#and yeah i agree everyone is just v kind and ready to stay behind and help put stuff away or clean your desk if you're running a bit late

[sensazioneultra]

man i'm so 😞 it's the last day of one of my coworkers

[thetaekookcloset]

Saw in on taekookchats people talking about the taekook vlive with Jin and Hoseok. It reminded me of a pretty damning moment. Where Jin claims everyone goes home while he works out. The way Tae immediately was like hold up, jk doesn’t come home and wanted an explanation right at that moment. Jin even tried to defend him saying he stays to work on music. Tae still needed to hear it from jungkook mouth and was stating his ass down till jk finally budged and defended himself. This spoke volumes (1)

(2) why would you be so concerned and quite clearly accusatory towards your friends whereabouts? That’s not friend behavior. He straight up disregarded the fact that a whole vlive was still in session until Jungkook explained himself. He was serious and ready to go back n forth about it. It reminds me of that perilla leaf moment where Tae admits he would have start a light fight with his partner about it lol.

Yeah honestly that moment was SO weird to me in the V Live with Jin and Hobi.  Mostly because, as you said, it was sort of out of place.  It definitely gave me the feeling of witnessing a recurring argument -- like there was more to that than what we saw because it’s a conversation that’s happened before.  Definitely more like couple behavior than friend behavior in my opinion too.

I think it’s funny that you link that to the perilla leaf moment because the one in the V Live had sort of a serious tone to it, I thought, whereas the perilla leaf thing was so hilarious.  I finally watched the MBTI Lab episodes this morning, so I finally saw that whole scene in the context, and I love how Tae and JK launch into this whole drama that they concoct together, it’s so funny.  What stood out to me in having the context, though, was how serious JK actually was lol.  I had thought, before watching the whole thing, that they were mostly just joking around, but no -- JK was adamant, he was not backing down from his stance or listening to any arguments against it haha.  And Tae seemed to not only embrace that but to have expected it.

So yes, I agree with you.  I think both moments give a little bit of a peek behind the curtain.  With the first, we don’t really know what it means, but it seemed sort of serious, and with the second, the tone was jokey but also seemed to be pointing at something real.  And I think both point to the different kind of relationship that Tae and JK have with each other versus the others.  They were clearly not on the same page during the first moment, and they were the only ones on the same page during the second, but both were definitely particular to them.

[ibuki-loves-you]

Killed for a Hopeful Future (Nagito Komaeda x Reader)

Warnings: Angst, mentions of suicide, domestic stuff, detailed descriptions of murder, mentions of v/mit, potential spoilers???

Mod Ibuki: Another piece me and @call-me-ko worked on together! Execution based off this fan-made one! I hope you enjoy!

Sobs were all that could be heard throughout the small cottage.

Heavy, distraught sobs.

Nagito sat in his bed, the bed Y/N often accompanied him in. Heavy sobs racked his body. He doesn't think he's cried this hard in his entire life.

His love, his world, was gone.

It was like they were taken right out from under him.

One gunshot wound to the chest and bruises around their neck. Their leg looked broken, probably from the fall.

Y/N's body was hung from the door of strawberry house and dropped all the way to grape house's floor. Blood was everywhere due to the gunshot wound.

When Nagito saw, he thought he was going to die himself. No one told him that they were the victim. They just said they didn't know who it was yet.

He didn't get to say goodbye

He didn't get to tell them that he loved them.

He didn't-

"Nagito!" Fuyuhiko yelled. Nagito swung his head around, glaring at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nagito stated. Fuyuhiko stayed quiet. "Simple question. Is it really that hard to answer?" He snapped. Fuyuhiko didn't say anything. Kazuichi shakily sighed. "W-We didn't want to make you panic."

Nagito scoffed. "A little late for that, isn't it?"

Nagito investigated your body himself. He didn't trust anyone. You were loved by everyone here, and yet you still died. It didn't add up.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Nagito... it's time for the trial." Hajime mumbled apologetically. Nagito nodded slowly.

"Give me a minute..." He responded. "Of course." Hajime said softly, moving to the elevator.

Nagito dropped to his knees in front of them. Tears started streaming down his face.

"Who did this? Angel...who did this to you?" He mumbled, stroking Y/N's head. "I promise...your killer will get what they deserve." Nagito placed a kiss on their forehead.

He began making his way towards the elevator.

Justice would be served

"The murder occurred at around 5:30 am." Hajime started.

"The murder weapon was a noose found at the scene, but they also had a wound in their chest. I think a gunshot. That could be the cause of death as well." Chiaki added.

"It was the cause of death." Nagito interrupted. "How else could they have fallen?"

"Fallen...?" Chiaki asked. Nagito scoffed.

"I'm not looking to play games this trial. I want to know the blackened as soon as I possibly can so let me tell you this so you can put everything together." Nagito said angrily.

"Strawberry house and grape house are connected. It's an elevator. Y/N died beforehand via gunshot. That means the killer went to the Final Dead Room. I would know because I went there. The elevator won't move if a living thing is detected. It moved because they were dead already. The killer tied a noose around their neck and tied the other end to the doorknob. Then, they activated the elevator. Eventually, Y/N would fall because that's how gravity works. Now, figure out who killed them." Nagito snapped. He explained the murder in perfect detail, no flaw.

With Nagito's explanation, soon enough they found the killer.

"Gundham...why did you do it?" Hajime asked, a solemn expression painted onto his features. 

Gundham stood silent. After a moment, he took a breath.

"We had a plan." He muttered. "Please explain." Hajime requested, taking a few glances at a fuming Nagito.

"Y/N and I agreed that we would allow all of you to escape at the expense of our lives. I completed the Final Dead Room, and we planned the murder from there." Gundham started.

"We wanted you to survive. Y/N didn't go down without a fight, nor did I. I request you remember that." Gundham looked towards Nagito. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a key. He walked over to Nagito and held it out.

"It is the key to their cottage. I didn't know if you had one or not, either or I assumed they'd want you to have it." Nagito took the key silently.

"I don't expect forgiveness, nor do I want it. But one thing I want you all to carry from mine and Y/N's demise is that you must always fight. Do not go down without one."

With that, Gundham was dragged to his execution.

And that's how he ended up in his room clutching a piece of your clothing while he bawled his eyes out.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Please make your way to Jabberwock Park! Not attending will result in immediate death! See you soon! Puhuhuhuhu~"

Nagito looked at the monitor. Should he even attend? He didn't care whether he died or not.

After contemplation he decided to go. He dried his eyes and placed your belonging neatly on his bed. Nagito made his way out the door and to Jabberwock Park.

Upon arrival, everyone gave him pitied stares. He looked horrible, worse than he usually did, and he knew that.

"Are you alright?" Chiaki spoke. Nagito looked at her and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"No, not really. But you shouldn't worry! I'll be fine." That was a lie, even he didn't believe it.

"Allow me to introduce the new motive. Future visions!" Monokuma announced. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We aren't gonna do that shit!" Fuyuhiko screamed. "Yeah, like we'd believe it!" Nekomaru hollered after. Nagito stayed silent.

Future visions? He didn't believe in any of that, but it's worth a look, right?

When everyone left Jabberwock Park, mainly out of anger towards Monokuma, Nagito looked at the vision motive.

A character select button appeared on a screen that seemingly came out of nowhere. He selected himself. A video began to load.

"Alright, let's go see baba." Nagito cooed. He took his daughter's hands and gently pulled her to her feet. The baby giggled in response.

"Ready? One step at a time." Nagito looked up at Y/N. They sat on the other side of the living room, smiling at the two. Nagito gave them a bright smile. With small steps of his own, he guided their daughter in Y/N's direction.

Their child shook their hands from Nagito's. Nagito let go and smiled, keeping close behind her.

Y/N opened their arms and their daughter stumbled into them. Nagito hurried over with a wide smile.

"You did it, baby! I'm so proud of you!" Nagito cheered. His daughter crawled out of Y/N's arms and into his. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"And you say she isn't a daddy's girl." Y/N teased. Nagito smiled and kissed his daughter's cheek over and over, earning a giggle in response.

"Yeah, I guess I see where you're coming from." Nagito leaned forward and gave you a kiss.

"I love you, angel." "I love you too, Nagi."

Nagito stared at the screen with a mix of horror and awe. He moved his hands towards his pale face and rubbed his temples. He took his hand and selected Y/N’s character.

“Daddy! Higher!” His daughter giggled, gripping the chains of the swing. Nagito chuckled

“A little higher, okay?” Nagito compromised. She giggled and nodded. “Okay daddy!”

Y/N smiled from next to Nagito, watching as he booped her nose every time the swing came towards him.

“Baba! Look how high I’m going!” Their daughter called. Y/N giggled and nodded.

“I see! You’re almost as tall as me and daddy from up there!” Y/N said, a smile gracing their features. Nagito nodded in agreement, a huge smile on his face. He turned his head to face his lover.

“Look how happy she is.” He mumbled, chuckling everytime she giggled.

“Daddy keep pushing me!” She said when he stopped for a moment. Nagito laughed and continued pushing the swing.

“She really is such a happy kid.” Y/N smiled throughout their sentence. Nagito wrapped one arm around Y/N’s waist and used the other to push the swing.

That was his future? Or would’ve been?

Nagito put his forehead against the screen and started crying again.

He couldn’t help but feel selfish because he wanted that more than anything.

Soon enough his tears turned to crazed wheezes, laughter shaking his body.

Hope and despair mixed in his eyes once again. He had nothing to lose…

So why not get himself killed? Or better yet get them killed. It's all their fault after all, Y/N did nothing to them yet they had to die.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

“A body has been discovered! Please make your way to the warehouse on the fifth island!”

Everyone dropped what they were doing and made their way to the warehouse next to the factory while Nagito took his time. Everything went according to plan. Now all he had to do was wait. Whether he survived the trial or not didn’t matter much to him, since one way or another he would die.

Suicide or execution was the question now.

“The victim is Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager. The murder weapon is unknown, but definitely a tool of some sorts as he was taken apart.” Hajime started. 

“Trip wire was found at the scene.” Kazuichi added. “So we can assume that was definitely used, especially since he has scratched on his ankles. Well, as scratched as metal can be.”

“Killer probably pressed the power button after using the trip wire, right?” Fuyuhiko questioned. Hajime nodded. “Most likely.”

Sonia put a finger to her chin. “So what you are saying is the killer used tripwire, and then powered Nekomaru off?” Hajime nodded again.

“Who would want to kill Nekomaru? He was so kind to us all.” Akane muttered. “I can’t answer that, I wish I could. But for now all we can do is find his killer.” And with that the trial was officially underway.

“So this is how it happened.” Hajime started. “Nekomaru was lured to the factory’s warehouse by an anonymous letter. He assumed whoever it was he would be able to handle, so he expected a fight. What he didn’t expect was tripwire a few feet away from the door. With his height, I wouldn’t expect him to see it either. Nor would I expect it myself. After Nekomaru fell into the tripwire, his head slammed into the floor, causing him to be weakened for a moment. It may not have been a long moment, but it was enough for the killer to rush into action and press his power button on the back of his neck. When the power button was pressed and Nekomaru was officially powered off, the killer took him apart using a variety of tools found at the market. This explains the mess of oil we found. The killer scattered his parts all around the warehouse and factory, thus leading to us having to find the parts and put them together for investigation.”

Hajime turned to the podium across from his.

“Isn’t that right, Nagito Komaeda? The Ultimate Lucky Student…”

Nagito smiled that crazed grin of his. His eyes were swirling with hope and despair once again.

“Yep! You are absolutely right!” He laughed. Hajime winced while Akane banged on her podium in sheer anger.

“Why, Nagito?” Hajime asked. Nagito continued to laugh. “Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to die!” He said as if it was nothing. Akane growled. “So why didn’t you kill yourself!?” Nagito’s laughs died down, his emotions doing a complete 180.

“Because I wanted to kill you all as well.” He said simply. Everyone looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

“W-What?” Hajime whispered. “Did I stutter? You guys were the reason Y/N died! Y-You took them away from me!” Nagito screamed. He dropped to his knees behind his podium, sobs beginning to consume him once again.

“I-I could’ve had a life with them...We w-would’ve been happy a-and I w-would’ve had a d-daughter.” Nagito mumbled weakly. “I just want Y/N...I-I want to see Y/N. P-Please just kill me already.” He pleaded.

Everyone looked at him with a mixture of sadness, pity, and fear.

“Who am I to disobey?” Monokuma said. “W-Wait, we need to talk more! We have more questions, bastard!” Fuyuhiko cursed. Monokuma ignored him. Nagito continued sobbing and clutching his podium.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s punishment time!”

Nagito was set up straight, strapped to a wheel similar to one you’d see on a gameshow. Every section other than him was either Monomi or Monokuma.

Monokuma spun the wheel, causing him to start spinning with it.

It landed on Monomi.

Monokuma spun the wheel again. A wave of nausea hitting Nagito like a truck as his head began pounding.

It landed on Monokuma.

The wheel was spun once again. Nagito laid cursing his luck as he began throwing up in his mouth from the constant motion sickness.

The torture continued for nearly 15 minutes. A vicious cycle of spinning and choking on his own vomit.

Monokuma spun one last time, the wheel finally landing on Nagito. He smiled, elated that the torture was finally over.

Before he could blink, copious amounts of spears fired towards him. Out of many, only three struck him.

Two in each of his legs, and one in his chest.

As he slowly bled to death, all he could think about was one thing.

He was going to see them again.

[fatui-gf]

hello dear! your works are my current obsession i love them all!! youre v good :)

ive been thinking about like, coming home after a long dag of working to diluc and making dinner together and taking a stroll outside the winery and just soft domestic fluff??? whag i wouldnt do for that man heheh!!

have a good rest of your day n keep up the good work!!!

Hiiii!! Thank you so much for your kind words, it really means a lot to me and helps me keep motivated!! I’ve actually already planned to write some fluff for Diluc, he’s one of my favs, haha. Anyways, I hope you like this fluffy scenario! I took an artistic liberty and made the reader and Diluc married, I think it fits the domestic, sweet vibe and I hope you won’t mind :D

Diluc x reader - Can we kiss forever? (sfw fluff, the reader is gn as per usual)

word count: 1680

It was a tough day for the adventurer’s guild today. Loads of work and not that many people to take care of everything. If you said you weren’t tired then you’d be lying.

It wasn’t completely exhausting but you still couldn’t keep your mind off Diluc, especially during the end of the commissions you were supposed to do. Your mind would crawl back to him, the memories and how much you wanted to see him again, remembering the good morning kiss he had placed on your cheek. You touched your face, caressing the spot that had kissed earlier, lost in thought.

Are you done with your work today? - a familiar voice approached as you paused in your actions.

It was the fellow adventurer from the guild. You averted your eyes, a little flustered that they had seen you daydream just now.

Yeah, I was about to head home right now - you said, giving them a friendly smile.

Alright then, see you again tomorrow! - they exclaimed happily as you turned your own way.

Phew, they didn’t question what you were so intensely thinking about. You smiled to yourself as your mind drifted to your husband again.

You headed to the general goods store to get a few ingredients for dinner. You remembered your agreement with your husband that today the both of you were going to cook together.

After the shopping was done, you headed to the Dawn Winery where Diluc was waiting for you. He had already cleaned the kitchen and prepared what he could. You’ve placed the paper bag with ingredients on the counter as you spread your arms, inviting Diluc for a welcome hug which he gladly accepted. You stayed like that for a little longer, him enjoying the closeness he always missed.

It was beautiful to finally see the man feeling appreciated. He still needed a lot of reassurance, though. After what he has been through, he can’t let anyone he loves so much leave his side anymore. You were like treasure to him, someone whom he would always protect and take care of. He was devoted. Actually, really devoted and committed to the relationship. Most people wouldn’t necessarily describe him as a romantic person and truth be told, his stoic demeanor might suggest that. However, he tried his best to make you smile and happy, usually in the most subtle ways. You could notice he never forgot to greet you with a kiss in the morning or how he would gently hold your hand when you were nearby. It was the little things for him, mostly in the comfort of our own home, away from the sight of others. He didn’t need to show everyone you were his nor did he need the approval of strangers. All that mattered to him was the truth of your feelings.

Cooking the dinner today was entirely his idea, he thought it would be a great bonding experience and quite honestly, he loved your cooking, mostly because it was made by you. The love and effort that was put into a dish mattered more than the rich flavour or a skillful technique used to make it. It was special because it was made with care and hope that he will like it.

After pulling away from the long embrace, Diluc shot you a smile. It wasn’t that rare to see him smile, it was a part of the mask he would put on for the public but seeing him smile so happily and most importantly, truthfully was the best you could see.

He grabbed your hand and led you closer to the counters. You pulled out all the necessary stuff. You were going to make a “once upon a time in Mondstadt” (Diluc’s special dish). He watched you with eyes oh so full of love as you did tasks as mundane as preparing the meat for the meal.

He approached you from behind, putting his strong hands on yours as if he was leading you with them. You could feel the warmth gleaming from his bare hands, he was comfortable enough around you to take off his gloves, besides, he loved to feel your skin on his. It was so simple, yet so intimate.

You weren’t doing anything special but you felt like a royalty, so lucky to have him and so lucky to enjoy the time together. “This… is what love is about, right?” you thought to yourself.

You spent such a great time cooking the dish together, your laughter and sounds of endless conversations filled the mansion’s walls. When the meal was done, you’ve brought it to the table which was set by Diluc earlier. The white tablecloth was dotted with red rose petals and a few candles waited to be lit. Cliche but still cute, you could tell he’s put a lot of care and thought into it. You sat down and enjoyed the meal together. Diluc would sometimes reach his hand to meet yours, feeling your touch, you being close to him, appreciating your looks. You were perfect in his eyes and he was so glad he could have a more romantic dinner with you. It’s always good to romanticize simple tasks and make them something more special. He appreciated your every move, even if it was clumsy, he still adored it.

It was so good, I think we might have to do this more often - you laughed as you were putting the dirty dishes away to the kitchen.

Everything for you - he said, putting his large hands on your cheeks and gently caressing them before he placed a small peck on your forehead.

You shot a quick glance to the window and noticed that the sun was about to get. Your eyes widened and got brighter.

Diluc! Let’s go see the sunset together!

You made your way out of the Dawn Winery, taking a short stroll nearby before you settled down to sit on the grass. It was a little damp but that didn’t matter to either of you. You kept looking at the sky with the biggest smile, your eyes looked so beautiful in this lightning, someone couldn’t take their eyes off you. Your joy was so amusing, how a person could get so excited by something that happens everyday. Diluc quietly placed his hand on top of yours which you gripped, giving him the little thumb rub to show affection. He then averted his gaze from you, directing it at the scenery before him. It really did look beautiful, how the sun basically painted the nearby trees and such with its colors.

He was so happy to share this moment with you, just the two of you. As soon as the sun set, he could feel a playful push on his shoulder and there he landed, fully on the grass. He couldn’t help but laugh at your joyful shenanigans and pulled you closer into a kiss. As you pulled away, you placed your hair behind your ear, looking at your husband laying there underneath you. He actually looked so happy, he got everything he missed. It wasn’t long before you found yourself on the grass, now the red-haired man being the one more in control. Both of you giggled as you messed around with each other, just enjoying the company. You grabbed a strand of his beautiful hair and he reached to you once again, smiling before you could feel his lips on yours.

Can we kiss forever? Can we stay like this… forever? - you could hear Diluc ask after he pulled away.

You’ve placed your arms around his neck, giving him a smirk.

I really want to spend the rest of my life by your side - you said.

Do you promise? - he asked, sticking out his pinky finger - Pinky promise?

Pinky promise!

You know you can never break these, do you?

I wouldn’t dare.

Diluc took your hand, helping you get up. While you were tidying your clothes, he asked if you would like to walk around a little more. You agreed and the both of you proceeded to take a stroll near the winery, holding hands all the time during the process.

I’m so tired - you said after entering the mansion and taking off your shoes.

I’ll make something warm for you to drink before you go to sleep, it would be a shame if you caught a cold - your husband said with care.

You sat yourself on the couch, wrapping your body in a blanket, waiting for the hot beverage to arrive along with your portable heater, aka Diluc.

He came back to you after a while, holding a cup with hot chocolate and a plate with homemade chocolate chip cookies he has made before. Who would’ve known Diluc was so good at not only cooking, but also baking? He handed you the cup and placed the plate on the table.

Would you be so kind to let me in? - he asked as you laughed at his polite tone.

You lifted up the blanket, letting the red-haired man snuggle underneath it and wrap his arms around you. The fireplace was also lit, the glimmering light and Diluc’s loving embrace made you feel instantly warmer.

You kept taking sips of the hot cocoa and tasting the cookies. This is what home tastes like. You could feel your cheeks lighting up whenever your husband would give you a peck, not sure if he was trying to get your attention or just shower you completely with love. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.

After a while, Diluc could feel you drifting away to the dream land in his embrace. He carefully lifted you up from the couch, carrying you to your shared bedroom. He made sure to carefully tuck you in without disrupting your sleep. After getting ready for bed, he lied down next to you, taking a look at your sleepy expression before gently kissing your nose. He reached out to turn off the light and pulled you close into his embrace once again.

Goodnight, love - he whispered even though you couldn’t hear it.

[itjazzbicch]

The Last Laugh PT. 3

Pairing:  Kenny Omega x Fem Reader

Summary: Continuing from my Last Laugh Series (In my wattpad which is in bio):

The reader and Kenny are now realizing their true feelings for one another, but the Young Bucks still have their questions due to previous events, trying to crack the reader but when they fail, they test Kenny...

Warnings:  N/A

Requested by: No one (But I hope you all enjoy!) 

Word Count:  2784

Tag List: @demonqueen29 @jessiebean00 @new-zealand-chic @crowleysqueenofhell @justamess44 @thatpanpal @hungmanhorsecarriage @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch  @linziland13 @yungbludjazz360​  

I DO NOT OWN THIS GIF

[You coming over not? I have a big match tonight you know] I sent to Kenny.

I thought I’d never see the day, but Kenny and I were getting along, getting very close and having true feelings for each other rather than just going at it.

[Just give me a few minutes. I’ll be over] Kenny sent back.

I had a championship match tonight and Kenny said he wanted to see me before since he couldn’t escort me out himself.

Since he had to take his time, I patiently waited for him. There were still some things for me to do. I just got out of hair and make-up, my gear still needed to be adjusted, so I just sat in my locker room waiting.

Kenny didn’t take as long as I thought he was going to, quickly turning to my phone when I heard it vibrating consistently.

“You finally coming over?” I asked, holding my phone up to my ear as I was still fixing my boots.

“Sure am!” Kenny said cheerfully, “You ready for the night?”

“Always ready,” I smirked, sitting up straight.

“You always have been,” Kenny cooed, but then there was silence. After a moment, Kenny whispered into the phone, “Hey, give me a second.”

Kenny didn’t hang up, but it sounded as if he put his phone in his pocket, it was muffled, but I heard Matt.

“Kenny, we have an interview and some other stuff to take care of. Where are you going?” Matt questioned.

From the sound of Kenny’s voice, he was remaining calm when he sighed, “You guys realize that I am a champion across three different companies, right? The champion is a very busy man.”

“Yeah, but we already had this planned dude,” Nick groaned, but Kenny didn’t budge, explaining:

“A few minutes delay isn’t going to ruin anything, okay? A few minutes is all I need. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

“You know,” Matt said, sounding like a stand-off was ready to happen, “I have heard that phrase before and I’m convinced that it’s a code word of some sorts.”

Kenny scoffed at his comment, groaning, “Where else have you heard that from?”

“Remember when Y/N tried being a bitch again out in the parking lot? Well later that night, we coincidentally ran into her again. She told us that she had business to attend to. Said it just like you did,” Matt pointed out, Nick adding:

“And how strange it was that your phone kept going straight to voicemail that night and she also went up to the floor of your hotel room.”

Kenny was always good at getting around sticky situations, laughing at them at first, “Aren’t the two of you observant!” But then, his voice grew serious when he continued, “Look, you two are just letting mind games get to you. Now, I have business to do. I’m not going to stand here and play into your conspiracies.”

After that, the phone hung up. I was on the same page as Kenny. They sure were nosey and it angered him. I could tell by the tone of his voice.

This week, I got myself a private locker room and no one knew where it was except for Kenny, so I left the door unlocked.

When Kenny entered, he was stressed and I addressed it.

“I heard everything, Kenny,” I informed him.

Kenny had both hands on his hips, still frustrated, groaning, “They are like brothers to me but damn, they need to mind their business!”

Quickly, I went to Kenny, pulling his face towards me so I could look in his eyes, saying, “What they don’t know won’t kill them. They are kind of catching on and hell, even if they figure it out!

They will prove their loyalty and accept your decisions.”

“They just don’t realize how things have changed,” Kenny whispered, “I know they can tell. They just won’t face it.”

“I agree, but right now, we have bigger things to worry about,” I sighed, smiling, “I do appreciate you coming back here to support me.”

“Believe me, I wish I could escort you out there,” Kenny smiled back, looking down at me, “And then bring you back here and get you out of that gear.”

“Hey, my shower is big enough for the two of us,” I chuckled, laughing more when Kenny said:

“First handcuffs, now shower sex? You sure are creative.”

“That’s only the beginning baby,” I cooed, raising up a bit to kiss him, Kenny returning my kiss, putting an even bigger smile on my face.

“But in all seriousness,” Kenny whispered against my lips, “I am proud that you are a fighting champion. I know you’ll kick ass out there.”

“Don’t I always?” I snickered, “Tonight, I’ll even step it up, just for you.”

“I’ll be watching so you better live up to that,” Kenny warned me playfully.

“I always live up to the hype,” I sighed, kissing him one more time.

Kenny stayed in the locker room with me for a bit longer, we even went over some exercises to get me in the zone and I was ready.

I had about seven minutes to get to the guerrilla and Kenny already took off, so I made my way there with my title on my shoulder.

I was laser-focused, confident like always, but on my way to the guerrilla, someone was there to give me “support”.

“Y/N!” Matt smiled, approaching me with Nick right behind him, “There’s our reigning, defending, women’s champion!”

“For once, I agree with you,” I smiled in his face and I could see how it angered them.

“Unlike Matt, I’m not going to play these games anymore,” Nick said sternly, “We know what you’re trying to do to Kenny.”

“Thank you, Nick,” Matt smiled at me, “We know you’re just trying to hurt him. It’s Japan all over again. Not to mention that little fight you keep mentioning .”

Even I couldn’t deny it, My rivalry with Kenny in Japan was intense, but as Kenny said earlier, things were different and I wasn’t going to let Nick and Matt get the better of me.

At first, I just laughed but getting serious when I said, “You two are just delusional. I have no intentions with Kenny. So what I poke some fun at him every now and then. Rivalries just don’t end you know. And that fight? Again, Kenny is the one who needs to tell you. Not me.”

“We know what’s happening,” Matt growled, stepping up to me, “I’ve seen all the signs and you might think we’re stupid, but you are rudely mistaken.”

“Whatever you say, boys,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.

I didn’t have time for their interrogations and bullshit. My title was on the line and I was facing Tay Conti, a very good female wrestler who I could not underestimate.

My match went exactly like how I imagined it would. It was all straight-up wrestling. We showed that it was main event worthy and we tore the house down.

The only thing that kept slowing me down is her constant attacks on my left arm. It all began whenever she rammed me into the steel ring post.

I was truly afraid that I separated my shoulder or something, the moment I fell to the ground, holding my arm, the referee and some medical staff tried tending to me.

Like always, my stubbornness took over. I refused to quit this match, crying through the pain when I got back up and into the ring.

Everyone thought I was crazy, but I still kept going, using my striking and my legs to the best of my abilities.

Towards the end of our match, Tay had me in an armbar on my injured arm and everyone watched in shock whenever I yelled through the pain, picking up her entire body with my bad arm, power slamming her on the mat.

My arm needed a moment. I didn’t even bother to go to cover her for the pin. The ropes assisted me to my feet, Tay getting up at the same time.

We met in the center of the ring and she went to hit me with a kick but I ducked it, running to the ropes, coming back and dodging again but the next time I came back, I hit her with a devastating, jumping knee strike, similar to Kenny’s V-Trigger and I pinned Tay, retaining my title.

The entire crowd were on their feet and cheering me while I sat on the mat, taking my title and holding it close, sitting still while the referee was checking out my arm again, but then we were all confused, looking to the stage when we heard:

“SUPER-KICK PARTYYYYY!”

I literally couldn’t believe it when I stood up, turning around to see Nick and Matt on stage.

“Wow! So impressive! That is one of the best women’s matches I’ve seen!” Matt smiled, Nick following with:

“So much technical wrestling. I loved it!”

“Y/N, you have beaten just about every female on the roster. I appreciate you wanting to be all about the women’s division,” Matt began, “But remember back in Japan when you wrestled in the men’s division?”

“That was crazy times,” Nick smirked devilishly, “And unfortunately for you, Y/N, you left some unfinished business in Japan and now it followed you to AEW.”

I was just in shock. My arm was killing me, I just wrestled my ass off and now they were doing this, live on television!

“You said it yourself, rivalries never really end and ours sure as hell hasn’t ended yet,” Matt growled at me and after that, I had enough, requesting a microphone.

“Are you kidding me? I just wrestled my ass off and you want to come out here, trying to pull up dirty laundry that happened forever ago!” I yelled at them, my anger controlling me when I said,

“I can tell you’re in a fighting mood and I am pretty pissed off! You wanna fight? Get your asses in this ring! I dare you! I’ll kick both of your asses just like I did in Japan!”

Slowly, Nick and Matt walked to the ring and I got into a fighting position, but I knew something was off. They were anticipating something, but after a moment, they rushed into the ring and I didn’t back down whatsoever.

Right, when they got to me, I was ready to swing, but then we all got knocked over. For a moment, the adrenaline in me died and all of the pain from my shoulder hit me hard.

Quickly, I rolled over into the corner, not caring that I was crying, but watching whenever I saw that it was Kenny. He didn’t intend to knock me over, he was protecting me and that’s when I realized what Matt and Nick were doing. They were testing Kenny.

“What the hell are you doing?” Matt yelled at Kenny, standing up and getting in his face.

Kenny delivered that fire right back, forehead to forehead with Matt, yelling back:“What the hell are YOU doing?!”

Everything was just a mess, everyone so confused as to what was happening, Nick yelling to Kenny:

“Tell us the truth, Kenny!”

Quickly, Matt pushed Kenny away, yelling at him, “Tell us now!”

“You want to know the truth?” Kenny yelled, looking back at both of them, his face so red from anger, taking everyone by surprise, which included me when he yelled at the top of his lungs, it echoing through the arena, “I LOVE HER! I ALWAYS HAVE GOT DAMN IT!”

We all just froze my heart about burst through my chest.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, still crying especially when Kenny turned back and saw the condition I was in.

At that moment, Kenny just forgot about Matt and Nick, tending to me instead. I had previous shoulder injures so I was truly concerned about my condition.

“It’s your bad shoulder isn’t it?” Kenny asked quickly and I just nodded my head, crying:

“It hurts so bad.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to get you taken care of,” Kenny assured, taking my other arm, “You have to get up though.”

Again, I was fighting through the pain, standing up and grabbing my title, still across the ring from Nick and Matt. I still wanted to fight them for the scene they just caused, but Kenny killed that whenever he pointed at them, saying:

“I’ll handle the both of you later.”

Finally, Kenny and I left the ring, taking me back to get the medical attention that I needed. They were checking out my shoulder, multiple tests needed to be done and that scared me.

I was grateful that Kenny didn’t leave my side, but there was a moment that he needed to have whenever we heard outside the door.

“Can someone please tell Kenny to come to talk to us?”

It was Matt.

Kenny rolled his eyes, turning red again because he was still super upset with them but he stood up, giving me a quick kiss, “I’ll be right back.”

He left the door crack and even though they kept their voices low, I could still hear everything.

“So, you love her, huh?” Nick asked, truly curious rather than being a smart ass.

“Have you two ever noticed how in Japan, I’m the one who started the beef with her? All the sly little comments we’d make? How we never took our fights seriously?” Kenny sighed, “Since the day I met her, I’ve wanted her. I just didn’t know how to do it.”

“Kenny, I’ll be the first to say, we’re sorry,” Matt explained, “We just thought that you two legitimately hated each other and when you two got close all of a sudden, we just wanted to have your back. I didn’t want to have to do that, but you just weren’t telling us!”

“Well maybe you should have taken the fact that we were taking things slowly into consideration,” Kenny scoffed, still upset with them.

“You’re right, Kenny,” Nick sighed, “Again, we’re sorry, and just know that we love you, man. If you want to be with Y/N, I’m all for it.”

“Me too,” Matt agreed, nodding his head.

I could see them hugging and it made me feel good. They had brotherhood and I never intended to break that. I just wanted to be with Kenny and it was good to know that he wanted the same with me.

“How’s her shoulder?” Nick asked and Kenny just sighed, his hand covering his face for a moment.

“Not going to lie, I’m worried for her. She had to have surgery on that shoulder before,” Kenny huffed, “They’re making her do a bunch of testing for it.”

“God I feel like shit,” Matt whined, then he just came through the door and he hugged me.

“Dude, my shoulder,” I said quickly, but also laughing as he backed away, mumbling;

“Right, I’m sorry about that.”

“Y/N, we owe you a long overdue apology. What we did tonight was wrong and irresponsible,” Nick admitted to me, “We shouldn’t have tried to invade your privacy.”

“I understand why you did,” I sighed, poking some fun at them when I added, “Besides, fucking with you guys is always a fun time.”

We all shared a good laugh, Nick giving me a soft hug too.

“Also, just know, that match was fucking awesome,” Matt smirked at me, “I wasn’t lying about that. You’re an amazing champion Y/N.”

“Thanks. Hopefully, I don’t have to give it up,” I sighed, looking down at my shoulder.

“Everything will be just fine,” Kenny smiled at me, trying to raise my spirits, and then finally, we had a true, one on one session whenever Matt said:

“I hope you feel better, Y/N. Nick, let’s go. They need alone time.”

Nick and Matt finally went off and closed the door behind them and once we were alone, Kenny was still standing in front of me while I was sitting.

Slowly I looked up into his eyes, getting emotional whenever I asked shyly, “You’ve always loved me, Kenny?”

With a bright smile, Kenny nodded his head and just to brighten our moods when I said:

“I fucking knew it!”

We both laughed together, Kenny hugging me and being gentle and when his head came close to me, I whispered, “I’ve always loved you too, Kenny.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. I love you. I just never knew how to express it. Then next thing I knew, we were the biggest rivals in Japan,” Kenny exhaled.

“That doesn’t matter anymore. We have each other now and I’m serious when I tell you, I love you,” I whispered, my arm wrapping around his neck.

Kenny gave a little bit of a squeeze and when he looked back up at me, his eyes looked teary but a gorgeous smile was on his face, his head falling to kiss me softly, whispering against my lips,

“No more hiding it. You’re mine and that’s never going to change.”

I quickly smiled against our kiss, kissing a bit harder, whispering back, “Just how I want it to be.”

[woah-were-halfway-there]

The Sweetest of Them All

A/N: just another little bonus part of the AFTR universe that I came up with out of nowhere. Also, I left this as third person instead of second. Enjoy!

Word Count: 3.2k

Y/N has never been a big fan of Valentine's Day.

To her, it was overrated and expensive. But, she'd be lying if she said she didn't love the fact that it gave an extra reason to love on Auston a ridiculous amount. Sure, she did that every day, but to be fair, she loved how the title of Valentine's Day added a bit more fun and excitement to something she'd normally do any other day. It felt different for some reason, so even though she didn't love the so-called holiday, she still tried to plan something special for it every year.

Admittedly, she and Auston almost got competitive about it with trying to one-up the other with affection. They didn't care about gifts. They cared about the time they spent together and the thoughtfulness behind it.

Usually, it was Y/N that came up with something ridiculously sweet for Valentine's Day to do for Auston. However, this year, he had her beat.

For some odd reason, Y/N woke up very early that day. Maybe it was the baby waking her, or perhaps it was her internal clock saying sleep was no longer necessary. But, regardless, she was awake much earlier than usual. She also knew Mia wasn't awake or else she would've heard her, so she took that time to lie back in bed and relax for a few minutes on her own.

The bed felt incredibly empty, given that Auston was with the Leafs in Washington and wasn't expected to be back in Toronto until late that night. Frank was a good cuddle buddy alternative, but sometimes the Goldendoodle just wasn't enough when Y/N was missing her man. Of course, this was one of the days when she missed him a lot, so she took that as an excuse to text Auston and at least get this so-called holiday kicked off.

Y/N Happy Valentine's Day, Aus 🥰 can't wait to see you tonight

She wasn't expecting him to message back right away, seeing as it was only 7:30 in the morning, but much to her surprise, he did.

Auston Happy Valentine's Day, babe 💕 Can't wait to see you either. Did the flowers for Mia get delivered?

Y/N Yes, they got here last night. They're beautiful. I set them on the kitchen counter, so once she's awake and we go downstairs, she'll see her little V-Day gift from you

Auston Perfect. I got part of your Valentine's thing with me right now too. Ready for it?

Y/N Is it going to make me cry?

Auston Probably

Y/N Great. Hit me with your best shot

She stared at her phone screen for a moment, expecting it to light up with the notification of an incoming FaceTime call from her husband or a picture, but instead, he sent her a link. But not just any link, it was the link to the video recording of a new Spittin' Chiclets podcast episode that was over an hour-long called 'Love Day: Part One.'

Confused, but also insanely curious, Y/N then leaned over to grab her laptop from the bedside table and got into the most comfortable position her growing baby bump would allow so she could watch the video like that. As soon as she was about to press play, her phone buzzed with another text.

Auston This was filmed a couple of weeks ago when the Chiclets guys were in Toronto. They interviewed at least 10 different guys in the league at different times, and they're kind of long, which is why there's more than one part. Just watch the intro, then I'm the first interview. Mitch is on part 2 if you want to watch that as well, but yeah... call me when you're done 💕

Still unsure of how to process what was going on, Y/N just shook her head and followed the link.

The video started with Biz, Whit and Rear sat all-around a table, each wearing a different red, white or pink shirt with heart-shaped balloons positioned behind them. Empty bottles of Pink Whitney sat on the table, acting as vases for bouquets of roses, making Y/N roll her eyes and chuckle at how far these guys would go for good product placement. But, she kept watching, and unsurprisingly, Biz was the first to speak.

Biz: "For Valentines Day this year, we wanted to do something different. Something more soft. So, we're going to tell, well, I guess, show some love stories."

Whit: "Bet you all didn't know that some of the greatest love stories to ever be told have happened to some of the guys that play in the NHL. Don't believe me? Guess you'll have to listen to find out what they are."

Rear: "We asked some players to come in and talk to us about their relationship stories and give as many details as they were willing to give. And let me tell you, they were great. To start us off, we have Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs telling us his fairytale romance."

The video then clipped to a shot of Biz sitting next to Auston in what Y/N assumed was the hotel downtown that the Chiclets guys were staying at. Auston wasn't dressed extravagantly or anything, just wore a grey hoodie, black pants, and his signature Raiders snapback.

Y/N immediately recognized his outfit. She remembered Auston coming home in those same clothes early one afternoon after he did some running around downtown with Mia, and started thinking of how not once did he mention doing anything for the podcast. He kept this very on the down low, and Y/N was excited to see how it would all play out.

Biz: "Alright, with us today, we have none other than the Leafs number 34, Auston Matthews. Welcome back to the show, Auston. How ya doin?"

Auston: "I'm great. Thanks for having me. How are you guys?"

Whit and Rear: "Good."

Biz: "Great, real good. Now, Auston, you know what you're here to talk about, right?"

Auston: (chuckling) "You're acting like you didn't spend the last week blowing up my phone until I agreed to do this."

Biz: "Amazing! You do know. So, here's how it's all going to go down. We've got a list of questions about your relationship with your significant other. Your obvious better half. And are going to take turns asking them so the people listening at home can get a bit of insight on your, and I quote, iconic love story. Why don't you give us a little summary of your relationship before we dive in?"

Auston: (hesitantly) "Sure, okay. So, my wife Y/N and I have been married for almost two years now. Our anniversary is at the end of July. She accidentally forgot it last year, which I haven't let her live down. Y/N, babe, this is your six month in advance warning that our anniversary is indeed coming up again this year… She's going to hate that I mentioned that. We, uh, we've been together since my first season in Toronto, so for a pretty long time now, and it's been amazing. We have a daughter, Amelia, but everyone just calls her Mia unless she's in trouble. She just turned two on January 25th, and we have our second baby on the way. They're due to be making their grand appearance in late June. We also have our firstborn, Frank, the Goldendoodle. Can't forget about him. But, yeah, that's my little family."

Whit: (nodding along with Biz and Rear) "Fair enough. Now, how and when did you and Y/N meet exactly?"

Auston: "We met on the night of my first NHL game back in 2016. She was at that game."

Biz: "Oh, yeah? Was she there for a reason?"

Auston gave him an unimpressed look.

Biz: "What?"

Auston: "You know why she was there!"

Biz: (shrugging) "Our listeners don't. C'mon, refresh my memory. Was she there to cheer someone else on?"

Auston: (shaking his head) "Yeah. She, uh, she's a cousin of one of my teammates, so she was there with their family to watch him during our first game."

Biz: (grinning widely) "What teammate?"

Auston: "The one out in the hallway keeping my daughter occupied while you keep being annoying and asking me questions you already know the answer to."

Everyone laughed at that, including Y/N, as she shifted onto her side, being mindful of her growing bump that seemingly became more noticeable each day, and got comfortable as she braced herself for what the rest of this interview would entail.

Biz: (still laughing): "Just to clarify for everyone who still doesn't know, he's talking about Mitch Marner."

Auston: "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

Rear: "I take it that Mitch and Mia get along really well? I haven't heard a peep from her since you came in here."

Auston: "Oh, she loves him. Yeah, that's her Mitchy, alright. Him and Steph, who you will hear all about once Mitch comes in here, are Mia's godparents and some of her favourite people."

Whit: "That's awesome. And how was that at first, though, being romantically involved with one of your teammates' family members? Sounds like grounds for some chaos, if I'm honest."

Auston: "It sure made meeting the family a bit more nerve-wracking. I'm just kidding. No, it was fine. It was definitely a little awkward at first trying to figure out how I was going to tell Mitch that I wanted to date his cousin. Like, he and Y/N are very close. Always have been. And the last thing both me and Y/N wanted was for Mitch to be uncomfortable. He did handle it really well, though. It's because of him I was even able to get to know her in the first place, which I'll never be able to thank him enough for."

Rear: "Now, you're a pretty private guy. You post the odd picture of your little family from time to time. Y/N is rather private, as well. So, really, no one knows your guys' story other than those who have lived it with you or watched it unfold. I'm sure many people will jump right on the chance to listen to this, seeing as you and Y/N are one of the most beloved couples in the NHL. But, what exactly made you want to come on here, give a bit of insight into your private life, and talk about it all?"

Auston: "Well, for one, Biz would not stop asking me to do it. Literally kept calling and texting me for days until I finally agreed."

Whit: "Shocker."

Biz: "Hey, now."

Auston: (chuckling) "That and also I figured, why not. I love my wife, and I love our little story. It's nice to think back on everything that's happened and see how it all got us to where we are now. With all the ups and the downs, its uh, it's been an amazing ride for sure, and I wouldn't change it for a thing. Also, it's for Valentine's Day. I haven't told her I'm doing this, so when you guys drop the episode, I'm just going to send it to her without much context."

Whit: "Do you think she'll cry?"

Auston: "Absolutely. I know this kind of thing would make her tear up regularly, but those pregnancy hormones have got her bad. Without a doubt, she's going to call me crying once she's done watching this."

Y/N scoffed as he said that and grabbed some tissues to wipe away the waterworks she already felt coming on.

Biz: "I've met Y/N many times now. The first time being back in what, 2018?"

The screen then showed an old picture of Biz sitting in a restaurant with his arm wrapped around Y/N's shoulders, both smiling widely as they held up their drinks, with Auston seemingly moping off to the side a little bit. Y/N chuckled at the image, instantly thinking back to the day she first met Paul Bissonnette and how wild it was before the photo faded away and showed the guys again.

Biz: "Yeah, it was when she was in Scottsdale visiting you during the summer. Great girl, completely out of Auston's league."

Auston: "Hey!"

Biz: "I'll never forget you sassing her when she commented on how hot Arizona was, with her being Canadian and all, but damn she was fast putting you in your place by calling you a, what was it?"

Auston: (grumbling) "Desert Boy."

Everyone burst out laughing again, except Auston, who just rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.

Auston: "Whatever. She sasses me all the time when I complain about the snow, but the one time I do it back, I get called a Desert Boy and can never live it down."

Biz: (still laughing) "Ugh, amazing. Okay, moving on because we don't have much time and can probably fit in like two more questions. So, Auston, tell us how you knew that Y/N was the end game for you. How did you know that she was the one?"

Auston: "Oh, man. I don't even know how to explain it. Growing up, you see all these movies and shows, or read books where people always find someone who is their soulmate. Their perfect match. And I never knew what the feeling of finding that person was because I had never experienced it. My mom would tell me that when I did find that person, I'd know. That it'll be such an intense feeling, and to be honest, I didn't believe her. Until I met Y/N, I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true. The first time I met her, something drew me in, and I knew I wanted to get to know her better right away. Mitch spoke so highly of her, so did the other guys on the team that had already met her and over the first couple of months of us knowing each other, I saw what they meant. She quickly became one of my best friends ever. When we started dating, I saw more of how good a person she is, which attracted me even more. She is so selfless and caring for everyone around her; it truly blows my mind. I had never seen my family welcome a girl I introduced them to as quickly as they did her, and I trust their judgment the most. But even if they didn't do that, I know they would have accepted her regardless because, honestly, I probably seemed like a lovesick idiot. I still do. Y/N became this significant light in my life that I knew I wanted to be there forever. I began thinking about what it'd be like spending the rest of my life with her. Then it became something that I knew I needed. I can't imagine my life without her, and I never want to. She makes me so happy and has given me more than I could ever thank her for. I'll never understand how I, of all people, was the one to capture her massive heart, but I do know how lucky I am."

As he spoke, the screen showed a little picture slideshow of Y/N and Auston over the years of their relationship. It started with one that Ema took the first time Y/N had ever gone to Scottsdale. Y/N was sitting on the edge of a pool, and her legs dipped into the water. Auston stood between them as he wrapped his arms around her middle and leaned against her while looking over at where Ema stood taking the picture. The next one was from a Christmas party where the two were under a mistletoe as Auston leaned Y/N back and was kissing her cheek as she laughed and held onto him for dear life. There was a picture of them with Auston's family, one of them with Mitch and Steph, and another of Auston with his arms around Nate and Mya, Y/N's younger brother and sister, as the three smiled at the camera and Y/N was in the background looking confused.

The last few pictures were a bit more recent. They showed Y/N holding Frank as a puppy, a maternity photo of her and Auston posing when she was pregnant with Mia, and one of them on their wedding day with Mia and the rest of the gang. Then, the slideshow concluded with a very recent picture of them taken just a couple of weeks prior at Mia's birthday party, where Auston has his arms wrapped around Y/N from the back, showcasing her growing belly. At the same time, she leaned against him and glanced over her shoulder at him lovingly. The photos then went away and showed the guys again as Auston finished speaking.

Auston was right. Y/N was full-on bawling by that point.

All the guys were smiling as Auston finished saying his thing, but were soon interrupted by a knocking noise followed by a door opening.

Mitch: (offscreen) "Wait, no! Don't let her in!"

Mia: (also offscreen) "Daddy!"

Mia then came into the frame as she ran towards Auston, not caring about what was going on or who was there. Auston was quick reacting as he smiled widely and scooped Mia right up into his arms, making sure to place multiple kisses on her cheek as she giggled and squirmed in his hold, while Mitch became visible too and shrugged.

Auston: "Hi, mini. I missed you. Did you have fun with Mitchy?"

Mia: "Yeah! Where's mommy, daddy?"

Auston: "She's at home, baby girl. I'm almost done, then we can go get a Timbit while we wait for Mitch to be done. Sounds good?"

Mia: (knuckling at her eyes, tiredly) "Mhmm."

Rear: "This is adorable."

Biz: "Hi, Mia."

Mia: (shyly while hiding against Auston's chest a bit) "Hi, Biz."

Whit: (laughing) "Okay, I think we've kept you long enough now, Auston. Is there anything else you and Mia would like to say to Y/N?"

Auston: "Yes. Happy Valentine's Day, babe. I love you so much, and I'm sorry I'm not there right now. You're going to hear a lot more from me on actual Valentine's Day, but for right now, I think that's just about it. Mia, can you blow a kiss to the camera so mommy can see it and say 'happy Love Day!'"

Mia: (blows the kiss) "Happy Love Day, mommy!"

Auston: "Can you tell her that you love her?"

Mia: "Love you!"

Auston and Mia then waved to the camera and said bye as the clip faded out, and a new interview of another NHLer began playing.

Y/N's heart felt so full. She couldn't stop crying over how much she loved her family and how badly she needed to hear something like that. Life had been particularly hard on her as of late and seemed to keep throwing her curveballs, but this, this was exactly what she needed. To be reminded of how loved she is and that she genuinely is never alone.

She then grabbed her phone to call Auston and remind him of how much she loved him, that day and every day. The two talked for a few minutes before Y/N was pretty sure she could hear Mia waking up. After saying their goodbyes, Y/N found herself thinking about how, regardless of how she feels about the actual day, this was a Valentine's Day she will never forget.

[notalwaysthevillian]

Parent Trapped

Warnings: Kissing, medication mention

Pairings: Romantic Remile, platonic LAMP

Word Count: ~1.7k

Masterlist

Chapter 14: What Do We Do First?

The Picani twins took to calling Remy ‘Dad’ almost immediately. Seeing how happy it made their own father, the Sanders boys did the same to Emile.

The first time Logan said it to Emile, he almost cried. Tears welled up in his eyes and he’d gently hugged Logan, making sure it was alright first. Logan hugged him back tightly and let out a soft sigh before heading up to his room.

Over the course of the rest of the boys’ sophomore year, Remy was working up the courage to have a very particular conversation with Emile. Every time he thought he was ready, he chickened out, opting for anything else.

Emile wasn’t stupid, and he could tell Remy had something he wanted to talk about. But the beginning of the year was a busy time for him. There were many people who decided that their resolution would be to finally go to therapy, and Emile was picking up clients left and right.

By the time everything evened out, and those who decided therapy wasn’t for them had dropped it, April had rolled around. The first time Emile truly had a break was the weekend of Roman’s musical.

“I’m headed to the school! See you after!” Roman was shouting into the house as Emile came home.

Emile ducked around him, giving him a high five. “Break a leg.”

“Thank you!”

Roman zipped off, hopping in with Tanya Task, who was waiting at the end of the driveway. The two of them headed off to the school.

Logan cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “We’re going to go hang out in my room until it’s time for dinner. Unless you want help?”

“No,” Remy cut in, realizing what Logan was trying to do for him. “We’ve got it. You probably don’t want to see us sneaking kisses anyway.”

“Is it sneaking if we know you’re doing it?”

Patton giggled at Virgil’s question before heading upstairs behind his brother.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as Emile and Remy expertly moved around each other as they made dinner. The routine was comfortable, the two of them “sneaking” kisses as they went along.

Once the sauce was simmering with the pasta noodles, Emile slipped onto one of their stools. “What’s been on your mind recently?”

“Should’ve known you noticed,” Remy said, before biting his lip. “There’s a conversation we need to have. But I don’t think we should have it while our kids are spying on us.”

A loud gasp came from the staircase, followed by scrambling footsteps as the boys darted upstairs.

Emile stood, taking Remy’s hands in his. “I’m hoping it’s a good thing we need to talk about, but whatever it is, we can have a mature conversation.”

“Oh, god, of course it’s a good thing, Em!” Linking their fingers together, Remy pressed a kiss to Emile’s forehead. “It’s about moving forward, not back. I promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

Remy wrapped his pinky around Emile’s, looking at him with all the love in his heart. “Pinky promise.”

“Apologies for ruining the moment, but I’d rather not eat burnt pasta.”

Both parents dove for the stove. Remy clicked the knob to turn off the heat while Emile yanked the pot off, moving it onto a hot pad.

“Thanks, Logan.”

As the boys set the table, Remy ran a hand through his hair, huffing a little. He’d avoided the conversation again, even though it hadn’t been his intention.

Tonight. He thought to himself, smiling as Emile moved around the table, scooping out portions. We talk tonight.

After everyone had eaten their fill and they’d cleaned up, it was time to head over to get seats for Roman’s show.

“But it starts at 7, Em.” Remy said as Emile drove them over to the school.

Emile shook his head, but anyone could see the small smile on his face. “It starts at 7, yes. But we need to go now so we can get decent seats.”

“Yeah, the best seats tend to be taken by 6:15, if my notes are any indication.” Papers ruffled before Logan spoke again. “Of course, Roman may have gotten the privilege of saving seats for family, but that would technically only apply to the Sanders.”

Turning around, Remy noticed the look on Logan’s face. He simply gave him a nod, the two of them breaking into grins.

It wasn’t surprising that Logan had figured it out. It wasn’t as though Remy had been trying to hide it.

Emile pulled into a parking spot, everyone heading to the front doors. They were joined in the lobby by the other Tasks, the kids all paying for their tickets and heading in to save seats while the adults talked amongst themselves.

“Tanya has been so excited for tonight. I’m so glad she got cast as Elphaba, it’s been her dream role for years.”

Remy laughed. “Yeah, that’s how Roman was last year. He was so excited to play Cinderella’s Prince.”

They talked for a little while longer, before Emile tugged on Remy’s arm. “Rem, the lights are flashing, we’ve gotta go!”

Emile and Remy gave the Tasks a wave goodbye before hustling to their seats. As soon as they’d taken their jackets off and gotten settled, the lights were dimmed completely.

The show went on without too many issues. At one point Roman’s mic hadn’t been turned on, but he managed to project enough that the hanging lights picked up his voice.

During Dancing Through Life, Roman absolutely killed it. The crowd cheered loudly as the music faded, and everyone could see the giant smile on Roman’s face before the lights dimmed.

As the lights came up at the end of the show, the entire audience was on their feet, whistling and clapping.

The Picanis and Sanders made their way to the lobby. Within just a few minutes, the cast came out, making their way to their respective families.

Roman rushed over, giving Patton a bear hug. He gestured for the other boys to join, giving them space as they obliged.

“What did you think??”

“You did amazing!” Patton gushed, jumping up and down in place. “Fiyero is such a good part for you!”

Giving Patton another hug, Roman turned to Logan. “Thanks for the help with the choreography. That little rhyme you made up helped me so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

“V? What did you think?”

Virgil glanced up from fiddling with his sleeves. “You were really good. I can tell that your range has gotten better. Not that it was bad or anything last year, but-”

Roman laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping the explanation. “I get you, no worries.”

“Roman! We’re taking a cast picture!”

“Gotta go, can’t make Elphaba mad.” The joke got a laugh out of the family, and a few of the surrounding crowd. “I’ll meet you guys at home later, we’ve got that cast party tonight.”

“Be home by 11, and stay safe!” Emile called after him as Roman disappeared into the crowd.

“Can we go?” Virgil’s voice was nearly a whisper. He had pulled his hood up and was tugging on the strings.

Emile and Remy exchanged guilty glances before quickly getting the boys back out to the car. Once they were on the road, Remy saw Virgil’s shoulders relax from the rear-view mirror.

“I’m sorry we didn’t leave sooner.”

The two locked eyes in the mirror, Virgil nodding. “It’s okay.”

“Hey, it’s okay to be anxious, remember?” Emile said, his tone gentle. “Do we need to change your medication? You made it through the adjustment period.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll give Dr. McCall a call tomorrow and we’ll get an appointment set up.”

Remy just barely heard Logan whisper, “I can come with if you want. I’ve been doing some research.”

The boys ran upstairs as soon as they got back home. Logan and Virgil were going to look up some of the medications that Logan had looked into, while Patton worked on a diorama.

Swallowing his nerves, Remy grabbed Emile’s hand. “Hey, Em? Can we talk? Good things, I swear.”

“Of course.”

Emile sat down on the couch, watching as Remy paced back and forth. “Do you need therapist Emile or boyfriend Emile?”

That cut the tension, letting Remy get a laugh out. “Boyfriend Emile. And, that’s….kind of what I wanted to talk about.”

“Rem.” Emile’s eyes were getting wide. “Are you proposing?”

“No! I mean, not right this second.” Remy let out a deep sigh. He pushed his hair back, hand bumping into his sunglasses. Taking them off, he played with them in his hands. “But...if I were to do so in the future?”

“Oh, honey, I’d love that!” Grabbing Remy’s face, Emile pulled him into a quick kiss.

Resisting the urge to continue, Remy pulled back ever so slightly. “There’s one more thing. It’s about the kids. We...well, we already pretty much co-parent. I’d like to adopt them.”

That made Emile give him a soft smile. “While I wholeheartedly agree, and I want to adopt your boys as well...we should wait.”

“What?”

“I’m worried what Virgil might think if we adopted them before we were married.” Emile started to explain, threading their fingers together. “He might be afraid that you’ll leave me and then he’d have to deal with two households.”

Leaning so that their foreheads touched, Remy asked, “He’d be afraid or you would be?”

“...maybe a bit of both.”

“Emile Thomas Picani.” Remy started, dropping to one knee. “This isn’t a proposal, but rather a pre-proposal. I love you more than anything on this earth, second to my sons only. If I asked for your hand in marriage, what would you-“

“Yes!” Emile cut him off, pressing their lips together once more, but with more urgency. “Yes, Remy, I will agree to marry you whenever you choose to propose.”

“You’re perfect.”

“Uno reverse.”

The two giggled, falling into each other’s arms and talking as they waited for Roman to get home.

[rvmmm21]

[ V V S her diamonds ] – ch 03.

[4:15 p.m.] Disappointment tweaks at Seungwan’s heart when she peers through the huge glass window of their study cafe and sees no Bae Joohyun. 

. . . . .

A group of students are huddled in the back, bent over open textbooks, laptops and scattered stationary. 

Yerimie, Saeron, Seul, wow, there’s Jennie sunbaenim. And she spies Sooyoung sunbaenim balancing a tray of various caffeine-injected drinks back to the table.

A sad sigh escapes her lips. Perhaps she’s l–

“Seungwan?” 

Oh my g– what the–?! Seungwan screams, whipping around in shock at the fingers gently resting on the back of her shoulder. She’s met with a slightly surprised Joohyun, standing there wearing a cream Jute blouse tucked into denim jeans, twinkling eyes and endless amusement etched into rosebud lips. 

“S-Sunbae!” She exclaims, grasping her chest to calm her rapid-fire heart. “Y-You’re here, I was just–”

What, peering through the glass, looking for you like a creep? 

“It’s fine,” Joohyun chuckles, adjusting her hold on the stack of thick notebooks cradled in her arm and motioning for the younger girl to lead the way. “Let’s go. This is heavy.”

Thursdays might’ve found an unexpected favour with Son Seungwan.

Busy eyes move from annotating to the two girls urgently making their way over, the students lifting their heads at Seungwan’s warm greeting. 

“Sorry we’re late,” she sincerely apologises. 

Jennie knowingly eyes her friend. “Not surprised.” 

Joohyun raises her a playfully challenging brow before slipping into the free seat next to Sooyoung at the end of the table, right across her partner.

“You ordering anything, Wan?” Seulgi asks between highlighting her page, offering her and Joohyun biscuits in individually wrapped aluminium packets.

Joohyun takes one and Seungwan nibbles on the edge of her biscuit, deep in thought. The group soon slips into the robotic rhythm of monochromatic scribbling, greyscale note-taking, typing, and intermittent snacking. Jennie slips away to order small desserts for everyone at the table. They thank her with shocked bows and hungry stares, unable to settle on one in the garland of appetising coloured treats on the tiny table.

“Sunbae, you’re like Santa Claus,” Seulgi happily attacks the New York baked cheesecake. “When did you order this? It’s like we were asleep and we just woke up to presents!”

Her bearish enthusiasm has an observant Sooyoung unconsciously smiling around her fork.

As the group tucks in, Seungwan thinks a group study date is the safest she can be in terms of being on the receiving end of any more of her senior’s teasing mannerisms.

Fortunately, Joohyun always surprises her.

A little later on, they’re discussing the historical impact of contemporary Korean literature. Right in the middle of a sentence, Seungwan’s concentration is shattered by a deep blush of raspberry when she feels a feather-light graze against her right Adidas sweatpant leg. She chokes, almond eyes shooting up from messy essay notes, silently begging for mercy. But of course, Joohyun’s serene, unbothered expression gives nothing away as she continues to ask for her opinion as though Seungwan is crazy for looking like a flustered mess. 

The frazzled junior doesn’t know what makes her head spin more; the fact that Joohyun, composed as ever, initiated a game of footsie right under both their friends’ noses in public… or that she secretly enjoys it.

Not that she’ll ever admit to the latter.

Small fists corkscrew the sleeves of her sky-blue Chrome Hearts hoodie as the desperation to hide the cherry-blossom tint in her cheeks builds.

. . . . .

It’s past midnight by the time they’re done, and everyone bids goodbye with ‘Z’s coming out of their ears. Much to everyone’s surprise, Sooyoung and Seulgi got along pretty well this evening and the taller girl had hastily agreed when Seulgi suggested they visit her favourite boba place. Yerim and Saeron were late for their movie, and Jennie was spending the weekend at her girlfriends’.

“Wait, are we dumb? Why did we book this now,” Saeron asks incredulously, “aren’t you gonna get wrecked by grumpy ajumma? Curfew ended like ten minutes ago.”

“Ah who cares, she’s always like that,” Yerim retorts with a dismissive wave. “I could fill a prison wall with how many strikes she’s given me and Seungwan and Seulgi unnie.” She slings an arm over Saeron’s shoulder, urging them to hurry. “C’mon, ads don’t take forever.”

“Wan-ah,” Seulgi calls back as she’s being dragged away by an eager Sooyoung, “if you order pizza can you leave some out for me!”

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy. Don’t wake me up.”

“Hyun-ah, you sure you’re not coming?” Jennie’s sleek midnight-black Vetements cardigan blends with the hues of the night sky, giving away how late it is. She swipes into her messages. “Chaeng said she doesn’t mind.” 

Joohyun laughs with mock disgust. “Thanks Jen, but I’m not crashing your date-nights anymore, thank you very much. I saw enough the last time, my eyes can’t take that kind of stuff.”

Waving goodbye, Jennie and Chaeyoung speed off, leaving Seungwan wondering what ‘kind of stuff’ Joohyun could be referring to.

The pair are drawn to the horribly lit bus stop and just about the only source of light for miles. 

Seungwan yawns silently, but she doesn’t mind waiting with Joohyun. It’s late and although her apartment is in the opposite direction, she’d be at ease knowing her friend got home safely.

The darkness is engulfing, allowing an overhead street lamp to bathe them in its flicking spotlight like stars in a West End Production. 

“We were pretty productive today, sunbae,” the younger tries to make conversation to fill the space between them. “Do you wanna come for next week’s session too?”

“Sure,” comes the reply. “Thanks for waiting with me. When’s your ride getting here? We should’ve booked at the same time.”

Seungwan nervously scratches the back of her neck, crinkling her worksheets in her grip. “Uh, I’m just walking home tonight actually.”

“Oh? Do you live closeby?” she asks in surprise, assuming they were both waiting for taxis.

“Ah, yes, I’m just– it’s just down there.”

Joohyun narrows her eyes suspiciously. “Down there… where.”

“Just a quick walk, past… past the duck pond,” the girl mumbles, staring down at her shoes.

“Q-Quick? Quick?” Joohyun stutters, malfunctioning at their severely clashing definitions of ‘close’. A delicate fist draws back and Seungwan flinches, Bae Joohyun looking closer and closer to doing what she did to Lucas to her poor, startled junior. “The duck pond near uni? Yah, Son Seungwan, that’s almost a twenty minute walk from here.” 

“Fifteen if I have my speed walking playlist on,” Seungwan tries, but she isn’t listening.

“A lot of dangerous things can happen in twenty minutes, you know.” She hurriedly unlocks her phone and clicks into the KakaoTaxi app, altering the destination to add a stop and shoving it into reluctant hands. “Hurry, put your address in.” 

Seungwan so badly wants to politely decline, not confident in her ability to sit in a moving vehicle with such a pretty person without hurling herself out the window at top speeds. But the latter’s glare dares her to try.

With shaky fingers, she successfully types in her address after three tries and hands it back. Joohyun checks it and confirms the change. Seungwan wants to comment on how her frantic nature is actually really endearing, but she resists, thinking she’s still cooling off from it.

“Thank you, sunbae,” she bows instead. She even tries to insist she pay her share of the ride, but Joohyun refuses, saying it’s what she gets for thinking it was a good idea to walk home alone.

Finally, a black Sedan pulls up to the curb and the driver winds down his window. “KakaoBlack for Bae Joohyun?” He checks, looking as ready as both girls are to go home and crash for the night. 

The girl nods, opening the door for Seungwan to get into the backseat and climbing in after her.

Grand streaks of neon dance across the car windows, falling behind as quickly as they appear. Seungwan tears her gaze from the rapid city lights when she hears her name. 

An almost child-like excitement masks Joohyun’s usually steely features when Seungwan hums questioningly, not having heard what she’d said. “I said unnie,” she repeats, “you should call me unnie now that we’re closer. Honestly, I wanted to correct you this evening, but I never got the chance to. Aish, everyone was so noisy.”

The topic of noise has Joohyun distracted, suddenly popping off on a tangent about how sound-proof couple study rooms should be integrated in cafes and student-dense areas alike. But Seungwan finds it hard to focus on anything other than those glowing eyes and that tiny, lopsided smile.

For the rest of the journey, the two exchange stories of their university life experiences, life outside classrooms and even a few laughs; mostly on Joohyun’s part at how Seungwan seems to have the most prankish roommates slash best friends in the world. She loses it at ‘carbonara shampoo’, finding the idea wickedly genius and hilariously absurd altogether. Uncontrollable cackling booms in the backseat and Seungwan can’t help but giggle too, ears saturated with Joohyun’s chimerical laughter.

Eventually, the street lights and the houses start looking familiar and they’re pulled into a student apartment lobby before either of them knows where the time went. Joohyun can see the grumpy ajumma at reception wearing a frown, but she doesn't know it’s because someone’s gone over curfew. Again.

“Goodnight Seungwan.”

“Goodnight… unnie.” Seungwan wishes, ignoring the way their new closeness unfolds her heart like a secretly passed note. “Stay safe, and message me when you get back!”

Making to get out of the car, she flinches when she’s unable to fully stand up. Gulping, she glances over her shoulder to see Joohyun holding her back by her bag straps. In her sleepy state, the younger can’t tell if that intently searching gaze is serious or not.

“By the way, when you were looking into the cafe from outside this evening, you weren’t checking Jennie or Sooyoung out, were you?”

Seungwan shakes her head truthfully. “Why?”

“Good.” A cat-like smirk graces her lips and Seungwan’s stomach drops. “Just making sure.”

. . . . .

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

This time can you do a very romantic just Jeremy Gilbert request I’m really sorry if I keep bothering you or annoying you I really love how you write in the style I am how do you put it all together it’s amazing but if you’re tired of me I completely understand

Oh no it’s fine I gottcha! Here it is! 🖤

Warnings: smoking weed, talks of drugs, drinking? Idk what else.

Y/n smiled as she woke up to a drooling Jeremy. She was wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend who was going to sleep the day away. Y/n tried to get up without waking him, but the two were tangled up together.

She continues to carefully struggle, but she just didn’t have the heart to wake Jeremy up.

“I know your awake I can hear your heart beating faster.” She looked at Jeremy who seemed to be half awake and half asleep.

“I forget my girlfriends a vampire sometimes.” He said as he pulled her impossibly closer to her.

“Jeremy please let go. I have stuff I need to go do today.”

“What’s more important then staying in bed all day?” He asked as he stared into her Y/e/c eyes.

“Maybe helping my brothers before they get themselves killed. If I don’t get up and ready they’ll leave without me.”

“She’s right.” Damon said all of a sudden inside the room making the two jump.

“Damon, what the hell?!” Y/n yelled as she threw a pillow at her older brother.

“Y/n you need to get ready we leave in 5 minutes. So chop chop. Little Gilbert let my sister go before I snap your neck.” Y/n rolled her eyes at her brother as she vamp sped to him. Grabbing the coller of his black shirt and running him out of the room. Locking the door behind her as she shut the door.

“I mean it five minutes, no fonduing!” Damon called from the other side of the door. Y/n rolled her eyes at her brother as she walked back over to the bed. Getting back onto the bed she leaned over to Jeremy giving him a passionate kiss. He tries to takeover the kiss but she wouldn’t allow it. As soon as he tried to make the kiss deeper.

“I love you, but I gotta go.” She smiled kissing him one more time then getting up. Walking over to the closet of her room and grabbing clothes to get dressed.

She came back out of the closet wearing a gray v-neck t-shirt, blue jean shorts and black converse tennie shoes.

“How is it you can dress as casual as can be and still look so freaking beautiful?” Jeremy asked as he stood up from the bed walking over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Giving her a tight hug, secretly trying to keep her home for the day.

“I know what your doing.” Y/n spoke as she felt Jeremy kiss the space between her neck and shoulder. “And what is that?” He hummed as he continues kissing up her neck.

“You are distracting me so I’ll have to stay home. It’s not gonna work, Jeremy.” She said as she pulled away from him with a smile. Walking over to her dressed she grabbed her hair brush. Brushing through her hair. Then after she was done twisting it into a braid.

Then walking over towards the bathroom to brush her teeth.

She could hear Jeremy groaning. Telling her she should stay with him for the day.

“It’s only 9:34 I should be Home by 12.” Jeremy looked at Y/n and tried to give her puppy dog eyes.

“Fine, but you are mine tonight. I have a special night tonight.” Y/n nodded at a serious Jeremy Gilbert.

“Alright tonight I’m all yours, I promise.” Jermey nodded as he gave her a kiss letting her go with a soft smile.

Y/n grabbed phone off charge and left the room. A minute later she left with her two brothers.

“Alright we have a couple hours to get the place decorated for Y/ns birthday so let’s get started!” Caroline exclaimed as she looked at her friends in front of her.

Stefan and Damon were distracting Y/n while Elena, Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and Tyler worked on everything for the party.

“Tyler, Matt you guys are on food and drink duty.”

“Elena, Jeremy you guys are with me working on decorating the boarding house.” Elena and Jeremy nodded.

“Bonnie you are to find a cake for y/n and help us decorate the house.” Everyone understand what they should be doing?” Caroline I asked her friends with a smile on her face. They all nodded and Caroline clapped her hands together. Making them jump at the loud clap. “Alright then let’s get started.”

Hours went by as Y/n sat in the back seat of Damon’s Camaro. She was told they were going to a meeting with Elijah at the Mikaelson mansion. But when they had been driving for a little more then what they should’ve been she was confused.

“Where are we going?” Y/n finally asked her two older brothers.

“We are doing something for your birthday. This year is the first year we three are together for your birthday. So I decided that we would do something we haven’t done for a very long time.” Y/n looked over at Stefan confused. But was about to ask questions when they pulled into a familiar dirt road.

“Are we where I think we are?” She asked as she looked at the Woods around them and then the rumble of what used to be their home.

“Welcome home y/n.” Damon said as he put the blue camaro in parked.

Stepping out y/n looked at the house and smiled.

“There’s so many memories here.” Y/n spoke softly as she looked at the property in front of her.

“We figured since its been so long since we’ve been together for your birthday we would go back down memory lane.” Damon said as he pulled at a foot ball from the trunk of the car.

“Are you for real?” Y/n asked as she looked at her two brothers.

“Umm. Yeah.” Damon said as he threw the ball to Y/n.

The whole time Y/n had a great time with her brothers. Playing football together playing tag and playing hide-in-seek.

“I don’t understand how you hide so good still. It’s been like 200 years and we still can’t ever find you.” Stefan told his younger sister as they got into the car.

“Well, I guess I’m just that good.” Y/n said with a smile laughing at her brother who seemed confused at how he couldn’t find his sister.

“Alright, lets get back to the house. We’re going to be late.” Damon said as he got into the car.

“Late for what?” Y/n asked as she looked at her older brother.

“Huh? Oh I was just saying how I didn’t want to be here so late. You know with spirits running around here.” Damon made you randomly. Y/n squinted her eyes at her brother and sighed. Mumbling a dragged out, “okay.”

The three got out of the car and walked up the side walk to the door. Opening the door Y/n heard a shush and then a snickering.

She walked further into the house and seen her friends and other people jump up, “happy birthday!!” They all exclaimed. Y/n looked at her friends with a smile on her face. Music started playing for background sound and y/n looked at her brothers behind her.

“You guys were distracting me so they could do all this.” Y/n said looking at her two brothers.

“You guys are the best.” Y/n said looking at her brothers and then her friends.

“Well, lets get this party started!” Caroline exclaimed pulling y/n to the crowd of people who were already dancing to the music. Y/n was dancing beside Caroline, Bonnie and Elena. The four girls having them time of their lives.

“Here you go!” Jeremy called over the music handing Y/n a red solo cup of beer from the keg.

“Thank you, baby!” Y/n called over the music. Hugging him and then placing a kiss on his cheek. She took a couple sips of the cool beer and started dancing with Jeremy.

After a while of dancing and drinking Y/n was pulled away with Jeremy to another room where she noticed a few stoned teenagers were smoking.

“Are you kidding me?” Y/n laughed at Matt who was smoking a blunt in his hand.

“What? You wanna hit?” Y/n giggled as she took the blunt.

Y/n laughed at something Matt said when Alaric walked in.

“Y/n I thought you were the good influence.” Alaric told y/n as she handed the blunt to Jeremy.

“Sometimes you just gotta let loose some.” Y/n laughed right before taking a swig of her beer.

“I’m all out I’ll be right back.” Y/n leaned over kissing Jeremy then left the room to get a drink. The three stayed quiet until Y/n left the room completely.

“Do you have the ring?” Jeremy asked Alaric who had been out all day getting the ring Jeremy had bought for Y/n.

Alaric nodded reaching into his pocket getting the promise ring Jeremy had asked Alaric to get.

“Here it is. It’s a really nice ring. I thought it was an engagement ring at first.” Matt nodded as he leaned over to get a clear look of the silver banned ring with a small blue stone in the middle.

“What kind of stone is that?” Matt asked pointing to the blue shining stone.

“lapis lazuli gemstone. It’s the same stone that’s in their daylight rings. I thought I would make the ring special by putting a daylight stone inside of it. I even got Bonnie to activate it.”

“Got Bonnie to activate what?” Y/n asked as she came back into the room. A solo cup in hand along with a jack daniels bottle in hand. Jeremy jumped quickly putting the ring into his pocket.

“Oh I had to get Bonnie to activate my phone. You know me, not that tech savvy.” Alaric came up quickly as he gave Y/n a smile. Matt and Jeremy nodded agreeing that’s what they were talking about.

“Okay, well I stole a bottle of whiskey so we don’t have to drink any of that cheap beer. No offense Matt.” Matt shrugged and smiled.

“Alright, well Matt and I are gonna go in here and see if we can find the others.” Matt looked at Alaric confused, but Alaric gave Matt a glare which made him nod. “Yeah, Caroline owes me a drink anyway.”

Y/n watched as Alaric and Matt left leaving the two in the room alone.

“What was that all about?” She asked looking at Jeremy confused.

“Who knows, I think they’re a little too drunk.”

Y/n nodded as she looked into Jeremys brown eyes smiling.

“Thank you for everything. I’ve never had a birthday party.” Y/n thanked him leaning on her tip toes to kiss him.

“You’ve lived for over 100 years and never had a birthday party before?” Jermey asked as he laced his fingers with hers.

She nodded looking him.

“Yeah, I’ve never had one. I mean I was told happy birthday by my brothers and mom, but never had a party.”

“Well I guess we need to have this party even more memorable.” Jeremy said as he grabbed the ring out of his pocket.

“Baby, we’ve been together for three years. I’ve never been more in love with anyone that I have for you. I got you a promise ring,” he started pulling out the ring and showing it to Y/n. Y/n smiled as she looked up at Jeremy.

“This ring is a promise to you from me. A promise to be there for you whenever you need it. A shoulder for you to lean on in the time of need. To love you and to hold you at night. This promise ring is a symbol of my love to you. To show you my love. It's a promise to be faithful and love someone. Will you accept my promise?” Y/n was in tears, she had never had someone tell her they were so in love with her. It made her heart burst with love. She nodded with a teary smile.

“Of course I will!” She smiled as she slipped the ring in her ring finger.

“Now in a couple years you’ll be trading that for an engagement ring.” Damon spoke up as he walked into the room following close behind him were the rest of the gang.

“You guys knew about this?” Y/n asked as Jeremy wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Uh, yeah. Kinda the reason why we made you stay out all day.” Elena laughed at Caroline who was being so blunt.

“Well, thank you! This is the beat birthday ever. I couldn’t think of a better birthday.” Y/n smiled as she leaned her head against Jeremys shoulder.

“I love y’all.” Y/n said looking at her friends. Caroline smiled as she clapped her hands together. “Group hug!” She said forcing everyone to hug.

Yup definitely one of the best birthdays ever.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 33

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: What happens after Leo returns? (At Waystation, pt 1234)

A/N:  What is this? A new chapter? I know I probably apologize too much but still, sorry for the long wait! Writer's block is not fun, you guys. It seems that I'm getting more and more insecure about where I should take this story by each chapter, but I did get a couple of encouraging comments while I was writing it and they motivated me to keep going! Extra special shoutout to my bff Cris(sy) for both recommending me the song that eventually helped this chapter to be born, and also helping me edit yesterday because I certainly wouldn't be posting this right now without you. (((((((((huug))))))))))

Disclaimer: The song New Year's Day obviously belongs to Taylor Swift and I definitely recommend listening to it while reading this chapter (specifically the scene where it's mentioned).

Words: 3300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Leo stayed at the park for a while longer, but eventually he knew he had to return to Waystation. The talk with Piper had made him feel a bit better, but he was still worried about how Calypso would react to his meltdown. In his opinion, she had every right to be mad. He would have to explain his behavior, but how? That was the big question.

It was already well past noon when Leo showed up at Waystation again. The building was surprisingly quiet when he entered, hoping the others were looking for him. Usually Georgina was all over the place around this time, sugar high from the chocolate she had eaten and making a mess with her new presents. Luckily, once he had removed his coat and his hat, he started hearing some clunking from the kitchen, indicating someone was there.

Instead of just bursting into the kitchen and announcing that he had returned, he stopped to watch by the doorway. Only Calypso and Georgina were in there, the younger girl chatting enthusiastically while the older one was instructing her with baking. They were standing with their backs towards the door so they couldn’t see Leo. The smell that was coming from the oven somehow felt very familiar… something he associated with Calypso. It wasn’t until she bowed down to take something out of the oven that he realized what it was. The cookies smelled the same as the cake Calypso had baked a few times at their flat, and the shampoo she used: cinnamon-y.

“Look, Georgina!” Calypso showed her the cookies. “These ended up pretty good.” It sounded like she was hesitating a bit before she continued: “Hopefully your brother will like them as well.”

“Oh, he will, Calie! He’d probably like anything you do!” Georgina noted in the straightforward style she was used to.

“But I didn’t make these alone,” Calypso reminded her. “I had a good helper.” She put the oven pan on the table and reached to ruffle the top of Georgina’s hair a bit.

“Where do you think he went, anyway?” Georgina asked. Leo wasn’t sure if he just imagined it but to him she sounded pretty worried. “I’ve not seen him that way often…”

Calypso sounded pretty cautious when she answered. “I’m sure he will be back soon. He must be tired because he’s been working a lot lately and that’s why he’s a bit on the edge… but he wouldn’t want to miss your gingerbread cookies. Hey, what color should we use to decorate these?” She turned Georgina’s focus back to the cookies again. “Do you think pink would be cute?”

“No, I want all the different colors! Blue, red, purple, green, yellow…” Georgina started listing all the colors that she could remember.

“I don’t think we have that many food color bottles here,” Calypso pointed out with amusement. “But you know, we can try to mix some together!”

“That sounds great! Hey, is pink your favorite color?” The girl asked suddenly.

“Hah, what gives me away?” Calypso chuckled. Even the apron she was currently wearing happened to be pink, although Leo knew that was probably purely coincidental because she was using one of Emmie’s aprons.

“You’re always wearing something pink and you even wanted pink gingerbread cookies,” Georgina noted while she started mixing the sugar frosting very eagerly.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Calypso teased. “I do really like pink, though. I don’t know. Maybe it reminds me of the sunsets back in my childhood home… But lately I’ve noticed that I have quite a lot of red things in my wardrobe too. But what about you? What’s your favorite color?”

Georgina gave Calypso a long and colorful answer, which Leo only half listened to. He started thinking about Calypso’s statement. He wasn’t completely dense; he had noticed that Calypso had often picked those outfits that he may have complimented at some point. But could it be that she had even started using more red because of him? Nah, he shook his head, that was a selfish way of thinking. Her outfit choices were probably purely coincidental.

Suddenly Leo realized that he had been standing there eavesdropping the girls way too long. When he was about to leave, though, he heard Georgina say: “my moms try to hide it from me, but I know that Leo is not OK. I mean, maybe he is, sometimes… but I remember that last Christmas was a lot like this one.”

“What do you mean?” Calypso asked.

“He didn’t yell at anyone, but… when he is in a bad mood he either shuts down and avoids us or is even louder than usual. But between the jokes, he doesn’t look happy at all. Moms would probably say ‘Georgie, you’re too small to understand that stuff’, but I’m not a baby anymore. This one golden haired dude visits us sometimes and he knows a lot about health things and he’s been teaching me as well. I know sometimes people get depressed, if for example something really bad has happened to them. And I think something very bad happened to big bro before he came here.”

“Yeah… sometimes things like that happen, sadly… But you know what?” Calypso said, probably attempting to sound more cheerful. “I think your brother is really trying. He cares about you so much he puts your happiness before his. He doesn’t want you to worry about him. But he’s strong, just like you, right? He’ll pull through.”

At this point Leo felt he had heard enough. He had been expecting some talk about him; after all he had just caused a scene in the middle of the present opening. But to hear Calypso talk about him that way? So sweetly? That he hadn’t expected. He had imagined she’d be mad at him after the ‘incident’ of that morning. Maybe she was just trying to be nice simply to calm Georgina down, but that he would never know.

He slowly started backing up, so that the girls wouldn’t notice his presence. However, just when he was nearly by the stairway, his foot hit a box that someone had left on the floor, making a loud noise. Cursing himself in his head, he quickly looked up to see that the sound had piqued the girls’ interest and they both tried to see where it had come from. He hid upstairs as quickly as he could, but that didn’t change the fact that Calypso most likely knew he had been listening to them.

Great, he thought, as he closed his bedroom door behind him. As if things hadn’t already been awkward enough even before this…

… (Calypso POV)

Once she was done with baking with Georgina, Calypso withdrew into her guest room for some ‘me’ time. She had a lot to think about. Leo hadn’t been around for the lunch, which meant that the Waystation group had been unusually quiet while finishing their meals. She knew everyone must have been thinking about him, but no one dared to bring him up. After the lunch, Georgina had asked Calypso to bake with her and she had agreed, welcoming the distraction. But Leo still hadn’t returned so she had started playing with the idea that she wouldn’t listen to Jo and Emmie’s advice, instead going to look for him after cleaning the kitchen. Before she had gotten that far, though, she had heard him in the hallway, but he had disappeared from there before she had time to even properly see him. However, she knew it couldn’t have been anyone else.

While she was relieved that he had finally come back, one part of her was also kind of mad that he had been eavesdropping and hadn’t even told them that he had returned. She was pretty close to just marching into his room and letting him hear it, but eventually she decided she wasn’t quite ready for that talk yet. If only there was some machine that would allow them to exchange their thoughts without the actual confrontation… But that was a naive thought, Calypso knew.

Finally, she decided that dwelling on the issues the whole day wouldn’t help anything. Since the Waystation family would get some Christmas guests for the evening, she decided that she should probably change out of her baking attire (a simple t-shirt and sweatpants) that had gotten a bit floury despite the apron that had covered it. Thankful for having taken several outfits from her flat (see, Leo, they were useful for something after all, she thought), she was drawn between blue jeans and a white blouse and a pretty 50ies style red dress she had only recently sewn for herself. It had sleeves that reached her elbows, a ribbon around the waist and a v-shaped neckline. Calypso wondered if the dress was a bit ‘too much’ for a family dinner but she liked how it had ended up looking and felt pretty confident in it. That’s why she ended up picking it instead of the more casual option. Besides, a tiny voice said in Calypso’s head, it didn’t hurt that Leo liked that color...

Tying her hair into a small braid pun and adding a ribbon around it, she was finally happy with her look. Then her gaze fell into the silver bracelet Leo had given to her that was still around her wrist. Briefly, she wondered how he’d feel about seeing it after their earlier incident, but she decided to leave it on. She had kind of expected Leo to give her something silly, like a CD of him singing Never Gonna Give You Up or chili seeds as a joke, but the jewelry box and the bracelet had been very thoughtful. Leo really knew how to surprise her – in a good way – sometimes…

Realizing that she had already been spending over an hour in her guest room, Calypso decided it was time to go back to socialize with her hosts. She heard Georgina’s voice coming from the living room and decided to go check up on her. The young girl was sitting by the piano, singing one of those more modern Christmas songs that she herself wasn’t crazy about, but somehow it sounded a lot more bearable when Georgina performed it. But what really surprised Calypso was Georgina’s pianist. Leo was sitting there next to his adoptive sister and focusing on running his fingers on the instrument. For some reason she hadn’t expected him to be musical and especially not interested in playing Christmas songs (Calypso knew he was more of a rock ‘n roll type of guy). She wasn’t sure what to think of this discovery.

Calypso had always loved music and she had even attempted to learn to play the piano with the help of a nanny for a little while, but when her dad had discovered what they did, he had immediately told them to stop. To this day, Calypso couldn’t understand why; she just assumed that maybe her beloved father hadn’t wanted her to learn something so ‘useless’. Thankfully, her voice wasn’t something her father could take from her so she had kept singing mostly out of spite, and became pretty good. Now she began wondering if Leo would ever mind teaching her to play… that was, if they were able to have a normal conversation again.

Georgina’s song ended and Calypso stepped forward to let the others know she was there, applauding the girl.

“That sounded good!” She encouraged her. “I’m not a fan of Christmas songs but you did well.”

“Thanks, Calie!” Georgina beamed at her. “Leo has told me you can sing too. Can I hear some? Please? Leo can play!”

“I… uh… wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Calypso turned to Leo. “Since when have you been playing the piano?”

Leo ignored Calypso’s first remark and replied: “Since I was a kid. Yeah, I bet you thought I’m more like a drum person or something but it was my mom’s idea I’d try this. Well? Are you gonna sing something?” He asked when Calypso remained quiet.

“I don’t really know that many Christmas songs…” she replied hesitantly. “Georgie, do you have any suggestions?”

“I love Taylor Swift’s songs!” the 9-year-old announced. “Do you know any of them?”

Calypso nearly burst out laughing. “Of course I do! She’s one of my favorite artists. But I thought we were going to sing Christmas songs.”

“Nah, I think I’ve already had enough of them,” Georgina stated. “But TS has made some holiday themed songs as well. Like New Year’s Day. I have the piano sheet for it!” The girl showed her a book she had borrowed from the library.

“You’re a real Swiftie, huh?” Calypso couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “But fine, I actually quite like that song so I could sing it.”

Leo had been following the conversation quietly but now he took the book from Georgina and eyed the sheet.

“Let me practice a little; I haven’t even heard this song before so I have no idea how to play it.”

“Sure, take your time,” Calypso said carefully. She was relieved to see that Leo was acting that calmly now despite the morning’s incident but she couldn’t help but wonder if that was just the surface. Surely he couldn’t have just completely forgotten about it? She would have to bring it up at some point, but now was not the time. Even when she attempted to read the lyrics her thoughts kept going back to him.

She was so lost in her thoughts that Leo had to raise his voice before she noticed he had stopped playing. “Hey, did you hear me? I asked if you’re ready.”

“What?” she shook her head. “Sorry. I was just wondering something. But yes, I’m ready now.”

Calypso noticed that Georgina kept looking at them curiously, but for once she didn’t say anything.

“Good. Let’s go,” Leo said in a neutral tone.

As she started singing, the lyrics started sinking into her differently than before. Suddenly she felt like she was the narrator, singing about the aftermath of a party she had attended. Even though Calypso wasn’t big on parties, and the latest one she had been in – the Halloween one – hadn’t gone ideally, when she kept picturing herself among her friends that she had gained during her time in Indianapolis, smiling, carrying their shoes because their feet hurt from the dancing, she felt… happy. Adding to that the image of spending time with Leo cleaning up their home while he made his snarky comments and probably tried to sabotage her cleaning process, she felt warm in a way she hadn’t expected. However, she tried to stop that track of thoughts because she realized what it implied. The narrator of the song was singing about her significant other, and Calypso had decided a long time ago that she shouldn’t get one.

As Leo kept playing, Calypso tried to keep her focus on his fingers running on the keys. For a while it worked; Calypso was amazed by how fast they could move, but then again, she supposed that all those years of building things with his hands really helped him develop that skill. Calypso could spot some stains on his hands from the machines he had handled that would barely leave even with soap, and the under nail area could definitely have used some proper scrubbing, but he wouldn’t have been Leo without those things. She couldn’t imagine him not fiddling with something 24/7. That was one of the reasons she admired him; she valued hard work pretty high and couldn’t imagine being with someone who was just sitting still.

”But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away…”

When Calypso reached that part, she felt chills go down her spine because of how well that line described her and Leo’s current situation. He felt lost because of some past traumas. She was scared of both letting him too close and losing him and everything she had gained since that fall. He had turned away from her and his family already twice that day. But there was hope; maybe, if they managed to finally communicate properly, they’d find a way to even deal with the ‘midnights’.

“Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you.”

Calypso stopped to think about that line. At first her thoughts went to the badmemories such as the times when she had been living with her father. But when she repeated the line, she understood the song was talking about the good memories that would carry you even in your worst moments. Before she knew it, she was filled with flashbacks. Yelling at Leo after Festus broke her desk. The weird warm feeling after she saw the fixed desk. Casually spending time together; cooking, cleaning, playing, watching shows together… That time when Leo had given her the seeds of her favorite flower… The ‘therapy’ sessions… The Halloween party and the almost kiss after that… the weird tension they’d been having ever since that moment… His smiles and laughs… No matter what would happen, she would always hold those memories close to her heart.

Suddenly, Calypso knew. This wasn’t just some infatuation that would go away with time. She had learned to appreciate Leo’s company more and more, the good and the bad sides, to the point that she was now in love with him. Back in August she had thought that they would probably never get along, but to her surprise they had more in common than she had expected and he had become a big part of her life. Lonely, unsure about their futures, past traumas… that’s what tied them together. And even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to deny that what she had been afraid of had already happened.

“And I will hold onto you.”

Those five simple words made Calypso’s voice crack. With frustration she swept the corner of her eyes quickly and attempted to clear her voice for the last lines of the song.

“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”

She looked up from the lyrics with blurry eyes and glanced at the boy with the piano. Some months ago, she had told herself that she wouldn’t let anyone get too close to her. But somehow Leo and all her new friends had just snuck into it, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them. She wanted them to be a permanent part of it, but with so many uncertainties in the future, could she count on it?

“What’s the matter, Cal?” Leo asked when she very clearly had difficulties pronouncing the last few words of the song.

Calypso knew the words she was going to say were probably unfair, but she couldn’t stop herself. The frustrations of that day just demanded to get out. “What’s the matter, Cal?” she mocked him. “I don’t know, Leo. You just… freak out all of a sudden and run away and then you come back and act like nothing happened?! Don’t you understand at all how worried we all are about you?!”

“I…” Leo stammered but didn’t finish his sentence.

“Well? Are you gonna explain yourself?” Calypso asked.

“Listen, you need to understand…”

“Understand what, Leo?”

Calypso waited for a little longer, but when the answer never came, she said: “You know what? Never mind. Clearly I was a fool to think that you care about us… about me the same way I care about you.”

“Calypso…”

Calypso turned her back to him and muttered: “I’m going to see if Jo and Emmie need my help with something. Do not follow me.”

In reality, Calypso withdrew into the closest bathroom and finally let the tears come.

[calm-and-wine]

(I’ll give you) the best years

part V (masterlist, taglist)

hello, hope everyone is well and taking care of themselves! here is part 5 of best years, in case anyone needs a little escape. there will be one more part (more like an epilogue probably), but i’m not sure when it’ll be posted yet, because i do need to (and want to) write my one shot for the quarantine challenge. it will definitely happen though. anyway, hope you enjoy this one and i’d love to hear your thoughts!

PART V

 November 2025

 Life without tennis was weird, that was the conclusion Lucy arrived to after two months since her retirement. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just very different. She didn’t regret her decision, not at all, but it’ll take some to get used to that new situation. She spent a bit over a week in LA while the band was doing promo, then went away for a week, just her and Niall, back in Maui, celebrating their wedding anniversary and whatever the future had in store for them. That was good, quite normal, but coming back and not going back to training was not normal. Not having to wake up early was not normal. Not having to pay attention to her food or being able to drink alcohol as freely as she wanted was not normal. Well, it was her new normal and she should probably start getting used to it.

 It wasn’t like she didn’t have anything else to do. She went to see her parents and stayed with them for a week. She had been making moves on starting the management to help young tennis players, attending meeting after meeting, trying to be as involved as her knowledge allowed her to, all the pieces slowly but steadily falling into place.

 Her life hadn’t necessarily slowed down, it just took a different course. And in the middle of it all, her and Niall also started looking at houses. Their friends said it was crazy, them running around, from meetings and Niall’s rehearsals with the band, hurrying to not be late to meet with their estate agent. Lucy was actually more tired than she was while playing. But she wasn’t complaining. Because no matter how chaotic the days were, in the end, it was always her and Niall, under the same roof, in the same bed, together.

 Even though they were both busy, they were about to be even busier. Well, Niall mostly. With the band’s first album after reunion being released in just over a week and a world tour starting in January, he definitely won’t be complaining about too much free time on his hands.

 They just got home from looking at yet another house (fourth this week), going straight to the kitchen, with Lucy starting to heat up dinner she prepped earlier, while Niall put a kettle on for some tea. Even though they hadn’t spent a ton of time together at home, especially considering how long they had been in a relationship, they had no problem falling into step with each other.

 “So, what did you think?” he asked, stepping behind her and putting a hand on the small of her back while reaching up beside her head to pull out two mugs from the cupboard. Because they drove separate cars, coming from different locations, they hadn’t even had a chance to talk properly.

 “Um… It was alright, I liked the exterior, it’s very well-kept. Big garden, which is nice,” Lucy said, turning slightly to follow Niall’s moves.

 “What about the inside?” he asked.

 She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’d need some renovation.”

 He sighed, passing her a steaming cup, knowing she liked her tea almost scolding hot. She took it with a smile, also noticing he chose her favourite mug. “How come there are no good houses in London?”

 “I know, right? I did not expect it to be that hard to find a nice home.” Because Niall was close enough, she took half a step and rested her forehead on his shoulder, him instantly putting an arm around her to rub her back.

 “Could you see us in any that we’ve seen?” he asked after planting a sweet kiss on her hairline.

 “I like the one we saw yesterday,” she said, raising her head, but staying pressed to his body. “It needs a lot of work, but it has good structure. It was finished terribly, we would have to change the floors probably, maybe take down a wall or two…”

 “That’s probably doable though, right?”

 “Did you like it?” she asked. It obviously needed to be a mutual decision, even if they may not stay in that house forever.

 “Yeah, I did,” he assured. “It has everything we wanted, just needs some work, but at least we wouldn’t have to rebuild it. And I liked the location a lot.”

 “Me too.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, her mouth going into the kiss. “Should we arrange for a contractor to take a look? See if it’d all be possible to do?”

 “Mmm, yeah,” he agreed, planting another kiss on her lips. “I know it’s not perfect, but I’d say we try, I think we’ll feel different once we’re done with it.”

 “I was never a big fan of perfect anyway,” she shrugged.

 “In everything except your husband, obviously,” Niall pointed out.

 Lucy laughed. “Oh, that especially, I settled.”

 He looked at her offended, pinching her waist, which earned a yelp from her, instantly squirming in his hold. But he held her tightly, finding her lips for yet another kiss, both their faces lighting up with grins. They truly did not need a perfect house, because they already found the perfect home in each other.

 ~~

 The album was out. One Direction was officially back and everyone was loving it. The guys were special guests at the morning radio show, then did a few more interviews before arriving at the venue for their special show. It was their first proper show, only performing the singles on tv or radio before. But tonight was a ‘one night only’, when they would play the new album in its entirety, as well as their biggest hits, obviously. 

 Lucy, Maya and Ines met up at the venue, waiting for their guys to arrive. Eleanor was coming later with Freddie, everyone’s families and friends were going to be there as well. It was a big day and the buzz was evident in the air. When the band finally arrived, everyone could tell they were scared about the upcoming show. But there were also huge smiles on their faces and excitement coursing through their veins. They just hadn’t done it all in a while. 

 They all sat down to have dinner together, talking about their day, the amazing reaction the album got and everything in between. It was truly heartwarming to see them back together and happy like that. 

 Soon after, the guys had to go to soundcheck, the girls standing up, ready to join them, all except Lucy.

 “Are you not coming?” Maya asked, looking at her surprised.

 “Nope, this one is banned,” Niall replied before Lucy could utter a word, throwing an arm around her and squeezing her shoulder with a wicked smile on his face.

 “Why?” Harry asked, looking at the couple with intrigue.

 “Well, I’ve actually never seen your show, so he wants me to watch it properly,” she explained.

 “No spoilers,” Niall smiled, proud of himself.

 “You’ve seriously never been to our show?” Liam asked incredulously, to which Lucy shook her head. “Have you been living under a rock?” he snickered, genuinely surprised. Judging from the amount of people who used to come to their shows, they kind of thought most people have seen them perform at some point.

 “Nope, just travelling the world, being one of the top tennis players, you know, the usual,” she replied with a laugh.

 “Well, it might be for the better that you haven’t seen us in our golden years,” started Louis, “at least you’ll be less disappointed tonight.”

 “Oh come off it, you’re gonna be amazing,” Ines chastened him, hitting his arm playfully. 

 “Yeah, yeah.”

 “Okay, lads, we need to go,” said Harry, trying to rush the boys, knowing their team was waiting.

 “I’m actually gonna stay too,” Ines said, when he reached for her hand.

 “Me too,” joined Maya. “It’ll be fun watching the show with a fresh mind.”

 “Well okay then, we’ll be extra sexy during soundcheck, so you’ll be missing a lot,” Harry said playfully, which earned him a few laughs.

 Each couple shared a kiss and hugs, with Louis making whiny noises behind them, because Eleanor wasn’t there yet, before the guys finally left.

 Lucy loved hanging out with the girls. They were all very different, but still got along well, having this amazing thing connecting them. It was the same with the boys, all four of them with very different personalities, but forming a bond as strong as true brotherhood. It was the type of relationship you wouldn’t understand if you weren’t a part of.

 She had fun hanging backstage, she always enjoyed those moments, everyone buzzing with excitement, talking, relaxing before going out there, and sharing it with the band, the atmosphere was even better. It was like a family.

 After sending Niall off with one last kiss and an unneeded ‘good luck’, Lucy went out into the crowd. All the women decided to watch the show from the stands, only choosing side stage for the last few songs, so they could hug their men right after.

 Watching Niall on stage has always been an incredible experience, making Lucy not only smile, but her heart fill with warmth, love and admiration. But seeing Niall on stage with his three brothers was another level. It was so easy to see just how much love those four guys had for each other, for what they were doing together. And the crowd… She had been to many of Niall’s shows, but she’s never seen or heard a crowd like that. That loud, that passionate. It was breathtaking. And knowing not only how hard the guys worked for it, but especially how much it all meant to them, made it even more awestracking. If she felt like that standing on the sidelines, she couldn’t even imagine how it must feel for the four men on stage. 

 Lucy knew Niall loved watching her play. And she felt like she truly understood why. How proud he always felt. Because seeing him up there on stage, she felt exactly the same way. There was nothing better than watching the person you loved doing the thing they loved. 

April 2026

 Niall was finally home. Sure, it’s only been 11 days since Lucy left the band’s tour and flew back home to take care of some businesses, meet with the few players her management was considering signing and oversee the renovation of their house. She spent over two months by Niall’s side, travelling through America and watching him perform night after night. And even after that time, she hadn’t gotten bored with seeing him on stage. She probably never would, just like he’d never get tired of performing.

 Having just over two weeks together at home came at the perfect time. Not only because there were a few things that needed to be done in London, but mostly considering the conversation she had to have with her husband. A conversation that required a certain level of privacy, which was quite hard to find while almost constantly being surrounded by people on tour.

 She occupied her time waiting with cooking dinner, his favourite of course, but her mind and stomach were turning, both with uncertainty of the upcoming conversation and excitement of seeing Niall again. But the sound of their gate opening brought her back to earth, making her instantly turn off the stove and leave the kitchen to properly welcome her husband.

 She got outside just as Niall was grabbing his suitcase, so she ran up to him and threw her arms around his body, which was as familiar to her as her own, if not more. He saw her coming, having managed to close the boot of the car and open his arms just in time to catch her. At that moment she was so carefree, running wild just because she missed him, not caring about what the driver might think or how it might look, just happy to have her love home.

 “Hi,” he said joyfully, moving his hand from her waist to cup her cheek and leaning down for a kiss. 

 “Welcome home,” she said before going in for a second kiss. They were both aware that they were stood in their driveway and not exactly alone, so they refrained from making out like teenagers.

  “Thanks, John, see you soon!” Niall said over his shoulder to his driver, grabbing his suitcase in one hand, the other wrapping around Lucy and leading them into the house.

 As soon as they were inside and the door was closed, his mouth was back on her. 

 “Niall,” she laughed, when after a minute he moved to her neck, “I made dinner.”

 “Not hungry,” he said hurriedly, like he wanted to spend as little time without the contact of her skin as possible.

 “But,” Lucy started, which made Niall pull away slightly, putting his hand on the back of her neck making their eyes meet. It was like that look made her grounded again, all the worries, stress, all the different scenarios she made up in her head, none of that mattered. He always had this amazing gift of making everything else disappear. Like it was just them two, at that very moment, their feelings the only thing that mattered. “I guess the dinner can wait,” she agreed, marking her words with a playful tag at his hair.

 “Missed you, love,” he said with a wicked smile, before raising her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist to hold tight, and carrying her upstairs to show her just how much he really missed her. 

 ~~

 They were enjoying the peace and quiet after dinner, cuddled on the couch, an old rerun of the show they’ve seen already humming in the background while they chatted a bit, sharing the things that happened the last couple of days, even though they already knew the majority through their phone calls. The company of their spouse always brought a level of comfort, no matter where they were, but when they were together at home, there truly was nothing better. 

 Lucy turned her head slightly to check if Niall hadn’t drifted off to sleep during the lull in their talks and when he looked back at her with the softest smile, the one reserved only for her, she said what’s been on her mind for the past three days. 

 “I might be pregnant.”

 Her statement made Niall sit up, turning his body to face her properly, his hands grabbing hers to make sure her attention is all focused on him.

 “How sure are you?” he asked softly, his voice level, oozing nothing but calmness.

 “Um… Not really, I’m late, but I haven’t taken any tests.”

 He let go of one of her hands to rake a hand through his hair. “Shit, okay, should we go get some now?”

 She bit her lip nervously. “There are three waiting in the bathroom upstairs.”

 He looked at her carefully, trying to decipher how she felt about it all, but he could only see the slightly shake to her hands and a soft smile gracing her lips, which was a bit contradictory, but in a way he felt like he understood her mood perfectly, a balance between very nervous and excited.

 “Shall we go now, then?” he asked carefully. 

 “Yeah,” she said getting up, Niall halting her for a second before she could walk away, their lips meeting in a very reassuring kiss, before leading her upstairs with a hand on the small of her back.

 Lucy had three different tests she bought the day before tucked away in a medicine cabinet, waiting for Niall to get home, because it didn’t feel right to check on her own. She went into the bathroom, her husband walking circles around their bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar. She picked all three tests up, read the instructions carefully before peeing on the sticks, laying them all on the sink and rejoining Niall in the room to not wait alone.

 “Hey, you’re alright, yeah?” he asked, coming right up to her and grabbing her shoulders, massaging them slightly.

 “Yes,” she said, stepping closer to hug him, needing the safety of his arms. “I didn’t expect it, but whatever happens, it’s okay. I mean we want kids anyway and maybe it isn’t the best time and we didn’t really plan it, but we’re ready, right?”

 He smiled at her, reaching up to tuck a stray of hair behind her ear. “I think so, yes.”

 They took a minute embracing each other, both holding the other tightly, both having this epiphany that their lives might be changed in a matter of minutes. There were some soft kisses shared, loving words of reassurance whispered, before Lucy’s alarm ringed out, Niall squeezing her one more time before wrapping an arm around her waist, their bodies colliding as he led them into the bathroom to see the results.

 “You look,” she said, burying her head into his shoulder, trying to take deep breaths and stay calm. She wasn’t afraid of being pregnant. Sure it would change a lot, a kid would probably turn their lives upside down. But it wasn’t like they never talked about it, they both wanted kids, they wanted kids together. She loved Niall, he was her forever, there was no trace of doubt about that in her mind. But it was still scary.

 “Hey, look at me,” Niall said after a minute, his calloused fingers cupping both her cheeks. When she looked into his eyes, she could see them begin to glisten. “They’re all positive.”

 Before she could say anything, a huge smile broke into her face, Niall’s face instantly mirroring hers. “We’re gonna be parents,” she whispered, as it was some kind of secret only they knew, like she didn’t want to share it with anyone else, it was only for Lucy and Niall.

 “We’re gonna be parents,” he whispered back, resting his forehead against hers, before pulling her impossibly close, his lips finding hers, the kiss soft and urgent at the same time. 

 When he pulled away after quite a few more kisses, he grabbed her by the waist, lifting her and swung her around the bathroom, the biggest smile on his face, a laugh escaping his lips, she was also pretty sure she caught a tear running down his cheek. She had her doubts, she had to admit that, but she was also incredibly happy. Niall felt like her home for the longest time, but now they’d be a proper family. They were growing, they were making even more plans together, it was all evolving, growing, especially the love. She didn’t think it was possible, but it truly felt like the love they shared only grew and grew and all she could hope for was that it would never stop.

 ~~

 As Lucy slowly came into consciousness, the sun trying to seep into the room through the curtains, as soon as her eyes cracked open, she saw Niall. It was the best feeling to wake up and feel his body connected with hers, even if it was just their feet tangled together. But it was a rare sight to wake up and see her husband already awake. But this morning he was just that, lying on his side, an arm curled under his head, watching her.

 “What time is it?” Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes, voice groggy from sleep.

 “Don’t know,” Niall replied shrugging, his eyes not leaving her face.

 “How long have you been awake?” She turned on her side to face him properly, her hand setting on his bare torso.

 “Don’t know.” He reached his hand to push back the hair falling onto her face, before lifting his head to plant a good morning peck on her lips.

 She looked at him with furrowed brows, his behaviour a bit unusual. “Do you know anything? Have you not looked at the clock?” It wasn’t like him to wake up before her but it was even more unlike him to not check his phone right after.

 “Nope.” His face was lit up by a content smile, his hand travelling from her cheek to her waist to pull her closer.

 “Why not?” she asked, eager to get some answers, see what was going on inside his head.

 “Why would I?” He threw the question back at her. “It doesn’t matter, we don’t have anywhere to be today. Why would I waste time looking at the time when I have such a beautiful angel to admire beside me?”

 Even though the room wasn’t entirely bright, the curtains keeping the sun out for the most part, she could easily see the love in his eyes. 

 “What got you all soppy this morning?” she laughed, feeling her cheeks warming up at his words.

 “You get me soppy all the time, it’s your magic ability.” He moved even closer, wrapping his entire body around her, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

 “I missed this,” she admitted, pushing her fingers through his hair. “There’s nothing better than waking up together.”

 He hummed, his hands gently roaming over her body before setting underneath her t-shirt (or rather, his), right on her belly. Her heart skipped a beat. Niall planted a kiss on her neck, before pulling away to press their foreheads together, looking not only into her eyes, but straight into her soul. Lucy could feel her eyes starting to glisten, and who knows, maybe it was the hormones, there were definitely many emotions filling her, the strongest of them all being love.

 “We’re really gonna have a baby soon,” Niall whispered, cupping her cheek, ready to catch any tear that might escape.

 “Yeah,” she managed to say, before he leaped in to kiss her, wanting to show her just how happy he was, how in awe and in love he was, how grateful he was for her. 

 “You’re okay with that, right? Having a kid now?” he asked after a minute, his voice laced with the slightest hint of insecurity. They talked about it last night, but he wanted to check in again, after some of the emotions died down.

 Just looking at him, concerned about her and her feelings, made her heart soar and a smile graced her lips. “Of course I am. It’s unexpected, sure, but I’d say we’re in a pretty good place, maybe it’s not ideal timing, but it’s not terrible either.” She propped her head on her shoulder to get a better look at Niall, making sure he not only heard her, but also knew she meant every word. “I’m happy. We’ve known for a while we wanted children, so we might as well start now, right? We’re having a baby, of course I’m happy. Pretty scared, but happy.”

 “I feel like the happiest man, honestly. You always make me the happiest.” He grinned so much this morning, his cheeks would probably start aching before the clock even hit noon.

 “Do you think we’ll be alright as parents?” she asked, grabbing his hand to play with his fingers.

 “Well, I have no doubt you’re gonna be the best mum. And I’d like to think I’m gonna be an alright dad.”

 “You’ve always been amazing with kids.”

 “Yeah, but it’s a bit different with your own, right?” He shrugged before moving onto his back and looking at the ceiling, like it could hold some answers. “I think you might have to be the strict parent most of the time. I’m too soft for those kinds of things.”

 Lucy chuckled, leaning up and over him. “We’ll figure it out,” she assured. “I need to call my doctor and actually get an appointment first.”

 “You’re still coming with us to Europe, right?” He asked, looking up at her hopefully.

 “Yeah, it should be okay, right? We’ll ask the doctor, but I think so. We need to get the house done though. Especially now.”

 “Don’t worry about it, we’ll make it. Everything will be alright and if not, we’ll figure it out.”

 She went in for another kiss, before settling down onto his chest. “I love you.”

 “And I love you.” He moved his hand around to her belly and looked down. “And you little bean.”

July 2026

 “You can see my belly, can’t you?” Lucy asked, turning every which way in front of the mirror. 

 Niall glanced at her from his place on the bed, looking away from the emails he’s been responding to and taking in his wife. She had a pretty summer dress on, the mixture of elegant and cute, looking as beautiful as ever. But he felt like he was on thin ice, because yes, he could easily make out a small baby bump beneath the material, but he was more than familiar with her body and was pretty sure this was not the response Lucy wanted to hear.

 “Well… Yeah, but that’s just because I know it’s there,” he said, gesticulating to her stomach.

 She huffed irritatedly, clearly not happy with his answer. “I don’t have anything to wear, then.”

 Niall sighed (but not loudly enough for her to hear), closing his laptop and going to stand behind his wife, grabbing her hand to pull her close. “You look beautiful, love. And if someone can spot your bump, so what?” He knew Lucy wasn’t feeling great lately. Her belly started growing and as much as he thought that made her even more sexy, she didn’t feel perfectly comfortable with it yet, so used to the way her body had been pretty much the same for years. The fact that she had been feeling like shit, growing tired way too soon and morning sickness lasting almost all day, did not help.

 “It’ll probably make tens of articles pop up speculating,” she reasoned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

 He shrugged, clearly unbothered. “I say, let them. Fuck it, you know? It’s ours, yeah, but we can’t keep it on the downlow forever, so we should just do whatever we want to. And not care. You are pregnant, so why hide it?”

 She bit her lip, taking a moment to think through his words. “Are you sure I look alright?” she asked again. “There will be a lot of people. And pictures.”

 “You look stunning, Lulu,” he assured, marking his words with a kiss. “Like always, but even more. You’re glowing and I’m loving it.”

 “I do not feel glowing,” she huffed.

 He looked at her with concern. The doctor said it was all normal, some women feeling better, some worse, so technically there was no cause for concern, but he still worried, especially knowing that she was happy with the pregnancy, but couldn’t actually enjoy it, because it was not being easy on her. Having her on tour with him was good and bad at the same time, he was glad he could keep an eye on her, but it was hard seeing her struggle, especially all the travelling taking its toll on her. She assured him she was fine, time and time again, being an absolute champ about it all, which of course she was. But he was a husband, it was his job to worry.

 “Are you sure you’ll be okay today? How’s the sickness?” he asked, holding her steady by the waist and taking a step back to look at her properly, almost like he was trying to assess her state, even though there were no clear symptoms.

 “Not awful, but not the best either,” Lucy admitted, having trouble to even remember when was the last time she actually felt good. She took his hands and wrapped them tight around her waist, stepping closer to him once again. “You’ll be by my side, so I’ll be alright.”

 He sighed, knowing there was no point in discussing it further. He did plan to make her ginger tea in a travel mug, so she could drink it on their way, hopefully calming some of her nausea, because that was pretty much all he could do to help her. “Are you excited?” he asked, changing the subject. They were going to watch the women's final at Wimbledon, with Lucy not only being invited, but also asked to take part in the trophy ceremony. It was a great honour, he understood that, of course he did, but just a little part of him wished she would take it easy. Stay home if she didn’t feel great. Especially because he knew she was stressed out about it. Not only about how she looked, despite all the questions she just asked, that was probably the least of her concern. She didn’t like being in public like that. Maybe she wouldn’t be the centre of attention, but she’d still be under the spotlight. She worried about making a mistake, having thousands of eyes on her, all the comments that might come after. She knew how to play on a tennis court, not hand trophies.

 “Yeah. Really excited,” Lucy said, a smile taking over her face. “A little stressed, especially since I could technically feel the urge to throw up at any minute.” Niall was about to say something, probably along the lines of her canceling, so she pressed her palm against his mouth to shut him up. “But it should be fine. I’m really hoping Naomi will win, she deserves it so much.”

 She didn’t just say it because she had beaten Naomi last year, but as a friend and a fellow player. They already made plans to meet up for lunch on Monday for a little catch up.

 “Oh, I forgot to tell you, they asked us to come in on Wednesday to see the house, they need some decisions regarding the living room, I think.” Lucy said, after Niall finally went into their wardrobe to change. She was just about to hurry him, not wanting to be late and knowing the traffic will probably be awful.

 “Do you have any other plans on Wednesday?” he asked, coming back into the room, dress pants on and starting to button a light blue shirt.

 “There might be a meeting regarding the sporting centre, I’m not sure yet. But if I’m busy you’ll handle it, right?” Lucy asked, not even trying to hide the fact that she was ogling her husband’s naked chest. Damn, she loved his body. And his heart and soul, but his body… It made her crazy, especially now when her hormones were all over the place.

 “Yeah, of course,” he said right away, knowing Lucy was actually the one making sure everything was on track with their house, so he could take some of that load now that he was home for three weeks.

 “And I might not be coming out for that last leg of your tour.” She said, finally turning around and going to put finishing touches on her makeup. 

 “Wait, what? Why?” Niall asked, stopping his movements to look at her.

 “Just…. The house is gonna be a shit show next month, with most of the general work being finished, the furniture and equipment starting to arrive, the other crew coming in… We can’t ask Mia and Nat to keep an eye on it all the time.” She didn’t turn around, didn’t even raise her eyes to look at him through the mirror, because she didn’t want to see his expression. Seeing the disappointment on his face might just make her cry. And she spent way too much time trying to make her eyes look decent with makeup to destroy it now. “Plus there’s been talk of some more meetings, getting the ball really rolling for the centre… And it might be good for me to slow down for a bit. Especially all the travelling. I haven’t decided yet, maybe I’ll come down for Australia.”

 “Oh okay. I mean…” he sighed, his hand going up to his hair and stopping at the very last second when he remembered it was already styled. “Yeah, it might be good for you to chill for a minute. But I’ll hate not seeing you for weeks again. And I don’t like the prospect of leaving you alone with it all.”

 Lucy finished applying her lipstick before finally turning around, his eyes already trained on her, a weak smile on his face. Niall didn’t mean to make her feel bad or guilty, that was never the case, but he also wanted to be honest. And she knew he was coming from a good place, always.

 “I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine,” she said, coming up to him and cupping his cheeks, making a move to plant a kiss on his lips, but pulling away a second before their lips met, not wanting to put lipstick on him, which made him whine and her let out a little laugh. “It’s just a few weeks. And then you’ll be home. And I’ll be here. And we’ll be moving while also preparing for the baby, so that will probably be a shitshow, but hey, at least we’re in this together.”

 He smiled, kissing her cheek. Then the other. And then her neck, making her giggle. “‘Course we are. Always.”

October 2026

 Putting finishing touches and getting ready to move houses while being seven months pregnant was not ideal. Thankfully they were both home now, after Lucy flew to Australia for the last shows of One Direction’s first tour back, they came back two weeks ago, after spending a few days longer, just relaxing, on the other side of the world.

 All of this made Lucy stressed, her pregnancy made her uncomfortable most of the time and the impending arrival of the baby made her feel unprepared, no matter how many books and blog posts she had read. Because of that, it was no surprise to Niall that she wanted a quiet birthday. Lucy was never a fan of huge parties, especially the ones thrown in her honour. He proposed going away to their getaway house in Ireland, but she had insisted there were too many things to be done and overseen here, so he didn’t push, not wanting to make her even more stressed or upset. He did however make sure she hadn’t done anything unnecessary that day. Bringing her waffles and tea to bed in the morning, staying wrapped up in each other until midday, spending the next few hours cocooned on the couch, talking and watching tv, catching up on the lost time while they were apart. 

 However, when it was nearing the evening, he did ask her to get ready, saying he had something special planned. 

 “If you threw me a party, I’ll kill you,” she said while walking down the stairs, ready to go out. She knew it wasn’t dinner, because they had eaten not too long ago, Niall cooking her favourite of his while she admired him at work from the kitchen counter. He just chuckled, refusing to give her any hints.

 But he did throw her a surprise party. Well, maybe not necessarily a party, more like a gathering. He got all of 1D with their better halves, their friends, her parents, Mia and Natalia, his own parents, even few of the people she’s been working closely with at the tennis management. The place wasn’t too crowded, filled with people she knew and appreciated. The music wasn’t too loud, you could easily have a conversation without screaming at each other. There was a bar, but not a proper dancefloor, just a little free space in case anyone wanted to bust a move, which eventually they did. 

 It was special, a perfect night to finish off the perfect day, the gesture making her cry more than once (which was fine, because at least she could blame it on the hormones). She trusted Niall completely and moments like those just proved how he truly knew her, giving her the perfect balance of what she wanted and what he knew she’d enjoy. 

 But now it was nearing 5am and she was lying awake, over half an hour since she woke up. She was uncomfortable. Huffing and throwing away the comforter because she was too hot, then growing cold mere minutes later. Not even her pregnancy pillow brought her any comfort tonight. She was just about to try getting up, when Niall stirred besides her, his eyes cracking open and his hand going to rub at her back as soon as he noticed she wasn’t asleep.

 “Everything alright?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. 

 “Yeah, I couldn’t settle comfortably and now I’m wide awake,” she explained.

 Niall hummed, looking at her in the darkness, her eyes tired, brows furrowed. He could see she was stressed or anxious, like she had been most of the time lately. It made him worried. He tried his best to take as much burden off her as he could, especially now he was home. 

 “I’ll go make some tea and then give you a message, hmm, how’s that sound?” he asked, bumping her nose cutely.

 “I’ll go with you,” she said, throwing the comforter off her body already. 

 “No, you relax, you’ve been on your feet half the night, you should rest.”

 “I need to stretch, I’m too uncomfortable now,” she reasoned, which made him give up easily, ready to help her up right away.

 They went downstairs holding hands, because that’s just how they usually walked, him not really letting her do anything beside walking around the kitchen to stretch her limbs, before going back to bed, Niall refusing to even let her carry a cup.

 “I know you’re tired because of the house and the pregnancy hasn’t exactly been easy on you, but there’s something else also troubling you, I can tell,” he said, as soon as they were settled into bed, Lucy propped against the headboard, while he sat cross legged in the middle, facing her.

 When he woke up, she didn’t expect him to stay up with her. They went to sleep just a few hours before. Sure, he only had two beers last night, saying he was gonna keep her company in the sober club, even though she insisted she was fine with him having some drinks. So he wasn’t even buzzed anymore, but it was 5 am, he must have been tired. And yet, he was ready to stay up with her, have tea and an actual conversation, just because she couldn’t sleep. That was love, gestures like those only made her appreciate him more and more.

 “It’s just a lot, I don’t know,” she shrugged, not really sure how to even explain her feelings. “I’m anxious about the baby, I wish we were done with the house already and… I just… I don’t know what to do with the training centre.”

 “Well, the house is almost ready and I’m back now, I can handle most of it. Especially the packing, you’ll just sit and give me orders and I’ll get it all done, don’t you worry ‘bout a thing. It’s not good for you nor our little bub,” he marked his words with a gentle hand rubbing her swollen stomach. “And what’s up with the centre? You’ve been having quite a few meetings about it lately, yeah?”

 “Yes and if I was going to pull out, I’d need to do it now.”

 He sat up a bit straighter, looking at her confused. “Wait, why the hell would you pull out? I thought you were excited about it.”

 “I was, yeah, but…” Lucy huffed, playing with a loose thread in the comforter. “Just how will it work? I was hoping to get it done at the end of this year or the start of the new at the latest, but with a kid.. I don't know, I can't do it all.”

 “Hey, it’s alright,” he scooted closer, noticing she was starting to get upset and placing a calming hand on her knee. “You’re not alone in it, love. I’m here,” he assured with a small smile. “And I know I’ve been busy, touring and all, but I’m home now. I’m here for you, we’re in this together, yeah? You’re never alone with anything.”

 “Maybe i should just postpone it. Wait a year or something.” She shrugged again, looking down, her eyes unfocused.

 He licked his lips, thinking of the best response. “You can if you want to. But if not, we can make it work now.”

 Lucy finally raised her head, meeting Niall’s eyes, the look he was giving her nothing but gentle. “I’m just scared that if i put it off now, it’ll never happen,” she admitted. “Because then it’ll probably be another kid, I really doubt we’re gonna be done with one, and just… it’ll fade away.”

 “No, I won't let it, love,” he was quick to assure her, grabbing her hands in his and squeezing. “I know you want it. And if you want it now, we’ll make it happen. Or if you want to wait half a year, or less or more, you’ll do it then. But I’ll make sure it’ll happen for you.”

 Lucy’s lip started wobbling and tears began streaming down her cheeks. Niall reached to wipe them right away, letting go of one of her hands, but still holding the other.

 When she calmed down, he asked, “Tell me how do you see it anyway? I know you want to be involved in it, not just set it up, but do you want to just generally oversee it or train someone or… I don’t know.”

 “Umm… I think oversee mostly,” she said. “Pop in to see how everything’s going. Talk to people, trainers, players… everyone. Conduct training from time to time, but not really regularly. Taking on a player would be too much for me.”

 “Well, couldn’t you do it now?” he asked, giving her a look of confidence. He was always the one who brought her courage when her own ran out. “Like, even soon after our little bug is born, you’d be gone for a couple of hours tops, not everyday,” he explained. “I think it’d be alright. Might even be good for you.”

 “What about the band? Aren’t you planning another album? Another tour?” She asked, not exactly sold on the idea. It was something she’s been turning over in her head, trying to come up with a perfect plan, but she wasn’t sure it existed.

 He shook his head. “There’s gonna be a little version of us both super soon and you expect me to leave for months upon months? No chance.” She chuckles, hitting his arm lightly to make him be serious. “There are plans, yes, we for sure want to continue, but not right away. I mean, we’ll probably pop into the studio from time to time, but no schedule, we just want to relax right now. Put our families first. We’re having a baby. It’s technically a secret, but El’s pregnant as well. Harry is getting engaged…”

 Lucy squeaked in excitement at all those news. “What? El’s having a baby? That’s amazing. And Harry! Finally! Did he get a ring?”

 Niall grinned, finally seeing his wife happy and excited making him feel a bit lighter. “Yeah, showed us like a month ago, fingers crossed he’ll actually man up and pop the question.”

 She giggled. “That’s crazy. Maya has told me that she and Liam had talked about trying for a little one as well. Ahh can you imagine our kids being so close in age?”

 His face matched her grin. “They’d be best friends.”

 “Definitely.”

 “But, to get back on topic, I’ll be staying put for the foreseeable future. Ready to take care of you and our bug and everything. So do your thing, don’t be scared, please. You know we’ll work it out.” He moved to his knees to get close enough to plant a gentle kiss on her lips.

 “Thank you.”

 “You don’t have to thank me, love. I’m your husband, no thank yous needed.” 

 “Yeah, but I still want to thank you,” she marked her words with another kiss. “For being the best husband and the best teammate ever.”

 “You don’t have a lot of experience with teammates though, right?” Niall pointed out with a chuckle. “With tennis being an individual sport and all…”

“Yeah yeah, alright, here’s my trying to be nice and you ruining it. Just like always.”

 He laughed, wrapping his arms around her body and bringing her flush to him. “I love our little team of three.” 

 Lucy went in for yet another kiss, having to agree with him.

taglist: @stylishmuser @verorax @georgiahoranxx @exoticniall @awomanindeniall​ @soullikestyles​ @bopbopstyles​

[smol-and-grumpy]

Something Just Like This - CH06

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Dean Winchester, mobster boss. He’s a little cocky, a lot ruthless and more often than not, short tempered. But he’s also, Dean Winchester, a war veteran and hero who suffers under a shit ton of PTS. He met her in a bar and thinks it’s fate that brought her to him. Little does he know why she’s really here.

Warnings: There is still none, what the fuck is wrong with me?! Well, maybe mention of sex trafficking, abuse of minors

WC: 3717

A/N: There are some discussions about a scandal on a classified ad website that really happened. Thank god that page has been taken down but these things will continue to happen and they dominate the lifes of minors who are captured and exploited by these people every day.

SERIES MASTERLIST

It’s a sunny day and there are lots of dog walkers in the park. Y/N was never really a dog person but Linda is, so maybe that’s why they always meet here at the dog park. Plus, it’s always crowded and they are able to go incognito. 

Y/N schleps her bags to the closest unoccupied bench she can find and sits down. 

Thinking about it, maybe she shouldn’t have bought this much. She only wanted to go in for one bra but then another one jumps in her face and it’s so cute with the lace and all, and it was the same color as her dress and of course then she needed matching panties and then, of fucking course, she needed them in different colors too. 

She doesn’t really know why she bought so many. Why she thinks that someone will ever see her in them. It’s not like she has a boyfriend, nor does she have a boy she wants to show them off to, for that matter. She’s no prude by any means and has lost her v-card a long time ago, but work has always been more important than going on dates. Not that she hasn't tried the dating thing, it’s just— every time she met with someone, she couldn’t help but run a background check on him, which she is technically not allowed to, but she’s better safe than sorry. And even if their record is clean, they bored her to death, and when she mentions that she’s with the FBI, they usually backed off on their own anyway.

Once Y/N settles, she pulls out a book from her bag and starts to read. Of course she can’t concentrate on reading. Can’t really think about anything else but how cute Dean looked when he was mortified that he might have said something weird. She also can’t stop thinking about how big and firm Dean is. How the dress shirt stretches tightly over his chest, the buttons praying for mercy. Can’t stop thinking about his perky little nipples that poked at the shirt and screamed to be freed. And his arms. Ugh. It always looks like the shirts cling onto his biceps for dear life. Not to mention the veins in his forearms when he had his dress shirt folded back. She noticed that night that Dean Winchester’s arms and hands were, in fact, freckled.

No, she shakes her head. She has no business thinking about him that way. But also, he has no fucking business looking that good, so there’s that.

She hardly notices someone sitting down next to her until the person speaks up.

“You went shopping?” 

It’s a familiar voice. 

Y/N doesn’t turn her head, instead looks at the person through the corner of her eyes. The woman next to her pulls out her phone and puts it to her ear.

Y/N continues to pretend to read. “Yeah, got an opening to attend, remember? You got what I sent you last night?”

“We looked through it. It’s quite a finding.”

“Really?” Because Y/N couldn’t make anything from the scribbles, “Good.” 

“There’s something about Lucifer in the notes. That’s just his nickname, which is fitting because he is indeed the devil. He’s Winchester’s rival. Used to be his right hand but split with them. Now he’s up against them while simultaneously building up a reputation in human trafficking.”

“Oh,”

Human trafficking , she remembers the time in training where they taught her about that. Knows that it’s a multi-million dollar operation behind it, knows that it’s dangerous as hell.

“Be careful, alright?”

“I will.”

“You wanna quit?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s getting risky. You just have to tell me and I’ll pull you out.”

“I know,” Y/N says. 

She knows that she can pull out anytime. It’s just—

—the more she gets to know Dean, the less she wants to quit. Which is unlike her at all. 

Y/N feels some kind of need in her. A need to know more about him. Wants to know how he ticks, wants to know why he’s always so reserved. She thinks there’s another layer of Dean Winchester. A layer you can’t see with your eyes, a layer you have to see with your heart. 

She thinks that there’s more to him than the mob boss and she feels weird to want to stay to see what’s beneath the hard shell. “So you’re telling me that Dean isn’t such a bad guy after all. That there’s someone out there who’s worse. Shouldn’t I try to get this Lucifer guy then?”

“No, Winchester’s bad, okay? I agree that Lucifer is worse but I can’t get you close to Lucifer. That guy is not only bad, that one is dangerous. I’d be risking your life and that’s the last thing I want to do.”

“Human trafficking, huh?” Y/N still looks down at her book and turns a page, just in case. “What kind?”

Linda nods subtly, “He started with organs but he wandered into sex-trafficking. Mostly young girls.”

“Wow.”

“Girls from normal families, runaways, sometimes he gets them off the street, promising them shelter and care—”

“—But instead they get abused and drugged.” Y/N finishes the sentence.

“Yes,” Linda nods.

“Isn’t there a special unit for that?” Y/N remembers her dad used to tell her about the Village Voice scandal.

“There is, and there’s another team on Lucifer but we’re working close with them.”

“So, what is that about, some sort of backpage kinda thing? I thought we put that to rest?”

“Oh honey, for every page we close, there are two or three more showing up, and that’s only the pages we know of.” Linda’s voice is small. 

Y/N remembers her dad being engrossed in his work while the backpage story blew up. A place where underage girls were trafficked. Heavily. Up to 20 clients a day. Every time she went back from college to see him in the years where backpage won case by case and continued to exploit girls on their page, he’d make sure to hold her just a little bit tighter.

“Right.” Y/N sighs, doesn’t want to think about all the bad things in the world because it would only rile her up more, “I need to keep going if I want to be on time for my shift.”

“I love you.” Linda says without looking at her. 

“Love you too,” Y/N replies, stands up and grabs her bags to leave.

*

Dean didn’t show up that night but when her shift ends, Y/N receives a text from an unknown number. 

D: Hey sweetheart, where can I pick you up tomorrow? Dean

Her cheeks warm up and ugh, there’s the flutter in her heart. She should not be feeling this.

Y/N: Hey stranger, you were missed tonight. 

D: Yeah, sorry, have a lot on my plate. Broken any noses or jaws tonight?

Y/N: No, they behaved. 

D: Good. Would have been a shame if I would have to punch them all in the face next time I’m there.

Y/N: I can take care of myself. 

D: I know. I also know that I shouldn’t get on your bad side. 

She giggles at that.

Y/N: So, tomorrow, picking me up at the bar is okay. I’ll see if I can help Ellen before I have to leave.

D: You are really a good girl, huh? 

D: I’m kidding. I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart. Have a good night.

Y/N: You too.

She smiles to herself as she puts the phone back into her purse and proceeds to close the bar.

***

THE NEXT DAY

    “Alright, Ellen, everything’s in the cooler, you want me to help with anything else before I have to get myself ready?” Y/N calls to the back. Taking a look at the clock, she notices that Dean said he’ll pick her up in two hours time. There’s still plenty of time to do some other chores if Ellen wants her to.

“No, that’s alright. Just gonna hang up this sign,” Ellen comes through the door and pushes past Y/N with a sheet of paper in her hand. She notices some scribbles done with a black marker but can’t quite catch what it says.

“What’s that?” 

“Oh, I’m only open for a couple of hours tonight, gonna close earlier than usual.” Ellen shrugs and tapes the paper to the front door.

“Why?”

“I’m alone and I can’t possibly manage all the people. Have you noticed that there are more and more every night? I think it’s because of you, honey. They all drive out here to see you. And besides, Winchester paid me enough that I could actually close the bar for tonight, for the whole weekend even, but I guess some people still want to have a drink or two.”

“Oh,” Y/N could say she’s surprised that Dean paid Ellen, but really, she’s not for one bit. Thinks, it’s ridiculous how he always finds solutions by using money. 

“Go and get yourself ready,” Ellen pats her shoulder and disappears into the back office.

  *

She’s sitting at the bar on Dean’s stool when the door opens to a tall guy. One she’s never seen before. 

He smiles when he sees her and waits at the door. “I take it, you’re Y/N?”

“Who’s asking?” 

“Hi, I’m Castiel. Cas,” He looks around, as if to inspect the bar but makes no further move, “Everyone calls me Cas.” 

Castiel walks in and stands in the middle of the bar now, his gaze wanders from her to the back door. From the back door to the jukebox and further to the other side of the bar, “I’m working with Dean and he sent me to pick you up.”

“Oh,” She says and swallows down the disappointment she knows she shouldn’t be feeling. Of course Dean’s busy. He’s a fucking gangster boss who helps his brother opening up a legal law-fucking-firm. It’s a wonder if he’s not busy.

“We should get going. We’re already late as it is,” Cas walks back to the door he came through and waits for her while he holds the door open, “You coming?”

“Sure,” Y/N says, and hops off the stool, bites on her tongue as not to snap at Cas and ask him why Dean couldn’t come. Because let’s be honest here, she shouldn’t care about it as much as she does anyway.

They walk out and Cas is a gentleman, lending her a hand to walk down the front of the bar. He’d parked right in front of it too, so that she doesn’t have to walk through dirt with her nice new shoes. 

“That’s Dean’s car, isn’t it?” She asks upon realizing the Impala that Dean usually drives.

“Yeah, he told me that if you should get suspicious, I can always show you his car. Told me you’ve seen it already and let’s be real here, she’s a beauty.”

Right, she definitely should have interrogated Cas. Especially because Lucifer is on the loose and he holds a grudge against Dean, apparently. Only she doesn’t think that she’d be important enough for Lucifer to consider her a person of interest at all, so it never crosses her mind that someone would want to harm her. Not even after what Linda told her yesterday.

Cas goes on after he settles in the car, “Like, he never lets me drive, ever! So who are you really that he even made me drive out here in his Baby to pick you up?” 

“I’m his barmaid.” She just shrugs and it makes Cas laugh. Loud and sharp. 

Dean nervously flips his wrist and glances at his watch. The party has started and people are starting to pour in. Some of them mingled together in a group, talking in low hushed voices. The background music is soft. Sam had wanted some jazz music, had dismissed Dean’s suggestion that people might prefer classic rock. His firm, his party, so Sammy put his foot down. 

There were also powerful people here, judges, doctors, state reps, they’re all legal on the outside, but Dean knows their secrets — as much as they know his. Which kind of works to his disadvantage, really. 

He’s standing off to the side, grabbing a bite off the trays the servers are bringing every now and then, shaking hands with people he has never met, letting Sam introduce him as his brother, the war hero. To say that Dean’s bored and feels out of place is an understatement.

Jo’s hanging on his arm like she belongs there and Dean can’t remember when the last time was that she’s been so clingy. She’s talking to Jess who’s hanging onto Sam. Sammy’s beaming from ear to ear and Dean likes that. Finds his own comfort in Sam’s happiness. 

Sam’s been with Jess since college and Dean advised him not to spill too soon about who he is, who his family is but of course Sam did the contrary. Boy has some authority issues. To Dean’s surprise though, Jess stayed with Sam and cut all ties to her family. He guesses that it really must be love. 

Whatever love is. 

He doesn’t know it, can’t really say that he’s been in love himself. Love. It’s only a word, some utopian thing that only happens in movies. Well, or something that happens to other people. People who deserve it. Like Sammy for example.

“Dean!”

He doesn’t have to look in the direction to know who it is. Dean would recognize the voice — or rather the noise — anywhere. Jo’s hand around him grips him tighter, as if she wants to mark her territory. Dean thinks it’s weird but before he can even form a thought in his head, he hears loud clicking of heels walking swiftly towards him.

She struts closer with her mother. Both of them dressed to impress with too much make up on their faces. It makes them look like very expensive hookers. Those kinds where Dean wouldn’t want to get involved with.

“Amara,” Dean greets her and then, he’s being hugged. Amara’s strong perfume penetrates his nostrils, her boobs rub against his chest and he knows that she does it deliberately. Jo lets go off him by the sheer force of the hug.

Dean literally plies himself from her and her arms are still hanging off his shoulders when he greets her mother, “Rowena,” He nods. 

“Hello Dean,” Rowena’s smile was bright and white. “How are you, boy?” 

Dean knows that Rowena likes him like a son. She was madly in love with his father, he didn't even know if they had something going on, didn’t really want to know, to be honest. But he knows that Rowena would have loved it if he would have married her daughter, which, of course, would only happen over Dean’s dead body.

“Good, thanks.” Dean tries to smile and somehow winding out of the grip Amara still has on him. “Oh, hey, Sammy’s here. It’s Sammy’s night tonight.” He grins and it’s all forced, hoping to avert the attention from him to Sam. 

Jo’s gripping his arm again, on his other side hangs Amara, and the two women are sending each other daggers with their eyes as they greet one another. Dean looks around the room, trying to see if someone could get him out of his misery, knows that he could do it himself, and as much as he loves to tell them both to fuck off, he has to play nice because he doesn’t want to upset Sammy on his brother’s big night.

When nobody seems to notice his state of discomfort, Dean decides to make the best out of it, talking to the group of people and making lame jokes. To his amusement the two women laugh the loudest at something that isn’t even remotely funny, making Dean frown in bewilderment.

He looks up again, his eyes scanning the room, maybe someone will take notice of him now. His eyes stall at the front door.

Cas walks in, Y/N on his arm. Their eyes meet immediately, and maybe Dean’s wrong but he sees her looking down right after, as if she tries hard to look at anything else but him. 

He can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy hitting square in his chest, right where his fucking heart is, upon seeing her hanging off Cas’ arm. 

At that moment, all he sees is her. Sees her hair loose around her face, the pretty dress hugging her beautiful body. What he also sees is the color in her cheeks, and the puff of her lips, wonders how they would feel on his, or around his cock. Feels only a little guilty that when he rubbed himself off in the showers this morning and closed his eyes, all he saw was her. 

Dean pulls himself away from Amara and Jo. Shaking off Amara’s arm when he feels her nail claw into him more, hears her say something but he doesn't even listen because he’s literally running towards Cas and Y/N.

“Hey,” He comes to a halt in front of them, and she’s still not looking at him. Dean turns to Cas instead to get them some privacy, “Cas, thanks.” 

Cas nods and holds out Dean’s key to his car but doesn’t say a word, sensing the awkward situation that Dean’s in immediately. 

“I need a fucking drink,” Cas declares and pushes himself further into the room to find the bar. 

“You okay?” Dean asks as Cas has left. It’s a stupid question really, when he could clearly see that she’s not, in fact, o-fucking-kay.

He sees her hugging her arms around herself and when she looks up, he notices something else in her eyes. Something he can’t place. Maybe hurt? Annoyance? He doesn’t know, could never read a women like a fucking book. And he can’t say that he doesn’t hate that she feels this way.

“Yeah, why shouldn’t I be?” She smiles but Dean can see that it’s a little strained. 

He rubs one of his hands over her arm and she relaxes noticeably, which he thinks it’s good, isn’t it? Dean takes her hand, pulls her with him, and he’s glad that she let him, “Come on, let me introduce you.” 

     *

He got her drinks and it wasn’t long before she warmed up to him again while they talked and laughed with Sam and Jess, having successfully fended off the two other women as Dean stopped paying attention to them. 

Dean can see now from the corner of his eyes as he checks her out every now and then (he didn’t dare to stare at her too long though, fears that she might feel uncomfortable), that her smiles are genuine. 

Thank fucking god, Dean thinks. Wouldn’t even want to think how awkward the night would be if she would be mad at him for the majority of it. 

“Dean Winchester!” 

He knows that voice, knows it too well. Dean sighs and rolls his eyes before turning around, earning a giggle from her which actually makes him feel better too.

“Crowley,” He nods.

Crowley grins. “Nice party,” 

“Yeah, I agree,” Dean answers sharp. 

“And who is this lovely young lady?” Crowley looks at Y/N and the dude takes her hand, kisses it while Y/N clearly looks stunned. 

Dean balls his hands into fists, bites the inside of his cheeks to calm himself down.

“Y/N, this is Crowley—” He says at last.

“The mayor.” She finishes Dean’s sentence. 

Of course, Dean thinks. He tends to forget that Crowley is not the sneaky leprechaun but instead the mayor of the city. 

“Darling, mind if I borrow this giant for a moment?” Crowley asks Y/N and Dean hopes that she says no, even though he knows that he needs to talk to Crowley but tonight he’d rather let business be business and enjoy the time he has with her. Who is he kidding though, of course she’d say yes because she’s a good fucking girl. 

“Go ahead,” She smiles and nods. 

*

Dean didn’t see Y/N for the rest of the night. Amara’s back on hanging to his every step and every which way Dean turns, there’s always someone who wants something from him, even if it was Sam’s fucking night. 

He doesn’t complain though, playing his part — because he owns Sammy that much. He talks to people while Amara’s hanging on his arm, laughing at stupid jokes that people tell him and telling his own lame ones over and over. It’s fucking draining and he promised Sam that he won’t drink a drop, he regrets the promise right about now. 

Finally, by the end of the night, the guests start to leave one by one, and Dean looks around because he still couldn’t find her so he walks over to where Sam and Jess are saying their goodbyes to their guests. 

“Dean, you alright?” Sam asks and Dean knows that Sam can probably see in Dean’s face that he’s distressed. 

“Yeah, no,” Dean doesn’t even have it in his heart anymore to keep up the facade and lie to Sam, “Have you guys seen Y/N?”

“I saw her talking to Amara but it was almost two hours ago,” Jess says and as if on cue, Amara walks past them, grabbing at Dean’s arm again but Dean shakes her off.

“Amara, have you seen Y/N?” Dean almost shouts and it might have been louder than he wanted it to be but yeah, he’s a little worried — if not a lot. 

“I spoke to her and then she said she wanted to go outside to get some fresh air.” Amara’s tone of voice has something in it that rubs him the wrong way.

Dean pulls his phone from his pocket, thumbs over his contacts and dials Y/N’s number. It doesn’t even ring. It went straight to voicemail. He tries it again. And then again. 

“Right, Sammy, I gotta go,” Dean doesn’t even wait for Sammy to answer, instead he runs outside, and when he doesn’t see her, he runs to his car.

CH07

[stratus-skye07]

Suga Craze [Four] | Suga

[Three] [Masterlist]

I bought what I needed from the convenient store and Jungkook drove us back to the penthouse. Once I got home I immediately went looking for Yoongi. I ran into Namjoon as I made my way towards his office.

“Whoa, Y/N where’s the fire?” He asks.

“Um, I’m just looking for Yoongi. Is he in his office?” I ask but end up going in that direction without waiting for a response.

He nods, “Yeah, I don’t think he’s busy right now.”

“Okay, thanks.”

I rushed past him to enter Yoongi’s office. He’s on the phone when I enter so I take my time in closing the door behind me. He quickly rushes the call when he sees me enter.

Once he ends the call he looks at me with a smile, “Hey, how was your visit with your dad?”

I don’t answer right away and when he notices my hands holding the plastic bag from the convenient store shaking, he approaches me with a worried look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yoongi,” I say in a hushed tone, “do you have some time to spare?”

That’s pretty much how we ended up at the hospital to see Jin. Yoongi held onto my hand as Jin returned. I begin to squeeze Yoongi’s hand to prepare myself for whatever he might tell me.

“So? What’s the verdict, Doc?” Yoongi asks.

“I ran the tests numerous times just to be sure but they all came out the same.” Jin semi-smiles, “Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”

Hearing what I already suspected, I managed to breath. The notification on my phone was for my period tracker app. One of the tools of the app is to alert you when your period is late especially when you note the dates you’ve been intimate. I bought a pregnancy test to make sure that it was true. Yoongi and I sat on the bathroom floor waiting for the test to show the results. It came out positive but we wanted to be sure so we called Jin.

Yoongi was lost in his own happy world as he smiles, “Really?”

Jin nods, “You’re about a few weeks along so it’s still in the early stages.”

I begin to think about my temper and cravings, “So these mood swings were most likely caused by the pregnancy?”

“Yeah, I’m sure at some point you’ll begin to have morning sickness as well.”

Oh joy.

“What about what I’ve been seeing?” I want to know if this is what’s been triggering my seeing Hyung-Sik everywhere. The hormone imbalance caused me more worries than were actually happening.

Yoongi stares at Jin for an answer to what’s been going on, “There’s no sure answer that you being pregnant is the cause of seeing things. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful about that.”

Shortly after going over the plans of what’s to come with the pregnancy, Yoongi and I return to the penthouse to give the news to Bangtan. They were more excited than I was at the surprise.

“Noona, you’re having a baby?” Jimin lifts me up in a hug.

Namjoon shakes Yoongi’s hand, “Congrats but I’m not surprised that you would get her knocked up this early.”

J-Hope nods, “Yeah and V owes me a hundred bucks.”

“I was so close. If only you could’ve waited another month.” V hands J-Hope a bill from his wallet as he huffs back to where he was sitting.

“We should throw a party.” Jimin suggests with excitement in his voice like he was going to be a big brother.

Yoongi shakes his head, “No, this news stays between us.”

“What?” J-Hope exclaims.

“We still don’t know who’s been terrorizing Y/N and this would only give them more ammunition to hurt us, so just between everyone in this room and no one else. We can’t risk someone we know being behind all this.”

“I understand what you’re saying but it’s gonna be pretty hard to keep this secret when she starts growing a belly.” Namjoon adds.

Yoongi nods, “I know, hopefully we can get rid of the threat before the baby’s born. I’m counting on you guys to put a stop to this person.”

Namjoon nods his head, “We won’t let you down.”

As soon as the meeting is over, all the members disperse to get to work. I stay looking out the window. A million thoughts going through my head while I look out into the city lights like what happens now? How will this child be born when their mother is losing her mind? Am I even ready to have a child?

I’m taken out of my thoughts when Yoongi’s arms wrap around me. He leans his chin on my shoulder while his hands begin to stroke my stomach. Images of my stomach growing start flashing in my head.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispers in my ear.

I sigh, “Nothing and everything my mind wants to think of.”

He asks, “Are you happy about this at least?”

“Of course I am. It’s just I’m scared of everything that might happen to our baby before and after they’re born.”

Yoongi turns me around to face him, “Nothing is going to happen to you, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you or our child. They’re gonna have to go through Jungkook, V, Jimin, RM, J-Hope, Jin, and lastly me.” He brushes my hair behind my ear. “It doesn’t matter who it is. If it’s Hyung-Sik, I’ll kill him all over again.”

I nod leaning my head into his shoulder and the worries slowly settle in my mind. We had gotten through what I thought was the worst but now involving our unborn child tops that.

“Suga,” Jungkook calls from the hall, “CL is here to see you.”

Yoongi looks over his shoulder and nods, “Let her in.”

I stayed in Yoongi’s embrace when CL came walking into the living room. She looks more casual than when I saw her at the party with a white button up shirt that was tucked in her ripped jeans.

“Is it a bad time?” She asks when she sees us.

Yoongi shakes his head, “Just a second.” He pulls me away to look down at me, “Can you give us a minute?”

“Actually,” CL interjects, “the reason for my visit isn’t to talk to business. I came to see if Y/N had some time to spare for a little girls day.”

I’m surprised to hear that CL had come to the penthouse just to spend time with me, someone she just met recently. Although, I have been interested in knowing more about her since I know that Yoongi will only sugar coat his past with her.

Yoongi, who’s equally surprised, turns his attention back to me, “You feel up for it?”

I nod, “A change of scenery would be nice.”

I don’t know what kind of person CL is but if Yoongi trusts her that much then she must be an honorable ally. Plus, it’s pretty difficult to have a girl friend to talk to. I’ve been close to Taeyeon but she’s a civilian that doesn’t think twice that I’m a mafia leader's wife, let alone has had associations with the underground lifestyle. With CL, at least we have one thing in common, that being a daughter of a mafia leader.

I head upstairs to change my clothes when I hear Yoongi talk with CL. “Have her back before it gets dark out. She’s been on edge lately.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have my best men watching us so you don’t have to be worried. She’s in good hands.”

CL really meant what she said about having a girls day. She took me to a salon where we got our nails and hair done, along with a spa treatment. I’ve never taken time like this for myself before but I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it.

After the spa, she took me to a fancy restaurant to get something to eat. The place had indoor and outdoor seating. CL thought it would be better if we sat outside to keep the fresh air flowing. Of course, she had her guards standing close by. 

“I really appreciate you doing all this, CL.”

She smiles waving me off, “Don’t worry about it. We may be a part of the mafia but us girls still need time to ourselves.”

“I’ve never really had a friend of any kind in the mafia before. My dad felt it would be better to have me go to school and away from it all. I knew that no one at school would understand me so I never bothered getting close to anyone.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy making and keeping them for girls like us. Besides, Suga mentioned that you’ve been stressing lately so I figured what are friends for. Don’t get mad at him for telling me but I could sense when I was talking to him over the phone that something was wrong. If you’ve been friends as long as we have, you have a sixth sense for it.”

The curiosity gets to me as I ask, “So how did you meet Yoongi?”

She smiles thinking for a moment, “I met him when I was about a year into inheriting 21 Mafia. I’d run into him while I was doing a job. We had the same objective. If I had met him now, I would’ve killed him right then and there but I was naive back then. He asked for my help in becoming a mafia leader.”

I looked at her in surprise, “He asked you to take him in?”

CL nods, “I told him no at first because, having grown up in the business like you and I, this isn’t a life I would curse anyone with.”

“How did he convince you?”

She chuckles, “He said he had something to fight for. There was someone he owed a huge debt to, that he wanted to repay and he was willing to give up a normal life to make it up to her. Hearing how passionate he was, I agreed to help him and Bangtan. I taught him a lot of the stuff he knows now. Some other things he learned on his own. All of it for you.”

“Sometimes I wish he hadn’t joined our world. I saved him that day because I wanted to help him live a peaceful life later on.”

“I understand how you feel. I feel the same way at times when he got hurt. I felt even worse once he started getting better at it. It sometimes feels like I created a monster.”

“We both helped him become who he is today. At least he didn’t turn out like Hyung-Sik or else I would’ve never married him.”

“Don’t feel too guilty, Y/N. Suga loves you and for people like us it’s hard to find someone that genuinely cares like that. He made his way up the mafia ladder for you and he won’t hesitate to jump off it for you either.”

It’s true. I never once doubted Yoongi’s love for me and now with a baby coming into the picture I know that he will do everything in his power to protect him/her.

I reach out to raise my teacup to her, “To being the princesses of the underworld.”

She raises her drink to clink with mine, “Princesses of the underworld.”

I drink the entire cup of tea in one gulp, raising my head like it’s a shot. I place the cup down on the table to look up at CL. Looking past her, my eyes catch something strange off in the distance. Seeing him stand there with that cocky smirk sends shivers up my spine, Hyung-Sik waves playfully at me from the other end of the crosswalk.

“Y/N, are you okay?” CL asks.

Not taking my eyes off the figure I whisper to CL, “There’s a man standing on the corner watching us.”

CL straightens her back and pretends to fix her hair so she can strategically look over her shoulder. Finally, she turns completely to look across the way where Hyung-Sik remained to stand.

She turns back around at me with a calm face, “There’s no one there.”

My heart drops once she says that. I rub my eyes and look back to find that he was gone once again. 

“You know what?” I chuckle, “I think that spa relaxed me so much that I’m starting to get really tired.”

She nods, “Yeah, it’s getting late anyways. Let’s get you home.”

Could this really be because of the pregnancy or am I just losing my mind?

Since the events of yesterday have been playing over and over again in my head, I take the opportunity to sleep in. I didn’t tell Yoongi about it because I didn’t want to worry him any more to the point where he wouldn’t let me out of the house again. Now with a baby involved, it would just make matters worse.

Of course sleeping in didn’t last long once I started to hear a lot of movement going on in the hallway. I finally give up trying to sleep and decide to investigate the noises. I find Jimin and Jungkook carrying some furniture out of the extra room from down the hall down the stairs. I head into the room where Yoongi is with Namjoon. V and J-Hope were on the other side of the room painting the walls a creamy color.

“Yoongi?” I call out to him.

He turns his attention towards me, “Y/N, did we wake you?”

I go past the question to ask, “What are you doing to the spare room?”

He gives me the widest smile, “I was just getting a head start on the nursery.”

“Nursery?” I repeat.

“Yeah, we’ll have to wait to start getting baby stuff but I’m getting a head start with the color. Since we don’t know whether it’s gonna be a boy or a girl, RM thought it would be a good idea to go for neutral colors.”

Namjoon points at the paint cans, “White and gold is the color scheme we’re going for. Of course when you find out, it’s up to you if you wanna change it.”

“A hundred bucks says it’s gonna be a girl.” V declares.

J-Hope shakes his hand, “I say it’s gonna be a boy.”

“Yoongi, it’s a little early to be starting the nursery. I mean we just found out about it yesterday.”

“I know, we’re just planning ahead. For now, it’s just the basic furniture. Once we get everything under control then we can bring in the baby stuff.”

I can tell that he’s extremely looking forward to having this baby more than I am right now, mostly because of the things I’ve been seeing. As long as he’s distracted by this I can deal with what’s going on in my head and he won't have to be worried about me as much.

Yoongi snaps his fingers, “Speaking of babies, I was thinking we should at least tell your dad about the pregnancy since he was the one that was looking the most forward to it.”

I nod at the idea, “I called him yesterday but he said he wasn’t feeling well so I let him rest. I’ll call him back later.”

“Well why don’t we go visit him today? I’m sure the surprise will be better in person anyway.” He says squeezing my hands.

I nod, “Yeah, why not?”

We set out to give my dad the good news that he would be a grandpa soon. Growing up, I never pictured myself having a child, only because things were never going to be easy. With my dad encouraging us to have kids makes me think that if he has so much faith that it’ll be okay to start a family then I should be confident in the future and have our baby with peace and at ease.

Yoongi and I exit the car followed by the rest of Bangtan. Yoongi was carrying a box of those horrible chocolates my dad loves so much as a gift. It’d be less extravagant than a whole lot of balloons to get anyone suspicious of the occasion.

Entering the house, we came across my dad’s assistant.

“We’re here to see dad, is he busy?” I ask him.

He smiles and points towards his office, “He’s in his study. You may go on in.”

I squeezed Yoongi’s hand at how nervous I was to tell him the surprise, “Dad?” I knock lightly on his door before opening in completely.

He was standing in front of his window with his drink in hand like he would usually do when he was in the middle of thinking of future attack plans.

I call out to him, “Hey dad, it’s me and Yoongi.”

Dad turns to face us. His face looks pale and his other hand clutching his chest.

“Dad, are you okay?” He drops his drink on the floor causing it to shatter on the wooden floor.

He begins to lean against his desk as I run towards him to check on him. He pushes me back as he coughs up blood right in front of me then collapses on the floor. I manage to catch him but with his weight I end up falling to the ground with him.

“DAD!”

I turn to Yoongi for help which he yells out to Namjoon, “Call Doc!” 

I do my best to keep my emotions under control while helping him survive, “Dad, I need you to tell me what's wrong?”

He reaches out for my hand and pulls me down to his level as he whispers in my ear, “Don’t...trust...don’t...believe...it.” He barely manages to spit out.

“What? Don’t trust who?”

Yoongi kneels down beside me, “Just hang in there. Jin is on his way.”

Dad looks up at Yoongi and nods then turns his eyes back to me, “Yoongi will protect you.”

My eyes begin to blur as the tears begin to form, “No, dad. You’re gonna be fine. I just need you to hold on until help gets here. You have to live to see your grandchild. I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a grandpa.”

He cups my cheek, “A beautiful mother you’ll be.” His grip on my hands goes completely limp.

I gasp as I begin screaming my heart out, “DAD!” Thinking of anything that could work, I start performing CPR on him.

Yoongi begins pulling me by the shoulders but I continue to push down on my dad’s chest. I check his pulse again and again but it never comes back.

“Dad?” I called him in hopes that he would somehow wake up again, “Daddy?”

I finally realize when there’s nothing more anyone could do. I reach up to kiss my father’s head one last time. Yoongi pulls me away from his body and embraces me into a hug where I just start crying in his chest.

[Five]

[purplesurveys]

1194

survey by n0b0dysp3rf3ct

What’s your favourite song to sing to? These days it’s Sweet Night by V, but it always changes tbh. I don’t really have an all-time favorite song to sing along to.

What’s your relationship like with your exes? Nonexistent. I’m good at blocking off people and memories like that, no matter how special the relationship had been or how much time we spent together. I don’t feel guilty about it; I actually feel more at peace this way.

What mistake do you find yourself making over and over again? Procrastinating and putting off things I could literally finish in 10 minutes or less. I’ve been better about it, to be fair to myself; but the habit comes out every once in a while and I always end up kicking myself in the ass for not already knowing any better.

What are you afraid to lose? Hmm...probably people, especially my friends. I’ve been starting to think more about this these days. My two best friends are in very good, committed relationships, and I know that one day they’ll have lives and families of their own, maybe even move out of the country. I’m finally acknowledging the fact that maybe I am afraid of getting left behind and ending up alone. Those thoughts make me sad, though, and I hate being stuck in feeling sad, so I try to shake them off and focus on my happiness in the present.

What’s one of the hardest decisions you’ve had to make? Agreeing to break up with Gabie. I never liked admitting defeat, so that was a particularly brutal afternoon.

Have you ever gave up on a love interest as they acted differently around other people? I’ve never been in this situation.

Do you think you’re ready for love? What does love even mean to you? I’m taking a break from it, actually. I was in a relationship that I put a lot of effort in for a long time, and I don’t mind focusing on myself for now especially considering I put myself in the backseat for the entirety of said relationship. I feel no need to jump into another relationship any time soon.

What was the last thing you turned down doing? Angela was showing me some shops that were starting to put up offers for the new BTS Hybe Insight photocards. Those photocards are only being given away to visitors who go to the new Hybe museum, and we didn’t want to technically pirate them, so we both chose not to buy. We can wait till we can travel to South Korea together and get the photocards for ourselves :)

Have you ever fell for someone who was clearly bad for you? Technically...yeah? She eventually ended up being bad for me, but I didn’t know it at the time.

Are you a party animal? No. I like attending parties, but I never want to be the center of attention.

Who are you the biggest fan of? My best friends.

When was the last time someone really let you down? I haven’t felt that disappointed in anyone in a while. 

What song can you not help but dance to? Mic Drop.

You’re DJ for the night - first track to get everyone going? ...Now that I mentioned it, Mic Drop. The Steve Aoki remix in particular. Sorry folks, y’all are getting K-Pop tonight.

Have you ever been too scared to tell someone how you felt about them? Yes.

Where do you feel the most inspired and creative? Erm, never? I never feel creative. But when it comes to being inspired, I usually feel it when I have one-on-one talks with Bea. She schedules a brief talk with me once every few months just to catch up and ask me how I’m doing, work-wise and growth-wise. I find that it really helps and I always exit the call wanting to perform better at work.

Have you ever been hit on by a pushy person? No.

When’s the last time you met someone for a coffee? I’ve never done that.

Describe the ideal man or woman for you: Kim Taehyung. That man is doing a stupid great job ruining everyone else for me.

What place in nature would you love to visit one day? Somewhere with auroras.

What accent do you find attractive? Like I’ve said on previous answers, I like Florence Pugh’s accent, whatever it is. I could listen to it all day.

What do you think you’re really good at? I’ve always loved writing and I’m pretty confident in my skills.

Do you have something you’d like to tell someone right now? I know Jo is going through a breakup and I want to reach out and share a few reassuring words, but I’m not very good at that kind of stuff. And since she isn’t initiating, it might mean she wants her own space for now too.

Have you ever had feelings for a friends partner? Never.

What career would you love to pursue: I’m more than okay with my current field. But had things turned out differently, I’d most likely be taking up law.

What was the biggest lies you’ve told? I never like lying so I try to make the ones I make as trivial as possible.

How can you tell if someone loves you? Idk for the most part I believe people have different love languages, so expression is always different for everyone. I don’t wait for people to act a certain way for me to deduce that they love me.

What’s one of your fondest memories? Front row at a Paramore concert, 2017. I went alone and danced without a care in the world and sang along to every song, and it was one of the nicest couple hours of my life.

What’s your favourite thing to do that doesn’t cost much? Taking surveys is literally free.

What do you feel unnecessarily judged for? I feel like I would be judged for having an entire blog just for surveys, which is exactly why I don’t share about this hobby with anyone. Not even my ex knew about it until much later on in our relationship.

What are you proud of yourself for? Still being here is a big thing.

What relaxes you after a busy day? As is pretty obvious already at this point, BTS. I like looking for funny compilations or interviews of theirs to watch to de-stress.

Have you ever known someone who suffered from drug addiction? Nope. Not that I know of, at least.

Why did your last relationship end? She wasn’t in it anymore.

Who do you have a crush on? Taehyung :/

When was the last time you stayed up all night? I was up until 4 AM earlier, if that counts. I don’t really do entire all-nighters anymore; latest I can do is either 4 or 5 AM.

Have you ever been someone’s rebound? No.

What would you fight LTR for the right to do? I don’t know what that is or who they are.

When did you last apologise? What was it for and was it accepted? Some work stuff came up today and it was something I needed to ask my manager about, so I had to message her. I apologized profusely before and after my main message since it’s a weekend and I HATE making my co-workers think about work on weekends, but the matter was a little urgent and it couldn’t wait. But eventually the thing got sorted out, so I followed up with a message asking her to disregard my question, and I sent her a heart GIF as well.

Have you ever been to Cuba? I haven’t, but I’d like to visit.

What do you feel positive about? That I am most likely ordering Frankie’s tonight because I’m having a serious craving for spicy Korean wings that I can’t ignore anymore.

Do you know any Spanish? I’ve retained the words, sentences, and verb tenses I was able to learn when I was still training on Duolingo; and Filipino has a lot of Spanish influences, so I wouldn’t say I’m completely unfamiliar with Spanish. I wouldn’t be able to last a conversation, though.

If you could go on a road trip now, where’s you go? Continued from this morning. I’d probably just go back to Tagaytay. La Union could be a great road trip spot as well.

When in danger are you more fight or flight? Flight. What makes you irrationally angry? When people speak excessive Taglish, especially in a work setting. Most Filipinos are fluent in both, so I’d wish they’d pick one and stick to it. I find code-switching pretty unprofessional for the most part.

Do you feel self conscious about a certain body part? Sure.

Is there someone you’ll always be there for? If so, who? My best friends.

Have you been accused of being manipulative? Gab probably did a few times, but I barely remember those memories anymore.

What’s the most romantic thing someone has done for you? I literally can’t remember anymore.

What or who do you miss from your childhood? The ability to be carefree and the greater space to make mistakes.

Do you miss late night calls with a certain somrone? No, I hate calls.

What would you like to do again some time? Be able to go back to coffee shops.

What’s your least favourite season? Summer.

Do you know someone who’s ridiculously arrogant and entitled? A lot of boomers and older Gen X-ers.

Have you ever considered violence to solve your problem? No.

Who’s the best dancer you know? That I know in real life? Aubrey. Overall, Park Jimin.

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve received? I can’t seem to remember the exact same quote they gave me, but it was Andi telling me a few months ago not to rush my healing so I can avoid potentially harming myself in the process.

How good a swimmer are you? Not very good. I just like swimming leisurely.

What’s your favourite baby animal? Puppies and baby elephants.

What’s the best compliment you have received? It’s always nice to be told I’m strong.

What’s your favourite gemstone? Don’t have one.

Do you bounce back well when things go wrong or does it take a while? It takes a while, but I always get there eventually.

What’s an underrated colour/shade you really like? Not sure; the colors I tend to lean towards I think are pretty popular choices.

What insult or label would hurt you the most to recieve? Being told I’m useless or a burden.

How often do you notice the attractiveness of strangers? I rarely find strangers attractive.

Are you good at hiding your emotions? No, I practically wear them on my face.

Are you romantic? More than I’d like to admit.

[onyxiana-is-obsessed]

Candy | Tamaki Amajiki x Villain!Reader

Disclaimer: Tamaki is over the age of 18 since the reader is 22. Pronouns used: She/her. Length: 2k words.  Warnings: Mentions of cannibalism... yeah this took a turn for the worst lol there’s nothing graphic though.

Summary: You’ve had your eye on the most amazing hero ever, Suneater. It’s time you finally claim your prize.

Full Name: (y/f/n) Quirk: Candy; the user's body smells and tastes like candy. Smelling hypnotizes the victim and tasting drives them mad until the user is there to control them. Age: 22 Villain Name: (v/n) (something candy-related or you can just be called Candy). Villain Rank: A

She had watched him for a long while, she'd been in love with him for a long time and she was going to make him her own. (f/n) hung off the edge of the large building, her (long/short) (h/c) locks flowed in the wind; her beautiful (e/c) eyes watched his frame as he followed Fat Gum and Red Riot. Her red, glossy lips tilted up into a smile as she pulled herself back up onto the roof.

"You will be mine, Tamaki Amajiki. The world will see your downfall." She whispered to herself, a look of pure evil in her eyes.

During a villain attack, Tamaki had been separated from both Kirishima and Fat Gum and was currently looking for them. He ran into an alleyway, in search of a shortcut, when he felt something hit the back of his head. Stopping, he turned his head and looked up, only able to catch sight of glowing (e/c) eyes and (long/short) hair flowing in the wind. The figure jumped down a distance away and started to run.

This could've been another villain, so Tamaki decided to ditch the search for Fat Gum and Kirishima, instead choosing to chase after the figure. The figure ran deeper into the alley, being followed by the pro-hero-in-training. Tamaki noted that he could smell something sweet... and it definitely wasn't the dirty alley. It must've been the girl. The two zigzagged through the darkened street until the figure stopped in front of a dead end.

Tamaki came to a halt behind them and he realized the figure was a woman. His eyes widened as his cheeks turned red when he noticed their outfit (Preferably something skin-tight or short). The outfit hugged her figure, her curves, especially her butt. She turned around, her (e/c) eyes meeting his. He felt a shiver slither down his spine which made him clench his fists.

"Suneater, what a pleasure this is." Her voice was so... sultry. "You chose to give up the search for your friends... to come after me? Oh! How sweet!" She slowly approached him, her (heels/shoes) clicking on the ground, echoing in the silent alley. Her slender hand touched his arm, slowly moving to his shoulder, then his back, all the way around to his chest, as she walked around him. He inhaled, her sweet scent filling his nose. So it was her. "My, my, I can feel your muscles." The shy hero's face turned a deeper shade of red as he felt the need to hide against the wall.

"Wh-who... a-ar-" Her finger came up to her own lips, silencing him. Her glossy lips twitched up into a smile.

"You'd be such a wonderful villain," his eyes widened as he realized she was the enemy. "The villain: Suneater! Sounds terrifying, no?" She laughed. "Imagine, going up against Fat and Red Riot, showing them your true powers! Being on our side... how I long to see you as a villain. Come on, Suneater. Won't you join me." His shocked expression turned into a glare as he backed up. The audacity.

"I'll never be a villain!" This made her laugh even more.

"Oh, Suneater... so you can yell. Your demeanor is so interesting... you're so shy yet you want to be a hero. Do you realize the confidence that requires? You're easily put off when someone so much as insults you, you can't handle criticism, and when you're in front of a crowd, you freak and need to run away. What kind of hero is that? At least... Lemillion isn't like that." Tamaki felt the anxiety start to creep in as the woman spoke. "You're not made to be a hero Suneater. You can't handle what it takes to be a hero." Her smile was gone, replaced by a dark look. "Join me."

"NEVER!" He yelled, readying himself for a fight. "I'll be a hero! I'll be just like Lemillion and all the others!" Before he could react, the girl was already in front of him, her lips on his. His eyes widened, his body turning into a statue. Her lips were so... sweet... literally. The taste was like candy... sweet (flavor of candy). The girl pulled away, looking up to meet his terrified eyes.

"You've finally met your match." She moved away and started to scale the building and Tamaki was able to see her agility and acrobatic skills. Within ten seconds, she had reached the top and disappeared into the night.

Shaking his head, he turned around and ran out of the alley, continuing his search for Fat Gum and Red Riot. When he did find them, he was sure to tell them about the woman he'd met. Fat Gum asked him plenty of questions and Tamaki answered them all honestly, even telling him about the kiss. Fat Gum had never heard of the woman before and reassured Tamaki that everything would be fine and to keep his distance from the woman.

~**~

As the days went on, Tamaki found himself more restless than usual. That night, when he'd returned home, all he could think about was the woman. Her (your figure) figure invaded his mind, how her outfit showed off those curves, how beautiful her eyes were... how delectably sweet those lips were.

Tamaki was able to push those thoughts away for the first three days, after that, all he could think about was her. He found it harder to focus on hero work, he was unable to hold conversations, his mind kept returning to her when she walked around him, and especially that kiss. He would often dream about the kiss and their short interaction. Sometimes he'd fantasize about meetings, whether they were just talking, kissing, or doing more intimate things.

About a week later, he was a complete mess. He'd pushed himself to go tell Fat Gum, who'd invited more heroes to come help. Nejire, Mirio, Red Riot, and members from the Nighteye Agency were also there as they decided to finally track down the woman.

"I-I can't get her out of my head," Tamaki explained. "All I think about is her! I don't think I've had a minute where I've thought about something else." The male gripped his head as more images of her returned to him. "I... I need her."

"Tamaki!" Mirio called, running to his friend, who'd fallen to his knees. Nejire also ran to him, along with Fat Gum and Kirishima.

"Whatever's affecting you must be part of her quirk. We'll need to find her as soon as we can." Fat Gum stated making Tamaki look up at him.

"Yes! I need to see her!" The desperation in his eyes terrified the others. Whatever she did to him was ruining him.

"No, you can't. You have to stay away from her." Fat Gum responded with, causing the indigo-haired male to argue back. However, the decision had been made. No matter what he said, everyone was against him. Soon, he surrendered, agreeing to stay back while the others went looking for the woman. Due to the way Tamaki was acting, they couldn’t trust him and believed it was best if he was locked in a room so he couldn't leave.

Tamaki restlessly moved around the room, returning every now and then to bang on the door, screaming for help. He could feel himself unraveling and falling apart, he needed that girl. He needed her right now!

His eyes landed on the window, where he could see the night sky outside. The stars winking at him- taunting him. He got up, running the window and looking down. He was so high up and jumping would kill him, no doubt. He hadn’t had any chicken that day, so he wouldn’t be able to manifest a pair of wings to save him.

Tamaki backed away, falling onto the ground and crawling to the wall behind him, letting out a scream as he punched the walls repeatedly. He could hear her voice, he could hear her laughter and it was so annoying! Why couldn’t she just leave him alone?! Why couldn’t she just go away?!

Tamaki stopped suddenly when there was a crash behind him. He froze, unable to move, until a familiar scent filled his nose. He frantically turned around, seeing the same woman behind him.

She stood tall with a smirk as he crawled over to her, kneeling before her. (f/n) could see how her quirk had affected him and she couldn't have been happier. Tamaki could feel a sense of relief as soon as he saw her, breathing out as he felt his mind started to feel clearer. The woman crouched down in front of him, holding a bag in her head.

"I've brought you food, Suneater." He, without hesitation, took the bag from her hand and opened it up. He could smell his favorite inside. Before he could take the food out, the girl suggested they move to the table, to which he accepted.

He began eating, feeling as normal as he did before meeting the girl. He didn't know what her quirk was and to be frank, he didn't care. He had her and he was happy. The girl watched silently with an amused look on her face as he ate.

"Tell me Suneater," She started, making him look up at her as he swallowed a piece of meat. Unsure of whether it was pork or not, tasted awful lot like it. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." He responded, causing the woman to smile. "I-I don't even know y-your name." He stuttered, looking away with a blush on his face.

"I'm (y/f/n), a pleasure to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you too." He stated as he continued to eat. The two made small talk until he was completely finished with this food.

"Suneater?" He looked up at her again. "Will you join me now?"

"Yes," Tamaki responded without hesitation. He pulled the girl onto his lap, hugging her close, breathing in her scent. Her skin smelled so sickeningly sweet... just like the air around her. He tried to hold back, he tried to control himself, but it was so hard when his object of desire was finally in his arms. 

Unable to help himself, his tongue grazed across her exposed shoulder. It was her skin... that's what emitted that beautiful scent. He noted that her skin wasn’t as sugary as her lips. Her sweet aroma matched her taste. "You... your skin tastes... good. So good."

“Thank you.” (f/n) responded quietly, letting him do as he pleased. He’d fallen into her trap and there was no one that could save him now.

“Just like... (candy).”

"What do humans taste like, Tamaki?" She asked suddenly after a few minutes of being quiet. He kissed her neck, needing more of whatever she was. He was caught off guard by her question, but in his mind, he hoped it was like her.

"I don't know."

"You should,” she proclaimed “you just had some." She felt him freeze, the arm around her waist tightening.

"Wh-what?" His eyes widened, his heart started beating wildly in his chest, and he felt dizzy. No... he... she was lying!

"Relax. It's just a human. Nothing crazy." He could feel the food starting to push its way up again. No, he was a hero! He was a hero and- and- he... was a hero. “There, there, Suneater. Who cares, you just needed me right?” Any bit of hesitation and resolution he had left shattered right then and there. She had succeeded in breaking him.

Instead of letting go and pushing her away, Tamaki hugged her closer, closing his eyes and resting his nose against the back of her neck. Who cared? He had her and that's all he wanted. "Let's get you out of here, Suneater."

~**~

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Fat Gum yelled, as he'd arrived at his own agency where they’d left Tamaki. However, the entire place was a mess and apparently, he'd broken out, killing anyone who got in his way. The team had been searching all day and had finally returned for the night; needing some much-earned rest. However, they weren't nearly prepared for what they heard next.

"It's worse. He... ate some people." Mirio and Nejire's eyes widened as their hearts stopped. "He killed that woman," The officer pointed towards the ambulance. Their gazes followed suit and they saw an arm that had chunks taken off. "He ate part of her arm. There was a woman with him, I believe the woman you were looking for. She broke through the window in his room... we're unsure about what happened but he left like this. Claiming he'd eat everything... including the sun."

The aftermath was terrifying. The heroes looked upon multiple dead bodies with large chunks taken off their bodies. Tamaki had eaten parts of the people he killed and because of how powerful he was, no one could stop him. Anyone who survived was alive because they managed to escape, meaning Tamaki wasn’t chasing them down. Now, he was gone with that woman. Mirio vowed to find his best friend and bring him back, even if he barely knew where to start.

[tireddork-knight]

Luck

Hello to anyone reading this! This is the first time I’m actually posting one of my writings. It’s not perfect especially since I kept on changing the story maybe 5 times but I tried my best! This is for @geekandbooknerd​ ‘s 1K celebration. Sorry it took me so long to finish, it’s been years since I actually wrote anything but this was a lot of fun to write so thank you for giving me the chance to do this. I apologize if it seems rushed.

(Y/N)- your name, (r/c)- random color, (Y/T/N)- your thief name

Warnings: none that I can think of maybe a slight bit of steam at the end. I tried keeping it pure

I am thinking of making this a short series. I do not own Spider-man just the original characters that are named in here (TM, V and Cherry).

Anyways, ENJOY!!!

“You should do the job they said. It’ll be easier for you, they said!” I whisper yelled to myself. Squatting behind a statue I waited for the security guard to pass the hallway. Why did I agree to be the one to do this. Looking down at my watch I cursed under my breath knowing that time was flying by the longer I waited. Carefully looking up to see where the guard was I felt a breath of relief escape me as I watched him leave.

Slowly getting up and moving towards the exhibit's entrance I double check that I’m alone. Scanning the floor-way I find the object of my mission, The Gem of a Lost Civilization, in the center of the floor. I feel my jaw drop just looking at it. Knowing I only have a handful of minutes before the guard comes back I make my way to it. Avoiding the cameras in the room. I try to think back on what TM had said about the security for this.

~“Security is gonna be airtight. And I mean like no escaping Azkaban airtight-” TM began.

“Didn’t Sirius Black escape Azkaban?” Cherry asked interrupting TM, seeing the look on everyone’s faces she flushed, “sorry”.

“As I was saying it’s gonna be airtight, I mean round the clock guards, cameras monitoring every space available and last but not least.. lasers” they said with an excited look on their face. 

A groan of annoyance resounded in our small group.

“Like lasers that’ll cut us or just alarm ones?”, I asked .

“Uhhh unfortunately that info is not on here no wait. They're alarm types...just sort of... invisible” TM looked up and down from his laptop to us.

“Can we get an example of how they're set up and if it goes off how much time before the guards are alerted?” V asked.

“Yes and you’ll have about 30 secs before they're on you” they answered back.

“Alright we know what to expect, we’ll just prepare for everything we can. All that matters right now is getting that rock back to its rightful home”, I said, “Now how do we want to choose who does this.”~

Shaking my head I remind myself to focus. Setting a timer for 3 minutes I use the limited shadows due to the moon's illumination from the skylight. Stopping about 10 ft. from the glass case a prop holding up a (r/c) gem the size of my hand. Taking a deep breath and close my eyes calming my nerves I begin to move the way we had practiced on where the lasers had been positioned.

Feeling myself get closer to the case I open my eyes, stopping just before I hit it. Seeing a shadow pass over the skylight I freeze. When nothing happens I brush it off as birds flying overhead. Trying to keep my nerves calm I begin to open the glass case  trying not to sound the alarms. Once it’s open I hurry up and put it in my satchel. As soon as I’m done I carefully begin to retrace my steps.

Getting out of the museum is easier than having to break in or that's what I thought. Half way down the block I feel myself being pulled up and in the blink of an eye I’m on the roof of an apartment. Turning to run I feel my hand become stuck to the rooftops wall behind me. 

“Well look at what the cat dragged out”, a sarcastic voice quipped above me. “A thief how original.” He jumped down from the ledge of the adjoining building on to the rooftop I was on. Rolling my eyes I shook my head at him.

“Well aren’t I lucky enough to be in the presence of Spider-Man” I replied back slowly moving my pocket knife I kept out of my jacket and onto my hand.

“Don’t you know any better than to go around stealing or did you not learn your lesson from the last time, (Y/T/N).” he said stepping closer to me, head cocked to the side. His whole stance mocked disappointment.

“If I can recall correctly I think I was able to escape last time”. I said smiling, feeling the web give way. Tilting my head up to look at him I batted my eyes at him, the domino mask covering most of my face besides my eyes and mouth.

In the distance I could hear the ringing of the museum alarms go off. Guess the guards had noticed the case was missing an important piece. 

“You got lucky. That’s not gonna happen again.” He said, his face in front of me as he reached to grab my satchel with the gem in it.

“You sure about that?” I purred finally getting my hand free of the web.

“ I mean, yeah, I have you cornered and there’s no way you can get out of my webs- hey wait-” he yelled at me finally noticing what I was doing. 

Too bad I couldn’t hear him finish as I rushed out of his webs and jumped off the rooftop tumbling onto the next, beginning a chase of cat and mouse. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop I can hear the police cars heading towards the museum. Looking behind me I can see Spider-Man right on my tail swinging between the buildings. Smiling and laughing I start teasing him as I continue running.

Getting too cocky I realize too late that he caught up to me when I’m suddenly grabbed from behind struggling to get out of his grip I become irritated at how strong he is. When I notice that he’s beginning to take us back to the museum, I panic. Using my whole body weight I finally break free unfortunately I begin to free fall. Seeing a terrace coming closer and closer to my face I brace for a very painful impact.

Suddenly his body covers my own and I hold onto his arms as we make contact with the roof. Tumbling and rolling onto the floor of it our bodies become entangled with each other. Finally stopping I find myself on top of him. His arms around my waist my hands on his chest and behind his head. Lifting my head up I find myself looking at his eye lenses. Not being able to see his whole face I can feel my own flushing with heat as I hope I didn’t make eye contact with him. Biting  my lip I feel his body flex under mine trying to get up. Deciding to use this position to my advantage I slowly move myself up to have more of a hold on him.

“Look Spidey, I know you want me just as much as I want you, but we could get arrested for this.”, I tell him as I move my hands to push his chest down as he scoffs, but I can tell it’s forced. Leaning my face closer to him, my heart begins to race as I feel him tense under my hands, “And I know I don’t want our night to end in handcuffs, unless you’re into that kind of thing.”, I whisper into his ear.

Moving away from him smoothly and quickly I avoid his hands as he reaches out for me. He quickly follows in my footsteps, wanting to have a handle on this still I push my body up against his. Leading us to a wall I trace my hand over his chest memorizing the design on it. He places one hand on my waist the other stays next to a pipe. Adrenaline coursing through our bodies, most likely cause we almost died. Yet, there’s electricity between us I can feel it and I know he does too. At least I hope to use it to my advantage right now.

“What do you think your doing?” he asks his tone softer than it was before.

Moving my other hand up I place it on his neck and pull his face closer to my own. Looking him up and down I can feel his eyes on me anticipating what i’m gonna do next. I can’t believe I’m even doing this. I take a deep breath to calm myself knowing I can’t get excited like this. Our foreheads our touching and as I can feel him moving me closer to him, I break away.

Backing away from him I smile at him as he moves to catch me only to be pulled back to the wall. Watching him look at his hand and realize that it was tied to the pipe he turned back at me.

“What-how did--” he splutters.

“Sorry Spidey I’d love to stay and continue what we were doing but I have places to be.”, I told him as I hopped onto the ledge, “ Don’t worry I’m sure we can continue this another time preferably without the costumes”. I winked at him. Hearing him stutter and trip over his own tongue, most likely to make a witty comeback I jumped down. 

~

When I was a good distance away in a dead end alley and had changed out of my costume I made sure I had the gem still on me. Breathing out a sigh of relief once i realized it was still on me I smiled to myself. Seeing a car pull up in front of the entrance of the alleyway I made sure to be ready for anything or anyone. The window rolled down and I watched as Cherry’s head popped out and I chuckled at the concerned and excited look on her face.

“Yo (Y/N) you got it?” she asked, giving a nod of confirmation I walked to the car and got in. “ Man you sure are lucky that you didn’t get caught”.

Zoning out as she began to ramble about how crazy everything had been once the alarms had gone off and how worried everyone had been. I kept my face turned towards the window watching as everything flew by us. Remembering the events of tonight and how close I had been to him I felt my heart skip a beat.

“Yeah I did get pretty Lucky” I said as I watched a familiar red and blue figure swing from building to building.