#OOF i hope we get an actual air date soon

[stanharu]

FINALLY SOME S3 NEWS!!!

Quote from Orange Studio's Twitter:

BEASTARS IS BACK Coming 2024, 2 part final season will begin. The story of Legoshi transcends from school gates and ventures into the wild society- Only on Netflix

[ghostofstudentspast]

Sunshine

This one was requested by my lovely mutual @wifi--witch who's been here since the start! Hopefully it's what you wanted (also it’s written in Neville’s perspective for a change which was fun!) - June x

When Neville bumps into the nicest girl he's ever had the pleasure of knowing, he's baffled to find out the truth about her house!

Word count: 1500 ish Warnings: None! It's a fluffy feel good fic x

Wandering through Diagon Alley the week before returning to Hogwarts was one of Neville's favourite things. Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley walked beside him pratteling on about anything and everything as the trio browsed for their school supplies and little treats. The summer sun was shining down on them and eerything felt right in Neville's world. Until... "Oof-" Neville felt all of the air being knocked out of his lungs as someone smacked into him.

In front of him stood the most beatiful girl he'd ever laid his eyes on. Your hair shone brightly under the sun and your eyes, which were wide with concern, he could have drowned in.

"Oh jeez, I am so sorry!" the girl in front of him looked up with concern, "I was just completely in my own world," you crouched down to pick up the bag Neville had dropped in shock.

"N-no, I-that's okay, I wasn't paying attention either," Neville managed to get out as you handed him the bag, hands briefly grazing against each other.

"Call it even then?" Her eyes sparkled with mirth as you held out her hand for him to shake, "I'm Y/N, by the way!" 

"Neville,” he took your soft hand in his own and the smile that broke out on your face was mesmirizing.

She smiles like sunshine, he thought.

“It was really nice to meet you Neville but I am already so late and I’d rather not be chewed out by my mother so I have to run!” you grinned up at him, “see you around Hogwarts?” you questioned

“Y-yeah, see you,” he trailed off as you bounded past him, hair flying behind you as you narrowly dodged a few more strangers.

He quickly rushed to catch up with his friends again who had stopped a few meters down the cobblestone street. Ginny was feigning interest in the book store they’d stopped in front of while Luna stared blatently at her friend.

“She was pretty,” Luna observed serenely.

“Yeah, I suppose she was,” Nevilles ears burned and he feared he may be as red as Ginny’s hair. The redhead in question was pressing her lips together to control the laughter he knew would soon come spilling out.

“I think you would make very attractive babies,” Luna said very seriously. Ginny lost it at this and Nevilles face only felt hotter.

“She’s not a Gryffindor is she?” He voiced after his friends had calmed down and started walking again.

“Nah, would’ve recognized her!” Ginny shook her head.

“She’s not in Ravenclaw either,” Luna chimed in as she strolled past a pet store and admired the lizards. “Lot of Nargles following her,” Luna shook her head sadly as if that explained everything. _______________________________

The first few weeks back at school went off without a hitch. No drama, no teachers yelling at him (yet) and best of all double block Herbology.Yet even surrounded by his friends, Neville found himself craning his head at mealtimes looking for a Y/H/C head of hair and that bright smile that haunted his dreams.

So when you strode into his Herbology class a week late, sporting an apologetic look he was all the more intruiged. You stopped at Professor Sprout to have an animated conversation and she offered a sympathetic smile.

“Who shows up a week late to Hogwarts,” Hermione sniffed from beside him where they were working at the same station.

“Y/L/N that’s who,” Lavender Brown hissed across the table shaking her head, “Her parents have donated as much money to this place as the Malfoys, maybe even more.”

Hermione huffed at this and returned to work but Neville’s eyes were glued to the back of your head. When you spun around to stride towards the empty spot across the room his eyes caught the glint of a silver and green tie perfectly knotted on your chest.

“She’s in Slytherin?” He voiced out loud to no one in particular as the Slytherin in question waltzed over to Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson with a wide grin, embracing them both.

“Duh,” Lavender rolled her eyes with a snort of laughter. As if he was meant to have known.

Neville must have been burning a hole in your head because your gaze snapped up to meet his, his ears turning red once again. Your lips spread into a wide smile as you offered him an excited little wave. Daphne whispered something in your ear at this and you smacked her on the arm good naturedly in response, attention diverted from him once more.

There was just no way that you could be THAT nice and in Slytherin of all houses.

________________________________________________________

No matter what he did, the rest of the day you occupied Neville’s mind. Your beautiful smile and that stupid green tie. He knew he should just shrug off this little crush he had on you and move on with his day becaue there was no way you would be into a Gryffindor right? Let alone Neville. 

Taking up a table in the back of the library he got to work on some of his more recent homework. Saving Herbology for last, he knew everything else would be abandonded once he got to the project Professor Sprout had assigned.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over the castle for you,” a voice interrupted his train of thought, “Let me tell you, it is not easy to find one boy in this place. So many hiding places and you were in the library the whole time,” you rambled on as Neville stared at you with wide eyes.

“Me? You were looking for me?” His eyebrows were probably in his hairline by now.

“Yeah! Professor Sprout told me I should ask you to catch me up on the week of work I missed,” you smiled and sat down across the table from him. He felt a sneaking sense of dissapointment, of course it was about school. “She says you’re the most gifted herbologist in the year!”

Neville felt the urge to shrink back at the compliment and pulled out his Herbology notes silently to have something to do. He slid them across the table towards you with a small awkward smile.

“Oh, thank you, but I was actually hoping you could talk me through everything,” You slid the parchment back to him, “I wouldn’t want to just copy your notes, that feels wrong.”

“Oh,” Neville cleared his throat and tried to find words. Any words. “Well-um, yeah, I can do that,” He pulled his notes toward himself and looked over the topics quickly. “We started with the properties of Aconite and how it relates to the wolfsbane potion, since we’ll be covering that in Potions this term...”

Once Neville was on a roll about Herbology it was hard to slow him down. He kept rattling off facts he found interesting and pertinent to the class and was only encouraged when you slid your chair closer to him to read along with his notes over his shoulder.

“And then this week, I’m sure you already know, We’re covering Venomous Tentacula’s which means it’s going to be one hell of a double block,” he chuckled to himself and turned to look at you, only to find you already staring at him with interest. He had to swallow the lump in his throat as his cheeks flushed. You were closer than he’d thought.

“Sprout wasn’t kidding! You’re like some sort of Herbology prodigy,” You grinned and Neville’s blush only darkened at the compliment. “No chance you’d wanna be my partner for the upcoming project would you?” You almost seemed shy asking.

“Oh, um...yeah, I could, I mean yeah that’d be nice,” Neville managed to stutter out.

“Oh good,” you sighed in relief and relaxed against your chair, “I mean I really need all the help I can get in this class.” You let out a light laugh.

And there was that sinking dissapointment again. He had to remind himself you were here for help, not because you liked him.

“Plus, I mean, you seem really sweet,” You smiled over to him hesitantly, “I think I could really like you.” You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear and looked away quickly, a blush of your own creeping onto your face.

“Y-you’re really sweet too,” Neville said finally, finding his voice again, “um the Hogsmeade weekend in a few weeks..would you want to go? With me I mean...as a date?” the words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

He was almost regretting the word vomit when you turned your brillaint smile to him. He relaxed immediately and couldn’t help smile back at you.

“I would love to,” you leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly, “Thank you for asking,” You smiled and sat back in your seat. “Oh shoot I have to go!” You sprang up.

“See you tomorrow?” Neville asked hesitantly.

You nodded quickly, “Meet me here after lunch,” You smiled and turned to leave “See you tomorrow Neville!” You called over your shoulder as Madamme Pinch shushed you on your way out.

A date. Nevilled grinned and leaned back in his chair. He’d asked you on a date and you’d said yes. The girl who smiled like sunshine.

[vanillann]

within the vision (bucky barnes x f.reader)

a/n: i’m going to be naming each chapter based on a sitcom from that time era, cause i can!! also i’m so glad everyone liked the prologue!!

warning: WANDAVISION SPOILERS, swearing, suggestive language, talks of past trauma, AU

word count: 1.9k

within the vision masterlist

Chapter 1: Born Yesterday 

“Do you remember everything we just went over?”

I rolled my eyes, snapping the silver bracelet on my wrist, the little charm would be normal to anyone else but Bucky and I knew the content.

“No, I forgot everything,” I turned to Tony, smiling sarcastically when he frowned.

“We should have given you up for adoption,” Tony titled his head, the tiniest smile on his lips and he played with the technology again.

The room felt packed with people, Tony and Bruce running around the technology, Bucky and I waiting beside two beds that were shoved beside Wanda’s, and Steve and Sam leaned against the wall trying to tell me to stop with this plan.

“We don’t know what could happen,” Steve repeated again, his arms crossed as Tony gave Bucky his bracelet, thicker than mine but still normal enough to not have anyone question it.

We had taken extra steps to ensure our safety as nobody knew exactly where we were going.

“You both need to get out as soon as the mission's over,” Bruce nodded, to both of us. His finger danced across the different screen, Tony and himself were the only ones who understood it.

“I was planning on going on a walk before I came back.” Bruce rolled his eyes, but gave me a hint of a smile. He understood my defense mechanism, one of the few people who never got mad when I couldn’t be completely serious. One plus for anger management classes.

“I regret doing this already,” Bucky spoke under his breath, looking up to Sam who gave a fake thumbs up.

“If it comes down to it, leave Bucky,” he responded, earning a thumbs up from me.

“I hate both of you.”

Bucky and I both laid in our own bed, our combat gear already on as we laid back slightly, Tony taking Bucky's side while Bruce came to mine.

“We’re going to first hook you to this machine to keep track of your vitals,” I said nothing, watching Bruce shove the IV in my arm and playing with the machine a bit to make sure everything was okay.

“Next, on the count of three you’ll press the button on the bracelet. Remember you need to keep your mind focused on Wanda for this to work,” Tony continues with his run on sentence, only stopping once Bucky and I both nodded once.

I felt the chill suddenly run up my body, suddenly nervous to just hind out in my best friend's mind. Especially since she had always been younger than me, I felt weirdly awkward now.

“Are you both sure about this?”

I saw Bucky nodded slightly from the bed beside me, suddenly all eyes on me. I felt myself shift in the bed, avoiding eye contact.

“(Y/N)?”

“I’m fine, I just need a second,” I spoke after Steve, smiling at his worried glares but said nothing else of it.

You were doing this for her own good, you were helping her. This wasn’t you reading her diary after teasing about her crush, this was her turning into herself not knowing we were waiting for her.

“I’m good,” I laid down on the bed, not looking at anyone as my other hand searched for the button. I wasn’t going to mess this up cause I couldn’t find a button.

“Okay, remember to stay safe and think about Wanda.”

I nodded lightly, trying my best to zone in on Wanda while Tony’s count down filled the room.

“One.”

I thought back to young Wanda and Pietro trying to hide my shoes before one of my first dates when I was 14.

“Two.”

Wanda giggling in my room at the compound when Steve went on a manhunt for me because I was late for practice.

“Three.”

I felt my finger smash the button, thinking of Wanda’s face as she held off Thanos with Vision life in her hand. I thought of her tearful face as she gave me one last glance before everything blew up before my body was smashed against the nearby tree.

The weird feeling around me gave me a stomach ache. The feeling of falling when you were about to sleep almost, but my eyes refused to open as the wind rushed past me. I wanted to panic, to pull myself from whatever I walked into, but I simply couldn’t.

I couldn't sense anyone around me, my body was all alone falling and I couldn’t stop it. I was a controlled person, I enjoyed control and suddenly that word didn’t even exist anymore.

Then it stopped, the falling was gone and my eyes were pushed open. My body was moved differently, pushed against something. When I slowly moved around I noticed the slight dusk of the sky.

“(Y/N)?” My name whispered filled the same space I sat in, I looked around trying to get my brain to focus on one thing. I felt something cold against my wrist cause me to jump, pushing harder into the rough back.

I looked down, Bucky's face laid under whatever I was sitting on. I looked up, noticing the windows and the steering wheel slightly ahead of me. I took in the leather under my fingers, seeing there wasn’t a door handle in the back and how low the roof was.

But that didn't worry me, what worried me was I couldn’t make out any other colors besides black, white, and grey. I looked to Bucky, hoping to see the light pale skin on his face but was met with white, almost like a white crayon that had been run in black dust lightly.

“Where the hell are we?”

“Wanda’s head, I thought this was your plan,” Bucky slowly sat up from the floor of the backseat, I had luckily ended up on the actual seat. I looked out, hoping to see the colors of the sky but I was met with the same grey color.

“Can you see color?”

“Can’t say I do,” Bucky rubbed his arm, slowly moving to sit in the same space I had made for him on the seat.

I finally looked around the rest of the area, noticing the row of houses and other such things. The trees and bushes reminded me of the old movie Steve would make us watch, looking like something out of a sitcom.

“What are you wearing?”

I frowned as I looked at Bucky, his eyes held confusion as he looked me up and down once. I looked down at myself, shocked to find myself in a dress, definitely not my combat gear. The material was dark, I couldn’t tell more, and a fake belt was sowed into the thick fabric.

“I haven’t seen one of those in awhile,” Bucky picked up a piece of the dress at the end, rubbing the material between his fingers when I slapped it from his wands. That when I heard it, laughing. Not like you told a funny joke laughing, like a sitcom laugh.

I pointed to Bucky, my eyes wide as I waited for who knew what. When I saw Bucky slowly look up at me from the place he looked at my dress I knew he heard it. That's when I noticed the suit he was wearing, specifically an older looking arm suit. I looked back around the car, spotting the matching hat to the suit on the dash of the car. I didn’t say anything, slowly reaching up to grab it when I saw a door open.

A lady with dark hair and bright smiles walked out, held a hand slightly in the air if she were to hold a cigarette but no smoke came out. She was talking to someone, whoever was in the house. Suddenly I watched the owner lean out slightly, my jaw going slack as I saw Wanda’s bright smile hides behind loopy curls.

“Doll-”

“Don’t call me that,” I spoke softly, doing my best to keep the facade up but I was so shocked, Wanda was lightly pushing the woman out the house, almost as if begging her to leave with a little laugh. She looked the same, only dressed up similar to me.

“You’re going to want to see this,” he tugged on my dress, my hand slapping it away again but he yanked hard. He sent me flying to the back seat of the car. my side pushed into his with a loud oof.

I heard that stupid sitcom laugh again, trying to push it to the make of my mind as I pushed away from Bucky. I hit him in the side with the hat I had managed to take back with me, my mouth wide open to yell but Bucky shoved something in my face.

I could spot the coke logo from miles away, only it wasn’t the saem logo I had always remembered. The bottles were glass and the writing looked much more vintage. That when I noticed Bucky tapping on a part of the label, my eyes reading over the information their.

Expiration date: July 6th, 1953

“1953?” I looked around the neighborhood again, suddenly realizing the vintage cars that were parked along the streets and the dress that hung off my frame.

“How?”

“I don't hear you asking how we ended up in the wrong decade,” My voice was stern as he spoke, watching the dark haired lady finally leave Wanda’s porch and go to her own house close by.

“Not the time,” Bucky finally sat up slightly, watching the lady walk in her house.

“When is the time then? Maybe the 70s or do you wanna wait til the 90s,” I snapped, looking over my shoulder with a pout. His face was so close to me, I finally noticed his once long hair was cut short.

He looked like he had in those photos of Steve and himself, back from the 40s.

“Well, what do we do know?” Bucky looked at me, his nose almost hitting mine when he turned but I had slightly moved back.

“I guess blend it?” I shrugged, hearing that stupid sitcom laugh that I wanted ro punch in the face.

“How do you suppose we do that?”

I looked around the neighborhood, smiling when I noticed the house across from Wanda’s had a large “FOR SALE” sign standing in the front yard.

“Break into that house and act like we belong here,” I smirked, ignoring Bucky as I slowly climbed into the front seat of the car. I heard Bucky yell out about me kicking him but I didn’t care as I made it to the driver seat, pushing open the door.

“For your information, I do belong here,” were the last words I heard from Bucky before I closed the door, smiling over at the house and trying to keep my voice low to not attract wandering eyes. I stood in the same place for a second, suddenly my view changed from house to concrete. I felt a little bump on my backside and frown when I heard Bucky laugh.

“Should’ve held the door,” I noticed his combat boots beside my face. Normally I would have bought him down with me but I decided it would bring too much attention and simply pushed myself from the ground.

“I hate you,” I frowned, slamming my foot into the road when I heard that stupid laugh sound around me again.

“Okay okay,” Bucky held out two arms from me, trying his best to calm me down but it wasn’t any use, I simply pointed to the sign, turning back to look at Bucky with a serious look in my eye.

“We are stealing that sign and moving to that house.”

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<prologue - chapter 2>

[feliix]

Dreamy ✦ KTH (M)

✦  Pairing: Taehyung x Reader ✦ Word count: 3.3k ✦  Rating: M  

✦  Genre: smut, fluff, established relationship!au

✦  Summary: You’re finally ready to move on to the next level of your relationship with Taehyung

✦  Warnings: explicit smut, fingering, oral: female receiving, nipple play, dirty talk, praise kink, virgin sex, fluffy smut

✦ Requested by @starlightseoks​: mmmmmmmmmm how about a tae + cocktail :)))) ehehhe 

✦  A/N: on this episode of kenz tries to write a drabble but it turns into a oneshot jk I had to do it for Lainey bc she deserves it this is sosososo unedited I’m sorry I know its bad plz be nice

✦ Written for the BHQ Drinks and Drabbles game hosted by @bangtan-dreamland​ 

✦ Banner created by the lovely @koophoriia​

“So I’ve been thinking,” you begin, hands placed gently on your lap as you meet eyes with him.

It hadn’t been long since you and Taehyung had started dating. Things between you were…slow. To put it frankly, you were a virgin, he wasn’t, and he wanted to make sure that your first time was ‘special’ or whatever. By this point you were so worked up from trying to suggest the deed you had exhausted all options.

Taking it upon yourself, you decided to conduct some research of your own. If anything, you didn’t want to embarrass yourself during your first time. You knew that Tae was experienced, and no you didn’t hold that against him. Have you seen him? Exactly.

“Thinking about?” He questions, raising a brow in your direction as you nervously chewed your lip.

“We should have sex,” You say bluntly and Taehyung nearly chokes on the air he breathes, coughing in return to your candid statement. Not giving him much of a chance to calm down from his coughing fit you speak up again, “I’ve been doing my research and-”

“You what?” He asks as he suppresses another cough from leaving his throat, his cheeks puffed out in an attempt to hold it back, “What research?”

Palms getting clammy, you wipe them on your jeans, doing your best to coax yourself into relaxing instead of dwelling on how unbelievably awkward this conversation was becoming. “I’ve just been reading some stuff online about how to...you know like…make it good for you.”

“Y/N,” he says softly, grabbing at your waist to pull you onto his lap. His broad stature engulfs yours as his arms wrap around your body; you instantly calm in his arms, past feelings of shams fading as he soothes you with his deep voice. “You don’t have to worry about making it good for me, anything with you will be perfect.”

His large hands sweep the loose strands of hair from your face, exposing the supple skin of your face to him fully as he places a soft kiss to your cheek. Sighing in acknowledgement, you rest your head on his shoulder, the woodsy smell of his cologne filling your nostrils as your nose brushes against his neck.

Taehyung shivers in reaction. His neck has always been an extremely sensitive area – something you did know from how far you’d actually gone with him. Nothing below the waist, but hickeys were fair game, and Taehyung loved those.

He rubs your back soothingly, his hands quietly roaming to the swell of your ass before he gives it a playful squeeze. Your back stiffens in reaction, picking your head up and facing him with wide eyes. The smirk on his face says it all, and the way one hand rests on your thigh and the other pulls you into him confirms it all.

Your lips meet Tae’s with lust and desire. His soft lips move gently against yours, his tongue tenderly brushing across your bottom lip to tease you. His kisses were delicate, so faint and sweet that you could tell he was being careful with you. He pulls away for a breather, his breath fanning across your face as he rests his forehead against yours. The look in his eyes was endearing yet filled with lust. It was unclear if he was holding himself back from taking you right then and there or if he was being cautious, taking his time so it would be memorable.

“Want you,” you whisper over his lips, your thighs unconsciously pushing together to ease the growing throb of your core. Tae adjust himself under you by shifting his hips backwards slightly, your clothed center now placed over his growing erection.

“Are you sure, Y/N,” he says sweetly, his mouth brushing lightly against yours as the words fall from his mouth. All you do is nod gently in agreement, your eyes wide as you look at him through your eyelashes. Taehyung can’t help but want you in this moment, accepting that now was finally the right moment to seal your relationship with the deed.

Swiftly, Taehyung places an arm under your knees, his other supporting your back as he sweeps you off the couch. Wrapping your arms around his neck, your head falls into his chest, the comforting smell of his cologne surrounding you once again. It was like your own little safe-haven – his arms holding you like this and his smell relaxing you.

As he makes his way into the bedroom he places you down carefully on the bed, resting your head on the massive heap of pillows. He stares down at you with wandering eyes, raking up and down your figure like he’s assessing what he’s going to do to you. Shifting nervously in your place, you curl your lips into an apprehensive smile, tilting you head to the side in hopes he would say something to ease the weird energy filling the room.

“If I knew you wanted to do this tonight I would have done something more romantic,” he says, a hand meeting the back of his neck as he scratches it lightly. For all this time you had waited, Taehyung had always planned on making your first time special. He wanted all the stereotypical romantic stuff. The rose petals, the candles, the smooth jazz playing in the background. It wasn't like he couldn't have it, though, just not tonight.

Tonight he wanted you right here, right now. Rose petals or not, tonight would be special for the both of you. There was no need for all the ‘stereotypical romantic stuff’ as long as you were with him.

“This is romantic,” you say, pushing yourself up onto your knees so that you could be eye level with him. Taehyung releases a sigh of relief, or displeasure, it was a little hard to tell with the expression on his face. Either way, your instinct was to calm his nerves, hoping it would maybe settle your own in the process.

“If you want me to, I could…” you trail off bashfully as you wander your eyes down to his crotch, staring at the semi-hard on that you could make out through his sweats, and then moving your eyes quickly back up to his.

“You could..?” He quirks a brow at you in question, genuinely confused by your half-baked proposition and suggesting gaze.

“I could maybe,” you take a deep breath, trying your best to build up confidence to actually let the words fall from your mouth, “suck your dick?”

As soon as the words leave your mouth you feel instantly embarrassed. The way Taehyung’s lips roll in between his teeth to hold back a laugh doesn’t help either. Immediately you feel your cheeks heating up, bringing up your hands to cover your eyes in humiliation.

“You’re so cute,” he states, grabbing ahold of your wrists in each of his hands, bringing them down so he could see the embarrassment written all over your face. Pouting in response, you let your shoulders fall, sinking into yourself.

“I don’t want to be cute right now I want to be…I don’t know I want to be one of those things that people are so their boyfriend will actually have sex with them,” you rant, letting a sigh of disappointment finish off the end of your sentence. Taehyung’s reaction immediately changes, his hand letting go of your wrist to climb onto the bed with you.

“Do you think that I don’t want to have sex with you?” He asks as his eyebrows raise for emphasis.

“I don’t know I just- OOF,” Taehyung’s arms meet the backs of your knees, pulling them out from under you so you were laying on your back. In that split second he was now hovering over you, your chest heaving for air as adrenaline begins to pump through your veins.

Taehyung’s face is brought inches from yours, his hot breath warming your cheeks before he moves his lips to your ear, “I thought you knew how hard I am for you already.”

Breath catches in your throat as Taehyung’s teeth nip your ear; arousal suddenly beginning to gush from your core. You can almost feel the smirk on his face from your stunned reaction – he enjoyed this effect he had on you.

His lips graze your jawline, peppering kisses down to your neck until he reaches the collar of your shirt. In one quick motion, his fingers slide underneath the fabric and pull it over your head. Goosebumps cover your skin as your torso is exposed to the cold air of the room. Part of you feels panicked, yea, things between you and Taehyung have gotten steamy before, but this time you knew where things were heading. As you watch his eyes devour your figure, your legs unwittingly begin to cross. The arousal flooding from your pussy was now too prominent to ignore.

Your core throbs in desire as Taehyung’s lips meet the skin of your chest. His hands roam over your sides as you roll your head back. Mind racing with dirty thoughts, all you could think about was how badly you wanted him right now. It was better to amp yourself up now than to dwell on the fears swirling in the back of your mind.

Soon Taehyung was throwing his own clothing across the room, getting back onto the bed completely nude as he rested his body over you again. You swallowed thickly, unsure what to do now that he was naked and on top of you. Your research definitely didn’t tell you anything about this.

He must have been able to sense your sudden change in demeanor as he looked down at you with cautious eyes, “Babygirl? Are you okay?”

His words snap you out of your thoughts, shaking your head as if you were physically removing your worries from your brain. “I'm just…not really sure what to do now,” you say as you break eye contact with him, wandering your eyes down his naked figure.

With a gentle kiss placed to your lips, Taehyung sits back on his heels, pulling your arms so you're sitting up in front of him. One hand reaches towards your back, fiddling with the clasp of your bra. A momentary feeling of relief consumes you as the elastic releases from your body, there really was nothing like taking your bra off after a long day.

You let Taehyung finish undressing you; pulling your pants and underwear down your legs and throwing them off the bed into a messy pile on the floor. Unusually, you have no desire to cover yourself from him. The way his eyes gloss over your figure with such admiration makes you feel safe under his touch – his touch that trails from the tops of your thigh and traces the curve of your side.

“You’re sure you want to do this,” Taehyung asks one last time, one hand brushing your hair back as the other supports his body weight. You hum in response, leaning up to peck his lips gently. He blushes in response, rocking back onto his knees. Tilting your head, you watch his long fingers wrap around his hardening member. You watch in awe as it grows with each pump of his wrist, the silver bracelet adorning his wrist swaying with each movement.

Next he’s pushing your knees up so your feet are placed flat on the mattress. The cool air washes over your dripping core sending shivers through your body. And just like that, Taehyung’s lips are moving south and his tongue is diving into your soaking depths. Involuntarily your hips buck towards him, unable to control your own actions from the pleasure his mouth is bringing you. Taehyung’s thumb soon meets your clit, circling the bundle of nerves gently as his tongue presses flat along your slit.

A moan escapes your lips as you try to find some kind of words of praise to give Taehyung. All you can think about is how good his mouth feels on you; you have no idea how people could manage to form functional thoughts during things like this. If this was just the warm up, how the hell were you supposed to handle the main event?

You let out an airy gasp as his fingers move down to your entrance, circling the hole before dipping just one inside. Unable to resist, your hips jump up towards him as your mouth releases a loud moan. A hand flies up to cover your mouth, shocked at your own body’s response to his touch.

“Eager, aren’t we?” he smirks as his finger pushes into you slowly. Your walls swallow his finger deliciously, adjusting to the new sensation well. Once he notices how comfortable you are, he adds in another finger. You tense up at the added pressure, taking a moment to adjust to the greater size. The mild discomfort quickly disappears as his lips press soft kisses to the inside of your thigh.

Your hips jut forward as his fingers begin to separate, stretching your walls as his fingers move in scissor-like motions inside of you. His other hand is placed on your lower stomach as his lips still trail up and down your thigh, leaving behind a path of residual saliva that catches in the cold air. He does his best to comfort you as his hand gently rubs under your navel, his fingers quickening in pace and spreading further apart to prepare you for the size of his cock.

As your hand reaches down to rake through his curly black locks he picks up his head to meet eyes with you. The satisfaction from the way you take his fingers is written all over his face, as well as some remaining arousal by yours truly. You’ve never seen this expression before – his eyes so dark and filled with desire like they could swallow you whole.

Your stomach churned with anticipation as his fingers reached new depths inside of you. All prior pain was morphed sweetly into pleasure, all things Taehyung was doing was meeting all your current desires but one. “Tae,” you breathe out, a moan-like sound following his name. It was a way to get his attention, not a cry of pleasure. He narrows his eyes in response, his eyes still locked on your expression as he waits for you to continue.

“I’m ready.”

Again, Taehyung is rocking back onto his heels before leaving one last kiss to your clit. His fingers return back to their place on his cock, looking so pretty and delicate wrapped around his fully hardened member.

Slowly, the tip of his cock is being pressed against your entrance. Adrenaline rushes through your veins as you can hear the blood pumping in your ears. Was it nerves or excitement – or maybe a little bit of both? Taehyung surveys your expression before making any movement, looking for any signs of doubt written on your face. All that you give him is another reassuring nod, reaching your hand out for his to hold before he guides himself inside you.

And then it was time for what you had been waiting for all along.

Taehyung pushes into you slowly, your velvet walls wrapping around his hardened member. A muffled grunt leaves his lips as he tries to refrain from screaming in satisfaction. Your tight walls squeezed his cock so nicely, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

“Feels so good babygirl,” he moans as he begins to pull backward slowly, “so fucking tight.”

You keen at his praise, almost making you forget about the discomfort and pressure you were feeling in your lower half. Tears prick the sides of your eyes as you squeeze them shut, desperate to hide it from him. So badly you wanted to get over the pain and push through to the pleasurable parts.

Though your expression doesn’t go unnoticed by Taehyung, who had been studying every inch of your body since this part of the night had begun. Quickly he leans forward, placing a kiss to your forehead, nose, and then your lips before tilting his head to your ear.

“You’re doing great, babygirl,” He whispers, the sensation of his smooth deep voice igniting a fire through your body as his cock plunges back into you slowly. Your velvety walls welcome him once again, this time the stretch more bearable than the last. His size was immaculate, you were sure it was probably a lot even for girls more experienced than you, and he was proud of you for taking it like a fucking champ!!

With a few more slow thrusts, the uncomfortable stretch was no longer as noticeable. Taehyung’s fingers roamed your body as distraction to the pain, finding other areas to pleasure you to awaken your senses. One digit finds its way to your mouth, dragging it down your bottom lip to coat it in saliva before dragging it down your body. The same digit finds your nipple, rolling the perky bud between his fingers before his mouth takes their place.

His tongue washes over your sensitive bud greedily. At this point you're riding so high on lust that all you can feel is bliss. His cock glides in and out of you so effortlessly – like you were made just for him. He doesn’t let that go unnoticed either. Words of praise leave his lips in the form of mumbles, only amplifying the sense of your arousal. You begin grinding down onto him, the slow thrusts he was putting forth were no longer enough to satisfy your need.

“So good for me,” he groans as his thrusts begin to deepen once he recognizes your movements. His tip hits new territory in you that hadn’t been touched before, leaving you screaming his name into his neck. You didn’t know how you had gone so long without this, and you were unsure if you’d ever be able to again.

Now you knew what everyone was talking about. That much desired knot was growing and growing, begging to be tugged and snapped to lead you to your end.

Sweat gathers on Tae’s brow as he bucks his hips harder into yours, the pace of his thrusts quickening as his arms rest on either side of your head. Your hand brushes back his hair to read his face. His eyes are closed and his face is scrunched, he’s focused on his movements as beads of sweat drip down the sides of his face. He’s stunning. Seeing him so fucked out was almost breath-taking, if you breath hadn’t already been stolen by his lingering kisses and steady momentum.

Before you had any time to catch a break he was moving upwards, straightening his back and driving his hips into yours, chasing his high. Extending your neck back, you let out a muted cry – the force of his tip against a sensitive spot inside you beginning to push you over the edge.

The band in your stomach snaps as you chase your release, screaming Taehyung’s name as your back arches off the mattress. It was unlike anything you had felt before; your body felt numb yet so sensitive all at once. Pussy throbbing sporadically around Taehyung’s cock, he couldn’t hold on any longer either.

With just a few more thrusts he was coming undone inside you. The white, hot spurts of cum coated your walls, making you feel so unbelievably full. You had never felt closer to Taehyung as you had in the moment his body collapsed on top of yours, holding you close as you came down from your highs.

“You know I love you, right?” He mumbles into your neck between kisses. A smile spreads across your face as you let out a dreamy sigh, satisfied with the night and the beautiful man you were lying beneath.

‘Dreamy’ is copyright 2020 @yolokoo, all rights reserved. Please do not repost on any platform or translate without permission.

[jobean12-blog]

Top Shelf: Chapter 18- Inscribed with Love (and a sprinkle of Sugar)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader (Bookshop/Bartender/Baking AU)

Word Count: 1,946

Summary: The bookshop is doing great and your exhausted from it all, but ready to take the next step. 

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Hope you’re all doing wonderfully! So I think there will only be two more chapters left. I can’t believe it and I cannot thank you enough for your continued love and support. You’re the reason I keep this up. The restaurant they go to in this chapter is called Tia Pol (so yum) and you can check it out here. Thank you all for reading! Much love always ❤❤❤

Warnings: Soft fluffy, happy fluff, exciting news and events, lots of yay :)

Top Shelf Masterlist 

Bucky gives you one last glance before he walks toward the door, smiling at the crowd while he unlocks it. A loud cheer erupts from outside and you squeal at your position behind the counter. Everyone files in, the happy exclamations over the new space ringing out over the noise of footsteps. Nat and Peggy make a beeline for you, jumping up and down and talking a mile a minute. They’ve seen the space throughout the renovations, but you didn’t let anyone see the final product until now.

You see Grandma Betty pull Bucky down for a hug. They embrace for a long time and when she releases him, he wipes at his eyes while she blots her own with a tissue. At the same time, they turn and look your way, smiling brightly as you wave. Bucky brings her to you and then walks back to the door to greet some newcomers.

She reaches over the counter and takes your hands, “this is more than I ever could have hoped for. “It’s so beautiful. I’m so proud of you both and so very happy. James would be in love.” The tears that threatened to fall only moments ago are now running hot down your cheeks. You hastily wipe them away and lean over to hug her. “Thank you. Nothing makes me happier than to know you’re happy.”

Gently patting your back, she releases you, holding her hand over your cheek. “Ok, now that we’ve had a good cry, let’s eat!” With a twinkle in your eye you take a plate and put a piece of everything you have on it. “Let me know what you think about all of it. I need to know what’s good enough to keep!” She shuffles off with a full plate and happy smile and you look up to see a grinning Steve and Sam.

“Hey guys! What can I getcha?!” Sam’s eyebrow shoots up and he checks out the display. Steve slaps his shoulder and says, “one of everything of course!” Sam pipes up quick, “make that two!” You fill their plates and yell at them to share with Nat and Peggy as they walk away. The rest of the day goes by in a flash, a steady stream of customers coming in the whole time.

Tony stops in at the end of the day and from the look on his face you can tell he’s happy. “Well, look at you kids! The desserts are almost gone, most tables are full and you both look exhausted. Successful first day I take it?” You lean your head on Bucky’s shoulder and deflate, “you can say that again. I saved you some goodies!”

Handing him the plate you follow him to one of the few empty seats and take a small break. It isn’t long before Bucky has to make some more coffee and you have a couple asking for some pumpkin bread to go. Tony finishes his dessert and praises your baking before heading out, promising to come back with Pepper later in the week.

When Bucky finally turns the open sign over to closed it’s after 8pm and you’re dead on your feet. “I can’t wait to shower! I smell like a pumpkin doused in sweaty cinnamon.” Bucky’s face contorts into a perplexed look before he bursts out laughing, running over to smell you. “Yep. Totally sweaty cinnamon pumpkin. Deeeeelicious!”

Taking off your apron and throwing it at his face you head to the back to grab your stuff. “I’m going home to shower! You’re mean.” Bucky quickly grabs you around the waist and pulls you in close. “Can I come?” Trying and failing to resist his charm you shake your head no. He pouts, kissing you before saying, “please? I’ll wash your hair!” Your face lights up and you shoo him off to get his backpack.

The whole walk home you’re riding the last bits of energy from the day, just barely making it up the steps and into your apartment. You shed your clothes by the door and rush into the bathroom, turning the water on hot and stepping under the soothing stream. Bucky slides in behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you into his chest. He starts massaging the shampoo into your hair and you slump against him, moaning under the pressure of his fingertips. “Aren’t you glad you let me come home with you.”

Humming through the magic of his hands you turn in his arms, carefully cracking an eye open to avoid the shampoo. “You knew I was gonna let you come; I hate the nights we spend apart.” He pushes the hair from your face and continues gently rubbing his fingers over your scalp. “Me too, baby. In fact, why do we spend any nights apart?”

You lean your head back and let the water wash away the soap, handing him the conditioner. “I don’t know actually. Other than the fact that neither of our apartments are that big and we don’t have all our stuff at each place.” He smooths the conditioner through your hair and twists it around his fingers, using it to tug you close. “Why don’t we put all our stuff in one bigger place?”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” With one step he has your back against the cool tiles, his wet body flush to yours, “yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.” You trace your finger over his lips, kissing off the droplets of water, “I’d love to be your roommate.” He gives you the biggest smile you’ve seen all day and rests his forehead to yours. “I love you.” You pour those same words back in a kiss, suddenly feeling like getting dirty before you finish getting clean.

The rest of the week goes by just as fast as Monday and by the time Friday rolls around, Bucky falls face first onto the couch and groans into the pillow, “thank god Sam gave me the night off.” You land on top of him with barely an oof and reach around for the remote. “It’s under my legs I think,” Bucky’s muffled voices says from the pillow. “Pffft forget it. Maybe we should keep looking for apartments.”

Bucky’s hand shoots up and he gives you a thumbs up, “ok babe, let’s do it.” Neither of you move to get up. “You have to get up y/n.” You curl up and take the blanket from the back of the couch, draping it over you both just as Bucky shifts onto his side and lets you fall into the space between him and the couch cushions. Snuggling up in his arms you rest your head on his chest and promptly fall asleep.

Early Winter (couple of months later) …

“Oh man, what is that amazing smell!” Bucky’s words float through the sugar and spice scented air before he even has the door closed to your new apartment. “What are you making baby doll?” He slides up behind you and pulls you against his chest, kissing your neck and cheek in greeting. “Hi baby. I’m working on that new gingerbread cookie recipe. They are great for making fun Holiday shapes and easy to decorate! Wanna try?”

He opens his mouth as an answer, and you pop a gingerbread man head in. “Wow. This guy tastes delicious!” You giggle and clap your hands together happily, getting back to rolling out more dough. “How was everything at the shop today?” you ask, while working to get the right thickness for the dough. “Great. Everyone who came in said they’re really looking forward to the new desserts you have planned. I still can’t believe how well it’s all going. Who knew coffee and cake is all we needed to make people want to buy books?”

Handing him the rest of the gingerbread man’s body you say, “I know. Sometimes I can’t believe it either. We’ve been so busy I still haven’t finished unpacking the last of the boxes!” Turning his way with the roller in hand you give him a look sweeter than the cookie. “Do you think you could take a weekend off from the bar soon and maybe we could finish the unpacking and hanging pictures and even go on a date?”

Bucky eyes the rolling pin in your hand and you realize you’re standing there looking like you might knock him over the head with it if he’s says no. You both burst out laughing and he takes it from your hands. “Yes. I can definitely do that. Just don’t threaten me with a rolling pin anymore!” With a kiss to his lips you quietly say, “if you think that was threatening, you haven’t seen anything yet!”

You finally get your weekend off a couple of weeks later and it’s just what you both needed. The boxes get emptied and the pictures get hung and Saturday night finds you dressed up and out at one of your favorite Spanish restaurants Tia Pol. “Try this Buck, it’s amazing.” Holding the fork up he takes a bite, closing his eyes and humming at the delicious taste. “Oh man, you’re right, so good!”

“I have a bridesmaid dress fitting next week, I’m so happy Peggy let us pick our own dresses!” A sly smile grows over Bucky’s face. “I can’t wait to see you in it, what does it look like?” You wave a dismissive hand, “oh you’ll just have to wait! And don’t you guys have to do your tux fitting soon?” Bucky nods through a mouthful, “yup, couple of weeks.”

“I can’t believe it’s only two months away! This will definitely be a memorable Valentine’s Day!” Bucky takes a drink of wine, eyeing you over the glass. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He takes your hand and runs his thumb over your knuckles, smiling softly. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m just happy I get to spend it with you.” He lifts your hand and kisses it, making you giggle. “Me too. It’s going to be amazing.”

Valentine’s Day/Steve and Peggy’s Wedding…

“Peggy, I…you look perfect, just perfect!” You try to get the words out without letting the tears fall but it’s no use, carefully blotting your eyes in the hopes of not ruining your make up. Peggy points a stern finger your way. “If you make me cry again, I’ll stab you!” Nat giggles and fixes Peggy’s veil, holding back her own tears. “It’s time ladies,” the bridal attendant says softly, helping the three of you line up. Nat walks out first, and you watch as the smile spreads across her face the moment her foot hits the runner.

You wait for the attendant to motion for you to go and begin taking the small steps out of the room. You haven’t seen Bucky all day and you can’t wait.  You take that first step into the aisle and search the front, his gaze instantly finding yours as you make you way to him. Your eyes never leave his and your cheeks hurt from smiling. You’re so overwhelmed with happiness, for your friends, for you and Bucky and you just want to cry again.

His eyes tell you everything as you continue to stare at each other from across the altar. He mouths, “I love you,” and you do the same back, letting out a deep breath to quell the tears. The bridal march starts and you reluctantly look away, your eyes now focused on Steve who looks so completely in love that you feel the first tear run down you cheek, this moment one you will never forget.

@aesthetical-bucky @auro-ora @bugsbucky @book-dragon-13 @buckys-henley @bucky-on-my-mind @buckys-broody-muffin @buckys-minty-breath @breezy1415 @eurynome827 @hiddles-rose @hawksmagnolia @hailmary-yramliah @itsunclebucky @itsunclebucky​ @imgaril-lindru​ @ikaris-whore​ @jhangelface0523​ @jewels2876​ @lorilane33​ @littledarlinhavefaithinme​ @littleredstarfish​ @loricameback​ @mushyjellybeans​ @marvelandotherfandomimagines​ @marvelgirl7​ @nano--raptor​ @nerdypinupcrystal​ @randomfandompenguin​ @sallycanwait68​ @scarletsoldierrr​ @the-wayward-robot​ @tuiccim​ @yansi1923​ @flyawaybay​ @throwmyheartawayagain​ @amandatar-06​ @nd1998sc​ @captainchrisstan​ @vherriepie​ @godofplumsandthunder​ @when-the-hell-is-bucky​ @fire-flv​ @jamesbarnesappreciationclub​ @irishflutiegirl​ @rinthehufflepuff​ @moonybarnes​ @nordlysinthewoods​ @lauratang​ @my-favorite-fics-and-imagines​ @buchanansebba​ @emilylyoness​ @addikted-2-dopamine​ @lady-pswrld​ @lookiamtrying​ @pinkdiamond1016​ @lokilvrr​ @mishaandthebrits​ @hopefuldreamers-world​ @rebekahdawkins​ 

[viastro]

there for you | chwe vernon hansol

ミ★ synopsis: in which you can’t admit you’re in love with your best friend, vernon, so joshua takes matters into his own hands.

ミ★ genre: best friends to lovers!au, humor, fluff, some angst

ミ★ warnings: none!

ミ★ word count: 3,752

ミ★ pairings: vernon x female reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys! I just wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for following me! I just hit 100 followers last night and that was really crazy to me HAHA. It really means so much to me and I’m so grateful that 100 people like my writing, so thank you so much ! I hope you enjoy this oneshot for vernon! <3

“I just think that megalodon is still out there, like what if they’re just swimming at the bottom of the ocean!” You exclaim, Vernon turning to look at you with a scoff. 

“You’re crazy, there’s no way that big ass shark bitch is still alive.” You frown at those words, choosing to shove him off your bed as a response. 

“BRUH.” Vernon shouts from your carpeted floor, and you let out a content sigh. 

“Don’t disrespect my boy megalodon like that.” You simply tell him, and you can feel him roll his eyes from your floor. “Don’t roll your eyes at me!” You say, leaning off your bed to point at him.

He gives you an evil grin, and before you know it, he’s grabbed your arm and pulled you down on top of him. He lets out a loud, “OOF!” and you laugh in his face, making him chuckle and roll you off of him. 

“I was not expecting you to literally knock the breath out of me. Holy fuck I wasn’t ready.” Vernon groans and you giggle, staring up at the worn out glow in the dark stars on your ceiling.

You and Vernon became friends in your freshman year of high school. You met each other through your mutual friend Joshua, who may have had secret matchmaking intentions, and the two of you instantly clicked. You started hanging out after school, going to the library to study together, joining drama club for fun but getting kicked out for being too loud during the actual play itself. 

You and Vernon are quite literally two peas in a pod (or is the phrase three peas in a pod?) Either way, you’re best friends. This is proven from the fact that you’re both in your last year of college, about to graduate and obtain your bachelor’s degree, and are still hanging out just the same. You both almost got an apartment together, but you decided to room by yourself and Vernon would room with Joshua. However, it’s almost as if you guys live together anyways by how much you go over to his apartment and he goes to yours. 

No matter how busy you both are, you still try and make time to see each other. Especially on Fridays, those were your cooking nights. Joshua joins in on this tradition as well, considering that it involves eating food. The three of you research recipes to offer to the table on Friday, whoever’s recipe gets the most votes, then you guys make it. It’s the highlight of your week, if you’re being honest.

Those around you have always thought you and Vernon were dating at some point in knowing the both of you, but you and him have never made any move to push your friendship into something more. The only thing you guys have done is be each other's first kiss, which is actually a very anticlimactic story. no it’s not.

It was the winter of senior year, you and Vernon were making it a mission to build an igloo due to the recent heavy snowfall that hit Seoul. You were focused on building the igloo, but Vernon had other ideas.

“Vernon, please! I wanna at least get this base layer done-” You’re cut off when you get hit in the face with a snowball, knocking you over from your crouched position. You close your eyes, hearing Vernon’s loud laugh at your tragic fate.

“I’m gonna kill you Chwe Vernon.” You mutter, standing up and making a snowball. 

“If you can catch me yn!” He taunts, thus beginning your chase around his backyard. 

“I swear to god! I just wanted to make an igloo!” You yell, laughing when he slips and falls backwards, knocking the wind out of him. You run up to him, placing your snowball right on top of his nose. He lets out a small laugh, making you giggle as well. He grabs your arm and pulls you down so that you’re laying beside him in the cold snow. 

“Have you ever thought about the fact that we’re eighteen, and still haven’t had our first kiss yet?” Vernon asks you, turning to glance at you. You stare at the small snowflakes falling, watching your breath expand into the sky due to the cold.

“What makes you think I haven’t had my first kiss yet?” You challenge, turning your head to look back at him. He scoffs at that, immediately calling out your lie, “Yeah, okay. Says the girl who literally ran away from her crush when he tried to give her back her pencil.” 

You sit up, hitting his stomach and he lets out a loud laugh, “You’re gonna look at me and tell me that I’m wrong?” He asks, sitting up as well and turning to face you.

“I mean, you’re not. But still! I hate that memory with a passion.” You say with a pout, and he smiles at you. “Why would you even bring up that topic though?” You ask and he shrugs, turning away.

“I don’t know. I was gonna ask if we could be each other’s first kiss, to get it over with, ya know?” Your eyes widen once his proposition falls past his lips. The tips of his ears are red, and you can’t tell if it’s because of the cold, or because of what he just suggested, or maybe both. Either way, they’re red, and your face is very warm.

“You’re crazy.” You sputter and he shakes his head.

“It’s not a bad idea though, like if anyone asks we could say that we’ve had our first kiss. We don’t even need to mention that we were each other’s first kiss! This is strictly for the sake of our egos.” Vernon says, and you hate how right he sounds. 

“Ugh, fine.” You mutter and Vernon’s eyes widen, turning to look at you to make sure you are serious.

“R-really?” 

“I’m about to take it back if you don’t kiss me now.” You state, turning towards him and closing your eyes. “See! My eyes are even closed, just get it over with.” 

Vernon lets out a nervous chuckle, taking in the visual of you with snowflakes on your hair, the snowflake on the tip of nose, and your ridiculously pretty lips. He knew that he didn’t have feelings for you, and that this was simply a… platonic… kiss, but he knew this image would be ingrained in his mind for the rest of his life.

He reaches his hand out, slowly brushing it against your cheek. You let out a small huff of air through your lips, and he smiles. That’s when he decides to lean in and give you both your very first kiss.

“Oh shit, I have to go get ready.” Vernon says, snapping you back to reality. He gets up off the floor, and you stare at him with a dazed expression.

“Why? It’s only 5-”

“I have a date tonight.” He tells you with a small sheepish smile, and you feel your heart slowly sink into your ass.

“Deadass? With who?” You ask, feeling a strange sense of DEATH linger in your ass.

“You know that one girl I partnered with in my intro to literature class, Minji? I asked her out the other day because I’ve been interested in her since we did that project together, turns out the feelings were reciprocated. We’re going on our first date at 6, so I should head back to my apartment to get ready.” Vernon explains quickly as he grabs his wallet, phone, and charger. He pats your head and heads out of your room. 

“I’ll text you later tonight!” He calls, then you hear your apartment door close. You stay in the same position for awhile, wondering why the fuck your heart sank into your ass.

You and Vernon are just friends! Besties! Bffies! Of course he’s gonna go find a person to date, so are you! College is the time for exploring and possibly meeting the person you’re gonna spend the rest of your life with! It’s such a good thing that Vernon has found himself a date! You’re his best friend! You should be ecstatic over this!!

So why the FUCK are you sitting here feeling like your heart got ripped out of your ASSHOLE .

“It’s probably because I’m jealous,” You say, feeling your stomach twist at the sentence, “jealous of the fact that she might replace me and Vernon won’t need a best friend anymore. Yeah. That’s better.” it’s not better.

“Oh God, I’m gonna call Joshua. I feel like I’m gonna hurl.” You mutter, whipping your phone out of your pocket to text Joshua to come over.

✿✿✿✿✿✿

“Have you considered the thought that you might be, I don’t know, jealous?” Joshua asks from your kitchen as he whips up two eggs for the both of you. Joshua came as soon as you called, and you sat down at your kitchen island to tell him the story while he went into your kitchen to cook you some comfort food.

“Yes! That’s the conclusion I came up with-”

“Oh thank fucking God. I was wondering how long it was gonna take for one of you to realize that you both like-”

“That I’m jealous of the fact that Minji might take my place! Like, I’m pretty much one of the only girls in his life aside from his mom and his sister, so I feel threatened! Especially because Vernon has never been on a date in the duration of our friendship. That’s why I’m jealous. It makes perfect sense.” You finish, taking a large gulp of your green tea. Joshua stares at you, realizing how stupid you are. 

“Uh, you okay Shua? Your eye is like… twitching…” You point out, and he raises a hand up to his eye, letting out a small exasperated chuckle.

“I’m fine…” He responds, realizing that his two best friends are fucking idiots. I didn’t introduce the two of them to each other in freshman year of high school JUST for them to stay best friends god DAMN IT. He thinks to himself, placing the finished eggs on each of your plates.

Joshua walks over to your kitchen island, sitting down on the stool and handing you your plate. You mutter a small “Thank you, Shua.” then you both begin to eat, seemingly ignoring the subject to focus on filling your empty stomachs.

Also because Joshua thought he was gonna explode if he spent another second discussing it.

Actually no he’s gonna say ONE LAST THING.

“Do you really think you’re jealous of that? Like, do you really think-”

“Yes! It makes the most sense Shua, what else would I be jealous about-”

“Maybe because you have feelings for Vernon that you’ve been suppressing all these years due to the fear that he might not reciprocate them?” He suggests, turning to glance at your reaction.

You freeze at his words, staring down at the yolk oozing out of the egg onto your rice. You can’t help but feel like you’ve been caught, but you haven’t been caught? Because it’s not true… right? it’s true.

“That’s not true.” You mean to say this confidently, but you mutter it so quietly that even Joshua has a hard time being able to understand what you said.

“What?”

“It’s not true!” You announce, feeling more upset and sick by the minute. Joshua can’t help but feel guilty, but he knows that this conversation is important or else you’ll always hold in these feelings.

“Yn, you know that it’s true.” He says softly, and you let out a shaky breath, “I’m scared.” Joshua cocks his head to the side, confused as to why you’d be scared.

“Why?” He asks, and you bite your lip. You turn your head and give him a small smile, feeling tears flood your eyes.

“Because if I say it, then it’s true. It’ll be out there. It won’t be the secret I’ve been hiding since I was nineteen, the day he got me cotton candy at the store for no reason, simply because he knew it’s my favorite.” You answer honestly, wiping away the stray tears that fell. 

“I knew it then. That was the day I really knew my feelings weren’t just adoration and love because we were close friends. It was because I really did love him. I had a feeling that what I was feeling towards him wasn’t really… normal in friendships. That I was actually developing feelings for him, but I always just pushed it back.” You explain, avoiding eye contact with Joshua. He stays quiet beside you, and you anxiously shove two spoonfuls of egg and rice in your mouth. 

“Why don’t you tell him? If you don’t say anything now then it’ll be too late-”

“It already is too late Joshua! He’s already on a date with a girl he’s been interested in for awhile. I,” You sigh, taking in another shaky breath before continuing. “I haven’t told him or tried to initiate anything because I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship either. It’s so cheesy and like the most generic excuse someone could give for falling for their best friend, but it’s true! If he doesn’t feel the same, and I confess how I feel, then it all just gets awkward. We won’t go back to how we used to be.”

You shove the last spoonful of rice and egg in your mouth, standing up with your plate to go and wash it. Joshua watches you with sad eyes as you aggressively start soaping up your plate and silverware.

“I just,” you turn off the faucet and place your hands on the counter, gripping it to keep you in place. “The day that him and I kissed? Just for the sake of us having our first kiss? It taunts me. I didn’t even like him at that time, but the memory is like a slap in the face. It was hard to not fall in love with him, I still failed at that though, right?” 

Joshua lets out an agitated sigh, “I have to tell you something-”

“No, don’t say that he loves me too. Don’t give me false hope like that Shua, it’s too late anyways.” You tell him, turning and giving him a sad smile. 

“But it’s not! He’s literally crazy about you yn!” You open your mouth to object, only to be cut off by a knock on your door. Joshua gives you a look as if to say, were you expecting someone? To which you give him a look that means, no, I didn’t.

Joshua walks over to look through your peephole to see who’s at the door, only for his eyes to widen when he sees Vernon waiting on the other side. He turns to look at you, motioning for you to come over. You wipe your wet hands on your kitchen towel before walking over. Eyes immediately widening when you see Vernon through the peephole.

“Yn? Are you home?” He calls, and you let out a small squeak. 

“Alright, I’m coming in anyways.” He responds, taking out your spare key from his pocket. Joshua turns to look at you with wide eyes and you give him a panicked look.

“He has your keys?!” He whispers as you both run to your kitchen to act as if you didn’t hear Vernon.

“Of course he has my keys! I have your guys’ key too!” You whisper back, frantically turning on the sink. Joshua shoves the last of the rice in his mouth before walking over to your side to act as if he was helping you wash dishes.

“You have our keys?!” He whisper shouts and you swat his arm, muttering that this is not the problem at hand.

“Yn?” Vernon calls as he steps in, noticing another pair of shoes beside your door.

“In the kitchen with Joshua!” You call back and Vernon nods his head, placing the bag of store bought goods on your kitchen island.

“Yall hung out without me?” He asks with a pout, and you almost giggle out a response before Joshua beats you to it.

“You were on a date anyways Vernon, we wouldn’t want to fourth wheel.” He teases, but Vernon notices the slight edge in his tone that you’re unable to.

“By the way, how was the date?” You ask, trying to ignore the pang in your heart as soon as the question leaves your mouth. He shrugs, sitting on one of the stools in front of your kitchen island.

 “Kinda disappointing I guess? It wasn’t a proper fit, her and I.” Vernon says, and you scold yourself for feeling a twinge of hope.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” You respond, and Joshua nudges you. You turn and look at him, and he gives you a look that basically means, TELL HIM YOU LOVE HIM BEFORE I DO! You glare back at him, shaking your head NO!

“So now you guys are speaking in code too? Damn, what did I miss in those two hours.” Vernon jokes. 

“If you don’t do it, I will. I’m tired of seeing you two act like you’re not hurting.” Joshua whispers and you glare at him. “You wouldn’t dare Joshua Hong-”

“Yn is in love with you Vernon.” Your mouth drops open when the sentence leaves his mouth, and so does Vernon’s mouth. 

My god he really done diddly dared.

“N-no I don’t.” You sputter, turning off the sink and wiping your hands on the kitchen towel.

“Yes she does. She’s been pushing her feelings away this whole time. Also, yn,” Joshua says, turning around to face you. 

“Vernon’s been in love with you since you both had your first kiss when it was snowing. I’ll be taking my leave now, please use protection if this newfound information takes you to that route once I leave. Love you! Update me later!” Joshua says, waving goodbye as he leaves your apartment. 

Leaving you and Vernon to just stand there, staring at each other with wide eyes and warmth rushing tp your faces. You look down at the kitchen floor, unsure of what to do now that your feelings are literally out and about, but you know that what you had feared didn’t come true.

because vernon loves you.

“I uh,” Vernon starts, coughing into his arm before continuing, “bought us cotton candy ice cream to eat? We can eat it while we talk if you want?” 

You feel your heart melt at the fact that he bought your favorite ice cream flavor in the world on his way home, so you nod your head. You grab two bowls and two spoons, placing them on the kitchen island. Vernon scoops out the pink and purple colored ice cream into each bowl. Once he’s done, you place the tub in the freezer, and you both head towards your couch. 

He sits down, and you sit down beside him. For the first few minutes, you both kinda just sit there eating your ice cream. In those few minutes, you’re both having an internal battle in your minds.

Until you break the silence and turn to him, causing him to look back at you, spoon in his mouth and all.

“I love you. I’ve loved you for years, I just didn’t accept it until now.” You state, but he’s staring at the small dribble of ice cream at the corner of your lip. He reaches out and brushes it off with his thumb, before bringing his thumb back to his mouth to suck off the ice cream. 

“D-did you hear what I just said?” You stutter, currently a panicking mess at the previous move he pulled even though he’s done it countless of times before. It’s different now.

“Yes, and I’m currently losing my marbles internally over that because I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.” He says, giving you a small nervous smile. He places his bowl on your coffee table, taking your bowl as well and placing it beside his. Now that your hands are empty, he grasps them, giving them a small squeeze.

“I knew from the moment you closed your eyes, waiting for me to kiss you as the snow fell around us, that I was in love with you. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed in my eighteen years of living at that time, and I still think that you are the most beautiful, precious person that I have been blessed to have in my life.” Vernon confesses, and you feel an intense rush of warmth flood to your cheeks as he stares into your eyes with the most genuine look you’ve ever seen on him.

“I love you, yn. I’ve loved you since we were eighteen. I went on that date with Minji today because I thought I could try and get over you that way, which is dumb I know, don’t need to tell me twice. I just, fuck. When we were at the restaurant, I’d look at her, right,” He makes a hand motion as if he was looking through a pair of binoculars and you let out a giggle.

“And I would wish that she was you. That’s why the date didn’t work out, because she and I didn’t fit. I can’t try and date someone else when all I wish is for them to be you.” Vernon says and you bite the inside of your cheek, feeling your heart pang against your chest. You squeeze his hands, and he lets out a small laugh.

“That being said, will you go on a date with me?” Vernon asks, and you smile, nodding your head softly.

“I’d love to.” You answer and he gives you a big smile, opening his arms and pulling you in them. You wrap your arms around his waist, hearing his loud heartbeat against his chest. He presses a kiss to the top of your head, smiling happily.

“I love you.” He whispers and you let out a small squeal, making him laugh. You raise your head up from his shoulder, looking into his deep brown eyes.

“I love you too.” You whisper back, closing your eyes and pressing a kiss to his lips. He responds right away, squeezing your hips softly. He lets a smile break loose, making you smile as well until the kiss is just teeth clashing. You pull away, laying your head in the crook of his neck once again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that again since the first time. Jesus Christ, it’s been four years since we had our first kiss.” He mutters and you laugh, lifting your head up again so that you’re facing each other. 

“Can I kiss you again?” Vernon asks and you smile.

“You don’t have to ask if you can kiss me silly.”

“Of course I have to! I need to respect women!”

“Oh my God, your mind.”

meanwhile...

Joshua is at his apartment, playing his guitar quietly. He’s at peace knowing that all is well and his ship has finally sailed happily.

“I better be his best man for pulling that one.” Joshua mutters to himself, smiling at the prospect that you and Vernon are finally together. 

All because of ME BABY! All ME!

JOSHUA FIRST WIN!

[weasleypogues]

first kegger of the summer (j.m.)

request: Oof I’ve never requested anything for outerbanks but I see you want some requests so maybe one where the reader has had drinks here and there but has never actually gotten drunk and she does one day at a party and JJ loves that she felt comfortable enough to do that around him but he stops drinking to sober up and be able to take care of her when she gets home and stuff?? And could they already be dating??? If you’re not comfortable with this I totally understand, baby! Thanks either way ❤️❤️❤️

master list.

i really hope i did your initial envision justice!! 

also i feel bad bc i feel like i did more actions than actual dialogue but actions speak louder than words yanno 

it was the first kegger of the summer and needless to say you were ecstatic. after finally finishing up the school year from hell, you were excited to go back to your dumb pogue shit with your best friends. already at the boneyard was you, the rest of your group, and a couple of other pogues from the island. it was chill and you were glad to say you felt comfortable. 

“soooo....you’re gonna drink tonight right? like go off kinda drink if you know what i mean?” kiara asked you with what you thought was a little devilish smile and she jabbed her elbow into your side.

you laughed and rolled your eyes, leaning away from her elbow. “yes kie, matter of fact i am. i gotta start living a little and why not do that with the people i trust the most.” 

“people....or person?” kie questioned you with raised eyebrows and a smirk as her eyes traveled back and forth between you and your boyfriend, jj, talking to pope at the keg. 

“okay yes jj, but all of you. but definitely jj.” you responded with a wide grin and your face feeling hot. it’s like jj could feel your eyes on him and looked over at you, sending a wink your way. 

almost as if he was reading your mind he poured a cup and lifted it out in the open as if to say ‘want it?” you raised your eyebrows and nodded, leaving your spot next to kie as she talked to some pogue about astrology and walked up to jj.

“damn (y/n/n), i didn’t think you’d actually take it.” jj teased you as you took a sip. 

“just feel like it’s now or never, yanno. i trust you guys enough to know that nothing bad is going to happen....or should i rephrase, nothing too bad is going to happen.” you responded, ending your statement with a kiss on his cheek that soon turned into a kiss as he grabbed your face and pulled you in.

as you turn around to make your way back to kie, you specifically put a little sway into your hips as you walk away from jj, completely knowing he’s going to check you out as you walk away. you take a quick sneak peek back at him and see him dropping his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose with his mouth slightly parted, taking the scene in front of him in. you giggle and shake your head as you take your seat next to kie yet again.

“want this?” jj asks pope with absolutely no explanation. pope glances over the top of his cup with a skeptical look on his face.

“what’d you do to it?” pope asked defensively, his eyes narrowed on jj’s face. jj rolls his eyes and forces it into pope’s hands.

“nothing, i just don’t feel like finishing it.” jj answers, waving his hand to prompt pope to down the smidge of alcohol that was left in his cup. pope shrugs and downs the rest of it.

“was there a reason you didn’t finish it?” pope asked, throwing it into the black plastic bag they had for a makeshift trashcan. pope didn’t even need an answer as he followed jj’s eyes focused on you finishing your first drink of it night.

it didn’t take long for the giddy and buzzed feeling to kick in. it made you feel almost invincible, carefree, and wild. however, nothing in your brain told you to stop to get another cup. but no one was really stopping you so how bad could it be?

the music was blasting and you were dancing next to kiara and sarah, letting the slight vibrations from the song run through your body as the sounds coincide with the crashing waves to the right of you. here and there you take sarah and kie’s hands and twirl them playfully or belt lyrics at the top of your lungs. either way, this is the night you initially envisioned. it could’ve easily lasted for hours and you wouldn’t know any better.

however, you were quickly snapped out of it when you spotted jj a couple of yards away, just admiring you from afar. you smiled immediately with a goofy-drunk grin and made your way over to where he was sitting on the sand, near the campfire.

“i think-i think you should join us babe.” you practically slurred as you held your hand out for him to take. a devilish grin replaced his content one as he took your hand and pulled you down to the sand with him to hold you in his arms. 

it took a couple of seconds for your tipsy brain to process what happened but you just smilled and giggled as you felt his arm wrap from the left side of your shoulder and make it’s way to sit on your right one. you let your chin lean against his arm but lazily let your head sway to lean against his bicep as your hands curled around his forarm. 

it wasn’t long until sarah and kie made their way back to the fire aswell and sat next to pope and john b. 

you and jj didn’t notice, but john b nudged pope in his side slightly to get his attention until he pointed towards you and jj for pope to follow his lead.

“hey, (y/n/n), how drunk are you on a scale of 1-10?” john b inquired with a wide grin on his face and chuckled afterwards. jj threw his head back and laughed as the three of them waited for your answer.

you lazily lifted your hand and counted on your hands, “one, two, three......probably a nine.” you answered with a grin, your eyes practically closed. pope and john b started laughing hysterically.

“only took you a couple of keggers to finally get you outta your shell!” pope proclaimed. john b lifted his cup up in the air, while pope and jj were quick to follow with their cups of water and even though everyone around had no idea what they were lifting their cups to, they all followed. 

“to the outer banks!” john b called out and everyone just cheered in response and downed their drinks as well. you lifted your imaginary cup slowly with a giddy grin on your face and pretended to take it. jj couldn’t help but admire every move you made. all he knew was he was glad you were a happy and funny drunk. he liked the way you continued to playfully bite your lip or ran your fingers through your hair. your eyes were pretty glossy but you would just stare up at him and admire his baby blue ones, and just his face overall. he would subtly blush as your gaze and give you small kisses over your entire face.

“wanna go? we should get you into bed before you fall asleep anywhere but a bed.” jj whispered in your ear, sending shivers down your spine. you sluggishly nodded. even though it was kind of difficult to get up because all your sense of balance seemed to leave your body, jj wrapped his arm around your waist.

the way home would’ve been quiet if it weren’t for the drunk comments you made towards him such as “i love youuu” or “your hair is fantastic” or his personal favorite “even though i don’t approve of it, when you fight someone it’s sooo fucking hot”. he’d obviously compliment you back and made sure you knew that he loved you as well.

there were a couple of times were he would say “i know i keep saying this, but if you feel sick at anytime before we get back to your house, let me know, we can stop at the side of the road.” you would always just nod and take sips here and there from your water bottle. 

“you’re so fucking adorable and funny drunk.” he said with a smile on his face.

“ugh stop, you’re too good to me.” you’d slur back as you playfully hit his arm. 

when you got home, you notice the lights in your house were off. jj let out an internal sigh of relief, as he didn’t even think of the scenario of what he would say to your parents when you stumbled into the house in his arms. he took the key out of your backpack as you sat on your front stoop with your head in your hands. at this point, you weren’t feeling that great and were definitely getting the spins. he opened the door, shoving the key back in his pocket and helped you off of the ground. 

“we’re gonna be as quiet as we can be when we go up to stairs, i’ll help you get ready for bed and you can take two advil in advance before you knock out, yeah?” he whispered as his both of his thumbs rubbed back and forth soothingly on both of your hands. you nodded without saying a word and held one of his hands. he let you lead the way and acted as a catcher behind you in the case if you lost your balance, he’d be there behind you to catch you. 

thankfully, you made it to your room and laid face down on your bed as you somewhat heard jj rumaging through your drawers.

“these shorts and this shirt okay?” he asked before turning around. he noticed you were face down and chuckled to himself before placing them on the bed next to you. 

“can you put these on for me while i get you another water bottle and advil?” jj asked and he ran his hands over your head. you nodded into your blanket and slowly got up, lethargicaly undressing yourself as jj helped himself to your kitchen and cabinet to get everything he needed. 

“that didn’t take long.” jj said outloud and laughed, as you were in your pajamas and pretty much tucked into bed, making sure you plugged your phone in. after you took the advil with no help, jj grabbed your trash can and moved it over to the right side of your bed.

“the rest of the water is on your night stand, your phone is charging, and the trash can is on the right also. anything else babe?” he asked, whispering not to be too loud.

“i haveeee the spinss.” you whined, placing your hands over your eyes as if that was going to stop them. he gave you a pouty face that could barely hide his smile and chuckle.

“i know, (y/n/n). but they’ll go away soon. anything else?” jj asked, as he took a seat on the edge of your bed. you nodded slightly as your reached your arms out in front of you.

“can you stay the night, babe?” you asked in a tone that jj could not refuse whatsoever. he lightly smiled to himself before turning off your lamp and taking off your shoes.

“anything for you.” he responded, almost excitedly before lifting the covers and pulling your body close to his. jj gave you a kiss on the top of your head before you two fell asleep almost immediately. 

[procrastinatorimagines]

Babysitting

Fandom: Chicago Med / One Chicago

Character/s: Will x Reader, Nat, Maggie, Owen

Warning/s: none

Word Count: 1,610

Request:  Hello, first I hope you are having a good day! Second, could I please ask for a Will Halstead x Reader? Him and the reader, they are a couple, are taking care of Natalie's son and It's funny and fluffy? Thank you!!

Summary: Will and Y/N agree to babysit Owen for the night so Nat can have a much needed night to herself.

“Really? I- Okay, no I’m sorry of course, okay, thank you, feel better soon, bye.” You heard Nat sigh in frustration as she hung up the phone, standing off to the side as you waited for Will to finish getting changed from shift, Maggie stopping in her tracks in front of her to see what was going on.

“Everything okay Nat?” She asked as Nat rubbed her temple. Both women were dressed up for a night out, the first time in a long time they’d managed to make it work around work and home. Will headed out the door and the two of you started walking, overhearing more of the conversation as you approached.

“It’s- the sitter just cancelled, apparently she has a temperature and doesn’t want Owen to catch it, and now it’s too last minute to call someone else- and Owen isn’t great with strangers anyway-” Nat rambled, clearly exhausted and in serious need of this night with Maggie. 

“Nat it’s fine, I understand,” Maggie reassured her, “we can do it another night,” she sounded disappointed but supportive, Maggie hadn’t had an easy time this year and she’d told you this night out was the first time in a while that she was feeling like her old self.

“I know, it’s just it took so long to find the time tonight and we haven’t really spent quality time together in such a long time,” Nat apologised as you and Will caught up to the two women.

“Need someone to watch Owen?” Will asked and all three of you looked to him, “I mean, we could, you deserve the night off Nat and Owen does know me.” Will looked to you and you shrugged, nodding as you turned back to Nat.

“Really? If you guys had plans-” She began but you waved her off.

“Nonsense, we’d be happy to, you both look like you need tonight to yourselves a lot more than we do,” you laughed and Nat smiled in appreciation.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, clicking her tongue in thought, “er spare key’s where it’s always been, I left instructions for the sitter on the fridge, his granma’s are dropping him off home any minute, I’ll call her to let her know you’re coming then.”

“Sounds good,” Will replied. You knew him and Nat were back to being just friends, but he still missed spending time with Owen, and from what you’d seen when Owen came to daycare at the hospital, the feeling was mutual.

“You guys are sure?” Nat double checked before her and Maggie headed off.

“Yes, yes we’re sure, now go, enjoy your night,” you practically ordered them away and Nat nodded at last.

“Come on Nat, Owen’s in good hands,” Maggie told her as their taxi pulled up behind them, “besides, it’ll be good practice for when they decide to have some little redhead’s.” Maggie laughed and Will shook his head, practically shooing them into the car with promises that Owen would be fine, and that they had a night to get started. 

They drove off quickly and Will turned to you with a slightly embarrassed smile. You’d been dating for over a year now and you’d never actually talked about having kids, you’d just kind of assumed Will did; the way he was around child patients and the way he was with Owen, he’d definitely make a great dad, but you hadn’t really given it much thought.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Owen’s going to the thrilled to see you,” you linked your arm in Will’s and the both of you headed towards you car, trying to brush off Maggie’s comment even though it was in the back of both your minds.

You probed Will on the drive over for everything you’d need to know about what Owen was like, what he liked and didn’t like, that sort of thing. You’d met him plenty of times, but you’d never actually taken care of him, but you’d spent enough time with your sister’s son to know what some kids could be a little bit more difficult than others.

Will was finishing the story of his black eyes by the time you arrived at the house, and you entered to find Owen playing in the living room while Helen watched over him, looking up when you both entered.

“Will Halstead,” she said with a smile, embracing him in welcome and kissing both his cheeks, “it’s been too long.”

“Yes it has, you look well,” he replied and she thanked him, turning her attention then to you. “Oh, this is my girlfriend, Y/N, Nat might have mentioned she was coming with me.”

“She did, it’s lovely to meet you,” she told you as the noise of building blocks toppling over drew your attention to the little boy barrelling out of the front room, over his creation, and straight to Will, a big grin plastered on his face.

“Will!” Owen yelled, practically slamming into him as he wrapped his arms around his legs in a big hug.

“Oof,” Will steadied himself and picked Owen up, “wow, you are getting so much bigger, soon I won’t even be able to pick you up!” He laughed.

“Okay, well, you’ll only need to watch him a couple of hours before he needs to go to sleep, he’s been fed and Nat left instructions on the fridge, as I’m sure she mentioned,” she informed you both, turned back to Owen and kissing him goodnight.

“I’ll see you very soon sweetheart,” she waved goodbye and he waved back as she left, Owen quickly getting Will to put him down and dragging him by the hand into the living room.

It was only when you were all in there that Owen seemed to notice your presence. “Who are you?” He asked, tilting his head a little as he sat in front of his toys and pulled Will down with him.

“I’m Y/N,” you told him, crouching down to join them.

“Do you know my mommy?” He picked up a block and held it out for you as Will watch on with a smile.

“Yeah I do, she’s a really good friend of mine,” you said, accepting the block with thanks as you shuffled to sit cross-legged on the floor.

“Will’s a really good friend of mine,” Owen informed you excitedly, pushing a giant pile of blocks in Will direction with the instruction to start building.

“Best friends aren’t we buddy?” Will suggested but he shook his head instead.

“I wouldn’t say ‘best’ friends,” he grinned and Will feigned insult as you laughed.

“Yeah he’s not all that great is he?” You joked and Will turned to you and mouthed ‘traitor’. You winked at him in response as Owen burst out laughing.

You were just starting to think that you had this whole kid thing down when you felt a whoosh of air pass your face. Blinking you realised that Will’s hand was in front of your eyes, a building block that Owen had just thrown inches from making contact.

“Oops, sorry,” he told you with a frown, “I thought you were going to catch it,” he explained, sliding you another one towards you slowly. 

“We’ll be alright,” Will told you as he split some of his pile with yours. “How about I help Y/N make one? The two of us won’t nearly be able to make something as good as you.” He double checked with Owen, who just nodded, suddenly engrossed in his building.

The night consisted of a lot more building and a lot more destruction as you and Will played Owen’s game, which was either called ‘bulldozer’ or ‘explosion’, it changed each time but honestly they were both as disasterous as each other. But still, he was happy, and he was getting much better at balancing and building, he just had a tendancy to like watching them topple down, as children do.

Eventually it was time to put Owen to bed, something he was very reluctant about, you’d barely convinced him to put his pajamas on when he decided to climb onto your back, hiding from Will, who was getting his tooth brush ready so he could brush his teeth before bed.

Once you’d finally convinced him to get fully ready for bed he had sat with his arms crossed on his sheets and refused to fall asleep, which was more adorable than annoying given the fact that he was out like a light 15 minutes and a short story from you and Will later. 

You both crept out the room once he was out, shutting the door lightly behind you and all but collapsing into each other as you leaned against the wall in the hallway, laughing quietly to yourselves. 

“Wasn’t so bad,” you told him after a minute, smiling as he took your hand and laced his fingers in yours. 

“No it was not,” he replied, kissing you sweetly. You stood together again in silence, oh that beautiful silence, before Will spoke again. “You’d make a good mom.”

You blinked at his comment, and took in the uncertainty on his face as he waited for you to response. Kissing him again you told him: “well, you’d make a good dad.”

A smile spread across his face as he ran his thumb over your hand. “Are we really talking about having kids?” He laughed quietly.

“Yeah I think we are,” you realised, “and I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we had them together one day.” He brushed the hair out of your face and looked into your eyes.

“One day,” he promised.

[defkooka]

best night of our lives | mark lee

pairing: mark x reader

genre: lifeguardau, highschoolau, just straight up shy mark and romanceee

word count: 6.4k

summary: no one told you that spending the entire summer with the cute black aired lifeguard was going to go this way.

a/n: heyyyy i’m back after like a solid year lol. this one was in the drafts from a VERY old request so i got bored and decided to finish it. anywaysss mark lee is best boy. i said what i said. IF YOU WANT TO REQUEST ANYTHING, THEYRE OPEN!

“do you ever wonder how we can like... see? like what makes it possible for our brains to see colors and stuff like that?” mark said from beside you on the high life guard chair that overlooked the giant pool.

“i don’t know mark. why is the sky blue? what’s the difference between a #1 and #2 pencil?” you craned your neck to look at the dark haired boy next to you from under your sunglasses.

“touché” he squinted his eyes at you and turned his head back to the pool with a smile as he looked over the swimming bodies.

this is what your summer has consisted of so far. just you and mark sitting under an umbrella while you watch people splash around in the water under the scorching summer heat everyday.

being a lifeguard at the pool was a job you couldn’t miss the chance on. you get to sit around all day and watch people swim and get payed a fair amount of money for it. couldn’t get better than that right? oh but it does.

what you didn’t know you were gonna walk into the first day of work was the cute, soft, and nice boy that would sit under the umbrella with you. everyday.

every time you would walk out into the pool, mark was already sitting on the lifeguard chair. once he noticed you he would give you a friendly smile and a small wave of his hand that would just melt your heart because, how can someone so cute exist?

you had to admit to yourself that you had the slightest crush on mark ever since you met him in science class back in freshman year. he wasn’t much of a talker but still a very friendly person. but oh boy could he get loud. you both shared some mutual friends so it didn’t take much for you two to become friends also. mark is someone who could make you laugh just by doing the bare minimum. if you were ever in the same room, just a small lock of your eyes can send you two into a giggling mess, this also being the cause of you and mark getting in trouble with your teacher many times that same year.

you initially thought that your friendship with mark would just be a class thing; probably never to see him outside of school unless you run into him on the street. but once he told you that he had gotten a job as a lifeguard at your local pool, you were shocked to know that you were also going to be working there for the summer and you couldn’t help the wide smile that overcame you finding out that you were going to spend more time with this cute and silly boy.

but what surprised you the most was the fact that you guys got put in the same shift, meaning you had to share the giant lifeguard chair with him all day. not like you were complaining anyway.

“hey, um are you maybe doing anything this weekend?” marks eyes drifted to his thick thighs as he played with the hem of his bright red swimming shorts, avoiding your eyes as much as he could.

“no, why?” you slid down your sunglasses to get a better look at him.

“well, uh-” he swallowed the lump of nerves in his throat and you noticed how adorable he looked when he was nervous.

“mark!” he was interrupted by the sound of a loud high-pitched voice who belong to no other than one of your closest friends; chenle.

you both snapped your heads towards the loud voice and noticed two other of your friends walking along side him; jisung and donghyuck. they smiled and waved at you guys and you mirrored their actions back with a grin.

“what’s up love birds?” donghyuck climbed up a few of the steps and placed his hands on the seat to keep himself balanced and not fall backwards into the shallow pool.

you could feel mark stir from next to you and let out an awkward cough to ease the sudden weirdness in the air. you on the other hand felt a giggle and a soft laugh escape your mouth with a shake of your head at the brown haired boy in front of you.

donghyuck was probably the only person who knew of this crush you had on mark. telling chenle and jisung would practically be yelling it out into the world. donghyuck still respected your wishes as to not tell anyone, but that still didn’t stop him from throwing little comments here and there like the one he just did.

“what are you guys doing here?” you leaned back into the chair and watched the 3 boys in front of you.

“our shift is almost starting” chenle said as he looked over the people swimming in the pool. “there’s probably so much pee in there” he whispered to himself but was clearly heard as you and jisung looked at each other with a roll of your eyes.

“say y/n? you happen to have a boyfriend or something at the moment?” donghyuck said which made everyone stop what they were doing and eyes lock on you. you were taken aback by the randomness of his question and suddenly felt nervous all of the sudden. you weren’t dating anyone as of right now because of the massive crush on mark; but you felt embarrassed to say that out loud and even more with mark sitting so close next to you.

“i-y’know! that’s not a-appropriate to ask right n-now hyuck!” you pinched the side of his arm, making him stumble back onto the ground; rubbing his hand up and down the now red spot. “i was just curious” he pouted his lips but that soon turned into a laugh when his eyes landed on red-eared mark.

“would you look at the time! our shift is over, have fun guys!” you quickly hopped off the tall chair and put on your red sandals and said a quick goodbye before your cheeks flushed more than they already had. mark probably thinks you’re a loser now. why didn’t you just answered the question with a simple no and let it go! why did you have to get so flustered! especially in front of mark.

“why are you walking so fast?” you heard mark say from behind you making you abruptly stop on your tracks; almost making him crash into you before he caught himself.

“why are you here?” you said too fast for your liking.

“we have the same shift remember?” mark said with a chuckle making you feel your body overheat for what seemed like the 100th time today. why must his cuteness have such an effect on you?! you let out a small ‘oh’ and slowed your steps so he now was walking right beside you.

“hey, remember when i asked you if you were doing something this weekend?” he finally broke the silence when you two reached the entrance outside the locker rooms. 

“y-yeah” you spoke hesitantly.

“well, um. there’s this party donghyuck is throwing, you heard of it?”

“yeah actually, he mentioned it to me the other day.” your palms started sweating as you didn’t know exactly where he was going with his questions.

“good, so uh, um i was wondering if, you know since you aren’t doing anything, would you like to come...with me?” he looked at you with hope in his eyes while he bit his bottom lip a little, hands stuffed down his pockets in fists.

at this point your mind went blank. was mark lee really asking you out after you completely embarrassed yourself in front of him? this must be some type of sick joke the universe is playing on you.

“oh. yes, i would love to” you smiled up at the boy and it seemed like all the nerves were replaced with a shy grin.

“cool, cool. so i’ll pick you up?” he shyly smiled and tilted his head to the side.

“sounds good” you smiled back at him and laughed a little.

“i’ll see you then.” he began walking backwards towards the boys side of the locker rooms while you stood in the entrance looking like a love-struck teenager. well, technically you were.

“yeah. i’ll see you.” you finally turned around once you saw him go in with a huge smile on his face.

guess you weren’t embarrassed in front of the boy you had a massive crush on after all. but that doesn’t mean you still aren’t going to kill donghyuck.

“you know, you should try and breathe once every 2 seconds. just saying” hyuck said from the other end of the line.

you were currently running up and down your room trying to find something decent to wear for the party, which was in like 2 hours. great time management.

“i can’t show up looking like a bum hyuck, plus-“ you stopped mid sentence as you pulled a shirt from the bottom of your closet with all your force, sending you flying flat on your ass with a soft oof once you finally got it out.

“mark fucking lee asked me to go WITH him, not just a ‘oh you should show up’ no no no no, he used an actual ‘with me’”, you crawled your way over to your computer where half of donghyucks face was shown as he was having an intense stare down with the tv in front of him, his fingers scrambling all over the place on his controller.

“it’s mark we’re talking about here. trust me, he’s not going to notice what you’re wearing- FUCK” he screamed at the tv as you heard gunshots and then it going silent, he probably lost at whatever game he was losing his brain cells to this time.

“i know but i still want to look somewhat presentable. i don’t want tonight to go horribly bad and have him never speak to me ever again.” you pouted as you finally saw his eyes look over at you since the last 20 minutes.

“alright, game plan. put on something nice, get all dolled up and let me know once you and mark get here, i will make sure nothing too out of pocket happens tonight so you and prince charming can run off and get married, okay?” he raised one eyebrow and you smiled into the camera.

“yes! thanks hyuckie” you grinned at him and blew him a kiss.

“yeah, yeah, whatever. i have to go, jeno and renjun are probably gonna be here any second to help me set up fro the bangerrr.” he shoved his face into the camera and made a disgusted face before he hung up without even allowing you to say a proper goodbye.

after another 40 minutes of looking for something you finally settled on your favorite shirt with a pair of black jeans and went on to get ready.

after putting on your clothes and making sure your hair didn’t look a mess, your phone vibrated on your desk.

mark:D : i’ll be there in 2 :)

“oh shit” the nerves finally started creeping up on you as you replied an ‘okay’ and quickly sent it.

hopefully this night doesn’t turn out to be horrible. what could possibly go wrong right? hyuck said he’s gonna have everything under control and try and make things run smoothly so you had nothing to worry about.

as you ran around your room getting the last of your things ready, you heard a knock on your front door.

you walked down the hall towards the door to making sure you had everything from your phone to your keys. you stood in front of the door taking in a big breath and calming down the nerves running through your body.

you opened the door to reveal mark standing in front of you with all his glory. his hands were clasped in front of him as he he rubbed them up and down. when his eyes landed on you, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“hey mark” you smiled and you seemed the relax at the fact that he seemed more nervous than you were. his eyes slightly softened as he stared at you and gave you a cute smile.

“hey, nice house” he awkwardly said as he looked around your front porch. you looked at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughs, him along with you.

“yeah, yeah pretty nice huh?” you both looked at each other before breaking into smiles. “ready to go?” he put his arm out for you take; which you gladly did.

it was a short ride to donghyucks house, time seemed to pass by quick since you and mark were cracking stupid silly jokes the whole way there. time always seemed to be going fast when you were around mark, even when you guys are at work. mark radiates this energy around him that’s so calming, he has these awkward moments from time to time, but those moments are your favorites because of how easy you both are able to laugh them off and move on to the next topic. that’s one of the main reasons why you liked him so much, being around him just made you comfortable and calm.

“do you think there’s a lot of people there already?” mark asked as you both saw the front door get closer and closer. the loud bass of the music could be heard all he way from outside in the front yard, but there was no view of the inside hence the curtains were closed.

“i don’t know, i doubt donghyuck would make it a big thing anyway.” oh boy how wrong you were.

as soon as you and mark stepped foot inside of the house, there were heads everywhere you turned. it was a sea of people in the living room dancing to some loud song you couldn’t recognize. the heavy smell of alcohol invaded your senses and made you scrunch your nose in distaste.

“holy shit. how the hell are we supposed to make it past all these people?” you got closer to marks ear to yell into it as he leaned down to listen. you doubt if you tried to speak in a normal tone he could hear, you could barely even hear your own thoughts.

“hold on” mark said into your ear as you felt a tight grip on your hand. he held you close to his body and you felt the heat radiating from it. he navigated you guys through the sea of grinding bodies against each other. he made sure to look back at you every so often to make sure you didn’t get lost or someone bumped into you.

you guys finally made it into the kitchen were it seemed to be less people. a couple of groups talking or slowly dancing to the music with cups in their hands.

“you want a drink?” mark looked at you with a raised eyebrow. you didn’t respond back immediately, your attention still on the fact that your fingers were interlaced with one another. you looked at your hands and back up at his brown eyes. he seemed to catch on and quickly glanced at your hands before letting go with a blush tainting his soft skin.

he mumbled a small sorry and looked around the kitchen nervously. a giggle left your lips as you reached back for his hand and intertwined your fingers together again. his head snapped back at your hands again and quickly up to your eyes, the same blush now racing to his ears. he nervously laughed and kept his eyes locked on yours.

“i’m not a big drinker actually.” you smiled up at him and he nodded his head in agreement.

“good. me neither, i can’t hold down alcohol for too long. after the first 2 hours it gets ugly.” you both laughed.

“how about just juice for now?” you dragged him towards the counter where you found bottles of juice, probably as chasers. you emptied them in solo cups, handing one to mark as he took it from your hand; fingers brushing against each other. he smiled as a way of saying thank you and took a sip from the cup as he looked around inspecting the scene.

“yo!” you looked over marks shoulder and saw a tipsy, soon to be drunk, donghyuck approach you guys with a cup in his hand.

“soo how you guys liking the party?” he wrapped an arm around marks shoulders and looked around at the mass of people.

“there’s a lot more people than i expected here.” you said over the music.

“i know right! i invited a few people from school but i guess those people invited people, and then those people invited more people.” he said with a shrug of his shoulder and taking a sip from his almost empty cup.

“dude your house is going to be a trashed in the morning” mark said while he also took a sip of his drink.

“nah, upstairs is off limits anyway. except for you guys of course.” hyuck smirked at you and nodged mark. you and mark made eye contact while he tried to awkwardly laugh hyucks comment away.

“alright that’s enough. me and mark are off” you grab marks hand and dragged him away from hyucks tight grasp on him. you spot the door of the backyard open and head for it with mark hot on your heels.

once you guys get outside you spot way less people out here than inside, pixie lights light up the dark night along with the stars looking down at you. the music quietens as you both slowly walk towards a pair of chairs in a more secluded area under a tall tree, a few feet away from everyone else.

“is this okay?” you ask as you take a seat while mark drags his chair closer to yours and faces you.

“yeah, this is great actually. i’m not much of a party person anyway. i only show up to these things for the guys.” he plays with the hem of his cup.

“yeah me too. there’s just something about sweaty people grinding on each other that just doesn’t sit right with me.” you shake your head and you hear mark laugh next to you. you immediately look over to not miss the beautiful smile that drags over his face, bringing one just as big to yours.

“parties are great to be honest. but only if you’re with the right person for the night.” he looks at you before looking off into the house.

you smile and decided to take this as your chance to tease him a little.

“oh really? please elaborate for me mark lee” you turn your body to face him better and lean your body towards your legs, using your elbows as support, your body now inches away from him.

he looked over when he felt you move and looked into your eyes and that’s when you noticed how close you guys actually got, but that didn't stop you from continuing.

“i-i mean well, y’know. when you’re around the right person, you could have one of the best nights of your life. you could either be dancing the night away, or just y’know, sitting down and just endlessly talk to them.” he looked down at his shoes while he spoke and once he was done he glanced back at your eyes only to see them stare right back into his.

“wow, i didn’t know you were that deep. don’t worry, i’ll try and live up to the expectations tonight and make this one of the best nights of your life” you said with a smirk. you don’t know where all this boldness was coming from considering the fact that you were just having a mental breakdown over an outfit not even an hour ago, but you liked it.

“and i’ll try to make this one of the best nights of your life y/n” he raised his cup for you to clink yours against and you both took sips of your drinks while stealing little glances at each other.

“you guys are so lame” you both craned your necks to look at the four boys approaching you guys. “you’re sitting outside away from everyone while there’s a big ass party going on right inside” renjun said while he leaned into jeno to his left.

“so? maybe we wanted to have a good conversation without 4 idiots interrupting us” you perked up and commented with sarcasm while mark laughed, wow it is so easy to make this boy laugh.

“alright, alright point. sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt your little date” chenle smiled and gave mark a wiggle of his eyebrows while mark looked like he just got caught with his hand inside the cookie jar.

“date?” you teased and looked over at mark with a goofy grin on your face, but inside you felt like you were just about to explode cause he actually considered this a date with you!

“remind me to never tell you anything ever again. thanks” mark avoided eye contact while he tried to look anywhere but at you.

“y/n, did you know that mark called me 3 times just because he didn’t know what to wear?” jeno joined in on chenles teasing.

“oh yeah, he also texted the group chat saying, ‘oh my god i’m so nervous, will she like this?, should i hold her ha-“ jisung didn’t get to finish his sentence before mark was up on his feet and aggressively covering the younger boys mouth.

“okayyy! that’s enough.” he nervously laughed while giving jisung and the rest of the guys a death glare, but they didn’t seemed to take it seriously by the way they were laughing and continued teasing mark.

“hey, lets head back inside now. i-i’m allergic to pollen” mark scratched his nose and pretended to sniff and it only made a soft giggle escape your lips.

“sure” you followed behind him while you guys made your way inside the busy house once again.

you walked deeper into the house until you were in the main area of the living room staring into the sea of dancing bodies to the beat of the song playing from the speakers spread around. you were mesmerized by how much fun everyone seemed to have. they were all in their own individual worlds with not a care in the world. you weren’t much of a party person but you definitely liked to have a good time from time to time.

marks eyes lingered on your face as you looked into the crowd with little stars twinkling in your eyes. the fluorescent lights where hitting your face just right making you look like a character right from those movies, where in that moment the male lead realizes how much he likes the female lead and he just couldn’t resist himself any longer. you felt marks body press up against your side as he leaned down to whisper in your ear. you felt his hot breath tickling your ear right before he spoke, feeling his lips slightly touch the side of your lobe sending shivers down your spine.

“let’s dance” he grabbed your hand and led you into the center of the dance floor before you could register what was happening. he placed his hands on your hips and your bodies drew closer to one another, you slowly snaked your hands up his arms before they landed on his shoulders, feeling his muscles tighten under your fingertips before relaxing into your touch. your faces were inches from each other and neither one of you could take your eyes away from the other. your bodies recklessly swayed to the loud music, losing yourselves along the way. you could feel his chest raise up and down along with yours. his hands sliding up and down your torso from time to time, feeling all the curves of your body to the upbeat song playing while the vibrations ran up both your bodies. at some point, both you guys stopped moving. the rest of the world around you guys seemed to continue on while you guys were completely frozen in time, a rush of emotions running wild between your burning bodies. you were just two souls standing in a middle of a dance floor, both of your chest heaving up and down on beat with one another. your eyes bore into one another in some kind of game of who would break first. oh how bad you wanted to taste his lips right then and there, but this didn’t seem like the time or place.

“i-i” you tried to catch your breath. “i think i’m ready for that drink now” you whispered and let your forehead meet his, your breath tickling against his lips while he ran his tongue between them to try and moisturize them.

he broke into a sweet smile while running his hands up yours arms that laid on his shoulders and grabbing your interlaced hands around his neck into his and giving them a gentle squeeze. “of course. come on.” he pulled you close behind him and led you through the crowd of people into the kitchen once again.

he poured drinks into two cups for the both of you before handing one to you with a grin. you took it from him and downed the contents in it in record time, trying to cool down your heating body.

mark looked at you with wide eyes before letting a laugh out followed by a small smirk.

“not a big drinker huh? you’re showing severe alcoholism right now y/n.” he took a long swing on his drink.

“me? an alcoholic? never. now pour me another one” you both laughed as he poured more alcohol into your cup, but only filling it less than half way to make sure you pace yourself. he still wanted to take you home in one piece; preferably sober.

“it’s probably gonna take me a solid hour to just finish this one cup while you drank yours before i could even blink. you sure about not being an alcoholic?” he joked while stepping closer to you.

“oh please, it’s just juice mixed with some kind of vodka. i’ll be fine.” you took another sip and shoved his shoulder playfully.

“hey! not all of us are heavy drinkers like you. i’m a lightweight and proud.” he gave you his best proud smile and took another long sip of his drink. by the way you guys were constantly taking drinks from your cups, you both were definitely leaving here at least a bit tipsy.

“let’s head back outside, it’s getting stuffy in here and i need some air.” you said as he nodded and followed behind you. your thoughts were still so clouded about the events that just happened a few minutes ago. holy shit, you guys basically eye fucked each other right there on the dance floor without even having a first kiss. it’s not like you were complaining, it was just a very intimate moment. the mark that was grinding up against your body back there was not the same mark that sat next to you everyday with sunscreen smeared on his cheek, having you wipe it off for him and making him blush. you basically turned into putty in his hands back there, and he didn’t seem to mind either.

so deep in thought, you didn’t see a now very drunk hyuck coming towards you, and before you could snap back into reality, his body had crashed into you. the drink in your hand now spilling all over the front of your shirt. you heard a bunch of “oohs” around the room while everyone turned to stare at the scene in front of them.

“y/n! holy sh-. are you okay? oh my gosh your shirt. fuck fuck, did i just ruin your night?” hyuck took in noticed what had just happened while he tried to rub some of the stains from your shirt, only making it worse.

“hey, don’t worry about it. it’s just a shirt.” you shrugged it off with a wave of your hand. mark was behind you while he examined the mess and winced. “you can probably get it out with some water, don’t worry” he nodded his head.

“y/n i’m so sorry. i told you i wouldn’t let this night go wrong.” hyuck reaches for you between slurred words and stumbled towards you but you managed to catch him before he fell to the floor.

“dude, i told you. don’t worry about it, it’s fine. you on the other hand are drunk as fuck.” you grabbed him by his waist before he could make more of a mess.

“we should probably get him upstairs to his bedroom” mark said while he took some of hyucks weight off of you, you nodded and you both made your way to the stairs where mark picked up donghyuck and carried him to his bedroom.

you three stumbled into his room while mark set him on his bed, you ran into the bathroom to get the garbage can and put it next to him on the floor.

“i should probably get the rest of the guys and start getting people out of here.” mark said while he walked towards the door, you agreed while you took off hyucks shoes and threw them somewhere in his room.

“alright, i’ll stay here and watch him for a while.” he nodded and closed the door behind him. you sat next to hyuck while half of his body hung off the bed as he slowly breathed in and out. few seconds pass by before he speaks up.

“i’m sorry.” hyuck mumbles into his pillow while his eyes slowly open, just to close 2 seconds later.

“it’s fine dude, you didn’t do anything wrong.” you patted his back in reassurance.

“nooo, i-i told yo-you, that i would make this night go smoo-smoothly” he began to fake cry with flushed cheeks only making you giggle.

“don’t stress it, it went way better than i expected i promise. i won’t go into details since you’ll probably forget by morning but-” you paused, “thank you for trying hyuckie” you continued to pat his back in comfort until soft snores began to leave his lips.

a few minutes after you made sure he was positioned comfortably, you walked into the bathroom to look at yourself. your hair was sticking out on all places while most of your makeup had either smudged or faded off your face. so much for trying to look nice. you looked down towards your shirt and noticed a big red/gold mixed stain decorating the front and you sighed.

“i loved this shirt” you whispered as you grabbed a towel, wetting it under the faucet and trying to dab off the stain.

“i know right, i loved it too” mark walked in behind you and smiled at you through the mirror. he walked until he stood next to you, leaning up against the counter while you continued to try and get the stain out.

“sorry this night wasn’t up to your expectations.” you shaked your head in disappointment. mark grabbed the towel from your hands as he stepped closer towards you, grabbing the hem of your shirt and pulled you towards him, making you stand between his parted legs. he held the shirt towards him while he rubbed on the stain more sufficiently than you probably were.

“are you kidding? i had one of the best nights of my life tonight. i partied with friends, had a couple of drinks, and hung out all night with the most beautiful girl. don’t even mention how we were killing it out on that dance floor.” you let out an ugly snort and glanced up at his face. your eyes met for a brief second and you were back to that little world you guys continued to escape to throughout the night.

“mark-“

“shh, just. just don’t say anything right now.” he came closer towards your body. he glanced down to your lips before his eyes shot up towards yours once again, asking for permission. you beat him to it when you leaned in and your lips recklessly crashed into his.

you know that moment in movies when two people kiss and fireworks suddenly start going off. well it was like that when you kissed mark, only with those fireworks going off inside your fluttering stomach and having your mind race 1000 mph.

you lips moved against each other in a drunken, reckless way, but it was still passionate. you don’t know who started it, but soon your felt your tongues fight for playful dominance. your arms snaked around his neck while you bring him down more towards you to get better access to his lips. his hands immediately went up to your hips, guiding you to lean up against the counter while his hands explored more of your body and slowly leading themselves down south. you teased him by biting his lip a few times, making him groan against your lips and give your hips a quick squeeze.

you both were so caught up in the moment you didn’t hear someone enter the room after a few minutes.

“yo- oh god. really?! while hyuck is passed out?!” renjun yelled at you guys once he noticed what shenanigans you two were up too. you and mark immediately let go of each other and turned around with wide eyes

“sorry, dude. uh what’s up?” mark nervously scratched the back of his neck while looking at his feet. you on the other hand were a bunch of shy smiles and trying your best to avoid eye contact with either one of the boys.

“everyone left and we managed to clean the downstairs. hyucks parents probably won’t be back until the weekend, and he seems like he probably won’t wake up until tomorrow-” renjun looked down at donghyucks sprawled out body on is bed before he continued, “-so me and jeno are staying over to keep an eye on him overnight, so you guys are good to go if you want.” he smirked at the both of you while he made his way towards the door, closing it behind him. you and mark stood there in silence for a few seconds before he turned around and faced you again

“lemme take you home.” mark smiled. you noticed how pink and swollen his lips were and that only made you break into a big smirk, soon realizing your lips probably looked no different from his.

“yeah sure.” you nodded and he began to walk out of the bathroom before you grabbed his hands, making him quickly turn around before you crashed your lips onto his for a few more seconds before parting with a loud smack.

“now let’s go.” you both walked out hand in hand and descended down the stairs, waving goodbye to jeno and renjun on your way out.

the ride back to your house was silent. but comfortable silence. you both were pretty tired considering it was almost 2 in the morning, thank god your parents were out of town for the weekend.

you and mark were holding hands the entire time on the way to your house while some slow r&b song played from the radio. from time to time mark would give your hand a squeeze to make sure you were still there, you would turn to him and smile before squeezing his hand back and rubbing small circles on the back of it which would make him slightly blush and hide a shy smile.

once you arrived at your house, he walked you all the way up to your porch and stopped right in front of the door. you turned towards him before he embraced you in a tight hug, burring his head in the crook of your neck and your hair.

“did you have fun?” he asked once he pulled away from your neck but still holding you in his arms.

“i had the best night. thank you mark.” you played with the ends of his hair behind his neck and he smiled down at you.

“it was my pleasure. plus, it’s only nice to return the favor. you gave me the best night so i had to do the same. well, besides a drink getting spilled on you.” he looked down between your bodies to see the dried up beverage on your shirt but you just laughed it off.

“that was probably the highlight of the night.” you guys giggled and continued to stare at each other.

“i should probably head home. it’s getting pretty late.” he finally unwrapped his arms from around you and took a couple of steps back, stuffing his hands inside of his jean pockets.

“yeah definitely, birds will start chirping soon. so, see you at work on monday?” you tilted your head to the side and gave him a goofy grin which he only returned with a goofier one.

“yeah, i wouldn’t miss it.” he began to walk back towards his car, before he stopped in his steps and ran back towards you to crash his lips into yours in a passionate kiss.

“i’m taking you out on a real date soon. y’know, one where our drunk friend doesn’t spill a drink on you and we make out in his bathroom while he’s passed out” he giggled before separating and walking backwards toward his car again. you only smiled and watched him.

“i would really love that.” you watch him round the corner of his car.

“hey mark?” you yelled once you saw him open the door to it. at this point you didn’t care how late it was and who was sleeping, you’ve never told him about your feelings all night and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.

“yeah?”

“i really, really like you.” you stared at him until you saw him break into that beautiful smile you loved so much.

“hey y/n?” he yelled back at you.

“yeah?” you smirked.

“i really, really, REALLY like you too.” you heard him say before he laughed and got into his car, waving at you before driving away.

you only smiled before opening your door and heading inside to get into bed. making a quick mental note to thank hyuck for making it one of the best nights ever.

a/n: i’m not good at endings and it shows. btw i wrote the whole dancing scene after watching that one episode of vampire diaries where damon and elena were dancing in that halloween party hehe. just thought i should share.

[readerficsbyhyaku]

Our hidden ways (DJSS x Reader SMUT)

summary

What is now considered a normal part of Vinyl City wasn't always there, and you were part of the generation that saw object heads come to life.

With every new thing comes the possibility of fear and rejection, and you were caught right into it.

You never had the guts to come out as an OH lover, complacently hiding under a facade, until he made a move. But still then... will you tell him ?

author’s note

Hi there ! There is dubious consent, slight OOC-ness for DJ (in my opinion), and a whole lot of feelings. Hope you enjoy ! Also double the smut because i'm a SIMP.

Art by me

Vinyl City wasn’t always the cosmopolitan metropolis of music you knew. When you were younger, there was a time where all the strange and stranger people you paid no mind to now were a novelty. And with difference came fear.

You were in high school when new faces started attending classes, and one of them struck you more than others. Well, because he didn’t have a face per se. A giant by human standards, he had wide shoulders, immense hands and a globe floating above his neck.

And that’s when you started noticing what was wrong with the world.

You were part of a group of friends, and the guy – nicknamed DJ – had no trouble making himself a place in it. He was passionate, quite a good talker and student, maybe a little “too much” sometimes but it wasn’t a big deal. What became a big deal was when your friends talked about it – what a lot of hormone-frenzied teenagers talk about – sex.

Pictures, videos… you’d seen a few here and there, and thought nothing special of them until then. See, the arrival of “OH” citizens, standing for “object head”, had led this particular market to span a new arm, leg, whatever you wanted to call it. Object heads were becoming a kink, something out of the norm, akin to interracial but on some bizarre, alien-esque level.

And when your friends started to talk about it in this very way, you realized maybe your attraction wasn’t as straightforward for everybody as you thought it would be, and thus it made it very difficult to admit it to anyone. In an effort to stick with the group, you laughed at your friends’ jokes and manifested interest in what they’d call “regular sex”.

Despite DJ being quite integrated in your little clique, it was when these conversations started that you felt him drift away, maybe isolating himself to not get hurt. And that’s also when it hurt the most to lie to your friends, the words and laughs tasting so bitter in your mouth you’d want to retch. Your heart was screaming to go for him, to tell your friends that you didn’t find OH weird, or repulsing, but then reason toned everything down with fear. Fear of rejection, of losing your friends, of being laughed at, of being different. It was a lonely road to walk, and you didn’t have the courage to take that path just yet.

As weeks and weeks went by, your conflicting feelings only grew in intensity as you kept them hidden. At last, it was the end of your last year and the start of something new, called adult life. Not that you or any of your friends knew what it really meant, and those concerns were pushed back for another day as they suggested you went to a karaoke to celebrate your graduation.

So you and your friends stuffed yourselves in the tiny karaoke room, ordering more drinks and food that could fit onto the table, and proceeded to sing until your voice cracked. At least, most of your friends did. You, on the other hand, drank your beer while chatting with the people next to you. And lucky you were, because DJ was right next to you, looking comically big in the small room.

You were starting to get a bit tipsy, not handling alcohol as well as you’d hoped… But then again, you were feeling more daring than usual. You had scooted over a bit more towards DJ, your knees touching and you almost didn’t care if your friends saw you getting all intimate with an OH.

You were lost into staring at his orb when you caught a glimpse of the conversation in front of you. Your friends were discussing the latest news – a music star that openly stated she went out with an OH – and that had caused quite a bit of ruckus. The guy didn’t have a face – that was the whole point of object heads – and had a big television screen instead. Couldn’t blame her for falling for his looks, right ?

“How can they even kiss ??? I wouldn’t consider dating someone I can’t kiss, y’know ?” you heard one of your friends slur from the other side of the table.

“Dude, what about going down on someone ? They’re missing out big time !” a girl continued, making some obscene gestures with her hands.

This made you more pissed off and bold you’d ever felt.

“Hey guys, watch me !” you shot at them.

As their gazes went towards you, you pushed DJ’s chest and made him fall onto the couch. You promptly climbed onto him, grabbed his face and kissed him.

You didn’t expect anything other than proving to your dumb friends how it could be done, but you were surprised to feel something.

A tingle on your lips, spreading from the contact point where they met the smooth sphere. A tugging feeling when you backed away, as if he didn’t want you to let go, yet. Things you didn’t get enough time to dwell on as you pulled away and looked at your friends quite triumphantly.

“See ? Easy peasy !”

“Girllll you’re crazy !!! Going and kissing DJ out of nowhere !!” they laughed, and started telling your adventure to the people who were singing and missed on the action.

You slipped a glance at DJ, who just sat back up and didn’t utter a thing, a big smooch mark visible on his orb and for some reason, this made need flare in your gut. Just play it cool, you’re drunk, a kiss is nothing – you kept saying that to yourself. And downed more beers to hide how embarrassed you were.

At the end of the night, the group disbanded and your drunk self was left to get back home alone. Until strong hands helped you walk straight, and as you raised your head you saw DJ next to you.

“What are you doinnng ?” you slurred, tongue feeling numb inside your mouth.

“You’re too drunk to walk all the way home” he simply stated.

“My home’s closer, I’ll bring you there for the night” he then said, maybe a little lower.

“Righhhht !” you said enthusiastically “Where is it ?”

“Cast Tech District” he muttered in a breath.

That was the same district as the karaoke bar you were, so it would indeed be a closer walk than your place. Not that you had enough brainpower to process that at the moment.

As you stumbled inside his place, he helped you sit on his couch and closed the door.

You slumped down and closed your eyes, trying to get the dizziness out of your system, but to no avail.

“…’re …..y ..n. …”

“What ?” you mumbled, unable to make out words from what he said, cracking your eyes open again as if it would help you hear better.

“You’re really drunk, aren’t you ?”

DJ was sitting next to you and as soon as the words were out in the air, he dived in and kissed you.

His large hands on your cheeks, keeping your face steady as his orb pressed onto your lips, sending the tingling sensation all over them. You couldn’t figure out what was happening, so you just sat there. He broke the embrace time and time again, the feeling like he was sucking at your lips, only to kiss you again an instant later. There was a fog in your mind that you couldn’t hope to get rid of anytime soon.

“Wha—” you started

“Is this why you kissed me ? To feel what an OH would be like ?”

There was no way you could answer that. This whole time you had been lying to everybody, maintaining a facade… And in front of the person you wanted to tell the most, you just couldn’t.

“Hehe, it actually feels pretty good y’know ??” you said with a laugh as DJ hoisted you from the couch and walked towards his room. He was so tall you almost had vertigo when you looked down from where he was holding you.

“An OH isn’t too bad— oof!” you were dropped onto his huge bed into the soft, deep purple covers.

You rested your head on the plush material, eyes wanting to close, until you felt hands grabbing at your waistband.

“Hey, what are you doin’ ?” you mumbled while sitting up as best you could.

DJ’s thick fingers were nimbly unbuttoning your pants, he yanked them down and tossed them away. Sleep was promptly pushed to the back of your mind as you scrambled to try and cover yourself, but to no avail. Your body wasn’t responding correctly, and all he had to do was swat your weak hands away.

“Let me show you how we object head do things”

This cut into your heart more than anything else you’d heard. There was so much bitterness in his tone, barely hidden.

And that’s when your panties went off.

DJ grabbed your butt with his hands and pulled you to the edge of the bed where he was kneeling, and boy had you dreamed of seeing him like this under you. He was still towering over you and that made your gut twist in expectation.

He slowly pried your clamped thighs open and you hid your face behind your arm, unable to look at him while your core was fully exposed to his view. Maybe you felt a breath, maybe you felt a slight tingle, but it could have all been your imagination, your expectation of him.

When he touched you, down there, you couldn’t repress the moan that slipped through your lips.

It was like nothing you’d ever experienced, like a soft buzzing and tingling coming from the contact point between his orb and your clit, and the sucking… Each stroke of his, or whatever it was called, dragged a cry out of you as you writhed on the bed. It was just too intense, too good, the fire in your belly reaching higher and higher.

DJ kept your hips still with a bruising grip as he ate you out, your back arching desperately into his touch. At some point, you felt one of his huge fingers spread your lips apart and dip slightly into you. The stretch was almost too much, but it felt so good.

How many times had you fantasized about him doing all of this to you ? You wished you could tell him, but only venom came out of your mouth.

“Wow, I guess I can see a perk to having an OH partner now, hah” you were breathless, but you couldn’t help trying to keep that wall up, to have the lie go on just a bit longer.

Pathetic. You were pathetic and you wanted to cry as your words assuredly carved even deeper gouges into DJ’s heart.

But he didn’t stop and soon enough you cried out as you came around his finger, hand fisting the sheets and body tensing as you rode out your orgasm, until the stimulation from his orb became too much.

“Fuck…” you breathed out as he dropped you down onto the mattress, unable to move a limb.

That had been absolutely intense and you felt thoroughly spent.

When you opened your eyes again, you saw DJ looming over you, his cock in one hand and spreading your legs apart with the other. His shadow covered your naked, sweaty body and the light coming from behind him gave him an ethereal aspect, rays making his slick-covered orb glint in the darkness.

“If you don’t tell me to stop, you’re about to get fucked by an OH”

And there was no way you could tell him to stop.

He pushed the head of his cock inside of you and it was so much bigger than what you expected. His finger already felt like an average dick, so what did you think his actual cock would be like ? He was stretching you open, inch by inch, as you laid beneath him.

It hurt like hell, but it was also everything you wanted and you couldn’t push him away. Tears were spilling out from your eyes, under your arm you covered your face with, as you hid the sobs and spasms wrecking your body. When he was finally fully sheathed inside of you, you heard him say

“Are you okay ?”

…

“You should’ve told me to stop…”

…

“Or maybe are you pitying me ?”

You couldn’t say a thing as he drew his conclusions for himself.

“I’ll start to move, alright ?” his tone was soft, fragile even. You hated it, you wanted to tell him you liked this, that you liked him, but you lacked the resolve.

And he did move, slowly, gently, his huge cock pulling out of you and pushing back in again in a rhythmic manner. While it did hurt at first, heat was now coiling in your gut at each of his movements and obscene sounds were coming from where you were joined.

You still couldn’t look at him, even though he was buried deep inside of you, warmth flaring from the unique contact point between your bodies.

He continued going slowly for you, even as you could feel his arms tremble from the self-restraint and his discrete, contained moans.

You wanted to tell him to go all out, that you were enjoying this, but how could you after lying your way there ? Once again, your words turned sour on your tongue.

“You can go harder you know, I’m not gonna break” you said with a dopey smile, hoping he could cast that upon your drunkenness.

He paused for a bit, and you could feel his cock twitching inside of you. You could almost come from that alone, along with his shortness of breath and the weight of his arms digging into the mattress all around you. He was so fucking huge after all, and that was what you liked. Call it a kink or whatever, but you had no problem with object heads and that’s what got you into that situation.

And you came right when he pulled back and slammed into you. Your body arched and tensed under him as he continued plowing inside of you, riding out your orgasm, crossing the threshold of sensitivity and getting you ready for yet another high.

You wanted to hold him, to call his name, but you couldn’t. So you pressed your arm against your eyes harder and grabbed the sheets until your knuckles turned white, and came again before he even did once.

As you tightened around him, you heard him strangle a grunt and felt something hot spill inside of you, through the condom. You almost wished he didn’t wear one, so he could mark you as his and maybe, maybe then you’d have the courage of admitting your feelings to him.

You were coming down from you third climax when he pulled out and removed the rubber, tying it in a knot to prevent its content from going everywhere.

How beautiful you looked, spread out on his bed and looking absolutely worn and sated, he thought, something akin to melancholy reflecting into his orb.

“Hey, are you alright ?” he started, but you feigned being asleep to avoid the conversation. You weren’t brave enough, after all.

So you laid still and awkward as he gently cleaned you up, muttering excuses as he was doing so. He dressed you up carefully with a shirt of his, shimmied you inside some boxers and tucked you in his own bed.

And while you were waiting for true sleep to come, DJ’s sniffling and sobbing coming from the couch went on for what felt like an eternity.

The next morning, you woke up and dressed at best you could, trying to ignore all that had happened the previous night. Your legs felt weak and there was a dull ache in your core that reminded you of what had transpired a few hours ago.

“Oh, hi, you’re up” a deep voice resounded in your back, making you jump.

“Oh, DJ !! Hi !! Didn’t see you there !” you forced out with a smile, a laugh, anything to mask the dread and awkwardness lurking inside of you.

He began to say something, but you cut him off with an excuse and bolted out the door, making up something about having an important lunch with your mom.

“But, about last night…” he persisted

“Last night ? What happened ?? I don’t remember a thing, sorry haha ! Must’ve been too drunk !” you replied probably too quickly for it to seem sincere, but panic was getting to you.

“I’ll call you when I get home, ok ?” you said as you were getting farther away from him, the ache in your chest growing stronger as all you wanted was to hold him close and tell him that everything was a lie. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

And when the evening came, you wanted to send him a message, to tell him you were sorry, that you wanted to spend time with him… That was when you realized how cruel you had been. How pained he must have been when you pretended you didn’t remember a thing. How he muttered that he meant last night under his breath as you were busy fleeing. How he stood there, struck and hurt, uttering an ultimate “I’m sorry” just loud enough for you to hear.

A few years later, progress had been made concerning the acceptance of object heads, and you were finally making your coming-out as an OH-lover. If that’s what going to an OH bar for the first time meant, at least.

You were facing the door, still pondering if it was a good idea, and you were about to go back home when the bar opened and someone dragged you inside.

“Hiii sweetheart, don’t be shy !” a robot with a weird hairdo said as he brought you up to the bar.

A tall man with a screen for a face and a fur-collared coat was cleaning a glass.

“What would you like to drink, ma’am ?”

“Uhh… I can’t really hold my liquor, so something soft” you responded, feeling uneasy.

“You know this is a bar, right ?” another robot chimed in, with a different accent color and hairstyle.

“Stop bothering her, TenTen” this time, it was a girl with orange skin and a big grin that sat next to you.

“So, why are you here for ?”

“Uhh, well, I…” why was it so hard to say, still ?

“You’re here for the OH ?” a green robot interrupted.

“For the object heads ?” a red one continued.

“For the weirdos like us ?” a white robot perpetuated.

“TenTen, stop it” the barman grumbled out, exasperation palpable in his voice.

The five robots saluted immediately and went to bother other patrons.

“Wait, didn’t you call the yellow one TenTen too ?” you asked the girl next to you, a bit puzzled.

“Oh yeah, they’re all TenTen” she grinned.

“They’re… all… TenTen ???” you repeated dumbly.

“Yup, you get one, you get the five of them. Like a group discount or something. Definitely not a match for everyone” she sighed.

This comforted you a bit. If a group of five male robots could look for a partner, maybe you wouldn’t look so out of place either.

“So ya didn’t tell me, what’re you looking for here ?”

You told this girl your story, as well as the ever silent barman that lent an ear to it whenever he wasn’t preparing drinks. At the end, she was almost crying and you had to stop her from hugging you in a bone-crushing embrace.

“And you didn’t tell him ??? That’s so saaaaaaaaad” she bawled as you sipped on your drink.

“Yeah… that’s… what happened…” you felt awkward, but it was so liberating to tell it to someone. Even though you definitely were the one at fault there.

“So you’re looking for a big guy, right ?” a voice on your other side asked, and as you turned around you saw a huge figure bent over the bar, its head hidden by the hood of a sweater.

“Oh, yeah, I guess…” you said hesitantly.

“How about I make you forget about that guy from your story tonight ?” the deep voice continued, sending shivers through you. Why did it felt like you knew this voice, this way of speaking ?

“Thank you but… I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I still have feeling for that guy and—” tears started welling up so you stopped talking and wiped them away. Why did you always want to cry when talking about him ? It was already a few years ago, so why was the pain still ever present…

“Hmm ? I didn’t hear that quite right” the man next to you said, and as you turned to look at him, he took off his hood and revealed his head – a smooth orb holding a galaxy inside of it.

“Could you repeat it ?”

You could hear the grin in his voice and your breath caught in your throat because, by the stars, that was DJ. Looming over you from his impossible height and resting his head on one of his huge hands, he was staring at you as you had inadvertently confessed to him after all those years.

Your face flushed red and you babbled an excuse as you hid your face and turned away from him, but he caught you in his embrace and next thing you knew, the whole bar was cheering for you, the orange girl being the loudest.

What a coincidence it was that, after being a closeted OH-lover for so many years, you found your high school crush in a bar and that he would still harbor some feelings for you.

He now went by the name “DJ Subatomic Supernova”, and that night you also went back to his place a bit drunk, a bit giddy, something hot twirling in your heart and burning in your gut.

You couldn’t keep your hands off from each other as soon as you passed the threshold to his apartment. It was dark and you kept stumbling onto things, but he held you, grabbed you, pressed you onto his chest, closer.

Your lips met his orb and after a few heated kisses, he went down your neck, leaving what felt like hickeys as his hands stroked your sides gently, slowly. You grabbed his jacket and ushered him out of it as he slipped his hands under your top, dancing around your belly and leaving embers in his wake. The garment was discarded on the floor and so was your shirt, revealing yet another undergarment.

It was promptly added to the mess on the floor and then you felt DJ’s hands fondling your breasts, that felt so, so tiny in comparison to his fingers. He could probably wrap his hands around your torso and lift you up like a doll if he wanted, and the thought only sparked more want inside of you.

Step after step, he guided you inside his place until the back of your knees hit his bed and you fell onto it, staring at the giant above you. If the fall hadn’t already knocked most of the air out of your lungs, you would have been breathless because of how good DJ looked. His ceiling was covered in dim stars, casting a timid light upon him and accentuating his height, the changing colors of his orb, the details of his hands.

You stared at him for a bit as he stood there, also drinking your half-naked sight splayed out onto his bed, then scooted back on the mattress to give him some space. As he didn’t seem to come, you held out your arms towards him, enticing him towards you, and he did.

The bed dipped as he laid a knee on it, his huge arms on each side of your head as he grew closer to you, then sat back up as he removed his shirt. He wrapped his arms around his waist and tugged the tight garment up, up, putting on a delicious show for you to watch.

You had never seen him shirtless, and boy was that a thing to look at. His skin was deep and dark, purple like the night skies with only a few tinges of stars here and there, like adorable moles. The dim light suggested more than showed his firm pecs and broad shoulders, and you could feel heat pooling between your legs already.

You scrambled to your feet and unfastened his pants, yanking them down to reveal a big bulge inside of his boxers.

“You’re okay with that ?” he asked softly, seemingly hesitant.

“I’ve always wanted to do this”

And that was the truth. Ever since your first encounter, you had wanted to reciprocate the attention, the affection.

While you were palming him through his briefs, you felt his nimble fingers work your own pants out of the way. You sensed his hesitation though, when he went about the waistband of your panties, circling his thumb around your hipbone.

“Let me show you something” you said as you stood up on the bed, not even being taller than him on his knees.

You bent and slowly pulled your panties off, strings of slick connected to the garment, as you showed him how much you wanted him in the dim, dark light of his apartment. The soft glow of the stars reflected off your thighs as you stood there, fully naked, in front of DJ. You felt like some sort of goddess with him kneeling reverently in front of you, his member straining the fabric of his underwear.

But soon the fleeting moment was over as passion took the reins again.

DJ all but ripped away his boxers and grabbed your hips, making you straddle him. From there, you could see closely how big his cock was, hard and throbbing and leaking a bit. It rested heavily onto your belly and you craned your neck to look at DJ.

His fingers dug into your soft thighs as he rested his orb against your forehead.

“You think you can do without foreplay ? I don’t think I can hold on much longer” he said breathlessly, his deep voice echoing through his chest.

“Fuck, I’ve been wanting this too�� you answered unceremoniously, all concerns out of the window as you lifted your hips to match his tip to your entrance.

He helped you position yourself, and as you were about to sink onto him, he held your hips still.

“Wait. Rubber.”

“Don’t care” you breathed out, grabbing his neck and pulling him in for a kiss as you finally, finally felt him push inside of you.

God he was big, even more so without any prep on your side, but feeling him slowly impale you on his cock was exhilarating. You lost yourself in his kisses as he pushed your body steadily down, down on him, until your hips met and you sucked in a much needed breath.

You rested for a bit, both panting and grabbing at each other like an anchor in the storm, craving more contact and friction than ever.

DJ wrapped his hands around you and began moving slowly, ever so slowly, turning your insides to hot mush with every stroke of his dick.

“DJ… DJ…” you moaned out, unable to form any coherent thought already.

“What is it, starshine ?” he rumbled out, still keeping at his torturing slow pace.

You could feel every detail of his shaft going through you, the way your walls grabbed onto him as he pulled out and gave in when he pushed back inside. How slick was pouring out of your stuffed hole and onto your thighs and his, how obscene sounds echoed in between pants and soft cries as your hips met again and again.

“Please, go harder” you begged.

The heat in your gut was unbearable, steadily rising but not enough for you. You would’ve loved to drag this out but you needed him, all of him, at once.

“How about you show me, then ?” he grinned as he laid down onto the bed, his hands resting on your thighs but his hips slowing down to a halt.

You repressed a whimper and started moving yourself, thighs trembling at each up and down, hands grabbing at the covers for purchase.

It wasn’t that fast at first, but soon you picked up speed as he helped lift you up from his cock. He hit you deep every time and your moans grew louder as the slap of skin on skin increased rhythmically. You could feel you were both getting close, your muscles tightening and trembling, his hands gripping you a bit harder, leaving dents in your flesh.

You were teetering on the edge, breath short and sweat making your bodies slick and sticky, when he grabbed you in a tight embrace, nuzzling his head into your neck and leaving a few kisses there.

“What—” you didn’t finish.

His hips rolled into yours and you felt him rock you on his cock, his pubes giving your engorged clit just the right amount of friction to send you over the edge. You tightened around him, nails raking down his back as he continued rocking through your climax, one time, two times, three times and it was his turn to spill.

He sucked on your neck harder, strangling a moan as you felt his hot cum pour inside of you, filling you up and dripping out of you. A shudder coursed through you as you saw the mess you were, white onto dark, fluids leaking all over and his girth still buried inside of you.

You felt him shift a bit after a while, still not separating your joint bodies.

“Again ?” you asked timidly, not sure how he would take it.

“The night is still young, I suppose I could do that” he said while slowly pushing your back into the mattress, spreading your numb thighs once more.

And while it was still dark out, you did it time and time again until the Milky Way was etched onto his purple bedsheets and your body was deliciously marked all over by DJ.

[not-close-to-straight]

Lost and Found (Seventeen)

Get some tissues ready, folks. 

MASTERLIST HERE

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

It had been three days. 

Three days of calling Tony and the phone going right to voicemail, three days of reconnecting with Stevie, three days of pre- war memories coming back sometimes in a trickle that made James smile, sometimes in a shock wave that sent the soldier to his knees with a migraine. 

Three days, and James’s head spun trying to keep it all together, trying to keep it all straight, trying to piece together all the parts of who he had been and who he was now and how it all reconciled with the nightmares and horror that came back full force without Tony by his side. 

Three days, and sometimes James wished he could lose track of time like he used to so each and every second wouldn’t be so crystal clear, so clarifying and so real.

Three days and sometimes it was already too much. 

Three days and sometimes the moments were so good they hurt.

“I still can’t believe it’s actually you.” Three days and seventy damn years and Steve was proving he hadn’t ever lost the habit of lurking in James’s door, hands in his pockets and eyes wide as he watched the brunette clean up in the bathroom. “Holy hell, Buck. I looked for you for so long. And you were just hanging out with Howard’s kid? Three days ago Tony Stark walked into my apartment with a picture of you and just like that, here you are. I can’t believe it.” 

“Can’t believe it either, Stevie.” James rinsed the shaving cream off his face and smoothed his right hand over the trimmed-but-not-quite-shaved stubble. It had only been three days since Tony had dropped him off and left without a word. Three days of a lot of wondering and a lot of worrying and a lot of disbelief because it was Stevie--- “How did I miss your star spangled ass getting pulled outta the ocean and set loose overseas again?” 

“Well, you weren’t around to see me go in the ice the first time, so I guess it makes sense you missed me coming back this time around.” The smile slid from Steve’s face, his mouth pulling down at the corners. “Listen, Buck I dunno what you heard about all that. About the Valkyrie and the Red Skull and what I did at the end of the war but--”” 

“I heard enough to know you’re overdue for an ass whoopin’.” James retorted and see? This was good enough to hurt, easy enough to almost be instinct. Threatening Steve with bodily harm cos the punk hadn’t learned any lessons back when he was all of four fuckin’ feet tall and he certainly hadn’t learned them after they juiced him up and sometimes the brash blond just needed a reminder to chill the hell out? 

Easy. 

James could do this all day. 

“What the hell were you thinkin’, putting the damn plane in the ice anyway.” He teased. “Everyone knows your scrawny ass can’t swim.” 

Instantly predictably Steve straightened up and set his jaw and snapped, “Hey! I know how to swim! I am an excellent swimmer!” 

“You know how’ta drown.” James corrected and then oofed theatrically loud when he was yanked out of the bedroom and into a wrestling match. 

It was easy and it was good and none of James’s more scary instincts came forward when Steve got him into a headlock, the urge to break didn’t show up overwhelming when he tossed the blond halfway across the room then jumped over and pinned him to the floor. 

“Say Uncle.” James ordered and he was laughing, not counting how many pounds of pressure it would take to crumble Steve’s bones between his fingers. “Damn you, Stevie. Say Uncle before I gotta hurt you!” 

“I’m goddamn--” Steve was huffing and puffing trying to get James off of him. “Captain America-- I don’t cry Uncle-- good god, why do you weigh so much?-- to any one!” 

“Sure you don’t.” James grinned and lay harder on his best friend. “Y’know what this reminds me of?” 

“If you say it’s like the time I tried to beat up the alter boy--” 

“--it’s just like th’time you tried to beat up the alter boy.” James confirmed, batting away Steve’s hand when the blond made a grab for his throat. “In fact, I feel like I sat on you exactly like this to keep ya from gettin’ your butt beat with a hymnal.” 

“Damn it.” Steve wheezed a few times, then finally managed the leverage to shove James off and to the side. “Why are you so heavy? Last time we wrestled I destroyed you.” 

“Last time we wrestled you were super juiced and I was still a good ol’ boy from the poor end of Brooklyn.” James jumped to his feet and hauled Steve up next to him. “Least now the playing field is even.” 

“I guess.” Steve went for a beer and tossed one to James. “I hate that it’s the case though. M’glad to see you, but I hate seein’ you like this, you know?” 

“Don’t.” James tore the top off the beer and shook his head. “I don’t wanna talk about it yet, Stevie.” 

“Alright.” Steve took a sip of his beer and nodded like ignoring the elephant of the Winter Soldier in the room wasn’t making him half insane. He should just be happy to have Bucky back, he should just be happy to have his friend back, they didn’t have to talk about everything bad yet. “Alright, well have you heard about World Wrestling Entertainment on TV?” 

“World Wrestling…” 

“WWE?” Steve’s goofy grin almost split his face. “They dress up in funky costumes and wrestle each other with all these fancy moves. I watch it on Saturday nights. We could watch it and drink beer and yell at the TV and then try the moves on each other!” 

James fought and lost against an equally goofy grin. “That’s what Captain America does on Saturday night? Watch fake wrestling and drink beer?” 

“When I’m not out blowing buildings up and hurting people until they told me how to find you.” Steve took a long drink of his beer, blue eyes glittering with a flash of anger. “But I found you, so now I get to watch bad television and try to get drunk with my best pal.” 

“Sounds like a good time.” James raised his bottle in a cheers, and when Steve turned to head towards the living room, James picked up his phone and sent a quick message to Tony. 

From James: Three days with Stevie has been great, Tony but I sure wish you’d call me back. Pep says you’re probably just giving us space but I don’t want space from you. Call me back.

“Buck!” 

“Comin’, Stevie.” 

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

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

79%

The sunrise from the top of the Eiffel Tower was incredible to see and Tony watched it while munching on possibly the freshest, most delicious croissant he could have ever imagined eating ever. 

He’d been to France a hundred times, he’d even been to Paris and the Eiffel Tower specifically a hundred times but he’d never broken the sound barrier while coming in for a landing that had him on very tip toes at the very tip top so he could test the absolute balance of the suit while eating a breakfast he’d bought with a Rolex for since he never had any cash on him.

The croissant was worth the Rolex though, the look on the vendor’s face when Iron Man landed in front of his stall completely priceless and the view of the sun coming up over the city would have only been worth more if someone had been there to share it with. 

“Sir, the hotel is calling. They want to know if you will be staying another night.” 

“Tell them no.” Tony shook his head and crammed the last bite of croissant into his mouth. “Three days in France is enough, I saw the coast and the city and the countryside so it’s time to move on. I read in a pamphlet that there are something like twenty thousand castles in Germany, is that true?” 

“Most have been converted to hotels and museums by now, but yes sir, there are several thousand that you could visit if you wanted.” 

“I want.” Tony decided. “Let’s get a map and go sight seeing.” 

“Sir, the effort of assembling and disassembling this particular suit--” 

“Yeah, I know.” Tony interrupted. “It stresses my system too much. But I’ve never just traveled for the sake of traveling and the best way to do that is at some number with Mach in front of it. Plug in some coordinates and let’s go.”  

“And the phone calls from Sergeant Barnes and Ms. Potts?” 

“Send Pepper a message and let her know I’m just fine.” The sun lit up the grounds below the Tower and Tony took a deep breath of early morning air. “I’ve disappeared for longer doing much worse than sight seeing, let her know this isn’t anything like the last time I did a tour around Europe.” 

“And Sergeant Barnes?” 

“Tell James--” Tony closed his eyes and swallowed. “Tell Bucky that I hope he’s enjoying his time with Captain Rogers and that I’ll get in contact with him when I return home.” 

“An estimated return date, sir?” 

The face plate snapped down and locked and Tony blinked a few times as the display screens filled in, the numbers uploaded from the blood toxicity monitor bright red along the bottom right hand side. 

79%

“A couple weeks, maybe.” he muttered, and then louder, “No, don’t bother with a return date. Just tell him I’ll call him when I’m home again.” 

“Yes sir. To castles, then?” 

“To castles.” The suit powered up with a roar, and Tony offered a quick salute to the crowd gathered down below with their phones and cameras out. “Maybe we’ll ever get lucky and find a dragon.” 

“I think you’ve fought enough battles for one life time, sir” 

Tony’s smile was a little melancholy. “You’d think so, huh?” 

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

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

From James: Got the message from JARVIS and I hope you’re back home soon. I’m feeling more like myself every day, all my memories coming back. Some days it feels incredible and some days it feels like I’m living a strangers life, but me and Stevie are figuring it out together. 

From James: Do you ever watch WWE? Stevie loves it and has a bunch recorded...or TV’ed? I dunno. Anyway. He says he would be Hollywood Hulk Hogan if he ever went into the ring and I told him there’s no way he could grow a mustache like that, then he punched me. 

From James: The dude’s a punk whether he’s pint sized or full sized. 

From James: Miss ya, sweet thing. 

“The best thing about this century is the food.” Steve said around a mouthful of deep dish supreme pizza. “Not only can I eat everything without getting sick, but everything is so damn good. Deep dish pizza in two dozen flavors. Chocolate milk-- have you had chocolate milk yet, Buck? And mozzarella sticks? They just deep fry cheese! Just deep fry it and then serve it to ya with a bunch of sauce. The other day I ate about a hundred of them and didn’t get a stomach ache. Incredible. And oh man donuts.” 

The big blond picked up another piece and folded it in half so he could take a big bite. “Have you had donuts yet? So many flavors. All of them delicious.”

“Tony took me to get donuts a few weeks ago.” James checked his phone again and then one more time. It had been nine days now since he’d last seen Tony, his text messages going unanswered and phone calls dumped to voicemail. Nine days and even though every second spent with Steve gave James something of himself back, every second spent away from Tony cost him something too and it was a delicate balance between wanting and losing and James hated it. 

“We ate them up inside that big donut down by the pier in Malibu.” he continued and Steve mumbled interested around a glob of cheese. “It was uh-- it was his birthday and he said he’d always wanted to sit up in the donut so I boosted him up. It was a good day.” 

“Tony knows about the super serum.” Steve ventured and James made a vague ‘I guess’ motion. “Did he know about it before all this?”

“Don’t think so, or at least he never said nothing.” James picked off a bunch of pepperoni and tossed it away, then smiled begrudgingly when Steve immediately scarfed it up. “You still eat like you’re starvin’, Stevie. You used’ta do that all the time.” 

“Yeah, and you used to pretend like you were never hungry so there was always more for me.” Steve helped himself to the rest of the pepperoni on number two of their three large sized pizzas. “Even after I got all Captain’d up. You doing that now?” 

“Maybe I’d eat my fair share if you’d stop eatin’ so fast.” James scowled and slapped Steve’s hand away from another piece. “M’hungry too, you know!” 

“Sorry.” Steve put both hands up peacefully, then lightning fast snatched at the last of their two dozen bread sticks. “Okay, now I’m sorry. I swear. Tell me more about Tony though, you don’t talk much about him. Is he a lot like Howard?” 

“No.” James said shortly. “No, he’s nothing like Howard.” 

He was quiet after that and Steve chewed through a bite slowly and took his time to swallow before asking, “Buck, should we talk about--” 

“When did you start feeling like you fit in?” James cut in and Steve took it for the hint it was. Bucky did not want to talk about Tony yet and Steve didn’t really know why but he knew better than to push. “When did you start feelin’ like you weren’t just pretending to be normal?” 

“About a week ago when you walked through that door.” Steve didn’t hesitate to answer as he pointed towards the apartment entryway. “The second I saw you I stopped feeling like I had to keep up some sort of appearance and I could just be me again. Not Captain Rogers, certainly not Captain America. Just Steve. Stevie. Didn’t have to check my strength to hug you, didn’t have to pretend I didn’t want to cry for finding you again, don’t have to act like everything’s okay when it’s not.” 

He said the last sentence pointedly, meaningfully. “You’re my best friend, Buck. You saved my ass that first time I didn’t need it at all in elementary school and every time after. You were there the first time I tried to kiss a dame, coached me through the uh--” he coughed. “--mechanics the first time I was with a dame. Dunno how that all worked though, seeing as how you weren’t ever interested in what was up their skirts.” 

“I found my way up there a time or two.” James smiled a tiny bit remembering those first awkward, fumbling times with the girls around the neighborhood. He’d been young and fuckin’ horny and even though he found himself looking at the fellas more often than not, the girls sure liked his blue eyes and swagger so that’s the direction James had leaned. A learning experience for sure, one that taught him how to please a dame and that dames weren’t the ones he wanted to be pleasing all in the same swoop. 

“Well either way, I could always be myself around you.” Steve finished with a half hearted shrug. “And it’s the same now. I’ve been outta the ice for three years and this is the first time I’ve felt like I wasn’t pretending. Right here with you.” 

“Three years, huh?” James’s heart sank thinking about years of never feeling normal outside of time with Steve and Tony, years of catching himself before acting, years of dealing with internal dialogue that rang like hollow commands and the instinct to first destroy and then run from anything that made him uncomfortable. “M’real sorry about that, Stevie.” 

“It’s alright.” Steve put the pizza down and wiped his hands. “I never fit in back then anyway, Buck. Not when I was skinny and scrawny and orphaned after Ma passed, not when I was super charged and wearing tights. At least in this century I’m not the biggest guy in any room, there’s entire sports teams my size and bigger. No one outside of SHIELD knows I can bench press a helicopter, but I’ve been called one of those ‘corn fed midwestern boys’ at least a half dozen times and I’m not sure what exactly it means, but it sounds All American and normal so I’ve been letting it go.” 

“Sure, I gotta pace myself on my morning runs so no one gets suspicious, and I’ve gotta be careful shaking peoples hands. I nod and smile through a lot of conversations cos I dunno what a tweet is or why JT brought Sexy Back or why it left or nothing. but hell Buck.” Steve grinned again, all boyish charm and nearly unbridled enthusiasm just like he’d always been. “If that’s the worst I gotta do to get by as normal? Then it’s fine by me.” 

“And with you I just don’t gotta pretend even that amount, so it’s nice.” Steve tapped at his chest, right over his heart. “It’s like being able to take a full breath in after battlin’ a cold all season.” 

And after a pause, “Don’t you feel like that with me?” 

James shoved most of his pizza into his mouth just to avoid answering for a minute, unsure how to tell his best friend that every time he heard the words Captain America something went tense and tight inside him, a trigger like a warning, like a mission, like an objective that had blared loud the first time they spoke. The reaction had been almost impossible to ignore at first, but had finally started to ease the in the last few days and it made him sick to his stomach. 

He didn’t understand why Stevie of all people would make him itch. This was his best friend, his best pal, and James shouldn’t feel anything but happy around Steve. Comfortable. Home. Not having to fight the instinct to go of the offensive every time he saw that damn shield. 

It was frustrating and disheartening and even thought it waned a little more every day, James still hated it. It was just another reminder that he wasn’t Bucky anymore, that there were parts of him Steve would never know and never understand. 

Tony knew those parts though.

Tony knew him. 

Tony knew James. 

“Buck?” Steve asked, soft and a little hurt but trying hard to hide it. “Do you feel like that with me?” 

“I don’t have to pretend with you, Stevie.” James clenched his left fist just to prove it and the beer bottle shattered in his palm, spilling glass all over. “Don’t gotta be careful when we wrestle or worry about sayin’ the wrong thing or keeping up on all the technology. But--” 

“--but there’s a whole bunch about you I don’t know anymore.” Steve finished resignedly. “And a lot about me you don’t know anymore. What happened after you fell changed me and what happened while I was in the ice changed you and I’ve been living one life for three years while you’ve still been putting pieces together…” 

He nodded. “I get it. It’s okay. It’s okay.” 

“Sorry, Stevie.” James closed his eyes and wished and wished and wished that he was still Bucky. Just Bucky. Just good ol’ boy Bucky who pulled Steve out of back alley fights and hid stolen kisses from nameless faces in the dark. 

Life was so much simpler back then...

...simpler and hidden and filled with so much less laughter and love.

James didn’t want to be hidden anymore. Not now that he knew what it felt like to be found. 

From James: Tomorrow Stevie wants to take me to a baseball game, turns out the Yankees still play so we’re gonna get hot dogs and cracker jacks and boo the visiting team like we used to. Would be more fun if you were there. 

From James: Miss ya, sweet thing. 

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

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

86% 

“Tony.” Pepper looked up in outright shock along with every other board member who had never seen Tony Stark on time for anything much less for a quarterly board meeting. “Um. Hi?” 

“Don’t mind me, Ms. CEO.” Tony slid into the chair next to Pepper and patted at her knee. “I just figured I could make an appearance for once. As the on-staff mechanic for Stark Industries I am very interested in board meetings. Please continue, don’t let me interrupt.” 

“Al...right.” Pepper blinked at least a thousand times, then cleared her throat and mentioned for the person at the front of the conference room to keep talking. “Sorry for the interruption, please continue.” 

The meeting droned on, and Tony lasted all of two minutes and four seconds before patting at Pepper’s knee again and whispering, “Hey. You’re allergic to strawberries.” 

“Yes.” she whispered back. “Yes, I am but what does that have to do with why you’ve suddenly decided for once in your life to show up for a board meeting?” 

“Because every year I get you something strawberry themed for your birthday.” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “Because all I manage to remember is there is something important to you about strawberries but this year, I remembered that you’re allergic and that’s why you always do that cute scrunch nose that means you’re pissed off but trying to be polite.” 

“...you are one hundred percent correct.” 

“And I am one hundred percent sorry for taking like fourteen years to figure it out.” Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, pressed it into Pepper’s palm beneath the table. “But I couldn’t resist buying you one last strawberry.” 

“One last strawberry?” she muttered and Tony nodded. “So this will be the last time you buy me something I’m incredibly and ugly-allergic to? You promise?” 

“I promise this will be the last time--” the very last time. “--I buy you something you’re incredibly allergic to.” Tony swore. “And by the way? You’re never ugly. Not once in your entire life have you been ugly.” 

“I feel like you’re sucking up to compensate for being gone for two weeks with no word.” Pepper hissed, then raised a hand apologetically when several heads swiveled their way. “And another damn strawberry isn’t going to make up for the fact that I’ve been worried sick for-- Holy shit, is that real?!” 

Whispering forgotten, Pepper clapped her hand over her mouth when she cursed out loud in the meeting over the sight of this particular strawberry. “Tony Stark what the fuck?!” 

“Uh, forgive us guys.” Tony laughed and put a hand over Pepper’s mouth too. “And I’m just now realizing how embarrassing it is that I don’t know any of your names considering you’ve been my board members for the past twenty years, but you’ll have to excuse the new CEO. Apparently there are some things that do rattle the always unflappable Ms. Potts.” 

“Yeah!” Pepper blurted. “Like when I’ve got my hand on a ridiculously big--” Tony snorted a laugh and Pepper jumped to her feet to drag him out of the board room while calling apologies over her shoulder. 

“Tell me, Ms. Potts.” Tony asked once they were in his her office. “What ridiculously big thing do you have your hand on?” 

“Tony, what is this?” Pepper opened the box again and held up the beautiful huge ring. “Is this a pink diamond? Why--” 

“This is the Strawberry Pink Diamond.” Tony took the ring and slipped it onto Pepper’s middle finger. “It’s out of Brazil. Do you like it?” 

“The last strawberry thing you’re going to buy me is a strawberry diamond?” Pepper’s voice was still doing that high pitched squeaky thing. “Tony, what is this for?” 

“It’s because I love you.” he said simply, and tossed the box onto her desk. “And because the ring was ridiculously over priced which meant I had to have it and I couldn’t think of anyone else who would look half this pretty wearing it.” 

“It’s so big.” For all her practicality, Pepper couldn’t help gaping at the arrangement, at the beautifully pink center diamond and the contrasting blue gems around it. “Tony, seriously what the hell, it’s so big. It’s like an iceberg! I can’t even see where the Titanic hit it! What is this, four carats?” 

“Almost exactly.” Tony smiled to himself watching Pepper smile so big. “Do you like it?” 

“Well I can promise to never complain about strawberries again if this is what you mean!” Pepper flushed in pleasure, holding her hand up to the light to watch the sun sparkle off the stones. “And I’ll also never complain about you disappearing if you always bring me back sparkly things.” 

“The next time I disappear, I’ll bring you back sparkly things.” Tony promised, swallowing around the grief clawing up his throat. “Now how about you step off those sky scrapers you call shoes and give me a kiss so I can go home and shower. The trip back from Brazil was a sweaty one.” 

“You’re disgusting.” Pepper laughed softly and bent down to kiss Tony very gently on the lips. “And I take off my heels for no one, Mr. Mechanic. Not now that I’m the CEO.” 

“That’s my girl.” Tony laughed right back, then picked up her hand and kissed her palm. “The ring looks better on you than it ever did on display in that jewelry store. Keep it. Wear it all the time.” 

“Thank you.” Pepper pulled Tony in for a tight hug. “I’ve been worried about you, are you okay? After you got James together with Captain Rogers you just fell off the map. I’ve been worried.” 

“Well I’m just fine now that I’m squished in your boobs.” Tony mumbled and Pepper jabbed at his side with a quick, “Oh shut up, you don’t even like boobs.” 

“Pepper, everyone likes your boobs.” He countered and she huffed and pushed him away. “How late are you in meetings tonight?” 

“At least another couple hours.” Pepper smoothed the wrinkles from her suit. “And don’t think I don’t see you dodging the question about James. Dinner tonight and we can talk about it?” 

“I owe Rhodey a grossly big steak, but we can have breakfast tomorrow?” 

“Of course. I’ll make you something delicious.” 

“You’ll have donuts with me and not complain when the cream filling splooges on your blouse.” He countered and Pepper sighed. “Love you.” 

“I love you too.” Pepper paused at the board room door and blew him a kiss. “I’m glad you’re home again, Tony.” 

“Me too, Pep. Me too.” 

86%

****************** 

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

James woke screaming-- 

--James woke trying to scream, shredding the blankets between his fists and arching up off the bed and then something pinned him down and he tried to scream louder--

“Bucky!” Steve was shouting at him, grabbing at his arms and laying all his not inconsiderable weight across the other soldier. “Bucky! Wake up! It’s a nightmare, bud! It’s a nightmare, just wake up!” 

It was cold and James was scared. It was cold and he was falling. It was cold and it hurt so bad when they took his arm, when they cut torn tendons and sawed away splintered bone and it was cold when they shoved him into a container and it was cold cold cold as the ice climbed the window and silenced his scream and--

“Bucky.” 

James jerked awake, surged forward and grabbed for Tony, “Tony?!” 

“Hey hey hey, it’s me. It’s Stevie. It’s me.” 

It was blue eyes not dark brown. Blonde hair not soft curls. Mouth set in a grim line instead of lips parted laughing. 

It was Steve, not Tony.

“Stevie.” James fell forward and collapsed into Steve’s arms, let his friend take his weight and soothe his shaking. “Jesus Christ.” 

“What is it?” Steve ran his hands through James’s hair, across the broad shoulders, skittering away from the hard edge of metal to press at James’s back instead. “What was that? Was it like--” he swallowed. “--was it like after Azzano when you had nightmares? About what they did to you at the camp?” 

“No.” 

“Winter Soldier stuff then.” Steve nearly whispered, and James nodded almost imperceptibly into his shoulder. “The-- the chair they kept you in? The cryo chamber?” 

“Fuckin’ cold, Stevie.” 

“Yeah.” Steve felt around for a blanket and drew it up around James’s shoulders. “Yeah, I know how that feels.”

They hadn’t really talked about it, about James’s time with Hydra. Steve had confirmed only enough to explain the flashes James got, the tactical knowledge and the way he could measure potential injuries with just a glance. Steve had mentioned the chair, which explained the panic attack in Tony’s lab. He talked about the memory wipes and the cryo freeze and the way they’d used James for decades which is why his memory and concept of time was all over the place. 

Steve hadn’t talked about the missions. He swore on the Bible, on puttin’ flowers on their Ma’s graves, on the time they’d gone on the Cyclone and Stevie had barfed for hours-- he swore he hadn’t read the files, promised Natasha had burned them all the ash, told James over and over that it wasn’t about what he’d done as their prisoner, as their captor. It wasn’t even about what had been done to James, it was about him being safe and about him being home. 

So no, they hadn’t really talked about it, nothing more than a few confirmations of James’s fears and then the topic had been dropped. 

Why dwell on the past when they both somehow had a new future? Why stress about all the things they couldn’t control when they finally had the chance to move on?

No, they hadn’t really talked about it, nothing more than just enough to bring James’s nightmares back and Steve felt guilty about it every time. 

“I shouldn’t have told you.” he started and James shook his head, “I needed the answers, Stevie. Needed them. It’s okay.” 

 “You want some hot chocolate?” 

“Want some cheeseburgers.” James grunted. “Want a damn cheeseburger.” 

“Okay where from--” 

“I got a guy.” 

From James: Happy, I need a burger.

From Happy: I’m already a glass of wine deep into my evening and watching my Downton Abby, what in the hell am I supposed to do about that?

From James: I need a CHEESEburger.

From Happy: I’ll call a guy who knows somebody. Give me an hour. 

An hour later there was a polite knock at Steve’s apartment door, and the fanciest dressed delivery guy either of them had ever seen smiled, handed over a greasy bag of cheeseburgers from James’s favorite franchise, then turned on an expensive heel and stalked away. 

“Uh Buck?” Steve held up the bag in confusion. “Why did we get cheeseburgers delivered by some guy in a penguin suit?” 

“Happy knows a guy who knows somebody.” James was freshly showered and feeling better, but he felt better better when he could flop down on the couch and tear into the food. “Have one Stevie, they’re so good.” 

“...what’s with the cheeseburgers?” Steve sat down slowly and reached for one of the paper wrapped sandwiches. “Why does it seem like a big thing?” 

“It’s Tony’s thing.” James explained, wiping ketchup from his mouth. “Or Happy’s thing for Tony, I dunno. Something about how any time Tony’s having a hard time, he wants cheeseburgers and it’s Happy’s job to get them. Pep has a bad day, Happy grabs some cheeseburgers. Rhodey--” 

“Rhodey. You mean Colonel James Rhodes?” 

“--Rhodey.” James nodded. “Rhodey even gets them, and the first time me and Happy hung out, he got ‘em for me too. They make me feel better.” 

“Alright.” Steve took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “Buck, you don’t ever talk about Tony. I mean, you talk about him but you never come right out and say anything real. Why not?” 

“Why does it matter?” 

“Cos I watched you hide for years.” Steve said bluntly, and James flushed. “I watched you sneak out way late at night to meet someone and then see the same person in the daylight and act like you’d never seen them before. I watched you dance with the dames just so you didn’t have to stand alone at the wall. I watched you hide and now we’re both here in a time where you don’t have to hide…” 

Steve let the sentence dangle, but James didn’t answer. “M’just sayin’ Buck. The man that showed up here cared an awful lot about you, and I can see it your eyes you care about him. I sorta thought you’d have a damn wedding ring on your finger when you came in, or figured I’d get a hug then you two would run off into the sunset. So why don’t you talk about him?” 

A beat of silence, and Steve added awkwardly, “Is it-- I mean, you ain’t ashamed, are you? You don’t have to be ashamed, Buck. I know the neighborhood fellas were real assholes back in the day but it’s okay now, you know? People are okay with all of that now, with fellas liking fellas and-- girls-- you know.” 

He spread his hands vaguely. “Or anyway, most people are, and we can just punch the ones who aren’t.”  

“M’not ashamed, Stevie.” James denied. “Just uh-- “ he chuckled softly. “You know how I used to punch you if you’d come and try to talk to me about Peggy? Figure you’d do the same thing if I told you about how me and Tony get in bed.” 

“I definitely don’t want to hear how you and Howard’s kid are in bed.” Steve immediately objected, and then softer, “But I loved Pegs and I feel like what you and Tony have got is more along those lines too, yeah? So why haven’t you talked to me about him?” 

“Stevie.” James bit at his tongue until it bled-- and then healed-- as he tried not to think of the dozens of messages he’d sent in the last weeks, the phone calls that hadn’t been answered, the way Pepper had texted to let him know Tony was in Malibu but was buried in some project in the lab and barely talking to anyone, not to take it personally. 

But James was taking it personally because he physically ached to get Tony back in his arms. Because every morning he woke up in Steve’s spare bedroom instead of Tony’s bed felt awful. Because he felt like he was hiding away again instead of being free in the pure sunshine that was Tony’s smile. 

He was miserable and maybe even a little heart broken and missed Tony until he hurt from it. 

Steve was his best friend but Tony had found him.

“He found me, Stevie.” James whispered and the Captain stilled next to him. “Tony he-- he found me. I was nothing and I was nobody and Tony saw me from across the room and found me. I didn’t even know my last name or how long I’d been homeless or what the hell I was doing in D.C. and Tony didn’t care. He found me and he saw me. He saw me.” 

“He gave me a home.” James opened and closed his left hand, silver fingers gleaming. “Put me back together. My body, my heart-- hell Stevie, I think he gave me my mind back.” 

“So why haven’t you talked about him?” Steve pressed. “Buck if he found you and gave you a home why aren’t you two goin’ after a happily ever after together? Been long enough in the making, don’t you want it?” 

“Course I want it, but Tony hasn’t talked to me since he brought me here.” James tightened his fingers into a fist. “He’s not answering my calls, he’s not getting my texts and I don’t know what’s going on. Sure seems like what I want and what he wants are different things.” 

“No way.” Steve denied. “No way. He probably just figured we’d need the time to catch up. Seventy years apart makes for a lot of conversation, Buck. Maybe Tony thinks he’s doing you a favor or is bein’ subtle so it’s not awkward if you decide you want to stay here or whatever.” 

“There’s nothing subtle about Tony.” James disagreed. “Nothing subtle or tactful or-- or anything like that, not when he’s being funny, not when he’s being nice. Hell Stevie, the first time we were together he sat me down and just told me he wanted to take me to bed, or wanted me to take him to bed, whichever I preferred. He told off some high and mighty politician who looked at me wrong and I-- I know he’s sick.” 

“I know he’s sick.” James finished on a sigh. “That’s why I’m so worried. He’s probably at the doctors at the hospital and ditched me here with you so I wouldn’t have to see him go through it. He lied to me about it all the time and I can’t even be made about it cos he was doing it so I wouldn’t worry. Me and Ms. Potts and Rhodey and Happy.” 

“So he’s not being subtle about letting you stay here, he’s being pretty damn obvious that you should stay here.” Steve clarified. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s it.” James’s pale eyed dimmed in distress. “Half of me thinks I should show up and force him to talk to me. The other half knows I should let him work through it how he wants. I’m just worried. I had enough of watchin’ you almost die every winter Stevie, I don’t want to do it with Tony too.”

"...exactly how sick is Tony?” Steve asked slowly. “Cos I over heard Fury and Natasha talking about him the other day and they sounded worried too.” 

“I don’t like Fury, Steve. He’s got too many secrets.”

“Yeah, even his trench coat’s got secrets, I know.” Steve pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “And I dunno why he was talking about Tony, but let’s just call and ask. No worries. We’ll figure it out.” 

No worries, Steve said like there wasn’t anything strange about a man like Fury talking with a woman like Natasha about Tony. 

No worries, Steve said like James could ignore the uncomfortable that had crawled down his spine the first time Fury had shown up and looked him over with his one good eye and made an unimpressed noise in his throat while patting at his gun with his free hand.

No worries, Steve said like James had been able to sleep at all the last several  weeks knowing Tony was out there who knows where and alone and ignoring calls and messages--

“Captain Rogers. I thought you’d be too busy with your boyfriend to report in for duty.” 

“I’m not reporting in for duty.” Steve said blandly, and then almost belatedly, “Oh and Buck isn’t my boyfriend. Sheesh. No we wanna know why you and Nat were talking about Tony the other day. Bucky hasn’t heard from him in a few weeks.” 

“No one has heard from Stark in a few weeks.” Fury answered shortly. “The guy’s been finalizing his will and naming beneficiaries and spending the last couple weeks sight seeing everything the world has to offer. You can’t expect a dying man to keep up on text messages.” 

Silence in the apartment, and Steve turned wide, horrified eyes to James. 

“...what did he say.” James whispered in disbelief. “What did he say about Tony dying?” 

“Director can you repeat--” 

“Romanov gave him a shot in the neck the day he barged into your life, but it wasn’t meant to last long term. You telling me the world’s best soldier and your best friend Mega Scary Assassin didn’t notice the black lines all over his chest and crawling up his neck?” 

“Tony is dying?” 

“Palladium poisoning thanks to that battery in his chest.” Fury had the good grace to at least sound somewhat apologetic about dropping the news so unexpectedly. “Rogers, Barnes, I really thought you two knew. Figured you were giving him space to die in peace.” 

Silence silence silence and then the sound of something breaking and Fury waited a beat before asking, “You still there?” 

“I need transportation to Malibu for Buck!” Steve sounded like he was running now, breathing hard as he pounded down the stairs and out of his apartment building. “I need it now! Something fast!” 

“Pick up location?” Fury asked over the noise of horns honking and someone screaming in alarm. “Rogers? Where are you and Barnes?” 

“Bucky took off running down the goddamn freeway.” Steve shouted. “He’s going too fast for me to keep up--” 

“--Shit, I didn’t think anyone could outrun your spangled ass--” 

“--I need a craft for pick up as soon as possible! Give me an ETA!” 

“I can have something airborne from HQ in two minutes. What’s his current position?” 

“Running along the top of the bus past the bridge at fourth?” 

“Oh motherfuck--” 

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

************* 

“Sir?” 

Tony’s hands were shaking as he picked up the blood monitor, and he hissed in pain when his nearly fried nerves lit up in agony over the tiny prick. 

“Sir, if I could interrupt?” 

“Jesus Christ.” Tony’s legs gave out and he slumped back into a nearby chair, one hand over his heart, the other clutched tight around the monitor. “J-- what-- what--” 

He was panting, sweating, hardly able to take a breath without his chest seizing, the black lines at the reactor and his neck trailing down his arms and almost to his fingers now. His vision went blurry if he stared for more than a few minutes, he was constantly thirsty and damn near dehydrated and the little bit of food he’d managed the last few nights had ended with him stumbling back to the bathroom and vomiting until stars burst behind his temples. 

He was so scared. 

“J--” 

“Sir, Sergeant Barnes is on his way up the drive.” 

“...what?” 

“A distinctly non civilian air craft dropped him off in the street and he is up the steps and nearly at the door. Should I allow him in?” 

“Please…” Tony’s head lolled back as he tried to breathe. “J, please--” 

“Tony?” A shout from upstairs and pounding footsteps as the soldier ran down the stairs to the lab. “Tony? Sweet thing?” 

“Thank god.” Tony managed only a glimpse of pale blue eyes and silver fingers before his vision went black. “James--” 

“Tony!” 

...The blood monitor slipped out of Tony’s hand and fell to floor flashing a steady ninety-one percent.

...91% and when James reached for Tony, the beautiful brunette was too cold, too still, barely breathing.

...“Tony?” 

91%

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

Chapter Notes: 

Tony sits still for 2 mins and 4 seconds because the IM2 run time is 2 hours, 4 mins. 

I didn’t want to skip the strawberry part of the movie, but I like my version better. THIS is Pepper’s ring and honestly, I totally want one. 

I grew up watching WWF/WWE and I will probably watch it till the day I die. 

We made a purposeful decision to avoid any CACW related angst in this fic. The idea that who James/Bucky IS will always be more important than who he was, what was done to him/what they made him do and I think everyone deserves to be seen as a person first and foremost instead of their list of past mistakes and/or trauma. 

That being said, 91% is a reference to 1991, the year the MCU WS ruined Tony’s life but in this verse, the number where James comes to his rescue. 

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHAPTER!

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

@ships-galore @ceealaina @izziebladez @cwar1864 @hausoffro @tonystarkisanangel @multishippinglife @girlnic @iam93percentstardust @paranormalmoonlight5 @igotloki @moosette05 @wayward-student-philosopher @kaz-brekkers-gloves @atomicfandombomb @1fuckingshitup69 @agentlokii @livewire28 @tulipsnbigcats @kimstark @alex-stark-rogers @bibbarnes @heeeyitskay @goindownshipping @justaniche @actual-demon-belial

@quietgayguy @bluedreamdino @akimi-youngblood @blackstar1602 @dixiehellcat @travellover1245 @capnstarkey @the-awkward-teenaged-one @thanossucks @peteryoulittleshit @tony-and-steeeb @striving-artist @roe-sesandthorns @coolsidedpillow @i-am-worth-it-25 @firelightmystic @maligatorthealigator @simsccsol @a-tardis-in-221b @happyendingrequired @everygoodoneistaken11 @pootie-and-the-snoots @megahuffledor @xkissmeimirishx @crystalskrull @hazelbeatsturtle @wecollectnightmares @endrega23 @saganarojanaolt @the-crazy-house @ravynfyre @yomama-umbridge @lovely--tony @gayspacesprinkles @elliotkaingrey @warmachinesocks @glitternotgold73 

[visforvengeance]

So I saw you just started outer banks and that you wanted some request well I got a lot and I was wondering if you could do a jj x reader, where the reader is kiara’s sister and her and jj are dating,if you don’t mind can you make it Into a headcanon 🤧😗✌🏽

yeehaw ok

i love jj

before you started dating, you guys were extremely close. so people just assumed you were dating already.

after jj’s fights with his dad🥺, he’d come to you. you were the only person allowed to see him like that. not even john b or pope.

you’d patch him up and then just hold him after. as much as he denied you and tried to play it off like he was ok, he always hoped he’d just get to lay in your arms afterwards. that’s one place where he has no worries or where he doesn’t feel negatively.

when he stayed at kiara’s is almost always for you. sometimes your dad would allow it and sometimes he wouldn’t. but that never mattered. jj snuck up into your room anyway.

i feel like jj is impulsive. so you’re like all of his self control.

he tries not come to you with his problems a lot, but it just happens.

you know how to make him feel better, and even if you don’t, being with you does.

now let’s get to the good part

(let’s just pretend jj never pulled his gun out on topper pls🥺👉👈)

during the beach party, jj like always, got fucked up.

he was super drunk and when he’s drunk like this, he just clings onto you. it’s quite cute actually

when you two were alone he was quiet. unusually quiet.

“jj, are you ok?”

“...i think..i know. i like you a lot”

like? like, like?

“jj, you’re drunk.”

“no! i’m not,,,ok maybe a little bit. but i know what i’m saying. i promise you i know what i’m saying.”

you paused to look at his eyes for a moment. was he serious?

jj was impatient ok. so he kissed you😳

it took everything in you NOT to kiss him back. you were still unsure if he was thinking clearly.

so you stopped him.

“jj, we’re gonna go home. and we’re going to sleep. if you still feel like this when you wake up, we’ll talk then.”

he wasn’t mad. he understood where you were coming from.

it’s kind of hard to believe something as serious as that when it’s coming from a drunk teenager.

but somewhere in your head, you knew he was being honest.

jj couldn’t sleep. he just laid beside you and stared. not like in a creepy way but in a “i’m pretty sure i’m in love with you” way.

it was 3 am and god it was so hot.

your windows were open and you had on one of his tank tops.

i think he reached his breaking point. so he woke you up.

he was completely sober. so maybe he’d be more coherent.

“i can’t wait until morning. i fucking love you and i think it’s driving me crazy.”

you grabbed his hand and placed it on your chest, right where your heart was.

“i love you too, jj”

uwu, as my girlfriend would say.

he was so relieved. but he was happy and excited, he could barely sleep. but he pushed all of that down with the rest of his uncontrollable feelings for u and shut his eyes.

now it’s morning and like love is literally in the air.

oof he kissed you so much asdfghjk

now we bring kiara into this.

you guys kept it a secret. hid your kisses and declarations of love for later.

but everyone was used to your incessant touching and all that shit. so everything was normal.

until jj couldn’t stop drinking the i love my gf juice.

your dad made you and your sister attend this stupid kook party so you couldn’t hang out with your boyfriend and your friends.

but jj caught a glimpse of you b4 u left and good lord.

he meant to keep his comments to himself. but that meant he had to stop talking completely.

and john b and pope weren’t having that shit.

so as soon as he started talking he said a thing.

“y/n was so hot today. i can’t believe she’s my girlfriend” or whatever

pope and john b were like “what the fuck did u just say”

uh oh. guess i’ll just die then.

yeah so they found out and we’re teasing him for it. jj being jj probably let something slip about the time you guys fucked-

now we don’t have time to unpack all that.

kiara was clueless tho.

until everyone reunited and jj came and gave you a sweet lil kiss on the lips.

you loved jj and his kisses but what the fuck

now kiara knows too.

“you guys are dating???”

confused.png

after a little sisterly talk, kiara calmed down..eventually.

she was happy for the two of you but it was a bit weird.

now that everyone knew, jj wanted to exhibit his copious amount of love for you. but kiara was not only protective of her sister, but was also disgusted.

i hope u like it😘

[vickylamore]

Missing Puzzle Piece

Pairing: Jeno x Female Reader, Taeyong x Female Reader (it’s barely there LMAO, platonic), NCT OT23 x Female Reader (Platonic)

Genre: Bulleted AU, Mafia AU, Crack (Includes writing style), Fluff

Word count: 8k

TWs: Death, Mentions of death, Swearing (a lot of it), Guns, Hostages, Unedited (ish, it’s 7am, you will find typos I’m sorry), An unhealthy load of crack :)

Summary: You stole something from your father. You joined another mafia group(ish). Stayed with them for nearly a year and you somehow have an on and off relationship with someone you’re convinced you don’t like? It’s complicated, kinda, not really. I mean, you guys were never dating but it was never a full-fledged friendship to begin with. It all depends on which puzzle piece will fit in first.

//

OKAY so you were honest with yourself, it probably wasn’t the brightest idea to yell a huge “fuck you!” to your crimelord of a father.

AND maybe it wasn’t worth your entire life.

PERHAPS you shouldn’t be running away from the dozen bodyguards running after you in nothing but pyjamas shorts, a hoodie and slides.

But you are and you had no intention of stopping.

I mean, why would you? You were literally in slides and you were running faster than all the men chasing you.

IT'S EMBARRASSING.

You don’t know how you didn’t draw attention to yourself, maybe it was because it was night or maybe because everyone was distracted with the midnight music festival that they didn’t give a damn to notice your nineteen-year-old ass running away from twelve men.

Honestly speaking, you were vibing. All you had to do was run and blend with the crowd while these huge ass men in tuxedos and sunglasses moved through the crowd to get to you were gaining attention.

Which slowed them down.

And you gained speed.

Not to mention that they still had sun glasses on despite it being pitch black with the exception of the lights from the item, food and music boots.

Fucking dumbasses LMAPDJK

So other than that, yes, you were vibing.

That WAS until one of them decided to draw their gun and start shooting at you… while you were in the middle of a crowd.

Real smart buddy.

OKAY so maybe you shouldn’t have stolen your father’s really important USB that told everyone where his biggest drug cartels are and when they’d be moving from SK to the States.

But like- was it your fault?

No, of course not.

No one asked him to piss you off, let alone put really important information on ONE USB port,

That he didn’t know you stole but whatever.

He only grounded you for being ‘disrespectful’.

Apparently, talking back during a conversation with a parent was rude?

You’d never tell him to his face but sometimes your father wasn’t the brightest star in the sky.

But that’s okay.

anYWHO- guns. shooting. you. Slides.

If you had known that your slides are hella useful to run it, you would’ve run with them in your track meet two days ago.

IT’S A JOKE- maybe.

No, actually, how the fuck are you not dead yet? LMAOSJ.

You wouldn’t be worth much as collateral damage, either way, your father did prefer your brothers after all.

Struggles of being the youngest of three; one brainiac (you obviously, duh), one asshole and an even bigger douchebag.

More shouting, more screaming, more guns cocking,

More running, you vibing, you being pushed onto the floor-

You being pushed onto the floor.

Oof.

THAT HURT DAMN

You struggled against the grip of a male, one around your age, as he rolled both of you away from the complete chaos that was happening.

He pressed you against his chest-

Not this being your first contact with a boy.

-and literally dragged you towards an empty alleyway.

oH HELL NO

You’ve watched too many police series and horror movies to know what’s going to happen next.

PLUS

Your father used to hire men every other week which means it’s very likely that the male is one of your father’s men.

So you being you,

You bit him.

On his shoulder.

He shrieked, let you go and you both rushed to your feet while glaring at each other.

The man hissed, your eyebrows furrowed.

“You bit me!”

“I don’t have rabies!”

“I never said anything about rabies!”

“Okay, so what’s the problem!”

“It might leave a hickey!”

You did a double-take.

Did you hear that right?

It might leave a hickey?

“D-do you have a girlfriend?”

“N-no?”

“How do you not if you have a girlfriend!”

“Your question confused me!”

If it wasn’t for his somewhat worrisome words, you would’ve thought he was cute.

In fact, he was cute. He had really dark black hair that glistened against the light from the festival behind him. He was tall, taller than you and had really… really nice eyebrows.

You wanted to touch them-

ANYWAYS

“What? No thank you?”

“For scrapping my knees? No, thank you.” You dusted off the dirt and grime off your legs. “Why did you help me?”

He seemed taken aback by your question. His eyes closed slightly and lightly grinned-

OMFG HE HAS DIMPLES UWU

“I mean, you were getting chased by like twelve guys.” He shrugged and leaned against the wall. “You wanted me and my team to leave you all alone?” He winked at you.

You don’t know if it’s because you're awkward but you just stared at him… blinking a good three times before looking back at the festival. Maybe it was because of the sudden change of personality or it was the still ongoing gunshots but he wasn’t affected by the noise;

Somehow the shots didn’t bother him? Which made you think that beyond that adorable face and smile, he was hiding something from you.

Not that he had to tell you or anything.

Okay but his attire screams bad boy aura; black on black (pun intended) from head to toe, he had a utility belt with what you presumed had a knife, gun and phone. He wore a tight long-sleeved turtleneck and black cargo pants along with black fingerless gloves.

A small buzz cut through the silence and you just barely heard it. You notice the small earpiece barely lodged in his ear canal. He pressed it, turned away from you and listen to whatever message he was receiving. “Alright, head out, I’ll be at the base soon.”

His sleeves must’ve rolled up when you both rolled on the floor earlier because you’re sure as hell you weren’t supposed to see tHE MFK NCT TATTOO ON HIS WRIST.

NOT THE NCT TATTOO

Out of all the days you could’ve ran into NCT, all _(add number of members)__ of them, it just happened to be today.

Ngl, you found it lowkey amusing. A male a part of the organization your father was trying to take down, it made you laugh.

You could use it to your advantage.

Cracking his knuckles and elbows when he was done, he sent you a small salute, “well sweetheart, it was nice to meet you but-”

“NCT huh?” You crossed your arms and it was your time to smirk. His obviously fell into a frown as he straightened his posture and clenched his jaw. “Guessing by how young you look, you might be in the Dream unit- ooh, I stuck a nerve, Dream unit it is.”

You purse your lips, blinking innocently, “leader or follower? Oop- struck another nerve, leader it is.”

In a matter of seconds, the male hand pinned you to the wall, a snarl leaving his throat. His eyes were now a lot darker and hostile, a completely different side to the guy.

“Who are you?”

“Bring me to your base to find out.”

“And why would I do that?” You reached for his ear, tore the earpiece out and crushed it on the floor.

You’re really trying to get yourself killed tonight, huh?”

“I mean yes but not but you need to bring me with you.”

“And that’s because..?”

“Valuable information that will help the entire organization to take down JYP.”

Bingo.

See, you knew your bargaining skills were on point. Sadly, you learned from your brother; the one you preferred so it’s not that bad. You saw the conflict between his eyes, you really didn’t blame him… I mean, you were a stranger he saved and now you have all this information that could help him and his team out? Almost seemed too good to be true.

Technically it was.

Look, you didn’t want the total demise of your father’s company, you just want him and your brothers to leave you alone and the only way you thought you could do that was by betraying him.

Because that’s so smart.

“Fine.”

WAS IT THAT EASY?

aND? He? Started? Dragging? You? Towards? Another? Alley? Before? You? Stumbled? On? A? Motorcycle?

You stood near his bike, glancing between him and the vehicle as he threw you his helmet. You caught it with ease. “You’re not going to blindfold me? It’s that what you’re supposed to do?”

He shrugged and hoped on the motorcycle, “I mean, I could.” He revved the vehicle as the headlights came on. “But then it gives me more of a reason to kill you if you are lying.”

--

Did you mention that you never wanted to ride behind this man again?

No?

Well, you never want to ride another motorcycle if he’s the one that’ll be driving because he might actually kill you for real next time.

You both got to the mansion in less than twenty minutes.

It was hella cold too, you don't know how you didn't freeze your ass off.

OH MAYBE BECAUSE HE GAVE YOU HIS JACKET.

You said thank you, despite the fact that he grumbled in response.

He unlocked the door with handprint recognition, cause yk,

Technology. Neo Culture Technology.

He opened the door and immediately, warm air welcomed you.

PLEASE IT WAS SO WARM

NOT YOU running into a house you've never been to before.

UH- I mean… You have.

Like once.

Technically like seven but,

It was when you were three.

“Please, you don't even know where you're going.”

I mean, he wasn't lying.

Your memory as a toddler wasn't the sharpest.

But like then again, this place was one of the first memories you had.

Lowkey sad, ngl.

“Just take me to your boss and then we can figure this entire thing out.”

Obviously, it wasn't that easy.

It's never that easy.

“Funny you think I'll bring you to my boss.”

“But you brought me to your base?”

HE DID.

“You left me no choice.”

“I did- I mean, I was. You threatened to kill me after I told you I had leverage.”

Did you blame him? No, not really. But you did think that his plan was stupid since he was WAY TOO TRUSTING.

Just wait until he learns who you're father is… then he can't kill you.

“What's your name?” You asked as he closed the door. His jacket was still draped over your shoulders and you fiddled with the zipper. “You know, for reference.”

Take his name and RUN WITH IT

Why? Cause you saw a couple people with guns creeping up on you.

Such a warm welcome.

Technically, the only reason you knew was literally by instinct.

They were super quiet, their stealth was off the charts.

You had one shot and you just gotta PRAY that their leader remembered you.

Cause if not, you're screwed.

“Jeno.” You hummed and smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Jeno.”

You greeted while sticking your hand out. He raised an eyebrow but took it nonetheless.

You really took it as a chance to flip him over your shoulder, “kk, bye now.”

BITCH, YOU MFK DIPPED.

SO QUICK TOO

You don't know if you skipped or ran down the hallway but you did a mixture of both.

But like, you took “get that bread, get that head then leave.” Too seriously.

At this point, you were running towards a certain room by sheer memory.

Forbid you ran into the wrong room.

Either the rest of his unit was incredibly slow or taking shortcuts to get to you.

Didn't really matter because you reached the room you wanted to get to and knocked.

TECHNICALLY, YOU COULDN'T JUST BURST IN.

You didn't even know if he was in heRE.

“Come in.”

Oh, he's in there.

And so are like… four other voices.

SMH WHAT IF HE DIDN'T REMEMBER YOU?

It's not like you guys haven't seen each other in 16 years.

Yes, sixteen.

But you knew the guy had a great memory for a nine year old so he should remember you.

Or you just tell him your name and it goes one way or another; either he just doesn't fking remember you OR he does.

You opened the door and closed it behind you.

“Taeyong, sweetie, you wanna tell me why seven of your men are chasing me with guns?”

Okay so maybe it wasn't the best introduction. Or just the best greeting.

But you looked at him and he had this shit eating grin on his face.

I MEAN YAY? HE REMEMBERED YOU?

“What did you do?”

“In all technically, nothing.”

Yeah, he didn't believe you, not once, you knew as soon as he tapped his finger on his desk.

PLEASE THE REST OF THE MEN IN HIS OFFICE WERE SO CONFUSED.

“Okay, so I might of flipped one of your men over my shoulder after I felt his teammates sneaking up on me with guns after he sent them a secret message despite the fact that I broke his comm- you gotta give me that new tech you got cause it almost screwed me over- and like… isn't my fault cause I somehow convinced him to bring me here after my father sent men to chase me with guns at the music festival downtown?”

Yeah, he believed you. At least now he did. His raised eyebrow just said so.

Work in your favor-ish.

“Is that why your fathers men are dead at that festival too?”

OH SHIT WAIT THEY DEAD?

OH UH, YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

NO MA'AM, YOU DID NOT.

uH

"Oh, yeah, maybe, I don't know. Ask Jeno and co."

"Your brothers are going to kill me."

"Okay yeah but like, they don't know it was your men? Unless you mark your bullets?"

"Why would we-"

"Exactly, they won't know."

They really don't, and even if they thought it was NCT, dumbasses have no proof.

Again, worked in your favor.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?"

Not you forgetting about the four other men in Taeyong’s study.

"Oh, hi." You waved at the tallest. You presumed he was taller since he looked tall.

That makes sense right?

"This might be super confusing but like, I'm not trying to die before I give you guys leverage on my dad so like can you-"

The door literally was thrown open and there was a gun to your head.

He didn't even let you finish, rude smh.

"You have five seconds to tell me who the hell you are before I kill you."

"You wanted to kill me from the get go, what's stopping you?"

YOU'RE REALLY PLAYING YOUR CARDS, HUH?

The situation isn't in your favor at ALL and you're STILL pushing his buttons.

No actually, why?

Is it because you know you won't die now or is it because Taeyong is in the room?

Either way, please stop before you get yourself killed.

"That won't be necessary, Jeno."

You couldn't see Taeyong but solely based on his tone, you knew he found it amusing.

You literally heard the smirk in his voice.

"Why not?"

"You kill her, you start a war with JYP."

Jeno raised an eyebrow towards you. "How? She's just some little girl who was running away from men with guns."

OOF.

Little whAT

oUch

Listen here you bitch-

"That girl is the daughter-"

Not you clearing your throat, coughing and sneezing for him to fix his words.

"Sorry, that girl is the adoptive daughter of Park Jinyoung and adoptive sister of Jaebum and Jinyoung."

Oh to have connections.

The gun was dropped from your forehead so quick. Oops.

You laughed awkwardly and stepped away from the shell shocked black haired man as you just

Made

Your

Way

Next

To

Taeyong

Because you honestly felt like you were the safest with him???

"You still remember me?"

"Of course I do," he shrugged while you were digging into your hoodie and opened his laptop. "You're the only one that calls me sweetie."

"You based your memory on that small, minor detail?"

"Please, the only reason you remember me is because I gave you a scar behind your ear after I accidentally opened that very door when you were walking in."

"Touché."

That scar was hurt for a while, you think it gave you brain damage because you were lowkey a dumb kid smh.

You inserted the USB in the laptop as it was starting up. You looked up to see a LOT more men in his study then before.

Omg, you're famous.

"While that's loading," you waved at the… 12… 18… 22 members in the room.

WHY ARE THEY 22

Minus Taeyong of course

SO MANY SMH

"Hi," you greeted with a small smile, "based on your very confused faces, you guys have no idea who I am. Park (Y/n), adoptive daughter of Park J.Y, my brothers are dumb and dumber, also known as Jinyoung and Jaebum. Also the girl that tricked Jeno to bringing me here, oops."

Damn, so men with J as their first name

No wonder they're all Jackasses.

You winked at the male before turning back to Taeyong who tugged your hoodie.

"What did you do and why is your father’s shipment list on my screen?"

“It’s a really, really long story if you have time-- plus those shipments are happening like in three hours so you wanna get started on that.”

“JENO YOU DUMB BITCH, OUTSMARTED.”

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from but just know that I love you for making Jeno look more like the dumbass he actually is.”

So like after that entire thing-

Yes, it got you smirking.

Taeyong kicked everyone out.

And you were introduced to Johnny, Kun and Yuta.

Fun :)

What’s not fun, Jeno’s passive aggressive ass :}

There was one thing you liked about him though; his dimples. His DIMPLE IS SO MFK CUTE but everything else else is a no for you. Yes, he’s attractive and all but he doesn’t want to admit that his decision on bringing you here without knowing who you were was pretty dumb.

Irrational actually.

And Taeyong gave him quite the earful while you were gossipping with Johnny about your favorite chocolate bar.

For the next few days, you stayed with NCT’s huge ass mansion because you didn’t want to go back home.

Especially since, again, you were grounded, ran away and got your dad’s men killed.

AND got his shipments stolen :))

All of that because of a damn USB, funny.

You actually like it here?? A lot better than your home with your brothers.

You got really close with Dream? Like NCT Dream? Forget being strangers, the dumbasses are your brothers now.

Like brothers to the point where you almost smacked Haechan with a heated frying pan because he had ask you for food when you JUST finished cooking, almost pushed Chenle and his loud ass out of a window, threw your slides at Renjun for being a smartass and Jisung-

You’re lying, Jisung was your baby.

In another dimension.

No but you actually almost beat the crap out of him FOR breathing AND stealing all the snacks Taeyong bought for you. Like hoe, get your own.

As for Shotaro, that man, despite being older than you, is your baby aND NOBODY IS GONNA TOUCH HIM OR TRY HIM.

Cause you will beat them up as a compensation fee and the rest is determined on your level of anger that day.

Which keeps rising because of Lee Jeno.

Did you like him? Absolutely not.

For the love of everything, you bit him.

But did you dislike him?

Yes.

Quite a lot actually.

Because Taeyong, being Taeyong, was such a smart cookie, he just put you in the Dream’s unit because they were hella close to your age and you just stood there and said ‘okay’ when he finished?

And guess who was your training partner?

There's a reason all the knives in the training hall are locked away. And all the guns are empty.

You wouldn’t actually call him training partner, more like, killing partner and emphasis on the killing because the amount of scars and cuts on YOUR back from him trying to disarm you to prevent you from killing HIM is remarkable and looks like your fell off a tree and all the branches scared you to break your fall.

The only thing attempting to break you was Jeno tho.

Fast forward a week; finally got to meet 127 because for some reason they had business in Japan because Yuta apparently fucked up but that’s a story for another day.

Of course he didn’t, he just had trading issues and needed back up.

You already know Taeyong so skipping over him, you met Taeil. Great guy, super attentive and a genius too… like man’s is WAY too smart for your liking and can read you like a book but also super quiet and reserved and talks only when talking to. Oh! And doesn’t kill? Respect because he doesn’t get his hands dirty but respect.

Johnny is the brother you want but will never get because you’re not in the best position to be emancipated. But the way you can relate to this man is ridiculous BUT you also bribe him to give you food and buy you your favorite drinks.

And then Doyoung terrifies you?

Like if security cameras weren’t around, you’re sure all of Dream would be dead right now… but a great name to use when Jisung tries picking on you.

Other than that, he’s really resourceful which is nice if you even wanted to buy a new gun.

Yuta is another brother that you want because you can look in his direction, not say anything as he proceeds to sigh and say, “fuck off, we’re not going to the restuarant.”

Lowkey spoils you but you are a crime boss daughter; you wouldn’t say you were used to it but his small gifts were always more meaningful than anything your father gave you.

Jaehyun gives you ‘I’m too pretty to get blood on my hands but I do it anyway because Taeyong won’t pay me if I don’t’ kind of guy. Those are for the award kind of guy.

You clown him WAY TOO MUCH but it’s so normalized that this one morning, you went to the kitchen and said:

“Who does it feel to be a Jeffrey now?”

Jungwoo is just.

Hot.

And the biggest dork ever smh and sassy and a really good liar. He scares you sometimes. However, you both are great liars so in all technicality, he should be your partner in crime but you were paired with… him. For some reason, the more you hang out with him, you become more chaotic than you were???

I mean, good for you.

Mark, oh my, where do you start with Mark? You don’t understand why you admire him so much?

I mean, for one, he’s great at sparring and much more interesting to be around than…

Jeno.

UH so Mark is really nice and cool and you want to stuff him in your pocket but decided against tit cause he looks like he could kill you with one of his hidden guns.

Is a bitch, lowkey. Bosses you around because you're new.

But it’s fine because he’s nice about it so it’s whatever.

Sungchan is your best friend, you don’t make the rules sorry.

You actually haven’t gotten the chance to meet the WayV unit since they’re, currently, in China.

You have talked to Sicheng and Lucas.

Great guys, especially Sicheng because he’s the ‘normal’ one in the unit.

Noticed the ‘’?

Yeah so he isn’t normal, far from it, but is really nice to talk to.

HOWEVER there’s no reason for Lucas to be towering over you like Jack and the beanstalk.

Ad being hella loud.

But you like that because it radiates your energy.

Ten-

No because he’s just… like-

You don’t know how to explain it??

He’s there, a great friend, huge brat, amazing fighter.

At least, that’s how Kun describes him and you’re leaning towards that explanation of Ten because of their leader.

Yes, Kun, great person, in your pocket he goes, thank you.

No actually, this man is so thoughtful, it hurts.

You didn’t have the chance to introduce yourself to Yangyang, Hendery and Xiaojun since they’re on a trip in Europe but from what you’ve heard, they’re really annoying.

Just your type.

And Xiaojun has really nice eyebrows?

Like excuse me sIR, hand them over.

Also, NCT is nothing like your adoptive father’s company…

What did Taeyong do to these people

Really nice and really cruel at the same part.

You’re glad you aren’t at the other end of that knife.

Anyways back to Jeno :(

You’ve been here for three months and it really hasn’t gotten better.

With everyone else, hell yeah, with Jeno?

Crying hours are open.

HE’S SO MEAN AND FOR WHAT

All you did was breath, damn.

He’d pick on you

And call you names

Talk about 2nd grade insults, embarrassing.

And he’d let you win at sparring matches.

THAT HURT YOUR EGO, YOU WEREN’T GOING TO LIE

Your pride just… declined after Dream pointed it out one time

You rather not know because at least it feed into your ego

Now you didn’t even want to spare with him anymore.

You talked to Taeil about it over hot cocoa cause, why not.

He had the audacity to say that Jeno liked you.

sIR IT’S BEEN THREE MONTHS

There was no way.

And then what was more offensive was when he said that YOU LIKED HIM

And so you started sparring with WayV :)

He wasn’t right.

Of course not.

So, WayV sparring, yes.

Ten was a really great sparring partner and so was Hendery and Yangyang and Xiaojun,

You haven’t sparred with the others cause they simple,, dont,,.

But you found your new sparring partner and that was Yangyang and Ten was your instructor.

SO EITHER YOU’RE JUST REALLY OBLIVIOUS OR YOU DON’T SEE IT.

But… was Jeno jealous when you switched partners?

He did roll his really bright eyes each time you were talking to Yang.

And HE DID cross his arms over his chest all cute while pouting.

And he---

NO.

You were nOT falling for him.

PLEASE YOU BIT THE GUY.

What happened to “did you dislike Jeno? Yes. Quite a lot.”

Oh hOw tHe tAbLeS hAvE tUrnEd.

This is so embarrassing.

Now a lot more um

Petty fights :)))

“Jerk, you stole my chocolate!”

“There was no chocolate to begin with!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes I do!”

“So you did take my chocolate you asshole!”

And like… flirting.

Please, your moon sign was Gemini, it wasn’t your fault.

If you don’t get to joke, it’s okay.

“Hi, my name is Microsoft. Can I crash at your place?”

“(Y/n), we live in the same house.”

AND THEN HE SAID ONE TO YOU ONCE, YOU NEVER RECOVERED.

“Did your license get suspended for driving all these guys crazy?”

Never recovered.

BuT fast forward to now where you’re one your…

23rd mission with N-City.

:))))

Taeyong had finally let you go on one six months prior after you kindly asked.

“You’ve seen me fight before, why won’t you let me go?”

“Because you’re clumsy!”

OkAy, so maybe you had to ask more than ONCE but it’s not your fault your limbs have a mind of its own.

You never asked for long legs.

Speaking of long legs, Jeno was cute.

It didn’t come from you though, it came from your mind.

Huge difference.

This mission was simple enough, it was an infiltration mission where NCT had to steal this super important USB from an important figure in the mafia world.

And what’s the best way to do that? Attend a gala.

And they wanted you to attend since they gave you a pretty important role.

Distraction.

You could do that.

Maybe… if Jeno wouldn’t breath down your neck the entire night.

Yeah, Jeno was your gala date :)

Sadly WayV weren’t going and neither was Dream since they needed to be on cams and the former were stuck in Beijing.

No tall giants to bug.

No sassy ass companions to tease.

Just your love for Jeno :)

You were wearing this long black dress and grabbed your very beautiful body and you have to admit that you looked ravishing.

You did your hair in your favorite hairstyle and wore gold flats.

CAUSE I KNOW DAMN WELL I WOULDN’T RUN IN HEELS

And neither should you.

You walked into the 127 com room where Dream was and nearly walked back out with the way they were looking at you.

“Can you guys like… not? The sky's a beautiful view too, you know.”

“Yeah but why look at the sky when you’re right here.”

LEE JENO.

YOU REALLY SET YOURSELF UP FOR THAT ONE.

It's been eight months… get on with it and ask him on a date.

You turned away, completely hiding the very light blush.

Except that Jaemin was making kissing faces to your right.

And of course, when you turned around,

Haechan was smirking like a madman.

OH TO HAVE ANNOYING ASSHOLES IN YOUR UNIT

“Shotaro, sweetie, you're the only one I tolerate.”

It was true, you've been saying it ever since you got here.

Your heels clicked as you walked over to the bureau filled with monitors and computers. You leaned your lower half and Shotaro's chair, "any news?"

“Yeah,” handing you a ear set and was really an earring with hooks so it clung onto your ear. “Earring coms, activated by the word 'go' and is voice recognition.”

“Thank you," you hooked the earrings in. "Whos monitor am I connected to?”

“Well, we’re working in pairs since we’re kinda short on people on monitors tonight.”

Pairs = two people with one operator.

“So both you and Jeno will be connected to Jaemin’s mic. Taeyong and Yuta with Renjun. Doyoung and Jaehyun are with Chenle, Mark, Sungchan and Jungwoo with me and Jisung and Taeil and Johnny with Haechan.”

OF COURSE YOU WERE WITH JENO.

You expected it but DAMN.

“Oh and here,” raising an eyebrow, he handed you a box before typing away on the monitor again. “Jeno told me to give it to you. I modified it so it’ll be acting as your coms for tonight.”

^#*!@&(!&^@!?!@

UH WHY ARE THE EARRINGS HE GIFTED YOU REALLY NICE </3

AND WHY DID HE GIVE YOU EARRINGS

Smh it even goes with your outfit.

Black and gold = perfection.

“Thank you,” turning towards the rest of the boys chatting away, you walked over to the entrance and said, “I’ll see you guys later and Jaemin,”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let me die.”

“What about me?” Jeno pouted next to Jaemin.

You rolled your eyes and finished wearing the jewelry. “Bold of you to assume I care about you.”

“You’re wearing the earrings I bought you.”

“Ooooooooooh.”

PLEASE-

“No dumbass,” glaring at him, you nodded your head towards the hallway. “They're coms too, my safety, not yours.”

He only chuckled, something he does a lot lately before walking behind you towards the garage where the rest of 127, minus Haechan, were waiting.

--

Yeah no, we aren’t talking about that fucking care car.

You were in a separate car with Jeno to make it seem like you guys got there alone and not with the rest of NCT.

Because, you know, security cameras and stalkers behind monitors are a thing.

PLEASE THE CAR RIDE YOU WERE NOT HAVING IT

Because you’d somehow say something really, really inappropriate and you weren’t going to embarrass yourself more than you already have in the last eight months.

So you just shut up.

bUT YOUR MIND SMH

Couldn’t really blame you though?

HE HAS AN UNDERCUT

And his side profile <3 <3 <3

AND HIS DIMPLES PLEASE

You finally got to the huge mansion, a lot bigger than the NCT one and that speaks numbers since that house contains 23 members and counting…

The car finally came to a stop and Jeno was the first to get out of the car.

And open your door.

Oh, whAt a GenTlEmAN

Please, he was smirking too.

He was just so perfect for you----

“You know how to distract right?”

“I’m super offended by that comment and if it weren’t on the dozen pairs of eyes on us right now, including Taeyong’s car, I would’ve punched you.”

You smiled at the people right outside of the mansion and who were standing in the garden for whatever reason as your looped arms with your date, eyes glued in front of you.

“Why don’t you do it then, sweetheart?”

“Oh, fuck you.”

Though you talked through clenched teeth to maintain your smile, you did accidentally step on his toe with the sole of your shoe.

You really wish you wore those heels.

Not really.

As soon as you walked into the mansion, your communicator turned on and Jaemin’s voice came through, “your target doesn’t have much description since we just got the info however, the person he’s with has long hair, black and white suit and the most noticeable feature is that he has a nose piercing.”

STFU

RIGHT NOW

HOLD ON PAUSE

“Jaemin,” you called as softly as possible as you and Jeno walked around others, “do we know any other organizations that might be here?”

“What? Is princess scared?”

“No, Jeno, actually shut up.”

“Well, according to what we have right now and what we already knew, no other company should be here except ours, why?”

You actually didn’t know why but the feeling of your heart dropping upon hearing the physical description was the worst and you hoped that your hunch was wrong.

“Nothing, it’s fine.” You dismissed, biting your lip.

You were suddenly pulled towards the dancefloor when a slow song was playing and spun around. You laughed softly at the gesture as your arms warped around Jeno’s neck, his own around your waist.

You don’t know if it’s because you were so caught up in the thoughts you were having that you weren’t screaming at him to get his hands off your waist cause you know, PDA but you didn’t really seem to care.

I mean, you did, you just haven’t processed what was happening.

Speaking of happening, you looked around you and you gotta admit, however organized this gala had taste. The room was white, gold and royal blue. The chandeliers glittered the entire first floor and even if you haven’t been on the second floor, you could tell it was really beautiful.

“What’s up?”

WHERE YOU HAPPY HE ASKED? Maybe. Maybe he could take your stress away and all the feelings you have for him with it.

IT’S A JOKE.

Avoiding his eyes, you sighed and turned to the side.

“I don’t know.”

“It can’t be nothing if something is bothering you.”

I mean, he isn’t wrong.

Wise words from a wise man---

What?

“It’s the description that’s bothering me,” you confused as he spun you around another time, “I don’t know, I could be overanalyzing but-”

“Jeno.”

Jaemin’s voice cuts through once again. “You’re needed on the second floor, boss’s orders.”

OOP- that’s not good.

“What did you do?”

“Obviously nothing, I was with you the entire time.”

“Sadly.”

Rolling his eyes, he brought you to a nearby table and sternly said, “don’t move, I’ll be back.”

“I can fend for myself----”

DID

HE

JUST

BOY!?w?2

He really kissed your forehead.

HOLD ON, YOU WEREN’T READY.

Seeing your flabbergasted face, he smirked and whispered, “I’ll be back sweetheart.”

AND HE WAS GONE LIKE THAT>!

Sir.

“You guys are so infuriating, oh my gosh, kiss already.”

“If you were next to me right now, I would’ve punched you, you know that?”

“And I’ll push you into Jeno if you guys keep acting this way, please, it’s been eight months.”

“Okay,” you scoffed, “and? It’s my relationship, not yours.”

“Your point? My sanity, not yours.”

Both of yours actually, if you want to get technical with it.

But yes, you’re finally admitting that you like Lee Jeno.

Everyone act shocked.

Now all you need to do is find a way to tell him with getting rejected.

Only a few months ago, you said you didn’t like him.

AGAIN, oh, how the tables have turned.

Okay and what about it? People aren’t giving you enough credit for at least catching feelings, it’s hard work okay?

“Well, this is awkward.”

FUCK

PLEASE THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO CHOKE ON SPIT

YOU BETTER NOT TURN AROUND AND SEE-

Oh shit.

You were in big trouble now.

“Actually, this is hilarious.”

Oh so you weren’t hallucinating or hearing things.

They were really here.

You called over a waiter and downed the champagne drink closest to you and smiled before putting it back on the tray, touching your earring as it sent a distress signal to Jaemin.

“(Y/n)!”

You whirled around with the fakest smile you could muster, eye focus bouncing from Jackson to BamBam.

So like yeah, you were screwed.

How screwed?

You can literally see Jaebum glaring you down from the balcony to your left with Mark on his side.

That’s four out of seven.

“Jackson, BamBam, what a horrible surprise,” you beamed before your smile falls, “this is the worst birthday gift ever; not only are you ten months late but I don’t want any of you.”

“Aah, don’t be like that.” Tsked the taller mall, his goofy smirk still on his lips. “It’s a little family reunion!”

“And who says I wanted that?” You laughed, fingers drumming on your dress as you thought of a way to slip away from them. “Anyways, it was really great seeing you guys, but I have to go.”

PLEASE IT’S THE BEST THING YOU COULD PULL OUT.

“Your brother is upstairs waiting to talk to you,” both their faces that were once joyous fell into blank ones as Jackson pointed to where your brother was leaning on the rails on the second floor. “Shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Um so you really didn’t want to know what they would do to force you to go talk to your brother, let alone brothers if Jinyoung is here, but you REALLY didn’t want to risk it.

Why?

Because one look at your brother and you knew he was the target that carried the USB on him, long hair, black and white suit and especially the nose right.

Although it could be someone else, everything lined up really quickly. From the description to the sudden appearance of Jackson and BamBam, you wouldn’t be surprised if they went out of their way to make sure NCT wouldn't know they’d be here, let alone the organizers of the gala.

WAIT-

Do they know you were with NCT the entire time?

Forbid.

With a passive aggressive smile, you started walking towards the stairs halfway across the room.

AYO DOES NO ONE SEE THAT YOU AREN’T FOLLOWING THE PLAN?

AND WHERE’S JAEMIN?

WHERE’S JENO?

“(Y/n).”

“Listening,” you mumble a bit while covering your mouth to fake a cough, knowing damn well your brother is watching your exact move.

“Everyone is caught up on the second floor by GOT7.”

BITCH I-

“You’re literally the only one that isn’t with them so I’m pretty sure you know who the target is if you put two and two together.” A soft hum later, he continues. “If it’s possible, get the USB from Jinyoung and literally run for your life. Or if you could get a weapon because Jeno is currently unavailable.”

“Mh-hm.”

Walking up the stairs, your heart is breathing faster than usual as a tight smile fell on your lips.

This is great, your brothers took everyone hostage and you’re the only one free.

Splendid.

But you don’t think they know why you or NCT are here since the gala was also a fundraiser event so they expected them already.

Reaching the top of the stairs, you glanced down to see all the guests midnight their business and being carefree, that’s a good sign.

It means that they have no idea about the shitshow happening somewhere on this floor.

“Jaebum,” you called hesitantly, walking further down the corridor. “Listen asshole, I heard you wanted to talk to me--?!”

A MFK ARM WRAPPED AROUND YOUR WAIST AND À HAND WAS PLANTED ON YOUR MOUTH.

Hold on, getting kidnapped wasn’t a part of the plan?@>!?>

You were dragged into a room while your screams were drowned by the hand.

You really didn’t expect this to happen but oh well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

You bit his hand.

You hope this isn’t becoming a kink LMAO.

The man, who you easily recognized as Youngjae upon his scream, literally-

NO HE ACTUALLY THREW YOU INTO THE ROOM.

“Bitch.”

You rolled a few times on the cold hardwood floor and landed on the base of Jingyoung’s shoes, creased eyebrows playing on his face as he looked up at Youngjae.

“No need to be so ruff, jeez.”

“She bit me,” complained Youngjae.

“Okay and?” You asked, still laying on the floor, this time on your back, finding it quite comfortable. “You called me a bitch- only my brother can call me a bitch.”

“Bitch.”

“I was being sarcastic you imbecile,” you glared at Jaebum who just walked into the room, closing the set of double doors before him.

“Alright,” Jaebum walked into the room and twirled his gun while looking behind him, “now that everyone is here-”

“WAIT.”

The room went quiet as you looked to where your brother was looking and waved to the ten NCT members pointing their guns to the GOT7 members and some of their men. You knew they’d be fine but you looked around the room for one person.

Looking up to the younger brother of the two, you asked, “where’s Yugyeom.”

“Right here dumbass,” your smile grew wider as you turned on your stomach to face the youngest member of GOT7. “Been a while.”

“Hell yeah,” you chuckled, “no hard feelings, still love you though.”

“Figured.” He chuckled as well before standing straight, “you wanna make cookies if you come back?”

“For sure. Chocolate chip?”

“I got a new cookie brownie recipe, if you’re down to try it?”

“I might ditch NCT to make it with you before going back.”

“Alright, enough!”

Well someone’s a buzz killer, damn.

Yes, we’re going to ignore the conversation you just had with Yugyeom.

“The USB (Y/n).”

UH????

Turning back on your back, you looked up at Jinyoung, “the one?” Upon no response, you continued, “old man please, it’s been eight months, can’t believe your memory goes back that far.”

NOT CHENLE CACKLING IN THE BACKGROUND OF YOUR COM

So your brothers kept asking for the USB that you stole when you ran away because you still have and you’d bring it here with you???

At some point Taeyong got fed up with it and a screaming match broke out between Jaebum and Taeyong.

“Go Taeyong go!”

“Shut up!”

Jeno kept looking at you asking if you were okay and you just kept nodding your head, assuring him that you were fine and that the floor was rather comfortable.

I mean, that is until Jinyoung was done being patient and grabbed his gun, pointed it at your forehead and step on your stomach to stop you from moving.

It’ll be your own sometimes.

“Alright, enough,” the sound of his voice was enough to get everyone’s attention and nearly all of NCT’s jaws clenched at the sight of you at gunpoint.

“You guys have people on the sidelines, right?” He asked, “get one of them to get that fucking USB.”

“Well damn,” you laughed while untying his shoelace, waiting for his reaction, “if you’re so eager about that USB then go get it yourself.”

You really didn’t expect him to take the safety off.

AGAIN, it’ll be your own sometimes.

Some of the members of your own group--

GOT7 because technically, GOT7 is also your group cause you know, legal daughter trope or whatever so it should be GOT8 but you don’t really like it--

Some members of GOT7 were protesting at Jinyoung’s actions but you didn’t really seem to care, at least, not as much as you should at gunpoint.

“This is why Jaebum is my favorite brother,” you rolled your eyes, “I mean, my favorite is Yugyeom but for legal reasons it’s a joke cause you look hella heated enough to kill someone--- that someone will be me if you don’t move that gun off my forehead.”

HE REALLY WASN’T HAVING IT LMAO

But you kept pushing your buttons so if you die, that’s your own fault.

“You won’t kill me though.”

“I will.”

“I’m your sister.”

“And?” He asked, “you're my legal sister, I break the rules all the time, you really think I give a damn right now?”

He does have a point.

But this is getting NOWHERE.

“I’m done.” A gunshot suddenly blasts through the room as everyone ducks to take cover. You crawl away as fast as you can from dumb and dumber and seek shelter almost immediately behind the wooden tables.

You’d have to slap Jeno for shooting his gun towards the air. Dumb bitch-

AND you’re getting dragged by the ankle by Jinyoung.

AGAIN, THIS IS WHY JAEBUM IS THE FAVORITE BROTHER.

“I need a hostage.”

“You need a better life choice.” Kicking him in the shoulder which knocks him back, the own USB you were looking for falls.

And what do you do?

You take off your flats.

Throw it at him.

Run towards the flash drive and grab it.

BEFORE DIPPING SO MFK QUICK.

YOU GOT AS FAR AS YOU COULD

Until you're knocked to the group right as the trigger goes off again.

You land on the floor with arms wrapped around your waist before pulling you up and rushing out the door, hands interlocked.

“Bye Yugyeom!”

Of COURSE Jeno is your savior.

If it weren’t for him, you would’ve been shot!

After a few more minutes of running and getting back to the car to seek shelter, you both fall against the doors, sliding down while panting heavily.

Greatest escape from brother and death.

“Hey,” catching your breath, your lightly push Jeno’s shoulder, “that was so fucking dumb you dumbass.”

He pushed you back, his chest heaving as well, “hey well yeah, you did it too so cry about it dumbass.”

“No,” you leaned your back against him, your throat on fire from all the running and talking and fighting. “Don’t do that, you didn’t know what my brothers could’ve done, if they went out of their way to get me back, they wouldn’t hesitate to---”

Oh.

OH.

Damn, you weren’t expecting the kiss that soon but you’re all here for it.

I mean, it’s a kiss.

On the lips.

OOp

You melted into it and as subtle as you could, you wrapped your arms around his neck.

It was not like this that you expected your first kiss with Jeno… but are you complaining?

Of course not.

Did you regret it?

Not with him you didn’t. And to be quite frank, you enjoyed every jolt of happiness and butterflies that came with it, especially the smirk that played on his lips after pulling away.

“Who knew kisses would get you quiet.”

[drethanramslay]

Rock Bottom

Pairing: Mona X MC (Alexis Jennings)

Masterlist

Word count: 1.8 K (I really tried🤧)

Warnings: None, there is swearing, also there is a crossover 👀

Author's note: I'm taking part in @rodappreciationweek and this is my entry for day 3 (mona)

The hosts of RoDaw @client-327 @brightpinkpeppercorn and @choicesarehard are donating $5 usd to the Lebanese red cross, up to $500 for every piece of Mona content today! Please consider making/posting something for Mona today if you haven't already❤️

I'm also taking part in @wackydrabbles so you will find the prompt in bold

Forgive me if I make any mistakes

"Prisoners move back to your respective cells." The loudspeaker blared, cutting sharply through the air, giving Mona a cold splash of reality.

Until that godforsaken announcement, Mona had been sitting on the steps, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the cool breeze threading through her hair. The sun rays poured over her and she enjoyed the warmth emanating from them. She could smell the ocean and with her eyes closed, she could almost imagine standing on the shores of Santa Monica, the sound of the waves washing over her.

But there is only so much imagination one can use to forget that she was in jail.

To her darn luck, she had been transferred to Trask Island, a maximum security prison off the coast of Florida. It was one of those dreary prison where you were completely cut off from the world.

No call, no letters, no communication.

Whatever fucked up environment they created here, that was her world and Mona hated every second of it.

It was also called the 'rock' because one, it was on a island and two, it would drown all your hopes and wishes of a future, just like how a rock sinks in water.

No one has ever escaped Trask Island and no one ever will. The words of the warden echoed through her head making her scoff.

It's cute that he thinks I will be sticking around in this shit hole.

Mona was super determined to get the fuck out of here even though there were moments when she was completely and utterly lost.

She hated the orange tracksuits she had to wear. She hated the way these spiteful men dictated her life and tried to break her spirit. She hated being stuck in a tiny cell.

She longed to feel the adrenaline rush in her veins when she raced.

She longed to feel her hands gripping her steering wheel, as she drove at speeds defying gravity.

But most of all she longed for Alexis... The girl she left behind.

Mona found it ironic. After her ex ratted her to the police she swore that she would never let anyone have that power over her. That she would never wear her heart on her sleeve again. She built this impenetrable fortress around herself so that no one could enter and know the real her.

But Alexis managed to do that by just smiling at her.

The way their hands fit perfectly into each other's... The way that all her worries would go away when Alex was in her arms... The way that they both pushed each other, looked out for each other and challenged each other...

Mona had never witnessed such a feeling of companionship and she couldn't help but fall for her.

I love you Mona... Those words haunted her but at the same time motivated her to keep going through the motions of the day.

Her fantasies were abruptly interrupted by the guard kicking her combat boots. "Up and going, or do you want a month in solitary?"

And the thing she hated the most about this prison are the guards. I mean it was normal to hate them but this was some next level shit. She absolutely abhorred them to such a extent that she wanted to strangle them with her bare hands.

The number of times she was thrown into solitary was not even funny. And all of them were for the dumbest of the dumbest reasons.

Hell she was thrown in the hole for a fight she wasn't even part of.

All men are the same... Power hungry and drunk on greed. That's why girls are better.

So not wanting to risk living in the darkness for a month, she bit her tongue and got up before joining the other cellmates.

"What a dick." Eris Huang, an expert demolition muttered under her breath, so low that only Mona could hear it, causing her to snort.

In the six months she was here, she was low-key glad that she met Eris. They two met when Mona was moved into Eris' cell. Both were strong willed, hard headed and sarcastic woman so it wasn't really surprising that they became fast friends.

"Tell me about it. One of these days he is gonna piss me off so bad that I will end up castrating him with a blunt knife."

"Oof. I will hold him down and break his legs." Eris offered causing Mona to smirk. I like this girl. 

"Anyways, I have a shift at the library so meet you later." Eris spoke.

"Get me another notebook if possible."

"What are you writing? A love letter?" Eris teased which made Mona roll her eyes but she wasn't very far off from the truth.

"A lady never tells." Mona answered causing Eris to chuckle as she took a left to go to the basement.

Mona reached her cell and she felt the the cell gate close behind her with a loud clang, which resonated in her ribcage.

Sure, hanging out in the yard and working in the workshop was a welcome distraction but staying in her small cell for more than 17 hours would make a girl lonely.

So, in all these hours of loneliness, sadness and hopelessness Mona found some sort of solace in writing about her dreams, list of things she was going to do once she was out, her aspirations... But most importantly, how much she missed Alex and how she wished to be by her side.

So settling into the corner of her bunk, she opened the notebook with tattered pages so that she could write.

Dear Alex, I know I told you to not let me imprison you but that's not applicable to me because you are always on my mind. It's hard to forget you. I miss you so much....

Do you know what day it is today? It's the fifth... Or I assume so because there is no calendar here. We aren't told what date, month, year it is. It's just days which sinks into the lonely nights and the cycle continues.

It's been six months since I last saw you... And I guess it just hit me hard.

It's just cruel how little time we had together.

I still remember that night. How happy we were in that cute little prom of yours. I still remember how heartbroken you were when I betrayed you.

But you didn't let it break you.

I still remember the way you took down those bastards. I still remember how fucking proud I felt on that moment. I still remember how I took a bullet for you and the shock that coloured your face.

And I know the thoughts which ran at your head in that moment. "Someone actually cares enough for me to take a bullet for me."

I'm here to tell you that yes, I took a bullet for you and I would do it a thousand times over just to prove that I love you and I care about you. I'm here to tell you that you are worth it and you deserve all the love in the world.

I wish I could hold you in my arms and tell you all of this but... Life loves fucking with me and you got caught as collateral.

It's just... Hard some days. Sure I have made friends with some other criminals and tried to make this fuckery my new normal but I'm only human. I'm few moments away from sinking to rock bottom, as shocking as that may sound.

You always perceived me as an aloof, careless and a strong badass but that changed when I met you.

Sure I was always strong but you make me stronger. You and me... We both are like two knives sharpening each other. Pushing each other to reach new heights of awesomeness.

But, I also want to worry for you. I want to appreciate you. I want to wake up next to you and I want to love you.

I often wish how we would have met if I had not gone down the wrong path. Would we have met at some pub? Or in some Ivy League college? Or some frat party?

People often say that you shouldn't waste time thinking about the things that could have been but when you are in a prison with nothing but time, that's all you seem to do.

So yeah, you are the only thing preventing me from going insane.

I think that's enough emotional bullshit for today and I'm low-key relieved that you aren't reading these letters, of me talking like a sap.

But one thing is for sure- I love you.

Yours, Mona.

She heard the electric buzzer and the door of her cell opened. Eris walked in with an impassive face with a guard standing at the entrance. He shut the cell gate and walked away.

Mona's eyes narrowed as she sat up straight. Wait a minute-

She waited for the guard to be far away before she spoke up. "You have a plan."

Eris turned the light off of the cell and plopped on to the bed opposite Mona's.

"Smartie. Always knew I did a good job of recruiting you."

"But how? Do you remember the last time you failed and ended up in the hole for a month and a half?!"

"Yes I do remember but this is foolproof. We have outside help."

"... I'm listening."

"Do you speak thief?" She asked which made Mona scoff in disbelief.

"Obviously. I have stolen cars and kidnapped people. Obviously I'm no amateur."

Eris proceeded to explain how her friends Rye and some other chick had come up with a plan. She listened with complete attention and only stopped her to ask valid questions.

"So... Are you in?"

Mona tried weighing the pros and cons. It's sounded a tad bit unrealistic and far fetched. There were a couple of loose ends which made her hesitate.

Eris noticed that and grasped her hand. "See Mona, no escape plan is perfect. This is a rough draft and we will work out the kinks. But remember, the three crucial things an escape plan needs is- Luck, faith and determination. We don't know about what lady luck has in store but, we sure can have faith and determination."

"I know that you hate it here and I know the punishment of escaping is harsh but what's wrong in trying? We are already suffering as it is, what's a little more? And I see that fire in your eyes, M."

"The fire to break free and the fire to go back to your girl."

Mona looked up and the momentary joy of getting to see Alexis soon. Adrenaline courses through her veins, causing her heart to beat faster.

Eris leaned forward, her voice intense. "So tell me- Would you like to blow this joint or rot in here for the next five years wishing you could have atleast tried?"

Mona's eyes met hers and a smirk formed in her face. Reaching forward she shook Eris's hands, sealing the deal.  "What the hell. This is without doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in."

Don't worry Alexis, I'm coming home.

Hope you liked it 😊

Mona x MC Taglist : @kamilahsayeet2063 @kaitlynliaofanxx @vampiregirlsblog @made-me-deep-blue

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[phantom-curve]

find the strength, find the melody pt. 8

oof I don’t know if I actually like this chapter or not. imposter syndrome has taken up residence in my brain and it’s not looking to move out anytime soon. hopefully this is better than I’m giving myself credit for. 

I’m gonna try and get on a more regular schedule of updating this weekly. I think we’ve got one more part to day three and then a chapter each for days four & five. there might also be another middle of the night chapter, trying to figure out if it fits into the timeline like I want it to or not. you get some sneak peaks of angsty Luke in this part which I’m kind of excited about. can’t be all soft boy all the time. gotta get that ~dimension~

also, I wrote a one-shot of Ray and Rose’s first date that was referenced waaaay back in pt. 6! it’s also the story of Tia Victoria’s 21st birthday that was referenced in pt. 7! I really love it which isn’t something I’ve felt about my writing lately so you should check it out.

taglist: @blue-hat-girl, @lwhoscribbles, @bluefyoto94, @5sosmukefan, @moonlightxnder, @leahthewonder​, @kat-maybe-not​, @lukewearingbeanies, @imastrugglingartist​​

Julie had expected a mess of sloppy, overlapping notes and kinks that would need to be quickly smoothed out by Friday’s performance. She had been ready to go into the Showcase and just give it their best, hoping that maybe they would sound somewhat coherent, but not really expecting much all the same. A band couldn’t be built in a day. It was part of why she thought Luke’s plan was so insane. She couldn’t have been more wrong if she tried.

Within the first three run-throughs of the song things just seemed to click into place. It was like she had been playing with them her entire life. The longer they played, the more they slipped naturally into their role as bandmates. The energy in the room, the chemistry between the four of them, was palpable. She knew they could feel it too.

It was the way Reggie turned to her at the exact moment she moved towards him, playing off of her as she gave into her need to move to the bassline vibrating through her feet. It was how Alex’s face lit up with a kind of unrestrained joy she had never seen before, face shining as he nodded his head in time with his tapping foot when she turned towards him. They laughed together as she flipped her hair out of her eyes at the exact same time he did, completely in sync as they moved to the rhythm created by his fast-moving sticks. It was every single part of Luke.

His head, tilting to the side to call her to him just as she began to drift closer to his side. His voice, blending with hers like they had been made to sing together. His eyes, drilling into hers as she held her microphone out for them to share. His fingers, so sure on the strings beneath them that he didn’t once break their stare down. The tension she had felt simmering between them for the last few days exploded. They felt it at the exact same moment as their most seamless playthrough of the song came to a close.

Julie’s voice rang out beyond the instruments as she held her final note a beat longer than everyone else. She could hear the sound of Reggie and Alex’s voices rising with enthusiasm as they talked, but she couldn’t make out their words. Everything felt a little soft on the edges as Luke gazed at her with so much awe she thought she would float off the ground. He made her feel transcendent. Like the celestial being he claimed her to be. It was hard to feel like she wasn’t in Heaven when he looked at her like that. Her breath caught in her throat. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly she was being jostled from behind, her moment with Luke broken. Her feet stumbled as leather-clad arms wrapped around her tightly, sweeping her into a clumsy spin.

“Julie! That was amazing!”

Reggie’s voice was sparkling, and she couldn’t help but laugh softly, giving into the all-consuming feeling of happiness that was bubbling up inside of her. They came to a stop as a longer pair of arms covered in soft pink cotton pulled them close. Julie met Alex’s eyes, giving him a grateful smile as the studio finally came back into focus. He beamed back at her, completely relaxed and damn near glowing.

“I gotta agree with Reg for once.”

Julie giggled as Reggie let out an indignant shout, lips slipping into a pout. Alex ignored him, releasing his hold on both of them, but still talking to Julie.

“Seriously, Julie, I totally see what Luke has been saying. He was right, you’re perfect.”

Julie felt hot all the way from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. She gave Luke a side-eyed glance, heart tripping as she caught the quick expression of embarrassed betrayal on his face. So, he had actually used the word ‘perfect’ to describe her. He had talked about her to his boys, and not just as a musician. This wasn’t only about the music. She knew that, or she should have known that by now, but to be faced with it so plainly was something else entirely. Luke attempted to slip into a casual slouch, but his hand scratching at the back of his neck gave away the nerves he was feeling as his gaze slipped back over to hers. Julie gulped, breathing out slowly.

“What can I say? You definitely make us better.”

Another attempt at a nonchalant shrug that was foiled by his still-scratching hand and slight vocal crack. Julie’s heart raced, her stomach flipping low in her gut. So, this is what a real crush feels like. Julie had crushed on boys before, or so she had thought. Never before had she felt like this. She hadn’t actually known the other boys she had been attracted to. Not in the way she was beginning to realize she knew Luke. She had kept herself at a distance from them, building up a fantasy in her mind as to what type of person they were and what it would be like to see that fantasy come to life. Her crushes had always been somewhat superficial and definitely unobtainable. Luke was neither one of those things. He was right here. She knew him. Connected with him on a level deeper than should be possible after only three days, but it was undeniable all the same. Her soul whispered that she had always known him, she had simply been waiting for him to return to his true home within her heart all this time.

Luke was shifting uneasily on his feet, just like earlier in the day when he realized he had taken his bold declarations a step too far. Only this time, Julie realized she liked when he did that. The way he built her up without even trying, an endless supply of support and admiration falling from his lips so easily. Julie simultaneously wanted to reassure him and also continue needling him because the way his words made her feel was a high like no other. His eyes crinkled at the edges, smile softening just for her. She gave in to the temptation to touch him, reaching up to lightly grasp his wrist. The scratching finally stopped, and Julie gave a special soft smile of her own.

“I think we make each other better. That’s a great song, Luke. Thank you for doing this for me.”

Julie released her grip and lowered her hand, biting her lip slightly. She didn’t miss the way that Luke’s ears tinged pink, his arm hovering in the air for a second as he processed her words. Their eyes locked, a million fleeting emotions passing between them in seconds, their own form of silent communication. With Luke, Julie was learning that there was a lot more in the things left unsaid than the things that he let slip out. Her words meant more to him than he would ever be able to express and she wondered if that related back to something with Bobby or something with his parents. Maybe even both. The moment stretched on, the rest of the studio melting away in the background. Until Reggie’s whisper broke through.

“I see chemistry.”

The twin slaps of Alex’s hand on his forehead and Luke’s hand falling to his thigh echoed in the otherwise silent space. Julie felt her cheeks burn, breaking away from Luke’s gaze to face the other boys once again. She really had to stop letting herself get swept up in him. Especially when they had such an observant audience. Her eyes darted to the clock behind them, surprised to find several hours had already passed. Her dad would probably be calling her up for dinner soon. Right on cue, the studio doors rattled and opened. Carlos, framed by the setting sun behind him, studied the group of teenagers.

“So, this is your boy band?”

“Boy band! Who you callin ‘boy band’?!”

Luke’s indignant shout would have been funny if Julie wasn’t hyperaware of how close she was still standing to him. Carlos’s skeptical brown eyes darted back and forth between them like he could tell he had missed out on a golden opportunity to embarrass her. He smirked slightly, crossing his arms as he regarded Luke.

“I mean, you’re boys in a band. Ergo, boy band.” His hands lifted in a falsely innocent shrug. “I don’t make the rules.”

Reggie giggled as Luke’s jaw dropped slightly, stunned into silence by her brother’s sass. Even Alex was fighting back a grin. Reggie stepped closer to Carlos, whipping out his hand for a high-five.

“Up top, little dude!”

Carlos’s smirk melted into a genuine smile as he lifted onto his toes to smack Reggie’s hand. Julie rolled her eyes, nudging Luke a bit while the others were distracted. He turned to her with a small pout.

“Kids usually think I’m cool.”

“No, kids usually think you’re another kid.” Alex chimed in gleefully.

Luke’s pout deepened and Julie couldn’t resist knocking their fingers together for a quick brush of contact.

“I think you’re cool.”

The whisper was low, but she could tell he heard it by the way he snatched her hand into his, squeezing it for a brief moment as he gave her that burning look again. The interaction was over in a second, but Julie felt the lingering fire race across her skin. She wished she could have a minute or ten alone with him. She turned back to Carlos in the doorway before he could notice. That kid didn’t need any more ammunition against her, thank you very much.

“Did you need something, Carlos? Or are you just here to be a pest?”

He broke off his conversation with Reggie to stick his tongue out at her. She repeated the gesture back to him.

“I need a lot of things actually. Like a normal sister for one.”

He snickered at the way her nostrils flared, fully aware that she wanted to reach out and cuff the back of his head but wouldn’t do it in front of other people. She settled for gritting her teeth and reminding herself that as annoying as Carlos was, he was also her little brother and she loved him. She just didn’t always appreciate his astonishing lack of a filter around older boys that he thought were cool. Luke had read him all wrong of course. Carlos only teased people he was in awe of. That reminder calmed her as well. He was teasing out of love, and because he was nervous around these teenagers that he clearly wanted to like him. She could give him a pass. She could also tease him right back.

“I know where you sleep, twerp. Relay your message or scram.”

He rolled his eyes at her lame threat, but dropped the bratty attitude nonetheless.

“Dad says it’s time to eat. He said the guys can stay if they’re hungry.”

Carlos couldn’t fully hide the hope in his voice, though he tried to sound indifferent about it. Julie watched the boys share a quick look, an entire conversation taking place in mere seconds. Alex’s arm went around Reggie, who sagged a bit like he was disappointed. Luke’s hand went back to his neck, body slumping as if to shrink himself. Alex’s fingers tapped out a restless beat against his thigh. None of them moved to speak. Julie couldn’t stand the uncomfortable way the air grew thick between them.

“I’m sure the guys have plans already, bud. This was kind of a last-minute thing. Maybe tomorrow?”

She aimed the question at the boys instead of Carlos. They seemed to melt all at once. Another silent conversation communicated through glances. Reggie took the lead this time.

“That sounds great! As long as you’re sure your dad won’t mind. We don’t wanna be a burden.”

Julie shook her head, heart aching at the way Reggie said ‘burden’ like it was a title he was used to.

“No burden at all. Dad always makes too much spaghetti anyway. And my Tía usually brings food a few times a week so we literally always have leftovers. You guys would be helping us out by eating them up, honestly.”

Reggie smiled at her, and Julie was surprised to find that she wanted to cry. Not because she was happy or sad or any particular emotion really, but because Reggie made her feel the same way Carlos did when it was the middle of the night and she was waking up to the feeling of his cold feet against her calves and his whispered confession about not wanting to be alone right then. She felt protective. Ready to fight whatever or whoever it was out there that had made him believe he was too much simply by existing. Was this what her mom had talked about when she said the best bands were actually families? Julie had always taken that to mean her family, as in her mom and her. Maybe what she had been saying all along was that the magic of music could make a family. The right connections, the right mix of artists, and it wasn’t just about playing anymore. It was about creating something together, breathing life into their art as one entity. Caring for each other, lifting each other up, bandaging each other’s wounds.

The enormity of the realization that all it took was one afternoon for her to adopt these three idiots hit her like a ton of bricks. She didn’t even know them, and yet, she did. Their souls were forever intertwined. Whatever feeling had overtaken them during their practice would linger for the rest of eternity, burned into her heart like a brand. The magic of music.

“Thanks, Julie.”

Alex’s voice was soft, fingers calm once more. Julie nodded, not trusting herself to speak right then.

“Cool!”

Carlos whooped, breaking the moment once again. This time, Julie didn’t mind so much.

“I’ll go tell Dad. See you guys later!”

He was off like a rocket, propelled forward by his unshakeable enthusiasm. The arm that Alex still had around Reggie flexed for a moment before dropping. Reggie gave him a quick smile, lifting his bass over his head. Luke swung his guitar onto his back, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. Julie could tell something was bothering him. Alex seemed to feel it too.

“Hey, Reg, can you go unlock the van? I’m gonna start carrying my kit up.”

Alex tossed the keys to Reggie, who somehow managed to catch them singlehandedly while still holding his bass. His eyebrows furrowed for a second, but then he looked over at Luke and understanding dawned. He raced out of the studio without a word, Alex close behind him cradling his bass drum in his arms. Julie turned to Luke once they were alone, only to be met with his back as he fiddled with his guitar in its case. His shoulders were raised high, muscles bunched tightly under his shirt. She took a few steps forward, resting her hand lightly on his back once she was next to him. He relaxed slightly and she sighed in relief. Her fingers took on a mind of their own, softly rubbing until he let his shoulders fall.

“Please don’t feel obligated to stay for dinner tomorrow if you don’t want to.”

Luke spun around so quickly Julie didn’t have time to step back. He grabbed her elbows, steadying her but not moving out of her space. His expression was torn, eyes intense. Julie felt her throat tighten.

“No, Julie, it’s not that. I just...families are hard. For me. For...us.”

His eyes flew to the still open doors and back. She didn’t have to ask who the us was.

“Your dad seems really great. Your brother too. I just...it’s silly, but I don’t wanna let you or your family down.”

He bit his lip, gaze slipping down to the floor. They stood toe-to-toe, the tips of their sneakers almost touching. Julie breathed in deeply, the faint smell of her shampoo tickling her nose. It had to be coming off of Luke. Her own hair had been tied back into a bun at the beginning of band practice. It was an intimate reminder of the night before. When he hadn’t been home in the middle of the night because sometimes it was better to be elsewhere, even if elsewhere just meant not there. She couldn’t relate to that feeling. Her home had never felt like anything other than a welcoming, safe space. Her family had never been anything other than loving and supportive, even in the rare moments when they fought with each other.

“Luke, I’m pretty sure my dad thinks that you’re an angel. He was so happy this afternoon he didn’t even bring up the meeting with Lessa. You’re the reason I’m playing music again and that’s as good as gold in his eyes.”

“No way, Molina.” Luke scoffed, hands raising from her elbows to her shoulders. “That’s all on you. I didn’t do anything except ambush you for my own personal gain.”

Julie was shaking her head before he even finished his sentence. He was trying to play everything off with that cocky, cool kid attitude, but she knew him better now. That bravado was all a defense mechanism. One of her own hands lifted, brushing his hair out of his eyes, fingers lingering along his jawline.

“You’re wrong, Patterson.”

She didn’t miss the way he jerked a bit when she used his last name, his pupils widening slightly. A small smile formed on her lips. Two could play at that game.

“You rescued my mom’s song and protected it all this time. You brought it back to me right when I needed it. Did you know that was the last song she ever worked on? The last song we ever worked on. That song is the last piece of my mom. I don’t think I would have ever been able to play again without it, and I didn’t even realize that until yougave it back to me.”

She edged forward until their shoes touched. It wasn’t that much closer, but Julie could feel every inch of space lost between them. Luke’s eyes were doing that soft, starry thing again, and Julie thought her own eyes might look the same. He let his hands fall from her shoulders until they were resting lightly against her waist. Her own hands snuck around his neck, fingertips brushing against his soft, jasmine scented hair. Luke swayed their bodies slightly, his need for constant motion of some kind getting the best of him. It made her want to laugh, but this moment felt too big for that. Of all the ways her relationship with Luke had rapidly shifted in the last few days, this felt like the most serious. She wasn’t trying to fight him anymore. She was laying her cards out just as openly as he had.

“Julie...”

She couldn’t stop herself from leaning into him further, his voice twisting her name into the sweetest sounding melody. Luke didn’t get a chance to say or do anything else before noise filtered in through the still open studio doors. Alex’s voice, louder than Julie had ever heard it before, as he chatted with Reggie. Luke’s shoulders curved slightly, like he was disappointed, before he straightened and put some more space between them. They dropped their hands at the same time, the loss of contact causing her to shiver. Luke shot her a quick smile, so Julie knew his actions were less about hiding her and more about not wanting to share their delicate relationship with anyone else just yet. That was okay with her, too. It felt a little too new, a little too fragile, to let anyone else in on it just yet.

Alex and Reggie appeared only seconds later, Alex looking a little wary like he wasn’t sure his loud approach had been enough warning, Reggie’s expression open and happy, clearly oblivious to the thick tension between Luke and Julie. He was babbling to Alex about something involving physics homework, both of them moving to collect several other pieces of Alex’s kit. Luke gave her one last glance before he left her side to lift an amp. Julie was silent for a moment as she watched them before a realization had her smacking her forehead. The sound was loud enough to startle the boys, who turned to her with matching confused expressions on their faces.

“You guys are going to be right back over here tomorrow. You don’t need to take all your stuff out just to haul it back in here in like 24 hours. I should have said something earlier.”

Another silent conversation, the boys wary and anxious again. Julie wished she had a better understanding of the landmines she seemed to keep stumbling upon. Luke had given her a small hint, but the rejection anxiety ran deep in every single one of these boys. Reggie spoke up before Julie had the chance to reassure them.

“Are you sure your dad won’t mind?”

He was fiddling nervously with the strap on his bass, eyes wide. Alex’s grip flexed on the snare he held, Luke stepping closer to his guitar case. She heard the underlying question behind Reggie’s tone. Are you sure these parts of our souls will be safe here?

“He won’t mind at all. He hasn’t touched a thing in here since we locked it up after Mom...since we locked it up a year ago.”

She tried to keep her voice soft, her steps slow as she moved to place her hands against the top of the grand piano.

“My mom’s piano has been stored in here my entire life. I promise you the Molina’s know the importance of protecting our instruments. It’s up to you though. I totally get it if you want to keep them with you.”

Julie didn’t wait for their response, letting them process and decide for themselves how they felt about the situation. She bent to lift the sheet that usually covered the piano, shaking it a few times before closing the fallboard and draping the soft material over the instrument.  By the time she turned around, only Luke was left behind her. She raised a brow, concerned she had said the wrong thing. His lips stretched into one of the smiles reserved just for her.

“They went back to the van to get Alex’s bass drum.”

Her eyes darted off to the side behind him, noticing that the snare Alex had been holding was back in place, Reggie’s bass once more nestled into a guitar holder. She felt her frown soften into a smile, relieved that they seemed to trust her despite not really having much of a reason to.

“Thank you...for, ya know, being so cool about all of this.”

Luke’s voice was quiet, hands fidgeting like he was fighting the urge to raise them to the back of his neck.

“Luke, I should be the one thanking you. Seriously, you guys don’t have to do this for me, and you are anyway. Actually, you very well could get into trouble for doing this, and yet you’re still willing to take that risk. The least I can do is house your instruments for a few days.”

Julie didn’t mean to, but something in her voice had his head snapping up at the way she said her last sentence. Like he could tell that she was trying to say it wasn’t just the instruments she was willing to care for. It was the boys too. It was Luke. They didn’t say anything more, letting the sentiment hang in the air between them. Luke’s eyes were impossibly soft. If Julie hadn’t already plunged over the cliff ledge falling for him, this moment would have toppled her.

Reggie and Alex stumbled back in, both of them laughing but unable to fully articulate why. Something about an old Vine video and bible study. Alex reset his bass drum, Julie scrounging up another sheet from the linen closet in the bathroom to cover it for the night. And if she took an extra second to run her fingers over the towel now hanging on the hook next to the shower, the faint scent of jasmine and citrus body wash and Luke drifting off of it at the movement, well no one else had to know about that.

[thirteenisles]

The Beau-chelor | Part 1

A/N: Ok baby and we are back and better than ever. I really hope you guys like this? It’s kinda my precious baby. Please let me know what you think, your feedback means everything lol. Also big shout out to my brother for actually helping me out a lot and encourgaing me to get back into writing, y’all can thank him.

For story sake, Tito is 26. Also it’s fic so I messed with the rules of how the Bachelor works.

Word Count: 3.9K

Tagging: @bandgirlsclub​ @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69​ @matbaezal​ @prettyboybarzal​ and @pookie-cleary​

-

Allow me to start off and say that my season of The Bachelor isn’t a conventional fairytale love story. I had originally signed on as a joke, but even then there was a small part of me that hoped that I would find love. In the end, after weeks of countless trips, dates, and unnecessary drama, I did find love...just not in the way everyone expected me too.

My name is Anthony Beauvillier and this is my season of….The Bachelor:

-

Imagine, me, as the bachelor.

Well, it happened. And definitely not in the way I expected it to.

When I first got the call, I thought it was a joke. I thought that maybe Mat was pranking me after our conversation, which included me filling out the online application for shits and giggles after a drunken night out, but it had turned out to be the real deal.

I was going to be the next Bachelor.

It didn’t feel real, not even after I talked to Chris. Not even I had a flight booked for me and I was told what to pack. Not even the plane ride to the mansion in California. It wasn’t until I was nervously standing in the driveway on a clear spring evening, knowing that out of twenty-four women, one of them was my potential girlfriend or wife.

And I won’t lie that terrified me.

Not for the commitment aspect, but this experience was all so new to me. I was putting myself out there for the whole world to see, with more cameras in my face than what I was used to. When it came to hockey, interviews, and the press was a normal walk in the park for me. I got to talk about our game, my play, and how we could improve for the next one. Now all the cameras would be on me, everyone will be following my journey.

I made some ground rules pretty early on before filming even started:

1. I was not on the show to get married unless I was TRULY felt that I could get engaged to someone after two-three months.

2. If I wasn’t going to marry either of the remaining two, obviously I’d hope to have enough feelings to date them. If it works out then it works out and if it doesn’t then well...it doesn’t (although I secretly hoped it would)

3. When it came down to hometowns I don’t want just one night with the family. I want to actually get to know them and spend a few days with them.

I felt like it was both fair to myself and to the girls on the show. I didn’t want anyone to feel that I was misleading towards them. After all, they were coming on the show to find love.

We started filing mid-May after our playoff run was over. Out of twenty-four girls I meet, there are four who have so far stood out to me the most:

Hannah: a strong farm girl, who loves to talk about her love for healthy and organic food and making that accessible to everyone. We have a great connection with our love for an athletic lifestyle.

Jasmine: an incredible lawyer with a passion for exposing and bringing justice to abusive corporations. She has a great sense of humor and she always knows the best jokes to have you laughing.

Kyndal: an inspiring writer with strawberry blonde hair and a bright smile. Her stories that she comes up with are nothing short of amazing but have dreams to work in the criminology field. 

Fiona: a petite young model who has worked hard to get where she’s at. She loves her family and is close to her older sister, we’ve bonded over our close family ties and out of all the girls we have the strongest connection.

The weeks go by a lot quicker than I anticipated, I spend time with the girls individually. Taking them out on dates and getting to know them and traveling around the world to these beautiful countries and sightseeing, things I wouldn’t normally get to experience because of my tight schedule. 

Mid-July approached and I was spending time with each of the girls and their families. So after spending time with Hannah, Jasmine, and Kyndal’s families, all of whom I loved spending time with, my decision was becoming more clear on who I wanted to be with.

Or so I thought.

The flight to JFK was long, but I had Fiona by my side, as she told me about her family. Her father was an engineer before meeting her mother who was a florist and he gave up his career to be a high school teacher and help support her mother’s business. Her older sister, whom she gushes over, how close they are and how important their relationship is to her. I told her about my older brother Francis and my parents and how close I was to my family still despite being in the NHL. It was easy to talk to Fiona when it came to family, because she was just as close to hers as I was to mine.

After an entire day of grueling travel, I was out on the patio deck on a summer evening in Connecticut, enjoying the cooler breeze and delicious food with the Matthew’s family. Fiona’s mother had cooked a delicious meal of which included roman chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and a side of sautéed veggies. We enjoyed wine and her father and I talked sports, while Fiona seemed more affectionate than usual and was sitting in my lap cuddled up to me. The camera crew is long gone, deeming they had what they needed and they’d see me tomorrow for Fiona and I’s hometown date, which I was looking forward to.

“So…” I start as dessert is being passed out, looking at Fiona, “Do you think I’ll end up meeting your sister on this trip? From all the things you’ve told me about her, I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

She nods, “Uh yeah, Parker. She’s a veterinarian so she couldn’t make it tonight cause she’s doing clinic hours or something like that. She’s really busy plus- she doesn’t want to be on camera.”

“You know your sister values her privacy, Fiona.” Her father chimes in.

Fiona makes a face, “Yeah- but she could at least learn to suck it up. Besides it’s for one episode.”

The conversation dies quickly after that and I help clean up before joining the family in the living room for a movie. It’s about halfway through before her parents retire to bed, bidding me goodnight and leave Fiona and I to ourselves. As soon as we are alone, she’s climbing onto my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck with a smirk on her face.

“Finally...I thought they’d never go to bed.” She leans down and brushes her lips against mine, but the slamming of a car door has her pulling back with an annoyed look on her face. “What the-“ her face then lights up, “Oh it’s Parker!” Her voice goes overly sweet almost as if she’s faking it. 

She jumps out of my lap and walks out of the den and I’m left there on my own and in confusion before I get up and start to head to the kitchen to grab something to drink in the meantime.

“Oof. Jeez, Fiona. What the hell?” I hear another woman’s voice come from down the hall.

“So happy you’re home. You get to meet Anthony!”

“Uh- who? Oh...the bachelor right?” Their footsteps grow closer.

“Yeah yeah, you’re going to like him!”

“Well- hopefully he’s not like your other boyfriends…”

“He’s not!” Fiona walks in the room first with a smile on her face, “Anthony- this is my sister Parker. Parker, this is Anthony.”

I didn’t believe in love at first sight. Honestly, it seemed comically trying to understand the whole aspect of it. How do you meet someone and feel like you’ve known them your whole life? But then she walked into the room and it suddenly made sense. It was like coming home to yourself through another person and I knew at that moment, that she was someone I never wanted to let go. Standing there in scrubs, tired eyes, and a mischievous smirk on her face as she eyes me up and down, she extends her hand to mine and we shake hand and gently buzz of electricity -- 

“Hey, Anthony. How the-” she replaces the swear word with a dolphin noise, causing me to choke on air, “are ya?”

“Oh my god! Parker!” Fiona turns the darkest shade of red, glaring at her older sister.

I can’t help but laugh, not only understanding the reference behind it but because it was coming from her. She could make the worst joke in the world sound funny.

Parker rolls her eyes and shrugs, giving me a wink, “Ah- come on. He clearly thinks it’s funny. Just trying to make him feel welcome.”

“Hi, Parker, nice to-” I try my best to mimic her noise, which just comes out as a strangled gurgle causing her to burst out laughing, “meet you too.”

She stands nearly my height, with dark hair pulled back away from her face showing off her beautiful brown eyes and high cheekbones. She’s got two dimples on the left side of her mouth when she smiles and all I want to do is see her smile, for the rest of my life.

My own cheeks hurt from smiling so wide and she’s got a matching grin. It feels like time has suddenly stopped and it’s just the two of us in this room and all I can think about is how badly I want to get to know her. I wanna know what makes her smile, what makes her laugh, what is she most passionate about, what does she love the most in this world, what makes Parker Matthews so captivating?

“Anthony, let’s go finish our movie.” I snap out of it, tearing my face away from Parker’s and down to Fiona who's now wrapped around my arm. 

“Oh- yeah,” my eyes flicker back up to Parker who's now facing the fridge as she looks for something to eat. “Hey Parker, come join us when you’re done. I’d like to get to know you better.”

“Babe, she’s probably exhausted. She has been on her feet all day; she probably wants to get to bed.”

“No no- I’d love too,” Parker cuts Fiona off, “Besides, I’d love to get to know him seeing as you haven’t told me much about him.”

I raise my eyebrows at this, “Uh- really? I was under the impression that you knew about me.”

“Oh she does,” Fiona does that sugary sweet laugh again that I haven’t heard until today, “Parker is just forgetful.

“Or maybe you just didn’t tell me about him.”

“I did!” Fiona gets defensive now, “You just don’t pay attention when someone is talking to you.”

Parker rolls her eyes, muttering about not wanting to argue before she gives me another smile, “I’d love to join you guys, gimme a few.”

I completely miss the look that Fiona gives me as the two of us make our way back into the living room. We settle back into the couch, Fiona resting her head on my chest as the movie starts to play again, but my eyes keep drifting to the kitchen where Parker moves about.

Eventually, she catches my eye and just smirks, one eyebrow raised as she looks back at me. 

“What?” She mouths.

“Nothing.” I mouth back, smiling again, even wider when she giggles and smiles back. I can’t even care that I’ve been caught staring because I keep catching her looking back at me.

This back and forth game goes on for a while before she strolls into the living room and plops herself down on the couch adjacent to Fiona and I.

“Parker, you know how mom feels about you wearing scrubs on the couch.” Fiona reminds her.

“I’ll remember to Lysol the couch when I’m done.”

“You know that’s not-“

“Fiona,” she gives her sister a look, “I was just in a three and a half hour surgery, I didn’t come home to get lectured.”

The silence that follows just makes the room that much tense and all I can do is sit there and watch the movie as Fiona cuddles back up to me, pressing kisses to my neck and cheek. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Parker roll her eyes before her eyes lift to meet mine again.

“Huh?” I’m snapped out of it when Fiona is now standing up, tugging on my hand. “I said let’s go to bed.” She’s got this look on her face and I know what she wants, but I don’t have the desire to fulfill that. “Uh, I’ll be up in a little bit. I just wanna finish my wine.”

Pouting, she leans forward cupping both my cheeks and kisses me passionately before pulling away with a wink. “I’ll be waiting.” And then she’s out of the room, up the stairs, and gone.

“So…” I turn my head as Parker starts to speak, “How does it feel to be the bachelor?”

“Honestly, the whole thing started as a joke between me and my best friend on the team. I was actually surprised they called me for the show.” I laugh, shaking my head, “But, he and the guys always tried to set me up with people they knew of.  I just always wanted to focus on my career, and because of that I never really dated anyone.  Being on the show really has opened my eyes to a lot.”

“Sounds like you’re enjoying it, you deserve it after choosing to focus on your career. I get where you are coming from though, since high school all I focused on was getting into my college and then NYU’s vet program.”

“So, was being a vet always a goal for you?”

“Yeah, always. I love animals. It has always felt like my calling, in fact, back when I was at NYU, my professor used to say that I was born for this profession. Animals have always trusted me the moment they met me.” She shrugs, picking at the remaining scraps on her plate.

“Sometimes people are just born with a gift, and it takes an even more special person to recognize that gift and follow their dream.”

Her smile lights up her whole face as her cheeks turn a bit pink, “Thanks. I mean you get to live your dream too.” She must see the confusion on my face, because she pauses, “My roommates back in college were HUGE Islanders fans and used to drag me to games all the time. Also- one of them had a huge poster of you in our dorm room so I kinda put two and two together.”

“Oh! So you’re a fan?” I smile widely.

“Yeah, something along those lines. I mean I guess so? I rarely have time to watch games anymore, but I always really enjoyed going to games when I did have the time.”

“I’ll have to get you tickets then so you can come see me- us play.” I quickly cover my slip up, but I notice the corners of her mouth twitch up.

“I’d love to.”

Eventually we found ourselves side by side, facing one another, a grin on my face as Parker tells me an embarrassing story back from college. I reach up and tuck a piece of hair back behind her ear, smiling a bit as she stutters on her sentence before continuing. It was electric, touching her and I would take any excuse to fix her hair or graze my fingers along her arm. It felt so natural the conversation between us as we started to get into more deeper conversation. I felt like I could really open up and be vulnerable with her and at any other time that seemed impossible for me, but there was something growing between us that just made this so easy. There was nothing more intimate than being understood and understanding someone else. Before either of us knew it, it was coming up at three in the morning, but I wasn’t about to stop talking to her, even if my eyelids felt heavy and my body ached for sleep. She was intoxicating and I couldn’t get enough of her.

“Shit I didn’t realize it was so late…” she bites her lip and I can’t help but stare, the sudden thought of kissing her plaguing my mind.

She taps my cheek with a soft laugh, “I think you’re starting to fall asleep on me.”

“How could I ever? You’re so interesting. I could listen to you talk all day.”

She laughs again, but I don’t miss the blush on her cheeks. “Now you’re just sweet talking.”

“Eh- or maybe it’s just really cute seeing how red you get.” I wink at her, smiling again as her cheeks go redder and she shoves my arm gently before standing up. She looks down at me, a small smile on her lips. There’s a comfortable silence between us as we look at one another, before she breaks, “I should get to bed.”

“Mhm, yeah…” neither of us move, “Me too.”

Before I can even blink, her lips are brushing against my cheek, “Night Anthony. Thanks for the conversation. Sleep well.” And my eyes follow her out of the room.

I barely sleep that night and I realize that this is what it meant to feel like you were on cloud nine. I couldn’t stop smiling and I felt like a lovesick teenager, what the hell? Was this the same feeling that people talk about in cliche rom-coms- because I was buzzing with excitement. I wasn’t sure when I finally fell asleep, but I know for a fact that Parker was on my mind. When I finally wake up, the side next to me is empty, and I roll over to see it’s nearly noon and I wince; there’s nothing more I hated than wasting the day away. I quickly get up and shower, before heading downstairs. As I enter the kitchen I find a similar freshly showered and sleepy Parker leaning against the counter holding a cup of coffee.

“Morning. There’s coffee if you want any.”

“Yeah, that sounds fantastic.” I grab myself a cup before standing across from her.

She smirks over her mug, raising her eyebrows at me. “You know, it’s rude to stare.”

“Hm- I could say the same thing to you, Parker.”

“How’d you sleep?” She asks, changing the conversation.

“Pretty good.” That’s a lie, I was thinking about her. “How did you sleep?”

“Slept like a rock honestly. Being on your feet for thirteen hours does that to you.” 

“Yeah,” It suddenly occurs to me she’s wearing nothing more than a giant sweatshirt that just brushes her mid thigh and all I can do is admire the smooth skin and my mind starts to wander. “I know the feeling.” Before I know it, she’s in my space with a smirk on her face, “take a picture, it'll last longer.”

I can barely concentrate the rest of the day, not even while Fiona and I’s date is filmed. I feel bad feeling so distracted and I blame it on the jet lag when I know that is the furthest thing from the truth. Fiona doesn’t seem to take much notice, she just hangs off my arm, rattling off stories from her childhood and her modeling career, and then would pause to take pictures, but my mind keeps drifting back to Parker. I’m wondering what she’s doing right now, I wonder if she’s thinking of me too.

Later that night, I offered to help her do the dishes after dinner, even though the rest of the family protested, I figured it was only fair, plus it was just another excuse to be close to Parker.

“You’re terrible at being subtle you know.” She scolds me.

“And you’re great at it. Says the woman who wouldn’t stop staring at me across the table.”

“I was not staring.”

“I apologize, wrong wording, eye fucking makes much more sense” I grin and then yelp when she smacks me with a twisted up towel.

I laugh, taking the towel from her, waving it around calling a truce, “I’ll dry then?”

“Works for me.” She smiles and starts loading the sink up. “How about a game of twenty questions?”

“I’m up for it!”

“OK…what are you most proud of?”

I think for a moment, “I think I’m most proud of where I am today, I’m very happy where I am in my career and where I am in life.  What about you?”

“I am most proud of how all my hard work has paid off to this very moment. But there is a part of me that feels like I’ve missed out on certain experiences. You know, dating and parties, stuff like that.” She shrugs, handing me a plate.

“I get that, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be though. Building off of missed experiences because I’ve had my share too, what’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit?”

“Montreal. It’s been on my bucket list for a while. The culture, the history, the language, I’m just drawn to it all. I wanna visit the Notre-Dame Basilica so badly and then explore the city, go hiking, try the food, especially poutine. And I am fluent in French so it wouldn’t be an issue for me getting around. What about you? What's one place you always wanted to visit?”

I can’t stop the smile that grows on my face seeing the opportunity, “Well maybe one day I can make that happen! I’m from that area, so I can definitely show you everything you want to see.  For me, I know this is going to sound random, but I want to see Denmark one day!  I’ve heard there it’s beautiful and so peaceful!”

Really? Anthony that would be so cool! I’d love that!” She smiles, “And I’ve heard nothing but great things about Denmark, it sounds like the experience of a lifetime.”

“It’s Tito, by the way.”

“What?” She has the cutest look of confusion on her face.

“Just call me Tito.”

“OK then Tito...so um...what do you do to relax?”

“Honestly, I love baking! I make a MEAN banana bread! What about you?”

“It’s gonna sound silly, but napping. I rarely get to sleep so on a rare day off I start off with a nice soak in the tub and then take an obnoxiously long nap in bed. Bonus points if it’s raining cause it just makes it so much better.”

“Oh man- I know, there’s something so great about taking a nap while listening to the rain and-”

“Anthony- babe? Are you done in here yet?”

Fiona stood in the doorway of the kitchen with an unreadable expression on her face. She walks in with her head held high as she walks up to me and kisses me. Her fingers trail down my chest and she smiles.

“I’m sure Parker can take over from here, come on, there’s something I wanna show you that I couldn’t show you on our date today.” She giggles and I immediately catch on to what she’s saying.

“It would be rude to-”

“Parker can handle it right, Parks? She’s a big girl, come on, let’s go.” She laces her fingers with mine and started to tug at my arm.

I look at Parker helplessly as Fiona tugs me out of the room, but all I leave with is the sad smile on her face.