#but this is my last semester of college so i'm trying to squeeze as much joy as i can out of it before they throw me to the wolves

[standforford]

dear beloved tumblr followers sorry i forgot about this blog for like two weeks ily

[allthenamesithinkofaretaken]

There Was an Attempt:

Looking For Answers Pt. 3

[I based the name of The Fates off by the Greek Mythology, but for their personalities and the way they act, I completely made it all up, so if you’re an expert on mythology please don’t come after me.]

Important!

I have good news and bad news—

Good news: I'm taking requests! So if you want to see Immortal! Reader and Muerte in some scenarios feel free to ask.

Bad News: I won't be posting anything after February 16, so that means after that, TWaA will be going on a hiatus because my second semester is starting then and college will be taking up most of my time, so request away! I'll try to be quick to write it all!

“So, uh, how do we do this? Do I have to perform some sort of ritual or…” She looked uneasily up at Muerte, who let out a sigh as he pushed himself off the tree. They were back in that clearing where she had first met Vida, away from the sights of the townsfolk and just a few steps into the woods. He had told her it would be best to do this in an empty space, and his wording alone left enough shivers down her spine to try and make her rethink her choices in life.

“I’ll be the one taking you there,” he replied, stopping in front of her and raising a finger up. “But first, there are rules.” she blinked owlishly up at him, brows raised in interest. “Don’t touch their web, all the threads there are actual fates of the people in this world and any sort of unwanted interruption would cause a chaos that none of us would be happy to clean up.” She flinched at that, already taking mental notes as he began to pace, she had to sit herself down for the next few ones, already keeping a close attention to everything he said.

“When they’re talking, you always reply to the last one to speak,” He kneels down in front of her, looking deep into her eyes so she knew just how serious this was. He didn’t want her hurt, she may be immortal, but the fates could bring misfortune to the both of them should they do something that would make them mad. “Since we’re going in unannounced, I want you to be more polite than you’ve ever been in your entire life, all right?” He raised his brows, and she found herself nodding along.

“I— wait, why didn’t you tell them? It’s been a week since I last told you, there was plenty of time!”

He visibly tensed at the thought of even going there once again. “The Fates usually don’t enjoy the idea of being disturbed, and even I don’t know what they’d do should something bad happen.”

She cringed, the thought of embarrassing herself in front of the sisters making her stomach churn. “Well it’s a good thing you’re coming with me, huh?”

“And I’m not leaving you alone,” Muerte takes her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You’re immortal, but The Fates have your thread in there somewhere, and I’m not sure if they have the power to cut your cord or not.”

“Right,” she gives a reassuring squeeze back. “So is that it? Be polite, answer to the sister that spoke last, and don’t touch the web?”

“Yes,” He spoke, his brows still furrowed with worry as he lifted her back up to her feet. “Now, stand a few feet away and I’ll get the circle ready.”

“Circle?” She asks, following his instructions anyway as he unsheathes one of his sickles.

“A mark,” He replies, dropping the edge of his sickle to the ground and beginning to draw a circle below. She was surprised at how perfect it almost looked, following every movement Muerte did as he continued to carve out strokes and arcs into the ground. “Each one of us has our own marks to get in each realm, these circles just make it easier for mortals to get there…” He shrugged as he finished, looking down at his work before turning to her. “If they know which one to use, of course.”

He holds out a hand, and she takes it into her own before carefully stepping into the circle, careful not to smudge the lines. She didn’t know much about magic, but she was sure that anything wrong that might happen in a certain ritual then she’d either turn out dead or severely damaged, and stars know that she didn’t want to feel any more pain from near death experiences.

“You said ‘mortals’, does that mean that you don’t have to do this all the time?” He nodded at her question. “So you’re only doing the circle now because I’m coming with you?”

“You catch on quick,” he grinned, and she gave a proud smile as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him in the middle of the mark he had made. “But yes, this is the safest route I can think of, especially since I don’t know what will happen to you if I teleport the both of us there.”

“Right,” she huffed, wrapping her arms around him. “Do we have to be this close or did you just want a hug?”

Muerte grinned, “It might be a part of the ritual, who knows?”

“Does the ritual require a kiss?” She grinned, and he leaned down to give her a peck on the lips, the embarrassment and surprise on her face causing Muerte to laugh.

“You asked for it,” he hummed, tucking a lone strand of hair behind her ear as she grumbled underneath her breath. “But we’re burning daylight,” he paused, looking up at the sky for a moment. “Should we?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, feeling the nervousness begin to form a pit in her stomach. She could feel Muerte squeezing her shoulder for reassurance, and there was a brief moment of silence before a blinding purple light turned her vision white, her hands clenching around Muerte’s sides as panic overtook her. She shuts her eyes tight, not daring to open them as she feels a surge of coldness blow through her, and then… silence.

She didn’t want to move a muscle.

Until she feels Muerte place a gentle kiss on her scalp, feeling his hand run down the top of her head to the back of her neck. “We’re here.”

Peeking through one eye, she saw nothing but darkness that began to stretch on and on from miles on miles as if wherever they were had no beginning, or an end. Her heart rate picked up as her grip on Muerte’s poncho tightened. She didn’t know if it was the void in front of her that made her shiver, or if it was just the nervousness in her that made her fingers cold against her palm.

“It’s okay,” he muttered, placing a hand on top of her own and easing her grip out of him. “I’m here.”

“But where are The Fates?” She takes a cautious step back, not wanting to smudge the mark underneath them, only to realize that the circle was gone. Muerte takes a hold of her hand.

“We’ll be seeing them soon enough.” He starts to stalk forward, and she follows him in his steps, never once letting her eyes stray from one part of the darkness too long. The place made her queasy, the more she lingered on one spot for too long, she felt as if she was falling in place with her eyes closed, Muerte’s grip on her hands being the only one keeping her in place and sane. She feels for the small dagger on her hip. Muerte had given her this a few days ago after one of their training sessions, despite her complaints and constant nagging at how she didn’t like the thought of killing people, he had still given her a short dagger anyway, saying that he’d feel more content with the thought of her with a blade than with none at all.

She never thought she’d ever try to use the blade, and yet she always brings it along with her anyway.

It wasn’t until she hears 3 voices echoing nearby did her heart feel as if it dropped to her stomach, the nervousness she felt before only doubled now, her eyes wide as she found herself tracing the patterns of the gigantic web in front of her that looked as if it stretched out for miles and miles above with longer threads on either side to keep it from falling apart. She wondered how long those threads were, and whose lives that would be, she wondered where hers was, and if the Fates knew that they had spun a thread that belonged to an immortal being.

She could feel Muerte’s grip on her hand loosen, and she looked up to him in a panic, her widened eyes looking up at his own as he seemed to stop in his tracks.

“What are you—”

“Are you sure about this?” He asks, and her lips pursed in a straight line. “There’s still time to go back.”

“I—” she paused, looking down the nonexistent ground before shutting her eyes with a sigh, replying with a determined nod of the head. “I want to hide whatever it is that can kill me. My secret won’t stay a secret forever, and I know when that happens, then something out there will be determined to do what they can to get what I have.”

He cups her cheek, eyes looking over her head to watch the spiders spin their threads before shifting his gaze back down at her. “It’s not like I’ll let them get anywhere near you.”

She places a hand atop his own, giving him a small smile as she places a quick kiss to the palm of his hand. “I know,” she sighed. “But you can’t protect me forever. I want to do this.”

Muerte blows out a breath, nodding his head and then lacing his hand back to her own, continuing their path towards the weaving spiders.

The closer they got, the closer she could hear the mutters and mumbles coming from the three, she could also see just how different their web was from normal spiders. It was shining as if they were made from crystals, and she swore if she could look at them close enough, there were images flashing across the thread as if it was a person’s entire life being displayed right in front of her eyes. She wanted to touch it, wanted to reach out her hands and wonder what it was like to hold it, but Muerte’s warnings echoed in her head, and she had to shut her hand in a tight fist, keeping herself behind the wolf and her gaze up at the mumbling spiders as they worked.

“Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos!” Muerte called out, his voice booming over the silence and even causing the web to vibrate just a bit, her breath hitching as she watched the vibrations travel upwards until it catches the attention of those at the top, moving so fast as they climbed down that she could feel the goosebumps running down her entire body. She never liked spiders, and now she had three giant ones looking down at her, their beady eyes scanning the both of them before a grin stretched out on their faces.

“My, my, my,” the largest one hummed, and she’s read about them quite enough for the past few days to know which was which. Most of their depictions were humans, however, but if she were to take a guess, the largest one would be the oldest, and the oldest one in the books was always Atropos, the one who decided how the mortals would die and when. “A familiar face, a familiar life—”

“—Unexpected as it may seem—” the middle one continued, and she guessed this one to be Lachesis, the one who measured how long a mortal’s life would be.

“—What brings you to our web again—?” She blinked owlishly at the last set of words that left Clotho, the youngest and the one that weave the threads as the mortal is in the womb.She couldn’t quite hear it or make out what language it was, but Muerte seemed to respond, and she wondered if that was his true name.

“The riddle,” he huffed, rolling his eyes, but before he could continue, she took a step forward, not wanting to have him do all the talking.

“It’s not specific enough,” her voice broke through the conversation like an uninvited knife through the air, their heads snapping in her direction and causing a hushed silence to fall as the sisters came stalking forward. She could feel Muerte’s grip on her growing tight, trying to get her to go back behind him but she wasn’t having it, letting go of his hand and looking up at the three in determination. “I’m the immortal that wants to get another riddle, something that would actually help, please.”

The oldest scoffed, stalking forward to the edge of the web where she was able to look at her eye to eye, her breathing coming to a full stop at the sight of the spider towering her very form.

“The one you seek is not one—”

“—nor two—” the middle interrupts the eldest, taking a thread into her own as the youngest begins to weave it.

“—nor three,” the youngest continues, the eldest going back to finally snip at the end of the thread that the two had measured and weaved before helping them attach it somewhere in the web, watching as it seamlessly attached to the others with ease. “It’s numbers differ, that we can guarantee—”

“—it can be a dagger, a sword, or a dish, or it could be the utterance of a true wish.” she looks to the eldest once again, watching as her legs tug on one of the webs before unlatching it, and the shine of the thread disappears, her head turning to Muerte with an almost wicked smile. (Y/n) didn’t need to look at Muerte to feel him tensing up from behind. “Duty calls,—” Atropos calls him by that name she can’t make out yet again.

“I’m not leaving (Y/n) behind,” Muerte’s words rumbled from within his chest, and when she lifted her head to look up at him, he had his glare set on the eldest of the three, whilst the other two continued to work on their threads. She didn’t even hear him unsheathe his sickles, and yet there they were in the palm of his hands, his grip tight against the hilt.

“It’s not like we’re going to hurt her,” The largest spider stalked forward, and she found herself taking a few steps back until her back hit Muerte’s chest. “If she is as indestructible as you say she is, then she’ll still be breathing by the time you come back.”

“Unless you’re afraid we’ll cut her cord,” The eldest’s grin grew wider at the sudden tenseness that seemed to radiate the wolf. “Now wouldn’t that be an idea.”

“And you wonder why I don’t want to leave her here with you?” Muerte scoffs, watching as the eldest turned away to cut the recent thread the other two had weaved together. “This’ll be quick anyway, so continue your riddle and we can be on our merry way.”

“Ah, ah—” The eldest waved a leg at him, all of her eyes squinting with amusement. “She stays here with us and you go do your job unless you want us to snitch on Father Time that you’d once again let your emotions get in the way of your purpose.”

Muerte tensed, and she could hear the angered breaths coming from him the more his patience grew thin. It wasn’t long before he began to mutter out strings of curses in Spanish, pacing as he ran his hand down his face, glaring holes into the eldest as if he wanted her to explode.

He turned his gaze to her, and she could only give him a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine… I promise.”

He knew that she didn’t know that, and she could tell with the way he never let up his stubborn gaze on her that he didn’t believe any of the words that she had said, so with a sigh, she takes one step closer towards him, fully turning her back to the three to reach her hand out to his arm, giving it a squeeze.

“You can do it quickly if you want, but I promise I’ll follow the rules and I’ll keep a safe distance away from them,” she whispers to him, biting down on her bottom lip for a second. “Besides, I’ll only ask them more about the riddle anyway, it’s not like they could find a reason to hurt me because of that.”

Muerte sighed, ducking down to her level and replying in the same hushed tone that she was, “Only ask the important questions, they don’t like to be tested.” His gaze softened, “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

“I know,” she gave a smile, “Now go, I won’t break any more rules than I already have by butting in earlier.”

Muerte cringed at that, “Don’t do that again.”

“Who says we’ll be visiting here again?” She grinned, and he actually found himself chuckling at that, going back to his full height before turning around with one final glare to the sisters. He looks at her goodbye, and before she knew it, the darkness in front of her seemed to swallow him whole, leaving her with the three.

Turning around, she looked up at the web, freezing in shock at the sight that the spiders had stopped with their weaving to size her up.

“Uh… hi?” She gives an awkward wave of a hand, and before she knew it, her body was wrapped in the spider’s silk, a cry pushing past her lips as a cold breeze blew past her, one of the sister’s hauling her up and hanging her cocooned body up by her legs so that she faced them upside down, her blood running cold at the three that surrounded her.

“W-Wait! What are you doing?!” She panics, trying to break free from the silk that wrapped tightly around her body, but she couldn’t break her arms free, widened eyes looking up from where she was dangling to see a singular thread of silk at her feet and stretching up far above the darkness. She didn’t think it was possible to stick a web to nothing, or if there was a wall there somewhere and it was just too far away to see.

One of the sisters pushed her slightly back, her attention going back to the three. She was immediately face to face with Clotho.

“So you’re the immortal that Muerte has been asking about,” Atropos hummed, leaning closer to examine her. With her heart pounding heavily against her chest and the blood flowing down to her head, she hoped she wouldn’t end up throwing up. “I must say… we're glad to finally meet you, I never thought I'd ever see the day, but here we are."

“What?” She looked in shock at the eldest. “What do you mean?”

“Usually when there’s an immortal, they don’t come with invincibility like Muerte had described you to have.”

“Is.. that bad?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she couldn’t pry her eyes away from the three as they circled her.

“No,” Clotho hummed. “But if you think about it, really, no one makes an immortal also indestructible, now do they?”

Lachesis chuckled. “Unless, of course, there’s something important inside of them that needs to be protected.”

She froze, her eyes growing wide as she processed that information. “Wait— what?”

“Isn’t that what you’re here for? Answers?” Atropos grinned, holding a thread up and tugging on it. She let out a gasp, a surge of pain exploding through her chest as she watched the thread turn gold, following the yellow light until she had realized that the thread looped around the entirety of the web. An endless cycle with no end nor beginning.

“I don’t understand,” she traced the golden light of the thread yet again, checking to see if she had simply missed something, that her thread didn’t actually loop around the entirety of the web, and yet no matter how many times she looked, it was always the same. “I don’t—”

“We’re surprised you don’t know,” Lachesis hummed, crouching down and tilting her head up at her to be able to look her in the eye. “I thought Muerte was asking because he normally doesn’t like it when humans have a hold of such power.”

“But you’ve always been immortal, haven’t you?” Lachesis grinned. “Even before you were born.”

“I don’t think you’re making too much sense,” she shut her eyes, unable to keep her focus from being dangled. Atropos sighed, cutting the thread that was holding her up and the cocoon that wrapped around her body, breaking her free from the restraints. She let out a relieved sigh, muttering a small ‘thank you’ to the eldest as she placed her back down to the ground. She stumbled back from the dizziness, raising a hand up to her head.

“The first riddle, do you remember it by word?”

“Yeah,” She huffed. “What you seek has once been sought, and when it has, the lines get crossed. And so it seeks to find where others would not, to keep it safe and it’s magic unfraught.” The words were basically etched into her brain from the amount of times she’s stared into that small piece of paper, muttering it to herself every night.

“What do you think it is?” Atropos tilted her head to the side, and (Y/n) simply gave a glare.

“You think if I knew, I’d be here trying to ask for another riddle?”

At that Lachesis and Atropos scoffed whilst Clotho only let out an amused giggle, the two older sisters glaring at the younger who immediately stopped at their stern stare.

“Our riddle is clear enough,” Atropos grumbled, clearly not liking having to spell it out for her. “I won’t give you another one—”

“—But—” she tried to retort.

“—but, I’ll be generous enough to give you a hint.” Atropos huffed. “It takes some courage to try and get our brother to even agree to let him take you here, and even more to strike up the idea to try and talk to us face to face. " The eldest continued, "But this will still come at a cost."

Now that made the worry in her stomach churn, looking up at them with concern. "Like?"

"You have all the time in the world," Lachesis smirked, her eyes sparkling just a bit too much in excitement. "So we won't cash it in just yet."

Stars, she knew just how much of a bad idea it would be to bargain something that she wouldn't be so sure of the results, but if it would be the only way to get answers, then fine, she'll bite. Besides, how bad could their favor even be?

"Fine," she huffed out after a minute of thinking, already feeling the regret creeping up her spine as their looks of satisfaction only worsened the feeling. "So what's the hint?"

"The riddle isn't about what can kill you," Atropos hummed. "It's about you."

"What?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing, turning to the others for some help.

"What you seek has once been sought, and when it has, the lines get crossed. And so it seeks to find where others would not, to keep it safe and it’s magic unfraught." Clotho repeats the rhyme without missing a beat, and Lachesis continues much to her surprise.

"Keep it in mind, little one: No one makes an immortal indestructible, unless their blood is more than valuable."

Her shoulders tensed, the words echoing in her head until the warmth of a hand finds itself on her shoulder, and she flinches.

Muerte looks down at her with worried eyes, and she reaches out to his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, the tenseness disappearing as she finds herself safe under his watch.

"We're done here," Atropos waved a leg out, much to Muerte's surprise, widened eyes looking up at the three. "It was nice to get to know you, (Y/n). We'll call you when we need to cash in on our favor."

It felt as if she was being dragged away, the web slowly getting farther and farther away as Muerte's grip on her shoulder tightened. Her eyes snapped open, not even realizing that she had closed them only to find herself back in that clearing where they had been earlier that day, Muerte looking down at her with concerned yet angered eyes, his hand gripping tight at her own.

"What did you do?" He asked, there was anger lingering in his tone, and his grip on her hand tightened. When she looked down, the back of her palm had a singular line down at the middle in a darkish purple ink, and when she went to rub at it, it wouldn't fade away.

A mark that symbolizes the favor, she thought.

"(Y/n)," Muerte's voice pulled her back from her thoughts, and she mumbled a small apology, surprised at the fatigue that coursed through her. "It's alright, the feeling will go away in a few hours." He reassured, she could sense that he was waiting to ask what happened, but she was glad to have had a break from the talking and the constant thinking, just laying in his arms and watching the blades of grass swaying with the wind.

When she gathered herself properly, she sighed, shutting her eyes. "They said something about my blood," she starts, catching Muerte's attention. "Something about it being important or valuable because if that wasn't the case, what would be the point of indestructible skin?"

"Well—" he catches his tongue, his grip on her growing tight just the slightest as the answer finally grows much closer to him, his breath hitching.

"Muerte?" She called out, tilting her head up to look at him, only to find him already looking down at her with a look of disbelief. Her look of confusion shifted into worry.

"I might… have an idea."

[awkwardtortuga]

Much needed relaxation - Donnie x female reader

My dreams have been particularly vivid recently, so I thought, “Why not try to write your dreams and share them on the internet?”.... So here we are! Will anyone besides me enjoy it? Maybe not, but at least I don’t have to worry about forgetting it!

Disclaimer: This is a Donnie x female reader fic. Everyone depicted here is an adult.

Word count: ~1,440

Warnings: Other than smut, none? (That being said, please let me know if there is something that requires a trigger warning. I'm still pretty new to sharing my writing.)

It has been a while since I’ve written smut, so I may be a little rusty. (Will probably edit once I get a good night's rest...)

18+ content - for mature audiences only!

It has been a few days since you last saw Donnie in person. If he wasn’t busy with training or protecting the city, you were busy with college and all the stress that came with the semester ending. Even now, when you should be enjoying his presence, you found your mind drifting to the different assignments you had to complete and tests you had to study for. 

You and Don are on your bed, laying on your sides and facing each other. He’s spent the last several minutes filling you in on how patrol has gone the past few nights, before realizing that at some point you zoned out and stopped listening. You were staring blankly at his plastron, where your hand was drawing abstract shapes. He calls your name gently, breaking you from your rapid thoughts.

“Talk to me,” he whispered, voice soft but stern. He could tell something was bothering you and wanted to help you through it.

“It's just... I can't turn my mind off,” you whispered back, gently running your hand up his plastron. “I want to focus on you while I have you here, but I can’t make my mind be quiet.” Your hand continues its journey, finally reaching up to cup his face as you lean in, kissing him softly on the lips.

He hums into the kiss, before moving to pepper your shoulder in kisses. “I want to help you relax. Will you let me take care of you?” he asks between kisses.

You nod, mumbling a single word: "Please."

“On your back,” he commands gently, nudging your shoulder. The bed creaked under his weight as he shifted to hover over you. A hand teasingly brushes your clothed breast as it drifts up your body, before finally cupping your cheek, his thumb brushing across your lips. He kisses your lips once more as that same hand moves to the back of your head, tilting it slightly. With the new angle, he’s able to trail kisses from your lips to your neck.

Your skin is already tingling with excitement, and you feel goosebumps rise on your arms and legs. He nips at your neck before latching on, quickly sucking a new hickey into the soft flesh. Your fingers curl into the sheets while he sucks, and you can feel your breath quicken as a moan escape your lips. His other hand slides down your body, and he grips your hip tightly, pulling you close so that you are pressed firmly against him. The feel of his arousal against your body causes you to shudder, your pussy clenching and feeling sinfully empty.

Content with the mark he has placed on your neck, he sits back and gazes at you with hooded eyes. The hand in your hair moves to your neck, lightly brushing his new mark, before joining his other hand in slipping under your top and sliding the material off you. Once your torso is bare, his lips start their journey down your body. One hand cups your breast, squeezing gently before rubbing circles over your quickly hardening nipple. You moaned as his trail of kisses leads his lips to your other nipple, your hips bucking into his when he gently sucks.  

He continued to lick and suck at your breasts, your nipples stiffening even further under his attention, before slowly sliding down your body, peeling your leggings and panties off as he goes. More kisses are peppered along your skin; across your belly, over your hip, and down one leg, but never getting too close to your core.

“Donnie please,” you whine, bucking your hips slightly. He chuckles but moves to lay on the bed, positioning your legs on either side of his head and shoulders. He trails more kissed down one leg and over your mound. Your legs flinch closed slightly when his warm breath ghosts over your folds, the anticipation making you jumpy.

“Hold yourself open for me, dove,” he commands gently, pausing to look up at you with a smile so soft that your heart throbs. ‘He’s so perfect,’ you think as you affectionately squeeze your thighs against his shoulders before holding them open as he requested.

He sighs contentedly and nuzzles into the soft folds of flesh between your legs; you could feel him inhaling the scent of your arousal.

His tongue flicked out and lapped at your clit as you whimpered softly, your mind going blank. He alters between gentle flicks of his tongue and short but harsh sucking, each passing second causing the band in your stomach to tighten. Your legs are shaking slightly, your breathing is heavy and labored, moans the only thing leaving your lips as you’re unable to form full sentences through the pleasure coursing through every inch of your body. One of his hands slides up your body, busying itself with gently pinching one nipple. You whimpered softly, hips bucking slightly before he pins them down with his other hand.

You were so close to finishing when he took his mouth away from your wet pussy, a needy whine leaving you as you throw your head back in frustration. His kisses your knee with a chuckle before crawling further up the bed, dipping his head to kiss you, letting you taste yourself on his tongue. Your breath caught in your throat as a small moan escaped you

As his lips brushed against yours, he grabs both of your breasts, kneading them and gently pinching your nipples. With a tilt of his hips, you feel him rubbing against your folds before settling at your entrance. One of his hands leaves your breast, tangling itself in the hair at the back of your head. With a nip to your lips, he leans back slightly, and starts to push his hips into yours.

“Keep your eyes on us,” he commands, tilting your head, forcing you to look towards where your bodies are connected.

You do as instructed, watching intently as his cock slips inside of you. His thick shaft fills you completely, stretching you open and giving you an intense feeling of fullness. He pauses for a moment once he bottoms out, enjoying your warmth, before slowly pulling back until only his tip is in you. With a harsh snap of his hips, he sets a steady pace that takes your breath away. Each thrust sends jolts of pleasure through your body, causing your eyelids to flutter.

His other hand leaves your breast to circle your clit. The pleasure is too much for you to handle; he rocks into you with slow but harsh thrusts. "Oh fuck," you whimpered softly, unable to form words properly with how good this feels. He continued expertly rocking into your core, only moving faster when your legs start to shake, and he feels you clenching around him. “I’m close,” you moan out, struggling to keep your eyes open to watch as he slides in and out of you, his cock glistening with your combined slick.

“Come on, dove. Wanna feel you cum on my cock,” he groans, tightening his grip in your hair. The pleasure grows between your legs, threatening to overwhelm you. Your hips buck wildly beneath him, and he grunts with each thrust.

Finally, you feel the band in your stomach snap; your eyes clench shut as your back arches, and obscene moan leaving your throat. He continues to harshly thrust into you, carrying you through your orgasm. He lets your head tilt back, allowing him to capture your lips in a bruising kiss and swallow your moans. The hand at your clit slows before moving to grip your hip tightly.

Just as your orgasm ebbs, and overstimulation starts to set it, you feel his thrusts falter and his body stiffen. A few more thrusts and then he bucks his hips, burying himself deep within you and letting loose a long, low groan that vibrates through your entire body. You feel his seed flood inside you, coating your insides with hot liquid, and you cling to him as he shudders against you.

A moment passes before you finally open your eyes again, seeing his face buried in your neck, breath coming quickly. Donnie moves to pull out slowly, until just the tip remains inside you before withdrawing all the way, leaving you gasping for air. He gently repositions your bodies until you’re both back on your sides, facing each other with your legs tangled together. With a sleepy smile, you nuzzle your nose into his neck, and you feel his arms tighten around you. “Are you feeling relaxed now, my love?” he asks, voice soft as he caresses your back.

[bread-tab]

i'm at the stage of the semester where i can only do so much to affect my final grade, to catch up, etc, and i find myself in an unprecedented state of serene reflection

i have learned so much from this class about what it means to go back to school as an adult.

which is weird because i went to college for 8-ish years straight as a young adult trying to get my damn associate's degree and i started to feel REALLY old by the time i hit 24 in that environment.

but as the big three-oh slowly draws nearer, and i come back to the ministrations of the education industry after a couple of very long gap years... i find myself in a different paradigm.

i've forgotten my old routine. i've gotten rusty at it. i didn't plan before the semester, or go carefully shopping for supplies; i didn't even go to the disability services office and ask for accommodations

(which in hindsight i should have, because they'd have let me use some expensive but very handy note-taking software for free and it's a little late for that now but i still need to catch up on recorded lectures)

i just. dived right in. and i handled it like a fukcing champ. i figured out new time management and mental energy budgeting strategies on the fly. i juggled making it to class around two jobs, a volunteer gig, and multiple illness flareups. i dropped the ball spectacularly. i had a couple very bad anxious breakdowns. and every time, i de-catastrophized and picked myself back up.

it's time to start work on the final essay. miracle of miracles, i got the reading done for it. now i have to do (shudder) research. my goal is to submit ONE structrually sound essay, edited, maybe even looked over by a tutor first—ONE good essay that i didn't write on the day of the deadline, goddamnit.

and even if i do, even if i get 100% on the final, i don't know whether i will pass the class. but i will continue giving it the good ol' college try right up to the last day.

(and unlike last time i did this—last time i decided i'm going to squeeze every drop of insight and integrity out of my stupid hard-earned F—this time i'm not stressing about it. i mean, i feel the stress, sure. but it's an order of magnitude less serious.)

this has been a learning experience. i don't know what the hell i was thinking signing up for the class i've historically done the worst at this semester, when i was out of practice with the entire concept of going to school, stressed, unmedicated, broke and stretched thin on time management already. what the fuck, January!Jack?

but somehow i've done the best i ever have in this class. i've done all the readings. i've read some damn decent literature these last couple of months. i actually participated in discussions without pulling anything out of my ass from a hasty skim-reading. inability to complete writing assignments in a timely manner aside... i at least started most of them. i cannot stress enough that i did all the readings, *unmedicated.* (coffee helps but is not an effective substitute.) i have no idea where this newfound ability to focus has come from... well, wait, i do.

i figured out how to make myself *want* to do all the readings.

all of them.

if nothing else, that's worth the $400 i dropped on this class even if i fail. i figured out how to fucking read again.

in short:

W

[astroluvr]

Can I request one with Jack where you have anxiety and can’t stop shaking maybe because your stressed and overwhelmed with work and he has to calm you down and help you because your making yourself sick by constantly worrying

Ever since you were little deadlines and rubrics were your worst enemy. The suffocating struggle to make yourself fit into rigid standards was a lot to constantly bear. And now, in the last semester of the college year, it was coming full force.

For the past few weeks, you hardly saw your bed unless Jack either carried you there or dragged you into it. He was worried about you constantly, but it paled in comparison to how you let your work absorb you.

"Y/N, do you want to go out to dinner tonight?" he asked, watching as you scribbled in your notebook, glasses fogging. "Bae?"

"Huh?" you glanced up for a second and Jack frowned.

"I asked if you want to go to dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"Alright, a movie?"

"Jack, I appreciate it, but I really have to get this done." you breathed out, snatching your blue light glasses off of your face before continuing.

He walked into the room you sat in and you shook your head. "Y/N, it'll be here tomorrow. Just come down and eat with me for a minute, yeah?"

As he got closer to you, he saw how much you were shaking and the tears that wet your paper. He could hardly tell what it said due to the shaky writing. You sniffled curled into yourself.

"Babe, you need to take s break. Like now."

"I can't. My boss... he wants this in by tomorrow and I have so much to do." you sobbed and he carefully pulled the pen from your hands. "Jack."

"I can't let you work like this. You'll have an ulcer."

"I have to. I-I can't lose my job. I need this job, I really like this job." you begged as he squatted to meet your watery eyes. "I have to do this."

"Y/N," he whispered, taking your cold hands in his. "You're overthinking this, okay? You can take an hour break and wrap this up. Dinner and a bath."

"I have to get it done now. I'll eat when I'm done." you said, attempting to turn around, but Jack held you firmly. "I have to."

"I understand, Y/N, I do, but I've neglected you neglecting yourself for a while. You're going to eat and take a break tonight."

Your shaky hands clutched his and your lip quivered when you looked at your work. Truth be told, it was close to done, but you were worried sick about this being wrong or that needing improvement. You knew Jack wasn't trying to sabotage your career, no matter how much he told you he'd take care of you, so you nodded and saved your work.

"Will you," you sniffled and Jack wiped your tears. "Will you wake me up early tomorrow? I just want to read over it and make sure it'd alright."

"I'm positive it's perfect, sweetheart, but I will." he said, and helped you stand up.

You allowed Jack to take care of you the rest of the night, sitting on his lap while the two of you ate pure junk and you took a much-needed bath. After a while, you calmed down and let your task slip your mind. Before you went up to bed, you grabbed Jack's hand and led him to your workstation.

"Will you read over this with me?" you asked and Jack nodded, sitting you on his lap as you scrolled through your work.

"What're you stressing about, babe? It's probably better than anything your boss could do." he laughed and you smiled to yourself. "I know it's tough, but don't doubt yourself all the time. I know you get in your head a lot, but you're so capable, Y/N."

You wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed his nest of curls. With a reassuring squeeze, you sent it all in an email and shut your laptop with a sigh, leaning your head back against Jack's shoulder.

"Thank you." you murmured into the air and wrapped his arms around your waist.

"You're welcome. Now, let's go to sleep. The bed's been cold without you."

[it-was-summer]

Kiss Me Once...Kiss Me Twice (18! Five x Fem!Reader)

Requested: Yes! I’ve been away for so long and college has got me in chokehold so I really hope you all forgive me as I get around to your request! The two of you are 18 in this fic, just to specify)

Plot: Hi! Me again, so soon I know. Hope you won't get annoyed by my requests but its the end of semester and I kinda take anything I can get to keep me sane around this time.I am very partial to Cinderella AUs. I read them, i write them. They're just my favorite thing ever especially with different types of characters that are very different to the Canon.So I was wondering, could you maybe write one with Five and Reader? It doesn't have to be exactly to the movies plot and the characterization would obviously be loyal to the shows. It could be a modern "fits with Canon verse" AU where Five and Reader fall in love and Reader loses something and Five gets it back to her. Or it could be historical/fantasy AU (i would lowkey prefer if you did this one) like the movie where the Hargreeves are royals and Five is a prince who meets Reader and then they fall in love but he has to find her somehow after the ball. I'm not picky at all whichever version you choose as long as it's a general Cinderella AU (with a dash of nosy Hargreeves chaos) and I'm sure you'll do it justice.I may or may not have a couple more requests but I'll only send them in if you're feeling up to them. For now just this is enough and feel free to take your time.Thank you so much in advance! 😊❤️ @oceanspray5​

Word Count: 10,234, I uhhhh went a little crazy, this took up 23 pages in my google docs!

Heads turned in awe, in awe of the beauty, for the crowd had never seen a more handsome couple. Two masks covered their identities, but anyone could look into their eyes and see; see the love they shared for one another. Hands laying over each other as they whisked each other gracefully to the dance floor, their smiles illuminated the room as they danced.

Everyone always talked about that night, talked about how in love they were; your parents. You knew they were in love in a less glamorous way, a less fairytale way. Your father would be walking by the garden, stopping to steal a glance at your mother, as she tended to the garden. You noticed how your mother, even in the worst of moods, always smiled around your father. Their relationship taught you to love and how to be kind, but it also taught you sorrow.

Around age ten is when tragedy struck, your mother had fallen ill one day.  She laid in bed for weeks, chills passing through her constantly, her body growing weaker and weaker with every passing day. At first, your mother didn’t want you to see her condition, she wanted her only daughter to be filled with happiness, but in the end, she let you see her.

Tears distorted your vision as you looked down at her pale figure, missing the glow it had meer months ago. She showed you her best smile, head swimming with things to say, she couldn’t exactly choose her last words for you. Your mother grabbed your hand, pulling you closer. “Darling,” her voice was weak, but still so full of love. “Can you remember something for me?”

Your head nodded instantly, tears shaking loose from your eyes quickly. She gave you another weak smile, finding the energy to let out a laugh. “Good,” her hand slipped for a second, “I want you to remember the golden rules.”

“The golden rules,” you repeated, you knew what they were, there were three.

“Can you tell me the golden rules?”

“Yes,” you held her hand tighter as it slipped down further. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, have courage, and be kind.” you finished, watching a pained smile grow on your mother’s face. She let out a tiny gasp, trying to breathe through her pain, her hand squeezing yours.

“Good,” she gasped, relaxing a little in the bed. “I want you to remember those rules, even if I’m not here to remind you.”

You felt her grip weaken, your father pulled you away from her as you sobbed, pushing you out of the room quickly as your mother slowly died.

It had been eight years since then, and thankfully your sorrow was replaced with the bittersweet feeling of acceptance. You remembered the rules, you remembered your mother, and you created new memories with your father and the cottage.

The sun was shining brightly onto the cottage, rising above the peaks of the roof carefully, dew dripping off of the grass slowly. It was summer and the world was saying a beautiful ‘hello’. Staring out the narrow stone window, you spotted him, your father. Excitement became you as you moved off of your bed, running around the cottage till you got out the front door, running out to meet him.

Your father halted the horse he was riding, sliding off the seat with a small grunt, a smile decorating his face at the sight of you. You were a young woman, beautiful like your mother, and if he was being honest, it was terrifying to see so much of her in you.  

“Father,” laughter escaped you as he wrapped his arms around you “You’re home early.”

He pulled away, walking over to his saddlebag “Since when is this a problem?” he joked kindly, earning a shrug from you. “I have some news for you,” he pulled an item from his bag and then ushered you inside quickly “My dear, I’ve fallen in love.”

“In love?”

“Yes, she’s a lovely woman, with two lovely daughters and I’m going to marry her.”

“Oh,” you let the initial shock settle over you as you stared up at him “I’m so happy for you, Papa!”

You could see the way his eyes lit up upon hearing your acceptance and yet you felt a tugging sensation in your gut, you were sure it was nerves. They had to be since your father-- the trustworthy man he is-- said that these women were lovely, you were sure that they were just that, lovely.

They were not. Elinor was the youngest and the kinder of the three. She never did anything vile, but she also never did anything to stop their torment. Jane was the eldest daughter, beautiful and deadly-- similar to a belladonna flower-- if looks could kill, you would drop dead. Then there was the Baroness, Constance of Blodwell, a cruel woman. They say that the dearly departed Baron died of natural causes, but you wouldn’t be surprised if she was lying.

When they first arrived Father kissed her hand, bought the sisters imported silks and threw uncharacteristically loud parties. He seemed so happy, so who were you to judge his happiness? If he wanted to buy silks, let him buy silks. If he wanted to throw loud parties, then he shall throw loud parties, and you? You would bite your tongue and smile at him. You could tell him to be safe and that you loved him.

During the day the Baroness would watch you read on the windowsill as she played with her needlepoint, setting it down to say “A young lady shouldn’t read so much, it will fill her head with silly nonsense, confuse her.”

You told her you agreed but found needlework wasn’t your strong suit and she would let out a huff, and that is where the conversation would end for the hour.

It started as small things. The Baroness found your boyish antics disgusting, so you were taught to be more ladylike. Jane would blame you for messing with the piano as she hit broken keys over and over again. Elinor would stare, smile at you, and drink her tea. Your father was away, working harder than ever to provide for his suddenly large family of young women.

~~

It was no secret to the royal family that they were strange. Five was a little convinced every family had some deep-rooted issues. As is tradition, the mages ruled over the kingdom; protecting the people and possessing incredible powers of all kinds.

His siblings, mostly married off to other obscenely powerful families, all possessed powers. Vanya was a late-bloomer, but the musicians helped her powers reach their full potential. He could go down the list, but thinking about the others was somewhat exhausting, but it did let his mind escape elsewhere as he sat in another council meeting with his father.

He was listening, hearing talk of peace and plans for the upcoming fall harvest and other important things. He could feel his father’s eyes on him, on the crown prince, how becoming. Five turned his head, raising an eyebrow at his father as he was greeted with the usual frown, great so he didn’t miss anything.

As men and women bid their farewells, Five was left alone with the servants and King Reginald Hargreeves. “You weren’t listening during today’s meeting,”

“Yes, I was,”

“Don’t lie to me,”

“I was only thinking of the dear siblings and their wellbeing, all good things.”

His father’s frown somehow deepened before he shook his head “Five, you’re crown prince because I made you crown prince, do you know why?”

“It’s fun to make me miserable?”

“It’s because you know how hard it is to have responsibilities, I expect you to be better than them.” And with that, he walks out of the room. Better than them? All of them? It seemed a little bit much for an eighteen-year-old, but he guessed that being a crown prince was all about having the burden of trying to outshine the stars.

~~

It was just before dawn, the sky was turning a beautiful indigo, sleep evading you as you waited outside the cottage. Your father was away once more and was due yesterday, but he never showed. Horrible knots twisted against the walls of your stomach, ruining your appetite. You had a horrible feeling that he wasn’t coming home. That he wasn’t going to come back from London. The knots gave way as you heard the sound of hooves beating against the gravel. You peer through the early morning catching his eyes in a moment of pure bliss. He was okay and you could breathe again.

He was paler than usual, the sick shade of exhaustion mixed with the summer heat. In the sitting room, Jane was fretting over one of her newer dresses that had a gold appliqué on the trim and Elinor was nodding along wordlessly. Father was holding Constance’s hand and her eyes seemed tender for the first time in months.

You were sitting there, watching them with a smile. Constance was no mother to you, nor was she a friend but she seemed to love your father, or at least care about him deeply.

He spent the next week recovering, to which he seemed well enough by the end of the week and then he was off again. The whole family stood outside in the early morning, Constance whispering something in your father’s ear, earning her a smile before he turned to you with open arms. “You shouldn’t be working, you’re still sick.” You muttered into his shoulder with a frown.

“I know, but this job is big and I can’t afford to pass it by,”

“Will I see you next week?”

“Yes,”

“Okay,” you said, pulling away reluctantly from his embrace. You watched as he straddled his saddle and smiled up at him as he started to make his way out. Your eyes didn’t leave him, and maybe that’s why you were the first to scream when you saw him fall off. “Papa!”

Your legs moved on their own, running out to him, being followed closely behind by Constance as she screamed his name in sobs, and just like that he was gone. You watched as they lowered his body into the ground, dressed in black from head to toe in the middle of a July afternoon.

~~

Five didn’t enjoy getting in trouble, because if he could just stop himself from getting caught he wouldn’t be in trouble. Sure, with a flash of blue he could be out of the room or out of the palace, but eventually, he would come back. He was the crown prince after all and with no money on the run, where would he go? He would be recognized immediately and in the end, it would all be useless. So here he was, getting yelled at by his father again.

After an hour-long lecture from his father he was left alone once again and against his better judgment, as soon as he was left alone, he left the palace again. Blue flashes lit up the woods for a second and then they were gone and Five was standing in the middle of a quiet forest. He didn’t like to leave the palace to visit brothels or to go into town to see how the commonwealth lived, he just wanted some time alone.

From the moment he woke up it was Five this or Five that, meetings, classes, or lectures. He just needed a break from it all, he needed a break from the responsibilities, no matter the repercussions.

Five drew in a deep breath, smiling as the smell of fresh pine and earth filled his senses. The sounds of a nearby creek drew his attention, his feet following the sound till he stood at the bank. The child in him was eager to jump in and splash about, most likely getting his clothes absolutely soaked in the process, but the adult inside of him screamed that it was a bad idea. Instead, he simply sat on the loose gravel near the bank and watched as the water rushed by at a slow pace.

~~

It had been a little over a month since your father passed, and what a hard month it had been. The baroness had you change rooms, moving you into the cold, dusty, damp, dark attic. When it rained little drops of water would splash on your brows and leave you awake for hours on end.

A humble voice deep inside whispered ‘you should be grateful’ and the fire that raged right next to it roared to fight back, so you simply did nothing. You were obedient, calm in every scenario. If she wanted you to scrub the floors, you scrubbed. There wasn’t a day that went by where she wasn’t asking you to do something.

So you couldn’t comprehend why you were sneaking out like this, in a clean dress and basket filled to the brim with cheese, bread, and fruits. You were supposed to be good, good for your mother, and good for your father. Well, that woman wasn’t your mother anyway so what was the point?

Your pace slowed as you thought about the consequences. Would she throw you out? She was the lady of the house, she had all the power. You were of age, but with no marriage, no prospects, and no money, what good would being homeless do? You turned your head back towards the cottage for a second before you set off towards the creek. This was just a short break after all.

You didn’t initially see him until your feet were already in the water, and the hem of the dress was considerably soaked. His eyes grew wide at the sight of you, his mouth moving in a thousand different shapes before he finally got some words out from those pretty lips, “Who are you?”

“I’m,” you paused, you didn’t know this man, was it smart to give him your name? “I’m Ella!” You practically shouted back in response, earning a small wince from the boy in front of you.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, his eyes glancing down at your feet before quickly darting back up to meet yours.

“Do you own the river?”

“Well,” he trailed off, chewing on his bottom lip with worry.

“Well?”

“Well, no.”

“Perfect, then I am soaking my feet.”

“Why?”

You laughed gently and kicked up some water at him, “Because it’s fun.” you replied softly, stepping away from him quickly. “Why are you here?”

“Why are you asking?” he challenged, jumping as a few drops of water hit his pants.

“You asked me.”

“Oh, right,” he said, eyeing the basket in your hands, feeling his mouth water as a small slice of cheese peaked through the cloth atop of the basket. “Well, I suppose I’m just here for fun. The same as you.”

“Right,” you replied with a gentle chuckle as you stepped out of the creek, a pleasant breeze moved through your hair as you looked back over towards the boy. “The thing is, you don’t look like you’re having a lot of fun.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise before coming together in a judgemental glare, “And how would you know if I’m having fun?”

You eyed him up and down with a playful smirk at your lips, “You have the face of someone who lights up when they’re truly enjoying themselves.”

His face relaxed at that and a small smile stretched across his face gracefully, small butterflies ate away at your insides when you saw that smile. You should’ve known then. “So,” you quickly interrupted the moment “Do you have a name, or are you a nameless spirit?”

“I have a name!”

“Wonderful, mind if I learn it?”

His eyes searched the waters, earning a smile from you as you realized he was probably going to do the same thing as you did. “It’s Phillip,” he lied lamely, his body betrayed him, almost yelling at him for telling the lie, but you still accepted it.

“Lovely, are you hungry?”

Five was playing with the ends of the blanket beneath him, wondering silently how he ended up here, sitting next to a pretty girl as you talked about what you liked most about the Summertime. He smiled hearing your laugh, a sweet melody that made the world just a little brighter.

He watched you as you pulled a small piece of bread off of the loaf, finding himself watching as you popped it into your mouth, eyes catching on your lips for a second before he ripped them away.

Five felt his knees go weak at a romantic thought, he wasn’t supposed to have romantic thoughts, he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. Well, he never thought romance could be on the table, not like this. He knew that he was setting himself up for failure by having feelings for you, and he wouldn’t dare call them that, he was just feeling… infatuation, yes!

It was infatuation, of course! The kind of thing that makes princes fall to commoner and the thing that made kings go to war, but Five wasn’t going to be a tragic tale. However, what was the harm in indulging in a small little crush?

“Phillip?” The fake name made his head turn.

“Yes, Ella?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“I, uh, no.”

“I was saying that we should be friends,” you explained with a nervous smile, Five couldn’t stop the smile growing on his face.

“Friends?”

“I mean if you don’t want to, I understand!”

“No,” he all but yelled, clearing his throat quickly as he shook his head, “No, I would love to be your friend.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he said, placing a hand over yours, trying to ignore the electricity that was tingling at his fingertips.

“Oh,” you looked at your hands and let out another nervous laugh, a lump rising into your throat as you let out a strangled “Lovely.”

“Yes, lovely,” he repeated as your eyes met his for a moment. Five didn’t feel like himself for a moment, it was as if he was watching the scene unfold from across the creek. Your eyes were wide and were glued to his as you opened your mouth quickly to speak, to say anything.

Against his will, he slowly moved his hand away from yours, missing the heat instantly as he stood up slowly, brushing himself off. “I should be getting back,” he muttered.

You heard yourself say something along the lines of ‘yes’ and ‘of course’ as he walked away, throwing a small smile over his shoulder before he disappeared into the bush.

~~

Five’s heart was racing when he blimped back into his room, the teleportation never took a toll on him, he was fine, so why was he finding it so hard to breathe? It was a terrible feeling of restlessness that consumed him as soon as he calmed down.

He wanted to go out. He wanted to walk by the creek. He wanted to see you again, god he burned to see you again. He flexed his hand gently, trying to ignore the sensation that lingered against his palm.

He was pacing now, thinking, muttering, and sighing heavily. He was apathetic, for the most part snarky, but overall very solid. He didn’t need people prying into how he was feeling and he didn’t want to explain his feelings to people, but today might be the first day that his hard exterior is experiencing a little crack.

He jumped hearing a knock on his door, “His Majesty wishes to see you,” there was a pause “Now.”

Right, right, right, his father would never approve of anything as frivolous as his feelings. “Be right there,” he called back to the servant at the door as he stole a look in the mirror, looking for evidence that would place him in the woods. Evidence that would point to you. Once he was clear he set out for the throne room.

“Five,” his father said, a foreign smile making an appearance, “I have something to tell you.”

Five stepped forward, the giddiness that he had in his room leaving him as he got closer. He didn’t like that face, that smile on his twisted father’s face. It never meant anything good, all signs pointed to doom. “You’re going to get married.”

“Pardon me?”

“Well, you’re not getting married right now, but there is going to be a masquerade ball. You’ll be able to choose your bride, of course. She’ll need to be special to be able to handle you, of course.”

“Of course, and how am I going to find her? Dance with every maiden in the kingdom?”

“How wonderful, you already have a plan! We shall send invitations out to every maiden in the kingdom!”

With that he left the room, leaving Five buzzing with questions and anxiety as he stared at the throne silently. He was trained to be king, he did well in all of his classes, he was well educated, but the thought of having a queen was terrifying. It all seemed to be moving too fast.

The only silver lining was the hope that you would be there in the ballroom, A friend, an ally, maybe? Then a small voice seemed to whisper, to hope, a queen.

~~

Your feet were sore, horribly sore. Yesterday, the baroness noticed your absence and has since then forced you to clean the kitchen, spilling lentils and flour purposefully as she came by to check up on your progress. Eventually, it was done, but now you hurt. Elinor offered you biscuits in the morning but you felt too nauseated to stomach anything.

The only things on your mind were your pain and Phillip, or rather your mystery man by the creek. You caught yourself zoning out, thinking about him, wishing to see him, to visit him. You wondered if he was waiting for you by the creek. You hoped he would come back despite your absence, you hoped he would touch your hand again and you hoped his eyes would linger on your lips for a minute too long.

Hoping was the only thing that was draining out Constance’s shirl voice as she yelled at some of the servants, going on about how there was dust on a frame somewhere and how unseemly dirt was. The first thing she told you when you had come back from the creek was that you were dirty, then she proceeded to lecture you on how cleanliness was close to godliness. A proper lady must never be dirty.

You jumped in surprise hearing a distinct rapping against the front door, for a second you hoped it was Phillip as you went to answer it. “Invitations to the ladies of the house, The Baroness Constance of Blodwell and her three daughters, Jane, Elinor, and…”

“I just have two daughters, sir.” The baroness cut him off as he handed her the four invitations, with a shocked look on his face. You looked over at her, wondering when she had paused her lecture to greet the gentleman at the door. You watched as she read the invitations with hungry eyes, gasping sharply as she pulled a hand over her chest. “Oh, oh,”

“What is it? What are the invitations for?” Jane demanded quickly, bouncing on the soles of her feet like a child next to her mother, an act she would be reprimanded for later.

“It’s for a royal ball, for the crown prince. He’s choosing a bride!” Constance said with glee, handing two invitations to her daughter, your’s still residing in her hand as she shut the door on the messenger boy.

“A bride!” Jane parroted the word with a squeal, while you disliked her it was wonderful to see her so overjoyed. A sudden thought entered your brain, Phillip could be at the ball, it was for the whole kingdom, maybe he had a sister or he would be invited!

“Does Y/N have an invitation too, mother?” Elinor asked, looking up from her’s with an endearing smile. You wished she hadn’t asked, you could tell what was coming next. Constance frowned as she looked at your invitation, your name is written in the same ink that her daughters were written in. She considered it for a moment before tearing the invitation to shreds.

A quiet scream caught in your throat as you reached out to stop her, “Don’t touch me, girl!” she screamed at you as the paper fell to the ground. “You’re barely my daughter, after all, you get along better with the servants, so you will be treated like one!”

“But, I…”

“Did I say you could speak about the matter? No, now we need to make preparations for the ball tonight!” she burst at the seams with a variety of emotions, settling on hope. Hoping that one of her daughters would win the Prince’s heart and become queen.

You were still her daughter, she was all you had. You knew that she would never be your mother nor would she be your father, but she was something. She was the last thing you had, the last connection. “How can you be so cruel?” you felt the words spill out as she turned to look down at you.

“I’m not cruel, I’m saving you from rejection, my dear,” she said, reaching out her hand to graze your cheek. “Clean.” she looked down at the parchment on the ground with a smile before she was walking away.

Jane had a purple dress decorated with gold appliqué, muttering about how she was going as a masked royal because she was sure she would soon be one anyway, while Elinor had a pale blue dress with white appliqué, and Constance was wearing red, and you were wearing rags. They had come and gone, leaving you to cry with the shredded parchment in the attic.

A soft knocking forced you to dry your eyes quickly, “Come in,” you stood up from your bed when the head maid, Elizabeth, entered.

“Hello,”

“Hello,”

“I, well, we have something for you,” she said, a giddy smile from her made your heart squeeze with joy. She motioned behind her and up came more maids, holding a white and gold gown, the material looked soft to touch and elegant. Another maid produced a matching gold and cream mask, the more you looked at it you realized it was a swan, or rather it was a mask for a swan.  It looked eerily familiar, but you couldn’t place your finger on it.

“Oh, oh my,” you cried as you reached out to touch the hem, “It’s beautiful,” you whispered as they looked at you. You could see a pair of shoes in one of their hands, you turned to Elizabeth quickly. “I won’t make it there in time!”

“My dear, do you think we would make you walk? I asked Henry, my husband, to bring a carriage. You need not worry, we have everything for you.”

You felt small tears of joy prick at your eyes “Thank you, thank you.” you repeated quickly as the women surrounded you and helped you get ready for the ball.

~~

Five was staring at himself in the mirror with a frown on his face, the cream color of his coat didn’t suit him, and this collar, disgustingly baby blue was choking him slowly. The bottom of his coat had a small trim of blue as well, and at a closer glance, he could see that his coat had a light gold detail, the royal insignia, and other symbols decorating it beautifully. It just wasn’t for him. In all honesty, it fit him quite well, the occasion just wasn’t to his liking. He didn’t like the idea of walking around with a bunch of masked strangers who were either trying to marry him or trying to make him marry their child.

Nonetheless, at this point fighting with his father would be useless. The damage had been done, people were arriving and he was expected to smile and dance. Five burned his gaze into the mirror, moving a hand up to his hair and messed with its carefully styled beauty before he turned on his heel and headed out towards the ballroom.

~~

With the help of the maids, you were quickly dressed and adorned with white jewels on your neck and ears. The mirror looked like a mirage as you stared yourself down, nothing seemed real. It was already a splendid dream and as you stepped into the carriage the dream began to blend with reality.

Having arrived only a quarter late to the ball, slipping in was easy, it was the stares that made it difficult to calm down. Every step, every sound you made, caused people’s heads to turn as if they were waiting for you. You were excited to be at the ball, but now it was a matter of finding a purpose. Did you only want to come to be included? It had to be because with all these eyes staring you down you wanted nothing more than to turn around and go home.

You took in a gentle breath and closed your eyes, thinking about how Elizabeth told you to have fun and how she whispered how beautiful you looked. Finding solace in the memory, you joined the outer circle of the dance floor, watching as a woman dressed as a peacock spun about the dance floor.

A smile crept its way onto your lips as you watched them, something about the way she laughed as she twirled made you giddy. It was as if the atmosphere had completely changed because of the woman's dazzling smile, a smile that made the world smile back at her.

The man, however, had a strange sense of familiarity to him. Something about the broadness of his shoulders, the brunette color of his hair, and the way his smile never seemed to stay too long on his face all seemed familiar to you. ‘That must be the crown prince’ you thought with a tiny nod, it had to be because this was his ball after all and he was looking for a bride.

The violins soon disappeared, followed by the horns, till the only sound to be heard was the sounds of people clapping as the two split apart. You moved to find a drink, or perhaps a corner in which you could cling to and avoid getting seen. Your feet had other ideas as you stepped on the long hem of your dress, flying towards the ground.

You squeezed your eyes tight waiting for the floor to make contact, but with a muted flash of blue, you felt arms hold you up instead. You peeked one eye open, opening both in surprise to see the golden mask of the crown prince inches from your face. “I’m so sorry, sir.” You gasped as you used his shoulders to stabilize yourself quickly, having the intention to get as far away from him as possible, as soon as he let you go.

His lips opened for a moment before he closed them and swallowed hard. If you didn’t know any better you would say that he seemed just as surprised as you were. Which was a ridiculous idea to even venture, so you pushed it to the back of your mind as fast as possible. “Sir,” you stuttered softly, “Your royal highness, sir, you’re still holding my waist.”

“Oh,” he muttered gently, grip not releasing for a moment before he let out a gasp and exclaimed another “Oh!” as he let go of your waist quickly. You smiled at him, reaching up to adjust your mask swiftly before the prince was holding a hand towards you. You looked at his hand for a second too long, about to question him before he asked “Will you dance with me?”

“Oh,” you whispered as you laid your hand on top of his “I’m not that good, sir.”

“That’s fine,” he said as he led you to the middle of the floor “I’ll lead, all you have to do is follow.”

“Right, follow,” you repeated as the violins began to play a sweet and delicate melody. Your head turned down to watch the Prince’s feet, dreading the idea of stepping on the foot of the future monarch. You heard a laugh as you danced with your head down and before you knew it a gentle hand was moving your chin up.

“You’re supposed to look up,” he laughed again and you could feel your cheeks flush beneath your mask. He stole a glance at the other couples joining the two of you on the dance floor, surrounded the two of you pleasantly, and then he looked into your eyes again. “Spin for me,” he told you and you followed his orders quickly.

When the two of you were face to face again, you gasped quickly as he dipped you with the rest of the crowd of dancers, your hands holding onto his shoulders tight as you felt your loose hair graze the floor. “Relax,” he laughed as the two of you danced “What’s your name?”

You peeked at the floor, looking for his shoes for a second before he cleared his throat gently to give you the silent message to look up. “Well, I’m not supposed to be here,” you let out a nervous chuckle “So, I’m not sure I should tell you my name.”

“You’re not supposed to be here? My father sent you an invitation, didn't he? Isn't that enough to prove that you deserve to be here tonight?”

“I suppose, sir, but my family wished for me to stay at home.”

“So why did you come?”

You faltered for a moment, letting out a slow sigh “I came because I wanted to be included, I suppose. I wanted to experience something for once,” you looked up at him with a sad smile “I just wanted to have fun.”

The prince let out a pleasant hum, reminding you of someone that you had yet to spot amongst the crowd. You gasped as you tapped on his shoulder with excitement “I’m looking for a friend,” you chattered about quickly “His name is Philip, do you know him by any chance?”

The prince’s eyes became wide for a second, staring at you with a shocked expression. You didn’t know if you said something offensive or crude, but his dancing pace slowed as his breathing became quick. “Your majesty, are you alright?” you asked as the two of you slowed to a stop as couples danced around the two of you.

“Ella?” he whispered, his hand squeezing yours tight. Hearing him say that name made everything click for you and then the dance floor began to spin. You struggled to release your hand from his. Philip was the crown prince, and you were dancing with him and you had been so casual with him, that was worth some kind of punishment. You inhaled sharply as his grip became tighter around your waist, stopping all your struggling before you stared up into his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

But, he said nothing. He just stared down at you, staring into your eyes as you stayed in his arms breathless. “Philip, dance,” you said quickly as some of the other couple’s started to stop and stare at the two of you and with that, he started moving again.

Your senses were heightened now, your anxiety playing a role in the dance as you felt his hand squeeze your side nervously and how his fingers itched to be intertwined with yours. He swallowed nervously as the two of you danced to the swelling violins, “Please don’t call me Philip,” he whispered in a meek tone “It’s Five,”

You bit back a snarky comment and nodded slowly “Right,”

“Ella, listen,”

“It’s okay,” you cut him off. “I lied too, that, and you look at your feet when you’re lying.”

Five smiled at that before letting out a strained breath, “I can’t trust that, liar.” he teased as he let go of your hand to move a strand of hair out from your face. The violins were slowing down now, but you weren’t ready yet, you found a new purpose and you didn’t want to leave him just yet. Just a little longer, a voice inside of you screamed, you just needed more time.

“Is there any way we can go somewhere else?” you asked in a hushed voice as you bowed into a curtsey.

“Meet me in the garden,”

“How are you going to find a way out?”

“By causing a scene, of course,” he grinned as you took a few steps back before turning around and heading for the garden.

Cause a scene he did, he walked over to his father, spilled red wine down the front of his shirt before knocking over a candelabra in the process, almost setting a tablecloth on fire. Earning just enough commotion to cause a crowd that would swarm his father, and then he was on his way out.

You were sitting on the edge of a fountain, the lavish lights from inside illuminated the water, vines gripped its base and crept up the sides, and having seen you sitting on its edge, Five swore that you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

When you heard his footsteps get closer, your head snapped away from the shining waters and towards him. You hesitated for a second before you graced him with a kind smile, reaching up slowly to pull down your mask. He knew what you looked like, and no one was around to tell your stepmother that you were here.

Five started a second too long before he started to scramble to take off his mask, laughter built up in your throat and released at a pleasant volume. The two of you stared at each other in comfortable silence for a few seconds before Five cleared his throat. “You look lovely this evening,”

“Well, I did want to look nice for a prince.” you teased in a tone that made Five’s insides turn into honey. You covered your mouth in a poor attempt to hide your growing grin as you watched his eyes grow wide and cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

“Right,” he stuttered out as he sat a safe distance from you on the cement edge of the fountain. He suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. Did he say that he’s been thinking about you since yesterday? Did he tell you that this feeling was new to him? Did that sound like a confession? That most definitely sounded like a confession.

“You look,” you paused, tilting your head to the side to get a better look at him “Stressed,”

“What? No, no, no,” his eyes looked towards the night sky, his head falling back as he let out a sigh “When I was told that I would be choosing a bride tonight I never thought I would be able to see you again, and yet, here you are,” his head fell back down to earth to look at you “And you just look so lovely and I just think I’m a little overwhelmed.”

You felt your cheeks heat up, knees going weak as you crossed your legs silently. Sure, he had already complimented you once, but when it sounded so sincere, and when he was looking at you like that how could you not blush? “You look rather dashing yourself,” you beamed at him, taking pride in the fact that he was smiling over at you.

“Why thank you, now may I tell you a secret?” Five whispered as he leaned towards you. Your heartbeat raced as you leaned towards him, nodding ‘yes’ quickly. “I just had the most horrid dance partner,” he whispered out with a grin.

You gasped quickly, swatting at his arm as you laughed, “I was not horrid,” you laughed, swaying gently with your laughter, getting dangerously close to falling into the fountain as you giggled. Five reached up to steady you as he laughed with you, his hands on your shoulders sliding down to meet yours and then he let them stay there as the laughter died down.

“Can I ask something of you?” he whispered as he leaned forward.

Your heart leapt dangerously in your chest, knowing how dangerous saying a simple ‘yes’ could be, but you still nodded slowly and said “Yes,”

“I know that we just met and this is completely irrational, but I just light on fire when I’m near you,” he gasped out, hands gripping yours tighter with anxiety. You gave his hands a tiny squeeze and gave him a sinfully gorgeous smile. “I wanted to know if I could,” he trailed off, thumbs tapping against yours nervously.

“Yes?” you urged him gently, fighting back a giddy giggle as he tapped his thumbs against yours, it was nice to see him so nervous, or rather, it was endearing to see him like this.

“I was wondering if it would be okay if I kissed you?”

You felt yourself falter, all alarms in your head screaming something important but they were quickly muffled by something more intense, a giddy haze washing over you. You knew that it would be disastrous to kiss him, if someone saw you two in the middle of the garden they would have a fit, they would exclaim that the prince had found a princess. It wasn’t a good idea, kissing him, but everything in your body burned to kiss him. “You can kiss me,” you replied in a rather confident voice that you didn’t seem to recognize.

He leaned in, a mere inches away from your face, a shaking hand reached up to hold the left side of your cheek as the other held your hand tight. “Are you sure?”

“You’re leaning in aren’t you?”

“Right, well, if you don’t want to,”

“Five,”

“Yes?”

“Kiss me, please,”

“Okay,” he squeaked as he closed his eyes and closed the gap between the two of you, a gentle kiss hitting your lips. You kissed back slowly, eyes fluttering closed as you reached up your free hand to grab hold of the wrist that was cradling your face. You felt the gentleness of the kiss transform into something deeper, lips pushing against yours with a sudden fire.

You were about to kiss him back with the same burning passion as he pulled away, almost as if he surprised himself. “I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay,”

“I just got a little carried away,” he muttered sweetly, whenever he spoke his lips would brush against yours in an intoxicating way. So intoxicating it made your mind fuzzy. You smiled sweetly, a sudden feeling of peace washing over you as the two of you stayed this way for a minute or two.

After many soft caresses against your face and small jokes made inches apart, the two of you pulled away from each other with wide smiles.

“You did get quite carried away,” a voice echoed into the garden. Five jumped away from you at an alarming speed, standing up at the sound of his father’s voice from across the garden. “You’re just lucky that no one can see this little display,”

He seemed surprisingly at ease with this, he didn’t look mad, or disappointed, just slightly amused. “I’m glad you at least found a bride,”

“Bride?” you croaked back, anxiety settling in as you stared up at Five.

“Father, we haven’t discussed that,”

“Well, I sure hope you do, in the meantime I shall go inside and announce the news.” Reginald turned on his heel and headed back towards the ballroom. Five felt his feet stutter, he wanted to run after his father but the sound of your voice made him stop to look over at you.

“I can’t be queen,”

“Ella,” he rushed to your side in a panic. You looked up at him with sharp eyes, chest heaving up and down at a rapid pace as you tried your hardest to calm down.

“My name isn’t even Ella!” you yelled in response to the name, standing up to pace in front of him, absentmindedly chewing on your fingernails as you tried to think. Think about how anyone could view you as capable of being queen. It was impossible, that just wasn’t reality.

“Just calm down, we can talk about this,”  Five grabbed your hands, pulling them down from your face and holding them in his own.

You shuddered at his touch and if you weren’t panicking you were sure you’d be relishing in the way his hands felt so soft. Five’s hands moved to cup your face, those soft hands brushed sweet circles on your cheeks. Those sweet movements made your legs turn to jelly, forcing you to let out a slow breath. “Five, I can’t, in good conscience, be queen.”

“Why not?” Five questioned, surprising himself at his words. He didn’t even think about it before he said it. He felt stupid all of a sudden, the silence only confirming his fears, his heart dropped into his stomach as he stared into your eyes. He didn’t know how to read you.

You felt your bottom lip quiver, you didn’t want to cry in front of him. “Five, you don’t even know my real name.”

“Then tell me it, tell me everything about you, I’ve never felt like this before.” He was speaking from the heart for once in his life and he didn’t want to stop. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that his father had been there to ruin their romantic evening, but all he knew was that if he could feel like this for the rest of his life, he would be happy. It was a foreign concept for someone like him and his siblings, oh his siblings would love you, god he wanted you to be with him so bad it hurt.

You shook your head slowly as you pulled his hands away from your face and let them drop sadly. “I can’t, it’s not right.”

Not right? Five let those words roll around in his brain, staring dumbly at you as tears glistened in your eyes. Why were you crying? Then you turned and ran from him, it took him a second to follow you, still recovering from your words. He didn’t have time to wonder or time to pity himself, he had to catch up to you. He had to find you, but by the time he made it to the steps of the palace you were getting into a carriage and he knew he wouldn’t be able to catch you in time.

“You know you could just teleport,” Reginald said from the top of the steps.

“What’s the use if she doesn’t want me?”

“I know I’m not the most affectionate,” he paused, eyes landing on a shoe near the bottom of the steps “In fact, I’m not a very loving father at all, but I know what love is. I loved your mother and I love you and your siblings. I know you can’t see it but I do, so trust me when I tell you this,” He placed a hand on Five’s shoulder slowly, “Don’t let her go.”

~~

You were busy stuffing the dress, mask, and a single shoe into a chest. You had cried on the carriage ride home and only stopped when you finally felt a little numb. That numb feeling was replaced by fear as soon as you heard the booming voices of your step-siblings enter the house. Sleep, you could pretend to be asleep, it was as easy as that!

Elinor knocked on the open attic door the next morning, a sad look on her face as you stirred. She always did look a little sad, but today it seemed more prominent. A tiny part of you wished that she won Five’s heart instead of you. You groaned at the memory, holding back tears as you stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

“She’s worse than usual today,” was all she said before she was walking down the staircase with a frown.

You got dressed into your regular simple, stained covered dress and you felt calmer. This is where you belonged, you weren’t trained for petticoats and embroidered gowns, you were living as a maid. You didn’t want to imagine the stress of being a queen, and yet a part of you yearned for Five. Not for his status or the riches, just for him and his smile, his laugh.

The baroness frowned at you as you entered the sitting room, Elinor and Jane, at her side with their needle-points in hand. “The girls had a horrid night,”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Baroness.”

“I’m sure you are,” she snapped, earning a small jump from you. She held up the swan mask with a vicious glare “You did ruin it didn’t you?”

Panic was an emotion you were getting used to as you stared at the mask, there were two options. You could lie, say it isn’t yours, say it was a simple coincidence, or just tell her the truth. “I don’t regret it,” you smiled back, confidence wavering as she stood. If you could earn a proposal from a prince you could handle your stepmother, it was arrogant but it felt right.

“You will, I’ll make sure of it,” she promised as she stood in front of you, her hand raised in an almost dramatic way, flying down to deliver a blow to your cheek. You squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for the strike to hit, but it never came. Your eyes opened to take a peek at your savior, Elinor, standing in front of you with her mother’s hand inches away from her face.

“My night wasn’t ruined,” she said softly as she looked up at her mother. She swatted her mother’s hand away quickly, speaking in a bold tone suddenly. “Believe it or not, people don’t care for you. They care for your regality, but once they know you, they stop caring.”

Constance felt her eyes widen, mouth opening as her youngest daughter shushed her sharply, “The crown prince is going to come looking for her, you know that, Jane knows that, and I know that. So let him come and marry her.” she finished, pushing past her mother to sit back down next to Jane with a smile. You fought back tears of gratitude as you looked over at her before you turned back to Constance.

“I don’t understand how marrying the prince would be a bad thing. He asked me to and I said no because of you, because of how you made me feel, but,” you swallowed, looking down at your dirty clothes “He chose me.”

“Maybe he just wants another maid, but I will let you see him when he comes, and if he still wants you then be grateful.”

~~

His father had written to his siblings and so they were here. All of them. He loved his siblings, truly, they were just annoying, very, very annoying. Vanya was secretly his favorite, although he’d never tell her that. Klaus was discussing his husband, Dave, with a very annoyed Ben who just kept nodding and going ‘uh-huh’ and Allison was talking to Luther about her daughter. This is how it usually was, they all seemed to ignore the reason they were brought here and just went off into their own worlds. Five only had the attention of Diego and Vanya thus far, funnily enough, they were polar opposites and yet they both seemed so annoyed. “Hey!” Diego spoke up, snapping his head in the direction of his siblings “Can we all focus?”

“Focus on Five having a hard-on for a commoner?”

“Luther, I have a hard-on for a commoner.”

“Klaus, please stop talking about Dave,”

“Can we not call it that, please?” Five whimpered, stuffing his face into his hands, trying to rub away his on-coming headache.

“Dad said he caught the two of you kissing in the garden,” Klaus said, talking as if it was the most scandalous piece of news he had heard all week. “The ghosts of the palace say it was pretty steamy, three cheers for Five!”

“Please, focus.” Five begged his siblings as they laughed. “I just need you all to focus,”

Five waited for all eyes to be on him again before he continued “I propose and she ran off,”

“With your attitude, I would run away too,” Diego joked, playing with a small dagger.

“That’s not the point!” Five snipped, rubbing his temples harder before he let his hands drop with a defeated sigh. “I need to find her, I need to ask her again.”

“Why don’t you just ask someone else?” Luther questioned.

“Luther,” Allison said sharply “If someone told you to find a new wife, would you just simply ask someone else?”

“Well, no, but they kissed. It’s not like Five’s in love with her, right?” He turned his head towards Five, whose cheeks were turning a teasable color of pink.

“Well, I…” he trailed off, clearing his throat quickly to cover up for his embarrassment.

“Oh, he’s falling in love with her,” Klaus said, clapping his hands together with excitement. He mustered up his best, posh accent and said “Charles, let’s have a royal wedding, for the youngest please.” That’s when everyone started talking at once. Five heard some sentences like, ‘oh, I bet she’s beautiful’ or ‘do you think she can handle Five’ and so on.

He cleared his throat again, getting his siblings attention “I need us to split up,” and thus a plan was put into place; Vanya would be searching the inner city with Allison, Luther and Diego would be searching the farmlands, and Ben, Klaus and himself would be searching the grounds near the creek. He assumed you lived near there, but he wasn’t going to take any chances so there wasn’t going to be any stoned left unturned till he found you.

~~

Elinor, Jane, and Constance have long since gone to different parts of the cottage, but you stayed in the sitting room. You had changed to your best dress, one that was crisp and free of anything unseemly and shined the pretty shade of pink, but after that, you were glued to the sitting room. You had tried to read, but your mind was far too cluttered for any books at the moment, so you sat and thought about your mother and father. You thought about love and how they loved each other, trying your best to remember every beautiful detail possible.

Elizabeth broke your concentration when she came running into the sitting room. “Miss Y/N! The crown prince, he’s coming! Oh dear, he’s coming to you with his brothers! Oh, miss, I’m so happy for you.”

“He’s coming here, now.” you gasped, standing up quickly.

“Do you not want him to come, miss?”

“No! No, I do, I’m just,” you paused, hands shaking “Well, I’m scared.”

“He’ll love you, dear,” She beamed, moving to wrap you into a tight hug as a knock was sounded at the door. Elizabeth was off of you within seconds and scurried to the door with a laugh, she looked back at you for a second, waiting for you to give her the okay. You nodded quickly as you flattened out your dress, trying your best to look presentable.

You stood in the sitting room, staring at the door. You felt strange for not opening the door yourself and you felt guilty that you ran away. You should have said yes, you should have agreed to be with him last night. You felt your fingers twitch as panicked thoughts ran through your head at a thrilling speed. Elizabeth opened the door to let them in.

He was dressed differently now, he looked similar to how he looked when the two of you first met, and yet, he looked so different. He was still wearing a formal-looking suit, blues and gold decorated him handsomely and you could feel your heartbeat pounding inside your chest.  His eyes were soft, seeming more desperate and vulnerable than ever. As soon as he spotted you his feet stopped.

Two men followed him in, standing behind him with smiles. One was rather tall with long hair, fashionably dressed, and had the wider smile of the two. The other seemed just as happy but calmer, dressed in more formal attire. The sitting room was filled with silence before the taller man’s voice cut through, “So, you’re the little lady who danced about the ballroom with Five.”

“Klaus,” the other man said in a disappointed tone, his smile dropping as he stared at him. Then the silence continued. Five was looking for something to say, he wanted to say so many things before, but now he couldn’t get the words out. “Maybe we should go outside,” Ben muttered as he took note of the silence, pushing his brother out the door quickly, leaving you and Five alone.

“The suns going down,” Five blurted out quickly as his chest squeezed with anxiety.

“It took you all day to find me,” you joked as you took a step towards him.

Five smiled at you before turning his head down to look at his hands, fidgeting quietly. “I was waiting for my siblings,”

“They’re lovely,”

“Only you would say that.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because you’re good,” he paused, lifting his head to meet your surprised gaze. “You’re good for me and you’re kind and unbearably naive. I mean who forgets her shoe on the steps of the palace. How childish, truly,” he laughed as he watched your face flush red.

“I would rather you call me something sweet instead of teasing me,”

“I would rather call you by your name.”

“It’s Y/N,” you responded sheepishly, giving Five an unsure smile as he echoed your name back to feel it on his lips. You watched as he blossomed into a large smile and nodded a little. You tilted your head to the side, laughing as you watched him mutter to himself with fascination, “What?”

“I think my last name fits perfectly at the end of that, what do you think?” He was teasing you, surely, he wasn’t doing this here, now? You felt your mouth go dry, butterflies hitting the walls on your stomach as you reached down to hold onto something. Five’s demeanor changed quickly upon seeing you sway, “No, wait, wait, I’m sorry!”

He was hovering over you nervously as you sat on the edge of a chair, his hands nervously finding your face. His thumbs rubbed soothing circles on them as you stared up at him. “You can’t joke like that, not if you don’t mean it.”

“If I don’t mean it?”

You stuttered for a short minute, mouth opening and closing like the mouth of a fish as he looked down at you. You swallowed sharply, stood up, and looked over at Five, “Then do it right, if you mean it, that is to say, propose to me properly.”

“Properly? You know I’m a prince, I was born to be proper.” He was joking at a time like this, earning a gentle frown from you before he was taking your hands in his in one swift movement. “Properly,” he repeated one last time, earning a nervous nod from you in the process.

“Growing up I never really had much optimism in my life, I was born with extraordinary abilities and yet my life was seemingly boring. I always felt as if I was missing something important, missing something that made life meaningful. I had books, royal duties, and standards. I had the makings of a good prince, indeed, but I think I was missing you. You have shown me colors I can’t see with anyone else. I can’t promise to be the best for you or to be the most earnest, or to be the most amiable, but I can promise to love you. So if you’ll have me, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” He finished his speech, moving to the ground to be on one knee, trying to catch his breath. He felt you squeeze his hands tight before pulling him up into a tight hug, kissing his cheek quickly.

“Of course, I will,” you whispered in his ear sweetly, pulling back from him with a smile. Five stood there, panting lightly as you were inches from his face before he let out an excruciating long sigh.

“Oh, thank god.” he released before he leaned in to kiss you firmly on the lips. You tripped over yourself to kiss him back with the same passion, smiling against his lips as you held onto him. Five was beaming, kissing you all over your face as he laughed. You felt laughter spill out of you quickly, swatting him away playfully and then you knew that as long as you had him next to you, you would be fine and the two of you would live happily ever after indeed.

[robert-de-niro-only-fans]

The Lesser of Two Evils

Jimmy Conway x Paulie's Daughter Reader

Just felt like writing for Jimmy... Also bc I like @yesbelladoesstuff 's man more than my own apparently 😂😝

TW: mentions of crime, mention of age gap, implied smut

Word Count: 3k

After four long years full of hard work and missing your family, college was finally over! You hadn't gone far for college, and you visited as possible, but the work load of college doesn't always allow for that. For Paulie, it was important that you get a degree, even if you didn't have a "real" job after college; he just knew you were too smart, and you knew it would make him so proud that his little girl finished college.

You moved home on a Thursday after finals and took Friday to just spend time with your dad and the rest of your immediate family, before the rest of your "family" came over for the big party on Saturday. This included Tommy, Henry, and Jimmy and all the various "uncles" your dad did business with. It was a closed circle of people.

You had been home for holidays and summers in between semesters, but towards the end of college, you really started to realize that you weren't in the loop like you used to be. Tommy had really grown into a well-respected mobster, and you respected that they may make him within the next few years. He was still hot headed as ever though. As for Henry, it seemed like he tried to hold off as long as he could, as he had always had a huge crush on you, and everyone, including Paulie, had placed bets on when you two would get together. But he had started going out with this girl named Karen. You had only met her a few times, but you had heard that she kept Henry on the straight and narrow. Good for her.

Jimmy hadn't had too much change in his life during your years at college, except that he had too younger mobsters to help him on his various jobs. He made a lot more money because of them! You never thought when you went to college that you would find yourself missing Jimmy as much as you did; of course, you had always been close with him just like you were with Tommy and Henry, but there was just something about him. He was always very cool, and his jokes were few and far between but hilarious when he told them. He had always been protective over you in a way the other two weren't, you guessed because he was older, but he also let you get away with stuff your dad would've had a heart attack over. Hell, Jimmy encouraged bad behavior.

And that's where you found yourself early Saturday afternoon: fighting off thoughts of Jimmy, and a little nervous to see him because of it.

The table is all set, covered in a black table cloth, with gold and silver decorations everywhere to celebrate your graduation. A few dishes full of your favorite foods are set out, and more will arrive as the family does.

As the family pours in, the table fills with dishes and becomes surrounded by people you've known practically your whole life. You are handed envelopes full of cash, each one thicker than the last. That's how you did presents in this business.

You wondered where the boys were... It's unusual that they didn't show up first.

After a while, Henry arrives with Karen and they greet you with the usual hugs and kisses on the cheek; you can tell Karen is still getting used to greeting people like this. "Glad you have you home, (Y/N)! Congrats!" Henry exclaims. Rather than money, they gift you with a beautiful set of jewelry. You knew Karen was good for Henry, and now you know she has good taste.

"Oooh, there she is!" Jimmy yells as he's coming in the door. Tommy and Jimmy show up right after Henry and Karen. They were likely all hanging out before coming over, but you had to wonder why they didn't just take the same car. Tommy hands you a stack of cash, like he was taught to do, giving you kisses on your cheeks and a sincere congrats for graduating. Before you can really finish up your conversation with Tommy, Jimmy is scooping you up into his arms and twirling you around playfully, earning a squeal from you. "Atta girl! We knew you could do it!" He lets you down gently and pulls you in for a proper hug. "Congratulations, (Y/N). You know everyone here is so proud of you."

As you move back into the dining room and living room to rejoin the party and visit with everyone, Jimmy's hand lingers on you: your shoulder blades, the small of your back, wrapped lightly around your hip. He had always been a bit handsy with you; it's just how you two were with one another, but today it's affecting you more than usual.

Jimmy is wrapped up in a conversation about something he's been bootlegging with one of the uncles, so you turn to him to say, "Hey Jimmy, in gonna go sit with my dad at the table, 'cause I think we're eating soon. I'll save you a seat next to me, if you want it."

"Okay, sweetie, I'll be there in a little while."

You walk away taking a deep breath to try and clear your mind. Had you always felt this way about Jimmy or had something changed?

You say next to your dad and leaned your head on his shoulder.

"Hey there, girlie! You enjoying the party? Everything okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay. It's good seeing everyone again, and knowing that I get to stay home for good this time."

Paulie puts his arms around you, squeezing you tight. He always gave the best hugs! "I'm so happy you're back home. It's been pretty lonely without my girl here... Now I'm gonna have to beat off guys with a stick to keep you here," he lets out a chuckle.

"Oh, Dad, I'm not going anywhere, and you know that. Besides, Henry went and got a girlfriend, so there goes my only shot at a boyfriend."

"Now, you know Henry wasn't your only option. What about Tommy?"

You both look across the room to see Tommy flirting with someone's daughter...

"Ehhh, no," you and your dad say in unison before having a big laugh together.

"Is this seat taken?"

You look over your shoulder to see Jimmy standing behind the chair next to you, "Reserved for you."

"Oh, good!" Jimmy takes a moment to say hello to Paulie before sitting down next to you.

Paulie stands up to announce that it's time to eat, but first he makes a small speech to let everyone know how proud he is of you for finishing college, and that you were always too bright and talented to belong to him.

While Paulie is standing at the head of the table, Jimmy reaches over to your lap under the table and takes your hand in his. You look at him, trying to hide that he's affected you in any way. He gives you a small smirk, and rubs his thumb over yours for just a moment before letting your hand go.

Paulie takes his seat, and people start spooning food out of dishes and into their plates, and you're left wondering what just happened and what was meant by it.

Luckily, the rest of dinner was pretty uneventful, and the food was always so tasty. After everyone got their bellies full, everyone mingled wherever they liked around the house. Some went into the backyard to get a small bonfire going so some of the kids could have roasted marshmallows; some of the guys started inside the house and started pulling out cards and chips and stacks of money; many of the wives gather in the kitchen or the living room to talk all the latest gossip.

You notice Tommy, Jimmy, Henry, and Karen taking lowly and giggling with one another in a small circle. Normally they would've invited you over, so there's definitely something suspicious going on.

"(Y/N)!" Paulie says, waving you over, "come here, kiddo."

"Dad, I just finished college; I'm not really a kid anymore!" You give him a laugh and walk over to him.

He puts an arm over your shoulders and says, "Well, you'll always be my kid." He pauses for a moment before looking across the room and yelling, "Conway!"

The room quiets down, waiting for Jimmy's response. All of the guys and Karen turn to you and your dad. "Yes, Paulie?" Jimmy says with a smug look on his face.

"When you came in here, I didn't see you give my little girl any presents for her graduation. No cash, no cute little boxes with bows. What's the matter with you?" Paulie voice is raised so everyone can hear him. This is very odd behavior, as he normally handles things pretty quietly, so you know something is up.

"Well, ya see, Paulie..." Jimmy starts walking towards you, "I didn't hand her any envelope full of 50s, and I didn't give her any boxes with bows, because what I got for her was too big to fit through the front door." Jimmy lowers his voice to a whisper now that he's in front of you. "You wanna go see your present?"

You now realize that your dad and the guys are all in on some kind of surprise.

"Yes, please."

That's all Jimmy needs to hear before he's picking you up to take you outside. Henry and Tommy rush to the door to open it, and everyone that heard what was going on follows you outside to see what the surprise is.

You and Jimmy can't stop giggling while there are lots of hoots and hollers from everyone gathering outside with you. Jimmy lets you down and spins you around so you're facing the driveway. Sitting there is a beautiful black muscle car with a big gold bow on the hood.

He wraps his arms around your waist and whispers in your ear, "You like it, princess?"

"I- uh... yes," you can barely get a response out; you certainly weren't expecting this. Jimmy was all about handing out money and giving expensive gifts, but nothing like this... He didn't like to do anything that would put this kind of attention on him.

"It's the one you said you wanted right?"

"Yes, Jimmy. It's perfect," you say with a huge smile as you turn to hug him. "Thank you so much!"

"Anything for you, (Y/N)." Jimmy pulls a key out of his pocket and hands it to you. You take it from him and run over to unlock the car and climb in. Immediately, Tommy climbs in the front seat next you you and is shouting, "C'mon! Let's take this thing on a spin!!" Henry and Karen climb in the back seat and Henry only starts egging you on saying, "Let's crank this thing up and get outta here, (Y/N)!"

"Okay, okay! We'll drive it, but only if Jimmy comes too. He paid for the thing after all!"

"Jimmy! Get your ass over here!" Tommy yells before climbing in the back seat with Henry and Karen.

Jimmy runs over and gets in the passenger seat next you you. "Try not to kill us, okay?"

You turn the key in the ignition and the engine fires up loudly, which gets Henry and Tommy rowdy in the back seat. All the people in the front yard were raising their glasses and cheering as you backed out of the driveway! Before driving away from the house, you slowed down and Jimmy rolled down his window so Paulie could pop his head in.

"You guys be careful, and don't let anything happen to that one right there," he says pointing to you.

"Hell, Paulie, she's the one you gotta worry about!" Henry pipes up getting a laugh out of everyone.

"Yeah, well..." he chuckles, knowing it's true and realizing his little girl is all grown up. "Happy graduation, baby; go have fun!"

"Thank you, Dad! Love you!" you yell before driving off, a little too fast.

• • •

After you, the guys, and Karen, whom you had really grown to like, had been driving around a while, you decide to stop off at a small park while the sun sets. It's a cute little public park with a lake, a pavilion with tables for picnics, a small playground for kids (naturally the boys go and play on the playground), and lots of open space with soft grass.

With the boys being boys running around chasing each other, you and Karen get some time to talk alone.

"Seems like you've got Henry tied down pretty well. Takes a tough lady to do that."

"Yeah, well he stood me up on our second date, and so I told him off in front of his friends. We been together since."

"Oh yeah, word got back to me on that one. You had all the guys pretty shocked," you say though a laugh, "They made fun of him a good bit for it, so he must like you a lot if he put up with that."

"Yeah, I think he does." She pauses for a minute. "I've heard from some people that Henry always had a crush on you, and that everyone thought you two would end up together. I'm sorry if I got in the way of that."

"Oh, no! No need to apologize. Henry liked me when we were kids, and it feels like more of a joke now than anything. I don't think I could deal with him as well as you do," you give her a reassuring smile.

"So, you gonna give Jimmy a shot?"

"Hmm? What? You mean Jimmy and me?" You stutter out.

"Yeah, I mean, I know he's older, but it seems like he really likes you!"

"You think Jimmy likes me?"

"Well, yeah girl! He bought you ya dream car!" She says excitedly, her New York accent really shining through.

"Karen!" Henry calls from the playground.

"Whaddayou want?!"

"Come over here, honey!"

You see Jimmy walking towards you and Karen, and notice that Tommy is flirting with some poor girl who was just out for a run. Karen says a quick goodbye to you and heads over to the playground where Henry is waiting for you.

When Jimmy's feet stop in front of yours, he extends a hand to you to help you up from your spot on the grass. He places his hand on the small of your back, and his long fingers delicately begin to lead you in the direction of your new car.

"Did you have a fun time playing with your friends on the playground?" You poke a little fun at him.

"Would've had more fun if you were there," he raises his eyebrows and cracks a smile at you.

You laugh gently out your nose as you arrive at your car, "Whatcha bring me over here for?"

He takes you by the hips, lifting you up and placing you on the trunk of your car. He grabs your thighs and pulls you close to him, your knees brushing against either of his hips. "You like the car, angel?"

"Jimmy, wha-," you let out a shaky breath, "um, yes, it's beautiful."

"Mmmm, good." He brushes your hair behind your ear.

It suddenly becomes clear to you that what Karen had to say about Jimmy was true. In fact, with him standing between your legs like this, it couldn't be more obvious.

"Hey, Jimmy?"

"Yeah, baby doll?"

"Kiss me."

He raises his eyebrows, then looks at the ground for a moment. When he looks back up at you, he tangles a hand in your hair and presses his lips to yours softly at first, but he quickly deepens the kiss, exploring your mouth with his. You gently wrap one arm around his neck, and the other hand squeezes his waist through his shirt. He pulls you into him so your chest is pressed against his.

It feels weird kissing him, but it also feels right. Being with him like this feels like electricity, and you could feel like this forever and it still wouldn't be enough.

"Hey, hey, Jimmy!" Henry calls as him and Karen come up on you.

"Do not interrupt them!" You hear Karen say followed by a whap to Henry's arm.

Jimmy slowly pulls away from you, giving you probably the sweetest look you've ever seen him give. He pecks your lips a few more times before turning to Karen. "Thank you for hitting him."

You slide off the back of the car, putting your hand in Jimmy's.

"Listen, all I'm saying is, it's about time you got a kiss from her, you paid a lot of money for it!" Henry chuckles, slapping the trunk of your car.

"Listen, Henry Hill. I kiss who I want, when I want. And yes, I am grateful for the car, but Jimmy didn't buy my love," you cut your eyes at him.

"Yeah, that's right! What's the matter with you?" Karen backs you up.

Henry puts his hands up in surrender and tries to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face, "Alright, alright, geez!! Can someone go get Tommy so we can go home?"

Everyone gives him a look.

"Okay, fine! I'll go get him!" Henry jogs off to go get Tommy off that girl's back.

Funny enough, the girl ends up coming home with the group, Tommy landing another girl that he won't call in the morning. So you drop everyone off at their respective homes: Tommy and his girl at Tommy's place, Henry and Karen at Henry's place, and Jimmy invited you to his place. You knew Paulie would worry about you not coming home, but it would raise his blood pressure if he knew what you and Jimmy were up to.

It was really the lesser of two evils.

[crazy4myself]

No Harm List Pt.4

Word Count: 7.2k

Summary: You live in a city where crime runs rampant. One day, you save a young boy's life, not knowing that he is the most powerful crime lord's heir. And you have just been put on the no harm list.

Trigger warnings: DESCRIPTION OF PANIC ATTACK!! I really took my time with writing this, trying my hardest to convey these feelings without being triggering. I also tried to make it as comforting as possible, but if you are feeling a little anxious maybe save this fic for a better day. Mental health first!  

Additional warnings: mentions of violence, explicit language, mentions of death,

Genre: Romance, angst, violence, gang/mafia AU, 

Rating: 18+  (bc of mentions of violence there’s no sexual content)

<- Pt.3

"Hobi, I don't wanna be mad. I just wanna know the truth,” you pleaded, voice wavering. And that was the truth, you felt like you could care less if he was in a gang. It was Alcorn, you had to be in a gang to survive if you weren't rich.

Upon seeing your eyes water and your lip tremble, Hoseok instantly wished you would scream at him. He didn't want to hurt you. He didn't mean for it to go this far. For you two to get so close after his sister's death, or for him to lie to you for so long. He told himself he kept you out of it for your safety, but really it was just too easy for him to live two lives, for you to look at him like he wasn't a murderer and for him to pretend for a few hours that he wasn't. 

He sighed, sitting on the couch, and you plopped down next to him and waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts. 

"I guess it's best to start at the very beginning, which was when I was around 16," he started. 

"I lived in the same neighborhood as these two guys RM and Suga. They had actually served some time for getting busted with another gang, the Dime Lions, they're long gone now but basically, some shit went down during some kind of gang raid, and RM and Suga ended up taking the fall for it. Instead of the Dime Lions busting them out of jail, they left them there and basically disowned them afterward."

You nodded along to let him know you were following. 

"Anyways RM and Suga, they had a rough start when they got out of the gang, both were bastards, street rats on the Westside they never had anyone to look out for them. So they did the only thing they could do at the time to survive, which was breaking it to cars and shit and cleaning them out. I don't just mean personal belongings of these guys took engine parts, piping, tiers they took it all, and sold it to any scrap shops they could find. At the time, I was working at my uncle's scrapyard. I knew RM and Suga when they were in middle school before they joined the Dime Lions. They stayed with the foster family that lived in my neighborhood. I knew they had been kicked out of the house and were basically living with the Lion's, so when I saw they were working alone, I got curious. For a year or so, I convinced my uncle to continue buying from them even when he started getting a little suspicious about the guys stealing. The guys knew I looked out for them, and we were cool for a while. Then my mom got sick," he paused for a moment looking away from you.

You reached out and placed your hand on his leg knowing how hard it was for him to talk about his mom and Dawon. 

Collecting himself, Hoseok went on, "So I asked for an in with the guys, I needed money and I knew cars. I could remove the parts more effectively than they could. I also knew some clientele who were always coming by and buying parts because they flip cars for fun, those guys were easy targets. So I guess the three of us were a little gang of misfits for a while, I used the money to help pay for mom's treatment. They used the money to survive.

Then we started taking some younger ones under our wing. RM and Suga got their own place and opened their doors to some kids in a rough spot like they were. But as we got bigger, we started getting sloppy. We had been at it for about a year at this point. The guys started taking on some other jobs, but I stuck to what I did best. I wasn't really interested in broadening my horizons. Like I said, we had been at it for a while, and I got cocky, I guess. We had a few scuffles here and there, but we always got out of them okay. Then one night, we got busted scraping a car at some guy's house, and he shot me in the leg, and the cops got me. RM ended up bailing me out of jail, and Suga, Suga got me a gun." 

He shifted in his seat and looked at you nervously, "I wanted out at this point, mom was basically on her deathbed, and I was all Dawon had. I couldn't risk going to jail, ya know. I owed RM money for bail, but my uncle got me a job as an actual mechanic, I thought I could earn money the honest way, pay them back and then Dae and I could just go back to our lives. But then the doctors told us about some experimental treatment that could possibly cure mom. How the hell could I pass that up? I would have done anything to help her get better." his brows furrowed as he tightened his fist into balls.

 "So I stayed. At this point, BTS was growing, it was an official gang, tattoo and all. We had recruited Jin, who came from money, he used some of his trust fund to fund BTS and help us grow, and RM was starting to get a little ambitious. He wanted territory, he wanted me to take the tattoo and be his third." Hobi squeezed his eyes shut as he let out a sigh, he felt like he had to force the words out of him to confess his sins to you. 

"I told you Suga got me a gun after the arrest, and it ended up I'm a really good shot, so good I didn't even have to kill a guy for a long time. I researched where to shoot to keep someone down for a long while without it being fatal, so that's what I did. I worked a few more jobs for RM, we did a big heist. Actually, that was our big break. A team of six other guys and I broke into this old rich dude's mansion, nearly cleaned out his safe when we split the money most of the guys put a percentage into my pot. I walked out that night with almost enough to pay for mom's treatment in full. 

I told RM I wouldn't be his third, and he offered me an out, I just needed to take one more job for him, and he would pay out the rest of mom's bills, so that's what I did. I killed for the first time, and then I was free. I wouldn't have to do any of it again. Well, that's what I intended," he paused, his voice growing softer. 

You tried to keep your face neutral as he revealed the horrors to you. Not that it mattered Hoseok couldn't even bring himself to look at you.

"Mom ended up passing that night." he laughed, a bitter sound that felt foreign to the kind man you knew, "I swear whatever cruel god is out there pulling all the strings did it to punish me. To let me know, they saw what I had become and that I didn't deserve to have people I love in my life. I wasn't good enough to feel love in this world," 

"Hobi, that's not-" he cut you off with a bitter laugh as he looked upwards to hold back his tears. The motion made him seem as though he was searching for the fates he mocked. "Don't y/n, I know what I am,"

"Dae was a senior when mom passed, and it absolutely broke her. I had to fight to get her to go to school for those last few months. Hell, it was a fight to get her out of bed for her graduation. Her exit exams were a disaster, and the councilors at the college were understanding, for the most part. They still admitted her to the school, but not a drop of financial aid was offered to her. She deserved so much more," Hobi's voice was laced with bitter disdain, his eyes looking far off. 

"So I did everything I could to give it to her. I borrowed from Namjoon, enough to cover her entire admission at Alcorn University."

"Hobi, that's so much," you couldn't hold the comment in. It was near impossible for an ordinary person to buy their way into Alcorn if they didn't get scholarships, the tuition at the prestigious school was over $20,000 a semester for admission alone. 

"And I did it, I had Jin make up a fake scholarship for her, send her a cute little letter telling her about the award. She thought that she earned a full ride, and I let her believe it. I even borrowed enough so she would stay in the dorms, I figured it would be safest to keep her out of the house. I didn't know what kind of jobs RM was going to have me do."

"I took the tattoo, and killing became more of a normal thing for me. It started to get easier, I kept my distance and tried my hardest to not even see their eyes. 

There was a big turf war that year. I don't know, the city was on the brink of a recession, a lot of big players in the city were changing the rules of the game. Business owners fought to take down other businesses simply so theirs could stay open, the market was a disaster. I never cared about the politics of any of it, I just did what I was told, and because of that, I'm still not totally sure all I did that year. What lives I took. Who all I hurt. I did everything I could to forget those nights and the blood. I told myself I was doing it for a good reason, ya know. 

I didn't want to know, I thought I would save that for the day I'm standing outside of hell, and they list off every single one of my evil deeds before they sentence their judgment." Hoseok's vacant eyes started to shine with tears.

 "And that was the stupidest fucking thing I could have ever done. I had no clue who had it out for me, I had started feeling invincible. I didn't even consider that someone would want to take their revenge, I had killed Kim Martin Sr.'s son." 

Your blood chilled at the name, and he didn't look at you as he continued.

"He was some big business owner or something, I was supposed to kill him, but there was a mix-up, and I got his son, Kim Martin Jr. instead. Whoever made the call decided that killing his son was just as effective because the grief practically destroyed him. A few misguided stock investments, while he was grieving, crashed his empire. He lost everything and had to move to the Westside in the aftermath. 

Suga kept good tabs on the guy, but then he fell off the grid. We figured he left town or hell maybe he died. We didn't consider him a threat, he showed no interest in coming after BTS, so I didn't even think to keep an eye out for Dawon."

You felt hot tears roll down your face as you realized what happened. The media painted Martin as the bad guy. They accused him of losing his business after his son died due to extreme drug abuse. The city officials wrote him off as such a pathetic low life, that come the time of his death that his murder was barely investigated. It was simply declared a drug deal gone wrong. But he was a father, a father who lost everything to a hitman and wanted to return the favor. 

Hoseok believed he didn't deserve love. Whatever higher power that was calling the shots took everything away from him as punishment. 

You think of your best friend now long passed, her beautiful smile and contagious laugh. The way she could always read you and knew exactly what you needed, whether it be your favorite ice cream on your period or a trip to the botanical gardens in the middle of the night when she knew you were missing home a bit more than normal.

There was a loose glass in the greenhouse that hosted the plants native to your home. You would both scale the fence to the gardens late at night and push that glass panel in and carefully crawl into the greenhouse. The air would be filled with the floral scents you grew up with, and you would just walk the rows of plants and run your fingers over the velvet petals and waxy leaves. 

Until Dawon would play music, a playlist the two of you made of songs in your native tongue. You would dance around the humid greenhouse singing on the top of your lungs while Dawon would laugh and clap along, excitedly shouting with you when she recognized a word or two. 

You thought about the way you and Hoseok both carried a burden of guilt after she passed. Until now, you had felt like you failed her as a best friend and roommate. 

For three years, you had tortured yourself with thoughts like if you hadn't procrastinated so much on your assignments that week, you would have been home when she decided to make a late snack run. You told yourself the robber probably wouldn't have stopped her if you were together. You reasoned that two of you would have deterred her as a target. 

Or maybe he would have just shot you instead. Dawon would have recovered from the loss so much better, she had Hoseok to comfort her and family and friends to support her. You were merely an exchange student in a city with no morals, loved by no one, but taken in out of guilt by her brother. It would've been a better trade. 

You tortured yourself with these thoughts day and night consumed with feelings similar to survivor's guilt.

You never understood Hoseok's guilt, until tonight, you felt like there was nothing he could have done to make that night play out differently. But now you realize he could have anything, and it might have made a difference. 

"Y/n, I understand if you hate me," Hoseok said softly, watching the tears that dripped down your cheek as you processed everything he told you.

"I wanted to honor Dawon's wish. I didn't expect you to do so much for me, for you to become my best friend and for you to make me feel normal. I kept this from you because you were the closest thing to her I had left. There was a time where I thought I would distance myself from you when you moved out. That I would just become another hazy detail to the tragedy, and you would move on completely with your life, but y/n you were so sad, and you needed me too. 

When you moved out, I was terrified of something happening to you. I couldn't stop myself from checking up on you. I couldn't let us grow apart." Hoseok's voice broke off as you looked at him, the pain and betrayal in your eyes.

 "Y/n, you're the closest thing I have to redemption, protecting you, being your friend is the last thread of humanity I have left, I can't lose you," he pleaded. 

"You watched me blame myself," you whispered accusingly, your eyes shining with betrayal. 

"You watched me tear myself apart, and used comforting me to make you feel better about yourself?" 

He flinched at your words, "I tried everything I could to convince you there was nothing you could have done," Hobi argued feebly. 

"Everything but tell the truth," you hissed as hot tears rolled down your cheek. 

You got up as a sob escaped you, your face red and snot running from your nose. Hoseok stood with you, but you flinched away with a broken no.

 "I need time, Hoseok," you begged. 

You swallowed thickly as you did everything in your power to keep it together, "I don't want to hate you, but please, I need time to think about everything," you assured. Even knowing what he did, he was right. You needed him too. If you lost him, you truly didn't have anyone in the city who cared if you lived or died tomorrow. And maybe settling for that made you your own kind of monster. 

It was funny how he claimed such a tarnished person could be his redemption. 

You secure your bag to your shoulder, stepping out into the night air and pulling the door closed behind you. You couldn't even bring yourself to lock the door behind you, afraid that if you stopped moving for one second that you would completely break down and be unable to make it home. You only hoped Hoseok was smart enough to check the door behind you and make sure to lock it. 

You counted the stairs as you made your descent and into the parking lot, making an effort to take in your surroundings. You tried to list off the colors of the cars as you passed them, and while some distant part of you did the action, you still felt like the effort wasn't reaching whatever corner of your brain you were hiding in. 

You got a lot better with controlling your anxiety attacks as you made it further in college, even going as far as taking advantage of the university's free therapy sessions to get professional guidance in your junior year. You defaulted to your go-to grounding technique as your feet moved of their own accord to carry you home. 5,4,3,2,1 was an exercise that made you aware of your surroundings and tether yourself to this world when your mind felt a dimension away. 

The technique walked you through your five senses, making you list off 5 things you could see, 4 things you could feel, 3 things you could hear, two things you could smell, and one thing you could taste. Even in your most anxious moments, you were a slut for making a good list. You always found this exercise more soothing than any breathing technique. 

Your eyes searched without really seeing as you tried to find five things you could see around you. Straining yourself to really take in your surroundings, you settled for a yellow fire hydrant, a car parked on the side of the road, a penny on the ground, a drainage inlet tucked into the curb, and finally your own yellow shoes pacing down the concrete sidewalk. 

You were going to be okay, you reminded yourself as you took an intentional breath. 

Next, four things you can touch, you focused on your breathing as you reached an arm out to graze your fingertips along with the rough brick of the building you walked by.

You shifted a little more with each step, concentrating on how the fabric of your clothes moved across your skin and curling your toes into the padding of your shoes. You didn't count each feeling, your wandering mind struggling to really take in each sensation, but you were sure you touched four things by now.

This was a mistake you often caught yourself making when counting down like this. Sometimes you were in such a rush to reach the end and get to one as if identifying one taste would magically make all your anxieties go away that you forget to take it slow and really center yourself. 

Three things you can hear, it was at the time, as you strained to let the world in through the all-consuming pounding of your heart in your ears, that you realized you were whimpering to yourself slightly. The awareness of your own vulnerability made you stumble as your mind spiraled, and you struggled to find something to tether you back to the earth. 

You began walking faster before realizing you're not certain you were going the right way. So you came to a halt, realizing you couldn't bring yourself to focus enough to take in your surroundings. You stared at the street sign for a long time, repeating the letters to yourself as you made them form a word finally settling on Gardenia. 

Your breathing hitched as you realized you had wandered off the main streets and into a neighborhood in your daze. You were lost, but you couldn't bring yourself to care about it, and the lack of fear flashed an alarm in your mind that let you know you were too far gone to count away your anxieties.

You struggled to breathe as you tried to come up with a decision. You needed to ground yourself to calm down. You needed to list off 5 things you could see, fourth things you could feel, three things you could hear, two things you could smell, and one thing you could taste. You knew the only way to bring yourself back to the world was to become aware of your settings. 

But it felt as if the part of your brain that knew all these things didn't even touch whatever part of your mind was controlling you now. You were better off giving directions to the light pole you stood under. 

You felt your breathing get harder as you desperately gasped in all the air you could. Your arms and legs began to tingle as your body over oxidized, and your head began to spin. 

Slowly you slumped to the ground, wrapping your arms around the light pole you had stopped under as you spiraled. 

What were you even doing before this moment? How did you even get here? You forced your eyes open wide, hoping the action would make you actually see and register what you were looking at to no avail. 

What were you doing, what were you doing, what were you doing?

You struggled to reign in your thoughts of your laughing best friend and her crying brother. Or was it your crying best friend and his dead sister? 

You were supposed to find three things you could hear. Your crying doesn't count. A more logical voice seemed to get through to you. 

You strained your ears to hear past your own breathing, you could hear a frog croaking in the grass nearby, you felt the earth beneath you to confirm you had in fact settled in a patch of grass. You smiled to yourself proud of your progress as you continued to listen as you continued to listen. You heard the electricity buzzing in the light pole you had wrapped your arms around, you felt almost childlike as you opened your eyes. Actually, seeing this time as you looked up at the pole, you were around. 

You needed one more sound, you strained your ears, expecting to be met with something like a far off car driving by. Instead, you heard your name being called. You blinked as you turned away from the street lamp and towards the repeating sound of a familiar set of syllables coming from a familiar voice. 

Jungkook jogged up to as he saw you curled around a lamppost. Even from a distance, he could see the rapid way your chest was rising and falling in that familiar chaotic rhythm he only saw when he found Taehyung or Yoongi having a panic attack. You looked up at him with a tear-stained face and saw the confusion of his presence take you off guard and snap whatever control you had over yourself. 

Your face crumpled as a sob broke from your chest, and you turned away from him and curled yourself around the light pole a little tighter. 

Jungkook felt such a rush of guilt and panic at the sight of you so broken that he ignored the dull ache in his knees as he instinctively fell down in the grass next to you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you from the cold metal pole, trying to position comfortably in his chest. 

Jungkook shifted as he uncurled his legs from beneath his body and stretched them out next to yours in front of him, trying to touch as much of his body to you in comfort. You didn't resist, but the jolting motions did seem to make you more upset for a short moment. Jungkook realized he forgot to ask for permission to touch you before he acted. 

He knew Tae preferred physical comfort to calm down, but sometimes it could act more as a trigger when unwelcomed. He loosened his grip hesitantly, and you wrapped your arms around his middle, hugging him closer to you in response. 

Physical contact is. He thought to himself as he began stroking one hand up and down your back and rocking you both side to side slightly as if he was trying to calm a baby from a tantrum. 

Which he basically was doing, you thought bitterly to yourself as you accepted the comfort.

You were too far gone to calm yourself down. You had ridden the river of upsetting thoughts that triggered your attack all the way down, and now you risked floating out to sea and losing yourself forever. Not actually forever, just until you would cry yourself unconscious and wake up to start anew. But you supposed accepting comfort was better than sleeping outside in a neighborhood you didn't know. 

Jungkook whispered to you, not the sweet nothings people typically say when they see people break down like 'it's going to be okay,' or most annoyingly 'breath.' No Jungkook simply told you, 'you're safe,' 'take your time,' 'you're stronger than you give yourself credit for' and in your case most importantly, 'exhale.' 

When people see you having a panic attack and hear the loud gasp you make as you fight to breathe, they instinctively tell you to breathe as a way to calm down. But it's your failure to let the air out that keeps your body over oxidized, making it harder for you to feel in control of yourself. 

Slowly, you regained control of your body, and your desperate gasps for air morphed into shallow panting. Your shallow breathing morphed into soft whimpers and sniffled. Jungkook held you as your continuous knit itself together, and you faced the pain your mind was so desperate to escape.

He rubbed you back as you let out soft sobs as you reopened wounds that had healed into jagged scars. You cried for Dawon and her undeserved death. For Hoseok and the guilt you knew, he carried every day. You cried for Kim Martin, who died at the hands of the killer that stole his son. You cried for yourself, over the fear of the future as you saw it grow intimately tangled with a notorious gang.

You don't know how long Jungkook waited as you reeled yourself back together. He waited long after you finished crying, knowing just because you had control of yourself physically didn't mean you were mentally ready to face the world, so he wrapped you in his warmth and hummed to himself as he rocked you both slowly. 

You loosened and tightened your grip on his shirt and curled and uncurled your toes as you tried to become more aware of your body. You were basically sprawled out on the grass with your upper body twisted and pulled into Jungkook's middle. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but you weren't willing to risk losing his warmth to move. 

You licked your lips, and the jarring taste of your salty tears pulled you from your self pitying thoughts, deciding to work your way up the list you once again started to count. 

One thing you taste, salt. 

Two things you smell: you inhaled deeply and took in the smell of laundry detergent that clung to Jungkkook's shirt. "Detergent," you mumbled into his shirt, and the sound of a coherent word leaving you made Jungkook's humming stop as he looked down at you, nuzzling your face deeper into his chest. He held in his chuckle as you stiffed the air again, and confidently said, "and grass."

You finally pulled yourself away from him only slightly to turn your face away from him, your cheek still pressed against his chest.

"I can hear frogs, cars nearby, and.. your heart," you listed as you looked up at him from under you thick lashes still clumped with tears, "it's louder than mine," you observed as you listened to the hammering in his chest. 

He was from a different kind of nerves. 

He recognized the countdown and realized you were working to ground yourself, "What can you feel?" he prompted eager to get you to move on from his pounding heart. 

"Your t-shirt, it's soft, the grass poking at me through my jeans, my bra digging into me" you wrinkled your nose as you became aware of the discomfort. 

"And?" Jungkook prompted. A smile curled your lips as you looked up at him mischievously, "You're abs," you giggled as you sat up, finally pulling away from him. Jungkook felt the heat crawl up his neck as he turned away, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. 

"And what do you see?" he asked gently, looking everywhere but you. 

You smiled at his bashfulness as you look around, "I see the street sign, the green grass," you pause as you squint, "I think that's either a rock or some dog poop over there," Jungkook let out a startled laugh. You smiled to yourself proudly as you continued. 

"Our shadows from the street light, and,” you pause realizing how close the two of you are, "the little mole underneath your lip."

"Good," he whispered, and you watched in fascination how his lips formed the words, "Are you ready to get up now, or do you need a few minutes?" he asked. It was the way his mouth twisted into a smile at the end of the sentence that made you realize you were still staring at his lips. You blinked before looking up at his eyes, which was alight with a teasing glint. 

"I can stand," you answered, flustered as you pulled your body away from him. Maneuvering your feet beneath you to get up. Jungkook offered you a hand once he was up helping pull you to your feet, before bending down and grabbing your purse for you. Your feet still tingled in that pins and needles feeling. You wiggled your hands to wake up your fingers as well, but other than that, you felt like you recovered from the physical toll of the panic attack quite well.

"C'mon my place is at the end of this road, let me grab a car and drive you home," he offered. 

You walked with him obediently, your hands brushing past each other twice before Jungkook's hand finally snatched yours mid-swing; you looked down and watched as your fingers intertwined with his effortlessly. You looked to him to see a change in his expression, but he looked straight ahead as he walked, acting as if nothing happened. 

You smiled at yourself, thankful for the affection. You always did get a little clingy after panic attacks, relying heavily on skinship and the feeling of someone taking care of you as a way to feel calm. You were surprised how easy it was for you to let Jungkook fall into that roll despite barely knowing him. But you suppose in the handful of interactions the two of you shared, he's always prioritized your comfort and safety. 

"This is your house?" you asked as you took in the massive white art deco house behind the gate you stopped in front of. The gate buzzed and rolled open for the two of you of its own accord and rolled open for the two of you. 

Jungkook smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, kinda," he said with a shrug. 

You raised a brow, "kinda?"

"It's complicated, c'mon let's get you home," he said with a tug reminding you that the two of you were still holding hands. You flushed but followed obediently as you made your way to the garage. 

You squinted as your eyes were met with a flood of fluorescent light upon opening the door. A row of vehicles lined its way down the length of the garage, varying from sports car, to jeep, to a large black truck at the end of the row. A line of 4 motorcycles along the furthest wall. 

"J-Hope sells Namjoon a car any chance he gets," Jungkook chuckled as he took in your awed expression. 

"J-Hope?" you questions, and Jungkook's smile faltered.

"That's what we call Hoseok," he clarified. 

You nodded in understanding, "Like how Taehyung goes by V?" you asked, and he nodded. 

"Hoseok, does he sell drugs like V does?" you asked curious of what all Hoseok's gang involvement entailed.

Jungkook opened his mouth to answer but was cut off as the adjacent door slammed up from what looked to be inside the house, revealing a man in a black t-shirt with a mop of platinum blond hair. 

"There you are," he practically growled as he stormed in the room.

The man was dwarfed by Jungkook a good bit, but somehow Jungkook seemed to cower and appear smaller as the man approached, dropping your hand as if he were caught doing something he shouldn't. 

You looked at him curiously and wondered if he was. 

"Yoongi hyung," he greeted as he tried to force a smile, "I was just about to-" 

"Save it," he snapped, "I have half the army out looking for you, ya know," he turned his fury to you much to your surprise as he added "both of you." 

Your mouth fell open, shocked by the confusion apparent on your face as he continued, "Do I need to babysit both of you, because believe it or not, she's taking up a lot of my time. I really can't handle you getting flakey on me Jungkook, we need to know that you're safe," 

Jungkook looked down as he lectured, murmuring a small apology. 

"And you" Yoongi turned to you, "That goes for you too, the Black Tips are still on your tail, I can't do much for you if you go running off,"

"Hyung," Jungkook hissed. "Not now, please." 

Yoongi blinked at his younger in surprise, turning to you and making a point to really look at you, and take you in. Your red-rimmed eyes and splotchy face, the way you seemed to lean into Jungkook. He recognized that far off look in your eyes like you had to concentrate on being present in the moment, and Yoongi remembered the warning in Hoseok's earlier message when he told him you had run out.

"Yeah, okay, get her home and come straight back when you're done, we still need to talk," he said dismissively. None of your questions were answered, but you didn't resist as Jungkook put a hand on your back and guided you towards a nearby car. 

"Good night, princess," Yoongi called over his shoulder before closing the door behind him. Unlike with Jimin, you felt like you were being mocked when Yoongi called you that.

"Who was that, your brother, and why did he say he needs to babysit me?" you questioned as you both settled into the fine black vehicle the windows were so deeply tinted on the outside you wondered if it was safe to drive at night, but upon getting in the car, you noted that you could see through the windows clearly. 

Jungkook waited until after he put the key in the ignition and backed out into the driveway before he started talking."That's Yoongi hyung or Suga, he's head of surveillance for BTS. He was the one who sent out a message to go escort you home when J– Hobi Hyung told him you were upset and left his apartment so late. I was on my way in that direction when I ran across you on our street," he said, breaking at a stop sign and turning on the blinker.

You looked out the window as you took in everything he's told you, noting that you were stopped again by the light pole you had a panic attack under. Suga was one of the original members in Hoseok's story. You thought to yourself as you connected the dots. Your head still felt a little foggy as you recovered from the literal mental breakdown. The sudden change of lighting earlier had started to make your head throb. You were ready for bed.

"Hobi sent people to look for me?" was all you could manage, not entirely understanding the emotions stirring in your chest. 

"Well yeah, I mean, I was supposed to escort you home after work, and you kind changed plans, so we had to roll with them. I figured Hoseok would have taken you home after everything, so I didn't wait around. And then when Suga did send out the message I didn't notify them that I found you it was dumb on my part," he clarified. 

You leaned onto the console between the two of you, propping your cheek upon your hand in a way that squished your lips into a slight pout. Jungkook tried not to stiffen as you got more in his space. Peeking down at you through his peripherals he saw your brow furrow as you processed everything. 

"Why do you care?" you finally settled on asking as you still struggled to pinpoint why so many people would be worried about your safety.

Hoseok, you understood, to a certain extent, you even understood why he called in the favor. He knew your patterns and signs, you were probably shouting you were about to have an attack with your body language as you walked out the door. He knew he could never comfort you, not when he was the trigger. What you didn't understand was why BTS would listen.

"Because you're still not safe, and BTS took responsibility for your safety when I did," Jungkook said, simply turning to look at you as he stopped at a red light. 

If you were in the right state of mind, such a comment would have triggered an immediate fight. You had been on your own for far too many years to suddenly need a whole gaggle of men to tend to you as if you were some helpless girl. You were a grown-ass woman. But you weren't yourself as you searched for a response in the fog of your mind. 

"You're not responsible for anything about me?" you said softly as you shifted to rest your hand on your chin. 

"Y/n what all did Hoseok hyung tell you?" Jungkook asked, confused, you weren't rejecting his protection, you just seemed oblivious. He assumed the cat was out of the back as soon as you learned what BTS was, who they were concerning you. 

"Just how he joined BTS as how he ya know," you stuck your pointer finger and thumb in the air making soft 'pew pew' sounds. You couldn't bring yourself to talk seriously about the subject. Too much of this night had been severe for your liking. 

"Y/n, you saved my life last week," Jungkook said, trying to look in your eyes and convey all his gratitude. You shifted under his stare.

"I wouldn't call it that," you murmured, turning away, "The lights green," you added flatly trying to turn his attention from you. He ignored you and placed a warm hand over yours. 

"I would, and because of that, I and all of BTS owe you a life debt. We want to protect you as best as we can, especially since you're not totally safe from the guys you saved me from," he emphasized. 

You looked up at him owlishly as you thought over everything he said. But whatever you were going to say died on your lips as a car honked its horn behind you. You both jumped startled, and the intensity of the moment evaporated slightly. 

After a few moments of silence, you decided he didn't require a response. You can't imagine you would give a correct one anyways. You looked down at your hand, his larger one still resting atop your own and turned your wrist quickly and intertwining your fingers.

You rode in silence the rest of the way home, and you were fighting your eyelids as you pulled up to your complex. 

Jungkook wondered if you always fell asleep in the car even with dangerous men. He wondered if that's why he never sees you take the bus at night.

"You really should consider living somewhere safer," Jungkook muttered under his breath as he shut off the engine.

You bit your tongue holding in several comments and gave a noncommittal 'mmm' as you unbuckled and stepped out the car to see he planned to walk you to your door again. 

You grew embarrassed as you climbed the stairs and scrambled to think of parting words dwelling on everything Jungkook had done for you that night, "Thank you," you finally forced yourself to say. Jungkook looked down at you as you came to a halt in front of your door. "For earlier, with the crying and the counting," you offered awkwardly your eyes looking everywhere but his as you breached the sensitive topic. 

"Oh, it wasn't a problem, really. I'm glad I could help" he laughed nervously, and you smiled, reaching for his hand before he could bring it to the back of his head, a nervous habit you were quickly picking up on him having. 

"I'm serious Jungkook, a lot of people freak out and make the situation much worse for me, and I get it seeing someone crying like that it's never an easy thing to react to, but you did—" you hesitated as you searched for the right words, "You were good, comforting." 

You didn't give yourself time to question it as you stood on your tiptoes, deciding to convey your gratitude in a way that your stuttering mouth wouldn't botch, and grazed a small peck aiming for his cheek. Unfortunately, the height difference and your own lack of balance had you landing more on his jawline. Jungkook gasped only slightly at the feeling of your soft lips on his jaw, the heat of your body radiating off of you in your nearness. You smiled at him again as you turned towards the door to unlock it. 

"Haha yeah, happy to hear that," he responded, his voice crawling in pitch as he ordered his heart to beat, and you gave him another warm smile as you pushed open your door. 

"Good night, Jungkook."

"Good night, Ella." 

Jungkook's face split into a grin as you closed the door, a hand reaching for his jaw and pressing against where you kissed him as if it would simulate the feeling. His steps seemed to bounce as he made his way down the concrete stairs and back to his car.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading please tell me what you think! Your comments make me eager to write more :)

Pt.5 ->

[bettercallsabs]

After Dark

Here we go peeps.I'm back with some new trash! Here's a new unedited series (yes another one). This was an original story converted to reader insert so it does contain character descriptions, if this bothers you, don't read any further. Otherwise, please enjoy! Sorry, I'm a bit rusty. Haaaa

Warnings: language, swears, things.

Word count: 1.5k

Steve Roger's x Plus Sized Reader

My tag list is open, so never miss a post!

I dropped out of college my first semester after my father disappeared  leaving me to care for my teenage sister.

My name is Y/N.  I'm 20 years old. I'm working at a trendy night club as a waitress. 

…..

"Y/N, get a fucking grip." Grace yells as she stomps down the hallway.

"No Grace, I won't! You're 15 years old, christ! You shouldn't even be having sex." I snap back at her.

It had just been my sister and I for nearly two years. Ever since the disappearance of our father, raising my sister alone had proven to be a real walk in the park… not. 

Was I ever this bad as a teen? Holy shit. 

"Sorry I'm not a prude like you." 

Grace's tone is sparky, as she rests a hand on her hip. 

I fold my arms across my chest, shifting my weight onto my right leg, rolling my eyes so hard I thought they might fall out of my head. 

 "I am not a prude."

"You're 20 years old, and a virgin…"

I let out a long sigh, shaking my head as I stared hard at my baby sister. 

"That doesn't make me a prude. Christ, Grace! I'm just concerned! You're being reckless! Do you know what could happen? God forbid you get an STI or worse..  You're not even on birth control!"

"He used a condom dummy."

I clutch my face in my hands,  letting out a heavy breath in frustration. Why is my sister the way she is?

"Enough. This is obviously a pointless discussion, or lack there of.. I'm taking you in on Monday to get you on birth control, because lord knows you need it." 

Grace scowls at me as her eyes roll hard in her head. "Whatever Y/N."

I glance at my watch 6:32 p.m. Shit. I'm going to be late! 

"I have to go to work. Please…. Just behave, okay?" 

Grace turns and gives me the middle finger before trotting her way up the stairs.

That girl is going to age me 10 years.

Shaking my head, as I breathe out a soft sigh, I quickly grab my keys and purse from the counter, rushing out of the house. The last thing I need today is to be late to work…

……

"Alright ladies listen up." 

Terrance, more commonly known as Terry, the owner of the club, stood before us, his chiseled jaw tight as he leaned against the bar. 

"My son has a meeting here tonight, so be on your best behavior. I expect the utmost professionalism from my ladies. Y/N and Charlie, you're working the VIP section tonight."

"You could have given some warning Terry, I would have dolled up more!" Charlie, a fellow waitress, looks in Terry's direction, a playful frown peaking on the corners of her full lips. 

I feel my stomach churn, I've never worked the VIP section before… it's a big deal. Bigger clients, bigger tips… 

I swallow hard, forcing myself to speak up. I wish I was as outspoken as Charlie, she really has that 'I say what I want, when I want' attitude. 

"Terry... I never work VIP... if this is an important meeting, shouldn't Lydia or Tanya-"

"Charlie will show you the ropes. Now let's make some money." 

Terry claps his hands before heading off to his office. No one wastes anytime. The convened staff disperse in every direction, hurry back to work to finish preparing for the club to open. 

"Don't worry hun!" Charlie squeezes my arm in support. "We're gonna make some good money tonight! Steve  and his boys are so damn fine and gracious tippers. It's a win win. Eye candy and stacks baby." 

"Really?" 

I nervously fidget with my fingers before running them through my long blonde hair.

"Yeah girl, of course! So, Papa Terry is putting a lot of trust in you tonight. Word of advice hun, obviously by now you know this club is a special one, so what you see and hear tonight, keep your mouth shut, and you'll do just fine." 

I nod, understanding fully what she means. Afterall, rats have never made a good name for themselves.

There's a lot that goes on in the club that terrifies me, but the money is too good to pass up.

Charlie smiles at me, a soft genuine smile, as she wraps her arm in mine. Something about her makes me feel oddly safe and at ease.

"I like you Y/N, so I'm going to give you some more advice here. Stop being such an uptight girl!"

"I can't help it."

"Yeah Y/N, lighten up a little, jeez.  When was the last time you got laid?" 

Lydia, another waitress appears from behind us as she jumps into the conversation. 

My eyes immediately deflect to the floor, suddenly feeling more self conscious than usual. 

"I should really get back to it."

"Oh come on Y/N, don't be such prude."

Lydia laughs, but I feel the irritation building within me.

"Why does everyone call me that? I am not a prude!" 

My voice is harsher than I intended it to be. 

"Woah girl, chill." 

Lydia looks at me, seemingly shocked by my outburst. 

"Sorry. I'm really not a prude though. Just because I haven't…" I trail off mid sentence, my gaze now focused on the floor in front of me. 

I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. 

"Y/N, babe, are you a virgin?" 

"Lydia, keep it down.."

"It makes so much sense... You being a virgin explains so much." 

"What's that supposed to mean Charlie?" I huff, folding my arms over my chest. What did she mean by that? Was being a virgin a bad thing?

"Who's a virgin? I sure as hell know it's not Lydia." 

A booming laugh echoes from behind me, my blood running cold with embarrassment.

Lydia's head snaps in the direction of the laughter, a scowl now pasted on her full lips.

"Oh shut up Bucky, you old windbag!"

Lydia smacks the large bicep of a tall tatted man hard enough that the sound echoes off the club walls..

 I shyly duck behind Charlie, trying to make myself invisible, the last thing I need right now is to embarrass myself any further.

"Lydia, you need to work on your strength, hit the gym or something." The one called Dawson smirks at Lydia, who sticks her tongue out. "But seriously, who's a virgin, my curiosity has peaked."

"Pfft, I don't think any girl that works here could be. They are just fucking around."

A rich baritone voice fills my ears. I peer my head around from my very obvious hiding spot, Charlie. The man that belongs to the dreamy voice is even more so. He is tall, so deliciously tall, and his eyes are blue like icy glacial pools. Lord, he is like sex on two legs.

"Hey now! Don't be making those kinds of assumptions. Some of us very well could be. Just because we work here doesn't mean a thing. We dress like this for the tips baby." Charlie rolls her eyes at the two men, resting a hand on her hip. 

"Ha ha Charlie, you've got jokes I see. Who knew you were such a comedian?" 

"Who is that?" I whisper in Charlie's ear. 

"Ah yes, introduction time." Charlie points in the direction of the ridiculously handsome men.

"That's Mr. Roger's  son, Steve ." She points to the one with the mesmerizing blue eyes. "And the stupid one is Dawson." 

"Hey! Watch your damn mouth Charlie!" Dawson glares at her playfully, before his eyes land on me… so much for being invisible. 

"Who do we have here? Fresh meat?"

Charlie pulls me forward, resting her arm on my shoulder. "This is Y/N. She's been around for a bit now, but tonight is her first night working VIP, so be nice to her!" 

My eyes instantly flick to Steve , who is looking me up and down. Butterflies build in my just, as my heart flutters. I bite at my lower lip, trying to contain the wave of anxiety washing over me. When his eyes met mine, it was like the earth stopped turning, there was no one in the room but us. I could truly lose myself in those hypnotic blue eyes. 

"Damn! She thicc! I'd like to-"

"Watch your mouth Dawson."

 Steve 's voice is low as he scowls at Dawson through gritted teeth.  Dawson takes a step back, settling himself behind Steve . 

Steve 's eyes fall back to mine capturing my full attention with his intense gaze.. And just for a moment I'm lost in those icy pools.. 

As quickly as they came his eyes left mine, giving their focus to Charlie. 

"Tonight's meeting is important, so you will need to be extra courteous. Feel me Charlie?" 

"Aye aye Captain." Charlie jokingly salutes Steve , who doesn't look the slightest bit amused. 

"Come on ladies, we have jobs to do. Let's get ready to get this money. It's going to be a good night!" 

Charlie smiles, looping her arm in mine, as we head into the VIP section. I glance over my shoulder, dying to get one last peak at Steve . Our eyes meet once again, and I feel my heart shudder in my chest… shit.

…….

ForeverTags:

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@itsanerdlife

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@dsakita

@princess-evans-addict

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@patzammit

[jisungsmochi]

lovestruck - park jisung

lovestruck - park jisung by jisungsmochi 

NEW SERIES ALERT: i’m doing short fics for the dreamies based off songs by The Vamps! stay tuned for the rest hehe <3

college!au, whipped jisung, lots of fluff and teeny bit of angst but not really 

word count: 3.3k

summary: “i’m hung up, i’m shook up, i’m lovestruck”

park jisung wasn’t the one to ask someone out, god he didn’t even know how to properly cook ramen. but from the day he met you, he needed to know you. he wanted to love you, it was something he couldn’t shake away. but what do you do when you’re heartbroken yourself, and there’s a lovestruck boy pining over you?

//

Excuse me miss,

I don’t ever do this,

Must admit i’m pretty nervous,

But just incase you say yes.

jisung was terrified to start his first semester at college. the fact that he just scraped by to get accepted, was already feeding into his nerves. he was worried he wouldn’t make any friends, or be able to keep up with the course content. no matter how many times jeno and jaemin tried to drill into his head that they’d be there to help him through it, the younger boy had a hard time believing in himself. his first day wasn’t the best, he was lost on campus for a solid 30 minutes, missing half of his first lecture. he couldn’t shake the image of rows of people staring at him as he rushed to a seat in the theatre. he felt his cheeks burn at the embarrassment, attempting to hide behind his laptop screen. from the corner of your eye, you noticed the flustered boy, sitting three seats away from you. the seats were empty, giving you a clear view of the dark haired boy. you tuned back into the lecture, thoughts of him still lingering in your mind.

jisung didn’t notice you until the third or fourth lecture. you always sat in the same spot and so did he. naturally, you both started noticing eachother. at first you exchanged small glances, kind of like ‘are you getting this?’ and other times, jisung would catch himself staring at you, zoning out the voice of the lecturer. he thought you were utterly mesmerising. from the way you pushed strands of hair behind your ears, to the way your face contorted into confused expressions. jisung wanted to get to know you, he felt like it was something he needed to do.

so he went to the two people who were experts at both relationships and the college lifestyle.

“okay so you think she’s pretty?” jaemin raised his eyebrows, attempting to catch popcorn in his mouth while sitting on his bed in his shared dorm with jeno.

“pretty is an understatement. she’s just...i don’t know how to explain it” jisung smiles to himself, feeling giddy inside.

“do you know her name?” jeno continues, admiring how flustered the younger boy was becoming.

“uh, not exactly. i mean, i think i heard someone call her before, but i can’t be sure” jisung pouted, realising that he truly didn’t even know your name.

“gosh jisung! you don’t even know the girl’s name, and you’re pining over her already?” jaemin teased, throwing popcorn at him.

jeno started scolding jaemin for making a mess, while trying to give his best advice to jisung.

“why don’t you approach her before the lecture, so you both can have a conversation and then you can ease into asking her to hang out with you?” jeno suggested, but the thought of doing so, had jisung worried.

“i can’t do that, it’s not me. you guys know i’m shy” he softly sighed, lowering his head. the two older boys looked at him in pity, both coming to his side.

“don’t be like that, just try to talk to her, and if she flat out rejects you then she’s not the one okay? you gotta put yourself out there! it’s what college is about” jeno continued to comfort him.

“yeah exactly! and what would happen if you didn’t talk to her? you’d just be creepily staring at her until she has to tell you to stop” jaemin shrugged, causing jeno to throw a pillow at him.

“don’t listen to that idiot, just be yourself and i’m sure she will be more than happy to talk to you” jeno patted jisung’s shoulder, slowly beginning to calm down the anxious boy.

here goes nothing.

the very next lecture, you found yourself arriving to the theatre earlier than you thought. you slept through one of your many alarms, panicking that you were going to be late. you opted to sitting on the staircase outside the theatre, waiting for everyone else to arrive. jisung also arrived earlier than usual, but for the sole reason that he needed to rehearse what he was going to say to you. so when he saw you sitting on the staircase with no one else in sight, he froze. you noticed his presence, instantly recognising him as the boy who sat three seats away from you. you gave him a small smile before continuing to tap on your phone. jisung held his fists tightly together, going over the his prepared script one last time, before approaching you.

“uh excuse me....miss” he blurted, causing you to stop what you were doing. you looked up at the flustered boy, shocked he was speaking to you.

“did you really just call me miss?” you softly chuckled, standing up to face him. you were standing on the second step of the staircase, almost making you eye level with him.

“y-yes? i don’t usually do this, actually i’m kind of nervous. wait where was i again? oh yeah, i’m hoping you’ll say yes, but uh do you want to like, hang out after this lecture?” jisung stammered, as you followed along with each word. you couldn’t help but smile, he was cute, and you couldn’t deny it. but you hoped that this was nothing more than a friendly, classmate outing. you weren’t ready for anything more than that.

“yeah sure, jisung” you nodded, watching as his eyes shot open widely.

“you know my name?” he stuttered,

“yeah, you have your name on your laptop case, you know that right?” you giggled, watching as the realisation hit him. jisung just chuckled along, stringing on about random things as you both entered the lecture theatre. he took the initiative to sit next to you this time, softly whispering to you about all sorts of things. he finally made a friend.

I had to ask,

If you already had dinner plans,

I know you probably have a man,

But if you happen to be unattached.

“alright jisung, what is it now?” jaemin opened the door to the younger boy who had woken them up by banging on their door at 8am.

“i need more advice” he rushed into the room, noticing how messy it had gotten. he stepped over random items on the floor before waking jeno up by hitting him with a pillow.

“i’m too tired to be mad right now” jeno groaned, pulling himself up to rest against his head board. jaemin shuffled back into his bed, ready for another update on operation lovestruck jisung.

“i want to ask her to go out to dinner with me” jisung started, the two boys now slowly becoming more interested.

“big move, dinner is a huge step from just hanging at the cafe on campus” jeno commented as jisung shot him a glare.

“yes i know, but i really just want to ask her to see if she’d say yes” jisung assured himself as the two boys just shrugged,

“you worry too much, she seems like a good person, don’t be too frantic” jaemin sighed, ruffling jisung’s hair before walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

maybe jaemin was right, jisung thought to himself. just play it cool.

you and jisung were at the campus cafe once again, reviewing the notes from this week’s lecture. it was a regular occurrence for the both of you to hang out like this. you didn’t think much of it. but today, jisung was acting more jittery than usual. he wouldn’t look at you and was always on his phone. you weren’t exactly annoyed at him, but curious as to what was bothering him.

“are you okay? you don’t seem like yourself today” you commented, hoping he would talk to you about it.

“ahh yeah i’m fine, just hungry i guess. i could go for dinner” he started, but you cut him off,

“oh my god! dinner! jisung you just reminded me, i have a dinner date with my boyfriend soon” you instantly remembered  beginning to pack up your stuff.

“wait boyfriend?” he intended to say to himself, rather than aloud.

“oh y-yeah, it’s kinda fresh? i would have told you about it but i’m still waiting to see if it’s serious. i’ll let you know how it goes? i’ll send over any annotations i finish when i can! see you jisung!” you smiled softly, giving his shoulder a small squeeze before rushing out of the cafe.

boyfriend. of course you had a boyfriend. jisung didn’t stand a chance.

I'd sing your name over the airwaves,

Crash your couch and sleep off or stay awake.

If not tonight, maybe tomorrow,

'Cause I'm hung up, I'm shook up,

I'm lovestruck.

jisung was laying in his bed, indulging in a random crime show on netflix. he tried everything to get his mind off of you, but nothing seemed to work. of course you had a boyfriend, how couldn’t you? you were absolutely stunning, with the most charismatic personality, jisung had ever witnessed. he felt like a fool for even thinking he had a chance. 

his thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. he furrowed his eyebrows, not expecting any calls. but when your name popped up on his screen, he immediately answered.

“hello?” he greeted, curious as to why you were calling him so late at night.

“jisung” your voice cracked, which had jisung concerned.

“are you alright? what happened?” he questioned, listening as you let out short sniffles.

“he stood me up. i looked like an idiot, waiting for him outside the restaurant. god, i’m so lucky i didn’t go inside and actually get a table” you tried to lighten up the mood but it clearly didn’t work. jisung didn’t know what to say to you, he was shocked that someone could ever stand you up.

“you’re not an idiot, y/n. don’t say that to yourself. did he give you a reason?” jisung tried to calm you down, his own heart clenching, hearing you in pain.

“no, he hasn’t even responded to my texts or calls. i just feel stupid” you sighed, feeling tears fall down your cheeks. jisung didn’t know how else to comfort you, only wishing he could be close to you right now, and wipe away your tears.

“do you want me to come meet you somewhere? we can just talk” jisung suggested, instantly feeling regret after doing so.

“i mean, you can come to my apartment if you want? i kind of need a friend right now” you continued to sniffle, hearing jisung shuffle around on the other side.

“text me the address and i’m on my way” he hung up the phone, dressing himself appropriately before rushing out of his house and into his car. he felt completely insane for rushing over to you like this, with his messy hair and puffed face from the cold. but he couldn’t bear to see you upset.

he knocked softly on your door, hearing you jiggle the lock on the other end. you pulled the door back slowly, revealing the tall boy dressed in his pajamas with a large black puffed jacket over it. jisung entered your apartment cautiously, taking notice of how small and glum you looked. he wanted to hold you in his arms, but he knew it wasn’t his place to do so. instead he let you lead him to your living room couch where you turned on the heater and made him a mug of hot chocolate.

“by the way, he’s the idiot for ditching you. it’s truly his loss” jisung shrugged, sipping the warm beverage.

“you think so? i feel like i’m at a loss, i mean, i dressed up and waited in the cold, for nothing” you felt like you could start joking about the situation, but jisung didn’t appreciate how you talked down on yourself.

“why do you bring yourself down like that?” jisung questioned, genuinely concerned,

“i don’t know, it’s just easier to blame myself rather than someone who couldn’t give me the time of day” you sunk back into the couch, clutching onto a cushion. jisung have you a solemn look, moving his hand to your shoulder.

“well stop it okay? it’s not nice to hear and as your friend, i cannot let you weep about this stupid guy who does not deserve you” jisung reassured you, making sure to look at you in the eyes. he meant every single word. he thought you were incredible. you needed to know it.

“thank you for this. i don’t know what i would have been doing right now if you weren’t here” you mumbled, feeling heat rise to your cheeks at his words. you’d be lying if you said that jisung didn’t give you butterflies. but considering what went down tonight, you weren’t so sure if having something more than a friendship, with jisung, would be ideal. you were dealing with your own drama, and jisung didn’t need to be a part of your cycle of problems.

jisung always thought jeno and jaemin were just teasing when they said he was a lovestruck puppy. but in this very moment, he agreed with them. he was lovestruck. all he wanted to do was make you smile again. so that’s what he did for the rest of the night. despite your invitations for him to sleep on your bedroom floor, jisung decided to just crash on the couch. he didn’t care if it took weeks, or months to get you to be his. all he knew was that these feelings weren’t going away any time soon.

I'd wait all day, just for a maybe

I'm trying to find a way to be worthy.

If not tonight, maybe tomorrow

'Cause I'm hung up, I'm shook up,

I'm lovestruck.

“so you’re telling me, that she has a boyfriend, but then he stood her up, and she called you and then you spent the night on her couch?!” jaemin’s jaw dropped. jeno couldn’t believe a single word either.

“yep, exactly” jisung shrugged, stuffing his mouth with doritos. the three boys were yet again, hanging out in jeno and jaemin’s dorm room as jisung dished out the details from a few nights ago.

“is she still with him?” jeno was curious,

“i’m not sure. she said that she wanted space from him but you know girls, it’s probably code for, she’s going back to him eventually” jisung admitted defeat, still stuffing his mouth with handfuls of doritos.

“then why does her facebook status say single?” jaemin smirked, shoving his phone in the younger boy’s face.

jisung halted just actions, eyes scanning across the screen.

“no fucking way” he blurted out, crumbs of the doritos, falling all over him.

“you’re a mess, dude. she’s not gonna wanna go for you when you look like this” jeno teased, helping dust off the crumbs from jisung’s shirt.

“you guys think i have a chance?” jisung’s eyes glistened at the idea of you and him dating. it didn’t feel real.

“well you should probably give her time to heal from the breakup. i mean, she’s probably not going to want to jump into anything straight away. just show her you’re there for her and let nature take its course” jeno advised as jaemin nodded in affirmation.

“exactly, just be like how you were a few nights ago and she’ll come around. i must admire how loyal and determined you are” jaemin gave the younger boy a pat on the shoulder before stealing the bag of chips from him.

jisung couldn’t help but think of all the possibilities that would come for you both in the near future.

every weekend from that day onward, you and jisung hung out at your apartment. you’d usually study, watch random shows and movies or simply just talk about the week.

it had been almost two months since your breakup, and you were confident in saying that you no longer felt upset. you started to accept that he wasn’t the one for you and that you deserved better. you couldn’t take all the credit for your progress, having jisung by your side to support you was a huge help.

“hey jisung” you muttered, causing him to look up from his laptop. you were both sitting next to eachother on your living room floor, reviewing lecture notes.

“thank you” you stopped yourself, making jisung more confused by the minute.

“thank you for everything. i don’t know if i would have properly ever gotten over it without you. i know that’s a lot to put onto you and i’m so grateful that you decided to stick with me. if i’m going to be honest, i’ve always wanted to be friends with you. you were the dorky guy who came in late to the very first lecture and sat three seats from me. now you are seated in front of me in my apartment as we cram for our exams” you let out a soft giggle at the last part, jisung reacting in a similar manner. he was shocked to hear your words, the butterflies in his stomach were erratic.

“before you finish, there’s something i think i should tell you” jisung interrupted, his eyes meeting yours. you nodded for him to continue, unsure of what he was about to say,

“from the day i first started noticing you, i could help but admire you. you were always so kind to me and made me feel more at ease with starting college. i’ll just outright say that i have a big crush on you, i have since that day. it feels so weird to say it to you right now. i don’t know if the timing is right, but i’m hoping you can accept my confession. because i really care about you” jisung didn’t continue. he saw your eyes start to glisten. you couldn’t control the emotions you were feeling in this moment.

“jisung, i accept your confession. i know you’re probably wondering if i return you feelings. and if i’m being honest, i’m not quite sure just yet. but i know what type of person you are and i do believe we can be a good fit. so why don’t we go out on a date” you suggested, watching as his mouth was wide open.

“wait what? for real? a date? like right now?” jisung couldn’t believe the words that were leaving his own mouth. you nodded enthusiastically at his reaction.

“i’m going to make this the best date ever, i swear!” he jumped up from his seat, taking your hand before dragging you out of the apartment.

being with jisung was filled with constant laughter, lame jokes, soft touches and warm hugs. he wasn’t afraid to show you how much he adored you. he wasn’t afraid to pull you into him when you were down. and he wasn’t afraid to admit to you, that he was completely lovestruck.

[allsassnoclass]

i cannot help myself i'm sorry here's another one: “No, mom, don’t tell him/her I said that about him/her!” with mashton please i love you i love your mashton i love your writing

I! love! mashton!!!! in case anyone didn’t know!!!

This one takes place in the same college AU as this fic but it is also very much a standalone

mashton: “No, mom, don’t tell him I said that about him!”

Michael is incredibly nervous.  He's not having a panic attack, but that's mostly because Ashton is standing next to him, holding his hand and with just as much tension coursing through his bloodstream, even though Ashton is trying so hard to hide it and be reassuring.

Michael has never met someone's family before.  Well, obviously he's been to Calum's house and met his family, but he's never been introduced to family members as someone's boyfriend.  All of his brief relationships in high school were very surface-level, nothing lasting long enough to require a meeting with family, and when Ashton first broached the idea of meeting his, Michael reacted like a deer in headlights.

"Your family?" he had asked.

"Yeah," Ashton said.  "My mom and siblings are coming up from family weekend, and they want to meet you."

"They want to meet me?" Ashton had nodded, and said please and that it would mean a lot to him, and at that point Michael was powerless to refuse.

He likes what this represents, in any case.  It's a lot of pressure, because Ashton adores his family and Michael wants them to like him, but Ashton wouldn't ask him to meet them if he wasn't serious about this.  Everything about their relationship feels so casual and effortless, and it's nice to have an indicator that they're not just passing time together, because Michael certainly has fallen head-over-heels.

Still, now that they're standing outside of the restaurant, the panicky feeling is definitely overshadowing how nice it is that Ashton wants to meet this relationship milestone with him.

"What if they don't like me," Michael says.

"They'll like you," Ashton replies, staring at the restaurant resolutely.  "They'll like you.  Just try not to get overwhelmed, okay?  They can be a lot.  They might be embarrassing, so don't think differently of me afterwards."

"I won't," he says.  Ashton squeezes his hand, then pulls him towards the restaurant.

Michael can tell the moment Ashton spots his family by the way he lights up.  All of the tension leaves his body, and they bypass the hostess and navigate to the table like it's a lighthouse in a storm.  Before they fully reach it, Ashton's brother is out of his seat and running towards them, flinging his arms around Ashton's middle at breakneck speed.

"Hey Harry," Ashton laughs beneath called greetings from the rest of the family.  "I'm glad to see you, too."

"I missed you," Harry says, then pulls away from the hug and studies Michael critically.  Michael straightens up.  He feels like he should be in a tie, or something.  This feels more important than meeting royalty would, and Michael definitely would be wearing a tie if he was saying hello to a monarch.

"Hi," Harry says, sticking out his hand.  "I'm Harry."

"I'm Michael," he says, cautiously taking the outstretched hand.  Harry gives it one solid shake, then beams.  He and Ashton have the same smile, and Michael feels himself relax a fraction.

Ashton's mom and sister join them, tugging Ashton in for hugs and giving quick introductions to Michael while he mostly tries to stay out of the way of this family reunion and simultaneously make a good impression.  When they descend into their seats, Michael is relieved to see that they left a spot by Ashton open for him.  He didn't think they'd split them up, but it's reassuring to have confirmation that they can brush elbows and knock knees if Michael needs it.

Michael is going to need it.  He's already wondering if they'll judge him based on what he orders, and he hasn't even seen the menu yet.

"So," Anne-Marie says when they sit, "we know what's going on with Ashton, because he calls home all the time, but what about you, Michael?  How's your semester going?  Ashton said you're a music major."

"Music business," he says, because he sounds much more likely to get a job that way.  "I want to write music for video games, or be a music supervisor."

"What's that?" Harry asks, and Michael explains about how he'd choose and acquire the rights for different songs in the background of movie trailers or tv shows.  Harry then asks about his favorite video games, and Michael finds himself settling into an easy conversation with him.  He wishes that Harry could be the only one he's meeting right now, because 11 year old boys are easier to talk to than 14 year old girls or his boyfriend's mom.

Michael answers sporadic questions from the rest of the family until their food arrives, at which point he finally gets a break.  Ashton asks Lauren about something at school they talked about on a recent phone call, and Michael tries to be attentive even though he has no context.  He's so confused trying to figure out the situation that he blurts questions before thinking, and Lauren launches into a story involving her, her friends, a teacher, and a game of truth-or-dare that makes Anne-Marie roll her eyes while hiding a smile.  Lauren looks immensely pleased when he laughs with her.  Something in his stomach unclenches the more the family talks over each other with him joining in.

He can do this.  This is fine.  Ashton’s family is funny, kind, and happy to have him here.  Michael knows that Ashton can tell when he relaxes, because Ashton’s smiles get wider and he touches Michael more, little brushes of their hands or pressing their shoes together under the table.  Neither of them overly indulge in PDA, but Michael loves every piece of contact.  It’s easier to make conversation with Anne-Marie once Ashton drapes his arm across the back of his chair.

Anne-Marie orders dessert, because “this counts as a very special occasion,” and Ashton alternates between taking spoonfuls of Michael’s sundae and forkfuls of the cake Lauren and Harry are supposed to be sharing.  Anne-Marie watches with a smile on her face and a fancy cappuccino in front of her.

“It’s been so good to meet you, Michael,” she says.  “Once Ashton called you the love of his life, we couldn’t get down here fast enough.”  Ashton’s fork clatters onto the plate.

“No, Mom, don’t tell him I said that about him!”

Michael turns and blinks at him.  He knows what the words mean in theory, but his mind is still whirring like a computer trying to open too many files.

“The love of your life?”

Ashton scrunches down in his seat, cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink.

“Oh,” Anne-Marie says.  “Have you not told him yet?  I’m sorry, honey.”

Michael barely hears her.  He clears his throat.

“That’s, um… Those are some big words to be throwing around.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you yet,” he mumbles.  “You don’t have to say it back, or anything, but it’s out there now.”

It’s too early for Michael to say those words.  They might be true, but they’re still so young, and the relationship is so new in the grand scheme of things.  Michael doesn’t want to say them until he knows they’re true without a shadow of a doubt.  Once he calls Ashton the love of his life, he never wants to have to take it back.

He reaches out and squeezes one of Ashton’s hands, then brings it to his lips so he can kiss the back of it.

“I love you, too,” he says.  It’s a compromise, but it’s not a rejection and Ashton gets that.  His lips turn up slightly, then he gives his mom a look.

“If you have anything else to embarrass me with, now would be the time, Mumma.”

“Well,” Anne-Marie says, “I do have a few of your baby pictures on my phone.”

“I want to see those!” Michael says.  The kids roll their eyes and Ashton groans, but he doesn’t let go of Michael’s hand, keeping their fingers tangled while they lean forward to look at a young Ashton giggle at the camera.  Michael can see this scene and dozens like it playing out in the future in different settings.  Eventually, he’ll get to see Ashton’s childhood home and the physical photo albums that these pictures are housed in.  Maybe he’ll get to attend Irwin family reunions and build his own inside jokes with Harry and Lauren.

Michael glances at Ashton out of the corner of his eye, but Ashton catches him and smiles.  He’s not the love of his life yet, but he very well could be someday.  His family isn’t Michael’s family, but he thinks they could be, at some point in the distant future.

[honeyoongiah]

Most beautiful coincidence

Pairings: Yoongi x Elly (reader)

Genre: Bookworm! Yoongi AU, fluff

Words: 2.9k

Warnings: none!

Summary: Yoongi spent most of his time in the universities library with his nose in some books to escape from reality. At least until Elly decided to sit on the other side of the shelf and showed him that love stories don't just exist in books.

A/N: another Oneshot that has a special place in my heart. I hope you'll feel the warmth that I felt during the writing process.

It was a surprisingly hot november day as Elly walked down the hallways of her college. Packed with countless books, she made her way to the library to learn how she always did for exams.

The room was cold because the air conditioner tried its best to fight the heat, so she quickly started to shiver in her top and cursed the long summer.

"Isn't it supposed to be a little colder outside?", she mumbled to herself while walking through the library searching for that one book she knew she'd need. Everyone was silent so she tried to be as well, but apparently someone on the other side of the shelf noticed her.

"Global warming."

It was the voice of a boy, but she couldn't see him through the books. He sounded a little annoyed but maybe that was just his normal tone, she wouldn't know.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't want to disturb you.", she said in worry. Most of the people here got really mad for being interrupted and she understood. This was a place of silence to study, but she couldn't control her mumbling sometimes.

The voice buzzed something that sounded like "it's okay" and Elly started to relax again. Just as she looked for a table to sit on, she realized that she was a little too late with that. Every single chair was already taken and she ran her fingers through her hair.

What should she do now?

Well, obviously there were people sitting on the ground in between the shelfs just as this mysterious boy she couldn't see. "Hey uhm, sorry for bothering you again but would you mind if I sit here? The library is full."

"No.", he answered shortly before there was silence again. "Thank you.", Elly answered and smiled friendly until she realized he wouldn't see it.

She had to admit it was somehow calming to know that there was someone right next to her, even if they weren't talking and didn't even know each other.

Sitting down and taking some notes, she didn't realize how time flew by.

"Ohh god I gotta go or I'll miss my lecture.", she talked to herself again and got up, packing her things in a rush.

"Don't run with books in your hand, though. It'll be dangerous for them... and for you too.", the boy answered again, sounding a little amused by his own comment.

"I won't be a threat to the books, I promise. I don't know if I can say the same about me, though.", Elly chuckled. She didn't feel right to just go without saying anything. "So uhm... Goodbye."

"Bye."

With that said she began to rush, but without running, so she wouldn't miss informations that were relevant to her exam.

____

Just a day went by and she had to visit the library again. Without really thinking about it she ended up in the same spot she was yesterday. It had something calming not to sit together with all that stressed and desperate students.

Elly sat down again and leaned her back against the shelf made of wood. She was curious now. Was she alone, or did he happen to be here too?

"Mysterious boy from yesterday? Are you here?"

First there was silence and she already thought that he wasn't here, until she heard a dark chuckle from the other side. "Mysterious boy, huh."

"Oh hello, you're actually here again."

"Well, actually this is my favorite spot since I first entered this college. So I'm rather surprised of you being here again.", he explained and Ellys eyes grew big. "Oh I didn't intend to steal it from you, I'm sorry."

"You didn't. You're on the other side of the shelf."

"Well that's true."

The silence broke over them again, although she began to like talking to him. It had something carefree and noncommittal. So unlike what she felt at the university. He cleared his throat and seemed to be focussed again to what Elly couldn't see from here. Again many minutes passed before he was the one breaking the silence for the first time. "Are you doing well? The subject should be particularly difficult this semester."

Elly sighed and when he heard that, he immediately laughed. "Okay, I have my answer."

"No joke, it's terrible. But I can do it. Thanks for asking."

Suddenly she felt an object pressed against her back, but without hurting her. Amazed, she looked at the book the boy had handed her through the shelf. His hand was thin, his fingers long and also narrow and defined by bones and veins. "Here, that helped me a lot last year."

Fleetingly, she flipped through it and realized immediately how useful it would be for her. "Oh my god, thank you, that will help!"

"My pleasure."

"By the way, my name is Elly. You said the book really helped you last year, so you're a year above me?" For a few seconds she had to wait for an answer and thought he hadn't heard her or didn't want to talk, but then she heard him. "My name is Min Yoongi and yes, I am one year ahead of you."

Elly gave a low ah and nodded her head. "I have never heard of you, although I know so many students here." A few students tried to pass her, but with so many books in the way it was a lot harder. Elly looked at them with an apologetic look. "That doesn't surprise me. I don't even think my lecturer knows that I exist. At least they can't connect my name with a face. I don't go to many lectures, because I rather teach everything myself and spend my time here."

"It's impressive that you can teach yourself.", she marveled, shuddering just at the thought of trying. Sure, she was good at learning on her own but it helped immensely if someone explained it to her. "I just don't like being around People much, I prefer the company of books of all kinds."

"You just weren't around the right People then, Yoongi.", she spoke her thoughts out loud and hoped she didn't cross a line. "You're probably right but I don't even try anymore."

"That's sad though. You might miss someone very special."

The usual silence greeted them again as Yoongi thought about her words.

He really didn't have much emotional connections since he was young, he early began to bury his nose in books he found interesting. The genre didn't really matter to him as long as it had a happy ending.

Yoongi knew that sounded cheesy but he just didn't feel right when stories ended with heartbreak or other pain. He liked to feel that comfortable warmth of satisfaction when everything turned out to be okay.

It was so far from reality, maybe that was what kept him reading all day. He found the real world terrible, not knowing if there will be a happy end for anyone and not being able to skip through the bad parts if he'd like to.

Books never hurt your feelings or leave you behind.

Books were so much more comforting than dealing with his actual life and the people around him. It was definitely way more fun.

"I have to go now.", he told her and got up from the ground. Elly heard the rustling noises next to her and tried to see him through the mass of books next to her, but besides his black pants she didn't see much.

"Okay Yoongi. I hope we'll talk tomorrow?", she asked casually which made him froze in his movements. Why would she want to talk to him again? "Sure. I'll be here.", he answered though, a light smile gracing his face.

_____

A few weeks passed by and Elly couldn't imagine not being in the library every day anymore. She started talking to Yoongi in her free time on the same spot as the day before. And they talked about everything.

The topic didn't really matter, they always managed to find something to say. Either they discussed something and shared their opinions, which were very often the same, or they opened up about personal issues and feelings.

He opened up about his past and why he became so distant, the whole issue with his parents and how they never understood him the way he needed.

Yoongi never did that before. But it felt right to finally do and when he heard Elly saying that this wasn't his fault he knew that he needed to hear that at least once.

Elly talked about her past broken friendships and relationships who hurt her deeply and made her insecure. She told him that she often felt she wasn't enough and he reassured that this feeling wasn't valid.

To him she was enough.

He held her hand through the shelf when he heard her snuffling and brushed his thumb over her skin to calm her a little.

Sometimes they just enjoyed knowing the other one was right beside them when they had tough days or were feeling like a more silent day. They didn't need to talk.

Slowly they became really close although they still didn't know how the other one looked like. It didn't matter to them, they found it funny and special.

Even her grades got better because he always helped her when she needed someone to explain it again. He was calm, patient and didn't set her under any pressure. She felt comfortable telling him when she had a problem.

"Hey Yoongs, I'm back.", she greeted him and sat down on her favorite place in this university. Maybe even in general. "Hey Elly, I've missed you."

"I missed you too. How was your day?", she asked and placed her hand in the shelf which he immediately took into his. That was a new habit that neither of them knew how it began but they enjoyed it.

"It was fine. I took a look on the new curriculum for my semester and learned a few things in advance. Then I started a new book and read it until you came. What about you?"

"You're incredible. How do you teach yourself the whole fucking curriculum? I'll never understand. Can I have your brain please?", she grumbled but still with admiration for him. "You're incredibly intelligent Elly. Don't put yourself down so much." - "T-thank you."

He squeezed her hand and chuckled when he noticed that she was flustered. "It's the truth. I really think you are amazing in any way possible but you need to see it yourself."

"You're so kind. So supportive and caring. I think you are amazing too Yoongi.", she answered while smiling and stared out of the window.

"Would you mind coming over to the other side and sit next to me?", Yoongi asked and took her by surprise. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that somehow made her nervous. "How come so suddenly?"

"I don't know... I just feel like it. You don't have to though."

"N-no I want to! Wait I'll come.", she quickly said and let go of him to stand up, which made her feel incomplete for a moment. With these words Yoongi felt nervous now too.

He would look the person who knows him best now, with his good sides but all his flaws too, in the eyes for the first time.

Elly was thinking about the same things too. It was somehow scary, but in a good way. She was curious how he looked like, but she was insecure about showing herself. Will he think I'm pretty? Why does that matter to me?

Slowly, but not too slowly for Yoongi to notice how unsure she was, she walked around the shelf that separated them for the past months now and immediately met two dark brown eyes looking at her.

She smiled shyly and sat down next to him.

Yoongi was too overwhelmed to really hide his staring. He admired every inch of her, trying to imprint the details of her face in his mind. She truly was beautiful to him.

He gently stroked a wisp of hair behind her ear and made her blush. Without him noticing she was admiring him too. His blonde hair she'd really like to touch, his brown eyes which sent out warmth and looked so vulnerable and his soft looking red lips.

"So... uhm what are you reading at the moment?", she tried to break the tension between the two, even though it felt good having his eyes on her. "Oh, I'm reading a novel about- wait do you really want to know?" - "You like the book don't you? So yes I do want to know."

His lips parted while he thought about where to start. He took the book in his hands and let his fingertips run over the cover. "Well, it's about a young detective who tries to solve a murder in the city he lives in, near his own home. He consults a lot of people and there is where he meets this woman for the first time."

Elly listened to him with honest interest and Yoongi didn't feel so good in years. He wasn't used to people caring about what he was reading, but she did. "He starts to develop feelings, but she's the prime suspect in his case. Although he really wants to believe her that she is innocent, everything speaks against her. So he's in a big discrepance."

While he continues talking about how they try to find the real murderer and that Yoongi still isn't sure if she is innocent but hopes for it because he wants a happy end, Elly noticed the sparkle in his eyes.

She could see how comfortable and happy he was feeling right now and she couldn't suppress a loving smile. "And then he- wait why are you smiling?", he interrupted himself and looked at her confused.

"You just look so happy. It makes me smile.", she blurred out and felt shy about it right away. "I uhm... yes I am. I enjoy spending time with you."

Elly didn't know how much time passed while she looked into his eyes, she could drown in them. Only his voice brought her back. "Would you like to spend time with me outside of this library?"

"Y-yes! Of course. I know a better library only 20 minutes away from here.", she teased him and he laughed. It took every nervousness away. "I'm serious Elly. I don't know much about these things, but I know that I want to spend more time with you. Would you like to go eat something after lecture today?"

He found her so cute with red cheeks, it suited her overall cuteness he thought. "Yes Yoongi, I'd love to."

Her words made him weak, he never experienced something like this before. Yoongi only read about it in books.

Was it really his turn this time? Is it possible that he could be as happy as the characters in his books? Was he really blessed to experience something like that too?

These thoughts didn't leave him when they both left the university for today. Yoongi suggested to go to one of her favorite restaurants if she has one, since he didn't really go out much.

Quickly they figured they didn't want to sit inside though, but just get something and go to a place Yoongi told her about a few times. It was a single bench in the middle of nowhere but with a beautiful view of the city.

"You said you like reading here if you're not in the library, right?", Elly asked when in between her bites. "Yes. It's so calming and silent here. It's my special place."

Elly put her box down and parted her lips, just like she wanted to say something, but remained silent. "What did you want to say?", Yoongi asked because of course he noticed. He looked only at her, even though his favorite view was right in front of him.

"It's nothing. I'm embarrassed to say it.", she admitted and buried her face in her hands. Yoongi was sure he never saw something so pure. "It's okay, you don't have to be ashamed of anything. Just tell me.", he said and came a little closer.

He took one of her hands and held her just as he did many times while they were hanging out in the library. Both thought they were fitting into each other perfectly. "I think you made the library to my own special place, Yoongi."

If she was a book, Yoongi would read her again and again. He thought she was so perfect, every little bit of her. She was that type of girl people were writing books about he enjoyed and he never thought they existed in reality.

But it seemed like he found her and therefore his own story.

"I'm glad I started talking to you out of the sudden and got to know you. You are the most beautiful coincidence of my life.", he confessed and stroked her cheek with this thumb.

She smiled at his words, her heart beating so fast when he leaned over with half closed eyes and his nose brushing against hers. "Can I kiss you now?", he whispered and she felt his breath on her skin.

An almost not audible "yes" left her mouth and he gently lay his lips on hers. He felt so soft against her, she could feel how careful and loving he was treating her.

After separating again he kissed her nose and made her chuckle before saying: "I really like you, Elly."

[cal-puddies]

Haven't done one of these before so sorry if I'm submitting it wrong, but I saw your thing about blurbs and I've been in the mood for soft and cuddly Calum lately. Like you're feeling like you're not being productive enough on college winter break and Cal gives reassuring snuggles :)

You did right babe! Thank you for the request! Hope you like! @6god-hemmings

Cal watches you huff at his kitchen table. He liked having you around but you didn’t seem to be having a good time with him.

“Everything ok bubba?” He asks.

“Yeah.” You nod and wave him off. But it wasn’t. You hadn’t gotten half the things done you’d intended to by now because Cal was the greatest distraction in the world. And he didn’t seem to know that.

Him and Duke always looked cozy, huddled up together on the couch or in bed and you’d instantly join upon a simple invitation. Long forgetting that you had things to get done.

“I’m gonna take Duke to the pet store. Care to join us?” Cal asks, hooking the dog into the harness.

“No Calum. I don’t.” You snap.

“Oh. Ok.” He says. You hear the tinge of hurt in his voice and it kills you to see it when you meet his eyes. “Well... we’ll see ya in a bit then.”

And it makes you feel worse to watch him leave. You send him a text while he’s gone.

-think I’m gonna go home to my parents’.

- please don’t do anything until I get back. He sends back.

Your bag was already out, and on the bed.

“Why you wanna go home early? We’re going next week for Christmas.” Cal looks worried, as if your relationship hangs on this decision and he can’t understand what has gone wrong.

“Cal.” He can tell you’ve been crying by the quiver in your voice.

“Bubba what is wrong? You never get short like this unless you’re stressed.” He says softly. Moving toward you, sitting next to you in the bed and grabbing your hand.

“I just... I feel like I have so much to do and you and I only get so much time together and I’m putting you first which I don’t regret...” you sniffle and let tears fall, “but I feel like I’m falling behind...”

“Bubba you are on break! You are supposed to relax and enjoy this time. And Duke and I are loving all the attention we’re getting to share with you.” He soothes, pulling you into a hug.

He rubs your back and lets you cry. “I’m sorry Cal... I’m just going into my last semester and I’m so worried I won’t keep up.”

“Well that’s just crazy talk.” Cal says, pushing your bag to the floor and laying you back with him. “You are amazing. And you’ve been working your ass off and still trying to make sure Duke and I are happy. You’ve got this baby. And I think you really need this break.”

You sniffle again and stay quiet awhile. “I’m sorry Cal.”

“No need to apologize, my love. You just gotta let me know what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours.”

“I’ll try.”

“Just relax. For a while bubba. We can make sure we schedule out time for you to work on stuff and Duke and I will do our best to be distraction free. But that also means, we’re scheduling time for me and you and me and you and Duke.” He insists.

“Ok. I can get behind that.” You agree.

“Dry those tears little one. Duke and I are on deck for the rest of the night.”

“Deal.” You chuckle. Cal squeezes you tight to his side, and kisses your forehead.

[kpop-ruined-my-social-life]

Forthright

↦ Pairing: Jung Yunho (Ateez) X Reader

↦ Request: Yes

↳ “ Hi! I really love everything in your masterlist and I'm wondering if you can write a oneshot or a AU, idc, about Yunho (Ateez) who confesses to you pretending he's drunk. Idk if it's against the rules since he is not really drunk but just acting like it... but I'm okay if it's not possible! Thank you in any case♡ “ - Anon

↦ WC: 4K

↦ POV: First person

↦ Rating: PG-13

 ↳ Contains: Mentions of alcohol/being under the influence (no one involved in this is under the influence.)

↦ Requests: Open

↦ Masterlist  Request Rules

↦ A/N: I really like this request, and also anon, I don’t write smut when it has people under the influence. Fluff or blurbs that mention alcohol and such I don’t mind writing. Thank you for requesting! I hope you all enjoy! Also this is the longest piece I have written so I’m sort of proud.

It was cold. So cold in fact that the metal that held the swings seemed to be burning my skin. Sighing as I moved my feet back and forth, trying to get high enough to see only the sky and maybe, just maybe, touch the clouds that floated above me. I reached my hand out, feeling almost as if I could touch them but the swing took me back down, as it always did. 

I looked at the sky, giving up my goal of the day to touch a cloud and stood after the swing slowed down enough for my small feet to touch the ground. The snow crumbled under me. Sounding crisp yet feeling so gentle as my shoes sunk to the bottom of the freezing substance. I shivered as I placed my hands into my jacket pockets. This was the park I waited to be picked up at every day when school was out. The park in which I was normally alone until today. I shivered once more and made my way to one of the many benches that lined the gravel of the play area. I pushed snow off, wincing as my hands felt that burning sensation yet again. Moving slowly onto the bench, propping my self up and hoping not to embarrass myself by tumbling. I sat there for a few minutes, waiting with my hands laying on my thighs hoping they would warm up somehow. 

“What are you doing?” I heard from next to me. I looked to the other side of the bench, a boy around my age began to sit next to me. “I’m waiting to be picked up.” I mumbled slowly, my teeth chattering and the air turning foggy in front of me as I spoke. I looked down as he didn’t say anything further, but instead he looked at my hands. I looked in the same direction and realized the redness that was now covering the spots that had been seared by the cold, my fingers trembling and my fingers beginning to feel numb. 

I closed my eyes, thinking the boy would leave if I stayed quiet enough. Instead I was greeted with warmth and then the feeling of cloth covering my hands. I opened my eyes quickly as I looked at him in confusion. He had taken off one of his gloves and placed it onto my left hand and was now holding my right hand in one his, moving them both to hide within his thick coat pocket.

“What are you doing?” I asked shyly and a bit louder than my previous mumble. He looked down at me, his dark hair moving to cover his forehead and he smiled at me with sparkling eyes that reflected my face and the snow almost like a mirror. “I’m also waiting to be picked up.” He said, brushing off the fact that he knew I was asking about why he was holding my hand and why my other was clothed in his glove. 

“I meant with my hands.” I said softly and he smiled at me, this time showing his teeth and squeezing my hand slightly. “You seemed cold. I know I am.” He laughed cutely and kicked his feet slightly at the edge of the bench. “My mom tells me that one way to keep warm is to hold hands.” He said and smiled more at me and he looked around a bit before smiling wider and standing up abruptly from his spot. “Mommy!” He yelled excitedly as his mom bent down slightly to hug him and kiss his head.

They began to walk off before he pulled on her hand and stopped her, turning and running back to my direction. I quickly took off the glove and held it out to him. Rather than taking it from me he took off his other and quickly grabbed my hands and put them on for me. He smiled and as he began to pull his hands away I was reluctant for his warmth to leave mine. 

I sat in my spot, once again alone before my eyes were covered by big hands and I turned around quickly and smiled up at my parents who had both just gotten off of work. I stood from my spot and grabbed my mother’s hand. 

“Someone was here with you today?” My dad pointed out to me as he looked at the other spot next to me that was carved out of the snow. I nodded in response and let out a small hum. “Must’ve been the person who gave her the gloves.” My mother said and looked at my dad with a quizzical look. I smiled as I looked at her and I giggled softly as I mumbled a “he was”. At the word ‘he’ my father quickly let out a loud and dramatic gasp and picked me up, fake sobbing into shoulder as he swayed us.

“What am I to do now! Someone is trying to steal my baby girl! My princess!” He said dramatically causing me to laugh before being thrown over his shoulders and we began our walk home. As we walked I slowly began to feel colder although surrounded by my parents warmth, the reason being that I came to the realization I did not get the boy’s name, I wouldn’t be able to give him back his gloves, or probably ever see him again.

Almost two weeks passed by before my mom finally started to talk less about her friend from college and her husband moving into our town and working with her. Apparently they had a kid my age and he was going to start school with me within this coming semester. I scrunched my nose slightly at the thought. The Jung Family as my mother referred to them when it came to the group, was coming over for diner, so of course all of us were to help prepare. My father was finishing the cleaning, my mother finishing the meal, and I was setting the table. Taking one plate at a time, making sure not to let them slip as I stood on my toes to make sure that I placed them correctly. 

I was walking with the last pieces of silverware before the door bell rang, something rare, which made me jump and drop the silverware that was in my hands. I stared at it for a moment before I leaned to pick them up, my mother running by me in the process. Seemingly frantic but truly excited to see an old friend she rushed into the small hallway that led to our front door, checking to see who it was and then quickly opening the door. I walked into the kitchen, setting the silverware in the sink to be washed and grabbing a new set to lay on the table.

As I was setting them down, this time completing my task correctly, I heard my father and mother call my name in something that was less than in unison. I quickly made my way to them, my feet making a cute small padding sound on the floor. I looked down as I hid behind my mother’s legs, holding onto the side of her pants and bowing as she introduced me to the adults. The boy stood in front of me, that I could tell, but what I couldn’t see was his face. My mother pulled me in front of her gently and smiled as she brushed back her hair, making me look up slightly. 

“Y/N, this is Yunho. He’ll be joining you in school this year.” She said quiet loudly, but her voice was coming in a simple white noise as I looked into eyes that I surprisingly had already been introduced to. His lips moved into another signature and wide smile making his face glow and I smiled wide, rushing to hug him and both of us stumbling over our words as we told our parents that we had seen each other at the park while waiting. 

Now Yunho and I were both 19 and moving onto college starting this year. Every year in school since we were young we were in the same class, the same clubs, we even became neighbors when my family moved to a new apartment in our city. This was all by coincidence, however it was something that to Yunho and I saw as fate. We basically lived together, every summer was filled with little adventures and lounging around trying to avoid the heat the best we could. Winters consisted of walking in giant coats to the convenience store, slipping on slippery sidewalks and laughing the entire way to where we were going, and of course, holding hands. 

The school year came to a close with many rumors being fueled that we were secretly dating when we announced we would be attending the same college and would be sharing an apartment. Much to my father’s dismay that I would be living with a boy only a few feet away, he preferred Yunho over the girls he knew would drag me to parties and living by my self when ‘god knows what could happen’ and so on.

Things stayed relatively the same as we grew older, the one thing that I could never get used to was having to stare up at Yunho as if he was a tree, him now standing at 184 cm, when we joked that he would hit a second growth spurt and end up being the 250 cm I always joked that he was in an attempt to seem taller than I really was.

It was another boring Thursday night when all of a sudden my phone began blowing up with messages in multiple group chats about how we all needed to meet up and have ‘fun’ before friends began to leave to attend their respective universities. I quickly grabbed my phone and texted Yunho to see if he was going to be attending this mediocre soirée of sorts, and quickly I received the same message, both of us messaging back agreeing to meet in the hall when ready to leave. 

After getting dressed I let my parents know I was leaving, getting the “Did you ask?” as a reply and then “Is Yunho going with you?”, no matter how I answered to the first question the second was the one that mattered the most as they saw Yunho as someone who could protect me from any outside dangers. I told them the details and when I might be home, before I put on my shoes and walked out to the hall. 

I was met with Yunho, obviously having rushed through a shower to wash his hair and getting dressed. He was leaned against the wall that was between our doors, scrolling through his phone until he heard my door close before he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, tempted to treat me like a headrest until I shot him a glare that made him back off with a small pout and his already puppy like eyes turning into true puppy eyes.

“Did you tell Yeosangie what drinks to get for us? You know I don’t like the same drinks as you.” I laughed slightly and he grabbed my hand, something that was casual and comfortable to the both of us, but also something that made my heart race no matter how often it happened and how much I knew that we were only to ever be friends. “I did, you said you wanted this one right?” He said as he flashed a photo of the bottle on his phone and I nodded in response. Yunho liked strong drinks mixed with something non-alcoholic and sweet, while I liked light drinks or just sweet drinks in general, normally I opted out of the drinking as a whole in order to take care of the group, all of them turning into children as soon as they get their hands on alcohol. 

He was still looking at his phone as someone walked out of the nearby apartment building we had just walked by, quickly running up and grabbing Yunho’s arm. Neither of us shocked by the action as it was no other than Song Mingi, another friend who had been with us since we were younger that knew the exact time he would have to be ready to walk out just as we were passing.

“I assume we’re all going to Wooyoung’s right?” He said and Yunho shoved his phone in his jean pocket, pulling me closer so the two giants and myself didn’t crowd the sidewalk too much. I let him and he slipped our hands into his jacket pocket, making me lean into him slightly as we walked, turning the corner and meeting up with two girls who were also coming. Slowly we all joined up and made our way through the small walkway and into Wooyoung’s house, San, Wooyoung, and Yeosang having most likely already been here when Wooyoung sent out the message.

“Are your parents home?” I asked softly looking for Wooyoung’s parents incase we needed to greet them, thanking the gods once he said they were out for the weekend on a small vacation. We all began to sit down, I was tempted to move to sit with the other girls but instead Yunho and I made our way to the couch and sat down, me in the corner and Yunho next to me.

As the conversation finally left the “what have you been doing today?” stage we ordered food and were now beginning to open bottles, after several hours and a few food deliveries I noticed Yunho’s favorite drink was almost completely gone. He was now laying back on the couch with his head in my lap, eyes closed and cheeks warm as he had obviously had a drink or two, but seemed as if he was the one who drank the bottle dry. I brushed back his hair with my fingers, anytime I slowed down he would let our a whine and move his head so I would continue and if I stopped completely he would open his eyes and give me his signature pout and then smile as he closed his eyes when I decided to continue. 

The other’s sat outside, some to stare at the stars and others to get fresh air. I asked Yunho repeatedly if he wanted to join them, but each time he replied with “I’m comfortable where I am...” and then whined until I would brush through his hair or rub his head again.

I was lost in a small trance as I looked down at him, brushing through his hair lightly as I thought about what the next few years had in store for us. I was abruptly pulled out of it when Yunho began laughing, his head moving to lean more against my stomach than it had previously and his hand coming up to grab mine and hold it. 

“What’s so funny?” I asked as played with his fingers, bewildered by such a loud laugh that met the silence that filled the room.”Nothing really,” he muttered and looked up at me through long eyelashes, his blinking seeming almost like slow motion before he began to speak again. “I was just thinking about when we were little all the way up until now,” he said as a wide smile crossed his face. 

“I remember when in 2nd grade I gave you my gloves, in 5th grade you kicked the soccer ball so hard during gym that it hit a window and I took the blame so you wouldn’t have to go through the punishment.” He said and I smiled down at him as I recalled the events as he spoke, “was that all?” I asked softly and he shook his head. “I remember in Junior High and San had just moved here and he came into our classroom, called you outside to confess to you, and ended up almost running back to his classroom when I walked to the door and asked what was going on.” He said earning a large laugh from me as I went back to San being almost a whole foot and a half shorter than Yunho as Yunho hit the first half of his growth spurt and San’s still had almost 6 months until it began.

“Well then again you were a giant compared to everyone. You still are.” I said and he smiled up at me again, moving to sit next to me, one leg under him as he leaned against the back of the couch and looked at me. I adjusted my position so we could just look straight at each other, within this whole process Yunho never let go of my hand, almost as if they were glued together.

“I remember in high school, when you got really upset after one of our midterms and I showed you my grade and it made you laugh so hard you got the hiccups.” He said making me blush and him smiling as he moved closer, his thumb running over the back of my hand as he settled where our legs were touching. 

“I remember being your first kiss because you said you were scared of anyone else doing it, because you thought you would be embarrassed since you hadn’t, I also remember right after that when I told you that you were also my first kiss, you hit me so hard on my shoulder I had a bruise because you found out I had been lying to seem cool.” He stated, grabbing the shoulder I had hit him in dramatically as he finished his remark.

“I remember figuring out that we were going to the same college.” He said and his hand found its way to the ends of my hair, playing with the edges. “I remember the first time I said I love you and I meant it as more than a friend.” He said, I nodded before quickly stopping out of shock, looking at him confused. He started to say another sentence before I quickly covered his mouth to stop him.

“Repeat what you just said.” I said and he looked at me confused, “I said, I remember figuring out that we were going to the same college.” He said, slurring his words slightly. “No after that.” I quickly stated and he laughed “You didn’t let me even say that part though.” He laughed at me, mumbling that I was silly.

I rolled my eyes, “No Yunho, before that but after the college part.” I said and his lips formed an O shape before the noise came out of his mouth. He began nodding his head as he sat up slightly from the couch.

“I said I remember the first time I said I love you, and I meant it as something romantic rather than friendly.” He said and looked at me, I guess the shock was evident on my face as he began to tell me the story.

“It was our third year of junior high, the beginning of winter. It started snowing while we were in class and you had fallen asleep during a break. I ended up staring at you for the longest time.” He laughed. “I’m surprised you didn’t wake up, but I confessed everything to you while you napped. Sadly Mingi and the others have been holding it over my head because they came to ask if we wanted to go and get snacks and ended up hiding and listening to me spill all of my emotions and give this huge speech.” He said before his hand moved from my hair to my cheek. “I love you so much Y/N” he said and grabbed my other hand and placed it on his cheek, I could no longer feel the heat of his face due to my own body heat having risen to heights unknown.

“I love you too.” I said softly and he looked at me confused, “mhm yeah you do, but I meant it as in I LOVE you.” He said smiling more. “I’d give up anything for you to be happy, to feel safe. I would do anything for you.” He said softly and rubbed my cheekbone lightly with his thumb. I looked at him before I brushed back his hair. 

Slowly the sun began to rise, Yunho had fallen asleep a few hours prior to the sun waking up. I was still awake, confused about what he had said and realizing all the signs he had given me, wondering how he never picked up on the signs I continued to give him since the same year he admitted he confessed to me. Wooyoung’s living room was completely silent as most of them fell asleep outside while looking at the sky or upstairs in one of the beds. Yunho and I were still situated on the couch, but now I was laying down and Yunho was behind me.

I felt him rustle from beside me, muttering small curses as he tried to move hoping not to wake me although I hadn’t fallen asleep yet. “I’m awake” I said softly and he smiled softly saying he was sorry for waking me up. I turned to face him, looking up at him and into those eyes that have always charmed me and had me under their spell, ever since they mirrored the scenes that he could see through them and since I had seen the first time they had shone even in complete darkness.

“Yunho, do you remember what you said last night while you were drunk?” I asked cautiously. His cheeks turned a rosy pink quickly before he looked down, although not being able to look away from me due to our size difference. He nodded before he looked at me, his arms moving from around me. “I wasn’t drunk.” He said softly and I looked at him confused. “Yes you were, your favorite drink was completely gone by the time you passed out.” I said and he shook his head, “I only had two drinks and they were mostly mixed.” He said and I looked at him even more confused. “So you remember everything you said?” I said and he nodded once again, “Trust me, I would never say something that important to you while incoherent, I want to remember that, even if it ends ba-” I quickly cut him off by almost yelling an “I love you too,” making us both look at each other in shock before he smiled more. “Are you sure you aren’t drunk?” He asked me while letting out a deep laugh that caused the couch to seem like it was vibrating. “I didn’t drink at all last night.” I laughed softly and soon we quieted down as we both got lost while staring at each other. My eyes floated between my thoughts and what I was seeing and feeling. My entire body felt light, as if something had been lifted, the air seemed cleaner as it entered my lungs, in my head I was ecstatic about what was to follow. We were both ripped from our focus when we each leaned in and our lips met, feeling like something out of a movie and almost too perfect.

We stayed that way for a few minutes, holding our hands and the other’s cheek before we heard a cough and a laugh from the stairs. “I see you finally told her.” Mingi said and smiled wide. “And I see you finally told him.” Yeosang said from his side.

“Wait!” Yunho said as he looked between Yeosang and me. “You knew?!” he said loudly earning a laugh from me and then Mingi as Mingi revealed everyone knew about both of us liking each other and pretending not to know, which in turn would later earn him a bruised shoulder from myself and a headache from Yunho. 

[the-mykie-show]

Seduction (Neganxreader college professor AU)

You've been trying to suduce your professor since you started his class, one day it finally works.

Gif not mine, full credit to the maker.

Requested by @walkingdead96

*rating* explicit

*warnings* student/teacher relationship, graphic descriptions of sex, rough oral sex, ruined orgasm, edging, daddy kink, Negan being an asshole.

From the moment you'd started his class last semester you'd had a thing for Negan.

Despite the fact that he was probably twice your age and your professor, he was ridiculously hot. He had this confidence, this swagger about him, that drew you to him like some kind of sexual magnetic pull, just his voice alone is enough to make you want to drop your panties. Usually you were a good student, your academics mattered to you, you always paid attention in class, but sometimes it was hard to concentrate on what Negan was teaching when all you could think about when he gestured to something on the board were those long fingers doing something else.

You try to pull your mind out of the gutter.

Goddamn you need to get laid.

The problem was it never worked, none of those men were Negan.

You had tried to seduce him, even regularly volunteering to stay after class and help with grading, or clean up, or whatever else he needed, but he always politely turned you down.

“And that concludes today's class. Kevin, try not to be so goddamn high next class,” everyone laughed and the stoner kid who always sat in the back of class looked embarrassed, “and Y/N I'd like to speak with you in private.”

Usually it freaked you out when your teachers asked you to stay late, but not with Negan. Anytime you got to be alone with him was fine by you.

You wait by his desk for your classmates to file out of the room, once they're gone you lean down on Negan's desk, pushing your tits up to give him a little peek of cleavage and the black and red lace bra you were wearing.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” you ask.

“Please just call me Negan. So the semester is coming to an end soon, and a little birdie told me that you're graduating this year, making this your last year in my class. I was wondering if you might be interested in doing a little extra credit project with me?” Negan watches you intently while he speaks, and you get the feeling this might be your last chance to finally seduce him.

You reach into your bag and pull out a lollipop, peeling the wrapper off and teasingly licking it before slipping the candy between your lips, and thrusting it into your cheek.

He watches you, and just when you think he's going to reject you something changes about him, his eyes darkened with lust, his lips curling into a smirk, his whole demeanor changed.

“Or maybe you're looking for a different kind of extra credit project?”

He stands from the desk, approaching from behind you.

“You've been trying to fuck me since you walked into this class, and I've behaved myself, I've turned you down, I did what I'm supposed to as a professor. But it's getting to be too much.” he walks over to the door and flicks the lock shut.

“First with the sexy little outfits, the little peaks of lingerie, the sucking on those fucking lollipops.” still leaning on the desk, too surprised to move, he pushes your top half further down, his hand slides down over the curve of your ass, and leans down to whisper in your ear “So you know what? I'm not gonna resist it anymore. And you're gonna get it now.” you feel wetness pool in your panties at his words.

“I'm gonna need you on your knees.” you do as he says and drop down onto the floor on your knees.

“Good girl, now shirt off, leave the bra though.” you obey again without question.

He reaches for his own belt buckle and undoes his pants, pulling out his already half erect member. You'd guessed Negan was well endowed, but he was really packing.

“You think you can take it?” he asks.

“Yes, daddy.” it slips out before you can think it through. What if he's turned off by your kink? What if you just blew your chance?

Thankfully for you and your soaking wet, very needy pussy, his smirk only grows wider.

“Good, because daddy is gonna need you to swallow every last inch. Do you understand?” you nod, and take his cock in your hand. He isn't fully erect yet, so you pull a trick you learned from your freshman year roommate, and you swallow him only half hard. He lets out a surprised moan, and it's the sexiest thing you've ever heard.

You almost gag on his length, but take a deep breath through your nose and regain control.

You pull off with a soft pop and tongue his tip, licking a drop of salty precome off. You suck his tip back in your mouth, staring up at him, making your eyes look as innocent and doe like as you can.

“That's a good girl, I'm going to fuck your throat now, okay?” you nod.

He grabs a handful of your hair and begins thrusting his hips, slowly at first, but then roughly.

Your eyes begin to water but you swallow him down eagerly.

“Damn babygirl.”

You let him have his way with your mouth, until he pulls away himself. Probably getting close to coming and not ready to be done with you just yet.

He pulls you to your feet, and spins you so that your back is to him and you're facing his desk, he pushes your top half down again, this time his hand trails down your bare back, his touch is soft, almost loving now. A stark contrast with how rough he was being mere moments ago. When he reaches your waist his fingers undo the buttons on your jeans, and tug them down to bunch around your feet.

His hands go back to your ass, softly brushing over the curve before he delivers a hard smack, you weren't expecting it, and you instinctively jerk away from him.

“Oh uh, sorry, are you not into that kinda shit?” he apologized, backing away a little.

“No, I am.” you admit “It just surprised me.”

“Good, I was hoping you like it rough and dirty.” you nod, giving him your consent to really go for it.

And he does.

“Did you touch yourself thinking about this moment?” he asked hand still cupping your ass.

“Yes.” you admit.

“How many times?”

“I don't know, lost count.” you're telling the truth, but you get another hard smack on the ass over your panties, followed by his hand gently rubbing the sting away.

“When was the last time?”

“Last night.” he smirks, giving your ass one last smack.

“You are horny for it, college boys these days just don't know how to treat a lady do they? You want daddy to show you what it's like to get fucked by a real man?”

“Yes daddy!” you whimper.

“Let's see how wet you are.” he slips his hand inside your panties, stroking your slit up and down with the tip of one finger, teasing it over your clit before pressing it into your entrance. You bite down on your lip to hold back the moan of pure pleasure just knowing that a part of Negan's body is inside you gives you.

He finds your sweet spot with no problem, stroking it a few times before he withdraws his hand. Letting your panties snap back into place.

“Damn you're already soaked.” you hear the distant sound of him sucking your juices off his fingers, and you can't hold back the moan anymore.

“Careful baby girl, we're in a classroom, don't get us caught.” he reminds you as he pulls your panties off, exposing you to him fully.

He takes his cock in his hand, and slowly guides it to your entrance, sliding just the tip inside you, getting it wet with your juices before slowly rubbing his tip against your slit. Working your clit with it until you're a squirming mess, desperate for him to stop the teasing and fuck your brains out.

“You ready for me to fuck you now?” he asks, still teasing you.

“Yes!” you practically groan.

You yelp in surprise when his hand comes down on your ass again “Yes what?”

“Yes daddy!” you respond and he rubs the sting away.

“Good girl.” he goes back to rubbing your slit one more time before he lines himself up with entrance and enters you with a smooth but hard thrust that sends your body jerking forward against his desk.

It's his turn to let out a moan now, but he still does a better job then you at keeping quiet.

Every time he thrusts he pulls all the out until just his tip is inside you and slams forward again, rubbing against your sweet spot deep inside you every time and making your body bounce against the desk, you can already tell your pussy is going to be so deliciously sore tomorrow. He makes you feel so full, and he's fucking you so deeply from behind.

Each thrust sends you closer and closer to the edge, and before long you can't keep quiet anymore, your moans are so loud they echo off the walls.

Negan silences you by slipping his fingers into your mouth.

“There we go, just suck my fingers like a good girl while I make you come.” He uses his other hand to reach around your front to rub circles around your clit, working the little bundle of nerves until your sure you're about to explode.

And then he stops everything. Leaving you hanging on the brink, bent over his desk, with your core literally aching for an orgasm, and feeling so empty.

You can't really protest much because his fingers are still in your mouth, but you can glare at him.

He laughs “That is for all the times I had to jerk myself off after class because of all the shit you pulled trying to seduce me.” he says, waiting long enough to completely ruin your building orgasm and drive you crazy with need before you feel his tip at your entrance again, moaning in relief around his fingers as he slides in again at last.

This time he doesn't stop when you're on the brink, but leans down and whispers in your ear “You can come now.”

It feels like it takes an eternity for you feel the familiar heat building in your core again, but when you do it feels like heaven.

It's the most intense orgasm you've ever had, you can feel your walls rhythmically squeezing his cock with each wave of pleasure, as he thrusts and rubs two fingers around your sensitive clit, while you suck his fingers trying not to let out a scream that the whole campus could hear.

You manage to ride out your orgasm relatively quietly, and after you've come undone Negan flips you around again to face him.

“Get on your knees again and take off your bra now.” you do as he says, dropping to your knees, you slide the straps off your shoulders slowly, unable to resist teasing him more even knowing that all these months of doing so had gotten you a ruined orgasm.

You finally reach behind you and undo the hooks, letting the lacy fabric slip away and reveal your breasts.

His cock is still wet with your juices and his precome, and slides easily between your mounds, he takes both hands putting them on either side and squeezing his cock between them as he begins to thrust. His thumbs rub over your nipples with every thrust, sending little tingles of pleasure down your body.

You can see when he's close to his orgasm so you bow your head and take his tip in your mouth, softly sucking on it while your breasts encircle his shaft. He lets out a loud groan and his body tenses.

You let him come in your mouth, and swallow without complaint.

His softening cock slips from between your breasts, and he uses his thumb to wipe some come off the corner of your mouth.

“If I would have known what a dirty little girl you are I would have given in to your little seduction attempts months ago.” he admits breathing heavily.

You feel almost too weak with pleasure to stand. Fuck if that wasn't the best sex of your life, you're pretty sure Negan has ruined all other men for you now, and you're praying to every God you can think of that this will be a regular occurrence.

“Now why don't you get dressed so we can talk about that extra credit project?”

Tagging: @negans-network @walkingdead96 @neganssavior-fanfiction @ariasnyder

If you would like to join the tag list to be notified whenever I post new Negan content please send me a message or ask letting me know to tag you.

[stellarbisexual]

you want reddie prompts??? i'm so terrible with coming up with ideas but maybe college reddie, something a little smutty and a little fluffy

Richie’s not really one for napping; he’s not really one for sleeping in general, subsisting on coffee and gummy worms and Nerds rope and his own “joie de vivre,” as he likes to put it.  But he loves to help Eddie nap.  And powering through the end of their final semester of college has required a lot of naps.  All Eddie has to do is come shuffling into the kitchen where Richie’s snacking or the living room where Richie’s reading with that sweet look on his face, and Richie’s swift on his feet.  

He shuts all the lights in all the rooms, pulls the blackout curtains in their bedroom closed, lights a lavender-scented candle on the bedside table, and turns on Eddie’s white noise machine, Eddie falling into their bed with a grateful sigh.  Richie shuts the bedroom door, climbs in after him, and wraps both arms around him, pulling him in nice and tight, and presses his mouth to the back of his neck.  Eddie’s usually good for about forty minutes like that (no more or he’ll wake up cranky and kind of headachey).  He’ll stir on his own, and Richie, still awake, will welcome him back to consciousness with a gentle squeeze and a kiss to his shoulder.  

The last few weeks, though, forty minutes is often not nearly enough, Eddie perpetually sleep-deprived and a little faded.  Alarms are necessary, and when those fail, Richie has to urge Eddie out of bed or off the living room sofa, as much as he doesn’t want to.

It’s the day before the first draft of his final chapter is due, and Eddie snuggles more deeply into the crook of Richie’s neck as his iPhone tinkles.  

Richie pushes his fingers gently through Eddie’s hair.  “Come on, shortcake, you’ve gotta wake up.”  He kisses his temple, trying to soften the blow.  “You told me to not let you sleep more than an hour.”

Eddie groans.  “‘M awake.”  The finish line of his thesis has happened to coincide with a serious case of senioritis for Eddie.  Even though he’s almost done, he can see the light at the end of the tunnel, he kind of regrets agreeing to do a thesis at all.  All he wants right now is to do the bare minimum so he can graduate and start his life with Richie, one in the real world, with jobs and vacations and maybe a dog–and, more importantly, no more fucking papers.

He sucks a kiss into Richie’s neck and inches up the hem of his t-shirt.  “I’m very awake.”  He slinks down the mattress, pressing open-mouthed kisses down the center line of Richie’s stomach, tongue slipping out to taste the hair leading down to his boxer briefs.  

Richie shakes his head with a deep sigh.  “Sneaky, baby.  I know what you’re doing.  It’s not going to work.”  Eddie’s vicious little mouth starts sucking a bruise into his left hip, and he grabs his chin, fixing him with a look.  “You have to finish that chapter.”

Eddie makes his eyes ultrawide.  “Right now?”  He unbuttons Richie’s jeans and hooks his fingertips into the waistband of his boxer briefs, pulling it down just enough so he can nuzzle into the dark, dark hair there.  

“Jesus,” Richie breathes.  “You’re evil, Eds.  You’re pure evil.  You know I can’t resist your sweet, sweet lovin,’ and you’re totally taking advantage.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Eddie says, scraping his teeth over Richie’s sensitive skin, making his hips rise off the mattress, and sliding his small, tidy hands up his sides.

Richie quickly takes him by the shoulders and flips him.  “You gave me explicit instructions to wake you up at three and make sure you go to the library and go to your carrel and finish that chapter.”  Before Eddie can protest–with his hands or his mouth–Richie reaches under his shirt and starts tickling him.  “You said, and I quote, ‘I’ll probably try to sway you with my magic dick, but under no circumstances–’”

Eddie shrieks and giggles.  “That’s not what I fucking said!”

“‘–Under no circumstances are you to let me seduce you as a means of procrastination.’  That’s what you said.”  Richie palms his cheek and kisses him sweetly.  “Remember last month?  You were up the whole fucking night and just barely made it to your meeting with your advisor because you were editing to the last fucking second.  Because you paraded around in those little green shorts that drive me fucking bonkers–”

Eddie’s eyes light up.  “I can get them from my drawer.  They’re clean.”

“No.”  Richie threatens to tickle him again.  “You are getting that adorable little ass out of bed, and you are going to the library.  Right now.”

Eddie makes a face, going limp underneath him.  “Fine.”

Richie smiles wide, kissing him, though Eddie’s unresponsive.  “You’re gonna love me so much for this later.  I promise.”

“Okay,” he pouts, hauling himself onto his feet, toeing his shoes back on and already heading for his backpack by the bedroom door.

Richie grabs his hand, pulling him back for a second.  “I’ll have dinner ready when you come back.”

“You’re going to cook?  That sounds more like a threat than a gift.”  Eddie pushes Richie’s hair out of his face, looking incredibly grateful despite his words.  

“No.  I’m going to order the best takeout you’ve ever had, baby.”  He pushes his face into Eddie’s neck and makes like he’s gobbling him up.  He gives him a push.  “Go be a little academic badass.  The shorts and I will be here when you return.”

tag list: (lmk if you want to be added!) @reddie-to-fight @hurleyhugo