#and string together a sentence instead of mumble incoherently

[qvietspvce]

i wanted to write today but spending any longer than 5 minutes at a time looking at a screen is making me violently nauseous

[cal-flakes]

╰┈➤ “accidents happen angel”

warnings: light swearing, just fluff.

summary: rafe comes home to a tearful y/n and stained rug. (this was an anonymous request, but i accidentally deleted it instead of answering it.)

her feet jumped around the room as she twirled in another bout of pent up energy. the playlist she’d put on echoed through the house as she sang along breathlessly.

she’d had quite a boring day, rafe was out doing business with barry, so she used the time alone to clean his house. having gutted every single room, putting things in new places, moving furniture, she finally decided to take a breather. which in her eyes, was dancing around the living room until she was completely out of breath.

smooth operator blared through the expensive sound system as she gesticulated furiously, mindlessly acting out a music video as she whirled around the coffee table.

just as the chorus was coming up, she let out a yelp as she knocked into the coffee table, knocking her coffee off in turn. “shit! shit!” she froze in place for a split second, unsure of what to do before running the the kitchen.

grabbing armfuls of cleaning products, she rushed back through to the living room. sucking in a harsh breath, her and the now coffee stained, white rug had a minor face off, the costly material taunting her.

she fell into a cross legged position beside the stain, half-arsedly reading the instructions on the backs of the various bottles now scattered around her.

she began scrubbing furiously, attempting to lift the stain before it dried, but she only seemed to be making it worse.

some time had passed before her arms began to quiver, worn out from the frantic cleaning.

she didn’t know what to do, her heart pounded in her chest as she repeatedly checked the time on her phone, nearing the time rafe usually came home.

tears brimmed along her waterline as a suffocating panic washed over her. it felt as though the room was closing in on her, and the music still blaring didn’t help at all.

her fingers brushed against the once-soft fur rug, grabbing at it in an attempt to ground herself.

her chest only tightened further when she heard the front door open and close, his footsteps getting dauntingly closer.

she could hardly see through the hot tears as they cascaded down her flushed cheeks. she must’ve looked a mess, curled up on the floor against the couch, her hands covered in cleaning products.

his footsteps came to a halt in the doorway, his eyes widening at the sight. “y/n?”

her heavy breaths and sniffles gave her away immediately. rounding the couch, he looked between her and the stain, furrowing his brows in confusion. “y/n, what happened?” he asked, concern laced in his voice.

struggling to string a sentence together, incoherent babbles fell from her lips as she looked up at him, the skin around her eyes red raw from rubbing.

he placed a gentle hand on her cheek, cupping it as he knelt beside her, not caring for the brown liquid seeping through the leg of his suit pants. “angel, i can’t help if i don’t know what’s wrong..” he muttered, guiding her to look at him.

unsuccessful in his attempt to calm the sobbing girl, her blubbering only continued, her hair now falling from the bun she’d carefully crafted earlier. “i-i..”

“shh, baby. deep breaths m’kay? can you do that for me?” he cooed. she nodded slightly, mimicking the deep breaths he also began to take.

after a couple minutes, she reached a hand up to wipe her nose as she avoided his gaze. “i..i spi-stained the rug..i kno-knocked my coffee..” she sighed, her thoughts still slightly jumbled.

“i can see that angel. are you hurt? where’s the glass?” he questioned, his attention now drawn to the rug, scanning it for loose shards. “i had to put it in the trash, it-it smashed..”

“that’s okay princess, as long as you’re okay..” he mumbled, pulling her head into his chest. twisting her face, she met his eyes. “b-but the rug..i ruined it..” she whimpered, tears threatening to spill once again. “i don’t care about the rug baby, i didn’t like it anyways”

“pinky promise?” she whispered, tilting her head at him. chuckling to himself, he withdrew his hand from her cheek, reaching his little finger out to interlock it with her. “i pinky promise angel, we can go into town to buy a new one tomorrow, m’kay?”

shaking her head in agreement, she leaned into his touch, inhaling his scent, allowing it to invade her senses. “come on, why don’t we have a shower?” he suggested, pulling her to her feet.

“are you saying i smell?” she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“like bleach” he joked, poking fun at her misuse of the surface cleaner.

[cherie-doll]

hiii!!!! I love your writing so much, you're soooooo talented!!!! I was wondering if you could write a gn or fem reader who is extremely clingy whenever she's tired, which is the cause of her demanding job with Keegan ?? thank you so much for taking the time out to read this !!!!

sorry for taking ages to answer lol im like braindead but i'm glad to know you enjoy my writing! and ofc, i'll write smth up :)

i did not proofread this, it's like 2 mins away from 3am my eyes do not see errors

Keegan lets a sigh slip through his lips as the weight of your head remains on his shoulder. You had walked in looking completely drained, and he had taken it as an opportunity to do anything for you because you'd be too tired to complain about it. Your voice low in a mumble, words blurring together.

His eyes travel to the oven clock to see it is well past midnight. He gently nudges you, his breath tickling your neck as he calls your name. Your eyes crack open a tiny bit but close them again, wanting to remain in proximity to him. Keegan, however, notices you're awake and attempts to convince you to go to bed instead of dozing off on the couch.

"C'mon, need to get you in bed." He says with a gruff, trying to move his shoulder away but not before gently holding your face in his hands, his thumb caressing your cheek. You mumble, telling him you want to stay like this. Your speech become incoherent as your words slur together, unable to string a proper sentence. You give up trying to speak when Keegan lets out a chuckle and lean into his touch. The brush of his fingers soothing your mind.

Your mind feels fuzzy as you start slipping into sleep again. Not wanting Keegan to leave; your arms reach out, needing something to hold. His aroma engulfs you as your arms wrap around his waist, resting your head on his chest. Even through his clothes you can feel the warmth in this intimacy. He takes to making small circles on your back; slowly dragging his fingertips along your skin. The rhythmic pattern he traces knowing it'll ease your sore muscles from fatigue.

His drowsy eyes soften as he watches you. Feeling your breathing slow and his own eyelids flutter shut as he drifts off to sleep with you.

[night-fall-moon]

Chapter 4: Remiss—Reckon

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As the case came to a close one of the Suzuya squad members abruptly spoke up, "By the way, I thought the Q's squad had five members?"

"Oh, the other two are..." Reina rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, knowing that Shirazu most likely gave up trying to wake up the blue sloth.

The other two—Mutsuki and Urie—beside her murmured quietly. "I wonder if he couldn't wake up Saiko.."

"Can't be helped, but it doesn't reflect well on Q's squad."

Mutsuki looked at the vacant seat across from him, "their squad leader isn't here yet either." He noted to the boy next to him.

And just on time the short male sprinted through the door making quite the entrance.

"Sorry I'm late!" He marched on in as his squad rose to greet him, a rush of good mornings flooded the room.

Once introductions were set, Suzuya turned to the two instructors and greeted them with open arms—but instead of a hug, Suzuya instead began to pat the taller man down. Handful after handful of candy piling up in the palms of his hands—stuffing them into his own pockets for later. He then turned to the girl and stuck his hands out expecting her to pull out another handful of treats just for him.

"You know candy'll give you cavities Juuzou." She said as she handed the small handful to him.

"This is less than last time." He pouted as he counted each piece.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Haise gave you enough as it is." She quirked a brow at him.

He smiled at her and popped the lollipop she gave him into his mouth before turning to Abara.

"Sir, the meeting has concluded.." the taller man noted.

"Then gimme the short version. But before you do-"

"I'm sorry... we're late!!" A loud voice echoed throughout the room and small snores could be heard from behind the man.

"Shirazu?!"

"Im impressed. Maybe putting Shirazu in charge was a good idea, Haise." She smiled at the younger boy as he blushed at the compliment, behind him Saiko seemed to have been half awake, mumbling incoherent words.

"I met them in front of the elevator.. give me the rundown once they're seated, please." Juuzou finished his sentence as Abara nodded at his word.

"Sorry Sassan, Nana.. we're so late.." he frowned.

"I-it's alright. Thanks for bringing her here... you did great!!" Haise smiled awkwardly trying to calm the panting boy.

"Stop acting like you did something bad," Reina rolled her eyes at the dramatic boy, "just be proud about the fact that you were able to bring her here. Give her to me, just sit." She extended her arms out and reached out to grab the drooling girl on his back.

She carried her to an empty seat and tried to wake her up.

"C'mon Saiko, you're here already might as well try and be present for the meeting, yeah?" She cupped the girl's chubby cheeks. Instead the girl just kept nodding off, a string of drool dropping onto the older girls arm.

Instead of getting grossed out by the wet feeling she just brushed it off and continued shaking the sleepy girl awake. "Saiko... if you try your best throughout this mission I'll buy you that new DLC you've been wanting." She bribed.

How the girl caught her words, she'll never know, but they seemed to work as the weariness was slowly washing off of her and a sudden consciousness came to front for a bit.

"You promise?" Her raspy voice called out quietly.

"Have I ever broken a promise, Saiko?"

"Nuh-uh."

"So you promise?"

"Pinky promise?"

"Alright, pinky promise." Both girls intertwined their fingers together swearing not to break this vow, not wanting to disappoint the other as it'd give them something valuable in return.

A significant gift from the girl she looks up to, and a better relationship with the girl she wants to protect the world from.

A ghoul who consumed only genitals from the opposite sex wasn't uncommon to hear, but was pretty unsettling to hear the least. As her name suggested, she only ate testicles—and her traces were rather odd.

Cases of human trafficking in ghoul society wasn't uncommon at all. After all that's how the Gourmet's eat after all—and ghoul restaurants were still as popular as ever, but that may just be considered kidnapping and homicide.

"Well..?" Haise muttered into hi in-earpiece.

Seated at the designated restaurant, the Quinx squad was separated by tables. A group of three by the back of the restaurant and one closer to where The Nutcracker and her accomplice were seated, those being Mutsuki, Shirazu, and Saiko.

Haise, Reina and Urie situated farther away guiding the rest of the squad from afar. So far they were able to barely get anything in either of them.

"It's no good. My ears aren't up to par today." Shirazu scolded himself growing increasingly frustrated at his incompetence during an important point of their main mission.

Turning to the small blue haired girl, Shirazu nudged her and asked if she could hear anything, but all that came out was her describing the sound of the meat grilling in the kitchen. Unable to hold back his frustration he took it out in the girl and whacked her on the head while cursing her out.

Sighing, Reina looked up from her phone and turned to the other two boys beside her and noticed that they were equally as stressed, though Urie was hiding it a lot better than Haise. Speaking of the boy, he looked to be lost in thought until Shirazu spoke into the earpiece.

"What do we do? S-should we move closer?"

"No. Knowing that when ghouls are out they're already hyper aware of their surroundings. They'll just get more suspicious of us. Plus, you guys look so out of place." She scrolled on her phone and mumbled the last part more so to herself, but Urie happened to overhear her but decided not to comment.

"Shit, I can almost hear them too-" Shirazu's arm pushed his cup over the edge of the table. The fragile glass shattering as it came into contact with the floor. Shards of glass and juice spreading all over the floor.

Haise covered his face in dread, Saiko looked at the boy in an unimpressed manner. Mutsuki turned to nervously look at the boy who was probably shitting bricks and pissing himself right about now.

Trying to act nonchalantly Urie took a sip of his coffee, and Reina continued to scroll in her phone acting as if nothing ever happened.

The Nutcracker and her accomplice turned to look over her shoulder back at the blonde before she got up to pour herself a cup of iced coffee. Her gaze never leaving his.

"I'm sorry Investigator Suzuya... the Nut seems to be returning home earlier than we expected. She may have caught onto us. I'm sorry. It was my fault.. yes sir." Haise cut the call and turned to the sulking boy.

"Squad leader. It's alright. We'll make up for it next time."

"Shirazu. Look at me," the girl ordered. He hesitantly looked up at her, "Mistakes happen. You'll get used to things not going as planned. Cheer up."

Once the squad back home Shirazu locked himself in his room out of sheer frustration and embarrassment from his supposed failure. Leaving him be Reina went up to her room and grabbed a few toiletries before heading into the bathroom and taking a warm bath.

She stripped of her day clothes and stepped into the warm water, her mind running wild until she sat down letting the warm water relax her badly and mind. Slipping further and further into the tub she let herself get consumed by the water, numbing her senses letting the wave of calmness take over.

She recalled a memory. They were in the comfort of their own home, she was on her bed reading while her sister was by the windowsill painting her nails. She'd gotten to a chapter that described a new setting she was totally unfamiliar with.

The sandy, sunny beach. Where there was an infinite amount of sand and water—inches, feet, kilometers deep. Waves that crashed up against the rocks that bordered the shore line. The feeling of cold salt water splashing against their warm skin.

"Rize, what's a beach?"

"A beach? Well they're usually considered a tropical place, but not always. They're apparently great vacation trips for when you want to take a break from everything."

"How come we've never been to the beach?"

"That, silly girl, is because there's no big bodies of water here in the city. We need to be by the coast in order to be by the beach."

"I wanna go to the beach!"

"Do you know how to swim?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? Kichimura taught me how to-"

A knock at the door brought her back to reality. She pushed herself up and out of the water, hands wiping the water out of her face before responding.

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask you something."

"I'll be out in a minute—hold on."

She pulled the drain plug and stepped out of the tub onto the floor. Droplets of water soaking the dry floor. She wrung her hair and wrapped it up in a towel. She grabbed her other towel and began drying herself as quickly as she could. Deciding she was dry enough she put her underwear on and messily put her outerwear on.

Leaving the bathroom a mess she opened the door, her face being met with a poker face.

"What is it?"

"I need you to sign this." He handed the sheet of papear over.

Reading it over it stated the following, surgical consent form... frame procedure... healthy... next step.

"If I don't sign this, what'll happen?"

...

"And what did Sasaki say?"

"He'll give it some thought."

"Let's go to my room. We can discuss this more privately in there." She grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around whilst guiding him to her room. Opening the door she pushed him inside and closed it behind her.

"Okay first thing first, why do you want to get it done?"

"I-"

"And be honest with me, I don't want a bullshit answer."

"As I was saying, I feel like I'm handling my kagune better than before and my rising RC levels have stabilized. Taking the next step in the experiment would be best for me."

"No. That's the answer you should give me, I want your personal belief. I know there's a stronger feeling that's making you feel strongly about the surgery."

...

Sighing she pinched her nose bridge knowing it would get her nowhere with him. Knowing Kuki Urie, there would be no coaxing his actual feelings out. He was a smart boy, knew exactly what his peers and everyone else wanted to hear. But when it came to Reina there was no use trying to suck up to her.

"Look, I know we're not as close as I am to the other members. But you keep pushing yourself away from emoting how you truly feel in the moment, and it's not just that. Remember how you asked for the reimbursement, and how you kept handing us receipts?"

He blinked.

"You never communicated with us. Had you told us your idea, your plan, anything at all! You wouldn't have put anyone in danger. You're holding yourself back and you don't even know it because that's been your whole li-"

"Don't act like you know me-"

"But I do know you. See how you're acting defensive? You know exactly what I'm talking about, Kuki Urie."

"Shut your mouth."

"You know, I wish you would just speak your mind no matter what. I can tell that you're hurti-"

"Will you sign the form? Or not?" He cut her off before she could say anything else.

"No." She crossed her arms, her voice dripping of disapproval.

He walked out of the room and slammed the door.

"Please take a look at the files in your hands... it's a copy of a list discovered at The Nutcracker's residence.

"A list?"

"Yes. It's a grocery list. It suggests there's a connection between the Nutcracker and the madames."

"So the Nut also kidnaps people, maybe she's collecting things for the auction."

"An auction..?" Mutsuki asked after hearing the word during the case.

"It's a bidding event that the madames hold—similarly to ghoul restaurants. They bid off the victims they kidnapped," Reina explained simply, "or in other words human trafficking."

"The ghoul known as the Big Madame—the chairperson of the restaurant and the show—is notorious throughout the CCG. We've had numerous chances to eradicate her, but they all ended in failure."

"So she's a vicious ghoul..?"

"If the Nutcracker is working for the Madame this could be an important case."

"If needs be, we may work, with Countermeasure II..."

Leaving the briefing was pretty eventful. With the newfound information of the case, everything had now changed. This was going to be the first case in a while where they would actively pursue a rate: ≥ A ghoul. It was like a scary thrill ride with how surreal the moment felt as it sank in.

The five of them walked out together and murmured a few words to each other about the case.

"Sounds likes it's bigger than I expected..."

"Yeah. A joint investigation with Countermeasure II rarely happens. Guess it's all up to the Nut... we need to be at our best." Haise stated, everyone else knowing that it was true. If they lacked competence in any way, shaper, or form they'd end up six feet under.

"Hey, Sassan, Nana."

Bothe mentors perked up at their names being called upon by the blonde boy beside them.

"Is Urie okay? Being sent to the hospital out of nowhere like that."

"Sorry, I don't know. I was just informed myself."

Reina sighed knowing exactly what happened. After the argument that ensued the night he presented her the consent form, she knew that he'd still get the surgery behind their backs. How he was able to go through with it? She didn't know, but she probably had a feeling he forged their signatures or something.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Shirazu. Urie's a tough nut, he'll get through whatever's going on in his immune system." She reassured the boy, not letting anything slip.

"I don't know. I can't reach Dr. Shiba either."

"I hope it's nothing serious."

"They said he'll be back in a few days. It'll just be us then."

"We have a meeting tonight. Shirazu, there's someplace I have to go to after I lecture Saiko. Can I have the car keys?" Haise reached his arm out as the boy pulled the keys out without hesitation and passed them to the man.

After Haise came back, he wasted no time to call everyone into the meeting room to announce their new plan. He sat everyone down and gave them the shorter version of what he was told,

"The Nut is scoping out potential victims in clubs and other places in the 13th ward. The list includes some unusual criteria for victims. Ocular prosthesis... vocalist, and some general ones like specific height and weight."

He stood up, " guys. We're going to become women."

wc: 2.8k previous chapter  masterlist next chapter

a/n: this’ll be the last chapter for the month, and I’ll be taking a break due to personal reasons. I’ll continue writing whilst I’m on hiatus, so it’ll be easier to post once I’m done and so I’m ahead of my schedule. I’ll be back by May! So I’ll see you guys then!

ps. I wasn’t going to post today at all, but I felt like I was depriving everyone and myself of giving y’all the next chapter, so here you are

Tag list:

[greyyson-but-no]

don't listen to them | tommyinnit

genre | fluff, slight angst

warnings | insecurities, a crying tommy, kissing and two 'i love you's, lowercase on purpose, unedited

pairing | tommyinnit x reader (you)

word count | 744 words

a/n | could this count as a blurb? shorter than usual but it was something quick i wrote yesterday and i just wanted to get it out as soon as possible. please continue sending in requests even though i'm shit at actually writing them, i promise i will get around to them asap [this is in no disrespect to molly in any way whatsoever]

sometimes, it could get too much. you knew that tommy had had bullying issues when he was in secondary and that led him to be a little self-conscious when the youtube/twitch career became huge but for the most part, he had handled it well. and anything that he hadn't, he had told you about and the two of you had gone through it together and had been fine.

it wasn't unusual for you to pop over uninvited, since you had the spare key to his flat and were seemingly more comfortable in his house that his own. what was unusual was that when you stepped inside and closed the door, you weren't greeted by a hyper tommy excited to see you. instead, silence.

"tom?" you called, waiting a few seconds, expecting him to come bounding around the corner, but greeted by nothing.

with furrowed eyebrows, you left the hall and went into his office, because maybe he was streaming? you always checked twitch before leaving and he hadn't been streaming, but he always could have started while you were on your way.

the lights were off. there were the string lights around the edge of the ceiling that were glittering softly but other than that the room was soaked in complete darkness. if he wasn't here, then you didn't know where he was. where he could have been. he wouldn't have been sleeping; it was four in the afternoon.

but there was a figure on the sofa. pushed up against the wall and curled into a small melancholy ball against the cushions. his eyes were closed, but he didn't have that sleeping look on his face that was the cutest thing ever. instead his eyebrows were furrowed, like he was frustrated from something. you wanted nothing more than to help him, whatever this was and whatever this meant. you hated seeing him like this.

"tommy? it's me.." you murmured, kneeling down against the side of the sofa and watching as he shook his head. "lovely, what's up?"

a small incoherent mumble came from him, but it wasn't an answer, nor the one you were looking for. ever so carefully, you grabbed his shoulders as turned him over so that he was facing you, hands moving up to his hair and combing through it softly, knowing it would comfort him somewhat.

"what are you..." you asked, trailing off when you saw the red in his eyes. your heart ached at the sight of him, you'd never seen him so broken and yet here he was.

"hi." he let out a half laugh, half sob and it broke your heart.

swallowing, you rubbed a hand against his cheek, pulling him up into a hug, arms around his neck, pulled as close as possible. you never wanted to let him go, you never wanted to see him like this again. you wanted to rid the world of every single possible problem that could possibly bother him. "god, tommy, what happened? y-" but you couldn't finish your sentence.

he shrugged. "i think i took a few comments too seriously, that's all."

"tom, we've spoken about this." you told him, still keeping your eyes soft as your hand still rested on his cheek, his palms wrapped around each arm, as if he was latched on for life. "you can't be looking at comments for too long."

"eh, i know, it was just too tempting." he explained, breaking eye contact and looking downwards instead. "you know what i'm like."

pulling his forehead down, you pressed a soft kiss on his forehead and leant yours against his, smiling down at him. "you know none of them are right, yeah? you're brilliant, cute and fucking hilarious tommy, nothing they say against you is true."

"yeah, i know." he nodded, swallowing thickly. "just sometimes gets too much."

"that's fine. it's fine if you sometimes need to take a step back, just please, never let yourself get like this alone. message me, or give me a ring, please anything, i hate seeing you like this." you told him, telling the truth one hundred percent and watching as he smiled at you and nodded.

"i love you."

"love you too, honey." you softly kissed him. "wanna play something? what about the sims?"

tommy nodded, now grinning, the redness in his eyes slowly disappearing. "yeah! come on!" and he grabbed your hand pulling you up and surely to his office. everything would be okay. you couldn't help but smile at the returning grin on his lips.

[sl-ut]

somebody else

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

description: eddie wants y/n, but he won’t stand for the façade that everyone else seems to fall for.

warnings: UNEDITED, drug use, reference to reader’s drink getting spiked, reference to addiction, swearing, non-graphic sexual content, swearing

words: 2.2K

date posted: 23/07/22

She’s high when Eddie sees her for the first time–really sees her.

At first, by the way that she had been stumbling down the dark, unpaved road, Eddie thought that she may have been hurt somehow. He recognized her, how could he not? He’d only stared at the back of her head in Ms O’Donnell’s class for the past few months, taking in the slopes of her neck and shoulders, the texture of her hair, and the various undertones of her skin as only an artist would inspect their latest masterpiece.

Then, it dawned on him as he drew closer, watching as her knees threatened to buckle underneath her with every step, and noting how she didn’t seem to register the sputtering of the raddy old van as he pulled up next to her, nor the shadows that appeared around her from the dim headlights.

She didn’t stop until he called her name, turning to him as she incoherently mumbled to herself. She narrowed her eyes, face relaxing as she finally recognized him, “Wha… Eddie?”

Y/n was the type of girl to not take any shit. Any time that Jason or his goons would bump her in the hall, she made sure to tell them exactly where to go, and anytime that Eddie had sent a teasing comment to her, he would always be met with an eye roll, and on many occasions, the sight of her middle finger raised into the air. She was tough, always sticking up for herself. She wasn’t the type of girl who would get herself into stupid situations by drinking too much or acting irrationally. Yet, there she was, dangerously inebriated and alone late at night.

“Hey, you doin�� okay?”

She sniffled, hazy eyes shifting between the long, winding road ahead of her and the van, shaking her head slowly. She furrowed her brows, leaning closer and gripping the edge of the window.

“Can-can you…”

He nodded, leaning across to push the passenger side door open to allow her to clamber in, and only then did he realise what kind of condition she was really in.

The dome light illuminated her sweaty face, allowing him to see her red-tinted eyes and expanded pupils. The front of her clothes were dirty, indicating that she had likely taken a few tumbles on her journey, and her hands trembled as she moved to buckle herself in.

“Woah,” He gasped, “You gonna tell me why you were walking by yourself so late at night?”

She couldn’t form a straight sentence, instead leaving Eddie to string bits and pieces of her story together, and though he didn’t get any details, he was able to get an understanding of the basics; She’d been at a party that night, and her friends had left her behind.

Eddie knew her friends. Not well, but he knew of them. They didn’t run with the popular crowd, though they surely would if they were given the chance, nor did they hang around with the likes of the Hellfire Club. In simple terms, her friends were nothing more than a bunch of young girls trying to be something they’re not to impress others who will never give them the time of day, and they clearly weren’t the type of people to be depended on.

When he asked her how much she’d had to drink, she shrugged, mumbling something that remotely sounded like four, and that the last one tasted funny. He came to the conclusion that she was most definitely high, but likely not on her own accord. He was just glad that he had found her before some other creep had.

“Are you okay, though?” He asked, “Not hurt? Did anyone… touch you?”

When she didn’t respond, he repeated his question.

“No,” Her voice cracked, “I’m okay.”

She was vulnerable, and definitely more afraid than she’d ever been. He’d scarcely seen her with a genuine smile on her face, let alone genuine fear or sadness. He couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest, how different she appeared in that moment compared to how she did at school, how different she looked now that she wasn’t putting on any sort of persona. This version of her was raw, untouched, and utterly real, even if she was incredibly high.

The next time Y/n spoke to Eddie, he was high, though it wasn’t exactly uncommon for the Munson boy.

“Well, well, well,” Eddie croned, leaning forward on his elbows to get a better look at the girl as she appeared through the trees, “Look who finally decided to show up. You know, I was starting to think that someone stuck that note in my locker to lure me out here and kill me or something.”

Eddie couldn’t believe his luck when he opened his locker this morning, only for a single pink post-it note to dance through the air and land on the toe of his leather boot–the very same post-it that he’d seen Y/n use so many times before in class. Of course, there was a chance that it wasn’t her, but the odds seemed very unlikely, seeing as there wasn’t exactly a queue of people waiting to see him in private, especially not those who used pretty pink post-its instead of torn-out pages of textbooks or gum wrappers.

She shrugged, leaning her back against a tree, “What if I did?”

Eddie smirked, “Well then, at least I can die happy at the hands of a pretty face.”

“And if I decided to do it from behind?”

High or not, her statement would have made Eddie raise his eyebrows, though the drugs certainly didn’t help him stop any stupid thoughts from leaving his mouth.

“I mean, not my usual style, but I’m not complaining.”

And there was that infamous eye roll, sending a burst of warmth through his belly.

“Are you on something?”

He lifted the burning joint in between his fingers, showing it off shamelessly as if to say, “duh.”

“Want some? A bit of the devil’s lettuce in exchange for the princess’s company?”

A smile threatened to crack at her cool composure, though she managed to keep herself calm, despite the butterflies bursting at the seams of her lower belly.

She shook her head, “I’m not here for drugs.”

Eddie cocked his head. The single thing that most people sought him out for was drugs, in fact, this was the first time that he was meeting someone out here for anything other than drugs. He couldn’t think of anything else that she might want from him. Well, there was one thing… but he wasn’t trying to get his hopes up.

“I’m here to thank you.”

“To thank me?”

She chewed her bottom lip, shifting on her feet nervously, “Yeah. For driving me home that night.”

It had been a few weeks since he’d found her wandering the back roads, and she seemed to have been avoiding Eddie like a plague ever since. He’d tried to catch her attention a few times, greeting her in the halls and passing her notes in class, though each time he went ignored.

“And I’m sorry. For ignoring you,” She frowned, “It was shitty of me, but I can’t remember anything from that night other than being with you, so I wasn’t even entirely sure that it actually happened.”

“Huh,” He chuckled, “And what, you just remembered how awesome it is to hang out with me this morning?”

“Two weeks ago, actually, and I’m not sure I would call this-” She gestured between the two of them, “Awesome.”

“So you just waited two weeks to talk to me?”

“Couldn’t figure out what to say,” She pursed her lips, “Besides, it’s not like you make yourself very approachable, always preaching to your little disciples.”

“Do my ears deceive me? Y/n Y/l/n is intimidated by me, Edward Munson?”

All visible traits of comfort she had disappeared, being replaced by her typical stoic expression and unwelcoming stance, “Me intimidated by you? Yeah, right.”

He frowned, “You know, I think I like you better when you’re high than I do when you’re sober.”

“Fuck you, Munson. I’m trying to be a nice person here.”

“Well I hate to say it, princess, but you’re gonna need a bit more practice.”

Eddie pushed himself to his feet, stalking across the clearing to stand just before her, blowing a cloud of smoke into her face as he stomped the butt of the blunt out.

“You may have the rest of this town fooled with this little mean girl act, hell, you had me fooled for a while, but you’re nothing more than a big phoney.” She opened her mouth to respond, fire behind her eyes, though he didn’t give her the chance, “I’m gonna be real with you, ‘kay? I’m like, super into you. I think you’re funny, smart, super mega hot, but then you put on this big bad attitude that is so goddamn annoying, and even more so because you’re only doing it to fit in with a bunch of bitches who don’t even care if you end up dead in a ditch. So yeah, I definitely prefer the one conversation I’ve had with you where you weren’t pretending to be somebody else.”

He took one final step towards her before pushing past her and making his way down the familiar path to where his van was parked, “Uh, my band is playing at the Hideout tomorrow night, and every Tuesday after that. If you ever decide to put on your big girl pants and act like a real human being, you should come see us.”

The next time he saw her, he was high again. Only this time, there were no drugs in his system. Instead, he was high on adrenaline, finishing up their final song of the night to a very unenergetic crowd, though the band didn’t allow it to affect their own performance.

Eddie had been disappointed when he didn’t spot her among the drunken men in the bar, but he refused to let it show. He wanted Y/n, he really did, but he refused to have a version of her that was fake. He left his bandmates at the bar, stepping outside for a few minutes to cool down after putting more effort into the performance than it was really worth.

“Shit,” He swore, words mumbled by the cigarette waiting impatiently between his lips as his lighter struggled to conjure up even the slightest spark.

“Need a light?”

His gaze rose up, trying his hardest to hide any surprise that may have appeared on his features as his eyes settled on the girl who he’d been hoping to see. She appeared nervous–bashful, almost. She was dressed up a bit more than her usual getup, donning a pair of well-fitted flared jeans and a black fishnet tank, leaving very little to the imagination as her black bra was completely visible through the fabric.

“Show’s over.”

“I know,” She took careful steps towards him, offering the small blue lighter, “You were great tonight. Better than I expected, to be honest.”

He carefully lit the end of his cigarette, motioning to the spot next to him as he deeply inhaled the heavy smoke, “Better than expected? Ouch.”

She chuckled, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

It was silent for a moment as she perched herself on the edge of the dirty van, accepting the cigarette from him and taking several short drags from it. She fought a cough as the bitter smoke filled her lungs, chest constricting as she exhaled heavily.

“What would your friends think of you now, huh? Sitting with the freak, smoking, wearing… that.”

“I don’t know what they’d think, honestly. And I’m not totally sure that I care.”

“No?” He raised his brow, “You’re certainly singing a different tune. What changed?”

She shrugged, “You.”

“Me?”

“Well, I guess I’m the one that changed, but you’re the reason why. I’m, like, really into you, too. Like, a lot more than I am into hanging out with people who barely notice me,” She sniffled, “Did you know they’re having a party tonight? Because I didn’t until I passed Danica’s house on the way here, and to be honest, as pissed as I am, I don’t think I’d rather be anywhere else right now.”

Eddie didn’t waste another moment, cigarette thrown to the wind as his free hand gripped the base of her skull, forcing a bruising kiss onto her lips. She made a noise of surprise, though she didn’t make any objections as her fingers wound into the material of his wife-beater, only pulling him closer as her lips fought with his own with equal intensity.

Eddie got higher than ever before that night. The feel of her lips on his was enticing, instantly feeling the need for more. His heart pulsed when he closed the van door shut behind him and clambered on top of her, only comparable to that first hit of something strong, and as he pressed inside her again and again, he knew that he was hooked. There was no coming back from the way that his name fell from her lips, how she gripped him so tightly as she whispered how good he felt, how she kissed him so fiercely as he came undone.

Y/n was equally as high by the time that they had collapsed next to each other in a sweaty heap. She was high on Eddie, and there was no returning from such an addiction.

*REPOSTED UNDER A NEW TITLE BC THE LAST ONE GOT FLAGGED AS ADULT CONTENT*

[oedein]

MUTUAL.

pairing: bucky barnes x male reader.

warnings: SMUT. mutual m4sturbation, cursing.

word count: 1.9k

MINORS DNI!

Bucky had stumbled into your apartment about an hour ago, all bloodied and bruised up. luckily most of it wasn't his. He had to stay behind because of a particularly rough mission going awry - even though he had planned to get home early. Of course, something bad was bound to happen, leaving his plans to go down the drain. His huffs of frustration and discomfort drew you into the living room, being met by him just as he went to sit down on the couch. You winced at the sight of him and hurried to his side, standing in front of him and reaching your hand out, resting it on his shoulder.

“Woah, what the hell happened to you?” You tried to keep a steady voice as you spoke to him, afraid that you would cause the already stressful situation to get worse. When you didn’t get an answer from him, you kneeled and tried looking into his eyes. Bucky shot you a glance, shaking his head. His legs bounced in frustration, shoes clicking on the floor, echoing in the silent room. There was no use in pressing him further for answers, so you settled with what he gave you. “Would you at least let me clean you up?”

You asked him another question instead, this time getting a verbal response from your partner. A single ‘yes’ left him as he shifted in his seat. His hand snaked its way up to yours as he began to get up, looking for physical support. You nodded back at him and stroked your thumb over his bruised hand, sighing at the sight of the damage. You got up after him and led him into the kitchen before you looked for the first aid kit. With both of you in the kitchen, Bucky was leaning on a table, getting his wounds cleaned by you, stood between his legs. You held a cotton ball up to a cut on his cheek, carefully patting away the dirt and blood. Countless apologies fell from your mouth every time he gritted his teeth or hissed as the alcohol bit at his skin. Once you were done with the wounds on his face, bucky looked down at the dirty cotton balls discarded to the side, before looking back over at you. You watched as he got ready to say something. “Thank you,” he finally spoke again, “for cleaning me up and everything.” His voice was quiet and soft, almost inaudible. But you caught it, smiling up at him. He let his face break out into a soft smile as well before he carefully reached out, resting his hands on your waist. “Of course, buck,” you cupped his face in your hands, placing a kiss on his forehead, “you think I’d just leave you like that?” You snorted and shook your head. Bucky chuckled at you, leaning in for a kiss once the two of you calmed down. You went to pack up the rest of the clean supplies, putting them in the kit before you went back to bucky, giving him a light side hug. “Come on. let’s get you into the bath.” You hummed, nudging his leg, a tired smile washing over your face. Bucky nodded and hummed back, getting off the table and following you into the bathroom. He watched as you prepared the bath for him, getting towels and a soft cloth as the tub was filling up. Steam crept up and covered the room, a comfortable heat building up around you. Bucky started undressing, huffing as the dried blood on his shirt scratched against his skin. You helped him get into the bathtub, carefully holding onto his upper arm as he went to sit down. You tried to get comfortable on the floor beside the tub, a hand still resting on his left arm. You reached for a cloth and soaked it in the water, getting it ready. Reaching up to his back, you slowly rubbed the dirt off of him. You pulled the cloth away, squeezing the dirty water into the drain outside of the tub. As you continued to lather the cloth in soap and washing him, Bucky’s voice suddenly ripped you out of your trance, “Come sit with me?” he turned to you as he spoke, eyes scanning your face for a positive reaction. After a few seconds of thinking, you stood up, getting rid of your clothes. Carefully, you joined him in the tub, sitting opposite of him. You brought your knees up to your chest to hopefully give him more space, but he reached out, pushing on your legs, and tsking quietly. You looked away, visibly flustered, but stretched your legs out next to him as he wished. The two of you sat there quietly, watching the water ripple every time Bucky moved to wash himself. After you got comfortable enough, you sat up for a moment, scooting closer to him. “I’ll do it,” you held your hand out for the cloth, “I want to help,” mumbling, your eyes shifted all over the place, never focusing on one spot. Bucky huffed out a laugh, handing it to you and leaning back against the tub. You moved in between his legs, sat on your knees and ran the fabric down his chest and stomach. He let out a stray groan at the contact, muscles flexing under your touch. You closed the distance even further, your legs rubbing up against his thighs. The closer you got, the more Bucky would stiffen up, waiting for your next move.

You leaned over him in the bath, your lips barely hovering a few inches away from his. Moving in for a quick peck that soon turned into a hungry and heated kiss, tongues clashing against each other. A yelp escaped you as he suddenly pulled you towards himself, with your hands resting on his chest. Legs tried to settle at either side of him. Water sloshed around you from the force of him pulling you and hit the ground with loud splashes. Bucky reached down towards your stomach with his hand, letting it slide down your body slowly. He watched you intently as you twitched when his hand kept going south. When he reached your crotch, he stopped before placing his palm against your member, pushing it up against your stomach. You plopped your head down on his shoulder, letting a moan slip from your lips as his fingers stroked down your length. Your arms laid limp against his chest, goosebumps running down your body as he kept moving his hand, teasing you. Your hips bucked up against his hand as you started getting impatient. Bucky chuckled at you and he nuzzled his face into your shoulder. “Getting that excited already?” His hot breath fanned against your ear, and his teeth grazed your skin  — certainly not helping you out. Only incoherent words and whines left your mouth, as you were trying to form a sentence. He took ahold of your hand, moving it underwater towards his crotch. “Hey, look at me,” Bucky whispered, pushing himself up and fully setting you on his lap.

Slowly, you followed, sitting up and looking back at him. His eyes burning holes into you, watching your every move. Your hand slinked down and pressed against his member, pumping his length at a slow and steady pace. He threw his head back and let out a husky moan, the noise echoing around you. Bucky pushed himself up against your hand and reached out for your cock. Your head dropped down, eyes squeezing shut as he started touching you, rubbing his thumb against your sensitive tip. You jolted forward at the contact, your member brushing against his.

Both of you groaned as you started grinding against him, hand still firmly holding on to, and pumping his cock. As quickly as you started, Bucky took the lead. He placed his hand around yours and wrapped them around both of your members, stroking them. “You’re doing so good,” he groaned, nudging his forehead against you, “You feel so good.” His voice was gruff. You could feel it rumbling in his chest as your free hand rested on him, holding yourself up. You rutted against him desperately, pushing down on him as your hands covered your heat. Bucky let go of your cock, grabbing onto your hips instead to steady you on his lap. “Ah..” you moaned out, throwing your head forward to look him in the eyes, “Please, Bucky..” you finally managed to form a coherent sentence as you grinded down on him in a frenzy. He brought your face closer to him, resting your forehead against his. He parted his lips to speak, but instead a string of curses and moans escaped. “Please what?” He inhaled sharply, “What do you need, hm? Use your words.” You captured his lips in a feverish kiss before you could speak up again, your meek moans mixing into the kiss. You squeezed your cocks together in your hand, earning a loud groan from Bucky as his fingers dug into your hips. “Hah... Hm,” your breathing was erratic at this point, and you weren’t able to inhale fully, “Please... I want to come with you.” Your cock twitched at the thought of finishing together, stomach tying itself in a knot and tensing up. Bucky grunted loudly at your response. Driving him into a feral state. His hand returned to your cocks, pumping at a brutal pace, now desperate for a release himself. Your whole body shook as you collapsed onto Bucky again, your hand trying to keep up with the pace he had set. His cold, prosthetic arm brushed again your shoulder and waist as he held you in place tightly, sending shivers down your spine. Bucky noticed that your body shaking and brought you closer to his chest, whispering in your ear reassuringly, “You’re doing a great job, you’re being so good for me.” His lips connected with your cheek, placing a lingering kiss on your skin. The knot in your stomach tightened and your arm gripped onto bucky for support as he pumped both of you until you finally released, letting out a lengthy moan and breathing heavily. Bucky rutted against you erratically as he released, throwing his head back against the cold tub. As you came down from your high, your body fully slumped against his chest, head resting against his collarbone. Bucky tried to control his breathing, removing his hand from your members, moving it so that he could hold onto you instead. “I’m so proud of you.” He mumbled into your hair, “you did such a good job” Bucky repeated his praises from before, nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck. As you worked on calming down, you closed your eyes, only focusing on how it felt to be pressed against him. Once both of you were fully back, you moved your head so that you could speak clearly, “We’re gonna have to take another bath,” you said, ending your sentence with a ‘hmph’, “plus, you need to be careful with those wounds.” You peeked up at him, taking your hand and placing it underneath his chin, tilting his head down towards you. You heard a chuckle rumble through his chest and felt his lips press softly against your temple, “Looks like it,” he hummed, “But you’re staying here with me.”

[anystalker707]

Bet?

Pairing: Frank x Reader Word count: ~ 1 800 Genre: Fluff / Smut Summary: (Y/n) suggests something new in bed - edging - and tries to convince Frank it's not as boring as he thinks. Kind of content: Restraints / Praise / Overstim / Oral / Fingering / Hand job / Edging

Requested by @angie-migel

Taking a pause from the tour is agonizingly terrible sometimes. All we want to do is to continue the tour as soon as possible, though we’re also equally eager to spend some time back home and visit a few people and places – something we’ve already done, actually, so what actually rests now is only wanting to get back on that bus. The break still lasts for four days now.

A sigh escapes my lips as I shift on the couch, my legs on Frank’s lap whilst we watch TV, mostly staring at the images of a movie we’ve watched a hundred times already and alone with our thoughts.

“Y’know, we could use this time to actually fuck because we can’t do that on tour.”

“I–” Frank furrows his eyebrows, looking at me. “How random.”

I chuckle, rolling my eyes. “I mean, yeah, but it’s not like it’s a bad idea, hm?” I nudge his thigh lightly – he shrugs, tilting his head. “We should, dunno, try something new.”

“What do you suggest?” He breathes, a hand placed on my leg. So he’s actually interested, hm?

“Edging.”

“Nah!” He pouts lightly. “It’s boring!”

Boring? I scoff. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, like…” Frank scratches the back of his head. “There’s not a lot of action going on. Just a person jerking off the other, not letting them come a few times and all that stuff. I think it sounds boring– It is boring.” I snort. “What?”

“Bet?” I can’t help but to grin.

“Bet,” he replies almost immediately. That’s going to be fun.

The TV is turned off before we can move upstairs; Frank sends me weird looks the whole time, apparently still not understanding how edging can’t be boring. Either he’s never done it or whoever did it to him, did a very bad job.

“Good thing you got me.” I chuckle – he hums questioningly, but I only give his ass a slap in response, making him squeal as we reach the last steps of the stairs. He curses under his breath, rushing when I threaten to do it again, a race that only comes to an end after he walks into the bedroom and sits down on the bed, looking at me with a grin. “Let’s see how long that attitude will last,” I challenge, seeing his grin drop a little. “Strip.”

Frank stands up, sending a glare my way as I probably spend a bit too long staring at his ass once he starts lowering his boxers. I look away with a chuckle, resuming rummaging through the dresser’s drawer for a tie, opting for a red one that’s good enough for the job.

“Lie down,” I tell him.

Frank follows the tie with his eyes whereas doing as told. The mattress sinks under my knees as I climb on it and straddle him, taking both of his wrists; he tenses up, compelling me to pause, but soon relaxes again and I carry on to tie his wrists together before tying them to the headboard, making sure the red fabric isn’t digging into his wrists too tightly.

“Is that needed?” he mumbles, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Oh, if it is!” I move off to the side then spread his legs so I can position myself between them, letting my hands rest flat on his thighs at first.

“Not gonna get rid of your clothes?” Frank looks at me. His Adam's apple bobs up and down with an audible swallow and he fidgets with the tie, though not uncomfortably, apparently.

“I don’t think you’re exactly understanding what’s going to happen,” I say softly, taking a hold of his cock to start with a few slow pumps. “It’s all about you, hun.” My thumb runs along the underside and, though not completely hard already, his thighs do twitch in response.

Nothing comes from Frank in return this time, though; he bites down on his lip and exhales, actually relaxing, so I spit on my hand before I can continue, snatching a moan from Frank this time. That’ll be good. I wrap my hands around his base, going up again by letting my fingers trace the veins along the underside, eventually reaching the tip and letting my thumb run around it.

“Fuck,” Frank breathes, pulling his legs up.

“Still boring?” I fondle his balls.

Air is caught in his throat, making him struggle a bit to answer, only groaning at first. “In comparison to other things we do? Yes, a lot.”

“Oh,” I say with fake amusement, earning myself a glare, but as said, the attitude doesn’t last long since he’s soon shuddering under another stroke, twitching in my hand as he’s finally completely hard. There we go.

I wrap my hands tightly around Frank, making sure to have most of his cock covered as I twist them around him, pleased with all the moans I snatch from him, only growing louder after I let my thumb sink in his tip and play with a spot right under the head. I don’t want to give him all of the best now, so I go back to only pumping, letting a hand fondle with his balls, letting my thumb occasionally press down on his perineum. It doesn’t seem so boring for him now, to be honest.

At some point, Frank’s practically doing all the work by himself, thrusting his hips up into my hand – I only occasionally change my grip to gather the precum from the tip and spread it over, hence the wet sounds slowly fill the room, sometimes disappearing under the pleased sounds coming from Frank.

“Fuck,” Frank whines, getting a bit too excited, so I wait for the exact moment to let go and hold him down instead by his hips. “I–” He never finishes the sentence though, breathing heavily.

My hands lower to his thigh, thumbs now sinking into the insides of his thighs. He is granted a pause so he won’t cum once I start touching him again, still, he gets close faster this time – a teasing I repeat two times before I can give him a proper pause, chuckling at his face. Looks like he’s ran a mile.

“So boring,” I mock.

“Okay, but– Fuck, let me cum!” Frank tugs onto the restraints, uselessly. “Please, it’s been enough, fuck.” A quiet cry comes from him and he starts to shift his hips around, which’s pretty much just as useful as the tugging. Amazing.

“No!” I shake my head, giving his thigh a slap. “I don’t think you’re in position to plead for anything right now and get so excited with things because, if I remember well, this is so fucking boring and has nothing much going on, so it’s not a big deal. Calm the fuck down.”

“Yes, boring!” he cries. “But I still wanna cum!”

“It’s just been half an hour, honey,” I say softly after a glance on the clock. “You can handle it for a bit longer, don’t you think? Don’t you wanna be a good boy for me? Look at where you’ve come so far. I think you can go on for a bit longer for me, can’t you, baby? You’re so pretty with your hands tied up above you like this.” I smile then press a kiss to his tummy.

Frank meekly hums in response, sighing shakily. “Alright,” he mumbles.

“Sweet.” I smile, rubbing his thigh softly to ease him – his skin rises under the touch, but he does relax, not fighting anymore against the restraints.

Enough has passed so I’m yet again wrapping a hand around Frank’s cock, this time working on avoiding all of the places and touches he likes the most, only pumping him in an agonizingly slow pace. He whines, but quiets down with my grip around his thigh tightening.

Frank’s anger slowly melts away each time I drive him over to the edge and pull away until an hour has already surprisingly passed by. The sounds escape his throat so easily, strings of wanton moans going past his lips even with the slightest movements in a way I can’t help but to watch him carefully each time I let my finger wander around his tip. He can’t even beg anymore, only babble and mumble incoherently among all the gasps.

It’s been enough, I believe.

I give Frank no warning as I start to pump him while fondling his balls, not taking it slow or anything this time, only jerking him off fast and not stopping at noticing he’s getting close. Frank’s fucking surprised when he’s finally coming, throwing his head back and tugging onto the restraints with a loud cry, thighs quivering.

Frank slowly gets down from his high with thighs twitching and chest heaving up and down and seems like he’s going to say something, but there’s only a gasp instead; I bend down to take him in my mouth at once, humming around him.

The oversensitivity has Frank whining, immediately bucking his hips up and, honestly, it’s always been something he’s into, so it’s no surprise he tries to move his hips to fuck my mouth, only to be held down so I can work properly.

Probably all the denied releases accumulated in a pleasure yet to be satisfied considering how he’s quickly hard again and moaning so fucking loudly at my cheeks hollowed around him.

“(Y/n),” he manages to cry out at some point, among all the poor mess he is in.

I press down on his perineum, letting my tongue circle his tip once and it doesn’t take long until he’s fucking coming again. Even with a bit of difficulty, I’m able to swallow it all after giving myself a pause and quickly continue with it all, making Frank fucking sob at feeling my fingers circling his entrance, lubed up with his own cum.

Frank’s thighs are pressed to my sides tightly, not too much as I sometimes give him a nudge, but he’s barely able to hold himself back anymore.

A couple of my fingers slip in and a few tapping around is enough to find his prostate. I only move my fingers a few times, eventually deciding to just press down against his prostate – he’s so loud and so high-pitched by this point, but the safeword never escapes his lips, only more and more moans until he’s fucking sobbing again at reaching his release yet another time. Now, however, I finally pull away, cleaning my chin as I swallow everything.

Frank’s chest still heaves up and down as he gasps for air, staring at the nothing as his eyes are still dark, pupils still dilated. While he calms down, I untie him, playing with his hair until he’s back to reality, blinking before his eyes meet mine.

“Boring?” I raise an eyebrow.

“I…” He breathes and swallows. “I’ll think very– very well now before… accepting any bet.”

[azurevi]

enstars charas with an overworked s/o

First time writing enstars🤡 this took kinda long becz exams but i hope its good ^^ also kinda self indulgent hhh

Characters : natsume, ibara, leo, tatsumi, arashi, keito

Natsume

Natsume watches from the doorway as your head bobs about, hands tapping unrhythmically on the keyboard. You're already falling asleep, yet you still refuse to go to bed. 

Normally he won't interfere with your work, knowing that you're fully capable of making the right decisions, but it's a pain seeing you pushing yourself so hard. 

"Still working?" he steps in, holding a steaming drink in his hands. 

Your head snaps up at his voice, and you nod. It's a project that you've put off for far too long, and of course, you have to suffer the consequences. 

"The deadline is two days later, if I don't finish this section today I probably won't make it in time,"

He sets the mug beside your hand, observing your wandering gaze and disheveled hair which you must've been running your hand through. "I don't think you can finish it, though. You already look worn out."

You raise the mug to your lips and take a sip of whatever it holds. The drink tastes sweet and refreshing in your mouth, and almost instantly your muscles relax. "You aren't any better, you know,"

That's true. Being a nightowl himself, Natsume's words don't really seem all that persuasive. At first you would lecture him about how little he rested, but you gave up eventually. You suppose he's built differently, seeing as he can still perform well after only three hours of sleep. 

"Pretty sure I'm in better condition," he says, pulling a chair beside you and popping down. The wood scraps against the floor, creaking slightly. It's usually a sound that you find unbearable, but you seem to have missed it as you try to continue your work.

"Come here, love," he stretches his arms out, wiggling his fingers expectantly. You raise a brow, contemplating whether you should give in. It won't be a surprise if you fall asleep right away in his arms. 

"But work…" you sigh, tearing your eyes from him. His shoulders drop immediately, a frown forming from the rejection. "You're just gonna leave me hanging? How cruel…"

You know he's just messing with you when he let out a dramatic huff, but somehow his defeated look still tucks at your heartstrings. 

"Fine, fine…" you sigh, sneaking your arms around his torso and burying your head into his neck. His chest hums with satisfaction as he digs his fingers into your messy hair, soothing out knots he finds along the way gently. With every stroke you're getting drowsier and drowsier, and you know that you're supposed to be working, but the feeling of his hand running through your locks and the steady rise of his chest convince you to stay. 

You fall asleep almost immediately after you close your eyes. Natsume calls out to you and smiles when he hears your slight snoring instead. It's probably the best to get you to the bed and tug you in, but he decides to stay in his spot for a moment longer and relish your presence. 

Ibara

Ibara knows from experience just how hard it can be to sway you when you’ve made up your mind. That’s why he doesn’t try to sweet talk you or lecture you into sleeping. 

No, if he really wants to get you to listen, he will have to trick you into it. 

Almost like a hunter watching his prey, Ibara leans against the doorway as he tries to come up with a flawless plan for his mission. Several empty cans are littered around the desk and he can already smell the aroma of coffee from so far away. You had your fist in your hair, and every once in a while you had to stretch your muscles awkwardly from the lack of movement.

“Don’t you think you deserve a break?” he walks towards you, peeking over your shoulder at the work you’re struggling with. It’s yet another project for the other units, and you seem to be stuck in a dilemma.

“I don’t feel like sleeping without finishing this,” you say.

“Right, but I think you added an extra 0 here,” he points at the paper you're working on, where the value had been increased tenfold because of your negligence. 

“Oh goodness,” you sigh deeply, immediately erasing the zero. “How amateurish of me,”

Ibara watches as you rub the space between your eyes, trying to soothe the looming headache that was making your work even harder. “It feels like all the muscles in my body died,”

“You’ve been sitting for hours after all,” Ibara suddenly smiles, his eyes diminishing into thin slits. You don’t need to hear anything to know that he’s plotting something behind the smile. “What if I give you a short massage?”

Well… that is unexpected.

“A massage,” you repeat.

“That’s right,”

Now that is interesting. You’ve heard from Hiyori about how good Ibara’s massages are for more times than you can count, and it’s something you’ve always wanted to try. It just keeps slipping your mind. A massage sounds just as appealing as a five star meal right now considering how tired your limbs feel.

“Come on, I promise it’ll be worth it,”

“Fine,”

His smile widens even more. “Alright then! Please get onto the bed,”

“You wanna do it on the bed?” you frown. “I’ll fall asleep,”

“It’s not gonna be long,”

This sounds way too risky especially with the amount of work that’s still unfinished, but his grin is unwavering, as if he already knows what your answer will be.

“God, alright,” you admit defeat and throw yourself onto the bed face first. There is a moment of quiet shuffling before Ibara settles himself behind you, making sure he isn't crushing you under his weight. His hands find their way to your back, and start working their magic.

"Normally I would get massage oils, but that'll be for next time," Ibara says in a low voice, as if trying to lull you to sleep. Hiyori was right about his skills -- you don't think you've ever had a massage so satisfying before. Somehow, he just knows where to knead and how much pressure to put. With every passing minute your muscles are getting looser, as is your mind. You almost feel bad experiencing this for free.

You're about to fall asleep when something suddenly jolted your consciousness, like a big slap to your face. You have no idea how long you've been laying down in that hazy state, but you've still got work to do.

"That was the most incredible massage ever but I have to work now…" is what you're trying to say, but the words come out too jumbled and incoherent to be understood. When you try to get up, Ibara presses you back down, insisting that he's not done with the massage yet.

"I'm going to fall asleep for real," you argue weakly as your body slumps back into the mattress. Ibara watches as your words cease and your face loosens up, mouth slightly ajar as you finally indulge yourself to sleep. Maybe you'll be mad at you in the morning, but seeing you rest makes everything worth it.

Leo

This is so, so ridiculous. 

You've been telling Leo to go to bed for the past two hours, but did he listen? Evidently not, seeing as he's clinging to your arm with half-lidded eyes that are failing him every two seconds.

"Just go to sleep first, kay? I still have tons of stuff to do," you flip the pile of complicated documents around, not wanting to spare them another glance. Alas, there isn't much time left before your work is due, and the only way you can think of to tackle this is to keep pushing through no matter how worn out your body feels.

Your head is throbbing and somehow your sight just won't focus. You're pretty sure you're starving too, but you feel no incentive to leave your seat and grab snacks. No, you have to finish your work as soon as possible.

This might've been a lot easier if not for Leo. In the middle of your working he suddenly jolted awake and whined about wanting to cuddle with you. It's no surprise though, considering how often the two of you cling to each other during your sleep, but tonight just doesn't work out.

"Aren't you tired too? I can't sleep without you…" Leo mumbles.

"Pretty sure you're falling asleep as you speak," you say, even though you shouldn't be the one talking right now, not when you're also getting groggy just from his warmth and presence. 

When you turn to look at him, his face is squished against your arm, mouth slightly ajar as he snores. To prevent him from waking up again, you decide to tuck him in.

Which is a big mistake, because just the sight of the bed is enough to knock you out. Also because Leo's not letting go of your arm even in his sleep.

"Come to rest, please…" he mumbles quietly and you sigh. Trying to work when your body is screaming isn't going to do much anyway, you suppose, and you flop yourself onto the mattress with the boy. Leo may be childish at times, but everything he does comes from wishing for your wellbeing. 

Tatsumi

Lying to Tatsumi feels like committing the worst crime ever, but the guilt of going to sleep with your work still unfinished is even greater. 

That explains why you're here under the dim light of the desk lamp against Tatsumi's advice, trying to fight the sleepiness getting to your head as you type away on the keyboard. Just a few more pages and you will go to sleep, you decide, but 'a few more pages' is looking a lot like five essays right now.

You lean back against the chair, throwing your head back. You dare not close your eyes, because you're sure a second longer than an usual blink and you'll be a goner.

"Come on, come on…" you return to the original position, shoulders slumped and eyes squinting as you try to string sentences together. What is usually an easy task has become an impossible mission, and the voice at the back of your head suggesting you to give up isn't any help.

Absorbed in your work, you fail to notice the ruffling of the blanket and the shuffling of slippers behind you. When Tatsumi sets his hands on the back of your chair and calls you, you flinch dramatically.

"Oh," you sigh after calming down. "Did I wake you up?"

"Not really," he says. "I thought you agreed to go to sleep,"

You grimace at his words that remind you how you made a false promise with him when all he wanted was for you to take care of yourself. "I know I did, but I couldn't really fall asleep thinking of all this stuff," you gesture vaguely at the screen.

"I don't think you're doing well though," 

As if trying to prove his point, a yawn escaped your lips and tears blurred your vision. "I suppose not,"

He sits back onto the bed, reaching out so that he can hold your hands in his. "It's no use trying to work in your current state, you know? I know that you're feeling stressed out from all the work piling up, but rest is important for your productivity too. And I'd hate to see you overworking yourself," he pressed a kiss to your knuckles. "Let's go to bed first, and we'll tackle whatever's on your plate tomorrow, alright?"

He doesn't have to say much to sway you. It's one of his charms anyways -- being able to persuade you without even trying.

Arashi

Arashi glances at the clock. 1am. You've been working at your desk since 8, and she can see that you're already starting to fall asleep.

"Sweetheart? You should go rest," she says softly, resting her arms on your shoulders from behind. This brings your mind back to the present, and you sigh realizing that you've zoned out once again.

"Is this due soon?" Arashi asks.

"Not quite, but I don't want to pile everything up. I'm supposed to finish this part today but so many things happened that hindered my plans," you rub you the corners of your eyes. "And I'm already feeling tired,"

"Then you should probably sleep, right? Lack of sleep can mess your face up easily," she turns to cup your face, professionally observing your skin and missing the blush on your face. "You still look cute, but I'd be really sad if you became a victim of sleep deprivation~"

Her voice sounds light and casual, but you can tell that she's genuinely worried about your health. You pull her into a hug, burying your head in her clothes. She always gives the best hugs, hugs that understands you without having to exchange words, hugs that reassure you and rid you of anything on your mind, that remind you even if the world turned its back on you, you'd still have a home to come to.

"Let's go to bed," you suggest, voice woozy. 

"Sure, but let's do some skincare routine first!"

You always enjoy doing routines with her even though you're never one to pay much attention to yourself. But something about her being close and taking care of your face makes you feel at ease, and with her soft hands working on your cheeks, you quickly fall asleep.

Noticing your dropping head, Arashi lets out a sigh before carrying you in her arms, planting a light kiss on your forehead

"Sweet dreams, my love,"

Keito

When you started dating Keito, Kuro was quite delighted. One because he never believed someone could actually put up with the man, and two because someone can finally keep an eye on his atrocious working schedule.

What he didn't expect though, is that you're just as much of a hard worker as Keito. 

As the night passes, the two of you are still working incessantly. Except from the occasional small talks, there's only the sound of paper and keyboard in the room. The tea he brewed a while ago has already been emptied. You turn to look at the green-haired man, and although you can only see his back, he doesn't seem to be too affected by all this work. Perhaps his monstrous workload back in Yumenosaki Academy has turned him into a machine who doesn't feel tired.

But that can't be true. Surely, overworking a lot doesn't make you immune to it. Keito may not be vocal about how he feels, but he's still a human, and he's bound to feel tired,

The tapping sound on his end pauses abruptly as he turns to you, only to meet your observing eyes. This startles him a bit, and you let out a small chuckle.

"You should go rest-" he glances at the clock on the wall and frowns. "-it's already so late,"

"You're one to talk," you retort.

"I can still function without sleeping, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard,"

There it is again. He never seems to acknowledge his own weaknesses, only paying attention to others as he hides his feelings inside the myriad of work thrown at him each day. 

"No one can 'function without sleeping', Keito. You're not a superman,"

"..." 

Keito's shoulders are still tense, but he seems to be deep in thought as he isn't working on the computer either. After a moment of silence, he shakes his head and resumes typing. Perhaps he's reminded of his responsibilities, of the various roles that he plays, and how he can't afford to let anyone down.

As always, it's hard to move Keito. You brush it off and turn back to your work. 

It isn't until Keito stands up to get himself a new mug of tea that he realizes how drained you look. Your eyelids are drooping and even from far away he can notice errors on the computer screen. Your figure is slouched, leaning towards the table like you just want to fall asleep right there but can't.

"You should really go to bed," Keito walks to you, hand resting on the chair's rail. 

"Are you going to come with me?"

"What?"

"Are you going to come to bed with me?" you repeat.

"I still have work,"

"Then I'm not gonna rest yet,"

Keito raises his brows. "Are you threatening me with your own health?"

"If this is what I need to do for you to rest, then so be it,"

Silence fills the room. He watches as you tap away on the keyboard, re-typing every once in a while because your fingers just can't seem to find the keys. It's almost painful to watch.

"How incorrigible," Keito sighs. "Alright. Let's go,"

You jump to your feet immediately, dragging him to the bedroom. "No sneaking out after I fall asleep, okay? You have to rest for real,"

"Fine," Keito grunts.

The moment his head falls onto the pillow, he swears he can slip into dreamland right away. You throw your arm across his torso and he instinctively rests his head atop yours, listening as your breathing becomes more and more calm.

The both of you may be hopeless cases, but you always find a way to hold each other up.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Forsaken | Part 5

Summary: As one of the Forsaken, Jinyoung had no right to covet anything as his own. When he stumbles across you standing in the middle of the village he had plundered, the memories of old make him risk it all, clutching at the past in hopes for a better future.

Pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

Genre: warrior au / star crossed lovers / angst / romance

Warnings: death, kidnapping, cursing, a myriad of emotions - this is a really sad love story.

Index: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 

“You’re a fool.”

Looking at the young man strung up beside him facing the same miserable fate as he now held, Jinyoung couldn’t help but scoff. “You are aware we’re both in this together, right?”

“I knew they would come for me one day. You, however, think you’re still protecting that girl and all those townspeople,” he mentioned with a hollow laugh. “You’re a fool, like I said.”

“Have you no hope in this world?”

“Why should I? No one has ever looked out for me once.”

Jinyoung glanced down at his clothing and then that of the young man beside him. There was a stark difference between the worn, tattered pants and shirt he wore to Jinyoung’s cleaner, newer outfit. Sighing, he wondered if you hadn’t saved him years back if he would be in a similar situation to the fellow prisoner, or worse off.

Jinyoung nodded sadly. “Is it bad to be a fool?”

“Only if you don’t wisen up to the way people use you. That girl really made you forget who you are, didn’t she?”

“Do you have a name?” Jinyoung asked and the man shrugged. “Mine’s Jinyoung. I was gifted my name by the person who led me to have hope.”

“And now you’re here and she’s back there. Doesn’t that anger you?”

Jinyoung shook his head. “Not if it keeps her safe.”

The man mumbled under his breath incoherently and then turned to look at Jinyoung. “How did she give you a name?”

“Part of it was from where she found me. The rest she gave me. Do you want one too?”

Thinking for only a moment, the man gave a short nod. Glancing around the surroundings as they trudged towards the closest camp for their kind, Jinyoung spotted a circus wagon abandoned in the nearest field. He then looked to the sign outside the farmstead they passed. He grinned. “Jaebum.”

“What does it mean?”

Jinyoung frowned, gesturing his head in one direction and the next. “Jae and Sons from the wagon. And Eunbum Estate. That’s how it works.”

“That’s how those people name one another?”

Jinyoung nodded. “That’s how I got my name.”

“Jaebum,” he repeated, looking at Jinyoung, smiling for the first time along their journey. “It looks like I might become a fool much like you.”

“Being a fool paid off,” Jaebum mentioned the following morning as he stopped at Jinyoung’s side, the pair watching as you helped with hanging out the washing. His friend’s sentence irked him, Jinyoung clenching his jaw momentarily. Jaebum noticed and clapped him on the back. “You need to relax. We both know they played us over the safety of that town. We stupidly did as they told us, mere puppets on a string, when their promises were as empty as our pockets remained. By some sort twist of fate, she lived. Isn’t that something to celebrate?”

“At the cost of all she knows and this wretched Rebellion. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Jaebum shook his head. “Not while I’m here. It just feels like a peaceful settlement.”

“Except all the men here are owned by the Rebellion.”

“We’re going to break free,” Jaebum proposed and Jinyoung looked at the man smiling at Youngjae running with the stray dog that had chosen this place as its home recently. “We’ll take the ones we care for the most and we’ll leave to someplace else entirely.”

“Nowhere,” Jinyoung murmured. He chuckled before nudging Jaebum. “Now who sounds like a fool?”

“Someone told me a long time ago being a fool isn’t a bad thing if you remain wise about your situation.”

“Wait, wasn’t that you who told me that?” Jinyoung corrected as Jaebum started towards the gathering of people.

He glanced over his shoulder, grinning mischievously. “Sounds like I’ve always been wise then!”

“And I’m still a fool?!” Jinyoung griped, dashing off towards Jaebum and shoving him playfully.

As his longest friend in this world, Jinyoung knew he could count on Jaebum to do anything with him. After hearing about your parents and the tragedy he had fooled himself not to believe could have happened all this time, he had gone to Jaebum to announce the need to leave the Rebellion. Dead or alive, he wanted out and wondered if Jaebum was along for the ride.

He needn’t question it; Jinyoung knew all of the names that came to mind would follow him into the depths of hell if he requested it.

Staring over at you now laughing at something Jackson said, Jinyoung chewed on his bottom lip. Would you follow him as well? He was used to leading his men all these years, but there was once a time where it was you who motivated his actions.

You still held that power over him too.

“You’re here,” you commented when you noticed his arrival in the back field, waving lightly. Jinyoung raised his hand in greeting, feeling shy when the others teased him for it. Taking his hand, you led Jinyoung away from the jeers and sat him down at one of the communal tables. You didn’t let go of him, instead played with yet another of his scars on the palm of his hand.

“Don’t do that,” he mumbled and you stopped to examine his expression. He could feel his ears growing hotter and ducked his head away. “Don’t trace my battle scars. I deserve each one of them.”

“You probably do,” you agreed softly and he glanced at you again. “Did they hurt?”

“Some.”

“Do they still hurt now?” He shook his head and you let out a shaky breath. “Some of them look like they would have been painful to receive so I worried that you-”

“You’re adapting to this world too easily, you know,” he blurted out, blinking with some of the sudden emotion he felt. You dropped your hand away and made no effort to respond. “It scares me.”

“Why?”

“You should hate it here. This isn’t a life I wanted for you.”

“Do you think I wanted this for you as well? It’s out of our hands.”

“Is it?”

“Jinyoung, you became a soldier of the Rebellion because of that day, didn’t you?” you questioned and he grew tense, pulling his arm back. You reached over to stop his retreat entirely, gripping at his hand for answers. “You seemed so surprised over my parents and the townspeople. I put it together with some of the information I sourced from Jackson and-”

“Jackson talks too much,” he grumbled and you tilted your head to the side exasperatedly. “What he does!”

“Well, at least one of you talks! It’s refreshing to have someone who isn’t afraid to tell me what this world is like and not treat me as if I’m a fragile doll who might break!”

Jinyoung went to respond, opening his mouth, only to close it again when he thought better of it.

It made you smile smugly. “See, you can’t even tell me the-”

“I had to steal a crown from the castle. Jaebum and I. If we got the crown, we’d be able to save the town and you. This was done three months after I left, which means they played us entirely.”

You gasped noisily. “You stole a crown?!”

“That’s the least of my sins, Y/N.”

“What else have you done that…” Your voice trailed off then, finally looking up at him, a sombre expression shifting away from your surprise. “Right, you’ve done a lot.”

“It’s not protecting you from a vicious truth that I don’t talk about it,” he replied, sighing a little. “I just don’t like to think of what I’ve done. One foot in front of the other. Until you returned to my life, I didn’t let myself think of the past, not even once.”

“You’re lying,” you whispered, tears welling within your eyes. “Tell me you’re lying.”

“Would it ease you if I had? Why think of a world full of hope when the one I live in had nothing of the sort within it?”

“I thought of you every day. I talked to you as I did the most mundane of daily chores. I wished for you to be beside me like today, putting out washing on the line to dry in the sun. To make a living together, eat together, and fall asleep together. Every day I thought of how doing that with you would make it worth living on. You’re lying, you have to be! You’ve thought of me over the years, Jinyoung. It’s why you’re still alive. Hope? You had it all along. If you had lost it, you wouldn’t be on this Earth. You wouldn’t kill anyone but yourself had you lost it.”

“Enough,” he stated, getting up from the table. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“Scared you might share more with me than you want to?” you countered and Jinyoung paused in his retreat to stare at you.

He disliked how easily you were unravelling all the sections within him he had worked hard over the years to pack away into the corner of his mind, allowing him to focus on the task at hand. If you continued to pull at the strings and loosen off each part of him, it would become dangerous.

He was already born reckless; he didn’t need to have you encouraging it.

Deciding he had spoken with you long enough, he walked away hastily, heading to his home to escape the sunny world you had brought into this camp.

“Do you think if you walk away from me that I’ll stop talking?!” you exclaimed, stalking after his retreating back. Jinyoung groaned loudly. He needed space from you right now.

You weren’t prepared to give it, however.

“Jinyoung, Jinyoung, Jinyoung!”

“Y/N, please!” he implored, turning to face you and throwing his hands up in defeat. “You’re never going to stop are you?!”

“No, because when people fight they ought to resolve it!”

“Can’t you see I’m mad with you and need time to cool off first?”

“I’m mad with you also!” you proclaimed, marching past him, and taking the path around the back of the house towards the lake.

Cursing under his breath, he jogged after you, finding you stripping off your outer garments with vigour. He stopped at your side and let out another curse. “Put your clothes back on!”

“Why? I’m mad with you and need to cool off!”

“That water is far too cold right now for you to enter.”

“Then I shall cool off faster!” you snapped back, kicking off your skirt.

“You’re impossible!”

“That’s what I think of you right now!”

“Don’t enter that water.”

You smirked darkly, stepping back towards it. “Why should I listen, you wouldn’t when I said don’t walk away.”

“Y/N, come on, stop!”

You took another step towards it, your heels now within the muddy entrance. You grimaced at the cold surface yet made no attempt to back down. Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair in frustration and as you went to take another step backwards, he lurched towards you, pulling you firmly into his embrace.

“What are you doing?” you mumbled, now less brazen in tone. “This isn’t cooling me down any.”

“You’re like ice to touch,” he pointed out just as softly, holding you as close as he could to his body. “I need to warm you up.”

You stared back at him before crashing your lips upon his, kissing one another until the argument was all forgotten.

You approached him a few hours later, surprising Jinyoung with how long you had managed to wait. A wry smile attached to his lips then, waiting for your reaction.

He wasn’t as prepared as he expected himself to be.

Your arms wound around his back from the stool he sat upon, nestling into him. The book he held fell to the desk with a thud.

Jinyoung was certain his heart was beating just as loudly in his chest. “W-What are you doing?”

“You’re all I have left,” you stated in a voice barely louder than a whisper and Jinyoung swallowed roughly. “It amazes me that I can touch you now after all these years and you don’t turn into dust within my grasp.”

“One day I-”

“Together,” you mentioned firmly and Jinyoung turned around to face you. You blinked back your tears. “We’re not parting again, okay? We either live or die together.”

_________________

Part 6

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[dreamiehrs]

deskmates ➛ n.jm

genre: fluff, high school au, deskmate!jaemin, kinda strangers to friends to lovers, reserved!y/n

pairing: jaemin x you

requested: yes

note: this was requested by this lovely anon! I felt a string pull in my heart when you said that the reader isn’t a touchy person bc... I’m the same! so I was really excited to write this hehe o(≧∇≦o)!! hope you enjoy it! (gif credit: @minhaes​)

tomorrow is your first day of junior year and to say that you were nervous was... an understatement

even though this was your third year in high school and you should be used to it by now you just!! couldn’t contain the butterflies in your stomach when you thought about it

schedules for your classes had come out a few days ago and you had immediately checked to see if you had any friends in your classes

unfortunately... you didn’t TT

at least you had lunch with all of them though ( ᵕ̤ ‧̫̮ ᵕ̤ )

you spend the rest of the day buying school supplies because you’re... that person

but all of the supplies you buy are really adorable so that’ll motivate you to get your homework done!! and to study!! get on your game y/n

anyways, tomorrow finally comes and you’re super close to pretending you’re sick so you don’t have to go but... you have to get that education ya know?

sophomore bestie jisung picks you up and can see that you’re about five minutes from bawling

he just pats your back and says: “get it together, y/n. it won’t be that bad. I can’t believe I’m a year younger than you and telling you this right now.”

“okay okay, thanks jisungie.” you focus on your breathing during the ride and eventually, you calm down thanks to your friend’s words

“no prob,” he mumbles under his breath and hands you the aux cord “wanna play something to cheer yourself up?”

you excitedly nod and plug the cord into your phone, jamming out on your way there

you guys arrive and when you walk in you meet up with your besties!! aka the dream team as you guys called yourselves

your friend group consisted of ballet dancer and artist huang renjun, soccer player lee donghyuck, ice skater park jisung, boxer lee jeno, and pianist zhong chenle

your conversation is filled with laughter as you guys walk each other to your classes and luckily, you, renjun, and donghyuck are all on the same hall for homeroom

they speedily walk you in your homeroom and you go to wave bye to them but they’re already gone

...such good friends (;¬_¬)

you scan the room for empty seats and see two right next to each other on the far left, middle row and you make your way towards them

you sit down in the desk closest to the window and rest your head on your palm, waiting for the bell to ring

you almost doze off until you hear an angelic voice from beside you “excuse me?”

you flinch to the max and turn your head to the right to see a smiley boy standing to the desk beside you

“y-yes?” you stutter out and you mentally slap yourself in the face

his grin grows wider at your bewildered state and you feel your eyes go wide in embarrassment

“is this seat taken?”

you shake your head side to side, not willing to talk anymore after reacting like a fool

he takes no time to put his bookbag beside his now desk and situating himself in his seat before resting his head on his palm like you were once before; staring at your face like he’ll never get tired of it

“what’s your name?” he softly questions you

he can see the blush on your cheeks and how you’re quietly jumping your leg up and down, but he doesn’t pay too much attention to it as you catch his attention once again by moving your hair out of your face

“my name’s y/f/l/n. what’s yours?”

“I’m na jaemin. it’s nice to meet you.” he emphasizes ‘you’ in his second sentence and outstretches his hand towards you

“likewise.” you glance at his hand nervously before taking it in yours, giving it a firm shake

you two retract hands and you visibly cringe about how clammy yours was

while jaemin’s were... soft, warm, safe

his chuckle rings in your ear and you peer up at him “what?”

“your hands are very clammy.”

this was your face right now: (๑･▱･๑)

you dearly wished for one of your friends to save you from this class TT

jaemin didn’t sense your dilemma and kept on driving you mad instead: “are you nervous?”

“yeah... even though I’m a junior the first day never fails to give me jitters.”

his ears seemed to perk up when he heard the word junior “oh? you’re a junior as well?”

“yes I am... wait a second...” you take a good look at his face before continuing “were you in my sociology class last year?”

“I was!! I sat all the way in the back. you?”

you wrack your brain and you can see him in your mind... sitting in the back, occasionally talking to the person beside him... always asking the teacher questions

wow, this was unexpected

“I sat in the very front. woah, that’s crazy.”

the bell had finally rung for the class to start, and he gestured for you to come closer and whispered: “I thought you looked familiar when I walked in. all the more to get to know you, right?”

you had a hard time paying attention to the teacher after that interaction

after homeroom, you may have bolted out of that classroom as fast as you could, not hearing jaemin suggesting to walk you to your next class

you clashed into renjun and he could just see your expression and wondered... what happened??

you started rambling incoherent things and he just looked at you like you lost your mind... he decides that this isn’t the best place to discuss things and wraps his arm around your shoulder before pulling you along somewhere else

meanwhile, jaemin just watches all this by his locker, unknown to you and renjun

you only have enough time to mention to renjun that a boy sat beside you in your class before you have to head to your next class but he looks... kind of angry? more like peeved

he looks like he’s ready to fight jaemin tbh

renjun was pretty protective of you and the rest of the dream team... so if anyone was causing you trouble he’d be right beside you, ready to deck them out

time skip to lunch!! finally, you get to see all your friends (^-^*)/

except, you have an additional person seated at your regular table and that person is... you guessed it! na jaemin

you quietly grumbled as you plopped down between jisung and renjun

they give you a concerned glance and jisung opts to ruffle your hair to try to make you feel better

it’s not like you disliked jaemin or anything it’s just... this morning he made your heart kind of... explode... it’s not like you have a crush on him or anything... you barely even know the guy

“y/n! my new friend! how’s your classes?” jaemin removes you from your moping, you glance up at him with a fry sticking out of your mouth

you hear jisung chuckle and you gently slap his shoulder

“they’re good. except, I don’t have any of my besties in them.” you pout as you look at your friends at the table

jaemin mimics you, and you hear renjun cough from your right side

“are you okay? I’ll grab you some more napkins.” jaemin leaves the table and renjun looks at you pointedly

“...is that the guy that sat beside you in your homeroom?”

“yeah.” you answer back before picking up another fry and tossing it in your mouth

“oh, I invited him to our table because he’s in my history class.” jeno speaks up from beside jisung “is that okay?”

“n-”

“yeah! it’s fine!” you squeak out, interrupting renjun who just grumbled beside you. you rested your hand on his head before ruffling his hair like crazy, him swatting at your arm in an attempt to make you stop

the rest of the day went by in a blur, and as the week went by, you learned more and more about your deskmate, jaemin

the two of you would text every day, sharing things you found hilarious, talking about your days, and gossiping

renjun was protective as always, but after a while, he got used to jaemin and his front slowly faded

he quickly became part of your friend group and to be honest, it felt like he was always meant to be there, you know?

if you had met him sooner, you would’ve totally introduced him to the guys earlier

the two of you would sometimes abandon the rest of the dream team to go on your own adventures, which consisted of going shopping, watching the stars, stuffing your faces, and/or hanging out each other’s houses

...and yes, sometimes you would give in to letting jaemin cuddle you because he begged you so much, although you weren’t a really touchy person to begin with

your hangouts with him were all careless fun until renjun pointed out to you one day ―

“I think jaemin has a crush on you.”

your brain immediately went on lockdown when those words slipped out of his mouth

“injunnie, that’s not possible. we’re just good friends.”

“friends who hang out 24/7 and can’t seem to get enough of each other?”

you roll your eyes at him. “as if. he probably sees me as his little sister or something.”

he lightly slaps the back of your head. “do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? don’t act like you don’t see the stars in his eyes when he gazes at you.”

“injunnie, don’t rope me into your romantic fantasies.”

“just see for yourself, then.”

after that convo with injun, you couldn’t stop thinking about what he said... no, no. jaemin looked at you like any other friend, not in a gushy, special way

jaemin was already a touchy person as he is, but when he was around you, he seemed to get even clingier

obviously it was something you would have to get used to, but whenever he touched you, you could feel a warmness spread throughout your stomach

....y/n, no. you don’t like jaemin. you would say to yourself

but as the weeks passed by, you found it hard to believe that you don’t like him romantically

“y/n! y/n! how about this movie?” jaemin snapped you out of your thoughts as he hung out at your house one day after school

you took a quick glance at his phone before mumbling “sure.”

you could hear him huff beside you and you glanced at him to see a pout playing on his lips

“what’s wrong?”

“I just feel like you haven’t been interested in anything I’ve been saying today...”

you feel your heartache as he peers at you, trying to search your eyes for a hint on how you feel. “that isn’t true, jaem, I―”

“no, it is true, y/n. something’s been bothering you recently, something big.”

you just stayed silent, proving jaemin right. you look down at the bed underneath you, not wanting to look into said boy��s eyes beside you because if you did, your heart would be gone for good

the two of you stay like this for a while, him gently playing with your hair when you finally decide to speak up. “jaem, I―” you glance at him and he nods before you continue “I think I have a crush on someone..”

he just hums at your confession and you turn to look at him, but his smile is sweet as ever as he looks off into the distance, pondering

you take his silence to explain more in-depth. “I’ve only been best friends with him for a month or two, however, he’s extremely important to me. he’s shown me many new experiences, and at this rate, I would say that my feelings for him undermine the word crush. it’s love, jaem, and I don’t know what to do with these feelings anymore.”

“are you comfortable enough with them to confess your feelings?”

“...I don’t know... I feel like I just did.”

to your surprise, jaemin’s face turns bright red. “a-are you saying that I’m the person you love?”

“yes, jaemin. I’m in love with you.”

you hide your face with your hands and you can hear him moving beside you, which tempts you to peak out from your fingers

he has a heartwarming smile on his face as he opens his arms

you inch closer to him and he gives you a bear hug, holding so tight onto you that you can hear his pounding heartbeat against his chest

“I’m in love with you too, y/n. I’ve been since the first day of junior year.”

you feel your cheeks grow hot as you nuzzle your head into his shoulder

so after this, it’s safe to say that jaemin never fails to give you a heart attack every time he touches you or whispers something sweet into your ear

the next day at school, he drives you to school and you guys walk in, your fingers interlaced as the rest of the dream team look at you two like you’ve grown another head

“what did I say, y/n?” renjun asks with a big smirk on his face and you roll your eyes before a smile reaches your face

“wait, what did he say?” jaemin whispers beside you

“ahem, more importantly, if you ever hurt y/n, you’re going to get messed up real bad by the rest of us, got it?” renjun announces and the others nod their heads in agreement

“also, if you ever make her uncomfortable with your touchiness, just know that we’ll be banging on your door.” jeno states and the others hum along with him

“I understand. and besides, I’m pretty sure y/n is used to my clinginess by now, right, y/n?”

he squeezes your hand and you feel your veins fill with excitement at his touch

you giggle before squeezing his hand back. “right.”

[rueren]

★ 𝓢 𝓣𝓐 𝓡 𝓓 𝓤 𝓢 𝓣★

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 1

Word Count: 6k

CW: swearing, slight angst

𝒦 𝐸 𝐼 𝒯 𝐻

Saturday August 31, 7:07 am

***

He woke up drenched in warm sunlight.

Wait, no.  Cold sunlight.  Cold sunlight? No, that's not right. Cold, artificial, too bright to be natural light.  

The clicking of a light switch rang throughout the room.  His eyelids turned orange, the fluorescent light source directly behind them. Click. Click. Click.  

He pulled the sheets closer to his chin, mumbling sentences that didn’t even make sense to himself.  He’d just ignore the flickering lights - and the person flicking them - until they left Keith alone and let him sleep in peace.  He hoped.

 Then the sheets started to shift, being pulled slightly off of his leg.

“Ugh, okay, fine, I’m up now.” He grumbled into his pillow, “What do you want from me.”   

This was the same thing Shiro had done the whole week. And well basically their whole life.  Randomly waking him up at such an ungodly hour by flicking the lights on and off.  Kicking his foot just enough to annoy him into consciousness.  

The room was occupied by boxes.  Towers of them.  Maybe not towers.  Mounds? There were like, five boxes to unpack.  Maybe seven.  He’d be done in two hours, three tops.  He’d been putting it off for a week, sure.  But he’d do it today.  Today, but not now.  Later.  Not at seven o’clock in the fucking morning.  

“I don’t want anything.  I need you to get up, and unpack.  We’ve been here for almost a week and you haven’t touched your boxes, and classes start after tomorrow.” Shiro said, finally pulling the sheets off the mattress.  

His body blocked the sun coming from the glass wall across the room, and when he moved away with the sheet, the cold air in the apartment from the AC washed over his legs.  Shiro stepped over him, with hair still dripping wet, and sat on the other side of Keith’s mattress on the floor. They’d bought basic bed frames back home, and Krolia said she would ship it to them, but they hadn’t come in yet, so he’d had to make due.

“It’s seven am, Takashi.  On a Saturday. I don’t have time for your shit,” Keith grumbled, curling in on himself, “And besides, I have opened them.” A truth.  Not a whole truth, but that still counted, right?

“Opening one box to take out like two shirts since we got here doesn’t count Keith.” Shiro reprimanded, and Keith didn’t need to open his eyes to hear the smirk in his voice.

“Okay, I’ll do it.  But I’ll do it later, ‘cause its seven fucking am Shiro, not everyone is as excited about the crack of dawn as you.” He finally opened his eyes, glaring at Shiro with still sleep-heavy lids.

Shiro laughed at that, water droplets falling onto Keiths face, “It’s not my fault you like to sleep away your entire existence,” He kicked at Keith’s shin as he got up, with Keith expecting the bed to dip back with the lack of weight but then it doesn't and he remembers he doesn't even have a bed frame so it isn't going to dip, because their stupid IKEA beds hadn’t come in yet.  Good for nothing shipping companies, never being on time, “I’m coming back to get you in ten minutes.  With a glass of water.  Cold.” 

“You wouldn’t.” Keith half sat up, propped on his elbow, facing him.

“Guess we’ll find out in ten minutes.”

He closed the door before Keith could get out a retort, and Keith just groaned, flopping in his bed.  

Shiro’s laugh behind the door sounds fainter as the receding sound of feet against floorboards crept out of earshot.

 He might as well get up now, he supposed.  He was fully awake anyway.  And Shiro pouring a cup of water on him if he fell asleep again wasn’t as appealing as it sounded. 

He stretched out his limbs, and made his way out of bed.  An incoherent string of insults fell from his lips as he reached to grab a shirt out of the box.  He stared at it for a bit, going back on what Shiro said about only opening the box to grab a shirt.  Stupid Shiro for always being right, it’s not even natural.  He tossed back the shirt and grabbed a pair of sweatpants instead, because if Shiro gets to wake him up, he doesn't have the power to make him get dressed.  Neither is he going to give him the satisfaction of being right about something else.  Again.

The floor  of his room was freezing under his feet, despite the August weather.  It sent shivers up his legs to his shoulders as he walked into the hallway of the new apartment.  It was still new to him. He made a move to go to the bathroom, out in the hallway.  Then realized that it wasn’t home.  Well it was, but not home. He doubled back and went into his bathroom, connected to his room. 

 He wasn’t used to the layout of the place, not like he was back home. Back home he could walk around with his eyes closed.  He wasn’t bothered though.  He’d just have to make due.

The bathroom floor was no different.  Cold under his feet, if not colder.  Keith grumbled under his breath, glancing at the door as Shiro stuck his head in.  “You’re like a wet dog, dripping everywhere.” He didn’t wait to hear Shiro’s response, closing the door on his face. Metal on wood was heard outside the door, prosthetic clanging against the door, followed by more receding footsteps. 

Keith dragged a hand across his face, staring at his reflection.  He’d spent the night tossing and turning, never comfortable, and now his hair paid the price.  He knew he should have tied it, but he was too tired to care.  Future Keith’s problem, he’d thought.  Well, Present Keith was ticked at Past Keith.  Also at Present Shiro for waking him up at seven am on a fucking Saturday. All this being-pissed-off was not helping his bed head, and he sighed as he tried to finger comb his hair, not to literally rip the hair out of his follicles. 

Hair brushed and mouth not tasting gross anymore, he trudged out to the kitchen.  The apartment wasn’t the biggest, but it certainly was bigger than most. 

The living room was big, with a glass wall, and a balcony behind a sliding glass door.  There was a door in Keiths room that connected to the balcony too.  Shiro didn’t even fight Keith when he promptly flung his bag on the floor the second he found out that room had the balcony - he knew Keith would’ve fought him for it. And Shiro didn’t mind that much either. Although they weren’t that high up, it was only the tenth floor, Shiro wasn’t too fond of heights.  So a smaller window instead of a glass door reminding him just how high up they were was all he could ask for.

When they first made their way up to the apartment, he thanked whatever celestial beings he could think of for this place to have two bathrooms.   He’d shared one with Shiro back home, and saying it was a nightmare was an understatement. Using all the hot water after a run, taking too long to make that tuft of white hair just right.  It was too much for Keith to process.  It looked like he just left it there when he finished anyways, so why did it always take twenty minutes.  

And the space.  Their bathroom back home was the smallest bathroom you could imagine. Shower and tub together, the sink crammed right next to it and a toilet across.  They’d had to install and uninstall a lock on the door more times than he could remember, for one reason or another.  

This one was different. Spacious.  A full bath and shower.  A long mirror.  Tiled shower walls.  Gray and white aesthetic, the lights being a little bit too bright, but he didn’t mind.  Helps him wake up when he needs to.

The only thing wrong with this bathroom was the floor to ceiling glass wall.  Who in their right mind would ever think that that was okay.  He thought back to when Krolia had told them about the place 

The bedrooms were situated on either side of the bathroom .  Keith's first then Shiro’s .  And since they were at the end of the hall in the complex, they’d gotten a corner apartment.  

They had a pretty decent kitchen as well, with an island and barstool chairs and everything.  

Well, there would be barstools around the island, and an actual dishwasher in the spot by the edge of the counter, and an actual stove, if the shipping company got their shit together and sent their furniture.  The apartment had been eerily empty with just mattresses in each room, and the living room stacked with boxes instead of actual furniture. 

He sat himself on a box, one that was not labeled fragile.  His head slumped forward, hair falling down his face, tickling the exposed skin on his back..  He was not looking forward to Shiro telling him to open his boxes again after today, so he’d have to get it done.  And besides, the semester started the day after tomorrow. He’d have to do it anyway.

“He got you too?” A voice, rough with sleep, said from behind him. He smirked, as he heard the sleep driven shuffle of slippers on the hardwood floor.

“Yeah. Got you too it seems.” Keith said, finally looking up.  Adam looked over at him with sleep heavy eyes.

“Why is he so hellbent on waking up before the sun every single morning?” Adam sighed, grabbing the box of Eggo waffles from the freezer.  He held it up and Keith held up two fingers.  Adam took out four and put them in the four slot toaster.  A gift from Krolia before they left. 

“I just know you boys are going to fight over who gets breakfast first.  Here, take it.” 

“Krolia, we don’t need this.  Keep it-”

“Hush.  Take it.  I will not have you two fighting over who gets to toast a stupid piece of bread every day the whole way through college,” Krolia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Ugh, just thinking about it gives me a headache.  Take it, Shiro, or so help me god-”

“Okay, okay, we’ll take the toaster.  Thank you.”

He’d slept over the night before to help Shiro unpack.  Well, that’s what he’d said he was over for.  All three of them knew he was here to be with Shiro.  Long distance relationships were always hard, and Shiro and Adam were no exception.  They’d been dating since high school, senior year, so that had been - 5 years?  

There had been a break up halfway through, though.  Keith didn’t even know something could be mutual but also not until this break.  They’d both agreed on it, but only for the sake of the other, the whole time complaining to Keith.  Adam called him to wallow in his misery, sentences consisting of “Ugh, I miss him so much, Keith.” and “Why would I even say that we should take a break?” and  “I’m so stupid.  Keith, does he even talk about me?”.  

Shiro talked about it less frequently to Keith, but when he did, he did so more insistently.  “Keith, I know he calls you.  Does he say anything about me?  Please, tell me he does.  Ugh, why did we even think a break was a good idea?” 

Both of them thought the other had wanted it.  Wanted time to focus on themselves.  Both of them being stupidly wrong.  Both of them thinking a break would be best because of stress and long distance and whatever else made them take a break.  Neither of them really wanted it, but only did it because they thought the other needed it.  And they would do anything for each other. 

It was sweet, Keith thought then.  Sweet but stupid.  Make yourself hurt for what you thought the person you loved wanted.  Sweet but stupid.

Adam had flown out to see Shiro, a month and a half  into the break, because Shiro had drunk called him.  That was enough to break him.  He booked a flight to LA, from Chicago, and only told Keith that he was in the city, once he landed.  Krolia had driven down to pick him from the airport.  Keith was in charge of  keeping Shiro preoccupied until Adam got to the house.  

Adam came into the house the moment Shiro started complaining about the break again.  And when Adam had heard Shiro say he hated the break, never wanted it to begin with, only agreed to it because Adam wanted it, he stepped out from where he stood in the foreir. 

“I never wanted it, you dipshit.”  Adam said, and Shiro froze in place.   He turned around slowly, and Keith found himself smiling, watching it unfold in front of him.  Shiros face falling, then he smiled, the brightest he’d ever seen Shiro smile. 

Then he started tearing up.  That’s when Adam moved across the living room.  Turned to Shiro, strides across the floor purposeful, and filled with love and emotion, as if that were even possible.  Steps filled with the distance between them and the longing they both had for each other and the love they had for each other that was projected in the way they looked at each other.

“I missed you.” Shiro’s voice cracked.

“I missed you too,” Adam said, his hands coming around Shiro’s wrists, “ God, I missed you. So much.” 

And when he said that, Shiro broke.  They both broke, and hugged and cried and laughed and fell to their knees with their heads pressed to the others shoulder and Keith felt tight in the chest as Krolia placed a hand on his shoulder, a small smile gracing her face as well.  And they both left, feeling like they were invading a private moment. 

“Well, he’s your boyfriend, and he never did that before you,” Keith smirked, “So I say it’s your own fault.”  

“Yeah, well, that was before I figured out how much of a blessing sleep was when you're a college student.” He grumbled before downing the glass of water he poured for himself. 

He looked worse than Keith, with his hair - which had grown last since Keith had seen him, another thing that made Keith remember he was away from the people he was close to for far too long - was disheveled, flat against one side from sleep.  He hadn’t even put his glasses on and the bags under his eyes were more visible.  His shirt, a soft dark gray with NASA across the front in a fading font, from how old it was, a few sizes too big, considering it was Shiro’s.  Pajamas bottoms too long for his legs, scrunched up against his Bart Simpson slipper, the red and blue and black stripes making the yellow of Bart’s face way too bright.

Adam yawned as he started a pot of coffee.  As tired as Adam looked, it reminded Keith of where he was.  With the people he cared about. Not talking to them through a screen that pixelated their faces because of sketchy college dorm WIFI.  He had seen Pidge and Matt the first day they got into Chicago, and he’d felt better.  Hugged them and forced himself not to tear up, because they would never let him hear the end of it.  He was happy.  For the first time in a long while.

“Good, you’re both up.” Shiro’s voice entered the kitchen. They both looked over at him, and gaped at how awake he looked.  

Well, Keith did. Adam was probably gaping for different reasons, that Keith did not want to think about his brother in.  

He had on a tank top - way too tight, for no reason, other than that his boyfriend was here - dark gray sweatpants, and an honest to god neon pink and black striped headband in his hair, a stark contrast to the white bangs that it held from his face.

“No thanks to you,” Keith grumbled.  The toaster popped up and Keith reluctantly stomped over to it, throwing them on a plate and taking the syrup Adam handed to him absentmindedly, drenching his waffles.

Shiro sat on the floor - because they had no furniture - cross legged, against the box Keith was sitting on before.  “How do you guys eat that stuff? It's just sugar.”

“Some of us like sugar, Shiro,” Adam quipped, hopping up on the island to sit and wait for his coffee, “Just like how some of us actually enjoy letting the sun get up before we do.”

Shiro laughed, “I went out for a run. I let you guys sleep for another 2 hours after I got up.”

“How did you guys even come from the same house?’ Adam directed at Keith, around a piece of waffle, as he stuffed a piece of his own waffle into his mouth.

“How are you guys even dating? '' He countered, voice monotone, but his chest tightened slightly in happiness.  He liked how happy Shiro got around Adam.  He deserved to be happy after everything that’s happened to them.

Not that he’d say that aloud.  He’d never hear the end of it.

“He’s lucky he’s cute,” Adam said, grabbing 3 mugs from the cupboard, pouring their coffee, and Shiro’s cheeks went pink. Keith made a show of visibly gagging, and Adam flipped him off.

It still amazed Keith, how even after dating for so long, his brother still got flustered over the smallest of compliments.

“Yeah, whatever.  Go sleep the rest of your youth away. I don’t care.” Shiro teased, and Adam handed him his mug of coffee.  He kissed Shiro’s head, and Shiro’s face went redder as he smiled. 

They all sat around for a bit, Adam beside Shiro on the floor and Keith on the island, eating waffles drinking coffee, and talking about school starting and Adam’s new job, and Shiro’s new classes, as well as Keith starting classes as well.

 Keith missed this.  The familiarity of it all.  He missed it.

“‘Kay, as much as I love talking with you both about school at seven in the morning on  Saturday, I need to take a shower.” Adam got up from the floor, cracking his back, “When is your furniture supposed to come in?”

“It was supposed to come in two days ago.  They said it’d be another like, 3 days at most.” Shiro said, getting up too, and putting both their mugs in the sink.

“Okay, yeah.  Well, off to shower I guess.”  And he left down the hall. Shiro and Keith talked a bit more while he showered, about Krolia saying she was going to visit in a few weeks, about Matt and his new girlfriend, and when their schedules had open spots at the same time.

“Alright.  I need to go get some WIFI and whatever,” Keith said, dropping his plate in the sink, as Adam turned off the shower, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“You have to finish unpacking today,” Shiro said, as he walked off to his room, to change.

“Yeah, I’ve got the rest of the day.  It’ll be unpacked don’t worry.” 

“Alright,” Shiro said, as Keith closed the door to his bedroom.   Keith chuckled at Shiro’s voice muffled behind the door as he said, “How do I always get stuck on dish duty?”

He changed into a black t-shirt and ripped black jeans, although half of the cuts he’d done himself. Rummaging around in the one box he’d opened  when they first got here, he fished out a blue shirt, and groaned, tossing it over onto the mattress .  The next thing he grabbed was a flannel.  Basic, but it would make do.  Red and black plaid around his waist, he grabbed his olive green messenger bag, covered in pins and patchwork and doodles.  His laptop and charger were stuffed inside, as well as his sketchbook and pencils.  Never left anywhere without it.

Phone in hand, he left his room, and walked to the front door. He passed Adam walking out of the bathroom, with his head wrapped in a towel and one around his waist, glasses slightly fogged from the steam.

“Is that even necessary?  You don’t even have that much hair to dry?” Keith questioned, grabbing an apple from the fridge.

“Don’t hate my routine when you don’t care about your own hair, kiddo,” Adam said, over dramatically ruffling Keith’s hair.  He swatted his hand away, walking out the door, with Shiro and Adam laughing behind him.  He called over his shoulder, “Call me if you need me to pick anything up.”

“Yeah, sure.” Shiro said, and Keith grabbed his red leather jacket and stuffed his feet into his black and red checkered vans.

“Be careful,” Shiro called and Keith locked the front door.

And he left the apartment.  With his bike helmet under his arm, he rode the elevator down. He passed the front lobby.  The swivel doors were occupied by someone holding a bunch of boxes, so he took the side door. 

He fiddled with his keys, looking for the one to his bike lock. He didn’t notice the person walking towards him, boxes covering his face.  Not until they crashed into each other.  

“Oh my god, shit. Shit, shit, no. No, oh my god,” The strangers rambled, grasping at the boxes that started teetering to the side, dangerously close to falling over.  Keith threw his hands out to stabilize them, his hand coming over the other guy's hand.

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t see you.” He said to Keith.  He poked his head around the boxes, and smiled at Keith.  

“Yeah, I can see that,” Keith said, taking his hands off the boxes after making sure they weren’t gonna fall, and smiled slightly, “Sorry about bumping into you.  Wasn’t watching where I was going either.”

“No worries. Thanks for not letting me drop these,” He smiled and moved out of the way for Keith to get through.  He waved and the boy stuck out two fingers as a salute, and went into the building, talking to the guy who went in through the swivel doors.

Keith got his keys out and unlocked his bike chain from the back of the complex.  He stuffed his messenger bag in the compartment in his motorcycle, and texted Pidge to say he was leaving to go to the coffee shop they’d agreed to meet up at the night before.  

Keef 

i’ll be there in like, 20 minutes

u better be up 

and there

Pidge(on)

don’t tell me ur awake 

a l r e a d y 

dude its 8 am

im nOT leaving my bed this early 

good bye sir

Keef 

ill give you like 10 minutes after i get there

then im leaving

its not even my fault 

u knooo shiro has like sum competition with the sun to see who can get up earlier

Pidge(on)

LMFAOOO

hes prolly winning too

uuuuuuugh fine

20*

Keef

whatever

just be there

and pidge i swear to god

if its some basic bitch place with watered down shit im gonna kill u

Pidge(on)

ur lack of faith in me is wounding

u wont be mad trust me

He pocketed his phone, sighing and zipped the pocket of the leather jacket he wore.  Extra precautions.  He’d broken his last phone that way.  His bank account was not happy about it.  He pulled his hair out of his face and tied it in a low ponytail,  tugging his helmet on.  The bike revved, and the low rumble of the engine was enough to set him into a familiar rhythm.  Kick up the stand, put his leather gloves on, twist the handle bars, speed out the parking lot.

The wind got stuck in his jacket, and sent a welcomed breeze up his shirt.  It helped his mind relax, the familiar feeling of his jacket wiping behind him as the wind rushed through it.  He loved the feeling.  The familiarity.  It was always something he could rely on.  Something to ground him, when everything got too much for him.  He’d grab his helmet, and just drive.  Back in Texas, he’d drive for hours down the dusty trains behind his parents house.  Even though he hadn’t had a motorcycle then, and he was a child, he’d ride his bicycle for hours and hours in their backyard until his mom would call him in for dinner.

Then when his dad died from a firefighter accident when he was 10.  He ran into a building, when everyone had told him not to go. He hadn’t listened.  He was a Kogane, never backing down from a challenge.  His mom packed them up and left right after the funeral.  She said it was to get a new start, make a life for them somewhere else.  So Texas would always be in their memories, but only the good ones.

Even then, he knew she just wanted to escape.  Escape from the freshest memories, not the countless others where his father was present.

So they packed up, and moved.  To LA.  It had been impulsive.  She’d applied for a position at the art gallery in the city, never really thinking she’d get called back.  When she did, he remembered her being  over the moon.

He’d gotten there, and always rode his bike around the neighborhood.  To and from school.  To the corner store.  To hockey practice.  That had been hard, for an 11 year old to go to practice with all his equipment on his back, and keep control of a bike.  Krolia drove him after he tried once.

And while they were there, she met her future husband.  They hadn’t gotten along with each other at first.  Both insanely competitive, but never failing to compliment the other on their pieces.  Friendly competition.  They started hanging out, they started dating, they had their children meet at Bring Your Kid To Work Day. Shiro had taken a liking to Keith, and the two found out they were going to the same school. Even when they weren’t technically step siblings yet, he had always looked up to Shiro, from the second they met.  So when, 4 years later,  their parents got married, Keith was ecstatic. He was going to have a family again. 

He still rode his bike, but not to escape anything. Because he liked his life now.  Enjoyed waking up, having breakfast with his mom and her fiancé, and fighting over who got to use the bathroom first with his step-bro to be.

Everything was great.  The wedding was sickeningly sweet. His mom looked beautiful in her dress.  Shiro’s dad cried.  Shiro teared up, his friend Matt sat beside him, also beaming with happiness.  Matt’s younger sister, Katie, who insisted on being called Pidge - “What kind of name is Pidge?” 11 year old Keith had asked the 8 year old Pidge.  “It’s my name.  Matt gave it to me. Better than a boring name like Keef,” She said, a tooth missing from the corner of her mouth” - sat beside Keith, smiling up at them, glasses way too big for her face.

Everything was great.  They were a family.  Went on vacations.  Shiro was the best big brother he could’ve asked for, and Shiro’s dad was really nice to him, and although he wasn’t like his own dad, Keith accepted him really quickly.

Everything was fine, until 3 years ago. 

Keith shook his head.  He didn’t want to go back there.  It was a new beginning, Shiro had said on the way up to Chicago.  A fresh start.  Away from all the messiness of their past.  Not that they were trying to escape when the opportunity arose, but they certainly did not turn it down.  

He arrived at the coffee shop ten minutes after texting Pidge.  He parked the bike across the street from the café, killing the engine. He stepped off the bike, and took his helmet off, shaking out his hair from the loose ponytail it was in.  Grabbing his bag from the compartment in his motorcycle, he stared up at the sign for the café

When Pidge had told him to go to the Lion’s Café, saying it was the “the best coffee shop near campus”, what he was met with certainly wasn’t at all how he’d pictured it.  Glass walls outlined the café, and even with the glare from the sun, he could see the many potted plants hanging from the ceiling against the glass. The sign was bold, each letter looping and connecting with another, in a gold cursive font.  A blue coffee cup with gold swirls of steam was put in place of the tittle for the letter “i”.

 Inside was no less intriguing.  The counter was old, rustic, worn.  Full of character.   A glass display case for the pastries was tall, chest height, gold accents around the rims. Chalk boards hung over the wall behind the counter, the menu in swirly, colorful, cursive writing.  Doodle’s of coffee cups and pastries adorned the corners of the boards.

The walls on either side were brick, colors ranging in warm tones, browns, dark burgundy, black, beige, with white cement between each block.  Scattered art work lined the walls, white floating shelves a sharp contrast, each adorned in small potted plants.  On the wall opposite from the front door, there was a large, floor-to-ceiling  length mirror. The tables were made to look like the ring of a tree, with metallic seats on either side of them.  

What really stood out to him was the room and wall on the far end of the café. Through the arch way, hung a curtain of beads.  Inside,  two couches with a mismatch of throw pillows sat on each side of the small room at the end of the café.  There were a few tables behind the couches, still the same design as the seating area in the front.  But the walls, the wall’s of the back room were what caught his attention.

The walls of the room were covered in books.  Head to toe.  All books, crammed into the shelves, books piled into the corners of the room, books piled on the corner tables on either side of either couch.  He ran his hands along the books on the shelf.  So many different books.  Fiction, non-fiction, old, new, big, small, paperback, hardcover.  There were so many.  He looked up at the lights on the ceiling- Faerie lights hung along the ceiling, in a mismatch pattern.  

It looked like something straight out of a movie.  Or a book, whatever.  Definitely something fictional.  It didn’t look real.

And it was this close to campus?

Keith knew exactly where he would be hanging out between classes now.

He sat down on the couch, and opened his laptop, connecting to the cafe’s WIFI.  He’d been there for a little over another the minutes when Pidge came through the door. 

Keith stifled a laugh, a grin plastering against his face.  Pidge looked...the same.  The same as always.  Tired, bags under her eyes.   She had on her favorite green pullover, with an awkward collar that sat somewhere on the line between crew neck and turtleneck - and honestly, it was 80 degrees, he didn’t understand how she wore long sleeves all the time and hadn’t passed out from heat stroke yet.  She had on cargo pants, probably Matt’s, probably something she grabbed from the laundry.  Her backpack hung off of one shoulder, as she ordered something from the cash.  

“Hey,” He said, when she sat down.  More like collapsed, into the spot opposite from him on the couch.

“Why did you make me come here so early?” She groaned, arm over her eyes, head thrown against the back of the couch.  

“Blame Shiro,” He grumbled, and turned back to his computer, tabs upon tabs of job applications open. 

Pidge sat up more, turning over to face him, grinning, while taking her laptop out of her bag, “So, how’re you liking the Lion?” 

“It’s cool.  Not what I expected,” Keith said, not taking his eyes off his screen.  It was more than cool, way better than cool.  It was probably going to be his new favorite place, but he’d never let Pidge know that.  

“Oh come on.  It’s great.  And I literally work here dude, you have to give it some credit,” She said, starting up the computer.

Keith turned his head, “You work here?  You said you worked at a -”

“At a coffee shop? Yeah, this one,” She grinned.

“It’s cool.  Aesthetic.  Might draw it or something.”

“Must be pretty great for Keith Kogane to draw it, huh.”

He smiled softly, “Must be.”

And they sat in silence for a while, with Keith’s eyes scanning for applications, and sending resume’s and sending emails to Kijiji ad’s, and Pidge’s steady typing filling the air.  Her coffee came a few minutes after - worker came over and passed it to her, and Pidge later told him her name was Ezor - and the silence washed over them again. 

It was nice.  He missed this.  The comfortable silence they could get into, enjoying each others presence.  It was familiar, and he reveled in  it, since he didn’t get too much familiarity in his life.  And he knew she understood how he valued their friendship so much.  Even if he didn’t express it in so many words.  She helped him, with grounding him, with being there for him, for pushing him out of his comfort zone.  

Well, maybe he spoke too soon.

“Dude, there’s this party tonight. Some ex-frat boy or something. His parties are known campus wide, according to Matt.  Legendary stories,” Pidge said, as they were packing up to go back to go back to Keith’s place.  He’d roped her into helping him unpack his last few boxes. 

“Keith, I am not unpacking your boxes for you.  Haven’t you been here for like a whole week?  Why haven’t you done it yet?”

“Didn’t it take you like, a month to finish unpacking your stuff when you moved here?” Keith countered, eyebrow raised, “I distinctly remember Colleen yelling at you through over Skype to unpack.”

“I’m like, 5’2.  I can’t be expected to unpack everything so quick, when I can’t even reach the top shelf.”

“Whatever.  I’ll buy you McDonalds if you come over.”

“I am offended that you think I will cave that easily.”

“And a tub of cookie dough.”

“Fine.” 

“Okay, that’s cool.  I guess,” He said, looking skeptically at her grin that would’ve put the Cheshire cat to shame, “Why are you telling me this?”

“‘Cause you’re coming.” She said.  “And before you even say no, Shiro already knows.  And he said that you should go.”

“Shiro wants me to unpack my boxes.  Not go to a party.” He said exasperated.  He held the door open for her to pass, and they made their way to Keith’s motorcycle.

“Pidge no I swear this is really not my scene.”

“You’re the worst liar. I can not even count off how many times you snuck out to go to parties back home,” She glared, tightening the straps of the backpack, so it wouldn’t fall off while they drove. “And how many stories you’ve told me over facetime.”

 “Okay, fine.  But I don’t know.  I think I’m just gonna watch stuff.  Not feeling up to it.”

“You will be.  Don’t worry kiddo -”

“I’m literally 2 years older than you, but go off.”

“-We’re gonna unpack your stuff and make it all sparkly and pretty and then you’re gonna get ready to kill all the boys at the party,” She said, her grin falling from her face as he shoved the helmet into her arms, “Do I have to wear this?  It probably has like lice or something.” 

“Do you want to bash your head in if you fall off?”

“You would never let me fall off,” She smirked, reluctantly  putting the helmet on, “You’re too much of a hero.” 

Keith swung his leg over the bike, and kicked up the kick stand.  He started the motorcycle, and Pidge’s arms tightened around his waist.

“Debatable.” He said over the roar of the engine.

***

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

[moonjelliesjam]

I'm A Mess

Title: I'm A Mess

Pairing: 2D x Fem!Reader

Fandom: Gorillaz

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Masterlist

Notes: Had to listen to gorillaz to write this short! I hope you all enjoy it!

This takes place during their Demon Days Album.

Summary: Reader is 2D's Girlfriend and they finally get into their first nasty fight. They then after while make up with cuddles and horror movies.

-----

-

-

-

---

I smiled walking closer towards the studio where my boyfriend and his band were in creating music. I had bags of food that they had requested. The only reason they had me go get the food they had wanted was so they all wouldn't loose their "groove" as Murdoc liked to say.

I stopped and slowly opened their door being careful not to disturb them all. As I opened the door slowly I was greeted by Murdoc who was frowning and quickly took the bags of food and slammed the door shut.

I thought for awhile and then slowly opened the door again after five minutes.

I peeked my head in with a small smile and a trash bag in my hands. The melody was now done. All they needed was Stu's Voice.

I was two steps in before being pushed out by 2D my trash bag still empty. I felt a little pain in my chest. It hurt since it was always Murdoc that had kicked me out of the room.

I shrugged the feeling off knowing this would be happening for awhile because of the new album being released.

I then went down to the kitchen to get them all drinks. This time I walked thorough the door successfully grinning to myself.

I set down the drinks. They all ran towards the drinks and only a few thank you's were uttered. Then murdoc pointed towards the door.

I crossed my arms and puffed out my cheeks pouting not wanting to leave when they just took a break. Stuart then stood up and walked towards me only to gently push me out the door.

He gave me a guilty smile before closing the door.

I sighed. It was another album in the making.

They were all like this.

Another pang to my heart was felt by me.

Again.

I blinked my tears away. This always happened to me. I only care for their well being. Especially Stu's. I sighed and walked away from the studio doors.

I walked down the halls of this floor to a small room I had found awhile back. It was hidden beneath the wallpaper. I opened the small door and, closed it behind me slowly not making a sound. I then crawled towards the space where I could sit up.

I smiled sitting up grabbing an acoustic guitar that Russell had given me.

I strummed the strings letting the sound echo throughout the small room.

---

I stopped strumming hearing a crash. I gasped in worry.

It was probably Murdoc torturing my blue haired boyfriend again.

I quickly set aside my guitar and, crawled out closing the small door behind me. I then scrambled to my feet to help my boyfriend.

"Murdoc I swear if it's you hurting 2D I will..- huh?" I blinked in confusion seeing the role reversals.

Murdoc was below 2D being strangled.

"Pft.. Fucking knew it.. she basically controls ya now get off you-agh!"

"Shut up you minging bloke!"

"Y/n!- agh- a little help 'ere?!"

I rolled my eyes and I motioned to Russell to put 2D in his room. He nodded and grabbed the lanky blue haired male and walked down to the elevator.

I crossed my arms looking down at the green pickle known as Murdoc.

"You damned green pickle have got a lot of explaining to do.."

The green skinned male was now in a cold sweat.

--

I sighed and opened 2D's Room.

"Stu? Are you feeling be-"

"Shut up"

"Excuse me?" I was taken aback by his words. Stuart had never spoken to me like this ever. I sighed and looked at him.

"Stu? Are you angry with me?"

"YES! I BLOODY AM! MURDOC SAYS YEW INVADE OUR SPACE SO MUCH THAT BASICALLY YEW HAVE TO PROTECT MEH AN' NOT LET MEH DO A SINGLE FING FOR ONCE IN MEH LIFE!"

I opened my mouth to speak but, he had beaten me to it.

"Admit it Y/n! Yew fink I'm weak! Well I'm not! I'm tried an' tired of yew protecting meh!"

"You dont mean tha-"

"Well I'm done wif' yew! I dont need yew! Not evah! I can protect myself! I dont need someone constantly worrying about meh and fighting my fights for meh!"

"Stu"

"Leave meh alone! Yew mean nothing to meh! "

"Bu-"

"I Said Get Out!" He pointed towards his door. The tears in my eyes began to form. My mouth opened but no words came out.

His eyebrows furrowed in anger frustrated that I would not leave. My tears began to fall. My hands now on my face wiping my own tears away. My small sobs echoed throughout his room.

His harsh gaze then turned soft. I looked up at him. His arms slowly reached out for me. I backed away now afraid.

"If you want me to leave so bad.. I'll go.." I whispered and left. I swung the door open and ran towards the elevator.

"Y/n! Wait!" He called out chasing after me. I pressed the button faster. He began getting closer.

----

The moment the elevator doors opened Y/n had immediately stepped in, closing the elevator doors. Her index finger pressing aginst the smooth button for the 1st floor. The doors had opened and my tears continued to fall. She quickly ran out.

"Woah what happened to ya?" Murdoc was first to speak up.

The broken female ignored his question pushing past him.

This then had worried the three band members. She would usually give him a nasty remark. The females cries had died down into hiccups. The elevator doors had made a 'DING' noise. Noodle had then rushed over to the only female she had known of growing up in her life.

Noodle had found her and led her to her room. The door had closed behind the small Japanese girl finally having the two alone.

---

"WHERE IS SHE! I need to apologize.. I've really messed up this time.." Stuart yelled out worriedly. The green skinned male shrugged still in shock. The drummer only glared at his bandmate.

"Russ? You know where she is right?" He pleaded his friend to tell him.

"She's still here but doesnt want to see ya! Faceache!" Murdoc finally blurted out after Stuart's constant words.

This only caused the blur haired frontman to sigh and wallow in his own sadness. He very slowly went back to the elevator to go back to his room.

Only having one emotion on his mind.

Regret.

--

After while I had become a lot happier I was now moved next to noodle's room. Constant sleepovers. I still replayed the memories of Stu-

2D..

It was still constant reminders everywhere in Kong Studios. Granted that I was still apart of their friend circle.

Instead of checking up on them like I used to I had picked up writing a few songs by myself. Once it was dinner time and they had all come down from recording. I would still serve their plates but, would sit as far away from 2D as possible.

I would constantly feel his stares burning holes into my skin as I ate.

I then quickly finished and had gone back to my room. I slipped towards my notepad where I had written a few songs.

Then mumbles and a knock was heard from the other side. I groaned getting up from where I was and opened the door.

I was then carried by Russell and angry mumbles of murdoc pressing the elevator button.

"Maks sure she gets there...God he's mess..." Murdoc mumbled. Russell nodded and stepped in the elevator.

Once I heard his words my eyes had widened.

"Russ! No I dont wanna be near him! He said he didn't need me anymore!" My voice cracked. His grip was now stronger as I struggled to get out of his grip.

The elevator had opened its doors. Noodle was infront of 2D's door with a reassuring smile. She opened the door for only me to be thrown in.

"Hey! I said! Y/n?" His voice had croaked. I groaned and sat up. I was then knocked down again only being hugged by the blue haired male.

"I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so So sorry! I didn't mean that it's just Murdoc was being mean again.. and he talked about how I should take charge and not you.. and.-" he began but, his sentences were incoherent.

My heart hurt again.

Not of being hurt.

But of guilt.

"Its okay stu.. I'm here just let it out.." I cooed stroking his hair gently.

"I'm a mess"

He began to cry. Feeling his tears fall onto my shirt. I hugged him tightly.

"Stu.. I know.. and its okay.. it still really hurt when you said those words.." I whispered. His grip was stronger clinging onto me not wanting to let go.

I pet his hair gently running my fingers through his hair. His cries now slowly being hums of delight.

"I'm really sorry Y/n I didn't mean those words.. promise.."

"Promise?"

"Promise"

I cupped his cheeks suddenly my shirt felt wet. I shivered feeling the now wet spot on my shirt. Stuart blushed and then smiled. He got up and went over to one of his piles of clean clothes on the ground and held up his signature hello kinky shirt.

"Yew can wear this if your still not mad at meh..." he blushed embarrassed. The shirt still being held out. I smiled and stood up kissing his cheek.

"Thanks D'!" I chirped slowly taking the shirt from him turning my back towards the door incase someone came in.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt lifting it over my head and pulling it off and then wearing the Hello kinky shirt.

I smiled at how it went until mid thigh. I was then hugged by stu.

"Love do yew want to watch a movie with meh?" He gushed.

I melted in his arms feeling as if all in the world had gone right again.

"Yeah as long as it's a horror film!"

"Of course!"

I smiled sitting on the ground after he had put in a film and was pressed up against him innocently. His arms around me protectively.

---

BONUS:

"Do you think they made up?"- Russel

"Well no kidding!" Murdoc

"They're back together!" Noodle

[mycatshuman]

Show Yourself

(Part 2)

Pairings: Remus, slight Princiety, hinted Logicality

Warnings: Remus and Deceit, if I missed any please let me know.

Thank you @icequeenoriginal for reading through this for me.

Masterlist | Into The Unknown (Part 1)

------

Virgil sat on his bed, his mind reeling from the events of the past week. Between him ducking out, the others coming to his room, being accepted, having to rescue them, and telling them his name, he was mentally exhausted. But he was feeling better. And he realized that him ducking out would not work for Thomas. And no matter what anyone may say, he cared for his host and his well being. And if him ducking out caused Thomas to be careless than he couldn't do that. 

Despite the other main sides finally accepting him, he was still uneasy. People couldn't accept people on a dime, and he knew that. He wasn't stupid. But they were working on it and that's all he could ask really. He wasn't entirely innocent either. He did snark back and put up a tough wall. And he was going to work on not being so mean. 

The voice still bothered him. Especially when he ducked out. It was so loud and hurt his ears so much that even if the other main sides didn't come for him, Jake and Remus would have forced him to go back for the sake of his eardrums. It had since lessened. Which Virgil was eternally grateful for, although, it still called out to him. But soon, that would change. 

-------

They had just finished filming the Accepting Anxiety videos. Logan and Roman had suggested that accepting anxiety was an important topic to cover in Thomas's scripted series Sanders Sides. Virgil kind of liked the series. Sure it did nearly mirror some real-life occurrences but he was comfortable knowing the series would mostly follow a different storyline from their actual lines.

So Virgil was happy. He had been accepted and the other sides allowed Jake and Remus to visit him sometimes. They even invited them to join in on family nights. So all in all, Virgil was pretty happy with how his life was going. Until he woke up that morning. He looked in the mirror, did a double-take, and then screamed. 

The door to his room burst open and a tired-looking Roman tumbled in with his sword shouting, "Where's the danger?" 

Virgil startled. He took a few minutes to compose himself before he yelled, "LOOK AT MY FUCKING HAIR!!" 

Roman paused and blinked as he took in the anxious sides' hair. His face blushed a deep red as he went through a serious case of gay panic. Virgil, meanwhile, was in a similar boat as he took in Roman's newly purpled bedhead. Oh fuck, he's hot! 

"Oh-uh.." Roman struggled to pull a sentence together. "Thomas..I think he got his hair dyed.." 

Virgil blinked. Once. Twice. And then he groaned and hit his head against his dresser. Roman yelped and dropped his sword before rushing forward to stop the emo side from hurting himself. 

"What are you doing?!?" He screeched. 

Virgil mumbled incoherently into the wood as he let his headrest. "I'm trying to knock myself out so I don't risk negative judgment." 

Roman frowned. "Virgil, surely you know we wouldn't judge you." Virgil shrugged. Roman bit his lip before pulling Virgil upright. "Come on, let me look." Virgil stood up reluctantly. Roman had to refrain from sighing dreamily. The plum-colored locks fell over Virgil's eyes and stood out beautifully against his skin. "Virgil...you..you look beautiful." Virgil flushed bright red as Roman took a couple of seconds to realize what he just said. His eyes blew wide as he tried to cover up his feelings. "I mean, your hair, your hair! Looks very nice! And beautiful. I mean you both look beautiful! I um, it's really nice?" 

Virgil giggled lightly as he hid his smile behind his hand and Roman fell deeper in love. "Okay, I think I got it." He grabbed his clothes out of his dresser moving to the bathroom to take a shower before stopping and looking back at Roman. "Ro?"

Roman paused in picking up his sword. "Yes, Virgil?" 

"Your hair looks nice too," Virgil told him shyly before turning and going into the bathroom. 

Roman nearly squealed. His crush had told him he looked good! He danced around a little before freezing. "Wait…." His eyes blew wide and he raced into his room only to let out a wail at the purple mop atop his head. 

-----

The sides all sat in the family room. Roman had wanted to discuss something he had been thinking of that he wanted them all to try out. "Okay, so I've been thinking, maybe our wardrobes need an upgrade!" 

Virgil, Logan, and Jake shared a blank face as Remus and Patton let out equal shouts of excitement. "Why do we need an upgrade in our wardrobes?" Jake asked. 

"Why to freshen up our looks! You two will probably be a part of videos soon and we need to make sure our outfits all live up to this new season we are going into!" 

Logan frowned. "If it would improve views than I suppose I can agree. But what are the requirements of these upgrades?" 

"More pigment! And a symbol or crest that will represent us as a side!" 

Virgil bit his lip. "And we have to make our own updates and stuff?" He asked anxiously. 

"Yeah!" Roman nodded enthusiastically. "That way it is something you'd actually wear and something that you can be comfortable in." 

Virgil frowned. "I think you're forgetting something, Princey." 

Roman frowned. "What's that?" 

"Not all of us can create cool stuff." 

"Kiddo," Patton began. "You don't have to participate if you don't want to but I really think you can do it. It doesn't have to be a big change and you can take inspiration from anywhere. Just give it a try, who knows what you'll come up with." 

Virgil frowned and opened his mouth to argue only for his brother to interrupt. "Virgil, just give it a shot, okay? I think it would be nice to put some color into your wardrobe. It might help you have something to focus on instead of the same black and greys all the time." 

Virgil sighed and grumbled. "Fine...I'll try. But I can't promise anything." 

-------

Virgil stood in his room, different fabrics are strewn about everywhere and ran a hand through his hair. Nothing was working. He couldn't get anything to work. He tried adding different colors of red. And while they looked nice, they didn't feel...right. Virgil was getting tired and he was on his way to a mental break down if he didn't find the right thing soon. He had been working nonstop for days and he couldn't help but give up hope. 

He grabbed a handful of fabric and yeeted it across the room at full force. In the blue light, the red fabric glowed a brief purple as it fell and Virgil froze. "Every inch of me is trembling," he sang softly as he slowly moved over to the pile of fabric. "But not from the cold." He kneeled down and carefully picked up the red fabric and held it against the blue light. "Something is familiar." He whispered. The fabric turned a slight purple color as he inspected it. The light giving it a different shade. "Like a dream I can reach but not quite hold. I can sense you there." Virgil turned around and glanced around his room at the discarded piles of fabric laying all over the place from his previous failed attempts at updating his normal outfit. "Like a friend I've always known." He glanced at his hoodie and ideas began to spark. "I'm arriving. And it feels like I am home." 

Virgil conjured a plain black zip-up hoodie. "I have always been a fortress, cold secrets deep inside." He carefully laid out the jacket on his bed. "You have secrets, too. But you don't have to hide." 

Virgil conjured a small square of purple fabric and laid it on the jacket to test it. "Show Yourself. I'm dying to meet you." He frowned. The purple was nice but it was missing something. "Show Yourself, it's your turn," he sang softly as he glanced around his room. His eyes landed on his Sally and Jack posters. "Are you the one I've been looking for all of my life?" His eyes sparkled as he turned back to the square of plum fabric and focused on conjuring some white string. "Show Yourself, I'm ready to learn. Ah-ah, ah-ah."

Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah. 

Virgil's head snapped up as he heard the siren voice again. The loudest it had been in a while. A bright smile spread across his face and he turned back to his project. "I have never felt so certain." Virgil conjured more of the purple fabric. "All my life I've been torn." He moved around his room as he sang and grabbed needles and thread and a pair of scissors. "But I'm here for a reason. Could it be the reason I was born?" Virgil yanked a sketchbook out from his dresser drawer and a few pencils as he began sketching out the design shimmering vividly in his mind. "I have always been so different. Normal rules did not apply." Soon Virgil had a fairly well-composed design laid out, his eyes sparkled with joy. "Is this the day? Are you the way? I finally find out why?" 

Virgil picked up the scissors and began cutting out the shapes out of the fabric. "Show Yourself! I'm no longer trembling." As he worked his shadow magic helped hold things for him and kept them from getting lost and protected him from picking his finger on the needle. "Here I am. I've come so far!" All of the fabric was sewn onto the jacket and Virgil set out sewing the white string around the patches somewhat hazardously, really pulling the idea of "stitches together." "You are the answer I've waited for all of my life! Oh, show yourself!" Virgil pulled the hoodie on and frowned slightly. "Let me see who you are."

Virgil moved over to his mirror. "Come to me now," he called as he inspected his hoodie in the mirror. "Open your door. Don't make me wait." The shadows watched him as he frowned at his reflection. "One moment more. Oh, come to me now. Open your door. Don't make me wait one moment more." 

Then, as if out of thin air, small patch materialized in front of Virgil, free floating. Where the north wind meets the sea. A voice said, sounding suspiciously like a mixture of Logan's, Thomas's, Patton's, Remus's, Jake's and Roman's sang. 

(Ah-ah, ah-ah) The voice that have been calling him since the beginning called out. 

There's a river,

(Ah-ah, ah-ah)

Full of memory.

(Memory, memory)

The other voices faded away as the voice sounding mostly like Roman's sang out. Come, my darling, homeward bound.

Virgil felt like crying as he reached forward and gently took the patch out of the air and holding it to his chest. "I am found!!!" 

"Show Yourself!" Virgil belted out as the shadows rushed forward and zipped around him. "Step into the power." The shadows melded to the purple patches all over Virgil's jacket, creating a plaid pattern. "Grow yourself! Into something new!" Virgil looked into the mirror with wide eyes as finally, the jacket began to come completely together. 

The voices of Virgil's family all called out once again. You are the one you've been waiting for-

"All of my life!" 

(All of your life.)

"Oh, show yourself!" 

The voices all melded together as the patch attached itself to Virgil's jacket. "Ah-ah, ah-ah. Ah-ah, ah-ah. Ah-ah, ah-ah" The shadows woven together around Virgil as they spun in a tornado-like wind. "Ah-ah, ah-ah. Ah-ah, ah-ah. Ah-ah, ah-ah." The shadows burst away and Virgil was left standing in front of his mirror. 

--------

Virgil was slightly nervous. No one had seen each other’s outfits yet. Roman claiming it would be better to catch the genuine reactions of each of them to the others’ new looks. Of course that meant Jake and Remus's looks wouldn't be revealed until later. Knowing those two they probably hadn't even started yet and were using the extra time to slowly plan things out. Today they were filming the Hogwarts houses video and at the end before they ducked out they would change into their new and improved attire. Virgil just hoped everyone liked his. While it felt right, and perfect, he couldn't help but be nervous. 

"'Say, Thomas, these emblems and your hair are giving me an idea!'" Roman exclaimed excitedly. 

"Roman, make it work!'" Thomas answered, excited to finally see the new designs.

“I say we go for a bit of a change too!'" Roman took off the Gryffindor robe he was wearing, an excited grin on his face. 

"Oo! How?'" Patton asked as he fought to take off the Hufflepuff robe, his arms getting stuck in the sleeves and disturbing the blinds behind him. 

"If you say mind place again, we haven't even been back to the one you created-" Logan started ranting but was cut off when Roman turned around with a flourish. "'Oh, nice.'" 

Roman wore a white jacket with gold embellishes laying across his chest, on his shoulders, and wrapped around his tall collar. Along with that, he wore a red sash that laid diagonally over his torso. With some gold wrapping around the cuffs and a new emblem on the top of his arms, he looked more like a Disney prince than ever. "'Oh! New emblem thingy!'" Patton exclaimed excitedly. 

"'Aww. Prince 2. Oh My Goodness.'"

"'Your shoulders were so boring to look at before!'" 

Virgil's eyes widened as he leaned back and looked Roman up and down. There was no denying Princey looked good. Like really good. Virgil thanked all that is emo that his blush was hidden beneath his pale foundation.

"'Yeah it's just a bit of a change but I thought it would be nice,'" Roman explained as he smiled joyfully. He almost couldn't contain his squeal at noticing Virgil's reaction. 

"'Well, I suppose I could also participate, but I'm not going to go as ornate or elaborate. I would just look silly,'" Logan explained as he prepared to change. 

"'I set the bar too high for you, that's okay.'"

Logan turned around as he fixed his new tie. This one held more blue hues going down at an angle. His polo shirt was now a shade darker and featured a cartoon brain with glasses on the breast. He cleared his throat. "'There. Nice simple logo change, clear and to the point.'" 

"'Hey Logan!'" Patton exclaimed happily. He excitedly pointed to his new baby blue polo shirt where a cartoon heart with glasses identical to the ones on Logan's logo sat on his chest. Even the cardigan seemed to have changed to a darker, warmer grey. "Matching logos!" 

Logan nearly shut down from an overload of Gay but he was able to contain it and keep up with the character he portrayed onscreen. "'That's..very nice Patton.'" 

"'Mine is a heart with glasses.'" 

"'Stealing my logo, no big deal.'" 

"'What's going on with your cardigan?'" Roman asked as he eyed the fabric tied around the moral sides shoulders. 

"'Is that your cat onesie?'" Logan asked. 

"'Maybe…'" Patton answered as he pulled the hood up with a smile. 

"Ugh," Logan sighed. "That will not suffice.'"

Patton groaned, but was silently happy he was able to almost get Logan to break character. "'Ughhhh. You never let me do anything fun.'"

"'You'll figure it out buddy. Maybe something different for next time,'" Roman added. 

"'Virgil! Your turn!'" Patton exclaimed as he tied his old hoodie around his shoulders. 

"'Oh my gosh, do I have to?'" Virgil asked, following the script. They had set it up so up until each side revealed their new look they had scripted lines and while the reluctance was scripted, it was also slightly real. "'I mean like so many changes. I just told you my name.'" 

"No! No!'" Roman exclaimed, desperate to keep Virgil comfortable and not force him to do anything. “You don't have to. I just thought-'"

"'I-actually, ugh.'" Virgil started cutting Roman off. "I actually have this idea, but like, it's a little out there. So, um."

"Go ahead,'" Thomas started. "I mean if you don't like it you can always change back.'" 

Virgil let out a sigh. "'Well...alright, but, um. Before I do, I should probably confess that uh." Virgil switched his outfit to his new one, the purple plaid patched zip up hoodie with zippers on the sleeve and white stitching throughout. "I actually really dig the purple.'" 

"Woah!!!!" Patton exclaimed excitedly as he took in everything. 

"That design!" Logan commented in awe. 

Romans eyes widened as he took in the others outfit. From the hoodie to the ripped purple shirt to the ripped skinny jeans. Holy fuck the Emo Nightmare just got hotter!

"'Get on his level,'" Thomas commented, impressed with Virgil's new look. 

Patton started coughing. "You good, Patton?'" Roman asked worriedly. 

"I got overexcited,'" Patton explained. 

"'Well, I will say this much, that is..a jacket,'" Logan spoke up. 

"'That is..magnificent,'" Roman commented as Virgil hunched his shoulders a bit before letting the tension flow from his body and allowed himself to smile an adorable little half-smile. Roman's heart raced at the smile and he found it hard to not just leap forward and pull Virgil into a passionate kiss. "'How you've managed to become even angstier.'"

"Oh, okay," Virgil said, his smile gone before it could see a minute. 

"No!'" Roman exclaimed, quickly trying to fix the situation. "'If that's what you want to rock then you rock it sir! Who needs your own Hogwarts house when you have your own hog wild style.'" Roman paused, "'Ah, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.'" 

"'Yeah..it is pretty hog wild,'" Virgil commented, slightly confused and amused. Roman may have been a little unprepared but Virgil official counted it as rendering the creative side speechless. And that was a win in his book. 

--------

That night, when Virgil went to bed, it was the first time in a long time, he didn't have to fight against an ever-present siren voice. And if he and Roman happened to share a kiss in the few minutes before dinner, that was nobody's business but their own. And if they held hands under the table during dinner, then that was also their own little secret. 

-----

Taglist: @spxced-oxt @superwholocked-for-life @mirror2thespirit @aroundofapplesauce @lyditist @little-euro-girl @unicornofdarknessstuff @maryann-draws

[80slingard-blog]

drunken thoughts, sober feelings - marcus au

And as you’re tapping the steering wheel whilst searching through the crowd of drunken people that lingered outside of your car you cursed at the promise you had made Marcus earlier the night - “If you need picking up please call me, I’ll come fetch you”. Truth be told as soon as his name flashed up on your phone and his shouts echoed through your speaker you felt bad for not wanting to pick him up but you knew he was absolutely smashed and you promised you’d help him back. Even if that did mean running to your car in pyjama shorts and a jacket zipped to your chin.

“She’s here guys!” Jesse slammed the window of the passenger seat wildly with his palm, pulling faces at you through the glass as the rest staggered over to you car. Reaching to the back you pushed the door open, Marcus’ hand wrapping around the door frame as he threw himself into the back seat - shortly followed by Dele and Trent. Jesse chuckled as he buckled himself next to you, his drunken hands fumbling with the radio as he tried to find something worth listening to, “Marcus kissed someone today, he finally pulled!”

You listened along to the guys argue back and forth over who was the best dancer as you turned corners and waited patiently at red lights: all the time thinking about Marcus’ mouth pressed against another girl. It wasn’t as if you two were dating or anything, it was nothing like that, no, it was more down to the fact that it was obvious you two had a crush on each other - and all the guys knew that. So why was Marcus shoving his tongue down some strangers throat when he had made it so clear that he was interested in you?

Pulling into your driveway you rolled your eyes as Dele pushed Trent out of the car, his elbows hitting against the graveled driveway as you held out a hand for his to grasp. With a slurred “Fuck you” Trent playfully slapped at Dele’s head, chuckling as his palm came in contact with his ear. Slipping inside the house you beckoned the rowdy lads, not wanting them to wake any of your neighbours with their drunken antics as they yelled about needing water and somewhere to sleep.

“Can we talk?” Marcus yanked at your wrist as he slumped past you, his eyes searching your face as you motioned towards the stairs as the rest of his army piled into the living room. Armed with blankets, cushions and jugs of water you watched as they all settled onto the sofa’s - suddenly looking a lot younger than they actually were as they gulped down glasses of water. If it wasn’t for Marcus lingering about upstairs you would have happily kept them company for the rest of the night, giggling away at their conversation about what the best condiment is on toast - their voice’s getting progressively louder as Jesse exclaimed that it would always be jam.

Trent’s attention would be diverted as he scoured the room for something, his lips curling into a smug smirk, “Is Marcus sharing your bed tonight?”

Your cheeks burned as you flipped the switch, closing the door in order to muffle the laughter they had erupted into as you made your way up the stairs. Embarrassment reeked through your body as you noticed Marcus perched on your bed, his fingers scrolling through his phone as he tried to sober up. Reaching out a hand you’d bring his concentration to a halt as he looked up at you with hazed vision, “Didn’t mean to kiss her. It just happened. So quickly.”

His voice sounded desperate as you crossed your legs next to him, resting your head on his shoulder as he continued to ramble about her just coming up to him and in the moment he didn’t remember anything and he was too lost in the music as his mouth found itself to hers. But you’d switched off: too busy thinking about how you were going to live this one down with the lads downstairs. Of course Marcus was too drunk to try and speak to now but you knew in the morning he wouldn’t remember anything, his cheeks would blush a bright red as the boys tease him about sleeping with you after kissing another girl.

“Marcus. Marcus I don’t care,” You’d whisper, bringing him out of his nattering rant as you traced his tattoo’s that were peaking through his shirt sleeve, “The lad’s think we’re going to sleep together tonight so please don’t be mad in the morning. Just be prepared.”

He nodded, comfortable silence blanketing the two of you as you listened to his heartbeat increasing in his chest. You could tell by now that the alcohol was wearing off; his words weren’t as incoherent and he was started to maneuver a lot easier now. Marcus shifted nervously on the bed, your head lulling into the crook of his neck as you attempted to sit up straight. But he sort of held you there as he snaked an arm around your shoulders, squeezing your arm gently as he sighed, “I think I love you, y’know.” 

And you had second thoughts on him sobering up as you freeze in your position, swallowing hard as he fiddled with his thumbs that sat in his lap. You can tell that he’s awaited an answer as his mouth twitches to the side slightly - but you have no answer to give him. Because you know once you awaken in the morning everything would have been forgotten, so what’s the point? You saw no reason to try and talk to him about it all, not when he was drunk anyway.

“Let’s get you to bed, yeah?” You whisper as you stood from your position, hands on hips as you yearned for him to snuggle into you and tell you everything you wanted to hear. But he was drunk. And you were sober.

But he would shake his head, left to right as his vision became blurry from the sheer harshness of his neck movements. Marcus fell back, his spine hitting the mattress as he spread his arms out across your sheets in a defeated way. His was mumbling something, his words rolling into one string of noises as your chest pinged at the sound of him rambling on again. His eyes dragged across your ceiling, “You think I’m only saying this because I’m drunk. Like I won’t mean it tomorrow morning when I’m sober.”

And you hate how he was right, you despised how well he knew you. Memories of the two of you flashed before your eyes: like the time he persuaded you to go on holiday with him because he’d booked it for him and Jesse but Jesse had pulled out last minute, or the way in which he sobbed to you when his ex girlfriend had broken up with him out of nowhere. And how you had to be the one to try and mend him, pick him up from the floor and convince him that everything would be okay in the end. Your shoulder had been damp for days due to his uncontrollable tears, his voice strained as he struggled to thank you - and all you could do is hug him. But here he was now, in the present time, lying on your bed and confessing his deepest thoughts about you.

“I fucking love you! I always have! Always will. I kissed that girl tonight and you want to know something? I dreamt it was you. I always do. You’re all I dream about - every damn night.” His mouth was spewing sentences that didn’t quite make sense as he spoke them but as they sunk in he lifted his head from your duvet, wide eyes looking you up and down. Your shoulders slouched as you chewed on your fingernail: you didn’t know what to say to him. Fuck, you didn’t know if you wanted to speak to him. 

“Please say something. Just tell me to fuck off; just anything to let me know that you understood what I said.” He sounded desperate, his tone pleading as it sliced through the silence that had fallen once again between you two. Marcus rolled his body until he was facing your headboard, the duvet crinkling beneath him as he fluttered his eyes shut. You decided against trying to sleep in the same bed, scared what would happen between the two of you if you dared tried to slip under the covers - instead slouching off to the guest room. But as you pulled the door open his voice cut through the air, “At least stay, please. Even if it’s the last time you do.”

[fanficshiddles]

Seeking control, Chapter 7

A week passed by, Ellie’s bad dreams were happening on a regular basis. But now, she was seeing Tom’s face quite clearly. She wasn’t sure why really, he had been nothing but kind to her. But there was a weird feeling she just couldn’t shake still.

She was starting to worry that she was going a bit crazy. Things in her flat were moving, she was sure of it. Just small things, such as knickers going missing, her quilt folded down when she went to bed when normally she just left it in a mess in the morning. Little things like that.

But she couldn’t really claim that someone had entry to her flat, because she couldn’t be sure if she had actually moved the things herself. Such as misplacing her knickers and actually being neat for a change.

She did her best to avoid Tom. Which wasn’t so easy, he seemed to often end up in the lift with her especially. Whether heading out or returning. And he often reminded her about making an appointment to see him at the practice. Which was something she was dreading.

One night, Tom was watching Ellie through the camera he’d set up. Instead of actually going into her flat to watch her, he saved that for the middle of the night when she was asleep. Enjoying the thrill and the risk of possibly being caught.

He noticed she was getting ready and dressed up. He frowned. Was she really going out to get drunk again? After the last time, had she not learned her lesson?

With an annoyed growl he went to his door, but looking through the peephole he saw Ellie locking her door while on her phone. He opened the door just enough to listen in.

‘Yep, just leaving now… No, I’m not drinking much, just one or two. I told you what happened last time I got drunk. We meeting at Olives, yeah? Alright, see you soon.’ Ellie said down the phone, then hung up and made her way downstairs.

Tom tapped his fingers against the doorframe, thinking... Then he grabbed his coat, keys and headed out too.

He got in his car and sat there for a while, to give Ellie time to get ahead. Olives was only a ten-minute walk, so it wouldn’t take her long to get there.

Once Tom arrived, he parked in the nearest car park and then walked round to the club. It was already packed and had a good atmosphere. Tom was able to blend in easily enough through the crowd, but he stayed near the exit and kept a close eye on Ellie.

He spotted her at the bar first, getting some drinks with three of her friends. They found a table to chat for a while, catching up while they had their first drink. Tom decided to get a drink for himself too, all the while keep an eye on his neighbour.

The group of girls ended up on the dancefloor when their favourite songs came on, Tom found himself becoming extremely jealous when guys started dancing with them and trying to grind against Ellie. But to his delight, she kept moving away from them or telling them to leave her alone.

She wanted a girly night.

But Tom’s jaw clenched later on during the night, he was seething… The stupid girls left their drinks on the table while they went to dance, leaving them wide open to be spiked.

And it just so happened, that Tom had such a thing in his very pocket…

He managed to weave his way between the crowd over to the table, and as he walked by, he emptied a pill straight into Ellie’s drink. Then he made his way outside, to wait for his prey.

Ellie had no idea what happened. She’d sworn she was only going to have a few drinks, but when she stumbled out of the club a few hours later, anyone looking would think she’d been drinking for days.

Tom caught her elbow before she fell off the edge of the pavement. ‘Easy, there.’ He said softly in her ear, making her tremble.

She looked up at Tom, her eyes glazed over entirely. Tom knew she would have no recollection at all the following morning. The thought aroused him greatly.

‘Come on, Ellie. Time to go home.’ He chastised and led her towards where he had parked his car.

‘Wh… Docr, Hiddlesssson? You ng ere?’ She couldn’t even string a sentence together, her mind kept flitting in and out of consciousness as she walked while being held up by Tom. Her mind was floaty and completely gone.

‘Shhh, shhh. You’re safe with me.’ He purred.

When they got to his car, he opened the passenger door and aided her in. Then he took the seatbelt and put it on for her, because she wasn’t capable of doing it herself. Doing something like that for her made him feel a rush of adrenaline shoot through his veins. Having her helpless and needing him to guide her, protect her, care for her.

Even from the first time he met her, needing his help with the boxes, he knew that she needed him. She didn’t know it yet, but she would. In time.

By the time Tom walked round to the drivers’ side, Ellie’s head was drooping to the side and she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Though she did try to. And she was mumbling incoherently.

The doctor reached out and slid his hand to the back of her neck and stroked her skin softly. ‘Shhh, shhh, shhh. I’ll have you home soon. Just stay quiet and relax.’

Ellie did stop mumbling, she closed her eyes fully as her head bobbed to the side, Tom’s fingers continued stroking her.

‘That’s a good girl.’ He purred.

When they got back home, she was only just awake. He had to unbuckle her seatbelt and ended up carrying her inside and up to her flat.

While he was fishing the keys out of her handbag, while still holding her in his arms, she started to come round a little. He unlocked the door and carried her inside, straight to her bedroom.

‘Whs gn on?’ Ellie mumbled, head rolling back and fore when Tom placed her down on her bed.

‘Hush now, Ellie. You’re home, safe and sound.’ He whispered, stroking her hair.

Her eyes could hardly focus on her neighbour as he crawled on top of her, looming over her small form with his large, intimidating one.

‘Sss… Wh…’

‘Shhh. Relax, Ellie.’ Tom leaned down over her and trailed the tips of his fingers down the side of her face, along her jaw and back up the other side. ‘You are so beautiful, darling.’

Ellie just let out some more barely audible noises while he caressed her face.

‘I’m here now, and I am going to look after you. You are in such desperate need for someone to take control of your life… I found you at the right time, my dear little Ellie.’

Ellie woke up the following afternoon, she was out cold all that time. It took her a moment to come to it, to realise she was in her own bed. But she felt something sticky all over her face… all over her body, in-fact.

She looked down and noticed her dress had been torn off her as if by some wild animal, as it was in bits around her. She shot up in a panic, scrambling backwards. But that’s when she felt it, felt an ache between her thighs. Like something, or someone had forced themselves roughly into her. And they left a present behind…

‘Oh my god. No! NO!’ She started crying in hysterics and ran to the bathroom.

She looked in the mirror and screamed. She was covered in cum.

After showering for almost an hour and scrubbing repeatedly until her skin was red raw, she went to the kitchen to down a glass of water. Her hands were shaking as she clutched the counter and tried to control her breathing.

‘What have I done?’ She muttered to herself. She cursed herself for not being able to remember a bloody thing. It was terrifying.

She was only going to have a few drinks… She remembered dancing and feeling in control, sober. Just having fun with her girlfriends. Then the next thing, blank. She doesn’t remember leaving the club, how she got home or who with. Nothing.

She ran her hands down her face and that’s when it hit her… She wasn’t on the pill. And who ever fucked her obviously didn’t use protection. Again.

‘FUCK!’ She kicked the cupboard in rage.

She’d already been to the chemist once, for the last incident to get the morning after pill. She couldn’t go again!

Tom was in his room, stroking his cock slowly while he watched footage from late last night and through this morning while he continued to have his fun with Ellie. Covering her multiple times with his seed. Oh, how he had so enjoyed that. And having video footage to watch over and over, it was better than any kind of porn.

The knock on his door disgruntled him though. But then it clicked, it would be Ellie. No one else in his building would ever bother to go visit him.

With that thought, he got up and quickly made sure he was tucked back into his jeans and presentable before going to answer the door.

When he opened it, he was met with a really upset and worried looking Ellie.

‘Ellie, darling? What’s the matter?’ He frowned and reached out to rub her arm soothingly.

‘I… I did something stupid, Tom. Really stupid. But I, uh… I need to ask you for a prescription. I need the morning after pill.’ Ellie blurted out quickly through her teary eyes.

‘You mean, you didn’t practice safe sex?’ Tom asked in a slightly chastising tone, making Ellie feel even worse.

‘No… I don’t know. Last night is a complete blur. I don’t even know how I got home.’ She squeaked, her voice breaking.

‘Ellie. This behaviour can’t continue, it’s not healthy.’ He said in concern.

‘I know, I know. I only had a few drinks, before everything went black, basically. I… Please, I’m too scared to go to anyone else. Do you have the pills I can have? Or get me a prescription for them without any fuss?’ She begged.

Tom stroked his beard for a moment. He could see she was so distressed, the poor girl. Obviously not wanting to make another walk of shame to the chemist to get it again, because he knew she did last time which had been embarrassing enough for her.

‘Alright. I can get you the pill this afternoon. Just this once. If it happens again, you will have to go to the chemist yourself or make an appointment with me. Though I’d still like you to make one with me for Monday. We need to discuss your anxiety and see if there’s another option.’ He gave her a reassuring smile.

Ellie let out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you so so much!’

‘No worries. I’ll see you in a few hours.’

Tom kept his word and helped Ellie with her little problem. She was super grateful. But she also couldn’t shake the weird feeling when she was around him.

Her nightmares continued over the week, but got worse. And now, she kept picturing Tom all the time. Part of her thought it was maybe because he was the main man in her life at that point. She saw him most days just in passing, as he was just next door after all.

Things continued to freak her out in her home. When she was in the bath one night, she was sure she heard footsteps in her flat. But by the time she got out and a towel around her, there was no sign of anyone.

With a mixture of the nightmares and also feeling freaked out in general, not to mention being embarrassed after what happened, she did her best to avoid Tom again. Darting quickly back and fore from her flat to the lift, hoping he wouldn’t appear. The odd time he did, she made up quick excuses to get away from him without stopping.

She was supposed to be starting work, but with everything that happened her anxiety was through the roof. She found herself going out of her flat less and less, phoning in to her new boss to say she had the flu. She was given another week before starting.

Ellie knew she was going to have to do something about her anxiety. Part of her thought about going to the doctors… To get more tablets or to try different ones. But then another part of her did NOT want to see Tom. She even thought about going to a different practice.

In the end, she decided to do nothing. She would struggle on and try to get her shit together before starting work.

Tom sat quietly on his sofa, thinking hard about what to do next. He was losing her, and that was not on. He wouldn't have it. He had to gain full control over her again. But how? That was something he had to work on…

But then it suddenly came to him. He knew just what to do.