "Come on," he scooped you up into his arms and smiled when you didn't protest to his touch, you never had but every time you allowed him a little bit closer to you, it made his day.

The High Lord sat down and positioned you on his lap, your back was nestled into the cushions at the corner of the piece of furniture and his arm was draped around you, his hand working circles into your scalp and you sighed with content, nuzzling into his chest and focusing on the sound of his voice as he read to you, his voice and the soft crackling of the fire that cooed you into slumber.

It had become a thing, Eris reading you to sleep like a child, and then you would awake in your bed and feel that empty space beside you, you'd frown at it, but then you'd remember that Eris was the male who would read you to sleep and tuck you into bed after warming your sheets with his heavenly fire to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.

You could never admit it to him for fear of rejection, but Eris had slowly been putting you back together, piece by piece hour by hour, and you weren't sure if he even knew it, but you were eternally thankful to the male who put you before all else.

It had been months and months of heart to hearts, of you telling him of your deepest fears and you broken heart, and him telling you that he was scared that he would never be enough to pull his court out of his fathers tyrannical shadow. You had both cried to one another, and you had both put the other back together.

It hand been months of late night garden strolls and morning visits to the bakery he had introduced you to, he had allowed you into advisory meetings, you truly cared about his court and there was no one he trusted more than you.

You wouldn't be healed without him, you wouldn't be ready to really leave Azriel behind if it wasn't for Eris telling you how worthy you were of the life you so desperately desired.

You had to thank him, show him how grateful you were.

You knew that day had been particularly hard for him, you could feel it in your bones, you could feel his exhaustion soaring through the skies and settle in your body.

That afternoon had been spent slaving away in the kitchen, the same one he had always insisted that he cook in despite your attempts to convince him otherwise. The table was full of candles and a freshly cracked open bottle of red wine from his favourite section in the cellar, you had dressed in a deep brown dress that hung from your shoulders and swept along the floor, and had everything plated by the time he walked through the door, shushing the excitement of his hounds that jumped up against his midriff.

Eris was exhausted like you knew he was, he didn't really acknowledge what you had done, assuming that you had just ordered one of the chefs at the Forest House to drop off dinner for you both since he had made it clear that you shouldn't cook to which you had always quipped that you were actually quite the chef if he'd just trust you.

"This smells so good," his hand grazed against your hip as you moved to take the seat opposite him.

The room smelt divine, of honey and ripe jammy figs, of salted butter and fresh vegetables. It had him salivating. Without another word he dug into his meal, driving his fork into the mound of roasted vegetables and honey cured meats and passing it through his lips. Eris gasped, dropping the utensil that went clattering against the table cloth and you frowned at him as his eyes went wild, as the shade of whisky darkened into molten desire, "Did you make this?" Eris spoke through chews before swallowing harshly.

"Yes, you've had a long day. I knew you'd be tired and I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me. I just thought it would be nice," you had curled into yourself, feeling stupid for thinking that you would ever be appreciated, and Eris felt that embarrassment flow down the bond that you had unknowingly ignited.

"Y/N, no, I love it, it's so sweet of you. I just," he felt his soul roll in the delight of the accidental acceptance and he looked over at you, you were frowning in confusion at him.

Eris didn't want you to find out until you were ready, until the bond had snapped for you too, but you had unknowingly accepted it and he couldn't stop the lust from consuming him. His eyes roamed over you, over your perfectly lit face from the candlelight, over your collarbones and shoulders, over the mounds of your chest and the faint peak of your nipples that poked against the fabric.

"Eris? What's wrong?"

"I didn't want you to find out like this," you furrowed your brow deeper, folding your napkin in your lap as you waited for him to continue. Eris was struggling to form words, he was picturing your dress lying in shreds on the floor and your whimpers of extraordinary pleasure, he clenched his thighs together, trying to ignore his growth between his legs for long enough to give you the answer you needed, "We're mates, Y/N."

The penny had dropped and your gaze snapped to the table, to the plates of food, and then to him, "Mates? But I, I had no idea. Eris, gods, I'm so sorry," you had rose to your feet, not knowing where to go next or what to do as you realised that you had accepted the bond.

Then it all made sense, how you knew what he was feeling without truly feeling it, how his touch always soothed you and how his words brought peace to your screaming mind. Autumn had felt like home from the moment you had landed on that lawn all those months ago, and now you knew why, because it was your home.

Eris hadn't wanted to tell you, and when you thought of it, you couldn't remember a time he had spoken to you about a female, or heard a whisper about him bedding anyone. Eris was always at your side whenever you or he commanded it, he was always reluctant to leave you in the mornings, and you were the first stop every evening when you were in Autumn. It was you. Eris was waiting for you.

All of that realisation surged to the centre of your essence, and Eris could have sworn that you had began to glow before his eyes. Eris watched you as you closed your eyes and inhaled sharply as you hand snapped to your chest and closed over your heart.

Eris stood, he reached for you and took your elbows in his hands, his scent had always intoxicated you, but now it wove into the crevasses of your own, moulding with everything that you were and wanted to be.

Without a word, you stood on your tiptoes and pressed your lips to his, moaning against them softly as his fingers found themselves wound within your hair. Eris let out a guttural groan and pushed you backward until the backs of your legs hit the table ledge.

"It was you, I knew from the moment I saw you," Eris rasped between kisses, lifting you onto the table with ease and crashing the candlesticks and plates to the floor, marring the centrepiece of fresh petals into a river on the surface of the tablecloth, "I couldn't even think about wanting anyone else, there's no one I want more than you, Y/N. Nothing I need more than you."

Eris' fingers dipped into the straps of your dress, hooking them around his digits and tugging the garment down your arms, he pressed his clothed chest to your front and kissed you deeply, cupping your face in his hands whilst you unbuttoned his cream shirt, running your hands down the taut muscle of his chest.

"I have spent every day of the last six months loving you, falling more in love with you each day. I cannot breathe when you are not near. I cannot think straight when you aren't by my side. I cannot live without you for another second. If it's not you then it's not anyone."

The words you had always longed to hear fell from his lips and you leaned into him life he was the support holding your life in its grasp. His red hair fell over his face onto your forehead and his amber orbs pierced the shield you had allowed him to shatter, you didn't ever need to protect yourself around him, he saw you for everything you were and never dared to judge you.

"I was broken when I found you, I was trying so hard to put myself back together on my own. But my pride didn't stand a chance when it met you, you broke down every wall and insecurity, you made me feel cherished and valued, you brought me back to life and healed my broken soul with every sentence you read to me and every touch. I never thought I was allowed to be happy until you, I thought that having you as my friend was better than not having you at all. Every tear I have shed you have wiped away, every admission you have allowed me to hear I have basked in the embers of your trust. I accept you, Eris, I'm yours."

A soft whimper fell from his lips and then he was on you again, clawing your dress from your body and not saying a word against you as you ripped open his shirt and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his leather pants. Eris grasped your thighs and lifted you into his arms, not once breaking your kiss as he laid you both on the ground before the fire.

"You're so perfect," he muttered against your lips, pulling away for a moment to run his hands down your body, over your breasts and hardened nipples, down your stomach and thighs, inscribing the details of your scars to the diary locked in his mind, "I'm not dreaming?"

Your unbound hair swayed against your back as you sat up, taking his face in your hands and running your fingers through his hair, "It's not a dream, Eris. I'm here and I want to be yours. Forever."

Eris lay you back onto the ground, his kiss ignited every single nerve in your body, your body and soul were screaming in yearning, screaming so loud that you were starting to feel the pain of the longing. He travelled downward, swirling his tongue around your peaked nipples and your back arched at the sensation of his lips nipping and sucking on your skin. Continuing on his path, his lips dragged down your stomach, paying special attention to your sides which he knew were extra sensitive.

Before you knew what was happening, his head was nestled between your thighs that he had pried open and purred at you to keep them wide like a good girl.

Then there was his tongue, his tongue that was warm and wet, his tongue that teased your clenching entrance before moving upward and flicking softly against your clit, he encased it in his mouth and moaned, the vibrations of him sending shockwaves flowing through your body. Arching your back against the wood and thrusting yourself deeper into his mouth, you hands fisted in his hair as his tongue worked you, his finger ghosted around your entrance and pushed inside of you and you gasped at the intrusion. Eris moaned again, sucking on that bundle of nerves that had you seeing stars as his fingers slid tantalisingly slowly in and out of you, curling upward with every insertion and caressing that rough spot deep within you.

You exploded, clenching your legs around his head and crying out when his tongue did little to relent the pace it had found on you, only slowing when your legs were shaking and body jolting through the aftermath of your orgasm.

Eris hovered over you and kissed you, allowing you to taste yourself on his lips, "Let me know which stars you prefer. The ones above you, or the ones I make you see," he pumped his cock in his hand and lined it up with you, not taking his eyes off of you as he pushed into your quivering walls, he pressed his lips to your forehead and withdrew himself from you to only fill you again moments later.

The growl that came from him was enough to send you into a frenzy, all of your sense had left you the moment he had laid you on the ground and crawled on top of you, all you wanted was him filling you up with his cum and fucking it back into you repeatedly until he surely put an heir in your belly. The thought was filthy, and you loved it.

"I love you," you whispered as Eris fucked you into oblivion, your hips were surely bruised beneath his iron grip as he slammed into you over and over again, the tip of his cock reaching places within you that you didn't even know existed.

The thrum of your fulfilled mating bond hummed around you, shrouding you in that golden ethereal shimmer. A thin layer of sweat coated you both but he didn't stop the rolling of his hips, he didn't stop kissing you or whispering to you how perfect you were, how much he had dreamt of the moment where you accepted him.

"I would have waited forever for you, you complete me, Y/N," he suckled on the skin of your neck, imprinting his love on your body, "You make me feel alive, my soul is yours. It's yours."

"Please Eris," his fingers clenched around your throat and his hips slammed into you faster, he didn't choke you, he only kissed you deep enough so that you forgot whose air you were breathing.

Eris' movements were growing sloppy, his grunts were breathless and you knew he was close as your walls clenched around him, "I'll do everything in my power to make sure life wraps around you as gently as possible, your time on this planet will be as peaceful as it can be. I will love you in this life and each one we meet in after. It's you, Y/N. It's you."

For the second time that night, you saw stars, bright all consuming starlight as your soul sang, and you definitely preferred the ones he made you see.

The sapphire on your finger glistened in the sunlight as you stood on the stone deck of the garden, smiling fondly at the memories that had stolen your attention away from the innocent laughter sounding a few metres away.

Arms wrapped around you, cradling your swelled stomach, orange and pine filled your senses and made you feel dizzy as your mate peppered kisses along your shoulder, "Do you know how much I love you?" Eris' voice was rough and deep, a purring tone laced within it as he smirked against your skin.

Relaxing into him, you hummed, "I think I might have forgotten, remind me?"

Eris chuckled against your skin and turned you to face him, being careful not to disturb the sleeping babe cradled in your stomach waiting to be welcomed into the world, "I love you in ways that you don't even realise, the way you love and care for others, the way you are attentive to every issue, the way you stayed composed through hardship, the way your soul lights up the world. The list of ways I love you is endless."

Eris had made good on his promise to take care of you, to light up your life and give you the world you deserved so much. He had made you his High Lady and you had changed the world, and he took no credit for that. That was all you.

Laughter made your head drift to the side, a love sick smile on your face as you watched Feyre and Rhys run about the garden chasing Nyx and your little red haired wonder, Aster, with Lucien in tow. Aster looked so much like him, the red hair and freckled skin, he had Eris' nose and cheeky smile, but his eyes, they belonged to you, pools of infantile joy that made you thank the Mother daily.

Nesta had cried when she had met Aster, they all had, she had cried when she had handed you Azriel's final letter. A letter that felt like a true apology, but more than that, he was telling you how happy he was for you, how he was so happy that you were finally living a life that deserved your light, that deserved every graceful touch of your soul. You knew he had cried on the parchment from the blotches wrinkled into the surface. Azriel was happy for you. Azriel finally understood that what you needed wasn't him, but someone who would see you for everything you were and treat you as an equal.

It’s two in the morning and I can’t sleep because every time I close my eyes I see versions of us that could have happened if you didn’t leave. This is the last time you will hear from me. I love you, y/n. I’m sorry.

You had cried for him that night, your final mourning whilst Eris pressed kisses into your hair and you held your gift of love in your arms.

Your heart was full and bursting, Eris' hand caressed your cheek and his other rubbed gentle circles into the surface of your rounded stomach, "How's my girl?" Eris' eyes were brimming with happiness, the happiness that neither of you thought you deserved.

"She's ready to meet you," you spoke softly, allowing his love to drown you, "I realised something, about us," he pulled his gaze upward, the sound of your son laughing filling your ears and bringing a serene smile to your face, "You are my everything, you are my whole life. The bond we have is all I need and knowing you love me fills me with a peace I've never known. It makes me want to melt into you and stay there forever. I'm so glad Azriel broke me, if he hadn't then I never would have found you, and we would have never had this," Aster giggled as Lucien swept him up in his arms, "I love you, and I know that wherever we go after this world, in whatever life we end up living, I will always find my way back to you. Always."

Authors Note

Oh my heart :((

The happily ever after I needed. Ngl I teared up lol.

[flufftober]

🌸🍀 Hello and welcome to our (first) Flufftober Spring Edition 🌸🍀

SURPRISE 😁

Yes, we've decided that one month of the year simply isn't enough anymore! So we would like to fill two weeks in March with as much fluff as possible 🥰 for that to happen, we present you with 14 prompts, some of them neutral, some very much sping-themed.

How does this work?

Pretty much like our regular Flufftober event in October, so you'll find all the common rules and info below the cut. Contrary to the big event though, this one here only runs for two weeks instead of the entire month, and we set the date from March 11th to March 24th! So prompt one is NOT supposed to be posted on March 1st but instead on March 11th! Prompt two is for March 12th, prompt 3 for March 13th, and so on...

Since this is a smaller prompt list, you also won't find any prompt extras to switch these out with, sorry. Maaaybe if this event is a success, we'll think about changing that in upcoming years 😉

Below the cut, you'll find all our rules, posting info, and all the prompts in writing. If you have any more questions, please feel free to send us asks 🥰

Friends, we so hope you love this surprise and that the prompts may inspire a lot of fluffy creations! We wish you a great start to the new year and as always

Happy Creating 🥳

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(Due to previous asks, we made sure to add more points to this section - while they're not new rules, they're new to this list, so you'll find them colored green)

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Prompts

1. New Beginnings

2. Banter, Joking, Fun

3. Spring Cleaning

4. “Let me take care of you.”

5. Honey & Bees

6. Sharing a Blanket

7. Giving someone a Present

8. Breakfast in Bed

9. Daisies

10. Iced Beverage

11. Enjoying the Fresh Air

12. Claiming, Clingy, Possessive

13. “It’s still too cold.” - “No, it’s not.”

14. Putting down Roots

[malfoyswand]

𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬

pairing: draco malfoy x reader

summary: your best friend, draco malfoy, plans a surprise to ask you to the yule ball.

word count: 1.8k

genre: fluff

warnings: none, just soft draco :)

author's note: thank you to the lovely reader who requested this, it's my first request so i really hope i did this justice! also yes, i got a little inspired by that one gilmore girls episode with the 1000 flowers for the proposal lol

➪ masterlist | requests

"Mate, I think you're overthinking this."

Blaise Zabini reported his opinion of the matter, but Draco Malfoy barely comprehended a word he had spoken. The only things on his mind were (Y/N) and of course, the bloody Yule Ball.

If he was honest with himself, Draco was at least partially excited for the dance. He knew it was meant to be one of the greatest nights he may ever experience while at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure if he would. The dance was only a week away and somehow, Draco found himself without a date.

If anything, the Yule Ball was making him nervous.

"I'm not, Zabini!" He spoke quite loudly, then softened his voice as he realized students had looked their way. "This needs to be perfect, alright? This is (Y/N) we're talking about, you know how I feel about her."

Blaise couldn't help but sigh, with a smile on his lips as the two of them walked to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was quite a feat for Malfoy to tell Blaise that he had romantic feelings for his best friend, (Y/N). Blaise knew that Draco dreaded being seen as anything but tough to the world, the fact that a girl had this much control over his emotions spoke volumes. 

"Exactly my point, Malfoy. She's been your best friend since first year, I doubt she would ever be disappointed or angry with whatever you come up with. Besides, she's just a girl. Just ask her to the ball like how you would ask a girl out on a date."

"Er.. well.." Draco began to speak, the hand that wasn't holding his books scratching the back of his neck. The two of them finally stopped walking besides the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Blaise's eyes widening as he tried to hide his laughter.

"You're telling me that Draco Malfoy has never been on a date before? Merlin!" His laughter echoed down the chamber, earning him a scoff and a playful shove inside the classroom by Draco. "Sorry, sorry. I just thought that with every other girl in this school begging to be your date to the dance, you would've taken at least one of them on a date." His voice was spoken quietly, careful that the other students wouldn't hear their conversation.

Draco shook his head as the two of them sat down in their seats, pulling out their books and parchment. "No. I've turned them all down. They're just not her, know what I mean?"

"You're down bad, mate." Blaise smirked slightly to himself, whispering the only advice he could really offer his friend. "Listen, girls like being asked out in a personal way. You know the kind of things (Y/N) likes, all you have to do is make it special and she'll be swooning."

"Right." Draco mumbled to himself as Professor Moody began to teach his lesson. However, he certainly wasn't thinking about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Instead, Draco glanced over to where you sat across the room. He knew you better than anyone, yet he had no idea how to ask you to the Yule Ball.

That was when the idea struck him. The new bag you bought last week caught his eyes, he noticed the way the bag had intricate floral designs sewn into it. A memory replayed in Draco's mind. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he wrote on a spare piece of parchment, folding it into a paper crane before sending it your way.

Your hands caught the paper crane, grinning as you knew exactly who it was from. You tried to ignore the way your heart seemed to skip a beat each time you saw one fly towards you. On the piece of parchment, it read:

Meet me at the Astronomy Tower tomorrow morning before breakfast? - D.M.

You lifted his gaze to meet his awaiting gray eyes, your head nodding before turning back to the professor's lesson. Draco did the same, but his mind was already running through a mental checklist on all the supplies he had to get to make his idea come to life.

The next morning, you woke up wondering why in Godric's name you decided to meet up with Draco this early in the morning. The sun was just starting to rise outside the window, and none of your other roommates were even awake. You groaned as quietly as you could, practically tiptoeing around the dorm bedroom to avoid waking everyone else.

As you brushed your hair in the girls' lavatory, you felt the butterflies in your stomach begin to flutter around again. You cursed yourself under your breath as you tried your best to focus on your breathing.

Lately, being near Draco Malfoy has always made you more excited than you really ought to be. Of course, he was your best friend so you had always been excited. But now, even one glance at him caused a warmth to glow within your chest. The feeling was a foreign one.

As you walked through the castle towards the Astronomy Tower, that warm feeling in your chest arose again as you caught sight of him. He was pacing near the entrance door, mumbling as if he was rehearsing something. You cleared your throat as you walked towards him, Draco stopping in his tracks.

"(Y/N)." He spoke your name, his lips forming into a soft smile. "Thanks for meeting up with me, I know it's a bit early for you." His tone was playful, he knew you were not much of a morning person. 

"About that, why so early in the morning, Malfoy?" You gently shoved his shoulder, he only laughed in response. He opened the Astronomy Tower door entrance, his hand indicating for you to step inside first. 

"You will see."

You walked up the long set of stairs up the tower. You couldn't see the fact that Draco was a nervous wreck behind you, his hands having to wipe themselves on his slacks to remove the sweat from his palms. As much as you hated to wake up this early in the morning, you knew the views up from the tower would be gorgeous. Draco knew that the Astronomy Tower was, quite honestly, your favorite place to admire the landscape.

“Oh my..” Your body stopped in its tracks once the two of you reached the highest level of the tower. Your eyes couldn’t take in your surroundings fast enough it seemed.

It was as if every surface of the tower was covered in red roses. Somehow, someone must have placed hundreds of roses in vases, scattering them around almost every corner of the room. The light shining into the tower only amplified their beauty, it was as if each petal seemed to come alive as the sun continued to rise.

“D-Did you know these flowers were here?” You stuttered as you started to pace around the room slowly, your fingertips grazing upon almost every petal there was. Their beauty took your breath away.

“I did.” Draco bit his bottom slightly as he watched you, desperate to know your reaction. He couldn’t tell if you liked or hated them. “They’re for you, actually.”

Your eyes darted from the roses you were admiring to Draco, your body facing his. Although you were truly flattered, the idea of him doing all of this for you made your head spin with so many questions. You knew Draco Malfoy better than he may ever know himself, you had never seen him do anything this nice or extravagant for anyone before. 

“You said a couple of weeks ago that you wish spring would come along so you can watch the flowers bloom again. Of course, it’s only December, as we can all see.” Draco answered your question, a slight chuckle falling from his lips as he pointed outside of the tower. More snowflakes began to fall, covering the castle with even more snow.

“So, I thought to bring the flowers to you. And I only assumed you liked roses, from your bag.” His eyes went from watching the snowflakes outside to your bag that was decorated with tiny red roses around it. Since when did Draco notice something so mundane, like a new tote bag?

“I just.. don’t know what to say.” Your voice came out as a whisper. Him decorating the entire Astronomy Tower with roses, just because you said you missed the spring and summer flowers, was entirely insane. You couldn’t come up with the words, so all you could do was step forward to hug him tightly.

Within an instant, you felt Draco’s arms wrap around your waist, his head resting in the crook of your neck. He closed his eyes, smiling softly to himself out of relief and joy. He was relieved and happy that you had liked the surprise, but he knew what he must do, even though it terrified him.

“That’s not the end of the surprise.” He said as he slowly pulled away from the hug. All of a sudden, it was as the boy became aware of every heightened emotion he was feeling. “But I must do this properly..”

Your eyebrows raised as you watched him turn around, picking up one of the red roses from their vases. If you weren’t convinced you were dreaming at the moment, you would have sworn you saw a small bit of sweat on Draco’s forehead as he looked towards you.

“I-er..” He took a step forward towards you, any closer and your bodies would have made contact. With a deep breath to calm himself, he handed the rose to you. “Would you want to go to the Yule Ball with me, as more than just a friend?”

Your lips slightly parted as you took the rose from him. You had slowly been falling for your best friend for the past four years, but you had convinced yourself that the Slytherin Prince would never fall for you. For four years, you had thought that he would never settle for you, when every other girl in this school begged for him just to look their way.

Once you realized you had failed to give an answer, you closed your mouth and smiled in his direction. “I would love to, Draco.” You responded, stepping forward once more to close the gap between you two. You pressed your lips softly to his cheek.

When you pulled away, you realized that Draco’s cheeks were slightly pink as his eyes widened. You couldn’t help but laugh slightly at the sight. Draco Malfoy was notorious for being the calm, collected one of the two of you. Seeing him as, essentially, a nervous wreck over you caused that warmth to be felt in your chest again.

“Who would have thought I could make Draco Malfoy this nervous?” You joked, attempting to calm his apparent nerves.

“Who said I was nervous?” He scoffed just as playfully, grabbing a few more roses to hand to you. You took them in your hands, smelling their pleasant aroma as you followed him back down the staircase.

“Malfoy, you were just as red as these roses.”

[lovelybrooke]

So I recently read most of @tiyoin work for their Social Anxiety Yuu series, and I highly suggest you checking their work out, all of it not just their Social Anxiety Yuu stuff. However, it inspired a thought for a au, so sit back this might be a long one.

When it comes to twisted wonderland, I feel like we don't talk enough about the mental repercussions of being transported to a world so drastically different from your own. It's not just the magic, it's the technology, the cultures, the way of life. It's all so much that I feel like would be a lot to get used to. So unlike in game, where most characters welcoming Yuu with open arms, I feel like it would make a lot more sense to be ostracized by a lot of people. I know Yuu already is in game, but that's usually from side characters.

In tiyoin's work, Yuu and reader are separate characters who were friends before being transported to NRC. While Yuu is more charismatic and outgoing, reader is more awkward and aloof. Where my idea differs though is that reader isn't treated as kindly by the students compared to Yuu.

Maybe it's because reader is more awkward, or maybe it's because it takes too long for reader to understand this new world that they were thrown into randomly, but for some reason people just don't seem to like them like they like Yuu. Reader is never directly bullied, but they're made fun of, teased constantly, and never fully welcomed in like their friend. It doesn't help that Yuu usually gets all the recognition for saving the school from Overblots even though reader is just as much responsible for saving them.

Yuu themself doesn't seem to mind this as much, not because they're stuck up or hate reader or something, but because they want to keep reader to themself. I love people who characterized Yuu as some sort of puppeteer who controls everything, and I could totally see NRC actually liking reader at the beginning, only for Yuu to get jealous and start spreading rumors about reader so that they will be their only comfort.

I don’t know if I’ll end up wring this, since it I don’t really have this fully fleshed out. Feel free to send in twst request/ ideas if you want. And make to check out @tiyoin and their work.

[gojowsddy]

Tipsy Invitation

𖨆♡𖨆 Rafayel x fem!reader

: ̗̀➛ you planned to host a party for your friends at Rafayel's place, but everyone has cancel due to the sudden heavy snow. The party decor is pointless now, and you end up trapped by the storm in Rafayel's home...(inspired by rafayel's veiled whisper five star memory)

: ̗̀➛ TW: nsfw content, bondage, porn with plot, riding, fingering

: ̗̀➛ word count: 2.8k+

We spent countless hours decorating Rafayel's house for a party that turned out to be a complete waste of time due to the blizzard. You are sitting on the floor in front of the couch. You can feel the weight of exhaustion bearing down on you as you wearily take a sip of the delicious wine. You gaze out the window, watching the snow falling and wondering how long the storm will last. 

"Can this really be a party when it's only us?" You murmured, taking in the tantalising aroma of the cake and red wine wafting through the air.

"You're right. It's a date then." Rafayel's lips curled into a sly smile as he teased.

"Those are two different things...!"

Rafayel chuckles, loving your flustered reaction, "Hold off on the alcohol for now. Didn't you prepare a lot of party games? Shouldn't we play first?"

"They're meant to be played with a lot of people.. I've practised my dance moves-"

As Rafayel strolls over to the radio, you notice a mischievous glint in his eyes. A soft, soothing melody emanates from the speakers, and he extends his hand towards you.

As the music fills the air, Rafayel pulls you close, his arms wrapping around your waist. Moving in perfect harmony, he leads you across the dance floor. With each step, his touch sends shivers down your spine, and you can feel your breaths mingling together, the heady aroma of red wine. It's as if you are under a spell, lost in the moment, lost in each other. The world around you fades away, leaving just the two of you, joined together by an unbreakable thread of intoxication.

"Is this how you imagined the party would be?"

"...I don't know."

"Well, it's exactly what I had in mind. Buuut you'll probably feel a little queasy after drinking and spinning around, yeah?"

His hands rest on the small of your back, and his warmth seeps through the fabric of my clothes.

You can't tell if the heat is because of our dance or is it because of him.

You can only think about the scent of red wine.

You can feel his shirt against your body and his slow caresses on the back of your hand. They all seem to overwhelm your senses. Making you feel the dampening wetness growing in your panties.

"I'm feeling... a little thirsty," you muttered, trying to ignore the arousal that is burning inside you. Rafayel beckoned you towards the window and gestured over to the mini-fridge. He starts rummaging through its contents, searching for the perfect drink to quench our thirst.

"What do you wanna drink? There is some sweet stuff. Or maybe something light? Oh, I see sparkling water here."

"How about you mix one of your special drinks? I remember we've stocked up on plenty of cocktail ingredients." Your heart skips a beat as Rafayel looks my way, a mischievous grin playing on his lips while he tilts his head.

"My dear guest, alcohol isn't gonna make you less thirsty. You'll just be more drunk."

"Then make me something refreshing and won't get me drunker, please."

"If you insist. I'll do my best. Give me a moment."

Rafayel's hands moved with the precision of a seasoned bartender, as he grabbed two glass bottles and gave them a once-over. You found yourself captivated by the way he scooped some ice cubes and added them to the shaker. His hand closed around the shaker, holding it tightly as he gave it a vigorous shake. You couldn't help but notice how attractive his hands were. As you were lost in thought, a colourful, icy beverage appeared before you, snapping yourself back to reality. 

"What's this?"

"It's sparkling fruit juice. And the best part? It quenches your thirst without getting you drunk. The bad news is that there is no alcohol."

"I ordered a cocktail. If there's no cocktail then what's the point."

"Sorry, sorry, the bartender here plays it by ear." Rafayel places a hand over his chest, leaning slightly to look apologetic. All the while, he wears a smile clearly for the spectacle.

"Well it's delicious, but it's still not what I ordered. If you can't make me another drink, you need to compensate me in a way that makes me happy." You decided to play along with his game. With a fierce expression on your face, you pushed your finger against Rafayel's chest, causing him to lose his balance and stumble backwards into a nearby chair. Breathing heavily, you watched him nudge a present away with his foot before taking my hand and giving me a troubled look.

"How should I make it up to you, my dear customer~?"

"Well..." Suppressing a grin, you reach for the satin ribbon that's been carelessly draped over the back of the chair. You move slowly around Rafayel, taking in his every detail. The way his broad shoulders fill out his crisp white shirt, the hint of stubble on his chiselled jawline, and the intense look in his purple-pink eyes. As you make a few more rounds, you start to wrap the ribbon around his torso, feeling the heat emanating from his body. The crimson colour of the ribbon is almost mesmerising, darker than the rich wine you had been drinking earlier.

"I choose you."

You hold the delicate ribbon, trying to tie it into a perfect bow. That's when you notice Rafayel's piercing gaze on you, and your heart races with anticipation. With a sly smile, he breaks the silence with a soft chuckle, "All right. Consider it compensation. I'm yours for the taking."

"...Why do I feel like I'm walking into a trap? I can't blindly accept this gift." The ribbons fall onto Rafayel. But because you denied him, an invisible tension grabs him. A strange playfulness is ignited in his gaze like he's about to pounce.

"You haven't even started unwrapping me. Am I gonna be thrown away just like that?"

"Oh, but I've seen this gift before. I don't need to unwrap it to know what it is." 

"Really? You..you think you have me all figured out, do you?"

You realised that there was no need for me to answer the question. It was evident that he already knew the answer and what he was trying to achieve. At that moment, your fingers slowly crept behind the back of the chair, reaching for the stem of a rose that was resting there. Its deep, rich colour reminded me of a fine wine, and you couldn't resist picking it up and twirling it between your fingers.

"Hmm, I wonder where that came from." 

You were sorely tempted to slap the cocky grin right off his face. However, you decided to be somewhat gracious and extend him a bit of kindness for the evening. Taking the rose that was in your hand, you gently rubbed it over Rafayel's sensitive ears, which were visibly flushed with heat. The redness that had overtaken his ears began to spread to his cheeks, creating a vivid flush that was impossible to ignore. You felt a sense of satisfaction at the sight of it.

"mhm..a-always, full of surprises, huh. You're good at catching people off guard." His breath hitched. A whimper escaped him, creating a symphony of desire that wrapped around you like an intoxicating mist. 

You couldn't control the growing wetness in your pants and the anticipation of wanting to just fuck him on the spot was so irresistible. You wanted to tease him more and more. With a rose in your hand, you ran it across his chest, making him feel the petals brush against his clothed skin. You gently rubbed against where his nipples would be.

"n-ngh..mhm...I'm not sure who's suffering more - me or the flower." Rafayel squirmed restlessly on his chair, the soft petals of the rose that he had rubbed to his nipples caused him to release a breathy moan. It was so clear that his nipples were peeking through his shirt. 

"C-can't you be a little more gentle?" His body is lumped restlessly on the chair, struggling to catch his breath while also trying to contain the growing pressure in his crotch. Your gaze follows the visible signs of arousal, starting at his flushed face and moving down to his throbbing cock poking against the fabric of his pants unsuccessfully hiding its desire. He shifts impatiently on the seat, clearly unable to resist the urge any longer. The sight of him struggling with both physical discomfort and overwhelming arousal only adds to your arousal. You can feel your heart rate accelerate as you watch him fidget and fight against the temptation.

"W-worried about b-breaking me? I'm not that fragile." He looked at me with begging eyes. You felt even more excited about the idea of 'breaking' him. However, thoughts lingered about not being enough to reach his satisfaction. 

"Are you still concerned? I'm down for a slow, thorough inspection." 

Your hand reaches around the back of the chair and your face meets with Rafayel, there is a sudden flash of light and a rush of energy that courses through your body. Your lips connect with his as you kiss him deeply inserting your tongue in his mouth, taking full control of his mouth. He feels warm against your skin, almost like it's pulsing with energy.

"All right, that's enough. I'll let you off the hook. Let me untie this - " Your eyes widened seeing that Rafayel grabbed your arm.

"When did you untie yourself?" A lump in your throat blocked you from speaking as your heart started racing so fast. 

"You know there are plenty of old escape techniques on the Internet," Rafayel smirked, dragging your arm, and forcing you to sit on his lap. Your legs were shorter compared to Rafayel's long legs, making you spread your thighs and expose your wet panties. 

Rafayel watches you intently, his gaze locked onto your every move. His cock throbs insistently against your panties. Despite knowing that giving in to your desires would mean submitting fully to Rafayel's control, the thought of riding his hardness is becoming increasingly captivating.

As you continue to struggle against his lap, your hands quickly find their way around Rafayel's neck. Your body starts to force itself to grind harshly onto his lap. 

Your head fell back, your arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Your body forcefully presses against his lap, grinding with intensity. Your actions grow more desperate, as you feel yourself descending further into a state of bliss.

Rafayel's body was writhing with desire, his moans of pleasure echoing through the room. His eyes were dark and filled with lust, his cheeks flushed with red and the intensity of his need was noticeable. You could feel his stare on you, hot and hungry.

"pleasepleaseplease....raff...I want more-" you whined. Now it's Rafayel's turn to bring you down.

He slowly unzipped his jeans and lowered his boxers. As he freed his cock, you couldn't help but gasp in surprise at the sheer size of it. It was thick and throbbing, with a deep red tip that looked almost painful and the precum leaking down his tip. Your own body trembled with anticipation as he began to stroke himself, his movements slow and deliberate.

With a low growl, Rafayel closed the distance between you, his hand still working his shaft. He pressed his body against yours, his lips hot on your neck as he whispered dirty promises in your ear. You could feel his erection pressing against you, and you knew that you wanted nothing more than to feel him inside me.

"please..r-rafayel..please.." you begged him desperately.

"hah..where did your confidence go..beg for it," he has that cocky grin again and you don't want to fall for it but you wanted him so bad right now.

"please..raf..fuck me...I want your dick inside me...make me your cumdump..pleasepleaseplease-" As he moved closer to you, you could feel your heart racing with anticipation. Your mind was a blur, unable to focus on anything except the overwhelming desire that was coursing through your body.

He snooks his fingers underneath your skirt, squishing one of your asscheeks before slapping it harshly. With his hand wrapped securely on your waist while his other hand plays with your panties. Pulling them side to side aiming for your sensitive area, making you attempt to close your thighs.

He brushed his fingers against your pants, pushing them aside to reveal your soaking cunt. His fingers traced along your clit, making you arch your back into him as he continued to rub your clit. It made it more difficult to shut your legs together.

"Here that? It's fucking soaking wet for me." He chuckles, making you bite your lips to not suppress a moan.

He enters both of his fingers into your cunt, you feel a rush of heat flood your body, making it impossible to think straight. You couldn't stop the whine that came out loudly and arched your back even more. In split seconds, Rafayel's fingers sped up his pace thrusting into you harshly, sending waves of pleasure through your body with every movement.

His fingers worked amazing the way he curled the tip of his fingers, successfully finding your g-spot and in seconds you were in a moaning mess, toes curled, head tilted to the side, it was driving you insane.

The silence was only filled with your moans and whines, which got louder every second, and the wet noises coming from your pussy. You begged him to go faster, desperate to reach your climax, but he refused to give you what you wanted. Instead, he pulled his hand away, leaving you gasping for air and trembling with frustration.

"Not gonna let you cum that quick," he said with a cunning smirk on his face. "I'll tell you when you can cum."

The anticipation was almost too much to bear, but you knew that the wait would be worth- 

He thrust his cock into you, leaving you no time to think. You felt a surge of pleasure that left you moaning uncontrollably. It was stretching you out so much and it isn't even halfway in. You felt so full and so stuffed.

You waited for him to do something but he was only staring at your desperate reaction.

"W-what..what are you doing? Please move..plea-" Before you could finish your sentence Rafayel thrust his dick into you, making his dick press against your cervix. Rafayel's sudden movement caught you off guard, causing you to scream.

The sensation sent waves of pleasure throughout your body, and you instinctively arched your back in response to the intense stimulation. Your hands grab a fistful of his shirt trying to resist the pain.

You moaned loudly as you felt the weight of his thick shaft filling you up completely, your tight pussy clenching around his length. 

"I-I...can't..t-take it any more..too f-full-" you couldn't form proper words as Rafayel continues to thrust his dick into you.

"Y-ye-..fuck..yes you can. L-loosen up, will you?" He stutters. Your gummy walls were making him absurd. The way it is sucking him in. The way it tightly suffocates his tip. He wraps his arms around your body, his chin lays on your shoulder and his eyes tightly shut. He just wants to stuff you full with his cum.

Rafayel couldn't control his thoughts. He suddenly manhandles you and forces you to be on the chair. Before you open your mouth to say something, he starts rummaging his dick in you. Forcefully, thrusting all his power into you. Your back is arched in a perfect 'C' shape and your toes are curled as he continuously fucks you hard. You couldn't stop moaning it was so fucking good sogoodsogoodsogood~. With each thrust, you felt yourself getting closer and closer to the edge.

"I-i'm closee...imcloseimclose..please..let me cum..please," you begged. Rafayel could explode right now from the look of your pleading face. 

"Cum."

As Rafayel continued to thrust into you, you felt the string in your belly snap. The sensation was intense, and you couldn't help but close your eyes tightly shut. You were completely lost in the moment, and your body was responding uncontrollably. Your breath became ragged as you called out his name repeatedly, riding the waves of pleasure that coursed through you.

Your chest heaved up and down as you tried to catch your breath, but Rafayel wasn't done yet. He continued to shove himself inside you, his movements becoming more urgent and forceful. His tip pressed against your cervix, a noticeable bulge poking through your abdomen, adding to the intense pleasure you were experiencing.

He was overstimulating you too much, you couldn't help but whine, "T-too much..please..i-its too much.." 

But your pleas fell on deaf ears as Rafayel continues to fuck you to reach his own climax.

As he continued to thrust into you, you felt your body respond in ways you never thought possible. Every nerve ending was on fire, and you were completely lost in the moment. You surrendered yourself to the pleasure, letting it consume you completely.

Finally, with one last thrust, Rafayel reached his own peak, cum squirted all over your stomach and collapsed onto you. You and Rafayel were left panting and gasping for air, your body still sticky and trembling.

"I-I’ll get you back, Rafayel.."

p.s: This is my first smut writing. Please tell me how it is and any tips on improving.

[excalibur-gone-missing]

Paring: jeonghan x fem!reader

Requested: yes [Can you please write something angsty for prince DK? Or if this is too vague, what do you think about a bet au with Jeonghan?] [By anon]

Genre: angst, coworkers to lovers, fluff, fuckboy au, opposites au, bet au

Warning(s): misogyny, jeonghan is an asshole and so is seungcheol, [if you find more pls inform ]

Summary: Jeonghan had plans on never talking to the quite coworker they hired, but like doesn't always pan out the way we want to. But when you add money to the problem, plus both your feelings, you have the perfect recipe for disaster.

Word count: 5.2k

Other works

disclaimer: this is not the exact representation of the subjects in real life. I just use them for my inspiration.

a/n: I request each and every one of you to comment on this fic don't be a silent reader it helps me as an author to understand my readers and i would love to communicate with all of you. Constructive criticism is always welcomed by me so do talk about this fic or send me an ask. Plus, if you loved it enough don't forget to reblog, it will help me reach a larger audience.

a/n 2: i hope it was what you wanted, thanks for the ask btw!

Everyone at the office knew that Jeonghan was a free spirit, he worked hard and partied even harder. He like living his life in the most happening way possible. Be it weekend trips, bike trips to the mountains or staying in the countryside for a week and working remote while enjoying the serenity that comes with it, he was down for anything.

Funnily enough he was referred to as the least energetic person in his friend group. So, one can imagine overzealous they normally were.

His work more often than not was impeccable, no one could fault him at all. The rising star of the corporate world they called him at the office. In his five years at the job the man had garnered more approval than anyone else.

He liked his life, and he would not trade it for anything else.

Now, unlike Jeonghan you resided on the other side of the spectrum. Your kind of life was pretty monotonous waking up before your alarm, making your bed, skipping meals, and surviving on coffee, reaching, and leaving work on the dot and crying while rewatching your favorite shows, was your kind of life. You like staying in during the weekends and cleaning up the mess you make in your living space during the weekdays and trying everything in your power to not upset your cat while doing so.

Its calm, chill, maybe a bit boring but it worked for you and brought you peace.

You were the newest recruit in your office and from the first day you captured the attention of most of your coworkers for your meticulous and polite words.

More often than not you refuse to talk to your coworkers ensuring that there stays a professional boundary between you all and if they would not catch onto your behavior, you would politely decline them.

Never that interested in networking, you refuse to talk to more people than you need to.

Jeonghan caught onto it pretty early, but why did it matter to him what you did, so like everyone else he went on his own way and simply chose to ignore you.

Ten months into your new job was when you first had a real conversation with the man. It was pretty late at night, both of you had to stay back for overtime. That was when you saw him struggling with his presentation for the next day’s meeting.

That day you broke the ‘no talking to my coworkers rule unless and until it’s very important’ rule.

“what’s the problem?” you politely asked the man.

“Oh, I am having slight problem with the numbers here,” the man replies looking visibly confused and surprised.

“If you want, I can help you out” you kindly stated as Jeonghan casually just turned his laptop towards you.

So, for the next one and half hours you both sat there and diligently worked on the presentation and by the end of it the material looked rather good and presentation worthy.

Looking extremely grateful the pretty man said, “I am so thankful you helped me out today, so why don’t I repay you by dropping you off at your house, it’s pretty late you know.”

Looking at your watch you politely replied, “no worries, plus if I rush a bit, I can catch the last bus home so please don’t bother.”

Jeonghan looked bummed at this, but he was obliged nonetheless as he knew you to be an introverted lady and he did not want to make you uncomfortable.

--

The next time you and Jeonghan had a conversation, was again at a night when you both were staying at the office over time. By this time, you have become pretty comfortable with each other, not enough to hold a conversation but enough to spare a quick nod and a smile while passing by each other’s cubicles.

He was done with the day’s work and was about to leave the office when he noticed you hunched over your laptop looking frustratingly at your screen which showed you an open excel sheet with infinite numbers.

Feeling like he owed you the help, Jeonghan strode towards you and calmly said “let me see.”

Jumping in shock you looked at him and replied, “oh no don’t bother I can figure it out you should go home it’s pretty late you know.”

Tsking at your reply he grabbed a chair to sit beside you while saying “it’s only fair, you helped me out so I should help you now.”

You let him, in actuality you needed that little help from him, the data entries were annoying you and you absolutely did not like it one bit.

Just like that time passed by again resulting in the clock to show that it was quarter past one by the time you both were done.

This time though Jeonghan shut down all your protests to go about his own way and your reluctance to inconvenience him with a simple “it’s pretty late and I won’t let you get followed by some creeps on the road plus the last bus is gone anyways so you are coming with me.”

On the way he stopped at a convenience store to get some dinner for you both and you devoured your ramen while chatting with him.

You both were pretty similar, in some cases for example you both had this extreme love for Legos that existed beyond measurable amounts, both of you loved your pets to death, albeit his was a rock and yours was a cat, but as he said “we don’t discriminate peoples pets here, they can have what they want to but given its legal and safe for the pet.”

On the other hand, Jeonghan liked you too, he was happy he could be the first one to break your shell to meet the real you and he was proud of this. It was close to an achievement for him.

--

“Han like this new chick in his office.”

Joshua loudly announced to the group of boys sprawled in his living room one evening. Jeonghan’s friends had come to his house to hang out and to get drunk out of their wits to forget the stress of the tedious weekend they had. They were all friends from college, now working jobs in the most contrasting industries ever like Seungcheol was the manager for their states football club and Soonyoung was a choreographer working with famous celebrities, Hansol on the other hand was the proud of a pet shelter and the one and only Joshua was an English history professor who most days worked overtime at the university. But at the end of the day, they were all the loud and obnoxious assholes he knew and loved from his younger days, and nothing could compare to that.

“Really you never told us about this one hyung?” Mingyu enquires.

“Nah she is just a new hire at the office, does not like talking to people at all. She is more antisocial than Wonwoo’s ass.”

“Really now, antisocial?” Seungcheol enquires, not missing Jeonghan’s defensive tone.

“Yes, Cheol antisocial, plus I don’t even know her enough,” the male says while rolling his eyes at his friends interest with you.

“Maybe you could talk to her and get her out of her shell, you are a pretty good mediator in our group I think you could do that,” pipes up the ever so benevolent Seokmin.

“Yes, you could,” Seungcheol joins him smirking a bit.

Now thoroughly annoyed Jeonghan exclaims “no I cannot. The only way someone can get that stuck up bitch out of her shell will be fucking her or something and I do not want to do so!”

“What if I pay you, will you do it then,” Seungcheol says still smirking.

“Do what?”

“Fuck her enough to get her out of her shell.”

The whole room goes silent at that statement.

“Hyung, I don’t think it’s right,” the youngest of them, Chan, suddenly speaks.

“Yes, its morally incorrect man,” Jeonghan agrees.

“I will pay you, plus life is pretty boring. This will give us something to talk about for at least the next year,” the oldest explains still smiling a bit.

“I agree with the others, its emotionally taxing and nothing good will come out of doing something like this man, plus what are we teenagers making bets about emotionally harming others?” Joshua says.

“Jeonghan, you do it and I will give you a thousand bucks,” the oldest says calmly. At the same time all the men in the room let out an exasperated sigh, knowing there is no winning with this stubborn man, while hoping silently that Jeonghan does not succumb to the greed.

But alas they were wrong, so wrong. An amount that lucrative will only be passed by a fool and Jeonghan was no such thing. He stood up from his place at the loveseat and confidently strode over to Seungcheol.

“You better keep your fucking word,” he says while shaking the older man’s hand.

While Seungcheol smiles and says, “you know what you complete the bet within the next six month I’ll give you a five thousand and if you don’t end up doing it, you gotta pay me pal.”

--

After that evening with his friends, Jeonghan was pretty stressed, because why should he not be? Making you sleep with him is hard enough, but making a situationship out of it sounds even harder. Now he thoroughly regrets accepting the bet.

You on the other hand are pretty happy and quiet as you often are. Very much unaware of his internal turmoil, as you keep talking excitedly about the new Lego death star you bought.

Yes, you and Jeonghan have bonded quite a bit these past few days, he likes spending time with you too, and so do you. It is a nice and comfortable friendship you both have built, and you like it.

“Why don’t you let me come to your place this weekend, and we can build the set together. We can get takeout later too,” he suddenly speaks up shocking you with such forward proposition.

“Well only if you want to though no pressure, it’s just that I really wanted to build the death star and was planning to buy it but like couldn’t make enough time to do –”

“Sure, you can come,” you speak up stopping his nervous rant.

“Are you sure?” Jeonghan asks just to make sure he heard it correctly.

“Yes, I am, it will be fun to build the Lego set together,” you say smiling.

“Yes, it would be, but like are you really sure,” he says again to make sure he is really not hard at hearing.

“Jeonghan if you ask me once again, I will take back what I just said.”

This makes him stop talking at all and he proceeds to show you his beautiful smile, making you feel a bit giddy inside.

“So, I will come this Saturday and we shall make the death star cuz we can,” he sings, making you bark out a laugh at him.

Little do you know you just poured a cool bucket of water on the burning flames on anxiety inside Jeonghan’s brain and he is extremely happy about that.

--

The next Saturday comes rolls in slowly, the tedious and boring week is over, and it is time for self-care and a lot of friendship building activities or that’s what you thought.

The man was mad and when you say mad you mean it. The Lego making only lasted for like two hours before he had hidden all the pieces of the part that you were making, resulting you to search for them all over the house. Moreover, after diligently searching and finding nothing, you had given up when he had produced all those pieces from his pockets shocking you to the core.

This little stunt had made you force him to pay for the takeout and when you were both fed and watered, he had proposed a game of chess. Only problem, you never knew one could cheat in this game too. He moved the pieces wrong.

Result. You both had the pettiest fight ever wherein the man with all his might tried to convince you that the rook was indeed supposed to move diagonally.

“You don’t understand, that is how the game is played. Are you sure you ever played this before?” he had asked.

“Hani you are wrong, please the rook never in its whole life moved diagonally, it always moved straight.”

“Maybe that is what your problem is, you are so uptight, you refuse to accept the differences in our opinions!”

“Oh, now I'm uptight, you are only being this difficult cuz you are losing!”

“I wouldn’t if you let me play the rook diagonally.”

“But that is not how it is played! Why don’t you—"

All your rants stop just like that, it took you at least five business days to actually realize that Jeonghan had kissed you. But once you got over that shock, you closed your eyes and moved your lips along with his.

Jeonghan, thoroughly exasperated by your intense argument, impulsively sought to quiet you by placing a soft, lingering kiss on your plump lips. Almost immediately, regret washed over him as he feared he had acted rashly at the worst possible moment. Mentally preparing to distance himself from you for the rest of your time together, he was taken aback when you reciprocated the kiss, instantly dissolving all his worries and leaving him pleasantly surprised.

You broke the kiss to take a breath, both looking visibly flustered.

“Do you want to stay the night, or do you want to go?” you asked him while looking at him with your sparkling eyes, making Jeonghan want to glue his ass to your house, but he being the gentleman he was declined the offer.

“I would really like to take you out on a date. As I really like you, so I won’t spoil my chances with you by staying tonight.”

To say you were surprised would be an understatement. You always thought of the man to be a Casanova, so the idea of him taking you on a date while simultaneously insinuating that he won’t take any harsh steps with you was a nice little change and you were all for it.

--

It was all smooth sailing after that.

Jeonghan took you to an amusement park for the date next Sunday and oh boy did you enjoy yourself to the fullest.

Both of you had the time of your lives. Making sure to go on every ride, play every game and eating every junk you found there. By the end of it you were visibly exhausted and elated with how the day went.

The following day you were visibly happier in the office and even had a small conversation with one of your coworkers.

This went on for the following month, with each and every date you opened up to Jeonghan more and more, and so did he.

He loved spending time with you and vice versa. It was during your regular Friday movie nights, a ritual you both had established as you both liked watching movies and bonded while talking about them, when Jeonghan absolutely bored with the movie scooted a bit too close to you in hopes of gaining your attention by annoying you, a typical Jeonghan move. When you both ended up making love on the couch.

This was only the start of a lot of escapades you would have with the man.

After that one night, Jeonghan was all over you at all times. Be it at the office or be it at home he was with you or texting you all the time. Your nights were now filled with heavy make outs and intense love making sessions.

Everybody at the office knew about you both. On top of that you were more extroverted than ever. You even went out with your coworkers for an office dinner. Somehow, Jeonghan was praised for the change he brought in you, and like his ‘kind’ self, he declined all those compliments with a gracious smile.

He didn’t like to say it out loud, but he liked your changed self, more than your reserved one. Plus, he also took credit for the change, but it’s not like he would tell you that anytime soon.

--

 It was almost five months into dating Jeonghan, when he asked you to meet his friends. You knew he had a very loyal group of friends and you had never met them before. On the contrary Jeonghan had met your one and only best friend within only three months of dating. In the most best friend manner, the lady has hated his ass the whole-time side eyeing him constantly and leaving petty remarks here and there. But that night she had called you and told you something she didn’t ever say for any of your boyfriends “I can see he loves you a lot. For the first time you chose the correct guy.”

Getting your strict best friend to like Jeonghan was like clearing the first hurdle of your relation. For the first time, you were proud of your choice in men and especially your boyfriend.

“Oh, I would love to meet them, but would they like me,” you were rightfully concerned about the boys liking you. As much as you were independent, you would like to gain the approval of your boyfriend’s friends like any girlfriend.

“They are dorks through and through, they will love, don’t worry” he had said while kissing your forehead to calm you down.

“Plus, you will fit right in, they are nice people,” he later added.

--

That evening, Jeonghan had taken you to the Korean BBQ place downtown where they all were meeting. The night had started rocky but within an hour you were having fun with Mingyu and Seokmin, all worries forgotten. Jeonghan had looked at you with pride blooming in his chest with how happy you looked with his friends, enjoying yourself.

It seems that all the twelve of them had liked you a lot saying you were the perfect partner for Jeonghan, someone who could ground him at the same time let him be himself.

The BBQ party came to an end, but the boys still had a lot of energy, so they went to the karaoke next taking both you and Jeonghan with them. Although you were thoroughly exhausted, you had complied to go, seeing Jeonghan have so much fun was a sight you didn’t want to miss.

You had gone to the bathroom the first thing right after reaching the karaoke place, to wake you up and also to do your business. Seungkwan had accompanied you claiming, “all that soju and walking has made my bladder shake like never before!” it’s not a lie though, they did drink like it will be the last time they ever get to drink.

As you came out of the restroom, Seungkwan gave you a kind smile and said “I have never seen Jeonghan this happy before, not even with us. I'm sure he likes you a lot.”

Smiling at him you said, “I think I love him; I have not said that to him yet, but I really think I do.”

With a sassy ‘good for you’ from the one and only Boo, you both made your way to the room that your group had booked.

As you reached closer, you could hear all the boys talking to each other.

“I approve, she is an angel, she even consoled Soon when he cried” said one of them making you smile a bit. By this time Seungkwan had stopped with you too eavesdropping on his friends as he is as dramatic as one can be.

“She is nothing like what you described her to be you know, she is nice and kind and far from being stuck up,” someone else said.

“Nah she is not, that stuck up once you get to know her, contrary to that she is very cheery and I like her you know,” Jeonghan had replied making you feel extra giddy inside.

“Hey bro if you like her that much maybe we should call off the deal we made, I see how much you like her and if you ask me, I will say she is a keeper,” with this statement, a silence washed over the whole group. You looked at Seungkwan to understand what was happening, but the man refused to look at you still stubbornly pretending to listen to the conversation.

“I said I like her, not like her enough to let go of the five thousand you offered” you suddenly heard Jeonghan speak making you even more confused about the whole ordeal.

“I think you will regret it you let her go hyung,” Seokmin suddenly said with a very somber tone generating a lot of assertive noises from the group.

“She won’t bring me five thousand, plus I fucked her got into a relationship with her and made her the fun-loving bitch she is now. It was a tedious process, but I completed my work, so I deserve the money.”

It was hard hearing the man you loved so much make such a degrading comment. At this point you were shaking with emotions so much that even Seungkwan who refused to look at you during this whole time, had to hold you steady.

“Did you know about this,” you asked him.

The boy with his eyes downcast just nodded his head.

“I won’t even ask you why you didn’t tell me about it, I get it you are his friend makes sense.”

“Hey none of us wanted him to do anything like this, but your Jeonghan is unstoppable sometimes and about the wrong things.”

“I think I should get going, I’ve heard enough.”

“Hey y/n we like you a lot, so please stay in contact with us later, no matter what your verdict is,” the younger man pleaded with glistening eyes, making you almost accept the request out of pity.

You ignored everyone and strode into the room bustling with men, heading straight for the couch. Without hesitation, you grabbed your bag and, as you walked out, approached Jeonghan and delivered a firm slap to his face. "We're done," you declared before exiting the room without glancing at anyone else.

--

The minute you had left, Jeonghan felt his life crashing down on him. The looks of disapproval from his friends and the pure disappointment that radiated off you caught him off guard. He had thought he could get out of it with both the girl and the money, but suddenly he realized he didn’t even need the said money, he only needed you. The weight of his words came to haunt me as soon as he had spoken them.

He immediately attempted to follow you but was stopped by Seungkwan, “did you see her face, if you follow her now, she will resent you more. Not like you don’t deserve it, but you are still my friend.”

The tone of his voice showed how much he was upset with Jeonghan. So much so that the younger male could not even look at his face.

“You are my hyung, but you know what I like her more, never have I ever thought you would do something like this,” he continued, “I hope she never forgives you.”  

Hearing that Jeonghan couldn’t control himself and punched Seungkwan and a fight broke out. The boys trying their best to resolve it.

“It’s already a mess, can you both stop making it worse!” Mingyu said as Seungkwan punched Jeonghan back square on the jaw.

“Tell that shit to not meddle in my business then” comes Jeonghan’s voice.

“Maybe if you didn’t break her heart I wouldn’t, she was a fucking nice person,” Seungkwan shouted back as Mingyu dragged him out.

The night was ruined, and it was all because of Jeonghan.

--

That night you came home and cried your heart out ignoring all the calls from Jeonghan and the other boys, with whom you had exchanged numbers during the hangout. Thankfully, it was a Sunday the next day, so you didn’t have to look at the man who broke your heart, but it pained you so much to even move a muscle. It was like your heart was ripped out of your body. The pain was immeasurable.

There were at least a hundred missed calls on your phone and thirty of them from all of the boys. Your best friend come to your place that Sunday and tried her best to console a sad you, but nothing could stop you from beating yourself up for trusting a man like him. it’s true you loved him, and you regrated doing so, you didn’t blame Jeonghan for breaking your heart, you blamed yourself for being weak enough for you to let Jeonghan do so to you, for letting the man step all over you like you were a piece of trash that had no place in the normal world. The degrading things that he had said about you kept echoing in your ears, making it hard for you to think of anything else.

It was like you had forgotten all about your vow to never let anyone step over you and take away a piece of you from yourself. You were so hurt that you refused to see Jeonghan at all. So, on the next Monday you asked your HR for a weeklong leave and the kind lady obliged owing to your stellar performance at your department.

You turned off your phone that week and went to stay with you friend as the house was too lonely for you and the more you stayed there, the more you felt the memories of you and Jeonghan coming to haunt you.

--

On that Monday, Jeonghan woke up with a newfound determination. He was resolved to confront you and explain that his hurtful words from that night stemmed from his own inability to accept his feelings. He believed that once he clarified his side of the story, your compassionate nature would lead you to forgive him. He was even prepared to humble himself, willing to beg for your forgiveness if necessary. However, fate intervened when he discovered you had taken a week-long leave from the office.

The realization of consequences hit him suddenly. Yes, he understood the gravity of his actions, but he was willing to face any repercussions if it meant having you back in his arms. Anything seemed bearable compared to the thought of losing you.

By Wednesday, Jeonghan found himself standing at your doorstep, desperately knocking, hoping to speak with you. To his dismay, a neighbor informed him that you had been absent since Monday. His heart sank realizing he had missed his chance to reconcile with you.

He had made a solemn vow to himself that he would reach out to you no matter what obstacles lay in his path, willing to go to any lengths to make amends. However, he now realized the depth of his mistake. Reflecting on his actions, he understood that he should have heeded the advice of his friends earlier, but it was too late for regrets.

Jeonghan's determination to win you back consumed him. He felt a deep pang of regret for not acting sooner and for failing to appreciate the warnings from his friends. Now, facing the reality of your absence, he grappled with the weight of his impulsive behavior.

In the days that followed, Jeonghan resolved to wait patiently for your return, determined to seize any opportunity to make things right. He hoped against hope that he hadn't irreparably damaged the bond between you. Each passing day without you served as a sobering reminder of the importance of listening to his instincts and valuing the counsel of those who cared about him.

--

The next week you opened your phone to see it has blown up with Jeonghan’s messages and there were a few from Seungkwan asking you if you are okay and telling you that he had punched Jeonghan for being an asshole to you and that most of the people didn’t agree with Jeonghan’s antics but its hard to stop Jeonghan when is like that.

Taking pity of the boy you and answered him accepting his apology and telling him you were happy that he punched the guy.

His answer came immediately, saying he was happy that there is no bad blood among you two and he prefers you more than Jeonghan anyways making you laugh at his cuteness.

When you returned back to the office, the first thing you did was hand them your resignation letter. The next thing on your list was avoid Jeonghan till you leave work, at which you were pretty successful.

And just like that you were done with your time in the office and were moving onto another job before Jeonghan could even get hold of you.

--

Its has been three years since and life had never been better. You became friends with Seungkwan, Seokmin and Soonyoung immediately. You four hangout quite frequently. The three younger men like you a lot too. It’s a strong bond you have created with them. If anyone asks you would say the only good thing that came from your ex was the friends you made while with him.

On top of that you also have been in a relation with a man who treats you right and loves you to death. Its like you have at last reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

--

Jeonghan on the other hand drowned himself in work after you left, the man tried his best to forget your existence and was very thankful his work helped him do so. But whenever he was out with his friends he couldn’t stop himself from asking about you and always he got the same answer of ‘none of your fucking business’ from Seungkwan.

But it was different this time, it was the ever so kind Seokmin who answered him.

“Hyung she moved on, and you should too.” Hearing that he stood up, he didn’t know why. Would he go to your house and beg for your forgiveness again or will he call you while asking you to give him another chance?

Truth to be told, he didn’t know.

“Hyung please don’t mess this up for her. She is happy,” Seokmin spoke up again, kindly holding his hand to pull him down back onto his seat. It felt like Jeonghan’s life has come crashing down on him once again. One lone tear left his eye, too embarrassed to cry in front of his friends, he puts up a happy front while saying “of course Seok, I would do nothing to hurt her.”

All his friends looked at the man in pity, hoping that faith was kinder to him. but they couldn’t deny that he single handedly destroyed his life either. He was still their friend and he deserved to be happy to but so did you. The man sat in silence for some time till Joshua loudly declared he wanted to go to the arcade and all the others enthusiastically agreed, happy about the distraction.

That is when Jeonghan realized life has gone on and not stopped for anyone, the time he was supposed to seize his moment has passed and it wont ever come back. He now has to live his life without the presence of one of the most precious thing he ever had the privilege to possess, your love.

a/n 3: thank you all for reading !!

[scmg11]

HAILEE STEINFELD x READER

BODYGUARD

A/N: HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! HOW ARE YOU?

As I got swiped away by inspiration and already wrote 8 chapters for my new book, I wanted to surprise you. So I finished proofreading this a new chapter for you!

Let me know what you guys think.

Sending you so much love ❤️

-

Summary: Y/N got assigned as Hailee's new bodyguard but Hailee is not so happy about it.

Warnings: just a little bit of description for harassment, but it will be gone quickly.

Word count: 21840 words.

-

The sound of feet covered in combat boots echoing around in the small, empty hallway was the only sound filling the silence around, creating a calming melody to the girl’s ears as she sauntered to a closed door, stopping in front of it and knocking gently, patiently waiting for permission to enter in the office.

"Come in."

The girl opened the door right after and smiled warmly at the person sat behind the big, glass desk in the middle of the room, "good morning."

"What’s it with this formal shit, Y/N!"

"Oh my bad. Hello bitch, how are you doing?" Y/N smiled cheekily at her boss but also her longtime best friend, sitting on one of the two armchair placed right in front of the desk and crossed her left leg over her right, bent over one and looked at her friend expectantly, waiting for a witty remark.

"I would say ‘that’s better’ but I’m not so sure now." Y/N chuckled at her best friend rolling her eyes and winked at her teasingly, "anyway, I don’t want to take too much of your time up. Let’s get to the point and discuss why I called you here today."

"Alright, what is it?" Y/N looked expectantly at Clara, who was now leaning with her elbows on the desk and with her hands linked together, slipping ‘business face’ on.

"I know you got back from your last job about two weeks ago, but I have a new client and requested the best bodyguard I have. I would be a fool not giving you this job."

"Hm, the best bodyguard here. Flattery. A lot of it." Y/N teased with a proud smile, puffing out her chest, before deflating after a snort left her lips when Clara rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her best friend’s antics, "anyway, of course I will take the job, you know I get bored easily at home after a few days off. So who is this new client? A snotty young prince? A dumb heiress? Uh-oh! I know! A stuck-up model with a big God Complex? Ah they are my favorite. Their head is full of themselves, it makes me laugh every single time. Especially when they are male models."

"None of them actually. Luckily I would say." Y/N sighed out in relief at that before both shuddered loudly as they thought over enduring months and months of working with those kind of clients. A fucking tough job. "It’s an actress. She is also a singer and she is starting a tour soon. You will have to follow her around on tour and a few events she is invited to. If you do a good job, which I’m sure you will, more than perfectly, they will have you around her a lot. She is gaining fans quickly and her parents want her safe."

"Sounds good. Easy. Do I know her?" Y/N nodded gently at the job offer and got instantly excited hearing she have to follow the actress around tour. She is always happy with traveling around the world to discover new, amazing places.

"I don’t know. I’ve seen a couple of her movies, maybe you did too. She is Hailee Steinfeld."

"Oh yeah, I remember her. I listened to one of her songs yesterday on the radio. She has a beautiful voice and that song was such a bop."

"Oh great!"

"When am I starting?" Y/N asked in excitement, always wanting to work since she loved her job dearly. She doesn’t know exactly who her new client is, she just knew her name and her voice when she sang, but she will have time to do a small research about her. She always liked to be fully prepared for a body guarding job.

"Well, if you are ready, they would like for you to start now."

"What, now as in now?" Y/N asked in disbelief, her eyes widening in shock as she realized what her best friend just said.

"Yeah, it was kinda fast." Y/N snorted at that as she shook her head in amusement.

"That’s an understatement Clar. But I will accept. How much time do I have to get ready for her tour?"

"2 weeks I think. She is finishing a movie and then she is off for tour. You can meet her today. Her mom called me this morning asking me if it was okay to join them today."

"Sure, no problem. Are we still up for drinks tonight right?"

"Are you kidding me? I’ve been holed up here for the entire week. I need a break."

"Hm, when you say break you actually mean a good fuck right?" Y/N teased her best friend, who looked at her in fake outrage as she placed her hand on her chest feigning taking offense from Y/N’s words.

"Excuse me?!"

"Don’t act so innocent all of a sudden. I’m the one that has to be your wingwoman."

"Go before I decide to fire you as my wingwoman and as a bodyguard."

Y/N chuckled as she sat up and walked around the desk to give her best friend a big, warm hug before promising to pick her up at 7 for their usual Friday night full of drinks. As Y/N exited the building and climbed into her car, her phone dinged with a text message her best friend sent her with all the information she needed about her new job and the location Hailee was actually in right now to go there and meet her. She put the address in her GPS and drove away into the busy streets of LA.

-

"Name please?" Y/N lifted her sunglasses up her head and looked at the security guard outside the set Hailee was filming in, smiling at him politely.

"Hi, Y/N Y/L/N. I am Miss Steinfeld’s new bodyguard. My agency should’ve already sent all the information needed."

"Ah yes. Here you are. You can park right beside Miss Steinfeld’s trailer. You have to turn left, then right, then right again and you should find it right away. Her name is on the door." Y/N listened carefully to the guard’s directions after he lifted the automatic barrier and let her enter the set’s parking lot. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you so much. Have a nice day!" Y/N followed the guard’s directions and drove through the set’s parking lot, stopping a few minutes later when she saw a trailer parked in the middle of a deserted part of the parking lot with just 2 cars parked near it. Y/N parked her car right beside a a black Porsche and exited the vehicle, locking it before making her way towards the entrance of the trailer to read once again the name on its door and to make sure it was actually Hailee’s trailer.

"Mom, I already told you that I didn’t need a bodyguard. I don’t want one!"

"Haiz please, listen to me. You are going on tour soon and for the first part of it we can’t be there with you. You are gaining fans fast and we are worried about your safety."

"Yeah, you could’ve tied me to my tour bus or you could’ve locked me into my room. It’s the same, right mom?" Y/N listens to two voices argue, loud enough for her to hear it but just quiet enough to not let everyone around them hear them. She didn’t peer around the trailer to watch who was arguing to avoid being caught eavesdropping, but from what she could hear, she assumed she pretty much was the subject of the argument between Hailee and her mother.

"Haiz, I know you are saying this because you are angry at me and your dad for making this decision without asking you for your opinion, but trust me it was a decision made for your own good."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Thanks." Y/N was debating in her mind if she should make her presence known or not, fearing she would get caught by someone, especially from Hailee or her mother.

"Excuse me Miss Steinfeld, but we are ready to shoot again." Y/N sighed out loud when she heard someone approach the two women and quickly ran to her car when she heard footsteps approach where she was leaning on the other trailer’s side.

"Thank you Simon. I will be there in 5 minutes."

Y/N had just the time to close her door quietly before two figures rounded the corner from the back of the trailer, taking just a second to look at them before opening her car door and feigning arriving just in that moment as she adjusted her leather jacket before closing her car door and locking the vehicle again, feeling a pair of eyes watching her movements. "Hm, hello?" Y/N spoke up tentatively, feeling a little bit uneasy at the two pair of eyes staring at them.

"Hi dear, can we help you?" The shorter of the two women asked in a gentle and soft voice, smiling politely at her as she approached them, while the taller one stayed in silence, standing beside the shorter woman with a rigid stance, her arms crossed and her face stoic with her eyebrows furrowed angrily.

"Yes, hi. I am looking for Miss Hailee Steinfeld."

"She is right here." The shorter woman pointed to the taller one with a smile just as Y/N stopped in front of them. "I’m Cheri, her mom."

"Oh, nice to meet you Mrs. Steinfeld, Miss Steinfeld, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I was assigned to you to be your new bodyguard." Y/N stretched her arm over to shake Cheri’s hand first before doing the same with a reluctant Hailee.

"Oh dear, there’s no need for these formalities, just call me Cheri!" Y/N returned Cheri’s warm smile and nodded softly at her request, "anyway, welcome! I’m afraid we don’t have much time to discuss things since Hailee needs to go back on set, but you can stay with me until she finishes for the day."

"That would be great!"

And they were off, walking towards the set with Cheri talking excitedly to Y/N, telling her how excited she is Y/N was assigned to Hailee as her new bodyguard, how much she admired her for doing such a difficult and sometimes dangerous job, and Y/N listened with rapt attention and with slight amusement at the woman’s enthusiasm but she couldn’t help but notice Hailee stayed quiet the entire walk towards the set with her jaw set and her nostrils flared a bit as she stared with furrowed eyebrows ahead of her. "We’ll wait here sweety, then we will discuss everything after you’re done for the day."

"Okay, see you later."

-

After about three hours Hailee joined them back where she left, her face conveying her tiredness but Y/N could still see in her eyes she was still slightly mad at her mom for hiring a bodyguard she apparently didn’t want from what Y/N gathered when she eavesdropped Hailee’s and Cheri’s argument earlier that day.

"I already ordered burgers baby. They should be here soon." Cheri told her daughter as she approached them and when Cheri’s hand caressed Hailee’s bicep, Y/N watched as a bit of her anger slipped away and got replaced by a loving glint.

"Thanks, shall we go?"

Y/N couldn’t help but notice a small change in Hailee’s behavior compared to the one before shooting back on set. Maybe she cooled off a bit or maybe she had time to think over her mother’s words during filming, but Y/N was glad that she actually came around her mother’s decision, decision she found truly heartwarming. "How was shooting, honey?"

"It was good. A little bit stressing towards the end of it since Nelly couldn’t remember the right line and she had some troubles getting it right, but it was fun as always."

"Oh I’m so sorry for her. She must be exhausted."

"Yeah, she came back from another set three days ago. She has so many projects going on right now."

Y/N didn’t know who Hailee and Cheri were talking about but she assumed they were talking about one of Hailee’s co-star. "Y/N, dear, have you already worked for another actress or actor before?" Cheri asked Y/N with a small smile as they approached Hailee’s trailer in the set’s parking lot.

"Yes, I have. Quite a few. I started my body guarding job with an actress actually. I remember being so anxious and so nervous all the time. But with time you develop more confidence, you become more confident, you learn how to control your emotions and act rationally and logically. You have to be strategic when needed and you must have a clear mind when a dangerous situation unfolds before you so you can protect your client."

"Oh wow!" Cheri exclaimed, her eyes shining with curiosity that Y/N found extremely cute but she couldn’t help but notice Hailee scoffing under her breath as she rolled her eyes, now being the one curious about the actress’ reaction to her words.

"Anyway, it becomes ‘easier’ with time, even though there is nothing easy in this job." Y/N clarified with a small smile directed at Cheri, since the singer wasn’t exactly paying attention to her as she fished her iPhone out of her pocket and started texting someone.

"Oh I’m sure. Y/N, I know how much you’ve worked with your agency and how much of an hard worker you are, that’s why I specifically asked for you. I know Clara. She is one of my dearest friend’s niece. I asked her to assign Hailee one of her best bodyguards and she immediately told me your name and everything you’ve done during your time in her agency."

"Yeah, we pretty much funded it together. We started together."

"For how long have you known her?" Y/N watched as sheer curiosity glistened in Cheri’s eyes and felt her chest flutter at how comforting her attitude is. She couldn’t help tilting upward her lips when she noticed Hailee had her eyes still on her phone but she stopped typing away on it, clearly interested in the conversation going on between Y/N and Cheri as she tried to listen carefully even if she was acting disinterested. They arrived at the trailer and settled in, Y/N sitting on a loveseat, while Hailee and Cheri sat on the couch in front of Y/N.

"We met in college. She was my roommate."

"Oh that’s wonderful dear! I’m so glad Clara assigned you-." Cheri got interrupted when a knock on Hailee’s trailer’s door echoed around the makeshift living room, "it must be the delivery guy with our order. One second, I’ll be right back."

"Yeah, sure." Y/N awkwardly looked around the room with her hands entwined, not really knowing what to say now that she is alone with Hailee, but trying to find something to say since she will be her bodyguard from now on and they will need to start some kind of civil relationship between them. "How was your day on set?"

"Good." Y/N had a feeling that that one word answer will be the only thing that will leave Hailee’s mouth and sighed out softly. The singer’s tone wasn’t exactly harsh or conveyed hostility, but it held a dryness in them that told Y/N she was still pretty mad at her mother or even Y/N herself for this situation. Not that Y/N had a say in all of this. She was just doing her job.

"Okay! Here I am!" Cheri came back a minute later, carrying two dark paper bags full of their food and Y/N immediately sat up to go help Cheri, feeling Hailee’s eyes on her in the process but paying no mind to it. "Oh thank you, dear."

"You’re welcome." Y/N smiled widely at Cheri, who grinned back at her with sweetness seeping out of her every pore before they settled everything on the kitchen table, with surprisingly Hailee’s help, who got up a minute after Y/N.

"Let’s dig in. I’m starving." Hailee stated, making her mother chuckle with a fond smile on her lips and gestured to Y/N to eat before joining them.

-

"Have you got everything, honey? Did you pack everything?"

"Yes, mom!" Hailee laughed good-naturedly at her mother’s anxiety as she made her check her suitcases 4 times and go over the list she made of things she had to pack at least 10 times to make sure she packed everything with her before making her finally close her suitcases to bring them down to put them in her tour bus. "I literally have the list memorized by now." Hailee smiled lovingly at her mother as she checked the list for the umpteenth time before meeting her eyes and nodding at her.

"Okay, yeah. You’re right. Sorry. I- I’m just a bit stressed. You’re going on tour and I want to make sure you have everything with you."

"I know mom. I got everything. I checked everything before closing all my suitcases." Hailee smiled warmly at her mother before chuckling softly under her breath with fondness swirling around her brown irises when she watched her mother fold the piece of paper with the list on it and nod gently at her.

"Good! That’s good. Hm, alright it seems you’re ready to go. Oh no! It’s getting late!" Cheri took a look on the watch on her wrist and placed her right hand on her cheek in shock when she looked at the time. They were running a bit late.

"Yeah, we need to go." Hailee hugged her mother before doing the same with her father and her brother then walked in her tour bus and closing the door, making sure to lock it before making her way further into the bus to settle everything down. She felt the bus start moving and sighed out contentedly.

"Hi." Y/N had to swallow the soft snort that was ready to come out of her mouth when Hailee jumped up in fright with a small squeal at Y/N’s voice echoing around the silent bus.

"Oh shit. Fuck! You scared me."

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t know how to make my presence known without scaring you, I guess I didn’t do a good job." Y/N chuckling softly while scratching the back of her head, the grimacing to try to convey her regret for scaring the singer.

"Well- don’t worry. I guess it’s definitely better than doing a sudden loud noise or something like that."

"Yeah, I guess." Y/N chuckled softly under her breath, emitting another soft chuckle then let a small smile adorn her lips as she looked at Hailee for a few seconds before focusing on her hands in her lap, feeling slightly awkward being in a room alone with Hailee since they had never been alone again since when first meeting almost 10 days prior.

"Hm, what are you doing here?" Hailee asked as she played with her fingers, wringing them gently as she tried to focus her gaze on anything but Y/N, clearly feeling the awkwardness between them. It’s not that they started off on a wrong foot, but Hailee still strongly believes she doesn’t need a bodyguard while on tour and she hadn’t acknowledged Y/N, just the bare minimum.

"Your mom told me to stay here with you." Y/N answered with a serious, business-like tone. She had always been a professional at work and had never, not even once let her emotions show or let them control her, but since Hailee had never been friendly with her, always acting annoyed by Y/N’s presence, almost like she blamed Y/N for being there to protect her when she was just doing her job, she decided to build a wall between them and act just with Hailee just like Hailee is acting with her.

"Oh, yeah right. To protect me." Hailee stressed the word ‘protect’ out with a sarcastic tilt in her tone and Y/N felt annoyance bubble in the pit of her stomach, but she tried to swallow her comeback down to prevent starting an argument with her new client.

"Yeah." Y/N trailed off for a few seconds to collect her thoughts and try to not sound annoyed as she felt to Hailee, "that’s what I do. It’s my job."

"I don’t doubt that, trust me. It’s just that, like I’ve been trying to say for the past 10 days, I don’t need protection!"

"Yeah, I heard you. Your mother heard you. Your father heard you. But they are still worried. Fans can get crazy. They are all amazing, but sometimes meeting your idol makes you go a little crazy. Trust me, I met a lot of them. A few of them were pretty crazy."

"But not my fans."

"I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that fans can be a lot sometimes, especially after waiting for you for an entire day at a venue or at the airport. They are loyal, passionate, loving. And that can get too much sometimes."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Y/N resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Hailee dismissed her as she wasn’t paying attention anymore with a wave of her hand and rummaged around the kitchen for a mug. "I’m just changing a few things from now on. When we’re stopping for a break in about an hour, you’re gonna leave me alone. I don’t need a babysitter."

"I’m not a babysitter." Y/N countered back with a strong but still polite tone, crossing her arms and staring at Hailee hard.

"Yeah sure, but I still want to be left alone. I do not agree with my mother’s choice of giving me a bodyguard, but I have to accept it in some way. But what I don’t accept is you staying here when you can easily stay with the crew on the other bus. I want my privacy."

"Okay well. I will go on the other bus as you wish." Y/N gave in dryly, not wanting to keep discussing this subject, stood up right after and, without sparing Hailee another look, walked into the driver’s cabin and asked him to pull over and let her walk out of the bus. Thankfully he stopped immediately after her request, communicating what he was doing to the other driver and without even saying anything else to Hailee, she walked out of the bus and got on the other one.

-

"Yeah, yeah, totally. Oh, yes, we just got here." Hailee opened her tour bus’ door as soon as it stopped, finally arriving in Phoenix, the first city that will start Hailee’s worldwide tour. "Yeah, I am getting off of the bus right now and I’ll go in the venue for the soundcheck."

Hailee stopped in her tracks on the last step to get off the tour bus when she came face to face with Y/N, already waiting for her with her arms crossed and stoic face to accompany her in the venue. "Hi."

"Yeah no, sorry mom. Line got interrupted for a second." Hailee ignored Y/N and visibly rolled her eyes, letting out a huff through her nose as she descended the last step off the tour bus and walked away from Y/N, huffing out again when she heard over her mother’s voice through her iPhone’s loudspeaker steps following her, annoyed about Y/N following her around. "Okay, I will. I need to go now. Okay, bye mom. Love you."

Hailee waited for her mom to say ‘I love you’ back before hanging up the phone. "Are we ready to start our first soundcheck for the first date of this tour?!"

"Hell yeah!" Hailee high-fived her guitarist before doing the same with the drummer, joining her at her sides then walking inside the venue. Hailee took a second to sweep her eyes all over the place, taking it in and smiling widely when she imagined the venue being completely filled with her fans that night. "Hm, I missed this so much." Hailee stated out loud, letting out a sigh as she soaked up in the feeling of finally being back on tour.

"Hey, Y/N! It’s nice to see you again." Y/N smirked smugly when Hailee furrowed her brows and turned her head around in confusion when her drummer said ‘hi’ to Y/N, Hailee then noticed the smug grin on Y/N’s face and rolled her eyes in annoyance before turning back around and walking towards the stage.

"Hey Mick. How is it going? Everything already set up?" Y/N asked enthusiastically at the young man smiling back at her, who walked into step with her as she walked behind Hailee, now a few feet from them. "Excited for tonight?"

"Oh yes! Everything is set up. I’m so thrilled for tonight. I can’t believe it’s sold out on the first night already." The brown eyed young man looked at the stage with a big, bright smile before looking at Y/N again, "so everything is going good. Great even."

"Cool. Are we ready for the soundcheck? Can I go get my in-ear monitors in?" Hailee butted in the conversation and asked just as enthusiastically, eyeing the stage some more before focusing her attention back on her drummer.

"Oh yes! I have them already. Go get ready."

"M’kay, ready for soundcheck in 5 minutes, Mick."

"Okay!"

-

"Are you ready?" Hailee’s makeup artist asked in a soft voice as she applied the last touches of makeup on the singer backstage, Hailee nodding gently as she stared ahead of her after taking a deep breath, making the makeup artist smile warmly at her.

"I’m a bit nervous." Hailee admitted as she bit on her bottom lip anxiously, watching from her position in the backstage the lights on stage changing colors while the music in the background became louder and louder each passing second, signaling and warning her she only had about 10 seconds before going on stage, the beats of the drums reverberating through her ribcage, filling her up with adrenaline.

"You’re gonna do great." Y/N shouted over Hailee’s fans loud screams and smiled encouragingly at her, shocked to see a small grin directed back at her after the singer moved her focus from the stage to her, meeting her gaze briefly then returning her eyes back on stage, taking one last deep breath before running on stage, saying ‘hi’ to her fans that erupted in the loudest collective scream yet.

"Hello everybody! How are you?" Hailee laughed into the mic when her fans screamed louder and shook her head fondly before continuing, "I can see you’re doing great! Let’s get this show started, shall we?"

-

Y/N had to admit the concert was amazing. The fans were crazy for Hailee and Hailee put one hell of a show for them. Y/N had travelled a lot and she had seen a lot of concerts when she was a singer’s bodyguard and she had seen a lot of crazy fans, a lot of them were crazy, but she had never seen so much love being directed at a singer with that intensity, with so much warmth. It was endearing, truly. "WOHO! HOW WAS THAT?!"

"You did amazing. Congratulations."

Hailee turned around to stare back at Y/N, still not expecting her acting so nicely after treating her so poorly. "Thank you!"

Y/N smiled warmly at Hailee but the brown haired girl just reciprocated with a tight lipped smile before turning towards her dancers engulfing her in a big group hug, "hey, great show!"

Mick high-fived Y/N enthusiastically and giggled alongside her while bumping their shoulders together, watching as the dancers surrounding Hailee now started jumping up and down with her in the middle and screaming at the top of their lungs. "And it’s just the beginning."

"Do you think it will get crazier?" Y/N asked with an incredulous voice, watching Mick nod with widened eyes. "Really?!"

"Yes! Hailee’s fans are the best. They are so passionate about her! It’s amazing."

"I saw them during the concert. I still have to ‘encounter’ them in other occasions but I can see they are passionate." Y/N admitted as she watched Hailee interact with her dancers as she smiled widely, "I guess I will need to be extra careful, right?"

"Eh, not that much. They are respectful. Most of them at least. She had almost zero encounters with ‘batshit crazy’ fans."

"That’s good to know. I had a quite a few with that kind of fans and trust me, it’s not a pretty sight to witness."

"Oh I’m sure." Mick snorted under his breath before shaking his head softly, "but I’m sure it’s fun and exciting, am I right?"

"In some way yeah. But I guess when you need to protect your client, you are worried too. Even if there isn’t too much danger."

"Oh yeah, right." Mick seemed to ask something else, but he never got the chance because Jasmine, one of the dancers, came sauntering towards them with a big grin and interrupted them.

"GUYS! GET READY! WE’RE GOING TO PARTY!"

"What?" Y/N snorted when Mick asked that question with his eyebrows furrowed and a confused expression on his face.

"You heard me. We are going to celebrate the first concert of the tour!"

"You already planned everything, didn’t you?" Mick asked with a mischievous grin on his lips as he crossed his arms and looked at Jasmine knowingly.

"Well, yeah! C’mon, we’ve known each other for years!" Y/N watched as Mick chuckled with a small nod as Jasmine circled her arm around his shoulders and side-hugged him tightly.

"Fair enough. Anyway, I’m always in when there is alcohol involved."

"Y/N, are you in?" Jasmine asked with a smile, rolling a strand of hair around her index finger and looking at the Y/H/C girl expectantly.

"I kinda have to." Y/N replied with a snort, "you guys kinda have to be friends with me, because wherever Hailee goes, I go too. But I’m glad you invited me, so I don’t feel like I’m crushing on you guys’ night."

Mick and Jasmine laughed at her joke and both punched her shoulders as they shook their heads, "you sound like a jealous girlfriend."

Y/N snorted out loud at Mick’s joke before flipping him off, making him laugh harder alongside Jasmine. "C’mon you two, let’s get drunk!"

-

"I know! But at least I got free alcohol!" Jasmine laughed care-freely as she sipped on her drink, moving her head to the beat of the song playing in the club while eyeing her friends in the vip area dancing.

"We got free alcohol. Thank you Jaz!" Mick leaned over the table and high-fived Jasmine then doing the same with Y/N, who was only paying half attention to what they were saying as she tried to keep her gaze focused on Hailee dancing with a few of her dancers on the dance floor not too far from them. "Dude you now look like a jealous girlfriend. Chill. She is with us. She is safe."

"Stop harassing her Mick. She is doing her job." Jasmine leaned over the table to slap Mick’s shoulder before sitting back on her chair and patting Y/N’s hand gently, drawing her full attention. "Don’t listen to him Y/N."

"Oh trust me, I’m not. And I never will." Y/N joked with a mischievous smile directed at Mick, making him gasp with an offended face, his mouth opened in an O shape and his eyebrows drawn together, but she purposefully ignored him and focused her attention on Jasmine instead. "I just- I don’t want to be too oppressive. She doesn’t want me here. But her mom does. I want her to trust her mom is right. I am not her enemy. Nor are her fans. But sometimes things get crazy and I am here to protect her if it will ever happen."

"Don’t worry Y/N. She will come around eventually." Jasmine assured Y/N with a warm smile.

"Yeah, she will. I am sure of that." Mick caught Y/N’s attention by laying a hand on the Y/H/C girl and patting it gently.

"Thank you guys." Y/N smiled in appreciation at her friends, who just lifted their drinks and winked at her with small grins of their own.

"I need a drink." Y/N snorted under her breath when another dancer, Tess, walked at their table and sat unceremoniously down on the chair beside her, a bit sweaty and out of breath. "Can you go get me one Mick?"

"Sure. For 200 dollars."

"What?! C’mon! You came here to sit three songs ago! I need to rest." Tess argued as she groaned at Mick’s mischievous expression.

"Not my fault. You could’ve joined me then and you could’ve rested enough to get a drink." Mick countered back with mirth glowing in his eyes. Despite his words, Y/N saw Mick gripping the chair’s armrests, a clear sign he is ready to get up, and that gesture made Y/N smile fondly as she witnessed the drummer mess around a little bit with Tess.

"Ugh, you’re an asshole." Tess flipped him off before sending him a kiss when he got up from his chair right after. "Love you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Mick waved Tess off before walking towards the small group still dancing and talked to Luke and Mark quickly, before walking towards the VIP area’s bar. He probably asked his friends to get drinks for everyone and not too long after everyone joined the table when Mick, Luke and Mark brought shots and drinks. Everyone except Hailee. Y/N was ready to sit up and join her to keep an eye on her closely, but Tess passed her a shot and made her cheer with everyone else. Then another. When the third one arrived in a very short time, Y/N declined it since she was technically working and that made her senses go back on alert, chancing a look at Hailee, expecting her to dance with the few people dancing on the dance floor, but she was met with uncomfortable eyes that were clearly asking for help. With a lightning-fast movement she sat up from her chair and strode towards the dance floor.

"C’mon, let me buy you a drink babe."

"Do not call me babe. I said no. Thank you." Hailee talked slowly but with a firm voice, her tone a bit lower and full of anger and annoyance.

"Then let’s dance a bit before getting that drink. I promise I will make worth your while."

Y/N wanted to punch that douchebag’s face repeatedly when she heard the conversation going on as she got closer to Hailee and a small curly, dark brown haired boy, watching as he ogled Hailee with his brown eyes. "Is there a problem here?"

"No. Bye."

Y/N had to restrain herself when the boy answered before Hailee could, not even moving his eyes from her chest before meeting Hailee’s gaze with a disgusting flirty smile, "where were we? Oh yeah, we were about to dance. Or we could skip the dance and the drink and get right to the good part."

"Like a said no. A million times no."

"But-."

"You heard her. No." Y/N interrupted him as she crossed her arms under her chest and approached Hailee slightly, noticing how she leaned a bit over her as she tried to move away from the boy.

"Who are you?" Y/N had to physically restrain herself from punching repeatedly this douchebag’s smug face by closing her hands into tight fists, feeling her short nails sink deep into her palm and creating a grounding stinging, and by taking a deep, calming breath but it proved to be a really difficult task when the douchebag’s face twisted in disgust, "go find another girl to hit on, she is not interested."

Y/N’s patience was becoming thinner by the second and closed her eyes for a second to stop from head-butting hard this jerk, before opening her Y/E/C eyes again and focusing her cold gaze on him, "the only person I want to hit, hard, right now it’s you. Don’t test my patience. I’m here to tell you to go fuck yourself."

"Nice try, but I’m not going anywhere. Not without her at least." Hailee frowned in disgust when the boy winked at her in something that he may have considered seductive before focusing his gaze back on Y/N. "So why don’t you go bother someone else?"

"Did I stutter? Go. Fuck. Yourself."

"Listen-."

"No you listen for once. I said no. NO. A million times no. I guess you don’t take a no for an answer but I don’t care. I said no. I’m not going anywhere with you. And apologize to her since she had been nice enough to not beating the shit out of you."

"Oh I got it now. You two are together. It’s fine. We can arrange something." Y/N and Hailee facepalmed right away as they stared dumbly at him for a few seconds but they sighed loudly when they noticed he was actually serious.

"We’re not together. I am her friend."

Hailee was glad Y/N didn’t use the word ‘bodyguard’ since this jerk seemed to be so dense and dumb that he would’ve thought about some kinky role play shit he would’ve wanted to join. "We are her friends and we tell you to go nicely. Don’t let me repeat myself or the word ‘nicely’ won’t be used again."

Hailee turned her head around and smiled warmly at Jasmine and Mick behind her mimicking Y/N’s pose and watching the boy with a withering glare, "ugh fine, you bitch were too fucking haughty and snob to fuck."

The boy turned around with a scoff and went to walk away, but Y/N stopped him right after, "oh hey! You forgot something."

"What?" The boy didn’t have time to turn fully around before Y/N’s fist collided with his cheek hard and made him fall down on the floor with a grunt that almost got covered by the cheers and loud wolf whistles from her friends as they cheered Y/N on.

"There. Now you can go to hell asshole."

-

After about an hour, Y/N walked out of the club, following Hailee closely as she talked animatedly with two of her dancers about something Y/N wasn’t exactly paying attention to. "You don’t have to worry about that, we will blame Pete for that."

"Hey!" Y/N smiled softly at the boy in question protesting, lowering her head down and watching her feet move on the concrete for a few moments before looking up ahead again.

"Don’t worry, we won’t do that." Hailee was quick to reassure with a calming, comforting tone but her innocent expression then broke into a mischievous smile a second later, "maybe."

"I hate you two!" Pete put his hands on Hailee’s and Lorna’s shoulders, walking respectively on his left and on his right side, and pushed them to the side, making them stumble in their steps.

"That’s our stop. We’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Haiz." Lorna and Pete hugged Hailee tightly, doing the same with everyone that wasn’t on the bus they were staying in then walked in their bus.

"I’ll join you guys in a second. I will walk Hailee to her bus."

"Okay." Jasmine lifted her thumb up and nodded at her after she hugged Hailee goodnight and walked alongside her friends to their bus.

"Hm, I need to walk you back to your bus then I’ll leave you alone." Y/N told Hailee in an awkward stance and shrugged softly.

"Okay." Hailee nodded and started walking the few steps towards her tour bus, hearing Y/N catch up with her not even a second later.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Y/N didn’t believe Hailee not even for a second, she saw her bite on her bottom lip and fidget with her hands nervously since they left the club not too long ago, making Y/N ask if Hailee was okay.

"Are you sure? You seem a little bit- lost? Deep in thought. I just want to make sure you are okay."

"I am just a little bit shaken by what happened." Hailee finally admitted after a few seconds of silence, causing Y/N’s heart to clench at her quiet voice.

"I am so sorry." Y/N apologized with a regretful expression on her face and looked at Hailee with remorse clear in her Y/E/C eyes, "I shouldn’t have sat down at the table. I should’ve been right beside you so he wouldn’t have approached you in the first place." Y/N looked down at her feet for a few seconds in shame before looking back into Hailee’s brown irises when she felt them on her, finding nothing but fondness in those mesmerizing irises.

"Y/N, it’s not your fault. I actually really appreciated you giving me space and not staying glued to me all night long. I might not wanted and I might still not want you here since I don’t think getting a bodyguard was necessary but I understand my mother’s worries and I respect your job. And you did an amazing job. You came at the right time and helped me out and I’m grateful for that. Stop beating yourself up. You did nothing wrong."

"I know, but I should’ve arrived earlier. I should’ve stopped him before he could’ve approached you. I was distracted and I shouldn’t have been distracted. Not when I am working."

Hailee smiled tenderly at her before placing a hand on her right shoulder and caressed it softly in a comforting manner. "It’s okay. You need to have some fun too!"

"I don’t. Not when I’m working." Y/N countered back with her eyebrows furrowed and shook her head in denial, "my priority is your safety and I can’t protect you if I am distracted. It won’t happen again."

"Okay, stop. Hold on. Let me open the door and we can keep talking." Hailee rummaged in her purse to find the tour bus’ keys and opened the door, then signaled for Y/N to enter, but the girl shook her head and signaled her to go in first. Hailee rolled her eyes good-naturedly and shook her head with a small smile before she realized Y/N wasn’t going to give in and walked in first.

"Wow, what a mess!" Y/N said out loud and widened eyes comically as she took in the place, full of clothes scattered all over the living room’s floor and couches.

"Yeah sorry, I was trying to unpack a few things."

"All of this is a bit more than a few things." Y/N joked as she looked at Hailee comically and the girl shrugged shyly.

"Anyway, we started on a wrong foot. Especially because of me. Let’s start over. I will try to be more polite to you if you will try to have fun when needed."

"Oh I didn’t realize this was a negotiation." Y/N cracked another joke, smiling mischievously at Hailee while shaking her index finger to point at Hailee and herself, the singer scoffing with another good-naturedly roll of her eyes. "Anyway, I will try. But your safety has to come first."

"Deal."

-

"Ugh, Y/N relax. You don’t need to walk me back every night to my trailer, especially when it’s 10 feet away from the entrance!"

"I am sorry, but this is the protocol. It’s my job to be sure you are safe in your trailer."

"Yeah, okay, but no one is around. My fans are on the other side of the venue."

"I still will walk you back in your trailer." Hailee huffed out a small laugh as she fished her keys from her stage pants she stashed in there after grabbing them on the counter in her changing room before walking out of the venue and unlocked her tour bus door. "I-."

"Like every other night for the past month, no. You don’t need to check the bus. It was locked."

"Okay." Y/N sighed dejectedly, scratching her forehead in frustration at Hailee’s stubbornness as she looked the singer in her eyes, "you did great tonight by the way."

"Thank you." Hailee smiled widely at the compliment, adrenaline still pumping hard in her veins at how wonderful the concert was that night. The crowd was ecstatic and the atmosphere was amazing.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Y/N."

-

Y/N could hear Hailee’s name being screamed by the ecstatic crowd from the backstage and couldn’t help but smile at how passionate Hailee’s fans were and how much love they showed her, "okay, all set. You can go on stage now."

"What’s up everybody!" Y/N smiled widely when Hailee run up on stage and the whole crowd erupted in a loud scream of excitement at her sight, "wow, I see you are happy to see me!"

No matter how many times she saw it, Y/N was still stunned how much loved Hailee was by her fans. She had travelled a lot and she had been pretty famous singer’s bodyguard before, and even if Hailee’s fans weren’t that much compared to the singers’ fans Y/N had worked for, she could see the real passion, affection and love they had for Hailee. A lot of really famous singers have also a lot of ‘occasional’ fans in the crowd that are there at their concert just to watch them live, but with Hailee’s fans Y/N could see every single one of them would go to every single one of Hailee’s shows, they weren’t just occasional fans. "WOHO! WHAT A GREAT SHOW!"

"Fuck you Mick! You will make me go deaf one of these days."

"Nah, you’ll be just fine." Mick waved her off and snickered as he circled his arm around Y/N’s shoulders and hugged her closer for a moment before pulling away.

A few seconds later a body crashed into her back as it crawled over it, giving her just a few seconds to react and grab the person’s thighs to prevent them to fall on the ground, "Y/N! I missed you!"

"Jaz we saw each other 2 hours ago!"

"I know! But I still missed you!" Y/N smiled warmly at her friend as she hugged her tightly and shook her head before putting her down gently.

"Oh yeah! I’m gonna change quickly. I wanna say ‘hi’ to them." Y/N heard Hailee speak to her manager not too far from her and watched curiously as she run to the hallway that led to the dressing rooms, already knowing she was talking about going to say ‘hi’ to her fans waiting outside the arena. She followed her and waited patiently outside her dressing room as Hailee finished changing from her stage clothes and walked her to her fans when she finished, watching with fondness in her eyes Hailee talk to her fans, signing their pictures of her and taking selfies with them. It was calm for almost 10 minutes until a fight started not too far away from them, a few rows back, between a few Hailee’s fans. A few screams could be heard and Y/N, waiting patiently a few feet behind Hailee until then, immediately jumped into action and went to take Hailee away from the scene, since the arena’s guards already got it covered, but the singer walked forward to try to calm everyone down slipping from Y/N’s grasp. Y/N saw from the corner of her eyes as she walked again towards Hailee, a girl crashing into another girl holding a beer and accidentally breaking the bottle onto the barrier on her left, before another girl crashed onto her side and made her stumble forward, dangerously close to Hailee, as she walked a few steps forward to try to help and calm everyone down. "Guys, please let’s just-."

"Hailee!" Y/N got in front of Hailee’s just in time. The Y/H/C girl grabbed the singer’s forearm and pulled her behind her back as she got in front of her a second before the broken bottle got pushed into her lower stomach while the girl holding the bottle fell down on the floor right in front of Y/N’s feet. Y/N grunted in pain when she felt a big piece of glass embed in her skin and flesh, while the rest fell down on the floor and crashed into pieces, but the Y/H/C girl pushed the pain away to protect Hailee and moved her away from the hassle. "We need to go."

"Oh shit- Y/N!"

"We need to go now. I need to escort you away to a safe place."

"B-but we need to look at that-."

"I’ll be fine." Y/N gritted through her teeth as she ignored the excruciating pain and grunted out loud when she pushed Hailee towards the direction of her tour bus.

"Y/N we seriously need to call someone." Y/N grunted back in protest as she kept pushing Hailee towards the bus and signaled for her to open the door as she looked around for anymore treats. "Y/N, please. You’re bleeding."

"I will check it as soon as I am sure you are safe and now-." Y/N trailed off as she closed the door behind her and locked the door. "Now you are." Y/N sighed out loud as she laid her back on the closed door for just a moment before she pushed past the pain for a few more seconds to check the entire bus to be completely sure Hailee was safe.

"Okay, now please, stop here and let me check." Hailee leaned her hands on Y/N’s shoulders when she joined her back on the living area and pushed down gently to let her lay her butt on the small table behind her. "Oh fuck. It looks bad." Hailee stated, examining the big red spot on Y/N’s white t-shirt with a worried expression on her face.

"Can you- l-lift the shirt?"

"I don’t know." Y/N grunted in pain when Hailee just grazed the hem of Y/N’s shirt and stopped her movements right away.

"Fuck." Y/N hissed out loud and retracted her body abruptly from Hailee’s grasp, "sorry, just- be careful."

"I am." Hailee replied softly with a small smile, "I think we should let it be checked." Hailee repeated as she looked once again at the blood stained patch on Y/N’s white shirt, biting her bottom lip nervously. A few seconds later she felt the bus move and instinctively looked at the closed door separating the living area from the driving cabin at the front of the bus with her eyebrows furrowed together. "No, no, no! We should stop."

"No, it’s okay. It’s important that we get away from that chaos. We can handle it. Wait, let me rephrase that. I can handle it. I don’t want to bother you too much. I will go into the bathroom and as soon as we are far away I will go into my bus." Y/N announced as she lifted herself off the table with another pained grunt and limped a few steps towards the bathroom to check herself the damage that broken bottle did to her, but a gentle hand on her right bicep stopped her in her tracks.

"You can’t be serious Y/N. I will help you." Y/N smiled in appreciation at the soft tone Hailee used and nodded gently at her, who nodded back with a small grin of her own, "okay, now stay put. I don’t want to hurt you if you move."

"Yeah, okay." Y/N let herself be lead by Hailee back towards the table, making her sit back down on the table and slowly but more firmly this time, lifted Y/N’s t-shirt to assess Y/N’s injury, carefully slipping the shirt away from the glass before pulling it up under her chest.

"Oh shit." Y/N gasped out loud when she felt the cold air hit her hot skin and chanced a glance down her lower stomach.

"Oh shit." Y/N repeated Hailee’s words and stared at the big piece of green glass embedded into her skin. "Fuck."

"Sorry!" Hailee grimaced in apology as she tentatively grazed the piece of glass to assess the damage.

"Don’t worry." Y/N said through gritted teeth as she tried to subdue the stinging sensation in her lower stomach, "it has to be taken out."

"Wait- do you want me to-? No! No way." Hailee asked when she moved her eyes away from Y/N’s injury and found her Y/E/C eyes staring at her expectantly.

"Hailee please, we still need to drive for a bit more and I am starting to feel dizzy. So we need to take this out and stop me from bleeding out. I would have done it myself but I don’t have enough energy in me to pull it out neatly, I would cause more unnecessary damage. So please, I know I am asking too much, but you are my greatest option right now."

"Geez, talk about ‘no pressure’." Hailee joked and made Y/N chuckle airily under her breath as she smiled fondly at the singer.

"Yeah." Y/N shook her head and looked at Hailee amusedly, "sorry but it is what it is."

"No I got it." Y/N smiled fondly at Hailee and nodded once before letting her continue, "I just don’t want to screw it up. And I don’t want to hurt you."

"Don’t worry, you won’t. You will do great. I will guide you through it all."

"Why do I feel like it’s not your first time being this heavily injured?"

"Because it’s not. I liked to get into a lot of trouble in high school." Hailee smiled mischievously down at her but in her eyes Y/N could see worry and apprehension as she stared into her brown irises.

"Hm, why am I not surprised?" Y/N snorted under her breath and blushed slightly under Hailee’s gaze, "anyway, we should probably focus. I seriously need to take this shit out, you look a little pale."

"Yeah, yeah. It also hurts like a bitch. So we should hurry."

"Okay-." Hailee took a big, deep breath to ground herself and closed her eyes to focus, a few seconds passing before she opened them once again and with her index finger and thumb took a solid hold of the big, broken bottle’s piece. She stared at the glass a couple of seconds, took another deep breath then looked into Y/N’s eyes firmly, "on three. One, two, THREE!"

Y/N groaned out loud, trying not to scream too loudly at the searing pain in her abdomen and closed her eyes shut hard, "ow! Fuck, fuck, fucking shit!" Y/N felt dizzy and hold onto the table’s edge hard to prevent herself to fall on the ground. "Sorry for cursing. It won’t happen again." Y/N murmured quietly after she gained some consciousness, her head spinning slightly and feeling a little bit weak.

"Are you serious right now?" Hailee asked incredulously as she walked to the trash can and dumped the broken bottle’s piece into it and walked back to Y/N to assess her injury. "You were in pain. Hell, you are still in so much pain. There is no need to apologize."

"I know, but I’m still working right now, so I should try to at least be well behaved." Y/N tried to reason with seriousness but the small smile that Hailee sent her way broke her deep serious frown into a big grin of her own as they both chuckled under their breaths.

"I don’t care. You are not working right now. You are a friend that got hurt and I am taking care of you."

"I should consider myself lucky, shouldn’t I?"

"Oh yeah, very lucky actually!" Hailee replied with a serious face as she nodded once before breaking her serious façade with another grin, her hands still lifting Y/N’s shirt up some more to prevent the shirt’s fabric to stick onto Y/N’s deep cut on her lower abdomen, "I will take care of you really good, you’ll see!" Hailee winked playfully before looking down on Y/N’s cut to see if there was any small pieces of glass left that she didn’t take out earlier, luckily there weren’t. When she moved her eyes once again back on Y/N’s face she was met with a small blush on Y/N’s face and a big, mischievous and cheeky grin on her lips. "What?" When Y/N just kept staring at her knowingly, Hailee thought about what she had said and immediately blushed furiously as she fumbled over her words to try to clarify, "NOT LIKE THAT! Y/N!" Hailee slapped gently Y/N’s shoulder, who chuckled softly under her breath.

"Hey! You are the dirty-minded here, you should hit yourself! And I’m injured, I’m in a lot of pain right now, it’s not fair hitting me!" Y/N caressed her left shoulder where Hailee slapped her and chuckled under her breath at their banter.

"Not enough to stop you from being the only dirty-minded here!" Hailee countered back before lifting a challenging eyebrow up when Y/N opened her mouth to try to counter her back. She smirked triumphantly when Y/N shut her mouth and grunted out childishly.

"It’s not my fault, you said it like it was meant to be dirty!" Y/N replied a few moments later and pouted softly, trying to play her trump card and make Hailee relent and say she was the one dirty-minded between them, but it only blackmailed when Hailee smirked cheekily.

"Well, this only proves you are the dirty-minded here. Because even if I decided to specifically say those words with a dirty meaning, I covered it all up with an innocent look and I made it sound innocent. You were the one that caught the dirty meaning behind that phrase. But it wasn’t the case anyway, because I didn’t realize what I said only after you pointed them out, you horndog."

"Ugh, fine you won. Now please, tell me if I need stitches because I seriously need to disinfect the cut before it could get infected."

"Oh yeah! Wait-uhm- how do I know you don’t need stitches?" Hailee asked with an insecure voice, her eyes now back analyzing the cut intensely while her eyebrows were cutely furrowed together in concentration.

"Check the central portion of the cut. How distant are the two flaps of skin?"

"Hm, I think not too much. Maybe just a tad bit of a quarter of an inch."

"Okay, that’s a good thing. You don’t need to patch me up-." Y/N trailed off as she thought over what Hailee said while she tried to see the cut’s damage for herself too.

"Yeah- wait, hold the fuck up. I would’ve had to patch you up? Are you insane?" Hailee asked incredulously and stared at Y/N like she just grew two heads, who simply chuckled in amusement as she shook her head good-naturedly.

"No, I’m Y/N."

"I-hm." Hailee opened her mouth to prepare herself to counter Y/N’s words back, but as soon as her brain registered Y/N’s witty joke, she closed her mouth shut and looked at Y/N unamused. Y/N then chuckled softly under her breath and shook her head, but didn’t add anything else, wanting to hear what Hailee would counter back, excited for their new teasing and bickering dynamic. "Wow Y/N, that was really mature of you, I must admit. Very, very mature."

"What can I say? I’m a book full of surprises and plot twists." Y/N replied with nonchalance, shrugging and smiling innocently at Hailee.

"Unbelievable." Hailee shook her head good-naturedly and rolled her eyes in amusement as she walked to the cabinet where she knew there was the first aid kit and joined Y/N again. She place the bag beside Y/N and grabbed a cotton wool, soaked it with hydrogen peroxide and lifted it to Y/N’s cut. "Okay, this will hurt a little."

"OHW! OWH! OWH! FUCKFUCKSHIT!"

"Almost done, stay put!"

"I’m trying!"

"Not enough!" Y/N grunted at Hailee’s reprimand and tried to stay as still as the excruciating pain on the left side of her lower stomach allowed her to, closing her eyes shut as Hailee cleaned her cut. "Almost done."

"Finally, ugh it hurts so much, shit."

Hailee then stopped altogether when her eyes moved up from the cut just an fraction of second and got met with Y/N’s defined abs, every muscle standing out due to Y/N contracting them from the pain. "Uhm-." Hailee opened and closed her mouth like a damned dumb fish, slapping herself on the forehead in her mind for not getting a grip on herself at the sight of just defined abs and a well-defined body, her hand frozen on the cut.

"Hailee please, hurry- fuck! Ohw, ohw, ohw!"

"Oh, shit! Sorry!" Hailee apologized as she lifted the cotton wool from the ugly cut after she started pressing on it too much without notice in her distracted state and cursed herself under her breath for hurting Y/N more than necessary due to her being an- horndog? A stupid? "Here, done!"

"Uh, fucking finally. Okay, it is starting to subside." Y/N started to breath evenly back a few seconds later Hailee stopped mending her injury and relaxed her previously contracted abdomen when she could just feel a light and small stinging sensation from her lower stomach cut.

"We need to put an antiseptic cream on it otherwise it will get infected." Hailee pointed out as she walked towards the bathroom and opened her medicine cabinet, finding the aforementioned cream after rummaging a bit in the cabinet. "Wow, I need to thank my mom for thinking about everything. She packed a whole pharmacy in my medicine bag."

"A big thank you to Mama Steinfeld." Y/N breathed out as she nodded oxygen Hailee before chuckling softly under her breath with her as Hailee approached Y/N back and opened the bandages.

"Ugh, it looks ugly. Does it hurt a lot?"

"Not as much as before but it still hurts." Y/N explained with a shrug as she looked down at her injury too.

"Okay good. This will sting a bit but it will get it better." Y/N nodded and gritted her teeth to prepare herself for the stinging, flinching just a bit when Hailee’s delicate hand applied the antiseptic cream on Y/N’s cut with a cotton swab.

"Do you want me to blow on it just a bit?" Hailee did all her best to refrain her face to break into a big grin and tried to keep a serious face as she asked the question and it got even more difficult when Y/N looked down at her incredulously but she kept applying the cream not looking at Y/N, fearing she would crack and laugh out loud if she looked into Y/N’s incredulous eyes.

"How old do you think I am?"

"I don’t know, 5 years old?" Hailee then cracked as she looked at Y/N with her bottom lip trapped under her teeth to prevent her smile to broaden but as soon as she met Y/N’s eyes she bursted out laughing.

"Ha-ha very funny." Y/N rolled her eyes good-naturedly and snorted under her breath, her heart fluttering alongside her stomach at the cute laugh Hailee was emitting for her own joke.

"I know, I am hilarious."

"Debatable." Y/N countered back jokingly, "ohw, hey!"

"Sorry!" Hailee smiled apologetically but Y/N saw through that and rolled her eyes at her pushing on her cut at her mocking words.

"Thanks." Y/N breathed out gently as soon as Hailee stopped applying the antiseptic cream and smiled in appreciation for her care and patience.

"Okay, time to patch you up and we’re done!"

"Finally!" Y/N exclaimed out loud, amusing Hailee to no end as she wrapped the bandage around Y/N’s lower stomach. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Hailee smiled affectionately at Y/N after placing the other unused bandages back into the emergency kit and looked at her in gratitude, "I actually should be the one thanking you. Not the way around."

"I was just doing my job."

"You almost got hurt badly for it." Y/N shook her head with a soft smile and lifted her hand up in protest.

"It’s nothing. I’ve been worse injured." Y/N admitted with a mix of shyness and resolution, trying to make Hailee stop feeling bad for her.

PART 2

[luizd3ad]

Happy Birthday? | Poly!Moonwaterkiller x Fem!Reader

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ࣪˖⤷ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ࣪ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ˖ ⤷

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Regulus Black x Barty Crouch Jr x F!Reader WC: 3,163 CW: swearing, teasing type of relationship, mostly fluff, slight angst at the end, slight talks of Regulus’s childhood, no use of Y/N Author's Note: This ship is inspired by @ellecdc please send her love. She's so talented and is just straight up amazing. Also I'm still new to writing so I hope you like it and I'm sorry if it's not good/doesn't make sense.

Summary: It’s regulus birthday so you, Remus and Barty want to make it special but sometimes things don’t go as planned.

I made this ig mood board inspired by the guy idk ive never made one before

˙‧⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆⋆

“Bartemius Crouch junior! I swear to all that is holy in this world! If you stick your grubby hands in the frosting one more bloody time!”

“Oh come on Lupin! You can’t blame me, it's just so fucking good!"

Barty yelled, waving his hands around trying to defend himself.

You couldn't help but laugh at hearing two of your boyfriends’ bicker while you put the chicken you just got done seasoning into the oven to cook. 

Admittedly it was quite entertaining and it helped distract you a bit from stressing over the cooking that still needed to be done and the small decorations that needed to be put up for today.

It was Regulus's birthday, so you and Remus had gotten Sirius to take Regulus out for the day so you and your partners could try and surprise him with a birthday dinner for just the four of you. 

You couldn't help but stress seeing as he should be home sooner than later at this point, and you wanted everything to be as perfect as possible since Regulus wasn't completely comfortable with celebrating his birthday still. 

He didn't find the idea of a party and things of that nature to be fun, he found it more stressful and anxiety inducing than anything. (due to his childhood)

So the three of you have always tried to do a little something to make it special for him and to show Regulus that you all love him but never anything too much as to avoid overwhelming or making him uncomfortable. 

“Barty, my love, how about you go and set up the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner?”

“Anything for you angel.”

Barty says with a look that he reserved for only you. 

It was love sick looks. The kind of look that could show the receiver every emotion the other person was feeling. It showed that you were loved by that person with their whole heart. The type of look that had both parties feeling vulnerable in the best way possible.

Even before you all had started dating, when you all were just friends in your earlier years at Hogwarts, he had always looked at you as if you hung the moon and all the stars in the sky. 

He'd look at you as if you were the only good thing left in this world, and to him you were one of the only good things left in this world.

You and two other people that he held closer to his heart than he'd probably be willing to admit most days. 

Though that didn’t mean Barty didn't love Remus and Regulus.

It also didn't mean it was a secret of how much Barty loved Remus and Regulus. In fact he loved them with all his heart. He expressed how much he loved them somewhat often in his own ways.

Especially since he could be known for his flair of the dramatics at times, he had expressed many times that he loved the three of you more than anything. 

Not that anyone could deny, or question it. More like no one would dare to deny or question it. 

Barty has expressed many times how he'd burn down cities, commit unspeakable acts and take on any unforgivable in a heartbeat for Regulus and Remus.

The love Barty held for them two was the kind of love that was teasing and could be chaotic in the best way. 

The type of love that could only be described as a ‘I can pick on them but you can't pick on them because they're mine’ in the most loving way Barty could possibly manage. And may the gods help any poor soul that ever tried to mess with someone who he deemed as his. 

But the love he had for you was a softer kind of love, it was sweet. The kind of love full of things like love sick looks, soft touches, sweet kisses and even sweeter words.

Along with the promises of burning down cities, committing unspeakable acts and taking on unforgivables’, who would expect anything less from Barty?  But I digress.

“Yes please, piss off for fucks sake.”

Remus says in an exasperated tone waving Barty away. Barty then gasps dramatically and clenches his shirt as if he was clutching his ‘pearls’. 

“You don't mean that, Remmy.” Barty all but whined. 

“Plus you couldnt get rid of me even if you wanted to.”

Barty states sending a smirk and wink at Remus, which Remus just responds with by rolling his eyes and hitting Barty with a dish towel playfully to distract Barty from the light blush that's undoubtedly spread across Remus’s face, as to avoid being teased further by him.

“Barty’s right Rem. Even if we wanted to, we're stuck with him, unfortunately.”

You say with a sarcastic little sigh while trying to suppress a smile that threatened to form due to the two men playful arguing. 

Barty then gasps dramatically once more and puts his hand over his heart as if you just stabbed him in the heart as Remus snicker at Bartys reaction and to your comment. 

“Not you as well, angel. You should know that words hurt. You've wounded me, you've basically killed me.”

Barty then pretends to sob as you and Remus shake your heads with smiles on your faces due to his behavior.

“Gods you’ve been spending way too much damn time around Sirius.”

Remus says while rubbing his hands over his face trying to hide his smile. You chuckle and walk up to Barty and give him a hug giving him your best ‘I'm sorry’ look. 

“I’m sorry Barty, I just couldn't help it. Remus has influenced me far too much.. Blame him.”

You say in fake sincerity with a small nod as you hear Remus huff at your comment.

Barty lets out a chuckle and hugs you back with a smile on his face looking down at you as he holds you. 

“It's okay angel, I could never stay upset at you. Lupin on the other hand..”

Barty drags out the end of his sentence with a small smirk on his face as Remus scoffs dramatically at his lovers’ statements.

“Really love? It's my fault is it?”

Remus says with his head tilted to the side and eyebrow raised, as if daring you to continue saying that he should be the one to blame for your ‘cruel’ comment to Barty. 

“Actually Lupin,  I think it is your fault.” Barty stated apparently agreeing with you.

“And what has brought you to that conclusion Junior?” 

Remus says as he walks toward the both of you with a small smirk on his face.

“My angel was just that, an angel. That was until you lot got your Gryffindor hands all over her.”

Barty says with a small shrug, feeling as if his point was valid and made sense. You supposed for Barty it did.

“Is that a fact?” Remus asked while getting closer to you and Barty.

“Yeah, Lupin it is actually.”  Barty says, giving Remus a somewhat challenging look.

“You don't seem to complain when I have my Gryffindor hands all over you, Junior.” 

Remus then winks at a now blushing and flustered Barty. You then cover your mouth trying to hide your own blush while also trying to suppress a giggle.

Barty tries to say some kind of come back and it  just results in him stuttering.

“W-well I- Goddamnit! That’s not fair Lupin!”

“All's fair in love and war Junior.”

Remus says sending another wink at Barty and smirking at you while Barty stares at him with wide eyes in complete silence.

He had managed to make Barty Crouch Jr speechless.

That was actually one of the many things that Remus was good at, especially at the beginning when everything was still new and more unexpected. 

When the four of you were in that space where you weren't officially dating but it was clear to you and everyone who'd been around your little group that you four had very strong feelings for each other.

It had taken Remus no time at all to get comfortable with having at least one of you flustered almost all the time, usually to the point of stuttering or speechlessness. 

He loved seeing you three like that.

Especially Barty.

Barty wasn't someone you could easily make blush let alone actually fluster, especially with just words so whenever Remus would manage to make Barty speechless he felt like he won a reward. 

Barty would never admit it but it was clear as day that Remus was good at making him a flustered stuttering mess. 

And Barty hated it.

“Now love. I believe someone owes someone an apology for trying to place blame.”

Remus says, walking up to you now at arms length and giving you a pointed look now waiting for an apology. 

While Barty mutters a ‘fucking hell’ under his breath and runs his hand through his hair as he walks towards the kitchen counter still mumbling quietly to himself.

“I'm sorry moony. Truly. Do you forgive me?” You say somewhat sincerely knowing Remus doesn't really care all that much. 

“I could never stay mad at you, love.”

Remus says with a small smile he then cups your cheek and gives you a kiss on your forehead, you lean into Remus's kiss taking in the moment and enjoying the affection from your boyfriend.

When suddenly you and Remus feel a cold, grainy substance rain down on you, which you both quickly realize is flour once the shock wore off.

You then hear a familiar giggle, and turn to see none other than a proud looking Barty standing now several feet away, covered in white powder himself. He just stands there proud of himself as if he didn't just cover you both in flour.

As you stare at him wide eyed and mouth a gasp, he just gives you a cheeky little smile.

“You did not just do that Junior.”

“Oh but I think I did, Remmy. That's what you get for teasing and being mean to me.”

Barty then sends a little wink to you and a somewhat apologetic smile.

“Sorry angel. Collateral damage, you understand.”

Barty says with a small shrug and a tone that makes it seem like it's the most reasonable thing that he has ever done.

You simply nod with the most convincing smile you could possibly muster in that moment.

“Of course my love. I understand.”

You say walking near Barty and grabbing a bowl that's filled with whipped cream that you had made earlier. You then walk closer to Barty and with a smile on your face.

“And you'll understand when I do this.”

You say while grabbing a handful of whipped cream and throwing it at Barty just for him to duck in time ending with the cream hitting Remus in the face. You gasp and cover your mouth trying not to laugh as Barty busts out laughing.

“Oh shit Rem! I'm so sorry.”

You say trying hard and failing to suppress your laughter, while Remus wipes his eyes off with his hands.

“It's okay love. All’s forgiven. Just come and give me a kiss.”

“Ummm I would love to, honestly I would… After you clean your face, that is…”

You back away from a now smiling remus while he opens his arms for you and starts walking closer to you. 

“No, now would be fine for me.”

Remus proceeds to walk closer to you as you start to back away towards Barty who's starting to calm down from his laughter.

“Why not kiss Barty?! This is all because of him anyway!”

Barty then gasps.

“Angel! I can't believe you'd throw me under the bus like that… Is it bad that I liked it?”

Barty asks the last part more to himself than to anyone else. He was so caught up in his thoughts for a second that he didn't notice you now using him as a human shield, that was until he felt a clump of whipping cream on his head and looked to see a smirking Remus. 

“Oh. This means war.”

All of a sudden it was every person for themselves. The kitchen was now a war zone. Flour, whipped cream, sugar, powdered sugar, fruits and berries were being thrown all over the place. It was pure chaos. 

The Three you were making a mess out of the kitchen and even bigger messes of yourselves.

Next thing you, you’ve been thrown over Remus’s shoulder while Barty is chasing Remus around the kitchen. 

There’s so much going on, so much laughing and screaming that no one heard the door open. Which meant no one heard Regulus make his way to the kitchen, and so no one noticed him standing in the doorway till you heard him speak.

“I leave you alone for a few hours and suddenly the kitchen explodes?”

Regulus in all his stoic glory just stood there not even looking a little surprised.

All three of you stopped running around, suddenly feeling like kids who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Then all three of you look at eachother then at Regulus.

“Happy Birthday?” You, Remus and Barty said accidentally making it sound more like a question than in an enthusiastic way.

Regulus just points at the oven says.

“The ovens smoking.”

“Oh shit! The chicken!”

You yell as Remus puts you down and he rushes to the oven to take out the now burnt chicken as smoke fills the kitchen.

“Sooo… Chinese?” Said a very uncertain Barty  

After opening some windows, having the Chinese food delivered, a few showers and quite a few cleaning spells the four of you ended up on the couch with a movie on not many words being exchanged.

After the movie was finished and the food had all been mostly finished Remus had brought out the cake that he managed to finish decorating while waiting for the food to arrive.

The three of you had sung (or in Bartys case basically screamed) Happy birthday to Regulus while he sat there with a ghost of a smile on his face. After another hour or so the four of you found yourselves in your shared bed.

You couldn't help but feel guilty since Regulus hadn't really expressed any emotion which wasn’t necessarily not normal about his birthday. You felt like maybe you had upset him in some way, maybe you over stepped or maybe he was irritated due to the mess you Remus and Barty made. 

You were spiraling. 

Till you heard a whisper.

“Thank you..” 

It was quiet for a few seconds, you supposed no one really knew what to say.

“For what Black? I feel like we kinda ruined your birthday.” Said a almost half asleep Barty

“It wasn't ruined Junior! It just didn't go.. as planned..'' defend Remus who laid on the other side of you. 

You and Regulus laid in the middle of Barty and Remus.

“Would the two of you stop bickering for just a moment please?” You say with a small shake of your head and a small chuckle. 

The next second there's a small choir of ‘Sorry angel’ and ‘Sorry love’.

“What are you thanking us for, Reggie?” 

You say pushing some of his black curly hair behind his ear looking at him softly, though he probably couldn't tell since it was dark in the room.

The only light coming through the window from the half moon.

“For today.. I know it didn't go how any of you planned or would have wanted it to go, but still. It was nice. I spent most of the day with my brother though he can be insufferable, loud and dramatic most of the time, it was still nice. And then to come home to the three people who mean everything to me laughing and having fun... That was the best part. I know I'm not the easiest when it comes to celebrating my birthday but, your three and Sirius have been the only people who have ever actually cared for my birthday. You've never treated it like how my parents did. Never used it as an excuse to have a big party full of people I didn't know or care about just so it seemed like we were better then them or make it seem like we were the perfect family, even though it was evident that we weren't. You've always made it about me and always respected what I'm comfortable with and well I appreciate that. So.. Thank you.. I love you.. All three of you..”

“We love you too Reg.” You say quietly, giving Regulus a soft kiss.

“Awwww did Regulus Black just say he loves me.” Barty practically squealed.

Barty then pulls Regulus into him so Regulus’s back is to Barty's front and then proceeds to messily kiss Regulus all over the side of his face while Regulus tries and fails to get away from him.

Remus then starts to laugh harder than you had seen in a while, almost falling off the bed as he hears the bickering between the two (mostly on Regulus' part) and sees the shadows of a struggling Regulus and a very determined Barty. 

You can't help but start to laugh almost as hard as Remus as you try and get the words out to have Barty let go of poor Regulus.

The night continues for only a few more moments it's filled with more laughing and eventually sleepy good night kisses and I love yous.

To say the four of you had an interesting relationship would be an understatement. It could be messy and chaotic, it could be a fucking headache sometimes. 

But there was love. There was always love. 

There were mornings where the four of you would wake up and just lay in bed happier than any of you thought you could ever be.

There were tender kisses and loving touches.

Dreams and promisses of the future.

There were smiles and laughing fits that would fuel you for the days when you felt like you couldn't even get out of bed.

Admittedly, it was a lot most of the time. 

There were screaming matches and arguing at its worst times but at its best times it was you and three people that you couldn't see your life without. Three people that made life easier most of the time. People who could make you laugh till you cried and that would hold you while you cried and fall apart.

This was a life that none of you ever thought you'd have the opportunity to have, and ever so often one of you would feel like you didn't deserve the life you had.

This was the kind of life that probably wouldn’t exist for you guys in different universes. But here, in this universe? This is the life you have and you wouldn't trade it for the world.

⋆‧⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

[danaewrites]

you with the dark curls (you with the watercolor eyes)

part ii: i wanna hear you speak to me

james potter x reader // read it on AO3

word count: 3.6k

summary: “Falling in love with your best friend was never a good idea, but you’d managed to do the idiot thing anyway, carrying a torch for a boy who would never look past Lily’s emerald eyes to see the watercolor ones that had always been by his side.”

tags: best friends to lovers, angst with a happy ending, based on the song "dear arkansas daughter" by lady lamb, fem!reader

author's notes: new year, new chapter! i started writing this one back in SEPTEMBER and finally had enough time away from the terrors of calculus homework to finish it. thanks for reading my story so far and i hope you enjoy this incredibly self-indulgent chapter, because i had way too much fun writing it!! i promise that the angst in this chapter *will* be resolved, but it was too deliciously tempting to resist sprinkling a wee bit of hurt/comfort and dramatics in there as well. sorry not sorry!

read it all here: part i, part ii, part iii (coming soon!)

“I’ve got no bloody clue how Dumbledore can be so energetic all the time,” you groaned, head in your hands as you peeked out at the headmaster’s more-than-slightly manic grin from your seat at the Gryffindor breakfast table. You were far too sleep-deprived to process his latest choice of garish attire: a bright chartreuse robe covered in plaid polka dots, topped off with what appeared to be rhinestones and tinsel attached to his beard.

Perhaps if Kettleburn hadn’t assigned you three feet of parchment on the seventeen glorious properties of dragon dung yesterday and expected it done by this afternoon, you might have appreciated the headmaster’s creative fashion choices– oh, who were you kidding. There really was no understanding that wizard, even properly rested. James and Peter had made a bet during fifth year on how long it’d take Dumbledore to crack under a constant deluge of pranks in his office, but they’d quickly realized that the man was too far gone to do anything but take inspiration for school events– an idea that was quite frankly, comically frightening, and the sort of thing you weren’t keen on pondering on a normal Tuesday morning.

Sirius wrinkled his nose sympathetically and slid the pile of raspberry jam tarts closer to you. “Late night in the library again?”

You nodded sheepishly, gratefully taking a pastry from the pile. “I honestly don’t know why Pince allows me to stay past curfew. Marauder’s luck, I guess?” Your attention was diverted by the sound of hoots and flapping wings as the morning owl brigade arrived, apparently choosing a kamikaze dive-bomb approach to deliver this morning’s newspapers. Ah, the joys of living at the world’s most advanced magical school.

Sirius, ever the epitome of grace, slipped under the table as a rogue owl zipped past, popping himself back up just enough to throw you finger guns. “Exactly right, doll, exactly right,” he grinned. “Trust me, Marauder’s luck gets you everywhere. And I mean everywhere,” he winked, sending you a lecherous smirk.

“Ew, Sirius, I don’t even want to know,” you sniffed. “I’ve learned my lesson after the mental trauma your tales of Dorcas’ birthday adventures inflicted upon my psyche. Please, spare me the details.”

“What? All I meant was Slughorn’s Christmas Party, of course!” He batted his eyelashes angelically, still partially covered by the tablecloth.

Your mouth gaped open in shock. “Last year’s Christmas party? Sirius Orion Black, I refuse to hear another word! What on earth would your ancestors think, with you bragging about such exploits-”

He leaned over, eyes wide with laughter. “No, I meant the one Slughorn is throwing on the 21st, it’s exclusively for us lucky seventh years this time. Although, you bring up some very fond memories… okay, okay, I’ll stop, don’t kick me–”

“What are we kicking Sirius for?” James slid onto the bench across from you, eyeing a groveling Sirius with interest. Peter joined him, but wisely chose to stay away from the ruckus, piling his plate high with the bacon the owls had spared. Remus was noticeably absent, spending the morning resting in the infirmary after a rough night of shifting– which you assumed was much more peaceful than the current chaos at the Gryffindor breakfast table.

“Oh! Good morning, Jamie,” you beamed up at him, passing him the plate of desserts you’d been protecting from Sirius’ nefarious advances. “Morning, dove,” he greeted you, and then paused. “Ha, get it? Morning dove?” He puffed up his chest smugly and nudged Sirius with his elbow in a futile effort to make him laugh. You huffed fondly at his antics. Boys.

Sirius rolled his eyes and took advantage of your momentary distraction, retreating back onto his seat to nurse his wounds– to your ever-growing delight (and Sirius’ woe), you had recently discovered that the Hogwarts girls’ uniform shoes were quite sharp. “At this point we should call you Lames. ‘Cause your puns are lame,” he muttered.

You shooed him away with a brush of your hand, remembering what Sirius had mentioned earlier. “According to Sirius, Slughorn’s hosting a Christmas Party again this year. Let’s pray it won’t be like the last one.” You muttered. James and Peter both looked vaguely ill at the prospect, shuddering in unison. “My tie will never look the same again,” Peter griped, but suddenly sat up straight in his seat. “Hey, wait, we’re finally old enough to bring dates to this one! Without sneaking them in, I mean.” 

Sirius snickered and lightly punched his shoulder. “Why, Petey, got some lucky girl in mind?” Peter reddened and glanced over at the Hufflepuff table, where a certain freckled blonde was chatting with her friends– a move that didn’t go unnoticed by James, who gave a delighted wolf-whistle. “You got a thing for Lucy Abbott, huh? Might want to make a move before Smith does,” he grinned, gesturing to the tall brunette boy who’d just arrived and sharing a knowing smirk with you. You giggled at Peter’s increasingly pouty expression; he’d figure out sooner or later that Smith was definitely not interested in Abbott– or witches in general– but it was entertaining to see him out of his comfort zone. Peter had always been the quietest of your little group, and you privately thought that a bit of momentary romantic angst might spur him to be more assertive. An ironic opinion, considering how your own love life revolved around the fact that your best friend had feelings for someone else… and you couldn’t do anything about it except mope.

Peter scowled. “Easy for you to say, Prongs, you’ve finally got precious Lily-flower wrapped around your finger. I bet you’ve already asked her!”

There it was: another reminder that James wasn’t yours, and never would be. You watched as the Gryffindor boys good-naturedly jostled his shoulder and tousled his curls. James grinned sheepishly, shrugging off their teasing. “Not yet,” he admitted, glancing hopefully at the end of the table, where Lily was chatting with her friends. 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Aw, come on, we all know she’ll say yes this year.” Sirius winced, looking at you out of the corner of his eye. Peter glanced at Sirius, drawn by the movement. “What’ve you got to worry about? Half the population would kill Dumbledore to get one dance with you. The only person who’s got to worry about a date is me– well, and maybe Y/n, I guess.” His face suddenly turned contemplative, looking you up and down. “Are you going with someone?” 

Sirius’ grimace became doubly pronounced at Peter’s tactlessness, and you felt your face heating up. Peter had a way of accidentally hitting on the issues others tried to hide. It wasn’t his fault he’d never heard about your trips to Hogsmeade with a paramour– in fact, none of the boys had. Because there hadn’t been any. You’d spent your entire time at Hogwarts pining after James, and as a result had missed the romantic milestones your classmates had already blissfully bragged about. 

Peter looked at you expectantly, waiting for a response, and you opened your mouth to confess your lack of experience when you spotted a familiar redhead walking gracefully towards your side of the table– to James, you realized with a start. Something within you ignited as you watched her glow with confidence, carefree and lovely as ever. Lily would never pine after someone uselessly; she knew she could get anyone she wanted with the right amount of banter and flirty gestures. You... Well, you weren’t there quite yet, but maybe it was time to take inspiration from the Muggle saying and ‘fake it til you make it’. And before you could think about what you were about to do, you turned to Peter and smiled coyly. “I might.”

James’ and Sirius’ heads snapped up immediately from their perusal of the breakfast lineup as they let out an identical murmur of surprise. “What?” James furrowed his brow, looking you up and down– seemingly trying to discern whether you had taken a holiday from your senses, most likely via Bludger-induced concussion at the last Quidditch match. Sirius merely raised a questioning eyebrow at you. You groaned internally, knowing that you’d have to explain yourself later… although, if your half-baked idea worked, you’d be spending a lot more time with him anyway. For now, you beamed innocently at both of them and took a sip of your pumpkin juice. Apparently, the Sorting Hat had placed you in Gryffindor for a reason- you were either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish to commit to this plan, but with Evans quickly approaching, you saw no other choice.

Peter looked momentarily shocked, then glumly began to assemble an egg and bacon sandwich seasoned with the occasional mutterance of “unfair” and “perpetually single, my arse”.

James’ eyes were still trained on you. “Who is it?” he asked, searching your face again as if he was looking for some indication that you were joking. You shrugged, trying to look casual. “I guess you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?”

“Dove-” he began, but Lily finally reached his seat and placed one stupidly perfect hand on his shoulder, diverting his attention momentarily. “Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but Professor McGonagall asked me to bring you to her office for Quidditch scheduling.” James blinked, glancing up at her and then at the rest of the table. He stood up and focused on you again, expression clouded. “I’ll see you in Potions, yeah?”

Sirius stood up quickly, ushering him out of his seat with a speed you’d only seen him use to gulp down cheap Firewhiskey. He gave you a significant look. “Actually, Y/n and I were just about to take a walk, isn’t that right? So we'll both see you in Potions, what a sublime coincidence, now don’t be late for your meeting–” he chattered on as he shoved James toward the doors of the Great Hall, the latter eyeing him suspiciously but moving nonetheless. Sirius turned to you and pointed to the courtyard entryway. “You. Me. Talk, as in right now.”

Once you were sure that you’d made it out of earshot of Peter and the rest of the Gryffindor table, you wheeled around to face him. “Okay. First of all… I didn’t plan that.” Sirius raised an eyebrow again. “Second of all, I need a favour,” you pleaded, staring up at him with the most adorable doe eyes you could physically summon. They were usually most effective on James, for some reason, but you were sure that Sirius wasn’t immune to your manipulation either. He groaned, resting his face in his hands. “How do you even have a date? Last time I checked, also known as yesterday, you were still head over heels for Prongsie, doll. So do I need to check you for Amortentia or somethi–” He peered out from between his fingers with annoyed realization. “You don’t have a date, do you.” 

You blinked innocently up at him. He let out a long-suffering sigh and ran his hands through his hair. “This is what you need the favour for? You want me to go with you to Slughorn’s party so you can pretend in front of the rest of Hogwarts that you’re not madly in love with Jamie?” 

You grinned confidently up at him and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Aw, Siri, you know me so well. It’s almost as if you were maaaade to be my date for the party...” You fluttered your eyelashes up at him one more time for good measure, trying to hide a smirk. “Alright, alright, stop with the Bambi act, I’ll take you.” He scowled good-naturedly. “You know, this is going to ruin my dating pool for the next month.” 

You scoffed. “As if! If anything, you’ll just have more people fawning over you– temptation of the forbidden apple and all, you know.” 

Sirius brightened up considerably at this revelation. “Well, why didn’t you say so in the beginning, doll! I vote that we match in purple velvet, it does wonders for my complexion–”

You gave a very unladylike snort at the thought of you and Sirius swanning into the party in some sort of horrendous plum-coloured disco getup, and shooed him away towards the Potions classroom. That was an eyesore to imagine sometime when you weren’t about to get a headache from the dim dungeon lighting.

Slughorn greeted you and Sirius by directing you to the front of the classroom with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Oho, a pair of latecomers, I see!” He winked at you and Sirius in exaggerated motion. You winced as Snape jeered and nudged Malfoy, who was busy enjoying Flint’s crude gestures at you. Ugh, Slytherin boys. The worst of the lot. Their snickers were quickly stopped by James chucking a handful of powdered wormwood at their heads when Slughorn turned away, making Malfoy’s prized hair appear covered in soot. You shot him a grateful smile. 

“Since you two missed my initial remarks, let’s see if you can make it up by identifying today’s potion, hmm?” Slughorn gestured dramatically to a shimmering green brew in a cauldron next to his desk, cherry-coloured smoke curling off of the top invitingly. 

Sirius shot you a panicked look, clearly not expecting to be put in the academic spotlight, but you shook your head and stepped closer. You smelled something rich and incense-like, which meant that Bumburrel leaves were a key ingredient. And combined with the way the smoke was drifting lazily around your wrists, curling higher and higher… “Brew of Mandelian, sir. Used for sharpened acuity under times of pressure.”

Slughorn gave a delighted chuckle and clapped his hands. “Well then! Ten points to Gryffindor for paying attention in lectures!” He dismissed you and Sirius with a wave, moving on to explain the finer points of ingredient preparation to a very bemused George Goyle as you slipped into your usual seat beside James.

You worked in quiet harmony for a moment, methodically slicing and crushing the slippery beetles needed to give the brew its signature green colour while James handed you the insects. He broke the silence after six beetles (not that you had been counting or anything) with an awkward, “So… you have a, erm, date?”

You huffed, motioning for him to hand you the foul-smelling Moorish tubers next. “Honestly, James, is it that surprising?” He scratched the back of his neck, frowning. “Well, I– yeah, I guess.” he trailed off, seeing your expression. 

“The tubers, Jamie, thank you. I mean, you looked at me like I was a ghost back in the Great Hall!” You were decidedly not making eye contact with him, trying your best to focus on the slimy plants in front of you and not the fact that your best friend-slash-unrequited crush doubted your romantic potential. What a way to be humbled– and while covered in tuber juice, no less!

He huffed, running a hand through his already messy curls. “Come on, Y/n, it’s not like that. What did Sirius want to talk about in the Great Hall, anyway? You two looked… chummy.” 

You glared down at the copper slicing board. “Well, it’s none of your business how chummy we are, is it? I don’t interrogate you every time you converse with Peter. In fact, it’s rather expected that Sirius and I speak to one another on occasion, considering the amount of time we all spend together thanks to you.”

You moved to grab another tuber from the jar, but James reached out and grabbed your hand, forcing you to look at him. His hazel eyes were alight with frustration, a look you knew by heart thanks to the hours you’d spent tutoring him in History of Magic after he napped his way through the entire first semester. “Are you serious? You’re actually going with someone?”

“Please, Jamie, do enlighten me on whyever you think I couldn’t possibly get a date with my numerous and diverse charms,” you sniffed, hoping to Merlin that he would just leave the entire subject alone. 

“No, it’s–” he groaned, leaning back in his seat. “The other boys, they don’t know how– you’re so, I mean, just look at you!” he exclaimed, gesturing at you. He stopped, frowning to himself, looking more confused than before. He glanced over at Lily, expression becoming even more muddled, brow furrowed and hard to read to anyone but you. 

Your mouth parted in shock, and to your dismay you felt tears bubbling up again. You blinked fiercely, refusing to let him see you cry. James thought the issue was… your looks? You suddenly wanted to crawl under Slughorn’s desk and never come out again, except perhaps to find a shovel to dig your grave with. This was far, far worse than watching him transfigure chocolates for Lily every Valentine’s Day. Now you knew for a fact he didn’t find you attractive– thought other boys didn’t either, even! And the way he’d clearly mentally compared you to Lily after what he’d admitted… well. There was no recovering from that. Teenage boys could be dense, but Merlin, how you had wanted him to at least let you down gently. 

You wished you’d never opened your mouth to lie about having a stupid date in the first place, but you forced yourself to laugh and mutter something trite about how that could all be fixed with a couple glamour charms anyway so it really wasn’t an issue for the party, thank you very much. He looked even more confused, opening his mouth to respond, but Snape chose that moment to interrupt.

“Hey, Potter!” James turned to scowl at the greasy Slytherin as you thanked your lucky stars for Snape’s interruption (a rather disturbing thought– potentially a harbinger of an imminent apocalypse. You’d never thanked Snape before in your life and hoped to never do it again). “Here’s payback for earlier,” he smirked, checking that Slughorn had dozed off and the other students weren’t paying attention before whipping a mottled yellow bottle at James.

James’ carefully honed Quidditch reflexes kicked in and he quickly dodged the object, but as the vial soared up, up, past your carefully diced tubers, over James’ messy notes, it hit your arms and shattered. You flinched in pain, crying out as the glass shards embedded themselves in your arm and the congealing, repulsive liquid dripped down your hands and onto your thighs. James lunged towards you, but it was too late– the potion had already seeped into your skin, causing an awful sparking sensation. 

You gasped, grabbing onto the desk as the feeling bubbled upwards. “Jamie, I don’t– I don’t feel–” you stuttered, suddenly lightheaded, and you heard someone gasp as you began to taste something metallic. You absently touched your nose. Why was it so cold and wet? You had been so careful not to touch your face around those horrid tubers and oh, oh Merlin and Morgana what was that pain in your hands and legs, please no make it go away someone help me help me HELP

You vaguely registered someone whimpering in the background. It might have been you, but you weren’t entirely sure what was happening outside of the electric symphony of agony crescending in your nervous system. The pain built swirled flooded through until you weren’t sure where you ended and the potion began which was a funny thought because of course you were you, but you couldn’t remember who you were before this so you laughed but that really hurt, oh how that hurt no no no no no bad idea–  

“Fuck– no–” James? Was he here too?

You blinked– when did your eyes open?– and saw him reach for you, frantically pushing his dark curls off his forehead. Why would he do that? You loved his hair, even when you were feeling funny awful things from the potion. You felt his arms scoop under you, lifting you off your seat as he caught your head from falling back. You heard a door slam open, footsteps, darkness clouding your vision–

His voice. “Sweetheart, no– don’t do that, I need you to keep your eyes open.”

You blinked again, trying to focus on James’ face. He looked pale, jaw set and tensed like it was before his Quidditch games. Were you moving? You couldn’t tell whether James was walking or the hallways were walking around you. He glanced down again, exhaling with relief once he saw whatever he was looking for. “Yeah, just like that. Keep those pretty eyes focused on me, okay?” 

He thought your eyes were pretty? 

James gave a tight laugh. “Yeah, I think your eyes are pretty, dove. Hold on a bit longer, we’re almost there,” he choked out. 

Oh. Had you said that out loud?

But you thought– he had said something, before, you couldn’t remember now but it was important and it hurt–

Some part of you, deep where the potion hadn’t reached, had melted at his words. That part was tinged with pain, too, but in a different way, raw and honest and hopeful and all for him. Or maybe that was the potion, you were pretty sure witches weren’t supposed to melt unless they were green and lived somewhere much further west, but your thoughts on the whole process evaporated as you reached a white door and a woman and your words started to swirl until they melted too and everything went black.

taglist: @magpiencrow @that-kid143 @itmustbegreattobecalledtheitgirl @lilly-aliyah @milivanili99 @stars-havefallen @spidergwnn @prongs-moon @joeytribbiani18 @yeahright0h @ronancebot @ropickle @regulusblacksposts @lovelywritersgarden @helloitsmeeeeeee @xobridgertonblues @azuredgalaxies

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[minustwofingers]

exoplanet p.3

pairing: ellie williams x fem! reader (ur a girly girl in this one!!) (she/her pronouns)

summary: you’ve won the life lottery as one of the few people on earth with parents who gained admittance to the most prestigous safezone in the world after the outbreak. but after a lab accident sends you out to jackson, wyoming, real life hits you fast. it’s a good thing that a hot lesbian finds u. (lol). mean ellie at first, slowburn, enemies to friends to lovers, fem reader asf

warnings: (PLEASE READ!) explicit language, violence, description of a medical procedure sans anesthesia, recreational drug use (idk how else to put it ellie gets absolutely zonked in the beginning), reader overthinks asf and is a little neurotic but that's why we love her x

a/n: hey guys! thank you so much for the wait! it's been genuinely insane how sweet and incredible all of you are. i've never felt so appreciated for my writing!! also, some notes: this chapter is heavily inspired by my last relationship. sorry if it's not as immersive bc of it! and also i don't have ANY medical knowledge so...cast a blind eye when u get to that scene

part 1

part 2

tags: @prettyplant0 @666findgod​ @sawaagyapong​ @rystarkov​ @buzzybuzzsposts @addisonnie @galacticstxrdust @parkersmyth @pinkazelma

wc: 6.6k

enjoy x

“One more time.”

You gave Ellie a withering look from where you were sitting at the end of her bed.

“Please,” she said, drawing out the s. “Just once more. I promise.” 

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes—a habit of hers that you were quickly picking up—and took in a deep breath. “Fuck.” 

Ellie lost it, peals of laughter bouncing off the walls. “Another one. Say something else.”

“I don’t understand why you think this is so funny,” you said.

“You say it so weird.”

“I enunciate,” you clarified. “I don’t ‘sound weird’. It’s called pronouncing every letter in the word and not having a lazy mouth.” 

“Please,” she gasped. “At least say bitch. You haven’t said that one yet.”

You looked her dead in the eye. “Bitch.”

If you weren’t already certain that Ellie was high out of her mind by the smell of her room and the general haze in the air, the way she howled with laughter and fell back on her bed would’ve made you entirely positive.

This was new. You’d begun to hang out with her in her room after dinner—that was normal—but when she’d knocked on your door smelling heavily of weed once you’d said goodnight to Joel, you were nothing less than shocked. Of course, she had none left for you. Which was probably good, because only a sober mind could navigate a night sitting on Ellie’s bed without doing something really, really stupid. 

“I can’t believe you call me weird,” you said, tucking your feet under her and giving her a pointed look. 

“You’re so lucky you didn’t grow up where I did,” Ellie said, wiping a tear away from her cheek as she tried (unsuccessfully) to rein in her giggles. “You would’ve been eaten alive, good lord.”

“What were you like as a kid?” you asked, resting your chin on your knees. 

She considered for a moment, growing more somber. “Um…I don’t know if you would’ve liked me very much.”

“What do you mean? Of course I would’ve liked you.” 

“No,” she said, swiping at her face so she pushed a strand of hair away. “I don’t think you would have.”

“Why not?”

“I was…” She paused, picking at her cuticles. “Back then I didn’t have anyone. I was an orphan, you know. My parents were never in the picture, so I was the only one I could count on.  I was really rough around the edges and could be nasty. But I probably would’ve ignored you like I did everyone else. “

“Everyone? You didn’t have anyone? No friends at all?”

Ellie blinked, and her gaze remained fixed on her hands. “Basically, yeah. I mean, there was one girl, but that’s…I don’t want to talk about that right now, actually.” 

“That’s okay,” you said, reaching forward to touch her knee. She flinched at the contact but didn’t brush you away. The image of a young, scared Ellie living somewhere alone made your chest ache. “You don’t have to tell me.” 

“What were you like?” she asked, tilting her head and meeting your eyes. 

“Hmmm…” Mirth crept into your tone. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?” Ellie echoed, her eyes cloudy as she thought. Then a small smirk formed on her face. “Oh god, were you one of those spoiled brats? Were you a mean girl?” 

“God, no,” you said, raising your eyebrows. “Not mean.”

“Then what?”

You paused. “I was really shy, I guess. And quiet, too. I didn’t do much but read for a good 10 years of my life. I used to have awful pronunciation because I would spend more time reading than talking to anyone. But I think I would’ve liked you.”

Ellie shook her head.

“Yes,” you said. “Maybe I would’ve been a little scared of you. I probably would’ve never had the courage to talk to you. But I would’ve liked you, I think.”

“Scared of me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? I was a kid.”

“I was mostly going off of how I felt when I actually first met you,” you said, shrugging. 

She gasped theatrically. “You’re scared of me?”

“No!” you said, smacking her knee. “That’s not what I mean. You’re just really intimidating.”

“Intimidating?” She looked at you incredulously. 

“You’re so tough,” you explained, feeling heat grow in your cheeks. “You seem just—I don’t know, just so capable. There’s nothing you’re too afraid to face, nothing you’re too afraid to say.”

“That’s not true,” she said lightly. 

“Well, of course I’m sure there are things that you’re afraid of,” you amended. “But you hide it so well. You just seem so…fearless.”

“Hm,” Ellie said, letting her head rest against the headboard. “I think you would’ve made me a nervous wreck. If we’d met when we were kids, I mean.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you before. You’re just so untouched.” She winced. “God, no. That sounds gross. I just mean…I dunno. I wouldn’t have known how to act around you. You haven’t had to harden up like everyone else I know.”

“Are you saying I should develop trust issues or something?” you asked, your voice a teasing lilt.

“You know,” she said, nodding seriously, “That is part of it. It was really off-putting how quickly you trusted me. But I guess that’s just a product of where you grew up.” 

“Yeah,” you said softly. “I wonder how I would’ve turned out if I’d grown up like you.”

“Can I be honest?” Ellie asked. 

“Sure.”

“I don’t think you’d still be here if you were me,” she said, her eyes crinkling. “No offense. You just have zero survival skills. I swear that shit has to be genetic. I’ve never met someone more averse to violence in my life.”

You sighed, pressed your hands deep into Ellie’s comforter as a thought hit you. “I think if you’d been born in my position, you would’ve been greater than anything either of us could ever dream of. Much greater than me.”

“Definitely not,” said Ellie. “There’s no fucking way I’m studying the way you apparently do. I honestly think I’d take being an orphan over the study schedule I saw in your bag.” 

She was of course referencing the time table you’d roughly sketched up the morning before you’d ended up in Jackson. It was blocked to the minute, citing the study content and the location of said study session. She’d been beyond horrified to see it. 

You laughed, nudging her socked food with yours. 

“Is there music? In Terranova?”

“Oh,” you said, startled at the abrupt change of subject. “Uh, yeah. Of course. I listened to it all the time.” 

“I used to have a Walkman,” she said, leaning back as she reminisced. She was lying flat on her back now. “It ended up breaking a while ago, but it was like my child.” 

“Have you ever seen a movie before?” you asked, sitting up rigid straight as the thought occurred to you.

“Duh,” she said, giving you a weird look. “Do you think I live under a rock?”

“How many?”

“Hm.” Ellie began counting, ending on her second hand. “I think 6?”

“You’ve seen a total of 6 movies in your life?” 

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to see more?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I guess. It’s just tough to find CDs that are still functional after so long.”

“Hold that thought,” you said, holding a finger in her direction as you stood up.

“Hey!” she called as you bolted out the door. “Where are you going?”

You came bounding back to her room in a matter of seconds, your laptop in your hands. 

“What the fuck?” she said. “Isn’t that your homework thing?”

“Yes,” you said, feeling around for an outlet, “But I also have a ridiculous amount of movies downloaded on this. Our dorm wi-fi is shit and I have way too much storage on this thing, so I just download, like, every movie I’ve ever wanted to watch.”

“Your dorm what?”

You waved your hand. The last thing you wanted to do was explain to her how the 802.11 standard allowed wireless connections a few years after the outbreak. “Not important. Here, come look at this.”

Your laptop roared to light with the help of your charging cord. Quickly, you typed your password in and opened your downloads. Ellie hovered over your shoulder, squinting at the screen with confusion. 

“Here,” you said, opening up the album that had everything you had seen for your entire university career and passing the laptop to Ellie. “Use the touchpad—there, yeah—to navigate. Press to click. These are all movie files that I’ve seen. We can watch them on my laptop. Some of them were filmed in Terranova, too, so they’re post-apocalypse.”

She perused the selection you had for quite some time, the glow of the screen lighting up her face against the dim room. “Okay. This one.”

And thus began a tradition. Each night after you’d finished showering and Joel retired to his room, Ellie would come knock on your door and ask if you wanted to come over. You’d talk for a while, then open your laptop and pick something out to watch. Ellie was never high after the first time, which was unsurprising considering that there definitely wasn’t a way to get any in Jackson. Where she found any the first time was still a mystery to you. 

~

A week or so after your first patrol with Ellie, Joel had taken it upon himself to teach you how to shoot. You were surprisingly not as bad as you’d expected, but the rebound was tough to get used to, and you were still hung up over the whole “killing living things” part. 

Your first patrol—first real one—came quickly, and before you knew it, Ellie was handing you the same gun you’d dropped the first time with a suspicious look. 

“Don’t kill one of us with that thing,” she warned. “Be smart, okay?”

“Sure thing, boss,” you said to her, mock saluting as best you could while you were leading Japan to the mounting block.

She rolled her eyes. “Please act normal or I’ll make you carry around that glorified pocket knife instead again.” 

The patrol began as usual, Ellie leading you down the same path you went last time. It was a beautiful day out, with the early spring sun filtering through the evergreen trees that populated the woods and birdsong filling the air. 

Though conversations with Ellie were getting easier (given that it actually seemed like she wanted to talk to you now), you were still starstruck. Nothing that you did and nothing that you thought could get you to stop seeing her the way you did. You were routinely distracted by everything about her. It was a wonder that you could even function as a normal person around her, much less handle a weapon and a horse. 

You two had nearly made the full rotation when your surroundings exploded in action. 

“Fuck,” Ellie hissed as someone behind you two fired a shot that narrowly missed Shimmer. 

You whipped around, gun in hand, to see two men—two normal men who weren’t infected. One held a bow, the other a gun. 

The one who had fired the first shot never even stood a chance. He was down on the ground seconds after you’d seen him, Ellie’s aim taking him out before you could even ready your gun. 

The second man notched an arrow and managed to draw it back and release into the air right as Ellie’s bullet struck him, sending him falling back. 

“I don’t think there’s any more,” said Ellie, slightly breathless as she scanned the forest. “Sometimes outsiders pull this shit—try to kill us for our supplies. I’ve never seen them this close to the wall, though. I’ll have to tell Maria and Tommy.”

Normally, you would’ve felt up to making some sort of sarcastic comment about how that was a really unconcerning thing for her to tell you and that you actually felt so much more comfortable going on patrol knowing that there were also just run-of-the-mill people trying to kill you, but a twinge in your lower body distracted you. 

Slowly, nervously, you looked down. Air immediately left your lungs. 

“At least we’re done,” Ellie was saying, wiping her hands off on her thighs and slinging the gun over her shoulder. “What a crazy end for your first actual patrol, huh?”

When you didn’t answer, she turned to you and saw the arrow sticking out of your side, 

“Shit,” said Ellie, jumping off Shimmer and reaching you in seconds. “Shit, shit, shit. Oh god.” 

“Am I going to die?” you asked, staring starstruck at the blood escaping the outline of the arrowhead. You couldn’t feel anything anymore. Were you in shock?

“No,” said Ellie firmly. “Absolutely not. Do you need help getting off?”

Before you could answer, she was already helping you down, carefully avoiding the protruding arrow. 

“Listen,” she said, back to being her unwavering self, “We’re right by the wall. I’m going to help you walk in, and then I’ll grab some supplies, okay? Don’t try to pull the arrow out. You hear me? Don’t.”

Swallowing hard, you nodded. She helped you walk the few steps to be carefully concealed by the wall, then grabbed the two horses and darted past you, making a break for Maria and Tommy’s cabin. 

In a haze of confusion, you could see Maria running out, holding a box out to Ellie in exchange for the reins of the horses. Ellie said something that made Maria point towards you. She nodded, then ran back to you.

By the time that she’d reached you, the shock had begun to wear off, replaced by the stinging pain from the object that had impaled you. It was worse than anything you’d ever felt before in your life, and it took all you had not to keel over. 

“Hey,” she said, reaching out to grab your face so you had to look at her. “Don’t be afraid. I’ve done this before, okay? I’m, like, the master. It’s going to be alright.” 

“Done what before?” you managed to grind out. 

Ellie let go of your face to dig through the box Maria had given her, producing a needle, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and what looked like a spool of thin thread. 

Horror slowly trickled through you as you realized what was about to happen. 

“It doesn’t look all that deep,” Ellie was saying as she examined the arrow. “So I don’t think it’s hit anything. It’s just going to be a nasty hole. I’m going to pull it out now, okay?”

You let out a strangled scream as she grasped the arrow’s end and yanked it out without warning.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Ellie repeated. She threw the arrow over her shoulder and knelt so she was hovering over you. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you gasped. You were most certainly not. You couldn’t quite get your eyes to focus, and your heart was beating out of your chest. 

“Alright,” she said firmly, grasping your shoulders and pulling you up so you were slumped against the wall. “Sit up straight, alright? Also, this is going to hurt.” 

At first there were just snipping sounds as she cut part of your shirt away—then something cool and wet pressed to your wound. You cried out again as a fresh white hot pain bloomed in your middle. 

“I know, I know.” Ellie’s voice was consoling as she reached up to brush away the sweaty strands of hair stuck to your forehead. “Just a few more seconds.” 

“Fuck—off—” you gritted out from your teeth. 

Ellie’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Just this once.” 

She released the alcohol-saturated cotton pad, throwing it aside and fussing with the thread and needle until she was satisfied. 

By the time her fingers were ghosting over your abdomen again, you couldn’t pull your eyes away from the puncture wound and the needle she was wielding. 

“Don’t look,” said Ellie. “Pick something else. You don’t need to watch.” 

“I hate needles,” you whispered, choosing the air over her shoulder to be your focal point. 

There was a prodding at the top of your wound, and you hissed. 

“I can’t say I’m a fan myself.” 

Something pierced through your skin, and your midriff exploded in pain. 

The edges of your sight went fuzzy, stars forming in the corners of your vision. Someone that sounded suspiciously like you cried out. Your cheek rammed up against something solid and warm. 

Once the initial sting had faded, you realized that you’d slumped into Ellie, your face buried into her neck. She didn’t make any move to push you off, instead just taking one hand to brush up and down your arm with a feather light touch. 

“You're fine," she said firmly. "Everything's going to be fine."

Your fingers curled around the hem of her shirt as the needle exited through the other end of your wound, pulling another whine from your throat. It was easier to not feel like you were about to pass out when you were crushed into Ellie, clinging onto her and just focusing on the way she felt against you. 

“Hang on, I'm almost there,” she muttered a few stitches later. You’d quieted down, only letting out the occasional gasp as she pulled the thread through. “You're doing so well. Just one more.”

Now that you were more conscious, you had no idea how she was managing to stitch your side while you were nearly on her lap, but she continued to weave her needle through your skin, pulling it taut. 

“And done,” said Ellie. You felt her take another cotton square to swipe against your skin. 

You laid against her for a few more moments, panting as the shock slowly began to fade. She shifted, and for a moment you were sure that she was going to shove you away, but then the hand she’d lifted hesitantly rested on your head, her fingers parting to card through your hair. 

“How did you learn how to do that?” you asked, your voice muffled from where you were pressed against her. 

“Trial and error.” 

Her joke was enough for you to finally let go, sitting back against the wall. Her hand slithered out of your hair, resting back in her lap. 

“Shut up,” you said. “That’s awful.” 

Ellie shrugged. 

“I’m sorry,” you said, feeling the bumpiness of the stony wall press into your back. “I have a really low pain tolerance.”

“So I’ve noticed,” said Ellie, the side of her mouth quirking. 

“I’ve never been hurt before,” you heard yourself saying. “Like, beyond the occasional splinter or bee sting or accidental scrape or ankle sprain. It’s just not something that happens.” 

“Must be nice.”  

You smiled sadly. “Yeah. It’s not nice being weak, though.” 

Ellie looked away from you then, silent as she packed up the first-aid kit. Then: “I don’t think that’s true.” 

She’d said it lightly, like it was meant to be an offhand comment, a throwaway addition that wouldn’t be remembered by either of you. But the sentiment still struck you, twisting your heart.

You were less capable because your survival had never required anything more. You were weak because you could be. 

Her voice from the night she’d been high floated back to you. You haven't had to harden up like everyone else I know. 

Out here, weakness was a luxury few could afford. 

“Not so untouched anymore, huh?” you said, since you didn’t know how else to respond.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” quipped Ellie. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. I still consider needing to be held to get 4 stitches as being soft. You haven’t changed a bit. No offense.” 

Your cheeks burned bright red. “I—”

“I’m teasing,” she said before you could defend yourself. “Arrow wounds suck. I get it.” 

“Right.” You turned away, keeping your gaze fixed firmly on the ground beside you. With feeling more yourself came the inevitable shame at what you’d just done. What had you been thinking, touching her like that? Grabbing onto her like that?

This was going to haunt you for the rest of your life. 

“Don’t make that face,” said Ellie. “I’m sorry for saying that. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It really is fine.” 

It was not fine. It would never be fine. You wanted the thugs to come back to life and finish you off, and then have the earth open up and swallow you for good measure. 

Ellie probably thought of you as an overgrown child. You doubted that there was ever a point where she could see you as anything equal. If she ever knew how often she appeared in your imagination, she’d probably be disgusted.

She called you pretty a contrarian voice in your head reminded you. Don't you remember?

But maybe she hadn’t meant it. She hadn’t said it explicitly: “Y/N, I think you’re pretty.” She just hadn’t argued when you’d pointed it out. Maybe because she was being nice, or maybe because she was actually being sarcastic. 

“You were really brave, okay?” said Ellie. “Your first armed confrontation and you did well.”

“I didn’t shoot anyone.”

“It could have gone worse,” said Ellie. “You could’ve accidentally shot me. Or died. And neither of those things happened, so that’s successful in my book.” 

“That’s very glass half-full of you.”

“That’s me. Ever the optimist.” 

You snorted.

~

That night, Ellie knocked on your door and asked you if you were up for another movie. You found yourself sitting on her comforter, plugging in your computer and booting it up minutes later.

Physically speaking, it had always been a little awkward to fit two people on her twin bed if they weren’t right next to each other, given that your laptop screen was a very unimpressive size. When you’d first started watching with her, Ellie would rest against the headboard, her legs stretched out in front of you while you would sit with your legs crossed, positioned sideways so you weren’t accidentally pushing her legs off. 

But after the day you had had, your back was sore and your whole body ached. Sitting on something soft without any back support as you angled yourself to look at the screen was quickly proving unsustainable. 

“Pause,” said Ellie about ten minutes in. You’d been watching an older sci-fi flick—Ellie’s choice. 

You complied, leaning forward and pressing the spacebar. “What’s up?”

“Are you even comfortable sitting like that?”

“Yeah,” you said.

“Liar,” accused Ellie, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t think I don’t see you ‘discreetly’ cracking your back every 2 minutes. It’s ruining the movie.” 

“Sorry,” you said, shaking your head and smiling in exasperation. “It’s from all the years I spent hunched over a textbook.” 

“You know, you can sit up here,” she said, patting the space beside her. “I don’t bite.”

“Jury’s still out on that,” you said, though by the time Ellie let out a laugh you were already unfolding your legs and moving so you were next to her. 

She leaned forward, grabbing the bottom half of the laptop and lifting it. “Hey, do you want a blanket?”

“Sure.” 

Ellie’s other hand grabbed the edge of her comforter and held it up. 

Hesitantly, you slid your legs under and watched as Ellie did the same, awkwardly holding the laptop in the air before you were both settled enough to rest it on your covered right thigh and her left.  “Better?”

When you nodded, she reached her tattooed arm out and pressed play. The audio picked back up, but you couldn’t for the life of you focus on the movie.

When Ellie had asked if you’d wanted a blanket, you were expecting her to toss the throw blanket that would really only fit one person at you, not invite you to get under the blankets with her. That was significantly more intimate.

You two were sitting close enough that your sides were touching, from shoulder to thigh. You could feel her chest lift with each breath, feel the heat coming off of her.

After a while, Ellie properly laid down, taking the laptop and hoisting it up so it rested on her lower abdomen as she settled into her pillow.

You gulped, your eyes flickering between her face and the screen. Ellie’s gaze was fixed intently on the screen, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.

You could be tired too. You weren’t, of course—your heart was racing a thousand miles an hour. But she didn’t know that. It was normal to lay down next to her, right? You’d done that with Irena more times than you could count, and it was never weird. Yeah, you could do that. 

Also, if you were totally horizontal, you would stop getting distracted by the sliver of her skin that her crooked shirt showed of her chest. 

In a moment of blind courage, you scooted down so your head was lying right next to Ellie’s. She didn’t seem to react, just extending her hand from under the covers to steady the laptop as it wobbled from the movement. 

Her sheets smelled like the soap that you used to wash your hair—a cottony freshness that had the slightest hint of lavender. 

“Are you going to fall asleep on me?” asked Ellie after a while, her voice nothing more than a whisper. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” you responded, equally quiet. Then, because you hadn’t made enough rash decisions for the night, you angled your head so it rested in the space right above her shoulder. 

She inhaled sharply but didn’t move. On her next exhale a piece of her auburn hair tickled your forehead. 

“How’re your stitches?” she asked suddenly, like she'd just remembered.

“They’re okay. I think. As stitches go.”

“After this is over, I’ll check on them,” she said. “Don’t let me forget, okay?”

“Okay,” you whispered, suddenly feeling shy. It was one thing for her to cut off your shirt and see your skin when she was trying to save your life while you were mentally gone. It was another thing altogether to pull up your shirt without adrenaline coursing through you.

You didn’t pay any attention to the rest of the movie, instead hyperfocused on the rhythm of Ellie’s breathing and the fact that if you moved just a little your chin would be on her shoulder. 

Her mention of the stitches wasn’t helping at all, either. Now all you could think about was the embarrassing way you’d basically tried to crawl under her skin, burying your face into her and clutching at her clothes like you were a child.

A part of you was disappointed that you hadn’t been more lucid at the time. If you had, you would’ve been able to clearly remember the softness of her skin against yours. You would’ve been able to enjoy it for what it was—the only time you’d be able to touch her like that.

Because you couldn’t go around just grabbing onto her shirt and getting into her lap. That was a one-off, the only time that the rules were waived. You couldn’t touch her like that now, now that you didn’t have any excuse. It wasn’t allowed.

But sometimes you wanted to so badly that it hurt. 

The movie ended abruptly, wrenching you out of your thoughts. 

“Hey,” whispered Ellie. “Sit up so I can see.”

Reluctantly, you pressed yourself up from your back and began rolling up the hem of your shirt. Ellie twisted to face backwards, her thin top riding up and showing part of her back as she reached for the lamp.

Once golden light returned to the room, Ellie turned back and bumped your hands away. She bent over, tilting her head so that she was looking at the stitches straight on.

They didn’t look bad, you had to admit. Though you wouldn’t consider the actual experience of getting the stitches a 5-star experience, Ellie had clearly known what she was doing. The surrounding flesh didn’t look angry or irritated, and she’d pulled the stitches just tight enough without it puckering. 

She prodded at the side, then gave a satisfied nod. “Looks good. What did I tell you? I’m really good at this sort of stuff.”

“I think you would’ve made a really good doctor,” you said once she’d sat up straight again. “Under different circumstances.”

“Is this you telling me that you don’t think I’m a good doctor now?” she teased. 

“Your bedside manner could use some work,” you offered.

Ellie laughed then, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, yeah. You lived. You'll get over it.” 

“Did you go to school?” you found yourself asking, hung up on the thought of Ellie as a potential medical student. If she’d been in one of your intro biology classes, you never would’ve been able to pay attention. That was a fantasy you could shelve away for later. 

“Sort of,” said Ellie, looking down at her arms. “I went to a military prep school run by FEDRA. I didn’t graduate though—obviously. I was long gone by then.” 

“Right,” you said, remembering that she’d mentioned that she’d been 14 when she’d left Boston. “And what was it like?” 

She paused, opening her mouth before closing it. “It was—unkind. Joel's told me about schools before the outbreak. It was nothing like that. There were some normal classes, but most of it was meant to prepare us to be soldiers.” 

“Is that where you learned how to do sutures?” 

“Among other things.”

Terranova had no military academies, given that there was hardly any military presence. The founder of Terranova had bodyguards and there was a police force that controlled the borders, but it was nothing like Ellie described. With invisible borders and a social order that valued peace and tranquility over all else, there was no real danger posed to any of the citizens. 

But from what you had learned from movies and books and comments from older people, you had gathered a very dim picture of what a military academy looked like—harsh, strict, and cruel. 

“I’m sorry you had to grow up like that,” you said. 

“It’s okay.”

“Is there anything you would want to study? If you could?” 

Ellie’s eyes closed. “Yeah. There are a couple things.” 

She did not elaborate. 

~

It didn’t take long for you two to settle back into your routine of meeting in her room each evening and watching one of your downloaded movies. Following the night after you’d gotten your stitches, you wouldn’t even have to ask—Ellie would pull up her comforter and let you slide in next to her without giving you a second glance.

You’d also gotten over the fear of touching her. Now, when you flopped back so your head was on her pillow, you’d adjust until you were nestled into the crook of her neck. She never once reacted to it, remaining perfectly still unless she was adjusting the laptop or messing with the sound. 

Because it was normal, of course. You and Irena would rest your head on each other’s shoulders sometimes. That was something that friends did. 

One night a week or so into April, you and Ellie made a harrowing discovery: there was only one movie left in your collection that you two hadn’t seen together. 

“Damn,” said Ellie, furrowing her brow. “And there’s no way to get more on here?”

“I’m afraid not,” you said, frowning. “To download more or stream one, I’d need either an Ethernet cable or a wi-fi connection. Neither of which function out here anymore without cell towers and maintained cables.” 

“Right,” said Ellie, though her face told you that she didn’t understand a word that had come out of your mouth. “So—this is it?”

“Yeah.” Your finger hovered over the play button. “Savor it, I guess.” 

When you settled back and into her side, the heavy weight of dread settled into your stomach. Now that you’d finished showing her your entire collection, it’s not like she’d have a reason to invite you over every night. And there was especially no reason for you two to lie so closely together unless you were both trying to watch something on a small screen.

Once again, your excuse to touch her was gone.

You pressed closer to her as your mind raced. There was no way that Ellie didn’t see what you were doing as platonic, right? Was it possible that she was creeped out by how touchy you were but just tolerated it to be nice? 

Maybe. You swallowed hard, keeping your eyes fixed on the screen. Ellie didn’t see you like…like that. She spoke to you like you were an obligation, a burden. Because you always had been. You’d been a responsibility thrust on her by a father figure who felt like he was indebted to you from that stupid bag of coffee you were lucky enough to bring. 

Oh, god. Had Joel told her to befriend you? Had he asked for Ellie to pretend like she enjoyed spending time with you and to put up with your privileged, soft-hearted nonsense? 

The knowledge that you were spiraling wasn’t enough to stop you. You did the best that you could—tried to remind yourself that it’d been a while since she’d looked disgusted with you, recall that she was outspoken enough to tell you to fuck off if you did something she didn’t like—but it was to no avail.

Ellie reached forward and hit pause on the movie, thrusting you both into silence. 

“Is everything okay?” she asked after a moment. 

“Yeah, why?” 

“I can feel your heart going, like, crazy fast.” 

You froze. “Oh. Uh, yeah. I was just thinking.” 

Ellie pushed the laptop off of her, sitting up to give you an odd look. “About a near death experience or something? You running a marathon up there? That shit’s not normal.” 

You laughed nervously. “It’s really nothing. Just an, uh, suspenseful movie.” 

Which was actually really stupid of you to say, because you were watching some obscure Tarkovsky film that did nothing but pan over burning buildings and pensive men. For the past 5 minutes, there had been nothing on screen but the back of a car driving through traffic with minimal sound. Also, it was in Russian, and the English subtitles made zero sense.

There was a reason why this was the last movie you chose.

“This is the most boring fucking movie I’ve ever watched in my life, so you’re a dirty fucking liar,” said Ellie. Then her face pinched in worry. “Wait. Have you taken a look at your stitches lately?” 

Before you could answer, she was grabbing a flashlight off her nightstand and yanking the comforter off you. She was pulling your shirt up when you finally found your voice.

“Wait!” you said, grabbing the bottom of your shirt and yanking it back in place. “It’s not—I don’t have an infection, okay? There’s nothing wrong with me. I really was just thinking, okay?”

“About what?” She reached back to place her flashlight back on the stand without taking her eyes off you. 

“It’s nothing important.”

“If you say so.” 

She picked the laptop up and placed it back on her thighs, lying back down. You followed suit, but this time you didn’t touch her, opting to keep as much distance as you could so she wouldn’t hear the stuttering of your heart. 

Not even 5 minutes had passed before Ellie sat up to pause the video again.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No. Why?” 

“You’re acting weird,” she accused, but there wasn’t much conviction behind her voice. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean that you’re acting weird,” she repeated, shutting your laptop off and moving it to the bottom of her bed, despite the protests that left your lips. 

“I don’t understand,” you said. “I’m just watching the movie. I’m not doing anything. “

“You’re not watching the movie,” she said. “You weren’t even looking at the screen. What’s got you so bothered? Did I do something?” 

“Of course not.” You pulled your legs under you so your legs were crossed and your back was against the wall. “You don’t need to worry. It’s honestly fine. I’m sorry if I’ve done something to imply otherwise.” 

Ellie rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing. “You stress me out. You can just tell me, you know? No need to be so cagey. I promise I’ve heard worse.” 

“Don’t be so quick to say that.”

“Okay, now you have to tell me,” she said. “I’m never going to know peace again with a hook like that.” 

You were about to open your mouth to tell her that it was stupid and that it didn’t matter, but something stopped you. 

That was the coward’s way out. That’s what you’d always done—hid your feelings and concealed your emotions. That’s how you’d been raised. That’s how you thought everyone was. But now that you’d spent 2 months in Jackson, you’d realized that some people actually just said what they thought. And that, in the grand scheme of things, it was a better system than the Terranovian culture of superficiality.  

Just because the you 2 months ago would have shook her head and changed the subject didn’t mean the you now had to. 

Maybe this you could be different. Maybe, for once, this you could be brave. 

“I really—” You stopped yourself. Saying I really like you didn’t even begin to encompass what you felt for the girl sitting across from you. To distill the sheer magnitude of your feelings down to four words felt criminal. The swell in your chest that never went away whenever you were near her could never and would never be adequately represented in the puny offerings of the Latin alphabet and the English language, and if you were going to do this, you were going to do it right. 

You dared to look up at her for a moment. She was completely still, her green eyes reflecting the dim moonlight from outside. Once you met her gaze, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull it away.

“I’m really sorry that I’m putting you in an uncomfortable position for saying this,” you began (because old habits ran deep, and you would rather die than be impolite), “And I totally understand if you don’t want to talk to me after this. And I’m sorry for not telling you earlier.”

“As much as I’m sure that this is some sort of cultural cornerstone for you, please spare me the 6 foot long disclaimer script,” Ellie drawled.

“Right.” You gulped. “Anyway. As I was saying.”

“Any day now.” 

At that moment, she had never looked more perfect. Your eyes had adjusted to the dark lighting, so the weak moonlight that spilled in from the window above her created a halo around her head. 

“It’s you.” Your voice came out tiny. “You’re all that I can think about, and I don’t know what to do.”

There. It was off your chest.

For a moment, it was as if you’d suspended time, stopping Earth on its axis as you both held your breaths. There was nothing but silence and the occasional wooden creak of the old house’s foundation in the wind. 

Ellie’s face betrayed nothing, save for something in her eyes and the disappearance of the smirk that had been on her lips moments before. 

Then she spoke, her response whispered.

“Come here, then.” 

final a/n: NOW HOLD ON before you show up outside my dorm with pitchforks and torches 🗣️🗣️🗣️ i'm so sorry but this was a necessary evil as this was going to a massive scene without the chapter break. also a disproportionately massive chapter compared to the other ones coming out. i write very quickly and should get the following part out in a timeframe similar to the first 3 parts. thank u for reading ! tell me what you think abt this chapter while you wait x