#actual chapter is in 2 days and this post will be really embarrassing then i suppose 💀 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

checkeredflagggs · 6 months ago

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The Story of Us: Chapter 2

pairing: logan sargeant x famous!fem!singer

summary: logan and you have been keeping a secret from everyone but it might be time for it to come out

a/n: while I do my best on most of my works to be race neutral, this one is very very very self indulgent 🤷🏻‍♀️

a/n2: this is part 2 of 4/5, which will be released when they’re finished and I’m using pretty much everything from Taylor Swift

a/n3: I still don’t understand instagram so - no one but those that follow you can see a private accounts comments (even on a public post). Also I still hate twitter so I’ve replaced it with Bluesky.

a/n4: Also timelines? Never heard of them. This is set in 2024 but I’ve moved Miami to before Australia

a/n5: happy birthday Logan! The charles post is next but I wanted to get this out for Logan��s birthday!

a/n6: justice for debut and speak now

Part 1

y/n_gossip

liked by user, user, user, and 12,383,483 others

y/n_gossip: breaking! Coming from unknown sources are apparently leaked photos from y/n’s private phone.

My questions are how was she hacked and who is the guy!

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user1: what a gross invasion of privacy!

↳user2: seriously! Celebrities are just people too and they don’t need people nosing into their business

↳user1: well said!

user3: mother? has? a? boyfriend?????

↳user4: what! who! when! how! WHAT???

↳user5: this is not what i expected to see when i woke up…

↳user3: right??? Its like looking both ways crossing the streets and getting shit on by a bird…

↳user4: …what???

user6: please do NOT tell me that crazy person is right?? I don’t think I could take it if they were right and it’s Logan Sargeant

↳user53: I think you might have to get used to idea that they were right

↳user19: ok that’s like really rude but I’m gonna ignore it because you’re agreeing with me

↳user7: ok but NO WHERE does it imply that this guy is Logan

↳user8: also where is it said that these photos are of y/n?? She’s been spending a lot of time with yoursister and yourbff

↳user7: more of a long shot but still possible!

↳user19: I’m gonna hold it over your heads for the rest of forever

↳user53: alright let’s roll it back now. Maybe wait to gloat until you’ve actually been proven correct?

↳user19:…fine

Private Messages, Logan and Y/N

f1gossip

liked by not_logan, not_oscar, user, user and 583,902 others

tagged: charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1, pierregasly, alex_albon, landonorris, georgerussell63

f1gossip: within minutes of the leak of y/n’s photos, several drivers had posted a collection of photos to their stories. Looking closely at them, the range of photos could be taken to mean that they were the guy in the photos with y/n (who people are speculating is her unrevealed boyfriend)

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user9: ummmm…this is not it guys 😂

user10: I didn’t think silly season was going to include drivers strongly implying they’re cheating on their girlfriends

↳user11: oh my god I didn’t even think of that

↳user12: just wait — give it a few days and the wags will be posting similar photos 😂😂

user13: the desperation radiating from these pics is incredible

↳user14: so is the second hand embarrassment

↳user15: so true. I’m cringing for them jesus

not_oscar: what??

↳not_logan: no

↳not_oscar: what the fuck is this

↳not_oscar: ew

↳not_lilyz: 🤣🤣

↳not_lilyz: ok but i need answers

↳not_oscar: oh ill get some answers alright

user16: ok but tagging them???

↳user17: so bold. I don’t think I could live after it

↳user18: it’s not even about me and I want to crawl under a rock and die

↳user17: big mood

Private Messages, The Grid (Unserious)

Private Messages, Logan and Y/N

williamsracing

liked by user, not_y/n, oscarpiastri, georgerussell63 and 2,234,123 others

tagged: alex_albon, logansargeant

williamsracing: watch as our drivers take on the Duracell RC Challenge and answer fan questions! Full episode out now

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user20: this is so cute!

↳user21: I know! It’s always so fun to see Logan and Alex clearly enjoy themselves

↳user22: it’s so good to see them smiling!

user23: ok but those questions???

↳user24: forget all the questions — I want to tattoo Logan’s look of mischief when he said cardio was his favorite form of workout

↳user23: oh my god I thought was just me who saw that!

↳user19: well if my girlfriend was y/n, cardio would also be my favorite workout

↳user53: I’m judging you

↳user19: but are you disagreeing with me?

↳user53:…no

↳user19: ha!

↳user23: …are you…flirting…on my comment thread????

↳user19: WHAT? NO. ABSOLUTELY NKT

↳user53: hahaha I don’t now what yours talking about

logansargeant: best media day so far!

↳alex_albon: I don’t know how you did it but I’m sure you were cheating

↳logansargeant: haha 😆 you can’t prove anything!

not_oscar: so we’re being freaks on main now?

↳not_logan: and what of it?

↳not_y/n: yeah don’t kink shame us oscie

↳not_oscar: oh i'm definitely doing more than that

↳not_lilyz: oh like you haven’t done anything freaky too

↳not_logan: ha!

↳not_y/n: thank you lily

↳not_oscar: really love?

↳not_lilyz: 🤭🤭

liked by maxverstappen1, alexandrasaintmleux, oscarpiastri, pierregasly, and 15,273,273 others

tagged: y/n, y/n_nation

f1: …Ready For It? Y/N has arrived ahead of the Miami GP where she will be singing the national anthem to kickstart the day!

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user25: classy!

↳user26: she always is!

y/n: it’s an honor to have been asked! And the warm welcome from everyone and their teams have really made the day something special! 🩵

↳logansargeant: oh everyone has been very excited to have you in the paddock!

↳oscarpiastri: very excited indeed

↳charles_leclerc: Bienvenue au Grand Prix ! Vous êtes en effet un spectacle très apprécié à voir! “Welcome to the Grand Prix! You are indeed a very very welcome sight to see!”

↳pierregasly: C'est toujours un honneur d'avoir une jolie jolie fille qui vous attend! “It’s always an honor to have a pretty pretty girl waiting for you!”

↳user27:…I thought the desperation was over…

user28: god what a whore…useless too. Made it too hard to get tickets. Too many silly stupid little girls who don’t know anything about the sport got all the tickets just to see her

↳alex_albon: wow I didn’t know mouths could spew such shit

↳maxverstappen1: I wouldn’t worry about not being able to get a ticket 👍🏻 you’ve been banned!

↳landonorris: not only by the individual teams but by the sport as a whole

↳f1: well said drivers! user28 that is not the attitude that we support here in f1! We welcome (nearly) everyone to the Grand Prix’s whether they’re here to watch the race or to watch y/n!

↳user29:…shut down!

user30: my favorite part of today so far has been how stupid the drivers turned when y/n got close to them!

↳user31: there was absolutely no thoughts in the heads of the Ferrari men

↳user32: (or their girlfriends let’s be real)

user33: I wish someone had gotten close enough to the alpine garage…

↳user34: god I know! The Kelsey brothers were there and based on their faces whatever Pierre was saying was probably outrageous af

↳user35: well he’s publicly called himself a tripod so we know he has no shame

user36: Oscar’s look of disgust whenever Lando and Alex opened their mouths tho…

↳user37: oh he was going through it today

↳user19: Love how logan was just laughing in the background though

↳user53: well if you’re right, they’ve been together for years so he’s probably pretty secure in their relationship…

↳user19: if?!??

↳user53: THERES STILL NO PROOF

williamsracing

liked by not_y/n, georgerussell63, alex_albon, oscarpiastri, and 1,334,274 others

tagged: logansargeant

williamsracing: Logan podium! I repeat!!! LOGAN PODIUM

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user38: I never thought I’d see the day

↳user39: well damn that’s kinda really rude

↳user38: be so for real right now did you ever think Williams would podium? Let alone Logan??

not_y/n: yeah you’re gonna get the best head of your life tonight babe

↳not_logan: 🥵🥵🥵🤩🤩🤩

↳not_oscar: please for the love of everything keep that shit to yourselves

↳not_y/n: just say you’re jealous and move on Aussie boy

↳not_oscar: why am I friends with you again

↳not_logan: we really didn’t give you a choice

↳not_y/n: we grew on you eventually!

↳not_oscar: like mold

↳not_logan: boo!!

↳not_y/n: boo!!!

oscarpiastri: congrats Logan!

↳logansargeant: thanks man!

alex_albon: congratulations! Show them how it’s done!

↳logansargeant: you know it! But it’s your turn next!

↳alex_albon: 🙌🏼🙌🏼

jv.f1: congratulations

↳user40: what in the world is with this dry ass congrats???

↳logansargeant: thank you!

georgerussell63: Many congratulations Logan! It was great to finally share a podium with you

↳logansargeant: thank you George! Hopefully the first of many!

logansargeant

liked by not_y/n, oscarpiastri, alex_albon, and 778,445 others

tagged: williamsracing

logansargeant: P3 BABY! WE DID IT! THANK YOU EVERYONEEEEEEEE 🩵🩵🩵

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user41: CONGRATS LOGAN

↳user42: THATS OUR AMERICAN BOY

y/n: Congratulations Logan! You do Florida and Miami proud

↳logansargeant: thanks y/n! You must be my lucky charm though

↳y/n: Oh no that was all you!

↳user19: 🫵☝🏻🫵🫵🫵🫵☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻

↳user19: THIS IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!

nicolepiastri: congrats Logan!

↳logansargeant: thanks Mom Piastri

↳oscarpiastri: and what of your actual son?

↳nicolepiastri: you’d like a congratulations for 6th?

↳oscarpiastri: well yes?!

↳nicolepiastri: hmmmm whatever you want sweetie. Congratulations on 6th

↳user43: I live for Nicole dragging Oscar

user44: such a great drive today Logan! Show ��em what Americans can do!

not_y/n: possibility of you sneaking away before media to meet me?

↳not_logan: not likely

↳not_y/n: damn. Well just now I’ve made it back to our place and I’ve found a way to keep myself busy 😉🥵

↳not_logan: you can’t do this to me. Not right before I have to talk to Jensen and Nico

↳not_y/n: 🤭🤭🤭

↳not_oscar: or never. You can do this never

jensonbutton: congrats kid!

↳logansargeant: thanks jenson!

Private Messages

y/n_nation

liked by user, sabrinacarpenter, georgerussell63, zendaya, oscarpiastri, and 19,245,927 others

y/n_nation: Our bags are packed and the flights are here! Welcome to the Eras Tour!

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zendaya: what a wonderful night 🖤

↳tomholland2013: thanks for dragging me!

↳zendaya: you begged me to go?

alexandrasaintmleux: what a stunning show! Best night of my life!

↳charles_leclerc: what an amazing show y/n! Love your piano work!

↳user48: flirting with another woman right underneath your girlfriends comment??

oscarpiastri: fantastic time!

↳hattiepiastri: THANK YOH OSCSR!

↳not_y/n: glad you enjoyed yourself!

↳hattiepiastri: thank you for the tickets and the sweaters and the records!!

↳not_y/n: anything for my favorite Piastri!

↳oscarpiastri: you’re welcome 😑

alex_albon: by far the best concert I’ve been to!

↳lilymhe: thanks for taking me baby!

↳alex_albon: of course!

↳lilymhe: and thanks y/n for such a magical night 😘

↳user49: what’s with the weird flirting? What’s happening right now???

carmenmmundt: ¡Qué noche tan magnífica! ¡Gracias y/n! What a magnificent night! Thank you y/n!

↳georgerussell63: I loved every moment of it y/n!

↳user50: I see the desperation has found this post as well 😂😂

↳user51: so has the second hand embarrassment 🫣🫣

user52: I can’t feel my face or my feet but oh my god what a magical night

↳user54: absolutely worth it!

↳user52: definitely gonna be the concert of the year!!

Bluesky

Part 3

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crimsntwlip · 2 years ago

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"i said i love the smiths" | pt. 2

pairing: mattheo riddle x fem!reader

warnings: slow burn, readers status not mentioned, reader is a slytherin

summary: after that little interaction that happened between you and mattheo, he starts to notice you more.

a/n: ¿i think i might turn this into a chapter fic? if this does well.. please Imk your thoughts !!

masterlist I posted: 11/22/23 | part 1

a few days had passed since the little gathering in slytherin. mattheo was currently sitting in potions class next to theodore, quietly dozing off into his own little world while snape’s monotonous words bore him to death.

his mind drifted to her, thinking back to the little interaction they had during the party and how quickly he wanted to get to know more of her. during those few days that had passed, mattheo was consumed by thoughts of (y/n). he had become more aware of you; previously, he had not even known your name or acknowledged your presence in the classes you both shared, something he had not realized until recently.

he had his eyes fixed on the back of your head without realizing it. snape on the other hand, clearly noticed the distracted gaze mattheo had, quickly calling him out for it.

“mister riddle!” he exclaimed loudly, making him jump slightly in embarrassment as everyone turned their heads towards him, including yours as he immediately looked up at snape as he noticed that you had turned around to face the boy while he was being scolded.

snape deadpanned, "i see you're paying much attention." he scowled, "what negative effects could peppermint potion have?" he gave the instruction, causing mattheo to cast a sidelong glance in theodore’s direction, who appeared amused by the scenario.

he turned his gaze back towards the professor, “uh.. well..” he dragged, clearing his throat before continuing, “that would be uh steam coming from the ears?” he answered which sounded more of a question.

(y/n) noticed the confused tone in his voice, making her snicker quietly but quickly dying down when snape snapped his head towards her, making her feel small as she sunk into her seat. mattheo grinned at her but quickly wiped it off as snape turned back towards him. “correct.” he revealed sternly.

“now if you care to pay attention this time.” he requested, giving mattheo a determined look. theodore nudged him in his rib, smirking as mattheo simply narrowed his eyes at him before turning back towards the lesson, glancing at (y/n) here and there.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

(y/n) felt a small shove, she furrowed her brows as her two bestfriends filled the empty seats next to her at the dining table. "i heard what happened in potions," elenoise commented as she began to load her plate with goods. she glanced at a puzzled (y/n). “what do you mean?” (y/n) asked, recalling back to earlier, you thought nothing particular happened.

“you really don’t know?” elenoise asked as she began stuffing her mouth, (y/n) shook her head at the girl, as she began to grow curious. “a certain slytherin was scolded for staring at you the entire lesson!” augusta chimed in, wiggling her eyebrows at you with a grin. “me?” you asked, you felt a slight blush creep up, the two girls nod at you.

“actually,” augusta muttered, she moved her gaze away and looked across the table, not that far away from you guys was mattheo who sitting with his friends as his attention was fixated towards you. “he’s looking at you right now!” augusta smirked, you follow her gaze, immediately making eye contact with mattheo.

as you made eye contact with him, almost immediately did he look away. his ears turning red from embarrassment of being caught as he tried avoiding your stare, turning his attention back to his friends. your friends start laughing, holding onto your shoulders for support as they held their stomach. you though, stayed quiet as you continue blushing, looking down at your food as your friends continued to tease you about this.

“okay.. thats enough..” you whined, feeling flustered as your friends teased you. you glanced back up at him, revealing once again his gaze on you. you gave him a gentle smile back before turning your attention back to your friends.

thoughts of befriending riddle came across your mind, his small gestures lingering on your mind. maybe, you thought, he isn’t like the others.

mattheo noticed the smile you returned, maybe, just maybe did he have a chance.

taglist: @hisparentsgallerryy

#emsnotion #slytherin boys #slytherin boys imagine #slytherin boys x reader #mattheo riddle x you #mattheo x you #mattheoxreader #mattheo x y/n #mattheo riddle x reader #mattheo riddle #—crimsntwlipᡣ𐭩

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joaniscruzing · 1 month ago

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off the record: ch.2

HELLOOOOOOO EVERYONEEEEE

thought i'd post one last chapter tonight.... MORE PAIGE X READER ACTION IN THIS ONE!!!

summary: you and paige get closer as the preseason continues. despite your worries, your early relationship with her is actually working out?

warnings: worrying about work, a bit of angst, kissing, lots of banter, I TALKED ABT PAIGE AND HER IPAD A BIT, also shay being iconic

That night, you rushed to your hotel room and binge-watched Paige’s edits. You weren’t really the one to have celebrity crushes, but the one you were having was growing by the minute. Every edit you watched of her was just adding fuel to your growing fire of feeling for her. And you hated it.

You knew that if you ended up with any professional entanglements, you would have to report them to your boss, which wouldn’t be a good look for you as an aspiring journalist.

All they’ll see when they look at me is ‘Oh look, she dated the first person she interviewed.’ ‘Oh look, she’s a slut.’ ‘Oh look, she’s not professional.’

To put it bluntly, you were about to ask to never interview Paige Bueckers ever again. Fortunately, you had about two weeks until you had to fly out to Arlington, Texas to interview her at the College Park center. Your boss wanted you to become better accustomed to the art of sports interviewing, so, in between, you were assigned to various preseason games, including with the Los Angeles Sparks, Connecticut Sky, and Seattle Storm. Between your traveling, interviewing, and endless work, you were pretty much booked each day, giving you no time to think of Paige.

The next game still did roll around, even if it did feel like it snuck up on you, and you felt more confident than ever. You were finally getting the hang of being on TV, and you were, for once, photogenic in every interview. You were able to confidently interview any player they assigned you, with not nearly as much anxiety as your first interview with Paige. If anything, you felt ready for your next game with the Dallas Wings.

The day itself was very hectic. You woke up to the apparent lack of air conditioning in your hot Texas hotel room, and immediately felt the need to start getting ready. You kept reassuring yourself that the interview with Paige wouldn’t be flirty, and that you wouldn’t be growing any kind of relationship with her, even if you were just a new friend for her. Unfortunately, Shay did pick up on your anxiety for the day, and boy, did she know what was going on.

“Nervous for today?” she asked while beating a beauty blender onto your face.

“I guess,” you nervously replied, playing with your hands simultaneously, “I didn’t think I’d be nervous today, especially with all the extra work I’ve been doing.”

“You sure you’re not dreading seeing a SPECIFIC someone?”

You sighed. “I just feel like my conversations with Paige, you know, the ones I was telling you about, were a bit TOO unprofessional. I’m embarrassed.”

“You sure it’s not another reason?”

“Okay, okay. So I may have gone back to the hotel and seen basically any video of her online. And I may have found her attractive. But I got over the crush rather quickly.”

“I don’t think you did, hun,” Shay says, giggling, “I’ve only put on your foundation and concealer, and I can see you blushing through the makeup.”

“What am I going to do?” you asked, fretful.

“Okay. Here’s what I’m going to do,” Shay asserted, trying to comfort you, “I’m going to make your hair and makeup extra nice today. And if she says anything before or after the interview, you’ll tell me, and we’ll deal with this together. Although, I don’t think ESPN will be horrified if anything happens. Just… no PDA on camera.”

“Oh my god! Who do you think I am?” you gasped, letting out a laugh.

The night of the game finally came, and you were ready for whatever came at you.

Thank fuck that you weren’t in charge of covering the practice, because on your way to the practice, you saw on your Instagram, she was wearing some black tank top that really excentuated her biceps, and you swore you could feel your stomach flip.

“Welcome to the WNBA preseason game of the Dallas Wings vs. the Toyota Antelopes!” you called to the camera, a trained smile on your face.

As you continued to ramble off whatever was on the teleprompter, you caught Paige in the corner of your eye. She had a slick-back, along with her usual Wings attire, and you almost stopped your ramblings just to marvel at the blonde beauty in front of you. You decided to pay no attention to it, as you were, after all, still at your workplace. However, when you finished the opening statement, you looked around, trying to sneak a glance of her, and you saw her look away.

You’re kidding.

You tried to shake off the fact that your basketball crush was, in fact, checking you out, and quickly scurried off into the box, which was assigned for ESPN. You took your usual notes, preparing any questions you needed to, and, very quickly, halftime came.

You walked up to Paige, trying to illuminate any sort of professionality that you could.

“Oh sweet, you’re interviewing again?” she asked, a smile lighting up her face.

“You bet!” you replied awkwardly, “How’s Texas been?”

“Hot is one of my top words for that,” she said, “but I’m getting more and more used to it each day, and that’s all I could really ask for, so I’m grateful for that.”

“Of course, yeah.”

“And how has the job been treating you, little miss ESPN interviewer? I saw you at Aubrey’s game.”

It took a second for your brain to actually respond to that last statement before you finally answered, “Very tiring, but I’m just glad I’m doing something news-related this summer.”

“We’re kind of twinning with that, huh?” Paige retorted, wiping some sweat off of her forehead.

“With what?”

“You know, being in new places, becoming accustomed to the new environment and all.”

“I guess you’re right,” you answer, smiling, “crazy, right?”

“Yeah, for sure,” she said, smiling.

The way she was smiling at you was truly like no other. Her eyes lit up, and the blueness in her eyes sparkled, overall brightening her face. It was as if her face was literal sunshine. Her smile itself was almost dopey, like a little kid’s. You felt as if you were the only girl in the room with the way she looked at you.

Although your stomach was flip-flopping like crazy, deep down, it pained you that this was as far as it was going to go. Just these lingering glances and love-filled smiles, and then never speaking again after this summer.

You barely registered the interview that you conducted with her; they were nothing for you to do now. You were also extremely bothered by your looming thoughts.

It’s not going to happen. Calm down.

You quickly said goodbye to her, trying to get out of the situation as quickly as you could, when you felt a tap on your shoulder.

“Hey!” the blonde called, grabbing your attention immediately.

“Paige!” you said, forcing a smile, “What’s up?”

“We’re about to go celebrate the win, want to join us?” she seemed genuine, especially with how she was looking at you.

Like you were the only girl in the room.

You decided to think for a moment. You wouldn’t have any more games to cover for the next few days, and you really didn’t have anything better to do.

“Sure, why not?”

“Bet! Meet us at this place in about two hours. I’ll send you the addy after press.”

“Oh, okay! Here, I’ll give you my phone number so you can send it.”

Paige takes your phone, excitedly typing in her number. She types a message on it so she knows it’s you, and hands it back.

“See you soon!” you said, trying to hide a goofy smile on your face.

Paige waved back at you, typing a message into her phone as she regressed to the locker room along with her teammates. You quickly gathered your things and called Shay in a panic, begging her to help you out with an outfit.

“What happened to ‘staying professional,’ babes? Huh?” she teased over the phone.

“You were the one who made my makeup extra pretty today! What am I going to tell Angelica? ‘Oh yeah, I accidentally FUCKED Paige fucking Bueckers last night, and I can’t ever interview her or go near the Wings again, so you’re going to have to switch the team I’m covering!?’ I’m going to be BLACKLISTED for professional entanglements, and then I’m going to NEVER get a job that I want ever again!”

“Okay. So after I did your hair and makeup, I did contact Angelica and ask her.”

“WHAT?”

“LET ME FINISH! I said that you sensed some chemistry with Paige and that you were unsure of how to handle it professionally. And she told me that you CAN explore a relationship with her, but it just cannot get to the point where it’s made public, at least before you finish your summer job.”

“Wait, really?” you asked, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“She even told me to tell you, and I quote, ‘best of luck with the golden rookie.”

You smiled to yourself, chuckling at the statement.

“Please, for the love of everything that is holy, come over right now.”

“Alright, alright!” Shay yelled through the phone, “Just get back to the hotel!”

You say a quick goodbye and hang up, and then look at Paige’s message to save the address. To your surprise, she also sends a cockily written message following it, reading

Wear something nice. Thinking of showing you around Dallas 🔥

Of course she tells you to wear something “nice.” But given her style, you feared you may end up disappointing her.

A very rushed hair and makeup routine, along with a panicked search for an outfit left you playing some Clairo in the car while you drove to the bar.

You really didn’t want to mess this up.

To your surprise, though, when you walked in, Paige came up to you, eyeing you up and down. Not in the way others had looked at you, like you were their next meal.

Like you were the prettiest thing she had ever seen.

She walked up to you, putting an arm around you, and guiding you to the table with her teammates. She introduced you, smiling bigger than ever.

“Oh, okay P, you brought the interviewer. Very professional,” DiJonai commented, smirking.

“Mmmhmm,” Arike added, trying to stifle a giggle.

“C’mon guys, be nice,” Paige groaned, letting you slide into the booth first. She slid in next to you, and then asked you in a quieter voice,

“What drinks do you like?”

You just asked for a virgin Shirley Temple, as you were pretty tired, and didn’t want to drink too much; if you said anything to Paige while drunk, you’d be done for.

“Have you been doing your research on me or something?” Paige asked, still maintaining that damn eye contact with you, “I love Shirley Temples.”

“Don’t get cocky,” you teased, “I just wanted an objectionally good drink that wouldn’t leave me passed out later.”

“No need to get defensive,” she said, chuckling a bit, “unless you HAVE been doing your research.”

“Well, I have been assigned to interview you. How do you think I come up with my unique questions, Bueckers?”

Paige smirked and then continued her conversation with her team. You were able to answer a few questions that her teammates had about sports journalism, but mostly, you were quiet for a majority of the night, sipping on your Shirley Temple. Luckily, however, the rest of the Dallas Wings began to leave the premises, one by one, until you were left with Paige—and Paige only.

“So, are too tired to get a tour around Dallas or what?” Paige asked.

“I guess not,” you answered jokingly, with a dramatic sigh.

“Are you sure? It’s been a long night. We can do this another day, that is, if you even want to,” Paige replied, a hint of concern in her voice.

“I’m kidding, of course I’m not tired,” you responded, “I’ve been looking forward to that tour all night.”

Paige smiled and got out of the booth, holding out her hand.

“Shall we, then?” she asked, like the swoonworthy male characters you would read about in romance books growing up. Up until now, you had thought that you’d never get this whirlwind romance, at least one you wouldn’t care about this much.

You had known that you would never be as blown away by a man than a woman.

“Sure,” you said, giggling and taking her hand.

You both exited the bar, hand in hand, beginning to finally warm up to each other, not as colleagues, not as friends, but something more.

“Welcome to the Paige Bueckers official tour of Dallas, Texas! Today, due to the EXTREMELY late hour, you’ll be seeing… city lights, and some BEAUTIFUL parks!”

“Wow, I’m so honored! How long have you been in Dallas again?”

“Doesn’t matter, I did extensive research.”

“On your iPad?”

“How else would I be doing proper extensive research?”

“Paige, be honest with me, is the iPad here with us right now?”

“You’re going to use this against me, aren’t you?” Paige said, acting dramatically offended.

“Do you know how many times my boss texted me today, SCRUTINIZING me for not asking about that damn purple iPad of yours?”

“I mean, she needs more attention.”

“Paige, have you named your iPad?”

“And WHY would I tell you that?”

Now it was time for you to at least radiate some confidence.

“Because you want me to keep on coming and interviewing you.”

By now, the two of you had entered the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, and you were under this walkway, trees lining both sides. Beautiful yellow lights were wound all around the trees, which just made Paige look happier.

Prettier.

Like she was the sun.

Paige moved in closer to you, looking down at you with her big blue eyes.

“I do want that,” she said in a low, borderline-whispering voice.

“Me too,” you expressed back with the same volume level.

Her hands found their way around your waist, her thumbs rubbing circles slowly. She began to lean in, keeping her eyes open in case you were about to pull away. Your faces were centimeters from each other, eyeing each other’s lips like asking a silent question. You reached your hand to the back of Paige’s head to pull her in.

“Wait, sorry to interrupt!”

Some fan had tapped Paige’s shoulder, breaking the moment between you two. She asked for a photo, which you begrudgingly took, and then watched as she ran away, giddy and full of joy.

You finally turn around to Paige, who’s already walking towards you.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked, that gummy smile of hers filling her face.

“Took you long enough.”

She cupped your face this time, while you pulled her in by her chains. Out of any time you had ever kissed anybody, this one didn’t feel sexual or hungry at all. It just felt right.

It felt like there were people running around with sparklers around both of you.

She kissed the way she looked at you.

You finally broke the kiss, looking up at her, panting, even though the kiss wasn’t fast at all.

“I named my iPad Lyla.”

“LYLA!?”

“Yeah, it’s short for lilac, which’s my favorite color, and my iPad case is lilac, so, yeah.”

You burst out into laughter, resting a hand on Paige’s shoulder.

“What? It was a well-thought-out, fitting name for my iPad!”

“Paige, you have no idea how funny you are.”

“I get enough ridicule for my immense love for my iPad, okay?”

“Paige. You’re safe. I’ll keep this one off the record.”

“Yeah?”

“Anything we say that’s off the court is for our ears only.”

Paige smiles. “Are you implying we have a chance of meeting off-court again?”

“Only if you’re down, Bueckers.”

The night continued, with some touring of the metropolitan area, while she marveled at the beautiful sights ahead of her.

“And uhh, right here, is the Reunion Tower!”

You looked up at the tall tower, engulfed in twinkling blue lights that amazed you greatly.

“This is beautiful, Paige.”

“I’m glad you like it! It’s prettier than the photos I saw.”

A moment settles between the two of you. You both know that you need to go to your respective abodes, but neither of you want to leave. If either of you could stay in this moment forever, you’d snatch the opportunity and run with it like Pheidippides at the Battle of Marathon.

Paige, who was still next to you, wrapped her hand around your waist, whispers in your ear, “I don’t wanna leave.”

“Me neither,” you replied, resting your head on her arm, “but I need to leave soon.”

“Lemme take you home, please,” she begged, rubbing her thumb on your waist with slow motions.

“Okay,” you said.

The car ride back was a quiet one, even though a soft conversation took place during the ride. It wasn’t anything too wild, just discussion of plans for a second date—you both wanted to consider this a date, and you wanted to go on another—and some talk about your days tomorrow. You planned to FaceTime her tomorrow night, to at least get to know each other better instead of communicating with stolen glances and awkward conversation.

Paige finally made it to the hotel, stopping at the entrance.

“Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

A moment settled between you both, the chemistry between the two of you sizzling like bacon.

Paige leaned over the middle of the car, her eyes flickering down to your lips.

“I’ll look forward to your call.”

“Me too,” you replied, leaning in, close enough for your faces to be touching if either of you desired.

She cradled your cheek with one of her big, strong hands, leaning in to kiss you one more time.

A few kisses were exchanged between the two of you, before you both started to giggle like crazy.

“I really do need to go, Paige,” you managed to get out between giggles.

“Then stop being so damn distracting,” she answered, looking up at the night sky.

“You’re the one with your little ‘please don’t go’s’ and kiss initiations!”

“And yet, you still play into it, babe.”

“Bye, Paige.”

“You’re really going to leave me here?”

“Go hit the gym if you’re not tired!” you said while exiting the car, “You’ve got the game against the Lynx next week!”

“I’m going tomorrow!”

“Then go home and rest, sleepyhead.”

“And I can’t sleep with you?”

You raised an eyebrow at her, smirking.

“Not like that, bro, just like, sleeping.”

“I can’t have my hair stylist walking into that, nope. I still need to tell her how this went.”

“So you’re reporting back to her?” she asked cheekily.

“She was the one who said I shouldn’t be hesitant to go out with you tonight.”

“She seems pretty smart, then. I’m a pretty good time.”

“You’re annoying.”

“That too,” Paige admitted while shrugging.

“Bye, Paige.”

“Bye.”

You smiled as you approached the front door of the hotel, and you were glad that she was waiting until you were inside the building, and far past her eyesight inside the windows before leaving. You couldn’t believe how caring she really was, despite her teammate’s constant talk about it.

Nevertheless, you fell asleep a very happy camper, dreaming of any future you might just be able to salvage with Paige.

taglist: @asapeveryday @moesthoughts

141 notes · View notes

ravcnism · 1 year ago

Text

STRIKEOUT. ( PART 2 ) — KEN SATO x Male!Athlete READER

Summary: An after-party. A conversation-turned-confrontation. Kenji finally meets the esteemed Toyo Bullet and struggles to define the difference between anger, terror, and infatuation.

# # TAGS: Even More Tension, Kenji Has a Good Relationship with His Team, Intense First Encounter, Domestic Sato Family Shenanigans

# # WARNINGS: Mature Language, Alcohol Consumption, Nothing Too Crazy, No Beta Again We Die Like Onda

Note: Okay, here we go: the actual second part. Again, I am so sorry for accidentally publishing my draft earlier — I am ill with embarrassment. But I’m very happy to know that people look forward to it! If you read the false-post, then you’ve only read half of the chapter. This one has over 3000 words more! Enjoy.

“It was a nail-biter of a game here at the New Tokyo stadium tonight, folks. Right off the bat, both teams were going neck and neck, toe-to-toe. And it seemed like neither one was willing to give an inch! Our home team managed to pull off a narrow victory in the end, and by narrow, I mean narrow, Kiba.”

“That is absolutely right, Sasaki. I truly have never seen anything like it in my entire career. And you know- you know I know a lot of baseball. You know I’ve been doing this for many years, but wow! Just- insane.”

“Truly a close call. Eight additional innings? To break the tie? I cannot believe it. Let me tell you, neither the Hiroshima Toyo Carp nor the Yomiuri Giants wanted to lose today.”

“If you look at the crowd, It looks like everyone’s been wanting to go home.”

Exhausted was an understatement. Kenji hadn’t felt this drained after a game since, well, only months ago: when he was still juggling the responsibilities of raising a baby Kaiju, carrying the weight of being Ultraman, and maintaining his reputation as a well-known baseball player. All of these, on top of the sleepless nights, no longer hindered him from his work. He usually left the stadium feeling brand new every single time — regardless of whether they won or lost. He had grown and learned to lean on people, to ask for help, accept defeat. Which was good and all that, but the point was: he was exhausted from this game. You had him panting for air like an overworked dog.

Shimura had Kenji on the field for longer than he should have been. While his younger, more egotistical self might have loved his moment in the spotlight, running base to base for six innings in a row was unsurprisingly really tiring. The teams had hit a clean tie by the ninth inning, and the tie-breaker lasted for eight more. You were eating their rookies alive and having their journeymen for dessert. When Shimura realized that Sato was the only one batting your pitches, he had him play for every round after the tie. The only times Kenji wasn’t on the field was when you weren’t either. Which wasn’t a lot. It scared him how you looked like you could throw that ball for days.

“Hiroshima’s L/n is just- an absolute unit, isn’t he?”

“He certainly is, Kiba. He certainly is. I mean his performance was near inhuman tonight. Each pitch was a gem and we- he really wanted us to know that he’s here, he’s ready, and he’s willing to change Japanese baseball. He was a major force out there on the field.”

“I cannot agree with you more. But credit where credit is due, we all know that the only reason the Giants are coming home with tonight’s win is because of none other than Ken Sato himself.”

“That’s right, Sato really put up a fight. L/n was throwing him off balance every time, but he always found his footing. I think tonight might have been the hardest I’ve seen him work. You know he- he usually makes his plays look effortless — disregarding last season’s slump.”

“I say he held his own very, very impressively. The team was right to rely on him. I know we’ve spoken a lot about their tension, but I’d say it’s their dynamic that really drove the point home. They were like- mirrors of each other out there. When you put two equal forces together, they deflect. You know what I’m saying?”

Kenji’s hand shook with a weakness he wasn’t familiar with. He stared at his calloused palm and noticed his fingers twitching. Shit. It really was some game. He might have been hitting the ball, but he was barely getting it through the field. Not only were your pitches fast, but there was weight to them, too. He was witnessing the caliber of your capabilities; understanding why you were the talk of every city.

The rest of the Giants came walking into the locker room, jeering and laughing amongst themselves. “That L/n is a real piece of work, ain't he?” Shirakumo, number 24, sat himself next to Kenji, unlacing his shoe. “Never seen anything like it.”

“Did you see the look on Tateoka’s face?” Yuki laughed, smacking his thigh. “Dude was scared shitless!”

“Hey!” Tateoka frowned in reply, tugging his jersey off his arms. “You try standing in front of that guy and telling me you don't feel a little threatened.” He shuddered, remembering the look in your eyes. Dark and pointed and menacing. “He was staring me down like he was gonna—”

“Eat you alive?” Kenji scoffed.

The team went silent, then erupted into a cluster of teasing ‘oooh’s. God. It reminded him of highschool.

“Oohh, yeah.” Yamada, number 21, slid over to him with a teasing tone. He wrapped an arm around Kenji’s shoulder and squeezed him closer. “I don't think I've ever seen Sato so shaken!”

He laughed, playfully pushing him away. He was also actually really sore on that shoulder. Hell, he could already feel the pain he’d need to go through just to get up tomorrow. He was going to need another ice bath. The rest of the boys jumped in on the jokes.

“Did you see the way he was looking at you Ken?” Tokuda opened his locker, grabbing a shirt from the top shelf. He whistled. “Like he wanted your head on a plate.”

Tanaka chuckled. “He wanted you dead, man!”

Kenji rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Let's not get carried away. I never said I was shaken.”

“But that last bat was sweet as hell.” Yuki nodded. “I doubt any of us would've gotten through the guy if it weren't for Sato.”

“Well, duh.” Shirakumo shrugged. None of the Giants denied it. Ken was their star player. And tonight proved it more than ever. “We owe you for drinks, bud. Give us a date and we'll treat ya’ to someplace you like.” He slapped Ken’s back affectionately, which elicited a pained groan. “Shit, sorry.”

Kenji’s watch started beeping. He flinched at the sound, eyes widening slightly. “Uh, see you in a sec, guys. I gotta take this.”

He was there a moment, then gone the next. Kenji rushed himself out the hallways and into an empty locker room to answer Mina’s call. “Hey!” he greeted, anxiously. A screen projected itself from his watch and lit up his face. “Hey. Hi. What's wrong? Everyone alright? I know I said I'd be home soon, but the game took way longer than–”

He was interrupted by cheering. His father clapped and whooped with excitement as Emi occupied the background, screeching with glee. Kenji could see the ground shaking as she was jumping around and doing her special dance. One of Mina’s arms was protruding from the wall and waving celebratory flags. It immediately put a smile on his face, easing the tension from his shoulders. He was always happy to see everyone alright, and even happier to see them as their silly selves.

“Kenji!” cheered Hayao. “That was an incredible game! You were unstoppable!” The professor chuckled. Emi picked him up into a hug, slightly toppling the camera over. His legs swung like a ragdoll’s. “Okay, okay girl-”

Ken laughed, slightly shaking his head. “Easy, Emi. Put Grandpa down.”

“It was a very impressive game, Ken. Perhaps one of your bests.” Mina’s calculative yet affectionate voice echoed from his watch.

Hayao fell to the floor with an ‘oof’. “You didn't tell me you were playing against THEE Mets’ Bullet!” He scrambled to stand up, barely leaning on his cane. “I wasn’t even aware that he was signed into the Carp!”

Kenji’s smile immediately faded. “Okay.” He rolled his eyes. “He was alright, I guess. And we don’t actually know if he signed into it or if he was traded. We barely heard anything about him from the press.”

“Alright?” Professor Sato gasped, appalled. “Kenji, he was spectacular! He’s a lot like you, you know. I’ve always suspected that the both of you equalled in skill, but to see it in action? Phew.” He wiped some pretend sweat off of his forehead. “What a show! Eight extra innings to break a tie? Unbelievable! I highly doubt that he was traded. Who in their right mind would purposely lose a player like that?”

Kenji scoffed. “He wasn’t that good.” His sore limbs would like to say otherwise.

“He had you chasing after his pitches like a dog!”

“I don’t like that analogy.”

“I ought’ to rewatch that documentary they made about him. You know they’ve done studies on the physics of his throws.”

“Dad.”

“And how fortunate for Hiroshima to have gotten him out of all teams! I can tell that this season is going to turn around really fast. Just today he’s already scored-”

“Dad!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Hayao chuckled. “I’m just very excited to see the both of you on the same field.” Kenji sighed, nodding his head. “Anyway, congratulations on the win, my boy. I’m so proud of you. I always am. Get home safe. It may be late, but we still have a lot of leftovers from dinner!” Emi made a noise that let him know she was waiting, too.

Going home sounded like heaven. Ken wanted nothing more but to rest. Maybe kick back and have a chocolate shake while he and his family watched cartoons to fall asleep. It was the perfect way to end his night. It had been an unexpectedly long day and he looked forward to tomorrow’s well-earned break. Eight extra innings might even win him a second day of rest. Or a third, if Shimura agreed not to schedule him for the next game. Which, he doubted, if it meant you’d be playing.

“I’m on my way.” He ended the call, and opted to take the fastest way out, desperate to avoid the press.

Ken collapsed onto the floor, snuggling into Emi’s arm. Having washed up and eaten his dinner, he felt the last remains of his adrenaline-fueled strength die out like a dwindling flame. He felt as if his limbs were about to fall off. “Ugh,” he groaned. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow.” Emi didn’t much care. She seemed to be preoccupied by the new ( gigantic ) stacking blocks that Mina made for her. Ken sighed, sinking deeper into her arm. “She always smells so good after her baths.” The baby Kaiju’s warm and heavy grasp felt like a weighted blanket. It was a comfort that Ken would find nowhere else.

Professor Sato walked past them, chuckling into his coffee mug. “That, she does. You should have seen her earlier, you know. I’ve never seen her so invested in a game.”

Kenji hummed. “Is that right?” He rolled onto his stomach, facing Emi. “Hey. Baby.” He poked her cheek. “Is that true? Did you cheer for Daddy? I bet you did.” Giving into his cuteness aggression he rubbed at her cheeks. Emi expressed her annoyance through a small squeak. “God, that mean old Bullet had Daddy running laps, didn’t he? We hate him, don’t we?” Kenji pushed her cheeks up and down, leading her into a nod. “Yes we dooo.”

Professor Sato laughed. “Whatever happened to sportsmanship?”

“Whatever happened to loyalty?” He pouted. “My own father, rooting against me. I would never root against you, Emi.” Wanting to return to her blocks, Emi lifted Kenji up by his torso and placed him on her head. The batter laughed, laying on her with no protest.

“What!” The professor exclaimed. “I never said I was rooting against you. I was just— feeling enthusiastic, that’s all. For both teams.”

Mina entered the room, her mechanisms humming faintly. “Good evening, everyone.” The Sato’s greeted her accordingly. “I have a message for Ken.”

The mentioned Ken slumped into his daughter, rolling his eyes. “Here we go. I bet it’s the press.” He scoffed. “Let me guess, at least 30 emails asking for my statement. Or, better yet, it’s Shimura warning me not to miss the next game.” He raised his fist, mocking a reporter’s tone: “We’ve witnessed baseball history tonight, folks! Blah, blah, blah.”

“Actually, it’s an invitation for something else.” Mina hovered closer. “An event.”

This caught his attention. Kenji tilted his head. “For what?”

“A party, hosted by various sponsors.”

“Bit too early for an afterparty, don’t you think?” Ken sighed, resting his head on folded arms. “We’ve only won one game.”

“I suppose it’s to celebrate Mr. L/n as well.” Mina would shrug if she had the shoulders to do so. “His coming to Japan is quite a big deal.”

“Great.” Kenji was half-asleep by then, eyes already closed. “All the more reason for me not to go.” The professor had settled himself onto one of the desks, getting into some light reading. Emi had grown tired herself, and decided that she was not interested in the blocks anymore. Waddling to her spot, (with Kenji still on her head), she yawned, and opted for some much-needed sleep.

Mina’s light blinked. “I think you should go, Ken.”

The rightfielder cracked one eye open. “And why would I do that?”

“I think it would benefit you to interact with Mr. L/n more.”

“Mina, that’s literally the last thing I want.”

“Is it?”

Ken frowned. “What do you mean, ‘is it’? Of course it is.”

“Your vitals seemed to say otherwise earlier.”

Kenji scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I was keeping careful watch of your vitals, as I always do. I have your daily status tracked and recorded.”

Kenji couldn't get rid of Mina’s voice in his head. Even amidst the warm crowd, with chatter swaying smoothly atop of light r&b music, he felt as if he could still hear her words ringing in the back of his mind. It remained vivid, though she had told it to him days ago. It was as clear as day. Like a broken record.

“Believe it or not, the heart beats differently for every emotion. There is a difference between fear, anxiety, excitement, and—”

Kenji stared at you from across the room, watching as you conversed with your team, nursing a glass of cold, hard whiskey. He watched as you bowed your head and smiled, listening for the faint, muffled sound of your laughter. He wondered what you were talking about; what joke might have made you grin that hard. He wondered why you seemed to illuminate a room, and why everyone seemed so drawn. His eyes were caught in the way the colorful lights sank into your hair.

“—Infatuation.”

You looked up, and your eyes met his. Kenji flinched. He felt his heart skip a beat. Shit, he thought. Mina was definitely going to catch that. She had probably already marked it down to tease him for it later. You held his gaze for longer than he could have standed and greeted him with that same annoying wink. The same one you gave him on the field. Confident, snarky, playful. You lifted your glass and took a sip, eyes still trained on his.

“What you may perceive as frustration for him might just be the opposite.”

Kenji's jaw clenched. Mina had no idea what she was talking about.

And he would prove her wrong tonight.

Like a soldier marching into battle, he waded through the party to make his way towards you. Was he intimidated? Yes. Unfortunately, he was. But he knew his way around a crowd, and his weapon-of-a-tongue knew all the right talk to make a conversation work. He was sociable like that. He was a poet, a wordsmith. If you weren't careful, one little exchange could have you wrapped around his finger. Some people called it his charisma, some blamed it on his irresistible good looks. Either way, Ken took it. He wasn't going to deny the fact that people loved talking to him — though he, admittedly, didn't really like talking to them in return. But he could do it. He could make it work.

Besides, how bad could you be?

With a newfound confidence, Ken dared to get closer. The distance between you and him lessened, and– oh, fuck, was that your cologne? He blinked. You smelled so good. Why did you smell so good? “Hey. Hi.” Shit. Abort mission. No, it's too late. Too awkward to back out. You were already looking at him. “L/n, yeah?” He spoke your name like he only just remembered you upon seeing you. When in truth, he hadn't stopped thinking about you since that damn first pitch. “Some game, huh?” Ken held his hand out for you to shake. ‘Fuck, I hope he doesn't notice how clammy it is.’

“Ken Sato.” It was the first time he heard your voice, as well as the first time he heard you say his name. He didn't like how his body reacted. There was a small shiver down his spine, a tingling flutter in his chest. You took his hand. Yours was cold. So cold. Kenji concluded that the icy glass of whiskey you had placed on the counter was to blame. He could feel your callouses against his. Your hands mirrored one another, marked with the battlescars of your sport. He was oddly sensitive to every detail. Touching you was.. a sensation.

You gave him a firm shake before promptly letting go.

“That's me,” he said, miraculously. Ken was oscillating between panic and confidence at a speed that likely wasn't normal. He was holding his own, though. Like the real champ he was. It was surreal to be standing in front of you without a ball to keep you apart. No bat, no competition. Just you, and a few shots of alcohol. “You adjusting into Japan alright?”

“As well as I can.” You shrugged. You had a tone to you; an elegant air of grace and self-assurance. You had no need to raise your voice because you knew he'd do his best to listen. It was pissing him off. “It's definitely different from the States.”

“I gotta say, I'm pretty surprised to see you here.” Ken usually knew what to say when it came to conversations. He never blanked out at interviews, nor left dead air hanging at conferences. But speaking with you made him feel like his vocabulary was on a limit. “After a game like that?” He whistled. “A lesser man would've taken a week off.”

“But we're not lesser men, are we, Ken?” A waitress passed by. Without the need to look, you had grabbed two shots of vodka from her tray. You handed the other one to him. “That's why you're here, too.”

He stared at you, brows furrowed slightly. “Exactly.” He took the shot from your hand and bumped the rim against yours. “Cheers.”

You grinned. “Cheers.”

Kenji tilted his head back, downing his drink, tasting the fire run down his throat. His face screwed up a little, but not enough for you to notice. You did the same, sighing the heat out of your nose. You allowed a small laugh to slip past your lips. “Japan’s liquor is surprisingly stronger.”

Kenji chuckled. “Yeah. If you know where to look.” The music felt like it was growing louder. He leaned in to speak to you better. “You know, I can't believe this is the first time we're meeting.”

You nodded. “Neither can I.”

“The Mets and Dodgers have always been at each other's throats, and yet—”

“Our schedules just never lined up.” You scoffed. “What are the odds of that, huh?”

It really was such a coincidence. If Ken had known that your interactions would've fired the press up as much as it did now, he would've fought to face you sooner. “When was it?” He snapped his fingers, trying to remember. “Playoffs. 2019, I think. The Mets were set to face the Dodgers.”

“2019,” you repeated, brows raised. “I was there.” Kenji took notice of the way your head slightly shifted to the side. Like you were trying to get a better look at him. He swallowed thickly. “I was there.” You shrugged. “You weren't.”

“I was overseas.” He was wanting another drink. But, speaking to you was surprisingly not horrible. “Didn't get back until 3 months in. And when I did—”

“I wasn't there,” you chuckled. “Alright. I remember. 2019, I was gone for half the season. Injury.”

“The world was in shambles.” Ken grinned at you. A second waiter passed by. He grabbed you another glass of whiskey. He took scotch for himself. “See what I mean? It's like– divine intervention.”

“Big word.” To say that fate had a hand to play in yours and his meeting was beyond your beliefs. You didn't place your trust in things like that. But to know that he had thought about it was charming.

“Hey.” Ken shrugged. “Ya’ never know.”

The music shifted, and so did the lights. There was a moment of quiet between the both of you, and in that time, you found a common interest in people-watching. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, nor the absence of something to talk about. The two of you merely agreed upon the minutes it took to watch the party unfold. A good number of the guests were already drunk. The dance floor was alight and occupied mostly by women. Ken rested his weight on one foot, sighing at his still-aching muscles. He wondered if you were any sore too.

“They love it, don't they?” You leaned your back against the counter, arms crossed over your chest. Ken took quick notice of the necklace worn loosely around your neck. A silver dogtag, similar to his. “The drama. The intensity. Even the things that go on beyond the field.”

Ken shrugged. “It's baseball. Who doesn't?”

“Exactly.” You smiled. “Which is why it's important to always let the home team win the first game.”

It took a moment for Kenji to process what you said. He was distracted by the colorful lights, his favorite song coming on, and a tray full of hors d'oeuvres. “Mhm.” He reached over to take one, before— “Wait.” His brows knitted together. “I'm sorry, what?”

“Hm?” You had your lips pressed together into a thin line. Your expression feigned innocence, a stark contrast to your bold statement. “I said it's important to let the home team win the first game.”

Kenji made a sound between a scoff and a laugh. He couldn't believe his ears. Had he been standing by the speakers for too long? “No, I heard what you said. What I'm asking is what you're saying.” It was a dare of a reply, with a tone that commanded: go on. Clarify.

Your smile refused to leave your face. Nearing the batter, ever so carefully, you whispered:

“I'm saying you won because I let you.”

Kenji blinked.

And there it was. He knew you were too good to be true. Goddammit, he knew it! Beneath your seemingly-perfect self was something cold and rotten and he called it. He fucking called it. How thrilled he was to be correct, and oh, how utterly terrified.

But this was good. This was absolutely good. He needed something to hold onto, something to keep himself afloat. The next time he found himself drowning in your eyes again, he'd only need to remember that you were a grade A asshole. That you had the audacity to claim that you were in full control of the game. Surely it would solve all his problems.

Kenji broke out into a laugh. It started out as a small cluster of sarcastic chuckles, but erupted into actual laughter. You were funny. So, so funny. Unbeknownst him, you were watching with amusement. “Because you let me!” Kenji repeated, smiling, but, exasperated. Two can play at that game. “Right. Of course. Totally not because you're an average pitcher and I can bat anything you throw.”

“If that helps you sleep at night.” You shrugged. Your attention wasn't on him anymore. You were watching the crowd, disinterested.

Kenji felt his eye twitch. “That's big talk coming from someone who got struck out by a rookie.” He was referring to the eighth inning, when Tateoka managed to bat your pitch into a homerun.

“That's right, Sato.” You laughed, low and sultry. “Batted by a rookie. How could I have struck you out at the last inning but be batted by a rookie?” You tilted your head at him, brows knitted together. You spoke in a sickeningly soft tone. Like you were helping a toddler understand something simple. “Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, does it?”

Kenji was growing flustered. His face was warm and his fist was itching to meet your cheek. Nobody spoke to him this way. Sure guys had been mean to him before, but it was mostly because they were threatened by him. They'd tried to put him down and pick apart his flaws, but what you were doing was something different. You weren't claiming that he was weak, you were claiming that you were stronger. You didn't deny the amount of talent that Ken had in his body, but you were fully convinced that you had more. You were bigger, smarter, and better. And you had him under your control.

“Oh, c’mon. Seriously?” God, your voice. It infuriated him. It drove him insane. You leaned in, closer, whispering your words, as if hearing you through the party wasn't hard enough. He could smell the whiskey on your breath. It mingled with your cologne. It was intoxicating. “Are you blushing?”

He scoffed in disbelief. “No.” Except he totally was. He could feel the heat radiating off of his face. His breathing had gone shallow, his heartbeat rapid. “Why would I– Tch. You— You don't know what you're talking about.” Holy shit. He was a mess.

He wanted so desperately to blame it on the alcohol, but he knew damn well he wasn't drunk enough to be acting the way he was. He was stumbling over his words stone-cold sober.

You were smiling. He was dying, and you were smiling. “You amuse me, Sato.”

Ken took a cautious step back, knowing that being that close to you for too long was only going to make him worse. “Who the hell do you think you are, huh?” He had to retaliate somehow. Like a soldier fumbling for his sword, he had to get up and do something. “You don't think I don't know what this is? Where you're heading?”

You tilted your head. “Do enlighten me.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Sure. Celebrity-Athlete from America waltzes into Japan thinking he's the shit— that he can rule the world. He's a shiny new toy and everyone's just dying to catch a look. Nevermind that his old team traded him off, nevermind that he goes home to an empty penthouse. He's got the stats to prove his skills and he thinks he doesn't need anything else.” Ken dared to retake a step forward. He sort of regretted it when you didn't take a step back. “Well, guess what,” he continued. “I've been where you are. I know how you feel, what you're thinking.

Everything you're trying to be is a shadow of what I already was.”

There was a beat of silence. You weren't smiling anymore. You were staring at him, stone-faced, seemingly indifferent.

Kenji narrowed his eyes. “So don't go talking to me like you're any better.”

He didn't know what to expect. You were quiet for such a long time that he thought you were going to snap. He partially expected a punch to the chin. But you were calm. There wasn't a trace of irritation on your face. Instead, you set your glass of whiskey — now empty — on the counter behind you. With a sigh, you shoved a hand in your pocket. “Are you done?”

Kenji blinked.

“Let me tell you something, Sato.” You raised a brow at him. Ken felt his heartbeat pick up again. Your once-approachable gaze shifted into something cold and commanding. He swallowed thickly. “There is a difference between you and me. And that difference is the fact that I don't settle.”

Kenji was glaring at you, brows fixed together.

A teammate called you from the other side of the room. You nodded at him, once, then returned your focus to the Yomiuri Prince. You placed a hand on his shoulder, tauntingly, smiling at him as if you'd known him your whole life. “I hope last season’s slump accustomed you to the feeling of losing those points.”

Kenji wanted to say something, but his lips refused to move. Somehow, the blaring music in the background had faded into a muffled blur. All he could hear was your voice. Like a moth to a flame.

You winked at him. Again. And like before, his body reacted in ways he didn't like. You squeezed his shoulder once, before leaving to go to your friend. With your back turned against him, Kenji released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He clutched his chest, watching wide-eyed as you moved through the crowd. He could still smell your cologne. The last thing he heard from you was,

“I'll see you on the field.”

taglist: @fairy-lenaa @moonjellyfishie @witchygod — Thank you for your patience!

#kenji sato #ken sato x reader #x reader #ultraman rising #ken sato x male reader #kenji sato x male reader

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oacest · 5 months ago

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oacest scholars, do you have any gcest fic recs for a beginner?

we decided to answer this in brief and limit ourselves to three recs each or, as evidenced by past failures to answer this same simple and straightforward request from other people, we'd spend forever quibbling about our choices and never actually post the dang thing. here, in no particular order, are some good jumping off points:

trill's recs:

1) @snickfic's baby, you're gonna be the one that saves me, aka my fave fic (technically series, it's got two parts) in this entire fandom. in which liam gets knocked up in the mid 90s by someone who's not noel, to noel's intense anguished jealous heartbreak mild dismay. even if you're not really into mpreg this one is well worth it. the characterization is god tier. bal and i insisted that jackie, who staunchly doesn't like mpreg, read it and even she was converted.

2) i could be your lover, you could be all mine, by hapaxlegomena. a collection of unconnected porn ficlets. lots of extremely tasty stuff in here, i reread random bits of it regularly.

3) the D'YA WANT SOME? series by one of our own triumvirate, bal! im sure she's squirming in horror that im including it but it is by far the best, most well-written, most well-characterized, thoughtful, hilarious, hot, fascinating work in this whole fandom imo, and is a perfect intro to the whole concept of pre/early days oasis and what noel+liam might have been getting up to behind the scenes (as it were) before they were famous.

bal's recs:

1) Filmstar, an orphaned fic on Ao3. This one gets recced plenty but for good reason. It's very funny in a deadpan way and the Liam in it is such a perfect little weirdo. It's a great fic to start with, readable even if you don't know all the lore and whatnot.

2) outta sight and outta mind by lustmord. this author writes Trauma and specifically the brothers' trauma in a way I find endlessly compelling. (for all that Everyone Knows about their shitbag dad, it is still such an unspoken and often unpredictable presence in the room; you can't really get into them without tangoing with it in some fashion)

3) Let Me Be The One, by @savageandwise. absolutely fantastic Liam voice, this author just GETS him. I often think about this quote as a literal thesis statement for Noel's whole insane deal:

You think he's perfectly willing to allude to it in public if he's the one pulling the strings. Cause he thinks he's cleverer than the rest of the world. He thinks it's edgy and rock and roll when he does it. It's his brand of anarchy. And when you do it you're just stupid and embarrassing and determined to destroy everything.

jackie's recs:

1) Trying To Find A World That's Been and Gone by @storyshark2005. my colleagues graciously let me be the one to put it on my list because this is Thee fic. as we were all getting into Oasis initially, this fic was our constant companion and teacher, holding our hand as the fixation unraveled within us. it's a present-day fic that beautifully and masterfully unpacks the entirety of their relationship from the glory days to the estrangement and it is so jam-packed with research and details, you can just assume that everything that's being referenced is based on something that actually happened. in my opinion, this is where any new fan should start.

2) If I Had a Gun by @savageandwise. it's probably cheating to put another fic by this author when bal's already done it, but... I don't care lmao. in many ways we're splitting hairs because all this author's fics are worth your time. but I do hold a special place for this one because it so wonderfully captures the tenuousness of their dynamic at any given moment. how they could go from fighting to flirting to hating each other to needing each other in rapid succession. it feels so true.

3) Here's Looking At You, Kid by RedheadAmongWolves. don't be thrown off by the fact that this is one chapter away from completion, it's still totally worth it. the characterizations are great, the vibes draw you in, the UST is delicious. honestly, this is really meant to function as an overall author rec. there were several here I could've chosen. [ETA: this fic is now complete!]

#communiques #fic #fic rec

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logansargeantsbabymom · 1 year ago

Text

Wide Awake

Lewis Hamilton x Fem!Wolff!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, Self-Doubt, age-gap (reader is 22), slight smut (just fingering) , oh and slight orgasm denial.

(SOFIA IS A RANDOM GIRL I MADE UP!)

A/N: This was supposed to just be a one off thing but I kept writing and writing and I'm 99% sure that no one wants to read a 25k worded chapter only for it to BARELY get to the whole point/plot of the fic. so there's going to be another chapter (3 at max)

(Also I promise Too Good To Say Goodbye 7 is coming but I was hyper fixated on trying to finish this which isn't happening ) 🫶🏽😊

Follow my instagram account (THATS STRICTLY FOR THIS BLOG) for updates on when i post and fun stuff like that!

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My dad’s always warned me about getting involved with the drivers. He told me that they’re all too young, naive and that all they’ll be good for is breaking my heart. For the longest time, I believed him. I’ve seen the way some of these young drivers were with girls.

Max cheating on Sofia with Kelly, Lando talking to 3 girls at once and George, well George hasn’t done anything. Point is, I’ve seen how they are and I don’t want to get with one of the young drivers only to have my heart ripped out. AGAIN.

I secretly dated one of the hottest drivers, Charles Leclerc for about 2 months. All was going well we were happy, we had secret dates and maybe I thought he was the one.

That was until one day In Monaco when I showed up to the paddock for Free Practice 1 & 2 I saw him hand-in-hand with Alexandra Saint Mleux. When I saw them together and I realized everything she had that I didn’t. She was at taller than me, skinnier, gorgeous, had flawless skin and had a modeling career. In other words, she was a goddess.

Seeing them together broke my heart and all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob, but I couldn’t. My dad warned me about the young drivers but I still went behind his back and did the exact opposite of what he told me not to do. I deserved this.

I had made a beeline for the Mercedes garage just to get out of the public eye but I was so focused on getting as far away from Charles and Alexandra as possible that I hadn’t noticed I was running straight into someone.

I hit this person's body with such force I almost went flying back and I reached my hands out in front of me to try and grab anything for stability and at the same time I felt two hands on either sides of my waist trying to balance me.

I was feeling so many different emotions right now I couldn't even think straight, clearly. I was so angry at Charles for cheating on me even if weren’t technically even dating, sadness because I actually thought Charles was actually capable of loving me, and full fledged embarrassment because I just ran full on into someone thinking about how Charles just ruined my life. And my makeup.

I looked up to face the person I just ran into and tried to profusely apologize for my actions, but when I looked up tho I was met with the most gorgeous brown eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I wanted to stare into his eyes forever but in the half a second it took me to look up I also realized who it was that I ran into.

The 7x WDC Lewis Hamilton.

Even more embarrassment coated my face as I realized that not only did I just bump into someone while trying so hard not to have a mental breakdown but I ran into the Lewis Hamilton, my dad's best and most loved driver. “Oh my gosh Lewis, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going and I really didn’t mean to run into you. Please don’t tell my dad” Honestly, it sounded pathetic. ‘Don’t tell my dad’? what are you, 12?

I stared at him in silence for about all of 2 seconds which felt like an eternity until I saw his lips curled up into a smile and heard a small chuckle come from him. “I won’t tell your dad, cross my heart” Lewis said while making an ‘X’ motion over his chest “Who are you running from? I feel like maybe I'm obligated to know since you ran right into me trying to avoid them?”

My face fell in shock. How did he know I was trying to avoid someone? I mean it wasn't rocket science, if I saw a random girl running to an isolated area with tears streaming down her face, I too am going to assume she's avoiding someone. “I- Uh, Well. See”

“It’s okay, Y/N/N, I’m not going to tell anyone. You also don’t have to tell me if you don't want to but I’m willing to help you avoid them if you do.” Lewis said as he placed a hand on my cheek.

I’ve always found comfort in Lewis’ touch. Actually, I’ve always felt comfort whenever I was in the same room as Lewis. Something about his Aura screamed ‘You’re safe with me’

As much as I wanted to, I knew there was no point in lying because one thing about Lewis is that could read people like a book. Including me. With a long, loud and dramatic dragged out sigh I reluctantly told him the truth.

“I was seeing Charles behind my father’s back for about 2 months, everything was going well and I actually kinda thought he was my person but I just now saw him hand-in-hand and all cuddly with Alexandra.” Tears sprung in my eyes and threatened to fall as I recounted what I saw a few minutes prior to Lewis.

He had a sympathetic look in his face and I could tell he genuinely felt bad for me. The hand Lewis once briefly had on my face had moved down to grab my hand before he whispered, "How about this: Tomorrow we wear almost matching outfits and we come back here also hand-in-hand. We'd be together all day and we'll be cuddly too. You know, just to make Charles jealous and regret cheating on you."

Lewis was always putting people's well-being ahead of his and it made a shy smile creep onto my face. As much as I want to, maybe I shouldn't read too much into this though, he's probably just being nice to me to stay in my father's good graces.

"Lewis," I whispered as I placed my hand on his cheek "You don't have to be nice to me because I'm your boss's daughter"

he looked a bit hurt by my accusations. "Is that why you think I'm doing this?" his hand squeezed mine a little tighter.

"Why else would you, Lewis?" his hands came up to cup my face forcing me to look at him.

"Because Y/N/N, I-" he paused, almost like he was trying to find the right words to use. "I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world. I've seen you sneaking around with Charles and it took so much in me not to go over there and tear you away from him, to show him that you're mine. I know I'm older than you but I'm wiser and I'll treat you better than he can." My jaw dropped, there's no way that Lewis Hamilton, a 7x WDC is head over heels in love with me, right?

"Lew, I-" a voice interrupted me, turning my body into stone and my blood into ice.

"Y/N!" I knew that voice anywhere and if he saw the moment that me and Lewis just shared, we were both dead.

"Dad! Hi!" I tried to sound enthusiastic but I was so flushed from Lewis' confession.

"My baby," His hands cupped my face inspecting the red all over "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'm just hot. You know how the sun is in Monaco." I said with a shrug, trying to change the subject

"Oh you have to go in the AC! Lewis," my dad turned to face Lewis who was already facing in our direction

"Yes, Toto?" he said as he cocked his brow.

"I need you to take my darling girl inside. She has a condition where she can't sweat which causes her to overheat and pass out. I am too busy with this race and getting everything perfect to be worrying about my daughter having a heat stroke."

"Oh, jeez, thanks dad. Just send Lewis to do everything for you" I said in a playful tone

"Of course Toto, I'll take her in right now." Lewis said as he walked over to me and linked his arms with mine.

Lewis started guiding me through the garage and to his driver's room where he opened the door and gestured me in. Once inside he closed the door before facing me with unsure eyes.

"What's wrong Lew?" I said as I cautiously walked over to him.

"What were you going to say before Toto cut you off?" his voice so low, I almost didn't hear what he said.

"I was going to say," I stopped right in front of him, our chests were touching. We were so close I could feel his breath against my skin. "I think that you have to prove what you said about treating me better than how Charles did."

Lewis grabbed my face and pulled me into a searing kiss, our tongues fought for dominance but his won. Lewis picked me up and sat on his couch with me on his lap so I was straddling him all without breaking the kiss.

His hands found their rightful place on my hips and applied pressure forcing my hips down as I rocked my hips to apply more force against his hardening cock.

"Mmm, you taste so good. I can only imagine how much better you taste when I'm eating your pussy." Lewis mumbled against my lips as his hands went just a little bit lower to stop at the elastic of my leggings. I guided Lewis' hands under the fabric to release some of the tension building in my core.

He understood what I needed and quickly started to run his middle finger up and down my fold, collecting all my juices before inserting it in my pussy. Lewis slowly moved his finger in and out of my hole while using his thumb to rub circles on my clit. His movements were slow and sensual bringing me closer and closer to my orgasm. I started rocking my hips into his palm to add more friction to my core and to chase my orgasm which I really needed right now. I was just about to go over the edge until a knock at the door quickly halted both of our movements and caused Lewis to yank his hand out of me leaving me without finishing.

"Mate, FP2 starts in 15. They need us by our cars now" The voice of George could be heard from he other side of the door.

“Oh fuck me” I grunted as I pulled myself off of Lewis’ lap

“Trust me, I was planning on it” He said with a smirk on his face as his hand came to rest on my ass before giving it a smack.

Lewis poked his head out of the door to make sure no one would see us leave, after the all clear we quickly rushed out of his room, both of us going in opposite directions as to not get caught.

————

The next day I heard a knock at my hotel door at the early hours of 6:00am. With a grunt I pulled myself out of the comfort of my warm and cozy bed and made my way to the door. Whoever was interrupting my beauty sleep was going to get a mouthful, I’ll tell you that.

“Do you know what time it is?!” I whisper yelled as I opened the door, not even bothering to look through the peephole to see who I would be yelling at. And boy do I really wish I did look because I was met with the tall, beautiful, muscular frame of Lewis Hamilton.

“Woah honey, I told you we were going to the paddock together. We need matching outfits” Lewis said while looking at me up and down "Do you by any chance have a matching Tommy Hilfiger set?"

"No?" I said, a little nervous

"Perfect, I bought you one that matches mine so put this on" Lewis said as he handed me a bag of 4 different sets.

"Lewis, there's four sets in here. Which am I wearing?" I said I let him in my room and watched as he took a seat on my bed right were I was once peacefully sleeping.

"Wear whichever one you want and I'll match it. I didn't know which of those four you'd like so I bought them all." My heart fluttered a bit at his confession.

--------

When Lewis and I pulled up to the race and got out of the car, we walked to the entrance hand-in-hand.

Charles and Alexandra were the first people to spot us and I took notice on how Charles dropped Alexandra's hand. When I saw that I squeezed Lewis' hand and leaned into him to tell him

"Lew, it's working. He dropped Alexandra's hand" I said with a smirk on my face.

"Wanna give them a show?" I cocked my brow at what he was suggesting but reluctantly nodded my head.

Without thinking twice, Lewis pulled me into a kiss, his hand finding their place to rest on my ass while mine traveled to the back of his neck to pull him deeper into the kiss.

I heard a strings of words which I'm assuming were curse words before I heard faint shuffles of feet echoing away from where me and Lewis were stood. Faint footsteps weren't the only thing we heard because next thing you know we heard clicks of camera shutters.

I pulled away from him with a horrified look on my face.

"Lewis! My dad might see those!" I don't think I was ever more scared in my life than I was in that moment. My dad can't know that I'm sneaking behind his back with Lewis. Well technically this is the second day of this 'sneaking around' but still, he doesn't know."

"Do you want to be with me Y/N/N?" He said dead serious while interlocking our hands

"Yes"

"So you shouldn't care about the pictures and your dad's opinion. Not everyone is going to accept our relationship but that doesn't matter because this relationship is between us. Not them"

"I need FP3 and Qualifying to end ASAP because I so badly want to suck your cock."

“I’m holding you to that” Lewis said as he swatted my ass. Surely the press people got photos of that and when those get out. I’m gonna have a fun conversation with my dad

It took us about 15 minutes to get the Mercedes Hospitality area because of all the fans asking for pictures, Press asking questions and other drivers asking what Lewis thinks he’s doing going out with me.

I almost took offense to that but quickly realized that they didn’t mean it in a rude way but more as a ‘you better be careful because if you break her heart, Toto will never resign you to Mercedes’ type of way.

When we entered, we were met with the angry eyes of my father.

“Lewis.” He said stern, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose “what are you doing with my daughter?!”

“Sir,” Lewis started but my dad cut him off

“Y/N/N, I told you not to go off with the drivers!” His voice raised, not too loud to be classified as yelling but a couple octaves louder than how it was before

“Actually, you said no messing around with the younger drivers. Lewis is older and more wise” I said as I grasped Lewis’ hand tighter.

“What are your intentions with my daughter?”

“Well sir, I intend to give your daughter the best life I can give her, I want to take her everywhere with me, I want to spoil her, I want to have her move in with me, I want to be her husband and I want her to be the mother of my kids.” Lewis squeezed my hand as he said that last sentence.

I never thought about being a mother, I never felt like it was an obligation of mine. I never thought that I wanted kids but hearing Lewis admit to my dad that he wanted me to be the mother of his kids sparked something in me. Lewis made me realize that deep down, I longed to be a mom and now I wasn’t going to be happy if I wasn’t.

“I will kill you if you break her heart.” My dad stated as he stared in Lewis’ eyes as if to try and intimidate him.

—————

It's not the best but I promise the plot is to die for!

taglist:

@luckyladycreator2 @itsmiamalfoy @jeffs77 @ilivbullyingjeongin @forevercaffeinated-lee @daemyratwst @gulphulp @callsignwidow @f1wintermoon13 @teenwolf01 @victoriassecret101 @hiireadstuff @formulaal @kazza72584 @zabwlky1999 @dark-night-sky-99 @rougekiki @xoscar03 @jess-wither @bountychanti@dhanihamidi @Ggasly.p @tellybearryyyy

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lizardaggro · 2 years ago

Text

on the flip side (twst bully!au) pt 3

here we are, the long-awaited (it was literally like 1 day) part 3!! i wanted to declare on one of the actual chapters since those get seen by the most people that I DID NOT MAKE THIS AU, credit i believe goes to @azulsluver. i swear i don't hate you guys, leaving everything on a cliffhanger, but the good news is i have a lot of time on my hands due to chronic illness so i can update super often. also i gave up on the purple theme on posts bc tumblr hates me and always leaves the end of the word count black.

part 1 part 2

genre: gn reader, angst trigger warnings: bullying, mild yandere (will be escalating throughout the series, but no non-con) word count: 1246

You couldn’t really afford to space out and think about it though, not when he was right in front of you. Riddle tapped his foot impatiently, clearly irate at your lack of response. “Well?” He asked. “Do you not even have anything to say in your defense?”

Oh dear. However were you supposed to get rid of him when he was so intent on getting some sort of answer out of you? You had no idea what he wanted! He was more difficult to threaten, too, since you’d made up your mind that you didn’t want to be like your tormentors and completely ruin others’ lives. No, your end goal was just to make them leave you alone. After everything you’d been through, you really didn’t want to see them again.

It might seem strange to some people, that you weren’t dead set on destroying any semblance of normalcy they once had. You had all the ammunition you needed, of course. The Overblot victims would be the easiest to topple, considering what they’d done in and leading up to that state. But you didn’t think you were a particularly vengeful person; at least, you didn’t want to be. Crowley had always said that you must’ve been sent here to get his precious students to work together, so clearly you weren’t like them.

“I never asked for this, Riddle. Any of this. So if you think somewhere in your fucked-up mentality that you’re doing me some sort of favor, you’re dead wrong,” you intoned. Indeed, even though you just wanted them gone, you missed the days when you were all friends. Back when you thought everyone had your back no matter what. Oh, if only you knew what they’d do for you. It wouldn’t be hard at all to push some of the more unstable students over the edge. Those who felt they didn’t have anyone else. Much like a certain dragon fae who never did seem to get invited to things.

Riddle looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, he was drenched by a great torrential rain. Where did that come from? Didn’t the forecast say it was supposed to be clear skies and sunny for the rest of the week? Your question was soon answered, as you had two more visitors.

“Silver? Sebek? What brings you here?” You inquired, not at all amused. When those two showed up at the same time, it could only mean one thing, and it wasn’t good. Riddle looked like he had caught on as well, since he stepped in front of you, as if that would do any good.

“LORD MALLEUS REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE!!” Sebek boomed. You’d made progress on his volume in the past, so you were sure he did it just to annoy you. Silver just stared. He always stared, you felt like. Sometimes you swore you could feel his eyes on you even when he was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, gee, I wonder what that’s about,” you snarked. “Poor little princey-poo doesn’t want his embarrassing little secrets getting out? Well you can tell him to fuck off.” You must’ve been feeling especially brave, since normally you knew that defying Malleus Draconia was as good as a death sentence. He wasn’t even that bad, compared to some of the others. He just… locked you in his room and made you listen to him talk, with no room to get a word in edgewise. He’d go on and on about one thing or another for HOURS, with no regard for your schedule or your bodily needs. Clearly fae had a different sense of time than most.

It was the loss of control over your own life that you hated; that, and that if he really still considered you a friend, he never bothered to do anything about your bullies. You knew he was more than capable; you’d witnessed his strength firsthand on multiple occasions. You didn’t know what his endgame was, and frankly you were too scared to find out. He could trap you there forever and you wouldn’t be able to do a single thing about it.

Sebek was not amused. He raised an arm, likely to strike you, but Silver placed a hand on it, effectively stopping him. “Don’t. You wouldn’t want Lord Malleus to see a bruise on them,” he reasoned. You didn’t get it. Since when would he care? Sebek roughly shoved Riddle out of the way, despite all his objections, and nonchalantly slung you over his shoulder.

“What the hell?!” You screeched, pounding your fists on his back. “Put me down! I’m not going!” You weren’t sure why you were objecting so vehemently; this time wasn’t any different than the others. But something about the dark gray clouds pouring rain on what should’ve been a lovely day just told you that this was not going to be good.

But alas, your plight was ignored. The three of you made your way to Diasomnia in silence. No one bothered to stop and stare in the halls, as you being carried off by people was somewhat of a normal occurrence. You could swear Savannahclaw and Diasomnia even had some sort of twisted capture-the-flag game going, for whatever reason.

When you entered the gothic-style castle, you were greeted by none other than Lilia. Much like Malleus, he’d never bothered you too terribly, only engaging in less-than-welcome pranks. You knew he was far older than he let on, so you supposed he didn’t see the point in such childish endeavors. There was, however, one thing you feared about the man: his cooking, which he tried to shove down your throat at every opportunity. How Silver grew up healthy you’d never know.

And so, of course, you were greeted by a plate of… well, goop, to put it nicely. “Here, have a seat, dear, I made lasagna,” Lilia offered with what you assumed was supposed to be a warm smile. To you in that moment, with the fumes starting to reach your nose, it looked like a shit-eating grin.

“I’ll pass, thanks. That is to say, I’d rather die than eat that shit, because it looks and smells like it’ll send me straight to hell,” you deadpanned. Sebek let out an unholy screech and started ranting about how dare you refuse Lord Lilia, even though you knew he wouldn’t want to eat it either. You did your best to tune him out. Silver looked relieved, surprisingly enough. You supposed he was able to empathize since he grew up eating the stuff.

Luckily for you, Lilia just sighed and walked off, taking his culinary abomination with him. The three of you who remained shared a look. “How are you still alive after all these years?” You asked Silver. He shrugged. If even he didn’t know, you’d just call it a miracle.

“SILVER, QUIT FRATERNIZING WITH THE ENEMY! LORD MALLEUS IS WAITING!” Sebek practically screamed in your ear. You really wished he would stop doing that. But you had more important things to worry about, like your impending death by dragon fae. Once you arrived at Malleus’s room, Sebek set you down and pushed you inside. You heard the lock click behind you. You gulped, feeling the pressure of being alone in a room with a presumably angry and very powerful mage. You looked up to see a pair of emerald eyes staring you down. Oh boy, this was not going to be fun.

taglist: @twistedcece @slxt4h1m @teawhere @pleasehugmeaether @reivelmin @aoiyx

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst bully!au #twst bully au #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere twisted wonderland x reader #riddle rosehearts #sebek zigvolt #twisted wonderland silver #lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia

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gurugirl · 2 years ago

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Just For Tonight | Ch. 2

Series Summary: Harry spots an angel in the crowd and he can't keep his eyes off of her. And, as if by some cosmic pull, he can't help but ask her backstage. But it's only going to be just for tonight. Or is it?

Chapter Summary: Y/n's pretty sure she'll never see or hear from Harry again. They had a fun night but he made it clear that it was only just the once. Except Harry can't seem to follow his own rules.

Warning: 18+ only, smut

Word Count: 10,501

Commissioned by anon (thank you!! xoxo)

Just For Tonight Masterlist

Having a night with Harry Styles was like having one of those hot-girl secrets that only the most privileged were in on. But what that also meant was that she couldn’t really go talking all about it to everyone either.

She would have loved to have posted on Instagram all about it. Bragged about having seen his cock and then having it inside of her. She would have loved to have seen Dyna’s face when she told her that Harry Styles had eaten her out and spanked her. Dyna was one of those acquaintances in her friend group who was smug and pretty but rude. Thought her shit didn’t stink.

And well, she never would tell anyway. Not only would she never brag about what she’d done with someone during sex, but she wouldn’t want to betray anyone that way.

But it was kind of a bummer that she couldn’t talk about it all. Ady drilled her for information and Y/n had already decided that she’d only spill the details to her best friend, whom she could actually trust. Ady was a work friend at best. She trusted Ady, but not with that kind of secret.

All Ady knew was that Y/n had spent the night with Harry Styles. And when she arrived at the office on Monday morning, half of her co-workers had already heard about it.

“That’s why I didn’t give you details, Ady. You shouldn’t be saying anything to anyone.” Y/n replied as she bit into her sandwich. Ady was trying to extract more information from her.

“But I would never tell anyone those details, Y/n! Come on. Just give me something. Any tattoos we don’t know about? Is his dick as big as everyone thinks it is?”

Y/n rolled her eyes and stood up from her chair, tossing the crust of her sandwich into the garbage, and completely ignoring Ady on her way back to her desk.

After a few days, the gossip had died down and Ady had pretty much given up. Y/n was glad everyone had stopped talking about it and asking her uncomfortable questions.

And while on the outside it had appeared Y/n had moved on completely, on the inside she couldn’t stop replaying the night with Harry over and over again.

Especially when she was alone in her bedroom at night.

Y/n had a housemate. She lived in a two-bedroom bungalow with a microscopic backyard, street parking, and the tiniest closet known to man. And still, she could barely afford to make rent each month. But Brad was nice. And he allowed her to pay a little late sometimes. She didn’t often pay late. Maybe a handful of times over the year.

But it also helped that Brad had a bit of a crush on Y/n. She didn’t want to be that person but it came in handy in this case.

“I’m so sorry. I get paid next Friday and I’ll pay you first thing. Just didn’t keep track of my spending again this month.” It was slightly embarrassing. She wasn’t careless about how she spent her money but that month she had the Harry Styles concert, bought a hotel room (which she didn’t even sleep in), and spent a little extra on her cute new bodysuit. She had saved up her money but overspent just a tiny bit. Okay so maybe she was a little careless with her money at times. And she was getting too old to keep living paycheck to paycheck. It was time to start putting money away.

And she couldn’t do that with her current job and all the bills she had on top of that.

Y/n was going to have to find a second job. Anything so she could get her footing and pay off some loans, and then maybe she could breathe a little.

“No worries, Y/n. I’m good for it until then.” Brad smiled. She could tell he was getting tired of it, though. And for that alone, the embarrassment of having to ask if he could cover her part for a handful of days and to see his expression of pity and probably a little bit of annoyance, yeah. It was time to find a second job.

Her cousin was the floor manager at a posh, expensive restaurant downtown that Y/n would have never dreamed of stepping foot into. Not normally anyway. But there was a job opening for a server spot that her cousin had casually mentioned a week prior. She didn’t know if the position had been filled or not and if they would give her that prime weekend shift but there was only one way to find out.

“Y/n! Hi! How are you?” Laren answered chipper and sweet.

“Hi. Uh… good! How are you?”

Small talk commenced before Y/n finally got into the nitty gritty of why she was calling.

“Oh? The server position? It hasn’t been filled actually. We’ve been interviewing, though. You should come in and apply. I can put in a good word.”

The position was for two weekday nights and rotating a Sunday and Saturday every other week with a draw for the occasional Friday night (the coveted night to serve apparently). It wasn’t ideal but she figured she’d at least apply and see what happened.

Y/n had been a server in college so she was familiar with the work. It was hard, stressful at times, but tips could be good with the right tables.

And part of her didn’t want to waitress again. She was already working 40 hours at her office job. This would leave her with very little free time. But she needed to do something because every time she thought about how she was late on rent again it made her cringe and flush hot with embarrassment.

The interview process was fairly painless. And the fact that her cousin already worked there seemed to be in her favor because the very next afternoon she was getting a call to come back in to begin training. She’d gotten the position.

And it was just as hard as she imagined it would be. Shadowing one of the servers felt strange. She started on a Tuesday night since it would be a relatively slow night. Rushing from her office job to get home, changing into her uniform, and then racing through heavy traffic to get to the restaurant gave her a good idea of how it would be for her on the nights she worked during the weekdays.

Her past experience was a blessing. She only needed to shadow for two weeks before they started letting her have her own tables. Everyone on staff was easy to get along with on some level.

She did learn, though, that Vyra was upset that they were letting her take a weekend night shift so early on. Vyra was also a server who’d been at The Dulcería for a couple of years and wasn’t allowed weekend shifts until she’d been serving for a while.

“Tell them I’ll take your ten top tonight. I don’t think you’re quite ready for the level of service you’ll need to provide.” Vyra placed her tray down and faced Y/n as she spoke.

Y/n had just arrived at the restaurant for her first weekend evening shift by herself. She didn’t even know she had a ten top as she’d only just walked into the door.

“I… okay, well, let me at least put my stuff down. I’ll talk to Mannie and find out what he wants before I ask for that.” She was already annoyed. Not ready for the level of service… Just for that comment alone, Y/n was going to make sure she kept the table and was the best damn waitress that ten top could ever have that night.

“I’m telling you that it’s going to be better for you to just give me the table. We’ll switch off. They’re gonna be here all night.”

Y/n put her purse in the locker and turned to look at Vyra, “How do you know they’re gonna be here all night?”

“Because the reservation was very specific about how long they would be here. Probably someone famous honestly. Just tell Mannie you’re giving me your section.”

Sighing as she clicked the lock into place and tied her apron around her waist she shook her head, “We’ll see.”

Y/n checked the schedule for the night and realized, the only table that she was assigned was the ten top Vyra had mentioned. Which was interesting. Looking at the name on the reservation it didn’t ring any bells for her as to who could be in the party that would require her to stay with them all night but she knew she could take care of the table on her own. Even if they were famous and picky and maybe demanding. There were only ten of them. And it was her only table.

After the first two guests had arrived and were brought to the table by the hostess, Mannie signaled to her to greet them at the table and get some drinks started.

“You didn’t tell Mannie to let me take over. You didn’t even ask. I think it’s in your best int–“

“I’ve got it, Vrya. I appreciate your concern but I’m fine. Really,” she spoke as she neared the private area of the dining room where her table was.

“No. I don’t think you understand, Y/n. You’re new at this–“

Y/n stopped abruptly and Vrya nearly ran into her, “Stop. I’ve waited tables before. And Mannie wanted me to have this one. Just… go back to your tables and give it a rest.”

The pair at the table were dressed extremely casually, which was unusual for the restaurant. Most people entering the doors of The Dulcería wore designer and dressed appropriately in smart casual.

“Hi. I’m Y/n. I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Would you like me to get you started with anything? Wine for the table or appetizers for when everyone else starts to arrive?”

The young woman at the table ordered three bottles of wine to start and a handful of appetizers. Easy enough.

When Y/n returned to the private area with a cart full of wine and water she stopped in her tracks. More of the party had arrived but now she recognized two of them. She blinked her eyes and swallowed as she felt her heart rate pick up before pushing the cart forward again and closer to the table. She could be seeing things, she told herself.

As she neared the party she honed in on the man with his back to her with chocolate brown curls and broad shoulders. Was this…? It couldn’t be.

And yet she was sure it was. Based on the fact that she was looking right at Jeff Azoff and his adorable wife Glenne… She gulped as she parked the cart at the edge of the room and plucked up one of the bottles of red wine to uncork.

Carrying the bottle and a glass of wine toward the young woman who ordered it, she was suddenly aware that all eyes were on her as she turned the label side out toward her. But before she could pour a taste sample the young woman pointed at the man with his brown curls at the other end of the table, “It’s his to taste.”

She let out a quick breath to ground herself and closed her eyes for only a moment before turning to see those bright green eyes already on her. The big grin on his face told her he recognized her immediately. Of course he did.

She smiled, taking a step back, and slowly walked toward Harry to give him the first taste of the wine.

Pouring the liquid into the glass slowly as she stood to his left Harry finally spoke, “I didn’t know you worked here. How have you been?”

Okay. A standard greeting. Even that alone got her heart aflutter. She wasn’t sure if he’d act like he didn’t know her or if he’d greet her kindly. She would assume the latter but of course, one never knows in these circumstances.

“I’ve been well. This is actually a new job for me. And uh, how about you? How have you been?”

Harry sipped the wine and nodded, “S’good. Thank you. I’ll have a glass of this one,” he cleared his throat while she poured a serving for him, “And yeah… I’m great. Thank you. We should catch up soon,” he leaned in closer and finished his thought, “Kind of wish I’d gotten your number.” He spoke the last sentence a little softer so only she could hear.

For the duration of the dinner it was difficult to have any kind of real conversation with Harry while she was taking orders and running back and forth but each time she returned Harry made sure to get in a comment or ask her a question. She noticed the looks from a few of the people sitting around the table.

Heading back into the kitchen to grab their meals she noticed Vrya walking toward her side of the restaurant where the private dining room was. By then, all the servers heard about who was in the private dining room. Most didn’t make a fuss about it but a couple of them were curious.

With the tray loaded she delicately walked back toward her guests and spotted Vrya next to Harry and chatting. Technically Vyra wasn’t allowed to speak to guests at Y/n’s table unless she requested help. It wasn’t a big deal normally, but since Harry was a celebrity, a famous pop star, it would be frowned upon. This wasn’t some Deux Moi tell-all Sunday sightings gossip rag. This was a posh, upscale restaurant where wealthy people and celebrities came to enjoy a quiet meal without being disturbed or spotted. Mannie was not going to be happy about Vrya taking it upon herself to check on Y/n’s table. She couldn’t wait to talk to Laren about Vyra as well. She wished her cousin was there that night so she could vent but she’d be calling her about this later.

Placing the tray onto the stand Y/n frowned at Vrya as they made eye contact, “I was just seeing if everything was going well. Since you’re new and all,” Vrya laughed and looked down at Harry, “Plus having such a big star here we need to make sure service is perfect.”

Harry smiled at Y/n, “Y/n here been more than perfect. You’ve nothing to worry about. I’m sure we all agree,” he gestured toward everyone at the table, “we are in the most capable hands here. Couldn’t be happier.”

The fake smile on the intruder was telling as Y/n began to bring dishes around the table, “Thanks for checking in on me Vrya. It’s unnecessary, though. I’ll call on help if I need it.”

Standing up straight and nodding at Harry she walked behind Y/n and whispered, “His water glass is low,” and then exited the room.

Y/n had no idea what she’d done that would have Vyra acting like such a child. She was polite to Vrya but she really wanted to yank her hair out and shove her out the window for sticking her nose into business that wasn’t hers. But she figured she was better off ignoring the whole thing.

“So, Y/n…” one of the guys at the table spoke up, “We hear that you and Harry met at a recent concert. How did you enjoy the show?”

She felt her neck get hot as she fumbled with the notepad in her apron pocket, “Oh… it was awesome. Yeah. I gave him a pair of sunglasses that he wore that night on stage. That’s pretty much how we met. Brought a co-worker with me. A blast. It was the first concert I’ve been to.” She smiled and then quickly corrected, “First Harry Styles concert that is!”

The look on Harry’s face was cheeky. He was holding in an obvious grin on his face as he gazed at her. She was a nervous thing in this setting. Harry remembered quite well how sure of herself and confident she’d been that night. How she was practically dominating him, leading everything that happened. Mostly.

And even though he made it clear that what had happened was just for that night, he realized he’d been fantasizing about her a lot since then. In fact, every time he touched himself his thoughts made their way to Y/n just before he could come. He hadn’t even slept with anyone since. Not that he’d been holding out for her or anything. He had been thinking about her a lot, though. Missing her even. He was quite delighted that she was his server and that he happened to meet her once again. It felt like fate maybe.

And Harry was a big believer in fate and the universe shifting and creating space and paths for humanity. He was a believer in karma and destiny and intertwined lives. And so because of that Harry was sure this meant something.

When the restaurant was shut down and the servers were calling it a night, Y/n was clearing the table and refilling the last of the wine for everyone. She was told not to rush them, and she had no intention of doing so. She was enjoying the table. Everyone was polite and easy to please. There were no difficult requests or off-the-wall dietary restrictions.

Though Harry was particular with his order (the man was clearly eating strictly healthy which made sense given the state of his body, which she was quite acquainted with) it was easy to accommodate. Plus his presence had set her in a good mood. He was gentle and sweet and everyone in his party was the same.

And the way Harry kept looking at her, as if he knew something she didn’t somehow… a teasing grin, slightly stifled… she was all nerves and butterflies and big smiles. It had been an amazing night at work. It hardly felt like work at all.

Exiting the bathroom after a much-needed bladder release she walked up the hallway but was stopped short when she heard his voice, “What are you doing after you get off?”

His deep rasp had her tummy boiling as she turned and saw him leaning against the frame where the hallway met the corner of the entry to the kitchen. Stepping back toward him she looked up at his sharp green eyes and shook her head, “Going home.”

That smirk, the one that hid what he was really thinking deep down slowly widened until he was grinning full-on, “Where’s home?”

Looking behind her and then over his shoulder to make sure no one was nearby she squinted her eyes at him, “Why do you want to know?”

Harry sighed and softened his stance, putting his arms down to his sides, “Because. I was gonna ask a follow-up question and figured it might be important to know if my place is closer or yours.”

She let out a soft laugh in surprise and now her ears were growing warm, “At this hour… A fifteen-minute drive away.”

Harry nodded and reached a hand out to her apron, pulling gently at the bow, “Got it. Would you be interested in having me over tonight?”

Cocking her head and keeping her eyes squinted in scrutiny she responded, “And why would you want to come over to my place?”

She felt like this was obvious. She could have answered this question on her own. But she wanted to hear it from him. Wanted to be sure she was on the same page as him.

He leaned in and lowered his voice, keeping a finger looped into her apron’s bow, “Seeing you tonight has reminded me of how much fun we had. I know I said it was only a one-time thing but maybe we could make it a two-time thing,” he smiled broadly and shrugged.

Harry was a confident guy. He wasn’t typically turned down. In fact, on the rare occasion he was turned down it usually had nothing to do with him. So he was pretty sure Y/n would be happy to have him. But even as sure of himself as he felt, he was feeling his nerves peak at the idea she would say no.

“A two-time thing. Okay… well I do have a roommate. His bedroom is connected to the wall next to mine. Privacy is an issue. If you’re okay with that then I’d say… sure.”

Harry let out a laugh through his nose, though it was more out of relief than due to anything being funny, “What makes you think I want to be in your bedroom? Maybe I just wanted to stop by for a movie. Or we could bake cookies or something.”

Harry laughed at the obvious nonsense he’d just spewed. They both knew what this was.

“Oh? So you want to like watch a movie and bake some shit? I’m down with that. I don’t think I have the ingredients to make cookies or anything but I’m sure we could stop somewhere and grab flour–“

Harry pinched at her hip and stepped in close, “I was kidding…”

Now it was Y/n’s turn to laugh before she straightened her back as much as possible and put on a serious face. With his proximity, she was bent slightly back to look up at him, “You were? So you mean you don’t want to bake cookies with me?”

Harry’s grin and his hands at her hips were soft, “I don’t want to bake cookies with you. I want to get you in bed again.”

Well okay. There it was. She knew that’s what it was but to hear him say it out loud had her head spinning and her heart pounding.

She nodded, “Right. So… how do we do it? You want me to drive or…?”

Harry shook his head with a laugh, “Give me your number.”

. . .

Harry and his crew left before Y/n did. She’d given him her number and he texted her back right away. It was surreal. Just like how she felt the first time she met him. She almost didn’t believe it was happening.

Vyra was cold for the rest of the night but after the huge tip left, Y/n could understand why. Harry’s table had been her only table of the night. Her shift was only four hours but they stayed the entire time. She figured Vyra knew that some celebrities tipped well and wanted in on that.

In fact, the tip had been so big she had to sit down when she realized the number written in the tip line with a small smiley face next to it. She’d have a talk to Harry about this. It was far more than necessary. Even after splitting the tips up between the kitchen and the bussers in the system, it left her with enough money to cover rent and all her bills for a month. Yeah. Excessive.

She texted Harry the minute she parked her car in front of her house. It was well after midnight. She wasn’t sure he’d actually come, still in disbelief about it all. The fact that he was there and that she was assigned to that table felt like pure luck. Fate if you believed in that kind of thing. Which she didn’t. Not normally anyway.

His return text came back quickly.

On my way.

Quickly showering off her sweat and the smell of cooked food then shaving her legs she tried to calm herself down. The night with Harry in the hotel room she’d been perfectly groomed and ready for anything that might happen. Not that she expected it that night, but one never knows. Going to a Harry Styles concert and having the chance to catch his eye wasn’t something she’d half-ass. She never in a million years would have thought he’d have pointed her out while he was singing and then proceed to bring her back to his suite. But he did.

And this evening, she wasn’t fully groomed but smooth legs and clean bits were the least she could offer in such a short amount of time. She laughed to herself as she thought about it all. Wondered if he’d even care if she was a little sweaty. She wasn’t going to chance it.

When he texted that he was out front she took a few deep breaths and looked in the mirror one last time just to be sure before dashing to the front door as quietly as possible (so as not to wake Brad) to let the famous pop star into her small, rented bungalow.

She gestured to Harry with a finger to keep quiet, “My roommate is sleeping. Do you need water? The bathroom?”

Harry’s grin revealed that he needed only one thing. And neither had anything to do with what she’d just offered.

“I take it no baking cookies, then?”

They grinned at each other as she led him to her room.

Her bedroom was cute. She had cream curtains that draped down to the floor, a wooden dresser with a framed photo of Y/n with her family atop, a coaster from a local bar, a box that appeared to be a jewelry case, and a carton of tissues. Her bed was made and the comforter looked fluffy with a pretty pink and yellow flower pattern all over it. Framed prints of plants and flowers on her walls and a standing lamp in one corner. A closed door, which was definitely hiding a closet behind. A nightstand on either side of her bed.

“Cute,” Harry spoke as he looked everything over and then brought his gaze back to the woman he’d been fantasizing about since their last night together.

“Yeah. Uh… this is it.” She shrugged and felt her tummy warm up under his scrutiny. He was staring at her and she knew he was there for one thing only.

Sitting on her bed she sighed and attempted to lighten the mood, “So… that tip was way too big, Harry. I can’t possibly accept such a thing. I don’t think–“

Harry shushed her as he sat down and took her hand in his, “Nonsense. You are an amazing server and deserve every penny of that. Probably more even.”

His light eyes were scalding. Every inch of skin he took in she felt sizzle.

“Thank you. Just feels weird. Especially now that you’re here…” she laughed quietly.

“Now that I’m here? What do you mean?” His fingers wound into hers, his thumb moving along the edge of her hand. Such an innocent gesture, giving her goosebumps. Though she was well aware his intentions weren’t innocent.

“I mean… Like you just gave me a bunch of money and now you’re in my bedroom,” she smiled and tried to maintain eye contact but it was hard with how gorgeous he was.

“This is separate from that, Y/n. You should know that. I just missed you which is why I wanted to come here. You’re just really good,” he looked at the bed and then back to her, “You know… in this setting.” He grinned wide.

“In this setting?” She laughed at his words and shook her head.

The grin dropped from Harry’s face as he brought his free hand up to cup her jaw, “Can I kiss you? I missed these lips so much. I’ve been thinking of them since that first time with you.”

Nodding her head she felt him pull at her thigh just as his lips found hers.

Things had shifted since the last time she saw him. Somehow it felt a little different. Maybe more intimate in some way. It was probably because they were in her bedroom rather than a hotel suite, and this was the second time they’d be seeing each other in this context. But there was something else there too. She was feeling… less sure of herself. She still had the confidence she needed to kiss him back and unbutton his shirt, but unlike last time when she was feeling very forward, this time something kept her slightly reserved.

And Harry noted her softer demeanor. He didn’t mind it, though. In fact, this time he was feeling like he wanted to show her how good he could be. Give her a taste of him taking the lead and maybe have her begging him a bit. He was in a bit of a mood that night. He was glad that he saw her in the restaurant because it’d been a month since he’d gotten laid (and it just so happened the last person he’d had sex with was Y/n) and she was the only girl he could think of that would scratch the itch he had.

Y/n was pressed back into the mattress as Harry pulled her sweatpants off, “Do you want to feel good, Y/n?”

She nodded and puffed a laugh out, “Well… yeah…” She thought that was an obvious answer and the way she responded told Harry she was mocking him.

Harry paused the movements of his hands as he stuck his fingers into her panty’s waistband. He cocked his brow up at her in warning before he popped her thigh with a smack. She laughed and sat up with her mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Behave. I was just asking a question. Wanna try that answer again?”

She swallowed and blinked her eyes, “Yes, Harry. I want to feel good.” She smirked at him. Her answer was still lined with cheek but he’d give her a pass. He wanted to see her.

He smiled and nodded before proceeding to pull her panties down her legs, “Good. Because that’s what we’re here for. To feel good. Take your shirt off for me.”

Y/n was relieved that Harry seemed to pick up where she was lacking. She didn’t know what had her feeling so permissive but they seemed to be on the same page. She peeled her shirt off over her head and Harry spread her legs apart, fitting himself in between her thighs.

He was still mostly dressed. His shirt was unbuttoned and his jeans were undone. Both Y/n’s doing, but that was as far as it had gone with getting him out of his clothes before he stopped her and began to tell her he was going to get her naked.

“Can you take your bra off too? Need it all off.” He waved his hand toward her chest as he directed his sight to the space between her thighs. It felt so vulnerable to have him clothed while she was naked. But she did as he said and removed her bra for him.

The dim lamp in her room kept everything visible. Harry could tell she was already a bit wet. The gleam peeking out from her labia had his tummy on fire. He couldn’t wait to feel her again. Slip his cock right in and drive into her. He imagined he’d need to keep her mouth covered while he was fucking her to keep her quiet because he recalled how loud she was the first time they’d been together.

But before he could indulge himself in feeling the juicy stretch of her around him, he was determined to have her come in his mouth and on his fingers first. She didn’t orgasm when he ate her out the last time and that was something that stuck with him. He had nowhere to be the following morning and given that it was a Sunday he figured she was free as well so they could play for a lot longer this time around. Not that that stopped them from having a good romp and then a quick fuck in the morning the last time, but he planned to take his sweet time with her now.

He smoothed his hands up her thighs and licked his lips, “I’m gonna lick your pretty pussy until you come and then if you’re still well behaved maybe I’ll let you taste my cock for a bit before I fuck you. How’s that sound?”

She nodded and moaned softly, “Mmm… That sounds so good.”

Harry smiled and pressed his thumb over her clit and gently began to rub back and forth, “It does doesn’t it? I missed this with you, angel. Can’t believe I thought it was just going to be the one time. Seems as though fate had a different idea.”

She scrunched her brows and an ooh feel from her mouth at the feel of his thumb on her clit and his soft words.

Harry leaned over her body, the fabric of his shirt dragging over her tummy as he dipped down to wrap his mouth around her pebbled nipple. She craned her neck back into the soft pillow and sighed at the feel of him on her. His lips on her breast and his thumb on her wet nub.

By the time he’d licked and sucked the expanse of both of her breasts, she was completely on edge. On fire. His teasing thumb gently rolling her clit back and forth was making her lose it.

“Fuck… please, Harry,” she whispered as she stuffed her fingers into his hair. He lifted off her breast and looked up at her, “What is it, angel? Please what?”

“I just… I want you to fuck me. Now.”

Harry sat back onto his haunches and looked at where his hand was at her pussy. All wet and shiny for him, “What did I say?” He looked back into her eyes, “Don’t you remember what I said I was gonna do first?”

She let out a shaky breath, “I do. I just thought you could skip it if you wanted. Really want to feel you again.”

He kept his thumb working her clit as he groaned, “I want to feel you too. But I have to have a go at you first. Want to put my mouth right here,” he slid his thumb upward and pressed down, “and make you come.”

Her tongue poked out from her lips as she kept her mouth parted. Heavy lids and wiggly hips.

Harry loved the way she looked. Like she was ready for whatever was to come. She was desperate for him and he already had her saying please. He loved a little begging when he could get it.

“Little tongue coming out to say hello,” he reached forward and pressed his finger onto her pink muscle and she immediately wrapped her lips around his digit. His own mouth dropped open at her desperation. Her tongue pressed into the pad of his finger and she sucked him in.

“Shit, angel. I’m gonna make you feel so fucking good. Okay? Don’t worry.”

He felt her lift upward into his hand and he got the hint. She needed something.

Pulling his finger out of her mouth and taking his hand from her pussy he pulled his shirt off over his shoulders and knelt down, pressing his fingers through her crease, coating his digits in her slippery essence.

He looked up at her face as he plunged two fingers into her hole and then lowered his mouth over her cunt and she bellowed loudly before putting her arm over her mouth to keep herself quiet. She’d have to keep herself in check with the noises but her concern about Brad being right next to her room was slowly dissolving.

Harry chuckled into her labia as his tongue slipped up and down, lapping at her arousal.

It was soft but every time he puckered his lips and ran his tongue up and down her clit she felt a spark lighting up her insides.

Her moans were muffled under her arm. But she was so wet that everything in her room sounded exactly like what was happening. Harry’s lips and tongue and fingers moved through her wet labia and creamy arousal and she wished she could record the sounds to listen to later.

Harry’s heart was pounding in his chest and he curled his fingers and dragged the tips along her soft ridges on the inside. He flattened his tongue over her clit and slurped before quickly sweeping his tongue back and forth. Her little squeak was a good sign. He smiled.

When he felt her fingers in his hair, pulling gently she began to roll her hips into his face. He lifted up to take a look at her as much as he could with her fingers on his head. She was gorgeous. Her wet pussy was smeared all over his face, her tits swayed softly as she arched and writhed, her hair was splayed out across her pillow, soft thighs parted.

Then he noticed the way she was fucking herself down onto his fingers. Her hips began to move faster and her pathetic mewls were falling muffled from her mouth.

Harry lowered his lips back to her pussy and she sighed in relief. But he only applied a sloppy kiss to her mound before looking back up at her. He moved his free hand up her body and pushed her arm off her face, tilting his head up to speak, “Keep your eyes on me, angel. You can be a good girl stay quiet. I know you can,” he pumped his fingers into her as he spoke against her pussy in hot breaths.

She adjusted her body slightly, using the pillow to help keep her neck angled so she could watch him. To keep her eyes on his. She gasped and tried to stifle her moans as she watched him dig in with his whole face.

His pretty green eyes were mostly pupil, dark with only the edges of crystal green surrounding. She put her other hand into his hair and cradled the back of his head. The hand he wasn’t using to finger her had her thigh held down, his fingers pinching into her soft skin.

But then he used his tongue to move quickly back and forth over her clit while thrusting his fingers deep, curling into the right spot. And there was something about his eyes watching her that made her flush hot. His steady gaze seeped into her brain and wrapped itself around all those bits that supplied dopamine and caused a craving that would be hard to shake.

His fingers were stuffed so deep inside of her that she knew he must be getting his knuckles drenched. Probably his whole hand given how wet everything sounded. The bend of his fingers inside of her and the pressure on her clit, when he sucked her, pulled a loud groan from her lungs. But it didn’t stop him from continuing the sloppy lapping and slurping.

Pulling his hair tighter between her fingers she bucked her hips into his face and tried to close her legs slightly by instinct. Harry kept her one thigh pressed down hard and he used his shoulder to hold her other side down.

She cried out, “Oh god!” And threw her head back, removing her eyes from Harry’s just as she felt the spark turn into a harsh current that began to tip her into the edge of her orgasm. She knew it had been too loud. Knew that it might have woken up her housemate but she was too far away from caring about that just then. Her pussy was being snacked on in a way she’d never experienced in her life.

Harry dug himself in deeper when he could tell she was close. Her loud cry and the quiver of her thighs were a good sign. He kept at what he was doing and looked up at her soft tits as she arched her back and moaned his name.

When she began to clamp down on his fingers and her moans moved into a steady stream of whining and whimpering and her muscles tensed he knew he’d gotten her to come finally. He allowed her to have her eyes closed because he could tell it was intense. He’d have her watching him next time he made her come on his cock.

Which reminded him of what sort of state he was in. His hard dick was painfully achy. But the anticipation for what was to come had him reeling as he licked her through to her end, keeping his fingers inside of her, working her until she slowed her hips and loosened the grip on his curls.

He sat back, grabbing her hands from his hair, and looked over his handiwork. Her pussy was ready to be fucked. She was ripe for more. He knew she’d be good for another orgasm. Her body was made for this.

When she finally opened her eyes she giggled as he leaned over her frame. His face was all wet. His chin, his cheeks, and his nose were shiny with her. She followed him with her eyes as he climbed over her.

Somewhere in between her coming and right then, he’d removed his pants and boxer briefs. His cock hung heavy over her face, “Open.”

She was flat on her back as she opened her mouth for him, reaching a hand up to grasp the base of his cock to guide him to her mouth. She felt his warm tip against her lip, the smear of his precome and her slippery arousal wetting the edge of her mouth before she wrapped her lips around him.

The groan he let out was the sound of pure sex. She had barely done a thing but she was already smiling to herself at the way she made him whine.

Harry held onto the headboard with one hand and used his other to grasp the back of her head as he pushed himself down into her throat. He’d only dip in a few times. Make her swallow and gag around him once her twice because he wanted to fuck her. Wanted to feel her again.

She closed her eyes when Harry’s tip dragged against the back of her throat. He pumped himself into her a few times and she swallowed as she gagged around him. The whimper he let out made her brain swirl. She was thoroughly enjoying having her throat fucked. He wasn’t going in too hard but he was taking control of her and dipping in until she was coughing and drooling.

He pulled himself out and looked down at her, moving his hand up to her cheek with a grin, “My god, angel. Just so fucking perfect.”

She was still catching her breath. From her orgasm, from having his cock in her throat, from the intensity of the moment…

She could hear him ripping the condom wrapper open before he was back in view. He sat between her legs on his haunches as he softly moved his palms over her thighs and up to her hips, “Gonna give me another one? Come on cock this time?”

She planted her gaze on his and nodded, “Yes…” her words were a whisper.

The cheeky grin Harry returned to her had her heart fluttering. He was so painfully attractive she felt like this was all a dream.

“Good. Need you to keep your eyes on me this time, okay?” He paused as she nodded, “Want to watch your face when I make you come. Might have to cover your mouth if you get too loud like you just were. Is that okay?”

Another quick nod and a moan told him she was on board.

Harry moved his hands up her sides, pressing his fingers into her soft skin and up to her breasts, kneading at them for a moment before lining himself up to her hole, “Look at me.”

They kept their eyes locked as he slowly pressed in past her tight opening. Harry knew that if they went without a condom he might come inside of her and not want to pull out. If she felt as good as she did with a condom, he knew he’d be falling in love and down on one knee if he felt her without.

Her puffy, juicy pussy was taking him in just as he remembered. He had to work himself in and out a bit before he finally got himself into her balls deep. He would have loved to tuck himself in further but he was halted from his thick, full balls.

“Feel that, angel?” He groaned quietly as she nodded nodded in gasps. “Yeah? It’s so fucking deep, isn’t it? Love the way you spread open for me,” he rocked into her and pulled back, listening to the slick sounds it made.

He put his palms on the mattress with his body leaned over hers, using his strong back and thighs to fuck into her as deep as he could. He just wanted to be stuffed inside of her guts, fucking into her as far as humanly possible. And she felt that too. It was deep. The sharp ache made her keen but the drag of his pelvis against her clit felt otherworldly.

Her thighs were pushed back, bent at the knee as Harry laid himself into her over and over again. Thick, deep, languid strokes.

“Ahhhh!” She cried when he smacked into her, pushing her upward slightly.

Harry groaned and kept his eyes on hers, “Yeah? It’s that good, huh? Gonna have to cover your mouth now because I’m about to go a little harder.” She wanted harder. Liked soft too, but hard stuck around for days. Loved the feeling of having her pussy fucked so good she was reminded of it later on. Just like the first time they were together. She felt him every time she sat down or stood up for two days. Felt the leftover ache on her thighs and the burn on her bottom.

Harry angled himself down, pushing her thighs apart further with one hand and covering her mouth with his other. And his sudden punishing thrusts had her eyes going wide. It hadn’t been expected so quickly but he got right to it.

He could feel the vibrations of her moans against his palm as he buried himself in and pulled back to his tip before he hammered back into her repeatedly. Long, deep, fast strokes.

She was already rolling her eyes into the back of her head. He wanted her to watch him but he’d give her a small break and make her open them when she was coming. He wanted to watch her face and her eyes as she reached her peak.

Her bed creaked and the springs danced loudly. Muffled sounds of moans and the wet slap of skin filled her bedroom. Harry didn’t necessarily want her roommate to hear them but he did enjoy all the noises that came with sex. And in all honesty, they were both being as quiet as possible given how hard he was fucking her.

His thighs burned from the thrusts and his back muscles held himself steady over her, “Listen to that, angel. Our bodies connecting like that. How wet you are for me…” he moaned his words as he watched her face screw up in ecstasy. Her muted noises were stifled with his palm as he wrecked her insides.

She felt every inch of him taking her. Every slip and thrust, drag and pull, every deep nudge inside… She opened her eyes to see him already looking down at her and she nearly lost it. His hair was in his face, curls swaying, sweat building at his temples, his arms were flexing as he held himself up over her, his chest flushed and glistening from the intensity of his thrusts into her. He was so strong and so overpowering she felt like a rag doll under him flopping and grunting under his hand. She was just a hole to fuck as she clenched down on him when he pasted his hips to hers and rocked inward sharply.

“Keep those eyes open, angel. I can tell you’re about to come on my cock and I need you to look at me so you know who’s making you come,” he spoke his words through gasped breaths as he pushed into her deeply, slowing his thrusts so he could control his own orgasm. He was too close and he knew she was nearly there.

He rocked his hips into hers he ground himself down when he stuffed himself in fully, making sure her clit was being smushed against for friction. Repeatedly he fucked her little hole with slow plunges and smoothed against her clit. Every time he screwed into her to the hilt he felt his balls pressing into her bum, being wetted by her creamy arousal. He keened at the feel of her around him. Every little ridge of her insides taking him in like they were made for that very thing had him spinning.

Harry removed his hand from her mouth. He wanted to see her whole face as he fucked into her. Wanted to watch her mouth drop open as she creamed on his cock when she came, wanted to hear her cries, fuck anyone else that might hear. In that moment it was all about his angel and how good she was feeling. All he cared about was that she was being taken care of and that he was making her feel as good as she deserved.

“Harry, please… oh my god please…” she gasped as she clung tight to his back. His cock inside of her felt full and had her walls tingling and fluttering. She was reeling with pleasure and having him inside of her. Never wanted that feeling to go away. If she could bottle it up and take it with her she would. So she tried to stave off her orgasm for a moment longer.

“Begging me, baby? Want to come so bad don’t you? But it feels so good like this doesn’t it?” He used a hand to hold the side of her face as if he were being gentle with her. As if he wasn’t fucking into her deep with harsh ruts inward that had her gasping for air. His words and his soft touches and his hard cock were doing her in.

She tried. She really did. She wanted to have him fucking her like that for hours but she couldn’t hold on any longer. She began to moan, starting with a low, quiet sound, until she was crying out his name and shaking under him.

She kept her eyes open but found the task difficult as she started to come. And she realized that watching Harry while she came only intensified her orgasm. Her head swirled with his handsome face hovering over hers, looking directly at her as he made her come felt like she was being dominated in a way that she’d never experienced. He hadn’t tied her up or whipped her or anything like that, but it was the sensation of being watched while she was coming that made her feel like he was taking control. The experience of having the man who was making her come as he looked down at her at that moment felt like he’d claimed her as his. He was watching his own work come to fruition and it was a dominant act.

“Fuck, angel. Just like that. Come all over me. She me how good it feels.”

Y/n babbled an unintelligible response and moaned around her syllables and vowels. She didn’t know what she was saying as she forced her eyes to stay on his.

And it had been worth it to keep her eyes open when she saw Harry’s face pinch up and his mouth drop open. She could hear his groan and the harsh thuds into her cunt before he stilled and clenched his teeth as his cock throbbed inside of her. He was coming and she got to see it on the tail end of her own orgasm and it was the hottest thing she’d ever seen.

“Ahhh!” He panted as he sucked in a deep breath and choked out a loud moan. The release was heaven. He came so hard he wondered if it could be possible to leak out of his condom. He pumped and throbbed and worked himself to his end as he looked down at the pretty angel under him all fucked out and smiley on his cock.

His chest heaved as he twitched the last little bit and his features relaxed on the comedown. He kept himself over her as he began to smile, “You okay?”

She was melted below him, a soft smile on her lips as she nodded, “So fucking good. Oh my god…” she whispered.

Harry gently pulled himself off of her and checked to verify that he hadn’t in fact leaked out of his condom before pulling it off and tossing it onto the floor. He’d deal with the cleanup later. In that moment he needed to hold her and kiss her for a while.

She felt her body pulled against his and then his lips caressing over hers. Soft and reassuring. Her orgasm had been intense. Maybe the most incredible orgasm she’d ever had. The eye contact was something she hadn’t expected. She thought it would feel silly. At first, it made her feel vulnerable but when she could tell how much he needed it, needed her eyes on his it felt like a rush. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she came so hard.

She kissed him back and put her hands up to his shoulders. Lazy and soft and sweet.

Harry pushed his nose into hers and spoke softly, “That was really, really good, Y/n. You don’t mind if I stay the night here, do you?”

Shaking her head she scraped her nails against the nape of his neck, “I want you to stay. Please.”

. . .

Waking up in her bed with Harry next to her felt like a wild fantasy. She considered pinching herself as she fluttered her eyes open and saw his sleeping face smushed into her pillow. The night before he’d been a sex god. A man so fine with a masculine and well-muscled body that he made her mouth water and her clit throb. He’d fucked her so good and it was so hot it gave her goosebumps just thinking about it. But there he was lying in her bed asleep, pink lips and glossy eyelids, small puffs of breath coming from his nose, and adorably messy hair. She couldn’t quite wrap her brain around how he went from the man who took control of her the night before to the soft, cute, sleeping beauty the very next morning.

He asked if he could stay. Said he wanted to be with her a little longer. And that was the part that really stuck with her. Sure he was handsome and then some. They got along so well and everything felt so compatible with him. And that was a problem. Because he wasn’t just some guy. This was Harry Styles. She couldn’t go getting her feeling too mixed up in everything. But he made it hard with the way he treated her and handled her. Like they’d known one another for an eternity.

On their first night together it was clear that what they were doing was just something fun and that was it. Which she was fine with. She happily accepted his terms then. Just as she happily said yes to him staying the night this time. Whatever he wanted she was fine with it. Well, she hoped she’d be fine. Because she was sure he’d never get his feelings mixed up with sex when it came to her.

Gently putting her fingers into his hair she saw his eyelids move and then slowly he graced her with his gorgeous eyes and then a soft smile.

He didn’t say anything before he dragged her the short distance to rest her head on the pillow his head was on and kissed her.

And it went from a quiet soft morning make out to Harry’s erection poking into her hip and then scrambling for a condom with messy hair and soft sighs to a slow break of day fuck.

The springs in her bed bounced gently with every thrust of his hips. Harry kept his mouth glued to hers as he drove into her soft, wet pussy. All of her blankets had been kicked to the floor in a rush for the condom and switching positions on the bed and now it was just two bodies at the center finding relief and catching an early orgasm before their day began.

Harry rocked into her, his cock so hard and thick she felt every single inch of him moving into her and slipping back before he languidly pushed in until his hips met hers. She had her ankles crossed over his back and Harry had one hand cradling the back of her head, his mouth covering hers while his other forearm kept himself held up slightly, his chest against hers.

She gasped under him, reaching for breath every time he thrust into her. His own panting grew more desperate and soon the first sound of his voice was heard for the day, a whimpered moan falling from his throat as he felt her walls taking him in with a decadent squeeze and wet squelch.

Morning sex was always Y/n’s favorite, but it turned out it was Harry’s too. It was less fussy really. Just two tired bodies wanting to connect and feel pleasure in the golden morning light. No preamble or big to-do. Just soft morning sex and a delicious orgasm to get the day started off right.

The moment Y/n’s moan grew loud and Harry felt her cunt spasming and pulling him in deeply he let go, spurting into his condom and licking into her mouth as he throbbed in ecstasy.

And just like the night before and the first night she’d spent with him, she was amazed. Maybe it was the shape of his cock or their natural chemistry. Or maybe it was just Harry, but somehow the sex with him was beyond just good sex. She was going to be haunted by this man.

When he pulled out he held her thighs apart and lapped at her gently, just for a taste. Just to enjoy one more little squeal from her throat, which she immediately gifted him.

“Harry stop! I’m too sensitive!” She pushed at his forehead and he smiled up at her before collapsing onto the bed next to her.

He hated navigating relationships because being famous already put his life under a microscope. Most of the time it wasn’t worth it to keep seeing someone for sex unless it was a person he knew feelings would never be a problem with, and they could both have the understanding that it was just sex. But that was rare for him. Harry was all or nothing with sex usually. It was either a one-time deal or he’d want a long-term committed relationship. And the latter was complicated for someone with his lifestyle. His last long-term relationship was something he’d take with him forever. He considered it a lesson learned. And for him that meant needing to be very picky and selective about whom he let into his heart.

No more mixing business with pleasure and then taking on the guilt of having a public break-up. No more women with super complicated lives that he could get mixed up into.

He felt like he was treading dangerously with Y/n. He didn’t want to hurt her and he didn’t want to get himself hurt either. But he could see himself being with someone like her. He liked her spice and her straightforward demeanor. She was confident and funny. She wasn’t the type that he’d be able to keep his feelings separated from the sex with. He was already getting attached.

“What?” He asked her. She was lying next to him, they were sharing a pillow and she had a small smirk on her face as she gazed over his features.

“Nothing. It’s stupid,” her grin didn’t fall off her face.

Harry brought a hand up to her jaw and he thumbed gently toward her temple, “Tell me. I like stupid sometimes,” he laughed.

She bit her lip and looked away from him for a few moments before putting her eyes back on his, “Your song, Watermelon Sugar. It’s about cunnilingus?” Her smile widened feeling ridiculous asking him such a question but she couldn’t get it out of her mind. Ever since the night before when he made her come from eating her out (a rarity for her) and then that morning after they’d had sex when he went in for a quick lick.

Harry laughed and nodded, “I guess. Yeah. Why?”

“Cause you just seem to really like it.”

Harry took in a deep breath and moved his hand down her side, “I love it. Is that okay?”

She looked at him like he was crazy, “Of course it is. Very much so.”

She wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Harry had been fun and sweet. And to know that this famous man could have anyone he wanted yet he chose to spend the night with her felt like something quite special. Something she wouldn’t get the chance to do ever again. To have him in bed at all was a crazy notion. But to have it happen twice?

“I want to see you again. When I get back to LA in a couple of months. Is that okay?” He said as he pulled her in for a hug before they left her bedroom. His car was waiting for him.

His words shocked her. Again?

“Oh. Yeah… Sure. That would be fun.” She was surprised. Stunned. If he wanted to see her again what did that mean? Was he thinking of her as more than just someone to have sex with?

“Well, geez. You don’t sound very enthusiastic about it,” he laughed as he pulled back from the hug.

Shaking her head she grinned, “Just didn’t expect you to want to see me again. You’re gonna be gone for months. I mean… I’d love to. Of course. But you know… No pressure.”

“Of course, there’s no pressure. I’m just saying I’d like to see you again if you’re free when I return to LA. That’s all.”

Letting out the breath she’d held in she nodded, “Yes, Harry. I’d really like that.”

Harry smiled softly and put a hand up to her face to press his palm over her cheek as he looked her over, “Gonna miss you, angel. Wish I could take you with me.”

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dragonfly0808 · 13 days ago

Text

Katniss as an Almost Covey (Part 2)

The second part of this little story, I will post it on AO3 once two things happen 1. I have 3 chapters, I’m planning for chapter 3 to be a Seam wedding and 2. I finish Sunrise on the Reaping, I’m about 2 thirds through it and I’m pretty sure I’ll finish it today or tmrrow.

Especially cause i do have a chapter half planned about her talking to Haymitch but I want to have all the context before I chose his dialouge

One detail will change about part 1; Prim needs a coat instead of shoes, you’ll see why

hope you like it!

Katniss stood with her arms crossed as she waited for Prim.

School had just ended. It’d been a week since the Mayor’s party and Katniss felt almost proud as she watched Prim skipping her way towards her with her new coat on, the last of the snow was still clearing out and the coat was big enough to hopefully last her the next two winters.

“You ready to go?” She questioned, reaching for her little sister’s hand.

“Yeah, I’ll probably spend the whole day making cheese, Lady is really working hard lately.”

“That’s good, maybe you’ll have enough to-”

“Hey Katniss wait up!”

Katniss turned to find Delly Cartwright of all people running towards her with a big smile on her face, waving as though they were in the middle of a crowd.

She frowned, “Delly, is something wrong?”

“Oh no, not at all I just wanted to catch you before the end of the day-” Delly had been running, stopping before her to catch her breath, “I wanted to know if you might be willing to sing at my birthday party?”

“…what?”

Delly continued as she tried to get her curls in order, still smiling big, “Well I heard that you played the guitar and sung at the Mayor’s party and- I asked Peeta and Madge and they both said you were wonderful and I would love to have some actual music at my party- it’s a small reunion but- would you be willing to sing again?”

“Well-”

“I wouldn’t be able to pay you much to be honest but- I could trade you a pair of shoes and maybe a pair of soles instead?” Delly looked a bit embarrassed, clearly unsure of how to make a good deal as a merchant’s daughter who had never set foot in the Hob.

The cobbler’s daughter.

Prim perked up, “Could it be a pair of boots?”

Delly gleamed down at her, “Yeah, I’m sure you can find something just right for you in the store.” She turned to Katniss, “Does that sound good? Shoes and soles for an hour of singing?”

A full hour. She’d barely managed half an hour.

Besides…

“Shoes and soles feels a bit excessive… shoes would do.” Katniss said, since it felt a lot different to take advantage of Delly’s innocence than the Mayor’s ignorance.

Besides she’d always liked Delly well enough, she was probably the friendliest person she knew.

She nodded along, “Alright then! Umm… the party will be this Sunday at my place and you can go there Saturday if you’d like to choose the shoes you want.”

“Actually… could I tell you for sure tomorrow? I just need to check some stuff. Make sure I have enough songs for an hour and all that.”

“Of course! I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Delly all but skipped away, clearly giddy about the mere possibility of having live music at her party.

Prim frowned as they began their walk home, “Why did you say you’d think about it? You have more than enough songs for an hour-long show.”

Katniss sighed, “I’m not even sure we need new shoes.”

“You need new boots.”

“No I don’t.” Her hunting boots still held up well enough, “I might need to change the soles soon but I can get those at the Hob.”

“Or, you could get a new pair of prettier boots to double as your hunting and show shoes. Or you could get pretty boots with a little heel for your shows!” Prim said excitedly.

Katniss couldn’t help but laugh, wrapping an arm around Prim’s shoulders to pull her against her side, “I think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself there. I’ve had one show, that doesn’t justify a new pair of shoes specifically for performing.”

“I think you’re underestimating how in demand you’ll be.” She countered, “And- even if you don’t want to get boots with a heel- you should still get some. I know yours can survive with some soles but you spend so much time in the woods… you deserve them. Why do I get a new coat but you can’t get new boots if you can get them without trading most of your game?”

Katniss watched her for a long moment before going to ruffle her hair, “When did you get so argumentative?”

The sisters laughed as they continued their way home.

After mulling it over some more and a trip to the woods during which, a tiny part of her had to admit that her boots had probably lasted two years longer than they should have… she decided she’d give another show.

Delly seemed to be far too delighted the next day as she confirmed that she’d sing at her birthday party.

While Katniss wasn’t too comfortable with getting paid before her performance, Delly insisted she pick a pair of boots the day before so she had the option of wearing them for the show.

Prim insisted on coming along to prevent her from choosing the most basic pair of boots she could find, though Katniss didn’t see the point in getting a pretty pair of boots, not like it made them any more functional.

A small bell rang as she pushed her way into the shoe store behind Prim, Delly quickly leaving the front counter to show her the boots.

There were a few options, Prim smacking her hand when she went to check the plainest pair, Katniss quietly rolling her eyes before going to indulge her sister as she carefully inspected the other pairs of boots.

To Prim’s credit, she instantly dismissed the one pair of boots with a proper heel, already knowing that a heel would be of no use in the woods and she refused to make even more of a spectacle of herself.

Prim smiled as she held out a pair made of soft brown leather with paler brown thread sewn through to form a single simple flower on the outside side and black laces at the front, as well as, not a heel but a chunkier bottom part.

The flowers almost looked like dandelions.

Katniss took too long to reject, Prim quickly picking up on the fact that she liked them and insisting she try them on, Delly right with her.

Katniss pulled the boots on, half expecting for them to be too uncomfortable to take into the woods but being pleasantly surprised, they needed to be broken in but they might just work. And the laces up to her calfs ensured the boots molded perfectly to her leg.

Prim looked far too pleased with herself as Katniss tested the boots, walking back and forth in the store a few times.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten new shoes.

It seemed like an indulgence, especially since…

They felt a little too nice to be worth a mere hour of singing and playing.

Delly sensed her hesitation, “Still not convinced?”

Katniss turned to her, “They’re beautiful… you sure your parents are good with letting these go just for a show?”

“I’m sure!”

In the end, Katniss relented, feeling like her backbone was becoming no stronger than rubber as she walked back home with a shoebox carefully tucked against her hip.

Once they reached the Meadow, she handed the box to Prim to be taken home, where she would finish preparing Lady’s cheese and help their mom with some concoctions.

Katniss had wanted to go to Delly’s as early as possible to get it out of the way before heading to the woods and not have it nagging at the back of her mind as she hunted.

She checked the snares first and re-set them, finding nothing but shooting two rabbits hidden in the bushes. She searched the trees carefully, looking for any other animals since many of them were still hiding out due to the snow.

She also shoot three squirrels before running into Gale, who’d probably been in the woods since earlier, “Late start Catnip?” He questioned with a small smirk, a turkey hanging from his belt.

“Had to pass by the cobbler’s.”

Gale frowned, glancing down at her feet, “Are your hunting boots that bad? We could’ve gotten new soles in the Hob.”

“Yeah I know. I didn’t get soles.” She didn’t elaborate as she helped him get down one of his newer traps, one meant for grooslings, it seemed to have been successful, managing to snag two of them.

“You got new shoes? I thought you were trying to not trade too much of your meat.”

“I didn’t trade meat for them.” Katniss handed the grooslings to Gale before going to check one of the bushes to see if any blackberries were growing.

“…then what did you trade?”

Katniss sighed to herself as she went to stand up, already knowing Gale wouldn’t stop nagging until she elaborated, “Delly’s birthday party is tomorrow.”

That was all she needed to say for him to get it, he shook his head as he looked down, “I thought it was a one time thing?”

“So did I.” She replied honestly, “But it was a good deal… and if more people are willing to pay me for songs… then I’ll probably do it.”

Gale watched her for a long moment, considering something.

Then, he shrugged, clearly trying to play it off, “Alright then.”

He turned away, going deeper into the woods. Katniss decided to not pursue the conversation, if he really did have a problem with her singing, she wouldn’t go out of her way to uncover said issue.

They went through the rest of their usual routine before returning to town, first stopping by the Peacekeeper base to sell the wild turkeys, then heading to the Hob to trade off the grooslings for thread and fabric since Gale’s siblings needed some repairs to their clothes as well as bandages for her mother’s patients.

Since there still wasn’t as much game as usual they each kept a rabbit and a squirrel but for the third one they stopped by the bakery.

Katniss knocked on the back door and adjusted her braid over her shoulder right as the door swung open, revealing the baker.

As per usual, nothing was said, Katniss simply raising up the squirrel, the baker nodding and turning to get something to give in exchange.

She saw Peeta deeper in the bakery, focused as he used some long wooden paddle to place a tray with dollops of raw batter into the oven. Maybe cookies or buns.

He caught sight of her as he shut the oven, in the past, if they caught sight of each other while she traded with his dad, she’d quickly look away before she could see how he reacted, this time, she didn’t look away, Peeta blinked once in surprise before giving her a small smile and a two-finger wave.

She returned the tiny wave, realizing that she’d likely be seeing him at Delly’s party since the two seemed to be friends.

Peeta stepped out of view as the baker returned, handing over a paper bag with two small buns inside.

“Since when are you friends with Mellark?” Gale asked casually as they started making their way back to the Seam, splitting up their goods.

“I don’t know if I’d call us friends. He was just being nice.”

Gale frowned but didn’t ask anymore, they split up and Katniss was relieved to be back home, her mom quickly going to preserve the squirrel and start skinning the rabbit for a stew.

Prim had five small blocks of cheese carefully wrapped up in basil leaves under a bowl, ready to be traded the following day before Katniss put on her show.

While the stew brewed, Prim excitedly insisted they start figuring out which dress she should wear the following day, some rouge still remained from the previous show and Prim had apparently ground up a few petals to make a tentative eyeshadow that Katniss was very much hesitant about trying out.

She chose other simple pieces, another purple skirt, this one a lighter tone, lavender with darker purple making a pattern of small lines and outlines of squares all down the length of it, a loose white blouse with purple and pink flowers down the sleeves and in two lines down her front. Prim picked out a thick brown belt with light brown detailing and two metal snakes at the front serving as a buckle that would almost work as a corset, giving the outfit a more interesting ‘silhouette’ her mom said, whatever that meant.

As they sat to have dinner, Katniss explained her plan for the following day, but when Prim asked if she’d prepared a personalized message since this was a birthday show, Katniss realized something she already knew.

While she might be categorized as a singer, she wasn’t really a performer. At the Mayor’s party she hadn’t spoken a word in between songs, not bothering to introduce any of them in a special manner and hadn’t said anything either at the beginning or at the end of her performance.

Realizing this, she added a quick opening with a traditional birthday song and added a closing song that she thought Delly would particularly enjoy. Prim suggested she at least add some flare to her entrance, perhaps twirling on stage to open up, but that felt a bit dumb, especially since she was almost sure her ‘stage’ would be a bunch of crates pushed together.

The following day, she used the morning to go out hunting again, managing to forage a few herbs her mother was running low on and trading a rabbit for some other herbs that still weren’t growing but one of the women at the Hob had preserved to last through the winter.

Back at home she hurriedly ate before rehearsing what would be her closing song on the guitar, she had a feeling that quite a few of her songs would’ve needed a full band to have the full effect and impact of them, but since it was the guitar or just her voice, she’d have to make do.

After eating, she took a bath, her mom managing to coax the bottom half of her hair into curling a bit and pinning a few pieces back to keep it out of her face.

Prim applied rouge to her cheeks and lips and managed to talk her into letting her use the pale pink powder she’d prepared, using a tiny bit on her eyelids.

She pulled on her clothes and laced up her new boots, Prim holding up the small mirror so Katniss could get a full view once she took several steps back.

She gave a slow spin, inspecting herself.

She felt… pretty.

Katniss shook her head, trying to center herself.

She had a job to do, she didn’t have time to waste admiring herself in the mirror.

She swung her guitar over her shoulder and left.

She noticed there were once again, looks shot her way, she was even more colorful than the last time, so she supposed it made sense. She felt like she actually looked the part of a performer this time around.

She entered the merchant square and, just her luck-

“Katniss!” She looked to her right, seeing Peeta leaving the bakery, a package in his hands, smiling bright as he went to join her, “You headed down to Delly’s?”

“Yeah… I would’ve thought you’d already be there.” Katniss herself was supposed to arrive an hour after the party started to give her show midway through the party that was supposedly meant to end just after dark.

Peeta shrugged, carefully adjusting the box to have a more secure hold on it, “I went earlier to help her set up a bit, but they needed me for the afternoon rush.”

Katniss nodded along, hesitating for a moment before speaking again, “Why did you talk about me to Delly?”

Peeta faltered for a moment, “What?”

“Delly she mentioned that- you talked to her about my show?”

“Oh, well I just said you were great just like I knew you’d be. That’s all.”

“Like you knew I’d be? We don’t even know each other.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to point that out, maybe a bit defensive at the idea of anyone talking about her, especially her singing when she still wasn’t quite sure she hadn’t indeed made a fool of herself.

Peeta didn’t seem insulted though, instead nodding along, “It’s weird right? How you can know about someone without knowing them at all… but if you keep doing shows and I keep delivering cakes then it’s pretty likely we’ll be running into each other a few times so… how about we get to know each other a bit? You could ask me anything.”

“Like what?” Katniss questioned.

“I don’t know like… what’s your favorite color?”

“Well now you’re just crossing a line, that’s too personal.” She joked with a deadpanned expression, earning a chuckle from him before she looked down at her new shoes and obliged, “It’s green. Yours?”

“Orange.”

“Really?”

“Not strong orange, orange like… like the sunset.” He told her, glancing up at the clear example of said orange in the horizon as the sun started to go down.

“Mmm…” Katniss glanced at the box in his hands, no doubt containing a cake for the party, “Do you really frost all the cakes? And the cookies?”

He gave her a bashful smile, “Why do you sound so surprised? It’s not like it’s anything impressive.”

“I’ve seen some of those tiny flowers you make when Prim wants to stop by to look, no idea how you make those they look so fragile.”

“If we’re talking truly impressive things, I can’t understand how you manage to shoot squirrels right in the eye every single time. That’s impressive.”

Katniss frowned at that.

Peeta slowed down for a moment, clearly thinking he might’ve said something wrong, “What?”

“Nothing just… for some reason I never considered you might be eating those squirrels as well. I guess I just thought your dad kept them to himself or something.”

Peeta smirked, “I’ve got no doubt he has on occasion. But for the most part he shares with me or one of my brothers- whoever is in the kitchen at the time.”

Katniss nodded along, “Well you might think the shooting is impressive but it’s just part of the job, no one wants a squirrel that has had half the meat on it shot off.”

“And the frosting is just part of the job as well,” Peeta played right along, “people are more likely to buy cakes and cookies if they look pretty.”

“I guess you’re right.” Katniss thought back to her last trip to the bakery and the buns that’d held a surprise, “Hey, what kind of bread was it that your dad gave us yesterday?”

“Cheese buns, it was the only thing we had ready to go. Why? Did you not like it?” Peeta was watching her now, eyes searching her face for something she couldn’t fathom.

Katniss took a deep breath, “It was delightful,” she confessed begrudgingly, upset at the new weakness that was attempting to develop, “I was almost tempted to just eat the whole thing by myself.”

Peeta pressed his lips together in an attempt to subdue his smile at Katniss’s borderline anger at the audacity the bread had to be that good, “Really?”

“Really.”

They reached Delly’s shop at that moment, going around and through an alley to reach the small garden at the back, Peeta hurrying forwards to open the back gate for her, Katniss surprised at the gesture but saying nothing about it, stepping in.

It was a simple party, about ten or fifteen people, Katniss recognizing most as merchant kids, a small table with a bowl of milk and a plate of turkey, just enough for everyone to have a decent sized piece. Even a tiny bowl of blackberries.

Delly all but ran over to them, giving Peeta a quick hug and telling him he could set the cake down at the table before turning to Katniss with a bright smile and pointing out the crates they’d set up for her show, “You can start as soon as you’d like, thanks for coming again.”

“Of course, I’ll just check my guitar is tuned and go on up.”

In truth, Katniss needed a minute to brace herself.

She’d obviously known that agreeing to perform for Delly’s party meant performing for her classmates, but actually seeing them was different.

She caught sight of Madge, who offered her a reassuring smile from her spot near the blackberries, also seemingly not entirely comfortable in the small crowd.

Katniss gave her guitar a quick check since she’d done all the proper tuning at home before approaching the crates, there was no microphone here which was to be expected.

She hoped on up and turned around, finding Madge for some comfort before knocking on her guitar twice to get everyone’s full attention even though most had been watching her as soon as she’d arrived.

“Good evening,” she spoke in a loud tone, she remembered what her mom had gently told her, that she didn’t have to say anything special or meaningful, just a quick something to open her show, “I won’t waste anyone’s time, we all know why we’re here,” she turned towards Delly, gesturing to her, “Happy Birthday Delly!”

Delly blushed as everyone whooped and clapped for her before Katniss began her show with a short and sweet birthday song.

Like the previous time, with every minute and chord that passed by she gained more confidence, singing loudly and proudly, strumming and occasionally tapping her guitar felt like second nature as she played mostly up-beat and happier songs, most of the merchant kids dancing along or watching as they took a moment to drink milk or eat.

As she sang, Peeta carefully unboxed the cake, giving Delly the first slice before hanging back with a few friends, during Sam McGee, a song about some man thought to have frozen to death before a cremation thawed him out just fine (some of her dad’s songs were very strange when she thought about them too hard) he dragged Delly for a sporadic dance, hopping and spinning around in a way that reminded Katniss of her own silly dances with Prim.

She thought she might’ve heard Delly say once Peeta might as well have been her brother.

She hadn’t known whether she believed that back then, but now she did.

The hour slipped through her fingers like water as she sang about mountain winds and lost loves and daring challenges and mysterious folks.

As she ended a song that had everyone up and dancing, the merchant kids catching their breaths as she cleared her throat, “Alright now, for my last song-”

Many of the kids whipped around, starting to boo and pouting at the thought of her leaving the stage.

Katniss froze, unsure of how to respond to that, deciding to wait until the moment passed and clearing her throat again, hoping her stance hadn’t become too awkward.

“For my last song, I thought I’d dedicate something to the birthday girl,” Peeta and many others whooped, nudging Delly, whose smile could’ve powered the electric fence around the District, “this isn’t a song I’ve practiced a lot, but it’s one that reminds me of you and I really hope you like it Delly. This last one, is Keep on the Sunny Side.”

It wasn’t a song Katniss was particularly fond of, mostly because she couldn’t quite take seriously the lyrics of the song, asking the listener to look on the bright side of life.

But Delly seemed delighted by it, dancing the entire while with her friends, some of them taking pretty ribbons off their hair to weave into a long necklace for Delly, maybe a gift or a momentary token of appreciation, she didn’t know, but Delly was happy and that was all that mattered because it meant she did her job right.

The final strum of her guitar came with applause as she gave a quick bow, Madge approaching the crates that served as a stage with a smile and her glass of milk still half full, offering the rest to Katniss, who took a sip before realizing the crowd was still applauding her and she felt herself blush, glass in hand as she quickly waved them off.

“What are you clapping at me for? Give it up for the birthday girl!” She said impulsively, wanting the eyes to leave her for a moment as she caught her breath and took a few sips to soothe her parched throat, Madge staying close by, the crowd taking it as a joke and going to thankfully turn their attention to Delly.

Katniss hopped off the crates, thanking Madge as she handed the glass back, Madge finishing it off and going to go with her towards the back gate, they were intercepted by Delly, who went to hug Katniss.

“Thank you so much! You were amazing!”

Katniss hesitantly returned the hug, “Uh- you’re welcome. The boots are amazing.”

Delly pulled back, “I’m glad you liked them. You leaving already?”

Katniss nodded, “I’m needed at home.”

“I have to call it a night too Delly.” Madge said, stepping forwards to squeeze her hand, “Sorry to leave a bit early but I can’t stay out much longer without my dad worrying.”

“Oh don’t worry about it, you were the first to arrive! Although- did you have any cake? I didn’t see you with it, hold on-”

As though he’d been summoned at the mere mention of cake, Peeta suddenly stepped up to Delly’s side, holding two napkins that were carefully wrapped around slices of cake, Delly taking them handing one to Madge and one to-

“Oh, no Delly I’m fine.” Katniss tried to tell her, “You already paid me.”

Delly shook her head, “Come on Katniss, it’d just be bad manners to let anyone leave without a slice of cake.”

“Not to mention it’d be an insult to the baker that made it if you didn’t take it.” Peeta added with a smile.

Katniss titled her head at him, “I thought you said you only did the frosting?”

“I never said I only did the frosting, what kind of baker doesn’t know how to make a good cake?” He teased.

Delly all but shoved the slice into her hands, “Thanks again Katniss, the show was perfect. And thanks for coming Madge and for the gift it was beautiful. See you two tomorrow?”

After saying their final goodbyes, Madge and Katniss started making their way down the street walking side by side, her guitar slung over her back, cake slices wrapped up in hand.

Madge grinned after a minute, turning to her, “Do be honest with me,” Katniss tensed up, was she about to bring up Peeta? “How painful was it for you to do that last song?”

Oh. She was just teasing her. Why had she thought that she’d ask about Peeta?

Katniss snorted, “Was I that obvious?”

“No, but I think I’m learning how to see right through you. Do you not like the song?”

That should’ve unnerved her, but she trusted Madge, she wasn’t the kind of person who would spill secrets.

“It’s not that I don’t like the song it’s a fun one, I just can’t picture anyone who’s lived in Twelve writing something like that unironically.”

Madge shrugged, lowering her voice, “Maybe… maybe it was written before Twelve was a thing.”

Katniss turned to her, surprised by the comment. It was far from being Anti-Capitol but it still had an underline of danger to it, mentioning a time before.

She slowly smirked, “Maybe it was.”

They parted ways two blocks down, Katniss peeking into the napkin as she made her way through the Seam.

Had it been a thin slice, she would’ve just given it to Prim, but the slice was just thick enough that both she and her mom could also take a few bites.

As soon as she opened the door of her house, Prim and her mom perked up from where they’d been preparing pastes and solutions at the kitchen table.

Prim smiled, “How’d it go?”

Katniss just held up the napkin, “Who wants a little cake?”

She carefully unwrapped it, Prim in awe of the decorations and insisting on splitting it into three equal parts leaving each with three bites of mouth-watering spongy bread with the tiniest bit of milk in it and different colored decorations.

Prim handed her mom a plate with two purple flowers, choosing pink ones for herself, and to Katniss she handed her one with three flowers.

She looked at the delicate frosted flowers.

Orange. Peeta’s favorite color.

“So tell us.” Her mom started as she lifted a jar to inspect the consistency of one of her concoctions, “How was it?”

Katniss plucked the frosted flower from the frosting, carefully setting it on her plate, unable to bear the thought of crushing it instantly, “It was good… I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.”

Her mom gave her a small smile, “That’s good. Maybe you’ll get more requests soon.”

Katniss just nodded along as she took her first bite of cake.

—————————————

Context: this is the outfit I have in mind for this part

And also, maybe Katniss is a bit too friendly but in my mind she’s still wary of Peeta but she’s been curious about him for too long and he has a way of just getting her and I love them

also also also, this is the outfit I pictured for part 1

#the hunger games #the covey #peeta x katniss #katniss x peeta #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #delly cartwright #madge undersee #gale hawthorne #Katniss is covey #Katniss as covey #lucy gray baird #everlark #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas

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adriana-cosmere-journey · 2 months ago

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Spoilers!! My thoughts on finishing Words of Radiance

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED WORDS OF RADIANCE. EVERYTHING BELOW ARE SPOILERS.

I have so many things in my brain right now, but GOD this is such an excellent book. I guess I'll just word-vomit as my thoughts come up, so I may post a few more times later before my brain gets peace. I do need to make up for real-life responsibilities now that I'm done, so I guess I'll take two or three days before I return to the Cosmere.

ANYWAY.

So I began this morning with the Alethi force starting its march towards the center of the Shattered Plain. (Note to future self: once you reach the last 200 or so pages of the Stormlight books, you may not be able to put them down before finishing. Plan accordingly.)

Things on Kaladin's side were kinda depressing because Syl was still gone and he was healing like a normal person. But things of the Plains picked up quickly as Shallan revealed some of her powers to Dalinar. I LOVED this, first because I had feared Shallan would get sucked into everything while trying to hide herself, but also because Dalinar fucking needed this. A sign.

(Nothing surprising about Kaladin ultimately saving the day. Just eternal love for him.)

I loved how quickly leadership and planning started to fall on Shallan as the campaign advanced, and how quickly Dalinar trusted her. Seriously, the girl was suddenly responsible to get EVERYONE to safety, and the way it eventually panned out was so awesome. Ugh, I already want to re-read the last few chapters.

Randon thought: The Parshendi who escaped Eshonai, I guess they are still on the Plains and may become relevant later, right? Hopefully for something more than becoming Voidbringers.

Random thought 2: Rlain doesn't become a Voidbringer, RIGHT???

(I've spoiled myself enough to know he becomes friends with Renarin. Or something.)

I didn't see the Renarin plot twist coming, although I noticed something was up with him.

I am a little scared about Adolin, with everyone becoming a Radiant around him, but not him. Is it cliché to hope he also gets powers? But maybe his path is to be one that remains strong but doesn't have powers? I refuse to believe he just becomes a bad guy out of it. Like, I would absolutely hate a plot like that.

And to be honest, SADEAS HAD IT COMING AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND. I would only hate it if that cockroach became like a 'start of a dark path' for Adolin or something like that. Pleaaase tell me that doesn't happen. Or at least not to a degree that would seriously compromise Adolin.

(But it wouldn't surprise me if Ialai became a new big foe instead. I can respect that.)

And speaking of gray characters.... ugh, I was expecting some big betrayal from Moash, but I actually feel bad for him now. Like, okay, he kinda punched Kaladin harder than he expected and would have probably kinda crippled or killed him if his powers hadn't returned, but Moash is now stuck in a situation that makes him feel so much guilt and embarrassment. Like, he was so proud of being part of Bridge Four and he really looked up to Kaladin.... I'm a little weary of what this plotline may bring. I hope he redeems himself.

Otherwise, I am glad we are changing the setting from the Shattered Plains to Urithiru. The tower-city sounds like such a cool concept. I really look forward to seeing the random lore details of how everyone makes it their home.

What else.... Oh! SHALLAN. Ugh, baby love Shallan. I am guessing Veil will indeed get more 'screen time' in the future, as we unravel all the secrets around that. I felt it was kinda obvious that she had killed her mother and her father had taken the blame, but I didn't know why. Now this opens a lot of new questions, like what Mraize meant when he said her family had always been involved in this? What are the Ghostbloods and what is their purpose? Are they the bad guys, or secretive creepy good guys?

It will be interesting to see Jasnah come back, that is for sure. I didn't believe for a minute she was actually dead. For now, I get an inkling that she may be surprised/uncomfortable at arriving at a reality where she is no longer the smartest and most mysterious person around. I mean, she's still super smart and mysterious, but now there are others who also hold their own...

Do we get to learn what she's been doing all this time?

And finally (for now), DALINAR. Ugh, you need to have some serious cojones to bound the frikin STORMFATHER as your spren. I loved that. For a second there I felt like Kaladin, like it had been too easy for him, but then I realized Dalinar has been working on this forever and he probably has healed himself many times over the years with stormlight. Like literally, if someone deserves this, it's Dalinar. So now I'm just happily curious about how all this manifests.

Ufff.... I'm sure I'll remember more things later, but for now this is enough. I need to go take care of responsibilities 😅😅 but my deadlines are on Thursday, so I should be able to make it, right?

Wish me luck! And do leave your (spoiler-free) comments! Feel free to be mysteriously ambiguous about things to come while avoiding actual spoilers 😙😉

#spoilers #like seriously all the spoiilers #words of radiance #words of radiance spoilers #cosmere #cosmere journey #kaladin stormblessed #shallan davar #adolin kholin #moash #dalinar kholin #jasnah kholin #torol sadeas #ialai sadeas #so worth to miss a day of work over this

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miss-beep-beep · 1 month ago

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It’s a Date?

Is this a date or strictly business?

Pairing: Carmen “Carmey” Berzatto x bookstore!(Viet)reader

Warnings: Catering/Chef knowledge-rookie. Maybe a bit OOC from the original show. Please let me know what mistakes I made so I can correct them.

Personal Notes: Hi everyone! I’m back! Sorry for the long wait. Trying to get back into the groove of things. This may be one of the longest chapters/parts I written for this series so far. Part 6... will be finished eventually. I actually finished this on April 6, 2024. Yeah... But it’s posted now instead of how I originally intended to go. Part 6 will be finished eventually and it might not be the finale, so you all might get a Part 7 or so.

P.S. shout out to @pettyprocrastination for hosting the Google Classroom some time ago. It gave me the motivation to complete this chapter and give me a head start into Chapter 6.

✅ Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Currently: Part 5

“We’re going to investigate?” You asked, dropping your fork on your styrofoam container overflowing with spaghetti in the process.

“No,” Marin grabbed the receipt and slapped it onto your left hand.

You sighed while shaking your head. “No, I can't. I can’t talk to him while he’s at work.”

“Then you go up to him and ask him if you can talk to him after work.”

You paused and let a few blinks out. Marin did not return any blinks back.

“You really didn’t think of that?” Marin asked while taking a twirling forkful of spaghetti to her lips.

A few blinks too many, you replied afterwards with a soft “No.”

Marin shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. We still got plenty of time before the Children’s Day Book Fair.”

Those last three words suddenly triggered a rush of adrenaline. The Children’s Day fair. It’s coming up in a few months, right? Or was it a few weeks? No, definitely in a few months, but you’d still need time to prepare.

“Maybe I could go right now.” You said and stood up straight from the stool.

You clawed your fingers in the air for them to land on a nearby pack of index cards by the cash register and a black Sharpie pen. You click the top and furiously scribble on the lined rectangular sheet.

“I mean you could or you could -”

You then grabbed your phone and the scribbled index card to shove in your back pockets. “I’ll be back in a few! Watch the front!” You shouted and stormed out the door.

“Or you could wait...after lunch...” Marin trailed off before taking another mouthful of saucy strands of pasta with meatballs.

You were running. Running on the sidewalk. Pausing to jog in place as you wait for the street light to signal to walk. Signal was now on. You keep on running, running, until a misstep. A misstep from a piece of cement peeking out from a crack stops you in your tracks and causes you to fall. Fall down to the ground. Fall down to reality.

Wait, there is something somewhat cold and metal in my hand.

You look up to your grip, long and extended, your body caving towards the ground. A shocked look on your face.

“Whoa! You alright?” The guy asks. The guy you were looking for had a shocked look on his face.

You scurry yourself closer to the door to pull yourself up afterwards. Were you embarrassed?

“Yeah,” you replied back, a little out of breath. “Heading out, Carmey?”

Carmey looked away with a meek smile before looking at you while rubbing the back of his neck. “Actually, I was about to go to you.”

“Is it about the receipt?”

Carmey nodded. “Yeah… I want to apologize for that… that was weird.”

You looked over at him, wide eyes and shook your head no. “No, no, of course not! I was just surprised, but a good surprise.”

“I should have called the number on your card.”

“I mean…” You meekly smiled back. “I’m here now. Anything you wanted to tell me?”

Carmey took a quiet deep inhale before stating, “I can’t do lunch.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to take up your time, especially since it may be a time-crunch. I rather discuss that fair you were putting together at a time you want.”

That’s right. The Children’s Book Fair. This isn’t something romantic. This is work. Okay, I’ll focus now.

“That’s true. Plus you have your hours too. Are you okay if we can talk about it after work?”

Before Carmey could reply, another chef pops outside.

“Is something wrong?” A chef with the bandana comes in. “Hey, I remember you.”

“Oh?” Questions Carmey, but the chef in the bandana continued on talking to you.

“Thanks for the pen.”

“Oh, no problem, Chef.”

“Call me, Sydney. If you have any questions, feel free to let me or Fak here know.”

“Oh absolutely, I really like the risotto.”

Sydney brightens up with a gushing smile. “Oh thank you. Glad you like my creation.”

You tried to match the gushing happiness energy, but you stumbled a bit at the start. “Do-do you-are you available to talk about the Children’s Book Fair I am helping put together?”

Sydney took a quick glance over at Carmey before replying back. “Actually, could I take a raincheck? If anything, we can schedule a meetup after yours with Carmey.”

“Oh sure. If anything,” you pulled out a business card from the back of your phone and gave it to Sydney. “You can call me at that number and business hours. I can update you on the info of our event and if you have any recommendations and notes for your catering.”

Sydney hummed. “Thank you, Ditto.”

You blinked a few times in confusion. “Umm… Sure, Sydney.”

And then Sydney walked back to the kitchen.

“So, dinner?” Carmey asked.

“Yeah, dinner!”

Just when you were about to suggest a place, Carmey chimes in. “Yeah, that’s great. You like seafood?”

That threw you off like getting amazed from seeing a skipping rock on the water for the first time. “Yeah, yeah, I do.”

“Cool, I know a place.”

“Oh cool.”

It was a blur as Carmey goes on about the place and gives notable street directions just in case.

“So, I’ll see you around noon on Sunday?”

Carmey smiled and nodded while crossing his arms against the door handle bar. “Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

And then you strolled back to the bookstore with a wide smile.

Just when Carmey closed the door behind him and about to reach the kitchen double doors, he was halted by the sound of Fak.

“Damn Carmey! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

Walking to the side so he doesn’t get hit, he replied,“Fak, it’s just business. Not a date.”

Sydney and Fak both widened their eyes in amusement and raised their hands in the air in defense.

“Okay, if you say so, Chef.” Sydney remarked before heading back to the kitchen.

As Carmey shook his head and walked back to the kitchen, Fak patted Carmey’s shoulder and said, “I recommend showering first before heading out on ‘business’, " he said with air quotes before walking away to get extra utensils.

Carmey shook his head once more and walked towards the receipt printer to place the receipt on the line before pulling on his sleeve to smell his shirt. He scowled a bit at the result.

#Carmen Berzatto #carmen berzatto x reader #fluff #Carmen “Carmey” Berzatto x bookstore!(Viet)reader #Sydney Adamu #fak

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tcoaal · 1 month ago

Note

Should've sent this yesterday but ever felt like Renee ever felt guilty or remorse for anything she did to the kids? At all?

happy belated mother's day Renee wish the kids had killed you worse! anyways... that's an interesting question because like, it feels like you could make an argument for that based on two separate scenes but I'm much more inclined to believe she doesn't and that Renee was largely more uncomfortable when faced with the reality "I'm murdering my children for money" more than actual guilt or remorse for doing it. i used to think maybe she did when i first only played Chapter 1 but not anymore

so first in chapter 1 Renee seems to have some regret or hesitation about what she's doing, and then again in the 3a flashbacks she seems to have some hesitation to the point of having to ask if there's truly no chance the kids are going to live for assurance to go through with it

but also Renee's response when she's lead to believe the kids definitely died in a fire and they're 100% in the clear was to buy steaks and wine to have a celebration dinner. Renee's flashbacks shows her viewing her kids solely as Embarrassment and Disappointment in her internal narration. nothing about her actions after believing them to be dead hints at any kind of actual remorse in any capacity, only joy

Renee is a Tar Soul To-Be and i think these scenes are more like... Renee being uncomfortable with being confronted with the reality of what she's doing more than feeling guilty about it. something Nemlei talked about in that Q&A regarding Renee's original plan is noting that there are some similarities between them, and I think Insincere Catholic Guilt is definitely one of them. teen Andrew laments that he would turn himself if it would bring back Nina but justifies because it won't there's no reason to, there's a really great post about it here and I think Renee is kind of the same. this was still presumably early enough she could've gotten her kids out quicker, but the Surgeon says there's no way her kids are gonna make it. she knows the parasites aren't real. but this grand conspiracy with forces stronger than them has taken root... if her kids are going to die no matter what, shouldn't she get something, a compensation for the 22 years she spent on these hellions? it's going to happen no matter what, even if she warns them, they'll probably prevent them from leaving right?

that's just how i read these scenes. i think if Renee felt actual genuine remorse she would've probably like, more calmly accepted her fate in chapter 2, you know? like, ha. i tried to kill my own kids. of course they're going to kill me and their father. i had this coming. of course the situation was fucked beyond belief, but that's my personal take. if Renee had been a full Tar Soul i doubt she would've been uncomfortable facing the reality of it though. what Renee really wants is both justification for her actions and to be able to turn a blind eye to the reality of what it cost

you could say that maybe she was written to be harsher than initially intended when the early game was still out before chapter 2 and some aspects of her changed just a little bit, but i doubt Nemlei would've done that and i think her character has been pretty consistent. i suppose you could also argue the first scene isn't reliable as it was solely from Ashley's POV and Ashley shows throughout the game (and especially in 3A) she has an odd relationship with wanting her mother's attention despite hating her and that this might've been more being shown from her perspective alone and that Renee was harsher, but unless Burial shows Ashley misremembering things from the past with her own rose-tinted filter i find it really unlikely. everything in this paragraph is purely just wild mass guessing speculation

tl;dr: no i think she's just uncomfortable being confronted with the reality of her actions like Andrew usually is because she also wants to believe she's a normal person in normal society

#the coffin of andy and leyley #tcoaal #renee graves #andrew graves #ashley graves #answered #anonymous #original post

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moonystoes · 1 year ago

Text

Camp Out! - Elisa De Almeida

(Final part)

Here: part 1, part 2, part 3

Summary: It's Camp out, and being in the same tent as Elisa isn't so bad.

Warning: none!

w/c: 9.6k

A/n: I promised you guys I will post the fic this weekend (I lied it's already 2 am), I have to be honest but I completely gave up on this chapter. I am so attached to y/n and baby Elisa, but this was so difficult for me. There were things I wanted to remove and edit, but I don't care at this point. I may make another chapter, but for now... it's over :,(

Days have passed since prom and your plan on avoiding Paul has been quite successful. It was the last week of school before winter break, and since you were the teachers’ favorite, you were asked to be working around the school all the time. Organizing papers, stapling the review papers, handing them out…things the teachers should be doing, And your job today is to take off the old prom posters from around the school. Usually you’d be frustrated and annoyed at the amount of work they put you through without paying you (child labor much?), but you were thankful and delighted for the extra school work given. Another excuse to avoid Paul.

You somehow found yourself humming that same song from prom, calmly ripping out the posters in the hallways. It wasn't until you heard an obvious fake, rough cough behind you. As you looked over to see if your annoying teacher had another chore for you, your heart sank when you realized it was Paul with a frown on his face.

“Hey, sorry but I really need to remove all of those posters.” You robotally said, twisting your body back and ripping out the small tape around the corners of the posters.

“Come on y/n, you’ve been busy this whole week, “ He groaned, resting his palm on your shoulder to turn you around to face him, “Just give me a minute.”

You sighed loudly as you pondered for a moment. Maybe you will gain confidence in this conversation and will make him leave you alone, “fine, just be quick.”

He nodded quickly and stood up straight. Inhaling deeply, he blurted out, “You embarrassed me in prom.”

“Excuse me?” You retorted, “what did you just say?”

“I mean… You left me alone. Prom wasn’t good because of that.”

“Paul, prom wasn’t good for multiple reasons. One of them was me agreeing to be your date.” You shrugged him off as you ripped out the papers from the wall. How dare he say something like that? You never snapped in school, in fact you rarely do in general. But you don’t care anymore. Not after the way Elisa treated you 10x better than him and she wasn’t your date. Hell, she wasn’t even your friend!

“What do you even mean by that? I was there! I didn’t run away and lied about going to the bathroom.” He spluttered, flailing his arms around him in frustration.

“Well if you were a great date, you…” you stammered, your confidence and anger has faded into worry. No matter how frustrated you are with him, you can’t make him angry or sad, the down part of being a people pleaser, “...would've noticed that I was sick. I had to go home.” You lied.

His brows furrowed in confusion, “were you actually?” He took a step closer to you, eyeing your body as if he would be able to see the sickness that way, “are you lying?”

Your face blushed at the thought of getting caught, “No! Why would I lie like that.”

“Because a friend of mine saw you walk out with another boy.”

A blush ran through your face as you looked down at the ground, too afraid to even glance at his doe brown eyes, “it wasn't a boy… It was Elisa.”

“What?” He gasped, flashbacks of the conversation both of you had at prom came crashing into him.

“No matter how much she dresses like us, she can never be us,” You turned to look at him in surprise, “imagine being a lesbian and trying to dress like us yet you get no dates.”

Your shock turned into anger, “Paul, what the fuck!” You couldn't believe he is your date, let alone your best friend as a kid.

The guys all laughed at what he said and how you reacted, Paul looked at you in shame and he tried to pull you away from the group.

“No let go of me! You can't just say stuff like that, it's rude.”

No way! Did you ditch him for her? That's exactly what he said would never happen. Did the lesbian Elisa actually just snatch his girl on prom night?

“Ehm… she noticed I was sick in the bathroom and walked me home,” You turned your front into the wall, shakingly ripping out the papers on the wall like how you were supposed to do in the first place.

“Well…I'm sorry. You should've told me about it.” He shrugged his shoulders as his eyes were filled with disappointment in you for not letting him know.

“You should've acknowledged me.” You whispered back as you walked away from that hallway, exhaling calmly knowing that conversation is over, not caring how insensitive your response may be.

It felt great knowing that whatever had happened between you over the years through childhood is now thrown out. You may have been heartbroken if you knew this at the beginning of the year, but it feels like a blessing to you now.

___

January 11th, 2013

Turning slowly towards Sammy, you mumbled, "Do you know what is going on there?” Class should've started 5 minutes ago, but the class was delayed by 3 teachers who were whispering at the door including the school principal.

"Yeah, it's Camp Out this Friday." Sam said in a duh tone. You hummed quietly, opening your notebook and writing the date quickly to prepare yourself for the new lesson. The teachers quietly left, leaving the History teacher alone at the front of the brightly lit class to start the afternoon.

"Good afternoon everyone. As you know, it's the beginning of the second semester and we have this tradition called ‘Camp out’." his hands fiddled with a stack of papers, folding them together and unfolding as he walks around the class.

"Told you." Sam stuck out her tongue quickly, before turning back to the front of the class.

"If you didn't know about Camp out, it's a tradition where the first year of high school gets a camp day for free! We will camp at the park, forest or whatever you want to call it. The one behind the school. We will provide food, movies, and games. But we will also sleep there. You will need to bring your own tents, sleeping bags, and anything you want.”

The students turned around, already discussing to each other what they should bring and do. You glanced at Sam to plan the day, but her long hair covered her face, and she played with her nails as always.

"Hey! I'm still talking. It will happen in three days, this Friday. You will go to school like normal. And instead of going home at 4, you will stay here. We will move to the park and build our tents, and stay there till 10 in the morning of the next day. We will provide dinner, snacks, and breakfast. Then your parents or guardian will pick you up on Saturday morning. When we sleep, we will split the area in two. One for the boys and one for the girls.”

"Is Elisa sleeping with us too?" A loud remark came from the left side of the class. You knew it was Paul, especially after the conversation you had around three weeks ago. He had been very harsh towards Elisa, before it was small remarks to his friends, but now it's more than that. There was a certain jealousy brewing in him after knowing how she was there to help you instead of him when you were ‘sick’ at prom. Laughter erupted from the class, making you frown at him and glance at Sammy as she shrugged.

You awkwardly shifted to the back of the class where Elisa sits with Fleur and Marie. Even with the loud chatter of the class, Elisa was staring at her empty table, fiddling with her pen. She was clearly lost in thought, her body drowning in an oversized gray hoodie. When you looked at the rest of the table, you caught Marie’s eye. Realizing she caught you staring at Elisa, you flinched and turned back immediately to the front of the class.

"Paul, try thinking of something creative next time." Mr. Nick glared at Paul, angry at the unwanted interruption. "There will be 5 teachers with you guys, and we will be awake at all times to make sure none of you do anything inappropriate, I know you guys are responsible enough to not do it.”

He took a deep breath, walking around to pass the consent forms. Since you and Sam sit at the front, you were the first to receive them.

"Will you go?" Your eyes quickly skimming over the words.

"Absolutely not." Sam joked, ripping the paper in half. You gasped, turning to look at the torn paper on the table.

"What the fuck, why?" You furrowed your eyebrows together at the mess, "oh my God it's literally 5 minutes into class and you're already acting up.”

"You think I'm acting up? Imagine how these boys would act at 2 at night. I'd rather jump off a cliff.” her head turning towards the boys’ tables, their voice looming over the class. “Look at that, they're already planning what they'll do to us when we sleep.”

“...what will they do to us when we sleep?” You hesitantly questioned, face flinching away from Sam knowing she'll probably start blabbering again.

“Are you crazy? What rhymes with grape?” She whispers shouts, her eyes glancing back at Xavi, the creepy kid of the class.

“Oh Sam, you can't just assume something like that!” You gasped at her accusation. It is true, Xavi was a complete weirdo to all the girls, but bringing up a big topic like that wasn't right. “Don't worry, I'm sure nothing will happen around the teachers and the girls.” You reassured her.

“Oh yeah, because Elisa's big, juicy, arms will save you from the bad guys.” she mocked, her body leaned closer to yours with a wink.

You looked back at the clean whiteboard, wishing to disappear. “Fuck off Sammy.”

Sam's cackle was loud enough for some of the students nearby to glance, making you kick her foot under the table and praying that Elisa didn't hear what she said.

Sam had been making jokes about Elisa after the prom conversation, she wanted you to feel relaxed around her and admit your crush. But you had made an obvious mistake (Sam knew this was a step closer for you to admit it), when you walked around the school’s football pitch at lunch on the first day of school after winter break.

You were watching the small matches played by the students when you surprisingly saw Marie on the sidelines. Knowing that she loves and plays the sport, you sat next to her with a bright smile and questioned why she wasn't there playing with the rest, and obviously her response was about the sexist boys. When you looked back at the pitch, you found Elisa between the boys. She clearly couldn't care less about what the boys were saying. She wore a sleeveless basketball jersey showing off her arm tan lines, and shorts long enough to reach her knees. It was obviously too cold for her to be dressed like that, but the afternoon sun and playing had helped warm her up.

The harsh sun caused her body to shine with sweat and caused her short hair to stick to her forehead. But what made your heart start to race is when she pushed Paul with a physical tackle, grass flying around them from the impact. Paul was grunting in pain on the ground, waiting for the whistle to blow. But Elisa wasn’t groaning in pain, she instead immediately pushed herself up from the ground, making her biceps bulge.

The boys called out for a yellow card, but all Elisa did was laugh at them and remind them of their comments beforehand about ‘girls being too weak to play football with them’. You quietly stood up and smiled at Elisa for fighting for her spot. You knew it was difficult for girls to argue with boys like them, and Elisa doing it shows her passion for the sport.

Elisa saw you smiling in the corner of her eyes, and when she turned to look at you completely, her face turned crimson red. She bit her lip and turned back to look at Paul on the ground, feeling a small sense of victory. Yes, I won her over.

You weren’t aware that Elisa had thought about this moment for too long too. It was unusual to see you acknowledge her, and she had begged for something to happen between you ever since the walk after prom. Seeing your beaming smile because of something she did made her brain shut down for a second. Especially after what happened at prom, she’s worried if she’s reaching for an inaccessible relationship.

Sam knew about this new fascination of Elisa’s arms in class that day, when you nudged her quickly and subtly gestured to Elisa with your head when she walked past the both of you to her seat. She gave you a confused look, mumbling a small ‘what’. But you pointed at your bicep, flexing your weak arm to show her what you meant. She turned around to glance at Elisa's arms for a second and turned back to look at you with a disappointed glance, making you shyly shrug with a simple ‘her arms are stronger than all of the boys here’.

And from that day, Sam has subtly brought up Elisa's arms in every discussion you have. At first it was funny, but nowadays it causes you to panic, feeling horrified at the idea of her knowing about your crush.

“Each tent will have four people in them, there are enough students for four tents for boys excluding James since he’s on a trip now, but for the girls there is an extra girl. One of the groups will have to compromise and let her join, okay?” Mr. Nick's close voice caused you to jump out of your seat, waking you up from the daydreams again about elisa.

“Sir, I'm not going.” Sam raised her hand, causing you to glare at her.

“Perfect. Y/n, why don't you sit with the Powerpuff girls at the back.” His hand rested on your shoulder, one of the disadvantages of being his favorite student and sitting in front. You gave him a soft nod at his reassuring smile, bending down to pick up your bag.

You glanced back to Sam, whispering quietly, “I can't believe you're making me do this alone, we'll talk about this later.”

“You're sleeping with Ms. Buff arms, have fun.” She whispered back with a cheeky smile and a subtle wink, causing you to stop packing and gape at her for a second. You had completely forgotten about what all of this is for, realizing that out of every girl group in this class it's with them. You didn't have a problem with either Katoto and Fleur. But when it comes to Elisa, you cannot be sleeping in the same place as her.

You sighed audible, taking your backpack and walking to the back of the class. Grinning at Fleur and Marie as you sat in the empty seat of the four-seat table.

“Hey,” you whispered in the middle of the table, letting them know you've sat with them since both Marie and Fleur were sneakily on their phones and Elisa doodling on her notebook. Elisa hummed at your approach, not even glancing at you.

“I’ll bring the tent.” Fleur said looking up from her phone, glancing at you and the girls. You breathed out, at least one of them isn’t ignoring you and actually looked at you from them.

“Guys imagine bringing snacks and staying up all night? We have to do that!” Elisa suddenly gasped, she grabbed Marie's bicep since they were sitting next to each other. “Fleur, what type of snacks do you want?”

You felt a sudden energy of sadness in you, not used to the feeling of being left out. You knew she was not purposefully trying to ignore you, but it felt like shit. Your mind kept reminding you of her Facebook post, that all of the things both of you went through (which isn't much…and you knew it), was all friendly. And she doesn't think you are pretty enough for her to talk to you.

“I don't care, sour patch kids and cheetos but you can bring the whole store and I'll eat anything.” Fleur shrugged, her fingers awkwardly tapping on the table.

“I can get the snacks.” You finally spoke out, voice slightly cracking when Elisa looked into your eyes across from you. You turned to your left to check on Fleur, and she nodded with a satisfied ‘okay’. Elisa shrugged, writing on her notebook ‘snacks’ under your initials.

“I'll bring the sleeping-bags… I already have four from family trips.” Elisa awkwardly mumbled, writing the things she needed under her name.

“Make sure Alex didn't shit on them, I don't want to take his.”

“Hell no I'm taking mine, you either take my parents’ or Alex's.”

“Fleur, take Alex's, imagine what her parents did on theirs.” Marie covering her face from Elisa with the palm of her hand as she ‘attempted’ to wink.

“Ew weirdo, they're literally divorced.” Elisa moved her body so she could see Marie’s face, but what she didn't realize is that she got really close to you by propping herself on the table with her hands, and sitting on her knees so she could move freely around the table and look at Marie. You panicked and pushed your seat slightly back, making Fleur notice and glancing at you for a second before turning back to them, “what are you gonna get?”

“I don't know… I'll get board games! Like Uno or something.” She exclaimed until she saw Elisa's disappointed face, “Okay fine I'll think of something else.”

The table went quiet, you looked around waiting for someone to say something. But Elisa just folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them to sleep.

You sighed as you look at the list,

“Elisa - sleeping bags

Fleur - tent

MAK - games?

Me - snacks Cheetos, sour patch kids, and anything”

While Elisa was sleeping, you kept glancing at her grown hair. You can't look at her for too long, or else you might end up having a meltdown. It bothered you that for the first time you had an actual crush, she doesn't even think you're pretty. A deep frown was stuck to your face, and you didn't care if Fleur, Marie or everyone in class noticed. All you wished is for her to see you the way you did.

Elisa wasn't sleeping, she did try to take a nap but her head kept distracting her. And the thought of you sleeping next to her is suffocating her. Would you wear a silk mini dress? Or a silly mickey mouse pjs? It doesn't matter, because she knew she would be a blushing mess no matter what you were wearing.

She was also thinking about what Marie and Fleur are gonna do. She knew that they liked playing risky games, what if they put the both of you together for seven minutes of heaven? Or dared you to kiss? They wouldn't do that. No way, right? What if when you watch a movie they force you and her to cuddle? She can't let them know the effects you have on her, because they would definitely try and set them up together.

“Eli stop being depressed, it's literally your birthday.” Fleur groaned out, reaching her hand to mess up Elisa's hair.

You glanced back at Fleur and then looked back to Elisa. Eli? Wait… maybe Fleur is the pretty girl she was talking about in that post. Or maybe they're just friends. You gave Samantha nicknames all the time! Sam, Sammy…it could be a friendly gesture, not a flirty one.

But your mind was lost, and the idea of them both going to prom reminded you that whatever relationship you want with her is never gonna happen…not when Fleur plays her hobby in the same academy as her and touches her hair and body all the time.

Elisa, or Eli, looked up with a fake animated pout, “stop… I already know you're gonna do something once we go training.”

Marie's head was pushed back from laughter, “should we put glue in her deodorant this time?”

“Ew! what the fuck?”

“I saw that from one of those DIY pranks on youtube.” She shrugged, tears rolling from her eyes looking at Elisa's horrified face.

You didn't say anything, feeling ashamed at not doing anything for her birthday. In your defense, you didn't know. But there was still guilt at the thought of bringing nothing for her.

You were also feeling flustered, not at the gift part, but at the feeling that started blooming in you when looking at Elisa that way. The pouty face, the panicked, and the frustrated expressions. Even if Elisa was ugly crying with snot going down her mouth, you'd still be blushing. It was a lot for you, too much in a span of 5 minutes. It didn't help that Elisa's hair had grown and now looks like a bird's nest from Fleur's hand.

Fleur tugged Elisa's hand, “we're not gonna do that, we will probably get kicked out of the academy.”

Elisa shut her eyes and sighed loudly, “thank the lord.” Making the whole table softly giggle and go silent.

It was awkward, maybe for you only. So you took a risk, “Happy birthday Elisa, sorry I didn't get a gift…I didn't know until now.”

She looked up from her scribbles to you and gave you a small smile, “no worries, I'm not really expecting one from anyone in here anyways.”

“I'm pretty sure we can do something on camp day, right girls?” Maybe you can get her something on Friday, “like a mini party at night? Unless you guys have to sleep early for football, of course.”

Fleur looked at the girls at the table, having a silent conversation with their eyes only. Your hands were starting to feel clammy. Oh God, what if they're talking shit about me? What if I sound so desperate now?

“That's a cute idea, sure!” Fleur smiled at you, she looked back at Elisa, now having a suspicious face and glancing at everyone around the table, “we don't have training on Saturdays, we have a match on Sundays though. But it's okay, they're always in the afternoon or evenings so we don't have to wake up early.”

You turned to look at Elisa, but her eyes remained on Fleur next to you. Take a risk, you reminded yourself, it worked last time.

You tapped her hand making her turn to look at you, “don't worry, no pranks. Just a small birthday party.” You gave her a smile.

Elisa looked at your eyes, it had been long since she had actually tried to maintain eye contact with your eyes (she was clearly blind not to notice the struggle isn't one-sided), her cheeks turned slightly pink, enough for you to smile even larger, “Ugh, thanks. I just want you to know that you really don't have to do all of that.”

“Why not? You know, in some places like Mexico and Latin America, they celebrate the 15th birthday like weddings! It's called quinceañera. They invite a lot of people and wear fancy dresses. It's sweet, and I know I don't have to do it, but I want to.”

Marie's eyes were wide as she gave a knowing look to Fleur, the table remained quiet for a few seconds as the both of them were communicating with their eyes.

Elisa was not just pink, she was red as a cherry now. She let out a giggle at what you said and just gave out a shrug, knowing if she tried to say something it would either be dumb or just a long minute of stuttering.

For the first time, it wasn't embarrassment or awkwardness that was filling you from this silence, it was hope. Hope that maybe there could be something that you can make from the relationship, especially after Elisa's blushing mess.

After a minute of praying that all of this would end, Elisa's prayers were answered when your teacher asked for everyone to move back into their seats.

When you sat back down next to Sam, she turned to look at you with a knowing smirk, “how was it?”

“Did you know it's Elisa's birthday today?” You quickly asked her, turning your body now to the front of the class since the lesson will actually start.

“No, are you doing something for her?” She asked, hoping you'd say something that will make her ‘theory’ true.

“Not now, but in camp I'm gonna get her something. What should I get her?” You remained facing the teacher as you replied.

Sam smiled, holding in her laugh, “I don't know…maybe football boots?”

You thought for a second before shrugging off what she said, “no, they're too expensive and I don't know her shoe size.”

“Hmm…I don't know, we'll figure it out later.”

You nodded at what she said before continuing writing the notes.

___

Your father sighed quietly when he saw the bill, “all of this? A cake? And a… what even is that?” He took a sip of the dark cup of coffee he had, staring at some old romcom show on TV.

“It's for the camp out thing, I told you before me and mama left,” You glanced at his distracted face, glad that the show is making him less angry than how he would've reacted without it. “It's a mini cake! For my friend's birthday. And that thing is a bracelet set, so I can make jewelry.” You calmly spoke out.

“Ugh fine, just let me know when you buy the whole store next time.” He groaned out, shrugging you off with his hand.

“Thanks, love you.” You bent down and kissed his head, running off to your room to pack your things.

You grabbed a gym bag, something your mom abandoned for years. And started filling them with essentials, pads, underwear, your hello kitty pj's that you weren't embarrassed by, some emergency products in case anything happened.

You brought another bag for all of the snacks, making sure the cake box is placed on top so it doesn’t get mushed. Turning around your room, you opened the bracelet making kit and stared at the beads. Would Elisa wear a bracelet? They aren’t a very feminine thing, and you were sure if you used masculine colors she would be okay with it.

The problem is that you were not sure if she would accept it from you. You weren’t close with her, why would she wear something you made her? She doesn’t even wear any jewelry in the first place! You rolled your eyes as you groaned loudly, dropping your body backwards on your bed. You knew you were overthinking it, but you really wanted her to like you. It felt like elementary days, where the kids would buy gifts for their classmates to gain a friendship.

Deciding to make her a black and white bracelet, the colors of a classic football and it was not ‘feminine’, something Elisa has avoided throughout the whole school semester.

After thirty minutes and an intense back stretch, you were finally satisfied with the product. You placed it in a small velvet bag, writing a small note in it that says ‘happy belated birthday, I don’t know if you like wearing jewelry like these, but I hope you would like this.’ You also decided to take the bracelet kit with you there too, maybe Marie or Fleur would want to make some at midnight.

___

It was already Friday, all of the students abandoning the teachers as they excitedly planned their evenings together. You were standing in the office, where the class kept their Camp Out equipment before classes started. It was already 4pm, and now you were meant to be moving to the park. You were shyly staring at your group, too scared to approach them. But Elisa turned around and spotted you, giving you a small wave so you could go there.

You grinned, giving her a wave back as you carried your three bags; your backpack, gym bag, and the beach bag that was filled with the snacks, “Hey, I brought everything here.”

Fleur turned to glance at you, “oh hey, thanks by the way.” She bent down and carried your things to the corner of the room.

“Oh, you don't have to do this. You're still injured!”

She shrugged you off, “don't worry about it.”

“Alright, let's move from the back door, walk across that football pitch, and go on that sidewalk.” The counselor called out.

You went down and carried your backpack, grabbing the other two heavy bags when Elisa's hand stopped you, “I got it.”

“You are already carrying 2 sleeping bags, it's okay.” You argued, but before you grasped the handles Elisa was already lifting them.

She turned to maintain eye contact with you, “It's fine.”

You nodded and followed the teachers. You were a few steps ahead from the other girls, but you were able to hear what they were saying.

“Yo, look at her back,” Katoto laughed out loud, “Elisa trying so hard to look strong.”

“Shut up!” Elisa whisper-shouted at both of the girls giggling. It was obvious that she was struggling with carrying the bags, but she wanted you to think of her as a strong girl.

You bit your lip, holding in the giggle that almost came out of you. The walk was long, and the bickering between the girls did not stop.

“Elisa, you're so strong, please come carry my things for me.” Fleur fake-groaned, obviously mocking Elisa's posture.

Marie was already in tears by now, clutching into her stomach from the pain. Elisa hoped that you couldn't hear any of the things they're saying or else she'd just die. But by the way your shoulders were vibrating, she knew that you had been laughing with them.

When the class reached the empty field, you went to the right side (the girl's section) and placed all of your things there. You looked at Elisa's red face, “thanks…you didn't have to carry all of them.”

Elisa threw everything roughly on the ground, her shoulders and back too damaged to care about the safety of the products inside your bag, “oh no…I'm fine.” She nodded towards you, twisting her torso and trying to stretch the pained muscle on her lower back.

You giggled seeing her like this and nodded back, going over to Marie and opening the big tent bag. While trying to stabilize the tent edge into the ground, you saw a shadow crouch down next to you, “Hey y/n… you can have my sleeping bag tonight.”

When you turned to look at your right, your face blushed at how close she was. Her eyes were burning yours, trying to see a reaction of discomfort from how close she is to you. But she found none, other than a slight shaky breath and pinkish cheeks.

“Are you sure? It's yours.”

Elisa placed her shaky hands on top of yours, tightening the fabric of the tent into the ground when she realized it was loose, “I can sleep in my mom's or dad's… I feel like it would be inappropriate of me to just give you theirs and not mine.”

“What about Marie and Fleur?” You asked, glancing at the both of them adjusting the other corners.

“Pfft who cares about them, they can sleep on the ground.” Elisa shrugged them off, making you laugh.

“Wow…I'm sure they would be disappointed at your loyalty.” You sarcastically gasped.

Elisa smiled shyly, getting closer to the point where your shoulders were sticking to each other, “oh please…our relationship is just us bullying each other.”

It was a minute of silence between you guys, the both of you not wanting to leave the other. It was until Fleur groaned out as she stood up, looking at the both of you ‘adjusting’ the corner and giving Marie a suspicious nudge.

Marie looked at the both of you and winked at Fleur, “guys let's put the things inside!”

The both of you quietly sighed in disappointment, standing up and grabbing all of the bags inside and organizing the place.

“Wow you brought all of these snacks?” Fleur gasped as she looked through the beach bag, “wait, what is that?”

She pointed at the cake box, “shh… that's Elisa's birthday cake.”

Fleur nodded as she got closer to the cake, “what flavor is it?”

“Chocolate with vanilla frosting,” You responded, “I felt like Elisa would like that…no?”

Fleur remained silent for a second before turning to look at Elisa, “Hey Elisa, isn't strawberry your favorite cake flavor?”

You huffed out and turned the other way, I guess she didn't hear me when I said ‘shhh’, you looked at Elisa as she gave Fleur a disgusted look, “ew no what the fuck?”

Fleur rolled her eyes in annoyance, “oh come on, is it too girly for you?”

Elisa glared at Fleur, “no it just tastes like anything but strawberries.” She laid down the sleeping bags in order before adding, “chocolate is my favorite, I thought you'd know this.”

Fleur turned and gave you a surprised look, “wow I guess y/n knows Elisa more than us.”

It was obvious Fleur was teasing the both of you, and the way Marie was smirking on the side didn't help Elisa's panic. Was her attraction that obvious? What if you think it's gross the way they're joking?

There was a moment of silence, Elisa glaring at both of her friends while you organized your stuff on the corner. A shadow came by the tent door, “Girls go out, we have some tasks for you!”

Marie gaped at the door, “I thought this camp was supposed to be fun!”

“Stop complaining and go out now!”

“Okay, miss!” You yelled out before rolling your eyes. Today is going to be a long day.

----

“Here is your pizza.” Elisa placed a cheese pizza next to you and sat there. You stopped touching the small cut on your toe and looked up, “hey, thanks.”

Elisa nodded, looking at the bloody toe you have, “I will get you a bandaid once we go to our tents, okay? I can clean up the cut too.”

You felt your cheeks turn hot at Elisa’s gentleness towards you. Instead of responding to her, you just gave her a shy smile and bit into your pizza.

Fleur and Katoto sat further away from the both of you. Usually, they would get jealous and frustrated at how Elisa is basically ignoring their existence. But you were an exception, especially when this is the first time they see Elisa this way with anyone. As well as, seeing you have a crush on someone… someone that’s a girl and their bestfriend.

Elisa wanted you to see her as a responsible person, someone that can help you whenever you need it. She carried your stuff, made your sleeping ‘corner’, helped you walk when you tripped over a rock and hurt yourself, gave you your dinner, and now offered to clean up your cut. She just hoped that it wouldn't overwhelm you, and maybe you’d realize that she is just an annoying, clingy person that doesn’t understand boundaries.

But you never complained, only looking down and avoiding eye contacts with a sheepish smile. There was some hope, that maybe you’d actually see her the way she sees you, and maybe you actually like girls. That’s a thought Elisa is currently trying to avoid, too afraid to hurt herself the more she thinks about it.

You took a few bites from the large pizza slice before turning to Elisa, “Hey… I got you a mini gift,” You placed your left hand into your pocket and pulled out the mini jewelry bag, placing it delicately into her palm. “I hope you like it.”

She smiled shyly as she tightly grasped it, “you didn't have to get me a gift.”

You avoided eye contact while taking a bite, “I know, but I wanted to.”

“Guys if you're done, get your pajamas and go back to the school building to change,” one of the teachers yelled out, “there are lights around the school so it won't be too dark.”

You turned to look at Fleur and Marie, signaling with your head if you should go now or wait. They nodded and slowly stood up, their legs too sore from sitting for too long.

You placed your left palm on the ground to push yourself up, but you saw Elisa standing up and reaching out for your hands. Everything was overwhelming you, she was too gentle and sweet with you. And it horrified you to know that all of this can be a friendly gesture, that all Elisa wants is some pretty girl that definitely wasn't you.

The group walked to the bathrooms with their clothes, Fleur and Marie changed in the same cubicle, claiming that they're making more space for others who want to change. Elisa went to one alone while you did the same, getting slight deja vu from the first week of school.

You were out first, braiding your thick long hair. Some of your other classmates were also in the restroom with you, so you decided to have a chat with them while you waited on the others.

“Augh fuck guys,” Elisa groaned out from her cubicle. Opening the door slightly with pink cheeks and a shameful look.

You looked worriedly, stepping forward to check if she hurt herself on something. But she shied away and hid herself from the door, “Hey Elisa…is everything okay?”

“Umm…yeah, I just got my period I guess.” She muttered weakly, too embarrassed at herself for not tracking the days or even bringing something with her.

“It's okay…do you want pads or tampons? I've got some stuff.” You whispered back, it's obvious she didn't want the others to know about it.

“Can I get a tampon?” She asked, opening the door slightly so you can hear her better.

But you froze, you didn't want to admit it but she looked precious this way. You thought that you've been strong this whole day, but seeing her vulnerable in front of you made you feel weak in the knees.

You nodded quickly, going to your bag and pulling out one. You rushed to the cubicle and handed it, “I'm gonna do something, just meet me at the tent, okay?”

She gave you a soft smile in gratitude and nodded, before shutting the door.

You took a heating bag from your never-ending bag and decided to go to the school kitchen, hoping it would be open and whoever is in there would allow you to use some of the equipment.

When you got in, you noticed one of the janitors. Thankfully, she was a sweet old lady that loved you. When you told her what happened, she gave you an understanding glance before pouring hot water into the bag you had.

When you reached the tent, you noticed all of them sitting in a circle. They were whispering into each other, and it seemed as though Elisa was embarrassed and frustrated with what they were saying. When she saw you at the door, she sat up, “she's here.”

“Hey guys, I had to go to the kitchen for this.” You raised the bag, and delicately gave it to Elisa.

She placed it on her lower stomach, croaking a small ‘thank you’. She was worried if you heard their previous conversation, since it was about you. Fleur and Marie were making comments about how Elisa ignored them the whole time they were here. Even when they were watching a movie, Elisa was near you in some way. That's how she came and helped you out when you fell, the memory of her catching you is still vivid in her mind, your body felt so soft in her arms.

“Let's play truth and dare!” Fleur jumped to the ‘trash’ corner and grabbed one of the empty bottles.

“Nope, I'm not playing.” Elisa moved away from the group, going to her ‘corner’.

“Oh come on, what's wrong with playing this?” Marie groaned loudly, going over to Elisa to pull her back into the circle.

You were still standing by Elisa's now empty spot, too shy to sit down. What if they didn't want you to play with them?

“I know what you guys wanna do, and I'm honestly not in the mood for all of this.” Elisa snapped, slapping Marie's hand away from her, “especially now.”

You turned the other way, pulling out some book from your bag to read. You felt shame all over you, it's obvious that she doesn't want to play with them because you're around. You didn't understand, she was attached to you all day, and now she doesn't want to play with you?

Marie smacked Elisa’s hand again, pointing discreetly at your discomfort. She leaned into Elisa and whispered, “you’re making her feel sad…she thinks you don't want her to play with us.”

“That’s not why I don’t wanna play.” Elisa whispered back, watching you as you read some romance novel in your hand.

“But that’s what she thinks,” she tapped Elisa’s shoulder before going to the middle of the tent with Fleur. The both of them are curious on what Elisa would do to make you join.

Elisa groaned internally, she has been too affectionate with you this whole day. Would you be grossed out by her admiration and gentleness?

She slowly walked up to you, “hey… do you wanna play with us?”

You glanced up to look at her, “umm…if you want me to play with you.”

Elisa’s heart broke when she heard your voice crack from insecurity. She didn’t mean for this to happen, she just didn’t want to scare you off from Fleur or Marie’s questions, “of course we want you to play with us…c’mon.” reached out her hand for you to grab, and she felt her muscles relax when you placed your soft hands on hers.

When you both sat in the circle, she was next to you. Marie smiled at you, happy that you accepted to play with them, and spinned the bottle. It awkwardly stopped when the cap was pointing at Fleur, “hmm…truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Fleur responded confidently, folding her arms on her chest.

“Okay…I dare you to like the first 5 posts of the first person that pops up on Facebook.”

Fleur glared at Marie, turning on her phone to see who would pop up, “Oh my God no…it’s my uncle. He’ll be so confused on why I’m liking posts from 2007.”

After many rounds of playing, Fleur’s bottle stopped at you. “Truth or dare, y/n?”

You paused for a second to think, considering the previous dares, you settled for truth.

“Umm…do you like Paul? We promise we won't tell.”

“We're loners anyways we don't have anyone to tell us to.” Marie added, trying to make you more comfortable with them.

You remained silent for a few seconds, avoiding their eyes -especially Elisa's, “No, I don't like how he treats Elisa.”

Elisa perked up when she heard what you said. Flashbacks from prom night came crashing into her,

“I don’t care about him.” You gulped the water and threw the paper cup in the trash.

“Did he hurt you?” She stepped closer to you as the loud music was making it difficult for her to hear you. But your flustered state made you step back, “no, he just said something rude about someone I care about…”

Was he talking about her? Did you care about her that much?

Elisa's cheeks were too pink to be ignored, Fleur smirked and decided to ask you another question, “so before Elisa was here, did you like him?”

You were still a little shaken at the question, “I don't think so…maybe a small crush I guess. I think I just missed our friendship more, since we knew each other since we were kids.”

They nodded, before agreeing that they should stop playing truth or dare and find another game. You were already exhausted, so you made it clear that you'll just head to sleep.

“But it's only 11,” Elisa pouted at what you said, disappointed that you won't get to spend time with her.

You were cleaning up around the sleeping bag to save up time from tomorrow morning. You peeped next to you and saw Elisa sitting there, “Hey again,”

She smiled at your voice and gave you a soft ‘hey’ back.

“I guess we should just talk before sleeping, yeah?” You teased her, feeling happy that you have company before sleeping.

“Yeah… I guess I wanted to just tell you that,” she paused, too lost in your eyes, making the conversation difficult for the both of you, “...you don't have to avoid Paul because of what he's doing to me.”

You frustratingly shook your head, “no Elisa. He's rude and annoying, I don't like people like that,” you looked down at your hands as you whispered the last part, “I just want a sweet, gentle…person who wouldn't mock or laugh at people”

Elisa nodded in understanding, before leaning down to meet your eyes, “Okay…I get it.”

You were grateful at the comfortable atmosphere you guys have, but a question was running in your mind as you bit your lip in thought, “Hey Elisa…I have a question,”

Elisa heard your timid voice, scooting closer to you to the point of your shoulders touching, “Yeah?”

“I know you like women,” you admitted quickly, looking at her eyes to see if there is any discomfort.

She grinned before replying, “one, that's not a question. That's a statement. Two, I think everyone knows that.”

You exhaled slowly when you realized she isn't uncomfortable with you knowing. And a slight blush came into your cheeks as you realized that she does like girls. Elisa likes girls! “umm… I didn't want to assume! After prom, I felt guilty for making you walk home alone so I went into your Facebook to check if you're okay and found a post that said something like… ‘I wish I knew how to talk to pretty girls.’... I guess I just connected the dots.”

Élisa's eyes widened, “wait…my Facebook account isn't private?!”

You quickly shook your head, mumbling a quick ‘nope’.

“Oh… I guess I have to change that. But oh well,” she shrugged on the last part.

Elisa can see you stare at her, and a feeling of panic started rising in her chest.

“Did your barber go on a holiday or are you trying a new haircut?” You joked, pointing at Elisa's longish hair now. It was covering her forehead and swooped to her right.

She laughed at what you said, raising her hair to make sure it looks neat, “I wanted to try something new.”

“It looks like Justin Bieber… you know the haircut. I don't know about the voice.”

She gave you a fake offended look, before replying, “well…do you think Justin is cute?”

You bit your lip in thought, “no…blonds aren't my thing.”

Elisa's eyes were locked with yours, she was starting to breathe heavily. Something in her is telling her that this conversation isn't just a random one, it means something. “What about brown haired people?”

Swallowing your spit before subtly biting your lip teasingly, “you mean brunettes?”

Elisa embarrassingly nodded, hoping that she doesn't look desperate waiting for your response.

“Brunettes are my type, yeah.” You gave her a grin, waiting for what she would do next.

“Good,” Elisa responded, involuntarily moving her hand to play with her hair again, “what about eyes?”

You blushed deeply, “I like brown eyes…soft and sweet to look at. Sometimes blue or green eyes are just too…sharp? Harsh? I don't know.”

Elisa hummed in agreement, turning her body slightly to glance at Marie and Fleur. She wanted to signal to them that maybe something is happening between you guys. But both of them were too busy playing Uno.

“Who do you find pretty, Elisa,” you breathed out, making Elisa turn to look at you in a flustered state, “what's your type in girls?”

Elisa clenched her jaw tightly while thinking. What was she supposed to say? That you're exactly her type? “I like brun- brunettes too. I like girls that are soft spoken and delicate, that care about others,” she was lost in thought as her fingers were playing with your bracelet, “long hair…I like it when they have long hair.”

You on the other hand were trying not to scream or run away. You didn't want to think highly of yourself, but that sounds like you right? You distractingly reached out for your long braid, waiting for Elisa to stop playing with her fingers and look at you.

When she didn't, you decided to ask her another question, “how did your parents react?...I mean if you came out.”

Elisa turned to look at you, “I didn't have to come out. I've always been this way,” she scratched her neck, “I mean… I never had long hair, always wanted to do the same thing as my brother. And I also had this obvious crush on a girl in my class when I was like 5 years old, they knew all about it.”

You nodded, “I can't imagine you with long hair.”

Elisa laughed, “I can't imagine myself with long hair, it would be a disaster.”

“So…are you bisexual, or a lesbian?”

Elisa eyebrows furrowed, how did you even know these terms? They weren't something you hear a lot in public, “I can't ever like a man…they're just ‘eh’.”

You giggled before scooting closer to her, “Okay.”

Elisa thought for a moment, “why do you like boys?”

You shrugged with a pout on your face, “I don't think it's a choice you know. But for now…I don't like any guy.”

Elisa's body physically relaxed as she exhaled. Hearing that you don't like a guy right now made her feel hopeful, “Well…who from the class is the closest to your type?”

You rolled your eyes before crawling to the door and zipping it open, “I wonder what are they doing right now,” you stuck your head out, the cool wind making the small baby hair around your head fly. Elisa pulled the tent door more open to stick her head next to you too.

From the dim lights of the school and the moonlight, a slight shadow was seen from the ‘boys’ side of the pitch. It was clear the boys were wrestling, so Elisa made a joke, “wow, they're fucking already?”

You gasped loudly as you gaped at Elisa. She guiltily looked away from you with a quick, “sorry.”

You cackled before staring at the shadows again, “you know what? They're already shirtless.”

Her body relaxed near you and continued staring at them, “Ugh, they're so gross.”

“I don't even understand how they're shirtless in this weather.” You shivered at the thought of being naked in the weather.

Elisa turned to look at your thin t-shirt and whispered to you, “are you cold?”

You looked down at your shirt, “oh no…I'm fine.”

Elisa can read the lie in your face, she rolled her eyes as she started to remove the black jacket she was wearing over her plain gray shirt, “I can see you y/n,” she handed it to you, “it's January I don't know what you were thinking.”

You groaned in embarrassment, “they said this January would be hot! That's why they moved Camp Out to today…it was usually in March,” you wore her jacket, “it seems that I'm always cold around you.”

“And I'm always there to warm you up.”

You blushed as you shifted your body to face her, she smiled and did the same as now the both you were right in front of each other, “feeling cold isn't the only feeling I have around you.”

Elisa's eyes widened, she hopes that maybe you're referring to romantic feelings. She leaned in closer, looking deeply into your eyes, “what feeling?”

You sighed as you leaned in closer, “Elisa…you know it.”

Elisa smiled in satisfaction, internally thanking Mr.Nick for placing you in her camp group, “what? Feeling sad?”

You rolled your eyes, “no.”

Elisa sarcastically hummed in thought, getting closer to you as your foreheads were touching, “what feeling?”

You let out a huff, it's either now or never. Your eyes fluttered close and you leaned in to kiss her. Elisa barely felt your lips, it was obvious that you were nervous. But even with the softest touch, Elisa's eyes were automatically shut close as she exhaled from her nose.

You leaned back before muttering, “I hope that shows you what feeling.”

Elisa's smile was bright, she got closer to you before whispering, “I think I need more to clarify.”

She leaned in and captured your lips, this time it was a firm kiss. Elisa placed her palm on the back of your neck as she tried to deepen the kiss, but you shyly backed away.

Elisa would've felt offended if she hadn't seen your flustered state, she kept her hand on your neck as she waited for you to speak.

“Sorry…that was my first kiss, I got nervous.”

Elisa smiled in understandment, she knew the feeling too. Her reddish cheeks and shaky hand on your neck showed everyone around her that she was struggling to keep calm.

“It's my first kiss too.”

There was a moment of silence as the both of you were smiling at each other. You shakenly placed your hand at the back of her neck, softly tugging and playing with her hair.

Elisa's eyes closed as she sighed loudly, “I thought for the longest time that you didn't like me,”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, “what? How?”

“...you were talkative to everyone but never talked to me.”

Elisa's insecurity was shown from her timid voice. You frowned in disappointment, “I never meant it that way…I guess I was too shy around you.”

Elisa lightly cuddled her head onto your shoulder. She was too shy to face you after the kiss, “Do I make you nervous?”

You lightly slapped her head, “dude you literally just said that I talked to everyone except you.”

Elisa gasped as she fake-glared at you, “don't ‘dude’ me!”

You sarcastically rolled your eyes and pushed her shoulder away from you, “whatever, I’m going to sleep now,” you covered yourself under the sleeping bag and closed your eyes, before whispering “goodnight.”

Elisa had a beaming smile, she leaned closer to your silhouette and gave you a soft kiss on your forehead, “Goodnight y/n…I don’t think I can sleep after this but I’ll try.”

With a soft smile, you fell asleep almost immediately. It felt like a heavy weight just dropped from your shoulder. Everything is different now, and you knew it too. You didn’t know what would happen in the morning or how things would work out with her, but it didn’t matter right now. The feeling of Elisa’s lips was still lingering on yours, and if you licked your lips you’d be able to taste the vanilla chapstick she always uses.

Elisa remained sitting next to your sleeping bag, she was heaving quietly from the shock of everything. Is this a dream or a joke? The idea of you being gay and liking her is making her internally jump in joy. She turned to Marie and Fleur, but the both of them were gaping at her. Fleur had a smirk while Marie had a look of disgust.

Elisa speed-crawled to the both of them, grabbing the Uno cards from their hands and shuffling them, “did you guys see that?”

“Yes?!” Fleur exclaimed, she smacked Elisa’s arm in a joking manner, “I can’t believe she’s gay…and she kissed you!”

“Shhh… guys I’m panicking, what am I gonna do?”

“Take it slow, we have around 4 months before the summer…If you’re not so annoying, you guys can date and when we have the U-17 tournament, she can come there with us and be like Victoria Beckham…absolute WAG.” Marie made a gesture with her hands for the girls to see the vision. But Elisa slapped them away, “You’re thinking of that summer tournament while I’m thinking of our first date. Marie, you’re so fucking useless oh my God.”

“okay…Elisa calm down,” Fleur intervened, she glanced back at your sleeping silhouette, “Eli…not to ruin your mood, but who says she’s gay? This could be some sort of phase or an experiment for her since you’re the first masculine girl she probably ever saw.”

Elisa’s smile dropped at what Fleur said, “That can’t be…she kissed me first.”

“Okay? She might be confused with her emotions.”

Elisa sighed loudly as she dropped her face to her hands, rubbing her face roughly, “It’s okay…we’ll take it slow. And if she doesn’t like me that way, she can tell me.”

Fleur gave her a tight-lipped smile and pulled her in for a hug, “yeah, that would be great.”

#sorry lol its kinda shit and long af #if there are mistakes dont correct me im too tired and fed up to care #elisa de almeida #woso x reader #elisa de almeida x reader #nel's writings #woso #nel recommends fanfiction #elisa de almedia fluff #woso community #woso fanfics #woso imagine #wlw #women football #women's football #football fanfic

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missidk1121 · 24 days ago

Text

Chapter 2: Jealousy tastes astringent

Pairing: Dino x Fem!Reader

Chapter tags: Jealousy, love triangle, some Joshua x reader

Content Warnings: Mentions of insecurity (not relationship-related)

Word Count: 3.9K

Author's Note: Chapter 2 is here! 😄 Feedback, reblogs, and likes are always appreciated, and if you are interested in being tagged when I post each chapter, feel free to comment, send a DM, or ask! Thank you for reading! 💕☕️

Tags: @syluslittlecrows

🎧 Music playing at The Cozy Bloom

Series masterlist | Read on AO3 | Previous | Next

What kind of person leaves their friend to be walked home by someone who may as well have been a complete stranger? Someone who let their emotions get the better of them when someone new entered the picture. Someone cowardly, who didn’t have any right to feel jealous, who had never even experienced jealousy over you before. Lee Chan, apparently.

The scene played back in his mind. His stomach churned, seeing your expressions and your mannerisms change as you interacted with Joshua. In the moment he had felt a pressing urge to escape, and so he excused himself, claiming that he simply felt too tired to watch a movie that evening. You had looked at him with concern, but shrugged it off and told him to get some rest, saying you’d be fine walking back on your own. Of course, Joshua offered to walk back with you, making Chan feel even worse. And not because he had some idea in the back of his mind that this man could have had ill intentions — he was much too distracted to think of that, further adding to his guilt.

The next morning, he was once again at work, watching the sun peek through the windows and shine onto your spot to create the same idyllic scenery from yesterday, except you weren’t there, the only thing there now even a fraction as interesting being the newly planted Philodendron Birkin on the window sill, growing bigger by the day.

He repeatedly checked his phone for any message from you — something he did last night also, but you never texted to let him know you made it back safely — when Seungkwan entered the café.

“Good morning, Chan!” Seungkwan greeted, ready to get right to work.

“Morning,” Chan replied halfheartedly.

Seungkwan stopped right in his tracks. He slowly backed up and turned toward him. His eyes bored into Chan’s, examining them closely at the same time Chan felt a palm on his forehead.

“You don’t feel fevered…,” he murmured. He took a step back, looking at him with a furrowed brow. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine,” Chan said looking away, not wanting to worry him, but his glance mistakenly darted back to your corner, which immediately clued Seungkwan in as to what the problem was. Or so he thought.

“Ahh,” he said with a knowing grin. “She’s not here, so you’re feeling down. It’ll be all right. She can’t be here every morning–”

Chan groaned. “That’s not–” he stopped himself; he did wish you were here. “That’s not… exactly it.”

In an instant, Seungkwan’s approach shifted, and his teasing grin faded.

“I see,” he said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Chan sighed. “I don’t know. It’s kind of a me problem. I’m the one who needs to work it out.”

“Did you two have an argument?”

“No, it’s actually…”

He stopped to consider how much he really wanted to tell Seungkwan. He thought about how unimportant it all seemed: some attractive guy bumped into you, you both seemed to have hit it off, and he felt jealous. A tale as old as time. It was embarrassing to admit that he even felt that way, because he knew he shouldn’t feel jealous. Instead he should be happy for you, encourage you even.

But Seungkwan is someone who would never judge him for having such feelings. If he told him what was on his mind, he wouldn’t call it unimportant.

Seungkwan listened carefully as Chan tried to explain everything.

“Ohh, so that’s what happened.”

“It sounds petty, doesn’t it?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “A guy suddenly comes in, sweeps your crush off her feet, and he happens to be her new neighbor. I can understand why you would feel jealous.”

His crush, huh?

Seungkwan pondered for a moment.

“The best advice I can think of would be to acknowledge why you feel that way to begin with, then tell her about it,” he offered sincerely. “I mean, I’ve watched you two grow close over the last seven years, and I’ve teased you about it for at least the last four. I think you were right when you said this was something you needed to figure out for yourself, but I also think that, at least when the opportunity presents itself — because I know you would never try to prevent her from being in a happy relationship — you owe it to her to be honest about what you’re feeling.”

Chan knew he was going to say something like that. It’s not that the idea that he could develop feelings for you had never occurred to him before, when in fact he has always tried to avoid that very distinct possibility. He didn’t want your friendship to seem like merely a means to an end. He didn’t ever want you to feel like he was only staying by your side in exchange for something more.

But Seungkwan’s implications struck a chord. It was uncomfortable, how he had felt when you looked at Joshua that way, thinking that he could let himself feel this way toward you, but most of all thinking about your relationship slipping into unknown territory, for better or worse.

“The more you let your friendship settle like this, the harder it’s going to be to tell her how you feel. And not just because some new guy has entered the picture.”

Ever since the end of this morning’s stand-up, you did your best to keep moving on with your day, responding to emails, coding, getting stuck, finding the answer online, ad nauseum. However, for the whole day, lingering at the back of your mind was the revelation that Joshua, the guy you bumped into and became a bumbling mess over last night, who also happened to be your new neighbor, was now also your new team member.

After Chan had suddenly left, saying he was tired — mental note: check in on him as soon as possible — Joshua had offered to walk you home, and you got to know each other a little bit. You learned that he was from Los Angeles, that he moved there to be closer to his mom, and how in his free time he enjoyed singing and playing guitar. Because of course he was a singer with a voice like that. You were especially excited to discover that he was a software engineer too, though somehow you had not thought to ask where he was working.

Sleep had not come easy to you that night, like most nights, but this was different. Joshua was kind, very handsome, and had a shared interest in computer science. And although logically this shouldn’t factor into whether or not he was “the one,” you both had suddenly become tethered together through a string of unusual circumstances, and whether or not you wanted to admit it, that did in fact contribute to your growing infatuation with him.

When was the last time you had felt so attracted to someone? You rarely clicked with anyone in that way, but maybe this was a sign. You were twenty-six and working a steady full-time job. Maybe it was time for you to finally start pursuing a relationship.

Setting aside your new crush for the time being, you got back to your mental note, picking up your phone and calling Chan to make sure he was feeling all right; he hadn’t seemed sick but maybe he was catching something.

He answered, clearing his throat before speaking. “Hello?”

“Hey. How are you feeling?” you asked.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I left so suddenly the other day,” he responded, his tone devoid of energy.

“It’s okay. Did you get some rest? You sound tired,” you noted.

“Yeah, it’s just been a long day.”

A silence hung over the two of you for a moment, strained and dull. You had to break it somehow.

You moved your phone away from your ear and put it on speaker, wanting to hear Chan’s voice like he was in the room with you. Your heart felt warm and fuzzy as you gazed down at his contact picture of you and him smiling together, taken after your first practice a few months ago at the dance studio where he teaches occasionally.

“Sorry I didn’t text you last night after I got home. I got back safely– er, as you can now obviously tell.”

He chuckled, his voice perking up a little as he said “That’s good to hear. I was worried.”

“But seriously, take care of yourself, okay?” you told him gently. “I was worried too. And if you ever need to talk about something, you know I’ll be here for you.”

Several moments pass.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh shut up.”

Chan laughed, the sound bright and infectious even through your phone’s speakers, but you managed to resist.

You tsked. “So ungrateful. I can be thoughtful! I’m not some unfeeling, corporate tech robot. Yet.”

He kept on laughing, trying to stop as he said, “Sorry! And thanks, but I just had to ask. It just seemed so out of character for you.”

You rolled your eyes at his dumb smile on your phone, but then again you also had a dumb grin on your face.

“Anyway, I’m heading over there as soon as I finish up with work. You seem to be feeling better, so be prepared.”

He gasped. “Oh no, the corporate tech robot is coming for me!”

You hung up.

Right as you placed your phone back on your desk, you remembered there was something else you wanted to tell him, and so you picked up your phone again to text him.

Forgot to tell you but that guy last night Joshua is also the new member of my team. Crazy huh? Ngl I miiiiiggght be kinda into him. Anyway we’ll talk later.

You hit send and resumed updating documentation, pushing through the last stretch of the work day.

When you were finally finished, you got ready and left your apartment, but at the same time you were leaving the door to Joshua’s apartment opened up.

“Joshua?”

He shut the door behind him, his eyes widening at yet another fateful encounter.

“Oh, hey. Done with work? We keep running into each other,” he said smiling. The reminder of how beautiful his lips were was enough to send your heart racing.

Oh no. Did you forget to brush your hair?

Tucking your hair behind your ears, you laughed nervously. “Apparently we’re coworkers too.”

“Yeah, I was really surprised,” he said. “Anyway, what are you up to?”

“Oh, there’s this one café that I go to a lot, just a few blocks away. It’s called The Cozy Bloom. My friend works there and I’m stopping by to see him and grab a bite to eat.”

“A café? That sounds really nice, actually. I’ll have to go there sometime. I need to try and familiarize myself with the area.”

Now was your chance to invite him out! Sure, you had just invited your other work friends yesterday, and your social battery had drained what little it had to begin with, but this would be different.

Swallowing down your nerves, you did your best to look him in the eyes as you said, “Um, you can come with me if you want to. If you’re not already busy, that is.”

He tilted his head in thought for a moment.

“I’d like that,” he said. “But are you sure? Aren’t you going to spend time with your friend?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m gonna hang out with him after his shift, and he’s got about another hour. He’s the guy I was with last night, Chan.”

“Oh, I see. Well then, I guess I’ll take you up on your offer. Thank you!” he said.

The two of you began to walk toward The Cozy Bloom, enjoying a peaceful stroll through the bustling streets. Though the city was quite busy and loud, especially seeing as it was rush hour, your walk was rather quiet. Joshua was a fairly quiet person. He was certainly sociable and friendly, and he wasn’t awkward, but he was far from talkative, perhaps preferring instead to listen. He had already proven himself to be very considerate, so him being a good listener was a given, you thought.

Talking wasn’t your specialty either, but you also weren’t as approachable as he was. Most of your other friends like Soonyoung and Seokmin were more outgoing than you were, and Chan was usually the one to initiate lively conversations and playful banter.

Thinking about it, you’ve really come out of your shell over the last few years. You still have a bit of a resting bitch face half the time, but you’ve grown more affable since meeting Chan, who is quite pleasant in much the same way Joshua is but also very charismatic, in both his words and actions, whether it’s interacting with customers, dancing, or teaching. Hopefully that other half of the time you’ve come to naturally pick up a bit of that charisma that Chan exhibits.

Regardless, now was the time to put your updated conversational skills to use and get to know Joshua better.

“So, how was your first day on the job?” you casually striked up a conversation.

“It went well,” Joshua replied. “Mainly just setting up my workspace, familiarizing myself with the codebase, all that stuff.”

He laughed. “There are some very… interesting people on the team. Like this morning when Soonyoung kept forgetting to turn his mic off during the meeting. Jeonghan had a hard time keeping him in check.”

You once again saw that light and pretty smile on his face, and your heart pounded, but seeing it also reminded you of your first several days at work. It was similar, focused on onboarding and learning, but you remember those days being filled with anxiety. Always worried about messing up, afraid of asking too many questions. You had bottled it up, keeping your struggles to yourself and thinking that if you just figured out your problems on your own you would be seen as a smart, capable woman worthy of your position at such an esteemed company, someone who couldn’t let anyone down.

You frowned at the memory, and a brief twinge of envy ran through you.

How does he do that? How is he not nervous at all? Joshua was a senior engineer, someone who had a few more years under his belt than you did, but somehow that made you feel worse as you realized that even over a year later you still struggle with these feelings.

“I’m glad,” you said regardless. “My first days were pretty rough, for me anyway.”

“Oh? How come?”

You hesitated. It was hard to admit these things to your technically-senior coworker.

You shrugged. “I don’t know… I guess I just have– I felt like I was lacking in most areas. I wasn’t sure I belonged there.”

You both stopped, standing right outside the entrance to the café. The vibrant greenery surrounding the exterior, from the hanging plants next to the neon white logo above the door to even the little Birkin plant inside the window where you sit, invited a stark contrast to the busy city, quieting the noise.

“I understand,” said Joshua. “I’ve experienced plenty of self-doubt as an engineer. I still feel it sometimes.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it just sort of comes with the job. There will always be new technologies to learn, so it’s easy to start feeling stuck in your career. Also, there’s always going to be someone with knowledge that you don’t have. I’ve come to realize that it’s better to just grow at your own pace and keep learning from people who know different things.”

His advice reminded you of how you felt when Chan said something similar yesterday morning. They both resonated with you, but in a different way. Whenever Chan comforted you about your doubts in your career, it felt like coming home, to somewhere safe. His words always managed to soothe you, even though he didn’t fully understand all the technicalities behind your worries. On the other hand, hearing these words from someone more experienced in the industry like Joshua made you feel hopeful, even motivated.

“You’re a junior developer, right?” he asked. “Have you ever had, or considered, getting a mentor? Like I said, I think learning from someone with different skills might help with some of those doubts– er, that is, if you still struggle with that.”

It was like he was reading your mind.

“I’ll think about it,” you said.

Chan caught sight of you and Joshua standing outside, just as he had finally read your text too.

He thought a lot today about what Seungkwan had said. But to be honest? He didn’t want to think about it. He so desperately wanted to avoid talking about it with you, because how could he be selfish and pressure you with his feelings, especially now that you were becoming interested in this guy?

Instead, he’s going to simply be supportive, because that’s what you deserved.

You both finally entered, taking a seat elsewhere from your usual spot since it was currently occupied. You glanced back to see Chan, and you and Joshua both waved at him. Chan responded with a quick nod and smile, his hands busy preparing espresso while his mind was busy tuning out the jealousy. Trying to, anyways.

He wondered: had you already asked him out on a date? In the years he’s known you, you’ve gone on very few dates, none of them ending in serious relationships, and all of them initiated by the other person. Maybe Joshua asked you?

Chan tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind, instead just paying attention to his work and trying to get back into his coffee-making focus mode.

You both placed your orders, and he started working on them. As he made your coffee, he would glance back at the two of you. Seeing you lean in with interest, and the sweet smile that never seemed to leave Joshua’s pretty face — it left a bitter taste, one that was hard to ignore as he brought your coffee to your table.

“A pourover, just the way you like it. We even had your favorite beans in stock,” he said to you with a smile, watching your eager eyes follow the cup he placed in front of you.

You returned his smile, thanking him before looking back down at your coffee and taking in the smell. You had such a cute look on your face, it added a sweet note to the dry, rough sensation he was trying to swallow down. But then he gave Joshua his latte, offering a thin smile as he set it down in such a brusque manner, the drink almost spilling.

Joshua’s eyes went wide as he watched the heart-shaped artwork swirl around in the cup into something unrecognizable.

“Here you go.”

He went back to work. Sure, his initial way of showing his support for you was a little rough around the edges, but it’ll smooth out eventually. In the meantime, he would just keep working, waiting for his shift to end so you could tell him all the riveting details about Joshua’s shared interest in computer science; the one thing Chan didn’t have in common with you — though he did find it intriguing, just insomuch as it concerned you.

He continued to check on you periodically. The two of you kept up a nice chat. He’d sometimes catch the two of you laughing together, and he was always smiling at you. At some point, however, he looked your way and he caught Joshua without his smile. Your back was facing him so he couldn’t quite see what kind of expression you were making, but Joshua on the other hand seemed rather serious. His eyes widened, and a look of sympathy flashed across his face.

You should just go for it.

It doesn’t need to be “Hey, I’m super attracted to you, so would you like to go out with me again sometime?” You’re much too shy to do something like that. Maybe just the last part of that: “Would you like to go out again sometime?” Yeah, that sounds natural enough. But what if he rejects you? He’s your coworker and neighbor; there will be no avoiding the damage.

You wish you had your best friend’s confidence. Over the years he’s had much more experience dating than you have. Nothing serious, but you’ve seen Chan put the moves on before, oftentimes unintentionally, with his sweet smile and brilliant laugh, his passion driving everything he does, his attractive presence that just draws you in– well, maybe not you specifically, but–

You stopped yourself. The point is, you desperately wanted to experience a bit of that confidence for yourself.

“Y/N?”

While you were trying to magically summon your inner charm, you did not hear a word of what Joshua was saying. You remembered talking about hobbies. You mentioned that you enjoyed dancing, he started talking about working out, you took a good look at him, your mind went blank, and now look where you’re at.

“Oh, uh, sorry.”

Maybe now’s your chance?

“Hey, so… I was wondering…”

You gulped.

“Yes?” he encouraged you to continue.

Be. Confident.

“I… I was wondering if maybe you would be interested in going out again sometime. Doesn’t have to be here. Just, you know, hanging out together. This weekend, m-maybe? The two of us?”

Okay, you got it out, but why did you feel so awful?

Joshua’s eyes slowly widened.

“Are… Are you asking me out on a date?”

You could only nod.

He looked away from you, sympathy written in his expression as an unbearable silence loomed over you like a storm brewing, ready to strike you down at any moment. And you wished it would hurry up and do so.

“Y/N, I’m flattered, really, but…” He frowned. An almost pained look crossed his face as he said, “It’s just… I can’t be in a relationship right now.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I understand. You don’t need to explain yourself to me. Just thought I’d, y’know, shoot my shot,” you said with a nervous laugh.

The sad look on his face faded, making room for that light and easygoing smile once again. Then, in that kind and gentle tone, he said, “Thank you, though. I know it takes a lot of courage to ask someone out.”

“You’re welcome,” you replied clumsily with as much of a smile as you could muster.

The rest of your meal was very uncomfortable, at least for you anyway. Joshua, ever calm and collected, led the rest of your conversations, which started to lean more toward work-related things.

When you were finished, you stayed behind. You had wanted to see Chan anyway after his shift, even more so now, but you also wanted to avoid having to walk back with Joshua.

As you watched Joshua walk out the door, you heard a low, judgemental whistle coming from behind you.

You looked back to find Jihoon, a music producer and fellow longtime regular at the café, his lips thinned as he continued to work on his laptop, his headphones hanging around his neck.

Yep, you probably deserved that after fumbling so badly.

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