#and i’m too tired to filter myself

[enha-stars]

body shaved legs open mouth open hair tied back teeth brushed eyebrows done no pants only night gown warm food clothes ironed house clean bed made kids at school windows dusted fridge organized pillows fluffed

[prisonpodcast]

.

[jaegerbroshoe]

What is wrong with me.

[01zfan]

summer | s. es

boyfriend!eunseok x virgin!reader | 4.4k words

a request i received about losing your virginity to your boyfriend eunseok. this is was really fun and incredibly tender to write as usual i got carried away…inspired by the song summer by the carters…anon i hope you like!

contains: nothing just very soft sex hehe

you didn’t know what time of day it was. all you knew was that the sun was awake, filtering through the thin curtain basking the soft bed you laid on in warmth. you thought about how cold it was at home, imagining yourself trudging along icy paths trying your best not to slip. but here, right now, you were at the sunny and warm beach on a vacation with your beautiful boyfriend. 

eunseok looked so peaceful next to you. you rubbed out the crease in between his eyebrows, brought on by stress and endless expectations. if it was one thing eunseok was good at, it was hiding how stressed he was. he was excellent at his job, but the constant need to perform at his best weighed down on him. he seemed to always forget he was so young with so many responsibilities. too many. so when he had an opportunity to release some of that stress with a break in his schedules, you practically had to beg him to do it. you could tell he was reluctant, but the moment he touched the bed of the resort he was out like a light. he slept like a baby, snoring and splayed out on the king sized bed. that was about 16 hours ago. you were starting to get worried that he might’ve slept himself to death. you laid your head on his chest, just to make sure his heart was still beating.

you could hear the steady rhythm of his heart. when you lifted your head off his chest you saw that eunseok was looking at you. his eyes were squinted adjusting to the light in the room. he started rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands and he let out a loud yawn. you yawned too by effect.

“what time is it?” eunseok asked sleepily. his outstretched arms rested on your body.

“i’m not sure. maybe like 10.” 

“it’s really light outside for the evening time though?” eunseok said, looking outside.

you looked up at him to see if he was joking or not. he had the look of confusion on his face while he looked towards the window.

“baby,” eunseok looked towards you. you couldn’t help but laugh at his confusion “i mean it’s 10 in the morning.”

immediately his eyes widened and he shot up from his spot in bed. you could tell he was still fatigued as reached to his phone for confirmation. he’s lucky you plugged it in for him while he was sleeping like a log. you were right about the time, only off by ten minutes.

“i really slept for fourteen hours?” he sounded amazed and a little horrified.

“it’s closer to sixteen hours, i think.” you say.

eunseok scratched the back of his head as he looked at you. after the initial shock from being asleep for so long subsided his eyes went back to being hooded and sleepy. you felt his exhaustion as he yawned again.

“i’m sorry i was asleep for so long.” eunseok said.

“you needed the rest. i dont mind laying in bed and this villa is so nice there was alot for me to do by myself. don’t apologize for catching up on your sleep.” you said.

it was true you were doing things on your own in the villa. you walked around, looking at the guest room that you knew neither of you would be using. it was funny being at this stage in your relationship with eunseok. it wasn’t like you guys were new to intimacy in any way, kissing and cuddling often. but without going all the way it still kind of felt like you two were still learning each other’s boundaries. but you both had this silent pact that the first time you would have sex it would be something special. so the guest room was something like a precaution, if one of you got tired of the other or a little overwhelmed you could go to that room as an escape. the room wasn’t necessary though; being with eunseok felt like you were on a permanent vacation—always smiling and always relaxed.

you ended up watching television on the couch for awhile. it took awhile clicking through the channels till you found something you liked. then you took a nap and read a book. you had food delivered, ordering two extra servings in case eunseok woke up as famished as you were. you would occasionally look to the bed, making sure eunseok was still alive. each time you looked at him he was in a new sleep position, chest rising and falling. you couldn’t look at him too long without getting embarrassed. seeing eunseok in a state of bless made you feel a little too settled, and you found yourself drifting to sleep too.

when you woke up in the middle of the night you almost launched out of bed. you and eunseok always would end up sleeping in a spooning position at night. it was a part of your nightly routine. there would be several positions you two would circulate through during the night, but something poking into your back pulled you out of your sleep. you turned around in eunseoks’ arms carefully, to not wake him up. he was still fast asleep. you lifted up the sheets and even in darkness you could make out the tent in your boyfriend’s boxers. 

it was hard waiting for the right moment to make a move to take things further. it was hard to find moments of intimacy together like this. somedays it felt like worked pulled you two in opposite directions. it didn’t help that you were shy; so shy to the point that it was usually eunseok who would make the first move. he was the one who kissed you first, the one who held your hand, the one that asked you out. you were grateful that he was always aware of your boundaries, taking good care of you at every turn. but there was something that started off as a tiny ember that stirred into a fire pit in the bottom of your stomach. 

your sexual frustration manifested in gripping eunseok a little tighter, going a little deeper when you kissed. it manifested in your gaze, one that was fixed on glimpses of his toned stomach for a little too long, or when he’d wear outfits you picked out for him. you were insatiable, and in moments like this you felt like your want would eat you alive. regardless of your skin feeling like it was on fire, you took pity on your tired boyfriend. you instead brushed hair away from his face, kissed his forehead, and cuddled back into him.

now it was morning and eunseok was looking at you and you felt that pit returning again.

“are you hungry?” eunseok asked. it felt barbaric to say that you were hungry but for something else. regardless it was true, especially when eunseok gave you a glimpse of his side profile while he looked at his phone.

“i had some food delivered. there’s extra in the fridge.” you said.

eunseok looked like he was considering getting up from bed. instead he put his phone down and turned back towards you, pulling you into an embrace. he peppered kisses all over your face and you laughed trying to kiss him a million times back.

“i just want to lay in bed with you all day,” eunseok said “but i want to go to the beach.”

you looked outside the flowing blinds to the beachfront. you couldn’t lie about feeling it call to you. eventually you were able to pull eunseok out of bed. you both ate, laughing over how long eunseok slept.

after eating, you guys changed into your swim attire and headed to the beach. your bikini fit perfectly. the way eunseok looked at you when you came out told you he wasn’t admiring the floral pattern of your bra.

“have i seen that set before,” eunseok said casually. you did a quick spin to show off everything. when you made your way around him again he had blush across his cheeks “i think i would’ve remembered it.”

“i’ve been hiding it. you like?” you say innocently. it feels like your heart is about to beat out of your chest.

eunseok starts walking over to you. he has a smile on his face, the type of smile that makes your face feel hot and your body feel fuzzy. 

“i like it alot actually.” eunseok says, standing in front of you. when you look up he gives you a simple peck on the cheek. he holds your hand as he leads you to the beach.

you and eunseok spend all day playing in the sand and drinking mai tai’s. you reflect on how happy you are to be here with him and to be his. the fire in your stomach burns for a different reason when you see him watching you carefully when you swim deeper from the shore. you beckon to him and he swims to you almost immediately. its like you two are alone in the center of the world floating around one another holding hands. 

“we’re like otters.” eunseok says. you can’t help but laugh at how serious he is when he says it. you don’t see it but eunseok looks at you laughing and a smile appears on his face.

you don’t return back to the villa until it’s dark. you both come back drained from the beach, the gentle waves lulling you to sleep. when you two lay on the bed you can still hear the waves crashing on the beach.

“i had alot of fun with you today.” you say. you lay next to eunseok on the bed. he still makes you so nervous you have to keep your eyes trained on something else when you get sentimental with him. you focus on the ceiling. you play with the hem of your night gown. 

“i had alot of fun too,” eunseok grabs your hand that plays with the hem of your dress. “sorry for sleeping. i’ve been so accustomed to working i didn’t know how tired my body was.”

you turn towards him, only to find out he was already looking at you.

“eunseok please don’t apologize. you overwork yourself. you deserve to sleep.” 

eunseok laid there looking at you. 

“do i have something on my face?” you said.

“i love you.” eunseok said simply. 

“i love you too.” you said back to him. 

eunseok sat up, at the end of the bed. he reached out his hand and pulled you into him.

“you actually do have something on your face.” eunseok said, looking at your lips.

“where?” you asked.

as his answer, eunseok went to your cheek and placed a kiss there. he pulled away laughing. he put a gentle hand on your neck, one that helped him tilt your head to the side.

“here too.” eunseok said placing a kiss on your jaw. he pulled away after that kiss, looking to you.

“what about here?” you asked, pointing at your neck. 

“mhmm.” eunseok laughed, kissing your neck. he stayed in that place and you could feel his hot tongue laving the area. you sighed contently, both of your hands going to grip his shoulders. he brought you closer, eventually his lips traveled to yours, placing a kiss. you were so excited you instantly deepen the kiss. you can’t get enough of feeling his tongue lick your lips, touching his tongue to yours. before you know it, you’re moaning into the kiss and eunseok bites your lip. he pulls away first, looking you up and down.

“a little pent up baby?” eunseok grips your thigh. he’s dangerously close to your center and you squirm under his touch. your mind can barely process all the things you want him to do to you. eunseok retreats his hand, bringing it down to your knee.

“you know, we don’t have to do anything. i’m more than happy to kiss you.” eunseok says, eyeing you carefully.

you slowly put your hands over eunseok’s and move them where they were before. you try tell him what you want through body language, that you want him to touch you all over. 

“i need to hear you say what you want,” eunseok says. “for me, please.” he smiles at you and all your nerves melt off your shoulders. you pull his hand even further up, until his hand rests in the space where you thigh and center meet.

“i want you so bad, eunseok.” you can barely say it above a whisper. 

eunseok hears you clearly and fully rests his hand over your heat. his lips attach to your neck and you gasp. your body is tingling in excitement. 

“i’ve wanted you for so long,” eunseok say in between kisses on your neck. “never wanted to pressure you baby but there were some nights all i wanted to do was show you how much i want to take care of you.” 

“me too,” you say. “but you already take such good care of me.” you pant. although your brain is already being consumed with eunseok, you cant act like he isn’t thinking of you every chance he gets. eunseok has a talent of being stoic and calm, but you can always feel him looking at you. the way he leads you through crowds of people with a gentle guiding hand on the small of your back. the way he always buys you a snack when he’s out, or something that reminds him of you. eunseok is never not taking you into consideration.

“i mean in a different way.” eunseok has a hand slightly underneath the hem of your shirt. he looks up to you from your neck. “can i show you?”

you nod your head and before you know it, eunseok is touching your breast. it shouldn’t feel so good, he’s touched you like this before. but the implication of more has you leaning your head back and whimpering. eunseok helps you lean your whole body back until you’re laying on the bed. he starts trailing kisses from your neck lower and lower down your body. you lift your shirt, giving him access to kiss your stomach. the whole time eunseok looks at you. you know it’s so he can be locked into your facial expressions, to give him an indicator of what’s too much and not enough. his gaze is only making you dizzier, amplifying all of his ministrations on you. your back is arching off the bed by the time he makes it to your mid thigh. 

he kisses and sucks on the skin, and you are trying to suppress the moans that threaten to spill out. eunseok smiles against your skin.

“you’re so cute.” he says as he continues down your body. eunseok kisses your calf and works his way to your feet. he massages and kisses your ankle. 

“you’re really taking your time.” you say.

“i want to kiss and worship every part of you. you’re perfect.” eunseok says simply. it’s just that easy for him to praise you. 

when eunseok finally starts working his way back up your legs, you feel like you’re about to jump out of your skin. when he gets to your mid-thigh, he stops and looks up at you.

“can you take your shorts off for me, baby?” eunseok asks. 

you nod quickly, lifting your hips off the bed so eunseok can help you. your shorts are placed on the bed next to you, and eunseok slightly pulls you towards him so your lower half is hanging off the edge of the bed. eunseok grabs your hand and pulls you up. once you’re sitting on the edge of the bed, he lowers himself back down in between your legs.

“i want to make you feel good.” eunseok says, looking at your unclothed center. he lifts your legs until your feet are resting on the edges of the bed frame. you lean back on your arms, trying not to pass out. eunseok’s proximity to your heat has you already seeing stars.

“please.” you say simply, not sure what you’re begging for.

without saying anything else, eunseok brings a finger to swipe up your vagina. he puts his glistening finger in his mouth. the sight has you leaning all the way back on the bed. you can feel eunseok place a kiss to your pussy. you feel his wet tongue, the same that was just in your mouth is now in places you’ve dreamed about it being. you look down at eunseok, and you can see him reaching for your hands. he grabs one of your hands to hold it, and he leads your other hand to his hair, so you can grip his brown hair. when you experimentally pull at his strands, he gets even more aggressive with eating you out, tonguing your vagina. you cant hold back your moans, especially when eunseok starts sucking on your clit and adds another finger. you can feel the fire that burns in your belly turn white and you grip eunseoks’ hand even tighter.

“eunseok i’m close.” you whimper. eunseok moans an mhmm into your pussy and pulls you closer. 

you barely have any stability as you let out a final moan. you ride into his face, and eunseok moves your legs to rest on his shoulders. you act purely on impulse trying to ride out the feeling of euphoria. you feel your thighs close in on eunseoks head and your back arches off the bed. he takes everything in stride, keeping his fingers inside of you and lips on your clit. 

you have to push him away with a weak hand before eunseok pulls away from you.

“you alright babe?” eunseok says it way to casually, especially with the bottom half of his face covered in you. all you can do is scoot yourself back on the bed and motion for him to come to you.

eunseok comes to you on the bed and pulls you into his chest. you kiss him, tasting what you two made together. you’re entranced by the taste of yourself on his tongue. you play with the waistband of his pants until you finally get the courage to dip your hand underneath. you grab his dick in your hand, experimentally squeezing. eunseok puts a hand up your shirt, squeezing your breast. you think about how you could stay like this forever, feeling up your boyfriend. you squeeze him a little tighter. eunseok pulls away.

“can i see it?” you ask. you’re pushing down his pants for him. “i think about it all the time.”

when you get eunseok’s pants off, you are surprised by his size. you never doubted he would be big based on how tall he was, but you had your doubts if you’d even be able to take it now. 

“you’re big.” you grab his length again, stroking him. eunseok leans back on the bed and lets out a sigh. he closes his eyes in bliss as you continue to stroke him. 

when you try to move your body down to his dick, to give eunseok the same thing he gave you, his eyes shoot open to look at you.

“i won’t last if you do that.” eunseok says.

“i want to, though.” you say. eunseok kisses your pout. he gathers your hair into his hand and does and light tug. he tuts and lets your hair fall back down.

“we have plenty of time for that later,” eunseok moves you from your side to your back. he reaches to the bedside drawer to pull out a condom.

“can i put it on you?” you say quickly. eunseok nods, handing you the foil packet.

you open up the packet and take out the latex condom. its a little slippery, you never thought they’d put lube on the condoms. you look to the condom and then to eunseok’s dick. you suddenly feel very unprepared. eunseok sits up and pinches the tip of the condom.

“you can put it on the tip then just roll it down.” eunseok says. you look at him and he has a smile on his face. you also noticed the creeping blush on his cheeks.

“how do you know that?” you ask.

“i actually watched a video.” eunseok says with a straight face. you can’t help but laugh at how serious it is and eunseok joins you.

you follow his instruction. while you roll the condom all down his shaft, eunseok kisses you. his hand gripping the sheets doesn’t go unnoticed. 

when you are done, eunseok leads you back down on the bed beside him. he brings himself on top of you. “i really want to be inside of you right now.”

although you are more than ready, in fact you’ve been ready, you can’t stop yourself from feeling a twinge of anxiety. what if he doesn’t fit? what if it doesn’t feel good? 

a million hypotheticals rush through your head. once eunseok kisses your forehead, it’s like they instantly disappear from your mind. he interlaces his fingers to yours before kissing the back of your hand. 

you grab eunseok’s length with a touch his throbbing in your hand. eunseok places his hand over yours and you both guide him to your entrance. once he’s there, you instinctively wrap your arms around him. he’s stable and solid above you, and you think about how he’s always someone you can lean on.

“i love you so much.” you say. you’re almost embarrassed, saying something that was meant for your inner thoughts. eunseok places a sweet kiss to your forehead.

“i love you, too.” eunseok says. he shifts an arm underneath you, so you two are chest to chest.

“tell me if it hurts. i’m going to go slow.” eunseok looks in your eyes. you nod back, trying to let out a deep breath and relax.

eunseok keeps his word as he slowly sinks into you. you cant stop yourself. you instinctively grip harder onto eunseok’s back, letting out a whine. you can’t lie and say it doesn’t feel uncomfortable as he stretches out your walls. eunseok drops his head into your neck as he keeps going. you hold onto him tighter, and eunseok makes a sound you’ve never heard him make when he’s all the way in.

“is this okay?” eunseok lifts his head from your neck to look at you.

“yeah.” you squeak. you can feel your walls close in on him because of the way he’s speaking to you and you can tell he feels it too because he lets out another one of those sounds. you feel driven to keep pulling that sound out of him; something between a groan and a gasp. you clench around him again.

“you’re so tight. holy shit.” eunseok says, dropping his head back into your neck. you can’t control the clenching now, your body acting on its own accord in response to eunseok. “can i keep going?”

“yes. please.”

when eunseok pulls his hips back to drive back into you just as slow, you abandon trying to be quiet. you feel sorry for your neighbors as you pants turn to moans when the uncomfortableness melts into pleasure. before you know it eunseok is rocking into you at a steady pace, and you can’t control the sounds you make anymore.

“that’s my girl.” eunseok says pulling back and snapping his hips into you. you moan and dig your nails into his back as a response.

“eunseok. k-keep going.” you say. you know he has no plans of stopping, but you might combust if eunseok pulls away from you.

his pace increases, and you feel a churning feeling all over. that fire had been put out what building up even more. the fire went around your whole body, and told you to hike your leg up over eunseok’s shoulder. 

the new angle has you seeing stars and leave eunseok moaning against your mouth when he tries to kiss you. he puts a hand on your thigh to help give you balance as his thrusts get deeper and deeper. 

“i’m close.” you moan.

“me too.” eunseok moans. he lets your leg fall back down and pulls you closely to him again. eunseok thrusts harder into you, and he drops a hand to rub revolutions on your clit. you hold onto his bicep, digging crescent moons into his skin.

eunseok kisses you all over. your mind is operating at half speed giving him delayed kisses back. all you can hear is eunseok telling you he loves you and compliments fall from his lips like it’s second nature. all you can think about is the sound of skin against skin. 

you wish you could tell him you were about to show him how well he had taken care of you, but your orgasm hits you like a wall of flowers. you clench around eunseok repeatedly and wrap your legs around his waist. eunseok only gives you a few more quick thrusts before he’s experiencing euphoria of his own. you both ride oh your highs, gasping and moaning against each other and you move your hips, trying to prolong the feeling. you can feel your boyfriend pulse inside of you one last time as his weight gets a little heavier on top of you.

when eunseok pulls back you take in all of his features again. his tousled hair, red cheeks and ears, the way his lips are all plump and swollen. you kiss him again, and keep kissing him until he pulls out of you.

eunseok keeps kissing you as he slides off the bed. he doesn’t break the kiss until he has to—to stand up and tie off his condom. he disappears into the bathroom but is back just as fast, getting into the sheets next to you.

eunseok find your pajama bottoms and helps put them back on you. you help him back into his pants. you both have the covers over you, making sure you both are comfortable. you both settle in next to each other, your head tucked underneath eunseoks’ chin. you think about all the things you want to say to him. how good he’s always made you feel and how much you love him. eunseok thinks about how beautiful you are inside and out, how being the thought of being apart from you makes him want to stay in this villa forever. instead, you both drift off to sleep listening to the waves crash on the sand.

[headkiss]

Oooo what abt a cozy holiday fic w steve & shy reader snuggling under blankets w hot cocoa🥹

hiii thank u for this request!! here’s some sweet steve fluff with r after a tough day at work <3 | 0.6k

Steve Harrington has become your comfort person, which, if someone had told you that in high school, you would’ve never believed.

Now, however, he’s different, letting his goodness shine through. You’re not sure how you got lucky enough to land him, but after a run-in at the grocery store, a first date (and many more), you get to call him your boyfriend.

Dating has never been the easiest for you, with your shyness that hasn’t faded much over the years, but Steve was patient, following your lead while also encouraging you to open up.

So, months of dating, and you’re only ever happy to see him, the nerves dissipated with the first ‘I love you,’ that he spoke.

“Stevie?” You call, stepping into the Harrington home, your spare key in hand.

“In here, honey!” He calls, his voice filtering out of the living room.

Even just the sound of it has you relaxing a little, setting your things down and walking over to him.

In the living room, you find that the couch has been covered with cozy blankets and pillows, a Christmas movie paused at the opening credits on the TV, and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate sit on the coffee table.

“Hi,” he says, taking the few steps over to you as you look around. “I thought we could do a holiday movie night. What do you think?”

Your heart squeezes, and after the day you’ve had, your eyes well up a little, too. You surge forward and wrap your arms around his middle, cheek pressed to his shirt. “Thank you.”

Steve hugs you back easily, a reflex at this point, an arm around your shoulders, stroking your back gently, a hand pressed to your head to keep you close. He thinks about when you used to be too afraid to initiate anything, and feels immensely thankful that you’d trusted him enough to get to where you are now.

“I was hoping you’d like it, but I didn’t think it’d be this much,” he says, chin resting on the top of your head. “You alright, honey?”

You sniffle once, nodding against him. “Bad work day. The holidays are so busy, and I was out front all day. Just tired.”

You’ve always preferred to be in the back, doing stock or cleaning things up, because it’s so much easier. No awkward conversation you’ll stress over later, no second-guessing every word you say to strangers.

Steve knows that, so he dips to press a kiss to your hair. “I’m sorry, honey. I know it can be overwhelming. Let me help you feel better, yeah?”

“Thank you, Stevie.”

You let him lead you to the couch, where he sits right next to you, an arm swung over your shoulders. Before you know it, he’s got you bundled up in blankets and tugged close to his side.

He presses play on the remote, letting the Christmas movie and its festive soundtrack start to play. “Comfy?” He checks.

“Mhm. The comfiest.”

“Perfect,” he kisses your head again. “You just tell me when you want some hot chocolate, I’ll pass it to you.”

“I can get it myself, you know.”

“Yeah, but I like taking care of you.”

You shake your head with a small smile, the stress of your work day melting away, the awkward encounters long forgotten.

Eventually, about halfway through the movie, Steve realizes that you’d fallen asleep, cheek on his shoulder, hand holding onto his arm. He focuses on your steady breathing, on your face completely soft and relaxed, and he can’t help but smile.

Steve thinks that this Christmas and every other one to come, the only gift he’ll ever need is you.

[gracieheartspedro]

I Can See You

fem!reader x dbf!joel miller

Hi friends! It's been awhile (:

I am back to writing! This time, I'm planning on having many parts to this story. It's a DBF Joel Miller story, which I love to read, which means I had to write it, right?

I wrote this with no Y/N, instead each character gives her a nickname/pet name.

So here's Part 1, I really hope you enjoy!

Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: DBF! Joel, age gap-ish (reader is 25, Joel is 39), eventual smut, joel being a little bit of a perv, reader not having a filter, alcohol consumption

“Mornin’,” His Southern accent was even deeper than usual. My head peaks up from behind my computer, noticing his very tired eyes. The bags under his eyes still somehow did him justice. 

“Mornin’ Joel,” I mutter before taking a sip of my coffee. I watch as he finds his way towards my bosses office. He was only my boss at work, but at home he was just Dad. 

I watch his ass move in his jeans, shamelessly. 

Finding your coworker hot is one thing, it’s another when it’s also your dad’s friend and he was about 20 years older than you. 

I’ve thought Joel Miller was quite the looker since I was about 18. I had just started working for my dad. I was mainly just scheduling and doing work orders. Joel took me out to a work site one day, on my father’s request. He wanted me to get know some of the people who would be scheduling work from us. I got to sit around with the property manager of an apartment complex in a tight black dress in the dead of summer, watching guys replace windows. While outside that day, Joel worked alongside some of the laborers, his tanned skin and shaggy dark hair glistening with sweat. Something about him doing manual labor turned me on. Something awoke in me that day, and ever since then, I thirst over him in silence. 

I catch myself looking a bit too long, quickly averting my eyes to my computer screen. I act like I am typing something, glancing over to Joel and my dad walking out of his office together. They are discussing another project that Joel was overseeing that would keep him very busy in the upcoming months. 

“My girl here will be starting back at college in the fall, so she will only be part time for awhile,” My dad says, drawing attention to me. 

“Oh really, where ya going?” 

I blank out completely for a moment.

“UT Austin,” I finally answer.

“Smart girl, you living on campus?”

“Nope, just getting my master’s in Engineering so living from home makes the most sense.”

Joel shakes his head, “Master’s. Didn’t you just graduate high school?”

“I’m 25, Joel.”

His eyes scan me for a moment, realizing I’m much older than he remembers. 

“Ha,” He grumbles, “Time flies huh, Steve?”

“Sure does, you just wait for that Sarah of yours is off to college,” My dad laughs, slapping Joel’s shoulder. I wince, realizing again he has a young daughter. It wasn’t ideal, to say the least. 

“We got about 5 years on that,” Joel says, his eyes returning to mine, “Well it’ll be nice havin’ you around during our busy season.”

“Happy to help,” I reply, not really meaning it. 

“Hey, Joel, you and Sarah making an appearance at our BBQ this weekend? We invited the whole neighborhood and I can’t remember if you told me you’d be there.”

His eyes are still on me, “Yeah, I’ll be there,” his eyes return to my dad’s, “Just me and Tommy though, Sarah is goin’ over to a friend’s house.”

“Can’t wait!” My dad cheers, “Baby girl, can you make sure my schedule is cleared Friday evening so I don’t have to worry about when I can get the meat?”

“Of course, dad,” I grit my teeth, “I’m on it.”

-

“Hey baby girl, can you go grab me some extra plates?” 

My dad was over the top with his BBQs to say the very least. The whole neighborhood was in on it. Steaks, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, the whole thing. I spent all morning getting the huge backyard and cabana ready for all our visitors. We usually had someone come over to do all the setting up, but Dad made sure to remind me that I was living rent free and being paid on his payroll, so setting up was the least I could do. 

People littered the pool and backyard. I weave between people, giving smiles and welcomes where I could.

I walk in to the kitchen, the cold AC air hitting my bare arms. Luckily, I was wearing shorts over my bikini shorts, or else the goose bumps would be up and down my legs, too. I begin searching the cabinets for the large serving plates you always used for big gatherings. Leaning down, my triangle bikini top almost lets my boobs loose. I sit up straight, messing with the knots on my back. I knew tightening it could only help so much.

“Need help?” I almost jump out of my skin. I turn quickly, spotting Joel Miller standing in the kitchen with me.

“Shit, you fucking scared me,” I breathe loudly, patting my chest to make my heart stop racing, “I think I can get it.”

“Mhm,” He sticks a tooth pick between his teeth, “Lemme help, girl.”

God he was so fine. I hated myself for having a crush on him. But the domestic and simple gray t-shirt that hugged his arms so well and the blue jeans? I simply could not resist staring. 

No chance in hell. But I got to look at him every day and imagine it. 

I turn on my heels, holding the ties out to him so he could tie them. 

“I need them tighter,” I mutter, “Don’t want these puppies falling out in front of the Adlers.”

“Don’t want to excite Mr. Adler too much, he may have himself a heart attack.”

I smile to myself, biting my lip. He ties it, his fingers grazing my bare back slightly. 

“All good now, girl,” I turn to face him, looking up at him through my eyelashes, “Now what were you lookin’ for?”

“Serving plates,” I explain, “Dad is finishing up those steaks, needs more space.”

“Well let’s get ‘em and head out to all the fun,” He says, ducking down to the cabinet I was looking in originally. He finds them, handing them up to me. He looks so good looking up at me from this angle. 

“You want to grab us some beers,” I suggest, “I’ll meet you out there?”

“Your dad runnin’ low?”

“Probably, so grab three.”

–

“So, you going to be here all summer?”

I had no interest in talking to Tommy, but he was keeping me from toeing the line with Joel in my drunken state, so here I am. I sit in my lounger chair, wanting so bad to take off my jean shorts. I knew if I did, Tommy would take it as I’m making a pass, so I sweat extra. 

“I’m starting college in August, so yeah I’ll be around the office and staying home.”

He smiles, “Good to hear, love seeing you around.”

I smile back faking a cheery laugh, “Thanks, Tommy… care to grab me another beer?”

“No problem, sweetheart.”

I watch him walk away before searching the crowd for Joel. I spot him across the yard, talking to one of the newer neighbors. A single mom who moved in two months ago. My dad kept joking the other night that he’d be making her my stepmom, which only made me gag. She was beautiful, younger than my dad, but just about Joel’s age. 

A pang of jealousy rises within me. 

Joel finally catches my wandering eyes. He smiles gently, giving me a nod.

“Here, darling,” Tommy says sweetly, “Need anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” Your brother, “Can you help me with something?”

“Sure, ‘s up?”

I sit up, leaning over making my boobs hang right in his eye line. 

If I couldn’t keep one Miller’s attention, maybe I could snag second best. My beer filled brain thinks about how they are cut from the same cloth, so they both are probably good at this. 

“Do you want to help me change a lightbulb?”

He raises his eyebrows, “I guess, where at?”

I smirk, “My bedroom.”

We sneak away, my eyes scanning the area. It didn’t appear as anyone was following us. My room was the last room on the left upstairs, so the anticipation as I guided him down the hallway was killing me.

Ever since Joel grazed my back earlier, I’ve been ready. So fucking ready. 

“Are we actually changing a lightbulb?”

I open my door for him, gesturing to him to follow me in.

In the dim light, Tommy was very cute. He was a sweet guy and I knew he’d be the first to jump on my idea. 

“You tell me,” I say, starting to untie the knot Joel tied. In my moment of trying to be sexy, I realize Joel tied the stupidest and hardest knot ever. Tommy notices my struggle, reaching around me, frantically trying to get the top off.

As it gets loose, I reach up to grab his neck.

“What the fuck is going on ‘ere?” 

His voice freezes me. Tommy looks towards the door in horror.

“Joel-“

“Tommy, you fucking know better,” His voice is so intimidating and scary, I cant even muster the courage to turn around, “Git.”

Tommy gives me eyes saying I’m so sorry, and I just stare blankly at my wall. I hear Tommy’s foot steps run down the stairs. I realize how drunk I am because my wall paper begins to move on it’s own. It doesn’t usually do that. 

“Now you,” His stride towards me is quick, “I’m not your Dad, but don’t think he’d like you fucking his employees.”

Maybe it was the liquid courage, “Who said I was trying to fuck him?”

I snap my head towards his stern and impossible to read face.

“Bullshit,” He spits, “He got through my knot, he assumed somethin’ was about to happen.”

“Well, even if that’s where it went, why are you putting your nose in our business?”

He chuckles darkly, “So now it’s ours, huh? I have you know, girl, Tommy’s business is my business. And you’re just makin’ my job hard.”

I tiptoe closer to him, “And what’s your job, again, Mr. Miller?”

“Make sure people are behavin’ themselves.”

I realize what he’s doing. My tipsy mind took a second to search his face for more, but I can't read him at all. 

“I’m behaving, Mr. Miller. I promise,” I reach up, touching his jaw, “No more funny business.”

It was the closest I had ever got to him. I felt a rush just touching him.

“Good, get your top back on and come down to the party. Your dad is looking for you.”

I look down at myself as he leaves the room. My fucking tits are out, and he didn’t even look down.

The game he was playing was not the same one I was playing.

–

The next morning, I have a pounding headache and no drive to leave my room. I was embarrassed and horrified. I knew I would have to face Joel and Tommy on Monday morning, so I had to make amends beforehand. I really didn’t want them to tell my dad and I was pretty out of line for trying to fuck Tommy when Joel wasn't giving me the attention my drunk ass thought I deserved.

After spending hours in bed, rolling back and forth thinking of a script to say, I figured that honesty is the best policy. 

Well, honesty with a little bend in the truth. 

I get showered and dressed. My usual summer time outfit was a crop top and short shorts, but today I needed to be more… conservative. 

I find a nice summery dress, that went to midthigh. It was yellow, not a lot cleavage, floral. Innocent. 

When I get downstairs, my dad sits in the living room, his feet propped up watching the news. 

“Where ya going, baby girl?” 

“I’m going for a walk,” I lie. 

“Wearing that?”

“Yes,” I nod quickly, “Do you need anything while I’m out?”

He shakes his head, “No, have fun, I guess.”

I could tell he was suspicious, but he wasn’t one to pester me too much. He had high expectations for me, but I always exceeded them. He never questioned me too much, unless it was about school. He didn’t even really care about my love life. He always got excited when I told him I was going on dates in college. I mean, I rather him be excited than bother me about the guys I was seeing.

I start my journey to Joel’s. I didn’t even know if he was home or not, I was going on blind faith.

It was hot as shit and I was not fully prepared to walk to his house in a dress and sandals. 

I could’ve just driven there and back. But no, I decided to roast in the hot summer sun.

–

When I arrive to his house, I just kind of stand in his driveway, catching my breath. He was home, his truck was here. 

I walk to the front door, knocking first then ringing the door bell. 

It takes about minute, but he gets the door. 

And he’s shirtless. 

It was the worst and best moment of my entire life. 

“What are you doing here?”

And it’s not quite the response I was anticipating when I arrived at his door. 

“I uh-,” I hear some stirring inside the house, which causes me to peak my head past Joel’s shoulder. 

I see movement, but my eyes find Joel’s again before I could focus in on it. He pushes me back a bit, coming outside and shutting the door behind him. 

“I came to apologize, but you seem busy.”

He shakes his head, “Not busy, just woke up.”

“With someone?”

What the fuck? Why can’t I shut my mouth?

“Pardon me?”

“Well I walked this whole way to apologize about my inappropriate behavior yesterday,” I explain, “But yeah, that’s it.”

The door creaks open and I am wholeheartedly anticipating a hot MILF or something. But instead, it’s a little girl. 

“Sarah, get inside!”

“Oh hi, I know you!”

I smile at the girl. She was cute, I had to admit. She looked a bit like Joel, mainly the smile. A smile I wasn’t too familiar with, because he wasn’t too keen on my jokes. Ever.

“Yeah, I work with your dad,” I explain, “Nice to see you, Sarah.”

“You too, do you want to have lunch with us?”

“Sarah she can’t st-” 

“I’d love to, only if your dad says it’s okay.”

He got himself in a pickle, but I was aching to have a conversation that didn’t involve me putting my foot in my mouth like I almost did again. Plus, some food and water would help the heatstroke I felt coming on.

He stares at me, almost like he wished I’d disappear, “Of course, come in. Sarah is making sandwiches.”

“I hope you like turkey and cheese!”

—

“Thanks for the sandwich, Sarah,” I say, wiping my face making sure I didn’t have mustard left over.

She smiles with her mouth full, “You’re welcome!”

“Hey Sarah, why don’t you go get ready for swim practice,” He suggests, “Me and your new best friend need to have an adult conversation.”

She looks up at him annoyed, “I guess, but don’t scare her away. She has a cool pool I want to swim in.”

I laugh out loud, “Yeah, don’t scare me away, Joel.”

He doesn’t laugh, he just looks at me with his lazer eyes. I just wish Sarah a farewell and shut my mouth, waiting for the storm. He stirs, eating another bite of his sandwich. 

“So you came to apologize, huh?”

I swallow, “Uh, yeah. I’m sorry for my inappropriate behavior. I had one too many yesterday.”

He nods, “Yeah you were practically falling out of that top of yours before you took Tommy upstairs. Surprised you didn’t have it off before then.”

My eyes widen, “Well that’s humiliating.”

“Don’t think anyone was particularly mad about it,” He says, “Maybe one of those neighborhood watch moms, but who cares about ‘em?”

I can’t help but smirk. Was he insinuating that he wasn’t mad about almost seeing my boobs?

“Yeah, they always give me the most disgusted looks when I’m out jogging.”

“Cause’ they miss bein’ young and beautiful,” He explains, “All their husbands stare, too.”

I can’t believe he’s talking to me like this, I find myself leaning in a bit to try to talk quieter. It seems like this is conversation we should be whispering to each other.

“Do you stare?”

Foot. In. Mouth. 

He smirks, giggling a bit. I finally got to see him smile.

“Of course, I do.”

----

Hehehehe tell me what you think! I'll be back with part 2 soon!

[sxfterhearts]

10:49pm - late night calls.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ idol!jiung x reader ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅

♡ genre/warnings: fluff inspired by late night calls mv ♡

♡ word count: 1,219 words

♡ summary: late night calls - p1h

♡ author’s note: just a short one i smashed out tonight bc choi jiung is so lovely and i am falling head over heels for the p1h boys ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ also pics cred to the lovely tumblr owners!!!

//

“Jiung, sparkly heart shape, mouse emoji, is calling. Pick it up.” Siri’s automated voice filtered through your wired headphones, causing you to grind your skateboard to a halt. You hefted the newly purchased skateboard and rested it against your thigh, no easy feat.

Your heart thudded dully against your chest with a quickening tempo that exceeded the vibrations of your default iPhone ringtone. This was the first ever call you’ve received from your boyfriend of two months, and you were not sure how to act.

With the timidness of a baby mouse, your fingers tightly grasped your phone and swiped across the screen. “Hello?” You said, almost in a whisper, small and uncertain.

“Y/N? Ah, you picked up.” Jiung’s familiar voice sounded in your ears, as though he was standing right next to you. It wasn’t as clear and crisp as you would’ve liked though, as you could just make out the distant blares of sirens and car horns in the faraway background.

“Jiung. What time is it? Isn’t it late for you? Have you eaten? How was the show? What are you up to?” The questions tumbled past your lips before you had a chance to stop them.

“Woah, calm down.” Jiung teased, a deep chuckle drifting out of his lips, straight past your earphones and into your heart. You could almost feel the rumble of his chest as he took a second to compose himself. “Eager, aren’t we?”

“I mean,” You mumbled, more to yourself than to him. “It’s the first time we’ve called, after all…”

“That’s right, I didn’t think of that.” He replied thoughtfully. “Well, to answer your questions in order: it is currently 10:49pm, so not too late as we’re still adjusting to the timezones. We had galbijjim at this super popular spot in KoreaTown that was twice the size of any galbijjim I’ve ever seen in Korea and absolutely flooded with cheese. Oh, and the show was great, as usual. I’ll send you some cool videos of myself after this. And I’m not up to much. Some of the kids wanted to go for a stroll to get a glimpse of the New York night life, but I’m feeling pretty tired. Keeho is helping our manager with the logistics for our next tour stop. Theo is watching videos and being very loud, as usual. I’m just…”

“Where are you? Inside? It must be cold at night.”

“No. Yes? Sort of? Well,” You could hear Jiung’s soft grunts as he shuffled around in the background, getting comfortable. “I’m sitting on a windowsill. Trust me, it’s not as dangerous as it sounds. You know how in all those old American movies; the New York apartments that always have those tiny balconies with fire escapes? Yeah, I’m just sitting on that, getting a bit of the night air.”

“Wow, that sounds so cool.” You couldn’t help the wonderstruck grin that made its way onto your lips. “I wish I could take a photo of that.”

“Yeah? I’ll take a selfie and send one to you then.” Jiung answered.

“Or we could just video call?” You suggested, somewhat apprehensively.

“We could, of course, but that’s not as fun, is it?” Jiung countered, ever so gently, conscious to not leave you feeling rejected. “I’d love to see your pretty face and all, but I feel like the voice-only call is a lot more intimate, no? You can only hear my voice, and the rest is up to your imagination. It’s kinda romantic. Like a romantic late-night call.”

You nodded, cheeks reddening up even at the slightest things – like how he called you pretty, or how he was trying to create a romantic atmosphere for the two of you. The relationship was so fresh, and every little thing felt like it was big enough to make your heart pound right out of its chest. “Yeah,” You agreed breathlessly, momentarily forgetting that he can’t see you. “I guess it is.”

“So, what’s my girl doing at this hour?”

Your stomach did several somersaults, and you took a small breath to calm yourself before answering, “I’m at the Han River. It’s around noon, and I’m just practicing a bit of skateboarding before I meet my friends later. We’re going to watch a movie and hang out at a café. Oh, and I had kimbap for lunch. At the place you recommended!” At the mention of food, you immediately got excited. “It was so good! I had the tuna wasabi and special tonkatsu ones. And the kimbap ahjumma was so nice, she gave me a free drink!”

“Did she? I’m glad then. She probably knows that I recommended you – she’s always giving me free service when I go with the boys.” Jiung smiled at the thought of you visiting his favourite kimbap spot and happily eating your food. You were going around to the places he frequents in Seoul and leaving your mark there, making your own memories. It warmed his insides to think that when he got back, you could both visit those places together and create new, precious memories. “Oh, but skateboarding? Are you on your own?”

“Yup! I’m getting pretty good now, Ji! Not as good as you, of course, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.” You reported back proudly, grip tightening around your skateboard, pink and sparkly, just like the bows in your pigtails.

“I’m proud of you, but Y/N,” Jiung audibly sucked in a breath, “Isn’t that a bit dangerous? What if you fall? Who’s gonna help you up when I’m not there?”

You giggled in response. That was your Jiung, always poised to help you if you ever needed him and constantly ready at your beck and call. “I’ll be fine! I swear. I don’t even go as fast.”

“Okay, well promise me you’ll go slow and try not to do anything too crazy. I’ll teach you more when I get back.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You smiled sweetly, gazing out at the serene view of the Han River, secretly wishing that your beloved was not on the other side of the world so you could share this view with him.

“Twenty more days, Y/N…” Jiung muttered, almost as if he read your mind through the phone. “Twenty more days, four hundred and eighty more hours, twenty-eight thousand and eight hundred more minutes, and way more seconds before I can see you again, my love. Just twenty days, but why does it feel so far away?” He said rhetorically.

“I know,” You pouted in response. “I miss you heaps, Ji.”

“Me too, baby. I promise when I get back, we’ll get – ”

“Pizza! There’s this new place in Itaewon I really wanna try.”

Jiung laughed heartedly. “Okay, we’ll get pizza in Itaewon, and go for a skate along the river. And have a ramyeon and kimbap picnic at the park for dinner. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”

//

Jiung: Sent a photo [11:17pm]

Y/N: I’ve seen this!! Woahhh Choi Jiung, are you Korea’s next Justin Beiber? [11:17pm]

Jiung: (¬◾_◾) I’m just cool like that. [11:18pm]

Y/N: I also saw you tearing up at the ending ment… [11:18pm]

Y/N: So precious (╥ ω ╥) [11:18pm]

Jiung is typing…

Jiung: Hey! I… I was just emotional, okay (｡>﹏<) [11:20pm]

[dasher85]

emotions

featuring our Elucidation duo

Alhaitham x reader | y/n | you

short story

How does it feel to be stressed out because of work and indirectly being told you weren't good enough? 

------------------------------

It's an hour after dinner and you were at your study desk, just jotting down a draft for yet again another essay. The room was comfortably silent which helps you a lot to focus through your work. It feels like you were all by yourself in that one spacious room.

"What's the matter?"

That one person who's leisurely seated by the couch questions you but his eyes haven't actually left the hardcover book he was holding with one hand.

"Nothing…"

You forgot he wasn't wearing his headphones whenever he's at home. Even if he did, he wouldn't be using the cancelling noise function when you're around but he never told you that though… 

"Then why are you sighing exaggeratingly over a piece of paper?"

"I'm just tired." You casually mumbled and he could already tell that you're not going to tell him more about it. 

He suddenly closed his book with one hand and at that point you already knew he would be walking over to you by now. Your calm mind started to freak out as you heard him stand up from the couch because there's no way he should be reading the things you've written. It's not finished yet and even you knew it's imperfect.

You calmly rearranged the papers and stack up a few blank papers in front as an effort to hide it away. Just like a student in horror of the professor that would suddenly come checking the student's papers during exams or tests. By the time he was standing next to your desk, all he sees is the new fresh white paper where you only wrote 'Date: 02/28'

"Sleep early then if you're tired"

He nonchalantly responded, while his hands effortlessly took the whole stack of papers from your desk. Then, knowingly flipped through the few pieces of blank papers just to get the ones you've tried to hide from him.

You couldn't do much but helplessly stared back at his unnaturally fast skimming teal eyes. After like a minute or so, he expressionlessly returned your gaze.

"This is ridiculous planning. It wouldn't work."

He has no filter as usual, you knew that. He's always been like that ever since you knew him. Nothing new, nothing to be surprised about. That's Alhaitham, the same person whom you prefer over anyone else.

"Right. I know… it's ridiculous."

You flashed a smile and took hold of the paper from his hands but avoided any eye contact with him. 

"I should take a break. I'll make myself a warm cup of chocolate drink" You casually tidied up your desk and walked out of the room. The moment your face was not facing him, that smile twisted into a sad frown.

It's a simple thing, you knew it and you're used to it but perhaps the weather was just terrible today? Maybe, you're actually exhausted by all the work you've been doing these few weeks? Or maybe the things he said were true and it's just hard to accept the reality of it? Maybe… 

You didn't know how to reason with all these piling up emotions surging inside your heart, plaguing your once joyous mind like an incurable illness. The excruciating pain ever so slowly grips your heart, completely occupying your mind into tricking yourself that there's nothing else to think… Empty, devoid of reasons but pain and agony. 

As you descended the stairs, your eyes were already brimming with tears.

'I'm being irrational and emotional for no damn reason…' you thought but it's too late now, you can't go back and coax yourself to feel any better. You blinked once and tears effortlessly slipped through, streaming down your flawless cheeks. 

Unplanned and irrational, you got into your shoes and walked out of the house. You have no intention of telling him nor alerting him of such baseless matter. Even if you did, what do you expect him to say? Moreover, he'll most definitely just frown at you and make things worse. You didn't want to make such a hassle with this either. So, you left in silence.

Alhaitham was unaware, there's no way he would know unless you told him and obviously you didn't… he was still leisurely enjoying his read, but then realized that you hadn't returned for quite awhile. Usually you'll return with a glass of drink right after he finishes at least 15 pages and now it's already his 20th page.

He placed his book on your desk and headed downstairs to the kitchen, thinking you probably have trouble with starting the fire, hence why you're not able to get back… 

He stopped on his tracks once he noticed the kitchen was empty, clean without any evidence of you working in the kitchen. The sink was dry, the kettle was inside the rack, and the fireplace was untouched. Briefly, he checked the washroom and the door was opened, unoccupied. 

Alhaitham's casual calm expression changed into a frown. One last time, he checked the whole house and finally confirmed that you're not here. He knew better to stay calm and think things through… 

"Y/n?!!" That man barely spoke all day but at this moment he's literally using his lungs to call out your name. He knows that it wouldn't help but perhaps there's a slim chance that you're just playing with him over a silly game.

Nobody answered him.

He opened the main door thinking you would probably go out to buy something but was instantly greeted by harsh wind and droplets of rain. It was raining outside and he finally remembered that it's been raining ever since late afternoon. 

Why would you go out in this terrible weather?

Never in his life would he think that he'll be taking such an irrational decision but at that moment he could barely put on his boots before running outside. The droplets of water instantly fall over his dry shirt, slowly soaking him. He was unconcerned of the coldness because in his mind, he only wanted one question answered.

The streetlights were the only guide you have through the slippery path. It was cold, you're fully drenched from head to toe and yet you're the least concerned about it. In fact you strangely felt a bit better.

'How long has it been since I've played in the rain?' A small smile appeared on your lips as you reached out a hand to capture the droplets of rain.

You had walked for a while now but you've finally reached the end of the path towards a decent house. The lights inside the house were still lit and you smiled knowingly before you knocked a few times. The door shortly opened, and your mom stood there in shock while you just sheepishly smiled. 

"I got caught up in the rain…"

"What are you doing?!"

She angrily asked but quickly took you inside. The droplets of water drip down from your clothes, soaking the carpet on the floor.

"Mom, I want some candied Ajilenakh Nut" That's the only reply you spoke off as she covers you with layers of dry towels. It's good that all your tears are erased by the rain and what's left is the redness in your eyes. 

"What are you so furious about?"

She asked knowingly after returning from the kitchen with a jar of the dessert you've just suddenly requested. As if the request itself was enough to tell her the situation you're going through. Just truly a bad day. 

"I'm just incompetent. I can't figure out a simple conclusion to my research"

Although you're also displeased by his remarks, it was still the truth with what you're currently feeling right now. And perhaps, you couldn't flatly blame him for the reason why you're in this emotional wreck. So in the end, you only mentioned your own shortcomings. 

"Really? You didn't tell him about it? I remember you told me he's a brilliant man. Or was it because he didn't help you?" She starts to throw you questions, actively trying to make you spill the beans. But apparently she knows better as she instantly mentioned about 'him' instead of 'you'. 

"...but mom, why is he better than me at solving it? Why do I need to tell him about it?" You complained with a frown. But your own question has made you slowly realize the actual reason behind these thorns inside your heart. The main reason that has been mixed in-between emotions.

Alhaitham ran breathlessly through the rain, his greyish hair was now drenched along with his black sleeveless shirt. He should've calmly looked through Sumeru city but he forgot how to even remove the frown on his concerned face.

He already looked everywhere but he still couldn't find you. Moreover the rain and lack of daylight wasn't helping at all, his visibility was reduced to a few meters. It was difficult and he knew this isn't the most ideal way to find you but the desperation is seriously getting into him by now. He's beyond helpless.

"What is wrong with young people these days? Running mindlessly outside in the rain" Suddenly an old man spoke from his opened window. He paid no mind, but then the old man suddenly mentioned that someone also walked through there.

"Sir, where was the other person headed to?" He was quick to ask the old man, showing nothing but urgency in his voice. 

You took a bite of the desserts as you listened to your mother's nagging remarks. It's been awhile since you've listened to her endless comments but it's all good. It feels much better than thinking things through with your own loud thoughts. Until suddenly, someone came knocking by the main door.

"If that's him, don't argue in my house. It's quite late and we need to sleep." your mother made a last remake before walking towards the door. 

"That's not him" you huffed and nonchalantly munch the food.

Alhaitham was halfway down the path and he already knew where it leads to. Despite that, he couldn't figure out what was the reason for you to be suddenly returning home to your parents without even informing him? Why were you in such a rush? Did something happen?

He quickly made a few large strides before finally reaching the front door. He unhesitatingly made a few knocks but a sudden rush of nervousness washed over him. It was your parent's residence after all, how then would he explain to them that you're missing if you happen to be not here?

"Ma'am I'm terribly sorry to disturb you this late at night… I-"

The droplets of water dripped down from his hair as he tried to speak out in a calm voice.

"She's here."

That simple answer was an instant relief to his troubled mind. 

"Is… Is she alright? She-" 

"Come on in."

"I'm drenched. I shouldn't be- but…" He was hesitant and yet he still needs to see you for at least a short while, "I apologize for the inconvenience."

The first time he visited you at your parent's house was when you caught a fever. That was even before he mentioned anything about his feelings for you. Now that he thinks about it, it's unbelievable if he were to tell his past self that now you're completely under his responsibility.

Keeping you happy and protecting you from harm was a part of his vows. He would be lying to himself if he wasn't bothered about the thought of failing to keep it. Nothing could scare him really… but when it comes to you, it's not the same.

"I'll get you a set of dry towels"

He politely nods, almost forgetting how to talk when his eyes finally sees you casually seated on the floor nearby the mini table as you munch the food.

You were unharmed but were under the same circumstances as him. Wet and bundled in layers of towels. 

He sat next to you, same as you he was given a set of dry towels. So now the both of you were covered with towels like helpless lost kittens.

"Y/n are you alright?" That was the first word he asked after the both of you were being left alone in the living room. His voice gently reached you with a hint of concern.

"Not really. I'm cold and I miss eating mom's dishes" you smiled while taking another piece out from the jar.

"You're not going to tell me?" A frown slowly appeared on his once calm expression.

You munch the last piece before closing the jar's lid, acting unconcerned about whatever he's talking about.

"Let's go home."

"Y/n if you don't talk about it now, it wouldn't make any difference later." He calmly spoke but completely ignored your remarks.

Just like that, you stood up and walked out of your parent's house. You really didn't want to talk about it, not now and especially not here. It's too tiring to even explain yourself in a way that wouldn't hurt him or wouldn't get you in tears once more. Wouldn't it be just silly to cry over petty things? Wouldn't it be embarrassing to the point of not being able to show yourself anymore? Wouldn't it be meaningless to talk things through when he couldn't possibly be saying any less than the truth? Wouldn't it be-

It seems easy to understand these things when you're expressing it with someone else but when you're actually facing the problem itself… It feels like something has suddenly blocked your every rational sense. What was so difficult to just say and explain things calmly? 

Was it because you didn't want to hurt him or hurt your own pride? It shouldn't be this complicated. 

"Come on, the rain has already stopped" you turned with a smile. 

The moment you have stood up he has actually already followed you closely behind but perhaps you were deep in thoughts that you couldn't even hear him worriedly calling out your name.

Alhaitham was clueless. He's worried about your thoughts, about your emotional state, about your concerns, about your sorrow… these uncertainty keeps adding up in his mind and he wasn't able to get any answer through you. How can he fix it when he couldn't even have a hint? 

All he's certain is that you're deeply hurt. 

The first time he ever saw you cry was because of a novel book. He didn't think it would be possible but that particular experience taught him how sensitive and overly emotional you could be. 

You cried after losing the Dusk bird that you've saved from the rainforest. Get teary eyes when the food tastes really good. He's worried whenever that happens so suddenly. It instantly placed him in a helpless situation where he didn't know what to do. Just like right now, it's evident that you've been crying and he couldn't do anything. 

Although the rain had stopped and reduced into a drizzle, it was still cold outside.

"Let's head home" He placed his own towel over your head before taking your hand securely into his.

Alhaitham didn't want to put you under any pressure when you're both already shivering because of the coldness. The towel was barely helping. It was such a disastrous outcome and all he could think of right now is getting you warm. 

At first he pulled you to walk faster but there's nothing much he can do about your walking phase. In the end, he ends up carrying you instead. How did he carry you?? Well, let's just say it's embarrassing if anyone else saw it. He didn't mind though because it's efficient this way… you on the other hand could only securely place your arm around his neck.

This wasn't the first time though, he would do just the same if there's a sandstorm coming or Hilichurls suddenly spotted the both of you. Sometimes you do wonder if this was how he carried you from the rainforest all the way to Sumeru hospital back then…

"Did you carry me like this… back then when I was injured?" After years, you finally asked him that question.

"Huh?" He briefly looked at you, seemingly a little bit distracted by your sudden question but his running speed stays unchanged.

"Yes. How else would I be carrying you? Using levitation?" His face looks just the same, as if he wasn't even joking but you knew he was and yet you regretted asking him. You sighed and quietly turned your face towards his shoulder.

Shortly after, the both of you arrived home and he quickly insisted that you change into dry clothes first. He did the same as well but was quick to head downstairs just to make you a warm cup of chocolate drink. The same drink you've mentioned you'd make for yourself earlier.

As you sat near the fireplace in the living room, he had already returned to serve you the drink. Unlike any other day, instead of taking out a book he just sat right next to you. He quietly stared at you, thinking what method should he use to approach you without initiating an argument. It's not an interrogation and he knew better to be extra careful with this unresolved situation. 

"Do you want me to cook my special dish?"

He knew those little things that you'd like best.

"No need, I just ate mom's food"

"Do you want me to continue reading your novel?" He knew you liked listening to him as he reads for you. Maybe it'll make you feel better. 

"No, I'll just enjoy the drink" you carefully took hold of the warm glass into your hands, flatly rejected his offer. 

"How about going to your favorite bookstore tomorrow?"

"Really?" The corner of your lips slightly raised at the thought. "...but we just went there three days ago. Surely there's no new books"

He sighed, feeling troubled himself. Usually it was you who would be asking him to do all of these things but today it's him who's openly offering it and yet you declined it all the same. 

"Then do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"Not really…" you casually took a sip from the cup.

"How about scolding me for my wrongdoings?"

You turned your head to face him, "Is that you or were you just reciting the dialogue from one of the books I've read?"

He smiled, when your eyes finally met his. As if he knows that he's finally making progress. 

"Go on… I'm listening" his voice was soft and soothing which was very unlikely of him. 

You laughed at his efforts, you knew he wouldn't be talking like that no matter how much you'd want him to, especially when he reads your novels. At least he was willing to read it for you whenever you requested him.

"Hmm…" you turned away once more, thinking if you should take the offer. 

"Come on… criticize me all you want" 

"...but it's such a petty reason."

"You're still upset about it anyways. How is that supposed to be insignificant?"

He was sure that he was talking in a calm voice, the best he could muster just so you wouldn't feel intimidated in any way. The last thing he wanted was for you to think that he was angry with you because he wasn't… he was just worried. 

"Right… I'm such an idiot. I can't even acknowledge and differentiate simple things." you calmly voiced out a response before carefully placing down the drink you were holding. 

He thought he was making progress, he really thought his efforts were enough but all that he did only made things worse. His logical words were destructive and your emotional state was fragile.

"I- Y/n… I didn't mean it that way-"

Alhaitham was startled to see tears suddenly streaming down your cheeks. For a moment he panicked, he knew this time it wasn't because of anything else but him.

You sighed, annoyed with your own burst of emotions. It's getting out of hand, you couldn't stop these tears either even though you knew better to take it easy. Usually you could stand his logical questions but today's not the day. It's difficult to be on par with him. 

He tried to reach out a hand to you but you quickly turned to face the other end of the room, as you tried to wipe off your tears with the sleeves of your jacket. For all you know, it's just embarrassing to be in this state. 

"Don't worry… I'll feel better soon on my own. Could you just-"

As gentle as he could, he slowly pulled you into his arms. Your shoulder rests against his chest, as his left arm encircles your waist while the other takes hold of your hand. 

"Why would you expect me to be unconcerned?" He gently whispered to your right ear, "I don't feel any better knowing that you're not being truthful to me. So please tell me…"

You only sobbed uncontrollably, him trying to console you was only making things worse.

"...I'm sorry for being the person who could only make you cry… I'm sorry Y/n. If you want me to stay away, I could… but I can't leave you…" he deliberately paused, a pained frown was now visible on his once concerned face.

"...not now, not until I'm sure you're not crying anymore" 

You didn't respond to him afterwards and he stayed there, holding you close. Only after a while did you finally regain control over your own thoughts. Perhaps a little time was what you needed

"Hai…"

"Hmm?"

"...I'm sorry too." You sighed. 

"I just think, I couldn't accept that my written ideas were considered ridiculous. I already know that it wouldn't work and my calculations were wrong but do you really need to flatly tell me that? I work day and night trying to figure it out and you… ugh…" you paused because your conscience keeps reminding you that it's not good to complain.

"...go on. It's alright, I'm listening" he slowly encouraged you to just go through it.

"...and you already know that I'm not fond of being a researcher. I hated the process of researching boring topics, it gets difficult sometimes too but I'm trying my best to fulfil both my job and the demands it requires me to do. I'm tired… but I know I can do better if I just put more time into it, more effort."

"Y/n do you still remember the last time we were partnered up for the research paper?" He gently spoke as he rested his head on your right shoulder. 

You nodded in response. It's been years but such an event wasn't something you could forget either.

"Until now, I still consider you my only research partner… because I've never worked with someone who's brilliant like you. If anything, you're better than me."

"You're lying. I don't believe you" you casually mumbled.

He let out a chuckle, "I'm not…"

"Well, maybe in certain areas but everyone has their own specialty. After all, neither you or me are perfect. We're just normal humans. Sometimes, I need guidance too and so do you… It's fine if you can't do something the way you wanted it to be."

Alhaitham was just glad he read a lot of books that were somehow related to this situation otherwise he wouldn't be able to say a word. He's really that terrible when it comes to encouraging others or motivating them. The least he could do was reason with them but he already knew that wouldn't work with you. 

Truthfully he never once encountered or gotten himself into a difficult situation because of work or any sudden circumstances. Even if he somewhat did, he would just take a break and continue it again after he feels energized. If he dislikes something, he would either get himself into finding a solution or just completely ignore it. He's that simple.

"...and I'm right here. All you need to do is tell me, I'll make sure to eradicate your problems" 

Perhaps the word 'eradicate' was too much but at this point he hates it. He dislikes it that you're stressed just because of a research paper to the point that his words were considered painful to you.

"If anything that I've said is hurting you, just inform me. I know… I couldn't do much about that but I'll keep quiet if you need me to." 

You didn't respond to him, as if in deep thoughts. Perhaps still trying to take in his advice and words into better understanding. You didn't think he would actually be thoughtful about these things but he's making sense.

Emotions are delicate and difficult to understand. It's like a maze that even his logical thoughts and intuition become useless in this situation. Alhaitham was left in a tough position because he thought his words weren't working once again. He didn't know what to do anymore but he didn't want to make you cry again because of him. So his last resort was to simply give you a kiss. He slowly moved over and gave the side of your neck a gentle kiss.

His soft lips against your neck felt too ticklish that it instantly made you turn around to face him.

"...you?!"

He was briefly surprised by your sudden reaction but he was swift to press a quick kiss on your lips afterwards.

"Are you still angry with me?" He softly questions you with a small smile, as if the slight frown on your face wasn't evidence enough. 

"Hmph… you don't deserve a kiss at all."

Ouch. That was a direct hit for him. Probably that was a wrong move after all but he didn't regret it all the same. After all he’s not entirely sure if you’re feeling better or complaining?

If Love is a chemical reaction and needs further testing then, he was eager to find a perfect mixture for the both of you. 

"How about we do everything you want tomorrow? Or we can go on a trip the whole day too. Where do you want to go?"

You just silently stare back at him with a doubtful expression because as much as you knew him, he wouldn't be saying these at all. 

"I can help you with your research too. We can do it together" He smiled as he tried to cater to your every preference. If you wouldn't tell him what you need him to do then he might as well just guess it all. 

"...can I have a hug?" 

Is that even considered a request? He literally was hugging you just moments before. How is it supposed to be any different? He couldn't understand it.

"Of course"

Even so, he unquestioningly pulled you into his arms once again. One arm around your shoulder while the other gently stroking your head.

"Let's go to the rainforest tomorrow. I want to see Dusk birds. Afterwards visit port Ormos and buy at their bakery shop." your soft voice muffled in between his chest. 

Listening to your requests made him suddenly express a wide smile. It's good that you're not facing him otherwise you'll mock him all day but he was simply happy. It's as if he finally gets to answer a difficult aerodynamic question. Somehow his guessing method was paying off.

"Got it." He calmly replied before placing a gentle kiss on the top of your head.

"Should I carry you to the bedroom now?"

------------------------------

A/N: Listening to ‘What do you mean?’ seems kinda funny now...

[trick-r-treat421]

Chapter 1

Riley’s POV:

I was in a surprisingly peaceful sleep when I felt soft fur against my face then the gentle nudge and lick. It’s the morning ritual I’ve grown accustomed to. “Good morning, Hades.” I groggily say to my three-year-old black German Shepherd who has oh so rudely decided it’s time to get up.

I roll over rubbing the sleep from my eyes to see the soft glow of the morning light filtering in through my window. Picking my phone up from the nightstand it reads 7:26 am October 13th. Sighing, I swing my feet to the edge of my bed and proceed to start our normal morning routines.

A short time later I step out onto my back deck to let Hades do his business, my hands wrapped around a steaming cup of coffee. I’m immediately hit with a warm breeze and realize just how comfortable it feels. Pulling my phone from the pocket of my pajama pants, I check the weather app where it predicts it to be an exceptionally warm day. Luckily, it’s one of my days off from my boring, dead-end customer service job. It’s been a major stressor for me lately and I’m ecstatic to avoid that hell hole even if just for today.

I mindlessly scroll random apps as I sip my coffee, enjoying the sun’s rays on my pale skin as my boy gets all his overnight zoomies out. Just as I sip the last of the coffee from my mug, he comes running back up sitting beside me, tongue out, panting. “Hey, handsome boy of mine. I know we usually take walks around the neighborhood on my days off but how’d you like to go to the park instead?” I ask, scratching behind his ear, getting only a gruff woof and tail wag in agreement. “Perfect!” I exclaim before we walk back inside.

I spend a few hours working around the house tidying a bit and starting some laundry while singing (ok more like screaming) and dancing around the cozy bungalow I call my home, all while the songs boom through the Bluetooth speakers. Hades tilted his head or huffed at me occasionally from his oversized dog bed in the living room. “You know you love it!” I tease as I pass by, stopping to give him a few good belly scratches.

I quickly shower before stepping out into the steamy bathroom, grabbing one of my oversized towels from the rack and wrapping it around my small frame. I pull my paddle brush through the tangles that are my shoulder-length black hair, then twist another towel around it, pushing it onto the top of my head and retreating to my room. I fall back onto my queen bed, my arms spreading as I lean back, and stay that way for a while, closing my eyes and preparing myself to venture out.

Eventually, I push myself up and go over to my dresser. I pull out a black thong and lace bralette then a pair of black leggings and my go-to comfy, faded, grey Guns N’ Roses shirt I’ve cut into a crop top. After getting dressed, I return to the bathroom to pull my hair into a low loose ponytail, leaving a few strands out to frame my face. I stare at myself in the mirror above my sink, sighing at the sight but I don’t bother putting on makeup. I’m too tired to care and it’s not like I’m out to impress anyone. Dropping my gaze, I push myself away from the counter and head back towards the kitchen to prepare everything Hades and I will need for the park.

Half an hour later we’re pulling into my favorite park. I reach back to clip on Hades’ leash, grab my crossbody bag from the passenger floorboard, and then exit the SUV. We stop to grab the blanket from the back hatch of my grey 2010 Nissan Xterra before making our way down the sidewalk.

 As expected, the park was alive with the sounds of nature and people out enjoying the weather. It took us a few minutes, but we managed to find a nice shady spot under a tall oak tree that’s adjacent to the large field where people lounge and play. I release Hades and tell him to stay as I work to spread out my black and white buffalo plaid blanket and begin unpacking for a relaxing afternoon.

It didn’t take long before we got comfortable. I lay on my stomach, my legs bent at the knee, casually swinging back and forth through the air. I’ve got my sticker-covered tumbler and a Tupperware full of fresh-cut fruit (ok mostly strawberries) on one side of me. A book was spread in front of me, my eyes skimming over the pages from behind my oversized sunglasses. Hades had posted up near the edge of the blanket on my other side as he went to town on his large red Kong toy, his travel bowl full of water next to him.

I’d lost track of time, completely caught up in my reading, most of my fruit picked over and eaten. Hades had long given up on his toy and was almost asleep when suddenly he perked up giving a slight huff. Figuring he saw a squirrel or something, I failed to see the large shadow pass over me as a sudden pain shoots into the left side of my ribs and something heavy fell over top of me, Hades darting away from his position. Whatever it is landed with a thud in front of Hades, water splashing everywhere in the process. I quickly began to shake the water from the pages of my book before any damage could be done.

“Ouch! What the fu…” I begin to exclaim, but my words come up short as my eyes fall onto this dazed, dark-haired man lying across me and my blanket.

He slowly pushes himself up onto his elbows, putting his shirtless and heavily tattooed chest on full display, droplets of water sliding down and glistening in the afternoon light. I thank God for these sunglasses hiding my eyes as I gawk at this stranger’s toned body. I shake my head and slowly take in the scene, realizing his long legs are still stretched across my back and one of his elbows rests halfway in Hades’ water bowl.

Eventually, my eyes make it back to his face where I’m greeted with a strong, sharp jawline peppered with the beginnings of some facial hair and mesmerizing deep chocolate-brown eyes. I’m brought back to reality when Hades is suddenly at the man’s side dropping a frisbee I hadn’t even noticed onto his lap. I can’t help but let out a laugh at the situation and the fact I was letting myself get lost in this stranger’s looks, no matter how handsome he may be. “I think Hades is returning your frisbee to you.” I state matter of factly. Despite his size and intimidating looks, he was quite a gentle giant. Thanks a lot bud, so much for protecting me.

Noah’s POV:

I have no idea what happened, but one second I was running full speed and the next I found myself lying flat on my back staring at the brightly colored tree canopy above me.

I let out a groan and begin to push myself up onto my elbows. Feeling something wet on one of my arms, I look over to see my elbow in a water bowl. I begin taking in the rest of my surroundings and find I’m on someone’s picnic blanket. Just then I see something dark in my peripheral vision and the frisbee I’d been running to catch drops in my lap.

I hear a feminine laugh as my eyes dart up, noticing my legs are laid across the back of a petite raven-haired woman who had been stretched out on said blanket. I hear her words as I look down to the frisbee in my lap, then to the big furry black mass standing to my right. That must be whose water bowl my elbow is resting in.

I hurriedly remove my legs and scramble to my knees, the frisbee falling from my lap while putting my hands up in case this dog decides to attack. Again, I hear the sound of her laughter drawing my eyes to her full, slightly red tinted lips. Slowly she sits up crisscrossing her legs in front of her, her crop top riding up a little to reveal a tattoo on her side as she rubs at her ribs. A few more are sprinkled on her arms.

“Don’t worry, he may look ferocious, but he’s really a big baby.” With the motion of her free hand I watch as the large dog returns to the girl’s side and lays against her, eyes closing, tongue out as he soaks up her head pats.

I breathe out a sigh of relief as I sit back on my heels and brush my hands down my star covered sweat shorts nervously and let out a slight chuckle. “Good to know, cause I was about to high tail it out of here and hope—Hades was it?—didn’t catch me!” I respond. “Hey, sorry about all of this, though.” I start as I wave my hand around us.

She lifts her sunglasses revealing stunning icy blue/grey almond-shaped eyes as she takes in the now wet and twisted blanket. Sucking in a breath I try to offer, “My buddies and I were just tossing the frisbee around and I guess I let my competitive nature get the best of me.  I wasn’t paying attention, and you see where that got me.”

As if on cue my friends, Jolly and Nick, come jogging over taking in the scene and thankfully ending my nervous rant. “What you mean on the ground beside a pretty lady?” Nick waggles his eyebrows as he smirks before asking, “Are you two good?”

Jolly jumped in with, “That looked like quite a fall, man.”

I chuckle lightly before I answer, “Yeah I’m good, but I’ll probably feel it in the morning.” I clear my throat a little remembering the stunning girl and her dog sitting across from me. “Umm are you okay…?” I ask, pausing since I don’t know her name.

Picking up on the pause she answers, “Riley. Yeah, I think I’ll be okay. Might have a bruise in the next couple of days but I’ll deal.”

A pang of guilt washes over me for hurting her but I give a crooked smile. “I’m Noah, these are my friends Jolly and Folio,” I say pointing to each of the guys.

She nods her head slightly at each of the guys, giving a polite smile and wave. It suddenly becomes abundantly clear we are invading her space, as the awkward silence grows between us all. I move to stand tucking the frisbee under my arm and giving the guys a nod, each taking a few steps back in understanding, Jolly looking over his shoulder to find where our roommates dog, Harper, is playing. “We should probably leave you be, you seemed to have been enjoying your reading when I tripped over you.” I say as I glance down at the abandoned book laid out on the blanket.

Shrugging, she responds with, “I was but I’d lost track of time, and we actually need to be heading out.” With that she stands, Hades whining slightly, and begins picking up her belongings and packing them back into her bag.

I look down at the mess I’ve made of her space, everything scattered about, so I quickly lean down, picking up her book. I offer it to her as I ask “Are you sure you’re alright? Can I help you carry anything?”

She takes the book, my eyes drawn to where she chews on her lip, thinking it over. After some hesitation Riley nods. “You really don’t have to, but I might need a hand with the blanket. I can never get them folded up easily on my own, and I’ve got to be able to hold his leash as we walk.” She motions over to Hades who tilts his head sideways at the mention of leash.

With a small chuckle I call out a “heads up!” to Folio, who’s now walking away with Jolly before tossing him the frisbee and reaching to pick up the blanket. I shake it out then do my best to fold it before draping it over my arm as she picks up her remaining belongings.

After a moment and her commands to Hades, we walk back towards the parking lot in another slightly awkward silence. Coming to a stop at the back of an Xterra, she starts digging for her keys and unlocks the doors. She takes Hades to the back passenger door allowing him to jump inside before unhooking his leash and telling him to stay then returning to the back where I stand.

“Thank you for helping with that and walking me back.” She says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and staring down at the asphalt before taking the blanket and placing it in the back hatch.

“No problem. It was the least I could do after crashing into you like I did.” I shrug, earning a small, cute giggle from her.

After another moment of silence she shifts on her feet, bringing her eyes up to meet mine and extending her hand before saying with a playful tone, “Well, it was nice to meet you Noah, wish I could say it was under better circumstances though.”

I take her hand, noticing just how small it feels in mine before lightly shaking it and saying, “You too Riley.” With that I drop her hand and move to the sidewalk as she walks to her driver’s door. Turning back, I give a salute as she starts the SUV and I head back to the guys.

The moment I walk up, Folio raises his eyebrow asking, “What was that all about Casanova?”

I shrug running my hand through my shoulder-length hair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” They both let out a laugh.

It’s Jolly’s turn to pipe up now, his slight Swedish accent coming through. “Bullshit Noah, you’ve still got a goofy grin plastered on your face and the way you were looking at her… it’s obvious you thought she was attractive.”

Folio chimes in again, “Tell us you at least got her number…”

I don’t bother responding before grabbing the frisbee out of his hands and jogging away. I silently kick myself for not thinking about that. We stay for another hour or so before leaving, my mind wandering to Riley quite often through the night.

P.S. I don't own the rights to any of these photos, they were all found on Pinterest or a Google image search.

I hope you enjoyed this. It's been quite a while since I even tried writing something for others to read so sorry if it's not up to your standards. It may start out slow but I promise there's some good things to come.

Huge shout out to @crimson-calligraphyx for encouraging and helping me with this.

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day Twenty-Three - Train @sapphicmicrofics

April Daily Series - 563 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

“What’s this?” Marlene’s voice was directly behind her now. She’d apparently grown tired of sifting through the box of memories and moved on to the corkboard beside Dorcas’s bed.

Dorcas released a stream of smoke through the window. “What does it look like?

“Pandora called it a ‘shrine.’”

The harsh scoff clipped Dorcas’s throat on the way out. “Then it’s an awfully shitty shrine.”

Marlene hummed a note of disagreement, but didn’t argue. She was far less combative today, which should have been suspicious, but Dorcas didn’t have the energy to defend herself. The tension she’d carried since Marlene’s arrival wore her down.

“I miss my old number. The team gave it to someone else when I left Scotland. I’m number thirty now.”

Dorcas tried to ignore the tug of nostalgia. She’d spent so many hours behind protective glass watching her girlfriend’s #14 jersey with rapt attention, clocking every shift in her stance and clawing back the urge to rush onto the ice to protect her when the other team crowded her net. Often, she left games with scratches on her chest from blindly grappling for Marlene’s lucky charm, an Irish claddagh ring from her grandmother that she wore around her neck.

“Thirty is a solid number,” Dorcas said, idly tapping her cigarette out the window. “Especially doubled on your jersey, front and back. It’s related to career success.”

“Really? That’s good to know.”

Marlene moved closer and plopped on the bench. “Be honest with me, Cas. Do you want me to step on that train tomorrow? Will you miss me?”

“My feelings won’t change the outcome, so why does it matter?” Dorcas asked.

“You don’t know that.”

Dorcas flicked the dying cherry off of her cigarette and rolled the filter between her fingers. “I know that you won’t leave your team and long-distance doesn’t work. I know that you run when it hurts. Nothing has changed.”

“A few things have changed, actually. My team went recreational. We have scrimmages, but don’t compete. My gigs are mostly at local clubs, but I travel a bit too. I have a show in London in two weeks,” Marlene said, shifting closer. “I can send you tickets, if you want.”

“And the cowardice?” Dorcas prompted. “Still fleeing if it’s hard? I haven’t gone soft since you left.”

Marlene sighed theatrically. “I should hope not. I always liked your sharp wit and pointy elbows.”

“Hilarious.”

Charming, as always. I wish she’d stop.

“I’m here now, Cas. If I didn’t bolt out of here when you told me off the first night and I didn’t run after making a complete arse of myself yesterday morning, isn’t that proof that I’m not quite the coward I used to be?”

Dorcas rested her temple against the window and closed her eyes. The cold glass tempered her frustration a bit as she returned her attention to the people below. She preferred this distance over the six inches between her hip and Marlene’s. From here, she could see the bigger picture and remain an unbiased observer. In this room, she was a reluctant participant and couldn’t find a shred of objectivity.

“I suppose that is progress,” Dorcas admitted, her gaze trailing a couple across the street. They were holding hands and smiling at each other.

“Enough progress?” Marlene asked. “For you to think about it? About us?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Next Part>>>

[rexalogy]

do you have any advice for starting a comic?

the best advice I have for starting comics is considering your work flow - you’re going to be drawing so many images, and you’re going to have to do it in a way where your love for art remains in tact tbh. I think what has limited me in making comics is simply the trained-in dread of feeling overwhelmed.

so many artists overstrain their bodies and die early because of their career. the most important part is to take care of yourself. I neglected myself, and wasn’t able to draw for an entire year out of high school because of it.

essentially, work restoratively!

take work breaks, stretch often, keep a huge water bottle next to yourself. personally I cook things for myself during my work stretches that I can leave alone for long periods of time (like roasting vegetables in my oven, or leaving shit in my pressure cooker) and then come back to. im also big on brewing kettles of black tea. a lot of it is listening to your body, when my eyes start feeling strained, or I start getting tired, I go do something else. usually that means going for a walk, reading a book (even other comic books 😏 for studying purposes).

have fun with it. something wonderful about the comic medium is that it is so open to experimentation - you can make a comic in whatever way makes sense to you. you don’t have to do a four panel comic, you don’t have to squeeze it all onto a single page format, etc. do what’s easy for u, and actively choose where you challenge yourself.

most of all, come to terms with the possibility of a less than perfect work. I’m not always proud of my final results, but sitting on that frustration isn’t always helpful in developing a healthy outlook toward creation.

I do think you have to abandon a lot of perfectionist habits and learn about a lot of tricks and tools that can streamline your process. decide on what you want to prioritize in your comic, where you want to focus primarily. not every panel can have the same amount of work put into it - it actually shouldn’t because that might make it too noisy for the reader (unless that’s what u want). it’s okay to not redo a panel. color with a bucket tool, apply screentone filters, use photographs you have taken yourself to make backgrounds, use 3d programs to set stuff up, etc.

the way I learned about what I like doing was creating a lot of experimental comics. I didn’t put too much effort into them. I just wanted to see where my body would take me, then I decided what aspects were useful for the comics I wanted to make and focused on them.

good luck! it’s a really rewarding process, just make sure you preserve yourself. 😁

[thelaughtercafe]

Angel

Tea Type: Half and Half (This one was written to vent so it's got a little more hurt towards the beginning than usual)

Potential Triggers: Nonspecific mentions of emotional abuse

Pairing: Duncan/ F!Reader

Length: 1k+

Summary: You and Duncan are both desperately trying to stay awake for the challenge. The lack of filter allows confessions to slip from both of you.

“Ugh I’m starting to go. Can you help keep me awake?”

Duncan looked over and blinked in surprise. You hadn’t spoken much the past weeks save him teasing as he did with most of the girls. You didn’t outwardly encourage it but he could admit he got pleasure out of your flustered reactions to keep it up consistently with no provocation. 

A smirk twitched onto his lips as he moved to where you were sat leaning against a tree trunk a little ways from the main group. 

“Sure thing sweetheart. Tell me what I can do.”

You were already a blushing mess. It’d taken a great deal of courage to even ask but already you were growing meek again.  

“Well I…um…sorry.”

He softened a little after a glance over his shoulder, tugging you to sit behind the tree with him. Everyone was mostly sleeping and this way no-one would see his expressions before he heard them coming in advance. He didn’t want anyone hearing him like this. Hell, he typically wouldn’t ever dream of being like this but the lack of sleep was impairing his judgment. 

“Why do you do that? You constantly apologize for stuff that’s not even your fault. Or without having even done anything wrong at all. It makes you look weak.”

It wasn’t the nicest way to say it maybe but Duncan was trying. 

You looked down to your fidgeting hands and smiled bitterly.

“It’s not exactly a happy reason; but you don’t seem like the kind of guy to pity people so I guess it’s alright if I tell you. Let’s just say my home life wasn’t great. My mom was sick so I was left to do all the chores and such. Her long term boyfriend was quick to put me down and point out the smallest of inadequacies in my efforts.”

You shrugged before looking at the camera across the way and giving it the finger. 

“That’s for you if you’re watching this, dick.”

God, you really were tired. Your filter was gone. Luckily, your attention was shifted to Duncan as he smiled at you and lightly placed his hand on yours.  

“Well I say he’s lucky. If it was me I would’ve stopped doing them altogether. Guy sounds like a real piece of work." 

You turned your gaze to his and he noticed the hint of sadness within. 

"Which is why you’re the strongest person I know. That’s actually the first time I told him to fuck off. After making me spiral into panic attacks, giving me arachnophobia, and making me hate myself it still took me being on the verge of passing out on a reality show talking with a bad boy with a heart of gold to get the courage. Pathetic. isn’t it?" 

Duncan clenched his fists but managed his anger with a breath, trying not to blush at your honesty. 

"Right. You really think of me like that sweetheart?’

The typically antagonistic nickname now sounded sweet. 

You shrugged, finding it much easier to talk when not looking at him as you put your head on his shoulder. 

”‘Course I do. You may act all mean but you want us to win too. I don’t think you’re half as cruel as you pretend to be. You’re here comforting me and keeping me awake aren’t you?“

You yawned and he scoffed, glad you couldn’t see his face as a tinge of pink surely was evident. 

"Could just be doing it to get further in the competition. More chance our team wins if there’s two of us.”

You shrugged. 

“Sure. You could be. But I doubt it. I have a bad habit of only seeing the good in people and ignoring my gut feelings. But here on the island I’ve learned to start listening to it more. And right now it’s telling me you’re a good guy. It always has.”

Duncan sighed and looked down in amusement at you now fully cuddled into his side. He curled an arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer but when he felt your breaths start to slow he ran his fingers along your neck for a moment in warning. 

“Hey. Don’t fall asleep k?”

You jerked in his grip and giggled which made him blink.  

Huh. 

He noted the way you suddenly looked nervous, and the way your face had gone red. In addition to your eyes flicking everywhere looking for escape, a smug smirk crawled across his face. 

“Oh princess~ Got something you wanna tell me?”

He felt you stiffen and you giggled nervously again, clearly jumpy. 

God you were precious. 

“N-No! I just-I-thanks for helping but I-”

As you were about to scramble away he quickly turned to pin you against the tree, easily restraining your wrists over your head with one hand and leering over you.  

“You may as well give it up. I know you’re ticklish. Sure would be a shame if I let you fall asleep now ya know? Time to fulfill your duty to the team like the angel you are~”

Oh God. Time to pretend he didn’t just say that last part. Distract!

“D-Did you just-hey whahahahait!! Duncan!!”

You dissolved into squeals and giggles as his free hand began squeezing along your thighs suddenly regretting wearing shorts.

“You are such a jheheheherk!!”

Glad his moment of softness had been forgotten Duncan easily returned to teasing, feigning innocence.

“Oh? But I thought you were so sure I was a nice guy. Looks like your feelings were wrong. Good thing you have a thing for bad boys huh angel?”

He relished in the way you went even darker and sputtered over your laughter.

“N-No I-what!? That’s-crazy talk!”

“Your blush tells a different story. Plus, I’ve caught you stealing glances all summer. Lucky for you I like good girls just as much. Even called dibs in the boys cabin. Trent almost beat me to you but lucky for me he got more into Gwen around the same time which means you’re all mine if you want to be, angel.”

While he was talking casually his hands were moving easily all over, from your thighs to your hips up to your underarms and then to your neck where he opted to stay, keeping you in steady giggles as he waited for your response. 

You rolled your eyes before smirking back. 

“F-Fhihihine then. Gonna make me fhahahall demon boy?”

He grinned, full of roguish charm as his fingers finally slowed and he released your hands to cup your face in his palms and then seal your promise. 

“Only if you’re sure you’re ready for it sweetheart.”

No-one would find out until a few competitions later; when he got sick of hiding and kissed you so hard you swooned after a win you somehow managed to pull off. 

All insecure thoughts of him caring more about his bad boy image than you were  banished and it suddenly made sense to Courtney and Gwen why the nicknames, however passive aggressive, had stopped. They were all for you.  

Angel was still his favorite of course.

[dragonsdendoodles]

similar vein to that other ask but opposite, what do you think enoch and horace would argue about non trivially, like the worst disagreement theyve had

Oh good lord angst time. Buckle up kids today we’re going over why my friends yell at me. Fair warning this one’s also gonna be long

So there are two scenarios. One where Horace is the one hurt, and one where Enoch is.

I think whatever it is either way, it started small. I think generally they’d be good at communication, having picked that up from Hugh and Fiona, but it was, at the time, a small issue. It was not a stupid issue, because if it were a stupid issue it would turn into an argument about the argument itself.

The two things that made the first scenario significantly worse:

1. We have seen how Enoch is just in general. He has zero filter and he’s a jerk and sometimes it’s funny and sometimes he takes it a bit too far. I think, very similarly to myself, he can’t actually tell. He can tell when he’s hurt someone, but he doesn’t actually know what it was that hurt them. We’ve also seen him argue with people quite a lot, which leads me to believe he can be pretty volatile.

2. My headcanon for Horace being upset is that whenever he is, he gets in his head until he’s convinced himself that if he voices his concerns with whoever upset him (especially Enoch) he’s either going to be yelled at again and it’ll go nowhere or he’ll bother them more by bringing it back up and that combined with blaming himself for the whole thing means that eventually he just kind of shuts down. Stops talking. Waits for it to go away.

Normally, if I were writing them in this fashion (surprise surprise, I have a fic draft where I am,) Enoch would pester Horace about whatever he’s upset about until he fesses up, they talk it out, kiss a little, after an hour of trying to get this out of him it’s over in ten minutes.

However, if they were to get into a Big Actual Fight about whatever it was, I think Enoch would not have the patience to sit and deflect Horace’s “I’m fine/nothing’s wrong/you didn’t do anything/I’m just being stupid”s for as long as he usually has to. If Horace’s stubbornness wins out instead of Enoch’s and Enoch is both upset that Horace won’t ever fucking talk to him and doesn’t have near enough patience to keep pushing the issue to be able to have the information to resolve it, Enoch decides fine. If you’re going to be like this, then I’ll let you fucking be like this until you can be a fucking adult and actually fucking talk to me. Except that doesn’t come out like that, it’s Enoch, so it comes out as insults. Horace snaps back because the insults were uncalled for, Enoch snaps back because oh we’re doing this now, and neither knows who raised their voice first but now they’re both yelling. It gets messy. Someone gets called unreasonable, the other asks why he’s even still with him if he’s so horrible, the first asks why the hell he’d even say that when he knows why (the answer is he’s not, they’re both just pissed off and throwing words at each other to see what sticks,) it goes on for maybe twenty minutes tops. They get tired of crying and screaming at each other so depending on how bad they need one, one of them hugs the other and they actually talk about it or one of them goes away to calm himself down and process everything and then they hug and talk about it. Things are a little shaky for a while, but for the most part they’re just relieved it’s over and for some reason the other is still here and still loves them and isn’t leaving anytime soon. They apologized, they solved the issue by sitting down and talking about it, so for the most part everything’s okay now. There might be a day or so of walking on eggshells for fear of it happening again, but for all the hurt and all the shouting, chances are they don’t even remember what they were arguing about in the first place.

The important canon point and headcanon for the second option: Horace is shown in (at least my reading of) the books to be a bit of a people-pleaser. He does not like confrontation, he does not like upsetting people, he is too anxious and would much rather just Not Deal With That. Because of this, I am of the opinion that when he is in a particularly anxious mood or if he can sense that something is going wrong and he needs to fix it, he’ll make something up to hopefully dissipate the situation. (Think Dear Evan Hansen but on a lesser scale. It would not go farther than one person in this instance.) He knows it’s a terrible habit to have, and he is genuinely trying to fix it, but occasionally something slips out involuntarily and he feels horrible about it.

The biggest problem with that, other than the habit of being a compulsive liar: it doesn’t work. It works on people he doesn’t know, because they don’t know what his face means when he says something and then immediately gets even more nervous, but his friends and Miss Peregrine absolutely do. He knows they can tell and he is genuinely trying to fix it, so he just as quickly apologizes and corrects himself. It still hurts the other person, but it’s better than doubling down, which used to be how that would go because this all started to get himself out of trouble.

It hurts everyone involved and Horace absolutely hates that he does it, but the worst person he could do it to is Enoch. Because now his own boyfriend can’t fucking trust him and if there is one thing that pisses off Enoch more than pretty much anything else, it’s being lied to. And Enoch can and will call him on it. Immediately. Horace is doing his best to stop that from happening and chooses his words very carefully when he’s nervous in an effort to prevent it, but occasionally he gets paranoid that he’s done something Enoch won’t like and then he gets careless and forgets and then it’s just about getting out of this and uh oh.

When that happens, Enoch stops talking to him for a while. If Horace tries to say something, they fight about it and it’s an argument Horace cannot win because Enoch’s right. He should be able to trust and be honest with him, but for some reason he was scared enough to convince himself he couldn’t, and now Enoch can’t trust him. Once Enoch comes back from processing everything, they have a serious talk about why he said what he did and the thought process behind it and why Horace thought lying to him about whatever the completely innocent thing was would be a good idea and this cannot happen again. Horace understands and apologizes and tries to make up for it because that’s all he can do, and Enoch’s still upset about it for a while, but eventually he trusts Horace again and the issue is resolved. Neither of them feel good about the situation until it’s all but forgotten in a few weeks, after they’ve built that trust back up.

In writing this I realized that one can very easily lead into the other, so for all intents and purposes if we start with one and it becomes two, the argument stays two and two cannot turn back into one. It’s no longer about whatever actually caused it, it’s about the fact that now one of us is just saying things to appease the other and that habit happens to be the one thing that had it been literally anyone else that relationship of any kind would have been over.

Neither of these happens often. They are very good at communication generally, having been friends and best friends long before they were boyfriends, so 99.9% of the time if something happens that would cause an argument, they sit down and actually talk it out and it’s fine. This is just that .1% where it gets pretty bad. They understand each other better than even they think they do sometimes, so they come out okay, if not for a couple bad memories. They do talk about those bad memories sometimes as well, especially if it started with an insecurity of one of them, and they make sure that whatever it was all is forgiven and nothing is permanently damaged. If there’s damage left over, they talk about it immediately and do whatever needs to be done to resolve it. Neither holds grudges against the other.

[lucy-verse]

why do you ship lawtsuda?? no offence, but L literally bullies Matsuda in canon. Plus he would never date him because he thinks he's stupid.

Alright, anon. I’ll bite.

“L literally bullies Matsuda in canon.”

I’m really getting tired of this claim that L “bullies” Matsuda. Bullying is when someone repeatedly seeks out to harass, harm, and/or coerce an individual, which is not what L does with Matsuda. He is dismissive of him and occasionally calls him an idiot. That’s it. Is it asshole behaviour? Yes. Bullying? No.

And as much as I love Matsuda, he does behave like an idiot on numerous occasions. He almost got himself killed and blew L’s cover by trying to play the hero with the Yotsuba Group; and while it could be argued that he was pushed to do it because of everyone underestimating him, let’s not forget that he’s a grown ass adult and could have gone about proving himself in a far less hazardous manner. L calling him an idiot in response was a slap on the wrist - he had every right to kick Matsuda off the investigation altogether.

Literally everyone in the Task Force, Light included, gets exasperated with Matsuda at some point, and yet no one calls them bullies. Let’s be real here - while we as the audience find him endearing, he would likely be an incredibly difficult person to work with in real life, especially during a police investigation. Once again, I’m not saying that Matsuda isn’t treated unfairly at times; I’m saying that L is far from the only character who puts him down and if you consider his attitude bullying, then most of the Task Force is guilty of that too.

“L would never date him because he thinks he’s stupid.”

L would never date Light either, because he’s an abusive, manipulative mass murderer who wants him dead. Yet, Lawlight remains Death Note’s most popular ship. Likely because the whole purpose of fanfiction is having the freedom to disregard canon.

You’re right, L would not date Matsuda in canon. 99% of Death Note ships would never happen in canon. But here’s the thing - I don’t care. I really couldn’t give two shits about canon. If I want to write a fic where L and Matsuda are happily married, living in a cottage with ten children, then I can and I will. Because that’s what fanfiction is for. Making your own stories about existing characters because it’s fun. You’re well within your right to dislike certain ships, but shitting on those who do enjoy it is both childish and pathetic.

As for why I ship Lawtsuda, I have four words for you: because I want to.

I don’t have to justify my ship to you. Both characters are consenting, fictional adults. Me shipping them has absolutely no impact on your life, and if you don’t want to see it on your dash, either scroll past, filter it out, or block me. I used to be bombarded with comments like this back when I was a teenager, and it’s one of the many reasons I deleted all my Death Note fics and distanced myself from the fandom. Thankfully, I’ve grown a spine since then and don’t have time for fans who think they have the right to gatekeep other people’s ships because it makes them feel superior.

TL;DR I ship Lawtsuda because I want to. Get over it.

[just-dino-maggie]

prompt #10 with andrei svechnikov?

Thank you so much for the request! I hope you like it!

10. Swimming at night

Working as a trainer with the team is hard. Being so young it took time to build trust but now that I have, things can get draining. A lot of the young guys depend on me. Not only for their physical health but sometimes their mental health. I’m happy to do it, I love my job but sometimes I need a break. Time to relax and focus on what I want.

The hurricanes are on a west coast road trip. It’s the longest one we go on and being away from my bed has sucked. Tonight I’m laying in a hotel bed, it’s too early to fall asleep but I definitely don’t want to go out. Then it clicks, I should go to the pool. It might technically be closed but I don’t mind.

I thank my past self for packing a swimsuit. I throw it on along with a cover up and some sandals. I make my way down the stairs to the outdoor pool. I don’t waist time throwing my things on a pool chair and jumping in the water. It’s perfect.

I swim a few laps for the exercise then I allow myself to float on my back. I look up at the stars. The palm trees frame my vision. It’s so incredibly peaceful.

After a few minutes of floating and looking at the stars I hear the door to the outdoor pool open. I look over and Andrei is putting his towel on the chair next to mine. He’s gorgeous, anyone could see that. He all man. Tall, muscular, and chiseled. I swim toward him and cross my arms over the side of the pool. “Why aren’t you out with the guys?”

“I didn’t feel up to it tonight.” He says easily shrugging his shoulders. His accent is music to my ears. It has lessened since I met him but it’s still strong.

I smirk, “You’re only 23 and you are already tired of going out? How can that be?”

“Y/n, you’re 22 and you’ve never liked going out.” He responds simply, walking toward me and easing himself into the pool.

I blush. It’s kinda sweet that he notices those kinds of things about me. “Touché,” I reply. I turn around so my back is up against the pool wall and I turn to look at Andrei. “Do you do this a lot?” He furrows his eyebrows as if he’s confused by the question. “Swimming in the hotel pools at night.”

“When I have time I try to. It’s nice.” He says looking at me with those dazzling eyes.

I glance back at the stars, “Do you ever have those weirdly particular experiences that you just really want to do?”

“I think I know what you mean.” He contemplates, “tell me yours.”

“I want to spend winter at a lake house, hopefully in Michigan. I want to swim in the ocean at night.” I pause blushing, thinking of something I shouldn’t have.

He pokes my arm, “What’s that look?”

“I want to make out with someone in the rain or in water. Like a lake, pool, ocean. I know it’s dumb but I always thought it was so romantic.”

He nods then goes quiet, I feel like an idiot. The other guys over share with me a lot so sometimes I forget to have a filter. “Maybe we could do some of them together. Swimming in the ocean at night seems fun.”

“Yeah, maybe we could!” I say smiling.

He looks away from me for a second, “I could also help with the other one.”

“You know a lake house in Michigan we could stay at?”

He chuckles and brings himself closer to me. “I was talking about the other one.”

I realize what he’s insinuating and I blush deeply. This would be very unprofessional of me and honestly stupid but I’ve been working on separating myself from work. Doing things that I want to do because I want to do them. And right now the number one thing I want to do is kiss Andrei Svechnikov.

“Are you sure?” I ask, putting my arms around his neck.

He grabs my legs and wraps them around his waist, “Yep.” Then his lips are on mine. He’s not shy, he’s pushing me up against the pool wall and his hands are all over me. I can tell he’s more experienced. I certainly don’t mind I just hope I’m keeping up.

Soon enough his hips are rutting against mine and his groans are undeniable. I pull back to try and slow things down but his lips goes straight to my neck. Now I’m arching into him.

When he pulls back to look at the work he’s done to my neck I can see him smirk. “We should stop.” I say because I know we have to, or I’ll do something I can’t take back.

“Yeah, we probably should. I don’t want to.”

I smile and push his arm, “You’re not helping.”

He laughs but holds my hips, not letting me go just yet. “What if I don’t want this to be a one time thing? I like you.”

I pause for a second thinking about what he just said. I should be professional, he’s a co-worker. But he’s also just a guy that I find attractive, maybe it wouldn’t hurt. “I like you too, maybe we could meet tomorrow for coffee?” I say with butterflies in my stomach.

He presses his lips to mine once again, “perfect.”

[yellow-cr0w]

Disaster

Fandom: Bones (2005)

Pairing: Lance Sweets x Reader

Rating: Teen & Up

Warnings: Severe injury and blood loss, description of an attack with a deadly weapon. I’m very new at writing so be warned that there might be other things that I didn’t think to include.

Description: I really really want to write a long term slow burn fanfic for Sweets, this is the first scene that I had fully formed in my head (even though it occurs MUCH later in the plot, so I supposed I’m spoiling the fanfic for everyone rn but you’ll probably forget this happened by the time I get around to writing it). At this point Sweets and the OC, Julia have been friends for years and moved in together after he dumped Daisy and stayed with Booth and Brennan for a while. I forget which serial killer was in this era but I’m going to be rewatching the entire show while I write so this scene will also be heavily edited later once I get to that part of the plot. 

Let me know if you have any suggestions since I haven’t written anything in a LONG time and this is my first ever fanfic that I’ve actually put on the internet!

I hope you enjoy! :)

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Distracted by my thoughts, I stepped into the shower, the heat helping ease the tension from today. Sitting down to let the near-boiling water beat down onto the top of my head, I replayed earlier events.

A faint noise ripped me from my thoughts.

“Sweets? Is that you?” I stood, it should be way too early for him to be back home - unless I had been in the shower longer than I thought. He shouldn’t be home for another two hours at least, but maybe I had lost track of time. I winced, the water bill was gonna be high this month if that was the case.

Hands trembling, I reached to turn off the water.

Click

The lights were out. I held my breath, frozen in place under the heated water.

Suddenly, the shower curtain was ripped open. The beginning of a scream left me before my mouth was covered. The weak light from the little toy nightlight outlined the horror in front of me. I blindly scratched at the silhouette - managing to land a few feeble hits until a sucker punch landed on my right side. The rough hand released my mouth and I was shoved hard into the tile wall.

The last thing I remembered was the ground disappearing from underneath my feet, and the quiet click of the light turning on.

I woke up shivering.

The freezing cold water contrasted the dull, crippling, warmth on my right side. I blinked at the filtered light coming from the closed shower curtain.

How long had I been here? My vision spun as I tried to push myself up on shaking hands to turn off the water. A spot just above my ear pounded. My stomach lurched and I resigned myself to leaning back and shivering.

I opened my eyes to the sound of the front door. 

Maybe whoever did this to me came back to finish me off. Maybe it was-

“Sweets,” my voice croaked out. He wasn’t going to hear me. Hell, I could barely hear myself. I tried again, sounding even weaker than the first time.

I closed my eyes again, praying to whatever, whoever, inhabited the sky that he would decide to use our apartment’s one and only bathroom soon. Maybe he would be too tired to brush his teeth before bed. Maybe he wouldn’t risk coming in with the shower running. Maybe he didn’t hear the water at all.

“Jules? You didn’t slip and fall down the drain did you?”

A small cry left my throat in my attempt to call for help.

Please, I silently begged.

“Are you okay in there?” A gentle knock along with a pause, “Julia?”

Come in.

The creak of the door and gentle footsteps pushed me to try again.

”Help… please.”

The shower curtain was hesitantly pushed open and I came face to face with a wide-eyed Sweets. He muttered expletives under his breath, rushing to turn off the freezing water and start grabbing several towels from the bathroom closet. He stumbled over himself trying to get a towel to lay flat on the bathroom floor before moving to cover my exposed body.

“-crap crap crap, how long have you been here? Do you know how much blood you’ve lost?” He leaned over the side of the tub. His eyes frantically searched my face.

“I’m not bleedi-“ I slurred out, my words fading into a cry as his hands pressed the rough fabric into my side. High pitched ringing blinded me and a furious coil rose into my throat.

“-s okay. You’re okay, stay with me.” A small tapping on my cheek prompted me to blearily open my eyes. “How long have you been here?”

“Don’t know.” A heavy lead filled my muscles, keeping me from shivering any longer. “-m so cold. I just woke up.”

“I’m gonna put you on the floor until the paramedics arrive, okay? You’re gonna be fine-“ Sweets repeated more soft encouragements as he carefully moved his arms under my bare upper back and just under my thighs. I sighed in relief as the hard curves of the tub no longer pressed into my bones. He lifted me like I was made of paper thin porcelain that would shatter at the slightest bump.

“You smell nice.” My head rag dolled against his arm, and I caught the hint of the earthy cologne he aways wore. “Why’re all the colors weird.”

My mouth felt funny.

Everything feels funny. Half of a laugh slipped out.

Sweets muttered more curses as he kneed next to me. “-k you’re in shock.” One of his hand pressed hard on my side as he desperately fumbled to release his phone from his pocket. “It’s going to be okay- I’m calling 911 they’re going to help you.” He blinked rapidly, phone shaking and jerking with each beep of the keypad. “-you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be oka- COME ON answer the phone.” The pressure on my side increased.

“Lance,” I faintly tugged on his dress pants. I heard the faint noise of the 911 operator picking up and getting cut off in their standard introduction by Sweets speaking faster than I could register. I repeated myself, losing my grip on the fabric. Beautiful, wild eyes ripped away from the blood soaked towel to look at me.

“I’m in love with you.”

A sob broke out of his mouth as he switched the phone to speaker and threw it down onto the tile. He used both hands to stop the bleeding, now blubbering our address to the operator.

His left hand broke away and moved to cup my face. I leaned into his touch, the dark edges of my vision creeping to the center.

It feels so nice.

“Don’t cry.” I mumbled, vision swirling as I tried to fight it and focus on what he was saying.

“Jules. Julia, no- stay with- NO.”

Too bright, I tried to say.

Hurts.

I’m so tired.

I’m sorry Lance.