#and i already did overtime during the normal workweek

[spookyc00chie]

i was going to log in to do overtime at work because i didn't meet this unrealistic deadline, but i decided........i do not care :-)

[berrykook]

overtime (y!jk)

inspired by #4 on this prompt list

in which you’re fed up with the office temp jungkook and a terrifying experience at the end of a week of overtime together leads you straight back to him

contents: yandere!jungkook, kidnapping, foul play, violence, no smut (i cannot tag a yandere fic as sfw in good conscience i simply cannot)

word count: 4.5k

a/n: got stoned and wrote a yandere fic i’m sorry lmfao

 *☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ

The thread of patience you had left was being steadily thinned as sweat began to collect on the back of your neck for the fifth day in a row. You thought you were seeing red, but that was just the blood-colored light that filled the office at the same time each night. You cursed your boss under your breath as you brought your USB-powered desk fan impossibly closer to you. He knew you would have to pull the weight of your team and work late every night this week, yet he did nothing about the air conditioning that turned off before the sun even set. You wiped your forehead and shot another quick glare at the doe-eyed temp who had recently wormed his way into your workplace. As it had been for each night that week, you and him (Junghwan? Or was it Jungwoo?) were the only two remaining in the office. As it had also been for each night that week, the kid was on your last nerve.

He was an excellent worker, albeit nervous and a tad awkward. Your female coworkers seem to have taken a liking to him, which only further irritated you as it felt like no work had been done upon his arrival. Despite his mousiness, he had already gotten along well with your branch manager who never failed to personally see that your day was worsened somehow. In a month, he had managed to win over your boss as if they had known each other for years. You did know Hoseok for a number of years, and he still treated you like dirt.

Each night that week, the temp insisted on staying late with you (a nice gesture initially, but turned sour once you realized that his working pace after hours was nowhere near as fast as he worked during the day), he insisted on ordering takeout and eating it right by each other each night (what would be another nice gesture had he understood that he could eat at his own desk and not at yours), and he insisted on accompanying you home every night (you flat out refused this each time he begged). In the month-or-so duration of his time working with you, he repeatedly pushed boundaries that you thought were obvious and justified as you two were coworkers and nothing more. You supposed he was sort of sweet, but you were not interested in any office crushes.

You took a moment’s break and sighed as you stretched your curved back. You let out the faintest hint of a whimper when your spine popped softly. You had your eyes closed, but you knew that he perked up at the sound.

“Seonbae! Your back!” You kept your eyes closed, imagining the feeling of a cool breeze stronger than the fan on your desk.

“It’s fine, just a bit sore.” You nearly jumped when you opened your eyes to see him already halfway to your desk. You let out a quiet sigh, accepting that you wouldn’t get any work done until he went back to his own desk. He brought up a chair for himself and naturally, you scooted your own chair farther away from his. “It’s only seven thirty. We don’t have that much left - if we continue as we are, we can hit a reasonable stopping point for the weekend.”

He huffed softly, nearly pouting at you. “When was the last time you ate? I think it’s far past time we get something to eat.” You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes - he totally ignored what you said! The look on his face was too concerned for someone you were practically strangers with.

“Seriously, we should be done by nine. I’ll be fine, just continue working as you’ve been and at the very least, be sure that the weekly summary is on the boss' desk before you leave.” You turned back to your work as best as you could with him taking up space in your area. You begged your posture not to stiffen angrily  as you realized that he was not leaving.

“...You seemed to like those noodles I ordered on Tuesday. I-I can order them again!” Without turning, you can sense that he’s leaning forward with his hands on his knees like a puppy. You cracked a faint smile at having just finished one of your remaining tasks for the workday.

“Hm...that’s alright. Don’t worry about it, I’m not hungry. You know...I really could get all this finished up by myself tonight and you can get out of here a little earlier.” He let out a tiny gasp. The sound helped snap your wispy memory - Jungkook was his name!

“No, no, I couldn’t. It’s not safe to leave separately! I-I’ll get back to work, but you have to eat too. The order should be coming within the hour.” He began to sluggishly wander back to his desk, but froze as if he was doused in icy water when you abruptly called his name.

“I told you already this week that you don’t have to order food to the office. I won’t accept any more delivery from you.” You kept your head down, trying to zoom through your team’s documents as fast as humanly possible. Jungkook looked crestfallen as a little boy.

“Seonbae...you really should be eating.” His tone of voice had your eyes snapping up to where he stood hunched in the middle of the office. Your breath caught in your throat for a split second as it almost sounded like he was crying at the idea of you not having regular meals. You willed yourself to not appear disgusted with his overbearing concern.

“It’s fine.”

You immediately turned back to your work and Jungkook finally sat back down at his desk, partly twiddling his thumbs, partly checking the delivery status of the meal he ordered for you, and partly doing his work as he was expected to do. The office was still trapping a ridiculous amount of heat despite the sun being completely down now - you even dared think that your boss was purposely turning the heat up in the middle of the summer after hours!

Thankfully, you were able to work in silence until Jungkook jumped up again with a small exclamation, mumbling something about the food being here. Completely choosing to not respond, you continued working before Jungkook was back at your side once again.

“Seonbae, let’s eat!” You swallowed your sigh and moved your chair away from his. He had already laid out several takeout boxes on your coworker’s and your own desks, and he was currently ridding a wooden pair of chopsticks from splinters. You were determined to get out of there, so you focused on your task at hand until a mouthful of noodles approached your lips.

“Jungkook! No!” You scolded the young boy for attempting to feed you for the fifth time that week. You glared at him while he shamefully slurped the noodles into his own mouth. He mumbled a sullen apology and handed you a pair of your own chopsticks.

You gave in to the food and ate in silence as your head swam with the remaining tasks for the week. Hoseok had just demanded so much of you, both as a normal worker and as the senior member of your team. He had even warned you about being nice to Jungkook and helping him feel welcomed, so you didn’t dare make any complaints about his incessant flirting. He was a temp and would be gone in a matter of months, surely. Surely you could endure a bit of flirting.

“This is nice,” he says wistfully, black bean sauce on the corner of his lip. You wordlessly hand him a tissue. You were steadily becoming sure that you actually could not endure any more flirting.

You get through the next few hours somewhat peacefully. The most spine-tingling interaction was Jungkook gushing over your apathetic thanks for the dinner, but the rest of the night was calm. Unsurprisingly, you were finished with all of your tasks fifteen minutes before Jungkook had begun his last one. His eyes became saucers when you suggested leaving first and having Jungkook lock up the office for the night. 

Of course, he could not complete the simplest of tasks you asked of him.

“I just don’t think I’m prepared for a responsibility like that! Seonbae, can’t you please just wait ten minutes while I finish up this last task! It’s dangerous outside!” For the first time, Jungkook spoke to you with his eyes laser-focused on his work. His hands moved faster than his brain so he could finish his work as quickly as possible. His whining was desperate, but you continued to put on your coat and gather your belongings.

“Jungkook, you really will be fine. You can be trusted locking the door, right? Just return the keys back to me on Monday. I’m leaving now,” you called out with your back to him as you swiftly dropped the office keys on his desk and sped-walked out the office. Finally! That hellish week of Jungkook desperately trying to get your attention was complete. The following workweek was projected to be filled with a lot less work from you and you hoped it would stay that way. Your feet shuffled with the desire to skip to your car once the elevator to the parking garage opened. You felt a twinge of guilt at leaving Jungkook alone in the office, but you completely saw through his weird gestures and efforts to win you over. How lucky you were to be so stagnant in your ways.

The elevator opened with its soft ping and you inhaled the night air deeply. Halfway across the garage to your car, the harsh clang of your keys hitting the asphalt echoed across the space. When you bent down to pick them up, you stayed close to the ground for a quick moment, mind racing as to what you would do next.

When your keys hit the floor and you stopped walking to pick them up, the sound of footsteps in the garage did not. It was obvious - someone was in there with you.

You were certain it couldn’t be Jungkook because he obnoxiously made his presence known to you at every chance he could. There was no way it was any of your coworkers, and any night staff for the building would be well into their jobs at this time of night. As you slowly picked yourself up and prepared to break into a sprint to your car, the unknown presence was just a hair faster than you and had already begun bounding loudly towards your still figure. You managed to get in just a few feet before your waist was grabbed and a hand went over your face.

You made a startled noise for a split second, and then instinctively spent the rest of your energy prying this creep off of you. Please, please, please, you thought. The car is right there.

You tried biting the leather-covered hand that took over half of your face, you tried using your elbows and hips, you tried stomping your heels, but it was as if no action could free you. You began to really panic when the screaming began - you couldn’t remember another time you felt so fearful that you released such desperate screams like that.

You kept fighting even as you felt yourself being dragged farther from your car and even as you began to lose hope. You heard a chirp of a car trunk being opened and you felt your dinner begin to churn. You briefly considered reasoning with your captor and investigating how to talk yourself out of your own kidnapping when you were harshly shoved to the concrete. You scrambled to get up and away before you realized your captor was being straddled and beat to a pulp by a raging Jungkook. You become even closer to losing your dinner as Jungkook brings his fists up past his head and repeatedly bashes the head of your captor, all while screaming at the top of his lungs unintelligibly. Jungkook is going to kill this man. You let out a heartbroken sob and Jungkook’s raised fist suddenly paused. His head snapped over to you, still on the ground and covered in scrapes. For the first time, Jungkook says your first name and makes a face of complete devastation in response to your own crying before he’s suddenly punched in the jaw so hard he tumbles to the side and your captor swiftly kicks his ribs before running off to the emergency exit into the night. You are sobbing at this point and Jungkook is holding himself up with his bloody hands and breathing shallowly. For some reason, you instinctively crawled over to him and held him up by his shoulders.

Your hyperventilating inhibited you from speaking and this quickly shocked Jungkook back into looking after you. He gently raises a hand to the back of your head and pulls you close to him. His other hand brings your lower half closer to where you were nearly on his lap - he begins rubbing your back like you would a baby. In fact, you faintly hear him murmuring something like “Shh, baby. It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’m here, baby. Just be quiet, shh.” You paid no mind to the fact that it was Jungkook holding you. You let out the most heart wrenching sob yet and wrapped your arms around him, hugging him closely. His ribs are screaming at him, urging him to push you off his freshly broken bones but he clenches his teeth and squeezes you. The pain of hearing you cry is a thousand times more grating than the pain in his torso.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Hmm, sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m here, don’t cry.” Your hyperventilating cools down after some time of Jungkook whispering in your ear. It’s...nice.

He lets out what seems like a sigh of relief. “Okay, baby? Are you feeling better?” He holds you by your shoulders and you stare at him lifelessly. His eyebrows are knitted together in that way that they do, and the mole on his lower lip is so noticeable when he’s on the verge of tears. You take in the worry in his face and your own lip trembles again as you look down and try to suppress a strong blubber. Jungkook grabs your chin with a coo and you are crumbling even more. “No, no, baby, don’t cry! He’s gone, okay? I got rid of him,” he chuckles nervously. You stare down at his knuckles, split from beating the man who tried to hurt you. Guilt blooms in your chest.

“Are you okay?” you whimper. Jungkook is taken aback and his heart beats faster, if that were possible. He stutters something, then nods his head furiously.

“Don’t even ask about me! It’s all about you.” He is still holding your chin with his thumb and forefinger and at this point, it feels like all the blood in your body is in your head. Jungkook laughs nervously again, and runs his thumb over your chin in admiration. “Tell me what you need,” he whispers. You let out a huff, completely defeated. Despite your valiant effort to stop it, you had suddenly fallen victim to an office crush and you had fallen hard. 

You opted to stay silent and instead grab Jungkook’s hand from your face and intertwine your fingers.

Jungkook nearly pops a vessel trying to not jump over the moon in elation. He opts to bring your hand up to his lips and kiss it.

*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ

By the time you and Jungkook had finished speaking with the police and sorting out the logistics of moving forward legally, it was early Saturday morning and you were more than exhausted. Jungkook was not required to stay at the police station for longer than you, but he did so anyway. He insisted that his ribs felt fine and he didn’t want any medical attention. Like he said, this was all about you.

After thanking the officers profusely and bowing deeply to them, you began the grueling walk to Jungkook’s car. He gently urged you into his car back at the garage seeing as you were in no state to be driving. You faintly remember his hands running up and down your back, patting dangerously close to your ass as he helped you into the passenger’s seat with a hushed “there’s my girl.”

He kept a gentle, warm hand to the back of your neck. “A-Are you sure you’d like to go straight home?” he asked tentatively. “I want you to feel comfortable.” Ironically as he said this, he moved both of his hands to rub along your spine. Even now several hours after the incident, you still found yourself looking up at Jungkook with heart eyes. You hadn’t known how wonderful it felt to simply let yourself be doted over (it also very well could be the fresh trauma fiddling with your emotions).

You look up at him with a soft gaze. “Some company would be great.” He smiles and tilts his head as he looks down at you. Again, he leads you to his car, running a hand down your backside as he helps you get seated. He reaches to secure the seatbelt across your figure and you both find yourselves blushing.

Soon, as you are pulling into the parking garage of his apartment complex, you almost get whiplash from the intense realization that you were making a mistake. Not even twenty-four hours ago were you fuming over this kid’s weird and overbearing behavior, and now you were about to sleep in his bed - your coworker’s bed. Jungkook immediately notices your trepidation and places his hand over yours.

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” His smile is beaming towards you and you chuckle, wildly pulling your seatbelt off. Jungkook makes a small noise of surprise and rushes over out of the car around to your side to open your door for you. Fuck, you thought. This was probably some wet dream of his or something.

Jungkook walked you to his apartment with an arm around your shoulders, almost as if to protect you from the rest of the world. As his nervous hands fumbled to unlock his front door, you decided to allow yourself one more hour of this nonsense before you really snapped out of it and found your way home. For just one more hour, you would allow yourself to indulge in this inappropriate relationship with horribly inappropriate timing.

You were taking your shoes off when Jungkook softly pulled you to the couch instead. “Here, sweetie,” he cooed as he sat you down and got on his knees in front of you. You couldn’t yet tell if you loved this or hated it.

“Let me,” he says before daintily taking off your shoes himself and bringing your ankles up to his lap as he crawled up to sit on the couch. He rubbed your calf gently with his warm hand. “Did anywhere get hurt when that man touched you?” He leaned in closer to you.

You have to look away. You twiddle your thumbs and Jungkook watches your hands with fondness. “Mm, everywhere is kinda sore. My elbows and knees are all scraped up too.” Jungkook looks at you and nods seriously, cooing in understanding.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s my fault that my princess got scraped up like that. Aw,” he mumbles, grabbing your hand and observing it thoroughly. 

You decide an hour is too long to indulge in this (whatever this is) and jerk your hand back from him. His mouth drops open in offense as he whines a small, “baby…” You shake your head.

“Jungkook, what the hell are you talking about? A-and this...this is inappropriate. I’m your senior, we can’t just...especially after what happened, it just...feels wrong. In more than one way.” As you speak, Jungkook’s lip trembles more and more before he lets out a wail. Your eyes widen at how poorly he processes this completely obvious fact. He couldn’t...actually be using this traumatic event as fodder for courting you, right? You were sure that you felt that way, but there was just something about the way Jungkook treated you before and the manner in which he saved you...something was off. Jungkook was just the temp who flirted with you and would be gone in a few months, right? Perhaps there truly was something off about him, in a deeper way than his persistence. 

Perhaps Jungkook was much more than you ever expected.

The way he cries completely grates against your ears, so you make a frenzied effort to calm him. “Jungkook, please stop crying. We need to talk about this. Shit, it’s okay, just please stop.” You pat his back, fearing the way he cries so deeply that his chest heaves.

“That’s not fair, baby, it’s not fair! Why can’t you even see now that we’re obviously meant to be? I saved you, we’re perfect for each other!” You let out a disgusted gasp at his words and attempt to push yourself away from him.

For the past few hours, you dismissed Jungkook’s insane animalistic reaction in the parking garage as instinctual and justified - it saved you from being kidnapped. You had a gut feeling that reaction told you exactly what you needed to know about Jungkook’s character, but you desperately wanted to give the man who saved you the benefit of the doubt. Now, his psychotic crying set it in stone - Jungkook was a fucking lunatic.

“Shit, I-I’m sorry, Jungkook. I have to go,” you mumbled, scrambling for your shoes and stumbling a little with fatigue. Jungkook’s sobbing begins to quicken maniacally and you are rushing towards his front door. It is when you pull at the doorknob to find that it’s not moving that you realize that Jungkook had actually begun laughing.

You jiggle the doorknob a few times before Jungkook goes silent and growls lowly, “Sweet pea, get back here please.” You weren’t sure how much more fear your body could take in this short span of time. You continue trying to figure out the doorknob, panic rising in you, as Jungkook continues to call to you from the couch. “Honey, I said please come back here. Sit with me, baby.” He is starting to speak through clenched teeth. At this time, you are now trying to yell over him, asking desperately how to get on the other side of his door.

He yells your name. “I said get back here right fucking now or I’ll have to do something real fucked up.” Your hands fall to your sides and you hold your breath. Jungkook waits a moment before saying softly, “Baby, I’m asking you to come over here. Do I need to get up and come get you?” You pivot and walk quickly back to him, stopping a bit more than an arm’s length from him. He snickers and opens his arms. “Come here, baby. Sit with me.”

You shake your head, crying, “Jungkook, I would like to go home. I-I-I can’t figure out your lock,” you sob. “I want to go home, please.” You are now filled with a deeper fear than what you felt in the parking garage. You just knew that Jungkook was much more dangerous than whoever it could have been trying to take you away.

“Baby. Here.” He pats his thigh and you whimper, coming over to sit on his lap. He lets out a deep sigh when you finally land and he wraps his arms around you, burying his face in your chest. “Oh, sweetie.” One hand rubs your back and you are sure you’re going to pass out soon. “You can’t possibly think I’m going to let you out of my sight again, hm?” He rubs his head against you, planting a wet kiss on your sweater-covered sternum.

“I-I don’t understand. I have to go home eventually.” You hopelessly tried to find some justification for this, some explanation that the person who saved you from being kidnapped wasn’t a kidnapper themselves. Jungkook chuckles and you feel the vibration through your middle.

“You are home,” he says sweetly, reaching up quickly to peck your cheek. You stifled another gasp and shook your head. “Honey, you’re home now. Everything is going just the way it should be, okay? You’re safe here.”

You let yourself fall forward into Jungkook’s chest. The room had begun to spin.

“That makes no sense,” you mumbled. “This is not the way things should be. Are you saying I was meant to be attacked after work?” You chuckled nervously. As exhaustion and fear nearly spent you completely, you found yourself losing any will to fight back. If you could not beat that man in the garage, how could you beat the man who protected you from him? Jungkook’s body was big and hard with muscle. He was easily more athletic than you, and would likely stop at nothing to stay near you. He scoffed.

“I would never want to hurt you.” He presses kisses to your spinning head. “My baby...it was just a part of bringing you home to me. Don’t take it the wrong way.” Your eyes are open wide, staring at the knick knacks he decorated his entire living room with. You stare at one, a cute kitty cat photo frame - ah, quite obviously holding a photo of you. In fact, all of the artifacts littering his home had some connection to you. A cropped group photo from a work party displays your whole figure in the photo frame by the door. There was a white square hung up in a glass frame with a corner smeared by your favorite lipstick color - you didn’t want to believe it was your garbage. It couldn’t be. He keeps kissing your head.

“No sense,” you whispered brokenly. He shushes you, running his hands along your back once again.

“I know, I know baby. That’s just how you feel right now...don’t worry. I’ll help you understand it was for your own good. Ah, it was a shame I had to hurt Namjoon-hyung like that though...one day when you’re ready to meet him again, you’ll find out he’s actually the coolest brother I have.”

“...brother?”

Jungkook hums. He has begun to absentmindedly braid your hair, taking his time to run his hands through the strands and give each section a sniff. You pretend that you can’t hear his heart rate picking up when he smells your shampoo.

“Hoseokie-hyung was a big help, too. What, with the job and all. I can’t thank those two enough for everything they’ve done for me. Ah, they’ll make the best groomsmen at our wedding, don’t you think, sweetie?”

You opt to not respond. He sighs lightly, relieved.

“Of course, after that, it’s choosing which of the two becomes the first godfather. Ah, I might cry if I think that far ahead,” he chuckles. “I’m so glad you’re home now, sweetheart. I’ve been waiting forever.”

[sanguine-fairy]

An Extra Shot of Love

A/N: This lovely fic is for @bufriedo-for-president as a part of the FT femslash exchange. I hope this is fluffy enough for you :) it was so much fun to write! Thanks for reading

Pairing: Erza x Lucy

Word Count: 2163

“Vanilla Latte. Extra shot of espresso and two extra pumps of vanilla and a pump of strawberry, please.”

“Coming right up!” The blonde barista flashed a smile at Erza, accepting her payment before scribbling the order on a fresh cup.

Erza smiled meekly and walked over to the closest table to wait for her coffee. Monday mornings always required an additional shot of espresso and this Monday was no exception. The big CEO was in office this week causing Erza’s stress levels to skyrocket.

She couldn’t remember a time when her stress levels weren’t through the roof. Not since she took the job at Magnolia’s top design firm, and that was three years ago.

At least she had Magnolia’s best cup of coffee to look forward to every morning.

Erza wasn’t sure when they stopped asking for her name with her order. She could call herself a regular at this point. She’d been coming to this particular coffee shop every morning for almost a year now.

“Erza?” A singsong voice called out her name, pulling her out of her daze.

She smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her skirt and walked towards the counter. The same barista who took her order was holding Erza’s coffee with a smile on her face.

“Have a great day! See you tomorrow morning?” She said as she handed the cup over.

“You too. Oh yes, of course.” Erza returned the smile, not feeling it reach her eyes.

Erza took a tentative sip of her coffee, testing the temperature. It was perfect, of course. The barista knows how to heat it to the right temperature so it’s drinkable right away, just how Erza likes it.

She left the shop and walked briskly the few blocks to her office building. Makarov was already in there, probably waiting for her arrival. She’d been working overtime to get everything in order for him but she still couldn’t shake the anxious feeling from the pit of her stomach as she opened the door.

Makarov was… unlike any other boss she’d ever had before. He was spontaneous, eccentric, and unorthodox. He was the exact opposite of Erza and that made her uncomfortable. ‘Live life outside of your comfort zone’ he always told her. Well, working under him was just that. She couldn’t deny his genius, though.

“There she is, the woman of the hour!” Makarov’s voice boomed, commanding the room instantly. It still baffled Erza how such a voice could come from such a small man.

“Makarov, I hope your office has been stocked to-” Erza halted as Makarov leaped off the receptionist’s desk and landed directly in front of her.

“Sweet Titania, you always work so hard! You know what you need in your life?” Makarov smiled up at her, his wrinkled deepening in the process.

“Uh, no sir, I-”

“Love! Romance! Nothing like a brand new companion to loosen you up,” he winked at her before skipping off towards his office. “We’ll meet at noon. Bring your appetite for sushi… and fashion!”

Erza could feel her face heat up, turning a similar shade to her hair. As Makarov closed his office door, she rushed into her own office, making sure to close every blind.

That Makarov…love? She had love in her life. What did he know? She collapsed in her chair with a heavy sigh. She loved her work. That was enough, right? Taking a sip of coffee, she settled deeper into her chair. She loved coffee, too. Especially when that blonde barista made it. The one with the bright smile.

Wait, bright smile? Erza shook her head. Makarov has filled her head with that love nonsense. It was time to get back to work, not daydream about cute baristas. With one last drink, Erza finished her coffee and threw it into the trash along with any thought of love and romance.

Exhaustion was a common feeling Erza experienced when Makarov was in town but this was the first time it caused her to sleep through her alarms. Normally she’d wake up moments before her alarm, her body clock being more reliable than her phone. But not this morning.

The moment she had opened her eyes she knew something was wrong. It was too light in her room. She was too groggy, too warm. Glaring red numbered greeted her as she looked to her bedside table, causing her to jolt awake. She had 30 minutes to make it into work on time.

Cursing Makarov in her head, Erza jumped out of bed. It was Makarov’s fault she didn’t get into bed until well after 11 (Erza maintained a sharp bedtime of 9:30 PM.) ‘Let’s grab dinner’ he said. ‘Only one more drink’ he said. Being a firm believer of not drinking during the workweek, she spent all night watching her boss get drunk. The regret seeped in as she made a mad dash to get dressed, not bothering with makeup and only pausing for a quick brush of her hair.

Halfway down the block, Erza realized she didn’t grab any breakfast. Wondering if she had time to stop for coffee, she glanced down at her watch. Nope. Of course there wasn’t time. But, starting the day without a proper breakfast and without her coffee wasn’t going to do her any favors. Makarov would understand, right? She’d make it quick and run the whole way to make up time. Picking up her pace, she raced against time to the coffee shop.

With no time to spare, she rushed inside the coffee shop. Her spirits fell as she noticed the unusually long line at the register. She was already there, she might as well wait, right? She glanced nervously at her watch again. Makarov was unpredictable, she couldn’t be sure how he’d react to her tardiness. Erza hesitated inside the door, unsure of how to proceed.

“Erza!” The blonde barista called out to her, waving her to the pickup counter. Erza walked over, trying not to feel the glares of other customers who were impatiently waiting for their chance to order. Waiting at the counter was a tall to go cup and a breakfast sandwich packaged to go. “I had a feeling you’d show up soon. When you weren’t here at your usual time I thought you might be running late. I wanted to have your order ready for pickup when you did show up.” The barista pushed the items closer to Erza.

Erza stared at the girl, mouth hanging open in shock. A simple thank you wasn’t going to be enough. Having her hopes fall into the pits of despair when she saw the line to have them raised to the top by such a kind and unexpected act of kindness was almost enough to push her emotions over the edge.

“Thank you, uh,” she squinted at the name tag pinned to her apron, “Lucy. You don’t realize how you’ve improved my morning. Thank you so much.” Erza shuffled through her wallet to find her card, trying to calculate a tip big enough to show her gratitude. 

“Oh, it’s on the house! Now get to work and have a better rest of your day.” Lucy beamed at Erza as she waved away Erza’s outstretched hand.

Erza blinked at the moisture building in her eyes. How could someone be so kind to someone who barely took the time to learn their name? Guilt flooded Erza as she realized how completely oblivious she had been to Lucy for the last year. She’d been her barista almost every morning, always greeting Erza with a sincere smile. Lucy had learned Erza’s name only after a couple weeks of her stopping in. Erza was unworthy of such kindness.

She put her card away and grabbed her items, “Thank you again, Lucy. I truly appreciate this. I hope you have a great morning, too.”

“It’s always a great morning when you stop in,” Lucy winked at her and walked off towards the register.

Erza stood there frozen for a moment, her brain trying to register the multitude of emotions flooding through it. What had just happened?

Another customer brushed passed her, pulling her back into reality. A gasp escaped her lips as she remembered the time. Careful not to spill her coffee, she rushed out of the shop and headed towards her office. If she was lucky, Makarov wouldn’t be there yet, either.

But she was not lucky.

“My, my, look who is just strolling in!” Makarov called out from his office with a smirk on his face.

Erza walked straight into his office, stopping inside the doorframe.

“Makarov I am so sorry. It is against my personal beliefs to be late and it will never happen again. I just somehow slept through my alarms. I will be sure to create even more alarms to stop this from happening again.”

Makarov’s smirked just widened, “Erza my dear, do not fret. You have been an exemplary employee for as long as I’ve known you, even putting me to shame. It’s nice to know even you make mistakes sometimes. Go enjoy your breakfast! We’ll meet at noon.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. 

Relief flooded through her as she entered her own office and sat down. After taking a long sip of coffee, she held the cup before her and studied it. Her name was written in neat cursive with a tiny little heart drawn at the end. Rotating the cup slightly, she noticed more words written in the same neat cursive.

‘Work might be stressful but if anyone can get through it, it’s you!’ was written on the cup. It had to have been Lucy who wrote it. Erza widened her eyes as a thought crossed her mind.

Grabbing the trash can from under her her desk, she pulled out the most recent coffee cups from that week. Under inspection, she found two cups that also had personal messages written on them out of the five that were in the trash (too busy to take out her own trash.) Each message was written in the same neat cursive that today’s had been. The messages had started around the same time Erza had started to prepare for Makarov’s arrival. Had her attitude changed so noticeably that her barista picked up on it?

Had Lucy been able to read Erza that well?

Erza jumped up from her chair and rushed out the door and into Makarov’s office. “Makarov, I know I just got here but I’ve got to go!”

Startled, Makarov looked up at Erza and smiled as he noticed the determination burning in her eyes. “What for, Titania?” he called out as she had already started for the exit.

Looking over her shoulder she replied with a smile on her face, “For love!”

Bypassing the elevator, she sprinted down the stairs and onto the street. She weaved through the pedestrians making her way towards the coffee shop. The shop was still just as full as she arrived like a whirlwind in the door, capturing both the customer’s and Lucy’s attention. Lucy stared at her in confusion, walking towards the pickup counter to meet her there. 

“Did I make a mistake in your order? I was sure I made it just how you liked it.” Lucy said as a frown formed on her lips. 

“No, it was perfect. You’re perfect!” She blurted out, the adrenaline coursing through her making her brave. “I was wondering if you’d like to get coffee sometime.” Coffee? Erza stuttered as she realized her mistake. A barista wouldn’t want to go on a coffee date. “Uh, I mean, dinner? Would you like to get dinner? Or lunch?”

The adrenaline fueled bravery was being overtaken by embarrassment as Erza felt the stares of everyone in the room. She was causing a scene and she knew it. It went against everything she stood for. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologized before Lucy could speak again, backing away from the counter slowly as if she walked away the whole situation would disappear.

“Wait, I’d love to grab dinner or lunch,” she picked up a fresh cup and started to scribble on it before she handed it over to Erza, “here’s my number. I get off around 4:30.”

Erza took the cup in her hands and stared at the number surrounded by little hearts before looking at Lucy again. Lucy was smiling brightly at her, Lucy’s cheeks tinged red matching the color of her own.

“I’ll, I’ll text you then. Sorry for disrupting your work. Uh, see you!”

“I look forward to it!” Lucy gave a small wave before returning to the register with a smile permanently on her lips.

Muttering her apologies as she walked passed the customers and out the door, she couldn’t help but smile herself. She felt lighter than she had in weeks, months! Maybe even years.

Damn that Makarov. Maybe he was right, maybe she did need some romance in her life.