#but the tour shirt was really boring so yeah

[sturniolo-simp4life]

Over the phone- Matt Sturniolo

warnings- smut, masturbation (male and fem), cursing, praising

@sturniolofein62 for you babes 🫶🏾

Chris’s version

Matt and his brothers had gone on tour recently leaving you at home to deal with yourself.

You missed Matt a lot, from his smile to his laugh to his hands.

And you couldn’t get off without him.

You tried everything, from the way he pumped his fingers in and out of you, to the positions he would put them.

but nothing worked. You couldn’t cum without his voice telling you how good you were being.

you sighed, aroused from your thoughts. You were currently wearing one of Matt’s shirts and your panties.

you shimmed your panties off and started dragged you fingers through your slick, earning a whimper from yourself.

before your even started anything, you got an idea.

you pulled out your phone and pressed Matt’s contact, and then the call button.

after a few seconds, Matt answered. The first thing you saw was Matt’s fluffy brown hair.

Trailing down his face, it looked like he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Hey baby! What’s up.” You smiled at him. “Hey. I’m was bored and I wanted to see how things were going. I really miss you.”

he chuckled from the other end of the screen. “I miss you too baby. Things here are fine.” You hummed in response.

“tell me how it’s been.” Matt smiled and began to ramble about how things had been.

“and there was this girl- she kept trying to come up and touch Nicks hair. She just wouldn’t quit. The security had to take her away.”

he continued to yap about his previous shows.

your fingers made their way back to your aching core while you “listened” to him.

You didn’t know if it was your facial expressions that gave it away, because Matt definitely knew what was going on.

“baby, what’s the matter?” He asked while smirking.

“nothing,” you lied. You but your lip trying to contain your moans.

“be a good girl a show me what’s going on, yeah?”

You moaned and propped the camera, revealing your exposed lower half.

“Look at you so wet already. All because of me?” He chuckled. “Spread your legs wider baby.”

you did as he told you. Looking at the camera, Matt’s lower half was exposed, his hard cock in view.

“Rub yourself baby, but start slowly.”

you whined as you started rubbing yourself, wanting to pick up the pace.

“Can I go faster? Please?” You whined. “Be a good girl and wait.”

you could hear the sounds of Matt’s whimpers from the other end of the line. he was furiously jerking himself, grazing his tip so often.

“Finger yourself,” he breathed. “2 fingers.”

you nodded and inserted 2 fingers into your aching hole. You moaned from the stretch.

you started pumping you fingers in and out of yourself, eliciting moans from your mouth. “Oh my god, Matt.”

matt was stroking his cock vigorously at the sight of you. “Mmm- fuck. You look so pretty like this ma. Such a good girl.”

you moaned at his praise, pumping your fingers faster. “Matt I need to cum.”

“not yet,” he groaned. “We’ll do in together, m’kay?”

you whimpered in response. You watched as Matt threw his head back, thumbing his tip and moaning out your name.

You could tell he was close, because he kept on thrusting his dick into his hand. “Fuck y/n I’m close.”

“me too Matt.” Your walls kept clenching around your fingers and your thighs were shaking.

“Fuck fuck fuck- cum with me baby.” You moaned as you felt yourself release on your fingers.

Matt let out a groan as spurts of cum landed on his thighs and his hand.

“Matt come home soon pleaaaseee,” you whined into the microphone, giving him puppy eyes.

Matt chuckled. “We’ll be back soon, promise.” He blew a kiss and ended the call.

tags- ev3rgreenxtrees l34n theyluvme-2315 tillies33ssss maya555sblog alorsxsturn blahbel668 @nyktoxs-lover strnilolo hearteyesformatt

[mediumgayitalian]

okay a few solangelo things i’m curious your take on,

what kind of gift givers do you think will and nico are to each other?

are either of them music nerds? making playlists? gifting playlists? what music do u think they like?

what is their favorite fruit?

do you think either of them keep up with pop culture? are they fans of anything? celebrity crushes? like do you think will would think timothee chalamet is cute bc he lowkey has nico’s vibes and is such a buzzer name for celeb crushes? lolll

and then, do you think nico shamelessly takes will’s sweaters and shirts to wear or secretly swipes them?

ty! love ur blog so much xx

HELL YEAH THANK YOU

what kind of gift givers do you think will and nico are to each other?

i think nico spoils will fucking rotten.

his dad is the god of wealth he is holding NOTHING back. aside from that, he grew up wealthy and spent so so long in the lotus casino. i think he has a rly bad handle on money lol.

however he's such a mysterious guy that i think it doesn't occur to will that nico is actively spending money on him??

like will makes an offhand comment about how he would marry the person who would bring him the mystical rocket launching boba fett. and nico is like word okay and the next day there is a rocket launching boba fett on will's pillow and he's like BRO???? OH MY GOD?????

but he just figures that nico knew someone who had it!! he knows nico is big on figurines & collectibles and has a lot of connections, so he thinks nico just called in a favour.

in reality nico did all those things and also spent like two hundred k lol

basically, nico doesn't even think about it. if he hears a friend express a want that he has to means to acquire...its not even an active choice to him?? he's like well why wouldn't i buy this for them.

and i think this means a whole lot to will!!

he's spent his life in his mom's tour van or a bunk bed. he grew up in two wars. he was responsible for an entire infirmary at 13. he's a nerd and he likes nerdy things but like...collecting takes time. and money he doesn't have, because money isn't really a focus in camp and its not like he's paid lol

so of course there are things that he likes but...imagine being will. imagine having a budget for the INFIRMARY YOU RUN and thinking, like...well the camp has only so much money. i know exactly what these medical supplies cost. i refuse to steal. why would i ever be so selfish to ask for money to be spent on me and the things i like?

and then there's nico, who doesn't need him to ask. who WANTS to give him things he wants, not just what he needs or what he wants for others. what WILL wants. nico will get him.

will on the other hand....he gives away his time like it's free.

he does things for people. constantly. like austin complains about not having anywhere quiet to practice and will builds him a soundproof practice room. you know?

now when nico, who has had no one spend their time on him since bianca....

like his father did not have time for him. even when he lived in the underworld, he was put to work. or else he was bored. it's not like he and hades HUNG OUT, you know?

and of course he had no friends to spend their time on him. even in his first time at camp half blood -- for the first time, bianca didnt have time for him. she chose the hunters for ETERNITY, she said i am done choosing you now. and nico drove percy insane, who certainly didn't have time for him between saving the world. the entire time we saw him in TTC he was being pushed away.

by the time he had hazel, HE was the one pushing himself away before anyone else could. he filled his time so he wasn't waiting for anyone else. besides, through no fault of hers, he and hazel CAN'T give each other as much of their time as they would like!! they live on opposite sides of the country!!

but will.....

gods will. will SEEKS HIM OUT. the first thing will says to him is i have carved out, in my busy healer schedule, three days of time for YOU. not only have i carved out these three days, but in that brief moment of time where i was running around camp, i was thinking about you. you were a PRIORITY and i'm upset that you did not come spend your time with me.

like.....oh my god. can you imagine that? being nico? hearing someone you barely know, at this point, talk about how much time he wants to spend with you? and then as you get closer, he spends SO MUCH time with you!! he makes you a priority!

will walks nico to breakfast and watches him in sword practice and takes out his schedule when nico is making his to make sure they line up. he plans dates and they're FUN and he is so careful to make them enjoyable for nico, too, so much so that he forgets his nerves.

the biggest gifts they give to each other is noticing, i think. i see you, i see what you need and wont ask for, and i care enough to give it to you anyway.

are either of them music nerds? making playlists? gifting playlists? what music do u think they like?

will is the HUGEST MUSIC NERD IN THE WORLD.

he may not have many musical talents himself but music was naomi solace's whole world. you bet your ass it's everything for him, too.

he is teased for his love of country, and he does love country (everybody loves country if you hate country you are lying to yourself, i know you sing along to before he cheats with your whole chest), but he has a VAST music taste.

he is a britney spears stan. i will not be convinced otherwise.

nico, on the other hand, is not nearly as ignorant about music as people pretend he is. y'all he was in a casino/arcade until like 2006!!!!! do you think it was silent in there!!!!! do you think he is not the absolute king of just dance and DDR!!!

however he was, like, 10. so i think he's familiar with a lot of songs but in the way you were when you were a kid, you know?? like i could sing paparazzi w my whole chest beginning to end flawlessly at eight years old, but i would not have been able to recognise lady gaga by name or sight.

i think he and will make somewhat of a game out of it. the first time they hang out, nico is NERVOUS beforehand. like for hours. will said they were going to have a chill day bc he has time off, but what are they supposed to DO?? before they were actively doing stuff together. will was teaching nico first aid basics, or nico was helping him around the infirmary; they were helping rebuild camp together. sure, they were talking, but they had something to focus on if things got awkward or conversation faded naturally.

that is VERY DIFFERENT from just hanging out in person. is nico supposed to have conversation starters prepared? how much silence is rude? is will going to finally decide he's boring? or weird? will is such a hyper person!!! how is nico supposed to entertain him!!

meanwhile will is in his cabin freaking the fuck out to his siblings like GUYS HES GONNA THINK IM A WEIRD NERD DORK LOSER 😭😭😭.....WHAT IF HE SAYS THE WORD SAND AND I GO ON THE ANAKIN SKYWALKER RANT ON REFLEX FUCK KAYLA WHAT DO I DO I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS LIKE A NORMAL PERSON HE IS SO OUT OF MY LEAGUE

so he calls his mom 💀

and his mom is like baby....you are a disaster are you aware. and hes like thanks MOM i know i need HELP OKAY

and naomi is like well you got on with my backstage crew just fine. and hes like well yeah we just talked about music that was easy.

...

OH THANKS MOM YOURE SO SMART

and he's like wait nico has spent a lot of time in the underworld...he might not be very up to date!! this'll be awesome. so he stays up till like 3 on the big house computer carefully making nico several CDs worth of playlists.

he makes HOURS of music. way more than they could ever listen to in one day, but he gets carried away. he makes a playlist with his favourite country music, including his moms stuff obviously, with rock music he thinks nico in particular will like, pop punk stuff, regular pop, an entire CD dedicated to the icon herself kesha (whom he knows personally bc she sun backup vocals for his mom when she was a teenager), some musicals, and some iconic european music to top it off. he has a little bit of EVERYTHING.

most important, though, he makes a CD with the top 100 billboard songs from the years 1958 (when it started) to 1985. he doesnt have enough time to do it all the way to this year in one night but vows to work on it when he has time.

when he goes to nico's cabin, he comes with a stack of CDs as long as his arm and chiron's CD player. he's practically sparkling with excitement; when nico opens the door he is already halfway through a sentence lol.

for four straight hours, they just listen to song after song, will pausing after each one to ask what nico thinks. he recognises a lot of them, even though he didn't know their names, but even still he's pretty quiet at first. but as they go on it gets hard not to get caught up in wills excitement, and he dances like such a dork, anyway, is it his fault for laughing? and those four hours pass like MINUTES and suddenly its curfew and will has to go.

this becomes their tradition! will plays a song, nico reviews it. even as they learn how to hang out with each other in different ways, it becomes reflex -- when there's a song playing will looks at nico for a reaction. when they're with others, in public, whenever.

the first time nico makes will a playlist he cries.

the playlist is called sunshine.

will plays on his walkman until its worn right through.

what is their favorite fruit?

at first will thinks nico doesn't like fruit at all because he has to force this dumbass to eat fruit and vegetables. all he eats is like. cereal and sandwiches. it stresses will the fuck out.

he's out here plopping a bowl of fruit on nico's table like eat this whole thing or i'm gonna whoop your ass before scurvy does. (he is genuinely afraid nico is going to get scurvy, although its not a very effective anxiety because hes kind of deeply afraid of scurvy in general and is always trying to push people to eat oranges lol).

nico ALWAYS drags his feet about it. at one point will gets worried that nico just straight up doesn't like fruit and starts fretting about synthetizing supplements.

turns out nico is just, like...a little pretentious. about fruit particularly. in his defense, he has been all over the world. like he's had indian mangoes and algerian clementines okay it is VERY hard to settle for stuff grown in north america as nice as the demeter greenhouses are.

his favourite fruit ever is the lemon though. he had a lemon tree in his backyard when he was a kid that he doesn't remember, exactly, but he remembers how it tastes. will brings him a lemon once and almost as if his hands are working on their own, he cuts a slice, removes the peel and pith, puts it in a jar of sugar, and shakes to coat it, like his nonna would do secretly when he mama wasn't looking. its the best thing he's ever tasted.

will is a fruit fanatic, on the other hand. he steals strawberries every time he walks by the fields. the demeter cabin has to count their blueberries every night because he can and will eat them all when no one's looking.

his favourite, though, and he never ever gets it at camp, is prickly pear. in the summers before camp he would go to the desert with his mom and pick enough to make his stomach hurt -- he's never home when they're in season now, so sometimes when she's free shell drive up to new york just to bring him a box of them. she knows he's busy and cant leave camp in summers but she wants him to have that, at least.

do you think either of them keep up with pop culture? are they fans of anything? celebrity crushes? like do you think will would think timothee chalamet is cute bc he lowkey has nico’s vibes and is such a buzzer name for celeb crushes? lolll

i think all year-rounders are into pop culture just fine, but they're a few years behind. except for music -- will knows music. but things like movies and tv shows and memes, they either get updated from their summer-only friends or they stumble upon in naturally when it's not longer relevant lol.

nico, though, has an encyclopedic knowledge of old pop culture, because the lotus got new tech and games and movies before literally anyone else. he saw back to the future before it was in theatres and it changed his life. he quotes it all the time and no one has called him out on it then, but it is only a matter of time.

(he has seen star wars. he saw star wars before will was alive. but it is 100% funnier to pretend he doesn't know what a galaxy is and watch will's eye twitch when he asks him about luke skyrunner)

and then, do you think nico shamelessly takes will’s sweaters and shirts to wear or secretly swipes them?

yes absolutely. but he's super embarrassed about it at first so he genuinely STEALS them, not just borrows them.

it's a heist and everything. he shadow travels into the apollo cabin at like three in the morning and rifles through will's shelf. when he gets back he panics and shoves it under his mattress, where it lives in shame for four months. will just thinks it must have been an unfortunate victim of some poor sick child or bleeding demigod and writes it off.

after several months, during which nico thinks about the sweater ALL the time but cannot physically force himself to touch, nico finally gets brave enough to take it out from under his mattress. he just stares at it for a long ass time, wrinkling it in his clenched hands. it's just a hoodie, you know?? who cares.

nico cares. obviously.

eventually he gets so annoyed with himself that he just yanks it on expecting to be able to tell himself like SEE you dumbass it's just a piece of clothing it literally does not matter. except.

except.

the hoodie still smells like will.

somehow.

and that is.

well.

he would rather dunk his head into the river of fire than admit it, but he melts. the hoodie is old as hell and worn and so so so so soft, gods, no wonder will wears it all the time. he never wants to take it off ever.

for weeks, whenever he's alone in the cabin, he wears the hoodie. it stops smelling like will pretty quickly but he doesn't mind, it's still the most comfortable thing ever. it becomes second nature to walk into his cabin, throw off his jacket, and tug the hoodie on, wearing it to bed.

on one night, and of course it's the hermes' cabin fault, everyone is rushing out of their cabin to see what the fresh fuck is sounding like twenty four fire alarms at once and also a nuclear explosion. nico, in his haste, does not take off the hoodie.

will, whipped, makes sure his siblings are okay and then turns immediately to find nico. he Sees The Hoodie. nico Sees Him See The Hoodie. nico tries to flee.

will has longer legs and also spots a teasing opportunity, so hera herself could not stop him.

will teases him to pieces but is also visibly pleased. the next morning nico finds another hoodie of will's hung over his desk chair.

he wears will's hoodies all the time.

THANK YOU FOR SENDING THESE IN I HAD SO MUCH FUN

[starlightkun]

⏯ word count: 9.5k ⏯ genre: fluff, established relationship, band au, punk drummer!sungchan, sequel to filler episodes, reader isn’t completely boring anymore! yay!, she’s still figuring it out a little bit but it’s not a full-fledged quarter life crisis anymore, ft. shotaro/eunseok/wonbin as sungchan’s bandmates, and nct dream 00 line as reader’s normal friends™ ⏯ warnings: the usual cursing, and reader briefly gets creeped on in a scene but gets out of there pretty quick, and that’s really it! if i missed any please let me know ⏯ extra info: this is the sequel to filler episodes, it cannot be read as a standalone! ⏯ author’s note: guys i almost died writing this they’re so cute 🤧 ⏯ now playing… pluto – xdinary heroes | undercover – a.c.e | injured crow – bears in trees

He didn’t pull away when the kiss broke, affectionately nuzzling his nose with yours again. “Yeah…” he murmured, a content smile on his face. “I get it.”

“Get what?”

“The sappy love songs, all the wars, carving things in trees, the locks on bridges, all of it.”

The excited hum of the crowd was audible from backstage as you helped the band with their final checks before going on.

“Shotaro, your in-ears,” you handed said equipment to the frontman.

“Oh, I was looking for those! Thanks!” He grinned as he took them from you, slipping one in his ear.

“Wonbin, I thought you weren’t going to wear more white shirts after you stained the one from yesterday blue with your sweat,” you reminded the guitarist, fixing a piece of his freshly-dyed dark blue hair that was out of place.

He looked down at his white tank top as if just remembering this, then shrugged. “This was the only clean shirt I had.”

“Laundry. We’re all doing laundry tomorrow,” you declared, looking around for the remaining members. “Where are the other two?”

“We’re here, we’re here,” Sungchan appeared at your side, Eunseok right behind him, tucking his shirt in. “Just had to use the bathroom.”

“Alright, everyone good?” You pointed at all of them, receiving various yeses and thumbs-up in return.

Another crew member called out two minutes before they had to go on, and you started backing away as they grabbed their instruments. “Okay, good luck, have fun, I’ll see you guys after.”

“Thanks, Y/N!” The other three members beamed at you, attentions turning to the stage in front of them.

Sungchan hung back with you for another moment, cupping your cheek with a hand to pull your lips to his. “Thank you, baby.”

“Good luck, Sungchan,” you murmured, giving him one more peck. “I love you.”

“Love you more.” He let you go with a grin.

You emerged from backstage almost directly in the crowd, having to pass through a set of curtains and step over one rope until you were in the packed venue. Feeling a bit bad as always, you tried to squeeze through the people as nicely as you could. A staff member of the venue who was standing up by the stage and facing the crowd eyed you as you got closer and closer, and you held up the lanyard around your neck indicatively. Hanging from the lanyard was a crew member badge for the headliner band. Roses for Eyes hadn’t been able to get any of their own made—both due to how last-minute of an addition they were, and because they didn’t really have any crew or staff of their own, relying pretty much on the headliner’s crew and you—so you had been given a badge from the headliner’s crew to allow you to move freely in the venues.

The venue staff member relaxed and nodded, gesturing between them and the barricade, asking if you needed to get in there. You shook your head, stopping a few people behind barricade and off to the side.

As the guys came out and started their first song, you pulled out your phone to start taking pictures. On top of becoming the de facto tour manager for Roses for Eyes, you had also been in charge of taking videos and pictures of all the performances for their social media. They only had a thirty-minute set, and you always felt the pressure to capture all the best moments from each night.

You were focusing in on Wonbin’s guitar solo when you became aware of a presence over your shoulder. Thinking it was just someone in the crowd trying to get closer, you shuffled forward as best you could while still recording Wonbin.

“Hey.” A guy’s voice was right by your ear, making you nearly jump out of your skin.

The guitar solo was over, and as you switched back into taking pictures, you offered a polite nod to the man next to you in the crowd who had spoken to you. “Hi.”

“They’re good, right?” He was still shout-talking to you over the music.

“Yeah, they’re awesome.” You agreed, catching the perfect moment of Eunseok and Shotaro jamming out together.

“You a fan?”

“Uh-huh. Big fan.”

The lights went down for a dramatic rise back up into the next song, and you pointed your camera at Sungchan, knowing he always went hard on the intro of this one.

“So are you here by yourself?”

“I’m working,” you told him shortly, flashing your badge at him.

He either didn’t get the hint or didn’t care. “Cool, cool. So are you single?”

“Nope.”

“Really?”

Rolling your eyes, you decided to stop answering, focusing back on your job.

“Come on, what’s—” As soon as his hand grabbed your upper arm, you whipped around to shake him off.

“Fuck. Off.” You glared at him, lowering your phone as you focused on this problem.

“So you were lying. About not being single?”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” you hissed back. “Doesn’t matter if I’m single or not.”

He held his hands up. “We got off on the wrong foot. Can I try again?”

“No. Fuck off.”

A group of women who had been off to the side of you must have taken notice of what was going on, as two of them stepped in between you and the man, staring down at him from the top of their very tall platform boots.

“She said fuck off.” One of them spat at him. “We heard her tell you twice.”

“We were just talking.” He looked at you sheepishly, as if expecting you to defend him.

“No, we weren’t.” You retorted.

“So fuck off.” Another woman took a step closer to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He muttered something about bitches as he slunk off into the crowd. You let out a breath of relief as the women swarmed you to check on you.

“Are you okay?” The first woman who had stepped in bent down to ask you.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you assured them. “Thank you, really.”

“Of course!” A third one fixed your jacket for you. “We weren’t going to stand around with that happening right in front of us!”

“Do you want to watch the rest of the concert with us?” The first woman offered. “We’ll keep you tucked in safe right in the middle of us.”

You flashed them an appreciative smile. “If you don’t mind, then please.”

“Oh my god, of course!” They welcomed you into their group, encircling you, and letting you get lost in their fun energy for the night.

At the end of the show, you were sat at the band’s merch table. In addition to being the de facto tour manager and photographer/videographer, you also usually managed the merch table for Roses for Eyes. The headliner had plenty of crew to spare to work it, but you wanted to help however you could, and this was honestly one of your favorite parts. Various members usually came to hang out by the merch table and meet and talk with the concert goers, and you loved hearing all the praise that was showered on the guys. Almost nobody had heard of them before coming to the concerts, but it made your chest puff up with pride at how many people stayed just to tell the guys how much they loved their set.

Roses for Eyes didn’t have a lot of merch. In fact, they had exactly one kind of t-shirt, and CDs of their one and only semi-professionally recorded EP for sale. Which made your job easier, you just had to either hand them a CD, or ask their size in shirt.

“Oh my god, you’re here too!” Your next customers were the women who you had spent almost the whole concert with, their eyes sparkling with recognition and delight at you.

“Yes, I am!” You laughed as one reached out to fix your hair. “I’m everywhere, I swear. What can I get you guys?”

They each got a shirt, and a couple got CDs too. As you ran their cards and accepted their cash, they raved to you about the show.

“You know, I’d never heard of them before this, but they were so good!”

“That’s what everyone says,” you replied with a grin.

“I loved the first song they played, that was like—” She started mimicking the melody, and you recognized it immediately.

“Ah, ‘Lonely as Mars’!” You perked up. “That’s one of my favorites.”

“What’s your favorite song then?”

“Oh, I can’t say.” You grinned. “It’s not released yet…”

They all laughed and giggled at this. One peeked at the track list of the CD she had just bought from you again before looking up at you. “Guess we’ll have to wait until it’s released then, huh?”

“Yes, yes, please keep an eye out!” You couldn’t help it, you were proud of your boyfriend and the rest of your friends.

“Alright, beautiful, we’ll stop holding up your line.” One of them chuckled, giving your cheek a final tweak before the four of them moved over to the short line to chat with the band.

You couldn’t pause on that moment for too long, as more patrons came up to your table.

Once people had finally started trickling out of the venue, and you had no line left in front of either your merch table or to meet the band, you were unsurprised when Sungchan pulled up an extra folding chair next to you.

“You know,” he let out a sigh, scooting right up next to you until your legs were pressed together. “I think we need to completely deck you out in Roses for Eyes merch from head to toe.”

“One, you guys don’t even have that much merch. Two, I think all that would accomplish would be making me looking like a crazed fan.”

“Aren’t you?”

“I am your biggest fan,” you acquiesced with a giggle at how serious he looked, squeezing his leg. “But we need security to let me in, you know.”

“What about a shirt with my face on it?”

“I think that’d be even worse.”

“It can say ‘CREW’ on the back or something.”

You laughed again. “I did tell that guy I was working, you know. Which did nothing.”

“I know, baby, I’m not mad at you.” Sungchan put an arm around the back of your chair, leaning in closer to inform you, “I was up on stage wishing I could’ve been kicking his face instead of the bass drum.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t hop off stage just to beat up somebody in the crowd.” You whispered back. “Even if it would’ve been deserved.”

“God, I don’t know if I can take another month of hearing you get hit on from right next to me.” He was presumably referencing times like now, with you at the merch table and him nearby talking to patrons.

“You think I like hearing people compliment your tattoos as an excuse to feel up your arms?”

“I don’t let them!” He protested. “And sometimes they do actually like my tattoos!”

“I know, Sungchan,” you snickered. “It’s hard being the hottest couple ever, isn’t it?”

“God truly gives his toughest battles to his sexiest soldiers,” Sungchan joked back, letting his arm drop down to your waist.

“Hey, on the bright side, tomorrow is the Venue:Hell show,” you reminded him. “I’ll have Jeno and Jaemin and my other two much less sturdy friends there. Not to mention Anton, Sohee, and Seunghan.”

He didn’t seem much happier about this, letting out a little grumble, “Mmm, alright.”

You looked around at the nearly empty venue, the only fans left chatting with a couple of the members from the headlining band by their table. “Do you think we can shut it down for the night?”

“Yeah, I think you’ve done plenty, baby.” He snuck a quick kiss to your temple. “So thankful for you.”

Your hometown was only a short, three-hour drive from the previous venue, so Roses for Eyes made the very cost-effective decision to drive straight there after the show to crash at the band’s apartment for the night instead of getting a hotel in the city right next-door. All of you let out groans of both relief and exhaustion when you finally opened the front door to their apartment. Luggage was immediately dropped on the floor of the living room as muttered ‘goodnight’s were lazily tossed over shoulders and everyone disappeared into their own rooms. After the five of you had been sharing two (or sometimes one) hotel rooms every night and a van every day for the past month, you knew everyone was glad to have some space again. You dropped onto Sungchan’s bed, a subtle happiness spreading out through you at being in the familiar surroundings again.

Sungchan flopped down pretty much on top of you, burying his face in your neck as he wrapped his arms around you tight.

“Night, baby,” he pressed a kiss to your cheek, then left his face there, nuzzling his nose against your cheekbone. “Love you so much.”

“Mm, night, Sungchan.” You pulled one of his hands up to drop a peck on the back of his fingers. “Love you so much… even more…”

In the morning, you woke up still underneath Sungchan, and smiled to yourself, letting your eyes flutter shut. You fell asleep again for who knows how long, being woken up by gentle kisses being peppered all over your cheek.

Shifting a little bit, you squinted one eye open to offer Sungchan a sleepy smile. “Morning.”

“Did I wake you up?” He whispered. “Sorry, baby.”

“It’s okay, Sungchan,” you chuckled softly. “It was a great way to wake up.”

“I just woke up and saw you and I was thinking about how much I love and appreciate you,” he hummed, pressing two more kisses to your face. “Love you so much, and I’m so thankful for everything you’ve done for us, you know.”

“I was serious about being your biggest fan.”

“I know. But I mean, we would’ve already crashed and burned so many times on this tour without you. And you stepping up not only to manage, but take photos and run our merch table? You didn’t have to do any of that. I asked you to come with because I couldn’t stand the thought of going two months without you. Not because we needed a crew member.”

“But you did need a crew member. Several, actually,” you replied humorously. “And I wasn’t going to just tag along and do nothing. Even if you had a manager and social media person and a fully staffed merch table already, I would’ve found something.”

“I don’t doubt it.” He kissed the corner of your mouth. “God, I’m so in love with you. Love you so, so much I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Alright, well don’t do that,” you hummed, shifting onto your back and carding your fingers through his hair. You pulled him up to give him a kiss on the lips, laughing into his mouth when he dropped his full body weight back onto you again. “I love you too, Sungs. You big, clingy snugglemonster of a guy.”

“Your guy.”

“Yeah, you are.”

With your second load of laundry in the dryer, you hauled the stuff you’d just pulled out of the dryer into Sungchan’s room, dropping it onto his bed to start folding it. It’d all be going right back into your suitcases, but it was nice not having to do this in a laundromat.

You hadn’t heard a peep from the other three all morning, and as far as you knew, they were still passed out. Not that they were really morning people under normal circumstances anyway, but you figured they deserved to sleep in for today. If they weren’t up by the time Sungchan came back with lunch for everyone, you’d probably wake them up. After all, they had a show tonight, and you would need to be back on the road tomorrow morning.

Sungchan’s bedroom door opened again, your boyfriend poking his head in. “Food’s here.”

“Can you help me finish folding all this first?” You requested, and he obliged immediately, joining you by the mattress and picking up a t-shirt. “We should probably wake everyone else up so they can eat before the show.”

Suddenly, Sungchan started chuckling as he grabbed the next article of clothing to start folding.

“What’s so funny?” You questioned.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about how… normal this is.” He pointed between you, him, and the laundry. “After being on the road for a month, it’s weird. I love it, I love not being cooped up in hotel rooms with everyone and having to smell-test my clothes as I’m rushing to get changed to go on stage but—” He laughed again. “I don’t know, it’s crazy how I love even stupid little chores like laundry with you.”

“Ah, Sungchan.” You tossed aside the socks you had just paired up, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your face into his back. “You’re going to make me explode if you keep saying stuff like that.”

“Explode because you love me so much, I presume?” His grin was audible in his voice as he kept moving around to fold the rest of the laundry.

You just nodded against his back, continuing to hold him.

“Are we going to eat lunch like this?” He asked, and that’s when you realized he had finished up the last few garments.

You let out a dramatic sigh, taking your arms back. “I guess not.”

“You want to wake up Taro and Eunseok while I get Wonbin?”

Knowing that he was willingly taking the short end of the stick, you agreed easily. “Sure.”

You knocked on Shotaro’s door first, waiting for a few seconds before knocking again after you got no response. This time, you heard a garbled ‘Eh?’ from inside.

“Taro? You up?” You called out.

He groaned, and you could hear his feet as he shuffled over to open his door. The frontman rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Mm, hey. What time is it?”

“Lunchtime,” you informed him. “Good morning.”

“Oh, morning.” He grunted and stretched. “I’ll help you get Eunseok up.”

The two of you approached the bassist’s door together, and on the other side of the apartment, you could hear Sungchan’s unsuccessful attempts to wake Wonbin. Shotaro attempted very loud banging on the door once, and when he inevitably got no response, just threw it open. It was pitch black in the room thanks to Eunseok’s blackout curtains. You hung back by the doorway as Shotaro flicked the lights on then grabbed his bandmate’s shoulders.

Eunseok swore loudly, throwing an elbow out towards Shotaro as he rolled over and tried to push his face into his pillow.

“Nope!” Shotaro shook his shoulders again. “Come on, Eunseok! Wakey wakey! Good morning! Food! We have food! And if you don’t come eat it now, we’ll eat it all without you.”

Eunseok let out a long, slow sigh before sitting up straight in his bed. He pushed hair out of his face as he glowered at Shotaro. “If there’s no food, I’m going to cut your guitar strings one by one with kitchen shears while you watch.”

“Good morning, Eunseok,” you added with a snicker. He wordlessly flipped you off. You returned the gesture.

The three of you were already in the kitchen by the time Sungchan came back, practically dragging a still-snoozing Wonbin with him. Sungchan had a harrowed look on his face, while the guitarist yawned and nuzzled his cheek against your boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Glad you could join us, sleepy,” you cooed, fixing Wonbin’s bedhead.

Shotaro and Eunseok finished making their plates and took them into the living room to eat—the guys had no dining table. You immediately started fixing two more plates of food in addition to your own, for Sungchan and Wonbin. Carefully balancing the three plates you brought them out to the living room as well, Sungchan dragging Wonbin behind you. He deposited Wonbin onto the couch next to Shotaro, and you set his plate and utensil down on the coffee table in front of him. Shotaro immediately took over prodding and waking Wonbin up to start eating, letting you and Sungchan squeeze into the armchair together with your food.

Roses for Eyes were doing their soundcheck that evening when you felt your phone start buzzing in your pocket. Checking it quickly, you saw that it was Jaemin, and stepped away to take the call.

“Hey!” You greeted him brightly, plugging your other ear to be able to hear him better. “Are you guys here?”

“Yeah, we can’t figure out which door to use?” He said, and in the background, you could hear the distant voices of Donghyuck and Renjun bickering. “And we don’t want to get the cops called on us or anything.”

“That wouldn’t happen, promise,” you snorted. “Places like this aren’t particularly fond of cops. Anyway, I’ll come get you! Are you by the front?”

“If the front is an unmarked rusted metal door, then yes.”

“Okay! Wait there!” You hung up.

Stepping back into the band’s eyeline, you lifted a hand to get their attention. They didn’t stop playing, but a couple of the members looked at you indicatively. You jerked a thumb at the exit and mouthed ‘be right back.’ Sungchan nodded, and Shotaro, who had been holding his mic with two hands anyway, gave you a thumbs-up.

Jogging through the venue, you opened the front door, squinting against the bright light of the sun for a moment. It was easy to find your friends, as Renjun presently had an arm around Donghyuck’s neck and Jaemin and Jeno watched on like they were two dads grilling at a cookout.

“Hey, guys!” You called out, running up to them.

“Y/N!” Jaemin whipped around, bright smile on his face as he went to hug you. “Oh my god, hey! You’re okay!”

“Hi, Jaem,” you laughed, hugging him back just as forcefully. “I didn’t go off to war, you know.”

“I know, I know.”

“Just ran off with my dirtbag boyfriend,” you couldn’t help but tease him, feeling as he scoffed, and perfectly imagining the eyeroll that came with it.

“Yeah, you haven’t let that one go, huh?”

“I’m afraid the guys are going to get matching shirts at this point.”

“I didn’t even call him your dirtbag boyfriend, I’m pretty sure I said—”

“Alright, you’re hogging her and now you’re nagging her,” Jeno interrupted, grabbing Jaemin’s shoulder.

Jaemin sighed and patted your head fondly as he let you go.

“Hey,” Jeno was beaming too as he grabbed you for a hug next.

“Hey, Jeno.” You squeezed him tight. “Thanks for the save, as always.”

“We used to be ‘the guys,’ you know?” Renjun had let Donghyuck go, and lodged his own teasing complaint as he gave you a brief hug. “Now it’s them?”

“I’m staying out of this one,” you announced, holding your hands up in surrender. “You all were my first ‘the guys,’ they’re my ‘the guys’ I’m around all the time right now, and Sungchan is, well, we all know—”

“Your dirtbag boyfriend!” Your friends said in unison, even Jaemin.

Renjun peered at your face inquisitively then, declaring, “You’re different.”

“What?” You tilted your head, absent-mindedly patting Donghyuck’s back in a one-armed hug.

“He’s right,” Hyuck agreed. “You’re not our same boring Y/N anymore.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment then,” you snorted. “Come on, you guys can catch the rest of their soundcheck.”

Walking back into the venue with the other four in tow, you could already tell which song they were playing just from the drum beat that reverberated up the stairs that you were descending. The air became noticeably cooler as you went underground.

“Ooh, you guys are lucky,” you told your friends over your shoulder. “They’re playing one that isn’t released yet. It’s my favorite.”

You emerged back to where the main stage was, staying put towards the back as the band kept playing. Your foot tapped along to the beat, and you hummed along to the melody under your breath as Wonbin started singing first. Your eyes strayed from the band over to your friends’ faces every so often, however, anxious to see if they were enjoying it at all. You could still remember clearly the only other time they’d seen Roses for Eyes perform, and how well that went. They were here to show their support for you as your friends, not because they actually liked your boyfriend’s band, you were aware of that.

Jeno was bobbing his head along to the music, Renjun didn’t seem to be outright put off by it this time, but it was Jaemin and Donghyuck that concerned you. Their heads were together as they seemed to be quietly talking, but they were too far away for you to distinguish anything they were saying.

An errant sound in the song made you snap your head back over towards the stage, and you could tell that the rest of the members had noticed it as well, all of them looking at Sungchan for a second as they continued performing. As the song finished, you walked up towards the stage, concerned frown on your face as you looked up at your boyfriend.

“You alright, Sungchan?” You questioned. “You came in early for the last verse and hit the snare instead of the toms…”

“Yeah, baby, I’m okay,” he reassured you, pushing some hair off his forehead that had stuck there. “Just got distracted and accidentally started doing the last verse for Lonely as Mars instead.”

“Mm, alright.” You sighed. “Drink some water. All of you! I’m going to ask them to turn the AC up in here, you guys are dripping already and there isn’t even a crowd yet.”

A chorus of ‘thanks, Y/N’s followed you as you turned from the stage. Your friends were still standing uncertainly by the back wall, and you detoured over to them for a second.

“Sorry, can you guys wait here a second?” You requested. “I have to talk to the venue staff, it’ll just be a minute. I’ll also grab you a few VIP passes or something.”

When you returned, with the AC successfully nudged down a few degrees and four of the headliner’s VIP passes in hand, you saw that your friends had approached the stage, and were chatting with the band. Shotaro was sat on the edge of the stage, tuning his guitar, as Eunseok stood behind him, Wonbin was splayed out on his back on the stage, and Sungchan was still sat at his kit, miming drumming so as to not distract the others. His brow was furrowed with concentration as he ran through a pattern, not paying mind to anybody else.

“Here you go,” you smiled, handing out the VIP passes to all your friends. You then turned to the band to announce, “It should start getting much colder in here soon.”

Wonbin just lifted a thumbs-up in response before flopping his arm back onto the ground next to him.

“Thanks, Y/N!” Shotaro beamed. He turned to your friends again, “Like I was saying, we don’t know what we would’ve done without her. I don’t know how we managed before her, honestly.”

“You guys were doing just fine.” You shook your head. “You got invited on this tour all on your own, I had nothing to do with that, remember?”

“Dumb luck,” Eunseok snorted. “Their first opener’s vocalist broke his leg.”

“But if you guys hadn’t already put in the work yourselves, and weren’t awesome, they wouldn’t have asked you to fill in.”

“Alright, maybe you have a point,” Shotaro grinned.

Sungchan had finished what he was doing, and lumbered over to the edge of the stage, hopping down to stand next to you. He wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close to him.

“Hi,” you smiled up at him. “You done already?”

“Seemed like everybody else was taking a break.” He gestured to the rest of his bandmates.

“Because you said you needed to run your solo in ‘Split Seconds’ again on your own,” Eunseok retorted.

Sungchan pointedly ignored him, turning to your friends instead, giving them all good-natured nods. “Good to see you guys again. Glad you could make it out.”

“Yeah man, you too,” Jeno gave him a smile back.

“Of course, thanks uh, for inviting us out here…” Jaemin looked around the underground venue that you all were in, having a hard time keeping the uncertainty from his face, if he was even trying.

“Yeah, that was really convincing,” you hissed, pinching his arm.

“Ow!” His hand flew to rub the spot that you had just wounded, a pout coming to his face.

“So, where will the safest place in the crowd be?” Renjun asked the band, gesturing to the empty area behind you all.

The band exchanged confused looks. You clarified, “They don’t want to be in the mosh pit.”

They let out unanimous ‘ohh’s, and Shotaro took over explaining.

“A pit usually forms in the center… front-ish.” He waved his hand over a large swath of the venue. “So if you stay off to the sides, you should be fine.”

“I’m usually up by the barricades and off to the side, since I’m taking photos and stuff,” you added.

“Honestly, you should try it,” Eunseok suggested. “One of the rules of a mosh pit is to look out for the other moshers. You shouldn’t get trampled or anything.”

Renjun shot a look at Donghyuck, who already had a mischievous grin on his face. “Lee Donghyuck, if you shove me into a mosh pit, so help me, I’m dragging you in with me.”

The other guys snickered, and you couldn’t help but smile at the familiar bickering of your friends.

Checking your phone for the time, you then nudged Sungchan’s side and started shooing the rest of the band back towards the stage. “Alright, break’s over. You guys need to finish your soundcheck so we can hand the stage over.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Eunseok saluted you as Shotaro hopped back to his feet and both of them started yanking Wonbin up.

Sungchan kissed your temple and squeezed your shoulder in a wordless ‘thanks’ and ‘be back soon’ before effortlessly climbing back on stage. You stepped back to stand with your friends as the band counted off for their next song.

“Shotaro said that you’re not just tagging along, you’re like, doing everything for them?” Jaemin lowered his voice as much as he could to keep the conversation between the two of you, but still be heard over the music. “Like, tour manager, running their merch table, photos and videos…”

“Huh?” You looked over at him from where you were watching Sungchan closely to see if he had gotten out of his funk from earlier. “Oh, yeah, yeah. They needed some help, it’s not like I was really doing anything else.”

“I thought you might at least pitch in like doing merch or something, but…”

“But what?”

“Do you think you’ll keep doing this? When you get back? Being their manager or whatever?” Your friend sounded genuinely curious. “They all said they really rely on you.”

The expression fell off your face as you blinked at him, having never genuinely considered this. You frowned and tilted your head. “I… don’t think so.”

“Why not?” After a beat, he half-joked, “Pay’s not great?”

You gave him a light-hearted eyeroll at that. “Not only are they covering my travel and lodging expenses, but they’re insisting on giving me a cut of the tour and merch proceeds, too. Whatever we actually end up making, if anything.”

“Not bad.”

“I mean, I filled in now because they needed someone now. But, I just don’t think that’d be good for me and Sungchan,” you admitted. “Pitching in at their merch table or even backstage every once in a while is one thing, but working together that closely and dating… I don’t think it’d be good to do for the long-term. You know?”

Jaemin nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. So you’ll be looking for a job when you get back?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to find something.” You shrugged. “Eventually.”

All of you were hanging out in the band’s area backstage when a venue staff member tapped you on the shoulder. You turned to her inquisitively, stepping away from the conversation to hear her properly.

She sighed and shook her head. “There’s three guys at the front claiming they’re with you all. They’re really insistent. Anton, Seunghan, and Sohee?”

The look on her face made it clear that she didn’t believe them, and she was expecting this whole errand to be a waste of her time.

“Oh, yeah, yeah!” You replied brightly. “Where are they? I’ll bring them in.”

“Front door.”

“Thanks!” You darted off through the building. Grabbing three more passes from the headliner’s crew first, you then poked your head out the front door.

A line had begun forming already, and off to the side were your three friends, waiting with a rather unamused-looking venue staffer. You walked over, greeting the staff member politely.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, Roses for Eyes’ crew.” You showed him your badge. “Thanks for letting us know. They’re good to come in.”

You were handing the guys their own lanyards as you spoke, and the employee glanced over you one more time before shrugging.

“Cool. You got it from here?” He asked.

“Yep. Thanks again.” You flashed him a smile before starting back towards the door. Addressing your friends over your shoulder, you added, “Hi, by the way. You guys weren’t giving them trouble, were you?”

“What? Us?” Sohee replied with mock offense. “Never!”

“Did you get a haircut or something, Y/N?” Seunghan asked suddenly.

“Huh?” You looked back at him. “No, my hair’s the same.”

“Maybe it’s the clothes,” Anton suggested. “I think is the first time we haven’t seen you in a pantsuit.”

You scoffed. “It wasn’t growing from my skin, you know.”

“Yeah, we know that now.”

“They’re right,” Sohee agreed. “Something’s different.”

“You think so?” You looked down at yourself, furrowing your brow thoughtfully. “That’s what my friends said too…”

“Did you dye your hair?” Seunghan was apparently still stuck on your hair. “Like, a different shade of the same color?”

“No, I didn’t change my hair.” You shook your head. “You guys are late, by the way. Completely missed both bands’ soundcheck.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Anton teased, making the other two snicker.

You turned around to grab his ear. “Not your mom, you little punk. Take out your mommy issues on some other girl.”

“Ow! Ow!” He whined. “Okay, fine, you’re way more like an aggressive older sister anyway.”

Sohee and Seunghan were still laughing at Anton, who cradled his wounded ear as the three of you reentered Roses for Eyes’ green room. It hadn’t been very spacious before, already rather cozy with the band, you and your friends, now a bit cramped with the addition of the other three.

“They’re finally here!” You announced loudly as you opened the door.

The band’s faces immediately lit up at seeing their friends again, welcoming them in.

“Your girlfriend’s a bully, Sungchan.” Anton apparently wanted to continue your hallway bickering.

“Whatever it was, you probably deserved it,” Sungchan replied without hesitation, putting him in a headlock and messing up his hair for good measure.

Packed into the crowd, with your friends all around you and Roses for Eyes’ music coming through the speakers by your head so loud that you could feel it rattling your ribcage, you couldn’t picture anywhere else you’d rather be in that moment. The crowd was unbelievably energetic, feeding right back into the guys’ performance, and you eagerly yelled back the lyrics to them, one of the few who did, but entirely uncaring of that fact as every time you caught your boyfriend’s eye, or one of your friends’ gazes up on stage, they would give you the wildest grin and continue singing along with you.

For their part, your friends did look like they were having fun. They danced with you, clapped and cheered between songs, and followed your lead on chants. Anton, Sohee, and Seunghan were of course having a blast, this was already their scene, and they broke away from you to join in on the mosh pit when it formed. They even managed to convince Donghyuck to come along, and you couldn’t help but laugh as you watched the four of them disappear into the throng.

Sungchan had taken you aside before the show and told you to not worry about pictures or videos tonight, to just have fun with your friends. And you were, fully immersing yourself in the moment.

You excitedly hit the closest person’s arm—Jaemin—as the vocals stopped and tension rose in the song, knowing what was coming next. “Ahhh! Listen! Listen! Here!”

It was one of Sungchan’s drum solos, and you couldn’t hide your pride, gripping Jaemin’s arm maybe a little too hard as you jumped and cheered. As it finished out and the other instruments joined back in, you let out one last yell of Sungchan’s name, and he threw his head back to shake his hair out of his face, shooting you a grin and a wink.

“Y/N!” Jaemin yelled from next to you.

“Yeah?” You replied just as loud, still half-watching the performance.

“He’s really good, but I think you’re going to make my arm bleed!”

“Shit! Sorry!” You let go of where you had been unintentionally digging your nails into his forearm in your elation, and he rubbed his other hand over the skin.

“It’s okay.” He patted your back, a twinkle in his eye as he looked at you. “I’m having fun.”

“Good!” You beamed, giving his arm a kinder squeeze this time.

After the concert, the others all went back to Anton’s place to drink and continue catching up—you again were surprised when your four friends accepted the invitation that had been extended to them. But Sungchan waved them off, saying he was worn out from the show.

Since the others had taken the van, you and Sungchan were left to walk home, which you didn’t mind, their apartment was just a fifteen-minute walk from Venue:Hell, and the night was cool and clear. Your path took you along the riverfront, and you pulled on Sungchan’s hand to stop at the railing overlooking the water. The lights shimmered along the dark, rippling surface of the water, and you took a deep breath of the crisp air.

Sungchan pecked your temple, letting out a sigh against your head before letting go of your hand and moving to sit down on a nearby bench. He let out a deep-held groan as he lowered himself to sit, resting his elbows on his knees.

You turned around, leaning back against the railing to watch him. “Do you want to go straight home? I know you said you were tired…”

“No, it’s okay, baby. It’s nice out here,” he reassured you, and his tone didn’t make you think he was lying about that, but there was still something that was bothering you.

“Is something wrong, Sungs?” You questioned. “You’ve been… off since soundcheck.”

“It’s being back home, made me realize that it’s going to be over.”

“Aw, you’ll go on tour again.” You pushed off the railing to close the space between you two, cradling his head to you and kissing his hair. “I know you will. You guys are only going to do bigger and better things.”

“Thanks, baby.” He wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing his cheek against your middle. “But that’s not what I was talking about. I meant being with you all day every day, getting to see you be our badass manager and stuff.”

“Ah, Sungchan…” You cooed again, rubbing his back. “I’m going to miss this too. I think this was really good for us, being able to spend time together like this, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m so happy that you invited me to come with you, that I’ve been able to really see what you do and do this incredible thing with you, even if it kind of terrified me at first. But I don’t think that working together like this all the time would be sustainable for our relationship long-term.”

He let out a loud, drawn-out sigh. “Yeah… You’re right. You’re always right.”

“So you keep saying,” you replied humorously. Your voice turned soft and serious again as you added, “I’ll always be there supporting you guys; don’t think I’m going to stop being your biggest fan. But I don’t want to risk this in the process.”

“Neither do I.” He kissed your stomach through your shirt, making you giggle at the ticklish feeling. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Sungs.” You kissed his head again. “And tonight also made me realize something else too.”

“What’s that?”

“As much as I’ve loved helping you guys out and being able to support you from behind the scenes, and I’m looking forward to spending the second half of the tour doing that… I also missed being able to just cut loose with the rest of the crowd and support you like that too.”

Sungchan looked up at you, a fond smile coming to his face. “Yeah, I loved seeing you have so much fun tonight. I want you to have the time of your life at every one of our shows that you’re at, not be working.”

“Then after this tour…” You pecked his nose. “I quit.”

He was smirking as he teased back, “Not if I fire you first.”

You couldn’t help yourself, cupping his cheek and kissing him. Sungchan eagerly kissed you back as one of his hands went under the hem your shirt, fingers on the skin of your waist as he pulled you even tighter to him.

You broke the kiss with another giggle, squirming and grabbing his hand that was under your top. “Your fingers are cold, Sungs.”

He didn’t seem offended by the rebuff at all, watching you fondly as you sandwiched his one large, cold hand between your own two slightly warmer hands in a futile attempt to warm it up. “Hey, have we done your something new yet today? We’re back home, it’s not a new city.”

You let go of his hand to check the time on your phone. “It’s almost one in the morning…”

“It’s not tomorrow yet until we’ve gone to sleep.”

“Alright,” you chuckled. “What are you thinking?”

“It’s a surprise.” He jumped to his feet and offered you his hand with a grin.

You took it without hesitation, letting him pull you down the empty sidewalks at a near-run. The two of you finally skidded to a stop at the back of a building you’d never seen before in your life.

Sungchan tested the door handle, chuckling when it opened easily. “He still leaves it unlocked.”

You didn’t question where you were, who Sungchan was talking about, or if you were allowed to be here as you followed him in, the door slipping shut behind you. You ended up in some kind of stairwell, and your boyfriend started taking you up. A few yellowed lights dimly lit the concrete stairs under your feet, flickering every so often, but affording just enough visibility that you didn’t think you’d trip and face-plant. You passed by doors that seemed to lead to the actual inside of the building, only marked with numbers indicating their floors. You reached the top of the stairs after floor four. There was another door, this one marked ‘ROOF ACCESS – KEEP CLOSED’ and propped open with what looked like a broken mop handle.

Sungchan pushed the door open without hesitation, leading you right onto the roof. While the building you were on top of wasn’t a skyscraper by any means, it was taller than the others in its immediate vicinity, affording an unobstructed view of the city lights at night, glittering and shimmering all around you. The air was cool on your cheek, but you were kept warm by Sungchan’s jacket. Leaning against the railing that went around the entire roof, you took your eyes off the view and looked up at Sungchan.

“This is great, Sungchan,” you said, feeling the persistent smile on your lips that was there whenever you were with him.

“Hold on.” He slipped off his backpack, and you watched with interest as he rooted around in it before bringing out a box. It was a box of hand sparklers, these ones in particular being familiar to you as the same ones you all had gotten a few stops ago to celebrate Shotaro’s birthday.

“I thought we used all of them,” you accepted them from him as he fetched a lighter from the bag before dropping it on the ground.

“Eunseok found one more box rummaging through a box of cables earlier.”

“So you stole them.”

“So I stole them, yeah.”

You took out one sparkler for yourself, and handed another to Sungchan. He lit yours first, the firework immediately sparking in front of you. A giggle bubbled out of you as you held the sparkler out in front of you, watching it until it fizzed out. Getting another two and turning to Sungchan for him to light, you realized he hadn’t even used his first one yet, his gaze resting on you.

“Hey, you didn’t light yours,” you nudged him.

“I was watching you, baby,” he admitted freely, grabbing you by the waist to kiss your forehead. “Trying to remember that forever.”

You shoved the other sparklers haphazardly into his hand before wrapping both your arms around him and burying your face in his chest. He chuckled, rubbing your back. You could feel the curve of his smile where his cheek rested against your temple. His hand left your back before you heard his lighter click and the familiar sizzle of the sparkler again. You turned your head just enough to peek at it over your shoulder, seeing that he was being careful to hold it as far out away from you as his long arms would allow.

When it went out, you turned yourself fully around in his arms, leaning back against him. He playfully pushed you forward with his body until the two of you were both leaning against the railing on your elbows, Sungchan caging you in with his arms and hooking his chin over your shoulder to see around you to light your next pair of sparklers.

You moved to draw a star in the air with yours this time, and Sungchan spiraled his around until they both went out. On your next ones, you held yours still as he seemed focused on writing his name. His went out a second before yours, and you laughed victoriously.

“I win!” You declared, holding your still smoldering sparkler.

“Oh, we’re playing the game now?”

“Mm-hm,” you confirmed. “Didn’t you hear my telepathic message?”

“Missed that one, sorry, baby,” he snickered, giving you a sweet kiss. “But I’d never forget your prize.”

Both of you held your respective sparkler still this time, watching the tiny pops and miniature explosions as they burned through. Sungchan’s went out right after yours, and you let out a huff as he waved his burned stick in the air.

“I won.” He didn’t cheer very loudly, with his mouth right next to your ear.

You turned your head, nose bumping into his for a moment, making the both of you let out a synchronized breathy giggle. Pressing your lips to his, you let your eyes flutter shut as you melted into him even further—if that were even possible. He moved his mouth against yours as if he hadn’t just kissed you a few moments before, teeth and tongue eagerly joining too.

He didn’t pull away when the kiss broke, affectionately nuzzling his nose with yours again. “Yeah…” he murmured, a content smile on his face. “I get it.”

“Get what?” You asked quietly, searching his eyes curiously.

“The sappy love songs, all the wars, carving things in trees, the locks on bridges, all of it.”

You pushed your forehead against his, unable to do much more past the insurmountable feeling of your heart about to explode. “That almost sounds like the start of a sappy love song right there, Sungs.”

“You think?”

“Sappy love songs, all the men who went to war, locks on bridges, all the tree barks carved with hearts,” you mused. “I’m no songwriter, but I think you can pull some rhymes out of that.”

He was grinning now. “And I promise the next time you hear it, it will be one entire sappy love song unto itself. All about you, baby.”

“Gah!” You clutched at your heart as you twisted enough to bury your face in his neck. “If I don’t die of an exploded heart before then.”

“I won’t let you,” Sungchan growled playfully, rubbing your back. “You’re stuck with me. We haven’t even done all that stuff yet.”

“Is going to war for me is on that to-do list?”

“Duh. Now who’s missing our telepathic messages?”

You laughed. “That’ll be a ‘something new’ for the history books.”

At the second to last stop of the tour, you had caught brief respite in a narrow spot backstage behind the curtains, careful to stay out of the way of the other crew members bustling about. Roses for Eyes were all either changing, eating, or otherwise hanging out before the show began, and you were in a rare moment of not putting out a fire or looking for smoke before one began.

“Y/N?” A voice that you’d only heard over loudspeaker announcements or in addresses to the entire crew came accompanied by a gentle tap to your shoulder. You turned to see the tour manager for the headliner next to you, snakebites spreading with the wide grin she was giving you.

“Yes, is there something I can assist with?” You stood up straight and at attention. She was usually so busy coordinating literally everyone on the tour that you’d never even had the opportunity to introduce yourself and talk to her one-on-one like this, surprised that she even knew your name.

She offered you one of the two sweating water bottles in her hand as she flipped up the mic on her headset. “Nayoung. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”

“No, but I understand, you’ve been very busy.” You accepted the bottle with a thankful head nod.

“So have you.”

You were once again amazed that she had apparently also taken note of any of what you were doing this whole time. Honestly, you were worried about being a nuisance—a band member’s entitled girlfriend tagging along on the tour, not even lifting a finger to help, and just making the entire crew’s lives harder sounded like a pretty plausible issue for her and her staff to have faced before.

“Thank you.” You bowed your head again.

“You seem like you liked it, you picked it all up really quick after being thrown in the deep end, you know.” She cracked her own bottle cap before lifting the drink to her pitch-black painted lips.

“I’ve really loved it all, actually. Not just supporting the guys, but the work itself, surprisingly enough,” you beamed fondly as you twisted your water open. “It’s totally different from what I used to do, so it’s been really awesome learning about it all. Your staff is incredible, by the way, they’ve been so patient with me whenever I’ve had questions and helping us out when we need an extra extra hand. Really, you guys have been fantastic, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Nayoung lifted a dark eyebrow curiously. “So what’s this I hear about you quitting after the tour then? You and Sungchan didn’t… did you?”

“Oh, no no no,” you couldn’t help but laugh a little. “The opposite, actually. We agreed that working this close together isn’t a good long-term plan for us. But it was a good experience, and I’ll figure out a way to put it on my résumé.”

“Résumé,” she repeated with mild interest, giving you an avenue to keep talking.

“Yeah, better than just saying I was unemployed for two months when interviewers ask,” you chuckled. “Not looking forward to breaking out the pantsuits again when we get back, though.”

“Who says you have to?” She asked. “You’ve been exposed to jobs outside of an office, you know there’s other options. Did you like your old sort of job so much, despite your apparent dislike for the uniform?”

You faltered for a second in what had so far been a pretty light-hearted conversation on your end, your easy-going smile slowly dropping off your features as you became overcome with confusion. “I guess… that’s what I’ve always done. I know I’m okay at it, I can get a job like that again.”

“But you don’t have to. If you don’t want to.”

You looked down at your feet as you took a thoughtful sip of your water. “You’re right. I’ve… I didn’t even think of that. Thanks, Nayoung.”

“And once you polish up that résumé, send it my way, hm?”

You almost did a spit-take on her, covering your mouth as you coughed and choked down the water in your mouth. “Wait, seriously?”

“My whole crew’s loved you since day 1. I’ve kept my eye on you, and like I said, I can tell you’ve really taken to all of this. You’ve pretty much been informally interviewing for two months already. I just need the résumé.”

“Absolutely!”

She took out a business card for the event and tour management company, this one with her own number and email on it and handed it to you. “Here, when you’re ready. We do all sorts of local stuff too, by the way, we’re not just on the road year-round. There’s a lot of planning that comes before that part.”

You held the card with two hands, well aware that your eyes were shining at her. “That sounds perfect, actually. I will totally send my stuff to you. Thank you!”

“Look forward to hearing from you, then.” She gave you one last grin before snapping the mic back down into place on her headset and started off in another direction with purpose in her steps, already talking to someone else over the mic.

Sungchan found you still rooted to that same spot, looking down at the business card in your hands. He hesitantly grabbed your elbow, startling you from your happy trance.

“Hey, what you got there?” He peered over your shoulder at it curiously.

“Nayoung asked for my résumé,” you told him brightly, practically shoving the card in his face to show him.

He jerked his head back to actually read the writing, a big smile coming to his face as well as he held a hand up for you to high-five. “Congrats, baby!”

You hit his hand hard before throwing your arms around his neck, excitedly bouncing up and down even as you had a vice-like grip around him. He just laughed and hugged you back, doing a small spin with you that the narrow space behind the curtain would allow.

“We’ll just have to make sure all your future acts knows that you were our badass tour manager first,” he teased, smirking as he cradled the back of your head to kiss you.

You pressed your lips to his once, twice more before pulling away with the same wide grin on your face as before. “Oh of course. And hopefully one day, they won’t ask me who that is when I say that.”

His jaw dropped in mock offense as you went to give him another kiss on the cheek in apology, despite your giggles. He just scoffed and pinched your side, making you squeal. “Rude.”

“I’m kidding, Sungs, you know I’m kidding,” you leaned against him affectionately. “Like I keep telling you, you guys are only going to do bigger and better things. I’m going to be the one bragging that I was your first tour manager.”

“Pretty sure you have something even better to brag about,” he reminded you, and you could feel him practically puffing out his chest with pride. “But I’ll take it.”

As you were about to open your mouth to continue your teasing banter by acting confused about what he could possibly mean, something suddenly occurred to you. It didn’t seem like Sungchan had just stumbled across you backstage, or was even looking for you just because he wanted to see you—he had seemed to be on a mission when he found you. You pulled back enough to look up at him with a knowing frown.

“Did you need something, Sungs?” You questioned.

“I didn’t need anything but to see my beautiful, awesome girlfriend.” He put a defensive hand over his chest, then added, “But Shotaro lost his in-ears again.”

“Of course,” you sighed, beginning to detangle yourself from his grasp. “One more night of this, huh?”

⤷ masterlist

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

I love your page sm!! Could you write something where the reader is new to the avengers and pietro has a crush on her smut?

hii!! aaah thank uu thank uu😔 really sorry but there’s no smut in this one, it was getting long and hadn’t even got to the spice, so I decided to leave it. but it’s slightly suggestive at the end. thanks for requesting, hope you like it💌

* not to be annoying, but if I get enough comments/ asks for a continuation, I'll probs do a smutty part 2

STAY

pietro maximoff x female reader

word count. 538

warnings. slightly suggestive?

Being the newbie is tough - it's hard anywhere, especially when joining a team that is knit tightly like a family.

At the beginning of your first week, Cap assigned you a tour guide to help settle you into the compound, someone who can show you the ropes and make you feel comfortable.

Your new buddy, Pietro, is like that of a charming character - someone who can make you laugh and immediately put you at ease. Very quickly, he became someone you could rely on - someone you could trust. He became a close confidant and someone you could turn to when you'd miss home.

-

It was late - gone past twelve, everyone settling down for the night when you see the shadow of feet appear under the gap of your door. Your phone vibrates on your nightstand, and you pick it up to see Pietro texted you, the bright screen reading, 'you up? :)' 

You pull yourself out of bed to open the door, adjusting your t-shirt to cover more of your thighs before doing so. 

"It's late," you whisper, peeking at Pietro through the ajar door. 

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugs, walking past you and into your room. 

You poke your head out, checking the hallway before closing your door. "Yeah, come on in," you sarcastically mumble.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asks, plopping down onto your bed - sitting at the edge.

"Not really," you chuckle. "By the way, you're in my space. I sleep there," you nod beside him, hinting at the messily drawn-back covers.

"If you want me to go, just say that," he grins, subtly eyeing up your bare thighs.

You notice his gaze and tug the hem of your t-shirt, pulling the fabric to cover your thighs once more. "No, it's okay. Just move over. I'm getting cold."

Pietro shuffles aside and pulls the covers, patting on the mattress where you not long laid. "Want me to tuck you in, too?" he snickers, watching how you played off a sincere smile.

"Funny guy," you dryly chuckle, settling back in your spot. 

"Why can't you sleep?" he asks, head tilting to the side as he watches you.

"Don't know. You?"

"Don't know," he repeats, a boyish grin forming. "Thinking, I guess."

"You were thinking? That is unheard of," you fake gasp, a slow smile creeping on your face.

"I know. Surprised me too," Pietro chuckles, scratching behind his neck. "Alright, I'll uh— I'll let you be."

He stands and turns to look at you, watching your pretty face brighten up in the moonlight. He slowly makes his way to the head of the bed where you lay, hesitantly extending a hand to brush over your cheek. His thumb lightly swiping over the apple, holding you in his hand as he leans to kiss your forehead. 

He stills, lips pressed to your skin as he awaits for you to pull back - but you never do. He parts, his silver eyes boring into yours, watching how they soften under his gaze, how your pupils widen - mirroring his own. 

You lift a hand from under the covers, reaching for Pietro's face, cupping his cheek. "Stay," you whisper, speaking mere inches from his lips. "Stay."

— — — — — — — — — — ☆ — — — — — — — — — —

pietro taglist: @astermath @thewinterv @earth-elemental18 @lunnnix @idontknowwhattohaveasmyuser @randomawesomeperson102 @queerponcho @selfryed @daenerys-supremacy @dontknownameauthor @mrsbarnesxxx @honestly-who-even-is-this @simplyreflected @apxtowiris

[katyaromanoffpetrova]

It's Lights Out And Away We Go

Natasha isn't the only one obsessed with the motorcycle her wife got her. Turns out it's perfect for knocking Katya's ego down a notch as well.

- Natasha Romanoff x Fem!OC (Katya Petrova from the Forgotten Ghost Series) - Wordcount: 1.4k - No warnings :) Masterlist

A/N: thank you @milfs69420 for the idea! Hope this is what you had in mind :)

Most men had a motorcycle to escape their wives, let's be honest. A reason to hide in the garage and go out for long drives. A hobby "for themselves" that their wives hated.

Natasha was the opposite. While she loved riding her bike instead of the car when the weather was nice, she didn't often go touring just for fun. Not alone, at least. After an hour, she was bored and missed her partner. 

But every now and then, it was a nice way to clear her head. The weather was beautiful today and Katya was at work, so she'd taken the opportunity to pull her shiny new motorcycle out of the garage, driving aimlessly until her fuel meter flickered red.

Pulling up at a gas station, Natasha turned her engine off and kicked out the stand. A group of bikers—black leather, long beards, broad-shouldered—watched her from a distance, half of them mounted on their bikes, half enjoying the shadows of the small gas station store. They were intimidating to most, the reputation of biker gangs not helping their image, but Natasha wasn't bothered, twisting the fuel tank cap by her seat off.

Her helmet gave her a sense of anonymity on the streets that she didn't often get to experience otherwise. While her long red braid peeked out from underneath, she wasn't immediately seen as Natasha the Avenger. Right now, she was just a woman, dressed in black, on a very, very nice motorcycle.

"Nice bike!"

She looked up from the fuel nozzle in her hand, her visor popped open just enough to see, but not enough to get recognized. One of the bikers had called out to her, an appreciative smile on his bearded face. It wasn't the first time people gave her bike hearteyes, and it wouldn't be the last.

"Thanks!"

As expected, he came over to her, leaving his helmet on his motorcycle. Men could never resist something pretty. "How fast does she go?" He asked. His plaid shirt was tight around his thick arms, his leather vest worn in as he held onto it. He looked nice enough.

"Do they ever go fast enough?" Natasha joked, hearing Katya's warning voice in her head that yes, the bike could definitely go too fast.

A deep laugh rumbled in his chest. "No, they don't." Now that he stood closer, he gave her bike another thorough once-over, nodding appreciatively. "You take good care of her, she's like new."

"She is still pretty new," Natasha answered. Talking to strangers wasn't usually her favorite, but he had genuine interest in something she was proud of and enthusiastic about, so she was happy to chat. "It was a gift." 

"A gift?" The man whistled through his teeth. "You must have done something right."

Natasha grinned. "You'll have to ask my wife." 

It's a good thing her mouth was covered by her helmet, because her smile showed exactly how she felt about that wife of hers. To be safe, she averted her shimmering eyes too, watching the numbers on the pump climb as the gas poured into her tank. 

"Your wife?" The man exclaimed with a disbelieving laugh, his beer belly shaking. Clearly he wasn't used to wives being supportive of this hobby. "You're a lucky woman. I wish my wife was into this." 

"She's not. Not really. But she knows that I am." Natasha pulled the fuel nozzle out of the tank, careful not to scratch the paint. He must be hearing the fondness in her voice as she spoke of Katya. "Cars are her thing."

"Then she did her research, because this is a beauty. Don't often see rare ones like these." Once more, his eyes glided over the bike, trying to take in every detail. 

"Yeah, sometimes in life you get lucky, I guess," Natasha joked.

"Some more than others." He laughed, offering her his gloved hand. "I'm Rufus by the way."

"Natasha." She smiled, firmly shaking his hand. It almost engulfed hers. This was such a normal, human interaction. A stranger who talked to her just because they both loved the same things. It was so refreshing and unusual.

"If you'd ever want to join us, it'd be great to have you. It's just us men today, but we have women riding with us too." Rufus followed her gaze to his buddies who were too busy joking with each other. "Promise they aren't half as bad as they look."

Natasha didn't expect to feel excited at his offer. This man had no clue who she was, but he hoped she'd stick around for her personality and shared interests alone. She couldn't wait to tell Katya this. "Thank you."

Rufus nodded once. "I'll let you get on your way." His heavy boots took a step back to make space when she kicked up the bike stand. "Thank you for blessing us with this today."

"You're welcome," Natasha mused proudly, turning the key over in the ignition. With a roar, the engine came to life, and she heard Rufus's delighted groan over the rumbling. For good measure, she revved the engine a few times, grinning widely as she shut her visor and shot away from the gas station.

As Natasha lazily weaved in and out of traffic, she couldn't stop smiling. Her interaction with Rufus was such a stupid thing to be excited about. Someone complimented her motorcycle, how exceptional! But it was way more than that. 

Rufus made her feel wanted and welcome. He invited her to join them. Someone wanted to be her friend for the simple fact that they had the same hobby, not because she was useful or famous. And she was as giddy about that as a kid getting an invite for a classmate's birthday party.

He'd also unintentionally reminded her of just how privileged she was. An expensive motorcycle between her thighs, the money she and Kat had to get themselves these nice things, but most of all a supportive wife who bought her the bike. It wasn't a given to have a partner like that. 

The butterflies in her stomach fluttered happily thinking about her happy, good little life.

Fifteen minutes from home, something colorful caught Natasha's eye in the distance. It was hard to tell because of the reflecting sunlight on all the car roofs, but as she came closer, she could start to make out the distinctive orange color between the rest of traffic.

Slowly, she came closer, squinting her eyes trying to make out the number plate, but it should have been pretty obvious that it was who she thought it was. Who in New York had the exact same car, in that color, and managed to drive it that shitty?

With a smirk, she sat up and called Katya, hearing the call connect through the earbuds in her ears.

"Hi! I'm almost home."

"I know." Natasha smirked, now only four cars behind.

There was a short pause as Katya processed that answer. "Are you stalking me?" She accused her with a chuckle. Right then, Natasha merged behind her car, weaving slowly to pull Katya's attention to her rearview mirror. She knew it worked when a gasp came through the phone. "Oh, hey!"

"Hello," Natasha mused, speeding up until she drove next to Katya's window, giving her a small wave. "Fancy seeing you here."

Katya stared at her for longer than was safe. "It has to be illegal for you to drive around on that thing. You're a distraction to all the other drivers."

"Is that why you drive like a drunk grandma?" Natasha saw her scowl through the window.

"Take that back."

Natasha's sly smile widened. "I'll take it back if you press your foot on the gas pedal."

"I can beat you home if I wanted to."

"Bet."

"Bet." Katya adjusted her seat, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. "We start at the next sign post."

Natasha pressed her chest closer to her motorcycle, wrapping her fingers securely around the handles. "Enjoy the view off my ass, because that's what you're going to be looking at the whole way home."

"Prepare to have it beaten."

It was a losing game for Katya. Natasha was the better driver and she had a more agile vehicle that crept into places the car couldn't. By the time she pulled up on the driveway at home, Natasha had already parked her bike inside and pretended to wait impatiently on the porch. 

Katya woke up the next day to find a sticker on her car. 

"Warning: Slow moving vehicle."

[axl-rose-lover-1987]

“You Don’t Really Hate Me”

Axl Rose x reader

90s Axl

Warning: some smut

y/b/n = your bands name

You were exhausted literally two days ago you had finally made it home to your apartment after touring for what felt like eternity. You and your band had been on tour with Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. It was one of the greatest and worst experiences of your life. You had planned on spending this whole week recovering and sleeping alone in your apartment but your manager had scheduled lots of press for after the tour. So here you sat half awake in a stupid MTV interview answering question after question. They were all boring questions too the same old same old what’s it like being the lead singer? Was it hard to be the only female singer on tour? Did you enjoy it? And blah blah blah.

“So what did you think of that Axl Rose guy is he a jerk like they say?” The interviewer asked. Shit you thought yes he was he really was. Well to clarify to you Axl was. You had seen Axl be perfectly nice to other people on tour including your other band mates but you he was always a real dick to you. He would make rude comments about you and he would talk to your lead guitarist instead of you. He was always late to shows which messed up when you would preform and one time you went backstage to confront him only to find him eating out some stupid groupie. Damn did that guy piss you off. “Y/n you didn’t respond did you hear me?” The interviewer asked. You didn’t realize you spaced out thinking about how much you hated that guy. “Sorry sorry um” “We just well hes kinda a dick” you said. The interviewer seemed very intrigued now. “Really care to elaborate” the interviewer said grinning. “Well Axls got a huge ego, he was very rude to me, and he’s dramatic that’s all .” You said smirking. “I guess the rumors are true than” the interviewer said. “Yeah something like that” you said. You could tell the interviewer wanted more drama but you were so over doing press. Finally the interview ended and you decided you needed a drink so you made your way to the bar.

Axls POV:

I’m finally done with touring for now I need a day to fucking relax. I was channel surfing when I landed on MTV. And there she was that girl from y/b/n she had been a real bitch to me the whole tour. “So what do you think of that Axl Rose guy?” The interviewer on the tv asked. This made my ears peek up. And sure enough she dragged my name threw the mud what a pussy I know why she doesn’t like me, and I don’t like her that’s just how it was the whole tour. Her interview ended with that I was done with tv I needed a drink.

~time skip~

You sat at the bar counter taking shots and trying to unwind. It had been working so far and no one recognized you so you were enjoying yourself. Then that’s when he came in. He was wearing a t shirt and some basketball shorts and sunglasses covered his eyes. But you knew. You knew it was him he took a seat farther down on the counter away from you. You wanted to leave the last thing you needed today was confrontation with Axl. You waited until the bar got a little busier and now more people were standing around. You made a break for it and kept your head low. Then you ran into someone. “Sorry” the voice said. You knew that husky voice it was Axls “it’s fine” you said trying to get away before he realized it was you. “Hey wait a damn minute” Axls voice said. Then a hand grabbed your arm pulling you back in front of Axl. “You really thought I’d let you get away with saying all that shit about me sweetheart?” Axl said in a very snooty voice. “Shut up Axl” you said trying to walk away. He stuck his arm out. “No,no sweetie if you’ve got something to say about me say it my face” Axl said smirking. “Fine your a dick” you said crossing your arms and looking him dead in the eye.

Axls POV:

I really didn’t expect y/n to say that to me I thought she’d chicken out. But now I didn’t know what to do. I was half pissed and half turned on to be honest. I was also a little drunk but messing with y/n was one of my favorite things “Really well your a bitch” I said back at her. She blew me off and started to walk away again “No no your coming with me I’ll show you how much of a dick I am” I said grabbing her arm and leading her out of the bar.

You didn’t know what to do. Everything stopped your brain knew it wasn’t a good idea to go with Axl but somehow every rational thought you had didn’t matter at all you were going with Axl. Axl took you to his apartment he never exchanged a word with you the whole walk there. Then when he got in the apartment he sat right on his couch and didn’t even look at you. This went on for at least 10 mins before you had enough. “What the fuck Axl you drag me to your apartment you won’t fucking leave me alone at the bar, you treated me like actual shit on the tour and now you’re giving me the silent treatment.” You said you were so enraged at him. He sat quiet for another few mins. You were done. “I’m leaving” you said making your way to the door. “Fuck you” you said about to leave. “Wait” Axl said. “You don’t really hate me y/n” Axl said smirking. You walked back over to the couch. “You hate that I won’t give you the time of day, I give it to everyone else, I give it to all these other girls.” Axl paused and stood up his face now inches from yours. “You want my full attention you want me” his breath fanned over your neck and his voice was heavy with lust. “You want me to make you feel special you’ve seen me do it to other people you want my validation but I won’t give it to you and that pisses you off doesn’t it sweetheart.” Axl said in your ear. You were frozen he was right. He read you like an open book. “I bet you wished you were that groupie you saw me with don’t you?” Axl said in a heavy whisper. Fuck was all your brain could think you needed Axl and he knew it he had you all vulnerable for him. You couldn’t look him in the eyes you stared down at the carpet. “Y-yes” you said quietly. “Look at me baby” Axl said lifting up your chin. Your eyes met his. “Y-yes” you said a little bit louder. “You want me to give you all my attention sweetheart you want me to make you feel all special?” Axl asked. “Yes” you said in a weak voice. “Ok baby” Axl said.

He lead you to his bedroom. You both were now naked. Axl laid down on the bed. “Come here sugar” he said to you. You came over to him. His hands guided your hips and soon his cock found your entrance. “Oh-Axl” you moaned taking him in. “Shhh ride me baby” Axls hands guided your hips up and down on his cock he started out nice and slow. “I’ll kiss you threw it” Axl said. He kept kissing you as you rode his cock. He would whisper things into your hair but one time he said loud enough for you to hear. “Your so beautiful you know that right your so fucking beautiful.” He really was making you feel special, extremely special. As Axl sped up his pace your cum began to spill onto his dick. He then pulled out and you both rode out your orgasms. “I knew you never really hated me” Axl said. “Shut up dick” you said now sorta using it as a pet name for him. Axl laughed. “You know I always kinda like you” Axl said. “I always liked you too” you said. Axl leaned over and started to kiss you. “Remember this the next time you try to drag my name threw the mud though ok sugar” Axl said pulling away from the kiss and winking at you. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget tonight” you said. “Yeah this’ll be something we tell our kids” Axl said. “Our kids?” You said. Axl laughed. And then it was quiet. Axl then broke the silence “I really am sorry for being a dick to you I didn’t mean to do that but I can be difficult.” Axl said in a sincere tone. “It’s ok thanks for apologizing” you said. Axl smiled. “Damn the press will go wild if they find this out” Axl said laughing. “Yeah they will” you said. You and Axl were now cuddling in the bed watching tv when Axl flipped it to MTV news. “A recent source has turned in photos of Axl Rose and y/n l/n holding hands and leaving a bar together.” “Y/n was just recently saying how she hated Rose, was it a cover up? Or are they enemies to lovers?” Axl flipped off the tv after that and you both looked at each other wide eyed. You both were in for a lot of shit that’s for sure.

[patheticgirlsteve]

thinking about an AU where Eddie is an author of this insanely good speculative fiction series and when it starts getting popular his publisher makes him do a book tour across the country.

It’s not too bad, really. It’s nice to meet his fans, the loyal readers he’s somehow managed to garner with his silly little stories. It’s just kind of exhausting, especially when he doesn’t really get a break from it.

About halfway through the tour he’s back in his hometown making a special appearance at his old high school to talk to the current students, not just about his books but a full Q&A.

He’s nervous to go back there, he didn’t exactly have a great high school experience, but he doesn’t really have a choice and, who knows? Maybe he’ll manage to inspire some kid to embrace their own creativity or whatever. So he goes.

He’s informed ahead of time that when he arrives at the school he’ll be met by the staff member who has organized this event and who will be running the talk-back. He was told that it was one of the guidance counselors named Stave, and Eddie’s expecting Steve to be some boring old guy.

He is extremely wrong.

The Steve that greets Eddie in the administration office is hot.

He’s young, probably close to Eddie’s age, and wearing the tightest fitting polo shirt Eddie’s ever seen. He greets Eddie with a genuine smile and Eddie feels inexplicably shy when Steve meets his eyes. They shake hands and Eddie thinks he manages to act very normal about it. Steve thanks him for coming, telling him how excited his students have been about this, and leads Eddie to the school library to help him get set up.

They chat while they walk and once they get into the library. Steve gets interrupted multiple times in the short trek between the office and the library students who want to talk to him or just say hi. It’s clear how much these kids love Steve and how much he loves them back and it makes Eddie smile.

As they’re setting up, Steve tells Eddie how much enjoys Eddie’s books and Eddie is surprised.

“You read my books?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Steve says, throwing Eddie a confused smile. “Why would I invite an author that I don’t like to come talk to my kids? They’re great books, man.”

“I just figured I got invited to speak because I’m from here,” Eddie shrugs.

“That was part of it,” Steve nods. “But I know the kids love your books and would love to get to talk to their favorite author. And maybe I wanted to talk to you too.”

Eddie fights the urge to hide his face behind his hair as he fees himself start to blush. He can’t remember the last time he reacted like this to a man flirting openly with him. He smiled shyly at Steve.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” He says and feels stupidly giddy. “Maybe you and I could have a talk-back after the talk-back? Since you’re such a big fan of the books?”

Steve’s eyes light up and he nods. “That would be nice,” He says, and Eddie doesn’t miss the light blush on Steve’s cheeks.

[gracies-baby]

we got y/n drunk and gracie taking her of her so we could now get gracie getting drunk and y/n taking care of her? thank uuu

Drunk Gracie

(Gracie Abrams x Reader)

——————————————————————————

"Okay, I think you've had enough now" Abby tells her cousin while she takes the drink out of her hand after the brunette makes a few inappropriate comments about her girlfriend.

"No, give it" Gracie whines as she reaches for her drink.

"Are you gonna stop talking about your sex life? I don't wanna hear about my cousin having sex with one of my best friends" 

"If you got to have sex with her, then you'd talk about it too. I think you're just jealous that I'm with her and you're not" Gracie replies as she snatches her drink back, taking a big gulp.

"Yeah, I don't think that's true. C'mon, let's get you home to your girl" Abby replies as she takes her cousins arm, wrapping it around her shoulder before helping her out of her chair.

"Y/n has to leave for work soon. It's so boring without her" Gracie whines as tears form in her eyes.

"She'll be back in a few months. Isn't she coming on tour? You'll get plenty of time together" Abby replies, helping the brunette into the passenger seat before getting in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, but that's ages away. Do you know how hard it is to go that long without seeing her? I nearly died last time" Gracie says while she draws heart shapes on the car's window.

"You'll be fine. Hey, don't go to sleep! Y/n will kill me if you don't sleep tonight" Abby exclaims when she notices her cousin begin to drift off.

"But I'm so tired! Why does alcohol make people so sleepy?" Gracie yawns while Abby sighs.

"You're nearly home. Just a few more minutes" A couple minutes later, Abby pulls into Gracie's driveway before helping her to the front door. The door is opened a few seconds later by the brunette's girlfriend.

"Hey Y/n, Gracie's super drunk and she's about to like pass out. Sorry, I tried keeping her awake but I kinda got sick of her talking about you, so I didn't really try too hard" Abby jokes to her friend while trying to pass the sleeping girl over to her girlfriend.

"She was talking about me? What was she saying?" Y/n asks with a smile as Gracie buries her head in her shoulder.

"Ugh, what wasn't she saying? First, she started talking about how vocal you are in bed. As if we didn't know that already, the walls are very thin. After that, she was complaining about you leaving for work soon. She cried about that for a bit and then I got her here" Abby replies as she watches a blush form on her friend's face.

"Okay. Well. Thanks for bringing her back. You can go now if you want. Or you can stay the night if that's easier" 

"Nah, I've dealt with her enough tonight. I'll see you tomorrow though. Have fun" Abby teases before going back to her car.

"Okay baby, let's get you to bed" Y/n tells her tired girlfriend as she presses a soft kiss to her head.

"I missed you" Gracie mumbles against the shorter girls neck before pressing soft kisses against it.

"I missed you too. I'm guessing you had fun?" Y/n takes the girl to the bedroom before grabbing some clothes for her to change into.

"Yeah. It would've been better if you were there though. How about we have some fun now?" Gracie smirks before connecting their lips together. Y/n kisses back for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Not right now. You're drunk. Maybe tomorrow. Right now, you need to go to sleep" Y/n replies as she hands Gracie a shirt to change into. She watches her girlfriend struggle to take her dress off before helping her after giggling a bit.

"I thought we weren't having sex? Why are you undressing me?" Gracie slurs with a confused look.

"I'm helping you, silly. Would you rather I make you do it by yourself?"

"No, you can touch me as much as you want" Gracie replies with a drunken smirk while Y/n smiles and rolls her eyes before Gracie finishes getting dressed. Y/n helps the brunette into bed before throwing the blankets over her. She goes to leave the room before getting stopped by the brunettes voice.

"Where are you going?" Gracie whines while reaching for her girlfriend.

"To get you some painkillers for the morning. I'll be right back" Y/n leans down to press a soft kiss against the brunette's forehead before going to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She grabs the painkillers and a glass of water before walking back to their bedroom.

"Gracie, I'm back-" Y/n cuts herself off when she sees the brunette sleeping. She smiles softly before putting the water and painkillers on her girlfriend's bed side table before sliding into bed next to her. She kisses her head before drifting off to sleep.

[tam-shade-song]

Platonic SoTam Band AU, anyone?

Tam laid on the bed with his finger intertwined on his stomach, the notebook beside him long since discarded. The top of his head was pressed against the outside of Sophi’s thigh as they sat upside down on the bed, their blond hair pooling on the floor below them like a river of gold.

He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. Sophi, oblivious to his anxiety, hummed the melody to the bridge of the new song they were working on. Or at least they were. The two had long since gotten distracted, and conversation had turned into peaceful silence.But the atmosphere had started to shift from serenity to nervousness, and even Sophi had become aware.

“Do you think we’ll make it?” Tam asked his voice low. He pictured the sold-out concerts, the tours, all of their friends together, just them.

“Make it to what?”Sophi asked. “Adulthood?Graduation?” Looking back, it was really horrible that someone like Sophi should even have been concerned, but all honors classes didn’t mean much when it comes to the crushing reality of their situation.

Tam had been expelled from middle school, and had come to Foxfire looking for a fresh start. Sophi was a foster kid who had just been separated from the family she had known all their life. No matter the amount of As on their report card, it didn’t lift the heaviness from their shoulders, and mental health problems wasn’t something just left at the door.

Tam supposed that was why they found so much comfort in each other. Two trans kids in public school, two kids who felt like they were losing their minds. Even Tam didn’t feel the same with his twin sister, who at the end of the day would never understand the way he avoided mirrors and tight fitting shirts.

“I mean as musicians,” Tam said. Sophi snorted the lifted their hand. Tam pulled them up until they were both sitting crossed-legged on the bed facing each other.

“Yeah, I think so, Tam,” Sophi said. “Once Forkle finishes the papers and I’m officially a Ruewen, what’s going to stop us? Once we get you the hell out of that house, we’re free.”

“That does mean people will like our stuff,” Tam said. He fidgeted with his shirt, and pulled it forward. “No one likes us,” he added.

“I like us,” Sophie said. They had a wrinkle in between their brows with proved to Tam that they had the same fears and was just trying to hide it. “Linh likes us, Fitz likes us, Dex, Biana, Keefe-“

“Keefe doesn’t like me,” Tam rolled his eyes. “And that’s what I mean. I don’t doubt our music or our lyrics or even getting our shit out there. What if people just don’t like us for who we are?”

“Tam,” Sophi scolded. “Keefe does not… dislike you, one, and two, who gives a damn. I’m here for the people who will like us. Didn’t we think there was something wrong with us? Don’t we owe it to the kids who are like us? And don’t we owe it to our families? Do you want a boring ass day job you’ll hate, Tam? Or do you want to just be a fucking camp counselor forever? This is what we can do, to make our existence on this fucked up hell hole worth it.”

Tam sighed. And nodded. Then he picked up the guitar he had set on the floor and strummed a chord to make sure it was still in tune.

“Alright, then,” he said. “Let’s get to work.” The skin on Tam’s fingers was threatening to split as the already tender blisters were pressed against the wires, but he ignored it.

He only focused on the dream, the one thing left in the world, with the exception of his sister and Sophi, that he could still believe in.

———————————————————————

Tam pulled the bandaids off his sore fingers, and shook out his hands. Even after two years, he still got anxiety from concerts. Hell, even playing for anyone outside the band made him nervous.

“Tam, let me get a picture,” Biana said. Her glittery pink hijab reflected the light and made little sparkles on Tam’s shirt. “Get your bass.” The social medias manager made Tam take a few pictures before moving onto the other band members. “Good luck, Song.”

“You too,” Tam called over his shoulder. Biana had a way of putting everyone at ease, something Tam appreciated.

Tam took the roll of tape from his bag, and walked to the bathroom. Once the door was locked behind him, he started wrapping Rayni’s old lacrosse tape around his chest. At one concert, there would be dozens of photos, and Tam wouldn’t risk anyone noticing his chest or seeing the strap of his black binder.

There was a ding from his phone, and Tam went to check it. He inhaled as deeply as he could with the sticky tape would allow. It pulled at his skin, but he ignored it.

Don’t wear your binder, you’ll need to breathe. The message read, from Rayni. Tam sighed, and didn’t give a response.

Tam used to be afraid of his father, he used to be afraid of having to get an office job he would hate. Now he was afraid someone would find out he was trans. As soon as he turned eighteen he got his name changed, and before that he had done everything possible to stay out of the spotlight. It had been real shitty to watch everyone preform the song he wrote with Sophi, and to only exist behind a black medical mask or as a prerecorded bass riff. Now, he would everything in his power to make sure he never had to live in the shadows again.

Tam walked out of the bathroom, phone in hand. Outside Sophi tossed him a bottle of water.

“Here,” they said. They wore the same anxious expression Tam remembered from the day they first came into his homeroom. They still felt they owed the world everything, all the other kids with no homes.

“Let’s go,” Tam said. Fitz, the band manager, gave them the signal to go out.

Dex, Linh, Sophi, Tam and Keefe took their places on stage. Slowly, trying to hide his fear as much as possible, Tam started the song, ignoring the pain in his fingers and chest. Sophi took up the mic and began singing.

It was a song about acceptance, responsibility and faith. Wikipedia said the writer of the song was Tam Dai Tong, stage name Tam Song. But really, the song never would have existed if not for Sophi. Not just because the song was a narration of their life, but because without them Tam wouldn’t have been Tam Song in the first place. He never would have been able to live to be true to himself.

The tape around his chest made it hard to breathe, but he played on, growing increasingly light headed.

———————————————————————

Nine months and two singles later, Tam stared at the roll of pink tape in front of him. It hurt to breathe sometimes now. After a performance or rehearsal Tam’s back ached when he breathed heavily. Rayni freaked when she found out, the band’s photographer tried to drag Tam to a doctor then and there.

“You need to take care of yourself,” she stressed. “I know you’re trying to be true to yourself but your body won’t last this way.”

Tam had tried not to roll his eyes. He really had. Maybe he would have tried harder had he known what kind of face Rayni would make. He expected anger, not sadness. Seeing it made his fury rise, and tears also.

He went to Sophi, like always. He didn’t want to burden Linh with his problems, and because he was pissed at Rayni, she was out of the question. That left Sophi.

Over a call, one that Tam was barely paying attention too, Sophi irritably snapped at him, “You bitch about being true to yourself but your body is a part of you too. You can talk all you want about honesty, but you’re just a liar.”

Tam had stared at the blank screen.

And now he was there. In the bathroom, staring at a roll of tape. He cast it away from himself.

The bassist waited for Biana to make her rounds, foot tapping anxiously. Keefe snapped at him when he stared pacing.

“What don’t we know, Bangs Boy?” Keefe asked, ever the detective. Tam scoffed.

“You don’t know a lot of things,” Tam said. Wylie, the technical worker who did the lights, laughed. Stina, the stylist was pinning Keefe’s shirt raised a brow.

“Is this about…” she didn’t finish her question when Tam silenced her with a look. Linh probably told her everything, but even if she hadn’t there was a possibility she had come to her own, incorrect, conclusion.

Biana and Rayni were talking about posting pictures, but Rayni looked up and smiled.

Sophi just raised a brow knowingly.

The players filed out onto stage.

When the same song from the last concert played, Tam’s heart sped up. He could back out, and no one would know, except Rayni, Linh, and Sophi. Maybe some people would notice how his chest wasn’t as flat and they’d come to their own conclusion.

The song was almost up.

Tam broke a nail playing a chord, and it only made his nerves worsen.

When the song ended, Sophi searched through the crowd. Openly nonbinary, they made it a tradition to find someone in the audience with their flag and hand them a little trans or nonbinary flag or pin. When they found who they jokingly refured to as their “victim” they beckoned them closer and took a pin off their own shirt to hand to the audience member.

The crowd cheered. When Tam stepped forward, all he could do was hope the anxiety didn’t show on his face as he took the flag he had asked Stina to stitch for him out of scrap fabric, and waved it over his head.

He was trembling and his palms were sweating, but the transmasc flag waved proudly above his head, and he actually smiled. With tears at the corners of his eyes he walked towards the edge of the stage and searched the crowd. With raised hands there was a young kid, around fourteen, with a make shift he/him pin mad with the trans flag on graph paper.

Reaching so far he had to strain, Tam got it into the boy’s hand.

Sophi tossed Tam a mic, that he fumbled and dropped with quickly picked up. Clearing his throat, Tam tried to keep his voice steady as he said, “We won’t live in the shadows anymore.”

Tam laughed, pretended not to notice how his voice cracked and handed the mic back to Sophi. A new song played, with heavy bass and drums.

When it came for his part, the others got quiet while the bass riff was played, before coming back in.

[kpislby]

Bubble Nights

Parings: Bf!Jay x Fem!reader

Synopsis: You and your boyfriend got bored at your hotel room and decided to dip into the jacuzzi

Genre: fluff

Warnings: cursing and ermm kissing?

jay was headed on tour in america and REFUSED to spend days, weeks, MONTHS without you. so he pulled your ass into his whirlwind, a symphony of long roads and louder crowds.

you wandered from city to city. you only went to two concerts per state, but watching him command the stage, like he was born to preform, made your heart swell. lights flickered off his skin as he became one with the music, each show blending into the next, leaving you warm and full.

still, you craved the quiet moments, the rare nights where you could hear his soft laughter and see his beautiful smile.

tonight, you were tangled together on the hotel bed, your head resting on his chest, scrolling mindlessly through tiktok. the laughter of strangers in a hot tub flashed across the screen, making you ache for that warmth—the hum of bubbles, the weightless comfort of water.

you glanced up at jay, mischief dancing in your eyes, shaking him playfully.

"jayyyyy, jayyyy," you giggled. his soft smile melted you. "what is it, mamas?"

the way he called you that made your heart flutter. "can we go to the hot tubbb?" you stretched the words out, practically pleading.

he chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "did you bring a swimsuit?"

swimsuit... you hadn’t even thought about it.

pouting, you whined, "mannnn, i really wanted to gooo."

he ran his hand through your hair, his touch feather-light. "i'll let you borrow my trunks and a t-shirt."

your face lit up, joy spilling over. "yayayayayyy!" you kissed him between each word, excitement bubbling out of you.

dressed in his clothes, the two of you headed down the hallway, your laughter bouncing off the empty walls. at the hot tub, you dropped your stuff and stretched your arms.

"wahhh, i can't WAIT to feel the massage jets on my back," jay sighed, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "this whole tour shit has been a painnn."

he looked over at you, his smile soft. "but you've got me," you pouted. "i can give you all the massages you need."

"you're so cute, you know that?" he whispered, gently tucking a stray hair behind your ear. "how did i get so damn lucky?"

you shook your head, smiling wider. "i think i'm the lucky one."

he raised a playful eyebrow. "whatever floats your boat."

you whined, gently pushing his chest. "you're such a dorkkk."

he laughed, leaning in to poke your cheek. "yeah, but i'm your dork."

you both slipped into the hot tub, the warmth and gentle jets instantly soothing your bodies. you sighed, closing your eyes, letting the comfort wash over you.

“this is so nice," you murmured.

"this was a good idea," jay agreed. "i really needed this."

you opened your eyes to see him, his face relaxed, eyes closed. slowly, you moved closer, resting your head on his shoulder. he looked down at you, his gaze filled with love. with a tender hand, he cupped your face and kissed you, warm and slow.

you smiled against his lips, whispering, "i love you."

he pulled back, brushing your cheek with his thumb. "i love you too, always will." his eyes sparkled. "you're so pretty, my pretty baby."

blushing, you grabbed his face, squishing his cheeks together. "i love you, my gummy bear," you teased, winking.

you spent what felt like forever whispering sweet nothings to each other, the warmth of the water wrapping around you both like a soft blanket—until, of course, nishimura fucking riki showed up.

"eww, what the fuck, gross! in the hot tub? IN PUBLIC?!? nahh, i don't want to be seen around your smoochie smoochie asses. peace out, y'all."

as he left, you both burst into laughter. "the jealousy is crazyyy."

after a few more minutes, you both climbed out, dripping and laughing, and headed back to your hotel room, hearts full and the night wrapping itself around you like a secret poem whispered only for you both.

Hihi!! I have just made my debutttt oh em gee!! ahh okok so did you guys like it? lmk if you would like so see more like this 💟 love you guys! tysm for reading!

[steddiebang]

Crossroads (Hellfire on my Trail)

Author: @nevertheless_5 l Artist: @hels._art l Artist: @sunflowerharrington Posting on Tuesday, October 10

Like the infamous urban legend, Eddie meets the Devil at a crossroads and cuts a deal to become a rockstar. In exchange, Henry Creel wants to be his occasional puppetmaster. He grants Eddie one year of his shiny new life to choose to either finalize his deal or break it. As he grows more famous, makes a record, and starts a nationwide U.S. tour, Eddie thinks he’s gotten everything he ever wanted. Then he meets Steve Harrington and realizes how wrong he was. He also didn’t get all the fine print of his contract with the Devil. An explicit, slow burn, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers tale. Tagline: Love be the Devil but it won’t get me.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

Eddie kept looking because the guy was hot. Those boring clothes were a little too tight and all Eddie could process was the bulge in his jeans, toned muscles that were obvious under his pastel shirt, and hard forearms. He looked strong, like he worked out. Probably exactly that douchey type, yeah. His face was kind of ridiculous too. Thick, dark eyebrows, defined jaw, moles or freckles dotting his neck and face like beauty marks. He was pretty.

So maybe he was a little taken aback by the guy’s looks. He wasn’t about to show it. Good-looking guys like him were a dime a dozen. Probably straight as an arrow too. He looked it. Boring. 

“And who are you?” Eddie said and looked down like he wasn’t interested in the answer. He watched himself strum the guitar. 

“Who are you?” 

Eddie laughed. “If you’re here you should probably know that already.” He looked up to another bitchy expression and hands still on hips. “What are you, venue staff?”

The man scoffed. Eddie strummed again and turned one of the tuning pegs to adjust the sound, strummed again.

“Hey, stop that.” 

The man placed his hand on the neck of the guitar like he was going to take it and Eddie stood up quickly, pushing the guy back with his body, the guitar between them. He didn’t like people touching his baby, certainly not some random dude with a chip on his shoulder. He wasn’t afraid of his size either. They were the same height anyway, even if pretty boy had 20 lbs or more on him. 

“Back off,” Eddie said, eyes locked on the man, but he wasn’t backing down either. 

The guy’s annoyed expression was angry now, and yeah there was green in his eyes. Eddie could see it really well now that they were so much closer. His dark eyelashes were kind of absurdly long too. Christ, he looked like a girl. Eddie’s gaze fell to pretty boy’s lips without his consent. The hard line of them right now couldn’t hide how they’d probably be soft and sweet to kiss, and Eddie wanted to kiss them, well, if he didn’t rip the guy’s hand off his arm first.

“That’s Munson’s guitar and I’m in charge of it, so hand it over.”

Eddie laughed. “You’re not in charge of it.”

“I’m his guitar tech actually, so yes I am in charge of it, and I don’t appreciate you fucking with the instrument.”

The heat in his voice and that he’d cursed made Eddie smile now. He would never deign to let it show, but he decided he liked how this guy didn’t back down. Also, he was pretty amused that he didn’t have a clue who Eddie was. Idiot. A pretty idiot though. He could work with that, could push this game a little further. 

“Oh, you don’t want me fucking with your instrument huh? You sure? I’m pretty good at it.”

The guy seemed to flatline for a moment before narrowing his eyes, getting the gist of what Eddie was saying. Eddie looked him up and down slowly, acted like he was considering it and, oh, this guy didn’t like that at all. They were still so close, and Eddie ran his hand up the collar of the guy’s shirt. Pretty boy stopped Eddie’s hand immediately, gripping it tight, and that actually hurt a little. Strong, yeah. Eddie grinned.

“Watch it.”

“Or maybe I’ll let you fuck with mine instead. You might like that.”

The guy practically sneered at him, disgusted. Eddie grinned and shrugged. It didn’t bother him. Typical straight guy reaction. Eddie knew he was attractive, so it wasn’t any skin off his back. If anything, it made this more fun. 

“But either way, Adonis, I’ll be tuning my own guitar, thanks. Don’t need your help.”

The guy looked a little confused by that, especially when Eddie stepped away to sit back down and mess around with his guitar.

“Uh.” Eddie looked up and the guy seemed a little lost now. He swallowed and followed that eloquence with, “I’m Steve. What’s…your name?”

Eddie grinned. “I think you might have guessed. Smarter than you look, huh?”

A flash of anger passed over the man’s features before he composed himself. “Eddie Munson?”

Eddie nodded and started to hum along to the song he was playing now. He could feel Steve’s eyes on him and wondered what he was thinking. Probably freaking out that he’d pissed off the boss. The boss who had kind of hit on him. Eddie decided he’d put him out of his misery. He didn’t look up when he spoke. 

“I’ll take care of the Warlock and my acoustic too. You can handle the backup guitars, cords, amps, all the other fun stuff. Got it, Steve?”

“Harrington.”

Eddie looked up and a little of the defiance was back in Steve’s expression. He found it funny that he was correcting himself now, wanted to be called Harrington instead apparently.

“Harrington then. My other offer still stands by the way.” Eddie grinned at him and Steve looked confused for a second. Just one.

“I don’t mess around with rockstars.”

Eddie glanced at him, raising his eyebrows as he strummed. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“Lots of reasons. Plenty of other people around who are up for that. Men, women, whatever you want.”

“But not you?” Eddie pressed, letting his gaze slide over Steve’s features again. He really was beautiful. Not Eddie’s type at all but there was something about him. Maybe he just liked what he couldn’t have. Steve stared back and seemed to have shut a wall down over his expression. It made Eddie so curious. What was he afraid to show?

“No, I…ah, relationships are kinda bullshit and casual stuff, well, I don’t fuck around on the job.”

That wasn’t what Eddie had meant with his question, and he couldn’t tell if Harrington was avoiding saying whether he was straight or not by deflecting. But if the guy was queer Eddie felt he would have gotten Eddie’s point. So yeah, probably straight. That wouldn’t deter him from flirting in the future though.

Read more on October 10!

[bobawitch]

Neon Orange | C.S.

summary: reader dyes her hair orange for the versus tour and to support her boyfriend chris

cw: just fluff <3

wc: 906

a/n: this is shorter than a lot of my fics and idk how much i like it but i wanted to write smthing for chris since he won 🧡🧡🧡 matt fic coming soon 😇

You had been dating Chris for almost a year, and it had been the best year of your life. The two of you started as just friends but eventually began hanging out more and more often and eventually on a late night you two kissed. It was history after that kiss, feelings came out and you both began dating. Though you and Chris had to work up to it with his commitment issues. Now you were sitting on his bed waiting for him to get out of the shower so you could use the bathroom for dyeing your hair. You decided to go orange to support him in the verses tour and to welcome in the fall. Chris soon walked out in some sweats and smiled at you, walking over and climbing onto the bed, resting his head on your stomach. You chuckled after making a big huff from the weight now on you. “Hey baby, you have a good shower?” He hummed before pulling your hoodie up a little and kissing your stomach. “Yeah, it was really nice.” You giggled, playing with strands of wet hair. “That's good. Hey baby I’m gonna dye my hair so I need you to get up.” Chris groaned and held your torso tighter, you huffed again before picking up his face. “Baby I’m serious. We can cuddle once I’m done with my hair.” Chris mumbled something before leaning up and kissing you. Once you were off the bed you grabbed your sally beauty bag. Chris slowly got up from the bed to follow you into the bathroom as you switched your hoodie for a dirty shirt. You began to set up your hair dyeing station, glancing at Chris sitting on the floor. You smiled down at your now sleepy boyfriend who has now scooted over to you to lean on your leg. You put the dye in the bowl and grab the brush. You slowly began to coat your hair with the hair dye, making sure there’s a lot of product on each section. Chris looked up at you and smiled. “Are you doing orange?” You nodded, smiling a little. You had realized that you didn’t tell him your plan. “That’s cute, though you’ll be a ginger.” Chris teased and your eyes instinctively rolled. 

After around 30 minutes you finished coating your hair in the dye. Chris eventually got bored and went to grab you both snacks while you cleaned up your mess. When Chris got back he giggled at your appearance. “You look like a neon orange egg.” Your jaw dropped and you scoffed. “Looks like you’re in love with an orange egg then.” You teased, shrugging your shoulders as you moved out of the bathroom. Chris sat on the bed with a bag of chips and his signature pepsi. You moved towards him, causing him to bite his tongue. You could tell he was trying his best not to laugh in your face. You sighed and shook your head. “You can laugh, dork.” Chris smiled widely before bursting into laughter, setting his pepsi down so as not to spill. You shoved at his chest before smirking. You reached your hand into your wet hair and pulled back, looking at the neon orange dye that was on your fingers. You leaned towards Chris and wiped his nose with it. Chris’s laughter immediately stopped and he stared at you. He blinked a few times before sitting up fully. “You did not.” You smirked. “Oh but I did.” He stood up and walked to the bathroom staring in the mirror at his orange nose. “Bruh if this doesn’t come off you’re so dead.” You rolled your eyes with a small laugh before you walked into the bathroom with him. You grabbed one of the little wipes you had been using to clean up and wiped the orange off his nose. It was barely noticeable that the dye had been there in the first place. You threw away the wipe before looking at Chris. Chris had moved closer to you and was now pressing you to the counter. He smiled at you, both hands on either side of your hips. “You’re evil.” He gently whispered, his face inching ever closer to you. You rolled your eyes, setting your clean hands on his chest. “And you love it.” He smirked, tilting his head in a nod. “True.” He stated before planting a kiss on your lips.

~~~~

You had gone along on the tour, trying not to show yourself too often since his fans could get a little crazy. Though multiple fans in their various colors came up to you and asked for pictures or complimented your neon hair. But tonight was the last night of the tour, it was between Chris and Matt, Jenga holding suspense over the crowd. With Nate and Matt sizing the block tower up Nate made his move, taking the block out and stepping back. As he stepped back the blocks came crashing down and the crowd went ballistic. Chris had won and you got to watch from the sidelines. After the show you all piled into the bus, Chris following right after you and pulling you to his chest in a hug. “Congrats on winning babe.” Chris smiled, planting a kiss to your lips. “I couldn’t let my girl down when she dyed her hair for me.” You giggled and pulled him back into a deep kiss.

[svt-nari]

20230819 | weverse live 🌟

warnings: none, just nari talking to her beloved carats and having a great time. not proofread and not sure of how many words this is, i got a little carried away 😋

“hello~ how are you~?”, nari started her live, her voice soft as she had oreo on her lap. “i was bored and i missed you, so i decided to start this broadcast!”, she clapped softly, a smile on her face.

carefully, the girl brought a bowl of noddles and chopsticks on-camera and put it on the table in front of her, adjusting the phone so the bowl wouldn’t cover her. as the cat started to meow, nari’s hand went back to its fur to pet it once again.

“let’s talk, do you want to ask me anything?”, she asked, taking a bite of her food after. “hm… ‘did you see what happened with s.coupsie?’… well, yeah. i was there,” she took a sip of her water. “i was so scared when i saw it, like, it was so scary. i feel bad for him, i just got home from his house, i’m trying to help him feel better so you don’t have to worry too much!”, she giggled. “‘nurse nari is on the way!’, yeah, exactly! that should be my new nickname nowadays.”

she put her chopsticks on the table and got up briefly to get some napkins. as she sat down, she got oreo back on her lap and started to talk once again.

“i almost cried with cheollie, i felt so bad.”, she sighed, pouting a bit. “you know when you wish you could take the pain away from someone, and instead put it on you? yeah, i was feeling it.”, oreo jumped from her lap, making nari giggle. “i held his hand when he started to feel the pain, i was with him the entire time.”, the girl smiled softly.

she started to eat once again, humming when she ate a piece of meat out of the bowl. her cheeks got bigger as she chewed the food, making the 27-year-old look even more adorable — as if her bare-face, the glasses and the oversized shirt weren’t lovely enough already.

“i was so hungry, it’s my second meal today.”, she confessed, eating. “i know it’s wrong, but i forgot to eat until my belly was hurting.”, as she swallowed her food, nari cleaned her mouth. “‘don’t do that again, miss hwang!’, sorry, sorry! i promise i won’t!”, nari raised her hand in surrender.

getting the chopsticks back, nari took more bites of her food, glancing at the phone and giggling every once in a while, until she went back to answering the chat.

“‘how are you feeling about the upcoming tour?’”, she read out loud. “i’m excited, nervous and sad at the same time.”, nari sighed. “i don’t know how i feel doing it without coupsie, i mean, i didn’t like it before and it’s even worse now. coupsie is our- my rock, it’s weird without him.”, she pouted. “and i miss seungkwanie too, he makes me laugh whenever i’m down and not seeing him whenever i want is sad.”, oreo came back to her lap and nari waved his paw softly towards the camera. “hello~ i’m oreo~,” she giggled. “seungkwanie! hi! how are you, my baby boo?”

‘never say that again, hwang nari. but i’m fine, sorry for making you upset 😞’

“no! no, it’s not your fault! don’t feel sad.”, she pouted. “i just miss you, hope you are well and healthy! come back to me soon, i need to laugh more. the others’ attempts aren’t good enough.”

‘i know that im irreplaceable and don’t worry, i’ll come back soon! love you, stay healthy too! fighting~ ❤️’

“fighting, kwanie! drink lots of water, stay well~”, nari posed a heart for the camera and sent it a flying kiss. “it’s so fun when the members interact on my lives, i really like it!”, she drank her water once again. “take notes to those who never interacted…”, she glared at the camera playfully.

suddenly her phone started to ring, so nari quickly got it from the table to see who was calling her. unsurprisingly, it was her boyfriend – who never misses any of her lives.

“hello?”, she said, putting the phone on speaker. “say hi to our babies.”

“hi oreo, hi odie~,” seungcheol softly said.

“not those babies!”, nari whined. “to our carats, they already miss you!”

“hi carats!”, he giggled. “i already knew it wasn’t them, but i wanted to tease you.”

“you are so mean!”, she pouted. “see how he treats me, guys? he’s so mean, even when i care for him he’s a meanie!”

“don’t be like that, some minutes ago you were confessing how you can’t live without me~”, he teased her in a playful voice.

“you just called to tease me or what?”, she asked sassily, taking another bite of her food.

“no, no! when did you get so savage?”, he laughed and nari quietly sang in the background ‘oh my god, don’t you know i’m a savage?’ making him laugh once again – which made her laugh too. “whenever i call you in-front of a camera it’s always a mess.”

nari nodded, completely agreeing with his statement. the last time they did this, nari has tears in her eyes from laughing too much and her belly had started to hurt. she had to end the live because she wasn’t feeling too well due to her laughing fit.

“yeah, i still remember my bellyache…”, she sighed before brightening up once again. “kwanie passed by in the comments to say hi, did you see it?”, he hummed. “i miss him a lot.”, she pouted.

“i saw it, he misses you too, i’m sure.”, he comforted the young woman. “you really spoil him a lot, people will start to think that you like the maknaes more than me at this point.”

“well…”, she whistled. “that’s not exactly a lie…”

“ya!”, he whined. “and you have the audacity to say that i am a meanie!?”

nari giggled and threw her head back, the comments going crazy because of their interaction. though, the couple didn’t really pay them much attention as they were focused on each other — which made the moment a hundred times more cute.

“it’s funny to tease you.”, nari sighed, taking a quick sip of her water. “but you know i love you, coupsie~”, she said in a cute tone.

the man laughed, completely enamored on the other side of the phone. she was sure that his ears were red by this point.

“okay, okay. i guess i love you too…”, he pretended to fake gag, making nari scoff and him to release another giggle. “i’ll hang up for now, take care okay?”

“i should be the one to say that.”, she whined. “i’ll call you later, sleep well, it’s late~”

“you too, don’t stay up for too long.”, he yawned. “love you.”

“love you too.”, then she hang up the phone.

nari got up briefly once again to take her dishes to the kitchen, taking advantage to stretch her limbs as she’s been sitting for quite a long time and for the comments to die down a bit — their interaction got it going feral.

“i think i’m a bit tired now…”, she yawned. “will you be mad if i decide to end the live now? i promise to do another one soon and not stay too long without doing it again!”, she quickly added, remembering all the carats begging her for a live because it had been three months since her last solo one.

as she received positive reactions, nari interacted for three more minutes before calling it a day and deciding to end the live, getting oreo back on her lap to end it properly.

“bye bye, carats!~”, she waved his paw to the camera. “sleep well and take care, i love you~”, then, the screen darkened with the image of nari smiling as the background.

all rights reserved © svt-nari, 2023

[toomuchracket]

Bumping into ex!matty/ ex-hookup!matty at a party or an event, when you’re with your new BF. And Matty has a whale of a time, certain you’re unsatisfied with your new partner.

so you've been on one date with a guy and it didn't go that well, like it was fine but so boring, and you had no real intentions to see him again, but then he texts and says his friend is opening an art exhibition and there's like a gala for it with dinner and drinks and stuff and he has a spare ticket so would you like to go? and you're like fuck it ok. like you're getting free drinks, a fancy dinner, a bit of culture, and an excuse to wear the long green velvet dress you recently bought in a sale, and then you can just phase the guy out of your life lmao. so you get all dressed up and go, and it's fine. although you don't know anyone else and the art is, um, kinda shit and not worth looking at more than once, so you do have to lurk by your date a bit like a spare part or sit in a corner by yourself the whole night - you learned that the artist in question is actually his ex, and they seem to want to reconnect. and honestly, good for them. anyway, you're standing counting the bubbles in your champagne glass and mentally calculating if you have enough time to make it onto the last tube if you leave now when a voice speaks and practically sets your whole body alight: "well, well, well. s'been a while, babe". and you look up to see a familiar head of dark curls (although more grey-streaked than they were), a familiar chest tat peeking out of his shirt (although the chest in question is far more muscle-bound), and a familiar smile (that, to your delight, is still the same as it was the last time you saw it, before your little dalliance ended and he went on tour and the world went into lockdown); you smile back like "hi matty. what's it been, four years? you look good". he kisses your cheek like "four years, yeah, and you look amazing as always. don't think your date has quite realised that, though, the div", and you stay silent but quirk your eyebrows as you take a drink - matty's face lights up, and he giggles like "oh, sweetheart, he's not doing it for you at all, is he?", and you wince like "he's a sweet guy, he's just not-" and matty interrupts like "interesting enough for you? yeah, i could see how unimpressed you looked with him talking from across the room". you can feel yourself blush, and you look down at the ground sheepishly; matty lightly tilts your chin up to look at you (which does not help the blushing in the slightest) and say "and i know how much you like things to be... interesting. you really do look amazing, by the way. think you're the only masterpiece in here, honestly". and at that point, you literally can't help yourself - you look up at him through your eyelashes and say "is this you offering to pin me to the wall?", and matty smirks and says "gladly, if that's what you want". you smirk back and say "always, if it's you doing it", and matty kisses you so quickly you don't even have time to react and says "come on then, time for you and i to have a proper reunion" <3

[cartooncartoonpanic]

#004 On the brink

(CW: Medical trauma, mentions of child test subjects and amputations)

You ask Blossom if she's still a superhero, and this, at least, she seems excited to talk about.

"Well...crime's kind of slowed down in the past few years. Obviously we haven't been fighting you. Mojo got taken to a facility outside of the city I think. Him got kind of bored since we aren't as scared anymore-"

"Yeah, too bored to be a parent" You interrupt, understandably bitter that the man who brought you back to life never checked up on you in the past few years.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't... You don't have to apologize for what HE did. Keep going. "

"Well...I think Sedusa got a modelling contract or something? Someone in the Gangreen gang joined a popular band I think and they all went for a tour, Fuzzy invested in some ear plugs and doesn't really care about what goes on in Townsville, and the Ameboa boys...well they're still at it I guess. So yeah...we don't really go out as a team anymore like that" That last part did sound a bit sad.

"That's really all the big criminals in Townsville?" You could have sworn there was another one who he had met before

"Oh right, Princess...that's an entire situation" She whispered and tried to hint with her eyes at someone else in the room.

"She's not a criminal anymore but...she's still sort of our enemy. Or at least making Bubbles' life harder..." Sure enough a girl in a suit with gold trim and a crown hair clip was looking at both of you. Was that Princess? Did she know you were talking about her?

"Do you do any fighting?" You change the subject back, agreeing that it's probably for the best not to get into any drama.

"To be honest...I'm kind of a soloist these days. I don't know if thats the term...but Bubbles has her veterenarian internship and Buttercup has a pretty intense training schedule so usually I'm the one who takes on any new villains who pop up. Aside from this mech robot guy though, most of them don't come back. The process is a bit different though. Since its just me most of the time, I wear a costume and use a cool nickname. It's a secret though" She seemed to be having a lot of fun.

You wonder briefly, if you were a hero with a secret identity, and did all of the things that the girls did, would people praise you? Give you the benefit of the doubt? Stop treating you like a dangerous criminal? Was it possible for you, of all people, to be good? But you don't vocalize these thoughts. Especially not to her. And definitely not now of all times.

You ask Blossom if she knows anybody else here, aside from the obvious she and her siblings, you and your siblings, and princess.

"Hmmm...I think so. Some of them I only know from tv but if you mean personally...The guy with the striped shirt is one of Buttercups workout partners...I remember his name also starts with a B but I don't know what it is. And then that guy with the white hair is Edd.

Apparently his two best friends are named that too. I know, confusing... They seem exhausting to be around when they're all together but Edd's pretty nice when it's just us. We were in chess club together. The girl with the ballet shoes the really tall blonde one, her name is Deedee, and she was a big fan of my sisters and I when she was younger so we got asked to come to her birthday party as special guests and our parents got along enough that we went over to their house pretty often. And then there's her brother~" She dreamily sighed before covering her mouth, embarassed.

So she had a crush. For some reason the thought bothered you a lot. Maybe it was because you wished she spoke about you that way. Maybe it's because the fact that she's able to be comfortable enough with someone to fall in love is more proof that she got to live a happy normal life, while you didn't. Is there anything that's fair?

"I wonder why all of these people are here though. Do you know any of them?"

You look around. Aside from the obvious of the powerpuff girls, your own brothers, and princess, nobody seems like someone you've seen before. Except...there's a guy with black hair in what seems to be goggles and a cape. Even among villains people would think this guy is trying to hard and this is coming from the kid of a monkey who wore a turban. You could have sworn you recognized that face. you don't remember where you saw him, but just looking at him makes you tense.

Wait. He recognizes you too.

And he's coming towards you.

A flood of memories come back to you and leave you paralyzed at the same time. The sterile white walls. The injections. The blood samples. The sedatives.

The invasive examinations. The terrifying people in lab coats. The repeated talk about how this is all you would be good for.

The amputation.

YOU'RE CERTAIN THIS IS THE MAN WHO RUINED YOUR LIFE

Your panic becomes rage as everything around you tunes out. There is no hotel dining room. There are no other people. It's you and the evil scientist. He's speaking but you can barely hear him over everything racing through your head. Even now he doesn't have a sense of boundaries. He seems to be trying to pull your jacket off of your body, saying something about not believing they went through with it. At first you dont know what he's doing until he grabs your arm. Or rather...your metal prosthetic arm.

[undinegeist]

I fly all the way to the hotel, on the bus, through the cow-riddled fields I can’t see in the dark, until I’m flying through the lobby, already all the way up in his room in my head…until the valet stops me, tells me I need to check the front desk.

It’s not my thing, but sometimes shit gets broken…I always enjoy dealing with that sort of stuff, insist they come to me personally.

“What’s broken this time?” I act the bored chaperone part to get us off, but inside I’m almost always thrilled.

“Nothing.” He looks spooked. “He just left the key. Said he needs you in his room.”

“Is the pool open?”

“The pool?” His eyes widen; his accent slips, revealing he’s a little American in little England.

“Yeah. Is it?”

“It’s…it’s very cold.”

“Isn’t it heated?”

“We…we could heat it.”

“Cool…please, will you?”

“Y-yes.”

“Thank you.” I give my sweetest smile, all poison viper.

- xx -

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He hugs me, dressed less like a rockstar in something like yoga pants, knit sweater. “What took so long?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmmm. What about the pool?”

“They should be heating it up as we speak. Why the change in scenery?”

“Come check out the balcony, it’s sick. What did you have to do to get it done?”

“Sweet talking.”

He scoffs. “What did you really have to do?”

“Drop my knickers.”

He laughs. “Really.”

“Just had to say I wanted it…didn’t even have to say it was for you.”

“That hurts.”

“I know…couldn’t argue with him though, I like being boss.”

“You are always boss.”

“In all but name, not that I mind.”

He throws open the door, and wow: it is sick.

The view is all countryside, which means except for a few pinpricks of light in our vicinity, there’s nothing for miles and miles…and then there’s the tub, tucked in one corner, filling with water, about halfway.

“What took you so long?” I’m only teasing him as I test the water…it’s warm.

He doesn’t answer, so I turn to face him, to find that he’s flushed, unusually.

“I had to make a call.”

“Bugging Elias again?”

“Almost. Although…we can talk about that later.”

“Cool…are we inviting anybody up?”

“No?”

“Are you asking?”

“I thought it could be just us…I really don’t wanna deal with anyone else right now. Oh, and, uh…I had to give over both our keys so we could have this room free of charge. Do you hate me yet?”

“I could never hate you…especially not for this.”

“I was worried for about two seconds. What’s up with the tour schedule?”

“They set tonight’s show to two days from now, and I called down to the label so they can fix the dates on the rest of the tour.”

“Cool. Tell me what they change it to when it comes through?”

“Always. Now, who’s going first?”

“Ladies?”

“Fuck you.”

He laughs, takes off his shirt, jumps right in…getting covered in goosebumps where he’s out of the water.

I take pity, slipping out of my shorts and going in just my shirt, reaching to hug him.

“How are you always so warm?” He wraps himself around me the rest of the way, and I don’t make him let go, though it feels strange.

“The heat’s in my blood?”

“I was born someplace warm too, and I haven’t got that.”

“Luck of the draw, baby. Maybe yours was a cold year.”

“Is that how you think it goes?”

“Could be…or maybe it’s just a matter of choice.”

“Hmm. What’s that thing around your neck?”

“Secrets.”

“Secrets come in silver now?”

“Haven’t they always?”

“Yeah…”

It’s actually the ring, though now isn’t the time the way I thought it would be…I look up, up at the sky, and then we’re quiet, until my phone rings in my shorts.

“Shit…”

“Could be the front desk.”

“Wanna bet on who broke what?”

“Nah…you always win. Taking me for all I’m worth.”

“I don’t need a bet to do that.”

“My point exactly.”

- xx -

She rolls her eyes and slips halfway off the tub, bending to reach her shorts…I’m sure she’s about to fall over, so I reach to hold her waist…her underwear’s black, watersheer…how the fuck am I gonna tell her?

“Hi?” She’s already sliding back in next to me, careless as fuck, always.

“Oh, cool. Thanks. Take the…yeah. Oh, yeah…that’d be great. There’s no need to…yeah, slide it in. Thank you.”

“Slide it in?” I cock an eyebrow.

“Dirty fucker.” But she’s distracted. “They’re bringing the keys to the pool…wasn’t sure they’d actually do it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think they heat it usually, and it’s up on the roof, maybe uncovered? They probably had to wake millions just to get it ready.”

“Or three people.”

“I’d hope for none.”

“You’re too nice.”

“You’re not too bad yourself.”

“Underneath everything else.”

“Yeah…”

“So…do you wanna go up now?”

“Yeah, might as well. Need to put on something else…don’t want to get a call about wet streaks in the hall.”

“I’d take it for you.”

But she’s gone, beelining for the closet, where I left her backpack…I stare at her as long as I can before making my way out of the water, closing the tub so we don’t have to start again, get undressed.

- xx -

She throws open the glass door, stripping immediately, jumping in before I can even get all the way out of my clothes.

“Is it cold?”

“No…stop being a pussy.”

“Fuck you.”

“Come over here and do it yourself.”

I give her what she wants, jumping into the water…it is warm, thank fuck.

She swims closer to me, reaches a hand out to play with my hair, laughing at the way it looks…I do the same to hers.

“Is it time for a cut?”

“Maybe…it’s getting a little long.” She slips her fingers around the edges, brushing my neck.

“What should I do next?”

“You know I’ll always say grow it long…but you should ask people again, it makes them feel like they’re part of the show.”

“I should grow it, just for you.”

Her eyes get distant, and that scares me so much, I start to slowly lose it, though I try not to show it.

“You’ll look great no matter what you do, J.”

“Maybe we should match.”

She laughs. “Last time I grew my hair long, I almost died.”

“Why?”

“It hurt…but the worst of it was that it became unbrushable.”

“I’d brush it if you let me…”

Her eyes are still drifting, distant, colder than the night air…until she stops, turning to look at me, swimming closer.

She stops inches away, and then wraps her arms around my shoulders, even as I get mine around her waist…

“I got you something…it’s…fuck, it’s so cheesy, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I’ve just said one of the cheesiest things of my life…that’s just us.”

She nods, slipping her fingers away; I hold her against me halfway, as she reaches behind her to unclasp the necklace she hadn’t been wearing earlier, taking it in her hand, before slipping something out of it.

“I know you’ve got tons of metal, so I wanted to get something different…the colors are boring, but still…”

She slips it into my hand, and I turn it over, accidentally pulling her closer, her fingers going across my back, along my neck…it’s a ring, black pink woven together, unlike anything I have.

“It’s…it’s great. Where…where did you get it?”

“Some country mall…I wove it myself. I used to have one of these a while back and because I was a hopeless useless romantic even when I didn’t want to be…I thought if I ever found someone I really liked, I’d make them one…and it couldn’t be metal, because that hurts, and it’s bad enough that you’re…that we’re doing whatever this is.”

“This isn’t bad.”

“Right now…but it has been. And I know I’m fucked, that I’m not easy.”

“I’m not, either. I don’t mind. This…no one’s ever given me anything like this…thank you, Y/N/N. I love it.”

It feels like barely a second, until we’re kissing, her breath mixing with mine, the two of us tangling together in the water…we stop, for barely a second, just long enough for her to slip the ring on my finger, and then I’m lying on my back on the pool steps, and she’s making her way over my chest, up and down until she’s down, just enough…I don’t know how, but she’s always ready, reaching into her shorts for a condom, sliding her tongue hard enough that I feel dizzy, lost…we don’t even talk, I couldn’t anyway; I only have to slip my fingers over her arm for her to slide up, slide in, legs around my waist, hair everywhere…I slip my fingers around her hips, sliding her underwear all the way down, slipping in slowly so I don’t hurt her…she pushes down, though, the rest of the way, and then we’re pressed chest to chest, and I’m kissing her.

“I love you so fucking much.”

She doesn’t answer, doesn’t need to…she bites my shoulder, and I come…finish her off, until we’re both on our backs on the steps, and I’m all the way under her, the only way to chase away the cold.