#and then i have even MORE homework to do tomorrow AND i have class today and wednesday AND both of those classes will give me homework

[acesammy]

man i really thought this week was going to kick my ass, but i just got the whole week's worth of code done in the last hour or so, so now i can focus entirely on my other classes :D

[fridayyy-13th]

sigh. i am having an evening :/

[fingertipsmp3]

I so badly do not want to do my homework omg. But who else is going to do it? Nobody

[whenlilyfallsinlove]

the three times you and georgie cooper were jealous of each other and the one time you acted on it

a/n: ahh first post!! i was actually watching young sheldon while writing this :) sad it's the last season but excited for georgie and mandy spin off!! anyway felt like there was a lack of georgie x readers so wrote this with my fav trope! enjoy!

i - the time when veronica duncan punched georgie in the face

"and then... she punched me in the face!" your best friend georgie recounted to you, as you sat on the front porch of his house, a can of beer in both your hands.

"she punched you in the face, in front of everyone?!" you chuckle, raising an eyebrow.

"yeah.." he replied.

"no way! what did you even do?!" you take a sip of your beer, looking at him. your best friend georgie was one of your favourite people in the whole world and very good looking, hey! you were allowed to say that!

"i kinda.. told her i loved her. in front of the whole church." georgie muttered, slightly flustered.

"you what?!" you spluttered, hardly believing a word he was saying.

georgie saw the look on your face.

"hey i'm not lying!" he says, chuckling.

"what did you expect?!?! poor girl. you barely know her georgie!" you laugh teasingly, this boy really was something else. you had grown up alongside the boy and everything he did even to this day still surprised you.

"i know but i'm bummed by it.. i really like her y/n." he looks at you with wide eyes. he sounded... serious?

this stopped you laughing.

"you really like her huh?" you look at him, encouraging him to say more.

"yeah.. look" georgie sighs, taking a swig of his beer. "i've never felt this way about any girl before. ever."

oh. why did this feel like a massive kick in the stomach? your insides had gone all funny.

"oh.." you mutter, looking down. "didn't realise you were that serious."

"yeah.. i need to make it up to her, i care about her.. even if she don't about me" georgie sighs.

woah he really seemed to care about her. why did this aggravate you so much? veronica was a nice girl, pretty and kind.. even if she did (rightfully) punch him in the face. she was good to your best friend. so why didn't you feel supportive?

"don't worry georgie.." you reach out and comfortingly pat his arm "she's a nice girl, she'll forgive you."

he smiles and wraps his arm round you "thanks y/n, you're the best friend ever, ya know that?"

"yep.. what would you do without me." you chuckle, nervously.

friend. why did him referring to you as that make you feel queasy? that's what you were, right? best friends? this felt weird though.. different.

you suddenly felt sick.

"look i gotta get home.. got a lot of homework" you stand, trying to ignore the feelings you were currently having.

"going so soon l/n?" georgie grins.

"yeah sorry.." you chuckle "good luck with the veronica thing anyway.. i'll see you tomorrow."

"see ya" he smiles and waves you off.

you wave back and walk down the street to your house, thinking about what had just happened.

the sickness feeling, the disgust, the small bit of sadness you felt when georgie said he'd never felt that way before

then it sunk in. you were jealous. fuck!

ii - the time that guy from your spanish class asked you out

spanish was somehow both your favourite and least favourite class. i mean you hated the class - you were awful at it but you got to sit next to georgie in it.. so maybe it wasn't too bad.

today started like any other spanish lesson. you listened to the teacher drone on about grammar, you and georgie had a footsie war under the table etc. everything was normal. that was until the end of the lesson.

you were packing away your notebooks, listening to georgie babble on about football when adam, the boy who sat in front of you, approached you.

"hey y/n" adam smiled shyly at you,

"oh uh hey adam" you said friendly enough, but very confused on why he was speaking to you.

you weren't the only one confused. next to you, georgie had been interrupted by this exchange and had stopped talking, now listening, his eyebrow raised.

"uh i was wondering.. if you'd like to see the new ghostbusters movie with me tomorrow night.. its okay if not, i understand." adam chuckled nervously.

georgie frowned at this. who did this adam guy think he was, asking you out to the movies? he didn't even know you! who asks someone out that they don't even know.. this guy was a total weirdo. there was no way you were gonna say yes.

"um.. okay" you interrupted his train of thought. adam was quite handsome, and seemed nice. and although it was bad to admit, you needed a distraction from the unknown feelings you were having for your best friend.

your answer shocked georgie. why on earth did you say yes? did you feel bad for him or something.. or maybe you just wanted to see the new ghostbusters? he would've taken you if that was the case! not this idiot.

"oh good. i'll pick you up at 7 tomorrow then?" adam smiles at you, and god georgie wanted to punch him.

"yeah okay." you smile back, and watched as he waved at you then left class.

"well that was.." you turn to georgie, who is not looking at you but is looking straight ahead.

"let's go to lunch." georgie ignores you and starts walking off.

"oh okay" you mutter, then follow him.

georgie was mad. this guy didn't deserve you, he was definitely punching! you were beautiful and deserved someone way better. someone like.. him! but no you were best friends.. he couldn't ruin that. but the more he thought about it the more he realised he was jealous.

you were his, not that adams! that was the day georgie cooper realised he liked you, his best friend.

iii- the time georgie ditched you to hang out with jana boggs

every summer, you tagged along with the coopers (well more so georgie but you had long since been accepted as a member of the familt) to the carnival set up by pastor jeff and the church.

every year, you and georgie usually went off together and did your own thing but this year was different. georgie had been dating jana for a while now and of course it was only normal for him to not hang with you as much and you shouldn't get mad at him for wanting to spend time with her.. right?

"oh look.. jana's over there." georgie chuckles, awkwardly looking to where his girlfriend was stood.

"yep." you reply.

"and she looks.. pretty lonely" georgie states, again awkwardly.

"uh huh" you nod.

"maybe she needs someone to talk to?" he says.

"hey i get the hint, you go hang with her.. she's your girlfriend after all, i'll stay here with missy" you try and say encouragingly, but your voice wobbles slightly.

"really?!" george smiles.

"yeah!" you reply.

"you're the best" he gives you a tight hug. "i owe you one!"

"don't worry" you say, watching him walk off to jana " that's what friends are for" you mutter.

you look to the ground. it felt like it was time to finally accept that you liked georgie a lot. and not just as a friend.

"that was pretty sad to watch" missy speaks up, looking at you half sympathetically, half in enjoyment.

"well i'm glad my sad life gives you joy." you let out a weak laugh.

"look i've always liked you y/n, you're cool, and i've always thought you can do wayyy better than my dumb brother" she tries to comfort you.

"well thanks." you smile.

"and just so you know... i think georgie likes you back. he's just stupid.. and scared." missy smiles.

"i hope that's the case." you smile back.

as you watch georgie laugh along with jana, you couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

you really liked your best friend.

iv - the time where missy matchmakes.

"georgie.. please please please can you take me and marcus to the movies tonight" missy begged, standing in georgie's doorway.

"missy.. i'm supposed to be hanging with y/n tonight." georgie frowned, secretly he had hoped tonight would be the night he might finally confess to you.

"bring her with you! she loves me." missy smiles smugly.

"we'll see." georgie sighs.

four hours later, georgie, y/n and missy were in the car, going to pick marcus up. georgie didn't take much convincing after learning it would entail missy and her boyfriend being alone, and you were quick to accept to come with.

"so missy.. how serious are you and marcus?" you ask, turning round and smiling at her.

"we're kinda serious.. we've held hands a bunch and hugged. we haven't kissed.. but we've shared a straw" she replies, subtly bragging.

"oh wow pretty serious then." you chuckle. georgie smiles at you. he loved that you got on so well with his family, it was something he'd always liked about you.

there was silence for a while.

"can i ask you guys a personal question?" missy breaks the silence.

"umm sure" georgie responds as you nod.

"so you're both single..."

"thanks for the reminder" you smile playfully.

"and i know jana broke up with georgie because of you y/n.."

"how do you know that" georgie exclaims, confused.

"i know everything." missy deadpans. "and i also heard you on the phone to each other."

"anyway.." she continues "why don't you just date each other? it's very clear that you like each other, everyone can see it. it's simple." she says, proudly.

both your eyes widen. you were not expecting that. you start uncomfortably laughing and turn to look at georgie.

georgie was looking straight forward , avoiding eye contact.

"well.." you start "i don't think i'm georgie's type.."

"you kidding?" georgie exclaims. "not my type? of course you are! i compare every girl i ever meet to you!"

you sat shocked. what. the. hell.

"you do?" you look at him.

"of course i do. i like you a lot y/n." georgie blushes, avoiding eye contact.

your heart stopped. finally!!

"oh really? georgie i also like you a lot!" you smile, brightly.

"you do?" georgie grins.

"yeah of course i do! i have for ages.. i was jealous of jana.. and damn this was ages ago but i was jealous of veronica as well!" you chuckle.

"no way!! i was jealous of that adam guy! and pretty much any other guy who talked to you as well!" georgie replies, smirking.

you smile.

"i was just too nervous to say anything." you say.

"holy shit, me too!" georgie agrees.

you reach over and touch his shoulder. he smiles back. and at that moment although it sounded cheesy, it did really feel like a moment from a romcom.

"aww that was real cute guys." missy smiles.

"but don't you dare say any of that cheesy stuff when marcus is in the car!"

[vainvenus]

⌲;꒰ Favorite boy in the Valley ꒱

Pairing - Eli Moskowitz x Fem!Reader

Synopsis - Eli's doubting your relationship so you have to confirm some things for him.

Includings - S1!Eli no Hawk, insecurities, crying, embarrassed and blushing Eli, lots of kisses, words of affirmation, small bits of angst, a bunch of fluff

An - First post back with a new fixation! All tags used are fandoms I write for so feel free to request anything

And if anybodys interested I'm currently writing a Scream Au!Cobra Kai on quotev under the same name I use on here

Eli had been a bit off lately and it was starting to worry you.

Eli was generally a quiet person, he had been that way since you met him and he still was. But even given his quiet nature if there was a topic he was interested in and the right people were talking about it he would add in an opinion or two.

And he would be more than happy to rant to you of all people about a new series he had started up or to talk about one of the movies you recommended to him so that the two of you could gush about it and share opinions, but recently he had been a lot quieter.

You shut your locker, smiling over at the dirty blonde. "So, have you watched clueless yet? The fashion in that is-"

"Uh..no, sorry. I was...uhm...busy." He interrupted, staring down at his feet at the lie he told, he watched it twice and wanted nothing more than to go on and on about it.

You rose a brow, head tilting slightly as you stared at him with a look that almost made him call his bluff. "Busy?"

He just nodded quietly.

Then about a week ago, when you asked him if he wanted to come over after school to do a Marvel marathon he had quickly declined, saying that he had other plans and before you could ask what those plans were he went to go talk to Demetri.

He would usually walk you to class, everybody saying that wherever you were he had to be somewhere close by but recently as you waited outside your classroom for him he would be nowhere to found and that made your heart sink a little bit.

"Hey, you weren't outside my English class to walk me to culinary today." You frowned, setting your lunch tray next to his and taking your seat. "I wanted to tell you that I aced my essay..."

Eli glanced over at you and moved his nail from between his teeth. A nasty habit you had been trying to get him to stop doing for months and you were real close until he started becoming distant.

"I was just...just rushing to get to Chemistry. I had a really important test and wanted to get some extra study time in." He explained and you slowly nodded, deciding not to bring up the fact that his test was tomorrow.

He also stopped holding your hand, the first thing he could make the first move on, something he could confidently do if he was feeling nervous or just wanted to touch you. Normally he would hold it as he walked you to your classes or even when the two of you were sitting together at lunch but he started to pull his hand away or shove it into his pocket.

And what really got you was when he started denying your kisses. At first you thought it would just be by accident or he didn't want a kiss at the moment since he was still getting comfortable with PDA but you soon realized that he was dodging your kisses, tilting and moving his head when you leaned in.

It was all really confusing. You didn't understand why he was acting like this and it left you wondering if you had did something wrong. Maybe you had done something that made him upset with you?

You sighed, leaning onto Demetri's shoulder. "Its like when we first met all over again, Dem. He's just been so distant and I don't know whats the matter. Has he been acting different with you?"

"No, he hasnt." Demetri bluntly answered, shaking his head while his eyes stayed focused on the homework you let out a long sigh. "Then it's me, I have to be the problem."

The brunette sighed, putting his pencil down and turning his head to look at you, nearly giving you a death glare. "Look, you just need to talk to him, alright? He's probably going through another one of his slumps and needs some reassurance."

You had groaned, rubbing your hand along your face. "Of course, why hadn't you thought of that before? "Thanks, Dem! You're so good at giving advice, can't believe I didn't think that. God I'm dumb sometimes."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know I am and I know you are. Now, can we please finish our homework now that you're done moping?"

"[Y/n], Eli didn't tell me you were coming."

You smiled up at his mother as you held a new copy of the comic book Eli had ranted about a while ago along with a bag of some of his favorite snacks. "Yeah, I wanted to surprise him."

"Well he's upstairs in his room." She hummed, closing the door behind you as you walked up the stairs and down the hall to the boy's room, lifting your knuckles up to knock on the door.

There was a bit of shuffling before the door opened and Eli's eyes were wide with surprise upon seeing you. "[Y/n]? What..What are you doing here?"

"I just really need to talk to you. Can I come in, please?"

He seemed hesitant at first before reluctantly nodded and opened his door all the way. You set the things you brought for him on the table then walked over to sit across from him on his bed.

You looked at him, staring into his eyes as you reached out to grab his hand and rubbed your thumb over the back of it. "Eli, talk to me. What's the matter? What's going on?"

"It's nothing-" He started but you weren't buying it, obviously. "Eli we both know that's a lie. You haven't really been yourself lately and I just need to know why. I'm here for you. Is it something that I've done or anything I can fix?"

"Unless you can fix me being a freak, no, you can't."

Your face softened as you held onto his hand a little tighter. "Eli, you're not-"

He shook his head, pulling his hands away from yours. "No! Don't. Don't say that! I don't wanna hear this whole 'you're not a freak' talk again I'm so sick of it!"

The way his voice started to crack made your heart sink as you saw that his eyes were starting to water, fresh tears threatening to spill.

"Kyler said something that...that just really got me thinking. Saying that he didn't know how a girl like...like you gave a nerd with a weird lip...lip a chance." Eli swallowed the lump starting in his throat because he was going to start crying rethinking of the conversation.

"He started talking about how much better you could've done. Better like somebody like...like him." He sniffled, his fingers brushing against his scar as he looked everywhere but you when he spoke.

"And then I started to think he was...was right. You could do so much better than some nerd with a freaky l..lip." His voice wobbled as he stared down at his bedsheets.

"Eli. Eli, look at me." While the boy shook his head you reached up to grab the sides of his face, wiping away the tears with your thumbs that were starting to fall down his cheeks.

You sighed, frowning softly. "Look, I don't care what anybody else says, okay? Kyler was wrong because there's no better choice. I mean, is there any other boy at school who would listen to my constant complaining about Mrs.Carter?"

Eli had stayed quiet as you continued. "Would any other boy let me ramble about [f/superhero] and not call me a nerd?"

Silence.

You weren't done though. "Would some jerk like Kyler deal with my long shopping trips and help me carry all my bags around?"

Continuing you had smiled softly up at him. "Oh and I'm one hundred percent sure none of those guys would watch silly chick flicks with me and actually like them."

He shrugged his shoulders and you smiled, pressing your lips against the his cheek in a short yet sweet kiss and he winced, feeling the stickiness from your lipgloss. "And no other boy here is as breathtaking as you."

Your smile grew more as you saw the tips of his ears turning pink and he turned his head away slightly, looking up and away at his ceiling. "[Y/n].."

"I'm serious, Eli. You're so very pretty. I love and adore everything about you."

He avoided eye contact with you, trying to pull his face from your hands but you only hummed while pressing kisses all over his face and leaving shiny kiss marks along it.

"Your eyes alone just make me melt, y'know? I'm real jealous of how your lashes look better than mine." You giggled, placing a kiss right above his brow.

"[Y/n], stop..." He mumbled, his cheeks now being a color that would put any blush set to shame and you shook your head.

"You have a beautiful nose. I love staring at your side profile, it's just perfect." You complimented, kissing the bridge of his nose before your eyes trailed down.

You reached up, tracing your finger along the scar. "And like I've said before I love your scar. I could kiss you a million times and never get grossed out by it.

At that you leaned forward, pressing your lips right against his scar and you could feel his hands squeezing at the bottom of your shirt, fists squeezing tightly around the fabric before you moved down and captured his slightly chapped lips with your own. While you leaned into the kiss you could feel Eli's grip slowly lighten as he leaned into the kiss.

Eli was a burning mess in a the face when you kissed his scar, closing his eyes at the feeling while holding tightly onto your shirt as if you would go anywhere. Feeling you place felt your soft lips on his own partially chapped ones he was like putty in your hands, practically liquefying.

When you pulled away you giggled at the residue of gloss that came from your lips and that was now all over Eli's face and his own lips, smiling as the boy rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip, his shoulders rising and falling while he panted softly.

"So no, there's no boy in this valley I'd rather be with." You confirmed, wrapping your arms and he laid back allowing you to lay your head against his chest, finding a sort of comfort listening to his heartbeat.

You hummed softly, reaching a hand up to play with the tuffs of his hair and the two of you laid there in comfortable silence and you peered up to stare at him to see that he was already staring at you.

"You...You really mean it? All that stuff you said earlier?" He questioned, his voice coming off as a whisper and you lifted your head up.

You sat up on his lap, furrowing your brows at him while staring at him with an incredulous expression. "Do I need to repeat myself? Kisses and all?"

"I...I don't know...I don't think I really got it." Eli gave a sheepish smile, messing with the hem of your shirt."

"Maybe...uhm...a couple more kisses and it might click?" He quietly suggested and stared up at you through his eyelashes, his lips parting a bit.

And how could you say no to such a pretty face like that?

[justagalwhowrites]

The Savage and the Sanctuary - Ch. 2: Teenagers

You and Joel adjust to each other as you struggle with Ellie. A continuation of The Savage and the Sanctuary, a no outbreak TLOU story, from the prologue through chapter 1 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

CW: Mild suicidal ideation. Mention of grief and child loss. Mention of parent loss. No use of Y/N. Whole fic will be explicit so minors DNI, 18+ only.

Length: 13.4k

A/N: For some reference because I haven't explicitly stated their ages, Joel is turning 42 in this chapter and was about to turn 37 in the flashback at the start of this chapter. Reader is 36 (meaning they were the same ages when their kids were born.)

Fic Masterlist | Masterlist | AO3 | Prologue | Previous Chapter

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

“Dad, please!” 

Joel sighed, leaning against his counter and sipping his coffee, his 16-year-old daughter standing in front of him with wide, pleading eyes. 

“It’s a school night, baby girl,” he said. “We both gotta be up early tomorrow and…” 

“And we could play hooky!” She said. “Celebrate your birthday, go to Waffle House…” 

“I don’t like waffles.” 

“Those are for my benefit,” she replied. “You can get your smothered hash browns and see if they’ll put candles in them so you can celebrate being an old man.” 

“I can’t just call into work because it’s my birthday tomorrow, kiddo,” he said. “And your friend should have her party on the weekend…” 

“But her birthday’s today!” She said. “It’s sweet 16, please! Everyone’s going, basically no one is going to be at school on Thursday because of it, please Dad!” 

He sighed again, Sarah still looking so hopeful in front of him. 

And then, her face shifted. 

“We could go see the new Curtis and Viper tomorrow,” she smirked, brows raised conspiratorially. “We’ll probably have the theater to ourselves so we can make fun of it.” 

Joel clenched his jaw to keep from smiling. 

“Come on, Dad,” she said. “You worked so late on your birthday last year that we didn’t get to do anything. Please?” 

He sighed. 

“What would you miss at school tomorrow?” 

“Basically nothing!” She said quickly, eyes lighting up. “I have exam review but I got As on all my homework in that class so I don’t need it and…” 

“Jesus, you’re a bad influence,” he muttered, taking a sip of coffee. Sarah squealed, slamming into him, throwing her arms around his neck. 

“Thank you thank you thank you!” She said, her voice muffled by his shirt before she pulled back at looked up at him, practically beaming. “We’re going to have so much fun tomorrow!” 

“Somethin’ tells me you’re more excited about having fun tonight than hanging out with me tomorrow,” he shook his head but smiled all the same. “Who all’s goin’ to this thing tonight? There gonna be boys and drinking and shit?” 

“Dad,” she gave him a look. 

“You can act all grown up all you want, baby girl, but you’re still a kid,” he said. “Want you to have fun but don’t want you doing anything too dangerous…” 

“My friends don’t drink…” 

“You say that now,” he muttered. 

“…and Brit’s parents will be there so while there will be boys, nothing’s going to happen with the boys.” 

“Alright,” he sighed. “But you gotta promise me you’re gonna be safe, no gettin’ in the car with someone who’s been drinking. Even just one beer is too much and you call me if you don’t have another way home, I’ll come get you, you won’t be in trouble and…” 

“I know, Dad,” she rolled her eyes but smiled a little. “Don’t worry so much. I don’t plan on getting drunk anytime soon. Maybe inject heroin under my fingernails but…” 

“Your fingernails, huh?” Joel teased. 

“Well yeah,” she said. “Gotta hide the track marks.” 

There was a honk from the driveway and Sarah grabbed what was left of her coffee - more creamer than actual coffee but Joel still liked to humor her - and chugged it. 

“That’s Emma,” she said, rinsing out her favorite mug, the chipped one with the owl on it that she’d been drinking hot cocoa out of since she was so small that it was more like room temperature cocoa, and setting it beside the sink. “I’m going to go to her place after school to get ready for the party since you’ll probably be at work, anyway.” 

“Yeah, should stay late and try and wrap up as much as I can since apparently I’m not workin’ tomorrow,” he smirked. “Home by midnight, OK baby girl?” 

“Yup!” She said, giving him a quick hug. He gave her a squeeze, pressing a kiss to her temple. “See you tonight!” 

“Be safe!” He called after her as she grabbed her backpack and headed for the front door. 

When she looked back over her shoulder to wave goodbye, he didn’t know it would be the last time he’d ever see her smile. 

***

Thursday, September 26, 2024 

It was still dark outside. 

Joel wasn’t sure what time it was but it was still dark outside so it was OK. He didn’t need to be aware of things like time or hunger or your safety when it was still dark and he was in his daughter’s room. 

He jerked awake not too long after midnight, just like he’d done every year on his birthday ever since Sarah died. He wasn’t sure why he even bothered trying to sleep in his own bed, as though anything would be different. Why would it be different? The only thing that mattered was gone, it couldn’t be different. 

He stared at his ceiling for a while, waiting to see if he’d be able to fall asleep again, if he could shake the feeling of phantom blood on his skin in the red glow of his alarm clock but he couldn’t. So he did what he always did on the morning of his birthday: he went to his daughter’s room. 

Joel rarely went to Sarah’s room now. Maria, his sister in law, probably spent more time in there than he did, coming by every few months while he was on a job to dust and run the vacuum so it didn’t fall to ruin. She was careful to not disturb things when she did, the t-shirt Sarah had worn to sleep in still draped over the back of her desk chair and the book she’d been reading still face down on the page she’d stopped at on her nightstand. He turned on the lamp and sank onto the bed - still unmade, like she’d left it that morning - staring at the poster-covered walls. 

The posters were old now, the sun fading them in the five years that had passed since his daughter had left him behind. It made the room seem like a relic, as though this space was a museum and not a place where someone had lived once, and it set Joel on edge. 

Five years. Half a decade without the most important person there’d ever been or ever would be. She’d only been 16 when she died and five years had passed so quickly. Soon, she’d have been gone as long as she’d been here. Soon, to the sun-bleached posters and peeling soccer trophies, it would be like she’d never been here at all. 

He found himself looking at the poster of you more than he remembered doing before when he’d been in this room before. It was strange, knowing you existed outside of this liminal space now. You were real, corporeal, a human being with thoughts and feelings and not some imagined thing with an almost disturbingly perfect face someone had invented and put on paper. 

It had been a three days since Joel had seen you last, spending 11 days working with three days off in between. Tommy had been hesitant to schedule him back on duty today of all days but Joel had all but insisted on it. He needed the distraction. More than that, he needed to keep out of trouble. He needed something to keep him from trying to find the person responsible for his daughter’s death and killing them himself. Protecting you was a good enough distraction. 

Yours was the first contract like this Joel had taken on, one that was longer and more involved. Typically, people who needed someone on hand 24/7 didn’t live in Austin, Texas. They passed through and Joel’s job was done in a week, two at most. You were more complicated. 

Part of that was the nature of the job, of course. Working in such close proximity and in such risky situations made shit complicated. 

He’d had to establish rules with you that first day after dropping Ellie off at school. He ground his teeth as you went by a small local coffee shop on your way home, you giving a fake name at the counter as the barista all but stared at you. 

“I’m so sorry,” the girl smiled sheepishly. “But has anyone told you that you look just like…” 

“Oh yeah,” you waved her off. “I get that all the time. Not sure why, I think she’s way prettier.” 

Joel resisted the urge to snap at you until the two of you were back to the car, you still refusing to let him drive as you sipped your overpriced coffee with a contented sigh. 

“Can I help you?” You asked him, brows raised, as you watched him over the rim of your cup. 

“You tryin’ to get yourself killed?” He said. 

“Didn’t realize the coffee shop was so dangerous…” 

“You know what I mean,” he snapped. “You’re bein’ reckless.” 

“I get coffee all the time back home and -”

“And you got yourself a fucking stalker, didn’t you?” He cut you off. “S’why you’re stuck with me, spent too much time runnin’ around doing whatever the fuck you wanted and now you’re payin’ the price.” 

“No, I’m paying the price because the studio is overreacting,” you said, condescension dripping from your voice. “Pretty sure I’d still be sitting in my car sipping a coffee if you were off promising to take a bullet for someone else.” 

You held his gaze as you took a drink, as if to make a point. 

“I don’t know why this is fuckin’ news to you, but you’re one of the most famous people on the goddamn planet,” he snapped. “That shit comes with problems. If you didn’t want to deal with those problems, maybe you shouldn’t have become fuckin’ famous.” 

You looked at him, like you were trying to hold back a laugh, eyebrows raised so high they almost disappeared into your hairline. 

“You think I chose to become famous?” You asked. “You think I wanted this?” 

“Ain’t that why people become actresses,” he said more than asked. 

You just looked at him for a moment, like you were examining him. 

“You don’t have many friends, do you?” You said after a moment. 

He ground his teeth. 

“Got as many as I need,” he said. “Let’s get you home before I have to take a damn bullet because you’re stubborn.” 

“Yes, I’m sure the woman driving that minivan is packing,” you said wryly but putting the car in drive all the same. “Very dangerous.” 

“It’s Texas,” he said, voice flat. “She probably is.” 

But instead of going home, you drove to Whole Foods. Fucking Whole Foods. 

Joel was almost positive it was to piss him off but you completely ignored him as you went up and down the aisles, filling up your cart as he tried to watch for whatever threats might be at a goddamn grocery store while you acted like your goddamn baseball cap made you invisible to whoever might be looking for you. 

“I know you got people for this,” he muttered under his breath, putting his body between you and as much of the rest of the store as he could as you meticulously selected an apple. “Should fuckin’ carry you out of here…” 

“Yes but that would cause a scene, wouldn’t it?” You said, smug. “And that’s even MORE dangerous, right?” 

He narrowed his eyes at you and moved to respond but cut him off. 

“What do you think of this apple?” You thrust it under his nose. “It smells good, right?” 

“It’s a goddamn apple.” 

“Yes, but I need to try to get a teenager to eat it,” you sighed, impatient. “I need it to be appealing. Would you eat it if you were a teenager?” 

“If I tell you yes, will you shut the fuck up and get out of here?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Then yeah, I’d eat the goddamn apple, let’s go.” 

You smiled a little, satisfied, and got several apples and added them to the cart before taking your sweet time going through the rest of the store. 

Eventually, you finished your shopping trip and actually got ready to go home. The only person who seemed to recognize you at the store was the cashier, who gaped at you as much as one person could gape at another while they rang up their items. 

“That will be $267.48,” she said and you went to put your credit card but then she jumped. “Oh, wait! I can put in my discount…” 

“You don’t need to do that,” you laughed. “But you’re sweet to offer!” 

“But…” 

“How about you put that discount in for someone else who comes through your line today,” you smiled. 

“OK,” she smiled a little hesitantly. “Sorry, I’ve just never had someone famous come through my line before.”

“First time for everything,” you winked, putting your card in the machine. 

The cashier kept staring at you. 

“No one is going to believe I met you,” she said eventually. “I wish I had my phone so I could take a selfie…”

“Want an autograph?” You asked as the machine chimed. “Don’t need a phone for that.”

Instead of answering, she scrambled to get some blank receipt paper and a pen and Joel could tell you were trying not to laugh. You wrote on the paper quickly and handed it back before giving the cashier a smile. 

“You have a great day, Mina,” you said. 

She looked up from the paper with wide eyes. 

“How’d you know my name?” 

You smiled a little bigger and nodded to her name badge. 

“See you next time,” you said and she beamed. 

“Shit like that is stopping,” Joel said once the two of you were safely back in your house, behind the gate and fence that surrounded your property. “You got no damn reason to take risks like that…” 

“Yes I do,” you said, defiant, arms crossed. 

“What,” he demanded. “What’s your damn reason.” 

“I want to take care of my kid,” you stuck your chin out. “That means going to the grocery store sometimes. I’m sure that’s a new concept for you since I’m sure you subsist exclusively off fast food and have never thought about looking after anyone but yourself…” 

Joel tightened his jaw, trying to keep the sharp stab of loss from showing on his face. 

“You don’t need to go yourself,” he snapped. “Send someone.” 

You stepped closer to him, close enough that he could smell your skin, sweet and soft and he resented it. 

“I want to take care of her,” you said. “Me. She lost her mother, the person who used to do shit like make her dinner and pick out her snacks. I want to do that for her. Me, not someone I pay. So you just need to accept the fact that I’m going to go to the store because I’m not stopping.” 

“Fine,” he snapped, not about to admit that what you said tugged at him a bit. He remembered going to the store, looking for things that he thought Sarah might like. Things to put in her backpack so she had a snack for school when she got hungry between her afternoon classes or to have waiting for her when she got home. He remembered her favorite foods and how she lit up when he made burgers the way she liked or brought home her favorite cereal. He remembered how lucky he felt to be the person who got to know her in this way, to know her favorite things and be the one to get them for her. “But we’re doin’ it on my terms. This will be a whole lot easier on both of us as soon as you get with the program because I’m not letting you get us both killed because you’re stubborn. Got it?” 

He laid out the rules: You were to never leave the house without him or whoever was filling in for him on his days off. You needed to run your proposed schedule for the week by him so he could make necessary changes - varying your comings and goings as much as possible so you would be unpredictable. You needed to give him full access to your property and any existing security infrastructure so he could check for possible weaknesses. And you needed a code name, one that would be used for the whole team so when there was a handoff or a situation that required additional security, communication was short and easily understood. 

“That seems like overkill,” you rolled your eyes. “It’s not like I’m the fucking president…” 

“When it’s a shit situation and we need to know who has you, we need it,” he said, harsher than he needed to. He was hard pressed to care, though. “We don’t need people stumbling over your name, not knowing if we’re using your first or last, and we really don’t need ‘em announcing your damn name where the wrong person could hear it and learn where you are.” 

“Fine,” you said. “What are the rules for picking a code name then.” 

“There aren’t any,” Joel said. “Yours is Siren.” 

“Siren,” you looked at him, incredulous. “Seriously? I don’t get any say in this at all?” 

“No,” he lied. “We pick for you and it’s Siren.” Your jaw twitched and Joel fought the urge to smirk. “What, don’t like it?” 

You squared yourself, defiant. 

“No, it’s perfect,” you said. “Derivative and dull, just what I’d expect from you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have real work to do.” 

And with that, you stalked off to some far away corner of your massive fucking house, leaving the woman who’d answered the door for him that morning to show him around. 

Joel tried to hide the almost spiteful sense of pride he got from getting under your skin. Because, fuck, if he had live with the reminder of that goddamn show then you had to, too. 

He’d Googled you after he’d met you the day before, his chest tight the whole time. He saw your more recent film history and learned that you were older than he’d realized - you must have been in your 20s when you were playing a teenager on TV. He also learned that you didn’t talk much about the show that Sarah had loved so much and had made you a household name. He wondered if you loathed it as much as he did, if you got the same stomach churning feeling inside yourself when something made you think of it, the same one he got whenever he looked at your disturbingly perfect face. 

Siren was the name of that goddamn show and the almost mocking nickname the male lead of the show had given your character, both of your characters fighting to make it as musicians in some bullshit story that was dramatized to hell and back. Joel recognized the guy, too - he was some fucking country star now, the kind who played bullshit instead of real country music - and he could feel, when he picked that name, that you’d hate it. 

Normally, the person he was protecting got to pick their code name. But you didn’t know that and he needed to feel some sense of power over you. You loomed too large over him. He needed you to feel the way he did, a little helpless, a little out of control. 

And you, stalking off in a huff over that damn name, made him feel better than it should. 

Over the next week and a half, he was keenly aware that none of this, really, was your fault. It wasn’t your fault that you were tied so closely with his dead daughter. It wasn’t your fault that being around you was like living with an open wound, something tender and aching on him that he couldn’t seem to heal because you were near. It wasn’t your fault that he had gone through so much of the last five years numb to everything and now was almost shockingly aware of the constant pain that had been lingering below the surface. 

But you were there and you were so much easier to blame than himself. He knew that, too. But it didn’t make him stop doing it, almost like he was watching himself make your life difficult without having any control over it. 

He had to stay in your home to be available at all hours so he started getting up early to take your keys before you had a chance to make it downstairs in the morning so he could drive when taking Ellie to school. He made a habit of finishing the coffee when Esmo was busy elsewhere in the house and he knew you’d be coming back for another cup. He never accepted any kindness you offered, taking disconcerting pleasure in saying no lattes when you insisted on stopping for a coffee and telling you he didn’t want whatever food you offered him, choosing instead to eat frozen dinners alone in another part of the house away from you and Ellie and Esmo, too. He found a strange satisfaction in these small harms, as though they were earned in some way. You, embedded so deeply in the trappings of wealth and fame, surely deserved some inconvenience in your life. After all the pain you’d inadvertently caused him, it seemed like it was owed to him. He tried to ignore the fact that he didn’t like being the kind of person who took pleasure in hurting someone else who didn’t deserve it, even if it was only small hurts. He tried not to think about what Sarah would say if she could see what he was doing now.  

Being away from you, though, made him more aware of it. The strange poison of wanting to make your life harder was further away when he was home and it was easier to see through it. You were probably dreading his return as much as he was dreading returning. He didn’t like who he became when he was near you and here he was, going back to the sphere of your influence to let it swallow him and turn him into a worse version of himself again. 

Joel should tell Tommy to take him off this job. He knew that but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was never supposed to be this way with him and his brother. Joel was the older one, Joel was the one who had practically raised Tommy when their parents were gone. Tommy was never supposed to be the one to take care of him. He was never supposed to be the one to give him a fucking job or make sure he didn’t lose his house in the months after the death of his daughter. He owed his brother so much now. How could he tell him “Sorry, this simple job is just too much for me, find someone else.” Tommy asked Joel to protect you so he would. 

Even if he hated it. 

Dawn was just starting on the horizon when Joel decided to indulge himself for a minute, lying down gently on his daughter’s bed. He was careful to not disturb the blankets, he didn’t adjust the pillow. He let himself sink into the softness of her lavender sheets and twin-sized mattress, to be in the exact place she was the last morning of her life. He stared at the side of her nightstand - stickers she’d placed there starting to peel - and let himself remember what it was like to have someone as good as her love him. 

He stayed there until her room as filled not with the artificial glow of streetlights but the unflinching light of day and got up as carefully as he lay down, going to the door and taking a last look at his daughter’s room on the morning of his fifth birthday since he’d stopped being a father, closing the door softly behind him. 

The drive to your house went by too quickly for his liking and he pulled into the driveway at the same time you did, Seth - the guard who’d filled in for him while he had a few days off - laughing about something with you as the two of you got out of the car. 

“Joel, good to see you man,” he said, still smiling as the two of you met Joel near your front door. “Ready to take over?” 

“Don’t think I got much choice,” Joel said wryly.

“Good morning, Joel,” you said, your tone oddly cool. He just gave you a nod as Seth put the call in to dispatch. 

“This is Cook,” Seth said. “Transferring custody of Siren to Big Miller.” 

“Big Miller?” Your eyebrows shot up, looking between Seth and Joel. Seth covered the receiver on the phone. 

“We got two Millers, he’s the older one,” he said, before going back to the call. “That’s correct…” 

“Big Miller,” you smirked at Joel. “Oh there’s so much I can do with that…” 

“Jesus,” Joel muttered as Seth handed him the phone. He confirmed he was taking over and ground his teeth as Seth hugged you goodbye like the pair of you were old fucking friends. 

“Don’t let this asshole push you around too much,” Seth winked at you. “Deep down, he’s a big softie.” 

“Oh, I’m sure he’s a big something,” you said. Seth laughed. Joel glared. “See you next time.” 

You watched Seth leave before heading into your house without another word. Joel followed you inside, trailing behind you as you otherwise ignored his presence, going to the kitchen to get a bottle of water before heading out back. 

“Hey,” he called after you and you stopped at the edge of your pool, slowly turning to face him, brows raised. “The hell you goin’? I need your itinerary for the week, you know the drill.” 

“No you don’t,” you said. “I decided I’d rather talk with someone who isn’t a huge fucking child so I gave it to Seth. Get it from him, Big Miller.” 

You kept going, toward the pool house and Joel ground his teeth, jogging to catch up with you. 

“Look,” he snapped but you rounded on him. 

“You lied to me,” you said. “I could have picked my own stupid name, you just had to get the one up on me for whatever reason and now I have to deal with being called that stupid, goddamn…” 

“If you and Seth are so cozy why didn’t you get him to change it for you, hm?” He cut you off. 

“Because I’d rather not look like a fucking idiot to your entire company, thanks though,” you snapped. “If you hate me so much, why didn’t you just ask someone else to do this job?” 

“If you hate havin’ me around, why didn’t you ask someone else to take over?” He countered. “Looked cozy enough with fuckin’ Seth!” 

You laughed. 

“Oh I’d never dream of giving you that satisfaction,” you said. “You want to torment me? Fine, two can play at that game. Just wait, you ain’t seen nothing yet, Big Miller.” 

You stalked off toward the pool house again before turning back to face him. 

“We’re leaving at noon,” you said. “If you want to know where to, better call fucking Seth and find out since you don’t have the people skills to get your charge to cooperate.” 

He grit his teeth as you went inside and he stared at the door you’d disappeared through for a moment, half expecting you to come back out and rip into him again. But you didn’t and he went inside, finding Esmo in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast. 

“She’s in a fuckin’ mood,” Joel muttered, going to help himself to a cup of coffee. 

“It was not an easy morning,” she said, holding a plate with a biscuit out to him. He took it with a frown. “Ellie’s a teenaged girl but even so…” 

“What happened?” He asked, settling in at the breakfast bar. 

“Not sure what set her off,” she sighed, putting the last pan in the drying rack before crossing her arms and leaning back against the counter, watching Joel. She reminded him of his mother, he realized, something grounding and sure about her. “But before they left, Ellie yelled that she wasn’t her mother. She didn’t say anything back but I could tell it hurt.” 

Joel flinched, looking out the window at the back of the kitchen, toward the pool and pool house. Toward you. He and Sarah had rarely clashed, especially that badly, but she was still a teenaged girl who grew up without a mother. She still lashed out about it and he was still the one who had to weather her rage. He knew her pain was misdirected but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

“I know you two don’t…” She paused, like she was searching for the words. “Get along. But she is just as human as you or I, Mr. Miller. Go easy on her today.” 

“Told you, you can just call me Joel,” he said, dodging the rest of what she said. “I ain’t your boss, not gonna make you call me Mr. Miller…” 

Esmo barked a laugh as she poured herself a cup of coffee. 

“What?” He frowned. 

“Do you think she makes me call her ma’am?” She asked. “Mr. Miller, she is my employer. I am not going to call her by her first name, regardless of what she asks. Right now, the same goes for you.” 

He looked toward the pool house again. He’d assumed you’d told Esmo to call you ma’am, that you’d insisted on bullshit that put you on a different level than everyone else. Apparently, he was wrong. 

That didn’t mean he had to like you, though. 

Still, he almost felt bad for you as he got settled back into the room at your house that had become his. You’d been thrown into parenthood head first, none of the gradual build up that raising a child from birth provided. Instead, you were given a fully-fledged teenager with a chip on her shoulder. Anyone would struggle with that, even spoiled movie stars. 

His patience wore thin, though, as noon came and went and you still hadn’t come in from the damn pool house. He wondered if you’d told him noon just to piss him off, to make him feel like he had to spend his morning biding his time until it was wasted only to do nothing but sit at home until the time came to pick up Ellie from school. 

Eventually, he got tired of waiting for you and he stalked to the pool house, damn near ripping the door off its hinges as he went to find you, his eyes widening in surprise when he did. 

Joel wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find there but it certainly wasn’t this. You were there, back to the door, headphones covering your ears as you swung again and again at a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. 

“Hey!” He called but you either ignored him or couldn’t hear them, continuing your clumsy barrage on the bag. You clearly knew fuck all about fighting, your form rough and disjointed. Any punch you landed would be ineffectual at best, damaging to you at worst. It’d be comical if it wasn’t happening to someone whose safety he was responsible for. 

“Hey!” He tried again. Nothing. He clenched his jaw and stalked over to you, hand closing around the band of your headphones to pull them off your head and you spun, breathless and shocked, to face him. 

“What the fuck?” You reached to snatch the headphones back but he held them behind his back, out of reach. “Gimme those!” 

“You actually got some place to fuckin’ be this afternoon or not?” He snapped. “Because I’m tired of waiting for you to get your act together…” 

You stopped reaching for the headphones, still breathless, and checked your smart watch. 

“Shit,” you panted, drooping a little. “I lost track of time… Give me 15 minutes, then we’ll go.” 

He held the headphones out to you and you snatched them back roughly and Joel watched you stomp off toward the main house, sweat dripping down the nape of your neck and he tried loathe the way your leggings hugged every curve and arch of your legs and ass as you did. 

You were ready to go in just 15 minutes, though, and still more beautiful than Joel was comfortable with you being. You smelled fresh, clean, some floral fucking body wash on your skin that was covered by more skin-tight athletic wear that revealed your shape to him, all the places that - were you any other woman - he’d want to sink his fingers into to pull you close. He clenched his jaw and he went to the driver’s seat but you stopped in front of him, staring him down. 

“Not sure where you think you’re going,” you said. 

“I’m driving,” he said. “You know the drill.” 

“Oh, so you called Seth?” You asked, brows raised. “Know where we’re headed?” 

He narrowed his eyes and you smirked. 

“Didn’t think so,” you said. “Step aside, Big Miller. Maybe you can drive home.” 

Joel considered, for a moment, fighting you on it. But, today of all days, he didn’t have the energy. He just stalked around to the passenger side of the car, trying his damndest to ignore the little smirk you got when he did. 

He stared determinedly out the window as you drove, the odd, raw feeling he got in his chest when he looked at you a little too sharp today. He focused on the cars around him, watching for any kind of pattern, anything unusual, trying to lose himself in the work of keeping you alive. At least, then, he was still good at something. At least, then, there was still some purpose for him being here. Even if he didn’t want to be. The scar that had been at his temple for nearly five years itched. 

He was so lost in it that he was almost surprised when you pulled up in front of not some insufferable coffee shop or unnecessary grocery store but an overpriced looking nursing home. You reached between Joel’s legs without a word and got your worn baseball cap from the glove box, tugging it down low over your face before grabbing your keys out of your bag and dropping them on Joel’s lap. 

“Get comfy,” you said. “I’ll be at least an hour, probably two.” 

“Hold on,” he said, but you ignored him, getting out of the car and heading toward the door. He caught you quickly, grabbing your arm and pulling you around go face him. 

“What is your problem?” You snapped. “You’re always an asshole but Jesus you’re worse than usual today…” 

“You really think I’m just gonna let you go do some photo-op alone?” He asked. “Not about to just wait in the car…” 

“It’s not a photo-op,” you snapped. “It’s private, you don’t need to be involved…” 

“The hell I don’t,” he snapped back. “Your ass dies and it ain’t private anymore. I’m going. Deal with that shit now.” 

“Too bad for you,” you said, trying to pull your arm back from him but he held firm. Your clumsy little fight moves from the pool house earlier hadn’t done you any favors. 

“You can either listen to me or I’ll put you over my shoulder and make you listen,” he said. “I don’t much care which it is.” 

You stared him down, almost like you thought he wouldn’t do it. He was about to prove you wrong when you apparently decided instead, huffing indignantly. 

“Fine,” you snapped. “You can sit in the lobby.” 

“Fine,” he snapped back before following you inside. 

A woman rushed to meet you at the door, speaking to you in hushed tones that even Joel, standing so close to you, had a hard time making out. She directed Joel to a comfortable looking room that reminded him of his grandmother’s living room as a child, the one that no one was allowed in to “keep the furniture nice.” There were no such concerns here, the arm chairs and couches looking comfortable and inviting if overly ornate, neat stacks of magazines on the antique coffee table in the middle of them. He ground his teeth, watching as the woman led you away.

You’d be out of sight. That made him uncomfortable. And he couldn’t trust you to actually call for help if you needed it. That made him more uncomfortable. 

But… this wasn’t an especially public place. There was security keeping people out and the residents in. Chances were, there wasn’t anything that could really get to you in here. And if this wasn’t some bullshit media thing, it was probably fine to leave you to your own devices. At least for a little while. 

So he settled on the couch, keeping an eye on the front doors while he absently picked up a magazine, some kind of trashy tabloid that Sarah used to flip through at the grocery store. It used to make him roll his eyes and tell her that she was rotting her brain and now he’d give anything to go back in time and buy out every newsstand he passed if it meant he got another 20 minutes waiting in line for to pay for groceries with her. 

He wasn’t paying close enough attention to the magazine he picked up, though, and then bam, there you were yet again. Your picture was blurry and you were wearing sunglasses that were a little too big for your face and there was an iced coffee cup dangling from your hand. 

Bombshell breakup the headline under your picture said. Hollywood’s brightest star back on the market!

Joel looked at the date, from almost a year ago now, and flipped to the pages about you. There were pictures of you walking with a woman who looked something like an older, red-headed version of Ellie and he realized he was looking at her mother. Your arms were crossed tightly over your stomach and your face was drawn, Ellie’s mother’s face concerned. It was strangely intimate, seeing you like this. It wasn’t like other paparazzi pictures of you he’d seen, the ones that looked somewhat staged or like you’d at least known you were being photographed. This seemed like an intrusion, something he wasn’t supposed to be seeing. 

He looked at the pictures of you and Ellie’s mother for a while. He wasn’t sure how long, not really able to look away, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. 

“Yeah,” he said gruffly when he answered. 

“Hello Mr. Miller,” Esmo said, her tone still uncomfortably formal. “I apologize for just reaching out like this but I know she’s visiting her mother right now so her phone is off and we just got a call from the school…” 

“Wait, what?” Joel cut her off. Your mother? That couldn’t be right.

“Yes,” she said, sounding impatient. “The school, apparently Ellie was in a fight and she needs to be picked up, can you please tell her and take care of things?” 

“She OK?” Joel asked, trying not to overthink the sharp little stab of fear in his chest at the thought of Ellie in a fight. He tried not to think about getting his hands on whatever little teenaged prick decided to fight her, either. 

“She’s fine,” Esmo said. “At least, that’s what the school said. She just needs to be picked up. Can you go get her?” 

“Yeah,” he said after a second. “Course, I got it.” 

“Thank you,” she said, relieved. “I appreciate it.” 

Joel’s jaw tightened as he dropped that old magazine on the coffee table before stalking off in the direction he’d watched you go before. 

It didn’t take him long to find you, tucked away in a small and private visitation room, deck of cards sitting on the table between you and a woman who looked a lot like you, some of the cards fanned out in your hand.

“Do you have any fives?” The woman - your mother - asked. 

“You asked me that before,” you said, an oddly tense but gentle edge to your voice. “Why don’t you ask about another one?” 

“Oh,” she frowned at her hand. “How about… tens?” 

“Damn,” you said, handing her a card. She smiled. 

“You shouldn’t curse, you know,” she said. “It makes you sound dumb.” 

“I’ve heard that,” you said, arranging the cards in your hand. “Any eights?” 

She paused for a moment, examining her cards. 

“What was that again?” She said after a moment. 

“Eights,” you repeated. 

“Go fish,” she said and you got a card from the top of the pile. “You know, you remind me of my daughter…” 

“Do I?” You said, your tone oddly even. 

“She’s an actress,” she nodded. “She’s only a teenager though, a lot younger than you. She’s pretty like you, though.” 

“An actress, hm?” You said. “Does she like it?” 

“I don’t know,” she said thoughtfully. “But she’s good at it. Not sure she can handle the hard parts, though.” 

“You’re probably right,” you said. “She can’t.”

“Hello,” your mother said, looking up at Joel and lowering her cards. “Are you here to play, too?” 

You noticed him then, your back going stiff, shifting uncomfortably in your chair when you did. 

“Fraid not,” Joel said. “Just need to talk to… my friend here.” 

You looked back at him then, frowning but he just jerked his head toward the door. You, at least, didn’t question it, just setting the cards face down on the table and joining him. 

“Can I help you?” You asked, brows raised expectantly. 

“Now, I already asked and she’s fine,” he said, which made your eyes go wide but he held up a hand. “Ellie got in a fight at school, we gotta go pick her up…” 

“Shit,” you swore, fishing your phone from some hidden pocket in your leggings at the small of your back and turning it on. It took a moment but you groaned. “Fuck, I have six missed calls…” 

You stashed the phone again and went back to the table, your mother frowning at you as you gathered up the cards. 

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, but I have to go,” you said. “They’ll have someone come bring you back in a minute.” 

“It’s very rude to just take off on someone, you know,” she said sternly. 

“Been told that, too,” you said. “You have a good day.” 

She grunted, crossing her arms and turning away from you. You didn’t take the bait, just going for the door and quickly leading the way back to the car. But, for a change, you went for the passenger side. 

“What?” You said. “You do know the way to the school, don’t you?” 

“I know it,” he muttered, getting behind the wheel. 

“Good,” you said, buckling in. “Then drive.” 

You checked your phone, shaking your head, before just staring out the window. 

“So,” Joel said eventually. “That’s your mom.” 

“In the most technical sense,” you said, not looking at him. He nodded slowly anyway. “I don’t really think of her that way.” 

“Why’s she in there?” Joel asked. 

“Why do you care?” You said, incredulous, finally looking at him. He glanced at you and then shrugged and you sighed, the sound heavy. “Early onset Alzheimers. She’s 67 now, it started about five years back. I try to see her once a month or so.” 

“Don’t you got the money to get her a nurse or some shit so she could stay with you?” He frowned. 

“It’s really not any of your fucking business, is it?” you snapped before sighing, pinching the bridge of your nose and wincing as Joel pulled into the parking lot of the school. “Please don’t mention of this to Ellie. She doesn’t know anything about my mother and I’d like it to stay that way.”

You didn’t give him a chance to say anything else, all but leaping out of the car the second he put it into park and going quickly for the front door of the school. Joel had to run to catch up with you, barely catching you as the two of you were buzzed into the building where the headmistress met you. 

She greeted you the same way Esmo did and Joel could tell, now that he knew you didn’t like it, that it put you on edge. It made him stiffen at your back, narrowing his eyes at the prim and proper woman in front of him, assessing her differently now than the last time you’d met. She was a threat now, she’d upset you, she’d opposed Ellie and he was oddly comforted that he knew he could easily overpower her if he needed to. 

He frowned ever so slightly. 

Why would he need to? She was a fucking teacher. And why should he care so much that she pissed you off? 

“Ms. Stark,” you said, giving her a firm nod. “Where’s Ellie?” 

“In my office,” she said. “Please, follow me.” 

She led the way, setting a brisk pace, her back ramrod straight, but you kept your head high as you kept pace alongside her. 

“What happened?” You asked. “This is very out of character for Ellie.” 

“I’m not so sure it is,” the headmistress said and Joel could have sworn he saw the hint of a self-righteous smile on her lips and he clenched his jaw. “She’s… aggressive…” 

“She’s strong,” you said sharply. “But she wouldn’t pick a fight without a reason.” 

“Well, she has yet to tell us a reason,” she said, smug. “Maybe you can find one. This behavior may have been accepted at other institutions but we hold our students to a higher standard here…” 

“I’ll talk to her,” you said. “I’m sure we can figure this out.” 

Joel was half expecting you to make him wait outside the office like you had at the nursing home but you didn’t and he followed you, the principal’s office looking disturbingly more like a luxury hotel than a school. 

Ellie was sitting on one end of a small row of chairs in the office waiting room, her arms crossed and her jaw set tight. A boy - about her age and far larger than her - sat at the other end, an ice pack clutched to his lower lip and blood dripping from his nose. 

“Ellie,” you said, all but running for her, kneeling in front of her and brushing her hair back from her face. “Are you OK?” 

She jerked away from you. 

“Fine,” she muttered. “I just want to go home.” 

“OK,” you nodded slowly. “Can you tell me what happened?” 

She just looked to the side, tightening her arms around herself. You stood and sighed, still watching her but Joel looked to the boy sitting at the other end of the row. He was determinedly staring straight ahead but his eyes kept darting over to you, a deep blush rising in his cheeks. Joel’s eyes narrowed. 

“We can’t just permit students to attack other students,” the headmistress said. “Especially not unprovoked…” 

“It wasn’t unprovoked!” Ellie snapped, her head whipping around to look at the boy. “He knows what he did.” 

“Miss Williams,” the headmistress said sharply. “You nearly broke a fellow student’s nose.” 

“Well, he’s a pussy!” Ellie yelled. “Not my fault he got his ass handed to him by a girl!” 

“Ellie!” You scolded. 

“What! It’s true,” she said, calming. “Lucky I didn’t do more…”

The headmistress looked at you, a small, self-satisfied smile on her face. 

“Because this is her first offense, she’s suspended for a week,” she said. “But if it happens again, we will have to expel her.” 

“We’ll take care of it,” you said before turning your attention back to Ellie. “C’mon, troublemaker, let’s go.” 

She shoved herself out of the chair and grabbed her backpack sharply from the floor. The boy at the other end of the chairs watched her and she lunged in his direction before pulling back, making him jump. 

“Yeah, better be fuckin’ scared,” she snapped. 

“Alright,” you said sharply, putting your hands on her shoulders and steering her out of the room. “That’s enough, let’s go.” 

Joel gave the kid a final look, one that was apparently enough to make him stare straight ahead again, shrinking in his seat as he did. Satisfied, Joel followed you and Ellie to the car, the girl throwing her backpack in with a little too much force. 

Mercifully, you just went for the passenger seat, saving Joel the fight about driving. You immediately turned to face the disgruntled teenager behind you. 

“Want to tell me what the fuck that was?” You asked. 

“That was a fight,” Ellie said, the sass in her voice thick. “One I won, by the way.” 

“Yeah, no shit,” you said. “Kid, you can’t just do stuff like that for no reason! What were you thinking?” 

“It wasn’t no reason!” She replied. 

“OK then what was the reason?” You said. “I’m dying for you to enlighten me because there had better be some kind of reason why you’d go after a classmate like that!”

“Why do I need to tell you the fucking reason?” She demanded. “You don’t need to know the reason, you just need to trust me when I say I had one!” 

“I do trust you!” You said. “But that school doesn’t! They don’t know you yet! They don’t know how smart and kind and funny you are, all they know is that you refused to follow the dress code on day one and now that you beat people up when you don’t get your way!” 

“I didn’t hit him because I didn’t get my way!” She yelled. “I did it because…” 

Her voice trailed off, seeming to realize what she was about to say just as she said it. You gave her a minute to say it, anyway, but she didn’t. 

“Tell me a reason, Ellie,” you said gently. “Because there has to be a reason. God, I sure hope there is because I’d rather not have to donate a library to some stuffy school every time you decide to throw a tantrum…” 

“Oh, yeah, because you’ll just use your fucking money to fix everything,” Ellie snapped. “But you didn’t use it to save my mom! No, you just let her die.” 

Joel caught a glimpse of your face at that, looking less like you’d been yelled at by a teenager and more like someone had slapped you. 

“I tried, honey,” you said gently. “I tried so hard to save your mom, I helped get her the best doctors, I helped get her into the best facilities but sometimes it’s just beyond what we can do as people.” 

“Whatever,” Ellie snapped as Joel pulled into the driveway. She jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her and you followed after her. 

“Is that what this is about?” You asked. “Is it because you miss your mom? Because I get that, I miss her too, so much that sometimes I want to burn something down, but…” 

“But she was your friend!” She rounded on you. “And she was my fucking mom, stop acting like you know how I feel because you don’t know how I fucking feel!” 

“Ellie,” you said gently. “I know it’s hard, and…” 

“No, you don’t know!” She snapped. “Stop it! Just leave me alone!” 

She started stomping off to her room but you stayed close behind. 

“We can talk about…” 

“I don’t want to talk to you!” She yelled. “I don’t want to look at you or talk to you or do anything with you! I wish it was you who died instead of her!” 

You froze where you stood and Ellie took advantage of your stillness to stomp off back to her bedroom, the door slamming in her corner of the house.

“Yeah, me too,” you said, so quietly that Joel doubted that you knew he could hear you. 

He was quiet for a moment, staring where Ellie had gone, hoping she’d come back for both your sakes. But she didn’t. 

“Teenagers are hard,” Joel said eventually. “Sure she didn’t mean that…” 

“Oh please, I know you’re just loving this,” you said harshly. “I don’t need your fake pity, Joel. I have interviews, stay out of my office.” 

You left without another word, the click of your door much quieter than Ellie’s had been. 

“That went well,” Esmo sighed, catching Joel off guard. 

“Sure it’ll pass,” Joel said gruffly. He wasn’t sure why his chest got tight as he looked toward your office. He didn’t care about you beyond needing to keep you alive and he only needed do that because of everything he owed his brother. Besides, you were just some spoiled, pampered celebrity. Surely you could use something pushing back on you for a change. 

“Dinner tonight is roast chicken,” Esmo said, heading toward the kitchen. 

Joel frowned. 

“Why are…” 

“I know why you don’t usually eat with us, Mr. Miller,” she said, looking back over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed. “She won’t be joining us, her calendar is full until after 10. Don’t pretend that you enjoy those freezer burnt blocks of garbage you call food more than a home cooked meal, I don’t like liars.” 

She disappeared to the kitchen, the rattle of pots and pans following not long after and Joel sighed, settling in on the couch to kill time instead of disappearing to his room on the other side of the house. 

But, to his surprise, Ellie emerged just an hour later, in jeans a t-shirt instead of her uniform now, creeping into the living room like she was expecting someone to jump out at her. 

“She ain’t here,” Joel said, making her jump. “Sorry, kiddo, wasn’t tryin’ to scare you.” 

“It’s fine,” she sighed, coming in and flopping on the loveseat. “Where is she?” 

“Doin’ interviews in her office, I guess,” Joel said. She nodded slowly, staring determinedly at the coffee table. 

The two of them sat quietly for a moment before this strange tug at the center of him to take care of her - something that was so foreign now but still so familiar - made him clear his throat and break the silence. 

“Want… want to talk about anything?” He asked. 

“Like?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at him. 

“Like why you decided to beat up some boy at school,” he shrugged. “Or why you decided to say something that mean to one of the only people who really cares about you. Because that didn’t seem much like you.” 

She scoffed. 

“What do you know?” 

He shrugged. 

“Enough to know that you act tough but that you ain’t an asshole.” 

“Ain’t isn’t a word,” she said. 

Joel just shrugged again, going back to his phone. 

Eventually, Ellie sighed heavily. 

“That fucking boy,” she spat the word as though it were curse word, not the f-bomb she’d dropped a second earlier. “Figured out who she was. Saw her dropping me off at school earlier this week and started talking about shit like ‘your mom is so hot, why aren’t you’ and when that didn’t really bother me started saying shit like ‘I’ve seen your mom’s tits’ and called her a whore and I just… he fucking deserved it, OK? And I’m not about to apologize to that fucker just because the fucking school….” 

“Alright,” Joel said gently, cutting her off. “I agree. He’s a jackass. You probably did the right thing.” 

She looked surprised for a moment but it passed quickly. 

“That’s why I couldn’t tell her what happened,” Ellie said. “Because do you know how fucking creepy it is, knowing that every guy in your stupid school has probably jerked it to your aunt? It’s fucking gross. I don’t want to talk about that shit with her.” 

Joel nodded slowly. 

“So, what, you decided to take it out on your aunt when you got home?” He asked. 

“No,” she said, defensive. “I just… I know she loves my mom… Loved my mom… So why didn’t she… I don’t know, just… why didn’t she fix it? She has all this fucking money and knows all these fucking people, why didn’t she fix it? She can do everything else, why couldn’t she do that one thing?” 

“You really think she didn’t try?” Joel asked gently. “Look, I don’t really know her but I can tell she loves you something fierce and I’m guessin’ that’s because she loved your mama something fierce, too. Just… sometimes, there’s shit that money can’t fix.” Without meaning to, he remembered holding his daughter as she bled out in his arms. He remembered begging whatever god might be listening to do anything to fix it. That he’d give anything, do anything, to fix it. It hadn’t made a damn difference. “Trust me. Sometimes power and money just don’t mean shit.” 

She shrugged and picked at some unseen thing on the couch. 

“Not my business,” Joel shrugged. “Just seems like you’re making her miserable because someone else is bein’ an asshole.” 

“Think she’s mad at me?” Ellie asked quietly, looking over at him, her dark eyes soft. 

“If she is, she’s not actually mad,” he said. “Just hurt. You said some shitty stuff, kid.” 

“Yeah, I know,” she sighed, looking toward the hall that led to your office. “I fucked up.” 

Joel shrugged again. 

“Everyone does.” 

She looked at him, her eyes narrowed. 

“What are you doing out here, anyway?” She asked. “Don’t you usually hide in your room when you’re not following us around?” 

He didn’t want to admit to hiding from the visions of his daughter that so often plagued him on his birthday, so he just shrugged instead. 

“Well, I got this new video game while you were off,” she said. “Want to kill some zombies and shit with me?” 

“Don’t you got homework or something?” He asked, brows raised. 

“I’m suspended, remember?” She said. 

“You really think either of them are gonna let that stand?” Joel asked. “Between your aunt and Esmo, you’re gonna be back in that school before you know it.” 

She snorted. 

“Probably right,” she said. “Still. Wanna play?” 

He examined her for a moment, the hopeful look in her eyes as she watched him in return. 

It had been so long since anyone had wanted something like this with him, some kind of connection, some kind of approval, some kind of emotional investment. It made his chest get tight and his first instinct was to tell her no, to stalk off to his bedroom and close the door and keep himself far away from anything like that… but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when she so clearly needed it. 

“Yeah, alright,” he said. “Gotta get all that shit set up, though, don’t exactly play a bunch of video games…” 

She scoffed. 

“I’m sure you don’t, old man.” 

Ellie gave him a controller and, as the two of them ran through some virtual desert to collect supplies and shoot zombies, he had the fleeting thought that making her smile made this the best birthday he’d had in more than five years. 

***

“Thank you for having me!” You smiled brightly, hoping it still reached your eyes after faking your way through this for hours. Fuck, your Oscar should be for this shit, not your film roles. “It’s been so fun. Hope to see you at the movies!” 

“See you there!” The spunky entertainment reporter on the other end of the connection said before the stream cut off. You let the smile slip the moment you knew no one but Quinn was left on the screen, grabbing your water bottle from just out of sight and chugging half of it. 

“You did great,” she said, looking at notes on her end. “Hit all the big talking points, great lead in for the main junket kicking off soon.” 

“Can’t wait,” you said wryly. Quinn gave you a look and you just shrugged. “What? I don’t get paid to act like I enjoy this shit with you, just with all the reporters.” 

“Well, it looks like you won’t be flying solo on at least the LA portion of this junket,” she said and you frowned. Quinn answered the question before you had a chance to ask it. “Looks like Chris Reese will be with you…” 

You groaned. 

“Seriously?” You asked. “I have to be in LA and I have to deal with that jackass?” 

“Have worse chemistry with him and then you won’t have to do shit like press with him,” she said. You glared at her. “What? I get paid to spin shit for the reporters, not for you.” 

“Ha ha,” you said and she smirked. 

“It’s not so bad,” she said. “Just two days of interviews. And they want you to do a few of TikTok trends for promos…” you groaned again. “Going to pretend like I didn’t hear that and just say that you’re looking forward to reconnecting with your costar.” 

“Oh yeah, can’t wait,” you rolled your eyes. 

“Also,” Quinn said, steadfastly ignoring you. “I just emailed you part of the script for Savage Starlight, they want you to do some chemistry reads while you’re out that way. They think they have a casting choice for the young version of yourself and you’ll have one dream sequence scene with her that’s going to be pretty important to the story, I guess… fuck if I know. They want to make sure the two of you fit well. They’re also looking at a few guys for your love interest… couple unknowns, Ryan Smythe and Chris Pine are all in the mix.” 

You nodded slowly. 

“Ryan’s not bad,” you said. “I haven’t worked with him but we’ve met a few times and I like his work. Surprised he’s drawn to a project like this…” 

“I’m surprised you’re drawn to a project like this,” Quinn said. 

You shot her a glare. 

“…But I wouldn’t mind working with him,” you continued like she hadn’t spoken at all. “Pine is a shock, I think he’d have gotten enough of playing second fiddle to a woman superhero after Wonder Woman.” 

Quinn shrugged. 

“Maybe he’s just in his big time feminist era, not arguing with that. Plus, he’s good.” 

“Oh, he’s great,” you said. “The best of the Chrises. Unlike Reese…” 

“Oh, suck it up,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s not that bad.” 

“He’s obnoxious,” you said. “You don’t have to deal with him like I do.” 

“No, but I have to deal with his manager,” she replied. “I’ll trade you. At least Reese is nice to look at.” 

“Yeah, he knows it, too,” you said. 

“When you’re out here, we’ll have to have to have lunch,” she said “You’re my favorite client, I miss you.” 

“You say that to all your clients.” 

“Yes, but I lie when I say it to the rest them,” she smiled a little. “OK I’m going to let you go get some sleep. I’ll send you an itinerary for your trip out here and I’ll share it with the security outfit, too. Speaking of which, tell that bodyguard of yours happy birthday.” 

You frowned. 

“It’s his birthday?” You asked. “Wait, how’d you know that?” 

“Come on,” she scoffed. “You know I ran a full investigation on the man I knew would be protecting you. I’m not stupid. Anyway, tell him happy birthday for me and take care of yourself, OK?” 

“Will do. And you, too,” you said, hanging up and letting your forehead droop to your desk with a groan. 

You were exhausted. Even before the Ellie shit you’d been exhausted and all you’d wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep all day. 

Of course, you didn’t get to do that. Instead, you listened to the most important person in your life tell you that she wished you were dead before you had to go give the same goddamn interview to a dozen different broadcast outlets. 

You’d closed yourself in your office and let yourself cry for a while before you forced yourself to stop long enough to do your hair and makeup and make sure you looked at least somewhat presentable before the first interview. And then you faked a smile for hours, talking about the last movie you made before your best friend died, trying not to think about leaving set every day to go see Anna in hospice, always afraid that it would be the last time you’d get to see her. 

Esmo had sent you texts while you were stuck in interview hell, telling you when Ellie had eaten, done her homework and gone to bed. She’d also reached out to the school to discuss bringing her back sooner and said she would tell you what she’d gotten out of them the next day. 

You weren’t sure what you’d done to deserve her but, in that moment, you felt like you owed her your life. Because someone needed to look out for Ellie, even when she wouldn’t let you do it yourself. 

At least, now that it was late, the main part of the house should be empty. Esmo had gone home, Ellie was asleep, Joel liked to avoid every part of the house where he might run into people unless he absolutely had to be there. The last thing you felt like doing was getting into it with your niece or faking a smile for Esmo or putting up with Joel’s shit. 

Your bodyguard exhausted you. He’d seemed to make it his own, personal mission to get under your skin. Sure, maybe you hadn’t given him the warmest welcome - you still weren’t thrilled about having to have a bodyguard in the first place - but that hardly seemed to warrant the degree to which he’d been poking and prodding at you in the two weeks he’d been working for you. 

Joel had figured out quickly that he had a lot of power over you, somehow keenly aware that you weren’t about to complain to his boss about him or try to get him kicked off the job. What you didn’t get was why he seemed to be so fucking miserable to be assigned to you to begin with. 

It’s not like he’d never been a bodyguard before, it’s not like this was new fucking territory for him. He just seemed to hate you personally. 

You’d tried to change that for the first week or so. Yes, you’d gotten off on the wrong foot and you could take the blame for that. You were willing to give him some time to get it out of his system. You tried to reach out, to see what food he liked so you could update the dinner menus to his liking or to buy him coffee when you insisted on stopping to get one - much to his chagrin. You tried to even go along with some of his demands so his job was a little easier - things that wouldn’t have you losing as much of your autonomy, at least - but he didn’t seem to appreciate any of it. And then Seth, the other guard, was with you and you realized just how much Joel must absolutely loathe you. 

Seth was much easier going. He let you drive without argument. He had dinner with you, Ellie and Esmo every night. He smiled and laughed and mentioned that he was surprised you picked Siren of the name options for you. You’d managed to hide your surprise at that, not wanting to give away just how much his coworker seemed to enjoy humiliating you. 

Of course Joel had to come back on what had quickly devolved into the worst day you’d had since Anna died. Of course he’d seen just what Ellie said, of course he had some new way to make you feel like shit. Happy fucking birthday to him. 

The pinch of tears had returned to the back of your throat but you swallowed them. You needed to eat something. You needed to go take off all this fucking makeup. You needed to actually sleep in your own damn bed because sleeping anywhere else would be strange and you couldn’t give Joel more ammunition to use against you or give Ellie any reason to feel worse.

So you forced yourself to go to the kitchen to get the plate Esmo had made for you out of the fridge, your feet heavy, the house dark. The light was on in the pool, the reflection from the water casting lines over the ceiling of your living room and you considered, for a moment, just how easy it’d be to go outside, jump into the water and let it swallow you. But you couldn’t do that. Ellie needed you, whether she liked it or not, and there was a whole staff of people who relied on you for their livelihood. Giving up wasn’t an option. Not for you. So you kept going, like you always did.

The kitchen was dark, too, but the smell of coffee was fresh and strong as you opened the fridge, the light oddly bright compared to the darkness of your house. You found the plate Esmo had left you, a chicken thigh and roasted broccoli piled high. You pulled the plastic wrap back, bumping the fridge closed with your hip as you did. 

“Should pay more attention.” 

You yelped, jumping and looking around before you realized that, at the end of your breakfast bar, was the hulking figure of your bodyguard, sitting in the dark. 

“Jesus Christ,” you said, heart pounding. You set the plate on the counter and stalked to turn on the lights before rounding on him. “What the fuck are you doing, sitting here in the dark? Just lurking to try to fuck with me in some new way or what?” 

“No,” he said and there was something so honest in his voice that you couldn’t help but believe him. “Didn’t feel like sleepin’, so…” 

He shrugged and you just nodded, going to put your dinner in the microwave. 

“Well, you can have the kitchen to yourself again in a minute,” you said, leaning against the counter and facing Joel, your arms crossed over your stomach. 

The frustrating thing was, if he wasn’t such an asshole, Joel would be an attractive man. He was handsome, unquestionably so, in a way that would be sculpted out of marble in a bygone time. He was handsome and tall and broad and there was something about his presence - no matter how antagonistic he seemed to get - that made you feel safe. It was something that you thought went past the fact that he was paid to protect you, something in you that said that, while he was here with you alone, while he could easily overpower you, you didn’t need to be afraid of him. He was safe. 

Of course, maybe it was better if he was a dick. If he was kinder, you’d probably end up half in love with him, a recipe for disaster since he was your bodyguard. 

“S’your house,” Joel shrugged. “I can go if you want space.” 

“I don’t mind,” you said. 

He just nodded, twisting his coffee mug in his hands. 

“You alright?” He asked after a moment of quiet with nothing but the hum of the microwave between you. You raised your brows at him. “Just… you know… whole Ellie thing.” 

You watched him for a moment, head cocked. Was he asking because he actually cared? Was he asking to try to find some new way to make you miserable? You weren’t sure. 

“She’s a good kid,” he said when you’d been quiet a bit too long. “She didn’t… I know she didn’t mean what she said, she’s just bein’ a teenager, and…” 

“How do you know?” 

He frowned. 

“Know what?” 

“That she didn’t mean it,” you said. “How do you know?” 

The microwave beeped and you got out your food. Joel, much to your surprise, pulled out the chair next to his at the breakfast bar before gripping his mug again, his fingers tight and strained against the ceramic. You took the seat, grabbing a fork and knife from the silverware drawer on the way. 

“I talked to her a bit,” he said once you settled in next to him. He wasn’t looking at you, staring straight ahead instead. “She was… she was upset about other shit and took it out on you. Don’t make it right but… at least explains it.” 

“What was she upset about?” You asked, cutting into the chicken and taking a bite. Even reheated it was delicious. God bless Esmo. “Was it the fight at school? Because she was in a mood this morning, too, and…” 

“Yeah, think that fight’s been simmerin’ for a few days,” Joel said, taking a sip of coffee before glancing your way quickly.

“What was it?” You frowned. “Did she tell you? If it was a good reason, then…” 

“She told me,” he cut you off, actually looking at you now. “Look… I’ll tell you, but I think it’s best if you keep it to yourself. I get why she’s pissed.” 

You frowned. 

“OK…” 

“That fuckin’ kid she beat up,” he said, like he was choosing his words carefully. “Well… guess he recognized you…” 

“Shit,” you sighed, dropping your fork to your plate to press the palm of your hand to your eye. Of course you were the root of this problem, too. 

“Sounds like he thought you’re her mom,” he said. “Started askin’ her why she’s not as good looking as you and, when that didn’t get enough of a rise out of ‘er, started saying… other shit.” 

You gave him a second to continue on his own but he didn’t. 

“Other shit like what?” You asked. He flinched and looked down at his coffee cup. “Other shit like what, Joel.” 

He sighed. 

“Other shit like he’d seen your… chest,” he said, his cheeks getting red. “And he called you… well, somethin’ you don’t call a lady.” 

“Jesus,” you slumped down in your seat. “Well, at least that explains why she was begging me to not be the one to drive her to school in the mornings anymore…” 

“Sorry,” Joel said, his voice rough. 

“I don’t blame her for taking the bait,” you sighed. “Lord knows I would have in her shoes… God, it must be embarrassing for her…” 

“Like I said, she’s a good kid,” he said. “Don’t take one blow up too personally. Teenagers are… well, they’re teenagers.” 

You watched him for a moment. 

“Why do you know this stuff?” 

His jaw tightened for a moment. 

“Just do,” he said. 

Something told you that wasn’t all there was to it but you didn’t pry. Instead, you ate your dinner in silence next to him, trying to think of ways to talk to the school to get Ellie back in without bringing up what she’d told Joel. You liked that she had an adult she apparently felt like she could talk to. She needed that, desperately, in her life. You’d prefer it was you - it had been you, once upon a time, back when you weren’t responsible for her - but you’d take what you could get. 

“Can I ask what that punching bag out back did to piss you off?” He asked eventually. 

You laughed a little. 

“Nothing much,” you replied. “Wait… you sighed an NDA for this job, right?” 

“Yeah,” he frowned, looking at you again. “Why?” 

“Because this isn’t public yet,” you said. “But… Well, I’m trying to prep for a role.” 

“A role,” he said. “What role?” 

“You ever heard of the comic series Savage Starlight?” You asked. He nodded. “Well… I’m Starlight. Or, I will be. They’re going to officially announce it in a few months, once the rest of the main cast is settled. They’re starting me with a trainer to learn fight choreography in six weeks but I’ve never had a role with fight scenes like this one, I’m trying to make it so I’m not starting from scratch so I don’t look like a total idiot.” 

“That don’t…” Joel paused. “Doesn’t seem like your kind of movie.” 

“It’s not,” you said. “But Ellie loves the comics. They’re her favorite thing and… well, if I’m her favorite super hero, I can’t be all bad, right? So I just… I want to get it right.” 

“Well, you’re doin’ it wrong,” Joel said. You narrowed your eyes, about to argue with him on it, but he cut you off. “Not trying to be mean. Your form was just… I can tell you haven’t really thrown a punch before. Nothin’ wrong with that. Or, well, there isn’t until you need to start fighting. You just need to be careful is all, otherwise you’re just gonna hurt yourself.” 

You laughed a little. 

“Of course,” you said wryly. “It only makes sense that I’m shit at that, too.” 

“Not shit,” he said. You raised your eyebrows. “What? You’re not. Just not trained. I… I can help. If you wanted.” 

“Really,” you asked, incredulous. “You’d help me train to fight.” 

“Sure,” he shrugged. “Not like I don’t got the time. Besides, figure my job just gets harder if you’re in a damn cast because you busted your wrist throwin’ a bad punch.” 

“Fair enough,” you said. “Thank you.” 

“Sure,” he said, the two of you falling silent again. You picked at the chicken, not much of an appetite. 

“Do you think,” you said, trailing off for a moment before looking at him again. “Do you think you could take Ellie to school when she starts back? I’m going to talk to the school again tomorrow, try to get her back in next week, but I don’t want to cause her more problems and…” 

“Sure,” he said. “I… I don’t mind. She’s a good kid.” 

“She is,” you agreed. 

You finished what you could of your dinner and slid off the seat before cleaning up your dish, Joel frowning and watching as you did. 

“What?” You asked. “You’re looking at me like I’m… I dunno, an alien or something.” 

“Don’t you have people who do shit like clean up after you?” He asked. “Ain’t that part of Esmo’s job?” 

“I mean, yeah,” you shrugged. “But I’m not about to leave my dirty dishes sitting out overnight for her to deal with when she gets here in the morning. I’m not an asshole.” 

He seemed to process that as you loaded the dishwasher and chugged a final glass of water before putting the glass in the dishwasher, too. 

“Well, I’m going to bed,” you said. “Been a hell of a day. Want me to turn the light off so you can sit in the dark with your coffee again?” 

Joel just shrugged. 

“Don’t really matter,” he said. “Good night.” 

“Night,” you said, turning to go before you remembered what Quinn had told you. “Hey, actually, why didn’t you mention that today was your birthday?” 

He flinched, the movement so fleeting you almost thought you imagined it, and you had the strangest desire to comfort him somehow. You just didn’t know why. 

“Don’t like my birthday,” he said after a moment. “Not a lot of reasons to celebrate so I just don’t. Besides, don’t really like being the center of attention.” 

You laughed a little at that. 

“Yeah, I know the feeling. But… well, happy birthday, anyway. Thanks for looking after Ellie.” 

He nodded slowly. 

“Thanks,” he said. “It… it was nice.” 

You wanted to say something else but you couldn’t think of what so instead, you turned out the light and left him there, drinking coffee from your favorite mug alone in the dark. 

A/N: So sorry for the eternity between chapters. I've just not been able to keep up with things lately. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway.

I'm really enjoying their dynamic! Some active antagonism based in misunderstanding of motives, some mutual attraction, a lot of similar life experiences that they don't fully grasp yet. I just really love these two and I'm so excited to share where they're headed! Thanks for being here.

Love you!

Taglist: @christinamadsen @eff4freddie @brittmb115 @copperhalfcent @r3dheadedwitch @pedropascalsbbg @lovelyjess69 @yopossum @moel-jiller @picketniffler @lilyevanstan1325 @reluctanthalfwayoptimism @wintersquirrel

[luvymelody]

NAME : katsuki bakugou + shoto todoroki , boku no hero academia

SONG : moment , vierre cloud

SUMMARY : todoroki and bakugou find out they like the same person. thus, turning into a rivalry. wc : 1.6k

[part 1] [you're here] [part 3]

(guys i just realised they r in dorms. IGNORE TGE NO DORMS IN THIS AND THE FIRST PART)

(not the exact vibe i wanted for y/n but like.. whatevas)

(tried to make it as quick as possible 4 u guys 😭 sorry if it's bad)

“would you like me to walk you home, y/n?”

“okay!”

it had been a few months ever since y/n transferred to ua. bakugou’s hatred for todoroki was fueled even more now as he listened to todoroki’s and y/n’s conversation, his eye twitching.

“do you wanna get tanghulu nearby?”

y/n asked, holding her bag on her shoulder as she stood up.

“can we also get-“

“i’ll walk you home, y/n.”

todoroki and y/n turned to bakugou who was treading towards them.

“you have cleaning duty, icy hot. remember?”

todoroki turned his head towards the board, seeing his and midoriya’s name under ‘cleaning the classroom today!’.

todoroki pursued his lips, turning back to the two.

“sorry y/n..”

“it’s okay! we can go tomorrow.”

y/n smiled brightly, gripping onto her bag strap as todoroki smiled as her expression. bakugou groaned, grabbing onto y/n’s forearm.

“let’s go angel!”

“hey katsuki- bye shoto!”

“bye y/n.”

todoroki smiled as he waved to the waving girl. y/n whipped her hand side to side until bakugou pulled her out of todoroki’s view.

“so rude, katsuki!”

the winged girl teased, bumping into bakugou’s side slightly as she smiled and he grunted.

“don’t care.”

-

y/n stopped, turning to bakugou.

"well, bye then, katsuki."

they finally made it to y/n's house. y/n was rambling about the homework that she hadn't started at all, bakugou nodded to every word she said, pitching in comments about the work and how stupid she was.

"bye angel."

bakugou said, nodding his head at her as his hands were shoved into his pockets, he took extremely slow steps, watching y/n get her keys out her bag and opening her door, not leaving until he saw her go through her front door, and close it.

bakugou stretched his arms, turning and walking back towards the train station. it's not like bakugou's ever gonna tell anyone that his house is nearly 40 minutes away from y/n's house, she would tell him to not walk her home then.

-

y/n sat on her desk, softly drumming her fingers on the desk while she studied, reading the sheets that ectoplasm handed out in class. then, she heard a buzzing sound, her silenced phone as she stood up, picking it up and seeing the caller id, 'shoto!!'.

"hi shoto!"

"hi y/n, i just wanted to know if you got home safe with.. bakugou.."

"ah! yeah, i'm okay. did you get home safe?"

"mhm, also, i'm coming over."

"what?"

y/n blinked, hearing keys on todoroki's end of the phone.

"wait what are you doing"

"i'm bringing tanghulu. and boba."

y/n felt her heart squeeze, grasping her chest in awe.

"awww, you're so sweet, shoto!"

-

bakugou scrolled through insta, bored out of his mind as he was laying on his bed, one hand behind his head and the other on his phone.

a second later, he got a notification, 'y/nl/n has posted!'. bakugou pressed on the notification, finding a series of photos of y/n and todoroki, eating tanghulu together.

y/n posted a lot of things, her friends, family, places she went to. bakugou told her a lot that she shouldn't be posting everything but y/n just said that 'no one else will see the beauty of life though!'.

bakugou rolled his eyes at the sight of todoroki looking at y/n with a lovestruck expression, holding a hand over todoroki to cover just him and just admiring y/n.

it was a little hard to though, while y/n was in the photo, todoroki’s arm was wrapped around her waist, her arm around his neck as she winked at the camera, holding a stick of tanghulu near her mouth in pose.

-

“this is super sweet shoto!”

y/n munched on the tanghulu, sitting criss-cross on her couch with todoroki sitting right next to her, who was drinking boba.

“is it? i asked the vendor to make it extra nice, just for you.”

y/n smiled brightly as she chewed, a hint of red covering her face but todoroki wouldn’t know. y/n’s eyes lit up, as her hand darted for her phone, opening it up.

“let’s take some photos, i wanna post on insta.”

“okay.”

todoroki smiled at the girl, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. y/n leaned into todoroki, as he held a hand on her hip to steady her from falling. he put up a peace sign, as y/n had told him that in photos, he should put up a peace sign to make it less awkward.

y/n wrapped her arm around his neck, giggling a bit.

“don’t be shy!”

she exclaimed, squishing her face against todoroki’s as his left side started to feel warm, a little hot actually.

“smile!”

todoroki let out a small smile, which made y/n happy as she took the photo.

-

"angel."

"hi katsu-"

bakugou dropped a small box on her desk, standing next to her.

"what's this?"

y/n questioned, turning towards bakugou with her head.

"open it and you'll see."

bakugou grunted, his hands in his pockets as he looked out the classroom window. y/n looked down at the box and bakugou's eyes quickly went down towards y/n when she wasn't looking.

the girl opened the box, seeing her favourite limited edition chocolate. she gasped aloud, holding her hands over her mouth in shock.

"no you didn't, katsuki!"

"oh yes i did."

bakugou smugly smiled, while y/n's smile became wider and wider as she shot up from her desk, wrapping her arms around bakugou's neck as bakugou slipped one hand on her lower back to keep her stable while she was on her tippy toes.

"thank you katsuki!"

"you're welcome, angel."

bakugou said, his eyes trailing towards todoroki who sat in his desk in the back of the classroom. as he suspected, todoroki was staring right at them with a piercing glare.

y/n heard a pencil snap behind her, her arms slipping from her grasp around bakugou's neck.

"what was that?"

"dunno angel"

-

"okay, everyone pair up with whoever you want to!"

midnight said, handing out papers to the people in the first row to hand to the people behind them. as y/n turned to give the papers to the person behind her- which was bakugou, he grabbed the paper, looking into her eyes,

"you're working with me."

"wha-?"

bakugou turned before she could give him an answer and she just shrugged turning around. chairs scrapping the floor as people hurried to the person they wanted to pair up with. y/n sat in her chair still, grabbing a pen out of her bag.

when she straightened up, she found todoroki and bakugou infront of her.

"tell icyhot you're with me."

"tell bakugou that you have a choice."

"who said she didn't have a choice!?"

"literally you, just now."

they stared daggers at each other, then turned their head towards y/n.

"who do you want to be with?"

"hey! don't copy me!"

"i'm not copying you, bakugou."

todoroki and bakugou continued arguing, getting into each other's faces as denki put his hand up for midnight.

"miss! can we have two teams of three? i'm gonna be with kirishima and sero!"

"alright, fine with me!"

midnight said with a thumbs ups, and todoroki turned towards the two.

"great, we can all be together."

todoroki had a pretty, sarcastic smile on his face. annoyance ticking away at him as his eye twitched slightly. bakugou flexed his jaw in anger, gritting his teeth and y/n covered her face, looking out the window as she noticed that the class was staring at the three of them.

-

"your answer is wrong, bakugou."

"what?!"

bakugou clutched his paper in his hand as todoroki and y/n sat together, working together as bakugou was too stubborn to work with them, working on the questions by himself.

"i said, it's wrong."

"fuck you mean it's wrong!?"

"i mean it's wrong."

y/n sweated under bakugou's and todoroki's gaze, stressed from the both of them arguing.

"can you guys not argue for two seconds?"

"if icyhot wasn't so shit at explaining, maybe we wouldn't be arguing right now."

"if bakugou wasn't so bad at listening to people once in a lifetime-"

"what did you say?!"

bakugou banged his hands on the table as he stood up, distracting the class and making them look towards them.

"you three, outside!"

-

todoroki, y/n and bakugou stood outside of the class in a line, bakugou's head was high as his head rested on the wall, todoroki was straight, zoning out and looking out of the window, while y/n was standing between them, blankly blinking.

"okay, can we.. like address something?"

y/n questioned, her eyes looking at the two boys as they looked at her.

"what is it, y/n?"

"are you guys, like in love with each other or something?"

y/n asked, looking at bakugou as bakugou's eyes looked up at todoroki, todoroki's expression becoming a face of horror.

silence was filled between the trio, them bakugou started laughing aloud, pointing at todoroki while todoroki was blinking, a gagging feeling of vomit starting to lace his throat.

"me?! like that half-and-half bastard!? in his dreams!”

“i wouldn’t want you to like me in my worst nightmares either.”

bakugou didn’t hear him, doubling over and holding his stomach in laughter. todoroki looked at y/n seriously, holding y/n’s shoulders tightly,

“y/n, i don’t like bakugou. i like you.”

“say what”

y/n’s eyes widened, bakugou’s laughter stopped, a stomping sound appearing as y/n’s shoulder was grabbed, bakugou’s hands pulling her back and into his chest.

“i like you more than him, angel.”

“no i do, y/n.”

y/n’s head started to spiral as todoroki got closer to them, his footsteps echoing through the hallway as y/n was then squished between bakugou and todoroki.

bakugou had one hand on the side of her waist and one hand on her shoulder. todoroki held both of her hands tightly with one hand and the other on the back of her neck.

“i like her better than you.”

“who said, icyhot?”

“i did.”

“go and die.”

“no you.”

“the fuck?!”

y/n blushed between the two guys, wanting to run and cover her face.

“g-guys, can we talk this out-“

“y/n, i only put up with bakugou for you.”

“when the fuck? i put up with you for her!”

the two boys glared at each other, their hold on y/n tightening just a bit.

“go away, you’re bothering her.”

bakugou said, tugging her towards him.

“no, you’re bothering us.”

todoroki argued, tugging her back towards himself.

“guys i’m not an object..”

the two boys quickly let go out her to make her happy, but were still death staring each other like there was no tomorrow.

‘what the hell man..’

y/n cried in her head, imaginary tears falling down her face.

[b3ach-bunn7]

CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

Texts with your best friend Touya (who’s a little bit in love with you)

no quirk au <3

—————————————————————————-

January 9th

8:47 pm

You: OH TOUYAAAAA

You: it’s nearly ur bd 😁 what shall I get u

Touya: Nothing

Touya: Just Ur love 😍

You: ew

You: shall I get u some new earrings

You: OH I COULD PAY FOR ANOTHER PIERCING

Touya: Literally where

Touya: I think I’ve pierced every available location on my face

Touya: Unless… You meant somewhere else 😳

You: EWWWWWWWW

You: UR SUCH A FREAK

Touya: I meant my belly button?

You: stfu

Touya: Get your head out the gutter

You: shut up pooya

Touya: Wow you really got me there!

You: HUSH

January 12th

8:39 am

You: bruh where r u

You: homeroom started like ten minutes ago

Touya: I just woke up

Touya: Leaving onw buy shoti is lissing me kff

You: okay English!!!

Touya: Kys

You: but you can type that right…

January 12th

1:40 pm

You: Touyaaaaaa

You: can we go get food

You: the canteen stuff is rubbish today

You: plz I’m so sos is so hungry I’m dying

Touya: Fatty

You: HEY

You: SO MEAN

Touya: I’m only joking sweetcheeks

You: gross

Touya: You love it

Touya: Shiggy wants to come 2

Touya: Is that Ok

You: sigh fine I guess

Touya: Shall I tell him he’ll be third wheeling if he does 😳

You: yes 🥰🥰🥰😍 he just can’t interrupt our time together my sweet

Touya: Ew

You: you love it

January 13th

7:40 pm

You: GST ON MINECRAFTTT

Touya: I’m doing homework

You: I’m doing your mum OHHH

Touya: Woah

Touya: Telling her u said that

You: PLZ IM JOKING

You: I’ll tell her ur telling porky pies

You: Rei would trust my word over urs anyways 😈

Touya: Lowkey she would

Touya: My own mother 😢

You: I’m just better ig

You: how long r u gonna be

Touya: Give me like fifteen mins

You: BOO

Touya: Bro Aizawa is up my ass rn

Touya: If I hand one more piece of work in late he’s gonna acc kill me

You: idk why u hate him so much

You: i love him

You: and he has that sexy teacher look🤤 those luscious locks

Touya: R u sure u can get off his dick long enough for us to play

You: HAHAHAH

You: STFU

You: ur just jealous

Touya: So very

Touya: Why aren’t u hyping ME up like that

You: cause u smell?

Touya: I’m not playing

You: IM JOKING

You: U smell so good and yummy

You: like cigarette smoke 😍

Touya: 🙄

You: sassy 💁‍♀️

Touya: Stop distracting me so I can work

You: okay smelly

January 15th

2:30 pm

Touya: Y/N

Touya: Y/n

Touya: Y/NNNN

Touya: Queen

Touya: Sweetheart

Touya: Angel

You: if you throw one more piece of paper at my head I’m blocking u

Touya: You won’t check ur phone

Touya: How else can I get ur attention from across the room

You: WE R I. CLASS

Touya: So?

You: think I figured out why Aizawa doesn’t rate u

You: pay attention

Touya: But I miss u

Touya: And I’m bored

You: U LITERALLY SAW ME LIKE HALF AN HOUR AGO

You: AT LINCH

Touya: Ur point?

You: omfg

Touya: So what’s up

You: I’m gonna kill you

January 17th

6:50 pm

Fuyumi: Hi Y/N

You: hey fuyumi!!

You: everything okay?

Fuyumi: Yeah, it’s great!!

Fuyumi: Just wanted to tell u that everyone needs to be at ours for Touya’s party at 5:00

Fuyumi: We’ll tell him to come home at like six so that gives us some time to get everything ready

You: beautiful

You: do u think he has any idea were throwing him a party 🤭🤭

Fuyumi: I don’t think so 😆 we have been very careful

Fuyumi: Even shoto has kept his mouth shut

You: yeah I had to threaten twice a couple times before he promised to not tell

You: IM EXCITED

Fuyumi: Me too!!!

Fuyumi: Can’t wait to see u 😊

You: I can’t wait either!!!

Fuyumi: I hope he’ll like it

Fuyumi: We’re getting mum to drive all across town to get him that cake he loves

Fuyumi: I really want him to have fun

You: don’t worry babe he will have fun

You: and if he doesn’t I’ll force him to 😈

January 17th

7:00pm

Touya: U guys r throwing me a surprise party right

You: what?

Touya: For my bd

Touya: Fuyumi is being all suspicious

Touya: Told me I have to leave the house tomorrow but also come back at six oclock??

Touya: And the little brat keeps giggling at me

You: uhm don’t call little shoto that

Touya: Ur deflecting

Touya: They r throwing a party aren’t they

You: they aren’t

You: idk why you think that

Touya: Y/N

You: WHY DO U HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING

Touya: Lol

You: please please don’t tell them you know

You: they’re so excited for do this for you

You: [screenshot attachment]

You: look what Fuyumi said to me

Touya: Oh

You: please don’t spoil 😔

Touya: Don’t worry your pretty little head

Touya: I won’t

You: YAY

You: LOVE U

Touya: Ly2

January 18th

12:00am

You: [audio messsage]

You: enjoy me whisper singing happy bd to u

You: HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYY WOOOOO

You: LOVE U THE MOST

You: okay I need to sleep we have school tomorrow

January 18th

3:07am

Touya: Thank you y/n

Touya: Ly the most too

January 18th

6:15 pm

You: Touya where tf r u

Touya: I’m On my way!

You: we’ll be On your way! FASTER

Touya: STFU

You: U STFU

Touya: U TOLD ME TO MAKE THIS BELIEVEBE

Touya: MY FAMILY WOULD NOT BELEIWV I GOT THERE ON TIME

You: wait ur right lowkey

Touya: exactly

You: well walk faster

Touya: I’m not walking

Touya: I’m driving

You: HOW TF R U TEXTING ME

Touya: Imd riving one handed?

You: GET TF OFF UR PHONE 😭

January 19th

12:04 am

Touya: Y/N

Touya: Thank u for gifts

Touya: The strap for my bass

Touya: And the necklace

Touya: I lowbe them

Touya: and the aprty was so fun

Touya: I lovwd it

Touya: and I lobe you

You: that’s okay 😁

You: are u drunk rn🤔

Touya: Snuch out with bawks

Touya: Hrwks

Touya: Hawks

Touya: Raided fathers liquoye supply

You: you went to your dad’s house????

Touya: NO

Touya: never

Touya: stolen from when he was gere

Touya: fukcing loser 😂😂

You: where r u guys?

Touya: hawks house

Touya: his oarents arent home

Touya: u wanbawcome over

Touya: I’ll kuck him out

You: u can’t kick hawks out of his own house 😭

You: why do u even need to kick him out we’re friends

Touya: he flirst with y so much

Touya: flirts

Touya: pisses me off

You: awwwww r u jelly 🥺

Touya: yes

You: LOL

You: yeah maybe lay off the the drinks buddy

Touya: I live u

Touya: love

Touya: I loved the gifts u got me rhwnks

You: you already said babe

Touya: sorry baby Im so drunk

You: okay I’m going to go before you say something you’ll regret in the morning

You: goodnight birthday boy

January 19th

1:05 pm

Touya: Please erase last night from ur memory

You: last night was a movie 😍

Touya: Yeah a fucking horror

You: HAHAHA

Touya: My head is killing me

You: painkillers?

Touya: Idk where they r and Hawks is sleeping

You: did u guys just wake up 😭

Touya: I think I slept like at like five am

Touya: It’s nice smoking inside a house and not in some alleyway so mum doesn’t catch me

You: BOO

You: ur lungs hate u

Touya: I hate them back

Touya: It’s why I smoke

You: LOL SHUT UP

Touya: Fuck my HEAD

You: that’s what he said

Touya: Ew man

You: you love it

You: go drink some h2o

Touya: Enough chemistry in too tired

You: sigh fine

You: go get some WATER 💦

Touya: Fine

You: bye baby 🤪

Touya: I’ll kill you

You: but I thought you love me??

Touya: Ur dead to me

You: HAHHA

January 21st

7:06 pm

You: Touya

You: can I come over plz

Touya: Erm what 😳😳😳

You: seriously

You: can I

Touya: Yh ofc

Touya: You okay?

You: yh

You: well no actually

You: my dads being my dad again

You: I just can’t be in this house rn

You: I need to get away from him

Touya: Yeah u can anytime

Touya: Yk my family loves u

You: thanks

Touya: You want me to pick u up?

You: nah I wanna walk

You: thanks again

You: love u

Touya: Ly2

January 29th

5:28 pm

You: [image attachment]

You: BRUH HOW DID I LOSEEEE

You: I ATE SK BAD

Touya: Bruh get off dress to impress 😭

Touya: U r beefing ten year olds rn

You: idgaf

You: ten year olds who can’t fucking dress

You: I actually hate this game

You: that is NOT STEAM PUNK WHAT THE FUCK

Touya: Maybe get good

You: maybe kys???????

Touya: Words hurt 😔

You: man up?

Touya: Woah

Touya: Okay just perpetuate gender norms..

You: define perpetuate?

You: YH that’s what i thought

February 6th

7:06 pm

You: bro

You: all my friends have valentines apart from ME

Touya: Get good?

You: okay and where’s urs?

Touya: texting her rn 😍

You: omg 😳

You: but on a real I feel horrifically left out

You: Toga keeps flaunting it in my face

Touya: That little freak got one?

Touya: Who

You: yk that girl in 1-A with the chubby cheeks

You: they r so cute omg

You: how come toga has a lesbian lover and I’m jobless and hoeless 😔

Touya: I can help with one of those things

You: u hiring???

Touya: I’ll be ur valentine

You: I can’t tell if ur joking

Touya: I’m not

You: do u have one romantic bone in ur body

Touya: I can think of one 😳

You: LMAO EW

Touya: Nah fr I’ll be ur valentine

You: okay…

You: ask me properly tho

Touya: Okay

Touya: Hey Y/N

You: oh hi Touya! What’s up

Touya: Will u do me the great honour of being my valentine?

You: 😊 yes!

Touya: Thank you 😊😍

February 10th

2:02 pm

Touya: Omg

Touya: Y/N guess what

You: don’t text me in class lil bro

Touya: Someone asked me to be their valentine 🤪

You: what

You: Who

You: is she in our homeroom

You: did u tell her ur mine

Touya: Woahh

Touya: Jealous much

You: no I just don’t want to be a side piece 😔

Touya: No Dw I told her I’m urs 🥺

You: shush

You: yk what I meant

You: who was it tho

Touya: Idk some girl in my maths class

Touya: She seemed pretty sad when I said no

Touya: The ladies love me

You: she’ll get over it!

Touya: LOL

February 14th

8:03 am

You: OMG

You: ARE THESE FLOWERS MINE

Touya: No I got them for ur dad actually

You: TOUYAAA

You: THEYRE MY FAVS

You: THANM U SM

Touya: Anytime Valentine

February 14th

1:20 pm

Touya: Meet at my car

Touya: I’m taking u out for lunch

You: thank gosh

You: they’re selling some mystery meatloaf type deal and I’m no happy

You: hawksy wants to come too

Touya: No

Touya: Just u

You: girl he’s not gonna do anything

Touya: No this is like

Touya: Hold on

You: okay hawks is looking at his phone and typing

You: r u texting him

You: okay he magically doesn’t wanna come along anymore

Touya: Aw :((

Touya: I’m waiting outside

You: see u in a bit smelly

February 14th

1:50 pm

You: ur such a child

You: IM RIGHT IN FRONT OD U JUST TALK TO ME

Touya: NO

You: WHY

Touya: IK SCARED

You: I can see u smiling

Touya: Shut up

Touya: Okay listen

Touya: If u don’t like what I’m about to say we r going to act like this never happened okay

Touya: I will delete the message out of existence and thus out of ur mind

You: okay…

Touya: Okay so I kind of like actually asked u to be my Valentine not just because ur lonely

Touya: And I like really like you

Touya: As in like like

Touya: But I don’t wanna ruin our friendship because ur the best friend I’ve ever had and will ever have

Touya: So if u don’t feel the same we can just pretend this never happened

February 14th

8:00 pm

You: I’m home safe xxx

Touya: Don’t care

You: okay mr message me when ur back

You: okay mr parked in my driveway to make sure I got in okay???

Touya: Shut up

You: wait hold on

You: is that why uninvited hawks

You: so that u could ask me out

Touya: Yeah and the sky is also blue

You: SHUT UL

Touya: He’s so stupid yk

Touya: It was his idea ??

Touya: And he forgot

You: hey three’s a party!

Touya: So you would’ve kissed me as aggressively as you did if Hawks was there?

You: wait ur right..

You: Oh well

You: it was about time anyways

You: took u like three years and u did it over DMS

Touya: I’m shy 🥺

You: EW TF

You: I take the kiss back

Touya: These hickeys tell me a different story

You: HSUTUP

Touya: You love it

You: I love YOU 🫵

Touya: Yeah

Touya: Love you too

—————————————————————————

This was NOT supposed to end with a confession but I physically cannot help myself 😅 I love these text posts they’re so fun!!

Hope u all enjoyed <3

[seventeenreasonswhy]

Super Shy ~ A JWW School-Life Romance Pt. 2

Star Athlete!Wonwoo x Shy Wallflower!Reader

Jeon Wonwoo... THE Jeon Wonwoo is... paying attention to you!?

~700 words

read Part 1 here

Series content: fluff, first crush plot line, school-life anime vibes, slow burn/yearning, some light angst, classmates to friends to lovers, fem reader, reader is ~*super shy*~ and has low self-esteem, reader is kind of bullied (?), sweetie pie Wonwoo, appearances by Choi Hansol and more!, all characters are in high school so no explicit content (but probably kissing eventually).

My Masterlist

Author’s note: Thank you to everyone who read, reblogged, and liked Part 1!! This is a short Part 2, but the tension is setting in! I’m excited to hear what you think of this progression! Wonwoo is so school life anime leading man, I can’t!!! Enjoy!! 😊

Taglist: @clownprincehoeshi @soffiyuhh @wonwoos-wineparty @hamji-hae @junniesoleilkth @seokqt @haniinah-blog @yangtyunhannie @cherrylovescheol @lukeys-giggle @cookiearmy @sojuxxi @vixensss @lixisoul99 @mjpark15 @lelsforlino @neivivenaj (lmk if you want to be added to the taglist!)

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

You liked to eat your lunch on the roof, even when it was kind of cold outside like today. It gave you a view of the campus—of the whole town, really. Everything felt more peaceful up there. You even dozed off sometimes, narrowly making it back to class in time.

You were lying down, looking up at the clouds and thinking about what kind of day-old snacks your uncle might be trying to get rid of at the convenience store tomorrow when you heard the door to the roof creak open. You bolted upright, looking behind you.

It was Jeon Wonwoo.

“Oh, you’re up here,” he said. “Sorry, I thought it’d be empty up here.” You stood up quickly and faced him, hastily brushing off your skirt. Your heart was pounding.

“Oh,” you said, unsure how to respond. “It’s okay, I’ll let you have it.” You started to gather up your things.

“No, no, it’s okay,” he said, taking wide strides toward you now as if he were going to get between you and your bag on the ground. You instinctively backed away from him but immediately regretted it, seeing that he stopped short.

“You were up here first,” he said, letting out a puff of laughter and gesturing for you to sit back down. His tone was so gentle... you decided to slowly sit back down.

He turned to look at the view of the town, taking a deep breath.

“It’s nice and quiet up here,” he said. You just nodded, so nervous you were unable to talk.

C’mon Y/N, relax! He’s just a classmate! This is normal! Be normal!! Your thoughts grew frantic, but Wonwoo simply took a seat, letting his long legs splay out a short distance away but still next to you. You watched as he took another deep breath and continued to gaze out at the view. He seemed content to just sit there in silence, flooding you with a sense of relief.

A few moments passed, the two of you just sitting there, taking in the view of the sky and allowing the cool, early-spring breeze to wash over you. Your heartrate started to slow back down.

You kept stealing glances at Wonwoo, hoping that he didn’t notice. He seemed deep in thought. Not to mention he kept taking deep breaths. Was something the matter? Should you ask him? No, it’s definitely none of my business, you thought. We don’t know each other like that. Anyway, if you were going to say something to him, it should be ‘thank you’ for helping with the whole homework-copying thing that morning.

But before you could muster up the courage to speak, the bell rang.

“Oh, wow,” Wonwoo said, glancing back toward the stairs, “I didn’t even realize the time was passing.” He laughed quietly, then looked right at you.

“Y/N,” he said, and your stomach lurched.

“...Yes?” you wished your voice would come out more confidently.

“Do you always spend lunch up here?” Wonwoo was looking at you so straightforwardly that it took you a second to understand him.

“Uh,” you started, unable to avoid feeling like a loser but also unable to avoid telling him the truth, “yeah, pretty much.”

“Mind if I join you next time?”

You could only gape at him like an idiot. Were you hearing him correctly?

“I mean, I understand if you’d rather be alone!” he added before you could even comprehend him, either ignoring or not minding your blatantly shocked reaction, “I don’t mean to intrude.”

“Oh, no...” you said, struggling to find the words and worried that you were coming off as standoffish. “I don’t mind.” You finally said, still not really able to make direct eye contact with him.

“Thanks,” he said, “it’s nice to just sit up here with you.”

Your face must have turned a dozen different shades of red, and you were relieved that he took that moment to turn toward the stairwell.

“See ya,” he said, waving at you over his shoulder.

You could only continue to stare blankly after him. You were probably going to be late for class, but you didn’t even care. It was like you were living in a dream.

Starting today, Jeon Wonwoo was going to spend time quietly sitting on the roof with you at lunchtime...!?

[semiis]

KIND OF CLICHE W/ MIYA ATSUMU

pairing: miya atsumu x reader

genre: best friends to lovers : fluff

“alright! I’ll see ya guys tomorrow.” atsumu called out, closing his dorm’s door behind him with a decisive click. 

throwing his head against the door, atsumu sighed breathlessly. his gaze wandered to the clock on the wall, its hands pointing to [22:10]. surprise flickered in his eyes as he realized he had been practicing at the gym for nearly six hours. he didn’t mean to overwork himself today but he needed to ensure his skills were perfection. he was resolute in his determination to secure sponsorships and, eventually, a full draft if he wanted to make it as a professional athlete. if his ambition demanded he push his body to its limits, he welcomed the challenge without hesitation.  

with a weary huff, atsumu pushed himself away from the door and began his trudge towards his room. utterly exhausted, the mere thought of his bed waiting just ahead filled him with a profound sense of relief. as he finally approached, he flung the door open with vigor and carelessly threw his gym bag across the room, indifferent to where it landed. collapsing onto his bed, a sigh of bliss escaped his lips. this was all he desired after such an arduous day of practice—a fleeting moment of peace and rest.  

he closed his eyes, breaths growing shallow as he sank deeper into relaxation. at this rate, he would inevitably succumb to sleep—not that he would mind. a moment of sleep would do wonders for his exhausted body. with no morning classes tomorrow, the idea of sleeping in was irresistibly tempting to his fatigued mind. just as he began to drift to sleep, a resounding knock on his door jolted him back to wakefulness. 

he groaned as he sat up, his gaze settling on the figure standing at his door. his eyes narrowed into a piercing glare, and with a gesture of utter annoyance, he flipped them off before sinking back onto his bed. 

“go away, suna” atsumu grumbled grumpily. “i’m trying to rest here.”

“first of all, that was rude, asshole.” suna retorted bitterly, though a hint of playfulness still colored his tone. “secondly, not my problem you decided to stay at the gym later than usual.” 

atsumu groaned even louder at the reminder of his six-hour practice session and turned on his side to fix a tired gaze on suna, who stood casually in the doorway. 

“whatever dude.” atsumu muttered. “what do ya want?”

“i just came to tell you to check your phone.” suna replied. “kita’s talking about something in the volleyball group chat and is kind of bothered that you’re not responding.” 

atsumu sighed and patted his pockets, searching for his phone, but found nothing. alarmed, he sat up and checked his pockets again more frantically. he rummaged through his bed sheets but still came up empty handed. he tried to think where he could have left it and finally relaxed when he remembered packing it in his gym bag. he was too tired to remember doing that before.

he begrudgingly rose from his bed, slowly making his way towards the bag he had carelessly flung across the room earlier. as he picked it up and unzipped it, he cautiously felt around for his phone, sighing in relief as his fingers closed around the familiar rectangular object. just as he was about to retrieve it, he froze. his fingers had brushed against something mysterious—something that felt like…paper? 

puzzled, he furrowed his brows. he didn’t recall packing anything with paper in his gym bag; all his books and homework were in his regular school bag. intrigued, he reached for the flimsy object and slowly drew it out. his eyes fell on the paper in his hands, and he began to scan its contents. with each line he read, his eyes widened, and a swell of joy and excitement surged within him.

“no way…” he murmured, struggling to suppress a smile.

kind of cliche

⤷ part 2 : that was rude

synopsis • too scared to actually admit your feelings for Miya Atsumu - your best friend- face to face, your friends encourage you to leave him anonymous letters expressing just how much you like him — which, to you, seems kind of cliche.

—

↷ taglist — open (send an ask to be added)

@wyrcan @iuspired @lifesucksweswallow @adorebeomgyu @stayyyyyyyyyyyy21 @chilichopsticks @lixie-phoria @sereniteav

© semiis 2024 ; do not translate, repost, modify, or copy my work.

[permanentmess]

Can we pls get a Peter maximoff x reader fic where Peter is annoying the reader and ofc the reader is getting annoyed by him and then he explains how he only does it cuz he likes her attention? Pls and thank you :]

attention (peter maximoff x reader)

a/n: thank you so much for the request! you’re actually my first request ever!!! i thought this idea was so cute. fem!reader in mind but could be read as any gender easily. reader also has powers but it’s unspecified and unimportant to the plot.

word count: 754 (just a short and sweet thing. i can make a part two if you want more!)

warnings: none! just fluff, mentions of being tired (aren't we all), unestablished relationship but not entirely platonic

pt. 2!

GIF NOT MINE

~~~

You were dead exhausted. Like eyes blurry, body aching, could fall asleep standing up tired. 

You loved being a teacher at Xavier’s school, you really did. But between trying to grade exams and homework, training after classes with the other X-Men, and then lesson planning, it made it hard to not be exhausted. And on top of all of this, you still wanted to hang out with your friends. Storm often invited you out of the mansion, Logan offered for you to share some drinks and watch movies, and Peter, well, you didn’t care what you two did, you just wanted to spend time with him. 

But you needed a break from life. That is, of course, right after you finish grading the exams you’d been putting off all week. 

You’re rubbing your eyes with your hands, taking a quick break in between two exams when there’s an incessant knocking on your door. You have a suspicion on who it is, but regardless, you open the door with a scowl. 

“Hi,” Peter greets you with a grin. You can’t help but smile back a little bit. He’s infectious with his happiness. He looks insanely cozy in his sweatpants and plain white t-shirt, slippers hiding his feet. If he was officially yours, you’d hug him in an instant and fall asleep standing up.  

“Hey,” you reply, leaning against your door frame. 

He raises his eyebrows at you. “Can I come in or are you just going to leave me standing in the hall?” You give a short laugh and nod your head towards your bed for him to sit. 

“I’m warning you now, I have to finish grading these exams before I can hang out,” you tell him as you shut the door and go sit at your desk again. 

“That’s alright, I can wait” he says, swinging his feet back and forth off the side of your bed. “What’d you do today? What’s the exam on?” 

You take a moment to respond, but it’s not quick enough for Peter. In an instant, he has moved to your desk, making some papers fly away from the force of using his powers. You close your eyes, trying not to get annoyed. You know he’s just fast by nature, even in his mind, and you know you’re just exhausted. 

“Oh shit, sorry,” he quickly rounds up the papers and puts them back on your desk neatly.

“‘S alright. This one is for the life and health management class I teach,” you tell him, continuing to grade. 

“Oh nice,” he says, staring down at your papers, before moving to go look at the things on your shelf. He did this often when he came to your room, but you’re not sure why. “Where’d you get this from?”

You turn around after marking a question wrong, looking at the picture frame in his hand that held a picture of everyone in their suits. “Uhh, Jean gave that to me, for my birthday.” You turn back around, going back to mark the last question on the exam, writing the grade at the front and moving it off to the side. 

“It’s really pretty. What about this?” You sigh and turn around again. 

“Peterrrrr,” you whine. “I really gotta finish these exams, I told the kids I’d get them back by tomorrow.” 

He puts the object down. “Sorry, I know.” He walks over and puts a hand on your upper back, running over it softly. You relax a little at his touch. “How many more do you have left?” 

“Five.” 

“Okay so how about this: you hang out with me tonight and I can finish them tomorrow morning for you, before your class?” You look up at him, contemplating his offer. “I feel bad for annoying you, I just like having your attention. I thought that was obvious.” 

You grin. “Well, I mean, yeah.” You look back down at the papers. “Sorry for getting annoyed, I’m just exhausted lately.” 

“Then cmon, let’s watch a movie.” He moves to your bed and pats a spot next to him, grabbing your remote to turn on your TV. 

You’re hesitant, but oblige. There’s not much space on your bed, so you’re pressed up against his side. He’s put on a movie you two have seen a thousand times, so you decide to relax into his side, resting your head on his shoulder. 

“You know, I like having your attention too.” You tell him quietly. He rests his head on top of yours. 

“I know.” 

[euphoricimagination]

Falling asleep on top of them

Feat. Kenma, Atsumu & Akaashi

Kenma

You were hanging out in Kenma’s place after his practice was over, something typical between the two of you. Kenma wasn’t a fan of going out, and while he did some exceptions for you – like going to the cinema or a cat café – he much rather stay inside. Not like you minded really, your relationship was super chill and you liked being with him.

Sometimes you two play together; sometimes he plays while you watch, always explaining the lore of the game; sometimes you two sit there doing homework together; and sometimes, like today, you were hugging him by the waist cuddling him while he plays on his console lazily.

“Babe look, the monster that I told you appeared” he says enthusiastically looking at the screen. He was explaining you the game just a few minutes ago, about how rare one of the monsters was. However, he only received silence, unusual from you. Even if you didn’t care about the game, you always responded “Babe?”

He looks down to his chest where he found, in his opinion, the most beautiful sight ever. You squishing your cheek on his chest with a soft smile, stirring slightly when you heard his voice. His eyes went wide before lowly shushing you back to sleep, not wanting to wake you up.

He quickly turn his console volume down, staying completely still while questioning what to do. Should he wake you up? No, that wasn’t a good idea, it was 21:46 and you were tired, definitely not because he loves the sight, not at all. So he did the only logical thing, the thing that he would do only for you.

He turn off his console before shooting a text to your mom saying that you would stay with him. After that was done he slowly move the both of you, ending up with him lying down in his bed with you cuddling even closer to him.

“Goodnight babe” says kissing your temple, turning his light off before hugging you back. He could use a good night of sleep anyway.

Atsumu

Being Inarizaki’s manager and Atsumu girlfriend was definitely exhausting, but everything was worthy at the end.

Today was a particularly long day, you had to wake up extra early to have a talk with the coach, two exams and now the guys practice was running longer than expected.

You were sitting in the gym floor when they decided to take a break, it was past the time they usually finish but none of them didn’t seem to care. Atsumu immediately coming to your side as soon as he could.

“Are ya okay angel? Ya have been awfully down today” he says sitting down next to you

“You noticed?”

“Of course I did, I’m yer boyfriend. What happened? Are ya tired?” you nod sleepily, closing your eyes while lying on his shoulder.

His eyes widen a little at the sudden movement. He was used to affection, he was always hugging you whenever he could, but usually it was him initiating skin ship. He pass his arm through your shoulders, pulling closer to his chest to hug you tightly.

He lets you accommodate yourself in his chest, which you gladly do despite the sweat, at this point you were used to it. He feels your breath even out, so he kisses the top of your head in hopes you can relax more.

He can’t help the feeling of proudness that starts rising in his chest. The fact that you feel so safe to fall asleep on him makes his shoulders rise to the sky; nobody has trusted him this much before.

“Atsumu, go back to pra-”

“Shh, coach, my baby sleeping” he interrupts him, right now he doesn’t even want to go back to practice “can I practice tomorrow? I don’t want to wake her up”

“… Sure” says the coach taken aback.

Miya Atsumu has never denied practice, but for you, he will do anything.

Akaashi

These past few days have been hectic to say the least, between helping around your own club, cheering your boyfriend in his practices and your classes. In fact, all of your classes were getting so much harder that your stress was going to the roof.

Right now you were sitting in the grass of the Fukurodani gardens next to your boyfriend. His practice was pushed until much later, so he decided to help you out studying to spend time with you.

After a few minutes you began to get fidgety, and Akaashi being Akaashi noticed right away.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just tired. It has been a long few weeks”

“In that case let’s stop. Come here” with that he took your things away from you and slightly pull you towards his lap. You don’t try to fight him, you know that you have not chance of winning when he set his mind on something. Also, you get to lay in his lap, which doesn’t happen that often.

You soon find yourself relaxing in his legs, his hand running through your hair helping you immensely.

Akaashi’s plan was to let you relax for a few minutes, but he didn’t really expect you to fall asleep there; he didn’t knew you were that tired, if so he would have force to sleep a lot earlier. He looks down to you, noticing how you were hugging his leg tightly with a relax smile on. He can’t help to smile at seeing you before looking at his watch; he has a few more minutes before going to practice, he supposes he can let you relax. He leans down, pressing a light kiss in your forehead

“Sleep tight love”

[jamespotterismydaddy]

A Proper Lesson

teacher!daemon x student!reader

A/N: This was a request for a fic similar to short skirts and lacy panties just changed up a bit. This is the version for people who prefer reader fics, the rhae x daemon version is here!

TW: MOJOR DUBCON, SMUT!!, choking, lots of spanking, bondage, dacryphilia, throat fucking

word count: 1,488 words

It’s filthy, the way he thinks about you, the way he looks at you. It’s a small class, Valyrian History 101, you are always right front in centre. Daemon can hardly understand why. The brat never pays attention, but is perhaps looking for it? It could be why you never turn assignments in on time or why you spend more time putting on lipgloss rather than completing you homework. You're just a little spoiled rich girl and he knows it. Daemon knows your father and it makes him realize how you gets away with everything, but he won’t let your behaviour slide any longer.

“Miss (l/n), you will stay after class.” Daemon calls out to you as the other students file out.

“Is there a problem, professor?” You asksinnocently. 

He wants to say that the fact that he can see your nipples through your top is a problem. Instead he says, “Your assignment was meant to be turned in at the start of class.”

“I need an extension.”

“I hardly believe that.”

“My father donates a lot of money to this school.”

Daemon sighs and decides that he will at least give her one last chance. Your father is an old friend after all. “You have until tomorrow morning.”

“I need a three day extension.” You give him a condescending little smirk.

“It will be turned in tomorrow before class begins or you will have real consequences.” He says seriously.

“I’m sure I will.” You smirk before flouncing out of the room without a care in the world.

The next day, nothing is turned in before the start of class and you walk in without placing a physical copy on his desk. You're dressed even sluttier today, tits poking through the dress that barely covers your ass. He’s infuriated by it, by you.

“Miss (l/n), I need to see you after class… again.” He doesn’t make his anger as clear on his face. He wants you to feel nervous. When all the other students are gone, he locks the door. “Where’s your paper?”

“It’ll be ready Thursday.”

“I said you had to have it in today.”

“And I said it would be ready on Thursday.” you smooth out the ruffles on your dress before checking your nails. “Can I go now?” You ask in a bored tone.

“Can you go now?” He scoffs at the question. “Bend over the fucking desk.” His voice is cold, authoritative. 

“Excuse me?” You say with the audacity to look insulted.

“Oh fuck this. You’ll never listen.” He walks over quickly and grabs your arm, pulling you to the desk. 

“W-What in the seven hells are you doing!” You screech before letting out a huff as you're forced over the desk. Daemon reaches into his bag for the thing he knew he would probably need, handcuffs. Only fun ones but you'll hardly be able to break them.

“Shut up before I gag you.” He warns as he cuffs your wrists behind your back.

“I’ll scream if you don’t let me go right now!”

Daemon sighs before taking off his tie and tying it around your mouth to gag you. He keeps one hand on your upper back as he lifts your skirt. 

“No underwear? I bet half the school has seen your bare cunt today with how short this fucking dress is.” He runs his fingers through your folds. Not quite wet yet.

He uses his free hand to pull off his belt. He chuckles at how your eyes widen in fear. Does she think i'm going to fuck her? Poor dumb girl. It’ll be much worse than that. He folds the belt in half and lifts it high in the air before bringing it down hard on your ass. You yelp through the gag but aren't even close to being loud enough for somebody to hear you. He spanks you again with the belt, enjoying the red stripe it leaves on your cheeks. He won’t be stopping until your whole ass is red. He spanks you again, and again, until your yelps turn to moans. Daemon knew you would like this treatment. Such a little brat needs to be put into her place.

“If you scream, i’ll make you do more than regret it.” He warns as he pulls off the gag. You look back at him with tears glistening in your eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, sir.” You say softly.

“Are you?” He smacks you hard with the belt and you arch your back. “Don’t you think you deserve this?” You take too long to respond and he belts you again. Your poor bum is crimson now, but the slickness between your thighs tells him you needed it. “Answer me.”

“I do! I do deserve it.” He chuckles and tosses the belt on the table. He uses his hand to give you a few more harsh smacks. You whimper at each one.

He pulls you by your hair back up to your feet. “Get on your knees and show me how sorry you are.”

You obey quickly, practically falling to your knees in front of him. Daemon pulls his own cock out because you're still cuffed and puts it to your lips. You suck like your life depends on it. And Daemon can’t help but think that the whore clearly likes having a cock in her mouth. He grips the back of your hair and starts fucking your mouth ruthlessly. He enjoys how the tears start to fall from your eyes as you gag around him.

“You’re going to swallow everything I give you, princess.” He commands before spilling on your tongue. You nearly choke on it but swallow everything.

He pulls you up by your hair again and slaps your ass hard before pushing you back on the table.

“W-Wait, i’m a virgin.” You breathe out.

“If you don’t want it then get up and get out.” He gives you a few seconds and you don't move so Daemon shoves his cock into your tight cunt. You nearly scream but he grips you around your throat so it’s barely more than a squeak. “Keep your voice down, baby. That’s my good girl.” He says as he begins to pound himself into you.

He brings his free hand down to pinch your clit while the hand around your throat prevents you from making any noises. When you finally calm down enough to be quiet, he lets go of your neck so he can use both hands to push your legs down into a mating press. You let out a squeak at the new position. He hits her deeper and deeper with each thrust. 

“Fuck your pussy is so tight but I think i’ll be cumming in that ass.”

“No you can’t!” You squeal out as he pulls out. You begin to squirm so he flips you onto your tummy.

“I can fuck whatever hole I want.” 

He spanks your thighs a few times to punish you for complaining but it doesn’t stop your squirming so he just rolls his eyes and rubs some of your slick over your puckered hole. He slips a finger in to begin stretching you out as you kick your feet and whine.

“Fine, you don’t want to be prepped? Then I won’t prep you.” You're lucky you are all lubed up because Daemon shoves his thick cock right into your ass, bottoming out right away.

“Ahh, ahh.” You whimper as he thrusts into you. You hate how quickly the pain fades into pleasure as he distracts you by rubbing your clit.

“There you go. Just had to get it in and now you’re a happy girl.” He coos as he fucks into you deeper.

“I-m gonna… cu-m.” You manage to get out as he rubs you faster.

“I know you are, baby. Cum for me and i’ll fill up that ass.” 

That triggers you instantly as you reach your peak, squeezing around nothing. Daemon thrusts a few more times before spilling inside you once again. He pulls out only seconds later, starting to fix himself right away.

“I have another class starting in less than 10 minutes.” He uncuffs you but you can barely stand. “You need to leave.”

You straighten out your dress but you have nothing to wipe the cum from between your legs. “But I need-” You start.

“Panties? Maybe you should have worn them instead of choosing to be a little slut. Get to your next class. Let’s see if you can go the whole day keeping my cum in your ass.” He says before giving you a wolfish grin. “And if your paper isn’t in tomorrow, you’re getting a paddling along with another dose of the belt.”

You gulp and nod before picking up your things. Daemon gets the door for you and you nearly stumble out of the room as he sends you off with one more smack on the ass.

A/N: just changed every 'she' to 'you'. never doing that shit again

taglist (comment to be added):General: @valeskafics @urmomsgirlfriend1 @girlwith-thepearlearring @darylandbethfanforever9 @lovellies @juhdoche @papichulo120627 @watercolorskyy @ophelialaufey @aerangi

[fidothefinch]

the sun will come out (tomorrow)

Jason was quiet as he climbed into the back seat of the Lexus.

Alfred gave him a thorough but subtle check over before he shut the door for his young charge. Nothing in his school uniform was amiss. His backpack looked lighter than usual, but then, he wouldn’t have as much homework today, due to the field trip. His pallor was acceptable, though his expression was that of a child who had seen too much of the world, much too early.

As he returned to his own seat, Jason’s forehead knocked gently against the glass of the window.

“How was your school trip, Master Jason?”

Jason inhaled shakily. “It was okay.” At Alfred’s silence, he continued, voice fractured, “I’m just ready to go home.”

Alfred hummed. “Of course.” He mentally scrapped his conversation starters as he pulled the car back into traffic. Jason had been buzzing with excitement all week, all month, leading up to the day. One of the theaters on Grand Avenue had arranged a special showing for the school children of Gotham. Alfred had expected no less than several hours’ worth of excited conversation, analyzing the musical motifs, dialogue, and themes of the show.

Despondence radiated from the back seat.

They had reached the outskirts of the city center when Jason’s small voice asked, “Am I a bad person?”

“Of course not!” Alfred was quick to reply. “Whatever would give you that idea?”

“But I’m not. . . plucky.”

“I overhear your conversations with Master Bruce, and I beg to differ.”

“No, really.” Jason scooted forward until his elbows could rest across the shoulders of either seat in the front, no doubt disregarding the parameters for effectively wearing a seat belt. “I don’t think I am. I don’t—I didn’t . . . .” he trailed off, clearly struggling to voice his thoughts.

“Does this have something to do with your field trip?”

Jason’s frame sagged, and he slipped back into his own seat again. “Annie never gave up hope,” he muttered.

Alfred’s heart stuttered at the name. If he and Bruce had realized which musical was showing this year—

“Camille and Ashton kept staring at me, and then on the bus ride back to school they kept whispering, and I was going to let it roll off my back, just like you always said. But then we were discussing it in class after, and Mrs. Mayhew was talking about ‘optimism’ and how it’s a good character trait. A-and,” Jason stuttered, breath hitching. “Ashton asked me if I could relate to Annie because I’m an orphan.”

Alfred sucked in a sharp breath, anger sparking in his chest. Before he could say anything, Jason barreled on.

“And then him and Camille started asking me a bunch of stuff about—about living on the street, and my mom? And I don’t know who, but someone else said—” and Jason’s breath hitched into a sob. “Said I wasn’t even a good orphan unless I was plucky like Annie.”

“Oh, Master Jason,” Alfred breathed. “Your classmates had no right to make demands like that. And they certainly have no right to tell you how you should feel or behave.”

Jason needed several seconds to collect himself, and still his voice was watery. “I know, but aren’t they right? I stole, and-and I did what I had to to survive. But I—there were times—I thought I was going to die. I lost hope, and-and what good can I be if I don’t have hope?”

Alfred waited a moment to reply, collecting his thoughts and wrestling his emotional reaction down. Jason’s quiet hitched breaths and sniffs filled the silence.

“Hope can be found again,” Alfred finally said, choosing his words carefully. “And I have much more respect for those that find hope than those who never faced losing it. Master Jason, you were a child in an impossible situation, and your resilience and capacity for kindness is a testament of your hope.”

A long sniff from the back seat.

“You give me hope,” Alfred admitted. He pictured the change he had witnessed in Bruce, the lightness Jason had brought to the Manor in Dick’s absence. That one of Gotham’s children could be exposed to the worst she had to offer, and yet still yearn to work toward her betterment, changed his outlook for the city.

“Thanks, Alfred.”

Later, there would be phone calls to make, poetry to slip under Jason’s door, hot chocolate to make. Right now, Alfred let his composure slip just a moment, and found Jason’s red-rimmed eyes in the rear-view mirror.

“Of course, Jason.”

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 65

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words : 5k

Masterlist

———————————————————————

Tuesday, March 2nd; 4:50 p.m. - in Class  

I tap my foot while staring at my watch. The end is near. Like most days, we finish with Management, with Mr. Johnson. There's not a single day we don't see him anyway. Today, our two hours were interesting. For once, I more or less understood what we were working on. We even ended with exercises that I finished before most of my classmates. He announced that we would correct them in the next class, and they would count as homework if we hadn't finished. That's good news. I've already completed my other assignments, so besides having my exercises checked in this class, I won't have anything to do. There are still a few minutes left, so I wait, tapping my foot impatiently. It’s dragging on. Only five minutes have passed, and ten remain before the bell rings.

"Have you already finished?" Alessia murmurs.

"Mm-hmm."

"You're starting to outdo me," she jokes.

I giggle softly, shrugging. I'm lucky to understand things easily. Lucy definitely had something to do with it because, before, Management and I were not on good terms.

"Could you stop tapping your foot?"

"Sorry."

I stop immediately. In truth, I’m eager because I plan to meet Lucy after this last class. I’ve noticed that toward the end of the year, people are much calmer, so it’s the perfect time to spend time with her. She doesn't have to look after as many students anymore. Of course, she has spent a lot of time focusing on me, but I know she’s been responsible for several first-year students. When I asked her about it again on Sunday, she said she’d released many after two months since they weren’t rebels—like me. As for the others, she explained that Wiegman reassigned the toughest cases to Ingrid when I arrived so Lucy could prioritize me. She was right to do that, and I’m grateful. I admit that I must have been quite a handful when I arrived. I often regret being so cold and difficult. Mr. Johnson interrupts my thoughts by standing up from his chair, catching the attention of several students, including Alessia, who was still working on the exercises. It’s surprising because, according to my watch, there are still five minutes left. I doubt he’s going to let us go early.

"Alright, we’ll stop for today. You can pack your things, and as I mentioned earlier, the rest is due tomorrow. I’ll check that everything’s been done."

"Are you letting us out early?" a student asks.

"No, I have something to discuss with you."

Several groans echo throughout the room at this news.

"Yes, yes, I know. It’s so boring being stuck here with me," he mocks. "If I finish what I have to say quickly, we can renegotiate," he adds.

Strangely, everyone quickly starts packing up. He waits until they’re done to get everyone’s attention.

"Alright. I wanted to let you know that your class has been granted a field trip. We’ll be visiting a nearby industrial company to show you how it operates."

He begins distributing papers to everyone.

"Obviously, I expect this exercise to benefit you, so attached, you’ll find a company profile of the place we’ll visit. Some details are missing, so it’ll be up to you to find them."

"How are we supposed to do that without access to computers?" one student asks.

"I know you're allowed to have computers in your rooms," he replies. "And if you don't have one, there are computers available in the library."

The student grimaces slightly. I imagine he’s one of those who don’t have one. I haven’t had many chances to go to the library since I spend a lot of time in Lucy’s office, but I know it’s not a popular place. Few people like going there. They’d much rather spend time in their rooms or the common room.

"Do we have to fill out the second sheet too?" another student asks.

"No, that one is for the field trip. I expect you to take notes and complete this small questionnaire. I’ll collect the sheets to ensure you’ve done the work, and then we’ll go over them in the next class after the trip."

"Will it just be you supervising?"

A small laugh escapes him. His news has managed to excite everyone. Outings must not be granted often here. Usually, we’re confined within the school’s walls.

"In addition to me, your Management teacher and two instructors will accompany you. You’ll be divided into four groups to keep you focused and well-supervised."

"Can we choose who to go with?"

"Definitely not. The groups are already assigned, and no changes will be possible. I expect you to respect my choices. The supervisors will have a list of students in their group, so you won’t be able to cheat. All you’ll achieve by trying is wasting everyone's time and earning yourself a punishment."

He says this as he walks past me. He looks at me intensely. I feel like he has an issue with me ever since he started seeing me in Lucy’s office. If only he knew what I was thinking… I smile to provoke him. We both know I’ll be with Lucy, and he doesn’t seem to like the idea. I had noticed his displeasure when Lucy made the request. He ignores me and walks down my row to return to his desk. The bell rings just then.

"Alright, I’ll let you go. Don’t lose the papers, please. I’ll inform you of the trip date in the next class. Have a great rest of your day."

Having already packed our bags, most of us head straight for the door. Alessia and I follow calmly. Leah and Alba, on the other hand, have already rushed out with the first group.

"Did you know about this?" Alessia asks. "You were one of the few who didn’t react."

"I did, yeah. He suggested it to L—uh, Bronze when I was in her office," I catch myself.

"Oh. So, she’s the one accompanying us?"

"Yeah, along with Engen."

I have to think before I speak. It’s so complicated to use their titles when I know their first names and spend time with them outside of class.

"I see… Well-informed, huh?" she teases softly. "Do you know which group you’re in?"

"I only know I’ll be with Bronze," I shrug. "She used her position to make that happen," I admit with a small smile. "But I can’t tell you yet if we’ll be together."

"Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait."

"I’ll try to find out if we’re in the same group once she has her list. I can’t guarantee anything. She can be pretty unpredictable sometimes. And for all I know, she might not get it until the day of the trip."

"Thanks, that’s nice of you. Are you going to meet her now?"

"Yep. I’ve done my homework, but I’d like to review, and it’s the only place where I know I’ll have some peace and quiet outside of my room. Except in my room, I tend to get a bit too distracted…"

"Yeah, I totally get that," she laughs. "You don’t have to explain yourself, you know."

"No, but… You get it. I don’t want you thinking I’m ditching you for her or anything like that. I’m just really focused on exams. I can’t afford to fail this year."

"I understand. She’s doing a great job. I’ve noticed that you’ve been following classes better lately. It’s different from the beginning of the semester," she teases.

I laugh, nodding. It’s true; things were different back then. Since I didn’t understand anything, I would zone out easily. I’ve made a lot of progress since I returned. Lucy advised me to ask my teachers for summaries of previous years’ classes. Of course, they gave them to me, and I plan to start studying them today. I hope Lucy will have time for me. I never know what she has planned for the day.

"Alright, see you later."

"Yes, have a good afternoon."

We part ways at the bottom of the stairs in the hall. I knock on the slightly closed office door and enter. I’m surprised to find another student in my usual spot in front of Lucy. She doesn’t seem to have noticed me yet, as she’s filling out a form with him. So, I turn to Ingrid and wave hello.

"Hey Ona," she greets me with a smile. "How are you? »

"—Good, and you?"

"—Great."

Since classes resumed, we haven't had many opportunities to see each other. It's a shame because I really like her.

"—What are you doing here?" my girlfriend asks me.

"—Hey... Uh... Well, I finished classes. I have some reviewing to do, but I can come back later if you're busy."

The guy sitting across from her looks at me strangely. To him, I must look like an alien. I must be the only one who willingly comes to my supervisor's office. His face doesn't ring a bell, but judging by his appearance, I'd say he's younger than me. He must be a first-year student under Lucy's supervision. To get my attention, my girlfriend clears her throat.

"—I'll be a little while. He just got here. Can you go over this with her, Engen? Or do you have something else to do?" she asks her friend.

"—No, it's fine," she replies, gesturing for me to sit with her. "But I can't guarantee I'll be as good as your supervisor," she teases me.

"—I'll make do with what I have, what can I say."

She laughs at my joke before ordering me to take out my things. I quickly realize that she intends to be as serious as Lucy, which suits me perfectly. I need that authority to make sure I stay focused.

"—Is that Ona Batlle?" murmurs the student facing Lucy.

I turn around amused to watch them. I immediately meet Lucy's threatening gaze. I quickly understand that I should stay out of it.

"—We have something to do, don't you think?" suggests Lucy.

"—I've never seen her before," he continues.

"—Do you want me to let you go? I can always change my mind, you know."

"—Come on, let's get to work," Ingrid pulls me toward her.

"—Um..."

"—What do you want to work on?"

"—Management and accounting."

"—Wonderful," she murmurs. "All my favorites... She owes me for this."

I chuckle softly. First, I put away the sheets my teacher just handed out. Since we'd already packed everything, no one had bothered to put them in their bags, myself included. Then I take out my famous summary notes.

"—These are the courses from previous years. I need to work on them," I explain to her.

"—Let me see."

It wasn't Ingrid who asked me, but Lucy. I look up to see her behind me. I hand her my notes without thinking.

"—You finally took my advice. It was about time. Here, have her do some exercises; I have a site you'll love," she tells Ingrid as she passes behind her desk.

She types something on the keyboard, and I take the opportunity to glance at the student. He was just looking at me. He immediately turns back to his work. He's working on a worksheet, from what I can see. I wonder what it could be.

"—Ona," my girlfriend calls me.

"—Yes?" I say, turning back to her.

I then notice some sheets in front of me and the printer running. I feel like I'm going to have a blast... Especially given the number of worksheets that are coming out.

"—What's this site?"

"—I found it when I had some free time. There are lots of practice exercises; I thought it would be cool for you."

"—Awesome, and there are even answer keys for us," Ingrid rejoices.

I roll my eyes with a small smile. Unlike Lucy, this must not be her area of expertise if she's reacting like that. She seems to dislike it. I wonder what she studied, actually. Will she stay here her whole life? That's also a question I won't hesitate to ask Lucy, or even Ingrid directly.

"—Alright, get to work. I'll take over once Kyle leaves."

She pats my shoulder before returning to her desk.

"—So, back to us. Are you almost done?"

I stop listening to them and focus on the sheets to see what they are. They're exercises from chapters I didn't study in the first two years. The number of them makes me lose motivation. It's not really something I enjoy either, but well, I have no choice but to work now. Ingrid mocks my expression as she brings me the rest of the stack. I feel like crying seeing the whole pile.

"—Do I have to do all of this?" I complain desperately.

"—Of course not. We just printed everything at once. Do the ones you feel like, but it would be best to work on as many as possible in the coming months."

I relax a bit. She's right; I still have a few months to do everything. I nod and take the small stack before starting the first worksheet. The exercise seems short and simple, so I might as well start with easy things. I'll vary gradually until tonight with other, more difficult exercises. I start calmly, not rushing. I have barely finished one exercise that I've given to Ingrid when Kyle gets up from his chair.

"—Don't make me regret my choice, alright?"

"—Yes, I'll try."

"—No, you'll make sure you don't end up here again."

He doesn't respond, but I know he does when she says:

"—Go on, off you go."

I hear papers being gathered and a chair creaking. I'm forced to turn around to look at them again.

"—Thank you, Bronze..."

Our eyes meet for a moment as he heads toward the exit. He stops in front of the door to give me a gentle smile. I return it out of politeness.

"—You're famous here. I'm glad to have seen you at least once. I'm almost a fan of yours."

His comment earns him a smack on the head from Lucy. I laugh discreetly. That wasn't very smart of him.

"—I haven't signed the form yet, so you'd better leave before I change my mind."

That was all it took for the poor kid to flee the office. Lucy sighs while scribbling on the paper in front of her.

"—Well, you've started quite a movement too," comments Ingrid as I return to my exercises.

"—I didn't ask for anything," I reply, shrugging. "As long as it's in a good way, I don't care."

"—It's not especially in a good way," grumbles Lucy from her corner. "This one gave me quite a bit of work to set him straight, if you know what I mean."

"—Well, you just released him, didn't you?"

"—Lucy usually releases her students around December, or even January for the more headstrong ones," Ingrid tells me in a whisper.

"—Oh..."

I don't know what else to say. It's not like I encouraged these young people to act rebellious. I was too busy with myself to be concerned with others' behavior. I wasn't surprised that the young man who just left was one of the last rebels. He had an angelic face that I would describe as popular. That's certainly what he was before coming here. I jump when the office door slams. Lucy comes toward us and, with a hand gesture, asks me to push back my chair. I barely have time to do so before she sits on my lap. With her hand, she grabs my neck, and her lips capture mine firmly. I respond without flinching. I don't know why she's doing this, but I'm not going to complain. She's offering me more and more private contact, whereas she insisted at the beginning that we keep our distance. She finally sighs and settles against me so that her head rests against my shoulder.

"—Seems like someone had a long day."

"—Mm-hmm," she sighs. "I just released my last student."

"—No. You still have me."

She laughs softly, placing a kiss on my exposed neck. I've given up on my exercises since it's impossible to do anything in this position. I'm forced to hold Lucy to prevent her from slipping off my lap.

"—Naturally. You'll remain an exception until the end," she says.

"—That's for sure," I giggle. "Have you already told Wiegman that you won't be here next year?"

"—No," she murmurs. "I'm going to wait a bit before requesting a meeting."

"—No kidding. She's going to fall into depression when you go," Ingrid mocks. "You were her favorite. »

Lucy shrugs indifferently in response.

"You have to know what you want in life. Right?" she asks, sliding her hand under my sweater.

"Yeah," I murmur. "And what about you? Are you planning to stay here much longer?" I ask Ingrid.

"I don't know. Definitely next year, then we'll see."

"What did you study, if it's not too personal?"

"Social work," she replies. "I plan to seriously look for a job next year."

"I already told you, if you do your degree in sports, we could hire you with Jenni," Lucy says to her.

"I know, I know," she rolls her eyes. "I'll wait to see if your thing works before I commit," she teases.

"There’s no reason it won’t work," I defend.

She smiles mischievously but says nothing more. Lucy finally grabs the exercise I was working on.

"How's it going? Are you managing?"

"Not really," I mumble. "I'm feeling overwhelmed seeing all I have to review. I’m never going to make it."

"Don’t say that. I've never seen a student as hardworking as you," she says with a touch of amusement.

"It's only because you motivate me. Otherwise, trust me, I would've given up already."

"But you won’t give up. Otherwise, I’ll go on strike with kisses and cuddles," she threatens me. "That’d be silly, right before our one-month anniversary," she adds quietly.

I smile, knowing full well that our one-month anniversary is tomorrow. I've been thinking about it and planning our weekend since Monday with Mapi. She’s also celebrating her one-month anniversary with Ingrid. We have the upper hand, being in Barcelona.

"Seriously? Using that as leverage? That’s blackmail!"

"Is it working?" she asks with a mischievous grin.

"Of course. You're such a brat."

"Careful what you say. I can still use my rank to make you run laps outside."

She pinches my belly, which she had been caressing, making me squeal. I pout to show her I don't like it, even though I understand her reasons.

"No need to pull that face," she laughs, getting up.

She stretches in front of me. The position probably wasn’t very comfortable. Still, I would've liked her to stay a little longer. The warmth she created by cuddling against me is already fading. Unfortunately, she can't stay in that position forever, considering where we are.

"Grab your stuff and come with me."

"Now that I was so comfortably settled," I complain.

"You can stay here, but you’ll be all alone," Ingrid teases as she gets up too.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yep, I'm going for a walk to keep the peace," she says with a wink. "Don’t use it as an excuse to fool around."

I laugh, shaking my head. She hands my first paper back to Lucy, then leaves. Meanwhile, I switch positions. Lucy is already checking my work.

"I think we have some work to do," Lucy teases.

"Why do you say that?"

"Your exercises are far from correct," she laughs.

I groan in frustration, not even bothering to continue the previous exercise. I already know she’ll want to rework that part before moving on to the rest, and she’s right.

Tuesday, March 2nd; 8:30 PM – Ona and Alexia’s room.

"We haven’t seen much of you since the break ended."

Alexia throws this comment as we return to our room after dinner. To be honest, I would’ve preferred she bring it up another time. I’m exhausted. I could fall asleep right here. The pace is hard to get back into, and the revision sessions don’t help much with resting, as that’s all I’ve been doing.

"I know, sorry," I sigh, collapsing onto the bed.

"I overheard Alessia talking to her sister when she came back from class without you this afternoon. They think you’d rather spend time with your supervisor than with us, if you know what I mean."

Her tone is somewhat amused. I deduce she doesn’t think the same, thankfully. If even she starts judging me, I’m in trouble.

"I regret that they saw us at that convenience store. Now that they know, they think I prefer staying with Lucy. I told them it’s for study sessions. I even have proof if they need it."

My binder is full of exercises I do during evening sessions. If it were up to me, they’d all be in the trash.

"Well, apparently they think differently," she shrugs. "Don’t worry about it, let them talk. I just wanted to let you know."

"I doubt they’ll dare say anything to my face."

"I don’t think so either," she admits. "But who knows. At least now you’re prepared if it happens."

She closes the doors of her wardrobe, where she had been searching for her pajamas. Then, she turns and offers me a small, sympathetic smile. I wonder if she’s ever dealt with similar comments. Honestly, I’ve never asked her if anyone knows about her relationship with Jenni. Since I’ve been here, she mostly hangs out with me.

"I just think it might be a good idea to slow things down between you two here. You know how fast rumors spread."

"We’re not doing anything wrong," I sigh. "These study sessions were in place long before we got together. If they can’t understand that I want to pass my exam, that’s not my problem."

She nods, deciding to drop the subject. Instead, she heads to the shower. Meanwhile, I check in with Mapi about the weekend. Everything should be set now. We had already discussed it last week, just before she left. I still send her a message to make sure she’s booked everything. We have different plans, which is better. One-month anniversaries are meant to be enjoyed as a couple, after all. Now, I just need to make sure Lucy hasn’t planned anything. I’ll ask her tomorrow. Knowing her, she’s probably already planned something, but what? As for tomorrow, I’m pretty stuck. I don’t even have anything to give her, and I can’t really prepare something. My movements are being watched. The only thing I have to offer is a drawing that’s been lying at the bottom of my closet since Monday night. I feel almost foolish, considering this woman deserves all the love in the world. I just hope she’ll like the gesture... Anyway, it’s too late to plan anything else. When the shower stops running, I search for my things.

"It’s your turn," Ale says as she steps out of the bathroom, towel in one hand drying her hair, the hairdryer in the other.

"Thanks."

I grab a random pair of pajamas and some fresh underwear, then head to the bathroom. An idea sparks as I place my clothes on the counter next to the sink. I turn around and call out to Ale before she turns on the hairdryer.

"You’ve been in a long-term relationship—any ideas on what I could give Lucy for our one-month anniversary tomorrow?"

"Is that already tomorrow?" she asks in surprise.

"Mm-hmm... I did make her a drawing, but I feel silly only giving her that."

"Well, in your situation, it’s a bit tricky. Jenni always managed to plan things because she had more freedom than I did, but I have to admit I never gave her anything while we were here. I always made up for it when we saw each other outside."

I sigh and nod, a bit disappointed. I should’ve thought about it this weekend, though even then it would’ve been hard since we were at Lucy’s place.

"One month already," Ale whispers. "Time flies!"

"Yeah, no kidding," I giggle.

"When exactly was it? The night Korbin jumped on you?"

I wince but nod. I hate remembering that event. It feels so far away now and yet not that distant at all.

"Sorry," she grimaces, sensing it bothers me. "I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories."

"It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ll hop in the shower. Maybe the water will help me come up with ideas for tomorrow."

"Good luck," she teases softly.

I return to the bathroom as Ale starts drying her hair. I was hoping this moment would help me brainstorm ideas, but it didn’t. I sigh, giving up on planning anything. I’ll make it up to her this weekend.

[riki-riks-chick]

heyy im lwk dying for like a bsf jungwon thing rn… like maybe the border between bsfs and smth more is blurred.. u feel me

What Are We? ┃Y.JW

jungwon x reader

yn has all sorts of feelings for jungwon, but can't differentiate between platonic and romantic.

fluff! yn does jungwon's makeup, one kiss, no confession, questioning their relationship.

wdct: 1.1k

I'm usually not very good at vague relationships, but I think this is like the line between being bffs and being bf and gf. either way thnx for the request 💚

═════════════

Third Person POV~

For as long as you can remember, you've been friends with Jungwon. He's always been an important person in your life. So much so that you can't remember life without him or even imagine life without him.

He feels the same, you guys are attached at the hip and nothing could ever sever your connection.

Everyday is spent the same way. You guys meet up at school, and you have almost all your classes together. You always sit beside each other too, so people are convinced you two are secretly dating.

Every accusation is met with a simple "I'd never date him.." or a blatant "We're just friends." but sometimes you even question your closeness to the boy.

"Jungwon, are you coming over after school?" You ask, leaning against your locker as he goes through his. He closes it after grabbing his needed book. "I don't know.. My mom says she'll ground me if I don't study."

"We can study at my house." You pout and he smiles, pinching your cheek. "We both know that we don't get anything done when we study together. You'll just have to miss me today.."

The rest of the day, you're bored.. It's like being with Jungwon so much makes you blind to how little friends you actually have. He's always been everything for you...

Surprisingly, he comes to your house anyway after studying for a couple hours at home, and you immediately get so excited.

"Hey, remember how you still owe me for the homework I let you copy." You remind as he sighs. "What do you want?.. Wanna use me as a makeup dummy again?" He asks as you nod, getting off your bed and pulling him to sit on the stool at your vanity.

"I wanna try a makeup look for school tomorrow.. If it looks bad on you I won't do it.. If it looks good I'll wear it to school." You explain as he nodded. "Okay, just get it over with."

You start on his makeup, quickly realizing that your hands aren't as steady when you aren't sitting down. He notices and simply pats his lap. "Come on.." You're hesitant at first, but then you straddle his lap, focusing on doing his makeup.

Jungwon is forced to stare at you, your eyes, lips.. The way your hair frames your face is perfect too.. He loves being around you..

"You're making me nervous.. Stop staring." You blush, playfully slapping his chest as he laughs. "Sorry.. I was just admiring you.."

Your heart beats slightly faster at his words, cheeks flushing a deeper pink as you tried to ignore him. He can feel you shifting every second or so to keep yourself from sliding off his lap, so he puts his hands on your hips, trying to keep himself from reacting. You tense at the action.

"What are you doing?.." You ask as he chuckles nervously. "Oh, uh.. You were moving a lot and I figured it's because you were sliding off.. I just wanted to keep you still.." You simply nod, trying to ignore the slight fluttering feeling in your abdomen.

You're close to finishing Jungwon's makeup, starting on the lips, you sharpen your lip liner, cupping his jaw as you tug him closer, his face only a few inches from yours.

He decides to close his eyes to make it less awkward, but it only gets your imagination running. You're thinking of things you shouldn't be thinking of, things that you don't usually think about your best friend, but you can't help it. Sometimes it gets confusing, your relationship with Jungwon.

You didn't realize you had zoned out until Jungwon squeezed your hips. "You okay?.." He asks as you nod. "Sorry.. I was thinking about a different lip liner.."

"Did you wanna grab it?" He questions as you shake your head. "No this one is fine.." You cup his jaw again, leaning closer as you begin to line his lips. You can feel his chest rise and fall.. You can feel his hands grow slightly tighter on your hips.. You can feel his heart beat, and it's louder than your own.

You're wondering if he's thinking the same way you're thinking.. Feeling the way you're feeling.. But then again, you don't know how you feel.. Jungwon is your best friend.. You've never seen him as more than that, but you also can't live without him.. You miss him when he's away, and you can't go a day without at least calling or texting him when you don't get to see him.

The two of you can cuddle and hold hands shamelessly, give each other friendly kisses on the cheek and sometimes on the lips depending on the situation, and you know that he's your soulmate.

But then there's this anxiety that keeps your feelings in a complex.. Does Jungwon think of you the same way you think of him?.. You can't even sort out your thoughts towards Jungwon, but you hope he at least cherishes you the same way do cherish him.

You finish lining his lips, filling it in with one of your lip glosses as you smile. "All done.." You show him his reflection in the mirror and he smiles. "You should definitely do your makeup like this tomorrow.."

You nod in agreement, grabbing your makeup wipes as you begin to wipe the makeup off of his face. You start with the base, then you take off the makeup around his eyes, being sure to be gentle. Finally you clean off his lips.

"I can still taste the lip gloss.." He chuckles as you smile. "I don't remember it having a flavor." You mumble as he shrugs, pressing a short kiss to your lips. "Doesn't it taste like strawberries?.."

You're too stunned to even think about the taste so you just nod. That's not the first time you've kissed Jungwon, but why did it erupt such emotion in you this time?.. Why did it make you mad to imagine him being this close with and kissing a different girl?

You finish cleaning off his makeup. Letting him wash his face and use your moisturizer before the two of you layed down on your bed, simply staring at the ceiling.

"Won?.." You call as he hums, turning to glance at you. "What are we?..." He goes quiet after your question, but then he grabs your hand, squeezing it gently. "We're us.. And we'll continue to be us for the rest of our lives together.."

═════════════