Tumgik
#anyway i think i have good chances of getting in given my grades and stuff at least?
mayonakano-archive · 2 years
Text
i love researching uni << is lying
3 notes · View notes
cheiyunn · 10 months
Text
La fin du rêve [Part 2]
Tumblr media
[Gyroaxia’s live]
Tomoru: Everyone, over here! Ah that’s good, everyone is here together
Felix: It’s been a while since we saw Gyroaxia’s live, and since the chance has come anyway 
Jun: The admission and goods lines were crazy too… it feels like… there’s an increase in fans
Daimon: Speaking of which, they’re apart of the label that invited us here right?
Tomoru: Yes, apparently it’s called ‘Dreadnought Music’. Later on we’ll need to meet with the representative Mashu-san.
Felix: I see. So they have already taken the first steps into becoming pros then
Koharu: …hm..
Felix: Oh? It seems they’re about to start
-Gyro on stage-
Nayuta: Nothing will change, we’re still us. Killer stage.
-Killer stage plays-
Mashu: Pardon me. You are Fantome Iris, yes?
Felix: Hm.. you are?
Mashu: I am the one who invited you all here today, my name is Mashu.
Tomoru: Ah, you’re Mashu-san then? Thank you for today, I am Kurokawa, the person who received your call
Mashu: Ah, Kurokawa-san? Thank you for your work today
Tomoru: It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Kurokawa, who plays the guitarist LIGHT. Actually I’m a member, rather than a manager. When on stage I’m in makeup, but normally I’m just a plain salaryman, so I look rather boring now…aha…
Jun: I’m also often told that I’m different off stage too… ahaha..
Mashu: Is that so.
Tomoru: eh..this person doesn’t seem to laugh much… maybe even a bit gloomy… but something about this person… it’s like I somewhat recognize his face…
Mashu: My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. To reiterate, I am the representative of Dreadnought Music, Mashu Shintaro
Daimon: Our pleasure. My apologies, there was one more of our band member who was here, but he had left earlier on
Mashu: Is that so, then I hope to greet him at a later time
Tomoru: Hm? …Mashu…Shintaro…?
Felix: What’s wrong Tomoru?
Tomoru: Um.. is it possible that maybe back when you were in elementary school, you went to Nagoya for just a month? In grade 5, group 1, the seat in the very front.
Mashu: Yes, what about it?
Tomoru: I knew it! Its me, Kurokawa Tomoru! You’re the transfer student who had really bad eyesight so you had to sit next to me, Shintaro-kun right?
Mashu: Indeed. It’s been a while.
Tomoru: Woah… stuff like this really does happen! It takes me back, what a coincidence! Have you been good?
Mashu: Yes, thanks to you. Anyways, in regards to the proposal of action I had spoke of to you all.
Tomoru: Ah, right
Tomoru: Wait I was just brushed off super quickly…! Thinking about it, compared to how he was in elementary school, the current Shintaro-kun is really different… he used to be so timid and  nicer 
Felix: Hm. Let's hear it
Mashu: I’ll get straight to the point, we would like to invite you to work under our label.
Tomoru: Hold on. Invite as in…?!
Mashu: In a fashion similar to Gyroaxia, we at Dreadnought Music would like to fully back Fantome Iris in both your pro debut and future activities.
Tomoru: That is…well… but, why?
Mashu: We watched you at LRFes, and believe that you all have the ability and skill to equate going professional.
Mashu: However, after the sudden cancellation of the event, the support given by Duck River was also suddenly cut, no?
Daimon: Yeah
Mashu: It's befitting action for that company, a truly foolish decision. With this current suggestion, there is no plot or trickery at play here. It is simply that we at this newly built label wish to welcome only excellent bands.That is all from me, I would be grateful if you took consideration to this positively.
Felix: An unexpected proposal indeed. I got it, we’ll think about it.
Mashu: We appreciate it. And also, Kurokawa-san.
Tomoru: Ah, yes?
Mashu: Is it okay if you stayed back for a while. There is one more proposition that I wish to discuss with you about.
Tomoru: w-what is it…
[Street]
Koharu: That song… ‘Fairytales are full of shit’ huh? Ahaha, its almost if that was said to us 
Koharu: but hearing that lyric I…
Koharu: …? Hm? Hold on you’re Asahi right?
Nayuta: Hah?
Koharu: You probably don’t recognize my no-makeup face but its me, Fantome Iris’ Mitsurugi! I saw your live just now, but is it really okay to not go to the after party?
Nayuta: …what bull
Koharu: Ahaha, its really like you to up and leave on your own~! Well same goes for me too
Nayuta: I don’t care. If you don’t have anything else I’m leaving.
Koharu: Ah hold it..! At least lemme talk about my impression…!
Nayuta: …what
Koharu: The one you sang on stage just now, Killer Stage right? I just thought that it really echoed the current situation with Fantome
Nayuta: so what about it? You wanna bitch about it?*
Koharu: That ain’t it, you guys are going to make your pro debut right? Putting whatever you wanna say in your lyrics and music, and running straight on into an unsure future…y’know…I’m pretty envious of that youth of yours
Nayuta: ..hm. Then you guys should do to
Koharu: We can’t do shit with just momentum, theres a lot of other things, y’know with being an adult…
Nayuta: and thats related?
Koharu: hm?
Nayuta: Thats the same as living right now
Koharu: …
Nayuta: I’m going my own way. You all can do whatever you want
Nayuta: (softly) Your music wasn’t that bad either
Koharu: ahaha! I wasn’t asking for your sassy remarks either…! Knowing that our music is good, is something that we all know the best about
Koharu: Our way of living is different huh… when I get back, we need to really need to talk, all 5 of us, need to head this on
[Fantome iris sharehouse]
Tomoru: My apologies for keeping everyone waiting, I just got back
Felix: Welcome back, Tomoru
Tomoru: I got a message that everyone was waiting from Jun, did something happen?
Daimon: Not really, Koharu just asked us to have a drink while talking. After you wash your hands, sit over here
Tomoru: I see, okay, thank you.
Koharu: My bad for rushing you, but having the atmosphere here all thorny for any longer was just… by the way, I just heard about the invitation to join the same label as Gyro
Tomoru: Thats right, after that Shintaro-kun- ah no I meant Mashu-kun, spoke about how they really checked our activities post LRFes, and were waiting for the right time to speak to us
Jun: If we were still with Duck River, they wouldn’t have been able to make a move either so…
Koharu: So that means our small activities weren’t for naught after all then
Koharu: aha, so? What were you answers?
Felix: We have yet to reply. Until all 5 of us, including you give the OK, we won’t move forward
Koharu: hmm.. So thats how it is
Felix: …Koharu
Koharu: what?
Felix: I’m glad your asking us out but, was there something you needed to discuss with everyone?
Koharu: ah… well.. Thats, its not like I don’t have anything to say but its more like…after watching Gyro’s live today, I wanted to talk with you all
Tomoru: I get that, to watch them who used to be our rivals at some point, it feels like I won’t be able to sleep tonight
Jun: …yeah, me too. When I get back, I feel like practicing my guitar rather than playing games
Daimon: It was a complicated live in a way. On one hand it was a good live, on the other, looking back at ourselves, it also felt like we can’t just be standing around idly either. And then there was the discussion of a pro debut 
Felix: It seems that the discussion of what we should do from now on has come
Tomoru: Its really a dream come true situation but still, its best to discuss thoroughly it first
Koharu: Thats right, then Tomoru. What do you think?
Tomoru: I actually have one more thing to report. Its a separate thing from what we discussed with Mashu-kun but
Daimon: Ah, the thing that he called for you alone right?
Tomoru: It was a sudden question but he asked if I would like to change employment to the label instead
Jun: Is that that headhunting thing?!
Tomoru: Wait no it’s not that big of a position, it’s not as engineer in the first place but rather as Fantome’s manager
Koharu: Woah seriously? Talk about abrupt.. Even if its a crazy proposition, what do you think?
Tomoru: I haven’t clearly thought about it enough yet, but I do intend to put it into consideration
Felix: That means that you’ll quit your current job? With how much you held onto it despite how demanding it got, its just a tad surprising
Tomoru: Thats what I was planning to do as well. But just recently, there was also the request of if I wanted to step up as the leader of a new project too
Daimon: A promotion you mean then. Then that means you thought that you’d be even more busy than now so you’ll quit?
Tomoru: No, the company has become less ‘black’ than before, so I thought that if I became leader, I would have more days off. That's why until now I had thought of simply taking it.
Tomoru: At the same time, the subordinate I was looking after recently got commended for work
Jun: Is that subordinate possibly the one that was a fantome fan that we brought with the president over to our secret live? 
Tomoru: That's right! In the beginning he was wasn’t able to too much but in order to see more of Fantome’s lives, he worked hard enough to even change the air around the company too
Tomoru: ‘To think that he’s grown so much’ was what I thought, and how all of it was now one step behind me. And that he would be able to do well as the project leader too.
Tomoru: Work as Fantome’s manager to me, is really an unknown world. It was something that had never crossed my mind but now more than ever do I want to dedicate more time to the band, so its worth a shot
Koharu: Worth a shot huh…
Tomoru: It seems super busy and a pain but there was the feeling of warmth that grew within me too
Koharu: Thats right, because you’re living
Tomoru: Yes. Its as they say, its better to do it and then regret, rather than regret not doing it. Then I want to do the best I can for the band right now.
Koharu: I get it. Y’know, I also thought it too and yeah, I really love Fantome. And I don’t want to give up on both the band and my current work either. Being the root of the problem right now it ain’t really my place to speak but still, no matter how hard it gets in the future, I want to protect this band. Even in the off chance we end up breaking apart, I’ll always go and rebuild Fantome as many times over. Thats just how precious it is to me, this place where I can make music with you all.
Daimon: Yeah, I feel the same way
Jun: Koharu-san… Daimon-san…
Koharu: Feli. Lets hear what you have to say too
Felix: …At this time being, the glass in front of me is empty, now why is that?
Koharu: Huh? What's with this all of a sudden, its because you drank it right?
Felix: aha well that is also true but… well then, why do you think I have a right?
Tomoru: The right as in left and right…? Is it related to how LIGHT is the king's right hand man? Hm… what is it then, is this a sort of riddle?
Felix: I’ll give one more hint then. Why do you think that death exists?
Jun: …! Is it because I’m unlucky
Daimon: No way, that’s not the subject either 
Daimon: I give up
Felix: That is because a being to contradict it exists as well. Because there is a state where glass is filled, does the concept of one’s body come to fruition. Because there is a left, a right exists. Because (human) nature exists does the concept of death persist alongside it
Tomoru: …I see
Felix: So basically, because the world of fantasy exists as the opposite of reality, it can be established 
Felix: Because we live in reality, can we bring forth a world of fantasy, is what I think
Koharu: Its befitting of us right
Felix: Yes, at some time Tomoru had said so, when I had asked why he continued to work at that company. You answered that the part of you that worked with others and experienced it was a important piece to bringing forth your music 
Tomoru: Yes, I remember that
Felix: At that time I couldn’t grasp it but now I think I do. Getting off the stage, and becoming the us that work hard in reality, is the reason why we can present and create such a dreamlike performance 
Jun: um.. I mean, I’m the only one here without a proper job though… I’m sorry…
Felix: Jun, you are both kind and possess this form of delicateness. But when you’re on stage, you become a directly opposite being. You too, possess two different faces.
Jun: …ah- how embarrassing..!
Tomoru: Don’t be~, since its something that only you can pull off
Felix: Thats why to me, this place that we’ve created is… ah no, it seems that I’m unable to put it into words, forgive me
Daimon: Jun, how about you give Felix that thing
Jun: t-That's right! Um, Felix-san, this…
Felix: …? This is?
Jun: Um… I made a new song… its out of line, sorry…!
Daimon: He said that if he made this in the sharehouse, it might concern both you or Koharu, he was coming to the cafe to work on it. While he was making the song, it seems that he was looking forward to you adding the lyrics
Jun: With this melody, you can add the lyrics on top, so then me, and Tomoru and Koharu-san and Daimon-san can perform and then… I want to perform this on stage (voice slowly drifting out) 
Felix: …
Jun: …how is it? If it isn’t good enough I’ll rewrite it how many times over you want!
Felix: No, its a good song Jun. Its truly befitting of us now.
Felix: It seems I’ve felt it once again, how I always am Fantome Iris’ number one fan.
Felix: and that the love for us that created this world, no, the for world that we brought forth, is love from the bottom of my heart
Felix: For adults like us, we know well the difficulties for chasing a dream and how eternity may not be obtainable. To anyone, there is only one chance to live. And in the far future, when this life has long burnt out, our dreams will finally reach an end. But as long as there are people who love the music that grants our dreams, will our dreams become eternity. And for that eternity I wish for.
Koharu: and is that, your honest feelings..?
Felix: Yeah
Koharu: Ahaha! For gods sake!
Jun: UWAH! That scared me…
Koharu: My bad my bad~ As always, your way of speaking talks circles~
Koharu: To sum it up, “let's keep doing music together” right?
Felix: aha, I’m not the best at expressing my feelings, you of all people should know that
Koharu: Well, if the king says so, there’s no defying right? Since we need to make a place for humans and vampires to live in harmony after all~
Tomoru: Yes, as the king’s right hand man, no matter how far, I’ll still make music
Jun: p-please don’t leave me behind though
Koharu: Of course you do too, Daimon?
Daimon: The one who called forth the vampire king, the clergyman and the only human, D. For I have a duty to protect you all after all. From now and forever
Felix: Yes, this truly is the 5 of us
Tomoru: Well then, since everyone’s glasses are empty, lets do a cheers!
Koharu: Lets go! Hold up, all the sake’s gone though
Felix: There’s a special wine saved for an occasion like this, that someday we would get to drink, right Daimon?
Daimon: Yeah, the thing that you had stored away carefully right
Daimon: You sure?
Felix: Yes, it was saved for a day like this anyway
--Wine bottle appears--
Jun: Uwah! An expensive looking wine has appeared!
--Wine pours--
Tomoru: So then, Feli-san, lead us off
Felix: To us, who shall continue to live in both the world of fantasy and reality, à votre santé!**
Tomoru: I look forward to working with everyone from now on!
Jun: ..I-I’ll do my best…
Koharu: Good to work with y’all again
Daimon: Yeah
Felix: Everyone, thank you
Koharu: Yo, Feli.
Felix: What is it?
Koharu: This… from all the alcohol I’ve drank so far… this one was the best
Felix: Aha, that's true for me too
[Backstage]
Jun: a-a-a-am I good?? It seems that I’ve lost contact with my hands and feet?!!
Tomoru: I’ve been telling you that you’re fine… you seem more nervous than usual…?  You’re breaking out in cold sweats y’know…?
Jun: w-well because at today’s performance Mashu-san is also watching right?! What if I flub it and the talks of joining the label drop so there’s a surge of pressure right now why is everyone else so calm what
Tomoru: Well because we just need to do as we normally do so…
Daimon: Jun. Once we enter a label, there’s the chance of performing at an even bigger stage than this you know.
Koharu: yup yup~ big stages, and even possibly going up against other bands, so don’t be freezing up now. But some strength into it!
--Koharu smacks Jun on the back--
Jun: OW I THINK SOMETHING BROKE
Daimon: If that's the case then I’ll put your bones back in place, go face back
Jun: AaAaA Its okay now!
Felix: It seems everyone is very lively 
Koharu: But still, saying that we still wanna continue our normal live while working as a band is something not many would say right
Daimon: Well normally, many want to focus solely on making music after all
Tomoru: Mashu-kun was also very surprised as well, but its very on brand for us. But if today’s live doesn’t do as well then maybe the contract will really become void…
Jun: Oh there you go again with putting pressure on me~~~
Koharu: Well it’ll be fine~
Felix: Indeed. As long as we act ourselves then there is no problem
Tomoru: Ah, its almost time
Felix: Then let us depart, to the stage where everyone awaits us…!
[Stage]
FELIX: My subjects, to see everyone’s faces at today’s soiree after quite a long time, is quite pleasing to me. Our journey has led us to a new world. From now forth, new sights that one has never seen before shall lay forth, if you choose to follow there may be a harsh path along the way. However, no matter how many times we fall, we will never let this journey go, no matter how far we go, will you follow us? 
-Audience cheers-
FELIX: Thank you. Next up is a new song, please listen to it.
Felix: As long as our followers are with us, we will continue to live in this dream world, and continue to delivery this fantasy
Tomoru: In this never-fading fantasy, as our hearts are lit ablaze
Jun: We will walk forward to our goal point
Daimon: and now, we shall open a new door
Koharu: To protect the flowers that will bloom further away
Felix: Our name is Fantome Iris. Now in this spot, shall we make a pledge to eternity!
______
[Fantome Iris sharehouse]
Koharu: *Yawns* Good morning, well its expected that no ones awake anyways
--Koharu writes something down--
Koharu: This’ll be good, well then, I’m off!
--Koharu leaves--
Tomoru: Good morning!
Jun: …good morning…
Felix: Tomoru, Jun, good morning
Daimon: Morning. Tomoru, weren’t you on paid leave today?
Tomoru: Well thats, this morning, Mashu-kun, no, Mashu-san asked to meetup. Something about stuff to learn before entering the company
Felix: I see, so its almost time
Tomoru: Yes, no matter if he’s an old schoolmate, now its superior and subordinate after all. I need to keep my words and how I call him in check. 
Felix: Its very Tomoru-like
Jun: Because he was moving around, even I woke up despite it being the morning…. Uwah, the sunlight from the window… it stings
Jun: ..?
Tomoru: Something wrong? Hm? There’s something left by the window… it seems to be a potted plant and a memo?
Daimon: Its Koharu’s handwriting. “Flower’s bloomed” is what is says
Tomoru: Ah! You’re right, its very small but it’s started blooming, here!
Felix: Ah.. Its very beautiful, it seems to be a late-blooming flower then, aha, its truly like us
Jun: Its very beautiful
Daimon: It naturally makes you want to smile 
Jun, Tomoru: Yeah
Tomoru: …wait, I need to go NOW!
Daimon: Hey, at least drink some soup
Jun: Um, it looks like you socks are mismatched, is that okay?
Tomoru: Woah! B-but I have no time!
Felix: Could you wait a bit, Tomoru?
Tomoru: eh? Whats wrong..?
Felix: Could you put this toast in you mouth and run out? Just like in anime or manga and then you bump into someone when turning the corner
Daimon: Haha, indeed
Jun, Tomoru: Hahaha
Tomoru: Hold on, this isn’t a time to relax!
Felix: Send my regards to Mashu
Jun: Have a safe trip
Daimon: Be careful okay?
Tomoru: Okay! I’ll be off!
_______________
**: The french version of cheers
* : I’m not sure if this comes off too harsh
26 notes · View notes
sexybabystevie · 2 years
Note
Tonight’s Steve thought: I headcannon that he’s slightly dyslexic. Like, he had trouble reading and stuff when he was younger, and he kinda just accepted the fact that he was ‘dumb’ like everyone told him, so he just stopped trying so hard with grades and pushed himself in sports because that was something he was good at. But now reader can comfort himself and reassure him that he isn’t what people told him he was, and yeah anyway that’s my Steve though hehe
i'm sorry it took so long to get to this, but i absolutely adore this idea!!
i feel like a lot of people kind of either just assume steve didn't care about school at all, kind of lumping him in as someone lazy, or they just make him seem like he's completely incapable, and i much prefer your explanation! i'm a large believer in the fact that most people genuinely aren't "lazy," they just have various reasons (burnout, conditions, etc) that make it harder for them to do things that are "easy" for everyone else, so they just stop wanting to try and care.
i feel like that definitely could have happened to him. being dyslexic at such a young age and not really understanding why reading is so hard for himself, not to mention that i doubt his highly absent family ever bothered to get him a proper diagnosis, so his peers and probably some teachers too think that he doesn't try hard enough or is just dumb. and after a while of getting told that when he's only a child, he simply thinks it's true and has more fun at recess than he ever did in class because he actually likes and is good at it. and it all just develops as he ages; he stops caring about what people say about his intelligence because he gains popularity and no one seems to bring it up anymore, until everything goes down with billy and nancy and suddenly he's at the bottom of the hawkins high food chain and everyone is taking bites out of his ego.
years later, a few months after you somehow have a chance run in with steve at family video, the two of you hit it off and become friends pretty quickly, and while it's true that steve is a little slow when it comes to unfamiliar topics, but he isn't in any form dumb, so when he abruptly asks you, "do you think i'm stupid?" you feel confused until he reveals it all to you.
steve isn't the one to get vulnerable with just anyone, but he trusts you. that's why he asks you in te first place, he trusts that you'll be honest without being intentionally cruel.
and as steve sits there and voices his doubts, doubts about whether he's smart enough to properly babysit the kids or whether he's good enough to even consider himself friends with people like you and robin, the only thing you can think to do is softly take his face into your hands and keep him at eye level.
and you're talking before you can stop, letting it all out because he deserves to hear every single ounce of praise and adoration that you hold for him.
"you are not stupid, steve harrington. something that's completely out of your control like that doesn't deem you any less important or worthy or smart than anyone else. everyone has their areas of expertise, and you have many. you're good with physical things and you know how to manage seven kids at once, which is insane. more than most people could do, by far. you're emotionally intelligent and kind and you are so, so, so worth my time and robin's. we all love you and nothing would be the same without you, everything would fall apart. you hold us all together, steve, and i know some of the kids don't say it as often as they should, but they adore you and look up to you so much. you are not dumb at all, and you never have been. not ever."
if steve breaks down and sobs into your shirt as you hold him closely afterward, so overwhelmed with all the love that you and his found family had given him, never having heard those things from the people who should have been telling him that years ago, then you just hold him against you and soothingly rub his back. after everything he's been through, it's the very least you can do.
166 notes · View notes
wiffhuff · 11 months
Text
Tumblr media
My dude is as skinny as a cheese string
Anyways wow!!! 2 for 1 deal today!!! I felt like if I didn't post Doug and Lao relatively together, I'd get struck down by lightning or something ^^
I liked to think Lao has even longer hair than he does canonically cuz he has given up trying to deal with it. I stuck with giving him a sleek type hair cuz it's probably greasy eUGH. That's def why he tied it, cuz imagine being slapped with it lol
Do not ask what happened to his tie, he does not know as well and frankly does not care.
Had him wear his uniform shirt unbuttoned since he's a rebel and that's kinda the trope in anime. As well, he usually is wearing some random shirt and changes it every couple of days.
My fav part is def his non-uniform jacket he always wear. Unfortunate you cannot see the back design, but it does have a Pathfinder logo :)))) I added some elements of his canon fit to make it semi-inspired.
He got piercings!!! But only simple ones :> You can't even see his right ear so no one notices most of the time.
Notes:
-Doug is one of two people who can convince him to go to school. The other is Lin, but Lao only sees her by chance. Students have seen Doug nagging Lao on his phone, or literally dragging him into class.
-He's all edgy not because wife and kid died (Chenshi would not even exist in this AU), but because he's a hormonal teen who feels like he knows everything. So an edgy idiot.
-Elma and Lao are not on good terms with one another. Elma feels upset with him all the time since she feels he can def excell (See little sketch of angry Elma up there for context). But Lao doesn't bother most of the time if as long as he passes his classes.
-Despite him not caring, I still feel like he gets somewhat good grades. He atleast gets enough good test marks to make Elma raise her eyebrows.
-Yuppers Charmaine exists, but she's in a different school (idk if it would be too tropey to have her school and the [Blade Academy/XCX school idk the name] to be rivals). People are kinda surprised that Lao fell for her since she seems aesthetically the opposite of him (Bubbly, charming, sweet). But I'd like to characterise her with a "You can't fool me" vibe to explain how she is able to wrangle Lao. She def does not put up with any bullshit, and Lao is kinda charmed by that.
-I'm still thinking what sport/physical activity he should do outside of school. It would be silly if he did Kyudo (Japanese archery) plus it would def be so cool to draw him with a bow!!! I know Kyudo clubs exist in some schools, but I imagine Lao didn't join since he likes doing it as his OWN activity.
-In that silly trio friend group I mentioned, Lao is the enabler of the stupid shenanigans the guys get into. Or more of the catalyst I'd think. Like he would go try to jump the school gate, Doug tries to stop him, Frye joins in, and somehow they all got stuck up on the roof of the school building
Translation notes:
Left: Lao secretly reading some stuff on his phone with the caption "Checking his phone in class" and Doug behind him saying "Psst. Dude do your test!". A pissed off Elma sketch with a convo going on: "Lao, did you do alright on the test?" then Lao says "Meh I missed a few marks so only a 98" and Elma said "Huh??" as she holds her test with a 96%. Lao listening to Lin talking about the things happening at her school. A nametag on a girl that says "Charmaine" with her saying "Oh hey Lao, you're hanging here again?" then Lao doesn't respond out of nervousness, which prompts her to say "You good?".
Right: SIde view of Lao that points out his "eternal eyebags". An inaccurate arrow shoing how long Lao's hair is with a caption saying "Hair is about to reach his butt". A showcase of "Lao's fit" consisting of: "Opened dress shirt", "Non-uniform shirt (Whatever he finds in his room", "Baggy pants", "Sneakers". Bottom picture depicts the backside of Lao's main jacket.
11 notes · View notes
flannel-and-rainbows · 11 months
Text
15 questions, 15 mutuals :)
Tagged by @lepetitfruit , sorry I'm a couple days late on responding to thiss
There's no way I'm gonna tag 15 people, but I suppose I'll tag a few of you
Anyways;
Were you named after anyone?
My first name was chosen by my parents after some biblical person, it was related to trouble having me etc etc, I've heard the story plenty. My middle name is the same as both my great-grandmother's and my aunt's I believe.
When was the last time you cried?
Actually cried? Not sure, I'm the suppress-emotions-when-possible type. Getting a bit teary and doing my best to avoid crying? When a character died on a show I was watching a few days ago
Do you have kids?
Dear god no, nor do I plan to. I mean, maybe if my future partner really wants a kid I'll consider it, but there is no way in hell I will be the one giving birth. Not a chance
Do you use sarcasm a lot?
If you haven't heard me use sarcasm, either I am dead or you've never spoken to me for more than 30 seconds.
What's the first thing you notice about people?
For some reason I seem to have accidentally trained my brain to look for queer signals right off the bat, so ngl it'll probably be that. Sounds bad, I know, but it's the truth
What's your eye color?
Hazel
Scary movies or happy endings?
"Happy endings" is so non-specific, it could be practically any genre! Including scary stuff! But anyways, I haven't watched a ton of horror but if whatever I'm watching doesn't have a satisfying ending I will revolt (aka read fanfics) so I choose happy endings
Any special talents?
I do competitive archery on a national level, I think that one counts. I also can and will improvise practically anything small-ish into earrings
Where were you born?
Same general area I live now, Illinois, good ole American midwest. Yes, I am dying inside.
What are your hobbies?
Can I just repeat the "special skills" stuff? Archery, making earrings, and anything else I may hyperfixate on at any given time. Those things include half a million fandoms, way too many craft projects, and the occasional writing sprees.
Have any pets?
The only one who's tecnically mine is my cat, Pippin (named after the hobbit). The other animals in my house include Daisy, our beagle, and my sibling's two ferrets, Merlin and Myrtle.
What sports do/ have you played?
Feeling a bit repetitive here, but once again my answer is archery
How tall are you?
At least 5'7 last I checked, could be a little bit more
Favorite subject in school?
Well, back when I went to public school I'd always say science, but given the fact that I was 8 and only went through 3rd grade there's some room to change there. However, in my homeschooling ventures my work was much less rigidly defined by subject so I'm honestly not sure which to say here, I just teach myself anything I'm interested in
Dream job?
If I could get this writing demon in my brain under control that'd be fantastic, I need it to start spitting words onto pages please. Other than that, is it too much to ask to find a hands-off job that generates it's own income so I can travel and socialize and just live?
I'll tag... @superwho-ace @lonely-little-astronaut @renee561 @mon-sher-liam @siriuslythatbitch @seventiessunglasses @homoromoacecase
No pressure obviously, and if anyone else sees this you can say you were tagged by me, go for it!
3 notes · View notes
avoidantrecovery · 2 years
Text
Can rejection without recovery cause avpd?
My thoughts have still been with that last ask I received, I'm not sure if it's okay to link the asker here, so I'll refrain from it for now. So, ways to improve avpd? One thing unique to avpd that differentiates it from other mental health issues and PDs, is the aspect of (fear of) rejection and shame. That is at the center of what makes us behave the way we do, makes us avoid etc…
Now, that got me thinking about rejection. Why is it, that others, while they also feel discomfort around rejection and would rather not go through it, the feeling is not so strong that it will keep them from living their life? Nobody likes rejection, and any healthy person imo will avoid it if they can. But, they will also risk going through it for the things they care about. So, why is this feeling so strong with avpd? Here is my theory: rejection without recovery. Please let me know if it rings true for you as well.
I think going through rejection when you have other people to help you recover and re-adjust your nervous system after wards takes away the sting. Picture yourself at a party with some really good friends who love you and want you in their midst. You are happy, well regulated and among people who accept you. Suddenly you see someone whom you like and you decide to try your luck with talking to them. Let's say it doesn't go well, you can return to your group and they'll take you back into their midst, build you back up, reassure you, and console you etc… The rejection felt awful, because it always does, for everyone. But going back to your friends will regulate your nervous system etc… because you have your people. Yes, it stung, yes you might think about it for some days. But the chances of that feeling lingering and potentially developing into toxic shame or worse are small. And what is better, because you are able to self-regulate (by co-regulating with your group) you might push yourself to do this a couple of time until you find someone who likes you back. And voila, the rejection feeling becomes even smaller in your mind.
I think having a space to recover from rejection is the key to it not growing into something toxic. And this is in regards to everything. Being bullied at school, but you have friends outside of school whom you can retreat to? Still sucks, but better than having nobody. And so on.
I remember at one point in middle school I really struggled with spelling and my parents were extremely obsessive about this. They bought me books to practice spelling, some of which were a grade or two ahead of where I was. I was constantly told how I would not be able to finish school and not amount to anything because I could not spell properly. Constant fear-mongering, constant threats. Stuff like that, that lowkey still bobs around in my subconscious, tbh. One day we went to a family function and I was instructed to take my spelling books with me because one of my relatives was a retired teacher. I think it was supposed to be a gotcha-moment for me because the idea was, I guess, to shame me by making me practice with said relative. So a real teacher could tell me just how bad I was, just how bad I needed to be perfect. I should say btw, I practiced every day and did my school work, but that was not enough… Anyway, did the practice with the teacher relative, he marked my work with a red pen and all and just said "you're average". I was so happy! "Make sure you practice these and these words." He really encouraged me and was not angry at all, this was all new to me. And you should have seen my parent's face, they wanted me to get a talking to or at least some shame, they wanted to hear that I was so below average that I needed intervention or something. Instead I was just told I was not bad at all and just to write the words a hundred times. Most of all, I was given a way out, and actual solution: practice = getting better. No threats, no fear mongering, no you are a shit child who can't spell and will live in a cardboard box. Just practice = get better. You have no idea how much this reassured me. I had been panicking before and felt completely rejected by my parents, because they would not accept any improvement that wasn't perfect. Now I felt like a normal kid who just needed to put in more work, I literally still remember the relief and happiness I felt that day. I was able to recover from the rejection of my parents by practicing with this relative who reassured me there was nothing inherently wrong with me.
I say all this to say, my theory is avpd is born out of not being able to retreat to other people who co-regulate (by reassuring us, taking us back into the fold etc…) and thus help us recover from the rejection. If for whatever reason you only have negative people in your life, especially as kids we mainly relate to our parents, shit can get wild. And if the rejection is "big" enough such as being bullied at school, having abusive parents, etc… it can manifest into avoiding other things as well. Because one was never able to work through and regulate that "rejection feeling". I would even go as far as saying, the brain "stores" this rejection experience as larger than life in our system because we were never able to make it smaller by recovering, if that makes sense. So suddenly many things, especially if they are to do with interacting with others, even if it's trivial, seem dangerous. We lose ourselves in either avoiding them entirely, or people-pleasing EVERYONE, just to make sure they don't react negatively. Like, I sometimes obsess over whether the lady at the checkout hates me, because she said this or didn't do that. Meanwhile it doesn't matter at all, like at all! The lady at the checkout does not have to like me, and I can't just starve because I don't want to go to the supermarket. Like???
So, lastly, I'm not saying that having someone in your corner ALWAYS works, but I think a lot of damage can be mitigated. I remember when I was going through the worst of my bulling (this was happening at the same time as the spelling thing), a girl in my school became my friend. I don't even remember how we became friends, and I think she must have noticed that the other girls were giving me hell. But we would play in front of our houses, draw with chalk on the road, ride our bikes. But because we weren't in the same class, I'd rarely see her at school. When we did hang out in school once during breaktime, my bullies did not like that one bit, and I don't think that was a coincidence. Even bullies, perhaps on a instinctual level, know that if their bullied object receives any kind of positive input or support, they might lose control of them. Anyway, I still appreciate that she was my friend during that time, but in the end, it was not enough to mitigate it all. But who knows, maybe I would have been worse off without her.
Now, how to actually use this theory to heal? As usual this is the hardest part. But I think just getting to think about all this is half the way. My money is on making new experiences that allow us to recover from rejection and then overwrite the old experiences. So not just jumping right into trying to grow strong from going into rejection situation haphazardly, but having a support of some kind to help recover. The brain has plasticity and can be changed, so perhaps that is where the solution lies? And I know saying this to a bunch of avpd people is almost laughable, like I myself do not have such a support system of friends currently and I don't even know how to begin building one. It's a catch 22, but that is all I have right now. Maybe a good therapist could be the stand in support here?
TLDR: Rejection and fear of rejection is normal for everyone. However, we need to recover and regulate our nervous systems after rejection. If we are not able to do this, the rejection might loom larger in our minds (and nervous systems) and begin to fester into toxic shame or avoidance. Bigger rejections, can cause bigger damage. Healing might lie in being able to make new experiences that allow for recovery and thus override the old experiences?
18 notes · View notes
tommytranselo · 2 years
Text
one of my big questions with mafia 4 is how we're going to actually get the missions.  for example:
mafia 1/mafia DE solves this by making the crime family tight knit–you get all your orders from the boss or maybe occasionally from frank, boom, done.  it also saves the devs from having to make loads of extraneous characters; they really keep the main cast locked down to a handful of people.  it does feel kind of unrealistic especially when you’re the new guy talking directly to the don.
mafia 2, in what recall hearing was a deliberate(?) swing away from m1, gives you joe.  joe has all the contacts, joe talks to everybody so you don’t have to, joe explains the plans half the time or introduces you to the other people who will.  vito just sort of...sleeps a lot and never knows what’s going on.  this definitely did drive home the point of playing as just some random mob soldier rather than the boss’s golden boy (other than like...chapters 9 and 10, but those were personal) but it ended up introducing a lot of side characters that never really got fleshed out more or used much even when it seemed to be implied they would.  i’ve also seen people point out that joe feels more like a protagonist than vito which is a fair point imo, though personally i enjoyed playing sidekick and i think this was done deliberately to keep from having to get detailed with the connections.  joe knows everybody, don’t think about it too hard.
mafia 3 puts the player in charge and gives you donovan–he’s a rogue cia guy, he’s spying on people, he gets your intel and helps come up with plans to get you inside.  there’s also the civilian contacts he finds for you (like harold cauley and pablo duarte), but unlike m2, you know these are just random people off the street so you don’t really expect to see them again.  most major side characters also give you side quests.  for once you actually play as the boss while doing everything yourself, but it avoids “don’t you have underlings for that?” by making the player activities a personal revenge quest, so of course you’re going after the marcano family yourself.  cassandra, vito, and burke & their respective crews run the day-to-day in districts you’ve taken over.  some of the stuff you do for the lieutenants (the smuggling runs) gets into that “isn’t this above your pay-grade?” territory but if you consider it a show of good faith it’s not that weird, and video games are just like that anyway.  this was a clever way of doing things but it’s very specific to the narrative and i’m not sure it’d be easy to replicate.
mafia 4 will be interesting because it’s a prequel.  do i think we have a high chance of seeing familiar faces in their youth?  definitely.  playing as them?  less so.  playing as the boss doesn’t give a lot of room for action, though given it’ll be before a lot of these guys became who they were, some of them i think are likely.  eddie or carlo (“reminds me of my prohibition days!”) seems possible enough.  maybe young salieri/morello/frank but that might require going back further than the 1920s, which is what i assume the setting will be.  if we get the los ondas setting i figure the player will be one of louie romeo’s men rather than louie himself as his cigarette card implies he’s the boss.  i’m getting a little off topic here but basically–i’m torn about what the player’s proximity will be to the local authority figure, basically.  eddie or a character who occupies a similar position to him (ie, friends with one of the capos) would be a nice balance, i think, but it remains to be seen.
5 notes · View notes
mbti-enemies · 2 years
Note
Hey! INTJ (Virgo) anon here!
(IT'S IMPORTANT to me!!)
So I'm in a situation which I want to share with you both.
So I'm in college currently and at present our internship is going on. I started mine but after doing that for some days I kinda realise that it's not that much profitable for me. Like I'm not learning that much from it, it's really low from my expectations which I had before. And I thought I should study at home instead of doing it.
Sure it can give me work experience to some extent but still I think it's not that much beneficial to me. I DON'T WANT TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE SAKE OF A CERTIFICATE!
Besides I can utilize this time for my self improvement. I have a big exam ahead and I want to focus on my future and want to be well prepared for it.
So what's your opinion on this? I'm sharing this because you're an INTJ too so what would you do in this kind of situation?
I also like to hear out infj's opinion.
intj: so id probably start by asking myself two questions:
if i did drop the internship am i actually going to use the extra time wisely or am i just saying that to give me an excuse to not go
what would i regret more losing this experience or losing these hours i could've spent on self improvement in the long run - ie is this work experience/certificate worth more than the extra study hours for the exam/self improvement..will it have more of an impact in my life?
now the whole big exam sounds like something you'd wanna make sure you get rlly get right and sounds like it has a higher worth than the certificate and job experience which u don't seem to keen on anyway, so if i felt the extra hrs of study would help in any way-id probably ditch the work thing - just cause its less of a priority and the risk of doing less well on this Big Thing that could affect my future isn't worth the chance to get a certificate which i don't rlly care about... ____
infj: hello! so yeap yeap agreeing with everything intj said of course, just have a few things to add.
quick note that I have little clue about how this stuff works for you and whether the internship might affect your grade, whether you have to do an internship in your course etc
Still, go ahead and reread the message you sent us; to me it seems like a comprehensive explanation of why you shouldn’t continue with the work experience, and so you should take your own advice! You haven’t really given any reasons you should do the work experience apart from a certificate you don’t even want.
small reminder (albeit perhaps obvious) that if you decide to stop the work experience, that if it’s a company you might want to return to for an actual job, make sure to leave on good terms and explain why you’re leaving; im sure they’ll be understanding.
good luck! And don’t listen to us, listen to yourself.
6 notes · View notes
yumihoe · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Title - Mother Knows best.
Fandom- My Hero academia
Paring: Mother! Momo Yaoyorozu x Daughter! Reader
Genre - Smut
Wordcount-1,288
Summary: Let Momo Provide for you after all she's been doing It your whole life.
Content Warnings - Incest, Noncon, Drugging, Predatory Behavior, use of the word "Cunny". MDNI
Tumblr media
Momo yaoyorozu is by no means a bad mother.
She has provided for you, given you everything you have ever wanted for in life; a clean nice home. The best possible foundation for your future. In fact, She's made it her own personal mission to be the driving force in all of your success.
When you were six it had been softball, You came to her begging To play, Telling her that you wanted to go pro one day. She made sure to get you a top-of-the-line personal trainer and Only the best grade Equipment.
When you turned eight- your dreams of softball long forgotten- you had come to her stating that you wanted to be a great hero like your mother. Her heart had swelled with pride and she took it upon herself to make sure you were on the right path. A tutor for Fighting Techniques, Pre-mech designing for a possible hero suit to accommodate your blooming quirk, even going as far as to let you accompany her during her hero services. You had watched her in aw, little mouth agape and eyes akin to saucers as Momo took down Low-grade villains executing a robbery.
When the villains had been subdued you had run-up to her and threw your small arms around her waist, burying your chubby face in her stomach " You're the best Mommy"! you had squealed.
Momo Wonders If you still think she's the best now.
The small, still logical voice told her that she was disgusting. Taking advantage of you like this,
But what had she done besides what you needed her to do?
You had come to her, as you had many times before in your life asking for her guidance...Her help.
Help with alieving Sexual frustration.
Of course, she was taken back at first, this particular request had made her drop her soba onto the kitchen floor and her eyes widen.
But she recovered quickly. You were a grown woman. And she understood that your almost adorable lack of sexual knowledge was partially her fault, as she had always made sure to keep you on a straight path your entire life, a path that had no detours for lovers or sex or dating.
She had agreed to help you, why wouldn't she. There was nothing strange about a Mother teaching her daughter how to get take care of sexual urges. It was simply a part of life she had forgotten to guide you through and was revisiting to ensure your success in.
And that's what she reminded herself as you squirmed under her.
You had been so needy.
Such a beautiful, quaking mess.
The constant hum of the vibrator she had pressed against your clit was the only sound in your bedroom besides the sweet sounds you would occasionally let out as she built you up to your first orgasm. You had came so beautifully for her and it was an image that had stayed so vividly in her mind well after she left your room.
In the following days after educating you, Momo finds herself struggling to suppress whatever feeling that had bubbled up to the surface.
Her senses had seemed to heighten, her perception of you changing. When had you become so ...Womanly.
Your mother found herself noticing things about you she had been oblivious to before. The swell of your breast in t-shirts. The way your ass looked as you bent over to pick something up. How your yawning face was so, so very similar to the delicious Oh face you make when you climax.
You were a drug. One Momo found herself being deprived of.
she tries to cherish soft moments with you, from before she started seeing you in such a disgusting light. Yet still, even when you have the purest intentions momos mind can only seem to distort the image into something forbidden.
when you offer to take her on a girl's day to the beach to celebrate Mother's days, Momo can only find herself wishing that the waves would crash against you so hard your bikini top flies off and she might be able to catch a glimpse of your perfect tits.
When you inform her that you've finally found a decent apartment and would be moving out soon she's devastated. Not because you won't be there to keep her company but because she won't be able to sneak into your room and pocket your dirty panties if you anymore.
You had smiled at her, so proud that you were finally going to really start your life, go out on your own. But Momo was determined to make sure you stayed.
"You'll be glad to get me out of the house " You laughed taping up yet another box.
Momo feels anything but.
She knows she should be helping you pack, helping with the moving process. Supporting you through this part of your life as a good mother should. yet she can only find herself finding ways to keep you with her longer.
She makes up excuse after excuse as to why she needs you to stay in the house with her, but your mind is made up. You seem to sum up her franticness to get you to stay to empty nesters syndrome.
" I'll make sure I visit, " You reassure her.
But Momo doesn't care about you visiting as much as you can, she wants you to stay with her.
Momo Realizes that you'll leave her and rarely visit. Unless she does something.
For a moment she had thought of Blacklisting you from the apartment complex you were set to move into. But she decides against it. It would be a temporary fix at most, you'd eventually find another place sooner or later and she'd end up back to square one. Momo finds her solution in her status.
Being a hero afforded her access to any substance for an array of problems. When she was early in her hero days her free access to pills had come in handy for cheap highs and party activities, and as she got older it had allowed her the ability to receive top grade painkillers to aid in the damage hero work had done to her bodies over the years.
Now, she would use it as means to make sure you stay exactly where she needed you to be.
It hadn't been hard to get her hands on gamma-hydroxybutyric acid. The date rape drug.
Momo made sure to be as unassuming as possible. Instead of making excuses to prolong your stay, she pretended to welcome the change. Went furniture and decoration shopping, even proposed she cook you your favorite meal for your last night in the house.
For a second, Momo almost has a moment of clarity as she watches you bring your lips to the glass of wine she made with your food. clarity that tells her she's a sick fuck, that this is wrong -that she's a bad mother.
Yet with the way, you were so manageable in your intoxicated state, so easy to stuff into the backseat of her car, to drive out to her house in the hills.
You stay that way even as Momo begins tying you down to the guest bed, spread eagle. Only beginning to flutter awake as she fastens the last tie around your ankle.
Your struggling now, tears streaming down your pretty face as you beg around the gag she put into your mouth.
Momo yaoyorozu is by no means a bad mother.
All she has ever done is make sure that you have had the best possible chances for success in life.
And even now as she climbs between your legs, giving your sweet cunny a small kitten lick, she's certain that she will be able to take care of you.
Whether you want her to or not.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of you guys have raging mommy kinks.
It's me. I'm some of you guys.
Anyways if you liked it feel free to reblog I don't mind!
533 notes · View notes
atlafan · 4 years
Text
Something New - One Shot
a/n: I’ve been working on this for a couple of weeks, rewrote half of it, and now I feel like it’s good enough to post. I guess you could call this enemies to friends to lovers??? they’re both idiots, honestly lmao, anyways, enjoy biology teacher!Harry (not proofread) reblogs and feedback are helpful!
Warnings: a little bit of angst, fluff, and smut
Words: 20K
Tumblr media
Divorced, new home, new town, new job, and a new school district for the kids all within the same year. Y/N had been separated from her husband for a couple of years prior, but when he moved in with his girlfriend, she knew it was officially over. It sucked. She knew she’d look back on it someday and be grateful that they ended things, but right now she wasn’t too happy about it. He got to be a weekend dad with his young girlfriend by his side, and there she was looking like the crazy old hang. It wasn’t her fault for not taking the best care of herself. She was depressed, could you blame her. They lived in one of those towns where everyone knew every little thing about you, so it was time to get out.
Securing the new job was the first on the list. If she could do that then maybe the kids would be more understanding about leaving. Y/N was a database manager for a non-profit organization. She was behind the scenes, and that’s how she liked it. She didn’t have to be the one asking for money or on the front lines vising donors. It was a job she could do anywhere, and she’d get paid well because of the software she knew how to use like the back of her hand.
There was a private school she had seen a job opening for. Normally, she’d be more apt to work for a non-profit, and not just some school for snotty rich kids, but their website made it seem like it wasn’t like that. Their donors gave out scholarships for students all of the time, and staff/faculty could send their kids to the school for free. That was a no brainer. Giving her kids a good education was her dream. The school was a K-12, so that would mean an easy pick up and drop off. After thinking it over, and researching the surrounding towns, she sent in her application.
Two weeks later she got a call for a video interview. She accepted happily. A week after that she was asked on campus for a second interview. Y/N put on her best blazer and nicest blue dress, the school colors were red and blue after all. She even made sure to wear red heels. Y/N spoke eloquently during her interview. She had researched everyone in the development office so she already knew faces and names. They were impressed. She spoke about her experience with The Rasier’s edge, the database management system, and they were awe-struck. She was given a tour of the campus, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The elementary school was a separate building, and the middle school and high school were separate, but connected by two connectors to make one large building. The development office was set up in this cute white house. They shared it with the alumni office, and apparently it was one of the oldest buildings on campus. Although, it was taken of so you’d never know it was old. They even showed her where her potential new office would be. There was a pool and ice rink as well that Y/N got to see. She was impressed. She interviewed the people on the committee too, knowing it was a two way street. She liked what they had to say.
A week or so after that, she was given an offer, a really good offer. Now it was time to talk to her kids. She couldn’t just accept without speaking with them first. Her daughter, Riley, would be going into ninth grade, and her son, Ben, would be going into eighth. Y/N was only thirty-three, she was a young mother, thanks to her ex-husband who was about seven years older than her. A red flag she should have been more wise to, but she was young and naïve, and that’s all that needs to be said about that.
It was a difficult conversation with the kids, but after calming down they had become more open to it. They were upset with their father, and the idea of being a little farther away was sounding really nice. Living in a new home to make new memories in was sounding really nice. Making new friends and having a fresh start was sounding really nice.
So, Y/N accepted the position, and was given a moving allowance. She was able to find a home quickly that was perfect for them. A decent three bedroom about fifteen minutes from campus, so the commute would be easy enough. Riley and Ben took a liking to the uniforms, and since you did all of this over the summer, they’d be able to blend in easily on the first day of school. No awkward ‘walking in halfway through the term’ bullshit.
“When am I supposed to see them?” Your ex had asked you over the phone when you told him you were moving.
“Every other weekend, same as before.”
“So now I have to drive an hour out of my way to-“
“It’s not an hour, it’s forty-five minutes at best. Shouldn’t it be worth it? They’re your kids.”
“You’re taking them from me.”
“You did that to yourself, Joseph. The weekends will stay the same. Be happy our kids are getting a good education. Goodbye.”
She knew she was harsh, but after being cheated on, and left for a younger woman, she thought she earned the right. A week before school started, the kids had gotten their schedules in the mail.
“Who do you have, Riles?” Ben asks her.
“Someone named…Mr. Styles for homeroom, he’s the biology teacher too.”
“Thought you took bio sophomore year.” Y/N says to her.
“Nope, my grades were good, remember? I’m in the honors class.” She smiles.
“What about you, Ben?”
“Um…Mr. Horan. Looks like I’ll have him for pre-algebra.”
“No female teachers for that, huh?” Y/N asks.
“I have a woman for Geometry, Mum, see?” Riley shows her.
“Oh good. Got worried for a second there.” Y/N chuckles.
“Are you nervous to start your new job?” Ben asks her.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I’m actually really excited. The time off has been nice, but I’m eager to get back into it.”
//
Y/N drops off the kids on the first day before going over to the staff lot. The program support assistant, Millie, is waiting for her with a cup of coffee and a warm smile.
“Morning, Y/N.”
“Hi, Millie.”
“Cream no sugar, right?”
“That’s right, thank you so much.”
“Let me lead you upstairs to your office. You have a meeting with the director of development, John, in about half an hour, and then you’ll have a team meeting with the rest of the people on your specific team, the gift processors, customer service. Then at lunch the development team and the alumni team will get together to welcome you.”
“Oh my, well, alright.” She chuckles.
“I put everything on your calendar for you.”
“Thank you.”
Y/N was used to doing everything herself at work, this was already a breath of fresh air. She hoped Riley and Ben had a good morning just the same.
It takes Riley a moment to find her classroom. She stops short when she walks in when she sees Mr. Styles, and another student walks right into her.
“I’m so sorry.” She says to the boy that nearly knocked her over. “Um, I wasn’t sure if this was the right classroom.”
“it’s okay.” He says. “Are you new?”
“Yeah, I’m Riley.”
“I’m Chris.” He smiles. “Wanna sit next to me?”
“Sure!” She says and sits a few rows back with him.
“Where’d you move from?”
“Just form a few towns over. My mom just got a job in the development office here.”
“Oh, cool! My mom works grounds here.”
Riley noticed that Chris had a rainbow pin on his blazer. She smiles at it. He notices her looking at it.
“I…uh…like your pin.”
“Oh, thanks.” He mumbles.
“My best friend back home has a lot of rainbow stuff in her room.”
Chris nods in understanding. More kids come in and claim their seats. The second bell rings, and Mr. Styles closes the door.
“Good morning, everyone.” Riley’s jaw drops at his accent and deep voice.
“Get used to it.” Chris whispers to her. “A lot of the teachers here are from other countries.”
Riley nods and continues to listen to Mr. Styles.
“Welcome to another year at our fabulous school. You’re officially high schoolers!” He grabs the handbook. “Which means there’s even more rules to follow, so let’s get through this together, yeah?”
Mr. Styles was quirky. He cracked jokes and made Riley feel excited to have him for biology. She turned to look at all of the lab benches in the back. She loved science in general, so this was good.
“Lastly, open house for parents will be at the end of the month. They begin at 6PM, so hopefully I’ll be able to meet all your folks. We also have a really fun fall carnival on campus. There’s games, rides, and it also gives a chance for families to see where you go to school. It’s all a part of our homecoming weekend.” The bell rings and everyone stands up. “Riley, could we chat for a second?”
She nods and looks at Chris.
“I can wait outside for you.” He says to her and she feels grateful. Their schedules were just about the same.
“Um, hi.” She says shyly.
“Hi, dear, so I was informed you’re new, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Well, if there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask. Usually we have new students stand up and introduce themselves, but I don’t like making people do that. It’s so forced. I can see you’re already making a friend.” He smiles. “Is it just you that’s new to us? Any siblings?”
“My younger brother is in eighth grade. He has Mr. Horan for homeroom.”
“You don’t say? That’s my best mate, believe it or not. He’s in good hands.”
“That’s good to know. I’m sure it’ll give my mom some peace of mind.”
“I don’t want to make you let, just wanted to give you a more friendly introduction.”
“Thank you, Mr. Styles. See you for bio.”
“See you later.”
Riley was making friends right away thanks to Chris. She had people to sit with at lunch, and she made sure Ben did too. He seemed to be sitting at a full table which was great. Her last class of the day was bio, which was perfect so she’d be near her locker.
“Welcome to honors biology.” Mr. Styles says. “This is a mixed class of ninth and tenth graders. Today we’re going to settle on lab partners, and we’re going to get lab safety out of the way. It’s the bane of my existence, but I need to know you all know how to be safe.”
Chris offers to be Riley’s lab partner even though he had other friends in the class. Mr. Styles writes down who is partnered with who. Then he essentially gives a tour of the classroom. He shows them where all of the lab coats and goggles are, the eyewash station, the sanitation shower, and the other equipment they’ll be using throughout the year.
“Now, in biology, we’ll be learning a lot about plants and animals, and we’ll also get into human anatomy. These subjects can be tough at times to grasp, so please, don’t be afraid to ask questions. I want to make sure I’m explaining things properly. I’m always will to meet after school for extra help as well, or put together a study group.” Mr. Styles explains.
Riley was finding that all of the teachers were really nice so far. She meets Ben after school and they walk over to the staff lot where Y/N was. She had asked to save her lunch hour for 2PM so she could scoot the kids home quick. Her supervisor had no problem with it.
“How was it?”
“Mr. Horan is hilarious, and he’s Irish!”
“Mr. Styles is British! And super nice. I think I’m gonna like it here, Mum. I already made a friend, so I had people to sit with at lunch.”
“Me too!”
It warmed Y/N’s heart to hear that the first day went well. It was all she could have hoped for. She gets them home, set up with a snack, and back out the door she goes. She had a couple of hours left of work anyways, so it was a nice break in the day. The lunch she had earlier with her new colleagues was fantastic. Everyone was welcoming and had no problem showing her the ropes.
When she’s walking to the parking lot around 5PM she notices other people making their way as well. She smiles at a few, and she gets some friendly nods back. She’s parked next to a black range rover, and she was hoping to get to her car before the other owner because she had parked a little too close to them on their driver’s side, but it wasn’t her fault. It was the only open spot when she got back.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Shit, she thinks to herself as she approaches. Not a great first impression to make at all.
“Just crawl in on the other side, H.”
“It’s the principle of the thing! They could have scratched it, or-“
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Y/N yells as she hustles over. “I had to bring my kids home, and this was the only other open spot, and the person previously on the other side of me was parked over the line, so I had to squeeze in, and I know it looks like I’m the asshole, but I swear I’m not.” She panics as she gets her keys out of her purse.
“It’s fine, miss, Harry’s just a jerk when it comes to his fancy car.”
“You sure like riding in my fancy car, so I suggest you shut it.” Harry huffs and looks at Y/N, furrowing his brows. “Look, I’ve had to be nice all day, and I’m exhausted, could you just back out so we can leave?”
“I said I was sorry.” She mumbles. Her eyes widen, though. An Irish accent and a British accent. “Shit, I think you’re my kids’ teachers.” She sighs. “Do the names Riley and Ben ring a bell?”
Harry’s features soften and he runs a hand through his hair.
“You’re Riley’s mum?”
“Yes.”
“Seems like she had a good first day. What department are you working in?”
“I’m the new database manager for the development office.”
“Ben was a delight! Laughed at all my jokes.” Niall says and you smile.
“He said you were funny. Riley liked you too, although now I’m not sure why. Taking a long day out on me. I’m sure the first day is a lot, but it was my first day too, and I’m equally as tired.”
“Maybe you should get home then.” Harry says, and she rolls her eyes.
“Nice meeting you both…well, one of you. I’m sure I’ll see you again, but if not I’ll be at the open house.” She gets into her car and carefully backs out, not scratching Harry’s car.
“You were rude.” Niall says as they both get into the car.
“I paid a lot of money for this car. I park far away for a reason, and someone has to park that close to me?”
“She apologized.”
“Good for her.”
“Harry…”
“Ugh, Francie texted me today, and it just sent me into a fucking spiral, and I had to act like it didn’t all day.”
“What?! When did she text you?”
“After homeroom, she told me to have a good first day. I didn’t even respond.”
“You should just block her number.”
“I haven’t quite reached that point yet, but it’s coming for sure.”
“You still shouldn’t have taken it out on that woman.”
“I’m sure she’ll forget all about it. I’ll be nice next time I see her, alright? Can we please just go get a pint now?”
“You’re the one driving, find a place you wanna go to.”
//
Y/N had successfully avoided the rude Brit that had given her such a tough time on her first day. Riley still raved about him, though. She said he was one of the best teachers she ever had. Ben really enjoyed Mr. Horan as well. He made math fun, which Y/N was grateful for. Ben was never really a good student, but he was doing really well so far.
“I can’t wait for you to go to the open house. Make sure to be super nice.” Riley tells Y/N. “I don’t want my teachers suddenly being mean.”
“It’s not me you have to worry about.” Y/N scoffs.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, honey. So, you’ll walk me around to all the classrooms, and you wait outside?”
“Mhm.” She beams.
“Mum, wait until you talk to Mr. Horan. He’s going to tell you the best things about me, I just know it.” Ben says.
“I’m looking forward to it, honey.”
Y/N had a draining day on the day of open house, and she just decided to stay on campus. She ended up taking the kid home at two, and told them she could figure out where the classrooms were herself. She got to have a one on one with Mr. Horan first.
“You can just call me Niall. We don’t need to be so formal.”
“Alright.” She smiles. “You can call me Y/N.”
“Ben’s doing really well so far. I was a little nervous at first, but he’s getting the hang of it.”
“Thank god.” She sighs. “So, he’ll be in ninth grade taking algebra one next year, is that okay?”
“Perfectly okay. A lot of students do that.”
“I just wanted to make sure because my daughter is in geometry.”
“Math isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. I was checking out his other grades, and he’s excelling in history.” She nods.
The conversation goes well. Y/N makes it through all of the meetings, and her last one is with Harry. She hears laughing from inside the classroom. The door swoops open, and a couple walks out chuckling with Harry.
“Ah, Mrs. Davidson, come on in.”
“It’s Miss Y/LN, or just Y/N if you want.” She says as she sits down on the chair near his desk. He sits down on his chair.
“My mistake, Riley’s last name is-“
“Her father’s last name. I’ve changed mine back. We’re divorced, didn’t really feel like keeping it.”
“I’m, um, sorry, I know how rough divorce can be.”
“Yeah? Been through it yourself, Mr. Styles?”
“Just call me Harry, and my parents were divorced, so I know enough about it from a child’s perspective.”
“They’re not too keen on their father right now. Classic situation of him cheating on me with a younger woman, which of course they found out about.”
“That’s weird.” He rests his cheek on his fist. “You seem pretty young yourself.”
She blushes slightly and clears her throat.
“Could say the same to you. I had them young, yeah, things happen. I don’t regret it though.”
“Riley’s been a real pleasure to have in class, and she’s fitting right in. She seems to like biology the best.”
“She loves science.” She smiles. “Think she gets that from me. I was really into math and science as a kid.”
“Guess you being a database manager makes sense then. New job treating you well?”
“Yeah.” She cocks her head to the side with a smirk. “Although, my almost perfect first day was just about sullied by a man you bullied me in the parking lot.”
“Okay, okay, I was an ass.” He sighs. “Thanks for bringing it up by the way.”
“Why were you so nasty to me anyways? I’ve been avoiding you.”
He frowns at that.
“My ex…fiancé texted me and wished me a good first day, so it just ruined my day and I had to keep it all bottled up. You parking that close just brought me over the edge. I apologize.”
“Yikes, I’m sorry. Well, at least you got out of it before you got married. You saved a lot of money and time.”
“It’s alright…” He looks away for a moment. “Are you bringing the kids to the carnival? It’s all part of homecoming weekend.”
“Yes, and they’re really excited. I have to work technically since a lot of donors come back. I mostly just need to be on the ball. Their father is coming too since it’s his weekend with them technically. I guess it’s good for him to see where they’re going to school.”
“If you need a break from him I’ll be working the candy apple booth.” He smiles.
“Good to know.” She yawns. “Jesus, sorry. I gotta say, I’m whipped.”
“Makes sense, it’s past eight.”
“That late?!” She stands up immediately, and so does he. “I need to get home to them. Um, well, this was a much better meeting.” She sticks her hand out for him to shake.
“I agree. Don’t be a stranger this weekend.”
She nods and leaves his classroom. Maybe he wasn’t as big of an asshole as she thought. Y/N’s had her fair share of bad days, he was allowed to have them too.
//
“It’s like a college campus, this place is huge!” Joseph says once they’re at the football field of the school.
“Yeah, and there’s a pool! I’m trying out for the winter swim team soon.” Riley tells her dad, in a better mood since he didn’t bring his girlfriend.
“It’s really all free for them?” He asks Y/N.
“Mhm.” She nods. “Okay, here all your meal tickets. I have to bee-bop around since I’m technically working. Have fun with Dad.” She smiles and they lead Joseph off towards some of the rides and games.
Y/N meets up with her colleagues and mingles with some of the donors she hasn’t been able to meet yet. She meets back up with the kids later to go on a few rides, and then goes to get food with them. She spots Harry at the candied apples tent, and she goes over there.
“I knew you’d find me.” He smirks.
“I’ve got a sweet tooth, what can I say?” She shrugs.
“You know, me too. Major sweet tooth.”
For whatever reason that makes her blush.
“Um, so I can I have it dipped in caramel and chocolate?”
“A woman after my own heart! I like mine the same way.” He picks up one of the apples from its stick and dips it in the chocolate first. “Any sprinkles or anything?”
“No, the sauces are fine, thank you.”
“So, where’s the-“
“Hi, Mr. Styles.” Riley says as she, Ben, and Joseph approach. “This is my dad.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Riley’s homeroom and biology teacher.” Harry hands you the apple once it’s done, and then shakes Joseph’s hand. “She’s a real pleasure to have in class.”
“So I’ve heard! Nice to hear it straight form the source, though.” There’s an awkward silence. “Um, well, kids do you want an apple?”
“Yeah!” Ben says and tells Harry what he wants.
Harry’s eyes catch Y/N biting into her apple, and how she licks around her lips. He looks a little too long because Joseph notices, and he clears his throat to snap Harry out of his trance.
“You two about ready to hit the road after this?” He asks them.
“Sure.” Riley shrugs. “Bye, Mr. Styles.”
“Have a good weekend, see you Monday.”
Y/N hugs both of the kids, and nods at Joseph.
“So…no kids this weekend?” Harry says to her.
“Nope. It’s funny, I always look forward to the little break, but by the time Sunday night hits I miss them.”
“Any plans?”
“Just relaxing. I’ll probably catch up on some sleep tomorrow. How about you?”
“A few of us are going to the pub after this…if you’d like to join, you’re welcome to.”
“Oh!” She says a little surprised. “Well, that would be great, actually. I haven’t really had time to explore some of the night life around here yet.”
“I could drive us from here if you like. I can always bring you back to your car.”
“You actually trust me to get into that fancy car of yours? I’m shocked.” She smirks, and he rolls his eyes.
“I apologized for that, didn’t I? Can we move on? Let me give you a ride later.”
“Alright.” She smiles. “Sounds like fun. It would be nice to get to know more people.”
“Great, I’ll find you later then?”
“Sounds good.” She walks away with her apple in hand, and he smiles.
After schmoozing with more alumni and donors, Y/N felt pooped. Did she really feel like going out and drinking? She could easily go home, draw herself a bath, and have a glass of fine all on her own. She had socially interacted so much today, and the thought of doing more was draining. Maybe she could go out with Harry another time. She tries looking around for him, but she’s not sure she spots him.
“Y/N!” She hears from behind her. “You ready?” Harry asks.
“About that…I think I’ve changed my mind…”
“How come?” He says with a slight frown.
“I was very social today, so I’m feeling a little tired. I don’t think I have enough pep in me for drinks tonight…but maybe another time?” She clasps her hands in front of her waist, feeling a little nervous all of a sudden.
“Oh, yeah, I definitely get that. Um, yeah, another time for sure.”
“Thanks, well, see you around, Harry.”
“See you…”
//
“Mum, we’re home!” Ben says Sunday evening as he and Riley come inside.
“Hey.” She smiles. “How was Dad’s?”
“Annoying.” Riley huffs. “I can’t stand Margaret. She, like, tries too hard to be our friends.”
“Mm, well, that’s what happens when a forty-year-old man decides to date a twenty-five-year-old woman. She probably knows how to babysit and be a pal.”
“Doesn’t it gross you out that he’s with someone so much younger?” Ben asks as he plops down on the couch.
“Of course it does. It won’t last long, unless she’s after his money.” She rolls her eyes. “I don’t know why, it’s not like we were living the high life before.”
“Ew, what if he gets her pregnant.” Riley says with disgust. “I don’t want another little sibling, one is plenty.”
“Yeah, and then we’d have to pretend like we’re happy for him. I’m glad we didn’t have to do two nights over there this weekend.”
“Me too.” Riley sighs. “Did you do anything this weekend?” She asks Y/N.
“I just relaxed. Caught up on some TV, nothing special.” She shrugs. “Did you get all your homework done?”
“Yes.” They say in unison.
“Alright, go get ready for bed then.”
Riley and Chris meet at their lockers the next day at school and talk about their weekends. They chat in homeroom about their upcoming biology test. Chris was feeling a little nervous, but Riley was feeling confident. She studied almost all day Sunday. When it was last period, and Harry gave out the tests, her eyes bugged out. She read all of the questions over, and it wasn’t at all what she thought. She looked up at Harry dumbfounded. He was typing away at his computer, answering emails. She walks up to his desk with the test.
“Done already?” He jokes with a whisper.
“Mr. Styles…I don’t know any of this.”
“What do you mean? I gave you a study guide.”
“I…I know you did, but I left it at my mom’s, and so I was going off memory…I think I studied the wrong chapters by accident or something.” Her eyes were about to well up with tears.
“Alright, step out into the hall with me. Did you take notes while you studied?”
“Yeah.”
“Grab them for me.”
He stands up and goes out to the hallway to wait for her. A few of the kids in class were watching, but they get back to their own tests. She hands him her notes, and he makes a few humming noises.
“Right, yeah, you studied the wrong chapters.”
“Ugh, I knew it! So…does this mean I fail?”
“No.” He sighs. “It was an honest mistake, you’ll have to take a makeup exam after school sometime this week, though.”
“I can do it tomorrow! I would just need tonight to study. I could study in class now.”
“Get the rest of your things, I can give you a pass to the library.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Styles.”
“Don’t mention it.”
They both go back inside and she grabs the rest of her things. He writes her the pass and out the door she goes. Chris makes a motion for her to text him before she slips out, and she nods. Tuesday morning, just as Harry was sitting down at his desk with his coffee, he got an interoffice phone call from Y/N.
“Hello?” He answers, voice still deep from sleep.
“Hi, Harry, it’s Y/N.”
“I know…caller ID and all that.” He chuckles.
“Right, well, I wanted to say thank you for letting Riley take her test later this afternoon. She was a wreck last night when she got home.”
“It was an honest mistake. Plus, when I saw how much studying she did I knew I had to give her a chance to just take it later. Do you think she’s prepared enough for later?”
“Oh, definitely. She feels much better. Do you mind if Ben comes to sit in the classroom with her while she takes it? No sense in me zipping him home if she’s going to stay after.”
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
“You’re a life saver, thanks! Talk to you soon.”
“Bye-“ He’s cut off by the sound of the phone clicking on the other end.
Riley stays after class to take her test. Shortly after Ben shyly walks into the classroom and takes a seat. He does his own homework while she takes her test. Forty minutes later, Riley finishes her test, and hands it to Harry.
“I can grade it now if you like since it was all multiple choice.”
“That’d be great.” She smiles.
He looks at his answer key and checks off all her right answers. He writes 92% in big red ink and circles it.
“Well done. I can’t give it back to you until tomorrow, of course, but at least you can rest easy about it.”
“God, what a relief! Guess I’ll be a pro when we reach the chapters I already studied.”
“I bet you will be.”
“Do you mind if we hang out here until our mum’s done with work? She said she was just gonna pull up out front of the building.”
“Sure, I have some other grading to do anyways. In fact, would you like to help? It’s for another class, I could give you the answer key.”
“Yeah!”
Harry sets her up, and he even plays a little music for all of them.
“Mr. Styles?” A boy named Austin walks in. He was a sophomore in Riley’s class. “Thank god you’re still here.” He sighs.
“What’s up, Austin?”
“I was wondering if you graded my test yet? The football coach needs me to fill this progress report slip out. He’s making all of us do it.”
“Oh! Yeah, let me look. I can just tell you your overall grade. Have a seat, it’ll take me a minute.”
He nods and sits down, glancing at Riley briefly. She gives him a small smile and blushes.
“How come you’re here?” He asks her.
“Oh, I needed to make up the test from yesterday. I accidentally studied the wrong chapters.”
“Happens to the best of us.” He smirks. “You’re new to town, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You should come to the football game Friday, since it’s home.”
“Yeah, um, maybe I will.”
“Cool.”
“Alright, Austen, I’ve got your grade.”
He stands up and goes to Harry’s desk.
“Sick, a C+! That’s way better than I thought.”
“Let’s try to keep it that way, yeah?”
“I’ll do my best, thanks.” He walks out of the room and Riley puffs out some air.
“Don’t tell me you have a crush on that guy?” Ben chuckles.
“He’s so cute, I can’t help it. That’s the most he’s ever spoken to me, and now he wants me to go to the game. I have to go Friday, I need to text Chris.”
“If you go, can I go?”
“Sure.” She shrugs. “The more the merrier.”
Riley and Ben had always been close. They were practically best friends. They got a lot closer when their parents were going through the separation/divorce process, leaning on each other for a lot. Harry hear the sound of heels clacking on the floors outside the classroom, and there Y/N is appearing in the doorway looking lovelier than ever. She had a long coat on, synched at the waist, and her hair was down and wavy.
“Hi, kids, ready?” They both get up, and Harry stands as well. “Thanks for letting them hang out for a bit while I finished up.”
“It was no problem. Riley was pretty helpful to me with some grading.”
“How’d the test go?” She asks her daughter.
“Got a 92!”
“Amazing! I think that calls for takeout tonight.”
“You just don’t feel like cooking.” Ben chuckles.
“I’m sorry, are you complaining about getting Chinese food, or?”
“No! Just making an observation.”
“Mhm, okay, let’s go. Have a good night Mr. Styles.” She says to him.
“Same to you.”
On the ride home, Riley gets a text from Chris saying he’s down for the football game on Friday. She sighs with relief, and looks over her mother.
“So…can Ben and I meet up with Chris on Friday? We’d like to go to the football game.”
“A boy asked her to go!”
“Shut up, or you can’t come with me.”
“Hey!” Y/N says. “A boy asked you to go?”
“Well, sort of. He just said I should go if I wanted. I haven’t been to one yet, it could be fun. Chris said the snack bar is pretty stacked.”
“And you’ll keep an eye on your brother?”
“I’m only a year younger than her.” Ben scoffs.
“You’re in the eighth grade, that’s a big difference right now, even if it doesn’t feel like it. What time does the game start?”
“6:30, I think.”
“Sure, you can go. I think that’ll be good for you kids to go to.”
“Awesome, thanks Mum.”
//
“We’re gonna be there anyways, just ask her to tag along.” Niall says to Harry over lunch on Thursday.
“You make it seem like I wanna date her, I just think she’s cute.”
“Just ask her if she wants to go out with us after, would you?”
“Fine, I’ll give her a call right now.” Harry reaches for his phone, and looks up Y/N’s extension. She picks up on the second ring.
“Hey, Harry.”
“Hi, do you have a minute?”
“Sure! Is everything alright with Riley?”
“Yeah…this isn’t about her. It’s more of a personal matter.”
“Oh…what’s up?”
“Niall and I are chaperoning the football game tomorrow night. All of the faculty take turns doing it. We just walk around and make sure no one’s drinking underage. We were wondering if you’d like to join us. We’d be going to the pub after most likely too.”
“I don’t know if I should. Riley and Ben are going to the game, and I don’t want them to feel like I’m hovering around them, you know?”
Niall gestures for the phone and snatches it from Harry.
“Y/N? It’s Niall. Enough excuses, yeah? You’re coming out with us tomorrow night, and that’s final. You need to get more involved with student life.”
“I’m plenty involved!”
“You import and export donor data all day. I bet your kids won’t care.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Y/N did think about it, and then she asked Riley and Ben how they’d feel if she went. They said as long as she wasn’t up their butts they wouldn’t mind. It made things easier for her to drive them there at least. She watches as they meet up with Chris and essentially run off from her. She sighs and looks around for Niall and Harry, suddenly feeling like a loner.
“Oi, there she is!” Niall shouts, handing her a hot chocolate. “This should warm you up quick. You look cold.”
“I didn’t think it would be chilly enough for gloves.” She chuckles. “Thank you.”
“So, basically we just walk around, but we get to enjoy the game for the most part.” Harry explains.
“Is our team any good?”
“We’re decent, yeah. Think our lacrosse players are better to be honest, but they don’t get as much recognition.”
Y/N nods and takes a careful sip of her warm drink. She walks around with the guys, mostly listening to them talk in their accents. It was sort of fun to see all of the parents, staff, faculty, and students at the game cheering the team on.
“See that one, number 11?” Harry says to her, pointing towards the field. “That’s Austin, he asked Riley to come to the game. They’re in my bio class together. I think she likes him.”
“How can you tell?”
“I catch her looking at him from time to time. I might be wicked and assign them a project to work on together.”
“Teachers actually do that?!”
“Oh, sure.” Niall says. “I switch up the seating chart once a term just so I can pair people up. It’s pretty interesting to see what happens.”
“The students gossip to us all the time too.” Harry laughs. “They have no problem sharing personal information.”
“So…you think he might like Riley back?”
“I have no idea, he sits in front of her, and mostly just takes notes.”
“Is he nice?”
“He’s not a dolt if that’s what you’re asking. Definitely not your classic meathead, not to worry, Y/N.”
Y/N nods, and keeps walking around with the guys. The team wins, and everyone cheers. Riley, Ben, and Chris find her in the crowd of people near the exit.
“Mum, can we bowling?” Riley asks.
“With who?”
“Me, Miss Y/L/N.” Chris says and you raise your eyebrows. “Okay, and some of the cheerleaders and football players, but it’ll be fun! It’s cosmic bowling night. My dad said he could drive.”
“Please, Mum.” Ben pouts, and you roll your eyes.
“Alright.” She sighs, and takes her wallet out of her small sling bag. “Here’s some money, have fun. Home by ten, do you hear me? I’ll be out for a bit myself, just in case you get back before me.”
“Where are you going?” Riley asks.
“I’ve made some friends of my own.” She grins. “Go on, have fun.”
“Thank you!” They all say and head off.
“I can follow you both to the pub.” Y/N tells Niall and Harry, and they all walk to the parking lot.
She feels a little nervous going out with them. She had made a few friends so far, mostly her colleagues that she saw every day. There was this weird divide between faculty and staff, so she had noticed. So, Y/N wasn’t sure how welcomed she would be by the others they were meeting up with. She takes a deep breath before getting out of her car, and meeting Harry and Niall at entrance.
“You’re gonna love this place.” Harry says, putting a hand on her shoulder as they go inside. He leads her to a table where a few people were sitting already. “Oi, everyone, this is Y/N, she works in the development office.”
They all look at her and smile, saying hello. Niall takes his seat, and Harry has you sit between the two of them. Y/N learns the names of some other faculty members. Shane, Lora, and Jess. None of them had Y/N’s kids in class so she could rest easier. She found Harry and Niall to be hilarious, often almost choking on her drinks from laughter. She notices that Harry’s rolled his sleeves up, and can’t help but look at his tattoos. He explains a few of them to her. Around 10:05 she got a text from Riley.
Riley: just got in, thanks again for letting us go, it was amazing! When are you home??
Y/N: soon, baby, thanks for checking in
“Well, I should probably get going.” She says to Harry. “My kids just got home, and I don’t like leaving them alone too long when it’s late.”
“Fair enough, can I walk you to your car?” He says, leaning in a little bit. “Just so I know you left safely.”
“Sure, um, that’d be great.” She throws some bills on the table to take care of her tab. “Thank you all so much, I had a great time.”
“See ya, Y/N!” Niall says with a smile. She misses the wink he gives Harry, and Harry mouths ‘be cool’ at him.
“M’just gonna walk her to her car, I’ll be right back.” Harry says, addressing the group before heading out the door with Y/N. “You’re good to drive, right?” He says as they both walk outside.
“Of course, I only had, like, two drinks. You saw me nursing them.”
“Alright, just wanted to be sure.” He watches her fish for her keys out of her bag. “I’m glad you came out tonight.” He rubs the back of his neck. “You’re a lot of fun to be around.”
“Aw, thanks, you’re fun to be around too.” She smiles, biting her bottom lip. He can’t help but let his eyes drift to it.
“Are you in a rush to get home?”
“Well…I…”
“It’s not like they need you to tuck them in, right?”
“N-no…” She raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you…are you making a pass at me?” She was backed up against her car with him a comfortable foot away from her, but she was starting to feel warm.
“Maybe.” He shrugs, stepping a little closer. “Would you feel uncomfortable if I was?” She shakes her head no and swallows.
“Do you do this with all your students’ mums?” She smirks, gaining some confidence back.
“Well, considering that I was in a four year long relationship up until six months ago, I can confidentially say no.” She opens her mouth and smirks. “And no, I don’t usually do this with colleagues either.”
“So…why with me then?”
“You’re cute.” He grins.
“Harry, I…I’m not really looking for anything serious right now, I’ve just started a new job, I bought my own house, I’m juggling teenagers, I can’t start up a relationship.”
“I don’t think I asked you for that. In fact, I haven’t asked for anything, yet.” He says smugly. “M’not looking for anything serious either.”
“Alright, what do you want from me then?” He shifts his weight to his other hip, and just looks at her. Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open. She looks around, and steps closer to him, barely any space between them now. “You…you want to have sex with me?”
“Why do you sound so surprised? I think you’ve really got it going on.”
“Seriously?”
“Sure, you really know how to fill out a pair of jeans. Your bum looked awfully cute at homecoming.”
“All this coming from the guy who was about ready to murder me for almost scratching his car.” She scoffs.
“I have apologized for that over and over, but clearly my words mean nothing to you…” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “Maybe there’s something else I could do to make it up to you.”
“You’re my kid’s teacher, Harry.”
“Not after 2PM I’m not. Right now I’m just a guy who wants to fuck you.”
“I can’t go back to your place with you right now.”
“My car’s got tinted windows and a spacious back seat.”
“How…how old are you, anyways? I mean, I’m thirty-three, Harry, and you’re a little baby faced. I’m not one of those people who-“
“I’m twenty-nine. Do you wanna go fuck in my car or not? It’s okay if you don’t, I’m not trying to pressure you, but it’s bloody cold out here and I wouldn’t mind warming up.”
Y/N hadn’t had sex with someone in since the last time her and Joseph had sex, which was a few years ago. She also couldn’t remember the last time she had sex in a car, probably when she was a teenager. Was she really about to do this with some she had just started to become decent friends with? Was this is the only reason he wanted to be friends with her?
“Is the only reason you’ve been wanting to invite me out? To get my pants off?”
“No! I genuinely think you’re nice to be around, but I also wouldn’t mind getting your pants off.” He smirks.
“Okay.” She nods. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Really?”
“Quickly, before I change my mind.” He grabs her by the wrist and tugs her towards his car. He unlocks his car and he lets her get in first. He reaches forward to turn the car on so the heat is on and there’s a little music playing. He goes to cup her cheek, and she backs away. “I’m a little nervous.”
“We don’t have to do anything crazy if you don’t want. We could just kiss if you like.”
“I just…it’s been a while for me, you know? Like, a long while, so…I want to, I’m just nervous.”
“How can I help you relax?”
“I guess…um…could I sit on your lap and maybe we could hug for a bit?”
“Sure.” He nods.
She moves to straddle him, and she wraps her arms around his neck. His go around her back, and he rubs her soothingly. He gets a good whiff of her perfume, and it makes him smile.
“Comfortable?” He asks softly. She hums her response and he holds her a little tighter. “I like whatever perfume you’re wearing.” He feels her giggle against him.
“It’s just apple spice.” She mutters into his neck, and moves to look at him. “Nothing special.”
“Well, I like it.” He tucks some hair behind her ear. “Would it be alright If I kissed you now?”
“Yeah.” She smiles.
He licks his lips and presses them to hers. Her eyes flutter closed and she tugs at his hair. His hands squeeze her hips as the kiss deepens. He sucks on her bottom lip, and it makes her whimper. She rolls her hips down on his and he grunts. He kisses sloppily from her mouth, to her jaw, and to her neck. He mouths at her neck, full well knowing he can’t leave a mark, but it doesn’t stop him from licking and sucking a little over the area. She tugs at his hair a little harder and continues grinding against him, feeling his bulge getting harder. His lips move back to hers as his hands roam up her front, hesitating before reaching her breasts. She takes his hands and puts them over her boobs, squeezing his hands over them. He takes over from there, kneading them as best he could over her coat.
She gets frustrated, and get shimmies her coat off. He’s happy to see her nipples peeking through her shirt. He moves to suck on it through the material and she gasps. Her chest was heaving when he came off and looked up at her. Her hands move to unbutton her jeans, and he wastes no time sticking his hand inside. Instead of smirking when he feels how wet she is, he presses his lips back to hers, loving knowing that he was turning her on this much. His fingers move along her folds, and he slips his middle finger inside her gently. He groans when he feels how tight she is.
“Christ, you weren’t kidding. Do you never use anything at home?”
“Who the fuck has the time?!” She huffs as he starts bringing his finger in and out. “M’too exhausted half the time, and even when they’re gone I just do something quick.” A moan leaves her lips when his thumb starts to circle around her clit. Her forehead presses against his, and her eyes pinch closed.
He gets his ring finger inside her as well, and he curls them both up. She moves back and forth on him, riding his fingers. She makes fists with his shirt, and she starts panting. He groans from watching her, and just from the way she feels. He pets against her g-spot, and his thumb works into her clit.
“Oh, oh my god.” She says, biting her bottom lip. “I…I think I’m gonna come.” He doesn’t let up on her, doing his best to get her there. Her whimpers and whines were just egging him on. “Oh, shit, oh, shit!” She cries out as she comes around his fingers. He works her through it, and then retracts his fingers, sucking on them while making eye contact with her.
“Well?” He smirks.
“Do you have any condoms?”
“Yeah, get your pants the rest of the way off.” He lifts her off of him and places her on the seat while he reaches forward into the console, and grabs a condom.
“Aren’t you a little old to be leaving condoms in your car?” She says as he slips her jeans and underwear off.
“Wouldn’t be able to fuck you if I didn’t, would I?” He winks, and undoes his belt and jeans. “Think you’ll be able to ride me reverse, or do you need to go missionary to ease you into it.”
“Don’t be an asshole, I know how to have sex, it’s just bene a while.”
“I wasn’t! I don’t wanna hurt you.” Her eyes widen as he pulls his hard dick from his boxers, rolling the condom on.
“You think you’re the first guy with a larger prick to fuck me? Think I can handle it.”
“Now who’s being the asshole?” He chuckles and grabs her to bring her back to his lap, her back pressed to his chest. He reaches around to rub on her to make sure she’s still wet. “You want this still?”
“Yeah.” She lifts her hips and he lines himself with her, pressing up into center. It’s a tight squeeze, like she thought it would be, but she does her best to relax around him. She nearly shrieks once she’s sat fully on him.
“I’m gonna make you feel so fucking good.” He says into her ear before nibbling on her earlobe.
She hooks an arm around his head while he grips her hips, and her head falls back to his shoulder. He thrusts up into her while rubbing on her clit, and her mouth falls open. She hadn’t felt this good in a long time, this was incredible. She tugs on his hair and helps herself move on him so he doesn’t have to do as much work. He frees up one of his hands to grip and squeeze one of her breasts. She looks up at him and yanks his head down to hers. She licks into his mouth and he moans into her. He sucks on her tongue and her eyes roll back. Between that, his fingers on her slit, and his dick fucking up into her, she was about ready to lose it again. She pants into his mouth as she comes again. He thrusts begin to get sloppy, and then he’s spilling into the condom. They sit there for a moment catching their breaths before she moves off him.
They both get dressed, and Harry throws the condom into a nearby trashcan as he walks her back to her car. Her face was flushed, and she for sure looked like a mess, but she felt good. He cups her cheeks and backs her up against the driver’s side door, kissing her tenderly.
“That was fun.” He says.
“Yeah.” She breathes and looks down at her watch. It was already 11:30. “Shit, I really need to get home. Ben gets worried when I’m out late.”
“Sweet kid.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Well, get home safe and all that.”
“You too.” She smiles and opens her car door. He closes it for her once she’s inside, and she starts the car.
As Y/N drives home it starts to hit her what she just did. She just fucked her child’s biology teacher, who she also happens to technically work with. Never in her life had she done something like this. Maybe in her younger days she would have done something this rebellious, but she had grown up a lot, and she was a professional now. She takes a deep breath before keying into her home. She sighs when she sees the light from the TV coming from the living room. Riley and Ben were passed out on the couch.
“Hey, kids.” She coos. “Wake up, I’m home.”
“Mum?” Ben says sleepily. “Where were you?”
“I…I was out with friends, remember? Um, let’s get you both into bed.”
She turns the TV off as they both slowly make their way upstairs to their bedrooms. Once they’re both in their beds, she goes into her own room, and gasps once she gets a good look at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was smeared, and her hair was a mess.
“Christ, Y/N, what did you do?” She says to herself and sighs.
//
The next day, Y/N was walking around like she had a stick up her ass. Maybe her body wasn’t quite ready for someone of Harry’s size. Nevertheless, she had to get up and start her day. She got some laundry going, did some dusting, and then made some breakfast for the kids. They both come into the kitchen around 10.
“Can you both put your sheets in the laundry room for me? I’m doing a linen load in a bit.” They both nod as she puts two plates of eggs in front of them. “How was bowling?”
“So much fun!” Riley says. “I actually got a strike, I couldn’t believe it.”
“You did?! How’d you manage that?”
“Um…Austin helped me, you know the one in my bio class? He’s really nice.”
“Riley, I’m happy for you and all, but I don’t know if I want you dating yet.”
“I’m not dating anyone! At least I wasn’t the one who stayed out until nearly midnight doing god knows what.”
“I’m an adult, I can do what I want, that’s one. Two, if you and this boy decide you really like each other, I think it’s only fair I get to meet him.”
“Just because he helped me bowl a ball doesn’t mean anything.” She rolls her eyes.
“What about you, did you have fun?” Y/N sighs as she asks Ben.
“Yeah, I hung out in the arcade, it was sick.”
Just as she was sipping on her coffee, Y/N’s phone goes off. It was in front of Riley and Ben, and Riley furrows her brows.
“Who is it?” Y/N asks.
“Um…Mr. Styles. Why is he calling you?”
“I…I have no idea.” She snatches her phone quickly. “H-hello?”
“Hey, Y/N! Just wanted to see how you were.”
“I’m alright, um, I’m in the kitchen with the kids, could you just give me a second?” She leaves the room and goes down the hall to her home office. “Okay…um, how are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I just didn’t wanna be a dick and not call.”
“Well, that’s nice of you.” She blinks a few times.
“So…you feel okay about everything?”
“Yeah! Wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t. Little sore, but other than I’m good.” She chuckles slightly and so does he.
“Well, next time I can be a little gentler…if you’d like there to be a next time, that is.”
“You…you don’t want last night to just have been a one-time thing?”
“Not necessarily, I had a good time with you, and I think you had a good time with me.”
“I just…I don’t know how smart it would be to start something up with my kid’s teacher.”
“Well, you already sort of did…”
“Yes, but I think to continue it would be stupid. I don’t want to do anything that could potentially embarrass her. Riley and Ben are really starting to make friends. They were cool about moving here for me, so I want to be-“
“It’s not like we’re dating, Y/N. No one has to know.”
“As if you haven’t told Niall yet.” She scoffs.
“I mean he was curious as to why I didn’t come back to the bar last night, but I didn’t give him the full details. He knows how to keep things to himself.” He pauses for a moment. “Look, I get it, you’re just trying to be a good mum, I can admire that. But after a certain point you need to remember that it’s okay to do things for yourself.”
“Like fuck a guy in a parking lot?”
“Exactly!” He laughs. “You’re still so young, why not let yourself have some fun?
“Harry…”
“All I’m saying is, if you’re ever lonely, or if you can’t sleep…you can call me.”
“I’ll…I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to them. Probably wondering what we’re talking about.”
“Yeah.”
“Have a good rest of your weekend.”
“You too.”
She hangs up, completely shocked by the conversation she just had with Harry. She goes back out to the kitchen where the kids were waiting with raised eyebrows.
“What did Mr. Styles want?” Riley asks.
“Oh, um, someone left their wallet at the restaurant we all went to last night, that’s all. He was trying to figure out who it belongs to.”
“There was no ID in it?” Ben asks.
“Apparently not.” Y/N shrugs.
//
At first, Y/N wasn’t sure if she wanted to take Harry up on his offer. She genuinely didn’t want to make things difficult for Riley. When mid-November rolled around, it was time for parent-teacher conferences. These were the more serious one on one meetings before the holiday season to make sure students would be able to pass all of their classes. More often than not Y/N found herself meeting with Ben’s teachers than with Riley’s, but Y/N wanted to check in with everyone to make sure her kids were acclimating to the new school fine. What she wasn’t expecting was for Joseph to want to come to the conferences as well. She got away with blushing a little when they saw Niall. He didn’t make anything awkward, but it was when they made their way to Harry’s room that she was starting to feel like she wanted to vomit. The door swings open and two people walk out. Harry steps out and looks into the hallway, smiling when he sees you, then frowning when he sees Joseph.
“Mr. Davidson! How nice to see you again, please come in.” Harry says, gesturing to step inside. “Hi, Y/N.”
“Hi, Harry.”
“You can call me Joseph.” Joseph says as he sits down and Harry nods.
Harry and Y/N make eye contact briefly, and then he clears his throat.
“Well, I’m not sure why Riley signed you both up.” Harry chuckles. “She’s doing exceptionally well, and not just in my class. She’s a bright girl.” He takes out a few of her lab reports. “The first semester tends to be easier since we’re learning more about plants and those types of organism. Next semester we get into zoology and human anatomy. I always make it known there’s study groups and after school help. I try to make it as engaging and fun as I can. We even play a few rounds of operation.”
This makes you smile as Joseph furrows his brows at Riley’s lab reports. He nods along with what Harry is saying.
“I’m glad she’s doing so well. She was sort of a big fish in a small pond at her last school.” Joseph says. “I was a little worried she’d feel overwhelmed. This transition for them was really abrupt.”
“They had most of the summer to get used to things.” Y/N says, rolling her eyes. “This isn’t a snotty school either, the teacher’s actually help the students succeed.”
“I’m just saying-“
“Listen.” Harry cuts in. “Seems like you two might have some things to discuss that don’t really involve me. Riley’s doing great, and Niall tells me Ben’s doing just as great. Nothing really more to it.”
Joseph nearly had a decade on Harry, but Harry owned this room. Having Joseph be put in his place definitely did something for Y/N. She can’t help but smirk as Joseph sits up straight.
“Yes, well…thank you. We’ll make sure to relay the message to them.” He says and Harry nods. Joseph stands up, as does Y/N.
“Y/N, did you happen to drive separately? An alum emailed me today, and I have a couple of questions about our donation site.”
“Oh! Sure, I can stay a few moments.” She looks a Joseph. He stands there for a moment, looking between the two of them.
“Goodnight.” He says, and out the door he goes.
“So…what’s your question?”
“I didn’t actually have one.” Harry smirks at her and she blushes.
“Oh.”
“You seemed uncomfortable with him here.”
“I don’t exactly enjoy his company anymore.” She sits slightly on his desk.
“I know, shit like that is just awkward. Francie and I still have some mutual friends, and we’ve had to be at a few of the same parties since the breakup.”
“Can I ask…I mean, you said you were together for four years and engaged…what happened?”
“Why don’t we have this conversation over drinks?” He stands up, grabbing his keys and jacket.
“Harry…it’s a school night.”
“And? It’s only seven. Not like we’re gonna be out all night are we?”
“I have two kids at home.”
“You have two teenagers at home. Come on, just one drink and I’ll tell you everything.”
“And then what?”
“Whatever you want.” He winks and leads you out the door.
//
Y/N texted the kids to let them know she was just grabbing a quick bite, and that she was very proud of their hard work. She followed Harry to a pub, and they grab a booth inside. They each order a drink and munch on some popcorn.
“Alright.” He sighs. “So I was with Francie for four years, and we were engaged for all of five months. It was working out great, we were living together, had a couple of pets, you name it. She works for this tech company, right? So, she got promoted, which was great, but it would have involved her to start traveling a lot, and eventually moving to New York. I didn’t want to move, and she didn’t want to do long distance.”
“Why didn’t you want to move? You could have found another school to work at…”
“It was the principal of the thing! She didn’t even ask, she just expected it, like her job was more important than mine. We started arguing more and more, and when I asked her why we couldn’t just try long distance she said that would make things difficult to start a family, and I said we already had a family, and that opened up a can of worms. She wanted kids and I didn’t. After that we ended it. She took our dog and cat, and left.”
“She took the pets?!”
“Yup! Left me the ring though.” He scoffs.
“Wait…so you don’t want kids?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, I love babies especially. But…I just don’t see myself being a dad.” He shrugs. “It’s a lot of responsibility, a lot of money too. I don’t know if I could take care of someone else. And maybe…when she said it…I had this thought of if I did want kids I wasn’t sure if wanted her to be the mother of them.”
“It took you that long to have that kind of conversation?”
“What about you? Did you and your ex have a proper discussion about it?”
“No, he knocked me up, proposed later that year, and we got married in a courthouse while I was seven months pregnant.” She finishes her drink. “Just like a fairytale. Then when he promised we could have a real wedding, I got pregnant with Ben, and all that money went to him. S’alright, though, it would have been a waste of money.”
“Can I ask why you got divorced?”
“Well, the age difference was one thing. He’s seven years older than me, which may not seem like much, but it was. I felt like I couldn’t talk to him sometimes. Then he decided to cheat on me with some other young thing, so we went from separated to divorced real quick.”
“I’m so sorry.” He frowns slightly.
“Don’t be, it was a while ago. I think things worked out for the best. We’re all doing better now.”
“I think it’s admirable that you’ve turned your life around the way you have.”
“Thanks.” She smiles and he finishes off his drink. Once they pay their tab they head out. “I think it’s too cold to do what we did last time.”
“And I couldn’t persuade you to come back to my place for a bit?”
She looks down at her watch and sees it’s already 8:30. She sighs, biting her bottom lip.
“I…I want to, and if I didn’t have two kids at home waiting for me I would. Maybe…maybe you should find someone else to be your little fuck buddy. I’m not easy to be with.”
“Maybe that’s what I like about you.” He says, leaning forward so his lips brush yours, kissing you quickly before backing away. “Have a good night, Y/N.”
She groans once she’s in the car. When she gets home both Riley and Ben are in their rooms unwinding. She says hello and goes to her own room to get ready for bed. Y/N wonders what she would have done with Harry at his place. How he would have touched her and kissed her all over. She sighs and gets into bed, aggravated as fuck.
//
It was Thanksgiving weekend when Y/N took her next shot with Harry. The kids spent Thanksgiving day with her, and they had the rest of the weekend to be with Joseph. When Saturday night rolled around she was bored and lonely, so she called him.
“Hi, Harry.”
“Hi, Y/N. Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?”
“I did…although, I have way too many leftovers.”
“You don’t say?”
“Yeah! Um, you wouldn’t happen to be hungry, would you?”
“Starved.”
“Great, well, if you’d like to come over you can.”
“I can be there within the house. Just text me your address.”
He had assumed Riley and Ben weren’t home. He needed to take a quick shower before coming to see her, and she needed to do the same. She wanted to be as fresh as possible for him. When she heard the doorbell, she raced down the stairs to open it.
“So, I can heat up whatever-mph!” He had gripped her cheeks and pulled her into him, kissing her passionately.
“I didn’t actually come here to eat.” He breathes. “Well, I did…but not food.” He smirks and lifts her up. She wraps her legs around his waist and kisses on his neck as he carries her upstairs. “Where’s your bedroom?”
“Last door on the right.” She mumbles into his hot skin.
He gets her in the bedroom, and sets her down. He starts taking his clothes off, and she does the same. He knees onto the bed to hover over her, and he kisses her, sucking on her bottom lip.
“Glad you finally called me for this.” He says as he licks around her nipple.
“You could have called me.”
“Didn’t want to look any more desperate.”
He nips at her stomach as he works his way down, giving her little to no warning before he licks into her. She gasps, gripping onto his hair. She bites her bottom lip as she feels his warm tongue lapping away at her. He sucks on her clit and slips two fingers inside her.
“When was the last time someone made you feel this good, hm? When was the last time someone made you this wet?”
“Wh-whenever the first time we hooked up was.” She whimpers.
“And before that?” He kitten licks at her clit now.
“God, I have no idea!” She moans out as his fingers pet inside her against her g-spot. He struggles to get a third finger in, so he doesn’t bother.
“Tighter than a fucking finger trap you know that?”
“I told you, I don’t make time to-oh!”
He started sucking on her clit again, and pumping his fingers quickly. She was squirming underneath him, panting and moaning loudly. She cries out as she comes, and he pumps his fingers slowly as her hips move along with his motions.
“Condoms?” He asks when he pops up.
“You don’t me to, um…?”
“Another time, I don’t think I’d last very long if you sucked on me.” He had been rutting himself against the mattress. She nods and reaches into her bedside drawer for a condom she toss it to him and watches as he rolls it on. “Roll over.”
She does as he says, and gets on her elbows and knees for him. He grips her hips, and lines himself up with her, pushing inside. It’s a tight squeeze, but he gets in no problem. They both moan out from the feeling. He reaches around to rub her clit, and she collapses onto the bed.
“God, just do what you want with me, Harry.” She grunts, and he moans from behind her.
“You’re so fucking sexy, you have no idea. Come for me, Y/N, come on.”
She cries out into her pillow, and he spills into the condom. Somehow after they both got cleaned up they ended up back in bed together. Harry through his arm around Y/N and pulled her to his chest.
“What are you doing?” She giggles.
“Cuddling you.”
“Why?”
“Because I feel like it.”
She laughs, but doesn’t fight him on it. Then…they fell asleep. It was a total accident, Harry never intended to spend the night. He just wanted to cuddle for a bit before heading out. He was more tired than he thought, and so was she. She nudges him awake.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He says, knuckling at his eyes.
“It’s okay. Would you like to take a shower with me?”
“I would.” He smiles and gets up with her.
It was the dirtiest shower she had ever taken. He had gotten on his knees to eat her out, and then he lifted her up, fucking her into the bathroom tile wall. She left many scratch marks on his back, and then he came on her stomach. They got cleaned up for real after that, and headed downstairs for some coffee. Just as she was about to offer him some breakfast, she heard the front door open.
“Oh my god!” She whisper screams. “They’re not supposed to be back until later!”
“Be cool, Y/N.” Harry says.
“But-“
“Mum, we’re…Mr. Styles?” Riley says as she comes in with Ben. “What…what’s going on?”
“I should ask you the same. Why’s your father bring you back so soon?”
“We asked if he could.” Ben says. “Can only handle so much of his girlfriend.”
“So…Mr. Styles, um, no offense, but what are you doing here?”
“Well, your mum just so happens to be one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She had all these leftovers and asked me if I’d like any, and I said yes. I may be a Brit, but I love Thanksgiving dishes. So I came right over. Just got here a couple minutes before you did.”
“Yeah, I was just about to pull the food out. Why don’t you two go put your things away?”
Riley furrows her brows, but shrugs it off, and goes with Ben upstairs.
“You’re quick on your feet.”
“Wasn’t a total lie.” Harry says, finishing his coffee. “I better get going.” She walks him to the front door, and he gives her a sneaky kiss along with a bum squeeze. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Definitely.” She smiles. “Bye.” She opens the door for him and out he goes. She sighs happily, and goes into the kitchen to make a little breakfast.
//
Riley was a little suspicious after that morning. She spent most mornings in homeroom analyzing Harry’s features. He was his usual chipper self, but there was certainly an extra pep in his step. Then in biology it was the same thing.
“Riley?” Austin was standing in front of her desk, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“Oh, hey.” She smiles. “What’s up?”
“Are you free this Friday?”
“I…I think so.”
“Would you wanna go to the movies?” He runs a hand through his hair and she swallows.
“This is gonna sound really lame, but I need to ask my mom first.”
He chuckles slightly at that.
“No worries, let me know if she says yes.”
“I will.” Austin goes to his seat, and Riley looks at Chris who was giving her a thumbs up.
“Alright, if we could all settle down?” Harry says. “Today we’re going over fungi cells so I need all of your attention on me.”
Harry liked attention in general, probably one of the reasons he wanted to be a teacher in the first place. He just happened to also enjoy biology and he was good at explaining it to the youths. During class Riley felt her phone buzz, and saw she had a text from Ben.
Ben: reminder that I have a doctor’s appointment, so you have to wait after school for Mum to come get you
Riley: okay thanks, I’ll just go to the library to wait for her
“Riley!” She snaps her eyes up at the harsh tone from her teacher. “Is that your phone?”
“Y-yes…I’m sorry, Mr. Styles, my brother-“
“I don’t care.” He shakes his head. “You know the policy.” He gestures for her to give it to him.
“But he was just-“
“Is it an emergency?”
“No.”
“Alright then, give it here.” Everyone was looking at her, and it made her face flush. She gets up and walks towards him to hand over her phone. He takes it puts it in his desk drawer. “You can have it back after class.”
She nods, and goes back to her seat. After class she walks out, completely forgetting she had her phone taken away. She gets settled in the library, and gets some homework done. She was there for over an hour until Y/N showed up in a huff.
“Riley Davidson, I’ve been calling you for fifteen minutes!”
“Mum, be quiet!”
“If your brother hadn’t told me you were in the library I never would have found you. Where the hell is your phone?”
“It’s…oh shit.” She says as she packs up.
“What?”
“I forgot that Mr. Styles took it from me.”
“He what?!”
“Ben texted me while I was in class, and I texted back. He caught me, and took it away from me. It’s the policy.”
“I don’t give a fuck, that’s your property. Come on, hopefully he’s still here.”
He was. When they walk in, he was writing something on the whiteboard, furrowing his eyebrows. Looked like it was a chemistry equation. Y/N clears her throat to get his attention.
“Oh, hello ladies.”
“Where do you get off taking my daughter’s phone?”
“Oh! I completely forgot about that. You left right after class, Riley.” Harry goes into his desk and grabs the phone. “Here you are.”
“Thanks.” She says as she swipes through to check any notifications she may have missed.
“It’s the policy, Y/N.”
“What if I got in a car accident and someone needed to reach her? Then what?”
“Did that happen?” He crosses his arms.
“No, but it could have.”
“But it didn’t. There’s no texting in class, no phone use of any kind, actually.”
“Mum, it’s fine, we can-“
“Excuse me, but that’s her property. If I need to get in touch with her, or if her brother does, then she should be able to send a quick text. It’s not like she was scrolling through Instagram.”
“But she could have been.”
“But she wasn’t!”
“Maybe you should hover over a little less, hm? Kids rely on their phones so much because their parents are constantly trying to see what they’re up to.”
Y/N takes her keys out from her purse, and hands them to Riley.
“I’m parked out front, go start the car for me. I’ll be just be another minute.” Riley nods and leaves quickly, knowing how bad it can be to be scolded by her mother. She certainly didn’t want to watch her favorite teacher get bitched out. “You don’t have kids, so I wouldn’t expect you to understand-“
“I have dozens of kids, actually. Ones that come to see me to talk to me about their problems, I’m also always studying trends of the today’s students, so don’t stand there and-“
“Do not interrupt me when I’m speaking.” She says firmly, and he closes his mouth. “You may speak when I’m finished, Mr. Styles. I’m a single mom doing my best for my kids. I will not be lectured in front of my daughter about being a helicopter parents because I’m not. However, I’m doing the job of two while my ex gets to be a weekend dad, who my kids don’t even want to see. It’s my fault Ben texted her at the time he did, alright? I asked him to remind her that I wouldn’t be picking her up until later because I had to take him to a doctor’s appointment.”
“May I?” She gestures that he can speak. “She didn’t need to text him back right then. It’s the school policy to take a phone away if we see it out, I was just doing my job.”
“Well, you should have remembered you took it so you could have given it back to her! I was sitting in the car for nearly twenty minutes waiting for her, I was starting to get worried.” Y/N pouts, and even though this was a very serious matter, Harry couldn’t help notice the blood starting to flow right to his prick.
“I’m very sorry about that.” He puts his hand on her shoulder, and she glances at it before looking at him. “I take ownership for that mistake. I feel terrible that I even caused an ounce of worry. If there’s anything I can do to make it better, please let me know.” His tone was condescending and seductive all at the same time.
She places her hand on his and removes it from her shoulder.
“Have a nice evening.” She says.
“Same to you.” He smirks.
Y/N makes her way to her car, and sighs heavily once she’s in there with Riley.
“Please don’t tell me you just yelled at him. He’s my favorite teacher, Mum.”
“No, we had a very adult conversation, and he apologized for not giving you back your phone when he should have after class.”
“I guess I could’ve waited to text Ben back. I’m sorry I caused all this.”
“It’s not your fault, honey, it’s fine.” She smiles at her daughter and they make their way home.
“I…I was asked to the movies this Friday, can I go?”
“With who?”
“Austin.”
“I’d like him to come to the house first so I can meet him properly. You’ve been hanging out in groups with him. Would this be one on one?”
“I think so. I can ask him if he minds coming inside first before we go.”
“That would be great.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Are you…are you and Mr. Styles, like, seeing each other?”
“What would ever give you that idea?!”
“I just think it’s weird that he was at our house.”
“We’ve become friends, you know I hang out with him and Mr. Horan sometimes.”
“Yeah, but Mr. Horan wasn’t there. It was just you and Mr. Styles, and you both had wet hair.”
“I had showered before he swung by, he must have done the same.” Y/N shrugs. “We’re just friends, honey, nothing more.”
“Okay.”
Y/N could tell Riley didn’t quite believe her, but she knew her daughter wouldn’t press her on it more for now. Not if she wanted to go to the movies with Austin.
//
“It’s nice to meet you, uh-“
“You can just call me Miss Y/L/N, it’s nice to meet you too, Austin.” Y/N smiles. They were all standing in the front hall. “So…it’s just you two going to the movies?”
“That’s the plan.” He says with an innocent smile.
“Have her home by 10:30, please.”
“Can do.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
“Have fun.” She sighs and turns around to Ben. “What about you? No plans?”
“Not tonight. I was just gonna play video games.”
“Well, if you’d like to have a friend over-“ Her cell phone goes off and she furrows her brows. “One second, sweetie.” She goes into the kitchen for some more privacy. “Harry?”
“Hey, what are you up to tonight?”
“Hanging out with my son…why?”
“Oh, they’re not with their dad this weekend?”
“No, they were with him last weekend.” She sighs.
“Damn.”
“Why?”
“Well, Niall and a few other people were gonna go to this place where you can throw axes, and we thought you’d like to come.”
“That sounds like…fun? Um, but I can’t just leave Ben here alone. I’d feel terrible since Riley’s out.”
“Hey, Mum?”
“Honey, I’m on the phone.”
“I know, sorry, Kyle just texted me and asked me if I wanted to sleep over. I know it’s last minute, but-“
“You can go! You can definitely go, I’ll even drop you off.”
“You’re the best! I’m gonna go pack up my stuff.” Ben races out of the kitchen.
“Guess that just solved itself.” Harry says.
“Guess so.”
“Let me come pick you up. Text me when you get back from dropping him off, yeah?”
“Alright.”
Y/N gets herself ready, and then drives Ben to Kyle’s house for his sleepover.
“Why do you look so nice?” He asks on the way there.
“Well, I made plans with my own friends since you and Riley are out. Is that okay?” She chuckles.
“S’fine.” He shrugs. “Feel like you’ve been going out a lot lately. Are you, like, dating?”
“No, baby, I’m not dating. But I am making good friends, which has been nice. I didn’t have many friends back in our old town. Too many judgey moms.” She pulls up to Kyle’s house. “Have a great time, call me if you need me.”
“I will, thanks!”
She watches Ben go inside, and then she makes her way back home to wait for Harry. She liked his car a lot, and it would be nice to actually go for a drive in it, instead of just riding him in it. Y/N was shocked when she heard the doorbell.
“You didn’t have to come to the door.” She says as she steps outside.
“Sure I did. I may be just trying to fuck, but I’m a gentleman at the end of the day.” He smirks as he opens the car door for her. She rolls her eyes at him, and climbs in.
“This really is a nice car.” She says as she looks around.
“Saved up a long time for it.” He places his hand on her thigh as he backs out of the driveway, and he keeps it there.
“So, an axe throwing place?”
“It’s all the rage right now. You can drink and throw axes, it’s pretty cool. I’ve been once before it’s a hoot.” He chuckles and squeezes her thigh slightly. “I’m glad you were able to get out for a bit.”
“Me too.”
She lets him keep his hand on her leg for the entire ride as they chat over the music. He parks the car, and gets out, jogging around to the other side to open the door for her. She smiles at him, and they both head inside. He even gets them their drinks from the bar. It was starting to feel like a date, especially when she only saw Niall with one other person, some woman she had yet to meet.
“Y/N, this is my girlfriend Anna.” Niall says.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Y/N says to her. Harry comes over and hands her a drink. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. We all set?” He asks Niall.
“Yeah, we all just need to sign the release forms.”
They all sign and are brought over to the axe throwing area. They’re told how to do it, and they get going. Harry and Niall go first, and of course their axes stick. Y/N takes a deep breath, and throws her, but it doesn’t stick.
“That’s alright, give it another go.” Harry encourages her.
“I…I don’t think I threw it quite right.” She says to him.
“Would you like some help?” She nods yes at him and he steps closer to her, putting his hand on her back. “You need to release from this point, okay? Give it all you got.” He steps back and lets her throw it. It sticks and she squeals, turning to hug him. “I knew you could do it!”
Anna hits her target as well. The four of them were having a great time. Once their time is up, they all grab table for food. Y/N checks her phone, it was just about nine. No texts from the kids. She hoped Riley was having a nice time on her date, and that Austin was being respectful during their movie.
“Miss?” The waitress says to her.
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry. Um…” She looks at the menu and then to Harry. Everyone else had clearly ordered.
“She’ll have the same as me, thanks, love.” Harry hands the waitress the menus and then looks at Y/N. “You like turkey burgers, right?”
“Yeah, sorry about that. My daughter’s on her first date, and I was just checking my phone to see if she had text me or anything.”
“You have a daughter that’s old enough to date?!” Anna says, shocked. “What’s your secret, girl? You look fantastic!” She laughs, and so does everyone else.
“I was a young mum, nothing more than that.” Y/N chuckles. “She’s only fourteen, a freshman out with a sophomore boy from her biology class. It’s cute, really, he’s on the football team and she’s been to a few of his games. They’ve been hanging out in groups, but tonight is the first one on one.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Listen to me, it sounds like I’m recapping an episode of The Bachelor.”
“Do you have any other kids, or just the one?” Anna asks.
“I have a son, Ben, he’s thirteen. Niall’s his teacher actually.”
“Yup, great kid. Harry has Y/N’s daughter in class too.” Niall tells her.
“Is that how you two met?” Anna asks, and you smirk.
“No, actually, the three of us met because I parked too close to Harry’s precious car in the staff lot. I work in our development office.” She sips her drink smirking at Harry who had slumped in the booth. “He yelled at me, it was quite the meet cute.”
“Yikes, I’ve never seen Harry yell before.” Anna says. “You’re usually so calm.”
“I’ve had that car for two years, not a scratch on it, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Harry says. “It’s all water under the bridge now.” He puts his arm around Y/N, smiling down at her.
There’s more talking during the meal. Y/N really liked the turkey burger Harry had ordered for her. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. It was about ten, and Y/N wanted to get home before Riley like a responsible adult. She tells Harry this, and he nods.
“It was really nice meeting you, Anna.” Y/N tells her again.
“Same to you, have a nice night.” They all part ways in the parking lot. “Oh, I like her so much better than Francie already.” She tells Niall.
“Me too.” Niall sighs. “But you know they’re not really dating.”
“I know, I know, but this was a very nice glimpse for them to see what a date could be like. They were so cute with each other.”
“I agree, I just think Harry’s still on the rebound. I also don’t think he’s mature enough to be dating a woman with two teenagers. Little kids maybe, but teenagers? That’s a lot to take on. Besides, what if he wants kids? Y/N’s in her early thirties, she probably wouldn’t want more.”
“Isn’t that what Harry and Francie broke up over? She wanted kids and he didn’t.” Anna shrugs. “Let them figure it out.”
Y/N and Harry were parked in her driveway making out. The damn console was in the way, but he was still able to get his tongue into her mouth. Her hands were in his hair, tugging him closer to her even though she knew she needed to get out of the car.
“Harry.” She breathes as he starts kissing on her neck. “I…I need to go inside. I can’t be out here like this when Riley gets home.” She gasps when she feels his teeth nip at her skin, and then he pulls away, almost glaring at her.
“Man, nothing to kill a hard on more than a mention of a student’s name.” He huffs.
“I told you…this might be easier for you if you wanted to fuck someone without kids.”
“Well, I’m kinda hooked on you now, so I can’t do that.” His thumb brushes her bottom lip as he cups her cheek. He leans in to kiss her again. “Do you think we could get together tomorrow since it seems like we can’t fool around tonight?”
“Sure, I have some errands I need to run anyways, so I can add you to the list.” She winks. “I’ll text you.”
“Alright, sounds good.” He chuckles. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”
“So did I, goodnight.” She smiles and hops out of the car. She quickly gets herself inside.
Harry backs out of the driveway just as Austin pulls up with Riley.
“Whoa, who do you know with a range rover?” Austin asks.
“That’s…Mr. Styles’ car.” She swallows as she watches him drive away. “He’s friends with my mom. She texted me saying she was seeing some friends tonight, I guess he drove her.”
“Cool.” Austin says. “I’ll walk you to your door.” He does so, and they linger there for a moment. They hug each other, and he gives her a kiss on the cheek. “Can we do this again sometime?”
“I’d like that.” She smiles.
“Great, well, have a good night.”
“You too. Thanks again.” Her heart soars as she goes inside. She finds Y/N sitting on the couch watching TV.
“How was the movie?”
“Really funny.” Riley plops down next to her. “Where’s Ben?”
“Sleeping at Kyle’s.”
“Oh, nice. So…where did you go tonight?”
“To this axe throwing place. It was fun, look.” She takes her phone and shows Riley a video of her throwing an axe and it sticking to the wooden target.
“Cool! You went there with Mr. Styles?”
“Mhm, and Mr. Horan and his girlfriend Anna.”
“Oh my god, Mum.” Riley gasps. “You went on a double date!”
“I did not.” Y/N scoffs.
“Did Mr. Styles pay for anything?”
“Well…yeah, he did, but he said it was just easier.” Riley gives her a look. “What?”
“Mum, he definitely was making a move!”
“And what do you know about moves, hm?”
“Apparently more than you. You two should go out one on one and see how it goes.”
“I’ve done that with him before.” Y/N shrugs. “We’re just friends, Riley.”
“He drove you tonight, right? I saw him pulling out of the driveway when I got home.”
“He offered to drive, yeah, and I accepted. He’s got a really nice car, thought it would be fun to go for a ride in it.” Y/N blushes slightly, annoyed at her own innuendo. “I’m not dating your teacher, don’t worry.”
“I wouldn’t hate it.” Riley shrugs. “You deserve to have someone, Mum. Dad’s out there with miss thing living what he perceives as his best life, you should do the same.”
“I don’t want to be in a relationship right now.” Y/N sighs. “I don’t have time for it. If Ben hadn’t gone to Kyle’s I wouldn’t have been able to go out tonight.”
“He can stay at home by himself.”
“But I would have felt bad about it. I like being home when you guys are home.”
“We’re not babies, that’s all I’m saying.” She twiddles her thumbs. “Plus, he’s super cute, so-“
“Riley!” Y/N chuckles and throws a pillow at her. “Don’t talk about your teacher like that.”
“He is! I don’t have a crush on him, but anyone with eyes can see how cute he is, Mum.”
“I’ll agree with that, he’s very cute.” She yawns. “Well, now that you’re home I’m gonna go up to bed. Was Austin respectful and all that tonight?”
“Very.” Riley smiles. “He asked me if I wanted to do it again sometime. I’m excited about him.”
“It’s a nice feeling, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Y/N hoped the feeling would never fade for her daughter because she knew all too well how it felt when it does.
//
The next day, after Ben got dropped off, Y/N told the kids she was going out to run some errands, and asked them to get some chores done while she was gone. She genuinely needed to get some things while she was out, so she did that before going over to Harry’s. It felt odd to be going over to his place in the middle of the day for a dick appointment, as the kids would say, but this was happening. She pulls up to a nice duplex, and she recognizes Niall’s car in the other driveway. She texts Harry that she’s down front, and she sees the front door open on one side. She gets out of her car and greets him.
“Find it alright?” He says to her as he lets her in.
“Mhm, this is a cool place.”
“Thanks, Niall and I bought it together, like, five or so years ago. We fixed up one side and then the other.”
“So he gets one side and you the other?”
“Yup, worked out well. I’ve redecorated recently, for, um, obvious reasons.”
“Right, trust me I know how hard it can be living in the same place where good and bad memories were made.”
“Is that why you came out here?”
“One of the reasons she sighs as she kicks her shoes off. “I needed a fresh start.”
He hums his response as he cups her jaw in his large hands, bringing his lips to hers.
“How long do you have?” He says against her lips.
“An hour at most. I have to go to the grocery store after this.”
“Oh.” He smirks. “You won’t be going to the store after this.”
“Wh-why not?” She swallows.
“Because you’re not gonna be able to walk when I’m done with you.” He bends down and lifts her up over his shoulder and she squeals.
“Harry!” She giggles as he brings upstairs to his room. Fuck, he was strong. “What will I tell my kids when I’m walking funny?”
“Tell them good old Mr. Styles cracked your spine in half, I’m sure that’ll go over well.” He drops her on his bed, and gets his shirt off. She looks up wide eyed at him. “Oh, love, I’m not actually gonna do that.”
“I know, I’ve just never seen your tattoos in the daylight like this. I mean when we showered I sort of did, but…they’re so pretty.”
His features soften and he picks her up again, getting himself on the bed and laying her down. He sucks on her bottom lip as she wraps her arms and legs around him. His hands work to undo her jeans, and he tugs them down past her bum. She kicks them off the rest of the way, and he pets her over her underwear. She moans into his mouth, and his dips his fingers inside, sliding along her slit. She could feel him growing hard against her hip.
“Y/N?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you blow me for a bit?”
“Of course! Lay down.”
He gives her a relieved smile and lays back on the bed. She gets between his legs and does his pants. She gets them off and tugs his boxers down. She kisses his tip first, then gives his shaft kisses before licking him up and down. She looks up at him and sees he’s already watching her. She smirks and wraps her lips around his tip, sinking down on him as much as she could.
“Yeah, just like that.” He groans. “Fuck, you feel so good.”
She moans against him and bobs her head up and down. This wasn’t her favorite thing to do in the world, but she didn’t mind do it for it for Harry since he was so attentive with her. She gets him to the brink of coming, and then he pulls her off of him. He gets her naked, and opens her legs up, diving right in. The flat of his tongue sliding up her center to her clit. He sucks both of her lips, one at a time before focusing on her clit again. Two of his fingers slip inside her, and her eyes roll back. He has her crying out moments later, and before she knows it he’s getting a condom on.
“Can I go on top?” She asks.
“Sure.” He shrugs and lays down, his cock stiff and ready for her.
She swings her leg over him, and rubs his tip over her clit before sinking down on his. His hands grip her hips as she moves around in a circle to get comfortable. She moves herself on and off his cock, enjoying the stretch he’s giving her. When she gets a little tired she comes down to him chest to chest, and kisses him. His hands slide to her ass, and he moves her on him. He thrusts in and out of her, and she moans into his neck.
“Like the way I feel like this?” He grunts.
“Yes, fuck.” She mumbles. Her clit was rubbing against him perfectly, and she was trying to concentrate on that. “Don’t stop what you’re doing.” She tugs at his hair and he nearly growls.
He thrusts into her faster and faster, it has her panting and moaning. His tip was hitting her g-spot, so the whole thing was really overwhelming. She moans out his name loudly as she comes, and he fucks her through it. He lifts her off of him, and sets her down on her stomach. He gets behind her and pushes back inside. She gasps, but it feels good. He fucks her from behind until he comes, and collapses on top of her. He holds her for a moment before pulling out and getting rid of the condom. She uses the bathroom, and gets dressed. He throws on a pair of boxers and a sweatshirt.
“Thanks for adding me to your list of errands.” He says to her as they stand in his front hall. She giggles into his chest as he hugs her and kisses the top of her head.
“My legs are working just fine, by the way. But I’m too tired to go grocery shopping now.”
“Well, you only gave me a bloody hour, love, and you made me come really fast.” He pouts. “Can’t seem to last that long with you.”
“Maybe you should jerk off before I come over next time so you can handle it.” She grins and he rolls his eyes.
“You came twice didn’t you?” She nods yes. “Alright then, quit your complaining. Go on, get outta my house.” He pats her bum and kisses her one more time. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
“You too.” Y/N drove home with a smile on her face the whole way.
//
Things were like this most weekends, especially when the kids were at Joseph’s. Harry would come over on Friday night instead of Saturday in case he fell asleep. Plus if he stayed the night that meant they could have sex most of the day Saturday, which was really nice. Y/N was having a lot of fun with Harry. Sometimes they’d meet up with Anna and Niall to go bowling, or catch a movie. In a way it felt like dating, but there was absolutely zero pressure. It was the exact companion ship she had hoped for.
When the holidays rolled around, she got the kids for Christmas, and Joseph got them for New Year’s, which meant Y/N could go to the party Harry was having. Apparently it was an annual thing. There were a lot of people from school there so she felt right at home. Y/N hadn’t had a New Year’s kiss in quite some time, so it wasn’t even on her mind until all of the couples migrated towards each other as it got closer to midnight.
Harry was wandering through his home trying to find her. She was in the kitchen refilling her drink. He lets out a sigh of relief. He could hear people starting the countdown.
“Christ, there you are!” He says to her, pulling her into him.
“You were looking for me?”
“Course I was, who else am I gonna kiss, hm?” They hear everyone yell ‘one’ and he plants one on her. She thought it would be a simple peck since there were people around, but no, Harry full on kissed her. “Happy New Year.” He breathes and then kisses her forehead.
“Happy New Year.” She says faintly as he walks away from her to continue being a good host. She was one of the last people there, feeling drained at nearly two in the morning. She was getting her coat, about ready to say goodbye when he looked at her funny. “What?”
“Where do you think you’re going at this hour?”
“Home.”
“Nope, sorry, m’afraid you’re staying with me tonight. Get that coat off, now.” He crosses his arms over his chest.
“Is that so?”
“it is.” He nods, and she smirks at him stepping closer to him.
“Make me.” She grins and his eyebrows raise.
“Right.”
Before she knows it she’s being picked up and carried to his room. They both giggle as he gets her in his room. He gets her jacket and boots off, and he tosses her one of his bed shirts.
“What’s this for?” She asks as she holds the shirt up.
“To sleep? Can’t fuck you right now, I’m knackered.”
“Oh.” She blushes. “Alright, well, thank you. Um…you wouldn’t happen to have a spare toothbrush and a washcloth then would you?”
“Sure, I’ll pull that out of the linen closet for you, one second.” He leaves the bedroom and comes back shortly and gives her what she asked for.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” He shrugs and starts taking his clothes. “Feel free to use the bathroom first.”
She nods and does so. She liked the way his shirt fit, how it hugged her thighs and just barely covered her bum. She washes up and shyly pads back into the bedroom. He smiles when he sees her, and watches as she crawls onto the bed.
“Well, don’t you look cute.” He pinches her thigh as she settled.
“Oh! Don’t do that.” She swats his hand away and he chuckles, getting up from the bed.
“Back in a tick.”
He shuts the lights off once he’s done in the bathroom, and gets into bed with her. She felt awkward until he yanked her onto his chest.
“You can be pretty forceful sometimes, you know that?”
“Does it bother you?”
“Not really, it’s not like I don’t feel safe.”
“You feel safe with me?” He asks softly.
“I do.” She feels him hold her a little closer.
“I just want what I want when I want it I guess.”
“So I’ve noticed. I like a man that knows what he wants, though, so it’s not like it’s a turn off.
“Aw, so you feel safe with me and you like me. A Happy New Year indeed.” She sucks her teeth at that and it makes him laugh. “What’s wrong, can’t take a bit of teasing?”
“I can, you’re just annoying.” She nudges him and he kisses the top of her head.
“You’re fun, Y/N.” He chuckles.
“Let’s get some sleep so you can fuck me in the morning, yeah?”
“I like the way you think.” He sighs and lets his eyes droop closed.
Y/N and Harry spent most of New Year’s day in his best, and neither of them would have had it any other way.
//
“Y/N?” One of her student workers comes into her office. “Mr. Horan from the math department is here to see you.”
“He is?” She raises an eyebrow. “Um, alright, he can come in.” The girl nods and lets Niall in. He closes the door behind him. “Is everything alright with Ben?”
“Yeah, this isn’t work related.”
“Oh…alright, would you like to have a seat?”
“No, it won’t take long…um…did you know Harry’s birthday is on the first of February?”
“I did not know that, no.”
“Right, well, I’m throwing him a party at this pub he really likes to go to. He’s turning thirty, you know? Wanted it to be a little more special for him.” She nods and he continues. “He’s shy about his birthday, and he’d never come right out and say it, but I know it would be mean the world to him if you came.”
“Well, of course I’ll go. It’s not like I haven’t been to a party with him before.”
“Yes, but instead of casually coming over to his New Year’s party…you’d sort of be showing up as his lady, you know?”
“What are you getting at here?”
“Come on, Y/N.” Niall scoffs. “He’s crazy about you, can’t you see that?”
“Niall…” She says in a hushed tone. “You know very well that he and I are nothing more than-“
“Fuck buddies, yeah, yeah.” He rolls his eyes. “This has been going on for months, you seriously don’t want more with the guy?”
“No.” She swallows. “I’m getting exactly what I need from him. He doesn’t want more either, what we’re doing works for both of us. Has…has he said something to you?”
“Not in so many words, but he talks about you enough. I think it’s silly to not go for it.”
“Look, if I didn’t have two kids maybe things could be different between him and I, but it’s not that simple. I don’t want more…at least not right now.”
“Alright.” He sighs. “I’ll text you the details for the party, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and keep it a secret. He thinks we’re going on a bar crawl.”
She nods and out the door he goes. She sighs heavily and shakes her head. Now there would be all this pressure for his birthday. Did she need to get him a gift? And what kind of gift should it be?
//
“Mum, you look so good.” Riley says sitting on Y/N’s bed when she comes out in a red dress.
“Thank you, honey.”
“And this is for a friend’s birthday party?”
“Yes.”
“Whose birthday?” Riley grins.
“Harry’s.” Y/N sighs.
“Did you get him anything good?”
“I…I got him, like, well, you know how he likes to wear all those rings? So I saw this ring at the store that I thought he might like.”
“You got him a ring?”
“Is it weird? It’s weird right? I just…I saw it and I thought of him, and I-“
“I bet he’ll love it, Mum.”
“Alright.” She nods. “Listen…you’ll be alright with Ben tonight? I…I could either be home really late, or I might not come back until the morning depending on how much I have to drink.”
“He’s setting up some movies and popcorn for us as we speak. We can handle it.”
“Good, okay, thank you.”
“Where would stay if you don’t come home?”
“Mr. Horan has offered me his guest room if need be.” It was a blatant lie but she couldn’t very well tell her fourteen-year-old that she was most likely going to have birthday sex with her teacher.
“Okay.” Riley shrugs and goes downstairs with Y/N. The doorbell rings. “I’ve got it.” She says as Y/N gets her coat on. “Hi, Mr. Styles.”
“Hello, Riley, is your mum ready to go?”
“Mhm, she’s just getting her coat on. Happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thank you.” He smiles and then uses all his willpower to not let his jaw drop when he sees Y/N. He couldn’t even see her dress, but he could tell she’d be a knockout tonight. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She smiles and turns to Riley and Ben. “Don’t be afraid to call if you need anything. I can be home in a flash. I’ll text you later to let you know what my, um, plans are.” She blushes and pushes Harry outside as the kids wave them off.
“She’s not subtle.” Ben says as he plops onto the couch.
“I know, I wish they’d just admit they’re in love and get on with it.” Riley says and starts the movie.
//
Harry opens the backseat of Niall’s car for her, and then he jogs around to the other side. Niall was driving, and Anna was in the passenger seat. Everyone greets one another and off they go. Harry keeps his hand on Y/N’s knee the whole way, and she puts her hand over his. They smile at each other, but nothing is said. Needless to say he was surprised by there being a party at the pub for him, but he was delighted.
Niall had done really well. Lots of drinks and appetizers going around, good music, and people mingling. There was even a cheesy slideshow of every single one of Harry’s school pictures throughout the years, and Y/N had to fight tears from laughing so hard at some of them. Harry couldn’t have asked for a better birthday, especially with Y/N around. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her all night, and eventually his arm didn’t leave from its place around her waist. No one really paid it any attention. Most people knew there was something going on between the two of them, but it was none of their concern. The single men in the room at the least knew not to hit on her. No one really wanted to get on Harry’s shit list.
There was a table for gifts, but Y/N kept hers in her purse, not wanting it to get lost. She also wanted to give it to him in private in case things got awkward. She had overthought the ring over and over. It was this nice topaz band that she thought he’d like. He said he was always looking for a pop of color in his wardrobe.
“Hey.” He says to her, pulling her into him. “Are you gonna come home with me?”
“Yeah.” She smiles. “Are you having a good time?”
“A great time. Couldn’t have asked to turn thirty with better people.” He tucks some hair behind her ear and she shivers. “Can’t to get you back to my place, though.” He leans in to speak in her ear. “M’gonna mess up all this pretty makeup you’re wearing.” He kisses her cheek and lets her go. She was suddenly counting down the moments until it was time to leave.
When it came time, she helped grab all of the gifts off the table and bring them to Niall’s car. She had texted Riley that she wouldn’t be coming home which she felt slightly guilty about. She didn’t like giving up her weekends with the kids like this. Niall and Anna help get everything inside, and then leave Harry and Y/N alone, drinking water in the kitchen. He comes over to her, putting his hands on her hips, and pulling her forward.
“Have I told you how fucking sexy you look tonight? I’ve had to hold my hand under my jaw all night just to keep it from dropping.”
“Idiot.” She chuckles. “Oh! Wait, I got you something.” She snatches her purse from the counter.
“So it’s not lingerie? Sort of thought you were my gift.” He smirks and she rolls her eyes.
“That wouldn’t be very original, and I don’t find lingerie to be particularly comfortable, sorry, Sport.” She fishes the ring box out of her purse. “Here we are. If it’s weird feel free to just kick me out…I saw it thought you’d like it, nothing more to it than that.”
He takes the box from her, furrowing his brows. His eyes widen as he opens it up. He looks between her and the topaz band several times.
“Are you serious?” He says.
“Y-yeah…do you like it?”
“Are you kidding? I love it! I just can’t decide what finger to put it on.”
“I guessed on the size. You have such fat fingers, so I went with a larger one.”
“Think that’s the first time I’ve heard you complain about my fingers. Better be the last.” He slips the ring onto his middle finger and holds it out. “It’s perfect, thank you so much. You really didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I wanted to. Like I said, I saw it and thought you’d like it.”
He hugs her and she hugs him back. He kisses her cheek and works his way to her lips. He sucks on her bottom lip, and she tugs at his shirt. His hands slide down to her ass and he squeezes.
“Fuck, I want you so bad.” He says against her lips, and lifts her up onto the counter.
“Mm-mm, just bring me upstairs, I don’t wanna have sex on the counter again.”
“But it’s my birthday.” He pouts.
“Yeah, and last time we did this my back hurt for, like, three days, so bring me upstairs.”
He sucks his teeth and lifts her back up, carrying her bridal style out to the staircase, and up to his room. He sets her down on the bed and takes her heels off, sliding his hands up her calves and thighs. He pulls her to her feet so he can lift the dress up over her head. He tugs her nylons off along with her underwear, and unclips her bra, leaving her naked in front of him. He licks his lips and kisses her. Running his hands all over her body. She works to get his shirt undone, and pushes it off his shoulders. She undoes his pants and lets them drop to the floor, he steps out of them, and they both fall back on the bed. He grinds his hard dick, still clothes by his boxers, right into her core, and she groans. He continues to grind against her, and she moves her hips along with his to get some extra friction.
“I want you to suck me off while I fuck you with my tongue.”
She nods and they switch positions so he can lay on his back. She gets situated over his face, and she lowers herself on his body. His tongue moves back and forth along her slit before entering her. She gasps just as she’s getting her lips wrapped around him. His hands grip her hips so he can lick into her in just the right way. She moans around his cock as she tries to bob up and down on him. He removes his tongue from her so he can finger her, and he licks up to her other hole, something they’ve done before. She chokes on his dick and pulls off, choosing to pump him instead.
“Shit, Harry, oh my god!”
He moans against her as she comes around his fingers. He pulls his fingers away and laps her up. He rolls her onto her stomach, and he grabs a condom quickly. He rolls it on and spreads her legs wide open. She lifts her hips up as he pushes inside her, and he grabs a pillow to put under her back. He rocks in and out of her as his hands knead her breasts. She wraps her arms around his neck to pull him down to her, and she licks into his mouth. He moans into her as their chests touch and sweat starts to form between their bellies.
“Y/N.” He moans into her ear, and it raises goosebumps all over skin. She wraps her legs around his waist to pull him even closer. He kisses on her neck and she runs her fingers through his hair. “I want you to come at the same time as me, think you can do that?”
“Y-yeah.”
He snakes a hand between them so he can rub her clit and her mouth falls open. They make eye contact the entire time, and they cry out as they come together. He collapses on top of her, and she holds him close, kissing his cheek multiple times. He keeps his head buried in her chest for a few moments. He looks up at her, about to say something, but her phone goes off.
“Shit, it could be the kids…”
“One second.” He pulls out of her with a grunt, and lets her up. She gets up and waddles over to his dresser and grabs her phone.
“Ben?”
“Hi, Mum, I’m sorry it’s so late, but Riley doesn’t feel well. I think it’s her period, but she’s on the floor, like, clutching at her stomach and I don’t know what to do for her…”
“Shit, okay, um, get her a glass of milk and two ibuprofen from the cabinet. I’ll be home soon, I’ll set up a warm compress for her. She gets really bad cramps like me sometimes.”
“Okay, thanks, sorry again.”
“No problem, I’ll see you soon.” She turns to Harry. “I…I’m sorry, I can get an uber or-“
“I’ll drive you, don’t be silly.” He says, already throwing some sweats on. “Do you want something to change into so you don’t have to put all that back on?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
He gets her a sweatshirt and some sweatpants. Once she’s cleaned herself up they’re out the door and into his car. This time around he holds her hand the whole way, their fingers intertwined and everything. When he turns the car off when he pulls in, she gives him a funny look.
“Don’t look at me like that, I’m coming in, obviously.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I know, now come on.”
They get inside, and poor rile is still laying on the floor sucking milk out of a straw. Ben was sitting on the ground neck to her rubbing her back.
“Mum?”
“Hi, sweetie.” Y/N gets on her knees next to her.
“Feels like someone’s squeezing my insides with a spiked glove.”
“I know, baby, the medicine will work soon, I promise.” She sighs. “Ben, in the bathroom cabinet is where the warm compresses are, could you get one for me please?”
“Yeah.” He stands up and looks at Harry, but doesn’t say anything. Riley sees Harry’s sneakers and turns to look at him.
“Hey, Mr. Styles…”
“Hey.” He smiles. “Not feeling great, huh?”
“Cramps.” She says bluntly.
“Ugh, that’s the worst.” He sits down next to her. “My older sister used to get them really bad, I felt terrible.”
Ben comes back with the warm compress, and Y/N snaps it to get it to warm up, and she presses it to Riley’s lower back. She sighs from the feeling.
“See? Better already.” Y/N says.
“I don’t know what happened. I was fine all night, and then I got up to get some more soda, and I basically fell to the ground.”
“The bad ones can creep up on you unfortunately. I need to get you up to your room.”
“I could carry her…if…if that’s alright with everyone.” Harry says.
“That would be okay.” Riley says. “No one else could do it anyways.”
He helps her up, double and triple checking it’s okay that he’s touching her, and he carries her up. Y.N has Ben clean up the living room before he goes to bed. Y/N goes into Riley’s room after Harry’s places her on her bed.
“All set?” Y/N says to her, brushing some hair away from her face.
“Yeah, thank you.” She yawns. “Goodnight.”
“Night, honey.”
Y/N tugs Harry into her room, and closes the door.
“I’m so sorry, thank you for coming in…I don’t know how I would’ve helped her upstairs, I would have had to make a bed for her on the couch.” Y/N starts tearing up. “There are so many things I can do for them on my own until I’m reminded that there are things that I just can’t.”
“Hey.” He puts his hands on her shoulders. “You’re a great mum and you’re doing what you can. I couldn’t imagine being so young and raising two teenagers. You make it look easy, honestly. You’re amazing, Y/N.”
“You really think so?”
“I do.” He nods.
“Would you…I mean…it’s late, um, would you want to just stay here?”
“It wouldn’t be weird for you?”
“No.” He smiles and starts taking his clothes off. They get into bed together and cuddle all night. He somehow was always exactly what she needed, and it scared her a little. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Put me at ease the way you do?”
“I don’t know.” He smiles down at her. “Didn’t realize I did that for you.”
“Well, you do. And I don’t know how I feel about it.”
“Christ, Y/N, just admit you like me as more than just a guy who fucks you good so we can date already.”
“What?” She sits up and so does he. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be. You don’t wanna date? I mean we practically already are when you think about it. I’m not seeing anyone else, are you?”
“With your clingy ass? Who would have the time?!” She laughs.
“Oi, I resent that.”
“You ask me to hang out literally every weekend.”
“Yeah, cause I need to get to you before someone else does.”
“Harry…you realize if you get into a relationship with me you’re getting into a relationship with my kids, right?”
“I do.” He nods. “I know it’ll be a lot, but if it means I get to be with you…I think I could be all in with them. I can’t speak for Ben, but I know Riley likes me. I feel like we could make this work.”
“I don’t want more kids…I’m almost thirty-four, I would hate for you to end up wanting kids of your own. That’s not something I can give you, Harry.”
“You know what I’d really like?”
“What?”
“A dog. I’m great with pets, absolutely great. I miss having a pup around. If we get to a point where we feel like that’s the right move, that would definitely be enough for me.”
“I’ve always wanted a dog.” She bites her bottom lip. “Wow, okay, so…we’re doing this?”
“We fucking better be, I think Niall will explode if we don’t.”
They both giggle, and kiss each other. They settle back down to get some sleep, ready for whatever the morning brings.
a/n: if you liked what you’ve read, and are able/want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee. 
2K notes · View notes
nyctophilin · 4 years
Text
Fake affection | I
sweet anon: Can I request a dom! Han Jisung smut? Where he and the reader are fake dating because Jisung want's to make someone jealous but ends up fucking the reader instead? I love your writings so much!!
Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV, Epilogue
Description: Han Jisung has been rejected by the girl he likes one to many times. He decides that he has had enough and is set on making her want him back. What could possibly make her want him more than seeing him with her rival after she boldly assumed he can’t find anyone better. That way Jisung and Y/N are stuck in a fake relationship until Jisung’s crush falls for him. Or he falls for someone else.
All rights reserved © nyctophilin 2020. Re-posting, copying and translating any of my works is prohibited.
Pairing: Han x fem!Reader, Hyunjin x fem!Reader
Word count: 4.5k
Genre: College!AU, Fake dating!AU, Angst, Fluff, eventual Smut
Warnings: swearing, mention of masturbation
A/N: Wow, so it looks like I am unable of making short fics, haha. I planed for this to be a one-shot but it’s already this long and I don’t want to bore you guys with long fics so I will make a second part and a third if needed but I doubt. I really hope you guys like this one. Feedback is very much appreciated.
Tumblr media
      Y/N was tapping her finger on the desk, her head resting in her palm. She was watching the professor walk around in front of the class explaining something but she wasn’t paying attention. Her mind was filled with thoughts about whether or not she was going to get the role. 
      Some people from her university that were majoring in Film Production had to write a script for a short movie and the best five got chosen to be produced. Initially, she believed that only Theater and Film Majors could participate at the auditions but the administration of the school made an announcement one morning informing them that everyone could take part in the audition process. That meant she had to deal with more competitors for the role she wanted.
      Initially, Y/N was the only one who wanted to audition for the main role of one of the movies since people didn’t really catch its concept that well. When the audition day finally came, one Modern Dance major showed up out of nowhere and auditioned as well. The apparition of that particular character made her blood boil with anger.
      Her competitor for the role was none other than Mina, her so-called enemy. They weren’t enemies in the real sense of the word. They just simply didn’t click with one another and silently agreed a long time ago to ignore each other. They weren’t pulling childish stunts on each other, they didn’t speak each other's names unless necessary, they didn’t try to win each other in grades or parties or body counts. They were just mutually ignoring one another. And everything was fine until she showed up there.
      Y/N wasn’t going to lie and say that Mina wasn’t good. Her performance wasn’t exceptional but for someone that has never done that before, she was fairly good. That had her worried about her chances of getting chosen.
      When the bell finally rang ending her suffering she got up in the split of a second and left the room. She could not bear to hear any more of the professor’s babbling. Her boots let out quiet thuds every time they touched the concrete floors. She found herself in front of the announcement board but the paper that was supposed to tell her if she got chosen or not, was missing. Thinking to herself that they probably will put it up later she turned on her heels and made her way towards the cafeteria.
      She met her friend Hayoon there and they sat down at a table situated in the centre of the cafeteria. They talked about how they had been up until then and Hayoon complained about one of her classes and how she’s going to fail it.
      The chatter in the cafeteria died down when the door was slammed open and Mina stomped in, a bitter expression on her face. “I can not believe that they made me a stunt double! What does that even mean?” Her voice was louder than it should have been as she addressed her friends. Her intention was most probably to attract attention.
      A smirk crept on Y/N’s face as she realised that she did, in fact, get the main role. She gave her friend a suggestive eyebrow raise as she slowly took the chopstick to her mouth. Her face dropped when she heard the stomping approaching her. “Hey, loser, what’s a stunt double?” Mina’s voice was scratching her ears. How she managed to sound like one of those toys for dogs sometimes, she’ll never understand.
      “I can’t believe you’ve auditioned for a role without knowing what a stunt double is.” Y/N rolled her eyes at the other girl and a few people from around them chuckled. Mina’s face caught a crimson colour as the embarrassment settled in.
      “Haha, you are so funny!” It was clear by now that the girl was trying to mask her flustered form by trying to embarrass Y/N back.
      The truth was that she didn’t mean to make fun of her. She just let her first thoughts leave her mouth. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.” A sigh left her lips. “A stunt double is a person that executes all the dangerous or action scenes for the main actor so they don’t get injured. Stunt doubles are usually gymnasts, people that know martial arts and all that jazz. They probably chose you because of your dance background.”
      “I can’t believe it. Not only they didn’t give me the role, but they are also going to use me to protect you?” Mina had an annoyed expression.
      “Oh please! Did you really think they were going to choose you? You entered that room without even knowing the concept and somehow managed to get the feel right a couple of times. Meanwhile, some of us actually prepared for that audition.” Y/N was fed up with Mina’s princess behaviour. Always thinking that everything is rightfully hers and expecting everyone to kiss her ass. All that just because her father was donating a big sum of money to the university every term. They are donations at the end of the day and she should not be expecting special treatment just for that.
      Mina’s face became a crimson red for the second time in ten minutes and she stomped away from Y/N’s table. The few people that were watching them averted their eyes when Y/N took a look around.
      From the corner of the cafeteria, someone was watching them with a smirk on their face. Oh, how he got just the perfect idea.
Tumblr media
            Y/N sat in the second closest row to the professor. She was in “Canto class” as she liked to call it. It was one of the optional classes she chose to take that year. It wasn’t a compulsory class for Theater and Film majors since you don’t necessarily have to know how to sing to be an actress but she took it anyway because she thought it would be fun. And so far it was.
      A loud bang invaded her left ear and she turned to find Han Jisung having his back to her and chatting with his friends that were seated a few rows behind them. She raised her eyebrow but didn’t question it. It wasn’t like the seat was occupied and she definitely had nothing against him sitting next to her. He probably just wanted to pay more attention since he and his friends are always distracted during class. 
      Y/N turned back to her stuff and opened her notebook to take another look at the notes from last class. Soon after the professor entered the classroom and the chatter died down. 
      She was vigorously writing in her notebook everything the professor was explaining to them. Suddenly she felt a touch on her left elbow and stopped for a second. She immediately resumed her writing, convinced that he probably did that by mistake. Not even a minute later she felt another touch on her elbow this time more evident. She ignored it again not paying much mind to it. Jisung’s elbow collided with hers causing her to push her notebook and scribble on it.
      She snapped her head towards him and felt anger overcome her when she noticed the smirk on his face. “What?” She whispers yelled in his direction.
      “Hi!” He did a short wave of his hand in her direction and she clenched her jaw. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply before going back to her note-taking. She had only five minutes of peace before he poked her side again. She smacked his hand away from her and continued to mind her own business.
      Throughout the class, Jisung kept bothering her and trying to talk to her despite her obvious wish to let her take notes. When the bell rang she got up quickly, her blood boiling and left the room in a hurry hoping she could lose Jisung on the busy halls. As she was hurriedly making her way between the sea of people she felt an arm going over her shoulders and she crashed with the owner of the arm.
      “Why are you in such a hurry babe?” Jisung’s voice rang in her ear as they were practically glued to each other. She grabbed his hand and swung his arm away from her shoulders.
      “For the love of God, what do you want from me Han Jisung?” Exasperation was present in her voice as she threw him an ugly look.
      She couldn’t guess what he needed from her to annoy her to that extent. They were acquaintances and nothing more. They knew each other from that one class they shared and the longest interaction they had was when the professor prepared an interactive class once and they had to work in groups of five.
      He was the university’s “heartthrob” as people liked to call him. Y/N personally thought that that title should be given to Hwang Hyunjin who was majoring in Modern Dance. He was more mature than the rest of his friends, he was friendly with everyone and wasn’t pulling pranks on innocent people to entertain some brainless creatures. But who was she to oppose the masses?
      On top of doing all those things, Jisung was also in a relationship with Mina. Every time they are together they will target someone and will start making fun of them. More Mina than Jisung but he was still entertaining her actions and that made him as guilty as she was.
      “I need to ask you something. Or better, make you a proposal.” He winked at her and she felt an uncomfortable shiver run through her. How disgusting.
      “Ok, and what is it?” She threw him an expectant look and he started looking around.
      “Let’s talk outside where there are fewer people. You got a free period, right?” Confusion made its way on her face.
      “How do you know that? Are you weirdo following me?” She has never talked with him as friends and they share only one class. How on earth would he know her schedule?
      “What? No! I see you hanging out around the university all the time after our class.” She rolled her eyes at his answer and gestured her hand towards the closest exit out of the building signalling him to lead the way.
      Very soon they were seated on a bench under a tree somewhere behind the university. It was her first time coming there. Y/N usually liked to remain at the front of the building since couples usually liked to come there and make out sometimes even fuck.
      “I think we should start dating.” He blurted out and she froze for a second before jumping to her feet startling the man.
      “I knew you were fucking weird. I’m leaving!” What in the actual fuck did she think when she came here. For a second she expected a real conversation but Jisung’s main skills were flirting and making bad jokes. She set her expectations way too high for that conversation.
      She picked her bag from the bench and started leaving only to have Jisung grab her wrist and stop her. “Wait, let me explain. I swear you’ll understand better after.” Y/n wanted to turn and leave but the puppy dog eyes he gave her made her stay and listen to him. Now, don’t get her wrong, his expression didn’t soften her but if he was desperate enough to try the puppy eyes on her then it must be important to him.
      She plopped down on the bench and waited for him to start talking. “Look, I’m pretty sure you know Mina. And I know you two aren’t on great terms. I say we date so you can get back at her for all the things she has done to you.” He raised his eyebrows at her and pursed his lips.
      Y/N was the one that raised her eyebrow next as she leaned her head to the side. “Aren’t you and Mina dating?” 
      “Obviously not.” Jisung used a tone that pissed Y/N off. A tone that said ‘It was so obvious, how can you not know?’ and she didn’t like it one bit.
      “Oh, I’m so sorry! I must have read the signs the wrong way. I mean, it's not like you are always together and you carry her backpack around and you hang out outside of school six days out of seven and kiss before classes and make out behind the university probably right on this bench.”
      A smirk appeared on Jisung’s face. “Who’s following who now?”
      “Don’t flatter yourself. Mina’s voice is so annoying I could hear her every time she talked. When I would turn to see what was up now you two were most times engaged in some sort of PDA.” She spoke fast trying to prove that she wasn’t following him. She didn’t know why she felt the need to do that but the thought of Jisung thinking that she has some sort of interest in him was terrifying. He completely humiliated the last “unpopular” girl that confessed her feelings to him and at that moment the last thing she needed was for him to go around saying she is a stalker.
      “Well, we are getting there. I asked her out and she said that she’ll love to but it’s too fun to tease me. When I asked her ‘What if I get a girlfriend?’ she told me I can not find anyone better for me than her. When I saw you fighting in the cafeteria earlier I knew I found my perfect girl. Not only are you hot, but she also hates you.” Y/N raised an eyebrow at his words.
      “Hot?” Her tone was untrusting as this was the first time someone from uni had said that to her. 
      “Yeah. You didn’t think that guys came to last year’s theatre spectacles because they were actually interested in theatre, right?” A laugh left his mouth at her dumbfounded face as she registered his words. A blank expression adorned her face immediately after trying not to seem so surprised.
      “Well, not anymore.” She let her tongue trace her bottom lip before biting the flesh. “Ok, so tell me what you actually want us to do.” Uneasiness settled inside Jisung as he watched her bored face.
      “Well, I mean what I said. We should date. Or fake dating if you will. That way I can make Mina jealous and push her to run into my arms. I bet she can’t stand seeing me with you for too long.” He looked into her eyes hopefully thinking that maybe he convinced her but his hope was quickly shattered when she opened her mouth.
      “What are you? Five? I don’t want to get back at her and I have absolutely no reason to help you in your sick plan. I’m out of here!” Once again she picked up her bag to leave only for Jisung to grab her wrist and stop her, again.
      “Please Y/N! I’m desperate. I’ve been trying to date her for a year and a half already.” That was pathetic. She had absolutely no reason to help him. None at all. But something pushed her to stay and accept his offer. Maybe she could take advantage of the situation.
      Turning her head towards her she tried to keep a straight face as best as she could. “What do I get out of it?”
      Jisung’s face brightened instantly at her question and he held her hand with both of his. “Anything you want. If it’s possible I’ll do it.” His eyes were pouring into hers and a stupid sparkle was present in them.
      “I guess you were going to do that anyway but I want you to present me to your friends.” The same bored expression that she had on for almost the entirety of their conversation was adorning her face. Jisung was amazed at the lack of emotions she managed to show but she was an actress. Maybe she’s just good at her job.
      “Why? Do you have a crush on any of them?” A smirk was enveloping his facial features and he had a teasing tone. Y/N rolled her eyes at his comment.
      “No. Some of them seem like really interesting people but their only defect was hanging out with you. Now that I have to hang out with you too I might as well start talking to them.” She shook his hands off hers before putting it in her front pocket. “Now I have to go to class cause my free period is almost over. See you later, babe!” She winked at him before turning around and making her way to her next class.
Tumblr media
      The next day she met with Jisung in front of the cafeteria so they could walk in together and “announce” their relationship. Somehow he got hold of her number and they texted the night prior about the terms of their little deal. She felt like laughing when she saw how serious he was about it. If he really did end up dating Mina she’ll be convinced that both of them are idiots.
      His arm was over her shoulders as they walked through the tables. Multiple people were staring at them but she decided to ignore them. Upon reaching the table she placed her tray down and took a seat. The people at the table were looking confused at one another and some were throwing Jisung questioning looks.
      “Everyone, meet my girlfriend.” He spoke gesturing with a hand towards her. She smiled at them and waved her hand, muttering a soft ‘Hi!’.
      One of them, who she recognised to be Lee Minho, a Modern Dance major cleared his throat. “Hey. It’s nice to meet you.” He had an awkward smile on. “What are you majoring in?”
      “Yeah, I don’t recall seeing you around campus.” Seo Changbin, a Music Production major added.
      “Oh, I…” She started talking but a puff coming from her left stopped her.
      “Seriously dude? You share a class. She’s L/N Y/N from your Theory and Improvisation class.” The voice belonged to Hwang Hyunjin and she felt a funny feeling in her stomach at the realisation that he knows her. Everyone around the table was throwing him weird looks.
      “You are right but how do you know that? I’m pretty sure you don’t take that class.” There was a trace of embarrassment in her voice.
      “I don’t but sometimes when I wait for those guys outside of the classroom I see you walking out.” He said that with nonchalance taking a bite from his food.
      “And how do you know her? She’s not a Music Production major otherwise we would have known. And she’s not a Dance major either otherwise Minho and Felix would have known about her as well.”Changbin’s tone was almost provoking as if Hyunjin had done something bad and he was about to reveal it.
      “She’s a Theatre and Film major. Last year when we went to all those theatre spectacles to support Jeongin I was actually paying attention to the plays. She had either the main role or the lead. I remember her being really good.” She felt her cheeks heat at his comment.
      “Thank you!” She threw him a smile. However, she got ignored as Lee Felix started talking.
      “Do you know her Jeongin?” She somehow felt offended by his question. Maybe that wasn’t his intention but he should have used a different tone.
      “Of course I do. We share almost all of our classes and last year we worked on multiple plays together.” Annoyance was present in his voice caused by his friends' ignorance.
      She knew Jeongin from the first day. He was the first to speak to her although they didn’t exactly become friends. They kept on working on plays together throughout the entirety of the first year of college but they kept everything mostly professional since they both had their own group of friends and she kind of disliked most of his friends.
      “Then how come you never talk about her?” Now, wasn’t Changbin an annoying one? She rolled her eyes discreetly at his question.
      “Because we are not the best of friends. Why don’t you talk about Kim Gina from your degree?” The youngest question was a good one. They were acquaintances and barely knew something about each other. What was he supposed to talk about?
      “Gina is not hot. What am I supposed to talk about?” The older male said calmly with a shrug of his shoulders.
      The water she was just drinking got stuck in her throat and she started coughing violently. Jisung started hitting her back repeatedly trying to help her swallow. When she finally calmed down she looked at him annoyed.
      “Who she is, is not important. What’s important is that she is my girlfriend” he gave Changbin a side look ”and you have to accept that. Stop talking about her like she is not sitting right in front of you.” A few of them raised their hands in defeat while some of them averted their eyes. Minho and Changbin rolled their eyes.
      She felt her blood pressure spike up at their action. She remembered why she never wanted to talk to any of them. Arrogant pricks.
      “Ok, Mister protective boyfriend. Just tell us when you break up.” Minho took a bite of his food done with the younger man’s antics. Everyone knew that he was in love with Mina. The moment she shows some interest in him he would probably leave this one in a heartbeat.
      Y/N sucked in a breath discreetly. He really got her worked up and she hated it. She put an arm around Jisungs shoulders and yanked him towards her, his face close to her chest. With her other hand, she grabbed the sides of his face making him look up at her and forcefully pursing his lips. 
      “Break up? Do you wanna break up with me, babe?” Y/N’s voice was mocking as if she was talking with a child. Jisung swallowed hard before shaking his head. She smiled at his response and used the hand from around his shoulders to ruffle his hair. “That’s what I thought.” She placed a short kiss on his lips before releasing him and turning back to her food.
      Everyone at the table was looking at both of them shocked, especially Minho and Changbin. She wanted to let a proud smile escape her but she controlled herself.
      For the rest of the lunch, she decided not to engage in any more discussions with Jisung’s friends. She continued eating her food and listened to them talking about things that didn’t involve her, occasionally responding to Hayoon’s texts.
      She was the first one to get up, impatient to go to her next class and not have to see them. “Bye guys. It was lovely meeting you!” She smiled at them, a smile half true because she did like some of them. “Bye babe. See you later!” She grabbed the sides of his face again placing another kiss on his lips before taking her empty tray and leaving them alone.
Tumblr media
      The men all watched her as she made her way out of the cafeteria. When she closed the door behind her they all burst into laughter. Jisung was biting the inside of his cheek irked by their action. When the laughter stopped, Seungmin that was sitting next to him put his hand on his shoulder.
      “I absolutely adore your girlfriend. She knows how to keep her ‘babe’ in check I see.” Seungmin tried cupping his face as Y/N did but Jisung slapped his hand away.
      “Are you her good boy, Jisungie? Does she give you rewards if you listen to her?” Minho cooed at him and Jisung held back an insult.
      “Shut the fuck up. It’s not like that. She surprised me as well. Who the fuck knew she was going to do that?” When he proposed the whole fake dating thing to her he thought it would be easier. Looking at it now he can’t understand why he thought that. He saw the way her fights with Mina unfold and he knew she was an actress which meant that she was probably either crazy confident or really good at faking it. For some reason, he thought she would be easier to tease and control but it would be a lie if he said it didn’t intrigue him. He liked a challenge and if the prize was Mina he would try his best.
      “And you man” Chan spoke for the first time “what the fuck was that? Do you know her entire biography?” He was looking at Hyunjin who rolled his eyes.
      “I told you I paid attention to last year’s plays. On top of that, she’s hot. I remember that after one spectacle I and the guys from my dance group at the time talked about her for like a month. She was so..” The man let out a groan and threw his head back trying to explain what he meant.
      “Sure, tell me more. Did you masturbate to the thought of my girlfriend? Perhaps got any wet dreams about her?” Jisung commented, raising an eyebrow.
      Hyunjin winked at him as a smirk made its way on his face. Some of the guys simultaneously let out disgusted sounds at his gesture.
      “But how did this whole thing happen? I can’t remember a moment when you talked about her or when you were together.” Felix’s deep voice rang making everyone pay attention to him.
      Changbin suddenly let a gasp out and dramatically covered his mouth. “Yesterday our little Jisungie sat next to her in Theory and Improvisation and when the class ended he ran after her. I think he might have had a secret crush!” The older man teased.
      “Yeah, but she looked really annoyed with him. Hence why she sprinted out of the class. Why would she accept to date him if she looked like she’d rather listen to Mr Jung talk about the first piano ever invented.” Chan intervened making Jisung shrug his shoulders.
      “She was annoyed with me but what can I say? I’m so charming she couldn’t refuse me.” He leaned back in his chair putting his arms over the back of the chair. 
      “I think she did it out of pity. When she realized you’ve been trying to get Mina for a year and a half now she probably felt so bad for you she decided to sacrifice herself so you look less like a loser.” Hyunjin said his tone way to serious to be a joke.
      Jisung threw the man a deadly stare. “At least I didn’t masturbate to the thought of her like a fucking virgin.” He spat in the other man’s face.
      “Touche.”
2K notes · View notes
zodiyack · 4 years
Text
Dinner With The Law
Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Female!Hopper!Reader
Warnings: Swearing, angst, kind of ooc!Billy?, bit o fluff
Words: 1,566
Summary: Billy’s dating Hopper’s other daughter, Y/n, and when Eleven accidentally reveals Y/n is spoken for, Hopper demands to meet the “lucky guy”. Billy Hargrove wasn’t exactly who he had in mind.
Tumblr media
Taglist: @urie-bowie-mercury​, @matth1w​, @redspaceace-writes​, @fandom-puff​, @darling-i-read-it​, @simonsbluee​, @thewarriorprincessxo​
Masterlist | Stranger Things Masterlist
Tumblr media
“Are you sure?” Billy was usually the tough guy, but now he was a nervous senior with sweaty palms and pale skin. He looked like he’d seen a ghost or like he was about to faint. And it was all because he was having dinner with Jim Hopper. “I mean, what if he bans me from seeing you?”
“Billy, when have you ever listened to my dad? You’ve got a few speeding tickets here and there yet you do it again and again anyways.”
“That’s exactly why he’d tell me to break up with you!”
“Just because he says something doesn’t mean he can actually do it.” She rolled her eyes and waited for Billy’s response. His silence drew out a reaction of offence from his girlfriend, a scoff leaving her mouth. “You dick!”
“What?!”
“You’d let him make you do that?! Grow a fucking pair!” Y/n sat up from her leaning position, her head turning and arm sliding off the car door. She didn’t think before she swatted Billy up the back of his head.
“Jesus woman! What was that for?” He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, the other on the wheel. Billy grumbled under his breath as he drove, the air growing thick with tension. “Alright. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t let him take you from me-”
“If you broke up with me because he told you too, that’d be letting him take you away from me. Either way, he shouldn’t get away with it, and he won’t.”
“You’re right...” Billy sighed, “I’m sorry baby.” He glanced at her before returning his eyes to the road, sincere regret knitted in his scrunched brows.
“I- ...I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have hit you.” Wordlessly accepting each other’s apologies, their hands met on the console, fingers intertwining tightly. His thumb occasionally rubbed her hand softly, bringing a smile to her face every time.
Tumblr media
“They’re here.” Eleven watched the window until Hop walked by, telling her to sit correctly and fix the curtains. She’d adjusted her position multiple times, finding loopholes in the “how to sit on furniture correctly” reprimands Hopper had given her.
“El! For the last time, that’s not-”
“Not how we sit.” She turned back around and got off her knees, standing and walking away from the table. “I know. But, they’re here.”
“And? We can just wait like normal people! Stalking your sister and her boyfriend from the window isn’t what I-” He went to fix the curtains but upon doing so, he got a view of what awaited his dinner table. “Is that-” Jim squinted, eyes suddenly doubling inside. “No. No. No! Noo!”
“What’s wrong?” Y/n frowned as she pushed the door open. “Dad?”
Hopper turned, facing his daughter and her boyfriend with a distressed face. “No! Not you!” His tone was slightly whiney, causing a concerned yet slightly amused expression to slide onto Eleven’s face.
“Excuse me? Dad, are you alright?” Y/n turned to Eleven, who shrugged in return.
“Nope. No. Nada. Dinner’s cancelled.”
It hit her quicker than Billy’s car’s top speed. “Dad. He’s having dinner with us. You wanted to meet him, you deal with it.” Hopper clenched his jaw, staring at the couple before walking outside. Billy began looking for words, suggesting they just go back, but Y/n cupped his cheeks and kissed him softly. “Wait here. I’ll go talk to him.”
“No, it’s fine-”
“Wait here.” He nodded, planting his feet without another word. His eyes followed Y/n until she was out of the cabin. Billy popped his knuckles out of nervous habit, turning his head and giving a nod of acknowledgement to Eleven. She stared for a second then got up and went to her room, leaving Billy standing alone awkwardly.
“Dad. Give him a chance.”
“But- That’s Billy Hargrove, Y/n.”
She nodded, lips pressed together tightly as she lifted her brows. “Yep. I can see that. I am dating him after all.”
“He’s bad news.”
“So was Eleven before you took her in! Taking her in could’ve gotten us killed but you did it anyway! Billy dating me won’t get us killed or put in any danger in the slightest, but you decide he’s too much of ‘bad news’?”
Hopper shook his head. “Leave El out of this.”
“Then let Billy have a chance!”
“No. End of story.” He paced in front of her, back and forth with his arms crossed.
“Dad.”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
She inhaled sharply and shut her eyes. Some tears threatened to spill but were denied by her lack of will to show weakness to her father. “Please. Just... He’s not as bad as you think he is. Sure, he’s got some factors you aren’t particularly fond of, but he’s a teen for Pete’s sake! I’m a teen! We’re going to be a little rebellious whether you like it or not!”
Hopper couldn’t deny a word she said, his own rebellious-phase in his teen years full of teen-angst going against anything and everything he could think to say. He stopped pacing, facing his oldest daughter with a sigh of surrender. “One chance. He fucks it up-”
“Thank you!” Y/n bounded forward and wrapped her arms around her father, the smile on her face bigger than any other he’d seen. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise, he won’t let you down!” She pulled away and raced into the house.
For the second time, he couldn’t speak. His brows and eyes held surprise, arms in the air- resting in hug position. As he blinked, the world returned to him. Jim processed the events; they happened so quick, it felt like one fluid motion, before walking back to the house without hurry.
Dinner was...alright. Billy kept his eyes trained on his plate as he tried his hardest to ignore the burning glare of Hopper that never left his form. Hopper ate slowly, both exhaling and stabbing his food dramatically as well as increasing the tension that thickened throughout the cabin. Y/n eventually grew tired of it.
“Dad!” Hopper blinked for what felt like the first time since they’d sat together. “Do you have anything you wanna ask Billy?”
“Yes, actually. How many girls have you been with?”
Eleven dropped her fork on the ground with a loud clatter and Billy practically choked on his food, coughing as Y/n patted his back. She glared at her father and shook her head. “Besides questions like that.”
“Fine. What’re your plans after high school?”
“Well um...” He recovered from his cough attack, fist hitting his chest a couple times while he cleared his throat. “I’m thinking about moving back to California.” 
“What would you do in California?” He said the state syllable by syllable, as if he were a kindergartner just learning to say the word, eliciting a criticizing furrow of Y/n’s brows.
“Teaching Y/n how to surf and showing her around. Probably applying for some collages...I’m not sure, sir.”
“Sir?” Hopper laughed. His chuckles died out when he noticed the three staring oddly, feeling awkward and clearing his throat to brush it off. “So uh- Y/n? You’re moving to California? When did you plan on telling me?”
“I dunno. After graduation? The same time I planned on telling you I was dating Billy.”
“Sorry.” Eleven felt a twinge of guilt after her sister spoke, eyes moving down in shame.
“Don’t worry, El. I’m not mad at you.” She reached for her sister’s hand, giving her a small smile when her eyes lifted back up to hers. Eleven mirrored her as a small bit of confidence entered her body.
Hopper brought his eyes back to Billy as his daughters brought theirs to him. Each question he asked made Billy’s leg bonce under the more and more, an anxious habit he’d picked up over time. “You get good grades, Hargrove?”
“Yes sir.”
“Pay for your own stuff?”
“Yes sir.”
“Staying out of too much trouble?”
“Er- Yes sir.”
“Plan on tying the knot, staying loyal to my daughter?”
Y/n’s water made a noise as she choked mid sip. “Dad! Don’t put him on the spot like that-”
“It’s okay.” Billy rubbed her back and nodded reassuringly. “If we decide we want to go all the way, then yes sir. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, I do, but we still have to make it through high school.”
“Break her heart, Hargrove, and I’ll break you. Don’t care if you’re in California, Hawkins, Mars- I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”
“I know sir. I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
He leaned back, sliding into his seat more as he nodded slowly. “Good. You better.”
Billy waited for more questions, but Hopper went back to his dinner. He exchanged confused glances with Y/n. The air was still holding a bit of tension, the only sound being forks scraping against plates, making it feel a bit awkward. “Is that all, sir?”
Hopper lifted his brows. “Do you want there to be more? By all means, I’ve got many questions and opinions I can expand on. Like, your-”
“No- no sir.”
“Then stop being a little sissy and eat your food.”
Billy nodded quickly, however, his hands remained on his lap. “Thank you sir!” Hopper’s arm rose from beside his plate and supported his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Eat the damn food, suck up!”
1K notes · View notes
bloody-bee-tea · 3 years
Note
*unintelligible noises* *wriggles an arm out of the feelings mountain with a ball and throws* *lands on the happy pile*
20) "I love you so much and I would do anything for you, but if you ever ask me to tell them to put pineapples on the pizza ever again we’re fucking done.“
Jiang Cheng is nervous as hell. He knows he studied enough for this last exam—maybe even more than for his business exam—but this is where his heart lies. This is what he really wants and if he fails this exam and doesn’t get his degree then he’ll be devastated.
He did nothing but study for this for the past two weeks—ever since he got his business degree out of the way, so his parents can’t say anything about it—and logically he knows he did all he could, but that doesn’t stop him from worrying.
Jiang Cheng arrived a little bit early for the exam, so he still has time to kill and he pulls out his phone. He kind of ghosted Nie Mingjue for the last few days, because he wanted to concentrate on his studies and Nie Mingjue has been surprisingly understanding about this, but right now he needs to text him.
‘About to go in’Jiang Cheng writes out and it’s not even a minute before he gets a reply.
‘I know you can do it, but good luck anyway! I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you’ is the reply he gets and Jiang Cheng smiles down at his phone.
‘I love you, too’he sends back before he pockets his phone again.
He and Nie Mingjue have been going strong for years at this point, but it’s still a little bit unreal whenever Nie Mingjue tells him he loves him.
Even after all these years Jiang Cheng can hardly believe that he got this lucky. He’s not even sure he wants to get used to that feeling, if he’s being honest.
Jiang Cheng tries to cling to that feeling instead of giving in to his nervousness and soon enough it’s time for him to go in.
The exam itself is a whole blur and it’s only when Jiang Cheng leaves the room that he can breathe easy again.
He’s pretty sure he didn’t ace it—there were one or two questions that tripped him up—but he’s reasonably sure that he also didn’t fail it and that’s really all that matters.
As long as he gets the degree he is happy with everything. He doesn’t need to have the best marks, he will leave those expectations to his business degree and his mother.
Jiang Cheng is still debating how he’s going to celebrate the end of his exams on his own while he’s on the way home and he finds that he doesn’t really want to do anything.
He wants to celebrate it with Nie Mingjue but they are only going to see each other the next day and Jiang Cheng figures that a relaxing day with a new TV show might be a good time as well.
There’s no need to do anything fancy after all.
He is just debating if he should get pizza delivered or not when he opens the door to his apartment, only to find that it’s already unlocked.
Jiang Cheng frowns because he’s absolutely certain that he locked it twice like he always does when he leaves but then Nie Mingjue’s voice reaches him.
“Welcome home!” he yells through the apartment, moments before his head pokes around a corner.
“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asks, but he can’t help the smile on his face. “I thought we were on for tomorrow?”
“We still are,” Nie Mingjue says with a shrug as he comes up to Jiang Cheng to pull him into a kiss. “But I wanted to celebrate with you today,” he says when they part and Jiang Cheng beams up at him.
“I love you,” Jiang Cheng tells him and is rewarded with a kiss for it.
“Love you, too. How did it go?”
“It was okay,” Jiang Cheng says with a shrug as he toes off his shoes. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t ace it, but I think I passed.”
“Of course you did,” Nie Mingjue gives back as if he never expected anything else and Jiang Cheng is so happy to have the exam behind him and to have Nie Mingjue here with him that he steps forward and slings his arms around Nie Mingjue’s middle.
“I’m so proud of you,” Nie Mingjue lowly tells him and presses a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s head, bringing his arms up around him to hug him.
“I don’t even have a grade yet,” Jiang Cheng grumbles but he also doesn’t let go of Nie Mingjue.
“Doesn’t matter,” he easily gives back. “I’m always proud of you.”
“Stop it,” Jiang Cheng whines but he can’t deny how happy he is, here with Nie Mingjue.
“Never,” Nie Mingjue chuckles and then he simply continues to hold Jiang Cheng for a long time before he speaks up again. “So, what did you have planned for today?”
“Mh, nothing, really,” Jiang Cheng mumbles, his face still pressed to Nie Mingjue’s chest. “Thought about ordering in and relaxing.”
“Alright,” Nie Mingjue nods. “That’s what we’ll do then.”
“Did you have anything planned?” Jiang Cheng asks in return but Nie Mingjue is already pushing him away, so that he can get the phone.
Jiang Cheng sighs, because he’s pretty sure that Nie Mingjue has some plans for tomorrow and he hopes that he didn’t ruin it for him, but since Nie Mingjue is not outright saying anything Jiang Cheng trusts that it will be okay.
“Go sit, I have it handled,” Nie Mingjue calls over from the kitchen, and Jiang Cheng smiles when he realizes that he’s getting the flyer of their favourite restaurant.
As if Jiang Cheng needs that to know what he wants to order.
“You know where, right?” Jiang Cheng calls after him, despite knowing that this is like Nie Mingjue’s home.
“What do you take me for,” he predictably yells back and Jiang Cheng laughs.
Gods, he can’t wait for them to move in together. Now that he’s almost done with his degrees that day is getting closer and closer. Jiang Cheng’s pride wouldn’t allow him to move in with Nie Mingjue before he could pay his half of the rent, but once he has his degrees it will be different. Jiang Cheng already looked at some job offerings and he’s reasonably sure that he’ll get something soon enough.
And then they can finally start their life together for real.
“Your exam is over, what the hell are you thinking so hard for?” Nie Mingjue teasingly asks and flicks Jiang Cheng’s forehead.
“Nothing,” Jiang Cheng gives back and lets himself fall face first into the couch, body going completely boneless as he relaxes.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Nie Mingjue grumbles and Jiang Cheng chuckles.
“You just want me to take them off,” he gives back and he knows exactly what kind of face Nie Mingjue makes even without looking when there’s a brief pause.
“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Nie Mingjue eventually says and Jiang Cheng turns his head just far enough to peek up at him.
“Later, maybe,” he says, though he knows that it will be a definitely.
He hasn’t seen Nie Mingjue in a few days and Jiang Cheng has needs after all.
“Food first,” Nie Mingjue decides. “What do you want?”
“You know what I want,” Jiang Cheng says and does his best not to laugh out loud when Nie Mingjue makes the most disgusted face Jiang Cheng has ever seen.
"I love you so much and I would do anything for you, but if you ever ask me to tell them to put pineapples on the pizza ever again we’re fucking done,” he tells him and now Jiang Cheng can’t hold on any longer.
He laughs and then he laughs some more when Nie Mingjue fake glares at him and it feels so good to be as relaxed as this for a change.
With exams and stuff Jiang Cheng didn’t have a chance to laugh like this for too long now.
“Aww, but my soul, don’t I deserve a treat after my exams?” Jiang Cheng tries as he does his best to pout at Nie Mingjue.
“What you’re asking for is a punishment,” Nie Mingjue grumbles but he also leans over to press a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s head and so Jiang Cheng knows he has won.
Nie Mingjue quickly places their order and when he’s done with that, he climbs over the back of the couch and falls down on top of Jiang Cheng, knocking the breath right out of him.
“Uff,” Jiang Cheng wheezes. “What’s that for?”
“Making me order that abomination,” Nie Mingjue says as he arranges Jiang Cheng to his liking, mainly meaning that he slides off Jiang Cheng so he can hug him close.
“Aww, but you did it for me anyway,” Jiang Cheng says and smiles at Nie Mingjue. “I have the bestest boyfriend in the world.”
“Yeah, I hear he’s decent,” Nie Mingjue gives back with a serious nod, making Jiang Cheng frown.
“Hey, you’re not allowed to slander my boyfriend in my own home,” he tells Nie Mingjue with a light slap to his shoulder and then Jiang Cheng stills when he sees a suspicious glint in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.
“What about slandering your fiancé instead?” Nie Mingjue lowly asks as he pulls out a small black box.
“Mingjue,” Jiang Cheng breathes out because what the hell is even happening.
They are not even living together yet!
“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue gives back, just as serious as before. “Will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
“You mean you aren’t happy now?” Jiang Cheng blurts out because of course he does.
He’s stupid and caught off guard and so happy he can’t even think straight.
“I’m decently happy, I’d say,” Nie Mingjue gives back with a teasing smile and Jiang Cheng buries his face in Nie Mingjue’s neck. “What do you say, my heart?”
“We’re not even living together! We’re doing this all out of order!”
“If we were doing this all out of order I would have presented you with adoption papers,” Nie Mingjue patiently gives back and Jiang Cheng jerks back, narrowing his eyes at Nie Mingjue.
“No, not yet,” Nie Mingjue says, clearly reading the question in Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “But yes. Kids will happen eventually, too. You said often enough that you want at least one.”
“But you were always on the fence about that.”
“Yeah, but then I realized that I want to have it all with you,” Nie Mingjue casually gives back. “But that really comes after living together and being married for at least a year.”
“Mingjue,” Jiang Cheng breathes out because he feels like he could burst with happiness and love for this man.
“The living arrangement is just a technicality. It’s a given we’ll move in as soon as you sign your first employment contract, right? So I thought why not plan ahead a little bit with this.”
“Fuck, I love you so much,” Jiang Cheng breathes out and then pulls Nie Mingjue in for a long and thorough kiss.
“That’s nice and all, but you still didn’t answer me,” Nie Mingjue says when they part and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.
“Yes. Of course it’s yes. As if it could ever be anything else! Now give that ring here!”
“Good, because you had me worried there for a second,” Nie Mingjue teases him because of course there was nothing to worry about in the first place and they both know it.
Jiang Cheng’s heart does a funny little thing in his chest when Nie Mingjue slides the ring on his finger and Jiang Cheng never saw himself as the jewellery-wearing type, but he already knows that he’s never, ever going to take that ring back off again.
“I love you, my beautiful, wonderful, brilliant fiancé,” Nie Mingjue whispers as he peppers Jiang Cheng’s face with kisses.
“Stop it,” he complains, but it’s only half-hearted at best.
“Never,” Nie Mingjue promises and then simply continues with his mission until the doorbell goes off.
“That’s our food,” Jiang Cheng mutters when Nie Mingjue doesn’t get moving immediately and Nie Mingjue huffs out a sigh.
“And I already take second place,” he grumbles but he does get up to get their food and Jiang Cheng stares after him, hardly believing what just happened and when Nie Mingjue moves out of sight, Jiang Cheng turns his gaze towards his new ring.
It’s the most beautiful thing Jiang Cheng has ever seen.
He only tears his eyes away from it when Nie Mingjue comes back, their pizzas balanced on one hand, because if he’s being honest, Nie Mingjue is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
When Nie Mingjue leans down to put their food on the table Jiang Cheng darts in for a quick kiss but when Nie Mingjue tries to deepen it, he pulls away.
“I’m not eating cold pizza, again,” he decisively says and opens his carton to get right in while the pizza is still nice and hot. He did learn his lesson the last time after all.
“I want a divorce,” Nie Mingjue says, his voice absolutely deadpan and his face disgusted when he sees a piece of pineapple slide off Jiang Cheng’s slice but Jiang Cheng only smiles sweetly at him.
“Too late. There’s no getting rid of me or my disgusting pizza taste ever again,” he happily says and Nie Mingjue’s face immediately softens.
“Fine, I guess,” he still heaves out as if it’s the worst thing in the world but when Jiang Cheng leans in for a kiss, Nie Mingjue pushes him away with a hand to his face.
“I have to draw the line somewhere,” Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng bursts out laughing again.
He hasn’t been this happy in a long while and he’s looking forward to being happy like this every day of his life now.
Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!
134 notes · View notes
sw124 · 3 years
Text
BonelyHearts Reader insert 2
{Gender Neutral!ReaderXSkeleton household}
Foxes and Chickens!
—————————————-
“Why are we even doing this?”
Boss growled as he checked his black tank top once more, everyone stood dressed in ‘gym-class’ attire. Well somewhat, everyone was either in tank tops or short sleeve shirts and basketball shorts. You though were in sweatpants and a baggy tank top. But you were smiling your head off, today was ‘your’ day. All of you gathered inside the large basketball/gymnasium of the Rec Center.
You stood confidently with your hands on your hips.
“Today boys we are playing a game from when I was a kid.”
The skeletons looked at you, a tad perplexed but could see you were not going to be swayed, Poplar spoke up next.
“What is it called?”
You beamed. “Foxes and chickens!”
Their expressions did not change, you chuckled and decided to explain further.
“This game is a mix between Tag and Hide’n seek, one of us is the ‘Fox’ and the rest of us are ‘Chickens’. The ‘Chickens’ will be given about a minute to find a place to hide, then the lights go out and the ‘Fox’ with their flashlight will go looking for the ‘Chickens’ among the mats or ‘Coops’ as I like to call them. The last ‘Chicken’ to be found is the winner and the get to be the ‘Fox’ in the next round! Everyone get that?”
The skeletons looked at each other, Blue’s eyes sparkle; this did sound like fun. Not one to shy away from challenges Boss and Papyrus were all for it as well.
“Yes, we’re in! What are the rules?” Asked Blue.
“The rules are simple, when you find your hiding spots you stay in that spot until the fox finds you, you can only hide in or around the mats, when your found you must sit by the entrance and wait until all the players are found, no helping the ‘Fox’ in anyway by revealing hiding spots thats cheating, no running or teleporting to different hiding places, you can share hiding spaces and lastly there is absolutely, positively...NO BETTING!”
Instantly you hear Blue whine, you go over and give him a half-hearted hug, playfully petting his head like he was a kitten.
“Mwah, there, there baby Blue, you can bet on something else.” You chuckle when he pushes away, crossing his arms and pouting.
“Ok, ok, now that everyone knows the rules lets start the game, first though lets see who wants to be the ‘Fox’ in the first round.”
Instantly Blue and Papyrus raised their hands, oh this was gonna be tough to pick. You opted to flip a coin to see who gets to be first as the ‘Fox’. Papyrus chose heads Blue chose tails....it came up tails. Blue happily took the flashlight and waited outside.
“Ok everyone, one minute to hide!” You squeal as you bolted for the ‘coops’.
Everyone scrambled to hide as well, you found a sweet hiding place, one of the mats that was standing up had a small fold where you easily fit into. You shut it tight almost like a door and waited, you could hear everyone else scrambling for a hiding spot. You restrained a another squeal when the lights went out, you heard the gym doors open.
“Ready or not here I come!”
You covered your mouth as you heard Blue run all over, calling out the names of everyone he found. The first person he found was Stretch, you knew that cause Blue was shouting how he didn’t bother to hide properly...and Blue shouted out his name. In fact he was shouting everyone’s name the moment he found them. After Stretch was Rus, followed by Sans, Ash and Poplar then Boss, Red was cursing at Blue for shining the light right in his eyes,; finally Papyrus and Nox were found. You were knew you were the last but Blue still couldn’t find you.
You could hear him running past your hiding spot more then four times, peeked out and saw him. His back was to you, a Cheshire grin formed on your face as you snuck out. Tip toeing closer you reached both hands out and-
“FOX!”
You yelled as grabbed his sides, he yelped and dropped the flashlight. Laughing you bolted, weaving in and and around the mats. Blue squawked out something and gave chase, you ran for the gym entrance and without thinking did a baseball slide towards the group. You laughed when you collided into them, not hard, you slowed down enough where you just barely pushed some of them. You slid into Papyrus and Sans, Blue ran up and huffed.
“That was rude! You said no changing hiding spots!”
You laughed. “I wasn’t changing hiding spots, I was the last to be found so I just saved you the trouble of finding me. Besides I couldn’t resist giving you a little surprise!”
Oh you knew Blue was gonna get back at you, it was why you had to be sure to find him quickly in the next round.
An so the game continued, Ash won the next round, Blue did get you back when it was your turn by jumping out at you but in doing so ruined not just his hiding spot but also Nox and Red’s. Everyone got their chance to win, you actually enjoyed Rus being the ‘Fox’ in one round cause he’d constantly was muttering a curse if he couldn’t find someone.
After a while you checked your watch, over two’n a half hours had past since you started the game. Wow how time flies, you waited till the current round was over before announcing the end of the game, it was time to get some lunch anyway.
“Ok everyone’s been found, its getting close to lunchtime so lets pack up the mats and grab some food.”
“We’re already done?”
Oh man, it wasn’t fair to see half of their faces go into ‘sad puppy’ mode but you only rented the place for three hours and you had to put everything back, which would take twenty minutes with everyone’s help.
“Sorry guys but I only rented out the place for a little while, besides we can do this again another, that and we need to put the mats away properly.”
That answer was suffice, everyone....well almost everyone pitched in, Sans and Rus were laying on one mat they set aside. But that was rectified by Boss and Nox, flipping the mat they were laying on over. It took a bit longer then you thought but you had five minutes to spare, you went and told the Rec-center supervisor you were finished and got your deposit back. He’s such a sweet old man, with that you went back to the others and told them to clean up and change into their street clothes. You went and did the same, despite it being a low energy game you and the boys still worked up a sweat.
Once that was done you all proceeded to walk towards the restaurant in question, you had reserved a spot in a nice little Japanese noodle place you like to frequent. They had all kinds of delicious noodle based dishes that you hoped would please some of the skeletons, it was also a very accommodating place as it had an entire menu dedicated to people who were vegetarian. You piled into the large round booth, sitting between Poplar and Ash.
As you waited for your drinks and enjoyed an appetizer of tempura sweet potatoes, you decided to see what they thought of the game.
“So did you guys have fun?” You were a little worried..
“A tad immature but it was still an enjoyable experience, something we can do at least once in a great while.” Said Boss taking a sip of water.
“I liked it a lot, its a nice change of pace.” Said Rus as he munched on his sweet potato.
“It was a wonderful game human, thank you for sharing such a fun cherished game with us!” Said Papyrus.
“Yeah, gotta admit it was fun, ya didn’t have to do much when you got to hide and being in the dark hiding in the mats...I can see why a game like that is fun for you.” Said Sans giving you a playful wink.
You smiled, beaming at everyone. Soon the waiter arrived to take everyone’s order, you helped Ash and Poplar make a choice from the vegetarian menu. You tried some of the stuff on that one and recommended the Ramen bowls with fried tofu in it along with the beautiful array of colorful veggies such as mushrooms and cabbage.
You went with the kitsune soba while everyone else got Ramen, when you got your food it was a treat seeing everyone trying to eat with chopsticks. Yeah it was mean of you but seeing some of them struggle you told them there were forks wrapped in the black cloth napkins placed around the table. You had gotten some deadpan looks from some of the skeletons but all you could do was smile, you used chopsticks before and were pretty good at using them.
You took a moment to look at everyone, some engaged in a conversation, some content on the food itself or simply listening to others talking. It filled you with a sensation of comfort, you couldn’t have asked for better neighbors or friends.
“So, human.”
Your attention was grabbed when Nox spoke up.
“What game do you plan to show us for next time?”
End.
[For some backstory, this was a game I played back when I was in grade school. Normally durning my gym class we’d go outside and play during gym but of course if was winter or raining we’d stay inside the gym. One rainy day our gym teacher came up with this game and I loved it so much, I wanted to do a fanfic that was more innocent. The world is so serious and telling us we need to ‘grow up’ but sometimes its nice to be a little kid again and thats why I wrote this particular Reader insert. Oh this is also for the @bonelyheartsclub I hope you enjoy it, it was such a treat to write]
126 notes · View notes
Note
(Haikyuu!!) Kuroo Tetsurou x Manager! Male Reader where the reader is super flirty and is the only person that can fluster kuroo and the whole team teases him for it (even kenma) and when they finally go on a date they have their first kith (you can cut it off at the 'team teasing him' part if this is too long!)
Kuroo Tetsurō x flirty manager male reader
Kithes
Requested: Yes
Word Count: 1227
Tumblr media
“Hey, captain.” You enjoy the way Kuroo’s face lights up with a blush.
“H-Hey.” He stutters back, taking the bottle from your hand. “So,” He clears his throat, “how’s work today?” He always wants to give you a pickup line, especially when you give him the chance to plan for it, but he can never think of one.
You always make sure to give him his bottle last so you can have time to talk before you’re whisked away for another troublesome task. Kuroo always tries to respond but either you give one before he can, either of you are whisked away a bit early, or he cannot for the life of him think of a pick up line. It’s usually the third one.
He thinks he’s smooth, for a chemistry nerd, but with you, he can’t seem to find the right words. Well, quote on quote “with you” really, he doesn’t actually have the reason to give anybody else a pick up line.
The team takes notice of this, since it’s one of the only constants of volleyball practice, which gives them plenty of time to poke fun at him for it.
“Hmm,” You give him a playful stare, one that teases him for not trying to give a pick up line. “Well, it’s been pretty good. I would ask you the same, but I know you’re exhausted.”
He seems confused for a bit. Does he really look that tired? This was the first round of water bottles that practice. He’s really getting old.
“You’ve been running around my mind all day.” You give him a cheeky smile and walk off to gather the empty bottles.
You leave the captain in a confused mess, which gives the team an opportunity to strike. 
Kuroo sits there, staring at nothing in particular. He’s trying to comprehend what's just happened. Did he… flirt with him, perhaps? No, that didn’t make sense logically-- Pick up lines aren’t logical… He did flirt with him.
“Kuroo.” Oh no.
“Oh, captain!” Oh no.
“Hey, captain! Did you just talk to (y/n) cause you’re--” Oh no no no no no.
You watch from afar, happily sipping on your own bottle. You enjoyed doing that, the flirting part mostly, but the aftermath was always quite the show. Sometimes you would interfere to make Kuroo redder, and that was your plan for today.
“Hey, boys.” At your voice, the circle they made around Kuroo parts for you to walk through. “Captain,” You nod at him with an innocent smile. You hold out your hand, confusing him further.
“Something up with you today?” Kuroo rubs the back of his neck and musters a sheepish smile, still not getting what you’re asking for. “Your water bottle.”
He quickly sets it in your hand, which makes your job accomplished but you stick around.
“Hey, are you free this Saturday?” You ask.
“Yeah.” He replied, smiling excitedly. He hopes you’re asking him for a date.
“Alright,” You nod. “I’ll text you details, Barium Beryllium.”
He watches as you walk away, trying to figure out what you meant. He was excited about the first part, but what did the elements mean? Barium Beryllium… BaBe. He blinks for a few minutes until realization dawns on him again. “Oh.” Babe.
His face explodes red, giving the other members another reason to poke fun at him.
“Ha! Only someone like Kuroo would react like that!” Yaku laughs loudly, pointing his finger at Kuroo rather rudely. 
“What does that mean?” Lev asks around, getting the response from Fukunaga.
“BaBe.” He says. Nobody knows how he knows, but it’s one of those things you just don’t ask about Fukunaga.
“Kuroo-san ha!” Inuoka just laughs, which is enough to tease Kuroo on its own.
Yamamoto slaps his knee, doubling over. “And you call yourself smooth!”
“‘How was work today?’” Kai quotes. “Is that really the best you could do?”
“To be fair, you’re not the one being flirted with!” Kuroo flings his arms around to push anyone away from his personal bubble. He really needed the space to cool down after how hot you’d gotten him.
“Uh, yeah, but you don’t have anything else to say?” Yaku raises an eyebrow with arms crossed. He likes to have any kind of leverage over him, to feed his ego and their ongoing ‘rivalry’.
Kuroo glares in return. “Alright, back to practice.” The team has to oblige, both because of the command and because the coaches were starting to stare.
He sighs in relief, thanking his status as captain.
Tumblr media
From: (๑・ω-)~(y/n)
To: (o´〰`o)♡*✲゚* Tetsu
Library and then maybe lunch?
From: (o´〰`o)♡*✲゚* Tetsu
To: (๑・ω-)~(y/n)
Yeah, sure. 11:15?
From: (๑・ω-)~(y/n)
To: (o´〰`o)♡*✲゚* Tetsu
Very specific, (≖⌣≖ԅ) Anyway, yeah! See you then
To: (o´〰`o)♡*✲゚* Tetsu
From: (๑・ω-)~(y/n)
Study session?
He looked down at his phone and your last conversation again, sighing deeply. He’d gotten no response from you and instantly he thought of the worst; you weren’t actually going out on a date.
It was just a study session. You weren’t exactly the best at grades, that much he knew. Damn, you’d really raised Kuroo’s hopes up.
Well, at least he got to hang out with you, maybe he could make his move then.
When he looked back up, he saw your smiling face, which immediately brought one to his own. “Hey!” He waved you over, glad to see you jogging over with what seemed to be excitement.
“Hey, Tetsurō.” He blushed at the use of the given name. You weren’t exactly close enough friends for that, but you always used it. It’s a wonder how he hadn’t caught on.
“Come on.” You hooked your arm with his and started walking the opposite direction from where you came from, and also the library entrance which Kuroo was waiting at.
“We’re not going to the library?” Kuroo quirked his head to the side in confusion.
You give him a smile, “The arcade! It’s a date y’know?”
Tumblr media
“Did you have fun?” You take a sip from your drink as you await his answer.
“Mm, yeah!” Kuroo smiles brightly. He clutched the bear you’d somehow gotten him, curse those claw machines, to his chest.
“Sorry I couldn’t get you a plush.” 
“You got this.” You wave your hand dismissively, shaking your phone and it’s new phone charm. He’d gotten it for you with the tickets he’d won.
“And you also got this.” He shakes his own phone, showing off the cat charm.
“Eh,” You shrug. “It’s fine. People buy stuff for their dates all the time.” You wink at him, “I’ll make sure to do that next time.”
“Next time?” He blushes, covering his face.
“Next time.” You repeat.
“I mean..” He knows something is up from that mischievous smile you give him. He can never know if it’s good or bad with you. “a kiss would be a nice equivalent.”
“A-A kiss?” He stutters, blushing again when you nod.
You lean over the table. He gravitates towards you almost instinctively.
Your faces are close, yet none of you make a move. You do so to tease him, he does because he’s just too nervous.
“Can I kiss you?” You keep that mischievous smile, even though you know the answer.
“Yes.”
It’s soft and gentle but it makes Kuroo’s lips tingle. The feeling is nothing like he’d ever expected. But he never expected this either.
299 notes · View notes
trulymadlysydney · 3 years
Text
Somewhere In Time: Ten
Tumblr media
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
tw: Death, Loss of Parent
Previous Chapters HERE
***Please Do Not Repost Without Permission***
March 10th, 1990, 11:54am
Seventeen year-old Oliver Ward sighs, glancing mindlessly out the window of the old retirement home and fighting a yawn.  
It isn’t that he doesn’t love his Saturday mornings spent with his ninety one year-old companion, because he does.  In fact, most Saturdays he forgets that this is even an extra credit assignment at all.  He knows, of course, how terrific this is going to look on his college applications-- but he doesn’t think of it like that.   Over the past month or so, he’s befriended the older gentleman he’s been assigned by his AP psychology teacher, and the old man has taken a liking to him as well.  Most Saturdays, Oliver loses track of the time because he finds himself lost in some story the old man is sharing with him.  
This Saturday, however, Oliver doesn’t much feel like socializing.
It isn’t anyone’s fault but his own. Not really, at least. The previous night had been spent tossing and turning in bed, with a total of two non-consecutive hours of sleep. He’s exhausted, he’s bummed, and he’s pretty sure he’s lost the girl of his dreams.
“Awful talkative today, aren’t you?”  The older gentleman speaks in his thick accent from his spot on his recliner, drawing Oliver from his thoughts and startling him.
Oliver turns, softening when he sees the man’s understanding smile.  He chuckles sheepishly. “Sorry, Mr. Styles. Got a lot on my mind I guess.”
The gentleman— Mr. Styles— nods knowingly. “Well, I figured as much,” he says. “And I know how that goes. Do you want to talk about it?”
Oliver sighs again, moving closer to Mr. Styles.  “I’m afraid it’ll bore you, sir.  And I’m not sure you’d understand.”
Mr. Styles grins a dimpled grin, with a twinkle in his eye.  “Try me.”
That’s something that Oliver loves about Mr. Styles. He’s never judged Oliver, no matter how silly he thinks he sounds, and honestly he gives better advice than anyone Oliver has ever known.  He seems to have an air of mystery about him-- he always has-- and Oliver is sure that Mr. Styles knows at least two secrets of the universe that he’s keeping to himself.
So he shrugs, taking a seat on the bed beside the old man. “Okay.  So. There’s…. a girl.”
Mr. Styles nods understandingly. “Always is, isn’t there?”
“She’s the grade below me. She’s my best friend, but lately it’s been…. I don’t know, kinda more than that?  I  think?”
“Mutually?”
“Yeah, I mean…” Oliver fiddles with his hands in his lap. “Yeah. We’ve been hanging out and stuff.  Even kissed a few times.”
Mr. Styles wiggles his eyebrows. “Oooh, I see.”
“But lately I feel like…” Olivier sighs. “I don’t know. Like she’s getting bored with me.”
Mr. Styles sits back further in his seat, reminiscent of a therapist in his comfy chair. “What makes you say that?”
“I think she wants me to like… commit.”
“Ah.” The old man chuckles. “I see.”
Oliver eyes the older gentleman, curious as to how Mr. Styles could possibly understand any of this. As far as Oliver knows, Mr. Styles has never been married. A few times, he’s mentioned a girl from his youth, but never anyone after that. All Oliver knew about the girl is that she up and left, leaving poor Mr. Styles alone and heartbroken. And truth be told, Oliver had always found it silly how Mr. Styles had never moved on from that.
Oliver shrugs. “Anyway… I dunno. She’s been playing hard to get recently, like maybe she’s bored with me?  Like, she flirts and stuff, but then when it doesn’t go further I feel like she gets annoyed.  And...I want to commit, but what if I’m getting mixed signals, you know? I mean like, what if that’s not actually what she wants? You feel me? What if I ruin what we have going by trying to label it?  And besides,” he sighs, “I find out soon if I got into Syracuse. And if I did get in, I would start there in the fall. What if she doesn’t want to do the long distance thing?”
Mr. Styles chuckles wittingly, but not in a condescending way.  “Well first of all, son, I think you’re completely overthinking this.”
This brings a smile to Oliver’s face. “I have been known to do that.”
“That being said, you seem to really like this girl.  And from the sound of things, she likes you as well.  Am I wrong?”
“Well, that’s the thing.  We’ve kissed and stuff, but like, what if I’m reading it wrong?”
“How can you possibly read a kiss wrong?”  Mr. Styles grins.
Oliver sighs.  “You’re right.  I know.  Feelings are just… really hard.”
“Who is the lucky lady anyway?”  Mr. Styles settles further into his seat.  “Can’t say I recall you ever mentioning having a girl.”
“Her name is Roni,” Oliver says.   “Well, Veronica. She goes to my school.  I think I may have mentioned that.”
Oliver has launched deeply into the backstory of how he and this girl met, completely unaware of the way that Mr. Styles’ face has gone entirely ghostly white.  The old man is frozen in his chair, unblinking, and hardly listening to a word Oliver has said.
He doesn’t even realize he’s cutting Oliver off when he speaks.  “I’m sorry… what did you say her name was?”
“Roni?”
“Last name?” Mr. Styles presses.
“Uhh… Elliot?”
If Mr. Styles didn’t look ill before, he certainly does now.  Oliver takes notice of this, rising to his feet. “Mr. Styles, are you alright?”
Mr. Styles blinks a few times, his breath heavy as shakes his head.  For whatever reason, he won’t look at Oliver now.  He looks at the wall, out the window, at the floor-- literally anywhere but at his young companion.  Oliver begins to grow worried, and he steps towards Mr. Styles, putting a concerned hand on his back.
“Should I call the nurse?”
It’s when Oliver asks this that Mr. Styles seems to regain some sense of consciousness back.  He blinks up at Oliver, almost like a curious little child, and shakes his head-- as if reminding himself to be present.  “No,” he says quietly.  “No, don’t call the nurse.”
“You’re scaring me,” Oliver admits.  “Where did you just go?”
Mr. Styles swallows thickly, eyes growing misty.  “You said… Veronica Elliot?”
Oliver nods.  “That’s right.”
The way that Mr. Styles scans Oliver’s face makes him grow anxious, and it becomes apparent that Oliver wants to let go and perhaps take a step back.  He’s a good kid though-- one who genuinely cares for Mr. Styles-- so he stays put.  “Sir?”
Mr. Styles lets out a shaky breath, obviously still processing everything that’s going on, before looking back up at Oliver  “I just--”  He trails off, noting for the first time the worry in the young boy’s eyes.  He softens just a bit.  
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Oliver says.  “I can call the nurse, it’s not a big deal!  I just--”
“No,” Mr. Styles says, suddenly seeming more like himself than before.  “No, there will be no need for that, son.”
Oliver hesitantly relaxes, still keeping his eyes trained on Mr. Styles’ face. “What just happened?”
“It’s nothing,” Mr. Styles says, the slightest bit of color slowly returning to his face.  “I just… knew her mum.  That’s all.”
“Oh!”  Oliver seems to take this as an acceptable answer, obviously relaxing again.  “Yeah.  Her mom died like, five years ago actually.  It was super sad.  Car accident.”
“Five years ago,” Mr. Styles repeats, more to himself than to Oliver.  “God.”
“Yeah,” Oliver says, nodding.  “She’s okay! Lives with her grandparents. They’re super cool.”  He smiles suddenly, as if remembering something.  “They like me a lot.”
Mr. Styles smiles absently.  “I’ll bet they do,” he says gently.
“Anyway,” Oliver sighs,  “I don’t know.  Do you think I should go for it?”
Mr. Styles takes his time with his answer, still trying to process everything he’s hearing.  Oliver seems preoccupied with his own thoughts, which is good because he doesn’t notice the dampness of Mr. Style’s eyes.
What Oliver doesn’t know is that Mr. Styles is reliving every memory he has with the same girl Oliver is fretting over.  Mr. Styles is suddenly twenty-five years old again, in 1925, dancing in his living room with the girl from the future, and he’s young and head over heels in love with her.  He’s remembering everything that the young girl had told him about her timeline, about the boy named Oliver who was waiting in the future for her-- who befriended her shortly after her mother passed and asked her to be his girlfriend just before he graduated.  
This all checks out, and it makes Mr. Styles’ heart feel something it hasn’t felt in ages.  He blinks a few times, trying to clear out the moisture in his eyes.  
“Well,” Mr. Styles says, after a long pause.  “I think that… life is too short to let something so good pass you by.   Do you really like her?”
“So much, Mr. Styles.”  Oliver nods eagerly.  “And I think she likes me too, I’m just scared.”
Mr. Styles shakes his head, doing his best to cover up the shakiness in his own voice.  “Don’t be.  You need to make this girl your own.  You never know what tomorrow holds.  You don’t want to lose her, and spend the rest  of your days wishing you still had the chances that you have now.”
Oliver can tell that Mr. Styles is deep in his own head now, and he debates even speaking at all.  Mr. Styles continues on.  “Can’t even begin to tell you how much I wish I could go back and change some things.  Make some better decisions.”
“I know what you mean,” Oliver says, even though he really doesn’t.  How could he?
“And,” Mr.  Styles says, making an effort to sound less philosophical--less introspective-- and more human, “from the sounds of things, she really likes you, too, son.”
Oliver smiles.  “Yeah?”  
“Yeah.”  Mr. Styles swallows a lump in his throat.  “Take my advice, and don’t mess this up with her.  She sounds like a once in a lifetime kind of girl.”
“But what if--”
“No more ‘what if!’”  Mr. Styles sounds more stern than Oliver has ever heard him, and it takes Oliver aback.  “Get her.  Love her.  Love her now. You don’t realize how important she is, Oliver.  These feelings are real.  These feelings make life worth living.  You can’t pass them up because you’re too scared.”
“And if she doesn’t feel the same way?”
“She does.”  Mr. Styles softens as soon as he speaks, as if realizing he’s being far too blunt.  “Oliver, she does.  Trust me on this one.”  
Oliver opens his mouth, then closes it.  Mr. Styles somehow seems to read his mind, and he continues speaking.  “Make her your girl.”
“You really think I should?”  Oliver asks quietly.
“I know you should.”
After a brief pause in which the two stand seemingly at a hold, Mr. Styles clears his throat  gently.
“Don’t let her pass you by,” he says, for emphasis.
Oliver smiles, nodding his head in finality.  “Alright,” he says.  “You’re right, Mr. Styles.  I can’t let her pass me by, can I?  I really like her, and--”
“And I know she likes you, too.”
“Yeah.  I’m gonna call her.”  
Oliver moves like he’s going to leave the room, stopping abruptly as if realizing that he’s here because of school.  The two seem to have the thought at the same time-- that Oliver is getting college credit just for spending a few hours a weekend with Mr. Styles, and they laugh awkwardly together.
“Sorry,” Oliver says.  “I didn’t mean to--”
“You know what you can do for me, son?”  There’s a smile on Mr. Styles’  face, but there is a serious edge to his tone of voice.  “Genuinely?”
“Anything,” Oliver says.  “Anything you need.”
“Bring her in.”  Mr. Styles smiles, contrasting Oliver’s confused expression.  “Bring her in, and let me meet her.  Hm?  Would love to meet her.”
“Yeah?”
Mr. Styles nods.  “Yeah,” he says, somewhat absently, but with a smile for Oliver nonetheless.  “Would love to see the young lady that’s done such a number on you.”
Oliver laughs, and even Mr. Styles lets out a personable chuckle-- as if he’s in on some joke that Oliver didn’t know he was keeping.
“I suppose I could bring her in,” Oliver says,  “but again, I don’t want it to be weird--”
“It won’t be,” Mr. Styles says.  The playful gleam still lingers in his eyes.  “What, am I not interesting enough for her?”
Oliver laughs.  “No, no! She’ll love you!”
The words hit the old gentleman’s heart in a way that Oliver doesn’t notice.
She did love him.  She does. She just isn’t aware of that yet.
“I hope you’re right,” Oliver adds. “About all of this, I mean. I hope she does like me and I’m not just… I dunno, reading too far into it?”
“I can assure you that you aren’t, Oliver.”
There is no trace of doubt on Mr. Styles face, and it makes Oliver both nervous and reassured.  He smiles.  “Alright then,” he says.  “I’ll talk to her.”
Mr. Styles relaxes into his chair, nodding his head in finality.  “Alright then,” he echoes.  “Good man.”
Oliver returns once again for his weekly visit the following Saturday, only this time, he’s hand in hand with his new girlfriend of four whole days.  He’d taken Mr. Styles’ advice and asked her to be his after confessing everything he was feeling for her.  She, of course, felt the same way, and though it didn’t come as a surprise to Oliver it did come as a great relief.
Roni hadn’t seemed as thrilled to go share the news with Mr. Styles, however, once Oliver brought it up.
“Why did we have to come so early though?” Sixteen year-old Roni whines, as she and her new boyfriend Oliver make their way into the Senior Citizen’s home.  “Like, couldn’t we have come in the afternoon?  I’m sure Mr. Style wouldn’t even know the difference.”
Oliver chuckles.  “It’s Mr. Styles,” he corrects, “With an S.  And he seemed really excited about this! This is the time he gave me, so this is the time we’re here.”
“Why was he so excited anyway?” Roni asks, picking at a hangnail on her thumb.  “He doesn’t even know me.”
“No,” Oliver says, “but he knows me.  And he helped me out a lot! Gave me a lot of advice about you.  Least I can do is introduce him, you know?”
“I guess,” Roni mumbles to herself as Oliver checks in at the front desk.
Everyone here seems to brighten at Oliver’s presence.  All the little old ladies know him by name, and he’s quite the charmer.  It’s one of the reasons Roni likes him so much, really.  He talks so fondly about his Saturday’s spent here, and Roni can’t think of a single person his age who would enjoy it as much as he does. It’s cute the way he gushes about Mr. Styles, and how he had mentioned him when he’d asked Roni to be his girlfriend-- officially-- four days ago.  
Truly, Roni feels like she owes a lot to this Mr. Styles, and she really can understand why he would want to meet her.  The least she can do is thank him for telling Oliver to man up and commit already.
Oliver clips his badge to the collar of his shirt and gives Roni a little visitor’s sticker on which he’s scribbled her name with a green sharpie.  He’s dotted the “i” with a little heart, and it makes Roni’s cheeks grow hot when she notices.  He smiles, nodding his head towards the receptionist and interlacing his fingers with Roni’s.
Roni follows her boyfriend down the long hallways, into the elevator (where she has a mini makeout session with him because, come on, who could resist him when he’s looking this cute?) and onto the third floor.
He leads her out into the hallway, trying his best to dismiss how flushed and messy he looks (honestly, Roni takes pride in her work) and giving Roni’s hand a subtle squeeze as they walk along.
Roni looks at the doors as they walk, subconsciously counting the numbers in her head  304, 305, 306… each room an entire home to these people.  Each room a final resting place for all of them.
Oliver stops walking in front of door 310, and suddenly Roni grows nervous.  Her stomach seems to do cartwheels as Oliver smiles down at her.  “You’re gonna love him,” he says quietly, as if to reassure her.  “He’s the coolest.”
Before Roni even has time to reply, Oliver is rapping his knuckles against the large wooden door.  Two quick knocks, followed by one that seems out of rhythm with the other two.
After a few seconds, nothing happens. Roni shifts her weight to her other foot and waits, somewhat impatiently, wanting nothing more than to go home and make out with her boyfriend.  Oliver seems to feel her energy, giving her side a few playful yet charged squeezes that make her giggle.
“No!” she squeaks, squirming out of his grasp.  “Don’t do that here!”
The door opens as Roni is mid giggle, and she and Oliver are met with a little old man, hunched over and looking at them with a warm and expectant smile.  He’s dressed nicer than Harry’s ever seen him dress, and on his head rests a little gray cap that’s probably as old as he is.
“Oliver,” the old man says by way of a greeting.  And then he looks at Roni.  
The reaction he has to Roni is strange to say the least.  It doesn’t make Roni uncomfortable by any means, but something in his demeanor shifts, and he seems to grow a hundred times more serious.  His stare is intense; so much so that it makes Roni shift her gaze.  His eyes seem to grow strangely misty, and his jaw begins trembling-- as if he’s about to cry.
He looks at Roni like he’s known her all his life, and it’s strange.  She almost feels bad that she doesn’t recognize him as well.
She clears her throat, trying to lighten up the now tense silence.   ‘Hi!” she says, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear and holding out her hand.  “I’m Roni.”
Mr. Styles swallows audibly, his trembling jaw hardly calming as a smile tugs on the corners of his lips.  “Roni,” he says.  He takes her hand in his and gives it a squeeze, never once removing his eyes from hers.  “How wonderful it is to finally meet you.”
Roni looks at Oliver, wondering if he feels the same intense vibes that she’s feeling as well.  She laughs awkwardly, unsure of what else to do. “I’ve--uh-- heard a lot about you, Mr. Styles!”
Mr. Styles grins, an old hidden dimple flashing amongst the wrinkles of his cheeks.  “All bad, I hope,” he says, and now Oliver laughs.
“Of course,” he says.  “I had to let her know what a menace you were!”
Mr. Styles laughs, sounding suddenly young and full of life again.  He moves slowly to the side.  “Come in, please.  Make yourselves comfortable!”
Roni and Oliver share a glance and a quick smile before they enter the room.  It isn’t much, but it’s cozy.  Roni is surprised when she’s met with a delicious vanilla smell emanating from a candle in the corner of the room. (Not that she’d been expecting the place to stink, of course, but she absolutely had expected it to smell like old people, which it did not.)
“Wow,” Oliver says, as if even he is surprised with the state of the room.  “Mr. Styles, you cleaned this place up nice!”
Mr. Styles grins.  “But of course,” he says.  “You have to when you have a pretty girl coming over!”  He looks at Roni.  “Does this boy not clean up for you when you’re spending time together?”
Roni giggles.  “He does.  Although I have to say, the vanilla candle is an excellent touch.  I don’t even think Oliver owns a candle!”
Mr. Styles shakes his head, a playful smile on his cheeks.  “What a shame.  Oliver, you best buy some candles for your lady!”
Oliver and Roni both laugh.  “Vanilla is my favorite,” Roni comments.
“Somehow I had a hunch,” Mr. Styles replies with a playful wink.
With every passing minute that turns into an hour, the three grow more and more comfortable together. It isn’t weird, or forced, and Roni marvels at how easy it is to talk to Mr. Styles.  He asks her questions about her life, oddly fascinated by every word that comes out of her mouth.  The way he watches her with his undivided attention makes her feel important.
He plays music from a little tape recorder that sits in the window of his room.  It takes him a moment to figure it out, and Oliver has to help him a bit, but he finally gets there.  Roni doesn’t recognize any of the music playing (nor does she realize the way Mr. Styles watches her reaction to a few specific songs very closely), but she enjoys the tunes nonetheless.
He shares memories associated with each song; what specific stories each song calls to his mind. And Roni listens, fascinated with every single one of them, realizing that she could genuinely listen to this old man speak about his youth for days.
A stack of books on the nightstand near his bed draws Roni’s attention at some point, and she rises to her feet to go examine them further. Mr. Styles notes her movements and smiles, almost  knowingly, to himself.   She thumbs at the one on the top of the pile, a small menu from some pizza place marking his spot towards the back of the book.  She cocks her head to the side to get a better view of the books title:
Alternate Realities: by Lawrence Leshawn
She blinks a few times, the concept of an alternate reality very new to her.  Without thinking, she picks the book up and scans the back of it.  She glances back at the pile, noting the various ones on time travel, meditation, and astral projection.  Time travel being the only topic of the other three books that she’d ever considered before, this discovery of books feels like a landmine of information.
“Bit nerdy, innit?”  Mr. Styles’ voice pulls Roni from her thoughts, and she turns to him, still holding the book in her hands.  His eyes twinkle.  “Is that what the kids are saying these days?  ‘Nerdy?’”
Roni giggles.  “It is.  But this isn’t nerdy.”
“Ohh,” Mr. Styles says, playfully brushing away her words with his hand.  “Come now.  Yes it is.”
“You’ll never get Roni to agree with that,” Oliver speaks up.  “Haven’t I told  you before?  She’s super into all that!”
Roni feels her cheeks go hot with embarrassment, but Mr. Styles’ only smiles at her.  “No kidding!”
“I mean…” Roni trails off shyly, worried she’s about to make a fool of herself. “Yeah.  Kinda.  It’s silly.”
“It’s not silly,” Mr. Styles replies quickly, a hint of gravity to his words.  “Never say that.”
Roni debates telling Mr. Styles everything; about how she’s trying to find her mother, about how she’s already tried (and been unsuccessful) multiple times, and about how he is the first person (other than Oliver) who hasn’t actually thought she was silly for this at all.
But she’s only just met Mr. Styles, and she doesn’t want to bombard him with her own personal life story just yet-- nor is she certain he would really care.  So she only shrugs, a soft smile spreading across her cheeks.
“Yeah. I just… think it’s neat.  That’s all.”
There’s a look on Mr. Styles’ face that seems to say that he’s interested, but he doesn’t want to push her.  He waits patiently for her to continue, but when she doesn’t, he tries pressing just a tiny bit.  “Any particular reason?”
Even Oliver is watching her now, waiting for her answer even though he’s already known for a while. He offers her an encouraging smile, and Roni hesitates briefly before speaking   “I just want to go back and see my mom again.  She passed like five years ago and I just…”  She trails off, feeling silly despite the understanding looks on both Oliver and Mr. Styles’ faces.
“I understand.” Mr. Styles speaks up after a few moments of silence.  Roni doesn’t notice the all knowing smile on his face, or the way his eyes have grown damp.  She doesn’t catch the way he swallows down the lump in his throat.   Or how he looks at her the same way she looks out the window: pensive and lost in thought.
“Anyway,” Roni sighs, halfway through a laugh.  “I don’t know.  Oliver is the only one who believes me and even then, I’m not sure he really does.”
“I do!” Oliver laughs, shrugging almost defensively.  “I do.  I just don’t know if they’ve like… I dunno, developed some way to time travel yet.  I don’t know if technology has come that far, you know?  What  do you think, Mr. Styles?”
Both Roni and Mr. Styles seem to be deep in their own little worlds, but it’s lost on Oliver as he waits for a response from the older gentleman.  Mr. Styles smiles to himself, chuckling gently.  “I think it’s entirely possible,” he says, voice quiet.   “And I hope miss Roni never gives it up.”
Roni smiles, turning to face the old man.  “You really mean that?” she asks, stepping towards him.  “Like, you really think it’s possible?”
“I can promise you it is,” he says.  “I’m certain of it.”
Roni, realizing she’s still holding the Alternate Realities book, holds it up and gestures  at it with her free hand.  “What about this stuff?  I’ve never really heard of it.”
Mr. Styles grins, obviously glad she’s asked.  He shifts in his seat, speaking slowly.  “Have either of you ever heard of a parallel universe?”
Roni and Oliver both shake their heads, and Mr. Styles raises his eyebrows.  “No?  Well.  It’s a plane of existence, similar to the very one we’re living in right now now, that co-exists with our own.  It is said that there are multiple.”
“Multiple… existences?” Roni questions.
“That’s right,” Mr. Styles continues.  “Not much is known about them.  Especially considering that it isn’t even known if they exist or not.  But if they do, it is said that some are wildly different than your current existence now, while others are exactly the same with only a few minor differences.”
“Gnarly!” Oliver exclaims.  “So like, somewhere out there, I exist but I’m a billionaire?”
Mr. Styles chuckles.  “It’s possible.”
“Wait wait wait,” Roni says, significantly less convinced than her boyfriend.  “So you mean that somewhere out there in the world, there’s another Roni?  Who has no idea I exist?”
“We don’t know.”  Mr. Styles shrugs.  “Maybe.  Or maybe she knows all about you.”
Roni shakes her head, trying to wrap her mind around all this new information.  “That’s nuts.”
“Not really,” Oliver offers. “Kinda makes sense if you think about it.”
“So wait” Roni says, setting the book on the dresser and walking to stand by Mr. Styles.  “I told you why I’m into this.  Why are you into this?”
The old man goes quiet, smiling a tight lipped smile and hesitating as if really giving thought to his answer. “I like to think that in another reality, somewhere in time, I’m with my honey.”
Roni softens.  “Oh, I see.  Did she--”  She’s about to ask if Mr. Styles’ girl passed away as well, but she thinks better of it, unsure as to whether or not that’s an appropriate question.
Mr. Styles chuckles quietly, knowing exactly where Roni was going with her question. “I lost her,” he explains, because it isn’t technically a lie.  “Many, many years ago.”
“Oh.”  Roni frowns.  “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”  At this point, it’s impossible for him to hide the way his voice cracks.  Roni looks at him, then averts her eyes, as if she feels guilty for hearing it.  Oliver sighs, stepping forward.
“Mr. Styles--”
“You remind me of her,” Mr. Styles says, ignoring Oliver.  The look on his face makes it seem like he’s got more on his mind.  
“Yeah?” Roni steps towards Mr. Styles, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He sighs, reaching up to place his hand on top of hers.  “Yeah,” he says. “More than you’d even believe.”
“Wish I could’ve met her.”
Mr. Styles grins up at her, swallowing thickly and patting her hand.  “Yeah.  She was my honey.”
He takes a deep breath, looking away from Roni and glancing out the window.  There’s a charged silence.  Oliver squirms uncomfortably, but Roni stays right where she is, waiting patiently for Mr. Styles to continue.
“I think she’s doing just fine,” Mr. Styles says.  He smiles up at Roni.  “Wherever she is.”
“Maybe she’s with my mom,” Roni offers.
Mr. Styles closes his mouth, blinks back a few of his tears, and nods his head.  “Perhaps she is.  Wouldn’t that be something.”
“I didn’t mean to like… make you sad or anything, Mr. Styles--”
“You didn’t, darling.” The old man shakes his head.  “Don’t be silly.”
Somehow, Roni doesn’t believe him.
The subject is swiftly changed and the rest of their visit goes by relatively smoothly. ��Mr. Styles is back to his cheery self before Roni can even think twice about the interaction they’ve just shared, and soon the three are laughing and chatting away like best friends again.
All too quickly does their visit come to an end.  They say their goodbyes, although it’s obvious that Mr. Styles doesn’t want their time together to be over.  He looks almost emotional to be saying goodbye to Roni, something that neither of the two teenagers seem to understand.
After he gives her a warm embrace, careful not to hold her too long or, heaven forbid, make her feel uncomfortable, Mr. Styles pulls away, holding Roni at arm’s length.
“Thank you,” he says quietly.
Confused, Roni cocks her head to the side.  “For?”
“You’ve made me feel young again.  I cannot even begin to express how badly I needed this.”
Roni smiles.  “Oh.  You’re welcome then!”  She giggles.  “It was so nice meeting you, Mr. Styles.”
“The pleasure was all mine, honey.”  His hands tremble as he lets go of her.  He turns to Oliver.  “You bring her back to visit sometime soon, alright?”
Oliver chuckles.  “I will.  But don’t go liking her more than you like me, now.  I’ve been here way longer.”
Mr. Styles laughs.  “Sure,”  he says,   “but she is prettier.”
Oliver slings his arm over Roni’s shoulder.    “Well I can’t argue with that, can I?”
When they finally do go their separate ways, Roni and Oliver playfully chase each other out to Oliver’s car-- blissfully unaware of the way that Mr. Styles watches them from his bedroom window with tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. They don’t know that Mr. Styles doesn’t leave his bedroom for the entire rest of the  day-- to the point that the caretakers at the home begin to worry about him.  
They don’t know that Mr. Styles has just reunited with his honey,  after nearly sixty-five years of looking for her, and that she has obviously no idea herself.
Oliver continues his weekly visits to Mr. Styles room for a few more weeks, noting that he is completely unlike himself, until mid April when Mr. Styles passes away.  
Oliver attends his funeral.  Roni, visiting a cousin out of town, does not.
Both Roni and Oliver eventually forget about the old man completely,  moving on with their lives and living together in blissful ignorance of  just how odd time can be.
It isn’t until ten years later, in April of 2000, that Roni  seems to recall the little old man, realizing with immense sadness how significant he really was.
With a heart shattering sob, she hopes that he’s with his honey, somewhere in time, just like he said.
------
December 31st, 1999, 11:54pm
It is ridiculously bright when Roni tries to open her eyes.  
She opens her eyes too quickly at first, immediately regretting it and squeezing them shut again.  The act of closing them once more, however, pushes a hot tear that’s been waiting for release from the corner of one eye  
And suddenly, it all comes flooding back to her.
Harry, 1925, Violet LaRue, the ocean, her mother…
She is so overwhelmed all at once with emotions that she grows sort of nauseous, and she sits up immediately to try and stop the spinning of the room around her.  
The room --her and Oliver’s shared bedroom-- looks completely untouched, as if she’d never left.  There is hip-hop music booming downstairs, lots of chattering, and a smell in the air that can only be described as drunk people.  The silence in the room, however, contrasts the chaos that’s occurring downstairs, and it makes her head pound.
Roni looks around slowly, noticing the skimpy, revealing party dress she’s wearing that clings to her every curve. It looks untouched as well, albeit a bit disheveled, and she reaches a cautious hand down to smooth it over her lap.
She hears Oliver’s booming laugh downstairs, and the sound feels like a stab to the heart. He must be completely wasted. The clock on the wall reads 11:54pm, and she knows she has to get back down to the party before the clock strikes midnight.
Never in her entire life has Roni felt anything like the feeling she’s currently experiencing.  
Surely she couldn’t have dreamt it all.  It was real-- Harry was real, and seeing her mother was real.  Besides, the fact that she’s even crying right now tells her that she had to have been experiencing something physical.  
Which reminds her…
Roni rises to her feet and makes her way over to the mirror hanging on the back of the door.  She pulls the neckline of her dress down, and feels her own breath catch in her throat when she finds what she’s looking for.
There, in the exact spot on her chest that she’d been anticipating it to be, is a bruise left by Harry.  The last remaining physical reminder of his existence.
With a shaky hand, she gently brushes her thumb over the purpling skin.  It stings, just a bit, but it’s real.  It’s there.  And it’s too much for Roni to handle.
Grateful for the cover of the commotion downstairs, Roni can’t help herself but to let out a pathetic sob as everything comes flooding over her.  How could she have been with Harry not even five minutes ago?  And her mother?  How was her mother just there and now suddenly she’s gone again?  
How can she be expected to go on in a world where neither of them exist, and she’s the only one with knowledge of what she’s just experienced?
She collapses to her knees, eyes closing and another choking sob echoing from her throat.  She reaches up to wipe her damp eyelashes, mindful of the fact that sooner or later she’s going to have to go downstairs and face everybody again— which she can’t do with a face full of runny makeup.
But right now she doesn’t care.  Right now, she’s overwhelmed, and upset, and deeply, deeply missing the love of her life.
It’s been ages since she’s cried this hard, and it feels somewhat therapeutic, although it doesn’t fix the terrible ache in her heart. Her throat hurts and her chest heaves. She reaches up to cover her own mouth to quiet her wails as her heart feels like it’s physically breaking.  
She misses him.  She misses him so much.
On top of that, having her mother so close to her after so long without her--only to have to leave her once more-- is more painful than she had ever anticipated it would be.  
Roni remains like this for another minute or so, until she’s drawn by her thoughts when she hears her own name faintly downstairs.  Someone asks where she is, and Oliver slurs out that she’s been gone for a while.  When someone suggests that he go find her and he jubilantly agrees, Roni panics.
“Shit.”  She reaches up and wipes at her snotty nose; stumbling awkwardly to her feet and making her way to the mirror once again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”  
Roni scrambles to fix her hair and wipe away the splotchy mascara stains under her eye.  She prays that Oliver is too drunk to even notice that she’s crying, and she swallows down the intense heartache still in her throat.  When she’s at least somewhat satisfied with her appearance, she hears footsteps coming down the hallway— her cue to leave.  With a deep breath, she opens the bedroom door just in time to eee Oliver approaching.
Oliver, with his sweet, drunken smile, immediately opens his arms. “Ronnaaaaaay!” He says, by way of greeting her.  “There you are!” He doesn’t wait for her to respond, instead he just wraps her up in his arms and gives her a big, suffocating squeeze.  He pulls away to press an obnoxious kiss to her forehead, and it breaks Roni’s heart even more.  
On any other occasion, she would find this unbearably adorable. But now, the scent of the alcohol mixed with his cologne is making her even more nauseous than she already was.
After a few more wet pecks to her forehead, he squishes her cheeks in his hand and kisses his way down her face, pausing only once he reaches her mouth and realizes it’s wet and salty.  He pulls away, not removing his hands from her cheeks, and furrows his eyebrows as he scans her face. “You been crying?”
Roni knows that if she opens her mouth, she’ll lose control again. So she only smiles, turning away and giggling softly as she nods.
Oliver doesn’t seem to find this as humorous as Roni does, and he tilts his head so that he’s once again in her line of vision. “Heyyy, hey,” he coos. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
She sniffs, trying her hardest to keep her light smile on her face. “It’s nothing,” she says, throat raspy and voice hardly above a whisper. “I promise.”
“It’s not nothing,” he says, wiping at Roni’s damp face and gently guiding her back into their bedroom.  He’s thoughtful like that-- he doesn’t want Roni to feel it necessary to squash her emotions should anyone walk by.  He knows she wouldn’t want anyone else to see her crying like this. He doesn’t close the door fully, leaving only a crack, before turning to Roni.
She doesn’t say anything, but the way he’s being so ridiculously sweet to her is making her want to cry harder. This isn’t fair; not fair to her and definitely not to him.  She crosses her arms over her torso, feeling ridiculously vulnerable under his gaze.
He gives her a sympathetic smile, and there’s a look in his eyes that comes across almost as if he knows what’s going on.  She lets out a little half laugh/half sob, and she feels closer to him than she expected to in this moment. She speaks.
“Are you gonna say something?”
Oliver cuts her off, speaking only a half second after her. “You tried that time travel junk again, didn’t you?”
His words feel like a slap to the face, but they aren’t exactly wrong.  She stays frozen, mouth agape, and then wilts.  
“Yeah,” she whispers, because what else is there for her to say?
“Ohhh, babe.” Oliver steps towards her, wrapping her in his arms. I told you it wasn’t gonna work.”
Roni knows she should have expected that kind of response from him, but still.  Ouch.  
For a split second, she almost loses it.  She almost tells him everything; about how it did work, about how she’s actually been gone for a little over a week now-- not just a few minutes--, and about how hard it was to find her way back. She wants to mention seeing her mom, and she wants to rub it in his face. “You were wrong! You were wrong about it all! I saw my mom! She hugged me!”
It’s when she considers telling him about Harry, however, that some sense is knocked back into her.
Just the mere, brief thought of Harry makes her want to break down again, and subconsciously the mark on her chest that Harry had left begins to sting.  She chews the inside of her cheek so hard it hurts.
“I’m sorry, honey.”  Oliver’s use of the pet name that Roni had grown so used to hearing from Harry’s mouth makes her nauseated.  She tries to break free from Oliver’s grasp, but he holds her tighter.  “I know how much you wanted it to work.”
“Stop,” she whispers.
He doesn’t hear her.
“I know you’ve tried for years, but haven’t you been through enough heartbreak?”  Oliver sighs.  “I really think it’s time you give it up, Ron.  I don’t know why you won’t just listen to me about this stuff.”
“Stop it.”  Roni finally does break out of Oliver’s embrace, and in his drunken state he blinks dumbly back at her.
“Did I say something?”
“Fuck’s sake,” she says, wiping the tears on her cheeks.  “You’re right, okay?  I’m an idiot.  I’m done trying.  I quit.  Is that what you want to hear? Can we fucking stop?”
Oliver frowns, hesitantly taking a step towards Roni.  “Babe, I didn’t mean--”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Roni says, harsher than intended.  “Okay?  Drop it.  Please.  I’m begging.  I just want to go to bed.”
“But it’s almost midnight.”  Oliver is pouting now, and although it should make Roni soften a bit, it only makes her angry.
Oliver takes a more definitive step in Roni’s direction.  “I don’t want to start the new year fighting with you, babe.  Can we just go back down to our party?  We can talk about this tomorrow.” He shrugs.  “Or not! We don’t have to ever talk about it again if you don’t want to.  I just want to bring in the new year kissing you, surrounded by our friends.  So can we just… please?”
Roni scans his face, feeling more and more on the verge of breakdown with every passing second.  She closes her eyes, wishing she were anywhere but here, and covers her face with her hands.  “God,” she groans, before taking a big breath and opening her eyes again.  “Fine.  Sure.  Let’s go.”
Oliver smiles softly, holding out his hand timidly for her to take.  “Sure you’re not mad?”
It isn’t Oliver’s fault.  Of course it isn’t.  So how can Roni be angry with him?
She sighs, trying to bitterly laugh off a tear that’s threatening to roll down her cheek and ignoring his hand.  “Yeah,” she says quietly.  “I’m sure.”
“Not sure I believe you,” Oliver chuckles, “But okay.”  He steps in, closing the gap between him and Roni and puckering his lips.  He speaks in a babyish voice that, in any other circumstances, would absolutely melt Roni.  “Gimme kiss?”
It makes Roni even more upset than she already is, but who is she to deny Oliver? He is none the wiser as to what’s going on, and she can’t exactly drop this bomb on him right now. Not when he’s drunk.  Not when there’s a party going on downstairs.
Not when they’ve been together for so many years with absolutely no problems before this.
Before Roni even has time to process what’s happening, Oliver is taking her wrist in his hand and pulling her impossibly closer to him.  He kisses her, softly at first, and then a bit more passionate once their lips are fastened together.  
It’s Oliver who is making all the effort then; tongue maneuvering it’s way into Roni’s mouth as seductively as he can manage.  Roni would have no objections to this in any other situation.  In fact, she would welcome this.  The normal Roni would suggest she and Oliver skip out on the midnight countdown altogether, in fact, and elect to stay up here bringing in the new year whilst fucking like rabbits.
But not now.  Of course not now.  In fact, probably not ever again.  How could she ever go back to Oliver now?  After Harry?  After everything she’d felt for Harry?
How could she have done this to Oliver?
She gently pushes Oliver off of her, hoping he doesn’t note the tears in her eyes.  “Please,” she says quietly.  “I can’t.”
“Can’t what?”  Oliver giggles,  “Kiss your boyfriend?  You scared our friends will catch on?  Start thinking we might have crushes on each other?  Assume you think I’m hot?”
Roni knows Oliver is playing around, but she genuinely is not in the mood for that right now, and she’s afraid that if he says much else she’ll snap.  She groans, leaning in and pressing the most bland, unemotional kiss to his lips.  “Lets go,” she says.  “Please.  We’re going to miss the countdown.”
She begins making her way out of the room with Oliver close behind her.  “I expect a much better kiss than that when the ball drops!” Oliver says. “Much, much better!”
Roni’s heart is pounding in her ears so loudly she can hardly hear herself think. Her face grows hot while the inside of her body feels cold.  She’s having a panic attack, no doubt about it, and for once she’s glad that everyone is going to be too drunk to acknowledge it.
“Ron?”  Oliver asks as he and Roni begin descending the stairs. “Hey, Ron? Baby… will you stop a minute?”
“I don’t want to miss the ball drop,” Roni says, refusing to turn around and trying her hardest to sound like her breathing is under control.
Oliver stops her, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Sweetheart,” he says tenderly. “You’re being weird.”
“I’m not being weird,” Roni insists, more urgently than intended.  She sighs (the shakiness of her breath incredibly obvious to both of them) and softens as best she can.  
“I’m not being weird,” she repeats. “Just tired.”
“You know if something is going on you can tell me, right?” Oliver sounds more sober than he has in hours, and the way he looks at Roni makes her insides shake with guilt.
She opens her mouth to speak, but has to forcibly stop herself when she almost says Harry’s name. She scans his face, so genuinely concerned and yet ridiculously kind, and she swallows down the vomit rising in her throat.  “Yeah,” she says “I know.”
Oliver smiles.  “Okay then.”  He gives her shoulder a squeeze and follows  her lead back into the living room.
Roni feels like she’s in a dream as she moves;  like her body is here physically but her mind is elsewhere.  In the strangest way possible, her brain feels small and disconnected entirely.   She can see everyone cheering when she and Oliver walk in.  She can feel her friend put a red solo cup filled with alcohol into her hand.  She can hear her name being called, but she doesn’t register it.  She doesn’t register anything that’s going on at the moment, actually.
Her attention is briefly caught when she hears people start counting down, signaling that the ball is about to drop.  Their exuberant voices sound far away, however, as if she’s hearing them from the next room over.  Her face feels cold and her hands feel sweaty, and she thinks maybe if everyone would scoot over a bit she’d be able to breathe better.
“18….17…. 16….”
Someone accidentally bumps into Roni, knocking into the cup in her hand and sloshing a bit of its contents onto her dress.  No one reacts; in fact, no one else even notices. Oliver gives her hand a quick squeeze, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arm around her waist.
“...12… 11….”
Roni’s ears burn.  She knows where she is, but she cannot, for the life of her, focus on a single thing.  Her heart is hurting.  This doesn’t feel right.  She shouldn’t be here.
Slowly, the room around her begins spinning.  Roni wobbles a bit on her feet and Oliver catches her, probably chalking her wooziness up to her being as drunk as he is. She almost wishes she was, because maybe that would make everything hurt less.
“...8… 7…6”
Roni’s throat feels like it’s closing in on itself, and her mind seems to be running far behind her actual body.  She tries to blink herself into some clarity, glancing around the room.  She’s looking--hoping-- for someone who she knows damn well isn’t there.  Someone who couldn’t even try to be there.  The only person she cares to see at this point.
“...3...2...1…”
The entire room erupts in cheers, which definitely doesn’t help the throbbing in Roni’s brain, and the song Auld Lang Syne blasts from the tv.  There is nothing but chaos surrounding Roni, and she almost gags at the feeling of the lump in her throat.   She opens her mouth to say something, but is promptly cut off when Oliver pulls her in by her hips, fastening his lips to hers in a kiss that feels a far too enthusiastic for Roni’s taste.
The way he’s holding her by her hips would be enough to make her swoon on any other occasion. But now it makes her feel suffocated, and she doesn’t even close her eyes as she gives Oliver a half-assed kiss back.
No one else in the room seems to be aware of what’s going on.  They’re all too drunk, too busy making out with their respective partners/fuck buddies/love interests for the evening, to seem to care or even notice at all that Roni’s eyes are wide open.  The guilt, the pain, the longing for Harry-- all of it wraps itself around Roni’s heart and squeezes like a python.
Oliver pulls away, a dopey smile on his face.  “Happy New Year, baby!”
He looks so thrilled; so beyond naive to not only the fact that she’s hurt him in what she’s certain will be an unforgivable way, but also the fact that she is more concerned with missing Harry than feeling much else at all right now.
“Roni?”
A voice from off to the side catches her attention, and she turns in slow motion to see her and Oliver’s mutual friend, Zach, squinting at her.  “Ron, you don’t look so good.”
“Wait, yeah,” comes Zach’s girlfriend, Skye.  “Girl, are you okay?”
Roni hears their questions.  She hears them, but she doesn’t process them.  Zach and Skye aren’t the only people who seem to be concerned, as more and more people around them quickly catch on.
“Sweetheart?” comes Oliver’s voice, and Roni turns, almost drunkenly.
“Is she drunk?”
“Did she take something?”
“She looks green!”
“Baby?” It’s Oliver’s voice that breaks through the deafening noise the most, although Roni still can’t even really process what he’s saying. “Roni?  Hun, can you hear me?”
“Everyone step back!”
“Let her breathe!”
“Can someone get her some water?”
“Ron?”
Her breathing is so shallow now that she can actually hear herself gasping for air.  She feels like she’s choking.  She hates this.  She hates these people.  She doesn’t want to be here.
Where she wants to be is with Harry.  Alone with him, in his tiny apartment that isn’t even half the size of the room.  The year 2000 nothing but a vague memory, something she knows is so far in the future that  she’ll never have to worry about it.  She should have stayed.
Goddammit, she should have stayed.
As she looks around the room at these people who she should love-- who she should be thrilled to be surrounded by-- she realizes that she’s never felt more alone.  Not a single one of them would understand what’s going on. How is she supposed to continue on into the new year-- the new millennium-- feeling so isolated in her own feelings?
“I can’t breathe.”
She can feel herself saying the words, yet her own voice sounds so fuzzy and far away.
“She can’t breathe!” someone repeats.  “Everyone back up!”
“Can we get her some water?”
“Ron?”
It’s too much.  It’s all too fucking much.
Roni’s knees wobble a bit before she feels them buckle.  The last thing she sees before hitting the ground is Oliver worriedly scrambling to catch her.  
And then everything is dark.
105 notes · View notes