#and Luca still talks about him obviously he made mark

[miredball]

I forget carmy is a wunderkind in the culinary world like of course he has a place and boat in copenhagen to send marcus and his photo is up in kitchens across the world and he “tells” chef terry about richie and can ask thom browne for last minute custom chef whites and I mean cicero is probably so giving with his money because it’s his nephew but also it’s carmen berzatto

[mirrorballhughes]

LUKE AND ADELAIDE HEADCANONS!!!

if you want me to go more in depth about any of these or how they broke up or anything ask me in my ask box!!

ADELAIDE:

her favorite thing about luke is his hair, she adores his curls so much.

el loves watching him on the ice. every game she watches her eyes get drawn to him.

while luke has just fully moved to jersey, she would purposely call jack and ask how everything is going and tell him how she doing and always says “oh yeah storm matched me up with this guy going on a date tn.” just because she knows lukes definitely home and is listening to pair’s conversation.

once the pair broke up el totally ghosted the hughes family. she felt really bad, caleb or her parents would update them on her. she would always stay at home for breaks, never wanting to go to the hughes as she knew she couldnt stand to see luke.

last summer was when el started working on her album, it got finished during the winter. she was working on it still while with luke.

quinn is her favorite hughes brother, she sees him as another older brother and goes to him for everything if caleb is busy.

during spring break after lukes departure she called quinn to see if that extra room in his apartment was available so she could come stay with him. she couldnt be around umich or anywhere the couple would hangout.

the team was very helpful during els and lukes break up. they didnt play sides, they were always there for the pair.

when her and storm go out, el whenever she drinks she always ends up taking some guys ear off about luke.

shes mostly seen in the youngest hughes boys old hockey shirts, but when shes mad at him she’s usually always wearing jacks or quinns.

even when luke left umich she was always sporting his jersey, up until seamus was like “lets switch it up, you pick a random jersey for a game wear it” so she ends up wearing a different jersey every game.

ellen was very understanding when el came back around. she knew how heartbroken the exes were, and she still knew that spark was still there. el and lu were destined to be with each other.

mark and luca were the best guys there helping her through everything. when adam left adelaide was always there for him.

LUKE:

lukes favorite thing about adelaide is everything. he couldn’t pick but maybe if he could, he would say her laugh.

the nickname el was off limits to everyone. lukes gears were turning the one time jack called her it and lets say that didn’t end well for jack when they were outside playing hockey with each other.

luke was at his lowest once he walked out those two doors. he wanted to turn back time but at the same time this was his dream. he couldn’t change this.

duker would call luke with updates about adelaide. only bc luke begged him after duker said no. but he obviously changed his mind.

luke only tried moving on once, but he ended up calling the girl adelaide and well thats the end of that.

he hated how jack and quinn got the blondes attention, he tried reaching out but no responses.

luke still looks through the crowd in hopes to see his girl in the stands but shes never there. one game was but she had some guy on her hip. luke was pissed the whole way home.

when lukes drunk after games girls come up to him and hes always showing pictures of her and telling them what’s happening in the said photos, the girls think its sweet.

luke stalks els instagram, he just wanted to see how shes doing. occasionally liking photos but never commenting.

he knew she was writing music, he had heard some of her unreleased stuff. she would never show him anything new.

luke made sure ethan gave the freshies on the team the adelaide is off limts talk just in case they tried anything.

he always watches the monday questions videos, and the tiktoks the blonde makes. smile on his face hearing her laugh and get along with his friends still melts his heart.

before luke left umich, when she would film the team he would always quickly run away from the camera just because he thought it was funny and he knew he was leaving soon and couldnt take her with him.

luke grew distant before the break up, he only grew distant because he wanted her to get upset with him and break up with him. but she never did.

at devs practice before they hit the rink, the hughes brother always has headphones on listening to els music and dawson gives him shit for it, but in a nice way.

whenever jack gets messages from el, he always ignores his older brother which makes jack laugh and is constantly telling the boy about the conversation.

during breaks luke was always excited to see el. but when its just the hunters parents and caleb his face drops.

caleb is slightly annoyed with luke but answers anything he asks him. but the annoyance slowly dies in caleb when he realizes how srs luke is about his sister.

THEM AS A COUPLE:

the couples favorite thing to do is stay in and watch movies. el is a big cuddler and lu just loves being with his girlfriend so he enjoys it.

before games lukes ritual is to kiss els face multiple times then grabs her hands to spin her around like the pair was dancing, then head into the locker room to get ready.

once the pair announced they were together the hugheshunter had to throw a party, which was a tad bit dramatic but it was a night to remember.

they love night drives, they love driving and not stopping.

stargazing, they love it especially during the summer at the lake house.

they pair was together for about almost a year then they broke it off after an argument.

they mutually hate seeing each other with other people, they get jealous so easily.

during lukes nhl draft the couple snuck off to have a sit down talk about it el whispering how proud she was of him luke throwing on his jersey on to her, then pulling her into a kiss.

they love kissing each other.

adeluke’s first kiss was about a month into their relationship, taking it at a pace they both agreed on. luke brought her to a beach at ann habor, and they ended up kissing.

they are both mad clingy. luke gets the most shit for it, el always sticks up for him though saying if they were in a relationship they would understand. (they meaning all of the team and their friends)

jack always fake gags whenever they are seen doing couple shit, ellen scolds him for it.

[hellofanidea]

ok so this is prolly a lot but it has occurred to me that I can't really imagine Lucas as well as I do teddy so!! all the face & features for Lucas for the OC asks? and for esther too, since they're both samsas and I'd love to see their shared similarities!

Ooh okay wonderful I love talking about the Samsas! Sorry this has taken so long to get to you! I'm not gonna specifically split this up by header, I'm just gonna ramble and hope I've hit everything! As a note, most of what I say about Lucas here refers to him in the 1940s onwards, as opposed to his college days. Obviously there's a lot of overlap, but this is meant to be him at arguably his most settled. It also makes him easier to compare to Esther, who is a young adult by this point.

Lucas clocks in at a solid 5’9”, and is roughly the tallest (both Eli and Lea like to try disputing this). He's best described as ‘average sized’, but wore lots of ill-fitting clothes as a child and young man that made him look lankier than he is. He gets softer as he gets older, especially after the war, and fills out a little more noticeably.

All the Samsa children have the same roman nose as their mother, and both of their parents’ dark hair and eyes. Lucas wears his hair short and practically cut, slicked back off of his forehead. His teeth are crooked, so he usually smiles with his mouth closed, which can make him seem more reserved than he is. He has several noticeable freckles and moles, most prominently one on his jaw and another by his eye. There's one behind his ear that's harder to spot. There's an almost permanent shadow under his eyes.

Lucas moves with purpose and precision. He's very aware of his surroundings and his place in them. As such, he doesn't like clothes that are too tight or restrictive. The closest he gets to really fidgeting, especially as he gets older, is having his hands on his hips and tapping his foot in a nervous, and usually annoyed, habit. Another common stance for him is arms folded across his chest, an unimpressed look on his face. That being said, his posture can be abysmal. He might be a doctor, but he's not immune to standing like a question mark.

Esther, on the other hand, is 5’0”. She's the shortest, and youngest, and there is definitely a joke in her family that God must have given her eldest siblings too much height and saved none for her. She's proportionally stockier than Lucas, though. Always more athletic than him, there's some muscle to her frame that isn't always immediately noticeable, from a youth spent running around and climbing.

Her hair is long, but similarly practically kept to her brother's, usually in a braid or a scarf or a very easy updo to keep it from her face. When it's loose there's a tight wave to it. There's a gap in her two front teeth, but that's never stopped her from smiling widely, and when she does it has a way of moving the moles on her cheeks and lips. There's the beginnings of smile lines around her mouth and eyes.

She's much more animated than Lucas in her movements, and so naturally a little more clumsy. Her hands are always moving, gesturing in speech or playing with her cuffs or jewelry. When she’s reading she can go totally still, though, and can almost blend into the furniture, which has startled a lot of people in the past. There’s a scar on the back of her hand from playing with a stray cat that got a little too rough.

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Frayed Ties - Chapter 14 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

It was immediately obvious when Danya stepped into the slave room that they knew something was going on.

There were three slaves clustered towards the back of the room behind the last bed in the row, away from the door Danya had just walked in through.

The only one who hadn't retreated was a young male of about Danya's age with shiny, golden hair who was handcuffed to the frame of one of the beds in the middle of the room.

Obviously a Companion.

He was an absolute mess, his clothes torn and his face bloodied.

He was the only one who didn't look terrified of Danya.

"It's okay," Danya said, then wasn't sure where to go from there, where to even begin.

"My name is Danya. I'm here to help."

"Yeah?" the handcuffed slave asked. "How?"

Danya had never heard a slave talk like that, so directly and it was almost unsettling.

And... maybe a little inspiring, if he were honest.

"I'm here to help you escape," Danya told them.

"That's insane," one of the slaves whisper-hissed.

He looked to be the oldest of them, though that probably still put him at less than thirty.

Every bare bit of skin on his body was covered in deep, intentional looking scars.

Even his face hadn't been spared.

"Do you want to get us all killed?" the boy whose hand he was holding was by far the youngest.

He had delicate features and golden blond hair, all the marks of an ideal Companion but he didn't look nearly old enough for sale.

What was a Companion child doing here of all places?

"You know what you're here for, right? Where you're going?" Danya asked. "You don't have a future ahead of you."

"We know," the oldest slave said. "And you should know it can always be worse. They can always find a way."

The youngest slave was taking in gasping breaths, struggling not to cry.

The final slave, a plain boy in his mid-teens, kept looking between the older slave and Danya as though he wasn't quite sure which side to take.

"The guards are dead," Danya told them. "We have a way to disable your chips and somewhere safe to hide you. You can't tell me that's not better than staying here."

"No, I have to stay here," the youngest slave wailed. "My master is going to come back for me so I have to stay here and I have to wait and he'll come back."

The oldest slave stroked a hand over his hair.

"Kit, he's not coming back. He wouldn't have left you here for a second if he cared about anyone other than himself."

"He paid a lot of money for me," Kit murmured.

"He had to pay a lot to convince someone at a reputable slave house to hand over a very valuable slave at too young an age. Did anyone look happy for you when they sent you off with him? Did they look proud of what they were doing?"

Kit buried his face against the older slave's chest and didn't answer.

"I'm Tryn and this is Kit," he touched the youngest slave's head. "And that's Ranor," he gestured to the teenage boy next to him.

"We will go with you."

"Well, I should fucking hope so. I'm Lucas," the handcuffed slave said.

He tugged at his wrists, clinking the handcuff chain against the bed frame.

"Anything you can do about this?"

"Oh, hmm."

Danya considered the problem for a moment, then turned to the door and called out...

"Simon?"

It only took a few seconds for the door to open and Simon to stick his head in.

"Everything okay?"

"He's handcuffed to the bed."

"Ah."

Simon approached Lucas and took care not to make any sudden movements as he knelt down in front of him.

"They made a bit of a mess of you, huh?"

Lucas let out a huff.

"Yeah, no kidding. Can you get these off?"

Simon's gaze leapt to Lucas' face and he took another moment to study him, more carefully this time.

He had obviously been expecting a meek Companion.

What kind of life had this guy lived that he'd been able to so thoroughly shake off his training?

"Ah, yes." Simon reached into his pocket. "I found some keys on one of the guards. Let's see..."

It only took Simon a few seconds to find the right key and get the cuffs off.

"Thanks."

Lucas twisted his wrists around and made a face at the raw rings around them.

"Are we ready to go?"

Danya looked back at the others and found Tryn was already getting them up and ready to leave.

He let out a sigh.

At least one part of this had gone smoothly.

The bodies were no longer on the floor in the front room but Simon hadn't had time to clean up the evidence of what had happened.

He had tossed a couple of old sheets over the pools of blood but it had soaked through and there were clear trails leading to a door off the main room.

Still, Danya was glad the others didn't have to see the bodies.

He was glad he didn't have to see them again.

Lucas and Ranor left the building behind Simon without hesitation but Tryn paused in the doorway, Ktn's hand clutched tight in his.

"This is your only option," Danya reminded him.

Tryn nodded.

"Yes. Of course."

They hadn't even made it off the front stoop before Noni jogged out of a nearby copse of trees to join them.

Her eyes darted between each of them in turn and she cast her voice low.

"This wasn't the plan."

"It was my fault," Danya said quickly. "They asked if I was a virgin and I wasn't thinking and said yes, and then they wanted to manually confirm and..."

Simon placed a hand on Danya's shoulder.

"It wasn't his fault, it was just how things happened. I didn't agree to things going that far and neither had he, so I intervened."

"The guards are dead?" Noni asked.

Simon nodded.

"Neither of you were hurt?"

"No."

She looked at Lucas.

"Why is he hurt?"

"Oh, I was already hurt," Lucas said. "It's fine."

"Okay." Noni let out a long breath. "Did you actually see the dead guards?"

"Oh, uh, no, I guess Simon moved the bodies," Lucas said. "There was a ton of blood, though."

"I didn't want them to have to see the dead guards when we brought them out," Simon explained.

"I saw them," Danya said. "They're dead."

Noni rubbed a hand over her face.

"Well, forgive me if I don't see you as the most impartial witness."

"I don't see how he could fake something like that up in just a few minutes," Lucas said. "Is there a reason you don't trust them?"

"We only just met today."

"Oh. That's fair, I guess."

Noni sighed.

"Okay, wait here. I'm going to go and investigate the situation for myself.

"Simon, where did you put the bodies?"

"They're in a storage closet off the entrance room," Simon said. "There's a fairly evident trail."

"Right." Noni stepped towards the door. "Stay here."

As Noni approached the door and glanced around inside before stepping across the threshold, Lucas carefully lowered himself down to sit on the stairs, against the bannister.

He yawned, then winced and licked at a split on his lip that had started bleeding again.

He looked beat, both in terms of exhaustion and well he had been beaten.

A moment later, Noni returned.

"Okay, your story checks out."

Lucas leant back to look at her.

"Does that mean I have to get up?"

"Not yet," Noni said. "Since Simon managed to take out the guards without drawing broader attention, we may as well take advantage of the situation and strip this place of anything worth taking. Wait here while I signal the others."

"Oh." Danya turned to the slaves they'd just rescued.

"Some of the others are centaurs. Everything happened more quickly than I had expected and I forgot to mention... ah... that."

"Centaurs," Lucas repeated. "Like, horse people?"

"Yes," Noni said. "But don't worry about it. They're our allies and most of them are only children."

"Sure. Why not, I guess?"

[alheria]

Fresh wind on a hot day (7/9)

Jim absolutely loved sleeping with Buck.

He was so comfortable every night he stayed there, always tucked in between his partner's arms, basking in pleasant warmth and inhaling that relaxing scent. Maybe it was seriously time to fully move in.

-Good morning babe. -he whispered upon waking up, feeling a pair of gorgeous blue eyes staring right at him.

-Good morning. -the firefighter smiled, tightening the loosened embrace. -I love shared days off. -he yawned, fondly rubbing Street's naked spine decorated with prominent bruising from fighting some criminal on the stairs a few days ago. Apparently, they rolled down a whole three stories before the perp finally lost consciousness.

-Me too. -the Omega murmured, leaning into the affectionate touch despite the slight burning pain, his eyes still closed, cheek plastered just above the steadily beating heart. -Wish they weren't so rare.

Recently, their schedules sucked terribly. While one was off, the other was working. Which meant the past two weeks, until last night, they haven’t seen each-other at all. It was horrible, not being able to satisfy that biological need for regular physical contact. Felt really fucking lonely.

-You know what would be even better? -Buck asked, sliding his palm towards the exposed neck, the horrific mark left by a stranger long gone, sensitive flesh now covered in ones made with love.

-What? -the officer hummed, immensely enjoying the relaxing touch.

-If you finally moved in.

-Buck…-he sighed heavily, his body instantly tensing up at the tough topic. -I'm not ready to leave Luca alone just yet.

Obviously, moving was constantly on his mind, and he was basically spending most days here anyway, however the sole thought of entirely abandoning his current roommate for some reason made him sick to his stomach. Despite Luca assuring it's absolutely okay, and them seeing each-other at work anyway. It made little sense, although somehow prevented him from committing to Buck's place.

-He'll be fine, he's a grown up man. -the firefighter huffed in slight annoyance. He might have been mildly frustrated about his boyfriend staying at another Alpha's place, regardless of knowing there is nothing there but close friendship.

-I know, but still, I feel responsible for him. What if he makes a stupid life altering decision while I'm not there to stop him, or forgets to eat and starves to death? -Jim raised his head, gaze so serious while he spoke, it left Buck speechless for a moment before he snorted loudly in pure amusement.

-...wow. You're either trying to make up a really poor excuse to not move in with me, or you're losing your mind, my love.

-Ha ha. -Street rolled his eyes. -Soon, I promise. -he added, pulling himself up to kiss his boyfriend, therefore killing the problematic subject. -I'll go make coffee.

---

Once they were both out of bed, peacefully drinking coffee in the kitchen, the cop decided to at last talk about something he's been considering non-stop since that time he got bitten: bonding. An ultimate proof of a relationship between an Alpha and an Omega, a permanent mark strengthening any existing emotional connection to the point one is unable to romantically love anyone but their bonded pair. It also can be done only once in a lifetime, and cannot be removed. A forever thingy.

They've been together roughly eleven months without even mentioning taking that very common step, although lately, he started feeling an odd tingle on his nape, which would only stop whenever it was freshly marked. The strange sensation made him think maybe he should finally admit he doesn't intend on being with anyone else, ever.

Buck was beyond everything he wished for in a lifelong partner. Respectful, understanding, loving, pleasantly submissive.

Absurdly hot.

Looking at his shirtless man leaning on the kitchen island, obliviously reading news and sipping coffee, Jim could not stop admiring how handsome he was, comfy pants hanging loosely on the slim hips, naked upper body illuminated by the morning sun, blonde hair ruffled after a whole night of not having sex because they were way too tired.

-You've been staring. What's up babe? -the firefighter asked suddenly, curiously glancing up from the screen. Those soft, domestic words accompanied by a warm smile went straight to the cop's slightly colder heart.

For a second, the world stopped.

-I want to bond with you. -Street blurted out, unable to contain those feelings anymore. Which wasn't a particularly smart thing to do, as the Alpha nearly choked on his drink upon hearing the totally unexpected answer.

-Wh-what?! -he coughed, gaze watery with tears caused by the uncomfortable burning sensation in his poor throat.

-Gee, is the concept of us bonding really that shocking to you? -the officer rolled his eyes, trying to cover the raging anxiety with humour.

-What? No! Of course not! You just caught me off guard! -Buck exclaimed, his voice horribly hoarse. -Damn, Jim, you can't casually say things like that! -he shook his head furiously, trying to calm down from the initial surprise. -Are you being serious?

-Duh. Wouldn't bring this up if I wasn't. -the Omega chuckled nervously, now unsure if bringing this up was a good idea. Maybe his boyfriend didn't feel the same way about their relationship, or never planned for it to become so serious in the first place.

-Why so suddenly? -the younger man wondered, pushing himself away from the counter. He seemed so neutral, it kinda made Jim's stomach twist.

A mistake has been made.

-Well, I'm due for a heat in a couple of weeks and I thought we could...but if you're not ready, I completely understand. We can revisit the subject in a few months. -he whispered, looking down into the half-empty cup, confidence influx long gone, now replaced with doubts and insecurity.

-No! No-no-no! I am more than ready! I want to bond with you, Jim. Wanted for a long time actually, but was afraid to scare you away if I suggested it too soon. -the firefighter explained, fidgeting in place, probably too overwhelmed to decide how to react. -God, I think I'm gonna cry. -he concluded, joyful tears already forming in his pretty eyes.

-Please don't. -Street frowned at that sight, aware it's very hard to cease Buck's emotional outbursts. -Aaaand you're crying. -sighed, quickly approaching his sobbing boyfriend to comfort him. -Babe, please, stop. -he begged, tenderly rubbing the violently shaking back.

-I can't! I'm so happy! -Buck cried out, tightly wrapping his arms around the officer's waist as he continued to bawl into his shoulder. -Dammit, Jim! I love you so, so much! Too much even!

Too much. That was a perfect description of how the cop felt right now, overflowing with love for that adorably vulnerable man.

-I know. -he then hummed quietly, pressing tender kisses to the still trembling neck. -I love you too. Definitely more than I should.

---

-I asked Buck to bond with me. -Jim informed his bestie Chris when on the next day they were alone in the armoury, cleaning weapons during a fairly uneventful shift.

-What?! -she gasped, completely perplexed by the news. -I did not see that coming! Not from you at least! What did he say?!

-He agreed. -Street smiled at the memory of his boyfriend crying for a good half an hour. It drained him emotionally so much, he needed a nap afterwards.

-Wow. I cannot believe our baby Street is finally growing up. -Chris wiped down a non-existent tear in a theatrical gesture. -But still, it's a serious decision. Are you really sure about that? You know well enough that bonding is a forever thingy.

-Obviously. But I love him, Chris. And there is no fucking way I'd ever find a better partner. He's perfect for me. Can't just let him go. -the older office sighed heavily. It wasn’t easy, allowing himself to be guided purely by natural instincts for once, however he really fucking wanted to keep his amazing partner around for as long as possible. -Correction. Don't want to let him go. Ever.

-Yeah, it would be pretty stupid to fuck this up. He is really good for you. -the other cop nodded in agreement. She truly believed Buck was the best choice her best friend has ever made relationship-wise. And perhaps he was a filthy firefighter, but damn, not a bad word could be said about him. He treated Jim with utmost respect, was a great friend and even babysat Deacon's kids on quite a few occasions for fuck's sake. Which actually brought up an important question. -What about kids though? I know he wants them badly and you're all about work. Are you on the same page?

-Well, I clearly said career first. -Street clarified. -I need to have a solid spot on SWAT before I decide to take time off to have a kid, and Buck is totally fine with that, he’s equally obsessed with his job just as we are with ours. And we're still young, it's not like we gotta rush anything.

-Damn, Jim in a serious, adult relationship. -Chris whistled, shaking her head in disbelief. -I cannot wrap my mind around it.

-Right?! And with an Alpha? That’s even wilder. -Jim laughed. Saying it out loud made it sound so ridiculous. He never wanted to be in a relationship with an Alpha in the first place, always leaned towards Betas, or solitude, and yet, here he was, on the verge of bonding with an “enemy” he deeply loved.

-True that! -the older cop snorted. She wasn’t any better, her whole life she’s been saying she would never date a woman who was taller, more dominant, and especially not an Alpha. Amelia ticked all those “unacceptable” boxes. -Just please, don't mess it up, I actually like him! -Chris added, making her bestie smile when his heart felt a little warm.

Yeah, he liked him too.

---

-Jim asked me to bond with him. -Buck revealed, handing his sister her takeaway. They were supposed to go out for lunch on their shared day off to catch up, but it was just so hot outside, the siblings decided to stay at his air-conditioned apartment and order in.

-Really? -she raised her brows in surprise, not expecting her brother’s rather reserved boyfriend to take that big step. -I'm shocked you weren't the one to ask for it. What did you say?

-I obviously said yes. -the firefighter smiled. How could he possibly say no? Street was his everything, the perfect match he never believed he would find. Someone who showered him with love, patiently listened to his lengthy monologues, and didn’t mind him being fairly chaotic, reckless and overly emotional, which was a set of traits highly undesired in Alphas. Being accepted as he was, not forced to change anything to fit the standards, meant the world to him. With Jim, not once he felt a need to behave differently to please him, the atypical Omega eagerly took exactly what he was given without any complaints. He was just perfect.

-Of course you did. -Maddie sighed, slowly opening up the box. -Are you certain you want to spend the rest of your life with him? -she asked, looking up at her clearly overjoyed sibling, whose smile instantly dropped upon hearing the question.

-Why? -he wondered, a bit annoyed that his sister cannot simply be happy for him. It was because she cared about him, Buck knew that, and had no choice but to listen to what Mads had to say every single time they talked about his love-life. -Is something bothering you about him?

-Nothing, he's truly amazing. I just fear you are rushing things. Again. -she emphasised, referring to all those times his relationships failed due to progressing too fast. It always hurt her, seeing her beloved brother in pain on so many occasions. She liked Jim, with his calmer, more rational personality he was definitely toning down Buck’s at times unhealthy enthusiasm, and seemed to love him very much. Somehow, knowing that didn’t make her any less worried.

-It's different this time. -the firefighter assured rather hopelessly. Maddie was not one to change her mind unless proven otherwise through actions. And as predicted, she took a deep breath and asked:

-How?

-He's an Omega. -Buck responded vaguely before elaborating further. -I’ve never dated an Omega before. It's an incomparable experience. From the moment I properly held him in my hands that night I took him home, despite not knowing a single thing about him, I already knew we are meant to be together. I have no idea how to explain this, but my instincts tell me he's the person I should spend my life with. He's the one. I'm positive.

-You were positive quite a few times now. -his sister pointed out nonchalantly, not even looking at the firefighter, gaze focused on the food. She probably was aware she’s gonna get a nasty look from her, surely irritated by now, baby brother whose eyes rolled to the back of his head.

-Maddie…

-I know, I'm sorry. -she apologised softly. Perhaps unpleasant for both of them, but it was her duty to ensure his choices wouldn’t do him more harm than good. -I just don't want you to get hurt because you jumped into a serious relationship too soon. You can't erase a bond if something goes wrong, you'll be stuck with Jim forever, no matter what. Are you ready to fully commit to him?

And just like that, a tiny seed of doubt had been planted in Buck’s brain, and he wasn’t sure anymore if bonding with seemingly the love of his life was actually such a good idea after all.

---

Once Maddie left, and he was completely alone with his thoughts, the firefighter couldn't stop overthinking what his sister said about rushing, and possibly getting himself stuck in a potentially doomed relationship.

Was it seriously a bad idea to accept Street's offer to bond?

As for now, they definitely were solid and close, so close that any separation, even for only a few days, was causing them both physical and mental discomfort. Buck was also one hundred percent convinced that if they split, his heart would die on the spot. He absolutely needed Jim to stay present in his life, therefore bonding was the best available tool to keep them together. Fearing that suggesting it himself might put some pressure on his Omega due to his “Alpha status”, he didn’t mention anything, patiently waited for Jim to take the lead because a bonding offer proposed by someone who despises their nature would be made after a great deal of careful consideration. An honest, calculated choice.

But what if he should reject it? 

Would his boyfriend be okay waiting a year or two more, as his sister proposed?

Is he himself fine with waiting?

Will changing his mind ruin their perfect relationship?

The firefighter didn’t get to answer any of those questions as a key suddenly sounded in the lock, announcing his partner was back home. Which was terrifying because he still had no clue what to do.

-Hi there. -the officer smiled, approaching the couch Buck was sitting on. It was a relief to see he looked rather unharmed today.

-Hi babe, how was work? -he returned the warm smile, watching the older man casually kneel down on the cushions to sit in his lap. Greedy hands instinctively sneaked under Jim’s shirt, seeking comfort through skin-to-skin touch.

-Boring. -Street sighed, cupping the firefighter’s face before joining their lips in a short kiss. -What happened? -he then asked, tenderly rubbing the soft cheeks.

-What do you mean? -the Alpha frowned, confused by the odd query.

-Do you really think I can't tell something is bothering you? -the Omega hummed softly, pressing an affectionate kiss to his boyfriend's forehead. -I could sense your raging anxiety the moment I opened the door.

Of course he could. They weren't yet bonded, but damn, the cop’s mood-reading senses seemed to never fail despite not operating on the highest setting.

-Maddie came over. -Buck informed, his arms instinctively tightening around the older man’s back. -And she might have said some things that made me think…are we rushing things? -he blurted, feeling the urge to get those doubts out of his system.

-Rushing what things? -Jim asked, a hint of insecurity clear in his otherwise steady voice.

-The relationship. We’ve met not even a year ago, and now we think about bonding for life, isn’t it rushing things? Shouldn't we take some more time to properly think about it? Make sure this is not just a heat of the moment type of situation? -the firefighter outlined the issue, and the officer didn’t respond right away, only stared absently at his partner, who began to get even more anxious awaiting some reaction. Eventually, Street let go of his face, and pulled away a bit.

-Are you being totally honest or going a little crazy? -he demanded, aware his Alpha has a tendency to question everything in his life after talking to Maddie. She was a good person, although sometimes wasn’t the best influence, especially considering her brother’s emotionally unstable personality.

-Going a little crazy. -Buck admitted, definitely relieved his boyfriend picked up on it.

-Good. That's good. -Street exhaled heavily, hands reaching for the taller man's nape to provide much-needed comfort. -Listen to me Buck, carefully. I did not rush my decision to bond with you. The first time it crossed my mind was months ago, when we met each-other’s teams. You treated yours like family, and mine like extended family, which made me so happy to be with a person for whom work people are also their people. I could never be with someone who doesn’t understand or respect that, and you totally get it, which is incredibly rare, thus imperative to hold onto. Then that guy bit me. I couldn't stand being marked by someone other than you, it was disgusting, not right, and made me angry I had to go through losing your scent because we weren’t bonded. And when I saw you so full of joy playing with Deacon's kids? I couldn't stop thinking how lucky I am you're gonna be the father of our children. Any time I think about my future, you are always in it, that's why I know this is a natural progression, not a speedrun of sorts. But if you wish to wait, I'll wait for you. As long as you need, 'cause you are the love of my life and I am not giving up on you, no matter what. Aaaand you’re crying. Again.

-I don't want to wait! I want us to bond soon! -the firefighter sobbed, pulling his partner into a bear hug. He didn’t expect to hear such an adorable confession, but it made all his doubts disappear instantaneously. Them bonding was undeniably the right choice, there was no way he could feel insecure following this powerful reassurance. He was loved, cared for, thought about, needed. That was more than enough.

-Soo…we're all good, yeah? -the cop clarified, fondly brushing through the blond strands as he held the weeping man.

-Yes. We're all good. -Buck nodded weakly, head still plastered to the Omega’s chest. -Thank you, Jim. You always seem to know what to say to make me feel better. -he hummed, gladly leaning into the calming touch.

-I'd be a terrible boyfriend if I didn't know how to handle you spiraling into madness once in a while. -Street laughed, showering the silky hair with firm kisses. -Whenever you think our relationship might not work out in the end, remember I love you the same way you love me.

-Too much? -the Alpha chuckled, pulling backwards to look at his incredible, widely smiling man.

-Way too much. -Jim rolled his glowing eyes playfully before leaning down for another, this time longer kiss. -So much I’d rather die than ever let you go.

[thimbil]

Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.

So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.

Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.

So who is?

Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.

Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?

Hunter

Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.

Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.

Crosshair

The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.

In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.

Wrecker

In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.

You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.

Tech

Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.

And finally,

Echo

Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.

The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.

So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.

But they didn’t do that.

So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.

The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.

Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)

None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.

This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.

Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.

[hyuckssunchip]

Blooming Pt. 2

Pairings: Jisung x Reader, ft. nct dream, lucas (honorary member of dream)

Words: 5.5K

Warnings: Language (there is almost always language in my writings), angst, fluff

Synopsis:

Love isn’t as easy as it seems, Park Jisung is an advocate of that. A blooming relationship that has prematurely ceased can be re-sparked years later, or can it? Will Jisung be able to overcome his fears in order to succeed in what he deems love?

Part 1 | Part 2

“What’s this?” Renjun picked up the textbook on the kitchen table.

Jeno looked up from his laptop briefly, shrugging before returning to the screen. “Jisung threw it there earlier today.”

Renjun picked up the book, getting a good look at the cover, “The Introduction to the female reproductive system? What’s Jisung doing with a book like this?” He pulled the receipt from the back cover, glancing at it.

Jeno finally stood up from his seat, peeking over his shoulder and shaking his head with a frown.

“Jisung said not to touch it.” Jaemin entered the rooming, sitting across from the boys, munching on a snack. “He’s got to return it later.”

“Why?” Renjun asked, sending a look at Jaemin who was spreading crumbs. “The receipt says he bought it today.”

Jaemin grinned sheepishly, getting the message, and he wiped the crumbs into the palm of his hands. 

“I don’t know. Probably the wrong version or something.” Jaemin stood up, dumping his handful into the trash.

“But Jisung’s not even taking a class remotely related to this. Why would he buy it in the first place?” Renjun pushed. 

“I don’t know.” Jaemin shook his head at him, “Why don’t you ask him?”

“Ask who what?” Chenle asked, entering the kitchen to grab an apple.

“Jisung bought a weird book.” Jeno spouted whilst typing away.

Chenle laughed, “Of course he did, no wonder he’s been in such a happy mood.”

“What?” Renjun asked.

“Yeah, he’s had the dumbest smile all over his face since he got back.” Chenle took a large bite out of the apple.

“Where did he go?” Jaemin cocked his head, wandering around the kitchen for another snack.

“I don’t know, probably the bookstore.” 

Jisung emerged from his room, wearing a grin that very similarly resembled Chenle’s expression. He hummed a tune that soon overtook the rest of the hushed chatter, the other boys simply stared at him. Even Jeno stopped his typing, watching Jisung intently.

“What’s got you so happy?” Jaemin asked leaning in close to the unsuspecting boy.

“Hmmm? Oh. Nothing.” Jisung just grinned back.

“Right. Nothing.” Renjun squinted his eyes at him, with a sarcastic tone.

Jisung couldn’t help the smile that seemed to grow. “Actually I-”

“Guess who?” The door slammed shut.

“Haechan, seriously. Just text us before you come over. One of these days you’re gonna give someone a heart attack.” Renjun scolded.

“Really Renjun? You’re not eighty, I’m not going to scare you to death.” Haechan brushed past the muttering boy.

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

Haechan chose to ignore it if he had heard. “So what are we talking about today?”

Chenle perked up, being the first to offer information. “Jisung bought a weird book, and he’s super happy about it.”

Mark frowned at Jisung, “What?”

In return Jisung spared him a glance before correcting the previous statement, “I have a date.”

“Dude no way.” Mark clapped Jisung on the back, which consequently had him stumbling forward a few steps.

“With who?” Jaemin creeped forward with interest.

“Guess.” There was a cheeky grin that brightened his features.

“No fucking way.” Haechan let out unintentionally. “I mean, congrats Jisung.”

“When?” Renjun asked, more than slightly intrigued. 

“Friday.” He smiled at his feet, “I asked her today after we got back from the bookstore. Also, that guy? Not her boyfriend.”

Jeno spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him. “What’s the book for though?”

“Oh.” Jisung turned red, “I told her I had to buy a textbook too, and I just grabbed a random book. I didn’t mean to grab that one.” He scratched the back of his neck, in embarrassment.

Chenle snorted, “Wow, some luck.”

But Jisung didn’t feel the same sentiment, as he was still over the moon about your date. He didn’t mind the embarrassment for a moment, the ending result was well worth the sacrifice.

“So where are you guys going?” Haechan asked, wicked thoughts already entering his head.

“No. The answer is no.” Jisung’s smile dropped for the first time. “I’m not stupid, and I don’t want you showing up.”

Haechan playfully scowled, “I’m just trying to help, just give you a little push is all.”

“I don’t need a push. I got a date just fine without you.” Jisung retorted, stealing a cookie from Jaemin as he left to return to his room.

“Do any of you know?” Haechan immediately turned to ask the others.

They all shook their heads, even if they did know they wouldn’t tell Haechan. After all they were rather hoping Jisung and you would get together, and the chances would significantly slim if Haechan were to get involved.

“So Jake told me Lucas has been raving about you since your last date? What’d you do? Sleep with him?” Alex snickered at the thought.

“Yeah.” You deadpanned, not taking your eyes off your book.

There was a loud thud from behind you and you tried your hardest not to laugh. 

“What?!” You turned just in time to see Alex bound over to you, skidding across the floor.

A smile betrayed you, “I’m just kidding. I don’t know, we just had a good time.”

“Bitch.” She muttered under breath, obviously annoyed by your lie. “I was really excited. You didn’t have to do that.”

You giggled, “Is my love life really that interesting?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms, “I’m bored because I’ve already got a boyfriend. I need to live vicariously through someone.”

You frowned at her before returning to your book, “Well, just because I feel kinda bad for lying to you, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.”

You didn’t have to look up to know she was leaning in intensely, “What?”. It came out as a whisper and you could see how badly she wanted to hear it.

“I’ve got a date.” 

Alex leaned back with a sigh, evidently unimpressed. “That’s your secret? I mean I already assumed Lucas was gonna ask again. I wanted something more juicy.”

You bit your lip with a smile, “It’s not with Lucas.”

That had her. “Holy shit. Who?”

You glanced at the wall that separated you and your neighbors, and she immediately understood. “Jisung?”

For a moment it was unusually silent. Then she let out an ear-deafening squeal. “Oh my god! He finally asked you? Or did you ask him? When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”

The frenzy of questions had you laughing at her excitement. “He asked me just a few hours ago.” You couldn’t hide the smile any longer, teeth now on full view.

She scooted closer to you, grabbing a hold of your arm, “Tell me everything.”

And so you did. For the most part it was you recanting your story, and every once in a while Alex would squeal and smack you in excitement.

Eventually her excitement died down, after all the girl only has so much energy.

“What about Lucas?” She asked softly, glancing at your profile.

You picked at the page nervously, hissing when you got a paper cut. Immediately you stuck your finger in your mouth, a habit you had since you were a child.

Although Jisung asking you out was something you had wished for since the moment you met him, you knew it wasn’t right to just drop Lucas like that. Besides you liked the guy, he made you feel comfortable, and not to mention he really knew how to lay it on thick. He was a natural flirt. 

Of course you liked being flirted with, doted on. And Lucas really was a great guy. But in all honesty you couldn’t really see a future with him. He just didn’t send flutters in your stomach the way that Jisung did. 

You pursed your lips in thought, mulling over how you were going to go about the situation. 

“I don’t know. We’re supposed to meet for lunch tomorrow. I guess I’ll tell him then.” You sighed, not liking how you were suddenly thrust into this situation. Why did two great guys have to come at the same time?

Alex nodded, understanding your predicament. She also understood the way that you felt about Jisung.

Feelings that didn’t go away after two years, meant something, didn’t they? 

“I’m really sorry. I think you’re a great guy, really.” You paused, watching his reaction. You had just dumped everything on to Lucas, and you couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Resentment? Anger? Disappointment?

But he just nodded with a tight smile. It clearly wasn’t genuine. 

“I hate it when people say this, but it isn’t you it’s me. Really. You’re a fantastic guy, and I think anybody would be lucky to have you as a partner. But… I just can’t ignore my feelings, you know?”

You bit your lip with a frown, looking up from under your lashes. 

He laid his hand on top of yours, just holding it for a moment. 

“I understand. And there’s absolutely no hard feelings.” This time the smile seemed less forced. “I wished things could’ve worked out, but things don’t always go the way we want right?”

You sent him a soft smile, guilt still plaguing you.

“And just so you know, if you ever want to hit me up, I’m all for it.” He paused, glancing at you, “Whether you want a friend or something more.”

In silence, the two of you looked at each other for a moment.

“Y/N?” A voice interrupted you, making you widen your eyes.

Why did he always seem to catch you in compromising situations?

“Jisung.” You froze, unable to move or find the words to explain yourself. This obviously didn’t look good, here you were on what looked to be a ‘date’ just after accepting Jisung.

But he did know the situation, he did know that you were seeing Lucas. But it didn’t mean that he was keen on seeing you with him.

It seemed like everyone was left speechless, including a very wide-eyed Haechan, who you would’ve thought never could happen.

Jisung’s eyes flickered to the way Lucas’s hand enveloped yours, and you immediately pulled away, brushing your hair behind your ear out of nerves.

Looking between the two of you, Lucas seemed to get a pretty good idea of what was going on. He stood up and sent you a soft smile, before turning back to the group. 

“I’m gonna pay for it,” he cut you off as you tried to protest. “I’ll see you around sometime.” And with one last glance at the boys he shouldered past them.

The silence lasted for quite a while. 

“Guys, there’s a table- Oh, hi Y/N.” Jaemin had walked in belatedly, missing the situation, and was way too bright for the circumstance.

Renjun elbowed him in the side, earning a wide-eyed look of confusion.

You waited, hoping for Jisung to say something, because for some reason your mouth wouldn’t move. Words you had to say, dying in the back of your throat. 

But Jisung didn’t have anything to say. So he left.

You sent a shy smile to the boy next door, but he quickly ducked past his door, leaving you with the sound of the slamming.

You bit your lip. You didn’t blame him for being upset at what he saw. You would be too. You just thought that he would at least talk or look at you by now. 

Even your random run ins with Jaemin seemed to have an awkward air, like he would get in trouble if he talked to you.

“This is exactly what I didn’t want.” You ranted frustratedly to your roommate. “Our neighbors are avoiding me like the plague, and I can’t even get a smile out of Jaemin. Jaemin! The dude doesn’t know what it means to not smile, and now suddenly he’s a pro at it.”

You huffed, glaring at Alex. At this she put her hands up as if to say she wasn’t the one who didn’t smile at you.

You collapsed into the chair, shoving your head into your crossed arms. 

“Why don’t you just try to talk to him then? Clear things up.” She asked gently, as though she was worried this suggestion might set you off again.

“You don’t think I want to? He avoids me at all costs. If I can’t even get him to look at me, how’m I supposed to have a conversation with him?”

Alex shrugged, thinking the better of meddling again, choosing to retreat to her room to leave you with your own thoughts.

However, unbeknownst to you, the same chaos was occurring right next door.

“Should we talk to him?” Jaemin whispered while staring at the hallway, as if suddenly Jisung would pop out and let him have it.

“Does it look like he wants to be talked to?” Chenle asked sarcastically, “I don’t know about you, but I like my limbs intact.”

Jeno nodded, “I’ve never seen him this upset before. We should just let him cool off.”

“Cool off? He’s been cooling off for the past week, that’s not helping.” Renjun muttered angrily. He had unfortunately been a victim of Jisung’s wrath the night after the incident. 

“He’s just upset. I mean can you blame him? The girl he’s been in love with for the last two years was holding hands and obviously on a date with the dude, even after Jisung asked her out.” Chenle whisper-shouted. Even he wasn’t going to risk Jisung hearing this. 

“But he knew.” Renjun said, “He knew she was going on dates with this other guy. I mean what does he expect, she’d just drop him like that?”

Although Renjun had logic in his statement, none of the guys seemed to back him up.

“But I mean, the day after? And Jisung was over the moon when she accepted.” Chenle argued back.

“It’s not like she wanted Jisung to see them together.” Renjun hissed.

“Oh that makes it so much better?” Chenle wasn’t one to back down easily, and his voice was starting to rise.

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Renjun huffed out, “It’s not like she wanted to hurt him by having him see that. Besides she may have already planned the date, or have a reason. He should at least talk to her-”

“Shhh.” Jaemin threw a hand over Renjun’s mouth at the sight of Jisung leaving his room.

“Thanks. I really appreciate you guys talking about me behind my back.” Jisung glared at the group. “Why don’t you go over and talk shit about me with Y/N? I’m sure you’d get along nicely.”

“Well it’s not like we can talk to your face, can we?” Renjun shouted, fed up with Jisung’s mood.

Jisung scowled once more before slamming the front door behind him.

“Well that went well.” Jaemin mumbled, trying to lighten the mood.

“Jisung!” You stumbled down the stairs, trying to catch up with the blonde haired boy before he escaped.

But he didn’t even turn at the sound of your voice, and he seemed to hurry up as if avoiding you at all costs. 

Eventually you got the hint and stopped in your tracks. This had been going on for too long now, and you were fed up with the fact that no matter how hard you tried, he just chose to ignore you. 

So you plucked up your last ounce of courage, yelling at him from behind, with clenched fists.

“If you’re not going to even pretend like you’re interested, why did you ask me out?” You asked angrily, feeling a choking feeling rise in your throat. 

This caught his attention and he turned to face you with a frown, not quite understanding what you meant.

You were embarrassed and angry, feeling humiliated at the thought of Jisung not actually liking you. But he just stood and stared at you, no emotion even remotely hinting at the fact that he wanted to try, or that he cared. You had passed up on Lucas for this? You passed up on a great guy for someone who refused to even talk to you?

“I can’t believe that I picked you over Lucas.” You mumbled out, hand angrily wiping at the tears that had already escaped. “You know what, forget our date. If you were even planning on showing up.” You knew this was harsh, but to be fair, he wasn’t exactly being the nicest person right now.

Jisung’s eyebrows flew up towards his hairline, hand shyly trying to comfort you, but he didn’t have the courage to actually do it. He just watched.

You were pissed. You had tried multiple times to reach out to Jisung and try to reconcile, but you were met with no cooperation.

It felt as if you were reliving the time when you were texting with each other. He felt unresponsive, uninterested.

Of course, you knew that your actions could’ve been misconstrued or misinterpreted, but he hadn’t even let you explain.

Now the agenda of avoiding one another was mutual. You didn’t go out of your way to evade him, but you certainly didn’t try to see him.

It wasn’t until a week and a half later that you had your first interaction with Jaemin again.

“Hey Y/N.” He smiled at you, not as big as usual, but a smile nonetheless.

“Jaemin? So we’re talking now?” You couldn’t help but be snarky, something that you instantly regretted at the sight of his fallen face. “Wait, sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

When you sighed, you noticed that familiar look on his face, guilt.

But you chose to ignore it and move on, “What’s up?” 

You gripped the strap of your bag, grounding yourself for the moment.

“Nothing. I just wanted to say hi.” But the smile was fading fast.

He continued down the stairs, taking a left at the bottom.

“Jaemin?” He turned to face you. “Are you busy?”

His eyes widened and he grinned whilst shaking his head. You rushed down the stairs finding yourself less than a foot from him. “I was going to the park to study. Do you maybe wanna hang out?”

“Where were you?” Chenle asked with watchful eyes as Jaemin entered the apartment.

“At the park.” It was nonchalant, but Chenle noticed his shifty eyes.

“Why?”

Jaemin frowned, still avoiding eye contact. “Can I not just go to the park?”

Chenle narrowed his eyes, but ignored the statement as Renjun entered the room. Almost immediately there was a heavy tension over the room. 

Renjun ignored his presence and Chenle scoffed, promptly leaving the room. 

“What was that?” Renjun asked, filling up a cup of water.

Jaemin hesitated to respond, but knowing Renjun he figured he would find out soon enough.

“I went to the park… with Y/N today.” He whispered the last part, glancing at Renjun’s reaction. At this the latter raised his eyebrows, interested at the confession.

“I’m surprised there wasn’t more yelling.” He muttered, turning to face a very guilty looking Jaemin.

“I didn’t exactly tell him I went with her, he was just suspicious.” Jaemin bit his lip nervously, and eventually broke down, “I just wanted to talk with her. Is it wrong if we hang out? She’s a good person… I like her.”

Renjun’s eyes widened.

“Not like that. I just like her as a person, she’s easy to talk to.” Jaemin backtracked, understanding what the look in his eyes meant.

Renjun nodded, looking slightly relieved for a moment before covering it up with a stony look. He drained his glass quickly before turning to leave.

Just as he was about to exit the room he paused, “I don’t see what’s so heinous about hanging out with your neighbor. Honestly, they didn’t even date.”

After this Jaemin felt slightly better about his ‘betrayal’. Just because his roommates couldn’t be civil with you, didn’t mean that he couldn’t. After all no one really knew the whole story, right?

“Why do you look like that?” 

Jaemin looked up from his spot in the middle of the kitchen to find Jeno with his arms hugging his laptop.

“Huh?”

“You look like you’re out of it… Did something happen?” Jaemin could trust and confide in Jeno with many things, this was one of them.

Jeno sat at the table, softly laying his computer on the surface. Jeno wasn’t really one to freely show his emotions, even with his best friends, but here he began to look nervous. He bit his lip, glancing at Jaemin, wanting to reassure him, but not giving him false assurance. 

“I’m a horrible friend aren’t I?” Jaemin mumbled, digging his palms into his face. 

“No.” Jeno breathed out, “I just wouldn’t let Jisung find out. Or Chenle for that matter.”

Jaemin looked up, wincing at Jeno’s words. “So you don’t think it was so wrong of me?”

“I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it’s not right either.” Jeno sighed, watching his friend’s face fall. “Jisung and Y/N are in a weird situation. Honestly I’d rather just stay out of it, I don’t need to be picking sides.”

Jeno stood up suddenly, retrieving his laptop and leaving the room as abruptly as he came in. There was no sign of why Jeno even entered in the first place. 

This didn’t make Jaemin feel any better. But he heeded Jeno’s words, he didn’t want to choose sides. But he really liked you, why can’t he just enjoy your company?

“Jaemin? Y/N?” Renjun blinked twice at the scene, glancing between the two of you.

He wasn’t going to lie, there was a part of him that knew he could run into you both here. Maybe subconsciously he wanted to find you.

“Renjun.” You breathed out, a worried look casting over your face. “It’s not what it looks like really.”

The last thing you wanted was Jaemin to get in trouble. 

Renjun just nodded, cutting you off. “I know.” His lips formed a tight line, “Mind if I join you?”

Both Jaemin and yourself were shocked, but immediately gesturing for him to join you. He flopped onto the blanket exhaustedly, closing his eyes and just feeling the breeze.

After a moment of silence he reopened his eyes, sighing deeply, “I’m so tired of being in that apartment. I just feel so frustrated and closed in there, like I can’t breathe.”

You looked at your lap, feeling guilty for that. If it weren’t for you, neither Jaemin or Renjun would be here right now. Neither of them would be feeling this rivet between their friends.

You mumbled out a faint apology.

There was a sigh from his direction. “I wasn’t digging for an apology. I was just venting. Honestly, I don’t even blame you.”

Glancing up at him, you noticed he had his eyes clenched shut, head tilted towards the sky.

“I’m still sorry though.” You rushed your next words to stop his protests. “Let’s be real, if it weren’t for me, this all never would’ve happened between you guys. This is exactly why I didn’t want to start anything again.”

Jaemin frowned, shaking his head. “But you couldn’t have known, what if something really great came out of it? What if something really great can still come out of it?”

Renjun glanced at your distraught expression, he didn’t mean to upset you with his rant. 

“But it’s not going to. I mean,” You paused, hesitating to say the next words, “I don’t know if you guys know the whole story between us, but it feels the exact same as when we were texting before. I just get the feeling that he doesn’t actually like me like that, maybe he just likes the thought of it.” 

You trailed off at the sight of their faces. 

“Are you kidding me? That boy, and he’s going to kill me for saying this, but he’s been in love with you for the past two years. Like, no joke, there was a time when he had nothing to talk about, except for you. Trust me when I say he likes you.”

Frustration boiled up inside of you, “Then why doesn’t he try? I tried so hard to talk to him and explain what he saw, but he just avoids me. It’s the same as before, if he doesn’t think I’m worth at least that much, then why should I put in all that effort?” 

You were starting to get worked up with Renjun interrupted. “Because that’s Jisung. I hate to say it, but that’s the way he’s wired. He’s really shy, and cautious when it comes to this sort of stuff. I don’t want to use the word insecure, but he really doesn’t think he’s good enough sometimes. I think that when he even comes across the thought or the chance that he’s not good enough for you, he just shuts you out, you know? It’s like a defense mechanism. It’s not that he doesn’t want to try, just that he’s afraid.”

Jaemin nodded softly in agreement. At this point you were beginning to see why they were all such good friends. Even at a time like this they were still trying to help him, and never once did they put him down. 

That made you feel even worse. 

You sighed, leaning back on your forearms and staring up at the clouds, head swirling with new thoughts.

“Oh, so you can tell me to my face that you weren’t just with Y/N? What kind of friend are you?” Chenle raised his voice, glaring at the two of them.

Jisung stared at the wall beside them, silently brooding over the situation.

Haechan stood up from his seat on the couch and turned, shocked at the sight before him. Mark was wide-eyed staring over the back of the couch. 

“What are you-”

“Can you even call yourself a friend?” The words were spat out, making everyone in the room flinch, including Jisung.

Jisung closed his eyes, blocking out the situation. He never wanted things to go this far. 

“It’s not-”

“How are you even able to be in the same room and not feel guilty? Huh?!” At this point Chenle was losing control.

Haechan moved to Chenle’s side, tugging at his arm to make him stop. But Chenle only threw his hand off him in anger. 

“Taking sides with that-”

“Stop it.” 

With those two words it seemed like the world stopped with it. 

“What?” Chenle all but whispered out. He was not alone in the confusion.

“Stop it.” Jisung finally took a look around the room, frowning at what he saw in front of him. “This is ridiculous, fighting over this. I don’t care if you hang out with her or not.”

“But-”

“This whole thing was blown way out of proportion. I was stupid and immature to not even talk to her. Honestly I’m more mad at myself than at her.” To say that everyone was shocked was an understatement. 

“I’m so sick of this. This is why I didn’t want to do this in the first place.” He sighed standing up. “I’m done being mad without an explanation.”

Jisung treaded heavily towards his room, making up his mind that this was going to be the last time they fought over you. Tomorrow he would clear things up.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Just a minute!” You rubbed your eyes blearily, glancing at your phone. 7 am, on a Saturday?

You flattened your hair the best you could, throwing on a sweatshirt hastily as you opened the door. 

You sucked your breath, heart dropping at the sight of Jisung in front of you.

“Jisung?” Suddenly you felt very bare, standing in front of him with a sweatshirt and your pajamas. But you pushed away the embarrassment, caving to the pent up anger and humiliation that you still felt. 

You frowned at him, “What do you want?”

He visibly winced at the tone, biting his lip anxiously. “Could- can we talk?”

But to be honest, you didn’t really want to talk with him at the moment. “Now’s not a good time.”

To be fair you did have an appointment soon. Not ridiculously soon that you couldn’t manage to squeeze in a talk, but you weren’t going to try very hard.

“Oh.” He ruffled his hair nervously. “Um… when do you have time?” He asked, this time not willing to let go so easily.

For a moment you thought about telling him that you simply didn’t want to face him, that you wouldn’t ever have time for him. But even you knew that was far too cruel. And to be honest, a talk was what you wanted in the first place. 

“Lunch?” You mumbled out, “I can do noon.”

He was quick to agree, and soon enough you were left alone in your apartment again. Empty and quiet on a Saturday morning, as it should be, but for some reason you felt uneasy.

It seemed that Jisung was keeping a very keen eye out for you, because the moment you walked through the door, his eyes locked with yours. 

He waved you over as enthusiastically as he could, which wasn’t very much. He could feel the heavy air already as you averted your eyes.

You felt a twinge of flutters in your stomach, but you pushed them down. This was the first time, since you had gone to the bookstore, that you had spent time together, just the two of you.

It felt like a date, but it was far from it.

Jisung cleared his throat awkwardly, “I heard the pasta is really good here.”

You raised your eyebrows at the suggestion, choosing to be as civil as you could. You weren’t here to cause another fight, or whatever happened between the two of you, you were here to reconcile.

“Really, then I’ll try the Carbonara.” A small smile was tacked on at the end of your sentence as you noticed Jisung eyeing you nervously.

He smiled back.

Then he set the menu down. 

He sighed deeply before continuing, “First off, I really want to apologize for the way I treated you. I was avoiding you and acting like a jerk, really. I just… when we saw you at the diner, I was just slammed with a bunch of emotions and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I know that’s a shitty excuse, but I just couldn’t handle it, and then I think a part of me was embarrassed by the way that I acted, so I avoided you more. But then things blew up. Everything fell apart with my friends, then they started fighting and picking sides, and I realized that none of this was worth it. I was mad and upset for no reason.”

He stopped, weary of your expression before continuing. “I don’t know if I even deserve an explanation, or a second chance.”

Jisung must have lost confidence, as he wavered at the end of his sentence.

You plucked up the courage that you had, nodding in agreement.

“I think you deserve an explanation.” You sighed, thinking back to the moment they saw you. “Lucas... we had set up a date before you had even asked me, and I thought it would be wrong to ditch him, especially without explanation. When you walked in, I had actually just told him… about you.”

Your throat suddenly felt dry and you reached for your glass. “It didn’t feel right to see both of you at the same time, whether I liked you both or not. I’m going to be honest with you, Lucas is a great guy, I would be extremely happy with someone like him, but...But he doesn’t make me feel the way you make me feel.”

You glanced up through your eyelashes, weary of his expression, quickly moving on after your confession.

“And you’re right, I really think that things blew way out of proportion, that all could’ve been solved with a conversation, it didn’t need to wait this long.”

He nodded, admitting to his fault. But his mind kept wandering back to what you had said.

The way he made you feel?

He felt a sudden rush of giddiness, before he managed to hide it.

By the time the food had arrived you were well into your conversation, both of you had agreed to move past this. It wasn’t going to be easy to forget, and maybe that was the best way to move forward with your relationship.

You caught up with each other, Jisung telling stories of the stupid things that he and his friends do, mostly Haechan. The most recent of his escapades having to do with a deck of cards and a street lamp on a particularly cold night. 

Jisung reveled at the sound of your laughter, cursing himself for waiting this long to talk to you. Why had he been so afraid? What had stopped him before?

“So how exactly do I make you feel?” He asked teasingly, whilst wiggling his eyebrows.

You laughed nervously at him, realizing that maybe it was a mistake to let him get so comfortable with you. 

Or maybe it meant the start of something great.

Part 1

© Copyright 2021. hyuckssunchip. All rights reserved.

[haechanokeh]

I'm Right For Your [pt. 6]

(you can play Die For You by The Weeknd while reading this 😌)

pairing: popular college! mark x average! reader

genre: romance, smut, angst, series.

warning: corruption, oral sex (both receiving and giving), cream pie, rough sex, anal sex, mention of religion, rough sex, self-esteem, psychology, public sex, sub! reader, sex toys. possessive mark two-faced mark

I think I’m right for you, babe. You know what I’m thinking, see it in your eyes. You hate that you want me, hate it when you cry. It ain’t workin’ ‘cause you’re perfect and I know that you’re worth it I can’t walk away. (Die for you by The Weeknd)

the next morning you made it at the right time in your first class. it's a usual morning, everyone was talking except for two things.

mark did not greet you and he's not sitting beside you nor his bads or anything from him. bit you felt relieved because for just at least one day, you want a mark-free day. he's giving you so much stress lately.

there's a quiz for your first subject and you studied it with mark on saturday. okay, you're just an average student so of course it's very hard for you but you were very thankful that you studied with mark because you're very confident answering some questions. you felt guilty for being mean yesterday but… you couldn't help it. you were afraid and it's as if it was your defense mechanism to became rude to him yesterday. yes, you're afraid of wanting something that you think you don't deserve.

after the quiz, your professor continue on its lecture and finished the whole slide.

"okay, for your homework. of course, it's always by pair. i'll give you 3 minutes to look for your pair and tell me who you are going to pair with because you will choose a number that has your case question. don't worry, it's not hard, it'll just test your good decision making and morality. so, you may start looking for your partners " he announced. you cursed inside your head because it's another homework or activity that is by pair. you hate pairings or groupings, you prefer doing things alone.

they all started to talk to each other, going to one person to another asking if they wanted to be their partner or if they already have a partner on the other hand, you remained sitting on your seat. you said to yourself that you're going to be partner with someone who's the same with you, unwanted. but half of you was waiting for mark to approach you but it seemed like he already got his partner, mina. you were stealing glances at them so yeah, now you'll have to wait for whoever doesn't have a partner.

you're sighed and tucked your hands on each side of your blouse' pocket, resisting to pout. but someone sat beside you, your heart almost jump and excitedly looked beside you. but to your disappointment it's lucas.

"you look disappointed," he chuckled. "do you have a partner?" you shook your head as an answer. "do you want to be my partner, i mean i'm not as smart as mark but i-"

"what?" why did he bring out mark's name? "no, really i'm fine whoever i'm going to be partnered with. i just want this to be over."

"yeah, of course." lucas laughed. well everyone knows you're the type of person who prefer to be alone. "you should smile more often, i thinks he likes girls who always laugh and giggle."

"who?" your forehead knotted in cluelessness. he gave you playful smile and scooted closer to you.

"i know you like mark." he whispered into your ears. your eyes circled in shock.

"no, i don't. what are you talking about?" you lowered your voice. but lucas wasn't convinced.

meanwhile, mark who's controlling his facial expression as he secretly watching the both of you, now broke. his face became serious when he saw lucas' shoulder touched yours and when his lips were near your ears and whispered something. he's glaring at him. mina saw it all, he always watches mark.

she knew that there's something between the two of you, and she felt scared. mina likes mark, everyone knows that already and when they heard that you like him, she feared that she would lose her chance. but mark's face says it all. mina is not dumb, she notices how mark's been all over you and now he witness another side of mark, a jealous mark.

"mark?" mina called his name. mark blinked and shifted his attention to mina.

"what?" he politely asked.

"do you want to change your partner, i mean... you obviously want another." mina slowly glance at you and mark followed you. mark swallowed nervously.

"ha, i am that obvious?" he asked nervously. mina smiled.

"yup." she replied. mark stared at you for a couple of seconds but you're comfortable with lucas, he guessed that you have a partner now.

"let's just be partners." mark smiled at mina. her heart skips a beat but with pain.

it's been three days of no mark but his presence is still there. you missed mark's touch, you missed the frustrations and highs.

that's why while your mom's aways, you're making the most out of it.

you put your vibrator into max.

"mark!" you screamed his name, your eyes rolled pussy and legs pulsating. you were screaming his name with shame but pleasure.

you sat up and stared at your room blankly while catching your breath. you remove the bullet from you. you get out on your bed and go to your bathroom to clean the vibrator. you put it back in its bag and hid it in your closet. you crawled on your bed and lay there hugging tightly a pillow.

"i miss him." you became honest to yourself. you don't know if you miss him or just his touch but attachment you feared is finally happening.

you should've stopped him or yourself from touching you... or you should've totally give in?

the next morning, you groan in pain. as if your head was being drilled. nobody noticed it because you're good at hiding your expression and emotion. unlike your classmates, mark see all through you. your switching brows, discomfort face, quick massage on your forehead, and your quick nap when you have a chance.

"hey." lucas nudged you. you lifted your head and your are squinting adjusting your vision.

"hmm?"

"some of our classmates will go to mark's house to answer legal ethics case. i was thinking if maybe we-"

"no." and you shove you head back down.

"why? you can meet your in-laws already." he grinned. you sat up and pinched his hard arms. "ah! okay okay i will not tease you. but i mean, we're having a hard time in what laws will be used against the defensor." he has a point.

your professor don't worry, it's easy is a lie.

you sighed. "fine."

"yes!" lucas fist pumps and jumps out of his seat just to tell he's going.

mark was watching all along. he saw you shove your head back again. he wanted to detach his ass from the sit but what if you ignored him again? mark giving you time to think, and of course he also wanted to think. but those days without you is absolutely a frustration, he never thought he wanted someone this much. he also thinks, and hopefully he's right, that your reaction the last time you talk was because of jealousy. but what he hated the most is your fear of loving him just because the two of you don't fit in. so does she think someone suits her better than him?

no, i'm right for you and there's no one else but me. it's an obsessive statement but mark is already aware of that. you turned him like this.

now you understand why they always wanted to be in his house. it's huge, and you know this house too. you never thought the nearby huge house is mark's house.his house is very popular, well not his house itself but his mom and dad who's a pastor because they are so kind and loved by the neighborhood.

mark's mom is already outside the door greeting each on of us. mark and mina is infront of you.

"lucas! i missed you dear." she hugged lucas. her eyes landed on me. "oh my, a new face." she smiled at you. you smiled back (don't forget the work awkwardly.)

"nice to meet you, i'm y/n." you politely said.

mark's mom gazes at you and lucas as if she's teasing both of you.

"you're girlfriend?" her brows were bouncing up and down. you and lucas just awkwardly smiled at her but before you deny it to her, mark’s nerves snapped.

mark turned his back and walk towards you, he literally squeezed himself between you and lucas. he put his arm across your shoulder and the other arms are on lucas. your breath hitched. you missed him this much.

"mom, we're getting inside." mark covered his irritation with a lovely smile.

"okay fine fine. make sure that you won't do anything dumb okay?" she said to his son and reach him for a kiss.

"nice meeting you again sweetie." she looked at her son again. "i already cooked some food. be back at 1 in the morning. don't wait for me and your dad." she patted mark's chest and left.

mark removed his arms from you and look at lucas.

"c'mon." he said and entered the house. he did not give you a single glance.

i knew it, he's mad at me.

you literally wearing your flat face. you are bot hiding it as you sat on the end of the couch with lucas beside you.

"how is this a group study? I thought we're going to answer the homework?" you told lucas with a low voice and teeth gritting in disbelief.

"mark already reading it, let's just wait for his notes." he said eyes never leave the huge tv.

you squeezed the bridge of your nose and stood up. you want to go home but before that you have to take your paper from mark, so you walked in the dining area. he's there reading about 5 papers in total.

why is he tolerating their laziness? you said annoyingly while watching him from behind. you sighed and gather all your courage to walk towards him. you were beside him and he felt your presence so he looked up. he noticed your eyes looking for something.

"care to tell me what are you looking for?" his brow lifted.

"our paper. i want to go home, i wasn't supposed to be in here. i thought we will answer it." you finally saw your paper and grabbed it. you look down on him straight in the eyes.

"you shouldn't allowing them to make you answer their homeworks mark. you're not helping nor being kind." what you're doing right now is obviously called scolding, and you know what? you made mark smile,he felt that you cared for him..

"it's okay, it's my advantage too. i got to read a lot of cases, i'll just treat it as if i'm studying theirs." he looked back at the paper he was reading. you rolled your eyes

"geek." you murmured and he clearly heard you.

"have you taken a paracetamol at least?” he said out of the blue.

“excuse me?” you were kind of lost. he looked at you.

“your head ache.” he said. your jaw dropped in amusement.

“how did you know?” he just smiled at you and shrugged as his answer. “i already did but i think i need to rest.”

both of you weren’t aware that you were having a casual conversation.

“you can use that room.” mark pointed at the 3rd room from the corner next to the kitchen.

“oh no, thanks. i’ll just head back home.” you politely declined but mark was not having it.

“you will rest there or else i am going fuck you in this table.” he threatened you. of course he wouldn’t do that, mark never will share you.

“you wouldn’t” you chuckled knowing that he was just joking.

“try me.” he challenged you but his tone of voice seemed like you wouldn’t dare. you swallowed nervously.

“they’ll look for me.” you whispered.

“no they wouldn’t. you’ll have to take your bag, i’ll just tell them you already left. once the tv is open they don’t care about anything.” he convinced you. his tapping his index finger on the table growing impatient. “rest because you need energy later.”

“for what?” you furrowed your brows.

“for me.” he gave you an eye smile… a scary one. it was fake but looked so genuine… but twisted.

you finally woke up. you looked at the digital clock table near you. it's 8 in the evening. you sat up but good lord you screamed when you saw a figure sitting at the end of your bed. it was mark.

"mark!" you touched your chest and tried to make your heart calm.

"eat your dinner and your medicine." he said in a monotone voice.

"are you mad at me?" you ask him the dumbest question, EVER. you obviously at fault, you just threw him outside your house without any explanation.

"no. " he replied and stood up. "let's eat." he's so cold, he left the room.

your chest became heavy. you followed him, eyes sticking at his icy figure. you felt suffocated and you just saw yourself chasing his back and embracing it. mark's body tensed as he felt your tiny figure behind him and short arms around his waist.

"i don't like it when you're mad. don't be mad at me." you were shoving your face against his back. his sweet but masculine cologne lingers into your nose and it made a calming effect. "i'm sorry if i was being mean." you shove your face more because of embarrassment.

"fuck…" mark cursed under his breath. you were so irresistible. he turned his body, facing you still arms around him. he witness your red as beet face. he cupped your cheeks and stared at your eyes.

"was it jealousy?" he asked referring to what happened that day. you shyly nodded your head. "i have something to tell you."

you blinked waiting for him to say whatever he wanted to tell you.

"i love you." mark missed saying those 3 meaningful words.

he then captured your lips. you shared an aggressive and eager kiss, your teeths are almost clashing with each other because of how aggressive mark is. suffocation was there but you love it. there was drooling, but you love it. they are moaning, and you fucking love it. mark squeezing your breast, fondling it, massaging it. until your shirt and bra were sitting on top of your round firm breasts. he then lifted you and made you sit on the dining table. thank god the table is long and that the food was far from you.

his gave you kisses down to your breast. he was nipping and your breasts. all you could do was moan. your hands playing the tips of his hair.

“i missed you so much.” he sincerely said while hungrily eating your breast.

“you were ignoring me.” you were supposed to sound lonely and sad but you moaned your words. it's impossible not to because gawd his wet and cold mouth feels good.

“i gave you some space but i don’t like it when someone occupies that space other than me.” he murmured. he went back to your face, giving your feathery kisses.

mark felt threatened when everyone keep on saying that lucas and you seemed close and actually look good together. they say that you need someone like lucas, bubbly and noisy. every time he hears that his blood boils. the fuck they know. he say.

you are quiet yes, but you have a lot of side. you are funny, you're savage, cute, and funny- and noisy especially when... you know. you are hardworking too, even though you sometimes procrastinate you make sure you study and understand the lesson. the down side is you just have low self-esteem and not honest to your feelings. but you are not just the quiet and the loner

“head still hurts?” he stared at your face.

“kinda.” you answered honestly.

“should we try if orgasm really make-” before he even finish his sentence you lift your back. you were expecting him to move back his body but he stayed still. you stopped before your lips touch.

"i'm hungry." you said. mark's eyes fell on your lips.

"do you want to do it here or to my room?" he asked. your nose scrunched.

"no, i mean i'm literally hungry for food." you said almost laughing at how disappointed he looked.

"food can wait." mark mumbled like a little kid throwing tantrums.

"you don't let the grace wait… right? i thought christians are thought to be like that." you were being cheeky. he widely smiled at you.

yeah, they don't know anything about you. you are more than the quiet and loner girl. i will never let anyone know this side of you, no one will appreciate you like i do. no one fits with you like i do. no matter how many times you deny it, i'm right for you.

"hmm? is there something on my face?" he was staring at you for quite long now so you felt conscious on how you look.

"let's eat? i thought you want me to take my paracetamol." you pouted.

"how about we go to nonpharmacological management?" you cringed when you hear his technical words.

"what? water?" you snorted.

"no, orgasm." he smirked and pushed your chest down, you felt the cold glass on your back. you cursed under your breath because of his sexiness.

mark rolled up your skirt and pulled down your panty. he did not waste any seconds, he dive into your wetness. he flatly licked your slick. you purred in excitement. mark pressed his thumb on your clit which added to your pleasure. mark sucking your folds, and every juices inside you while rubbing your clit.

"mark…" you moaned signalling that you are going to release. mark switched his thumb to his mouth and tongue, eating and rubbing your clit. he inserted two fingers inside you, and your back arched in intense pleasure.

"mark, please don't stop." he curled his finger and swear your eyes crossed when he hit your spot. "right there, right there, right there!" you cried loudly.

he never missed hitting your spot, and he was literally becoming aggressive in your clit. softly biting it, eating it, spitting on it.

"ohhhh…" you couldn't think properly nor talk properly. you legs involuntarily squeezed mark's head. his free hand pushed your one leg flat on the table to spread your legs. you couldn't handle the extreme pleasure building up on you.

"no… fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" you sat up, pushing mark's head away from you. your head threw back and eyes rolled back, you almost saw your brains. hands unconsciously rubbing yourself as you release… so much?

you squirted on mark's pants. your back fell on the table, it hurts but you're too high to complain. you were catching your breath and you were light headed. you're aware of what happened but you don't have energy to get embarrassed.

while your lashes are still fluttering and your chest aggressively going up and down. mark was really satisfied. he wiped his face using the end of his shirt. he leaned forward, arm resting on the side of your face.

"no headache?" he was teasing you. you laugh through your highs.

"yeah."

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Tag List: @cloudykeiji @jjikyuu @sunshinedhyuck @wassup-haeyadwae @erisxczenie @mrklyy @resceluwu @jenotation

[junicai]

tackled.

| summary | Mark hasn’t been in a group without Aria before. He doesn’t know how he’s going to manage without her there.

| word count | 2.4k

| warnings | none

| era | circa. December 2018

n/a: to the anon who requested more superm stuff, i hope this is to ur liking~ a little bit of background before i start writing some actual scenarios for the team :)

Aria wasn’t quite sure how to function; or how to deal with the fact that she was sitting, legs crossed, back ram-rod straight, in one of the smaller conference rooms with Lee Sooman sitting across from her looking a world more comfortable. 

Taeyong on her left and Lucas on her right, Ten a seat down and Mark beyond that. The plastic seats were less than kind to her aching tailbone, but Aria was mildly (read: incredibly) more preoccupied with the thought that she was wearing a faded hoodie and black workout leggings that were old and worn, sitting in a conference room with Taemin, Baekhyun and Kai. 

She was pretty sure the day couldn’t be going much worse. That was until Sooman's voice snapped her from her inner turmoil and she looked up at the CEO, raising a bottle of water to her lips with a lightly quivering hand.

“Aria, you’ll be joining as their eighth and final member.”

Water rushed down the wrong way in her throat, the muscle spasming as Aria choked and banged a closed fist against her chest. Taeyong’s hand flew to rub circles in between her shoulder blades, patting gently as she heaved, trying to re-catch her breath.

She takes it back. It just got worse. 

“Sir?” Aria wheezed out, taking in a stuttered breath as she looked up from the table to meet the CEO’s eyes. 

“SuperM is a concept group designed to take those that excelled in their respective groups and use that as the foundation to create something bigger. You’ve all made a name for yourself; both within the group and individually.” Sooman took a breath, lifting his hands to drum his fingertips across the wooden table. The dark oak was glazed, and Aria belatedly realized that this conference room was so small as it was the CEO’s personal room. His name was imprinted on the front of the door, gold paint enhancing the grooves made. 

He continued talking, focusing his attention on each individual member from his seat, explaining their ‘roles’ so to speak. Aria caught small snippets, chest still rising a beat too quickly for it to be ignorable and her racing mind building up a cascade of thoughts that were rising up in tandem. 

Baekhyun you will be the leader - Taemin as - I think it’s important, no crucial that you remember - this is not a time for - you’ll understand my expectations in time - a common ground for those that - merging the eras -

Aria flinched violently when her name was called, head snapping away from where it was boring holes into the wall just over Taemin’s shoulder. She had yet to make eye contact with a single one of her seniors, having taken a single glance around the room upon arrival and dropped herself into a near 90 degree bow. 

“What with the incredibly - albeit unexpectedly - positive response that came with your inclusion in the various NCT units, myself and my team think it fitting that you’d belong in a group such as this one. Obviously your English speaking skills are a benefit, although I am not so sure that your accent will be as tolerable to the American media as Mark’s here would be. But I’m getting ahead of myself, we can circle back to that in due time.” Sooman leant back in his chair, resting his arms against his sides. 

He looked satisfied with how the meeting had gone - given that all but one member of the newly established team had signed their agreement into another contract, having handed out a thinly spaced document a few minutes prior. 

Aria sat back, pen cradled in her hand as Sooman shuffled through her contract in his hands, as he had refrained from giving hers out with the others. The CEO dismissed the other members, calling for Aria to remain seated for another few minutes. 

As the seven boys stood from their chairs with muffled screeches from the rubber capped legs on the chairs, Taeyong let a hand brush over Aria’s shoulder once. His face was pinched into something, lip caught between his teeth but Aria waved him off with a smile that didn’t lift her eyes. 

Exiting the room, Mark glanced back over his shoulder catching a glimpse of Sooman already leaning forward in his chair and Aria sitting up straight. Attentive. And then the door swung closed, clicking shut with a soft snick and Mark couldn’t see either of them anymore. 

It had been a week. 

Mark had meant to ask Aria what Sooman had wanted to discuss with her privately, he really had. But between schedules and commuting and a million other things that had appeared on his ‘To-Do’ list overnight; he hadn’t found the time.

Either he crept in to the dorms a few minutes prior to the clock striking twelve with barely enough energy to take a shower, or it was Aria slipping in on light feet, sliding in to her bedroom with a quiet goodnight. 

She had been disappearing more often; despite the fact that Mark was near certain that she didn’t have anymore schedules than the rest of them. Not even Donghyuck had been gone as often as her, and the two of them were prepping for NCT Dream’s next album together.

The thought settled bitterly in Mark’s stomach, so he brushed it aside. A million other thoughts filled the space left; equally as acidic. 

Had she signed in to the group? Had she declined? Was there something else going on that Sooman needed to talk to her about? Was she going solo? Was she leaving them? He knew that she’d been offered the opportunity before - it nearly decimated her and Donghyuck’s friendship - but had she accepted this time? Is that where she was going? Why hadn’t she talked to anyone else about it? Why hadn’t she talked to him? 

His head was full of these thoughts running on a cycle. He tried his best to shake them out. 

The dorms were never full anymore - someone was always gone doing one thing, or practicing another, or discussing something else. 

Mark thinks that this was his least hectic day in the last seven. But it was definitely the most stressful.

His hands were sweating and he rubbed his damp palms against the black material of his joggers, an anxious bounce in his knee. Lucas was leant against the wall beside him, tapping a finger against his thigh. 

Scanning around the room, Mark saw his seniors - his groupmates, as odd as it was to acknowledge - in various degrees of unrest. Taeyong appeared relatively calm, although Mark could recognize the tense set of his jawline and he made a note to remind the leader that he had to stop grinding his teeth unless he wanted to do some damage. 

Ten had his phone in his hand and an earbud in one of his ears, seemingly engrossed in watching a video. Mark could see the dangling headphone jack; unconnected to the phone. The video was paused. 

As for a first practice together, Mark assumed that this was not how it was meant to go. How were they meant to perform together if they couldn’t even start a simple conversation? 

None of the NCT boys had seen the choreography for their first single yet, Mark hadn’t gotten around to asking had his seniors managed to get a sneak peak or not. He didn’t think he ever would, at this rate. 

The practice room was quiet, filled with an unsettled air of anxiousness although that may have just been the younger boys projecting, as Taemin looked entirely unbothered, with Kai leaning over his shoulder. 

Baekhyun’s head snapped up as the door to the practice room was closed, shifting up from his seated position on the floor to greet their choreographer. 

“Ah, hello,” He began, nodding his head in a greeting bow.

“..Hi?” Came a smaller voice than he was expecting. 

“Riri?” Lucas said, pushing himself off the wall. “Hey, you alright?” 

Aria was shifting from her left foot to her right foot, hands twisting the fabric at the end of her hoodie. Taemin tilted his head, and noticed that it was the same hoodie she had been wearing the week previous. 

“What’cha doing here, Ari?” Ten asked, moving to stand closer to the girl. 

“I’m here for - for practice? Right?” Aria turned the questioning on him, glancing at Ten and then turning her gaze on Taeyong. “Right?” 

“For SuperM?” Mark was confused. 

“Yeah?”

Aria had her eyebrows pulled together neatly, staring at Mark, who’s face had crested through about eight emotions in the last second, finally settling on a rather odd mixture of relief and pure, childlike excitement. 

“Mark wha-” She cut herself off with a yelp, hands flying to grip Mark’s shoulders as he tackled her around her middle. “Mark!” 

The boy in question only squeezed her tighter, lifting her off the ground a little. Aria squirmed in his grip, but as soon as Lucas’ arms were added to the equation she went lax, knowing that her chances of escape had just dropped to zero. 

“Dude- oh my god,” Mark was laughing, a light breathy laugh. “Dude I thought you didn’t sign it? What was all the secrecy about?” 

“What... secrecy?” Aria wheezed out. “Mark I can’t breathe-”

“Oh, sorry sorry.” 

Aria was put back down on her feet, but Mark’s arms didn’t leave her middle, choosing instead to tug the girl into a hug. “You kept disappearing, I thought-”

Mark hissed in pain when Aria pinched his hip. “You’re such an idiot.”

“What?”

“You know you can talk to me?” 

His cheeks flushed pink. 

Luckily, Lucas saved him from the conversation, pulling Aria out from Mark’s arms and into his own. This hug was more violent, and Aria was lifted and swung around in a circle once, twice, before demanding to be put back down. 

“We’re in a group together!” Lucas was beaming down at her, and Aria couldn’t help but to grin back. “Yeah we are!”

“Group hug!” Ten yelled, and suddenly Aria found herself in a tangle of Mark and Taeyong and Lucas and Ten’s arms, the four boys hugging her tightly. 

Aria laughed, trying her level best to fit them all in her own hug. They stood there for a minute, arms entangled in a rather terrible mimicry of a knotted ball of yarn. 

“Ah hyung, they’re so cute.”

Taeyong coughed, and the five-person cuddle unraveled quickly. 

Aria spun around to see Taemin, Baekhyun and Kai all standing together on the opposite side of the room. Taemin had a fond look on his face, while Baekhyun had his tongue caught between his teeth to stave off a smile.

“Not to ruin the moment or anything, but does anyone know where our choreographer is?” Jongin peered down at his phone. “It’s been twenty minutes, are we in the right room?”

Aria cleared her throat.

“Uh, about that bit.”

Mark’s head snapped over so quickly he might have given himself whiplash. “Ari?”

“I might? Be your choreographer?” The statement came out more like a question, and Aria spread her hands out in front of her. “Believe me, I’m not quite sure how that one happened either, but if it’s going to be a problem I really have no issue with, like, not doing it? I know I’m the youngest and I don’t want to be rude or anything I-”

Mark tackled her in another hug. Aria was pretty sure her ribs were going to be bruised after this.

“Literally shut up.”

“But!”

“Shut up!” 

“You’ll do a great job, Aria.” Baekhyun smiled over at the younger girl. “Do you have anything prepped, or have you heard the song yet?”

Aria shuffled awkwardly. “I have something? It’s only a rough draft really, and obviously its subject to change because, well you’re all here and whatever suits you best is the best option so,” She took a breath. Taeyong slid over to put a hand on her back, but said nothing, still waiting for one of the older members to take the lead. 

“Can you show us? None of us have seen the demo yet, just Jongin.” Taemin grumbled, poking the boy in question in the stomach. Jongin flicked him back. 

“Uh, yeah? Yeah, I can do that.” 

“Wait wait, Ari. Is that what you were talking to Sooman about?” Mark caught her wrist to stop her from leaving the practice room. She had lost the hoodie a few hours ago, and her hair was pulled back into a sad looking ponytail. Tired and weary, all she wanted to do was take a hot shower and spend the next three hours with her face buried in her pillow. 

But Mark’s question made her stop. “Uh, yeah. Yeah he just wanted to talk to me about my, responsibilities in the group, so to speak.”

If Mark was a little less exhausted and a little more alert, he would have caught the odd phrasing, but he was a lot more exhausted and a lot less alert than on a regular day, so it flew right over his head. 

“Ari, that’s incredible. I’m so proud of you.” He went to pull her into another hug. 

“No! Ew get off what’s with you today! Why’re you so cuddly, get off get off you’re gross and sweaty.” She knocked her hands against his chest to try and get him to move away.

“I’m just proud of you~” He sang, swaying her back and forth. “Was gonna miss you if you didn’t sign with us. ‘Dunno what to do without you in my team.”

Aria’s protests died down slowly, and her fists stopped to rest on his chest. She snorted once, poking him in the chest. “Don’t lie, you just didn’t want to be the maknae, you can’t fool me.” 

“No~” Mark continued to whine. “Really, was gonna miss you.” 

“Okay, okay, you big baby. I’m not going anywhere - you’re going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me. Now let go, I want a shower.”

[purple-baby-d]

overthinking over you.

Lee Donghyuck (Haechan — NCT) X female reader.

Genre: Fluff, smut.

Word count: 8,672.

Content: student!hyuck, student!reader, sportplayers!nct, kissing, first time sex (male), dry humping, foreplay, fingering, depictions of violence that may be upsetting for some readers, I kinda made Johnny a dick so sorry to y’all beforehand, just some lovely and probably cringey au to have a valentine’s day feast before valentine’s day because I realized I haven’t written an au for my best friend in a while and the 90′s Love era Haechan has been attacking me for long enough so I decided to do something about it.

Brief: Captain of the hockey team, Honor Roll student, an amazing friend and the pride and joy of his parents, Lee Donghyuck certainly has it all to other people’s eyes, but what about the girl he’s dreamed of? No, he’s pretty much a great overthinker for that. But now that she broke up with her boyfriend, will his head get on the way of him getting to her heart?

Dedicated to @theravengoddess, happy Valentine’s day, bestie! I love you and thank you for being with me through the ups and downs 💜

After some long hours of practice, the hockey team was finally sent to the lockers by the coach, the old man’s chest was filled with pride by his back-to-back champion, the Neo Cultural Tech All-Stars. But of course, he didn’t want his players to slack off, so he wouldn’t let them know that.

The man of the hour, Lee Donghyuck, got out of his warm shower to dress up and go home, finding his fellow team players in the lockers. “Hey, nice practice today, Hyuck”, Jeno complimented, patting his shoulder. “Thanks, man. You were quite impressive out there too”, he smiled at him. “You guys wanna crash at my place to study for the finals? My last brain cell died trying to figure out the Algebra study guide”, Mark sighed, pulling his red hoodie down as he slipped his arms into the sleeves. “I’m down, I seriously need divine help for that one”, Sungchan said, tying the laces of his sneakers. “Me too, the question is if our savior will be there to help us”, Yangyang teased, looking at his team captain.

The blonde looked at him with a little smile, shaking his head. “You guys are truly a pain in the ass”, he sighed. “Oh, come on, Hyuck! I’ll pay for the pizza”, Yangyang pleaded, truly concerned about his grades. “You know if I don’t get at least a B, I won’t be able to stay in the team, what are you gonna do without your heartthrob?” he asked while pouting and batting his eyes. “But WinWin has good grades”, Mark teased, making his fellows laugh and Hyuck sigh. “Fine, but if you start staring at your phone instead of studying, I will whoop your ass”, Donghyuck agreed, and the rest of them high-fived each other.

“Ayo, Ten!”, Mark called out, looking at the guy who had just gotten out of the shower. Donghyuck saw something weird in him, he looked as if he was in a rush. “We’re having a group study session at my place, Hyuck will help us with the Algebra study guide, you down?”, he asked. “I’ll have to pass, guys. Johnny is pissed, it seems like he and Y/N broke up”, he said, making Donghyuck stop in his tracks, shocked. “What? What for?”, Mark asked again, concerned for Ten’s stepbrother, the star of the school’s martial arts team. “You know Johnny, she probably found out he cheated on her or something, but I’m still his brother, so I gotta be there for him”, Ten sighed, getting dressed within five minutes with his hair still dripping wet. “Anyways, maybe the next time, take care, y’all!”, he said before rushing out of the lockers’ room.

Jeno looked at his blonde friend, knowing exactly what he was probably thinking. His seemingly hopeless love was finally available again, how exciting was that? However, he looked rather terrified, and it was because his overthinking head was working at full speed.

Oh God, is she okay? Did Johnny hurt her badly? Should I text her? What if she doesn’t wanna talk about it? What if she doesn’t wanna talk at all? What if she doesn’t like boys anymore after this? Irene started dating Seulgi after Junmyeon broke up with her, what if Y/N does that too? Should I go with her? But I already told the guys I would help them... Jesus, Lee Donghyuck, you’re such an idiot.

Lee Donghyuck had many virtues, sadly his biggest enemy was his head.

“Guys, I think we lost him”, Sungchan said, as he saw Donghyuck spacing out. “What?” he said, once he realized his surroundings. Mark patted his shoulder, “Lee Donghyuck, you’re truly one of a kind. If y’all ready, let’s go”, he said, and their group left the lockers and headed to the parking lot, where everyone got into Donghyuck’s black Jeep to head off to Mark’s place. However, the team captain was still thinking about his long-time friend, who he’s had a crush on for the longest time. He simply shook it off, he was a man of his word, so he would help his friends and once they’re done with studying, his head would be clear enough to know what to do.

Because there was nothing better for Lee Donghyuck to clear his mind than a good Algebra study guide.

“Oh, man, thank God it’s over!”, Sungchan yawned, stretching after finishing the last problem of the study guide and the last slice of pizza left on the third box, “I get it all now, how did you do that?”, Yangyang asked, looking at Donghyuck with utter confusion. “Well, it’s quite simple if you actually get your head in it”, the blonde replied, saving the study guide back in his backpack before grabbing his phone, still wandering between texting you or not. It wouldn’t be weird, you’ve known each other since kindergarten and been friends for years. However, your ex-boyfriend, the widely-known playboy Seo Johnny, had kept you from talking ever since you started dating last summer, and honestly, Donghyuck didn’t want you to have problems because of him.

He loved you a lot to do that.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, Jeno, do you want a ride?”, you asked the only one within your group you knew didn’t plan on staying over at Mark’s or lived close enough to walk home. Jeno logically nodded, picking up his bag and saying his respective goodbyes. Of course, something seemed to click in Jeno’s head when Donghyuck offered to give him a ride home: you lived in front of his house. Obviously, he wasn’t going to point that out, knowing Donghyuck, he would take back his offer, and he honestly didn’t want to walk the ten blocks that distanced Mark’s place to his.

“You think I should talk to her?”, Donghyuck asked halfway through, looking at Jeno briefly as they got to a red light. Jeno sighed, taking his sight away from the window to look at his friend. “Honestly, Hyuck? You’ve been in love with her since fifth grade, you should gather the balls to tell her once and for all, it’s so fucking frustrating to deal with your overthinking ass head”, he replied, taking a deep breath afterward. What hurt Hyuck the most was knowing that he was right and that even after all those years, he’d always see you run into another guy’s arms.

First, it was Lucas, your boyfriend from sixth to eighth grade. He had a wealthy family and was the school’s fencing champion. And then, it was Johnny, who you’d been with since barely months after you broke up with Lucas. Sadly, it has always been the same for Donghyuck: as soon as he gathers the courage to ask you out, you’d already started dating someone else. You have a long, toxic relationship with the new guy, he breaks your heart, you go to him. It was the routine he was used to, the routine his thoughts reserved for him every time. But after parking his car in front of Jeno’s house, he decided that was about to change.

“You sure you’re okay? I’m sorry if I said something-”, Jeno tried to apologize, but Donghyuck cut him off. “It’s alright, Jen. You said what was in your head and I respect that, mostly because you’re right”, he sighed, looking down for a while before taking a deep breath and reaching out his hand for a small handshake with his friend. “I’ll see you tomorrow”, he grinned, as Jeno got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, drive home safely!”, the raven-haired boy exclaimed as he walked into his house. Donghyuck stayed outside for a while, and while he did, he sighed as he kept thinking what was the right thing to text you.

But decided to let all of that go, he just typed the first thing that came to his head and pressed sent, locking his phone so he wouldn’t keep looking at it on his way home.

“Johnny is a dick, and I think it’s time for me to say I told you”, Wendy laughed as you simply shook your head. Yeah, they all warned you, it’s true. But the truth also was you never really had super strong feelings for Johnny, nor Lucas, nor for any of the boys you’ve dated before. But then, why would you date them? Because you weren’t a fan of loneliness, and even though most of those guys were assholes —especially and at a ridiculous level, Johnny—, they wouldn’t miss the most stupid excuse to be with you when you were alone, which sadly because of your parents’ job was pretty often. “Yeah, I know I should’ve listened to you, Wen” you rolled your eyes as you threw one of your stuffed animals at your friend.

But as soon as she threw another one back, specifically the bear with the hockey team’s uniform, your eyes were about to bawl out. “Hey, be careful with this one!” you said, making sure it was still in perfect conditions. All of your friends looked at you, quite taken aback by your reaction. However, Demi, your neighbor, smiled a little before explaining your reaction. “All the other stuffed animals were from the idiots, but Lee Donghyuck gave her that one”, she sat next to you, as you both smiled while looking at each other. “Lee Donghyuck? As in the hockey team’s captain, Lee Donghyuck?”, Joy asked, quite excited. You nodded, letting out a small sigh as you thought of him.

“I’ve heard he’s gay, I mean, he hasn’t gone public about a relationship like... ever? And besides, he has rejected every girl that’s asked him out”, Irene said, quite as nicely as ever. “No offense, I mean, I’m obviously an ally... but, how come such a hot piece of cake like him has never dated someone?”. Seulgi looked at her girlfriend, quite shocked at her way to describe him. “Jeno told me he has a crush on someone since fifth grade, but he’s quite an overthinker, he needs to ask his left foot before moving the right one”, Demi chuckled, “But I think that’s cute, he’s been a good friend to Y/N as far as I’m concerned, and if he ever decides to step out of his shell, I bet he will be the exception to the all athletes are idiots rule”.

This last phrase stayed in your mind as Seulgi, Irene, Wendy and Joy left, as they had told Yeri they would go over to her house for a good spiriting session before the cheerleading championship you’d enroll into in a few weeks. You passed, you were scared as hell of those things, and honestly, you preferred to spend some quality time with your neighbor before she went overseas to a musical exchange program. “Ugh, I’m gonna miss you so much, bitch”, you said as you hugged her, making her chuckle. “Hey, I’ll be sending you as many pictures as you want, and I’ll buy you gifts while I’m there, I promise I’ll try every single street food dish London has to offer just for you”, she said, letting out a sigh as she watched through your bedroom’s window. “I’ll miss you and Jeno so much...”, she muttered. You playfully pushed her, “Hey, you’re with your wife right now! Stop thinking about your boyfriend, say you’ll miss me!”, you yelled at her as you both laughed.

Your phone vibrated as a message arrived, and you grabbed it from its previous spot in your bed. As you read who it was from, you simply smiled, something your friend didn’t miss out on. “Let me guess, it’s your gay best friend”, she mocked you, referring to Irene’s comment on the rumors about his private life. You simply looked at her for a second to return your attention to the text.

You typed the answer quickly, quite excited about the fact that he texted you first when it was usually the other way. Demi stared at you while you wrote the message, quite unsure as to why you looked so hyped up.

Hyuckie:

Hey, I heard about you and Seo, I’m sorry.

You felt a pillow being thrown your way, and you looked up only to find your friend looking at you, pretending to be pissed. “Hey, you’re with your wife right now! Stop texting your crush, let’s watch a movie!”, you laughed again at your silly “jealous” attitudes, and ended up turning on your laptop to watch a movie before going to bed.

You:

Hey... it’s fine, I was warned but I still did it.

How are you? I kinda missed you.

Of course, you’d chosen strategically to play the one movie Demi falls asleep watching so you could read Donghyuck’s answer to your texts, and you were a little too excited over it.

Hyuckie:

I missed you too, you should start cheering for the hockey team too!

Would you like to grab a bite tomorrow after class and catch up?

My treat ;)

You:

Are you asking me out?

You asked teasingly, making Donghyuck’s head insane as he laid in his bed, reading your message over and over again thinking about his next move.

Was it too soon? Is it too little? Should I say no? What if she was joking? What if she doesn’t want a date? What if I screw up and she never wants to talk to me again? Reply quickly, idiot! She’ll think you’re ignoring her!

Leaving his thoughts aside, he typed what his heart told him to and sent it, quite to your shock as you read it.

Hyuckie:

If I was, would you say yes?

Biting on your lip as Donghyuck’s hands trembled, you couldn’t hold back a smile. If your friend was right, this would end with the bad streak of dating idiots you’ve had so far, and you’d finally be happy with someone who actually gave you your place. So without thinking it any further, you replied something that made your friend’s heart skip a beat.

You:

Meet me tomorrow after class.

“You asked her out?!”, Jeno exclaimed in shock as he read the small text conversation on Hyuck’s phone. He nodded, and Jeno showed a huge surprised face, “What? I thought that was what you wanted me to do”, the blonde said, quite not getting his friend’s reaction. “I’m just... shocked. I thought it would still take you weeks, days at least. Hyuck, I’m so fucking proud of you!”, he hugged Hyuck as he patted his back. “Damn, our little Hyuck is finally growing up, this and the fact that we slew those Algebra finals is a matter of celebration!” Mark said excitingly. “You just wanted an excuse to throw a party, didn’t you?” Sungchan rolled his eyes, smiling at his friend’s enthusiasm.

“I think I’ll catch up later, I promised Demi I’d be with her tonight”, Jeno sighed. It was a mystery to everyone why he looked so down lately, and it was merely because Jeno wasn’t the sharing type. He liked to keep his problems to himself, in his books it was alright because everyone had their own stuff to deal with. However, quite frequently, the exception to that rule was Donghyuck, but he kept things to himself whenever they were with the rest of the guys.

So once the guys headed off to the library to study a bit more for the rest of their final exams, Hyuck patted Jeno’s shoulder. “I know something’s off, Jeno”, he looked at his friend in the eye, which made Jeno sigh. “Demi is taking off to London for the summer break, and God knows how much longer”, he finally told him. “And I don’t mean to keep her here, because I know that’s her dream, and had it been mine, she’d support me until the very end, but...”, Jeno stared at the ground as they kept walking, not really wanting to say what sounded so selfish in his head, but was truly the only thing that he had in his mind. “You don’t want her to leave”, his friend completed, wrapping his arms around him.

“Jeno, if there’s something I know for sure it’s how much you and Demi love each other”, he chuckled, trying to cheer his friend up. “You’ve been together... God, for as long as I can remember. You’ll survive this, you just gotta let things flow”. Jeno looked up at him with a little smile, “How come you’ve never dated anyone and you still give great dating advice?”. They both chuckled, only for Jeno to look back at him and pat his back, “That’s some great advice, Hyuck, you should follow it too”.

As they reached the exit, both of them went separate ways. Jeno’s words kept ringing in the back of Donghyuck’s head as he walked towards the outdoor field’s bleachers, sitting down as he waited for you still thinking about how he would manage everything. He made an elaborate plan right after finishing the study guide last night, with his mind clear enough to let him make his choices without any further doubts. He took a deep breath and followed the little pre-game ritual he had ever since he started playing hockey: he looked straight ahead and emptied his mind from everything but what he had planned for the day: making sure you knew he’d treat you better than the rest of the idiots you’ve given your heart to.

That was his plan for the most important task he’s had to date.

“Party at Mark Lee’s place tonight, girls!”, you heard Yeri exclaim as you got changed from your PE class in the lockers. The girls looked quite excited and you texted Demi to know if she would come as well, figuring that it would be somewhere in Hyuck’s plans for the night. “Someone looks quite rushed, do you have somewhere else to be?”, Joy asked you, as she slipped her red cropped turtleneck over her head. “I’m going on a date”, you muttered as the other girls looked at you, quite mesmerized. “A date?! With who?” Wendy had the courage to ask, and you smiled as you pointed at Donghyuck’s picture from last year’s yearbook. “Lee Donghyuck?”, Irene gasped, looking at you quite amazed. “Girls, there will be six more weeks of summer this year”. Your friends giggled as you shook your head. “I mean, you’re the first girl he’s asked out like... ever?”. You sighed as you put on some lipstick, blending it with the tip of your fingers.

Seulgi looked at what you were wearing and threw a piece of clothing at you, nearly making you smudge your mascara. “Hey!”, you exclaimed, quite shocked. “You don’t plan on going to Mark’s party later with that, right? Let alone to date the hockey team’s captain”, you looked at your plain red shirt and your white mom jeans, quite confused as you straightened the clothing ball your friend threw your way. “That’s my beloved white furry jacket, it will look cute with that and your matching bucket hat. And it will help you look like you made at least a little effort to look different today”. You dedicated her a little grin as you slipped the jacket on, finding yourself looking like a 90′s teen movie star. “Thank you!”, you told her, walking out the locker room as she yelled one final, “You better take care of it!”.

You jogged your way to the fields as you realized the bell rang twenty minutes ago, afraid of making Donghyuck think you’d forgotten or played with him. A part of you even thought he probably wouldn’t be there. However, you found him sitting in the bleachers, staring at his phone. “Hey, sorry, did you wait too long?”, you asked concerned, only to be greeted by one of his beautiful smiles. He got up, fixing his hair as he rushed down to your encounter, smiling your way. “I was talking to Jeno, I just got here”, he shrugged, a little white lie he made to keep you from feeling bad.

Because that’s how much he loved you.

“Oh, thank God, I was so scared...” you sighed, looking at him with a little smile. “Wow, I’ve seen you every day, yet you look so different”, you grinned, looking at how much his physics had changed from the little kid you remembered: he gained muscles, he was also taller than you remembered him to be, not to mention his golden-tanned skin looked somewhat more tempting than it did before. “Well, you’re still as beautiful as I remembered you to be”, he muttered, picking a lock of your hair behind your ear. That little moment had you feeling those cliché butterflies in your stomach like you’ve never felt them before. “Shall we go now?”, he asked you, reaching his hand out for you to hold.

His hands, good lord. You thought. There was definitely something about them that made you even more excited about holding them. As soon as you held his hand, it felt as if two pieces of a puzzle had been joined. As if the event was long overdue.

You walked over to the parking lot, where your jaw dropped as soon as you saw his ride. “Since when can you drive?”, you asked quite shocked. “I got my driver's license before the last championship, my parents gifted me this after we won”, he replied, opening the passenger’s seat door for you to go inside. “Wow, what a gentleman”, you said, acting as if it was a joke. But the truth was it somewhat made you feel good. No one had ever opened a door for you, and there was Lee Donghyuck, holding your hand to help you get inside his car after he opened the door for you.

Different from other guys you’ve had the chance to ride along with, Hyuck didn’t seem to care about your shoes being dirty when they touched the car, nor about you intending to touch the car. He made you feel as if his car was yours too, and you liked that. He closed the door once you got in and surrounded the car to get in the driver’s seat. You had this stupid smile on your face, and Hyuck noticed that. “What is it?”, he asked you, quite confused but still smiling. You shook your head, “Don’t mind me, I’m just recovering from the algebra test”. He chuckled, as he started the engine, “How come everyone says that? It was a piece of cake compared to the study guide”. You looked at him while laughing, shaking your head lightly. Ever since you were kids, Donghyuck was a genius with numbers. When the teacher asked him, he said it was because he liked to have an answer to problems, and that was when you knew you needed someone like him in your life.

However, due to the situation making you realize things in a totally different way, you surely were questioning the real intentions of that wish.

You stared at him as he focused on the driveway after lending you the AUX cable so you could choose the music, his focus unbothered even with your sort of intense glare. He truly looked like a 90′s boyband heartthrob. His sportslike red and white outfit along with the chains you remember giving him for one of his birthdays a while ago... he looked good. You also smiled a little as you noticed the color coordination you had unwittingly pulled off, you truly looked like a couple... and you liked it.

Donghyuck wasn’t blind, he noticed each one of your smiles but pretended not to since he liked to see you smiling, and his head was certain in the fact that you would try to hide them if he said something about them. “Where are we going?”, you asked him, quite curious about his intention. He wasn’t using any sort of GPS, so he knew where he was going, but that only made you more anxious as to where he was taking you. “Do you remember that place where your parents threw your birthday party in fifth grade?”, he asked, making you look at him with disbelief. “The arcade where I beat you in every single game?”, you giggled. “Yup, that one. I thought it would be nice to go back there, you know... for the memories”, he explained, only to add at the end, “and they also serve some great cheeseburgers”.

The pure definition of the word “nostalgia” hit you as soon as Hyuck parked the car in the place’s parking lot. It was nearly empty, with just some employees going around to check on the games and some people eating in the cafeteria. “Wow, this place is exactly like I remember, they haven’t even changed the games!”, you exclaimed as Hyuck looked at your excitement with loving eyes. You looked at the guy beside you, taking your wallet out of your purse. “Well, the food’s your treat, then mine’s the games”, you said, you didn’t even let him say a word before you went over to the cashier to pay for the coins you’d play with.

The old lady sitting behind the desk looked at you with a kind smile, “That young man came in yesterday when we were nearly closing, he asked us to reconnect some of the old machines, now I get why”, she told you while looking for a few bags of coins, counting them in a machine that later poured them in a little cup. “He sure is in love with you, you’ve got quite a catch of a boyfriend”. You were about to tell her he wasn’t your boyfriend when you turned around, and your eyes found him focused on a crane game, not exactly knowing what he was so focused on getting but certainly going down the memory lane to a 12-year-old Donghyuck pulling an adorable teddy bear out of the game and giving it to you two days later with the hockey team’s jersey and his number in the back.

“I totally agree”, you muttered, smiling as you saw him pulling out the toy he’d gotten. He was so good at those games, at every game being honest. You still couldn’t believe you’d beaten him back in the day. Once the old lady handed you the coin-filled cups, you paid her and she handed you your change. As you counted the money, you realized something was off. “Excuse me, ma’am... you gave me extra change”. She shook her head, looking at you with that same smile. “Half of it is on the house, I let you pay the other half because the young man told me that you were quite stubborn”, she giggled, “Now, go and have fun! Live while you’re young”.

You smiled, thanking her as you walked back towards Donghyuck. He smiled back at your happiness, handing you an adorable stuffed animal. “How come you’re so good at those games?”, you asked him while giggling. “It’s just a matter of space measuring, calculating the probabilities of the toy slipping out or falling off the crane, choosing the most available toy out of the bunch... and I’m boring you”, he smiled nervously as he saw you looking at the toy, an adorable white bear with a red bow. You looked at him again only to find him scratching the back of his neck.

“You weren’t, I like that about you, Hyuck”, you answered honestly. “I hate it when people are overconfident while giving answers to those questions, like when they say ‘I just can’ or that sort of stuff”, he looked at you while you spoke, making you feel listened to. He was truly listening to every single word that came out of your lips as if it was the most interesting speech ever.

Because he loved listening to you.

You spent every single coin playing different games, just like you did when you were kids, breaking your own records in every single machine you played in. You laughed the whole evening, and yet again, you managed to beat Donghyuck in every single game. “Booyah! In your face, twentieth game in a row!”, you mocked him, making your old little victory dance as he smiled, sighing. “Damn, you haven’t lost your touch”, he said, pretending to feel defeated, “Are you hungry yet?”, he asked you kindly. You nodded, and both of you made your way to the cafeteria, as you jokingly bragged about your smashing victory.

The old lady was patiently waiting for you to show up, with two gorgeous bacon cheeseburgers, french fries, and two milkshakes, what Donghyuck had told her to serve you the night prior. You looked at him in shock, “You remember all of this?”, you smiled as you sat down, thanking the lady when she left you your food. “It’s the house’s special, how could I forget it?”, he replied, as if wasn’t anything special. However, you knew deep down his intentions were all the opposite. You started eating, nearly crying at the sensation of memories flooding your head as soon as you gave it a bite. “It’s been so long since I’ve last had a burger this good”, you admitted. It wasn’t pretty usual for you to hang around these places anymore. It was pretty far away from your reach, yet Lee Donghyuck made it his task to make you remember the good old days.

“Why did you bring me here? I want the truth, Hyuck”, you demanded once you were done eating. He looked at you while taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake, swallowing before giving you an answer. “Well, a few years ago, on your birthday, your mother hired an entire show from the old animatronics because your friends loved them”, he started the story, one you certainly remembered. “However, you were scared shitless of them, so you ran out of the room as soon as the lights turned off for them to start the show. You thought no one noticed, but I did. And I ran behind you, only to find you looking at the zombie videogame your friends wouldn’t want to play with you because they didn’t like it”.

He looked at his hands, playing with his fingers as he left out a small chuckle. “Back then, you had this silly nickname for me, because of a bear you saw at the zoo that was named that way”, he said, only for you to complete his sentence. “Haechan”, you smiled, and he nodded. “You looked at me and smiled, and you said ‘Why are you here, Haechan? You should be watching the show, mommy thought you’d like it’. And I took out the coins I had in my pocket and told you-”. “I bet killing zombies with you is more fun”, you muttered, making him smile as you remembered it too. “Mom was so pissed she didn’t find me when the animatronics started singing the birthday song”, you chuckled, making him laugh as well. “That night, as we played, I remember thinking ‘wow, her smile is so pretty’, and it wasn’t until you first made that victory dance of yours that I realized how much I liked you” he confessed finally, leaving you speechless for a second.

You were that girl, you really were the girl Lee Donghyuck was in love with.

“You like me?”, you asked, still shocked. He nodded, not really knowing what to do with his hands. “I’ve been wanting to let you know for the longest time, but whenever I gathered the guts to do it, you started dating someone else. So I decided to keep it to myself, to be there for you as a friend if you needed me. Because even if it hurt me to see your heart break, I wanted to be there to help you fix it”, he explained to you, as the tears started coming out of your eyes. “You mean... when I started dating Lucas... you were planning to confess to me?”, your voice cracked, making him stop everything and reach out to hug you. He wrapped his arms around you and held you close, caressing your back. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to say anything, nor to feel guilty or bad for me. I was upset, I’m not gonna lie... but I also decided to set you free. If you came back to me, it was because it was meant to be. And you came back every single time, so I waited until the right time until I finally decided it was now”, he told you, as you pulled back slightly to look at him in the eyes.

“Hyuck...”, you couldn’t manage to get any words out of your mouth, but he made you feel as if it was okay to leave him hanging after such an adorable confession. You felt like the biggest trash bag on Earth, and the way he treated you made you feel worse and at ease at the same time. “You need to heal, and I get that. You went through a lot with Johnny, and I know that. I’ll wait until you’re ready if you want me to, and I’ll totally leave my feelings aside if you want me to. I’ll leave it up to you”, he told you, caressing your cheeks and adjusting your hat back in its place. “Mark has a party over at his place, do you want to go?”, he asked you softly, wiping your tears away.

You sighed, looking down for a minute. “Hyuck, I’ll give you an answer, I promise”, you told him, which he let out a little giggle. “It’s truly okay, Y/N. Come on, Jeno told me Mark’s already bragging about his b-boy moves”, he told you, reaching out his hand again after leaving a good tip for the old lady, thanking her again before the two of you left. He always found a way to make you feel better, even when he was probably the most upset.

Because he loved you.

“Yo, Hyuck! You came just in time for another round of beer pong!” Mark greeted his friend as he saw the two of you walking into the party, crowded as usual for one of Mark Lee’s parties. “You guys look fresh! Make yourselves at home, drinks at the kitchen, snacks at the table, dance floor by the pool, and the rooms upstairs are exclusively reserved for the hockey team, so you’re staying over tonight, I’m not asking”. Hyuck looked at him, “Sure, because you’ll get so drunk tonight we’ll have to babysit you again”. Mark stopped in front of him, patting his shoulder. “You know me so well, Hyuckie”, he said, messing up his hair before going back to the party. “Ayo, Winwin! Let’s go get more booze!”.

You looked at Hyuck. “Do you want anything to drink?”, he asked you, raising his voice slightly for you to listen to him despite the loud music playing in the back. “Just some Coke” you replied, and he nodded, walking over to the kitchen as you looked around for Demi, finding her sitting on a couch near the beer pong table. You hugged her, noticing she looked a little excited. “I want every last drop of the scoop, how did it go?!”, she asked you, her smile nearly going from ear to ear. “He likes me, Dem, I’m the girl Jeno was talking about. And I blanked as soon as he confessed to me”, you said, quite embarrassed. “He planned the most adorable evening ever, he did all of these adorable things for it to be perfect... and I couldn’t even say anything”. Demi looked at you concerned, only to change her expression as soon as her attention drifted to someone walking over towards you. “Girl, I don’t mean to be rude, but we really should-”, she started as she helped you get up, only to be cut off by a voice you knew pretty well.

“I see it didn’t take long for you to go over with someone new, huh?”, he told you, looking at you dead in the eye. “Well, the difference, Johnny, is that I at least waited until breaking up with you”, you replied, certainly not scared of him. “Lee Donghyuck? That shitball, seriously? So you’re messing up with my reputation for being some faggot’s cover?”, he asked you, chuckling at the idea, making Jeno and the rest of the hockey team walk over towards you as soon as they acquired awareness of the situation. “You ain’t not even a quarter of the man he is”, you replied and felt him grabbing onto your neck, freezing at the closeness. “Oh, yeah? That wasn’t what you said when I made you my bitch”.

“Hey, asshole!”, you felt released as someone pushed Johnny off of you. Demi held you protectively as Jeno walked over to the two of you, checking out to see if you were okay. “Oh, if it’s the man of the moment, I was looking for you to give you my congratulations, I guess some people settled with used things”, Johnny mocked, only to receive another push from Donghyuck. “You can say all you want about me, but leave her alone or else”. Johnny laughed in his face, “You? You will beat me? You would risk getting your ass kicked for some wasted-ass bitch? Face the facts, Lee! Lucas used her, I used her, God knows how many more have, she’s a fucking slut-!”, he was about to say something else when Donghyuck threw the first punch, with such strength it left Johnny bleeding. You gasped, knowing well enough Hyuck wasn’t the fighting type, let alone the type to start a fight, let’s not even mention starting a fight with the school’s martial arts champion.

As soon as he got punched, you felt your heart stuck in your throat. He tried throwing punches at Johnny, but the ladder returned them faster and harder. Jeno, Yangyang, Sungchan, and Ten rushed to break down the fight, looking at how Hyuck’s blood started to stain the floor. “Enough!”, Mark yelled walking into his house with Winwin and the booze they went for, with that authority voice that made him so respected and loved by everyone in his class. “Johnny, get the fuck out of my house! I give two shits, you have absolutely no right to disrespect my team captain, nor a friend of mine, nor a lady, not under my fucking roof! Get the fuck out before I call the cops!”, Ten walked him out before he looked for further trouble, mouthing a “sorry” your way. You rushed over to Donghyuck, looking at Mark once you realized how his face was bleeding.

“Do you have any first-aid kit?”, you asked him. “Upstairs, third door to the right”, he guided you. You held Hyuck’s hand and guided him over with you, quite concerned about the mess left. Jeno looked at you, knowing exactly what you were thinking. “We’ll clean this up and keep things going as if nothing happened, you go and make sure he’s alright”, he told you, “That idiot thinks everything so damn much, I can’t believe he didn’t think this through... just go with him, it’s gonna be alright” you nodded lightly. You would, you had to make sure he was alright because that fight made you realize just how different he was from every idiot you’ve dated.

Because it made you realize how much he loved you.

Having taken off Seulgi’s coat to keep it away of the blood, you found yourself tending to Hyuck’s wounds in one of the bedrooms bathroom. However, he looked more concerned about you than he was about anything related to his well-being. “Stop”, you ordered. “Stop what?”, he asked, authentically confused. “You know it’s not the first time anyone slut-shames me, right?”, you told him, passing a cotton bud over a slit in his lip. At least once the blood was off, it didn’t look that bad anymore. “It’s quite curious, due to how many campaigns women around the world hold against it, to think that the first ones to publicly degrade me were all girls”, you sighed, not wanting to look at him as you spoke. “Every girl that liked Lucas, every girl Johnny cheated on me with, every girl who wouldn’t make it past the cheerleading tryouts...”, you cleaned the mess you’d made, throwing every last piece of cotton you’d used into the trash bin.

“At this point, you could even say I’m used to it. I would even hear made-up stories about how I would be up for gangbangs with Johnny and his friends, how I sold some old man my nudes for him to pay my college tuition, how I was the one who made Seulgi and Irene bisexual...”, you finally sighed, letting out the tears you’ve held back so long it started hurting. Hyuck noticed that, and just like he did in the cafeteria, he held you close. “I’m tired, Hyuck”, you finally admitted, and he caressed your hair. “I know”, he muttered. “I’m so fucking broken I’m afraid to break the only guy who’s ever really loved me right”, you cried out, just wanting to let everything out as you pulled away from his hug, wanting to look at him as you confessed what has been going on in your heart. “Because I fucking love you, Hyuck... but I’m not even close to deserving-”.

You were cut off by his lips crashing onto yours, a sweet and delicate kiss was what you got as a response. Once he slowly pulled away, he looked at you in the eyes, his hands lightly resting on your cheeks. “You deserve the universe and more, nothing less”, he muttered. The tingling sensation that kiss left on your lips was something you’d never felt after kissing anyone before. And it was the final push for you to finally give in, for you to finally let yourself be loved.

You pulled him close again, your lips crashing on each other as your hands wrapped around his neck, his hands falling from your cheeks all the way to your waist, hugging you the way you did with him. The kiss felt so natural you just sunk into it, as well as he did. Even when his head was going insane with all kinds of questions, he decided to shut them off and follow his own advice.

He’d let things flow.

You broke apart only to guide Hyuck back to the bedroom, he looked at you as he read through your intentions. “Are you sure about this?”, he asked you, caressing your cheek. You nodded, looking at him with loving eyes. “This is the first time I’m a hundred percent sure I want to do this”, you told him. He took a deep breath and walked over to the door, locking it first than anything. He looked nervous, and what the girls had said earlier came to your mind.

“Is this your first time?”, you asked him, to which he nodded, an adorable blush tinting his cheeks. You smiled at him, he looked so adorable you wondered who was that intimidating hockey player everyone saw in the field. “It’s okay, just guide me wherever you feel like going, I’ll follow you”, you told him as you got close to him again. You learned to be cautious ever since you lost your virginity, you’d taken birth control very seriously since day one because your mother and your friends guided you to do so. So even now, when the moment came, you were calm knowing it would be alright, and you wanted Hyuck to feel that as well.

He held your waist, pulling you closer lightly and guiding you into a kiss that got more intense with time, he pulled away for a while only to sit down on the bed, pulling you into his lap to start kissing you again. Your hands grabbed his cheeks, caressing them as the kiss kept going. His hands ran down your back as the heat started rising between you, Hyuck’s kissing abilities were way beyond average, those lips of his felt like cotton candy against yours, and every time your tongue met his, you felt one step closer to heaven. He pulled you away briefly to strip down his torso, and your hands felt curious to wander around his strong build.

He played with the bottom of your t-shirt, looking at you before doing anything else. “Can I?”, he asked gently, his constant asking for consent made you even more sure you were doing the right thing. You nodded and helped him out pulling the red shirt off, revealing your black plain underwear. Once your tops were thrown somewhere on the bedroom floor, he went back to kissing you, his kisses slowly going down your neck as you reached your back to undo your bra, letting your chest fully naked for him to kiss. He took that as your consent, and his kisses went all the way down to your breasts as his hands caressed your back once more.

Little moans left your mouth as Hyuck started kissing sensitive spots of your skin, the fact that he used his mouth to roam around your skin was enough to make you feel like this was the best you’ve ever been treated in bed, and adding up the amount of love you could practically touch in him made you enjoy everything even more. You could feel something starting to press against your core as you started grinding over Donghyuck’s lap. “Fuck, you’re driving me insane, princess”, he groaned, in such a raspy voice it made you want more. You kept grinding against him, loving the small grunts that would come out of his mouth as he kept kissing you.

From one moment to another, you felt the bedsheets in your back, as Hyuck took off his pants, feeling the pressure of his throbbing erection painful enough to rush things up a little bit. Still, he managed to be somewhat delicate "throwing" you over the bed. Once there was nothing but his black boxers keeping him from complete nudity, he crawled on top of you, looking at the button of your jeans to ask "Can I?". You unbuttoned your pants while looking at the guy with a pretty smile, biting on your lower lip as he smiled at you, undoing the zip and taking the heavy fabric off your legs, then looking at your black lacey underwear to ask yet again: "Can I?". You giggled, sitting down only to reach for his lips.

He kissed back as your hand guided his to your dripping center. He looked at you, as his head made an effort to figure out what to do at this point, but remembering the shows he watched with the guys, he figured to start moving his fingers up and down, to his luck, on what turned to be your clit. Small moans made their way out of your lips, and due to your arousal, his fingers managed to slip inside you. He kissed you as he kept moving his hand at a medium pace until you pulled him away, only to leave him face up over the bed. You looked at him, playing with the elastic band of his Calvin Klein underwear.

"Can I?", you asked him softly, only for him to chuckle in embarrassment. He nodded lightly, making you smile as he watched your every move. Once his boxers were no longer a burden, you sat on his lap, making him curse as you started moving on top of him. "You'll set the pace", you told him, leaning down to kiss on his lips. And as soon as he aligned his throbbing erection to your entrance and slowly entered you, he swore he could see the stars. With his hands on your hips, he commanded you to go slowly, as you both moaned out how good it felt. Nice and slow, an expression you hadn't known before, certainly became your favorite after that night. And you kept kissing through the whole thing.

Because that's how much you loved each other.

After that steamy moment, you laid next to him after he helped you cleanse, your body holding his closely as he kept your hand in his heart and his arms surrounded you, one of his hands playing with your hair. He looked at you adoringly, unable to find fitting words to how beautiful you looked to his eyes in that moment. You closed your eyes for a few minutes, listening to his calm, steady breath and feeling his heart beating under your hand. For a moment, he even thought you'd fallen asleep, and that made everything ten times better to him. You slowly opened your eyes, finding that adorable smile you loved so much.

You smiled back, looking him in the eyes. "I thought you would be tired", you muttered, caressing his chest lightly. "I'm way too over the clouds to fall asleep right now, Y/N", he replied softly, making you lean over to kiss him lightly again. You looked at the hour in the digital clock that sat on the nightstand, it was 1:27 AM and the party seemed far from over. The music was still as loud as it was when you walked into the room to tend his wounds. You chuckled as you thought about the people you'd left downstairs, "Do you think Jeno and Demi are waiting for us?", you asked Hyuck, making him laugh a little. "Well, I hope they sorted things out if they are. Jeno was quite concerned earlier", he sighed, making you think the situation through.

Demi would leave in just a few days for that summer program, and Jeno would stay for the hockey team's summer camp, which was pretty much mandatory if he planned to keep his place as a headline player in the team. You knew how important he was to the team, but you also knew Jeno loved your best friend more than anything. And you knew for fact distance wasn't compatible with relationships.

"I think Jeno bought that plane ticket in the end", Hyuck shrugged, making you look at him in shock. "What do you mean?", you asked him. "Well, ever since Demi first applied for the program, he talked to the coach about it. Of course, the coach took a while to understand his issues, but as soon as we won the championship again, he gave Jeno the greenlight", he explained you, staring at the ceiling as he spoke. "Mark and I offered to help him with the expenses, and the coach even booked him in a good hockey camp in London", he smiled at the thought. "However, he's held back because he knows how much this means to Demi, and he didn't want her to lose focus because of him. If there's one thing the coach taught us well, was to get our head in the game as soon as we entered the field, and he didn't want to keep her from doing that. But I think Demi and him talked about it today, because he looked happy while talking to the guys before the fight".

You looked at him still in disbelief, making him giggle. "Is there something on my face?", he asked, and you jokingly punched him. "I thought he and Demi would break up! How could you know about all of this and not tell me?", he giggled and held you close again, as you "fought back", pretending to be angry. "Don't be mad at me, princess. Jeno had his reasons to keep my love for you a secret from Demi, I had mine not to tell you about this", he asked you softly. "They will be having fun in London, you and I will stay here. I think we should join them downstairs if neither one of us can sleep, just so you can have the tea spilled from them".

However, you shook your head. "No, the door is still locked and I still want some sort of compensation for keeping me from knowing my OTP found a way to make it through the challenges of life!", you asked as you grabbed his cheeks, making him smile and sigh. "Say no more", he said, turning the lamp off before kissing you again.

Happy Valentine’s season, everyone! If you love someone, let them know.

[k-llama-llama]

Ultimate Gift

SuperM/WayV AU: 8th member

YinYin x SuperM/WayV/NCT

SuperM has a surprise to cheer Yinnie up.

A/N:ALSO FYI check out my patreon (patreon.com/kllamallama for exclusive posts!)

Requests are Open…and your feedback is still super important to me.

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“I need coffee.” YinYin declared, walking over to stand next to Taeyong.

“What?” He looked shocked. “You don’t drink coffee.”

“I don’t care. I’m exhausted.”

She leaned against the well, looking around the room. It wasn’t quite a party, given the current restrictions, but all of SuperM had gathered with their staff and some of the SM executives to celebrate the new album. YinYin wasn’t a party girl at the best of times, but between SuperM promotions, prepping for NCT 2020 and her physiotherapy, she could barely keep her eyes open. She’d actually fallen asleep in the stylist’s chair an hour ago while they tried to curl her hair and make her presentable for the party.

Taeyong patted her on the shoulder. “I wish I could tell you that you can sleep in tomorrow…but…”

“I know.” She sighed. “Rehearsal. It’s okay. I’ll just give in and start drinking coffee.”

“Are we complaining over here?” Kai walked over, looking remarkably chipper. It seemed odd, especially considering the fact that YinYin knew he was just as exhausted as the rest of them.

“Yinnie was just telling me that she’s going to go raid a Starbucks.” Taeyong said.

“Aw, Yin. Are you not having fun?” Kai grinned.

She tilted her head. “Not as much as you. Have you been drinking?”

“What? No.” He shook his head. “Come on, we have something to show you.”

“Show me?” She let him take her arm and lead him away, missing the look he exchanged with Taeyong over her shoulder. “This isn’t something that Lucas has built out of cutlery again, is it?”

“No, I promise.” He pulled her through the party.

Lucas appeared at her side. “Hey, Yin. How’s it going?”

“Good.” She looked between them, and then at Taeyong, who was following them. “What are you guys up to?”

“Nothing.” Lucas said too quickly. “Lets just…go see the others.”

Unconvinced, she tried to catch a glimpse of where they were leading her. By the doors on the other side of the party, Baekyun and Taemin were talking to some people. They were blocking her view, but she assumed it was probably Lee Soo-Man and someone else. The boys were probably looking forward to making her talk to business people.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone, guys.” She protested. “Just let me go eat a donut or something.”

“That’s crazy talk.” Kai laughed. “Come on.”

“Guys…” She whined.

Baekyun turned his head when he saw her. “Hey, Yin.”

“Hi.” She gave him a little wave.

“There’s someone here who’d like to talk to you.” Taemin said, stepping aside.

“I know. But I really have to….” She trailed off, realizing who they had been talking to.

“Yinnie?” Taeyong prompted.

“MOM!” She exclaimed, launching herself forward and into her mom’s arms. She ignored how it caused her back to strain, and just pressed her face into her mom’s shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

Her mom was crying too much to talk, just petting her head, so her father answered. “Your friends flew us out.”

“Daddy!” She reached for him, pulling him into the hug.

The others took in the scene before them. YinYin wasn’t much of a crier, but there were happy tears streaming down her face. It was easy to see her resemblance to her parents. She had her father’s eyes, and the man himself was significantly taller than his wife or daughter, with a face covered in the type of wrinkles one gets from years of working outside.

Her mother was, by some miracle, shorter than YinYin. Their faces were nearly identical, with only a few wrinkles showing her mother’s age.

“What did you guys do?” YinYin sniffled, pulling back enough to look at the boys, and switching into Korean.

Mark looked proud of himself. “You hadn’t seen your parents in years.”

“And you’ve been really down lately.” Ten said with a smile.

“Don’t you guys take credit for this.” Baekyun protested. “We arranged everything. And Taemin’s the one who paid.”

YinYin wiped her eyes. “I’ll pay you back.”

“No, you won’t.” Taemin shook his head.

“Can I hug your mom now?” Lucas begged, speaking in Chinese.

YinYin’s mom let go of her, reaching for him. “You’re much taller in person.”

“It’s so nice to meet you.” He hugged her. “You’re so much prettier than YinYin.”

Her mom playfully swatted his shoulder. “My daughter is gorgeous. And she’s gotten so tall.”

“What?” Ten’s eyes widened. “This is tall YinYin?”

“She used to be this small.” Her dad held a hand up to his waist. “She’s grown a lot since she left.”

“Liu Guanyin, you should make introductions.” Her mom said. “We just got here.”

“Right.” YinYin wiped her eyes. “Mom, Dad, this is Baekyun, Taemin, Kai, Taeyong, Mark, and you’ve talked to Lucas and Ten before on the phone.”

“It’s really nice to meet you both.” Kai held out a hand, which her dad shook.

“We’ve heard so much about you.” Taeyong gave a polite bow.

“Taeyong!” Her mom pulled him into a hug. “You’ve taken such good care of our girl!”

“Yinnie?” Taeyong looked at her in concern, obviously confused by the crying woman in his arms.

“She says thank you.” YinYin translated.

“Tell her thank you!” Mark exclaimed. “She made my favorite scarf without ever even meeting us.”

“Mark!” He was pulled into a hug too.

YinYin leaned into her dad’s side, laughing and crying at the same time. “I can’t believe you guys are here.” She said quietly.

“We’ve missed you so much.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’ve missed you guys too.” She wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever. I’ve been so busy.”

“It’s okay, we’re here now.”

“Yinnie’s mom, did you know she has a boyfriend?” Lucas said proudly, obviously aiming to get her in trouble.

“She already told me.” Her mom said. “Taeyong! Guanyin says you took such good care of her when she got hurt.”

Taeyong just patted her back as he was pulled into another hug. “Is this another thank you?”

“Basically.” Lucas frowned. “Yinnie, your mom doesn’t love me as much as she’s supposed to.”

YinYin rolled her eyes. “Try not being yourself, that might help.”

“Guanyin, don’t be rude.” Her dad poked her side.

She wrinkled her nose at him, before stepping away.

“You know I have to hug you right?” She said to Taemin.

He opened his arms. “Come on.”

“Thank you so so much.” She whispered. “I can’t explain how much this means to me.”

“Don’t worry about it. You deserve this.” He hugged her tightly.

“Now, as fun as this is.” Kai said. “We’ll cover for you so you guys can go out for dinner or something.”

“You will?” YinYin beamed. “Mom! I’ll take you out for Korean food!”

“Baekyun will handle it.” Kai grinned at the leader. “So go.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” YinYin hugged both of them, more excitable than they’d ever seen her, and then grabbed one of each of her parents’ hands and started pulling them out the door without looking back.

“When do we get to meet your boyfriend?” Her mom asked.

“Mom!” She exclaimed. “I literally didn’t know you were coming.”

“But we want to meet him.” Her dad said. “And we want to eat barbeque.”

“I’ll take us to a really good restaurant.” She promised. “My treat.”

[justlikeeddie]

Works relating to to Supernatural (2005-20) that have done me permanent psychological damage, a non-exhaustive list

Charting my decline for my own entertainment when I look back on this in a couple of years. I think originally I thought I might keep up a semi-ironic log of SPN episodes I was watching a la this post, but almost immediately after posting that, I started watching episodes too fast and also went too genuinely insane to be able to do so. Anyway, this is mainly a resource for future me if I ever want an uncut shot of the weird serotonin I've been experiencing over the last few months. Possibly a case study for anyone who's wondering what the fuck's happened to me recently. Blanket apologies to most people I know.

there's an angel on my shoulder, in my hand a sword of gold by @xylodemon

[s9. sexy telepathy? i think i read this in JANUARY. i barely knew what i was looking at but unfortunately i knew i was into it.]

There's a Design by @dsudis

[s4. recced to me as a 'strategy fuck'. extremely good early seasons vibes.]

ringtone ed. @calamitysong

[deancas. hard to pick one thing that tipped me over the edge into actually being in this fandom, but this is a strong possibility. for some reason the dam just broke. glad it was while watching this video about mobile phones.]

How Still My Heart by @morethanslightly

[post-s8 divergent. dean and newly-human cas try to get his grace back. as i read this fic with increasing speed and urgency, i felt myself being dragged into a pit from which i gradually realised i would never return.]

Bestie ed. @katebushstandean

[deancas. the experience of watching this and not knowing what the the chorus was about to be cannot be recaptured.]

Epilogue by Jayne L

[endverse. 2014-cas is sent back to 2009. this fic sent me blind. every week or so i have a little think about it and then i go blind again.]

abbey ed. @peternureyev

[castiel. the memory of watching this vid at 1am and feeling my soul drift gently out of my body will stay with me always.]

So Says The Sword by komodobits

[s4-5 divergent. cas is not the angel who pulls dean out of hell, but he is the angel set to guard him until the apocalypse begins. now when i see particularly good s4/5 posts on this website i catch myself quietly thinking 'mm sosaystheswordnatural']

a turn of the earth by microcomets

[pre-series/time-travel divergent. late-seasons cas gets stuck in pre-series dean's timeline. never been cockblocked so badly by a fic as i was halfway through this one. don't let that put you off. (they unblock.)]

Somebody To Love ed. @katebushstandean

[dean. the RESTRAINT of not bringing in cas until the song's final act... the torment, the ecstasy...]

Bottled by @the-omnishambles

[s9 divergent. dean goes to collect newly-human cas while sam's in hospital. essentially a full, careful, delicate story stemming from several conversations about the fact that if dean had seen cas drink that bottle of water in 9x01, he would have had a meltdown.]

machine ed. @false-heavens

[castiel. yes i love stuff about cas becoming human but i also love stuff about how much he's NOT. he's a freak]

The Way You Didn't Go by @gravelghosts

[s15. coda to the trap; dean finds out about the pseudo-future in which cas takes on the mark of cain. despite barely having a clue what's going on in s15, this fic made me feel particularly bonkers. not sure why]

Big and Chunky ed. @the-omnishambles

[dean. personally hatecrimed by the use of the casifer clip halfway through this.]

In the Shadow of your Wings by Enochian Things

[post-s11 divergent. i read the first chapter of this to try and understand why i kept seeing posts about cas's italian boyfriend. then read all the other chapters with wide mad eyes and obviously i would now die for cas's italian boyfriend. please contact me to talk about luca moretti]

[gravegroves]

Can I ask about 2 and 8 for the wip tag game?

I've already talked about 8 (search #tag game in my tags and you'll find it).

But omg thank you for asking about 2!!

2. Like a Bat Out of Hell, Indiana

Oh man, oh man. This. This right here? This is my baby. My precious. The one I wrote so self indulgently that even if no one else likes it, I LIKE IT. And I'm completely okay with that.

El and Hopper fail at closing the gate at the end of s2, Billy appears at the Byers' house just in time and so begins a mad dash across the country, trying to outrun the end of the fucking world.

Tw: death (no one we care about though)

Excerpt:

The sound of a car roaring into the driveway has Steve's heart crashing up into his throat and they all turn to watch as headlights dance across the living room walls, sharp and blinding, like a goddamn beacon of hope.

And Steve doesn't have time to think about why the deep rumbling of the engine sounds so familiar.

He moves the kids now or they die.

"Get to the car, now!" Steve screams, just as the window at the end of the hall explodes inward.

Max gets to the door first and tears out of the house, sprinting toward the high beam lights with the boys hot on her heels.

"Billy!" She screams and goddamnit she can't mean--

She reaches the car, yanks the passenger side door open and pushes the front seat forward, shoving Dustin, Mike and Lucas into the back before diving in herself, righting the front seat in a practised move just in time for Steve to jump in after her.

And yep. There he is.

Hargrove's expression would be hilarious if they weren't seconds away from being overrun by a horde of carnivorous monster dogs.

"What the fuck do you losers think you're doing?!" Billy roars, eyes bugging slightly when he recognises Steve.

"Harrington?!"

Steve grabs him by the collar and screams into his face: "Just fucking drive!" 

A loud crash has them both snapping their heads to the side just in time to watch as a hundred Demodogs or more come rushing out from behind the Byers' house, heading straight for them.

Without another word, Billy yanks the car into reverse and accelerates before hitting the breaks. Steve's stomach swoops as their momentum lets the wheels slide over the gravel to land perfectly on the road.

He grabs Billy's arm, yanks on it like it might shake some urgency into him.

"Hargrove, go!"

"Seatbelts! Get the seatbelts" Max yells at the others.

That's what she's worried about? Steve thinks, even as he reaches over his shoulder to strap himself in.

Then Billy puts the car into gear and guns it forward and they go from 0 to 70 mph in ten seconds flat, zooming down old, twisting back roads and Steve honestly can't believe that Hargrove's insane, wannabe NASCAR driving is gonna be what saves their asses tonight.

"What the hell are you doing all the way out here with my sister, huh?" Billy yells, taking his eyes off the road to look over at him and Steve might seriously have a fucking heart attack.

"Eyes on the road!" He exclaims, foot searching the footwell for a break pedal that isn't there, "For real, man? You want to do this now?!"

"Or you can get out and fucking walk, amigo," Billy snarls, swerving around another Demodog leaping for the hood of his car, "What the hell is up with these dogs?"

"Billy, stop it! Can you jus-- look out!" Max shrieks, her arm shooting between them to point straight ahead and the kids all begin yelling as the flower-in-bloom-faced ugly fuck grows larger in the windscreen at an alarming speed.

Smooth as butter, Billy avoids the gaping creature in their path, not taking his foot off the accelerator for even a second. Steve's heart beats a drum solo against his adam's apple. His fingers feel fused to the edges of the seat, holding on for dear life.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck was that?" Billy turns to look behind him and Steve clenches his teeth so hard his jaw hurts, barely restraining himself from yanking Billy around to face forward again.

"Hargrove, I swear to God--"

"Oh god, look."

Steve turns his head the slightest amount to see Lucas pointing out of the window at the treeline to their right.

Demodogs.

Lots of them.

So many slimy, greyish bodies that the forest floor has all but disappeared and transformed into a churning sea of dark, slick oil.

More worryingly, they're all running in the same direction as the Camaro.

Fuck.

"What the…" Billy falters when he looks out of the window at the treeline, then seems to shake it off, placing his undivided attention back on the road for once.

He speeds up to pass a whole group of the beasts trying to cross to the other side, narrowly misses being cut off entirely by the mass of Demodog bodies. Steve releases a hand from the seat only to clutch at the grab handle on the door. He closes his eyes, swears he can feel his stomach fall out of his ass when the wheels on his side of the car lift into the air for half a beat.  

"Shit, we're gonna die!" Dustin wails, voice wobbly as Billy jerks the wheel again to avoid a creature charging straight for them. If the kids weren't already packed in like sardines they'd be sliding around back there, seatbelt or no. "We're definitely gonna die! This psycho is gonna kill us before the monsters do!"

Billy scowls into the rear-view mirror and grits out "Hey kid, you're welcome to get out and walk."

"You literally tried to run us off the road a week ago--"

"Not the time, Dustin!" Max snaps and shushes him.

"We need to get to the gate!" Mike blurts out, leaning forward to speak directly at Steve. Demanding. "We need to help El!"

Steve doesn't even have the faintest idea of how to begin doing any of that.

"Dude, we can't just go back there, are you crazy--" Lucas pulls him back and they continue to argue in harsh whispers.

"If you losers don't shut the fuck up, I'll crash this goddamn car just so I can take you all with me." Billy barks, knuckles white on the wheel.

"Oh my god, see! What did I tell you?" Dustin exclaims, "He's dangerous, Steve!"

Yeah, well, he's all that we've got, Steve doesn’t say. "Shut up, Dustin."

They turn into the first proper residential street and Billy misses a tree by an inch as he tries to avoid colliding with five demodogs hunched over something on the road.

Oh god, was that a body?

"Harrington, where the fuck am I going?"

Steve closes his eyes, overwhelmed and completely out of his depth. They might have been the B team, but there hadn't actually been a plan B--

"Fuck, fuck! I don't know--"

"Billy," Max pleads, voice shaky with terror, silencing them all, "My mom…" 

Billy sighs explosively before turning down a side street, barely slowing down.

"Shit."

*****

It's not just Max's mom, but Dustin's mom, too. Lucas's family. Mike's family. 

They reach Old Cherry Road first and Billy barely allows the car to come to a full stop, Demodogs further down the street are taking notice of them already, stalking forward, mouths blooming excitedly. Steve eyes them warily until a garbled oh fuck from the back seat draws his attention to the other side of the street and--

It's bad.

The porch light sets the stage for a grizzly scene at the Hargrove residence. A woman lies directly beneath it, like the opening shot to a fucked up play, her head of red hair spilling over the top step.

She's very obviously dead. Steve can see where she must have tripped on the welcome rug -- awkwardly stiff and upturned between her feet -- and he can only hope she got knocked out in the fall and didn't feel a thing that came after. There isn't much left between her head and her knees except for a dark patch of gøre.

The headless body of a man lies slumped against a truck parked in the driveway, one arm stuck through the open car door, half torn off within his jacket. Blood still running down the concrete incline, pooling in the roadside gutter.

"Oh, you Bastard," Billy spits, barely a whisper.

The longer Steve stares, the more horrifying the scene becomes.

He doesn't want Max to see this. Or Billy.

Max doesn't make a sound.

Billy slams his fist against the steering wheel a couple of times, then peels away from the curb before the Demodogs can get too close.

*****

Dustin's house is dark. There's no car in the driveway.

"I told her Mews had been seen in Loch Nora. She must still be out looking..." Dustin trails off quietly. Shellshocked.

It's almost midnight. Steve doubts she's still out looking for a cat. And if she is...

"I wanted to keep her out of the way."

No one says anything.

They drive.

*****

The Sinclair house is dark, too, no lights on except for the motion sensor activated ones over the empty carport.

Billy doesn't bother slowing down. The area is absolutely swarming with creatures already.

"It's so late. Where..." Lucas falters, scanning the houses they pass, like he made a mistake and his home will appear any minute now. "Where did they go?"

"I'm sure they're okay, man," Steve tries, but it feels flat, false, "If they're in a car they could make it out. Your mom too, Dustin."

Billy grimaces, but says nothing.

"What?" Steve demands.

"I was just here looking for Max. They were home." 

He keeps a laser focus on the road now, on avoiding the monsters spilling out onto their path, growling when he's forced to change down a gear before aggressively working his way up in speed once more, jaw clenched tight.

"You probably caught them on their way out." Steve insists.

Billy looks doubtful, but he nods anyway. Neither of them enough of an asshole to take a kid's hopes away like that.

They move on.

*****

"Let me out," Mike says, quietly. Trembling. Hands pushing against the back of Steve's seat like he'll be able to bend it out of the way through sheer force of will.

No one moves.

The front door to the Wheeler home is open, door splintered where the deadbolt held, but the wood didn't. The car is parked in the carport. All the lights are on. 

Karen Wheeler's corpse lies forgotten and half devoured on the front lawn.

In the driveway, a tiny yellow sock lies next to bloody drag marks disappearing into the grass--

Oh god...

"Let me out." 

Steve's lips move, but he can't seem to draw breath enough to produce sound..

Billy seems to shake himself out of a daze, takes a deep breath beside him. "Nah, kid."

And Mike just snaps. 

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" He screams, punching and kicking the seat in front of him.

Steve leans forward out of the seat and puts his head in his hands. 

"Let me out! LET ME OUT!" Mike shrieks, begs.

"No." Billy says again, evenly.

Mike's voice breaks on a wordless scream.

Steve wants to do his own bit of kicking and screaming, but someone needs to keep their fucking head in the game or they're all going to end up dead.

By some twisted turn of fate that someone is turning out to be Billy fucking Hargrove.

Hysterically, he remembers hearing about Billy abandoning Carla Green to walk home alone from the quarry after she'd scratched the Camaro's dashboard with her fake nails by accident.

Mike kicks the back of the seat again. Billy says nothing.

All the kids are crying, now.

Mike's screams eventually taper off into babbling sobs and Dustin does his best to comfort him through his own half-choked cries. Lucas is whispering to a sobbing Max, his own breaths hitching and heaving uncontrollably, on the edge of breaking.

Steve's eyes sting, hidden behind his hands.

He lifts his head up and glances over at Billy, still tracking the side of the road, the edge of the trees. He looks so normal that it almost throws Steve for a loop. He wants to grab Billy by the collar again. Shake him. Scream: what part of this aren't you getting?

"The fuck is going on?" Billy hisses, almost to himself and oh, right.

"Later," Steve promises, hoarsely, digs the heels of his hands into his eyes hard enough to see stars.

"You know what they are?"

"Yeah." Steve says after a great deal of swallowing past the lump in his throat.

If Hargrove's voice betrays even a hint of emotion Steve knows he's gonna fucking lose it. Luckily, the guy keeps his shit together so Steve can keep a lid on his.

"You know what kills them?" Billy continues.

"Heat," Dustin says, voice thick, "And, like, bullets."

Billy nods, "Alright, how warm are we talking?"

"They don't like warm weather or daylight, but I don't think it kills them. Weakens them, maybe. Sends them underground."

"Fire will." Steve says, pulling at his hair until it hurts, dragging himself out of foggy despair and into the present where he's needed. He accidentally runs his gaze past Karen's body and tries not to dry-heave.

Mike is still crying behind him and god fuck, they should get out of here. The kid shouldn't be seeing this.

"Where do we go?" Max whispers, like she read his mind. She sounds as lost as Steve feels.

Billy revs the engine and turns to Steve, "Any requests?"

Steve thinks about the huge empty house waiting for him, a gaping nightmare at the edge of the woods. He balks at the thought.

Where the fuck do we go?

"Just get us out of Hawkins."

[xxtraord1nary]

His Kiss of Life

Fandom: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!mc (Charlotte West)

Word Count: 3.3k

A/N: My preferred genre is smut and I’m okay with that. THIS IS A REPOST!

Summary: A tedious work gala takes a sensual turn and becomes a hot night filled with passion and heated restroom affairs.

Warnings: Cursing, Spanking, Dirty Talk, Rough Sex.

Taglist: @katkart122 @missmiimiie @maurine07 @romewritingshop @custaroonie @lucas-rennells @omgfheishot @schnitzelbutterfingers @openheartfanfics

Charlotte and Ethan and the rest of their colleagues had to attend a mandatory work function and make “connections” for better funding for the hospital much to his dismay. He wasn’t particularly in the business of begging old stuffy socialites for money but Charlotte on the other hand was an absolute pro at it her charisma and beauty truly entranced the crowd that had formed around her as she retold a comical story of her youth involving her brothers and something about a spray paint can. Unfortunately on the other hand for Ethan he couldn’t focus on anything but the long slit going up her exposed toned mocha thighs and the open back of the form fitting midnight black dress she donned exquisitely. It was gorgeous on her and may have been seen as a little much from the scowls of some of the bitter women at the bar but it truly was elegantly sexy. The way it came down over her natural flared hips and flowed gracefully at her feet made her look as stunningly unreal. She was truly an ethereal and rare beauty and it was known by not just him but everyone in the large tastefully decorated ballroom.

Nursing his scotch by the bar he continued admiring the woman who haunted his dreams with her dark eyes and bright smile he watched on as the crowd dispersed and his lover secured more than enough pocket books to make up for everyone’s lackluster excuse for trying to do what she did. He could tell from his place a bit away leaning against the wet bar that now she was bored she always loved socializing till her “social battery” ran out as she called it and that was obviously the case right now. Ethan really tuned in at this point because she’d surely find a way to entertain herself and that had him on the edge of her seat; unpredictability was who she was after all.

As if she could feel his focused gaze burning into her more than generous backside she sensually turned and sent him an just as intense look with a slow smirk rising to her full crimson painted lips she made her way to the table where she’d left her belongings. As she picked up her phone and typed something presumably a message she couldn’t help but to hold eye contact between them not awkward at all but filled with unbridled lust. His phone dinged with a notification and he nearly jumped as it shaked him out of his stupor he almost didn’t break their gaze till another ding caused him to grab his phone annoyed at their “moment” being interrupted. That was until he saw the message was in fact from her.

Charlotte: Guess what I’m thinking right now. Okay, I’ll give you a hint. It involves my tongue and you naked.

Charlotte: I feel like something is missing from life. Namely you between my legs.

Ethan was a man of confidence and in his every move always oozed self assurance but now he was a blubbering mess of a man at a complete loss and his mouth had never been dryer. As shocked as he was, he had to admit this was such a Charlotte thing to do, and he meant it in the nicest way possible if that could be said but this woman was truly a freak. He couldn’t bring his fingers to type anything back, what the hell does one even say in response to this.

Charlotte gentle mohogany eyes held a tone of mischief and her misleading smirk was one of amuesement she always felt the best part of their relationship was tipping the scales and really keeping him on his toes. She almost felt bad at his flustered state but quickly shook it off it was too comical seeing such a composed man be left to no more than a heated mess of lust and wanting, teasing was truly her speciality. After all the chase was the best part. When she once more caught his eye she held a air of sensuality around her and decided that she needed to take things a step forward, she knew well he wouldn’t. With confident long strides she made her way to the bar “Red.” she told the bartender settling herself right in a seat next to a still stunned Ethan Ramsey. Sipping slowly from her glass he couldn’t help but be entranced by everything she did and followed every move of hers. Determined to take it a step further she caressed his hand left on the bar top with her long manicured to perfection ivory nails that contrasted beautifully with her smooth brown skin. The simple touch sent sweet shivers through his body and he longed for more once she withdrew and resumed her drinking.

“Rookie-” he started before she looped her nimble fingers through the belt loops of his slacks and pulled him with a purpose. “I know what you’re gonna say, and truthfully I don’t care.” she muttered into the crook of his neck where she left a chaste kiss and a small bite that made him wince which she soothed with her warm tounge. “God she was forward” he thought. And he’d be a damn bloody liar if he said he didn’t love it. Prior to meeting the temptress Ramsey was used to always being in charge in the bedroom no matter his partner, man or woman. He took control but Charlotte West was a wildcard and he’d soon learned he never truly knew what he was going to get and the spontaneity turned him on more than he could ever begin to describe.

“I’ll tell you how this is gonna go alright Doctor.” He groaned at the use of his title tumbling from her sweet full lips that he wanted so badly to have on him, every part of him. “You are not gonna give me that halfhearted lecture, you are going to keep me entertained. Okay?” She asked detaching her lips from his tender neck and staring him in his indigo blues. He could do no more than nod at a loss for words, or his brain simply couldn’t compute at the moment. “Meet me in the restroom in ten, your choice of course.” And with that she sashayed away with a small inconcealable smirk painted on her beautiful face as she knew he’d be there in five.

Left at a loss Ethan’s heart finally stopped its mission on trying to burst of his hard chest and his brain finally made sense of the situation and locating a clock on the wall he counted down the minutes. Back in the luxury restroom that could have been a swanky living room with a toilet and a sink. Not even three minutes late of her arrival she heard a two small raps of the hand against the large wood door. Swallowing her newfound nerves she carried herself to the door and opened it to reveal a stone faced Ramsey jaw muscles flexed in sexual frustration. “Look what we have here.” She pulled him inside by the lapels of his suit jacket and brought her silk like lips to whisper into his hear “I’m so glad you came, although I knew you would.” He couldn’t help the choked moan that struggled out of his throat as she ran her small hands up and down his toned abdomen and soon landed on his bulge that was almost bursting out of his black dress pants.

“Not more than me.” He rasped in a way that had her soaked and anxious to have him out of his pesky clothes. He finally got what he wanted most as he gripped her by the way back of her neck and wound his fingers in her mane of unruly coils nearly getting them stuck, but Charlotte couldn’t care less as he violently claimed her lips with his and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth with vigor. Her tounge made its way into his warm mouth causing him to moan aloud shamelessly as his hands made their way down to her backside and palmed with open hands all he could grab. In their heated passion she somehow had half the mind to push him backwards towards the fancy Italian leather couch settled against the wall.

His hands soon found their way under her dress palming her bare ass till he froze with realization, she wasn’t wearing anything under. He couldn’t believe it, almost as if she had planned this he chucked at her antics and she smiled knowingingly and a few giggles slip. “Dr. West you are surely one naughty girl.” He said whilst stroking her sensitive bud and spreading her wetness. This caused her moan aloud and in a sexy whisper,

“Punish me then.”

And that he did and by the seventh spank on her full backside she was a moaning mess wetter than before if possible she ground her hips into his generous hard on relentlessly poking her and much to her disdain he tossed her to the side of the couch but she soon perked up as she watched his impatiently snatch his belt his off and yank at his pants she happily took the place of his frantic hands and slowly worked his pants down along with his boxers. Sitting herself in a semi comfortable kneeling position she began to drag her nails down his thighs and ghosted her fulls lips right over the head of his throbbing member as she shamelessly admired her lover in all his naked glory. “What a view.” She thought to herself as she continued her perpetual teasing but Ethan didn’t mind he was drunk on a salacious high he never wanted to come down from.

“You know, I really like seeing you like this. All hot and bothered for me.” He moaned with satisfaction as she kneeled firmly gripped his pulsating member and stroked him slowly while placing chaste sweet kisses along the column of his neck he groaned when she sucked and bit as she went determined to mark what’s hers. As she should of course. Growing tired of the lack of not feeling more of her he shoved on the couch bringing a pleased grin to her face, she liked a rougher Ethan and he knew well as his cobalt blues to glint in mischief. He leered over her meager frame that in comparison to his was quite small. Winding his hand in her hair he pulled harshly and she soon found herself in his lap once again and it wasn’t long before her tight form fitting dress was stripped forcibly from her body “Take it off.” He rasped and she happily complied in the removal he once again claimed her lips roughly while tugging on her flaring hips. As much as she was enjoying the dominant and demanding Ethan she didn’t like the shift of control so quickly and looked for an upper hand.

But before she could even think of anything her thoughts were cut off with a strangled moan as he plunged himself deep inside her gripping onto her shoulders for leverage as he relentlessly pounded her into oblivion. She couldn’t even form words as he took her more than generous breast in his hands and kneeded one whilst suckling like a man starved on the other. Obscenities flew from Charlotte’s lips as she continued to be intoxicated by the ministrations of his blessed tongue and soon enough felt so hot she began to pleasure herself snaking a hand down to do so only to be stopped by a slap to the wrist. Her eye jerked open and sent him a fiery glare for not only stopping her but removing himself.

“You don’t get to do that, bad girls don’t get to pleasure themselves.” She was shocked to say the least but turned on all the same and couldn’t even begin to explain how good she felt at his words that almost made her moan all the while being scolded. “Well if I’m such a bad girl-” she cut herself off mid sentence and brought him in for a lip bruising kiss that left her shivering and him with numb lips from all the biting and sucking and finished with, “punish me then.” Before she could take a minute to gauge his reaction he began to leave welt raising slaps to her rear that left an excruciating stinging pain but just hurt so damn good she couldn’t help but to choke out a moan mixed with a sob.

After what made have been the twelfth slap, she didn’t know for sure the only thing she could focus on what the pleasureful sting she felt, she had no time to collect her bearings before he rammed himself mercilessly inside her with a low growl that made her want ride him into oblivion. He ran his free hand down her breast to her lower thigh and gripped all the brown skin and savored in the beauty that was her round and gracious behind and the beautiful glittery stretch that adored it perfectly. His other hand wound in her mane of unruly tendrils gripped for leverage as he lifted his hips to ruthlessly pounded into her so much so she felt, although the impossibility of it, that she’d leave this restroom with a rearranged cervix.

“God your perfect.” He groaned landing misplaced chaste kisses anywhere he could reach on her sweat glistening chest. “I bet.” She confidently responded with a smirk amidst her harsh pounding which only caused him to grin in response and pull harder on her crown of curls and if humanly possible enter her even rougher and harder. “That shut her right up.” he thought triumphantly. She hasn’t noticed it before but it was there a large vertical mirror with a perfect view of the ethans thrown back in ecstasy head and her body on full display. And there is truly nothing more erotic than watching yourself be brutally fucked by the man or your dreams and fantasies. Her chest shined with a sheen thin layer of sweat and she almost glowed from elation, thank god she went for a natural look involving only mascara and lipstick as she was a hot mess and could use a small touch up. But Ethan couldn’t care less he adores unruly sex hair that he couldn’t refrain from pulling and her mouth constantly wide open as the most alluring moans, groans and whimpers tumbled from his lover.

She watched on as she bounced on top of him and she’d be a damn liar if she said she wasn’t wetter than ever from the sight as she watched him and herself in such an intimate moment. Her nirvana was cut short by a sharp rap of knuckles against the large oak door separating the two passionate lovers from their dreary work function. Ethan’s calculated and punishing strokes never ceased much to Charlotte's dismay, he was shameless. He couldn’t possibly be turned on by the idea of being caught as he was the one that prided himself on his carefulness and keeping their relationship concealed. But maybe the older attending has been keeping some things to himself.

In particular a little fantasy exhibitonism. The idea of marking his territory with an audience was as enticing as ever as he watched the haughty stuck up socialites flirt shamelessly with his woman. Charlotte really should have known, he’d grown particularly fond of fucking her against his large floor to ceiling windows.

In response to the unsuspecting stranger Ethan hurriedly switched their positions into a kneeling one upon the couch with his front to her back and grabbed her arms from behind and again began to ruthlessly continue his assault. God he was amazing. Charlotte wasn’t a liar, she did have a little thing for older men. Not daddy issues or something but she just preferred experience and skill only a certain knowledgeable possessed. And that man was Ethan, this man scared her as he had successfully ruined her for any other man and weirdly she was okay with that.

“Hello, is anyone in there?” Came a smooth accented voice from the other side and although muffled Charlotte understood it perfectly. “Bryce!” She mentally cursed her horiness and the dilemma it got her in. Her attention snapped to Ethan as he too realized just who was at the door and he quieted her with an index finger to his lips but even then didn’t stop his stroking which slowed down to long and deep ones rather than hurried and brutal. After calling a few more times the sound of footsteps became few and far between indicating her good friend and ex-lover had left. Ethan, aware of the past relationship was glad at this and also a tad relieved he didn’t see a tinge of regret on his rookies face.

With a few more punishing strokes it was inevitable that they both climaxed and as they did her world went white and she gasped with pleasure while he could barely breathe as she gripped his neck for grounding and he quite liked the intoxicating feeling. Coming down from the high the gravity of the entire feverishly consuming ordeal at finally set upon them and unrestrained giggles flowed freely through her trembling body as she leaned forward and Ethan took the opportunity to just embrace her following their passion. “I can’t believe we had sex in a public restroom.” She sighed blissfully in his neck, chuckles from her warm breath tickling him every few seconds, she rubbed her hands down his abdomen feeling his toned pectorals all the way to his abs. “You surely are a wildcard, Dr. West.” he muttered, placing sweet kisses on the side of her beautiful face. How she could go from a complete sensual vixen to a adorable little teddy bear he would never know but was grateful all the same for his position. Here right now and just everyday with her in general.

“And you love it, Dr. Ramsey.” She knowingly grinned.

“That I do, rookie.” He sighed nuzzling her neck.

Eventually the two lovers knew they’d been gone far too long and they soon had to try and sneak back into the main hall and with that he got up and went to her purse where she always kept wet wipes and cleaned her up and with a strong calloused hand helped her to her feet and swayed her in the direction of her long abandoned gown and to the best of his ability helped her redress. Even in her tattered and wrinkled dress with wild coils adoring her head she still looked like the most flawless woman in the room.

God he was so whipped. And he truly didn’t mind.

She decided to go first and once bombarded with questions of her whereabouts for the past hour and a half by her roommates, or particularly a smirking Bryce and a worried sienna Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that the scalpel jockey had probably a good idea at exactly what happened in that restroom. Ordering another scotch from the bar he absentmindedly stuck his free hand in his pocket and felt something unfamiliar he on instinct grabbed it out only to be stunned to silence once again by the woman so much so he almost choked on the burning liquid not so smoothly running down his throat.

He couldn’t believe it. Her racy black g-string was right in his hands and she had to have snuck it in his pocket when she handed him a fallen suit jacket. Once coming to term with what he was holding he quickly stuffed it in his pocket being reminded of the situation and setting. He looked up to meet her eyes across the large dining hall only to find her smirking devilishly and sending him a sultry wink.

A damn wink. She winked at him.

It was then they both realized, Ethan Ramsey was truly a damn goner.

Fin.

Thanks for reading.

[strangerthingsharrington]

Can’t Fight This Feeling

-24-

Steve held my hand tightly as we climbed up the escalator slowly. My body had had enough. I was exhausted, tired...just drained.

After reaching the top, I stopped and looked behind us to the others in the party moving slowly up the steps. Max came up first with tears streaming down her face, which still bore a shocked expression.

She looked to me and her lip trembled. I let go of Steve’s hand and walked quickly to her wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug which she reciprocated. My tears overflowed as Max let out a sob.

“It’s okay,” I told her quietly, closing my eyes, “it’s gonna be okay, Max. He saved all of us. Billy is a hero.”

She continued to sob into my shoulder, I leaned my head against the side of hers and opened my eyes, seeing the party around us with sad, solemn looks on their faces.

Lucas stepped up and put his hand on Max’s shoulder, “Come on, Max,” he said gently, “let’s go outside.”

Max slowly removed her arms from my waist and looked at me, I pushed some of her hair behind her ear and smiled sadly at her, “We’re gonna get through this, all together. I promise.”

She nodded to me before turning to Lucas and reaching for his hand.

Steve had come up and stood next to me, he put his arm around my shoulder, “Come on,” he said quietly.

I nodded, turning with him to walk towards the doors to go outside and away from the devastation.

I could hear the guards yelling at one another back in the food court. I could smell the fire burning. I was trying to think about how I’d explain marks on me to my mom when I saw her.

Most importantly, I needed to figure out how to get Dustin and Erica back from the Hilltop.

Steve pushed open the mall door for us and the fresh air hit me like a ton of bricks. Even though it hadn’t been long since I was last outside, it felt like an eternity especially after being that close to fire and smoke.

There were police, ambulance and fire trucks all coming from what seemed like everywhere trying to park and get into the mall. I wondered if they managed to move the monster out of sight in the food court. I wondered how this story was going to be told to the public.

“You okay?” Steve asked me gently.

I looked up at him and shrugged, “I’ll give you an actual answer tomorrow. I need to get Erica and my brother.”

He nodded, rubbing my arm. He began looking around, hopefully trying to find someone who’s car we could use to get them.

“Louise!”

My eyes went wide and I looked around until I spotted her. My mom.

I let go of Steve’s hand and ran to her and hugged her tightly as the tears began to spill over and down my face.

“Where’s Dusty?” she asked.

I sniffled and pulled away from her, “He’s at the hilltop,” I said with a shuddering breath, “we have to get him.”

She nodded and wrapped her arm around me, I looked behind me to Steve and saw him scanning the crowd. Was he looking for his parents?

I looked around and caught sight of Lucas and Max walking towards his mom, before she began looking around frantically.

“Mrs. Sinclair!” I called to get her attention, “I know where she is, she’s with my brother! I’m going to get them!”

Relief flodded her face and she nodded, “Thank you!” she called before turning her attention back to Lucas.

I looked back to Steve and he was looking down at his shoes.

“Steve!” my mom called to him, he looked up instantly, “Come with us!”

He looked quickly around again before jogging over to us, “Come on, Steve,” she said, looking over his face, “you’re just as much a member of the family as anyone, so let’s go.”

At that, tears fell from Steve’s eyes and he pulled my mom into a hug, “Thanks, Mrs. Henderson.”

They broke apart and she smiled softly at him, “Lets go and get these kids.”

We walked to her car and got in, she questioned what had happened and between Steve and myself we managed to tell her about a fire that had broken out in the mall. Where one of us would falter with the story, the other would step in and continue to spin the lie.

Steve gave directions to my mom, as she told us about how her and Mrs. Sinclair came to find out they hadn’t seen any of us for two days, and that they came to the mall to look for us.

Erica was right, Mrs. Sinclair really did want Erica back for Uncle Jacks party. She went to the Byers house to see if Lucas and Erica might have been there, but obviously the house was empty. She then went to the Wheelers house that was empty, before finally coming to my house. They deducted they hadn’t seen any of the kids in about forty eight hours and thought we might have been at the mall, since that was where we all had been spending most of our time.

“When I pulled up I could see the smoke billowing up,” mom explained, “I was so worried but no one would let me in!” she told us as she parked at the bottom of the hill after Steve told her to take the left, giving her more time to make the turn than what Dustin gave him.

Once the car began slowing down, I hopped out and began running up the hill, with Steve calling out my name behind me.

I just needed to get them back. My legs were burning and I felt like I couldnt breath anymore. But I needed to get them.

“Guys!” I called once I almost reached the top.

“Lou?” I heard Dustin call out.

I reached the top, and bent over trying not to vomit.

“Whoa, Lou, you okay?” Dustin asked me.

I breathed in deeply and stood back up, “Come on,” I said ingorong him, “let’s go.”

“What happened? Is everyone okay?” Dustin asked.

I looked over to him, “The national guard came in, if anyone asks there was a fire at the mall,” I said looking between the two of them.

“Lou, is everyone okay?” Dustin asked again a bit more stern.

“Billy died,” I said quietly.

His eyes went wide, “Holy shit. Are you serious? Is-is Max okay?”

I shook my head, “No,” I answered honestly, “come on,” I said, extending my arm out towards them, “mom drove us, your mom is waiting for you at the mall,” I told Erica.

I turned around just as Steve took the last couple steps to the top of the hill.

“Lou, I would’ve gotten them,” he told me breathlessly, “your legs have to be killing you,” he said when he reached me.

I nodded, not even bothering to deny that fact.

“I just...needed to get them,” I said quietly to him.

He watched hesitantly, before reaching out to me and putting his arm around my shoulder, “Come on, let’s get Erica to her mom and then you need to sleep.”

Without saying another word, I put my arm around Steve’s waist and walked carefully back down the hill with Dustin and Erica in tow.

Steve helped me into the front seat of the car as Dustin and Erica talked to my mom about what they had been up to. Steve got into the backseat right behind me, with Dustin going next to him and Erica behind the drivers side.

Mom drove us quickly to the mall with none of us really talking. I stared out the window, watching as my small town of Hawkins passed me by. A week ago this was my boring town. Nothing exciting ever happened here.

I knew differently. Too much had happened in the town. More than anyone would ever believe.

We got out of the car after reaching the mall and Erica ran back with her mom and Lucas. Robin was at an ambulance with her parents talking, she caught my eye and waved to me before making a phone sign with her hand and mouthing tomorrow at me. I nodded to her before I saw El wrapped in Mrs. Byers arms, as they both cried.

I looked on in confusion, unsure of what had happened since I left.

I looked to Jonathan and Will but Jonathan was already looking back to me.

Glancing quickly around the group, I realized who was missing. Hopper.

‘Where’s Hopper?’ I mouthed.

Jonathan looked to El then back to me before shaking his head softly.

In an instant I understood. Police Chief Hopper didn’t make it from the underground lair. Another victim to the fire at Starcourt, I assumed they would tell everyone.

“LuLu?”

I looked over to my mom who pushed some of the hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear, “Come on, baby. Let’s get you home and get cleaned up and go to bed.”

I nodded, taking another look at the mall that was still smoking, with police and firefighters around the doors looking in.

I turned and walked back to the car with everyone. Dustin went to the front seat while I went to the back seat, with Steve taking the middle seat so we were next to each other.

We kept our hands wrapped tightly together, and I had my head leaning on his shoulder.

“Steve,” mom asked softly looking into rear view mirror to us, “do you want to stay at our house for the night, or are you heading home?”

I lifted my head up and looked to him, he lowered his head and sighed, “I should go home...my parents might be wondering where I am, and I need the extra key to my car.”

“I can come get you in the morning to pick up your car?” I offered.

He looked down at me with a small smile, “Thank you,” he said softly.

I smiled a little back at him and laid my head back on his shoulder for the rest of the silent drive to his house.

When we pulled up the lights were all off and I felt Steve deflate slightly. I guess neither of his parents stayed up to wait for him. Even though he hadn’t seen either of them in almost forty eight hours at least.

“Are you gonna be able to get in?” I asked as mom put the car in park.

“Yeah,” he answered quietly, “I hid a key outside...not the first time this has happened,” he explained to me.

I nodded solemnly, lifting my head from his shoulder and opening the car door, our hands staying locked together even when getting out the car.

“Thank you, Mrs. Henderson,” he said once he got out of the car, “see ya later, Dustin,” he added before closing the door.

“Call me tomorrow when you’re ready and I’ll come get you, okay?” I asked him.

He nodded before letting go of my hand, only to let his arms go to my waist and pulled me to him, resting his face on the side of my head. My arms laced around his neck and I held him tighlty to me, ignoring the pain going through my arms.

He moved his head back a bit and made eye contact with me. His eye was incredibly swollen, dried blood was still around his nose and mouth. He was tired. But he held my gaze with such a sincerity that everything, for just an instant, felt okay.

He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to my forehead, kissing me softly for a second.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Lou,” he whispered, with his lips still pressed against my forehead.

I nodded slightly, “Okay,” I whispered back.

We let each other go and Steve took a few steps backwards towards his house I smiled lightly at him which he reciprocated before turning around and walking up to the front of his house.

I got back into the back seat of the car and watched him go.

“I just wanna make sure he gets in,” mom said quietly.

Steve bent down once he was at his front door and went into a flower pot that was out there, he straightened up and opened the front door a second later. He turned to face the car and brought his hand up in a small wave, before turning and going inside the dark house, closing the door behind him.

Mom started the short drive back home, thankfully leaving us in silence, aside from her oldie music station in the background playing quietly. I think she knew we had a rough little while and didn’t want to pester us. For the moment at least.

Once we were inside our house, that’s when she began her different line of questioning.

“So...why haven’t I heard from you guys for almost two days?” she asked once she closed the front door.

I sighed and turned to face her, “We’re sorry, ma,” I told her, “I’ve been hanging out with Robin and I have this thing with Steve that I’m trying to figure out...Dustin’s been hanging out with the party and talking to Suzie on Cerebro...then we were at the mall and the fire and everything...” I drifted off, looking to Dustin to confirm my answer to her new question.

Dustin nodded quickly to her, “Yeah...we’ve just been hanging out.”

“Why are you so bruised up, Louise?” she asked me, “what happend to Steve’s face?”

My breathing stopped, “Um-huh...my arm um-someone grabbed me when we were trying to get out of the mall, to make sure I kept up,” I told her before lightly touching my neck, “I think I was grabbing my throat because of the smoke...I was scared, ma. I don’t really remember,” I explained trying to think quicker.

“Steve got in a fight,” Dustin chimed in, “he won this time at least.”

Mom looked back to me, eyeing my arm and neck again, “Are you sure you’re okay, Lou?”

I nodded, “I’m really okay, mom. A little sore and...yeah, I think I just need some rest.”

Mom sighed and wiped her face of the few tears that had fallen, “I beleive you guys,” she told us, “I do...I was just so afraid when I found out...when I heard that Mrs. Sinclair hadn’t seen Lucas or Erica for a while either...I just couldn’t stop thinking that something bad had happened, to both of you. I don’t know what I’d do if something...” she looked away from us and shook her head.

I glanced over at my brother and saw him looking down at the ground, feeling probably the same way I did. Terrible. Mom was reiterating back to us to reason why Dustin never told me about any of this from the beginning. If something happened to both of us, she was going to be alone and that wasn’t fair.

I looked back to mom as she sniffled loudly, and I knew that was the end of the questioning and she would be changing the subject immediately. When the conversations got to heavy and started making her or us upset she always tried to change it to make us all feel better.

“Go to bed guys, I’ll make a nice big breakfast in the morning, sound good?” she asked looking to us, with tears ready to spill over from her eyes any moment.

“Yeah, sounds good mom. See you tomorrow,” Dustin said before turning and going down the hall to his room.

I nodded once, “Night mom,” I said before following Dustin down the hall.

I followed Dustin to his room and stepped in.

“What is it, Lou?” he asked, taking a seat on his bed and looking at me.

I closed his door and walked the few steps to the bed, taking a seat next to him, “I’m sorry you guys went through this before.”

He sighed and shrugged, “It’s not like we went out looking for this before, and we definitely didn’t this time. But we got through it.

“We’ll all meet up tomorrow with the party and talk out everything. Fill everyone in on the last little bit...talk about Billy and Hopper...” he drifted.

I nodded and stood up, “Yeah...yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dustin.”

“Lou.”

I turned to him again and saw him watching me, “It’s like I said before,” he started, “you just gotta...close your eyes and eventually, no matter how scared or nervous or upset you are, you’ll go to sleep. And another day will start again. It’ll pass. The fear and shit...feels overwhelming to start, but eventually it’ll lessen. It’s worked out for me before.”

I felt my chest tighten just thinking about how Dustin and the rest of the group ha been through this before. How they had to keep quiet about the things that had gone on. That must have been extremely difficult for them to deal with.

“Night, Dustin,” I said softly before turning and leaving his room, closing his door behind me.

I walked right to the washroom and turned the shower on as hot as I could stand it.

I stripped down and stepped in washing off the past forty eight hours worth of grime and dirt and blood and vomit, probably.

My brain was too tired to process anything else. It felt like it was the longest and shortest two days of my life. I couldn’t explain it...it was too much going on all at once.

Once I felt sufficiently clean and like I rubbed my skin raw, I turned the shower off and stepped out, wrapping myself in a towel.

I went to my room and changed into pyjamas, placing my towel on a hook to dry off.

I laid on my bed for hours. I tried to just close my eyes and let sleep find me like Dustin said. But I couldn’t do it. I wanted to scream and cry, out of both relief and sadness. Relief that this was finally over, sadness over all the turmoil we had all gone through and that we were going to continue to go through because we lost Billy and Hopper.

When I couldn’t pretend anymore I opened my eyes and looked at the clock on my nightstand. 3:47am.

I sat up and got up off my bed and heading to the front door, hoping that fresh air would help me in someway.

The house was quiet. I was positive that mom and Dustin were both sleeping, or pretending better than me.

I opened the front door, stepped out, and closed it quietly behind me. I turned to the small two seater we had on the porch, but someone was already there.

“Steve?” I questioned.

He was already looking at me with wide eyes, “Hey...why aren’t you sleeping?”

I tilted my head at him, “I couldn’t sleep...better question is why are you here?”

He grinned at me as I sat next to him, “Same reason.”

“How long have you been out here?” I asked.

He took my hand in his and sighed, looking out across the front yard to the quiet street, “I was home long enough to shower and have my mom and dad wake up because I had the shower on so late, and then my dad got mad at me. I grabbed the spare key and just...started walking,” he told me before looking over to me, “so maybe...two hours.”

I adjusted so I could look at him a bit better, “Steve, you should’ve knocked on the door or something! You didn’t have to sit out here for two hours!”

He breathed out a laugh, “I thought you’d be sleeping!”

I smirked and shook my head before it faded, “What did your dad say?”

Steve hummed and looked to me, “He was mad about me using the shower so late. I asked if he even noticed that he hadn’t seen me in two days...he didn’t,” he said sadly, “I asked my mom and she thought I had been home. I asked them if they even noticed my face. Mom asked if I was okay, dad asked if this was another losing fight of mine. Then he said he was going back to sleep and for me to ‘stop whining’ and get a hold of myself.

“So I left,” he explained looking down at our hands, “they just...whatever,” he sighed.

“Hey,” I said, shaking our hands, he looked over to me, “if it upset you, then it’s not ‘whatever.’ It matters and is-it’s valid, Steve. And it’s important to me, how you feel.”

He brought our hands up and kissed the back of mine, “Thank you,” he said quietly barely moving his lips from my hand.

I smiled shyly at him, “Come on, Steve. I can get the couch ready and you can sleep there, or I can and you can take my bed?”

He shook his head and leaned back, “Can we just...sit for a while longer?”

I bit my lip with a small smile, sitting further back in my seat, leaning my head on his shoulder, “Okay,” I whispered.

Then, in what felt like an instant, sleep finally found me.

——

Title credit to REO Speedwagon and gif credit to owner! I’m so sorry, there’s probably so many spelling/grammar issues!

[ggukkiedae]

Hey! Not sure if you take requests, but if you could write about Hannah having her panic attack at the superm concert that would be really interesting!

hi there! i do take requests :3 feel free to send them in, i’m just a little slower with writing them right now because of school and what i already have planned to go up akdsfh but here you go! 

italics means it’s spoken in english~

WARNINGS: violence, panic attacks, very slight mention of blood

Hannah excitedly ran down the hall, high on adrenaline from ending the show in her birthplace. Lucas was right behind her, letting out little hoots while doing some happy dance. She got a little too excited and nearly ran into her manager.

“Oops, sorry, oppa,” she laughed, “I’m just a little hyper. What’s up?”

“Your dad’s here,” he told her solemnly. Her smile dropped. “It’s up to you if you want to talk to him or not.”

Truth be told, she didn’t want to talk to her father. She was still scared of him and was very content with not having contact with him since she was 11. Then again, something in her brain was nagging her to get some type of closure from him. As long as her manager was with her, she’d be fine.

“I’ll go,” she muttered before turning to Lucas. “Oppa, I’ll just go ahead and talk to my father.”

Lucas nodded with a smile, oblivious to what she really felt. She followed her manager down the hall into the dressing room they had allotted to her earlier in the day. She took a deep breath and walked right in.

“Hannah.”

She closed her eyes on impulse, the familiar voice that haunted her in some of her nightmares making her flinch. She heard the door close behind her which made her jump. She turned to find her manager had left the room. She felt an uneasy feeling settle in her stomach, and a darkness seemed to creep over her heart. She bit on her lip and turned around.

“Why are you here?”

“I came to support my daughter,” he told her. “Look at you! Last I saw you, you were still a small kid.”

Hannah narrowed her eyes at him. He was smiling, and he wasn’t approaching her. There was a small bubble of hope in her that maybe, just maybe, he changed his ways. 

“You,” she trailed off, a little hesitant to ask with the fear that she’d trigger something, “Are you not like you were?”

“Hannah, I just want to support you again,” he told her. “You’re obviously thriving well and earning a lot right now.”

Any hope Hannah had in her fizzled out. She knew where this was going. He didn’t want her. He wanted her money. With courage that she didn’t know she had in that moment, she scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. She saw the switch in his eyes, and her hands immediately clenched, nails digging into her palms.

“No way,” she shook her head. “You don’t want to make up with me or mom. You’re still a horrible person. I’m not giving you my money.”

His nostrils flared as he glared at her and took heavy steps forward, making her back up. “You dare say that to me when I raised you and provided for you? You ungrateful little bitch!”

He raised his arm at her, and she closed her eyes, expecting the strike to come. She couldn’t breathe. Her chest was getting heavier, and her throat was closing up. She thought she had escaped this. The pain never came.

“You’re not laying a hand on her.”

A few minutes earlier, Mark finished changing his clothes and walked into the main area of the waiting room. He saw the staff and all the other members, but he couldn’t see Hannah. Why was she taking so long to get dressed into her casual clothes when she’s usually the first one done?

“Hyungs, where’s Hannah?”

“Her dad came,” Lucas spoke up. “I think she’s still talking to him.”

Mark’s eyes widened, and he exchanged looks with Taeyong as if checking if he wasn’t the only one who heard. Taeyongs worried eyes met his, and he knew they heard the same thing. 

The two boys quickly rushed to her changing room. Seeing their urgency, a few staff members and security followed the two rushing boys. Mark pushed the door open, and he saw an intimidating figure looming over Hannah as if getting ready to hit her. He quickly pulled her out of the way while Taeyong intervened, grabbing the man’s wrist.

Mark couldn’t tell what was happening in his surroundings, he just needed to get Hannah out of there. He pulled her into the nearest bathroom and locked the door. She was on the ground, knees to her chest, and shaking horribly while gasping for air. Mark slowly knelt in front of her.

“Hannah,” he began while holding his hand out, palm upwards, “it’s me, Mark. You’re safe, okay? He can’t hurt you here. If you can hear me, give me your hands.”

He repeated the sentences until Hannah eventually placed her hands in his. Mark sighed in relief as he unfurled one of her hands and placed it on his chest, not caring that the blood from the scratches she made got onto his shirt. He unfurled her other hand as well and kept a grip on it.

“Breathe with me, okay,” he instructed while deepening his breathing. “It’s okay. You’re okay. He’s not going to hurt you anymore. I’ll call Hyuck, okay? I’ll call Hyuck later, then we can talk this out, yeah? You're safe, Hannah.”

This went on for a little bit until Hannah eventually curled herself up on Mark’s crossed legs and hid her face in his shoulder. That’s how Taeyong found them ten minutes later. Hannah had fallen asleep in her exhaustion.

“The others went ahead,” Taeyong told Mark, “There’s a van waiting for the three of us. I don’t think Hannah wants the others to know just yet.”

“Can you call Hyuck?” 

Just as Mark asked that, Taeyong’s phone rang, Haechan's face lighting up the screen. He quickly accepted the call while Mark maneuvered himself so that he was carrying Hannah’s sleeping form. They began walking to the vans as Haechan's worried voice rang through Taeyong’s phone.

“Hyung, where’s Haeeun? Something feels wrong, and she isn’t picking up her phone.”

“Listen closely, okay?”